As the Spork Breaks.
Summary: Response to an elemental challenge posted by Rouch at YTDAW. Elements:
The phrase "I didn't know the human body could bend like that"
A mention of any 80's cop show
A trip to the hospital
Someone loopy on percocet or vicodin
A strange pet
Dancing
Grissom and Sara Friendship, any length.
A/N : Constructive criticism is more than welcomed.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: The characters and situations in this story belong to Alliance Atlantis, CBS, Anthony Zuicker and other entities. Please don't sue me. You wouldn't like to see me sued. It would be a waste of time and money.
'Wait, wait, wait... Your first crush was Ponch on CHiPs?'
Mia shrugged her shoulders, only mildly embarrassed.
'What? He was handsome and smooth. I even had a poster of him in my bedroom. I used to daydream about moving out to California when I grew up and he would pull me over for speeding the moment I hit L.A. Then we would live happily ever after. Or, that my dad would get transferred there and he would be the officer that showed up to help find my lost monkey Reese. And then we would live happily ever after.'
Jacqui's shoulders shook with laughter while Sara just shook her head in disbelief.
'Hey! I was only 9!' screamed Mia, although she too joined in their laughter.
'Okay, okay, Ponch trumps my fantasy of dancing with Deney Terrio on 'Dance Fever,' snorted Jacqui. 'What about you Sara? Who was your first celebrity crush?'
Sara deftly avoided the question with another question. 'Mia, you had a pet monkey? Named Reese?'
'He was a rhesus monkey. My dad was a vet. We had a farm and a zoo.'
They looked at Sara expectantly. Mia and Jacqui never fell for Sara's attempts to sidetrack them. Seemed they approached everything with the same tenacity as they did their work.
On the exhale of a deep breath, she answered.
'It's a tie. Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson from 'The Hardy Boys.' I had already read most of the Nancy Drew books but lets just say the Hardy Boys became my new favorite with the added visuals.'
The trio sighed at the memory of being young and infatuated. It was kind of fun then, talking to your girlfriends about what happened in the last episode. Wishing the boys at school were at least as cute and cool as the fictional characters.
Infatuation as an adult, on a real person who was emotionally unavailable, was much more painful. She pushed those thoughts back and left her co-workers still reveling in the past.
She was no longer infatuated with Grissom. No, she was sure she had entered yet another emotional phase in her feelings for him.
He stepped out of the drying room, head buried in a file, and fell easily into her stride.
Speak of the devil.
'So... you've always had a thing for mysteries.'
Ah! So it was his shadow she saw hovering by the doorway of the fingerprint lab. Well, they were on better terms, why not rattle his cage a bit?
'And the men that solve them.'
Without a backwards glance she stepped off into the break room, smiling as she heard the hiccup in his cadence.
She was back. That cool breeze that would make his head swirl for a bit and leave him standing a little disoriented, a little wanting for more. This time, he thought, he would follow.
He turned into the break room only to crash into an exiting Sofia.
Sara thought it would have been comical had it not been for the unmistakable sound of bone breaking as the blond fell back onto her right arm.
'Oh!' Three voices gasped.
'My arm!' Sofia grimaced as she tried to lift herself off the floor.
'Sofia!' Sara exclaimed noting the slight bend above her wrist and below her elbow. Her natural, take-charge attitude took over and she began getting the woman settled on the floor while ordering a still gaping Grissom to call the paramedics.
Sara may not have liked Sofia very much but seeing her in so much pain was enough to quell any feelings of animosity. She sat down next to her on the floor, making sure Sofia's arm was in the most comfortable position possible given the circumstances.
'I didn't know the human body could bend that way.' Sofia mumbled, looking at her arm as if it were not hers but some perplexing piece of evidence.
'It's not supposed to.'
Sara wondered if shock was beginning to settle in. Hastily she removed a lab coat from a chair and carefully wrapped it over her shoulders managing not to bump Sofia's injured arm.
'You are being so nice. I didn't think you liked me.' The blond was closing her eyes and taking deep breaths as she spoke. The struggle to remain focused on anything but the pain evident on her face.
'I just...' Sara racked her brain for an appropriately neutral response. 'I don't know you well enough to dislike you.'
Sofia ignored her attempts at levity and continued on.
'There's nothing going on between Grissom and I, Sara. He's..' She cursed as her attempt to shift a little resulted in a shooting pain.
'Really Sofia, just stay still.' And quiet. She really didn't want to hear what was going on between Sofia and Grissom. It stung at her pride. Besides, she was beginning to make headway in loving him as just a friend and as the incredible investigator he was.
Grissom's voice echoed through the halls as he instructed the paramedics where to go. They quickly attended to Sofia, shuttling her out of the room.
Grissom and Sara stood and watched as they wheeled her off. They looked at each other, each wondering why the other wasn't following the stretcher.
It was Sara who spoke up first.
'Um, aren't you going with her?'
Grissom eyebrows shot up. 'No. Aren't you?'
'I thought you...' Sara knew that while Sofia had just said there was nothing going on between them, he did seem to be interested in her. He asked her out to dinner for crying out loud! Yet here he was, perplexed as to why he should accompany her to the hospital.
Recognizing what Sara was implying, and hoping that his disinterest in Sofia's current welfare would set the record straight, he walked off. 'Call me when she's settled. I'll start the accident report.'
Stunned that Grissom had just saddled her with the task of minding HIS possible love interest in favor of doing paper work, she could only stand and watch him walk away. Is it possible that he was such a cad?
