Summary: After viewing a horrific accident, Sara makes some hard decisions about her life. Obviously, a Sara-centered story, but with lots of friendship and a little bit of G/S at the end.
Rating: R for subject matter
A/N: No real spoilers. Thanks to Burked and all the others who previewed this for me.
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own anything related to CSI. If I did, I'd be on a tropical beach right now.
Chapter 65
It was a day photographers dreamed of. The late afternoon sun danced through the trees, painting dabbled patterns on the ground. Beads of moisture from an earlier shower acted like prisms, creating miniature rainbows in the grass. Children played in the park, getting a few last minutes of fun in before heading home for the night.
Joking and laughing, Sara ignored Jimmy's antics as he tried another ploy to convince her to stay in Santa Barbara, pointing out she was already practically commuting between the campus and Las Vegas. She basked in the glow of his friendship, glad that she had people who cared for her in both locations, knowing she'd miss her friends in California when she left in a couple of weeks.
Shaking her head as they crested a small hill, Sara spotted the young boys running down a pathway, tossing a frisbee as they went. One throw went high, and the closest kid ran backwards and jumped to catch it, losing control as he landed, stumbling backwards between two parked cars and into the path of a sedan.
The squeal of brakes, a loud thump and screams filled the air, shattering the afternoon calm. After freezing for a moment, Sara raced down the hill, pulling her cell phone out, dialing 911 as she went. Reaching the boy, rolling on the ground and crying, she immediately coaxed him to lie still. Keeping her voice low and soft, she performed a cursory examination, reassuring him he'd be fine.
Turning her attention to his friends, she questioned them about his family. She then sent Jimmy with the other children to find the boy's parents, located elsewhere in the park. Looking up at the crowd, she immediately took charge, sending other adults to direct traffic around the accident scene, and telling witnesses to gather off to the side until the police came.
When the ambulance arrived, she stayed with the boy, smiling reassuringly as the paramedics set his broken wrist in a splint, not leaving his side until his parents came running up, a winded Jimmy dragging behind. Quickly explaining what happened, she smiled shyly at their exuberant thanks. When the police officers pulled up, she left the parents to give her statement.
Sara remained at the scene, answering questions and calming the frightened children, arranging with the police to have them driven to their homes. Afterwards, she sank to the curb, for the first time registering the broken glass and blood on the pavement. On her clothes.
"Sara, are you okay?" Jimmy asked quietly, taking her elbow gently and pulling her up.
"I need to get to Vegas," she whispered.
~~~~~
Floodlights marked the location of the decaying body, even if dispatch hadn't given her precise directions. Approaching the scene slowly, Sara wrapped her jacket closer around herself, showing her identification to the officers on the perimeter, smiling when David came over to give her a shy hug.
"Sara, doll, you need to get a hobby. It's bad enough you just wandered onto cases when you lived in Vegas," Brass teased, walking over to pat her arm. "Your vacation almost over? 'Cause we miss you."
"Hey, Brass, thanks" she said sweetly, her eyes drawn to Grissom, who had snapped his head up at the sound of her name. Directing David to the dead body, he and Nick quickly walked out from under the yellow tapes towards her.
"Whoa, Nicky! Stay downwind, will ya? That's one thing I don't miss about this job," she said, waving her hand under her nose.
"Gal, what are you doin' here?" he asked, backing off from his hug.
"Yes, why are you here?" Grissom asked tightly.
Sara turned to him, a subtle smile forming. She could tell he was keeping his agitation under control. Her parents were coming to visit her this weekend, and she hadn't intended to come to Vegas again before she moved back. Suddenly appearing without warning must have him worried, she realized. She regretted not calling him in advance, but this was something she needed to tell him personally.
"Wanted to tell you I'm ready to come back. For all of it. I can handle it," she stated firmly, but quietly.
"That's great, Sar!" Nick said, casting a hard look at his supervisor, a move mimicked by Brass.
"Nicky, get started on the scene. I'll be there in a minute," Grissom directed, nodding for Sara to walk over to an isolated area.
"Sara?"
"Everything's cool, Grissom. Didn't mean to scare you," she said softly.
"If you're not ready, don't rush it."
