Chapter 7

With her back against the wall, Sara secretively peered around the corner adjacent to the trace lab. Catching sight of Hodges just as he was about to turn around and look in her direction, Sara quickly whipped her head back around the corner and let it rest against the wall behind her.

If there was ever a day when she just didn't want to deal with Hodges, today was the day. It wasn't that she couldn't handle any of the acerbic things that had a tendency to come out of his mouth, she knew that she could, it was just that she was in such a good mood. It really was a shame to have to ruin it by going into trace to get her report on the pile of ashes from her woodland murder from Hodges. And there was no doubt in her mind that interacting with Hodges would ruin her good mood.

Hodges was just talented that way.

As Sara took a deep breath and, squaring her shoulders, bravely stepped around the corner towards trace, she couldn't help feel a rush of pleasure at the thought of the source of her soon to be gone good mood. Who knew that Brass could be such a charming and entertaining dinner companion? She certainly hadn't been expecting it.

Brass had enthralled her with the unbelievable tales of all the insanely dumb criminals he had encountered in his many years as a cop in both Jersey and Vegas. Even now, Sara couldn't help but smile at the memory of some of those stories. She couldn't believe that someone would actually rob a store wearing a hockey jersey with their name embroidered on the back. And then there was the one where the bank robber robbed his own bank by pushing a note he had written on the back of one of his own cheque. One of his own personalized cheques, with his name and address in prominent view.

With a smile firmly entrenched on her face and her thoughts elsewhere, Sara made it all the way to the doorway of the trace lab before she realized that Hodges was nowhere to be seen. Sara stopped momentarily due to the unexpectedness of the situation she now found herself in, before she realized that this was her chance. Swiftly moving across the lab, Sara was able to find her trace results in Hodges' 'Out' bin and exit trace in record time. Speeding away from the scene, Sara's smile got even bigger at the thought of her good fortune.

Slowing her pace a safe distance from trace, Sara began to glance over the report. Her mind, however, was still on the events of the night before. Her dinner with Brass had gone much better than she could possibly ever have hoped for. She had extended the invitation with the intention of thanking Brass for his previous attempt to reach out and help her when he was concerned about her drinking, and to ask for his support in her plan to get out and get a life. She had wanted his support so that she would have someone there to nudge her if she ever appeared to be back in her old rut at any point in her new found quest. Since he had already shown himself to be a good friend and had at least some idea of her old patterns that she was working so hard to change, Brass had seemed like the perfect choice for the role. And so Sara invited Brass over for dinner and told him of her plan, which at the moment basically consisted of getting out and enjoying the fact that she lives in a world famous tourist mecca. A mecca that she had only really seen from the inside of crime scene tape.

When presented with her request, however, Brass had surprised Sara with not only a pledge of support, but he had insisted that she utilize his services as alternately a tour guide to the city and companion to accompany her on her adventures. After all, Brass had reminded her, he had been in this city a lot longer than she had. She might as well take advantage of that.

Sara had gladly accepted his proposal. In fact, they had already planned their first outing.

Finishing up reading the trace report, Sara looked up to see that she had unconsciously made her way to Grissom's office. With the intention of reporting the findings of the report, Sara turned to go into the office when she heard her name called by a familiar voice.

"Sara, just the person I was looking for!"

Standing in the middle of the doorway, Sara smiled brightly and turned towards Brass, who had come up the hall behind her.

"Hey Brass!"

"Honey, I think I recall telling you to call me 'Jim' back at your apartment." Brass tilted his head at Sara. "Please don't tell me you don't remember. And here I thought our time together was special! But now, here we are less than six hours later, and you don't even remember my name." Brass shook his head ruefully as Sara chuckled.

"Sorry… Jim. It's just going to take a little getting used to, I guess. For years you've always been 'Brass'."

"Well, times change."

"Yes, they do." Sara gave Brass another smile then she held up the report in her hand. "Trace just came in; I was just about to update Grisssom."

Brass motioned towards the bugcave that was Grissom's office with one hand. "Good, I have an update of my own concerning the vic." Brass allowed Sara to precede him into the office, guiding her way with a light touch of his hand on the small of her back.

The two made their way over towards Grissom's desk where they sat down in the empty chairs available. Grissom, himself, was sitting behind his desk and had been there through their entire conversation, watching and listening from his front row seat.

With her eyes fixated back on the lab report she held in her hands, Sara didn't notice the shocked look of hurt and jealousy that was blossoming on Grissom's face as he looked at his visitors. Brass, however, did and sent a small, self-satisfied smirk in Grissom's direction. Grissom's eyes narrowed as he shifted his attention solely to Brass.

Sara, oblivious to the male posturing going on around her, began her report. "Trace report on the ashes found at the scene identified it as being pine. There were a few splinters of the wood intact, enough for the ID. No idea what the object burned was, though. And the wood doesn't appear to have been treated with anything."

Having completed her report, Sara looked up and was startled by the look Grissom was sending Brass' way. It almost looked like Grissom was glaring at Brass, but that couldn't be, could it?

Seeing Sara's look of confusion, followed by the opening of her mouth to no doubt question what was going on, Brass deliberately shifted her focus by starting his own report.

"The vic? Brian Oliver? He's local, been living out in Henderson for the past five years. Transplant from Canada. According to his neighbours, he lives alone…But, interesting enough, he's got three sons, all of whom are currently visiting dear old Dad. No one was home when I went out to the house, but I'm gonna head back out there later, see if they show." Brass hesitated a second then, suppressing a smirk when he saw that he was still the subject of Grissom's displeasure, turned to Sara and smiled. "You up for a road trip, later?"

