Part 34

"Jack..." Sophie whispered. "I don't think we should be doing this."

"Do you want to find out what's going on or not?"

"You know I do, but I do not think that hanging out in broom closets is the way to go about it. People are going to think we're having an affair or something!"

She could see Jack's smile as said, "Technically, I don't it could be an affair, since neither of us is seeing anyone else."

"That wasn't my point and you know it," she hissed.

"Would it really be so bad, even if people did think we were seeing each other?"

"Jack," Sophie said in exasperation, "if they see us come out of this closet together, 'seeing' is about the last thing they're going to think we're doing together!"

"What would you prefer we have done, Sophie? Hang out in the middle of the room while Grissom and Sara fight about who loves who?"

"We could have just walked out before they saw us."

"Well, we didn't." He shifted his weight, trying to relieve some of the numbness in his left leg where Sophie was pressed against it in an attempt to avoid being impaled on a mop handle. "And now we have to get ourselves out of here unobtrusively."

"Like that's gonna happen."

"Shhh." Jack slapped a hand over Sophie's mouth just as Mark and Sara walked into the room.

"Look," Mark was saying, "I just want to know what the hell's going on around me. Your friend's acting like a child and refusing to speak to me; you're suddenly 'too busy' to take a minute to talk to me. What is going on with you people?"

"Nothing," Sara said in a strangely flat voice. "Nothing is going on. I'll tell Grissom to lay off you."

Mark appeared surprised at the concession. "You know I'm worried about you, right? I'm talking as your friend, here. Ever since he came here, you're a mess...maybe it's time you decided whether you're more interested in him or your job."

Though Sara was no longer in the sight line the door crack offered, the hidden pair could still hear her gasp at Mark's harsh words. "Mark, that's not fair. I'm doing my job just fine, and if I maybe don't have as much time to socialize with you guys as I used to, it shouldn't be the end of the world."

A sigh. "I'm not trying to fight with you, Sara. I'm just saying I'm worried. I don't like that this guy arrives and suddenly you're not happy."

"I'm perfectly happy."

"Then why won't you tell me what's wrong? Grissom seems to think I'm trying to steal his property every time I talk to you..."

"Shhh," Jack whispered in Sophie's ear as they heard this comment and she stiffened. "Listen now. Discuss later." He felt her nod against his shoulder, and went back to listening.

"Ok, that's over the line," Sara was saying. "You're my friend, Mark, but I'm not going to allow you to abuse others. If you have such a big problem with Grissom, then just stay away from him and don't pick fights."

"Pick . . . what? I just told you that I am not the one picking the fights! It's him!"

"Give the man a break. He's not from here, he's here only because of me, and maybe it just seems to him like if I get too absorbed in other people then I won't want him here anymore." She shrugged. "I don't know. Just the two of you keep away from each other, and maybe we can all live in peace."

Jack caught a glimpse of her straight figure as she left the room, followed shortly by the sound of a fist being banged against a table and a groan from Mark.

Sara looked up from her desk when there was a quiet knock on her doorframe ten minutes before shift ended. "This seems backwards," said Grissom from the doorway. "Usually it's me behind the desk and you asking for an audience."

Sara hardly looked up from her paperwork. "Come in and shut the door." The tension surrounding her was almost palpable.

Grissom did as he was asked, and took a seat across from Sara. "What's wrong?"

"You mean besides the fact that you're planning on ignoring me in some way I haven't yet identified, Mark is seriously considering not speaking to me and/or injuring you, and I have eight cases to close before I can go home?"

One at a time, Grissom thought. "Why isn't Mark speaking to you?"

"Because I stood up for you. At least I think I did, but then, I won't know whether that's true until you tell me what's been going on between you two."

"Excuse me?"

"He said you've been acting like his existence is a personal affront to you. Specifically, that you seem to be giving him the impression that I'm your property."

"That's ridiculous."

"Is it? You haven't exactly been Mr. Friendly, Grissom - not to any of the men here. Only to Sophie - which would make sense, since you known I'm not likely to run off with another woman."

"Sara."

