Okay, this is it, the last chapter. I'm hanging up my keyboard. Well, maybe I won't hang up my keyboard. A huge thank you to Lady Kes and everyone who reviewed…Big hugs to everyone.
Las Vegas
It had taken a while for Deputy Coe to track down the sheriff's friend Jim Davis. It had been the middle of the afternoon when he finally found him and it was a couple more hours before they finally took off. Jim Davis flew them to a small airport on the outskirts of Las Vegas. Grissom and Sara thanked him and made their way through the airport to find the cab that was supposed to be waiting for them. The taxi pulled up just as they were exiting the small building. They climbed in the back seat and told the driver where to take them. It was late in the evening, and they had decided to head straight for the lab, just in case anyone had been worried about them.
The cab stopped in front of the lab and Grissom tossed the driver some cash. He and Sara quickly got out and headed towards the building. Catherine came flying out the door and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw them walking up. "Where in the hell have you been? We've all been worried sick about you two."
They came to a stop a few feet in front on the seemingly frazzled Catherine. "It's a very long story, Catherine," Grissom said.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked concerned.
"We're fine now," Sara replied. "Can we talk about this inside? I need some coffee."
Catherine held the door open for the pair and followed them down the halls to the break room. Warrick and Nick were sitting at the break room table looking very stressed out. They didn't look up as the trio entered the room. "Hey, guys, look who I found," Catherine said.
"Where in the hell have you been?" Warrick asked.
Grissom pulled out a chair and sat down. "California."
"What were you doing in California?" Nick questioned.
"Long story," Sara said. She set a cup of coffee down in front of Grissom and took a seat next to him. She took a long sip of her coffee and let out a sigh. "Why are you guys here at this time anyway?"
"Why are we here? We've been looking for you two all night and most of today. When you didn't show up for work and didn't call in, we got very concerned," Catherine said.
"Yeah, and you didn't answer you phones and no one had seen or heard from you since the bar yesterday morning," Warrick put in.
"You guys scared the shit out of us!" Greg exclaimed from the doorway. He rushed into the room and hugged Sara. He turned to Grissom, but he gave Greg a 'don't even think about it' look, so Greg grabbed a chair and took a seat.
"So, are you going to tell us what's going on?" Catherine asked.
Grissom and Sara shared a look and answered simultaneously. "No."
"Come on, you two. We've been out of our minds with worry and you're not going to tell us what's going on?" Nick whined.
Sara rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll tell you. A long, long time ago…in a galaxy far, far away—"
"Oh, just forget it!" Catherine growled.
"Come on, everyone. Let's go to my office and Sara and I will tell you everything."
They all filed out of the break room and into Grissom's office. Grissom took a seat behind his desk and Sara stood beside him. The others gathered in front of the desk and waited with expectant looks on their faces.
Grissom looked at Sara for some reassurance. She gave him a small smile and he began the story, "It all started with our little road trip to Rachel…"
Grissom told them almost all of the details of what had happened over the last few days. Catherine, Warrick, Nick and Greg sat listening intently, with their mouths hanging open most of the time. Sara added her two cents every now and then. Over on hour had passed while they had listened to their recap of their little adventure.
"…And now here we are explaining it all to you," Grissom finished.
Catherine couldn't think of what to say. All that came out of her mouth was, "Wow!"
"Why didn't you tell us, Griss? We would have helped you find Sara," Warrick questioned.
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "We care about her too. Or do you not trust us?"
"It wasn't about trust, Nick. I didn't have time. I had to get to her as soon as possible," Grissom explained.
"Does this mean that we're not in danger anymore?" Greg asked.
"I don't know, Greg. I haven't talked to the agents about that yet."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. The story Grissom and Sara had just told was hard to believe. Everyone seemed to be trying to process the information. They found alien bodies, Sara was kidnapped, FBI agents, shadow government, conspiracies.
Warrick broke the silence. "You two should go home, get some rest. We can handle things here tonight."
"Yeah," Nick agreed. "You've had a rough couple days."
Grissom was about to protest, but Catherine raised her hand to stop him. "They're right. Go home. Relax. If we need you, we'll call you."
"Okay," Grissom said on a sigh.
