A/N: This is a multi-chapter fic where each chapter is based on a different song. I have several chapters finished. If anyone has a song they want to see written about or a scene (either on the show or something we didn't get to see) let me know and I can find a song for it. The song used here is Ed Sheeran's I don't Care. Oh can anyone name the movie reference at the end :) Thank you and I can't wait to hear what you guys think of it.
HUGE thank you to my friend Van22114. Your friendship and constant encouragement has made me a better writer and person :)
Also thank you to Zygon24 whose support of my writing has been a huge source of inspiration.
Gilbert Grissom sighed heavily as he sat down in his seat uncomfortably adjusting the bow tie around his neck. The one thing he hated wearing more than neck ties were bow ties. He equated to them to some middle evil torture device. Once a year though he knew he didn't have a choice. This year's Policeman's Ball was raising money for the department's widow's fund and it was in honor of Officer Bell. The whole team, hell the entire lab, all shifts would be in attendance tonight. The only thing he knew that would make his night better was that Sara would be attending also. Of course they had to arrive separately but he made sure she'd be seated next to him at his table.
He'd arrived early for that very reason. When he located his table he noticed that he was seated in between Sofia and Catherine and promptly made a switch. Catherine was his dear friend but she'd talk his ear off the whole night and he really wasn't in a talking mood. She'd ask him yet again why he chose to go stag and that would lead Sofia to ramp up her overtures toward him. That was the absolute last thing he needed.
For some reason that woman just couldn't take a hint. Well more than a hint he'd flat out told her he was flattered but not interested when they'd gone for dinner and yet she still flirted with him every chance she got. He wasn't sure if it was because she assumed he was single and that she might one day have a chance or if it was because she sensed Sara's interest (from what he'd overheard seems the whole lab was aware of it) and thought she'd piss her off (those two were like oil and water). Whatever the reason he just knew he couldn't be seated next to her. With his luck she'd start flirting and he'd be his usual oblivious self and in the process Sara would be upset that he didn't do more to reject her advances. So a quick place card change and they were in business.
He put Sara to his right and Greg to his left. Greg would be wise enough to keep his conversations to a minimum for which he was grateful. He also seated Brass to Sara's left as he knew they'd spend the evening engaged in friendly banter. Nick was seated on the other side of Brass followed by Sofia, then Catherine and Warrick. Catherine knew he had trouble getting the blonde to leave him alone so he thought putting them next to one another would make Catherine his lifeline if Sofia got to be too much sitting across from him.
As he looked down at his watch another sigh escaped. All his energy was spent on moving place cards and the event had yet to start. He looked up and saw Sofia walking towards the table and inwardly cringed. He did not want to be left alone at the table with her but was afraid if he got up she might switch the place cards. His distress was short lived however as he saw Brass, Catherine and Sara walking towards the table from another direction. Sara was on Brass' right arm and a momentary feeling of jealousy flashed through him. Ridiculous he knew but he couldn't help it. She looked absolutely gorgeous.
She'd been complaining in the breakroom how she hated functions like this, always feeling like she never knew what to wear. Catherine had swooped in and offered to help her find a dress. Sara looked panic stricken but Grissom had told her that morning when they got home he thought it was a good idea. Catherine enjoyed doing things like that and would be in her element. He also saw it as a bonding opportunity for the two women. They had their ups and downs but remained friendly. He just knew they had more in common than they realized.
He was looking at her and was mesmerized by the sight before him. She was wearing a midnight blue satin dress that reached the floor. The dress was backless with a deep v in the front and a slit on the left that went to mid thigh accentuating her already impossibly long legs. Her hair was pinned up with a few curls down in the front framing her beautiful face. As they reached the table he got up as the ladies took their seats. Brass walked past Gil's chair whispering so only he could hear.
"Hey Romeo, pick your jaw up off the floor."
Grissom shook his head and scowled. Brass was the only one who knew about him and Sara. When he first found out they were both curious as to how he'd known. They'd been so careful (or so they thought). He laughed and told him there's no way to pull one over on a good ole boy from Jersey. He told them both he was happy for them but had given Grissom a warning in private before he'd let Sara know that he knew.
He'd invited him to his office for a drink after a particularly draining case. Grissom was halfway through his glass of scotch when Brass said,
"If you hurt her you're dead and I don't mean figuratively. Not even those bugs you love so much will be able to help. There'll be nothing left to identify you by."
Grissom had nearly choked on his drink before he answered.
"Ex…cuse me?" he stammered.
"You think I wouldn't figure it out?"
Grissom was silent as he finished his glass.
"Are you happy?" Brass asked.
A wistful smile fell over Grissom's face before he replied sincerely.
"Yes."
