Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, although I do immensely enjoy them. As always, coffee's on me if George and Jorja have the time.
Author's Note: Once again a random conversation followed by a random thought produced this story. It is written from Grissom's point of view.
I've learned that fishing and criminalistics both require a great deal of patience as well as knowing what kind of lure to use to reel in the big one. Of course there are always those that somehow get away and I suppose that is why a fish shaped bulletin board graces the wall in my office with the ones that got away.
That fish may hold the cases that remain unsolved, but it certainly doesn't hold the most important thing I let get away from me. I suppose you could say that I was mesmerized by Sara from the day I met her, but just as I would a masterpiece in a museum, so I would watch and study her; but I never touched her, or so I thought.
My realization that I had touched her far deeper than I had ever imagined came the night that I had to pick her up at the police station for driving DUI. I had never seen Sara so ashamed and disappointed before. I'm sure that she was bracing herself for my reaction, and the fact that she didn't say a word to me until we were in the sanctity of my vehicle underscored that. But there was something else too. Something that I noticed when I took her hand in mine. Whatever it was that had been offered to me before that I had never taken her up on was gone. There was a distinct change in her demeanor towards me and it had nothing to do with the awkwardness of the situation.
When I dropped her at her apartment, I asked her if she wanted me to come in. I think surprise was reflected on my face when she shook her head and in a soft voice she told me that she was going to call Nick. I just nodded; they were good friends and I was her supervisor. I had never really considered that there might be anything other than friendship between the pair. I knew that they were close friends and spent time together frequently outside of work, but I thought it stopped there.
I couldn't have been more wrong. Somewhere in the middle of those six weeks I made Sara take off work, Nick asked for some time off too. I couldn't begrudge him, he had the time coming and there were some people from days looking to pick up some more overtime so I freely gave him the time off. It was after he returned that I noticed something different. He had more of a spring in his step than usual, and then when Sara returned to work a week after that she seemed calmer and more at ease than I'd seen her in a long time. I wrote it off to her getting well rested and having completed her counseling requirement. I let myself keep thinking that until a week or so after that.
We'd all been working an especially grueling case and I was heading home to get some sleep so that I could come back with fresh eyes and a clear head. I walked out into the parking lot and as I glanced over three parking spaces through car windows I noticed what appeared to be an entanglement of two very familiar bodies. I think I dropped my keys and my mouth must have been hanging open as I realized that Nick and Sara were sharing a rather intense kiss and from the looks of it this wasn't the first one that they'd shared.
I think I felt my heart in my throat at that moment.
That was a couple of months ago and things between them are still going strong, despite the fact that they are working different shifts now. Their hours overlap enough that I see them together now and then. I have to hand it to them, they are consummate professionals at work; I would have expected nothing less.
Last night though, something was different about Sara and at first I thought perhaps there was trouble between her and Nick but then I realized that that wasn't the case. The diamond ring on the third finger of her left hand was evidence of that.
I glance up at that fish shaped bulletin board in my office and let out a sigh. I should never have let Sara get away, but it's too late now.
The End