Growing Up

Part 3: Birthday ambiguity

By Dany

Summary: The team celebrates Greg's birthday.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and again to Ace.

xxxxx

When he arrived at work later that day, he could hear loud music blasting through the halls. It seemed that Greg was already having a party although this was work and his birthday was technically not until sometime tomorrow.

Greg's present was resting in his briefcase, but there was no way he was going to give it to the young man at the start of the shift or in front of the others. He had decided to sit this thing out until the end of shift. He would call Greg to his office and give it to him then.

For a moment, he had thought of including Sara, but that would be suspicious. The time with Greg alone would also give him the chance to drill some basic understanding into the lab tech that this present was not to be public knowledge. No one needed to know what and to whom he gave out presents. He was the boss, and he had a reputation to lose.

When he passed the DNA lab, he saw Greg trying to get Sara to dance with him. She was shaking her head, trying to give him a death glare, but failing miserably. Her mouth twitched, meaning she was trying hard to suppress a smile.

Grissom felt a twinge of insecurity. Shouldn't she always be enjoying herself like that?

His fears were alleviated when Sara noticed him standing outside. She broke her glare and smiled at Grissom when Greg turned away, rolling her eyes at the same time.

Grissom remembered other smiles like that, and much brighter, that he had received during the day. The twinge was a completely different one now - some kind of elation that she wanted to be with him.

He started to smile back, but when Greg turned back in his direction, he scowled at the young man and went around to enter the glass box that was the DNA lab. "Greg, turn that crap off and get back to work. Sara, may I see you in my office?"

On second thought, his request to Sara might not have been such a good idea because he saw Greg raise his eyebrows in question. When he turned to leave, the young man coughed slightly and muttered, "Good luck."

Sara just shrugged and followed Grissom to his office.

"Is something wrong?" she asked after closing the door.

Grissom looked up confused before he realized that his somewhat harsh demeanor must have given her the wrong impression. "Nothing, I just wanted to ask you when you plan on giving Greg his present."

She didn't answer him, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

"Could you postpone that until the last moment possible because I'm afraid my poor ears will suffer severely if Greg goes blasting that stuff through the lab?"

He could see a relieved smile on Sara's face, which soon turned into a teasing glint. "Well, I'll try, but Greg has already been bugging me about what I got for him. And I'm not sure how much longer I can stand his whining."

She feigned ignorance to his pained look and started back to the door. "Sara," Grissom called her back, sounding slightly desperate.

She stopped, but did not turn to face him, letting him stew some more. "Alright, what will it cost me?"

When she turned, she had a huge grin plastered on her face, and Grissom knew he was in trouble.

"Let's see…" She made a 'thinking' face' to tease him some more, although she knew perfectly well what she wanted.

Sweat appeared above his brows as he mapped out the possibilities of this blackmail.

Sara stepped closer to the desk, leaning forward, making him gulp. "I want…dinner. You make it. Tonight." After the first two words, her tone had changed to light and teasing again.

Grissom just sat there, too stunned to do anything but nod.

"Good, I'll wait for you in the parking lot," she whispered conspiratorially before she left the room.

Grissom stared after her at the closed door, wondering how this woman could turn his whole life upside down and why he wasn't more upset about it.

xxxxx

The nightshift had decided to take a break in the middle of work to dish out some birthday cake for Greg.

Sara had tried to get Grissom to attend, but he had declined, blaming paperwork. When he walked in, side by side with Catherine not even ten minutes later, Sara felt a stab of…jealousy?

No, it wasn't exactly that. She knew Grissom didn't look at Catherine romantically and vice versa.

Still, it hurt to think that he was listening to what Catherine said. The woman just had a way of convincing him. What hold did she have over him?

Sara looked up from her musings and met Grissom's eyes. He was scowling, drawing his brows close together, his lips set in a tight line. When their eyes met, his grumbling expression wavered, and Sara could see a glint in his eyes, telling her that he was glad she was there.

At that moment, she realized that Catherine's hold over him was nothing more than a survival instinct, if you want to put it to the extreme.

She probably annoyed him until he gave in before he could do anything stupid. However, a little bit of uneasiness remained, and she vowed that she would ask him about it later.

Grissom took a backseat, obviously determined to only be an observer.

She let him be and helped herself to a piece of cake while Greg started to unwrap his presents. Her present was not in the pile; after all, she needed Grissom in a good mood tonight. A migraine from excess stress wouldn't do. She planned on giving it to Greg only minutes before one of them left work.