"Do you love her?"
Without hesitating Grissom shook his head in affirmation.
"Look man, I'm happy for you. For both of you. You both deserve it. Lord knows I never thought you get your head out of your ass but I guess I was wrong. But Sara, well she's like a daughter to me and I do know that she's been in love with you from the word go and this is the happiest I've seen her since she's come to Vegas so just don't screw it up."
Once everyone was seated Grissom put his hand on Sara's bare thigh giving it a loving squeeze before telling her with his eyes exactly what he thought of her outfit. She tried not to blush as she put her hand over his squeezing it back.
"So who's ready to get this party started?" Catherine said in a voice far too bubbly for Grissom's liking.
I'm at a party I don't wanna be at
And I don't ever wear a suit and tie, yeah
Wondering if I could sneak out the back
Nobody's even looking me in my eyes
Then you take my hand
Finish my drink, say, "Shall we dance?" (Hell, yeah)
You know I love ya, did I ever tell ya?
You make it better like that
Warrick, Nick and Greg took everyone's drink orders and headed toward the bar. Brass was complimenting Sara on her dress.
"Wow Cookie! You really do look beautiful tonight. Doesn't she Gil?"
Grissom, totally caught off guard, stuttered before answering.
"Um… um… yes, Sara you do look… beautiful," he squeaked out
Sara blushed and Catherine rolled her eyes. Her sole purpose in offering to help Sara find a dress was in doing so, she hoped she could get Gil to get his head out of the microscope for good this time. Catherine knew Sara had been pining over him since she first moved to vegas and she knew Gil would be happy if just paid attention to something other than work.
"Well let me tell you when I called my friend Jenny who runs the dress shop over at the Venetian and described Sara she instantly said she had the perfect dress for her. I'd say she looks absolutely stunning tonight. If I didn't know better I think you're going to have to beat them off with a stick later when that dance floor opens."
Catherine looked at Grissom as she spoke and noticed his obvious discomfort. Little did she know it was more from misplaced jealousy than anything else.
"Thanks again Catherine. Dressing up for these things is not really my forté," Sara replied.
"Anytime! Dressing you is a dream, you have such a great figure."
Brass noticed Sofia's growing annoyance and tried his best to hide his snigger in a cough.
"Hey guys, we have drinks!" Greg said with a flourish as the boys began passing drinks around.
The next half hour passed quickly with friendly conversation exchanged between each member of the table. Well except for Grissom. In addition to his disdain for attending functions like this he also hated small talk. One of the reasons why he'd initially been so attracted to Sara was that they never went through an awkward small talk phase. She'd been genuinely interested in everything he had to say from the beginning, and it had been easy carrying on a conversation when he didn't constantly have to think of what to say or whether what he did say was the right thing.
Don't think I fit in at this party
Everyone's got so much to say (Yeah)
I always feel like I'm nobody, mm
Who wants to fit in anyway?
Sara squeezed Grissom's hand under the table before excusing herself from the table to use the bathroom. The look she gave him spoke volumes and a few minutes later he informed the group he was going to grab another drink before heading towards the bar by way of the bathrooms.
Sara had just exited the bathroom when she felt a hand on the small of her back and husky voice whisper in her ear,
"You do look stunning my dear."
She smiled as she turned around to embrace her admirer.
"Have I told you how handsome you look in that tux?" she said as she gave Grissom a quick but passionate kiss.
"I hate wearing these things. The only thing I hate wearing more than a suit. In fact the only upside to this whole evening is that I have the most beautiful woman in here sitting at my table."
Sara flashed him her only for Gil Grissom smile and he knew that with Sara by his side he could brave anything.
'Cause I don't care when I'm with my baby, yeah
All the bad things disappear
And you're making me feel like maybe I am somebody
I can deal with the bad nights
When I'm with my baby, yeah
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
"Well I better head back before Catherine sends out a search party for me. I still need to make a trip to the bar as that's where I was headed," he said, giving her one last kiss.
A few minutes later when he returned to the table with a fresh glass of scotch he noticed Sara had already returned and he happily took his seat next to her.
The dance floor opened and Brass was first to ask Sara to dance saying he couldn't pass up the opportunity to have such a beautiful woman on the dance floor with him. Sara smiled and happily obliged. She then had dances with Nick, Warrick and Greg and was getting ready to sit when she felt a soft hand touch her shoulder. She'd recognize that touch anywhere.
"Um… could I have this dance?" Grissom asked sheepishly.
Sara's eyes lit up and she shook her head yes. The soft strains of Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight filled the room.
"Not that I am not happy to dance with you but who are you and what have you done with my Gilbert?"