"Let's get to work, guys," Warrick said. Greg and Nick followed him out of the room.
Catherine was started to get up to leave but sat back down when Sara asked, "Cath, can I speak to you for a minute in private?"
Grissom got up and made his way out the door.
Catherine watched Grissom leave and turned back to Sara. "What's up, Sara?" Sara seemed like she had something important to tell her, and Catherine had a feeling it wasn't anything good.
Sara walked around the desk and took a seat next to Catherine. She took a deep breath and let it out. "The, uh, guy that broke into my apartment and took me."
Catherine eyed her warily. "Yeah?"
Sara gave her a sympathetic look. "It was Chris." Her voice broke slightly when she said his name.
Catherine gave her an incredulous look. "Chris? Chris who?"
Sara looked away and chewed on her bottom lip. How do you tell someone their boyfriend is a kidnapper? She looked back at Catherine. "Chris Bezich."
Catherine shot up out of her chair. "No. No way! You've got to be mistaken."
Sara looked down at the floor. "I'm so sorry, Cath."
Catherine started pacing back and forth. "Are you sure? Are you absolutely sure it was him?"
"Yes."
"I don't believe this!"
"I…uh…when we saw this strange man in my apartment, Agent Scully called him Krycek. I recognized him and asked him if he was Chris Bezich…he said yeah."
"So, he broke into your apartment, knocked out Agent Scully, took you and held you captive until Grissom rescued you?"
"Yeah."
Catherine returned to her seat and dropped her head into her hands. Sara reached over and laid a hand on Catherine's shoulder. "If I ever see him again, I'm gonna kill him."
"You may have to get in line. Grissom's been plotting his demise for a couple days," Sara said.
Catherine looked up at Sara. "I'm so sorry he did that to you, Sara. God, how awful am I? You're the one who's been through this big ordeal and you're sitting here comforting me."
Sara just shrugged. "I had Grissom. He was there for me. You need someone to be here for you, too."
Catherine ran a hand over her face and stood. She smoothed out her clothes and checked her reflection in one of the glass jars on Grissom's shelves. "I got the boys. I'm sure if I need anything, they'll be there for me." She turned to look at Sara. "You need to go home and relax. Make Grissom take you out to dinner. Or just take him home and…" At Sara's raised eyebrow, she said, "Oh, never mind. I don't even want to think about it let alone suggest it."
Sara stood and walked to the door. She turned back to Catherine and asked, "You sure you're okay, Catherine?"
Catherine walked over to her and gave her a friendly hug. "I'm fine, Sara. Thank you for telling me. I know it wasn't easy for you."
Sara smiled at her and opened the door. "What are friends for?" She left without another world.
Catherine checked herself over once again. She grabbed the assignment slips off Grissom's desk and went in search of the boys.
XXXXX
Sara exited the lab to find Grissom leaning against her car. She walked over to him and asked, "What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be on your way home by now."
"I was waiting for you," he replied.
"Really?" She smiled and raised an eyebrow.
He let one corner of his mouth twist up into a half smile. "I was just thinking, since we both have the night off…maybe we could have dinner."
"Are you asking me out, Grissom?" She couldn't hide her amusement.
"Well, I do owe you a dinner."
"Oh, so that's all it is."
He quickly scanned the parking lot and reached out and grabbed her hand. "No, that's not all it is. I thought that you could come over, I'd cook you dinner and we could see where the night takes us."
A serious look took over Sara's face. She let out a loud sigh and said, "Grissom…I don't know what to do about th--"
"Okay, smart ass," he cut her off. "When you figure it out, I'll be at home." He smiled at her and released her hand.
He started walking off but stopped when Sara called his name. He turned to look at her.
"I'll be there in an hour. If that's okay with you?"
"Sure." He winked at her and walked off.
Sara was smiling and shaking her head as she got in her car. She pulled out of the parking lot wondering what was going to happen when she got to Grissom's.
