Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1

Part 3 of 3

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The start of the next shift rolled around all too quickly for certain members of the nightshift. Greg almost stumbled into the break room and started making a pot of his favorite brand of coffee. He had managed to sleep after getting home, but was still reeling from the fact that he had been tricked, by Grissom and Sara no less. Playing the events through his mind over and over left him tired and he was glad of the energy boost as he took a sip of the delicious caffeine in his mug.

"Greggo, any of that for me?" asked Nick as he wandered into the room and smelled 'the good stuff'. Greg considered saying no, but then decided he wanted to have Nick on side to try and stave off the teasing he knew was sure to come when Sara appeared.

Warrick and Catherine also managed to cajole Greg into parting with coffee, but the next two to enter the room didn't even dare to try their luck.

"Well, if it isn't the two wet wonders," grinned Nick, unconsciously leaning further back in his chair as Sara's glare connected with his eyes. Holding his hands up in defense, he nodded to Catherine. "Hey, I'm not the one who spread the news."

Catherine glared at Nick as she became the recipient of twin glares from Sara and Grissom. All glares were quickly forgotten though as Grissom passed around some photos.

"There's only one wet wonder, though I'm sure I can think of a few words other than wonder to describe him," said Grissom.

All except Greg looked at the photos and burst out laughing. He turned his gaze to Sara and tried to use his puppy dog look again, but she just laughed it away.

"Greg, care to explain?" asked Grissom, a smirk playing on his lips. Greg shook his head and moved back to the safety of the coffee pot, refilling his mug and taking his time returning to the table.

Sara quickly filled in her curious co-workers on the events of the day and didn't know whether to be pleased or hurt when they all gasped in disbelief.

"You and Grissom? You guys tricked Greg?" questioned Nick in astonishment.

"You think we don't have the capability, Nick?" asked Grissom, putting the younger man on the spot and looking at him over the rim of his glasses.

"Uh, can we get back to teasing Greg?"

They all laughed at Nick's discomfort, but Grissom soon brought them all under control by handing out assignments. Nick, Warrick and Catherine all had crime scenes to attend, while he, Sara and Greg would be working in the lab, processing the evidence from the lake.

As they all filed out of the room, Sara called Greg back.

"Do you want to take break together tonight, Greg?" she asked.

"Why? So you can subject me to more teasing?"

"No. Listen, I'm sorry if we went too far with the trick, we didn't mean to. Like I said earlier, we were just letting off a little steam. Come on, I might even let you share my vegetarian piece of heaven," she winked. Greg's eyes went wide and then he looked at her with a devilish gleam in his eyes. "Food, Greg, I was talking about food!" she told him, raising a hand and shaking her head.

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"So, what vegetarian piece of heaven to I get to share?" asked Greg as he joined Sara in the break room to eat together.

"You don't need to share, you can have it all," she said, pushing her unopened container towards him. He looked at her curiously. "I'm not hungry, I think I'm sick."

"I'm not gonna fall for that one again," he smiled.

"What? Oh, no, Greg, I'm serious. I think I'm coming down with something."

"Uh huh," said Greg, shaking his head and obviously not believing her. He pulled open the lid of the container she had passed to him and then recoiled in disgust. "Woah, if you eat stuff like that, it's no wonder you feel sick."

Grissom chose that moment to enter the room and he looked at both occupants curiously when neither of them spoke.

"Everything okay?" he asked, looking at Sara and Greg in turn. Greg met his gaze but then looked at Sara, almost challengingly. "Sara?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," she replied. Greg emitted a small chuckle and gave her a look that said he thought he'd beaten her at her own game, but he stopped when Sara coughed.

"Are you okay?" asked Grissom immediately.

"Oh, come on, guys, I'm not gonna fall for that," laughed Greg, but Grissom silenced him with a glare.

As Grissom walked over to Sara, Greg rolled his eyes and proclaimed that he wasn't going to become a victim of their duplicity again. He was soon hushed by Grissom, who was now leaning on the table, staring at Sara intently.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Grissom, I'm fine," she insisted, but her body betrayed her by sneezing. Grissom recoiled as the outpourings from her nose hit the top of his chest. Sara started apologizing profusely, but he held up a hand to stop her talking.