He laughed before answering,
"Well Catherine threatened me. She said if I didn't dance with you at least once she was going to refuse to help me clear the large stack of paperwork still lingering on my desk."
Sara giggled and Grissom swore it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.
"Well for a seasoned CSI it's funny that she still hasn't figured it out," Sara said as they gently swayed to the music.
"Oh she really thinks I'm too much of a misanthrope to ever make a move."
Sara laughed at his choice of words.
"Well lucky for me she was wrong. Still it surprises me sometimes that Jim's the only one who's figured it out."
"I think Jim's enough. I value my life and I don't need any further threats placed against it."
"Threats?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uh he may have mentioned something about the unidentifiable nature of my body if I screwed this up.
Sara couldn't help the snort that escaped and Grissom knew, if it was even possible that he'd just fallen more in love with her.
An hour later and all guests were again seated as the night's trivia competition was set to begin. The winning team secured themselves dinner at one of the nicest steakhouses in Vegas.
"Ok ladies and gentlemen we are just about to begin. Let me go over some ground rules for tonight's competition. Each table has a scorecard. On it you are to write your team name and the numbers 1-30. We will have 30 general knowledge questions. You must write your answers to each question next to the corresponding number on your scorecard. At the end of the round we will collect the slips and announce a winner."
"Well, I hate to brag," Brass said with a smile. "But with the collective brainpower of this table I seriously doubt if any other team stands a chance," Grissom rolled his eyes while the rest of the table laughed.
"Well I don't know about y'all but I don't think I'm going to be much help. I'm not much of a whiz with trivia. On the other hand I think we could make Griss' and Sara their own team and they'd steal the show."
Sara blushed at his compliment as Grissom replied.
"It's a team effort. I have no doubt everyone will have something valuable to contribute."
Greg offered to record the team's responses and even gave the team a name.
"Creatures of the Night?" Warrick asked him in disbelief.
"Hey, I'll have you know it's a super creative name," Greg said defending his choice.
"Whatever, let's just pay attention he's about to read out the first question," Sofia said, shushing the table.
"Who was the first person to win a Nobel Prize twice and what years did they win them?"
The table was silent until both Sara and Grissom said in unison,
"Marie Curie, 1903 & 1911."
The rest of the table looked at them mouths agape.
"Well she won the first one in physics and the second in Chemistry," Sara responded matter of factly.
"Actually she only won the first one because her husband refused to accept his if she also wasn't awarded one since they co-authored the research," Grissom added.
"Like I said y'all there's no need for anyone else on our team," Nick said with a smile.
They were nine questions in and going strong.
"Okay, question number 10. Which song that debuted in 1987 helped propel Rock legends Guns n' Roses into the mainstream."
"Welcome to the Jungle," was Greg's quick reply.
"Well I'll be damned. Someone else finally knows an answer on this team," Brass said with a chuckle causing Greg to frown while the rest of the table laughed.
They were down to their final question and everyone knew if they got this one they could almost ensure victory.
"Okay ladies and gents, here's our final question, who said this famous quote:We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love."
Everyone at the table was silent, not having the slightest clue as to who said it until Grissom spoke up.
"Oh that one's easy."
"Was it Shakespeare?" Greg asked incredulously.
"No Greg, it was Dr. Suess," Grissom said mildly annoyed.
"Dr. Suess?" The table asked in unison.
"Yes," Grissom replied while taking Sara's hand under the table, caressing it softly.
"Ok Griss' now I know you're the quote master in all but seriously?" Nick said.
"Yes Nick, I never joke about quotes."
"Well he's got you there Nicky," Catherine replied.
"Okay please send up your answer sheets and we will score them and share the results during dessert."
Greg walked up with their answer sheet, the friendly banter continuing as their first course was being served.
Grissom was tired and had reached his limit for the evening. The trivia had been fun he'd admit that but he'd had enough festivities for one night and there was only one person at this table that he wanted to be spending the rest of his evening with. He was ready to skip out on dinner but knew that he couldn't. Sensing his mood, Sara put her hand on his thigh giving it a reassuring squeeze as if to say it was ok, they didn't have much longer to go.
We at a party we don't wanna be at
Tryna talk, but we can't hear ourselves
Read your lips, I'd rather kiss 'em right back
With all these people all around
I'm crippled with anxiety
But I'm told it's where I'm s'posed to be
You know what? It's kinda crazy 'cause I really don't mind
When you make it better like that
Grateful for her presence, he wanted to make sure she understood how beautiful she looked and how much he loved her. He wouldn't have been able to make it through the evening without her. Turning towards her, he looked at her and her heart stopped. Sara may have felt out of her element but she looked breathtaking and he wanted her to see whatever everyone else did so he told her as much without saying a word. Brass watched the short exchange and chuckled inwardly. He was amazed at how they could carry on an entire conversation without uttering a single word.
