Bear Witness
Summary: It's still the same story.
A/N: Once again, I used this week's Unbound Improv Challenge for this chapter. First and last lines are provided, with 1,000 words to fill in the rest.
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I ain't gonna write one! I dare CBS to complain. Come on! I double-dog dare you.

Chapter 3

Warrick raised his hands, getting out of the line of fire. "Hey, it's not my fault. Don't shoot the messenger."

"What do you mean Grissom's not in his office?" Catherine asked in annoyance as she paced around their dead body. "That expo was over hours ago. He should be back by now."

"He does have the night off."

"Oh, please! This is Grissom. Since when has he ever taken a night off when there're bugs involved? And here comes Ecklie. Great."

Warrick shrugged, and he calmly explained to the assistant lab director that no one had heard from Grissom all day.

"I've already paged him three times," Catherine added.

"Oh, really? I'll handle this."

Catherine's irritation faded when Ecklie smiled evilly before disappearing back into his car. She looked to Warrick in confusion. "What was that all about?"

"He probably thinks Griss and Sara are up to something."

"Sara went with Gil? And they're not back yet? Oh, man. I am so out of the loop since we split shifts," she muttered softly before heading back to work.

For his part, Ecklie resisted the urge to rub his hands together in triumph. He'd finally gotten them. Grissom had disrupted two shifts by insisting on taking Sidle with him to the demonstration. He could claim that his motivations were purely professional, and that she was the best CSI he had, but any fool could see he had something for her.

Despite the departmental policies on fraternization, Ecklie knew nothing would come of their 'relationship' as long as it didn't interfere with the job. Even Grissom's refusal to answer his pages tonight wouldn't be held against him. But that didn't mean Ecklie couldn't enjoy making them squirm. He was nearly chuckling by the time he dialed the phone.

"Sidle."

"Well, hello, Sara. This is a surprise."

In the motel's bathroom, Sara paused. Ecklie's tone had been more than amused. A sense of horror crept over her as she turned slowly. Her cell phone was still sitting on the vanity. Closing her eyes, she sank onto the side of the tub.

"What can I do for you?" she asked weakly.

"For starters, you can tell me why you're answering Grissom's phone."

"He's asleep."

"Oh, really?"

Sara groaned silently, and slapped her palm against her forehead. That had not been the right thing to say. She was making things worse.

She'd finally managed to get Grissom to drink the sodas she bought, but not without more embarrassment. She'd sat by his side, at what she thought was a discreet distance, but the bed defied the normal rules of gravity. No matter where you sat on it, you eventually were drawn into the center. Before she knew it, her hip was pressed against Grissom's. That wasn't all of it – her fingers found themselves curling around the hairs at the back of his neck.

His eyes had frantically darted between her hip and her hand. Blushing, Sara had climbed up the mattress and out of the bed, and Grissom had curled into an adorable ball of embarrassment. He probably fell asleep to escape any more incidents. At least under the covers, he wasn't visually assaulted by the carnally rapacious teddy bears.

For her part, Sara'd sought refuge in the bathroom. She hadn't planned on caressing him. It just happened. And Grissom hadn't really objected. He'd been uncomfortable, but that seemed to be due to their location, not her actions. Something was going on between them, and she couldn't isolate exactly what it was.

For distraction, she'd shifted their drying clothes around on the shower rod and towel racks. The heavy jeans were still soggy, but she noted Grissom's underwear was merely damp. She'd thought he'd be more comfortable if he could have something to wear, and she'd been in the process of towel-drying his boxers when the phone rang. It should have been a simple task, but after having seen what went inside of them, she found herself oddly flustered as she patted the cotton material.

"Grissom's sick," Sara stated, deciding to set the record straight. Besides, Ecklie had no idea that they were stuck in a teddy bear nightmare. "The storm washed out part of the highway. We're stuck at a rest stop until they reopen the road."

"I heard about that on the news."

She started to smile in relief, but Ecklie kept talking.

"There's only one rest stop in that area. And there's only one motel at that rest stop. You and Grissom are at the Mountainside Rendezvous."

Sara stared at the cell phone in horror. This was it. They'd never live this down. Any chance there was of some sort of … forward movement was over. Grissom was already embarrassed and that was before others knew about their predicament. Ecklie's tone indicated he knew exactly where they were.

Sara blinked.

Exactly where they were.

"So, I take it you and your wife like this place," she ventured with a feigned innocence. Sara grinned broadly at the prolonged silence that greeted her.

"So, about Grissom's sickness," Ecklie said uneasily.

"He really is. Fever, congestion. Probably just a cold. I can bring you the used tissues if you want to run a DNA comparison."

"That won't be necessary. I'll tell Catherine to collect the bugs and leave them at the lab. Grissom can get to them later. Oh, Sara," he added after a moment. "The diner at the truck stop makes great pancakes. It's about the only thing there edible."

"Thanks, Conrad," Sara said, laughing as she set the phone down. After a few minutes, her cell phone rang. She eyed it cautiously before answering.

"Hey, girl. I hear you two got stuck in the mountains."

"Yeah, Warrick."

"You know, when I first started to work here, we got a call to help in a case out that way. A hiker was found dead in the mountains."

"You don't say," Sara replied, closing her eyes nervously.

"Yeah. Spent three days there. The only motel in the area was really something else."

"What was that? You're breaking up," Sara said, scrapping her fingernail against the mouthpiece. "It must be the mou…"

Hanging up, she tossed the phone back on the vanity and dropped her head into her hands. It figures half the lab would be able to figure out where they'd spent the night. Grissom was going to freak when he learned. And if she didn't tell him, someone else would. She lifted her head up slowly.

"And so it begins."