Title: The Quest
By: Manigault
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to CBS, Anthony Zuiker, and Alliance-Atlantis.
Spoilers: Who knows. It could be based on various spoilers that are floating around.in a very general sense. Mostly, it is what I would like to see happen. There is a spoiler that has changed since I started this piece. That is the fact that Warrick is in competition for the promotion and not Nick. I decided to leave it as Warrick, because it flowed much better..I think.
Note: This is a stand-alone fluff piece. I'm working on a sequel for Day by Day. This is not it.
Special Note: Thanks Alison, for editing and for your wonderful comments.
Sara paced in front of the desk, all nervous energy and pent up annoyance echoing in each step and abrupt turnabout of her heels. She had mucked things up a few months ago and now she needed to prove to herself, and to him, that she was not some gal with a crush on her boss. That she could and should receive the promotion based on her work and her work alone.
Sara stopped pacing as a memory of the reason she had stayed in Vegas in the first place vibrated inside her mind. Warrick. He was the reason that Grissom had called her and asked her to do him a favor. Some people thought that she was Grissom's pet, a term that left her steaming, but she was not. For some unbeknown reason, Grissom had a protective arm around Warrick. The man could do no wrong in the supervisor's eyes. Whereas, she could sneeze and he would give her a lecture about cleanliness in the work place.
"Shit. Shit." Folding her arms at the elbows, Sara glared at the internal dialogue until a bemused voice made her chin snap up and her eyes darken.
The object of her thoughts, one of them at least, hovered in the doorway.
"That's professional, Sara." Warrick smirked as his eyes traveled past her around the room and then slowly back to her crimson face. "You think that throwing a tantrum in the boss's office will win you brownie points?"
"That's your area of expertise, Warrick." Sara berated herself for placing herself in anyone's, particularly Warricks', line of fire.
The edge of Warrick's lips curved and he shook his head. "That was low, Sara."
"And what was your comment?" Sara countered with a raised eyebrow.
"I was teasing you, Sara. It was a joke." The smile slipped from his face and his eyes narrowed on her masked face. "I think that you are taking this promotion thing way too seriously."
Sara narrowed her eyes and tried to gage his thoughts. "You aren't taking it seriously, Warrick? It isn't something that you truly want?"
"I didn't say that." Warrick shook his head again. "I'm going home. It's been an impossibly long night."
Sara watched him leave. She felt a second of remorse for her quick response to his teasing, but coming on top of her thoughts it was jarring to say the least. She was so tired of Catherine and Warrick dictating what and how they would run a case or how they could bring their personal lives into the case while Grissom looked the other way.
"What was that about?" Grissom stood in the doorway sporting a puzzled expression. He stared at Sara and hoped that she would not bring up the promotion.
Sara stared at him for a beat while she attempted to organize her jumbled thoughts. Her eyes traveled to his beard almost without conscious thought and she had to readjust again to seeing him with the facial addition. It reminded her of when she had first met him, years ago at that seminar in San Francisco. It also made her recall her feelings of being his avid student while he lectured on forensics.
"Sara?"
The questioning way he spoke her name, released the torrent of words that she had been rehashing in her brain for the past hour.
"I deserve this promotion, Grissom. I want to make sure that you look at my record as an investigator and not my brief lapse of professionalism that night I mistakenly asked you to dinner. I was in shock from the explosion. I probably should have taken a few days off to recuperate and then things would not have been so..muddled."
Grissom locked his jaw as he stared at her earnest expression. "You are saying that you made a mistake when you propositioned me? Now, you regret it?"
Anger lit her eyes and she exploded with indignation. "I did not proposition you Grissom! I asked you to dinner. I go to dinner with my co- workers all of the time."
"To see what happens?" Grissom pressed. He was not sure why he was teasing her about this. He should have been feeling relieved that she was backpedaling, trying to extricate herself out of the situation in which she had placed them.
He did not expect to see the hurt that flashed across her face or the glistening in the corner of her eyes.
