Title: Better memories
Disclaimer: If I owned Warrick he would be seen in every CSI, every scene, every minute. So no, I don't own the characters used in this story.
Note: Thank you for the fantastic reviews, it's really appreciated. I love reading your comments so don't be shy to tell me what you think. And now, on with the story!
PromisesSara looked around her hospital room, searching to see if she hadn't forgotten anything. Warrick had brought her some clothes the day before, saying that she couldn't leave the hospital wearing a white formless thing. The clothes he had picked out were classy but still comfortable and she wondered if it were her own clothes. She made a mental note to ask him the next time she saw him. She was a bit restless, she had packed the few things that were already in her room when she first woke up and was ready to go home. She was just waiting for her ride. When she heard a knock on the door she turned around with a big smile on her face, the smile disappearing when she noticed who the visitor was.
"Grissom," she said. "What are you doing here?"
The older man frowned somewhat but otherwise his expression was unreadable.
"Warrick told me you were leaving today, I figured I'd come pick you up."
"Oh, that's sweet but you see..."
They were interrupted by Warrick entering.
"My lady, are you ready to face the real world again?"
As soon as he walked into the room Sara's eyes lit up and she smiled. Grissom saw how Warrick returned the smile and he couldn't help but feel uneasy by the display before him.
"I'm so ready to get out of here, Warrick. You have no idea," Sara said.
Warrick nodded at her before he focused his attention on his boss.
"Hey Griss, what brought you out of the lab?"
Grissom looked at his protege, seeing him as a threat for the first time in his live. Warrick had always been many things to him. He thought of him as a surrogate son, saw in him the future of the lab but he had never felt threatened by him and he didn't like the feeling at all.
"I thought I'd give Sara a ride home," he said.
"Oh" Warrick replied unintelligently, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "That's fine, I'll leave you guys alone. He turned to Sara. " I'll see you later, Sidle."
He wanted to walk out of the room but both men were surprised by Sara's reaction.
"No!" she said. "Don't go, Warrick. I want you to take me home."
He hesitated, not wanting to hurt his boss, who was also his friend, but not wanting to disappoint Sara either.
"I'll see you soon, Sara. It's fine."
She shook her head, stubbornly.
"It's not fine. You're taking me home, you promised." She looked at Grissom. "Would you mind?"
Putting him on the spot like that Grissom realized he had no choice but to oblige.
"No, it's fine. I guess I'll talk to you later then."
She smiled at him.
"Yeah, and thank you for stopping by. That was really sweet."
Grissom walked out of the room, saying goodbye to her but she didn't seem to hear him. Her eyes were focused on Warrick who was picking up her bag. He shook his head, he had a bad feeling about his. A very bad feeling.
Once her boss was gone Sara took the time to really look at Warrick. He was wearing jeans today, matched by a green shirt that brought out his eyes fantastically. She was startled when he turned around.
"Sidle, stop checking me out and move your feet. We're getting out of here."
Smirking he walked out of the room with her following him.
"I wasn't checking you out. I was just looking at you. It's not my fault you had to wear those tight jeans. Get over yourself."
He kept on walking, keeping her from seeing the big grin on his face.
Half an hour later Warrick parked his car in front of a house that Sara assumed was hers. She contemplated the house before her. It looked vaguely familiar and she was glad it did. She had been terrified that there would be nog recognition once she saw her own home.
"Is this it?" she asked the man sitting beside her.
"Yeah," he said, gesturing to the place. "This is your house."
She looked at it again.
"It looks nice."
He shrugged.
"I guess it is."
She raised her eyebrows, focusing her attention on him.
"What do you mean, you guess? You have been here, haven't you?"
He quickly reassured her.
"Yes, not all that much though. Usually when you invited the whole crew over for dinner or something."
He was distant, almost as if he was trying to shield himself and she finally asked the question she had wanted to ask ever since she saw him but was afraid too.
"We really weren't that close, were we?"
She saw that the question shocked him and then he composed himself.
"You want the truth?" he said.
She nodded.
"Yeah, I want the truth."
He thought about her question.
"We weren't really close, we were good colleagues. Friends even but it's not like we ever hung out together. I've never been to your home unless it was with the gang and you never been in mine either without them. We are friends, were friends, but I wasn't one of the most important persons in your life. I think you deserve to know that."
She listened to his explanation and then hopped out of the car.
"Ok, now I know. C'mon, I wanna see my place."
He stayed behind, whispering to himself.
"Well, I guess that's settled then..."
Shaking his head he got out of the car too, following her inside her house. He found her standing in her living room, looking around her.
"Any memories?" he asked her.
She shook her head. "No, just a vague recollection."
She was silent, looking around the room again and then she spoke to Warrick.
"It's so empty."
He frowned, gesturing around him.