"I'm not. Really. I'll explain it when you get home, but I can handle this. All of it. Trust me."
He watched her intently, his tension draining slowly as he winked at her. "If you say so."
"I do. I'll go pick up some lemons and leave them at the lab. You guys stink."
~~~~~
Grissom prodded the quivering mass with the side of the blade experimentally, wrinkling his forehead in consternation. Reading over the procedure again, his tongue peaked out of his mouth as he looked from his gathered ingredients to the picture of the final product.
In the cookbook, the tofu dish looked appetizing, but he eyed the raw product with distrust, deciding the photo had to have been doctored. He was willing to do a lot of things to make Sara happy, but he doubted adding tofu to his diet would be one of them.
The loud knocking at the door drew his attention away from the dinner attempt. Wiping his hands on a towel, he crossed the room quickly to find an aggravated Nick in the hallway.
"We've been trying to call you for over an hour," he said shortly. He didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance. It was bad enough Grissom had ignored Sara when she visited the lab, but his lack of enthusiasm when she told them she was ready to come back had been inexcusable. Holding up a large evidence jar, he walked into the townhouse. "What is this? Vega found a crime scene full of them."
"Come in, Nick," he said distractedly, taking the jarred insect and directing him to a seat at the breakfast bar.
While Grissom stared at the bug in fascination, the younger man watched him closely for the first time. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair disheveled. There were two sets of plates on the dining room table, and a bottle of wine sat opened on the counter.
His mouth hung open as realization dawned on him, only to be confirmed when a woman walked into the living room, wearing only a towel, drying her hair with another. He turned away, but not before noticing the woman had great legs. No wonder Grissom had his cell phone and pager turned off.
"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company," the blushing Texan said to Grissom.
"Nicky!" she exclaimed, dropping the towel from her hair.
"Sara!"
"Nick!" Grissom growled, when he saw the younger man eyeing her appreciatively.
"Sorry," he said, dropping his head into his hands, more afraid of Sara's bite than Grissom's bark.
"Stay there," she said, going back to the bedroom, quickly changing and heading back to take a seat beside her confused friend.
"Sorry," he repeated, jumping when he felt something climbing up his leg. Given who owed the property, there was no telling what type of creature it was. "What the hell?"
"Hey, Tesla," she said, scooping up the kitten, grinning at the Texan's startled look. "Grissom got me a kitten."
"Awww," he drawled, getting another glare from Grissom. "Hold on: you're the friend? You're the one he's been seeing all this time? And you didn't tell us? You've been in Vegas and didn't visit us?"
"No, Nicky. Sorry. We wanted to keep things quiet until we were sure things were going to work out this time," she explained.
"That's okay. I understand. Your secret's safe with me," he said, smiling as he reached over to pet the kitten.
"It's okay, Nick," Grissom said suddenly. "Might as well let everyone know now. Call the others up, tell them to get here. Don't tell them why. I'll order some pizzas," he said, happily dumping the tofu in the trashcan.
Laughing, Nick gave Sara a hug. "Poor Greg. He's going to be heartbroken."
"What about Cath? She's going to go postal when she finds out she didn't know about this!"
~~~~~
The impromptu party turned out to be more fun than he expected, with the others curious why they had been called to his home on short notice. Their surprise turned to shock when Sara explained the truth of their relationship. The party was short-lived, as Sara had to fly back to Santa Barbara that evening.
"See you later, Sara," Catherine said, giving her a hug. "And tell Gil I'll be talking to him later," she said, glaring evilly at him as he left the room with his cell phone.
"Okay," she chuckled, turning to hug Greg. "Hey, look on the bright side. I can talk to him about barking at you," she whispered with a wink, trying to cheer up the dejected lab tech. "I think I can bribe him."
"Just wear that towel more often," Nick quipped, yelping when Sara punched his arm.
"Let's get out of here while you can still walk, man. You take care, Sara," Warrick said with a kind smile.
"Bye, guys!"
"I want to show you something before you head back to the airport," Grissom said, slipping up behind her.
"Okay."
Sara shook her head when she pulled her rental car up behind him when he turned into the driveway of a two-story house in an older section of the city. The for-sale sign made the point of the visit clear.
