Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1
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Part 2 of 4
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Sara arrived a few minutes after Grissom and he let her in with merely a grunt in greeting. Her confidence levels were waning by the moment and she looked at him closely, not bothering to drop her bag.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm just going to book into a motel", she said quietly.
"Sara, we've been through this."
"Funny, I don't remember being a part of that conversation," she mumbled. To him she said, "I think it would be easier."
"It's your choice, Sara, but the offer's there," he said with a hint of hurt.
"You're sure you don't mind?" she asked, starting to relent when she heard his tone.
"If I minded, you wouldn't be here," he said bluntly before turning and walking away. "I'm going to bed, just help yourself to whatever you need."
---
"Grissom," he grunted into his cellphone after grabbing it from his nightstand and stabbing the button to silence the persistent ringing.
"Gil, it's Conrad Ecklie. I need you to work a case."
"You do?" queried Grissom doubtfully; Conrad Ecklie never called him in on a case, that was like admitting he couldn't handle something. "What's happened?" he asked, wondering if there had been an 'all hands on deck' incident in the couple of hours that he'd been asleep.
"Body found out on waste ground by the Las Vegas Hilton, near the new monorail link; it's covered in bugs, no real clue as to what happened, we need a timeline."
Grissom sighed into the phone, partly feeling smug that Ecklie was having to ask for his help, but also annoyed that he was being called in, particularly when he had a house guest. That brought his mind to Sara and he said, "I want one of my team with me."
"My team is here, use one of them," replied Ecklie.
"No, my team know how I work, I want one of them with me if you want my help," said Grissom firmly.
"I really don't see the need, but whatever you want, just get over here."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
He knew immediately who he would call in to help him – Sara. The only question in his mind was how he was going to waken her. Knocking on her bedroom door would probably make her tell him to come in, bringing him face-to-face with a likely pajama clad Sara. That thought worried him more than he cared to admit, so he considered alternative methods, running through a few before settling on one.
---
Sara awoke with a start as she heard her cellphone beeping at her. She stretched out an arm and snatched it from the nightstand, bringing it to her face and pressing the button to bring up the text message in an illuminated display.
"What the hell?" she muttered to herself as the message sender was identified as Grissom. Shaking her head in confusion she pressed the button again to read the message.
I'm being called in and I need to call you in with me. Be ready in 10 mins.
Her confusion wasn't lifted and she leaned over to snap on the bedside lamp. Re-reading the message, she shook her head once more and dragged herself out of bed. She donned Grissom's robe and headed for the bathroom to grab a quick shower.
---
By sending the text message, Grissom had hoped to avoid seeing Sara until she was dressed. However, for once he hadn't considered all the possible outcomes of his actions. He had showered and dressed before sending the message and had then busied himself in the kitchen making sandwiches for them to take with them. Walking back to his bedroom to collect his briefcase, he discovered one of the consequences of not thinking through the message sending; Sara emerged from the bathroom in front of him, dressed only in a robe – his robe – and clutching her pajamas, indicating that she was naked beneath the covering.
His breath hitched and he swallowed hard, eyes automatically shifting to take in Sara's lithe form wearing his robe. He finally met her gaze and noticed a slight coloring in her cheeks, giving him an absurd pleasure to know that she was blushing.
"I uh… I'll be ready in a couple of minutes," she said with a slightly shaky voice.
"Okay." He walked past her, carefully avoiding brushing against her, but was stopped by her voice.
"Why did you send me a text message, why not just knock on my door?"
He considered not answering, but knew she would press the issue.
"I just thought it was easier."
"Easier how?"
"I didn't want you to be startled by a knock on the door," he lied.
"So you thought you'd try to give me a heart attack by making my phone beep instead?"
"I'm sorry," he said softly before resuming his trek to his room.
---
Her surprise was evident when Grissom said they would both travel in his SUV, as she knew Dayshift would have a field day speculating on why they were arriving in the same vehicle when they'd been called in from home and wouldn't have had time to go via the lab. He parked next to Ecklie's truck and retrieved Sara's field kit from his trunk as he removed his own. Handing her the kit, they walked in unison to the scene, immediately garnering Ecklie's attention.
"Gil, glad you could make it… eventually," greeted Ecklie snidely, pointedly glancing at his watch.
"I had to wait for Sara," said Grissom easily. Sara dipped her head to hide her blush, knowing that Ecklie has no idea Grissom was referring to waiting for her to shower and dress in his home, rather than waiting outside her apartment for her.
"Yet another reason why you should have let one of my team work with you," commented Ecklie, walking towards the victim.
"Sara has been studying entomology, this will be good experience," replied Grissom.