Sara smiled back, glad to be included. "You bet!"

Sara and Brass sat there, smiling at one another, then Sara remembered something. Jumping up, she said, "Hey, Bra…Jim? Wait here, will you, I brought you the rest of the leftover cheesecake from dinner. I seriously can't eat anymore, and since you liked it so much, I brought the rest for you to have."

Before either Brass or Grissom could react, Sara had left the room and was on her way down the hallway towards the break room.

Brass turned and watched Sara until she was out of sight, a wide smile on his face. Turning back around, Brass saw that Grissom had been watching him watch Sara. He did not look happy.

Stirring the pot, Brass commented, "Boy does that girl have a lot of energy. She just keeps going and going…but then, she's hardly a girl, is she? Nope, Sara Sidle is definitely no girl."

Then Brass smiled and sat back to watch.

To his amazement Grissom's glare got even more severe as his ire rose, his face even going a slight red colour, like his collar was too tight. Knowing that he was about to be blasted in a second, Brass stood up and tossed over his shoulder as he made his way out the door, "I think I'll just go find Sara."

Brass walked down the corridor, fully aware of the death beams currently being shot into his back by Grissom, who he could feel was following him down the hall. He regulated his speed to keep Grissom from catching up with him and to stop him from lagging too far behind.

Brass grinned, this was just too much fun!

Just like dinner at Sara's had been fun. He was busting with pride over the control Sara had been taking over her life in the past month. And he was proud and humbled by the fact that she felt she could count on him for support. Especially when it appeared that he was the only one she had approached.

And Brass has every intention of helping Sara, just not only in the way that she thinks. Sure, he'll help her to see more of Vegas, and he'll be there as a friend when she needs one, but he also has a plan of his own.

He wants Sara to be as happy as she can possibly be, and for Sara he knows that happiness has to include Grissom in her new life. So that means it is up to Brass to make that happen.

Brass knew that Sara had been burned many times by Gil, and so he wasn't horribly surprised when it appeared that her desire to change her life included a denial of her feelings for Grissom. And denial it must be, Brass thought, for he knew that Sara wasn't the type of person who could just stop caring for someone at the drop of a hat. Yet, he had seen the intent way in which Grissom had looked at Sara on her first night back, before she had made her unexpected dinner invite. Grissom had been much more obvious and open in his attitude towards her. Sara had no doubt seen it too, observant CSI that she was, and yet she had acted like nothing was different. Her feelings for Gil must be one of the ruts that she had mentioned to Brass that she didn't want to get stuck back in. She hadn't said it, of course, but Brass considered himself an intuitive guy.

And so he had cleverly concocted a plan of his own. One that involved motivating Grissom to make a move on Sara, one so decisive that she couldn't possible ignore or deny it. And the best way to do that, Brass had decided, was to make Grissom think he was putting the moves on Sara himself. In his profession he'd certainly seen what a motivator jealousy could be, and it was about time Grissom got a much needed kick in the pants. And Brass was only too happy to oblige. After all, he had been witness to the awkward geek mating dance that had been going on between Gil and Sara for the past five years, same as everyone else. It was damn irritating. Everyone thought so, but no one wanted to say anything.

And neither will I, thought Brass, I wont say anything either, especially not to Sara. I'll just do my thing and hope that she doesn't catch on until after Grissom finally acts on these feelings he's harbouring for her. After that, she'll be so happy, she'll forgive me.

No problem, Brass reminded himself, it would never cross her mind in a million years that Grissom would be jealous of me, especially when there is nothing romantic going on between us. Piece of cake.

And with that thought, Brass made his way into the break room, his eye on the container in Sara's hand as she rose from her crouch in front of the community fridge. Earnestly licking his lips in anticipation of his treat, Brass moved to Sara's side and took the container from her. Peeling back the lid to peak inside, Brass let out a groan of pleasure, "Sara, honey, this is surely a little piece of heaven right here on earth."

Conscious of their audience behind him consisting of one disgruntled entomologist, Brass leaned forward and kissed a blushing Sara on her cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," a surprised and flustered Sara replied. She flicked her glance in question towards Grissom, who had been standing quietly frozen in the doorway. Seeing this look, Grissom finally moved, slowly making his way over to the coffee pot to pour himself a cup. Once he had his coffee, Grissom remained at the counter, staring at the wall and sipping absentmindedly from his mug.

Knowing full well that Grissom was listening in on their conversation, Brass inquired of Sara, "So, are we still on for Thursday?"

Sara's reply was delayed by the beeping of her pager. Unclipping it from her belt, she glanced at it before turning back to Brass. "Greg needs my help. But, yeah, we're still on." Sara chuckled, "Are you really taking me to the Liberace Museum?" She moved to exit the break room.

"Of course," Brass replied, grinning, "Nothing says Vegas like Liberace. Besides on Thursdays they have a 'musical tribute to Liberace.' I've been told it's a must see. If it's not, I promise to keep you entertained with my wit and charm." At this Grissom choked on the coffee in his mouth while Sara's laughter carried back into the break room as she moved down the corridor away from them.

Brass patted Grissom on the back as he passed by on his own way towards the door. "Gil, my old friend, I think that went really well." As he passed through the doorway, Brass could have sworn he heard Grissom growl at him. Probably just clearing his throat, Brass thought.

Leisurely strolling down the lab hallway, Brass congratulated himself on a job well done. Laughing, Brass considered how much fun this was going to be, after all it wasn't often he got the chance to pull something over on Grissom. Besides, Brass told himself, it's for Grissom's own good.