"I'm not pushing," he insisted as soon as she walked to him. "I just called a real estate agent to start looking. She called me right back about this place. I think it's perfect. I've had it inspected. Besides some cosmetic work, it's in excellent condition. I want to know what you think," he said, beginning a tour.
While she agreed they would need a larger place when she moved in, this was overkill. By no means a mansion, the house was bigger than what they needed. Still, she couldn't help but smile as he pointed out the features in each room: the den with the built-in bookcases, the windows with the right exposure for bonsai, locations where aquariums could go.
When he showed her the large master suite, and started on the three other bedrooms, she finally let out a long laugh.
"What are we going to do with all these bedrooms, Grissom? Set each one up as a different type of bug habitat?"
"No," he said, drawing her to the window. Standing behind her, he pointed out a shape just visible in the dying light. "See the outbuilding? Next to the garage? It has its own heating and air. I figured I'd use it for my bugs and experiments. Keep them out of your hair," he quipped, tracing a finger along the back of her neck.
She chuckled as she looked in the direction his other hand was pointing, noticing a small swimming pool and fenced-in backyard.
"We could get a dog," he added hopefully when he saw her checking out the enclosure.
She smiled and leaned back against him. His enthusiasm was catching, and the idea of a dog was nice, but the house was more than they needed.
"So, what would we do with all these bedrooms?" she repeated, laughing softly.
"That depends on you."
"Oh?"
Grissom slipped his hand to her abdomen, then lowered it slowly.
"It depends on how many kids you want to have," he said hesitantly.
Sara stared out into the night, blinking her eyes in confusion. Did he just say what she thought he said? After all his anxiety whenever the subject was mentioned, he just suddenly brought it up? Life with him was going to prove interesting.
"When you're ready. I don't mean right away. I'm not trying to rush things," he spurted out, shifting nervously behind her.
She kept her gaze out the window, feeling his muscles tensing. The corners of her lips twitched as she recognized his anxiety as he waited for her answer. It pleased her that he wanted to share a future with her, but she was still shocked by the bombshell he'd dropped. Two could play at this game.
"Gee, I don't know Grissom. There're only three extra bedrooms," she said seriously.
She suppressed her laughter when she felt his slight start before he turned to stare at the bedroom.
"Well, this room is too small, but the others are big enough for bunk beds. And we could always convert the den to another bedroom."
"That didn't even faze you," she said in amazement, turning to face him.
"Well, it's not likely to be a concern," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Unless you have a couple sets of triplets."
"No way! If we even have one set of triplets, you're getting fixed and never touching me again!"
Grissom chuckled as he pulled her closer, kissing her softly.
"I take it the thought of our having a family is acceptable? In time," he added quickly.
"In time," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Did the agent give you any idea how long we can wait before we have to make an offer?"
"She said there weren't a lot of people looking in this neighborhood. It's not convenient to any of the shopping malls. I told her I didn't think that would be a problem for us."
Sara chuckled at that understatement. Pulling out his embrace, she headed back down the stairs. This was a major decision, but he seemed to have his heart set on this house.
"Am I rushing things?" he asked nervously.
"No. Let me think about this for a little bit. And I've got to go, or I'll miss my plane."
"I know. If you don't want this place, there are plenty of others on the market."
"It's not that. I like the house, even if it a bit big. All of this is a major step. We're talking lifetime obligations here. That's not something I want to make lightly."
"I know. I've thought about that," he said, taking her hand as they walked down the front steps. "I'm tired of being alone, Sara. I want to be with you, to have a family. I've wasted too much time; we could have been happy together all this time."
"You don't know that. If the timing wasn't right, it wasn't right. If you weren't ready for a relationship, it probably would have ended badly. Don't worry about it, babe. You came to your senses in time," she teased, giving him a passionate kiss.
"Thank you. For understanding. For waiting for me."
"I should be thanking you."
"How about we call it even before you miss your flight?"
"Sounds good," she said, giving him a last kiss before heading to her rental car, Grissom's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Hey, Grissom," she called out before driving away. "When I get back, let's go ahead and store your bugs at my apartment and list the townhouse for sale. The settlements will take time. Go ahead and make an offer on this place. We don't want to wait until it's too late," she said with a wink.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Finis ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Rating: R for subject matter
A/N: No real spoilers. Thanks to Burked and all the others who previewed this for me.