"You have a cold," he stated bluntly before turning to the other person in the room. "Greg, pass me the blanket that's on the back of the couch."

"You've got to be kidding," whined Greg. "I already told you I'm not gonna fall for this again."

"Greg!"

"Okay, okay, I'm getting it," said Greg, hurriedly retrieving the blanket and passing it to him. Grissom wrapped it around Sara's shoulders and then placed a finger under her chin to tilt her head up.

"I'm fine," she protested, but Grissom ignored her. "I don't have a cold."

"Sara, you never sneeze, you like to remind people that you don't suffer from any allergies."

"I don't have a cold," she repeated.

"Wait, you really are sick," said Greg, finally realizing that it wasn't an act.

"No!"

"Sara –" started Grissom, but she cut him off.

"I'm fine," she insisted, pushing away from the table and standing up, dropping the blanket from her shoulders.

"Sara, it's okay to get sick," said Greg.

"No, it's not," she muttered and Greg looked to Grissom for an explanation.

"No field work, Sara, and you need to wear a mask while working with any evidence," ordered Grissom.

"I'm fine!" she yelled, but then sneezed again and dropped back down into her seat.

Greg decided he didn't want to be a part of the argument that was about to ensue and he quickly retreated to the sanctuary of the DNA lab.

"Sara –"

"Grissom, I said I'm fine, I just got dust in my face or something."

"You're happy to work without a mask then? You definitely won't be risking compromising evidence if you do that?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

She knew he had her on that one, she would never risk contaminating evidence. It was the main reason she hated getting sick, as it severely interrupted her work. Where most people could continue as normal when they just had a mild cold, CSIs had to take extra precautions.

"Fine, I'll wear a mask," she grudgingly agreed.

"Go home," said Grissom suddenly. Sara looked at him like he was crazy. "If you go home now, you might prevent your cold getting worse," he said logically.

"Greg is gonna be doing all my grunt work for a month," she vowed, still not moving from her seat. Grissom furrowed his brow at her comment. "If I have a cold, it's because I was pushed into a lake last night," she explained.

Grissom walked behind her chair and picked up the discarded blanket. After draping it around her shoulders again, he started to leave the room, but turned back at the last moment. "You should go home. I'll be here to help Greg process the evidence."

"I'm fine," she protested.

"I'm not going to force you," he said, looking at her seriously. "But, you should consider it."

"I'll let you know."

"If I can't find you, I'll know you've gone," he told her as he left.

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Sara had been forced to give in and take Grissom's advice about two hours before the end of shift, as her sneezing got worse and she couldn't handle evidence due to her shivering causing her hands to shake. She managed to drive herself home and took a long, hot shower to let the steam permeate her head. Grabbing a bottle of water, she then collapsed onto the couch and tried to sleep, but she tossed and turned for about an hour, her cough waking her every time she started to doze.

When the clock showed the time she would usually have returned from shift, Sara gave up all hope of a restful sleep and padded to the kitchen, pulling a blanket around herself. She had dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt after her shower, but was still shivery. As a last attempt to prevent the cold getting worse, she filled a bowl with boiling water, carried it to the coffee table, put a towel over her head and the bowl and leaned forward to inhale the steam.

The steam caused her to cough a little, but she knew it was necessary to clear her head and nose. Her hair was beginning to stick to her forehead and she felt dreadful, knowing she probably looked even worse than she felt. Her theory was unfortunately to be tested when she heard a knock at the door.

With a sigh, she pushed away from the coffee table, stood up and walked to the door. Looking through the peephole, she let out a gasp and hurriedly tried to make herself look more presentable. When he knocked again, she abandoned her clean up effort and opened the door.

"Hey," she greeted, closing her eyes when she heard her croaky her voice sounded.

"I was going to say that you must be really sick to have actually left work early, but I can see there's no need. You look dreadful."

"Gee, thanks for that, Grissom. Way to cheer me up," she said in a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry," he said genuinely as he stepped past her into the apartment. She closed the door and walked to the couch, dropping down unceremoniously. Grissom sat down in a chair and looked at her seriously. "Greg asked me to apologize to you again, especially about not believing you were really sick this time."

She smiled weakly before coughing. "I don't blame him for not believing me, not after the prank."

