A/N: Mel, Mel, Mel. You rock my world.
And I actually used that testicles comment on a skeezeball who was catcalling me out a car window today.
SHAMELESS PLUG: Go read IllictyNuttier's fanfic 'Entitled, Eluded'. Know why? Because that's me (ScullyAsTrinity) and Lauren (TriplePirouette) writing as one! Yay! Go read!
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Sara carefully placed her journal down on the table and licked her lips. What she had really wanted to do was jump up onto the table and scream, "I told you so!" at Grissom, but to her credit she restrained herself.
"Well," Sara began on a resigned sigh, "We haven't exactly discussed going public. As you can tell" I told you so, I told you so, I freakin' told you so you daft, daft man.
"I'd say that ring is damn public." Catherine yelled, swinging her head to emphasize her words. "I mean, look at the size of it!"
Pulling her hands into her lap, she ignored Catherine's observation completely, all the while making a large attempt not to meet Grissom's eyes. If she did, it would be all over. "Anyway, he said we'd wait until someone figured it out." She pointed he thumb in her now-fiancé's direction with emphasis. "Guess he forgot what 'sharp tacks' you all are." Sara finished, slightly sarcastically and again picked up her journal.
"For the love." Nick began, sitting forward in his seat, elbows on the table. "Of everything holy. Will someone please, please, explain to me what just happened? I'm fairly certain my head is actually spinning off into another dimension."
Warrick smacked his friend on the arm. "I believe that's what's called a mind fuck Nick." He seemed to be the only one whose jaw hadn't come unhinged with the startling news, and for some reason, Sara found comfort in that. "And for the record man, Griss finally gave into Sara's 'feminine wiles' and they're gonna get hitched. Hey wait, has this thing been all around us the whole time?" Warrick said, his posture denoting that he was suddenly irked. "Sharp tacks? Man, how the hell could we miss this?"
Grissom remained silent, satisfied with the extent to which he had gone to publicize he and Sara's relationship. So there he stood, at the head of the table, assignment sheets in hand, waiting to begin the shift. He became antsy when no one spoke for a few moments. "Hey! Guys! Assignments-"
"Gil, shut up." Catherine commanded, and he, for his part, shut up... though he wasn't sure why he had done so. "The dead can wait for like..." She shook her head rapidly. She was agitated. "Another three minutes." Spinning towards the only other female CSI, Catherine pinned her with a stare. "Really? How long has this been going on? And I can't believe you didn't tell me by the way Gil. What happened to the 'being more open' thing? Sara!"
Catherine snapped her fingers in the young woman's face. Honestly, how did she expect her to follow her line of questioning when no one was really sure who the hell she was talking to.
"How long?"
Everyone sat still, silent, waiting for her to answer. Sara, finally summoning the ability to speak began, but was quickly cut off. "Three-"
"THREE YEARS!?" Cath roared, nearly shaking the room with her voice. Warrick and Nick cringed, and her decibel level seemed to snap Greg out of his, apparent temporary paralysis. Greg's brow furrowed as he attempted to make some semblance of the chaos that had erupted around him. "You've been seeing each other for three years?" The blonde thought for a moment and then whirled to face her supervisor.
"Gilbert Grissom. You cheated on Sara-"
"What on god's green earth are you talking about?" Gil nearly screeched, sensing Sara's sudden unease.
"I though, with Hea-"
Sara cut her off before she could go any further and Gil was grateful. "It's more, short term than that. Really."
Cath smiled and turned back to Sara. "Three months? It only took you three months to get him to slip that ring on you..." Her voice died off as she watched Sara's face brace for impact?
"THREE DAYS!?" Cat and Nick shouted together and Sara winced, sunk down in her chair, just a little. Sara's fingers toyed with her ring as she peeked to Grissom for help. Grissom, as per usual, was at a loss for what to do. Yes, he had somehow assembled the right sequence of words to get Sara to marry him, but that had taken, for the most part, his entire quota of creativity. Stocks such as that needed time to rebuild, and it hadn't even been a full day since he had used it up.
"Catherine, this is neither the time, nor the place. Can we please get back to-" Grissom had sounded stern, but Catherine lashed out at him. "One more word out of you bug man and you'll have to EBay a new pair of testicles! Stop changing the subject!"
Nick and Greg, laughed. Actually laughed. Sara smiled a bit but laughed as well at Catherine's insanely amusing threat. Stifling their amused snickers, the two men looked down at their laps, ignoring their supervisor's patented 'death-glare', which, in all fairness, wasn't all that different from his every day, run-of-the-mill scowl.
Greg sat forward, toying with a stray napkin, that had been strewn on the table. "Am I supposed to be enthused?" He asked, breaking Cat's glare away from Grissom, as all eyes were then focused on him. "I mean this is my first team meeting and... should I know how to react to this?"
Sara laughed, and for the first time spoke with mirth. "Not like this happens every day Greggo." Except in my head, she wanted to say, her stomach was turning in so many different directions.