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own anything related to CSI. If I did, I'd be on a tropical beach right now.
Chapter 65
It was a day photographers dreamed of. The late afternoon sun danced through the trees, painting dabbled patterns on the ground. Beads of moisture from an earlier shower acted like prisms, creating miniature rainbows in the grass. Children played in the park, getting a few last minutes of fun in before heading home for the night.
Joking and laughing, Sara ignored Jimmy's antics as he tried another ploy to convince her to stay in Santa Barbara, pointing out she was already practically commuting between the campus and Las Vegas. She basked in the glow of his friendship, glad that she had people who cared for her in both locations, knowing she'd miss her friends in California when she left in a couple of weeks.
Shaking her head as they crested a small hill, Sara spotted the young boys running down a pathway, tossing a frisbee as they went. One throw went high, and the closest kid ran backwards and jumped to catch it, losing control as he landed, stumbling backwards between two parked cars and into the path of a sedan.
The squeal of brakes, a loud thump and screams filled the air, shattering the afternoon calm. After freezing for a moment, Sara raced down the hill, pulling her cell phone out, dialing 911 as she went. Reaching the boy, rolling on the ground and crying, she immediately coaxed him to lie still. Keeping her voice low and soft, she performed a cursory examination, reassuring him he'd be fine.
Turning her attention to his friends, she questioned them about his family. She then sent Jimmy with the other children to find the boy's parents, located elsewhere in the park. Looking up at the crowd, she immediately took charge, sending other adults to direct traffic around the accident scene, and telling witnesses to gather off to the side until the police came.
When the ambulance arrived, she stayed with the boy, smiling reassuringly as the paramedics set his broken wrist in a splint, not leaving his side until his parents came running up, a winded Jimmy dragging behind. Quickly explaining what happened, she smiled shyly at their exuberant thanks. When the police officers pulled up, she left the parents to give her statement.
Sara remained at the scene, answering questions and calming the frightened children, arranging with the police to have them driven to their homes. Afterwards, she sank to the curb, for the first time registering the broken glass and blood on the pavement. On her clothes.
"Sara, are you okay?" Jimmy asked quietly, taking her elbow gently and pulling her up.
"I need to get to Vegas," she whispered.
~~~~~
Floodlights marked the location of the decaying body, even if dispatch hadn't given her precise directions. Approaching the scene slowly, Sara wrapped her jacket closer around herself, showing her identification to the officers on the perimeter, smiling when David came over to give her a shy hug.
"Sara, doll, you need to get a hobby. It's bad enough you just wandered onto cases when you lived in Vegas," Brass teased, walking over to pat her arm. "Your vacation almost over? 'Cause we miss you."
"Hey, Brass, thanks" she said sweetly, her eyes drawn to Grissom, who had snapped his head up at the sound of her name. Directing David to the dead body, he and Nick quickly walked out from under the yellow tapes towards her.
"Whoa, Nicky! Stay downwind, will ya? That's one thing I don't miss about this job," she said, waving her hand under her nose.
"Gal, what are you doin' here?" he asked, backing off from his hug.
"Yes, why are you here?" Grissom asked tightly.
Sara turned to him, a subtle smile forming. She could tell he was keeping his agitation under control. Her parents were coming to visit her this weekend, and she hadn't intended to come to Vegas again before she moved back. Suddenly appearing without warning must have him worried, she realized. She regretted not calling him in advance, but this was something she needed to tell him personally.
"Wanted to tell you I'm ready to come back. For all of it. I can handle it," she stated firmly, but quietly.
"That's great, Sar!" Nick said, casting a hard look at his supervisor, a move mimicked by Brass.
"Nicky, get started on the scene. I'll be there in a minute," Grissom directed, nodding for Sara to walk over to an isolated area.
"Sara?"
"Everything's cool, Grissom. Didn't mean to scare you," she said softly.
"If you're not ready, don't rush it."
"I'm not. Really. I'll explain it when you get home, but I can handle this. All of it. Trust me."
He watched her intently, his tension draining slowly as he winked at her. "If you say so."
