Disclaimer: I don't own these people, sadly enough.
Author's note: The first time I really noticed the whole Gil/Sara sexual tension thing was in the episode Scuba Doobie Do, when she wipes the plaster off his face. I've always been intruiged by that scene because it's so obvious Sara is like.. in love with him, and it seems like it's the first time he figured this out. So, here's a story from Gil's perspective. I'm stealing a few lines from that scene because I'm a bad girl like that.
Chapter 1 - What too me so long?
I bounded outside to take a breather. Damnit! This guy was going to get away with this murder, and that made me crazy. How could I do my job when the suspect was always one step ahead?
Sara came out a few seconds later. I hardly noticed her because I was checking my pulse, trying to get it back under control. She looked worried.
I ranted and raved about this damn body-hiding bastard for a minute or two, and then, out of nowhere, Sara comes closer to me, looking me in the eye. It made me nervous. I was about to say something, but instead she reached out, cupped my face in her warm hand, and rubbed her thumb on my cheek. It startled me, and scared me a little.
"Sorry.. chalk.. from plaster."
"Oh," I said, staring at her.
I rubbed my face, mostly from shock. What just happened here?
"Better go wash up," she said, smiling at me. She held my gaze for a moment and then turned around and walked away.
I put the incident out of my mind for a little while we tried to solve this case. When I finally made it home after putting everything together, the incident was weighing heavy on my mind.
The way she touched me, and the way she looked in my eyes... that was not innocent. People may say that I'm a little slow with relationships sometimes, and they might say that I'm just bad with people, period.. but I knew that wasn't innocent.
Did Sara have feelings for me? Has she been holding it in the past couple of years or what? From the way she looked so intensely into my eyes, I knew it wasn't a new thing. That intensity made me nervous, it made my heart do a backflip. It was so unlike me to think so deeply into a simple action, but this really took me aback! What was she thinking? What was she feeling?
I put my hand on my cheek where she touched me. I could almost still feel the warm touch. She did it almost automatically, like it was just a reflex for her to touch me.
Finally, I just stopped thinking about the incident and let myself think about her. About Sara. About what she means to me.
Well, first of all, she's a great CSI. Sure, she gets a little too emotionally involved sometimes, but I think that helps her, not hinders her. She's always willing to do what it takes to get the job done, and then some. If she has to work for a week without any sleep, she would do it, no questions asked.
Okay, so I admire her work ethic, but that's not what she's all about. She was also passionate, and intelligent, and well.. beautiful. When I met her in San Francisco that was the first thing I noticed about her. She wasn't conventionally beautiful, but she had a unique look that really interested me. Once I started working with her and she started asking questions, smart questions that nobody else thought to ask, I started appreciating her for her intellect. There was no question about it - Sara was smart, and I highly respected her for that. So much so that when the incident with Holly Gribbs occured, Sara was the first person I thought about. She was the only one I could think of that possessed the skills I wanted for my CSI's. I was so relieved when she agreed to move to Las Vegas.
But.. I was also afraid. What if she really did have feelings for me? What if, god forbid, she actually acted on them? What if she initiated a conversation about her feelings, what was I going to do then? How could I tell her that she was wonderful and I appreciated her so much, but the job was always going to be #1? Over the years, I had tried the relationship thing, but with my cell phone going off every five minutes and dead people everywhere, not to mention my complete dedication, it just didn't happen. After Terri Miller, i realized that maybe I should just let it go. Maybe I should focus on the job and not let mself get distracted by love.
I think that's what scared me the most about this. I knew Sara was someone I could fall in love with. And that was terrifying.
More to come!