XXXXX
After she took a nice long, hot shower and put on some fresh clothes, Sara headed over to Grissom's house. Her stomach growled as she entered his home and smelled the food cooking. He told her to make herself at home while he went into the kitchen to finish preparing the meal. She wandered around the living room for a few minutes looking at the butterflies on the wall. She checked out his bookshelves and music collection. She wandered over to the kitchen and decided she'd much rather look at him than anything else in his home. He pulled a dish out of the oven and glanced over at her. She was watching his every move and he wondered to himself why she seemed to enjoy watching him all the time. Could it be the same reason why you enjoy watching her all the time? He turned to face her. "Are you ready to eat?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm starved."
They ate their meal in a comfortable silence. Every now and then they'd sneak a lingering glance at each other. Sara finished her meal and took a sip of wine. "That was very good. Thank you."
Grissom pushed his plate away and grabbed his glass of wine. "You're welcome." He took a sip of wine and said, "Okay, spill, Sidle."
"Spill what?"
"Aliens, Area 51, UFOs…"
"Ah…I was hoping you had forgotten about that."
"How could I forget about that? It's been bugging me for days. So, spill."
"Okay…You know my parents were hippies?" At his nod she continued, "They had this friend, Wacky Jackie." He laughed. "I'm serious, that was her name. Everyone called her Wacky Jackie. Anyway, she was one of my mother's best friends. She swore up and down that she had been abducted by aliens. She said she was first abducted when she was thirteen and ever since then they would come and take her several times a year. Most people thought she was crazy, but my parents believed her. She used to stay with us a lot when she wasn't traveling the country trying to hide from the aliens and following the Grateful Dead. She was obsessed with aliens and UFOs. She read everything about that stuff that she could get her hands on. She studied it. She used to tell me all about her experiences and the things she had learned about the subject…so that's how I know all about that stuff."
"So, what happened to Wacky Jackie?"
"She was sent to the nut house."
"That's sad."
"Yeah, well, she tried to kill her landlord because she said he was working with the aliens, trying to steal her thoughts."
Grissom chuckled. "Are you serious?"
She nodded.
Grissom stood and reached out. "Come on; let's go sit on the couch." She placed her hand in his and he led her over to the couch. He didn't let go of her hand as they sat side by side.
"So, are you gonna tell me what you had in that bag?" she asked.
"Souvenirs."
"What kind of souvenirs?"
"Just some little alien figurines that reminded me of everyone."
"Show 'em to me."
He reached underneath the coffee table and pulled out the brown paper sack and set it on his lap. He shuffled through it and pulled out a figurine. It was a six-inch tall alien with a guitar. "This one is for Greg." He pulled out a female alien with big red lips, wearing skimpy clothes with her cleavage hanging out. "This one is for Catherine." Sara laughed. The next alien had an Afro and was holding up his hand in a peace sign. "That one's for Warrick." He pulled out another alien, which was wearing a cop's uniform. "That's Brass." The next one had on scrubs and a stethoscope around its neck. "Doc Robbins." Sara giggled as he brought out the next one. It was an alien wearing a big cowboy hat, boots and chaps. "And of course this one is for Nick."
"That's very sweet of you, Grissom. You got everyone a souvenir."
He gave her a mischievous grin. "Aren't you curious what your alien looks like?"
"I'm a little afraid of what my alien looks like," she replied.
He reached in the bag and pulled out a girl alien with brown hair. It was standing next to a table with a microscope and she had a book in her hands. He handed it over to her. "Sara Sidle, meet the alien version of yourself."
Sara took the figurine and giggled. "This is great, Grissom. I love it. Thank you."
He smiled at her. "You're welcome."
"Where's your alien?"
He looked at her a second before he reached into the bag. Sara let out a loud laugh as she saw his alien. It had on glasses and some strange looking bug on a leash. "Yeah, that's you, Grissom."
"I would never put my bugs on a leash. They're well trained, they don't need to be tied up."
Sara couldn't hold back her giggles. Grissom set the figurine down and turned to face her. "What's so funny, Sara," he asked with amusement.
In between giggles she answered, "I could actually picture you…taking your…tarantula for a walk."
She finally quit giggling and smiled at him. He took that as his opportunity to lean over and kiss her. It was a simple, quick kiss, but he had caught her completely off guard. He smirked at her, as she looked at him wide-eyed. She quickly recovered, though, and looked at him mischievously. "Is that all I get? One quick kiss?" She turned on the couch to face him.