Dinner went by quickly and everyone at the table enjoyed their meals. Sofia tried to engage Grissom in some flirty banter but Catherine always stepped in not caring if she interrupted the other woman much to Grissom's delight. Soon dessert was served and Grissom was relieved the night was finally coming to a close.
"Okay now is the moment you've all been waiting for. We looked over all the scorecards and there was one winner. But before we announce the winner we will go over the answers."
As each question was reviewed, groans could be heard from neighboring tables who obviously didn't get the correct answer.
"Okay we have reached the last question. We asked who said this famous quote: We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love. There was only one table that had the correct answer and that table is also our winner for this evening."
"The quote can't be that famous if no one seems to have heard about it," Ecklie grumbled from his seat two tables away. Grissom looked at Sara with a twinkle in his eyes knowing that they got it right and would be winning the game.
"I can smell victory," Greg said while rubbing his hands together.
"Greg let's not get ahead of ourselves ok?" Grissom said to his youngest CSI.
"But I thought you said you were certain that quote was from Dr. Suess?"
"I am but who knows maybe even I'm wrong on this one," Grissom said, not quite believing that to be true.
"That quote was authored by none other than Dr. Suess!" The announcer said excitedly.
"This makes Creatures of the Night victorious with a perfect score of 30/30. Let's give a big round of applause to our winners for this evening."
Greg was beyond excited and everyone nominated him to head up and collect their prize.
Grissom was ready to head home and said as much to the group saying his goodbyes.
"Aw come on Griss' we were all going to head out and grab a few more drinks. The night's still young," Nick said.
"Uh thanks Nick but I really should be getting home. Hank's been home alone this whole time and…"
"Hank?" Sofia questioned before Grissom could finish his sentence.
"Gil's dog," Brass answered her.
"You have a dog?" The rest of the table asked.
"Yes and I was saying I'll need to walk him."
"Gil this is a real dog we're talking about, not some giant cockroach right?" Catherine was surprised as hell that her good friend had a dog and she knew nothing about it.
Grissom rolled his eyes before replying and Sara had to bite her lip to suppress a giggle.
"Yes Catherine, he's a real dog. A boxer actually."
"And you named him Hank?" Warrick asked skeptically.
"No, he had that name when I adopted him. His late owner was a big time baseball fan and he was named after Hank Aaron."
"Well guys I'm going to be heading home too," Sara told the group.
"How will you be getting home?" Catherine asked knowing they'd arrived together in a taxi.
"I was just going to call a cab," Sara replied.
"Well I'm sure Gil wouldn't mind dropping you off at home now would he?" Catherine said with a smile pleased with her suggestion.
"Oh really that's not necessary Cath I can just call a cab," Sara protested trying to sound convincing.
"I don't mind Sara. It's on my way anyway," Grissom answered truthfully since technically they were both headed to the same place.
"Then it's settled!" Catherine said standing up.
Judging by the look on her face Sofia definitely wasn't pleased by the arrangement but had little say in the matter.
I don't like nobody but you, it's like you're the only one here
I don't like nobody but you, baby, I don't care
I don't like nobody but you, I hate everyone here
I don't like nobody but you, baby, yeah
'Cause I don't care (Don't care)
When I'm with my baby, yeah (Oh yeah)
All the bad things disappear (Disappear)
And you're making me feel like maybe I am somebody (Maybe I'm somebody)
I can deal with the bad nights (With the bad nights)
When I'm with my baby, yeah
Grissom and Sara were outside waiting for the Valet to bring his Mercedes and Grissom had to fight the urge not to reach out and hold her hand.
Once they pulled away from the hotel he reached out and took her hand kissing the back of it.
"You really were amazing tonight Sara, I couldn't have made it through the evening without you."
She blushed before answering,
"Well you know I've got a head for trivia and a bod for sin," she said suggestively.
Grissom chuckled at her movie reference.
"Well I can attest to the trivia part after being a witness to it earlier but the sin part. Well I may need to do some investigating of that one," he said in a husky tone.
"Well Dr. Grissom I'd say you better make sure that it's a thorough investigation, wouldn't want you to miss anything," she said smiling.
"Always my dear," he replied, returning her mischievous smile.
Yes, with Sara Sidle by his side, Gil Grissom could survive anything.
'Cause I don't care as long as you just hold me near (Me near)
You can take me anywhere (Anywhere, anywhere)
And you're making me feel like I'm loved by somebody
(I'm loved by somebody, yeah, yeah, yeah)
I can deal with the bad nights
When I'm with my baby, yeah