"I should never have asked you that, Grissom. I know where you stand regarding your, for lack of a better word, your lack of feelings for me." She licked her lips and with a nervous gesture of her hands she waved them towards him. "I realize that we can't recapture our friendship of the past, so I'm trying to mend our working relationship so that we can move forward."
Grissom had not expected those words to cut him so deeply. He was the one that had mucked things up completely by not being honest with Sara. If the meaning behind her words were to be accepted at face value then she was telling him it was now too late, at least for their personal relationship, but not their professional relationship. The problem was separating the two issues. There had been so much going on his life during that night. The explosion. His pending surgery. He had not had time to process everything and categorize his feelings..or hers.
"Sara." Grissom looked down to formulate his thoughts.
Sara rolled her eyes. She would have fled the room if he had not been standing in the doorway, blocking her path. His silence was speaking volumes.
"I realize that you were in shock." Grissom looked up to gauge her reaction. "I won't hold it against you when I write my evaluation. You are one of the best investigators in the field." He shook his head and removed his glasses. "But, I'm insulted that you don't trust me to be fair."
Relief turned quickly into anger. Sara could not believe that he was trying to turn this back onto himself.
"You know what, Gris?" Sara folded her arms and stared at him with what she hoped was a steady look. "I do trust you. I don't know what I was thinking." She nodded towards the hallway. "If you will kindly step aside, I think that I will go home and rest."
Grissom did not care for the look in her eyes, nor the way she was so anxious to get away from him. Since when had his friendship with Sara become so strained? He thought back to that day his old mentor had dropped the bombshell concerning Sara's relationship with that man, whatshisname. Grissom shuddered internally and suppressed the reasons for his discomfort.
"Excuse me," Sara stood inches from him, her expression closed off to his inspection.
Stepping aside, Grissom allowed her to flee his office without a backwards glance in his direction. Watching her retreat, he knew that it was time he did some re-evaluating.
TBC
By: Manigault
Disclaimer: These characters are not mine. They belong to CBS, Anthony Zuiker, and Alliance-Atlantis.
Spoilers: Who knows. It could be based on various spoilers that are floating around.in a very general sense. Mostly, it is what I would like to see happen. There is a spoiler that has changed since I started this piece. That is the fact that Warrick is in competition for the promotion and not Nick. I decided to leave it as Warrick, because it flowed much better..I think.
Note: This is a stand-alone fluff piece. I'm working on a sequel for Day by Day. This is not it.
Special Note: Thanks Alison, for editing and for your wonderful comments.
Sara paced in front of the desk, all nervous energy and pent up annoyance echoing in each step and abrupt turnabout of her heels. She had mucked things up a few months ago and now she needed to prove to herself, and to him, that she was not some gal with a crush on her boss. That she could and should receive the promotion based on her work and her work alone.
Sara stopped pacing as a memory of the reason she had stayed in Vegas in the first place vibrated inside her mind. Warrick. He was the reason that Grissom had called her and asked her to do him a favor. Some people thought that she was Grissom's pet, a term that left her steaming, but she was not. For some unbeknown reason, Grissom had a protective arm around Warrick. The man could do no wrong in the supervisor's eyes. Whereas, she could sneeze and he would give her a lecture about cleanliness in the work place.
"Shit. Shit." Folding her arms at the elbows, Sara glared at the internal dialogue until a bemused voice made her chin snap up and her eyes darken.
The object of her thoughts, one of them at least, hovered in the doorway.
"That's professional, Sara." Warrick smirked as his eyes traveled past her around the room and then slowly back to her crimson face. "You think that throwing a tantrum in the boss's office will win you brownie points?"
"That's your area of expertise, Warrick." Sara berated herself for placing herself in anyone's, particularly Warricks', line of fire.
The edge of Warrick's lips curved and he shook his head. "That was low, Sara."
"And what was your comment?" Sara countered with a raised eyebrow.