He reached his hand up and cupped her face. "No." He leaned in and kissed her again.
Their slow, sensual kisses gradually evolved and became more passionate. They both thought that everything that had been through these past few days had been worth it, as they gave in to the moment. His lips left hers and trailed kisses across her cheek and down her neck. She ran her hands across his shoulders, up his neck and through his hair. He kissed his way back to her mouth. As they kissed, his hands ran down her back, pulling her closer to him. He let one hand wander underneath her shirt and across her bare skin. He stilled his hands and broke away from the kiss. He rested his forehead against hers as he tried to catch his breath.
"Sara," he said breathlessly, "if you don't want to go any further, we should stop right now."
She pulled back and looked at him. She pulled his arms from around her and stood. He shot her a worried look and she reached her hand out to him. He grabbed her hand and stood next to her. She tugged on his hand, smiled at him and said, "I've always wondered what your bedroom looks like."
XXXXX
Sara awoke the next morning to the ringing of her cell phone. She reached over and grabbed it off the nightstand. "Sidle," she said groggily.
"Hey, it's Mulder. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"
"Don't worry about it. What's up, Mulder?"
"I was just calling to make sure you and Grissom made it home okay."
"Yeah. We're alive and in one piece."
"Good. Why are you sleeping? Shouldn't you be at work?"
"We took the night off. So, what happened when you went back up to the cabin?"
"Nothing happened. We got there and everything was gone."
"What?"
"Everything was gone…the bodies, the UFO wreckage. They even cleaned up our little mess we made in the cabin. It looks like no one was ever there."
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah. We came off looking like fools. The good news is that you guys are probably safe now."
"I'm so sorry, Mulder. You didn't get your proof."
"Hey, we got you back safe and sound. That's all that matters. I'm sure Grissom would agree."
"I'm sure he would."
"Hey, Sidle, I gotta hop on a place back to D.C. in a minute. I just want to thank you guys, again, for helping us. I also want to apologize, again, for everything that you had to go through."
"Don't worry about it. Some of it was actually fun and things worked out fine in the end."
"I bet they did," he said in a suggestive tone. "I'll be patiently waiting for my invitation."
"Invitation to what?"
"The wedding. Hey, I gotta go now. Keep in touch, Sidle."
"I will. Bye, Mulder."
Sara ended her call and returned the phone to the nightstand. She yawned, stretched and rolled over, finding a half-open pair of blue eyes looking at her. Grissom reached a hand up to push the hair out of her face. "Who was on the phone?" he asked.
She smiled at him as he ran his hand over her shoulder and down her back, pulling her closer to him. "That was Agent Mulder."
"You're federal boyfriend? What did he want?" He pulled her closer and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"He wanted to make sure we made it home okay. He also told me that when they went back up to the cabin, everything was gone."
"What?"
"Yeah. He said they cleaned the place up, made it look like no one had ever been there. The bodies were gone, the wreckage was gone."
"That had to be disappointing for them."
"Probably. He said it didn't matter, all that matters is that you guys got me back safe and sound."
"Well, he's right about that. I don't know what I would have done if--"
She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Nothing happened to me. I'm fine."
He kissed her fingertip before he brought his hand up to grab hers. He laced their fingers together and placed their hands on his chest, above his heart. Sara looked deep into his eyes and saw nothing but love there.
"Grissom, what were you going to say to me before we got interrupted by gunfire?"
"I was going to say, I was thinking about how I could have lost you without you ever knowing that I…love you." He placed his lips on hers and they shared a tender kiss.
Sara pulled back a little to look him in the eye. "You love me?"
"That's what I said." He started to feel a little uncomfortable. "Why? Don't you--"
"I love you, too," she cut him off.
"You do?" he asked relieved. He couldn't keep his lips from twisting up into a smile.
"That's what I said." She gave him a full-blown smile.
"So, now what?" he asked with a playful gleam in his eyes.
Sara pushed him onto his back and crawled on top of him. "Now…you show me how much you love me."
X
This is the end, beautiful friend
My only friend THE END…Oops sorry. I was having a Jim Morrison moment.