"Tell me what's wrong, Gris. I can't straighten this out if I don't know where it's going bad."

Grissom shook his head. "Not here. Let's go home."

"Ok everyone wait!" shouted Will over the din filling the break room. "Would someone please put together a coherent sentence and tell me what you're all babbling about?"

"Far as I can tell," offered Walter, "Grissom hates Mark, Mark's mad at Sara, and Sophie and Jack have been keeping secrets from the rest of us, including the above-mentioned two. Does that about sum it up?" he asked, looking around the room.

"We have not been keeping secrets!" chorused Jack and Sophie. "We just happened to be present when it happened, and took advantage of the situation," added Sophie.

"What is the situation? Does anyone know actual details?" attempted Will.

"Something is going on between Grissom and Sara," Mark said firmly.

"As if we hadn't all figured that out already? I probably know more details about the two of them than all of you combined. That doesn't explain why everyone's so excited about it."

"Because," Jack said, sounding like he was talking to an idiot, "things have come to a head. Grissom's not talking to Sara, Sara's not talking to Mark -"

"We don't know that!" interrupted Mark.

"-and no work is getting done around here because everyone's too busy fighting!" finished Jack triumphantly.

"So? What am I supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know," said Sophie, "but something has to get done."

"Ok, we're home." Sara slammed the door of her apartment behind Grissom. "Now tell me what the hell's going on."

"Mark thinks you belong to him."

"I don't think so, Grissom. He says the same thing about you. In case you hadn't noticed, I don't belong to anyone. I thought I made that clear the other day."

The pizza shop fiasco, he thought. Well, at least he wasn't the only one who'd made a fool of themselves. "How did you make that clear, exactly?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't start with me. I know you understood me. How about you tell me what the hell you meant by your little 'the ball's in your court, Sara' thing."

"I meant that I chased you from Las Vegas to here, and I'm sick of chasing. If you're interested in pursuing...us....then you're going to have to be the one to do it. I'm tired of being shoved aside and taken advantage of."

"I have never, ever taken advantage of you! I couldn't if I tried."

"Oh yeah?" He glanced toward the futon, still rumpled from the previous afternoon. "Seems to me that you have."

Sara followed his gaze and sighed. "That was just...a thing."

" 'A thing'? That's helpful."

"Grissom, it has nothing to do with..."

"Exactly! That's my point! If I listen to you, nothing that's happened since I came here has any bearing on the reason I came here to begin with!"

Sara stilled, surprised at his vehemence. "That's a stupid thing to say. Of course everything that's happened has been for a reason."

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you tell me why you kissed me this morning, when it's clearly something you wish you hadn't done."

"Because I felt like it," she shot back.

"Which only proves my point. Nothing you do with me means anything to you. I told you before, I'm not here to be a convenience to you, or a spare set of hands, or a....a...midnight diversion!"

"Fine. I'm sorry I did it. Does that make you happy?"

"No!" he shouted, losing the war with his temper. "No, it doesn't make me happy to know that you're sorry you kissed me!" Tipping his head back and trying to regain some composure, he tried again. "I came out here because I thought I might have a chance with you, Sara. If that's not true, just tell me and I'll be on my way. You made it clear today that you don't feel the same way about me that you used to."

"I don't..."

"Please, Sara. Just tell me the truth for once."

She seemed to deflate. "You want the truth? Fine. Here's the truth: you've been unreachable for so long that it scares me to find you suddenly right there. It scares me to think that I've already gotten burned once for coming back to you when you asked. It scares me that if I give in to you, then I won't know where I belong. Vegas owns you, Grissom, and I'm starting to think Jersey owns me. It would only make things worse to allow myself to fall back under your spell and then have to choose between two things I love."

"I'm not here to tear you away from the thing you love," Grissom said quietly. "I thought you might be able to be happy with me. If you can't be, then I'm not going to be the one to pull you away from here."

"I said there were two things I love, Gris. No matter what I choose, I'll lose one of them."

"You don't think you could be happy in Las Vegas?"

"I don't know," Sara said, defeated. "I don't know anymore."