"Well, if it's any consolation, he's made a donation to help you get well."

"What kind of donation?" she asked warily.

Grissom reached into his pocket and triumphantly produced a small bag. "This is his coffee bean stash," he grinned. Sara chuckled a little at Grissom's expression, but then shook her head.

"Um, that's nice of him –"

"I don't think he'd agree," interrupted Grissom, adding, "He didn't exactly donate it willingly."

Laughing, Sara continued, "But I don't drink coffee when I'm sick, it just keeps me awake and I really don't need that."

"It's not for you," he told her, earning a confused look. "It's for me, to keep me awake while I make sure you're looking after yourself."

"Huh?" she said ineloquently.

Instead of answering, Grissom stood up and retrieved the now cold bowl of water and towel from the coffee table, taking them into the kitchen. He then used Greg's coffee beans to start a pot of coffee and let it drip through while he returned to his chair.

"You having a cold is partly my fault," he finally said to a bemused Sara. "I was the one that fell against you and it was my weight that pushed you into the lake."

"Yeah, but I grabbed you and took you in with me," she pointed out.

"Very true, which is why it's likely I am going to end up with a cold at some point as well. I figure if I look after you now, you can then return the favor."

The playful lilt to his voice gave Sara more confidence than she had felt around him for a long time. "Oh, really?" she said with an arched eyebrow. Grissom just nodded his head and almost looked smug. "What makes you so sure you're going to get a cold anyway? You're not showing any symptoms so far and you were better dressed for the wet than I was."

"I would think that after hanging around you for a few hours today, I'm going to have a cold," he replied.

"You're going to be hanging around me for a few hours?" she queried.

"Yes," he answered simply, smiling at the look of frustration on her face.

"Why?"

"Because I want to. Now, you should be resting," he stated. Sara rolled her eyes, but noticed the serious look in his eyes and relented, lying down on the couch and pulling the blanket over herself. "Do you need anything?" asked Grissom quietly, to which she shook her head. A joint coughing and sneezing fit racked her body a moment later and she sat up, searching for her box of tissues. Grissom grabbed them from the coffee table and brought them to her, sitting on the edge of the table and holding a tissue for her to take.

"Thanks," she said after wiping her nose.

Grissom stood again to get himself a cup of coffee and thoughtfully brought Sara a bottle of water, which he placed on the coffee table. She acknowledged it with a nod, but was too tired to really move, so snuggled further down into the couch. Taking a sip of coffee, Grissom decided it was too hot and placed it on the table to cool. Looking over at Sara, he felt himself smile at the sight of her starting to doze. The temptation to move closer was irresistible and he slowly made his way towards her, coming to a halt just beside the couch. After hovering for a moment, he bent down with the intention of placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Sara chose that instant to feel the need for a drink of water and, without opening her eyes, she sat up slightly to reach for the bottle. The movement of her head meant that Grissom's lips didn't meet her forehead; instead, they met her lips.

Sara's eyes flew open at the contact and she looked directly into the startled gaze of Gil Grissom. She expected him to retreat immediately, which was why she didn't let her head fall back to the pillow on the arm of the couch. However, Grissom didn't move away, he did exactly the opposite, leaning a little closer and bending down further. Sara was further surprised when she felt his hips nudge against hers as he sat on the edge of the couch.

"Grissom," she started, but he placed a finger against her lips to cut her off.

"If you don't want this…," he said huskily. His eyes were darkened and Sara found herself mesmerized by them.

"I was just going to say I need a drink of water," she smiled. She waited for his reaction, fully expecting him to suddenly backpedal and get flustered. When he didn't, she feigned more confidence than she felt and said seductively, "So I can fully participate in this."

Grissom stretched over to the table and retrieved the bottle, unscrewing the cap and pressing the bottle to her lips. "Anything to help," he smirked.

After another round of kisses, each becoming more passionate, they finally broke apart for air. Grissom knew that Sara was tiring quickly, so he retreated to the chair to remove himself from temptation. She looked over at him, amusement dancing through her half-closed eyes.

"You're definitely going to have a cold now," she grinned.

"As long as you give me the same TLC I've just given you, and will give you more of, that's fine with me," he smiled.

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The End

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