It was her lucky day that no one else seemed to have bought a CD for Greg.

When the others continued to talk about their day and of course Greg's birthday, she became bored and wandered over to sit down beside Grissom. "Hey," she wanted to start a conversation, but didn't know what she should say.

She wanted to ask about Catherine, but she postponed it. She didn't know how he would react, and she didn't want to start a possible fight in front of their colleagues. "Hey, yourself."

"Don't you want some cake?"

He had sat in silence, only drinking some coffee. "Too much sugar," was his only answer.

Sara shrugged her shoulders, settling deeper into the seat beside him, "Gets you through the night."

"A quick rush won't sustain you for long."

She got the distinct feeling that they were not talking about the sugar content of the cake anymore, but what he was talking about, she had no clue. He switched topics so fast that it was hard to follow him.

"One rush can easily be exchanged for another," he commented further when she didn't respond.

Sara kept watching him, turning his words over in her mind, trying to make sense of them. His gaze was directed towards the other CSIs, and suddenly, she understood. Her first impulse was to lash out at him, to defend herself, but something in his voice held her back. It was laced with genuine fear.

Normally, she would have told him to leave her alone if he didn't believe that what she felt for him was real and lasting, but she had promised him to be patient.

His thinking had had enough time to develop, so she couldn't expect to convince him otherwise with a few words. It would take time, and for Grissom, she had sworn to be patient.

"Well, like many things, sugar can continue to be the only source of a rush. Even more, if you dose it right, there will be a good feeling without the downs sustaining you for life."

She didn't know if that made sense for him, and she hoped she could convey what she was thinking. She was not as good with ambiguity as Grissom.

There was it again.

After some time for the words to sink in, she could see the corners of his mouth twitching again. "I guess you're right. Maybe I should get some cake. But I have to get back to work. Let's hope the sugar will help me with my paperwork."

Grissom stood and left after getting himself a piece of the sweet treat. Sara soon followed him, wanting to finish the material analysis she had started.

xxxxx

It was about twenty minutes before the end of shift when Grissom called Greg into his office.

The young man actually looked frightened as he entered, keeping close to the door.

For the millionth time, Grissom wondered how he had gotten his reputation, especially with Greg. He was not one to rip heads off, quite the opposite. Amongst the management, he had quite another reputation. He was known to be too lenient with his staff, reluctant to punish them for their misbehavior.

Then there was Greg, looking like he was about to run screaming for the hills. Grissom sighed and concentrated on the here and now. Maybe what he was about to do now would tide things over. "Greg, why don't you sit down?"

The lab tech hesitated for another minute, but then he sat down.

Grissom opened a desk drawer and pulled out Greg's present. "Happy birthday, Greg," he said and put the wrapped box on the desk in front of the other man.

The blank expression on Greg's face and his open mouth told him that this was a shock. It hurt him that the others seemed to think so little of him, although he knew there was no one else to blame but himself.

Slowly, Greg seemed to return to reality. As the shock wore off, he reached for the box and started to unwrap it. Grissom watched him carefully, hoping to read his expression.

At first there was a hint of surprise, but then a small smile appeared as he examined the notepad and the pens. Grissom's confusion grew when he saw some disappointment creep into Greg's eyes. "For taking notes," the young man commented, the dejection becoming more pronounced.

As Greg made to put the box away, he noticed another smaller box inside. He pushed the wrapper away and found himself staring at another encasing. He opened it, and this time there was a genuine smile on his face.

Grissom took that as a good sign and started to explain the gifts like he had with Sara. When he was done, he was pleased with his choice. It was professional, but not overtly so. The explanation made it thoughtful and just so much personal that Grissom didn't feel threatened.

Greg was still staring at the pen, transfixing it with his gaze. Before the young man could get overtly emotional, Sara saved Grissom by knocking on the door.

Greg fumbled to put his things together, tightly clutching the pen while Grissom waved her in.

"I just wanted to know if you're done with Greg, so I can push him around a bit," she joked, feeling the heavy air weighing down on them.

He made a vague gesture with his hand and tried to focus on the paperwork in front of him again. He heard Greg get up but was surprised when he heard him say, "I won't disappoint you," before the door closed behind them.

Grissom looked up startled, but they were already gone. He would have to analyze Greg's words later because for now, he had to finish this stack if he wanted to see Sara later.

After all, she had kept her promise, and now it was time to make good on his.

TBC