Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback, guys. Keep it coming. And special thanks to Miss Cam for recommending this story at YTDAW.
Chapter four
The motel was small and cramped and not what she would call a noteworthy tourist attraction.
It obviously got little business, being where it was, and Grissom and Sara easily managed to book two adjoining rooms. The owner reacted as if they were doing him a great disservice when they did so, despite the fact that they were clearly his only patrons.
They had convened in Grissom's room with Hayley Barton's casefile-- Sara sitting cross-legged on his bed, he taking the soft armchair in the corner. Papers were strewn around Sara until she was in an island in the middle. The two of them poured over the small shards of information it contained, as if they hadn't already stored it in their memories.
It comforted her that they had a name to go with this young woman now, but other than that, they had made little progress. Their visit to Hayley's grandmother had only confused their investigation more, and without the lab's resources, they were only going to encounter further difficulties.
It occurred to her that with the two most notorious workaholics in the lab together on this trip, there was no one around to tell them to stop, and they might end up working well into the night.
She stretched and considered voicing this opinion to Grissom, when the loud ringing of a cell phone interrupted the silence.
Grissom's gaze lifted slowly to hers, and he sighed tiredly before pulling the offending phone from his pocket.
He continued skimming through the report in front of him, even as he answered briskly. "Grissom".
"Well, you sound oddly innocent for someone who skipped out of work with no explanation and mysteriously disappeared from town".
Grissom resisted another heavy sigh at the familiar, piercing voice. At least it wasn't Ecklie. "Hello to you too, Catherine".
"Don't pull that crap with me. Where the hell are you? Ecklie's been interrogating us all like he's the Spanish Inquisition. He's not buying Sofia's story. And I'm sorry, but I don't really blame him. You haven't had a family emergency in ten years".
Grissom gave up his pretence of reading, listening blankly to Catherine's ongoing diatribe. It wasn't unusual for her to lecture him, but it was unusual for her to have to remind him of his responsibilities. "Look, its nothing you need to worry about, okay? I'll be back in town in a few days…"
"Really? Tell me, Grissom, will Sara's unscheduled leave finish at the same time?"
He glanced up, meeting Sara's dark gaze across the room. Her expression was unreadable, but it was clear she could tell his conversation was going the same way hers had with Greg.
"If that's what you want to believe, then I won't stop you".
He heard Catherine scoff disbelievingly on the other end of the line. "Have you officially lost it, Gil?" she hissed. "You are not invincible. You make a fool out of him, and Ecklie will do just about anything to get you back. He might not fire you, but he can make your life a living hell".
"I'm well aware of that", he said curtly, closing the folder on his lap. "I appreciate the warning".
"Greg thinks you and Sara have gone on a vigilante ghost hunt in some backwater town. Please tell me he is joking".
Grissom didn't answer. He had already dragged Sara down with him, and he didn't want to get anyone else at the lab involved. Particularly Catherine, who already had far too many strikes against her name.
She sighed as his silence echoed down the line, sounding unmistakably defeated. "Look, just… Call me if you get into any trouble, okay?"
He nodded, then realised that she couldn't see him. He was more grateful than she would ever know that she didn't try to push him for more information. "Thanks, Cath".
He hung up, firmly turning off his phone before replacing it on the table.
Sara lifted an eyebrow coyly, stretching her limbs out over the side of the bed. "In hot water with the missus, Grissom?"
He shot her a withering look. Having Sara refer to Catherine in that particular capacity was vaguely disturbing to him, and he lowered his glasses over his nose. "Ecklie's not letting up. He knows something is going on".
She shrugged, strangely unperturbed despite the fact that her career was somewhat on the line. "What can he do about it, really? We're both on legitimate leave. Even if we are doing something a little unorthodox…"
"We're performing an unapproved investigation, Sara", he reminded her sternly.
Sara narrowed her eyes a little disbelievingly, and he could tell he had annoyed her. Considering what close quarters they were in, he thought that had probably not been wise. "Grissom, I…" She shook her head, lowering her voice considerably. "I don't know what is going on with you, but I really hope that you don't think you can blame this on me when you regain your sanity."
He frowned deeply, flattening his palms on the folder on his lap as he leant back to look at her unswervingly. "If you believe we're on a wild goose chase here, then why did you agree to come?"
She bit her lip, already regretting her small, unintentional outburst. "I… I never said that." She rose to her feet, knees brushing against the foot of the bed. "Forget it. I think I'm going to just… go to bed."
Her hand slid over the door separating the paper-thin walls of their two motel rooms, and she glanced back at him fleetingly. "Goodnight, Grissom".