"I was teasing you, Sara. It was a joke." The smile slipped from his face and his eyes narrowed on her masked face. "I think that you are taking this promotion thing way too seriously."
Sara narrowed her eyes and tried to gage his thoughts. "You aren't taking it seriously, Warrick? It isn't something that you truly want?"
"I didn't say that." Warrick shook his head again. "I'm going home. It's been an impossibly long night."
Sara watched him leave. She felt a second of remorse for her quick response to his teasing, but coming on top of her thoughts it was jarring to say the least. She was so tired of Catherine and Warrick dictating what and how they would run a case or how they could bring their personal lives into the case while Grissom looked the other way.
"What was that about?" Grissom stood in the doorway sporting a puzzled expression. He stared at Sara and hoped that she would not bring up the promotion.
Sara stared at him for a beat while she attempted to organize her jumbled thoughts. Her eyes traveled to his beard almost without conscious thought and she had to readjust again to seeing him with the facial addition. It reminded her of when she had first met him, years ago at that seminar in San Francisco. It also made her recall her feelings of being his avid student while he lectured on forensics.
"Sara?"
The questioning way he spoke her name, released the torrent of words that she had been rehashing in her brain for the past hour.
"I deserve this promotion, Grissom. I want to make sure that you look at my record as an investigator and not my brief lapse of professionalism that night I mistakenly asked you to dinner. I was in shock from the explosion. I probably should have taken a few days off to recuperate and then things would not have been so..muddled."
Grissom locked his jaw as he stared at her earnest expression. "You are saying that you made a mistake when you propositioned me? Now, you regret it?"
Anger lit her eyes and she exploded with indignation. "I did not proposition you Grissom! I asked you to dinner. I go to dinner with my co- workers all of the time."
"To see what happens?" Grissom pressed. He was not sure why he was teasing her about this. He should have been feeling relieved that she was backpedaling, trying to extricate herself out of the situation in which she had placed them.
He did not expect to see the hurt that flashed across her face or the glistening in the corner of her eyes.
"I should never have asked you that, Grissom. I know where you stand regarding your, for lack of a better word, your lack of feelings for me." She licked her lips and with a nervous gesture of her hands she waved them towards him. "I realize that we can't recapture our friendship of the past, so I'm trying to mend our working relationship so that we can move forward."
Grissom had not expected those words to cut him so deeply. He was the one that had mucked things up completely by not being honest with Sara. If the meaning behind her words were to be accepted at face value then she was telling him it was now too late, at least for their personal relationship, but not their professional relationship. The problem was separating the two issues. There had been so much going on his life during that night. The explosion. His pending surgery. He had not had time to process everything and categorize his feelings..or hers.
"Sara." Grissom looked down to formulate his thoughts.
Sara rolled her eyes. She would have fled the room if he had not been standing in the doorway, blocking her path. His silence was speaking volumes.
"I realize that you were in shock." Grissom looked up to gauge her reaction. "I won't hold it against you when I write my evaluation. You are one of the best investigators in the field." He shook his head and removed his glasses. "But, I'm insulted that you don't trust me to be fair."
Relief turned quickly into anger. Sara could not believe that he was trying to turn this back onto himself.
"You know what, Gris?" Sara folded her arms and stared at him with what she hoped was a steady look. "I do trust you. I don't know what I was thinking." She nodded towards the hallway. "If you will kindly step aside, I think that I will go home and rest."
Grissom did not care for the look in her eyes, nor the way she was so anxious to get away from him. Since when had his friendship with Sara become so strained? He thought back to that day his old mentor had dropped the bombshell concerning Sara's relationship with that man, whatshisname. Grissom shuddered internally and suppressed the reasons for his discomfort.
"Excuse me," Sara stood inches from him, her expression closed off to his inspection.
Stepping aside, Grissom allowed her to flee his office without a backwards glance in his direction. Watching her retreat, he knew that it was time he did some re-evaluating.
TBC