Ecklie explained the circumstances of how the body was found and what they had discovered so far. "Remember, Gil, you're here purely for the timeline, the rest of the case is mine," he warned.
Grissom did not respond as he knelt down beside the body, motioning for Sara to join him. He eventually said, "I'll let you know when I have my results," and effectively dismissed the Dayshift Supervisor.
---
It was only an hour before the start of nightshift when Grissom finally finished his work. He had explained the whole process to Sara and was pleased to find her listening carefully to everything he said and asking questions, which proved she was interested and not just going along with him for the sake of it. It would be another couple of days before the timeline regression could be completed, but they had done enough for the moment, now they just had to wait.
Twenty minutes before shift, Sara launched herself into a chair in the break room, picking up a journal and idly flicking through it just for something to do.
"Tired?" asked Grissom as he entered and poured them both some coffee.
"Yeah, but not enough to sleep," she said defensively.
Any comment he was about to make was prevented by the arrival of Nick, with Warrick only a couple of minutes behind him. They were soon joined by Catherine and Grissom disappeared for a few moments, returning with the assignment slips. By the time he got back, Sara had already filled in the others on her early call-out and they were all chuckling about how annoyed Ecklie must have been at having to call on Grissom's expertise.
"Assignment slips," said Grissom, drawing their attention to him. "Catherine, Nick, DB in Henderson. If anything else comes in, one of you can take it, sort it out between you. Warrick, you have a B&E just off Tropicana." Sara looked at him curiously, waiting for her assignment, but none was forthcoming and she had to settle for his next words. "I think it'll be a quiet night and, since Sara and I both got called in, we'll both take the night off." He cast his gaze to her, waiting for her objection, silently challenging her to argue with him. The others waited to hear her protest as well, but she stayed quiet.
Sara was mulling things over in her mind. She couldn't quite understand what Grissom was doing. Giving himself the night off was one thing – although it was something she never expected him to do – and giving her the night off wasn't totally unexpected, as she'd admitted that, for once, she was tired, but for him to give her the night off when she had nowhere to go but to his home, was beyond her belief.
"Sara, since I gave you a ride to the scene this morning, I believe you'll need a lift home," he said suddenly. Her head shot up and she looked at him in amazement, wondering why he'd openly admitted to the rest of the team that they had traveled to work together. She then realized that he wasn't admitting anything, he was leaving them to assume what they wanted without him confirming or denying anything, which she had learned was his way of concealing things when he felt the need. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, bringing her out of her musings.
"Yeah," she replied, standing up and following him out of the room after bidding her co-workers goodbye.
---
"We'll need to get some food, Sara," said Grissom as they drove towards his apartment, "it's hours since we ate those sandwiches. I don't have much left in the refrigerator, so is take-out okay?"
"Sure," she smiled.
"There's a good Chinese nearby, we can either stop en route or go home and order for delivery."
He said it as a mixture of a statement and a question, leaving it up to Sara to decide.
"I wouldn't mind taking a shower before eating, I feel like I have bugs all over me, my own fault for not leaving stuff in my locker to allow me to shower and change at work."
"We'll head straight home then and order in," said Grissom with a nod.
---
"I'm going to take a shower too," commented Grissom as they entered. "The take-out menu is by the phone when you're ready to choose."
Sara nodded and watched him retreat to his room to shower in his en-suite. She crossed to her room and grabbed a change of clothes before heading for the bathroom, not wanting a repeat of that morning's 'robe' incident.
Having not had time to wash her hair that morning, Sara took her time in the shower, letting the water wash away all traces of the crime scene. She knew it would take a while to dry her hair so, when she emerged from the bathroom, she walked to the phone and perused the take-out menu. There was still no sign of Grissom, so she wrote her order down on the pad by the phone and then went to her room to finish getting ready.
It was another twenty minutes before she reappeared, finding Grissom sitting on the couch watching the news on TV.
"Hey," she said softly as she sat down in a chair.
"Hey. I called in our order, it should be here in… about ten minutes," he said, checking his watch to confirm the delivery time.
"Great, I'm actually getting pretty hungry," she admitted.
"Oh, you appear to have left this by the phone," he said, passing her a twenty dollar bill.
"Yeah, for the food." She didn't make a move to take the money, but Grissom didn't withdraw it either. Rolling her eyes she said, "At least let me pay for my share."
"No, it's on me," he insisted.
"Fine, but I'm paying for the groceries when we go shopping tomorrow, since I'll be eating the food we bu—" she stopped suddenly, becoming all too aware of what she had just said. Stammering, she continued, "I mean… uh… well, that is… I mean, I'm not assuming that I'll still be here tomorrow, I just meant –"
"Sara," he interrupted, "do you know when you can get back into your apartment?"