"Goodnight", he echoed flatly, sighing when the door closed with a quiet thud behind her.
He stared distantly at the plain grey carpet, reminding himself how generous she had been in offering to come out here with him, abandoning her own life and job for an indefinite amount of time. She was right. They could be heading down a blind alley. And she was being awfully forgiving considering how much he had supported her own instincts in the past.
If he really had taken temporary leave of his senses, he was never going to blame her for this. He couldn't understand why she would believe that. He obviously hadn't done much to inspire her confidence in him.
If they were to rebuild their shaky friendship, that was definitely going to have to change.
00000000
Sara lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, unable to relax enough for the steady cocoon of sleep to overcome her.
The electric hum of the neon motel sign was also keeping her awake, and its light cast a red hue through the flimsy gauze curtains over the wall, lighting on the door separating her room from Grissom's.
She sighed, sitting up on the lumpy mattress, leaning back against the headboard and running her hands through her hair. She wasn't used to sleeping at night and her sleeping schedule was all out of wack. She considered mulling over the puzzling contents of Hayley Barton's casefile one more time, but she quickly dismissed that idea. Her current frustration would only intensify. Besides, it was in Grissom's room, and there was no way she was going in there in the middle of the night without his permission. He would definitely misinterpret that.
Maybe this really had been a bad idea. She had comforted herself with the reassurance that she was helping Grissom here, but was she really? He was more than capable of solving this mystery by himself, and she had only increased the lab's suspicion of their actions by coming along as well. Now she had had the stupidity to voice her inner doubts, and she knew exactly what kind of reaction that would spark from him in the morning. He would become distant and cold, and any emotional closeness they might have gained on this trip would be ruined entirely.
Sara frowned at herself, sliding from beneath the covers, tugging on her robe and running her hands through her disarrayed hair. She shouldn't even be thinking anything like that. Grissom had made his feelings for her abundantly clear, and yet she kept pushing. She knew she should have given up long ago, but there was something that kept her holding on. Something she didn't understand, but that kept her going when any self-respecting person would have cut their losses and moved on years ago.
The cold night air swept over her as she strode outside, and she wrapped her robe more tightly around herself, following the dim light towards the vending machine she had glimpsed a few doors down when they first arrived.
She slid a few quarters in the slot, realising she hadn't eaten anything substantial since they left Las Vegas that morning. With the hours she worked, she had adapted to eating lightly and chose a candy bar, waiting for it to slide out.
She stood still for a few minutes before realising it was stuck. Sara let out a frustrated curse, hitting the side of the machine with more force than necessary.
"I already tried that".
Sara jumped, hearing the low timbre voice over her shoulder, and spun around as Grissom stepped closer, emerging through the shadows from the path she had came from.
He shrugged apologetically, gesturing vaguely at the machine. "It ate my money too".
She couldn't help it. She laughed; a low, musical sound of mingled amusement and genuine hysteria. It was something that he rarely heard, and he couldn't help but give a boyish smile in return, shaking his head as he glanced at the ground.
She drew in a deep breath as her laughter subsided, leaning back against the vending machine and slumping tiredly. "I guess we should have stopped for dinner, huh?"
His eyes quirked with quiet amusement. "It might have been a good idea".
She smiled, this time a little forlornly, glancing down and taking in the surrealism of the moment. She in her flannel pyjamas and robe, hair tussled with sleep, standing outside a seedy, small town motel with her emotionally unavailable boss with hunger pains in her stomach, feeling surprisingly unexposed.
Grissom, too, looked momentarily contemplative, when she glanced up to look at him again.
She licked her dry lips, furrowing her brow slightly. "Grissom… I'm sorry if what I said before sounded like I…"
He held up a hand to stop her. "Please. You don't have to tell me how irrational this whole thing was, Sara".
"You can't always follow the evidence, Grissom", she said seriously, meeting his gaze in the warm crimson light.
He nodded, slowly, and the charged tension between them made her shift with discomfort, pulling her robe more tightly around herself.
"I guess we should probably… attempt to get some sleep for tomorrow."
"Yeah".
He surprised her, reaching out to touch her arm gently, and the night filled with his warm gratitude. "Sara… thank you".
She didn't have to ask him what he meant. He held her gaze for a long, intense moment, and she understood everything he couldn't say with words. He had never displayed such open emotion towards her, and she took a moment to slowly nod her head. He smiled wanly before moving away, and turned back to his motel room.
She closed her eyes at his retreat, and the sudden silence was almost deafening.
00000000