"I do. I'll go pick up some lemons and leave them at the lab. You guys stink."
~~~~~
Grissom prodded the quivering mass with the side of the blade experimentally, wrinkling his forehead in consternation. Reading over the procedure again, his tongue peaked out of his mouth as he looked from his gathered ingredients to the picture of the final product.
In the cookbook, the tofu dish looked appetizing, but he eyed the raw product with distrust, deciding the photo had to have been doctored. He was willing to do a lot of things to make Sara happy, but he doubted adding tofu to his diet would be one of them.
The loud knocking at the door drew his attention away from the dinner attempt. Wiping his hands on a towel, he crossed the room quickly to find an aggravated Nick in the hallway.
"We've been trying to call you for over an hour," he said shortly. He didn't bother trying to hide his annoyance. It was bad enough Grissom had ignored Sara when she visited the lab, but his lack of enthusiasm when she told them she was ready to come back had been inexcusable. Holding up a large evidence jar, he walked into the townhouse. "What is this? Vega found a crime scene full of them."
"Come in, Nick," he said distractedly, taking the jarred insect and directing him to a seat at the breakfast bar.
While Grissom stared at the bug in fascination, the younger man watched him closely for the first time. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, his hair disheveled. There were two sets of plates on the dining room table, and a bottle of wine sat opened on the counter.
His mouth hung open as realization dawned on him, only to be confirmed when a woman walked into the living room, wearing only a towel, drying her hair with another. He turned away, but not before noticing the woman had great legs. No wonder Grissom had his cell phone and pager turned off.
"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I didn't know you had company," the blushing Texan said to Grissom.
"Nicky!" she exclaimed, dropping the towel from her hair.
"Sara!"
"Nick!" Grissom growled, when he saw the younger man eyeing her appreciatively.
"Sorry," he said, dropping his head into his hands, more afraid of Sara's bite than Grissom's bark.
"Stay there," she said, going back to the bedroom, quickly changing and heading back to take a seat beside her confused friend.
"Sorry," he repeated, jumping when he felt something climbing up his leg. Given who owed the property, there was no telling what type of creature it was. "What the hell?"
"Hey, Tesla," she said, scooping up the kitten, grinning at the Texan's startled look. "Grissom got me a kitten."
"Awww," he drawled, getting another glare from Grissom. "Hold on: you're the friend? You're the one he's been seeing all this time? And you didn't tell us? You've been in Vegas and didn't visit us?"
"No, Nicky. Sorry. We wanted to keep things quiet until we were sure things were going to work out this time," she explained.
"That's okay. I understand. Your secret's safe with me," he said, smiling as he reached over to pet the kitten.
"It's okay, Nick," Grissom said suddenly. "Might as well let everyone know now. Call the others up, tell them to get here. Don't tell them why. I'll order some pizzas," he said, happily dumping the tofu in the trashcan.
Laughing, Nick gave Sara a hug. "Poor Greg. He's going to be heartbroken."
"What about Cath? She's going to go postal when she finds out she didn't know about this!"
~~~~~
The impromptu party turned out to be more fun than he expected, with the others curious why they had been called to his home on short notice. Their surprise turned to shock when Sara explained the truth of their relationship. The party was short-lived, as Sara had to fly back to Santa Barbara that evening.
"See you later, Sara," Catherine said, giving her a hug. "And tell Gil I'll be talking to him later," she said, glaring evilly at him as he left the room with his cell phone.
"Okay," she chuckled, turning to hug Greg. "Hey, look on the bright side. I can talk to him about barking at you," she whispered with a wink, trying to cheer up the dejected lab tech. "I think I can bribe him."
"Just wear that towel more often," Nick quipped, yelping when Sara punched his arm.
"Let's get out of here while you can still walk, man. You take care, Sara," Warrick said with a kind smile.
"Bye, guys!"
"I want to show you something before you head back to the airport," Grissom said, slipping up behind her.
"Okay."
Sara shook her head when she pulled her rental car up behind him when he turned into the driveway of a two-story house in an older section of the city. The for-sale sign made the point of the visit clear.
"I'm not pushing," he insisted as soon as she walked to him. "I just called a real estate agent to start looking. She called me right back about this place. I think it's perfect. I've had it inspected. Besides some cosmetic work, it's in excellent condition. I want to know what you think," he said, beginning a tour.
