DISCLAIMER : I don't own CSI nor it's characters. Everything belongs to the brains behind this wonderful show. Props go out to them. :D
AUTHOR'S NOTE : Set Post-Butterflied. Still unsure as to how this story is going to unfold and I like it that way. I could surprise the readers and myself. :D
The title may also change.
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CHAPTER X
If the drive to the crime scene was any indication of how things were between him and Sara, the start of the drive back to the lab had been double the intensity.
He was watching her. Sara could actually feel his eyes on her. She had been a little surprised when he took the passenger seat without a word and left her to occupy the driver's seat.
They had spent 15 minutes of silence when Grissom broke the silence and startled Sara from her driving.
"What happened to us?" Grissom's soft spoken question got her to turn to him for a second.
"I ... I don't understand the question." Sara replied, a frown forming on her forehead.
"Us. What happened to our relationship?" Grissom sighed and continued staring intensely at her.
"Did I do something wrong on a case?" Sara's frown deepened. She didn't know where Grissom was going with this and his demeanor shock her.
"I didn't mean our working relationship, Sara."
"Then what other relationship are we talking about?" Sara replied shortly. "It's not as if we're exactly having another relationship outside of work."
"We used to be friends." Grissom simply stated.
"Oh, right. That." Sara bitterly said that made Grissom flinch for a second. "We haven't been friends in a very long time Griss, I think you know that," Sara added sadly, after a short pause.
"I know. I don't know how things have become as they are." Grissom sighed once again, feeling the sadness of the situation.
"We both are to blame for that." Sara commented, staring straight ahead and ignoring the urge to look into his eyes. "Maybe we shouldn't have flirted ... maybe I shouldn't have asked you out ... maybe you shouldn't have given me false hopes. There are a lot of things that maybe we shouldn't have done."
"I didn't mean to hurt you Sara." Grissom only whispered as his reply. "I didn't mean anything like this to happen."
"But you did and it did happen." Sara said, shrugging his apology off. "Sometimes I wonder how I lasted this long in Vegas."
"You ... you aren't thinking about leaving again, are you?" His question was laced with genuine concern that Sara was forced to take her eyes off the road and cast him a look.
"I was serious about the last time I thought about that leave of absence, Griss. I have no one here, except all the guys at the lab who I care for deeply. I really do, but they aren't the ones keeping me in Vegas."
"Who's keeping you in Vegas?" Grissom asked, his voice wavered a little.
Sara slowed the car down significantly and looked him in the eyes, a smile playing on her lips, "Are you sure you're ready to open that can of worms?"
Grissom nodded and smirked. Frankly, he didn't know if he was really ready to continue on with the conversation. He didn't even realize that he had spoken his first question out loud. Despite the seriousness of the topic, he found that there was still hope for him yet. He was indescribably glad that Sara was still willing to talk to him about their relationship and he just couldn't help but think positively.
They spent what's left of their trip back to the lab in silence, although the air in the car had become comfortable.
x x x x x x x x
"Hey Sara, hello Mr. Grissom." Judy, the Crime Lab receptionist greeted them both as soon as they entered the premises. Grissom nodded in acknowledgement while Sara gave Judy a small wave of her hand. "Ahhhmm, this came for you about two hours ago."
Sara excused herself from Grissom's side to come and stand opposite Judy on her desk, while the other woman brought out a small jewelry box with a single red bow. Sara's right eyebrow shot up and stared questioningly at Judy.
"What is this? Who is this from?" She couldn't, for the life of her, think who would leave her a jewelry box.
Judy shook her head in response and said, "I ... we don't know. One of the lab technicians, Danny, found it just outside our lab and it had your name on it. Nobody knows where it came from..."
"That's odd. Who would leave a jewelry case just like that?" Sara asked Judy who continued to shake her head. By now, the look on Sara's face had brought Grissom to stand beside her.
"What is it?" He asked, walking to stand beside Sara as she shot him a confused look.
Sara hadn't thought of opening the case yet, but his question had her do it slowly. As soon as she opened the small case, she let out a surprised gasp at what she found inside.
Laid beautifully on the inside of the case was a white gold necklace which was even more accentuated by a pink tourmaline and diamond pendant. There was a card inside the case, Sara lifted it and saw what was written on it.
Abraham Lincoln once said, "I will prepare and someday my chance will come."
To say that Sara was shocked was putting it mildly. Her jaw literally dropped open and her eyes shot towards Grissom who stood frozen right beside her.
Grissom couldn't say anything. He was as shocked as she was and bells were ringing in his ears. Who had sent Sara these? He looked at Sara's expression and realized that she had gone three shades paler.
"Okay," Sara said in a breathless voice, "things have officially just become weird. I ... I don't know how to react to this."
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A/N : Yay, a not-so-late update on the fic! Heh. I hope this is better than the last chapter. :D
