A.N.: I started this fic long before anything was known about Sara's parents other than that they owned a B&B near San Fransisco, and changing it would have complicated my story way too much. Also, this and the following couple chapters are unbetaed as I am currently without beta. If anyone is interested, let me know. Sorry for the extremely long delay, but graduating University tends to make one busy.
Chapter 5
Oblivious to her surroundings, Sara walked beside Grissom down a hallway at CSI headquarters. She passed room after room filled with lab coat laden technicians without a single thought as to where she was and where she was heading.
Next to Sara, walking so close to her that his arm constantly brushed hers, Grissom was equally as oblivious. The minds of both investigators were completely preoccupied with contemplating the enigma bestowed upon them by Doctor Robbins not five minutes before.
Apparently, their murder victim had been shot with an invisible bullet. Or was it a disappearing bullet?
Whichever, thought Sara, not feeling the need to put too much stock into the hypothesis. It was an absurd notion really, not to mention quite impossible. Sure, it had been more than a few years since she had gotten her degree in theoretical physics, but Sara was pretty sure that if there had been any major alterations to the laws of physics after her graduation, she would have heard about it. As far as modern science was concerned, objects couldn't just disappear. It was a scientific impossibility. That bullet had to be somewhere.
Rounding another corner in the lab, Sara and Grissom came to an abrupt stop, barely avoiding a collision with Warrick and Greg. Nick, unfortunately, had had his head turned to catch something Warrick said, and he ran smack into Sara. The force of his momentum caused Sara to bounce back half a step before Nick's hands came up to grasp her upper arms and halt her movement.
"Whoa, hey! Where's the fire?"
Sara's eyes snapped up to Nick's, blinking twice in quick succession before focusing.
"Fire? What fire?"
Sara cocked her head slightly to the side in confusion, her brow crinkling momentarily before clearing with comprehension. "Oh, right!...Sorry, no fire. I was just thinking."
"Well, don't think so hard," Nick recommended as he gave her arms a light squeeze before letting go and standing back. "You could hurt yourself that way." Nick grinned; joking even though he knew it was his distraction that had caused the collision, not Sara's.
Sara joked right back. "You know this from experience, Nicky?"
"Hey, now!" Nick exclaimed, trying to look wounded even though he was smiling. "Be nice. I was just about to offer Greg's assistance in picking up the breakfast tab this morning. But now, you know, you just ruined it."
"Hey!" Greg said, leaning forward to glare at Nick. "I never said anything about paying!"
Warrick chuckled. "You didn't have to say anything, newbie. It was assumed."
"Damn!" Greg cursed. He shook his head ruefully, but a twinkle in his eyes belayed his pleasure over his newly endowed title. Cool. Newbie.
Reminded about breakfast, Sara looked at her watch to check the time. Surprised to see that shift had been over for ten minutes, Sara marveled at how the time had flown. She looked around at the guys and realized that, with the exception of Grissom, all of them had jackets on and looked like they were ready to head out of the lab. "You guys clocking out?"
Warrick answered for the three of them. "Yeah, we were just gonna find you first to see if breakfast was still on."
"Absolutely," Sara nodded her head in the affirmative. "Just let me get my stuff from my locker and make a quick run home, then I'll meet you there."
The guys nodded their heads and moved off down the corridor in the direction of the exit. Nick called back to Sara. "You better show up, Sidle. I order big when I know someone else is buying."
Grissom, who had remained silent throughout the whole exchange, watched the guys disappear around another corner in the lab. He turned to Sara and arched one eyebrow.
"Breakfast?"
"Yeah, my treat. Down at the diner. I think Catherine might be coming too."
Sara hesitated a split second before she asked, her voice slightly lower and huskier. "How about you?"
"Me?" Grissom questioned, evidently surprised Sara would ask him.
"Yes, you. You gonna come?"
Grissom's mouth was slightly parted as he looked deep into Sara's eyes, making her shiver involuntarily. He blinked and closed his mouth, swallowing once before speaking. "I, ah, I have about a month's worth of backlog paperwork I should get to." One side of his mouth quirked up, almost as if in apology.
Sara swiftly averted her gaze and nodded her head in understanding. She was disappointed at the prospect of Grissom's absence, and yet she was greatly relieved she wouldn't have to deal with his presence.
"Um, well, you probably won't miss much. I can't stay too long myself; I have a few errands I need to run before tonight."
"Errands?" Grissom questioned, his eyes going to Sara's averted face while his jaw clenched and unclenched. "For tonight?"
"Just some groceries I need to pick up," Sara replied. "I, ah, I guess I should get going."
Sara took off towards the locker room as Grissom watched. She paused at the doorway, looking back at Grissom. She kept her eyes on his bearded chin rather than meeting his eyes.
"Oh, hey, I almost forgot. One of the reasons I arranged breakfast is that I got gifts for everyone when I was visiting my parents. I left them at home, but I'm going to pick them up on my way to the diner. Since your not going to be there, I guess I'll, ah, I'll just give you yours some other time."
Grissom opened his mouth to speak, but didn't know what to say.
Sara continued in a rush. "It's nothing special, really, it's just something that made me think of you. I got a little something for everyone."
With that, Sara disappeared into the locker room.
An utterly confused Grissom was left stranded in the middle of the lab hallway, the traffic of the lab personnel ebbing and flowing around his stationary form.