"You got some nice stuff here. It doesn't look empty to me."
She sat down on the couch, wordlessly asking him to join her and so he did.
"No, I mean there's no evidence that somebody lived here. It feels empty, cold even."
He said nothing, giving her the time to process all these new feelings.
"Why does this place feel so cold, Warrick?"
His arm went around her and she nestled herself against him.
"I don't know, Sara. You were hardly here to be quite honest. I always used to think that you lived at the lab. I don't think you ever took the time to make this place your own, so don't think this place tells you anything about your personality. You can be tough but you were never cold, I promise."
He felt her nodding but she didn't move from her position.
"Thanks, Warrick."
He placed a kiss in her hair, holding her somewhat closer.
"Anytime, Sidle."
They stayed like that for a couple of minutes before Sara composed herself.
"Ok, I got myself some sweet Brown loving, now it's time to see the rest of this place."
She walked to the bedroom and he was right behind her. A sheepish grin on his face.
"Brown loving?"
She just laughed and winked at him before she looked into her bedroom.
"This doesn't look so bad, it's feels homey."
He waggled his eyebrows, looking at the bed.
"Yeah, it's got a homey feeling for me too."
She rolled her eyes.
"Something tells me that you've never seen my bedroom in your life so stop the macho act."
He grinned.
"Oh, it's no act, baby. Believe me, I could make you feel at home in that bed."
She blushed, looking away.
"I'm sure you could," she said. Leaving the bedroom for what it was, walking to her bathroom.
She looked around, seeing a somewhat sterile room.
"Hey Warrick," she yelled. "The bathroom isn't that great but I do have a bath."
She heard him grin.
"Are you implying something, Sidle?" he yelled back, before he made his way towards her. She pictured herself in the tub with him and figured that it wasn't a bad implication.
"Well, taking a bath together would be fun, wouldn't it?" she said.
She had to laugh when she saw that he was actually embarrassed.
"Cut with the flirting, Sara," he said. "You'll only be sorry once you get your memory back."
He turned around, ready to go back to the living room.
"Warrick," she said, stopping him. "What if I'm not sorry when I get my memory back?"
He stopped, looked at her and then sighed.
"You'll be sorry, Sara. Believe me."
He left her there confused, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Was he right? Was the Sara she saw now a different one from the one she had been before? Would she still be as drawn to him once she got her memory back? She realized that there was no way of knowing. All she knew was that she liked him. Right now, at this point in time, she had feelings for him. Feelings that were getting stronger by the day. When she walked back to the living room she was relieved to see that he was still there. Standing in her kitchen area.
"What are you doing?" she said.
He turned around, checking to see if she was ok. When he saw that she seemed fine he replied: "I'm cooking, I figured you must be hungry."
She frowned.
"Was there still food in the fridge that was any good?"
He shook his head.
"Hell no, Sidle. Your fridge was empty. I borrowed the key Nicky has from your house and came here yesterday to stock the fridge and get some clothes."
She was touched.
"That's so thoughtful."
He shrugged, trying to act like it meant nothing.
"It's no big deal. Why don't you sit down while I prepare dinner."
"Ok," she said. Looking around her living room again she still felt that the room didn't fit her but once she looked into the kitchen it felt right. Him standing there, stirring contently while humming along to the song that was playing on the radio was a memory she vowed she would never forget. She had forgotten about him once but she promised herself that it would never happen again.
He finally looked up, a proud smile on his face.
"Dinner is served, Sidle."
The rest of the evening was spent with them eating the food Warrick had prepared. Sara was surprised to find out that the man actually knew how to cook. It had tasted wonderful.
She put her fork down, after eating everything that was on her plate.
"That was great, Warrick. So much better then hospital food."
He was glad to see that she enjoyed it. Her eyes were sparkling and she looked generaly happy. For a moment he allowed himself to believe that they could always stay like this. He was pulled out of his fantasy when he saw that she was yawning and he realized that it was time for him to go.
"I'm glad you liked it, Sara. Look, I gotta go. You need your rest and my shift starts in seven hours."
She didn't like the idea of being here without him but she knew that he was right. She was tired and he needed his sleep too. She walked him to the door.
"Bye, Sidle," he said. Touching her cheek lightly with the palm of his hand.
She impulsively reached up and pulled him into a hug.
"I don't care what you tell me, Warrick," she whispered in his ear. "You may not have been an important person in my life before but you are now."
She pulled back, looking into his eyes to emphasize her point.
"And that's not gonna change once I get my memory back."
He said nothing, leaned down and pressed a short kiss on her cheek. Then he was gone, leaving Sara alone, a soft smile on her face.
Outside, Warrick looked back at her house before he got into his car.
"I really hope you're right, Sara," he whispered.
Tbc...