Breaking the silence that had seemed to rule the car since they left Rachel, Sara asked, "What's your favorite color, Grissom?"
Shooting her a quizzical look, he asked, "Why?"
"Just trying to get to know you better. If it's too personal, don't answer," She shrugged.
"Blue. What's yours?"
"Red. What's your biggest pet peeve?"
"Nosy brunettes. What's yours?"
"Mysterious scientists."
"I thought you liked mysterious men."
"Yeah, but they can't be too mysterious. I'd like to be able to figure them out, at least a little."
"So, you want someone mysterious, but not too mysterious?"
"It's silly, I know."
"Hey, whatever lights your fire."
Sara let out a small chuckle and they shared a smile. She was about to ask him another question when her phone rang. She flipped it open and put it to her ear.
"Sidle."
"What are you wearing?" A man's voice asked.
Sara pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it for a second. She put it back to her ear and asked, "Who is this?"
"This is Fox Mulder from the Alien Moving Company."
"Agent Mulder, what's up?"
"That depends on what you're wearing."
"Well, I'm wearing the same thing I was wearing when we left Rachel," she said. Grissom shot her a curious look and she smiled at him.
"That's too bad. I was just calling to ask what we're gonna do once we get to Vegas."
"Oh. Well, I'll talk to Grissom and then call you back."
"All right, I'll be waiting."
Sara closed her phone and shook her head.
"What did Agent Mulder want?" Grissom asked.
"He wanted to know what I was wearing," she said. Grissom gave her a look that had that was a mixture of irritation and jealousy. She gave him a smirk before she continued, "He wants to know what we're gonna do once we get to Vegas."
"That's a good question. I have no idea what to do. How are we going to keep this a secret? There are way too many curious and nosy people at the lab to keep this between the four of us."
"We will definitely have to wait until nightshift," Sara said.
"Yeah. There is no way in hell I'm taking those bodies in during dayshift. We'll have to tell Doc Robbins and beg him to let Agent Scully perform the autopsies there. I don't think anyone other than Doc needs to know about this. I know he can keep a secret."
"What if someone else finds out?" Sara asked apprehensively.
"We'll deal with that if and when it happens. I don't want anyone else to find out about this."
"Well, what are we supposed to do until shift?"
"I don't know," he said on a sigh.
"I guess the agents can hang out at my place until I have to go to work," she said, her brows furrowed in thought.
He looked at her for a moment. "Are you sure you're okay with that? I know I'd feel very uncomfortable with two strangers in my home all day."
"You'd feel uncomfortable with two friends in your house for a minute."
"Maybe."
"Maybe, my ass. You would totally freak out. If I came over to your house you would be trying to figure out every possible way to get me out of there quick." She looked at him with a smirk on her face.
"Well, maybe you should come over to my house someday and test your theory. Then you'd realize how wrong you are." A smirk appeared on his face.
"I'm sorry, we've never met before. My name is Sara," she said as she extended her right hand toward him, which he playfully swatted away.
She looked at him curiously for a minute and asked, "What's going on with you, Grissom?"
He gave her a confused look and asked, "What do you mean?"
"You've been acting different ever since we left Las Vegas. You're being nice, you've been more open, you've been fun…aside from the way you acted toward the sheriff and Agent Mulder, you've been very un-Grissom-like."
He shrugged. "It's the new me. I'm trying to change."
"Well, don't change too much. I like you the way you are…most of the time."
"Most of the time…you see, there's room for improvement… I've just been thinking about my life lately and realized that there are some things that I need to change. I need to learn to deal with people better. I need to be a better boss and a better friend. I need to not be so closed off to those who care about me and who I care about. I need to learn to have fun and enjoy life."
"Damn, Grissom. You have been thinking," she said impressed.
"I realized that I've missed out on a lot of things while I was so focused on my work and my career. I had this epiphany one day that there are things more important than my job. There are a lot of things out there that I have never experienced because I thought they weren't important, but now I want to experience those things."
"This isn't where you start lecturing me on being obsessed with my work, is it?"
"No. We've had that conversation several times before. There's really no point in having it again. I'm not going to lecture you anymore…I'm going to set an example. I'm still going to do my job and be good at it, but it's not going to be the only thing in my life."
"Wow! The new and improved Gil Grissom. What will people think?" she teased.
His lips twisted up into a small smile before he turned serious saying, "You better call Agent Mulder and tell him our plan."
Sara pulled out her phone and called Mulder. She told him that he and Scully could hang out at her apartment until the nightshift started. She gave him a quick rundown of all the reasons why they had to wait until their shift to bring in the bodies. Mulder told her he had no problem with their plan and would go along with whatever they said. It was their lab after all. She ended the call and turned to look at Grissom. She studied his face for a few minutes. She noticed that the swelling had gone down on his lip, but the black eye was hard to miss. She felt bad that he had gotten hurt because of her.
"Is your face still sore?"
"A little."
"I never thanked you for saving me."
"You don't have to thank me. You would have done the same for me."
"I feel bad. You were trying to protect me and you got a black eye and a busted lip."
"My first black eye," he admitted.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"Was that on your list of things to experience?"
"Well, I always wanted to save a damsel in distress." He tried to look serious, but couldn't keep the corners of his mouth from turning upwards.
"Ah, I see. You've always had this dream of being a knight in shining armor."
"What man doesn't?"
"Well, last night you were my knight, so you can scratch that off your list."
"It's done. Now if I could only scratch a few more things off my list I'd feel like I was making progress."
Sara studied him for a few minutes. "If you told me what was on your list, maybe I could help you out."
"I've always wanted to try skinny dipping," he said seriously.
Sara let out a laugh. "Are you serious? Because, if you are, that's something I'm pretty sure I could help you with."
"Sounds like someone's had a lot of experience…first airplane bathrooms, now skinny dipping. What other surprises do you have in store for me?"
She tried to look offended by his comment, but couldn't contain her smile and amusement with this whole conversation. Grissom seemed to be enjoying it as much as she was. A small grin seemed to be permanently attached to his face at the moment.
"Well, Grissom, that's for me to know and you to find out."
"That sounds like something else we'll have to discuss over dinner."
"You mean you're not gonna chicken out on me?"
"I said we'd have dinner. I'm a man of my word."
"Yeah, but you didn't say when. I don't want to wait three years for my dinner."
"I promise you won't have to wait that long. It will happen very soon."
"Cool. I won't hold my breath, though."
"Ms. Sidle, one day I'm going to shock the hell out of you."
"Ooh! Sounds interesting. I can't wait."