Title: Evaluations
Author: Jeanine (jeanine@iol.ie)
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sara/Warrick
Spoilers: Anything up to Assume Nothing to be safe
Feedback: Makes my day
Disclaimer: If it was in the show, it's not mine.
Archive: At my site Checkmate () , Fanfiction.net; anywhere else, please ask.
Summary: On the other side of the window, Grissom evaluates Sara and Warrick
Notes: For the LiveJournal Writer's Choice "Other Side of the Window" challenge
***
Grissom knows that Warrick and Sara don't know that he's watching them interrogate the suspect, that they also don't know that he's done this more times than he can possibly remember. They think that he's taking a step back, that he's in the lab, finishing paperwork while they deal with the people end of it; that's what they've always thought, and for a long time, he let them, because it suited him.
But now the operation has been a success, his hearing is back to where it should be, and he's taking this opportunity to stand on the other side of the glass, watching them work together. Today, unlike days gone by, it's not to find out if they're ready to move on without him, but rather to assess how well they work together, as well as to find out what he's been missing out on since isolating himself from his team over the last year.
What he sees impresses him; the way they work together as a team, the way their questions complement one another, the give and take combining to perfectly manoeuvre the suspect to the place that they want him. He's observed them dancing this in perfect time on more than one occasion over the last few weeks, but it doesn't get old.
Except for this time, the interrogation isn't going well.
This time, the suspect is an arrogant SOB, with a slick lawyer, and both of them are well prepared for anything that Warrick and Sara might throw at them.
This time, the meeting ends with the suspect walking out with a condescending smirk, leaving Sara sitting at the table, Warrick standing behind her.
This is where Grissom would usually make his escape, but something makes him stay. Perhaps it's the sigh that Sara heaves, audible to even him, or the way that she slumps forward on the table, resting her head on her arms.
Then again, maybe it's the way that Warrick looks down at her, his brow furrowing in concern. "We'll get him Sara," he says, though Grissom can hear the doubt in his voice, so it's a safe bet Sara can too. When she straightens slightly, still leaning heavily on her arms and answers Warrick without looking at him, Grissom's in no doubt that she did.
"We should have got him this time," she responds, frustration in every syllable, and her head immediately returns to the pillow of her arms.
Grissom knows he should leave, should let them talk among themselves about what to do next, and he takes half a step, but stops when he sees what's happening in the room beyond the glass. Warrick is still gazing at Sara with that concerned look on his face, but he's reached out towards her, laying a hand on the back of her neck, his fingers massaging gently. Grissom fully expects Sara to react strongly, to push him away, but she doesn't, just stays where she is.
They remain where they are for what seems like a long time, three statues, a pane of glass between them, and it's Sara who moves first, sitting up straight and tilting her head back so that she can look up at Warrick. His hand moves from her neck to her shoulder, his other one going to her other shoulder, and the smile on her face sends a stab of pain through Grissom's heart. Once upon a time, he'd wanted Sara to look at him that way, and he'd just been getting to a point where he thought it was possible when his hearing had worsened and he'd distanced himself from her, from everyone.
"You shouldn't be doing that," she chides, her tone teasing, at odds with her serious demeanour of seconds ago, and Grissom's eyes fly to Warrick, surprised to see the other man's lips turning up in a smile.
"Didn't hear you complaining this morning." His hands don't stop moving over her shoulders until she chuckles, reaching up to lay her hands over them.
"We weren't in work then," she reminds him, the words uttered with the air of one who's said them countless times before. Warrick doesn't seem to take offence though, just chuckles as well.
"Consider it a down payment for later then," he replies, and at that, the biggest grin that Grissom's ever seen splits Sara's face, and she stands, nodding her head.
"Done," she says, turning to face Warrick, but he doesn't move, so she's sandwiched between the table and his body, and she doesn't look like she's planning on moving any time soon. Especially not when her hands go to his chest, or when his hands land on her hips. She tilts her head to the side, in what even Grissom recognises as unmistakable invitation, but while Warrick matches her movement, he clucks his tongue reprovingly.
"I thought we shouldn't do this at work."
He's teasing, but her hands slide up to his shoulders, and she rises up on her toes, bringing her lips close to his. "Who said that?" she murmurs, and Grissom can just about see Warrick's teeth flashing white in his face before Sara's lips meet his.
The kiss doesn't last that long, but that's not what Grissom is concentrating on. He's concentrating on the matching smiles on both their faces when they pull away, on the tender way that Warrick brushes back Sara's hair from her face, on the sparkle in her eyes as she leans into his touch. It's on the cosiness of the whole scene, how completely at ease they are with one another, how they make this look like it's the most natural thing in the world.
Grissom stands on the other side of the window from them, and he realises that he's done what he set out to do; he's found out how well Warrick and Sara work with one another, what he's been missing out on for the past year.
He just never knew that he'd missed so much.