"Uh, yeah, I talked to my Super today. He said my place will be one of the last to be done, so it'll be another two days before it's fume free. Don't worry though, I'll just check into a motel tomorrow."
"Sara, haven't we been through this already?" he said tiredly. "You're not going to a motel."
"But –"
"You can stay here as long as you need."
"Are you sure?" she asked earnestly. "This is your home, Grissom, you don't want me invading it."
"I made the offer, Sara," he pointed out, a look of something she didn't recognize in his eyes. "I'll expect you to be staying here tonight, tomorrow and the day after, alright?"
"Thanks," she whispered, not trusting her voice.
"You're right though, you can pay for the groceries tomorrow," he grinned, lightening the suddenly charged atmosphere.
---
"I guess I should go to bed," said Sara after they finished clearing away the take-out remnants.
"I thought you said you weren't tired enough to sleep?" queried Grissom with raised eyebrows.
"I'm not, but…"
"Sara, you don't have to make yourself scarce on my account," he said gently. "I'm going to put a video on if you want to watch."
"What's the video?"
"A Discovery documentary on an archaeological dig where they found some new species of fossilized insects."
"Very you, Grissom," she laughed, but sat back down in a chair ready to watch.
"Would you like something to drink?" he asked as he popped in the video and set the remote control on the coffee table.
"Sure."
He stood up and crossed to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator to peer at its contents. "Anything in particular you'd like?" he called.
"Whatever you're having."
He returned a moment later with two bottles of beer, wordlessly handing one to her before settling himself down on the couch. Picking up the remote, he switched on the vcr and started the tape. "You won't be able to see properly from there," he told her, looking from her chair to the TV.
"Oh, uh, it'll be okay," she said hesitantly.
"Suit yourself," he shrugged, taking a sip of his beer. The programme started and they watched in silence, but Sara kept fidgeting, trying to find the right angle to see the screen without the glare from the light affecting the vision. "You okay?" he asked. She nodded, but kept fidgeting. "Sara, would you just come and sit on the couch," he said sternly.
Letting out a sigh, she moved from the chair to the couch, curling her legs under her as she sat at the opposite end from Grissom.
"Better?" he asked.
"Yeah," she admitted grudgingly and he stifled a small smile.
---
Sara stretched and yawned as Grissom turned off the vcr.
"You tired enough to sleep yet?" he smirked. "You seemed to be fighting to keep your eyes open for the last ten minutes."
"What makes you so sure it wasn't just the programme sending me to sleep?" she challenged.
"A programme about bugs sending you to sleep? Never," he said mock-wounded.
"I actually think I could sleep now," she confessed, "but I don't want to."
"Sara," he started.
"Not because I'm being my usual self," she continued, effectively silencing his argument, "but because if I go to sleep now, I'll be awake mid-morning tomorrow and I somehow don't think you'll let me go to work that early and it'll also mean I'm tired tomorrow night during shift."
"So, you're admitting that you do actually need to sleep every day, you can't go for two days without sleep," he smiled. "Go to sleep, Sara."
Shaking her head and laughing, she merely said, "Night, Grissom," as she stood up and walked to her room.
A knock on her door disturbed her swirling thoughts a minute or so later. She hadn't yet started undressing, so she called, "Come in."
Grissom's head peeked round the door and he held out a glass of water.
"I thought you might want this," he said quietly.
"Thanks," she smiled.
He fully entered the room and placed the glass on the nightstand. "Anything else you need?" he asked.
"No, I'm good," she replied softly.
"Well, goodnight then. If you're awake before me, just help yourself to whatever you want," he told her as he left the room and pulled the door shut behind him.
---
Sara did waken before Grissom and after showering and dressing he still had not emerged from his bedroom, so she took refuge in her own, unwilling to wander around Grissom's home without him there.
It was another hour before she heard him moving around the kitchen, probably making himself something to eat. She left her room and joined him in the kitchen, greeting him with a soft, "Hey."
"Morning, Sara," he smiled, then noticed that she was already dressed. "When did you get up?"
"I've been ready for about an hour."
"Oh. You didn't eat already?" he queried, knowing his dishwasher was empty.
"No, I uh… I figured I'd wait for you."
"Getting used to me doing the cooking are you, or are you saying I'm a better cook than you?" he grinned.
Sara gave a quiet gasp in surprise. She was seeing a side of Grissom that rarely made an appearance, the playful side. She supposed he had something of a comfort factor, since he was in his own home, his territory, and she was there on his terms, but then, he hadn't actually stated any terms, hadn't laid ground rules; in fact, he had told her to make herself at home.