"Okay, okay." Nick splayed his hands wide in front of him, earning him the attention of everyone in the room. "You and Sara, have never dated. Never." Nick was attempting to set things in concrete. Gil was stoic, allowing Sara to field the questions. He wasn't squirming on the outside, but he damn well was on the inside. His intestines in fact were about to crawl up and strangle him... but he made no move to show it.
'Figures', Sara thought. "Figures." Sara spat at him. "I don't know how to-" She looked towards Grissom who visually began to squirm at Sara's discomfort. Her expression went from unsure, to shocked, to hurt. She withered in her seat, and it affect him instantly.
"No Nick, we haven't dated. Not plural."
"You're not dating her... you're marrying her instead." Nick's tongue tested the words on his tongue, his mind playing catch up. He couldn't, so instead, he squeaked out a question. "Why?"
Grissom thought for a moment, and looked very calm as he spoke his explanation. "Because, Nicholas," No one had called him Nicholas but his mother and it freaked him out. "Some things in life are too wonderful to pass up. Carpe diem would suffice, I suppose, if you knew what repression of feelings does to someone's heart. What passion and untold wanting can do to a person when they feel hollow; when you think you're finally dead inside. And finally, once you let it go," He glanced at Sara. "How... alive... you feel. Like you've never lived."
They all stared at him, everyone at a loss for words. Even Sara. She met his eyes, her own wide and searching, telling him silently that he didn't have to go any further, that she was sure that they'd figured it out. Grissom smiled, a real smile and set the assignment slips down on the table with care. He looked up at them all over the rim of his glasses.
"And," He heaved a sigh, finding his words incredibly difficult to speak. "If my similes, metaphors, and clichés aren't... sufficient..." Grissom bit his lip and Sara toyed with her ring some more, her palms sweating. "I love her, very much."
Words, they came out so slow, but they slid from him so fast... in his head. It took him a moment to realize that saying them aloud, and coherent was a very good thing. But for a moment, a split second of a moment, he wondered why he wasn't beating his head off of the doorframe.
Catherine's head grasped at the last shreds of sanity that she was sure were dissipating. "That's... good?" She hoped that was an adequate answer in light of the situation. Gil's brow scrunched and he wondered that himself.
Sara was making a very decent attempt at hiding the grin that was threatening to crack her face into little tiny shards of Sara-bliss. But she couldn't. And she grinned.
"Yeah, okay. My mind is definitely being fucked now, oh yeah. There it goes." Nick sputtered, the curse words coming from his mouth without thought. "Sar?"
"What Nick?"
Nick shook his head, clearing the fog from his brain. "He asked you to marry him and you said yes." Sara nodded. "You're getting married." She nodded once more. "Okay, that's kinds cool." He laughed, finally allowing the words to sink in.
"Cool? Man that's fantastic!" Warrick spouted, standing up, walking over to Gil. "And let me be the first to congratulate you." He shook Grissom's hand hard. Nick was slow to follow suit but did eventually, telling him, "Congrats boss, and don't take this the wrong way." Nick's voice dropped. "You hurt her and there's a very distinct chance I'm gonna hurt you." Then Nick smiled and backed off so that Catherine could launch herself into his arms.
Warrick walked over to Sara and scooped her out of her chair. She squeaked and scowled at him, but he held her close, enveloping her in a bear hug. "You little minx!" He swung her around a bit, much to the amusement of Nick and Greg.
The Texan soon walked over to Sara, taking her in his arms much more reverently than Warrick had. He buried her face in her hair, just as she laid his head on her shoulder. "You love him?" She 'Mmm'ed' in the affirmative. "Does he, does he know Sara... about the...?"
Pulling her face back, her face bearing a look of complete shock, she shook her head. Nick patted her hair and replaced her head on his shoulder. "Well, when you're ready... but he should know. And if you need anything..."
She smiled into his neck and sighed. "You know Nick," She said quietly. "The big brother routine is getting pretty tired."
He pulled back and grinned at her. "Hey, a big brother is supposed to be overbearing and annoying, so you'll just have to deal with that."
Catherine moved Nick aside and stood in front of Sara, a tad unsure of what to do. Standing there for a moment, she randomly enveloped the younger CSI into an awkward hug. Sara patted her on the back belatedly.
Greg, for the first time, smiled. It was a slightly confused smile, but he shrugged and offered the two his congratulations, and included a plea to be invited to the wedding.
That's when Nick really got excited. "Sara? In a dress? We get to witness Sara Sidle in a dress?" Warrick laughed heartily and directed his attention to Sara.
Everyone stared her down. Sara became agitated and looked to Gil for help. "Yeah Sara," Catherine said, a hint of teasing in her voice. "How are you planning on going about with this wedding?"
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Yeah Holly, volley THAT back, biotch. ;-) I think we can both bet Mel's loving THAT. Hehe.