Disclaimer: Duh! Would I be posting this story if I owned these characters?
A/N: I'd like to dedicate this story to every member of the Butterfly Squad, the brave Geek Love shippers who strive to find the hidden butterflies in numerous CSI episodes. ::grins::
A harsh knock on the door startled Grissom, causing his eyes to shoot open and become fixed upon the only source of light into his office.
"Hey," Sara said with a smile, entering with a manilla envelope tucked under her arm. "Here's my report on the Rockters case. You're supposed to look it over." She laid the large envelope down in front of him, covering the mess of other papers he had been examining and scribbling his initials on.
Grissom rubbed his eyes tiredly and let out a sigh.
"I can come back a little later..." Sara started, seeing the sleeplessness in her boss.
"No, no, it's okay," Grissom said. "Please, sit down."
Sara obeyed, falling into a plush, black velvety chair opposite Grissom's desk.
Grissom unsealed the envelope and the contents spilled across his desk. Pictures of a dead couple almost came to life. Grissom fingered through Sara's written report. After a few moments had passed, Grissom nodded his head and a smile appeared on his face.
"Well?" Sara said, filling with unexpected anticipation.
Grissom looked up at her whilst placing her report back into its container. "Perfect," he said, beaming. He handed the manilla envelope back to her. "Well, done, Sara."
The famous Sara Sidle gap-toothed grin found its way to Sara's face as she took the envelope from Grissom. Arising from her chair, Sara said. "I'm going to go document this."
"Can you wait a minute?"
Sara spun around, halfway to the door. "Sure. Why?"
"Just...sit down. Stay a while." He beckoned to the chair Sara had just gotten up from. She lightly rolled her eyes and took a seat again.
"About a month ago," Grissom explained, "My entomologist friend was down in Brazil on vacation. He was having lunch in Manaus when something flitted by him. Upon a closer inspection, my friend discovered that an unclassified butterfly had flown by. He took a few pictures. Here."
Grissom handed a small stack of pictures to Sara. She flipped through them.
The butterfly was incredibly unique in its beauty. Its wings were a lovely striped combination of purple and green, while mixed in with tiny swirled circles of brown and gold dotting the outside of the wings. It was perched on a dark-skinned hand, so Sara guessed Grissom's friend may have asked one of the natives to help him capture it.
"There was just one problem – he still had to name the butterfly. When my good friend arrived back in the States, he sent those pictures to me and asked me to come up with a name for it."
"Grissom, what's your point?" Sara said impatiently.
Grissom gave his back to her and rummaged around on one of his cluttered shelves. Past the fetal pig in a container of nasty-colored liquid, past the collection of beetles, past the replica of a human skull...was the butterfly framed neatly under a layer of glass.
Sara noticed that an illegible name plate was under the butterfly. She began to wonder.
"Well, getting to my point," Grissom said, hiding the name from Sara and smiling, "I named it."
He handed the framed butterfly to Sara. She looked at its name and gasped audibly.
Domina Sarius
The Lady Sara
With eyes the size of gold balls, and jaw hanging open as if on a hinge, Sara stared at Grissom.
"You...named a-a butterfly...after me?" she said in pure disbelief.
Grissom winked at her. "It makes sense, doesn't it? A beautiful butterfly named for a beautiful woman."
Sara was up and out of her seat in the blink of an eye. She came whirling around Grissom's desk, falling into his lap and hugging him so tightly he thought he would suffocate for sure. He went as red as a maraschino cherry when Sara kissed him on the cheek multiple times.
To Grissom's surprise, Sara was now sitting in his lap, her arms around his neck, one carefully holding the Lady Sara butterfly. She looked at him through joyful brown eyes. She scanned his face, her lips dangerously close to his.
"Um, Sara..." Grissom mumbled nervously.
"Oh...sorry." Sara blushed and picked herself off Grissom. She casually smoothed down her clothes and checked the Lady Sara for any cracks.
Grissom stood up shortly after her, watching her intently.
"I'm sorry, it's just, um...no one's ever done anything like this for me before," Sara admitted.
Grissom muttered something inaudible, and then pulled Sara into another awkward hug. He felt her heart beating rapidly and could smell the delicate scent of her rosemary and mint shampoo.
After a few moments, Sara pulled herself away from Grissom. She glanced down at the butterfly in her hands. "Thank you. Really. This means so much to me." She tried to hand back the butterfly, but Grissom pushed it back towards her.
"No. It's yours to keep."
"Oh! Um...what's the occasion?" She eyed him questioningly.
"I don't really have an excuse for this," he said.
"Good," Sara said honestly, heading for the door. "At least that means you're changing."
He averted his eyes, the corners of his lip turning upward slightly.
"This is going right over my bed," Sara said aloud, just loud enough for Grissom to hear her.
"I'm glad you like it," Grissom called just before she left.
Sara acknowledged him with a smile and closed the door.
Out in the deserted hallway, Sara looked at the Lady Sara moment after moment. She ran a finger over the nameplate and sighed. Turning over the frame, she spotted a handwritten note on the cardboard backing.
To Sara.
With love, Grissom.
Sara felt a bit dizzy. That was a lot better than "From Grissom".
Soon after reading the note, Sara was dashing back into Grissom's office to retrieve the case report she had left there.
He was always distracting her.
END