The ride to Desert Palm was quick. Sara stayed only to make sure Sofia got checked in. She left instructions for the doctor to call the lab as soon as she was out of surgery.
The paramedics were more than happy to give her a ride back to the lab. They had remembered her from previous cases and knew her to be extremely fair and easy to talk to. If they knew about her and Hank's past involvement, they wisely didn't mention it.
Although she joked with them on the short trip, inside she was seething. She needed to confront Grissom about this. It was unfair and bordered on cruel.
Fortunately for him, a case kept him out of lab most of the night.
He still wasn't back when she got the page to pick Sofia up from the hospital. As much as she wanted to pass the task off to one of the CSI techs, she felt that she had to see it through.
She found Sofia sitting in a wheelchair by the ER entrance. Arm in a large cast and obviously enjoying the effects of whatever painkiller they had given her. She was laughing drunkenly at something a young man in scrubs was saying. When she caught sight of Sara she shouted a big hello.
It must be the vicodin.
'This is Sara. She is a CSI like me. Our boss has a thing for her but shh...I'm not supposed to know. Oopsie, I don't think anyone is supposed to know. You don't know anyone do you? What was your name again?'
Sara smiled sympathetically at the orderly. He in turn, made a hasty exit back into the hospital.
'Hey Doctor! Don't forget my prescription! Wait, oh, it's right here.' This prompted another wave of chuckles.
It was difficult but she managed to get Sofia into her car and belt her in. The woman would not stop flopping around.
Once they were on the road, Sofia turned awkwardly toward Sara.
'Sara, I really, really appreciate this. I know how hard it must be to do this. I mean, I went out on a date with Grissom. Your Grissom! I mean, I would hate you if you went out with my Grissom. Not that Grissom is mine. Or that there is more than one Grissom. I wouldn't want to clone him and have the clone Grissom love you too. Does that make sense?'
Sara decided that nodding her head and saying yes was her best option. She continued to do that while Sofia sorted out why it wouldn't be right to clone Grissom.
As she was helping Sofia up to her apartment she noticed a tall figure knocking on Sofia's door. She was momentarily apprehensive. What if this wasn't someone Sofia knew? She was in no state to defend herself.
'There's my Grissom!' Sofia shouted. The man turned and began walking toward them.
'Sofia! What happened baby?'
The tall, slim man was most definitely NOT Grissom but Sara got the gist of what Sofia meant.
He scooped her from Sara's side and helped her into her apartment as Sara unlocked the door.
Sara was about to leave when the man came out from what she guessed was Sofia's bedroom.
'I'm Matt by the way, not your boss. If you haven't already guessed.' He had a contagious smile and sparkling green eyes.
'Sara! You already have a Grissom! That one's mine!'
They both looked away embarrassed.
'It's the painkillers. It makes you loopy.' She offered as explanation.
'So! I am going to go now. Here is her bag. Give the lab a call if you need anything.' She was about to shake his hand when Sofia spoke up again.
'Matty, you can't be her Grissom and mine!' Followed by a loud thump. 'Ouch!'
'Uh, nice meeting you! Bye!' Sara made a rapid retreat before she was stuck giving a suddenly accident prone Sofia a trip back to the hospital.
Dawn was about to break as she entered the lab. It was only slight past shift's end but she decided to pick up her things and head home. There were no pending cases and she deserved to leave for home on time. She had put up with more than enough tonight.
She had just closed her locker when Grissom walked in. He was eyeing her warily and his shoulders were squared as if anticipating a battle.
'How is she?'
'She'll live.' Sara said through gritted teeth.
'How are you?'
It wasn't meant to be a loaded question but Sara took her time to respond. She wasn't sure if it was worth the effort to speak her mind. The reasons she had for being so angry might elude him.
Also, she was convinced that part of her anger was from jealousy. An unfounded one at that, for even if that Adonis hadn't been there to whisk Sofia into her apartment, the woman had prattled on enough to convince her there was no romantic involvement.
However, he had asked her out. All the same risks and restrictions existed for a relationship with Sofia as with her.
Maybe now was the time to get some answers and from that some peace of mind. She was about to ask when he took two steps closer, invading her space.
His eyes were locked on hers when he spoke.
'There's nothing going on between Sofia and I.'
'I know.'
He tilted his head and quirked his eyebrow as if anticipating more from her.
'I didn't like being forced into a babysitter role.' She did not look away from his intense gaze.
'You had things under control. I apologize if you felt forced into that situation.'
A moment passed. Perhaps it wasn't the right time to bring up her unanswered whys. One, they were in the locker room where anyone could hear. Secondly, did she honestly think that he'd give her any answers? And finally, did she truly want or need to know? Was it essential to know the specifics if all she really wanted was their friendship back?
Grissom, for his part, wanted her to see the depth of emotion he felt for her. Nothing he could say could erase the past or explain his behavior toward her. He just needed her to know that he was there for her, at least as a friend, more if she so desired.
And then it clicked. This was not going away. For either of them.
Oh!
It would be difficult to move forward but not insurmountable. Could they handle it?
The challenge was silently posed and accepted. Tentative smiles appeared on both their faces.
They said their goodbyes as Grissom stepped to the side to let her through. No definitive plans had been made, yet they understood that they would be. Soon.
'Sara?' He called to her before she walked out of the room.
She turned to look at him. Her breath hitched as she caught the tenderness in his eyes.
'I'll see you tonight.'
She flashed him a wide smile and left.