While she agreed they would need a larger place when she moved in, this was overkill. By no means a mansion, the house was bigger than what they needed. Still, she couldn't help but smile as he pointed out the features in each room: the den with the built-in bookcases, the windows with the right exposure for bonsai, locations where aquariums could go.
When he showed her the large master suite, and started on the three other bedrooms, she finally let out a long laugh.
"What are we going to do with all these bedrooms, Grissom? Set each one up as a different type of bug habitat?"
"No," he said, drawing her to the window. Standing behind her, he pointed out a shape just visible in the dying light. "See the outbuilding? Next to the garage? It has its own heating and air. I figured I'd use it for my bugs and experiments. Keep them out of your hair," he quipped, tracing a finger along the back of her neck.
She chuckled as she looked in the direction his other hand was pointing, noticing a small swimming pool and fenced-in backyard.
"We could get a dog," he added hopefully when he saw her checking out the enclosure.
She smiled and leaned back against him. His enthusiasm was catching, and the idea of a dog was nice, but the house was more than they needed.
"So, what would we do with all these bedrooms?" she repeated, laughing softly.
"That depends on you."
"Oh?"
Grissom slipped his hand to her abdomen, then lowered it slowly.
"It depends on how many kids you want to have," he said hesitantly.
Sara stared out into the night, blinking her eyes in confusion. Did he just say what she thought he said? After all his anxiety whenever the subject was mentioned, he just suddenly brought it up? Life with him was going to prove interesting.
"When you're ready. I don't mean right away. I'm not trying to rush things," he spurted out, shifting nervously behind her.
She kept her gaze out the window, feeling his muscles tensing. The corners of her lips twitched as she recognized his anxiety as he waited for her answer. It pleased her that he wanted to share a future with her, but she was still shocked by the bombshell he'd dropped. Two could play at this game.
"Gee, I don't know Grissom. There're only three extra bedrooms," she said seriously.
She suppressed her laughter when she felt his slight start before he turned to stare at the bedroom.
"Well, this room is too small, but the others are big enough for bunk beds. And we could always convert the den to another bedroom."
"That didn't even faze you," she said in amazement, turning to face him.
"Well, it's not likely to be a concern," he said, wrapping his arms around her. "Unless you have a couple sets of triplets."
"No way! If we even have one set of triplets, you're getting fixed and never touching me again!"
Grissom chuckled as he pulled her closer, kissing her softly.
"I take it the thought of our having a family is acceptable? In time," he added quickly.
"In time," she sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. "Did the agent give you any idea how long we can wait before we have to make an offer?"
"She said there weren't a lot of people looking in this neighborhood. It's not convenient to any of the shopping malls. I told her I didn't think that would be a problem for us."
Sara chuckled at that understatement. Pulling out his embrace, she headed back down the stairs. This was a major decision, but he seemed to have his heart set on this house.
"Am I rushing things?" he asked nervously.
"No. Let me think about this for a little bit. And I've got to go, or I'll miss my plane."
"I know. If you don't want this place, there are plenty of others on the market."
"It's not that. I like the house, even if it a bit big. All of this is a major step. We're talking lifetime obligations here. That's not something I want to make lightly."
"I know. I've thought about that," he said, taking her hand as they walked down the front steps. "I'm tired of being alone, Sara. I want to be with you, to have a family. I've wasted too much time; we could have been happy together all this time."
"You don't know that. If the timing wasn't right, it wasn't right. If you weren't ready for a relationship, it probably would have ended badly. Don't worry about it, babe. You came to your senses in time," she teased, giving him a passionate kiss.
"Thank you. For understanding. For waiting for me."
"I should be thanking you."
"How about we call it even before you miss your flight?"
"Sounds good," she said, giving him a last kiss before heading to her rental car, Grissom's arm wrapped around her shoulder.
"Hey, Grissom," she called out before driving away. "When I get back, let's go ahead and store your bugs at my apartment and list the townhouse for sale. The settlements will take time. Go ahead and make an offer on this place. We don't want to wait until it's too late," she said with a wink.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Finis ~ ~ ~ ~ ~