Snapping herself out of her wondering, she sarcastically replied, "Yeah, sure, heating pizza up and buying take-out puts you right up there with Martha Stewart."
"So you didn't enjoy the gourmet sandwiches I made yesterday?" he asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Gourmet?" she laughed. "They were cheese salad, the same as I made the night before."
"It was gourmet cheese," he defended before joining her in laughter. "Anyway, does this insubordination mean that you don't want me to make you some breakfast?"
"Insubordination? Oh, now you're really pushing it," she smiled. "For a comment like that, I think the least you can do is make me breakfast."
He gave a dramatic sigh and returned to his previous task of whisking eggs. "Scrambled eggs okay?"
"Yeah, thanks."
"Good," he nodded. "Then we can go to the grocery store."
---
"I cannot believe you made me buy meat," complained Sara as they unpacked the groceries.
"Hey, you're the one who insisted on paying. I want some meat, therefore, you had to buy it. I'm not asking you to eat it."
"No, but you're going to cook it in front of me, aren't you?"
"Actually, no," he replied. When she raised her eyebrows questioningly, he explained, "It's for an experiment I'm going to get Greg to perform."
"Greg?"
"Yes, he has to learn sometime."
"You mean that the experiment will be so gross that no-one will else will agree to do it," she stated with a smile.
"You really do have a smart mouth, don't you?" he grumbled.
"I'm just keeping you honest, Grissom," she smirked.
When all the groceries were put away, Sara checked the clock. There were still five hours until they had to leave for work and she mentally debated how she could spend the time.
"So, what do we do until the start of shift? Got any more fascinating programmes I can watch?" she asked dryly.
Grissom turned to face her and pinned her with a look that made her dip her head. "We rest," he replied, walking past her and taking a seat on his couch. He kicked off his shoes and put his feet up onto the coffee table. When she didn't move, he said, "You said it yourself last night, Sara, if we woke up early we'd be tired tonight. Since we did wake up early, I suggest we both get a couple of hours rest."
"And you're going to rest there?" she asked pointedly as she watched him set the alarm on his watch.
"No point in going back to bed, just means you have to change clothes again," he shrugged. "I wouldn't recommend the chair," he told her as she finally decided to take up his suggestion and made to sit in the nearby chair, "it's not the best thing to sleep in and I'm talking from experience."
"Oh, okay," she said quietly, casting her eyes in the direction of her bedroom. Making her decision for her, Grissom tossed a cushion to the other end of the couch, indicating for her to sit down. She dropped down onto the seat, mimicking his action by removing her shoes and propping her feet up on the coffee table. Positioning the cushion behind her neck, she slid down enough so that her head rested at the top of the couch. She turned her head to look at Grissom and found him with his eyes closed. Giving a little sigh, she closed her own eyes and willed herself to sleep.
---
The beeping of Grissom's watch alarm woke them both and they turned to face each other, saying, "Hey" at the same time. Sara sat forward and winced in pain.
"You okay?" asked Grissom gently.
"Yeah, just got a crick in my neck."
"Sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"I'm the one who suggested the couch."
Sara stifled the urge to laugh at his comment, her mind considering many other ways she'd like him to be saying those words. "It'll pass," she said, rubbing her neck. "Hey, I believe it's my turn to cook."
"Feel free," he smiled, remaining on the couch as Sara stood and walked to the kitchen. He stood up himself a few moments later to attend to a call of nature and returned to find Sara standing over the stove. "What are you making?"
"Risotto."
"Doesn't that take a while to cook?" he inquired while glancing at his watch. They still had a while before they needed to leave, but he was feeling hungry.
"Not when you use quick-cook rice and make a faux-risotto," she smiled. He looked at her dubiously. "Trust me, I can cook."
"As they say, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I'll reserve judgement."
"With comments like that, what makes you so sure you'll be eating?"
---
"Alright then, Judge Grissom, what's the verdict on my cooking?" smiled Sara.
Grissom pushed his plate away and sat back in his chair, resting a hand over his stomach. "I'd give it a 5," he said lightly.
"5 out of what?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
He didn't say anything and ignored her glare as the silence persisted. He could tell she was getting more annoyed by the second and he finally answered, "Five out of five." She beamed with delight at his words and he couldn't help but return the smile. "Don't let it go to your head though, Sara, a good cook can make a variety of dishes, that mark is only for this one."
"You'll just have to sample more of my cooking then, won't you?" she smiled. Realizing how her words could be perceived, she busied herself with clearing away the dishes.
"Yes, I will," said Grissom quietly into her ear as he placed the remaining dishes on the counter. She whipped her head round to face him, but he was already walking to his bedroom.
---
TBC
