Author: Joyce

Title: Better memories

Disclaimer: No, not mine. But I any of you know of a place when I can buy Gary then don't hesitate to call!

Note: Loving the reviews guys, keep them coming!

The conversation

Warrick sighed before knocking on the door of Grissom's office, an office that was never closed. Usually people could walk right in and that closed door did nothing to calm his nerves. For a moment he wondered if it was all worth this but then he remembered the feel of Sara's lips on his, saw her smile at him in his mind and he opened the door.

"What's up, Griss?"

They both heard how strained it sounded and he saw Grissom cringe a bit.

"Sit down, Warrick."

He did, looking at his boss carefully.

"Should I pack up my locker?"

A hint of a smile was seen of Gil's face.

"No, what reason do I have for firing you? You could sue my ass out of here."

Warrick was in shock.

"Did you just say ass?"

Grissom shrugged.

"Working with you for all these years has forced me to learn street language."

The tall man snorted.

"Please Griss, the way I talk has nothing to do with street language."

Grissom just nodded and both men realized how forced this conversation was. There was silence for a while until Grissom spoke up.

"Do you love her?"

"Do you?" Warrick said.

Grissom avoided his gaze for a while.

"You know I do," he finally said. "Which is why I acted like a total moron this afternoon and I'm sorry for that. But..I need to know if you love her."

Warrick nodded, wordlessly accepting Grissom's apology.

"Are you asking me this as my boss or as my friend?"

Grissom finally looked at him and Warrick was relieved to see that this was the Grissom he knew. Not that strange, detached, cold man he had met earlier this afternoon.

"I'm asking you as a friend, Warrick."

He nodded, thinking over the question.

"I don't really know. All I know is that she makes me happy. When I'm with her I forget about the job or my gambling problem and there's just her, you know?"

Grissom smiled, indicating that he did know.

"I know you, Warrick. C'mon, have you ever felt this way about a woman before?"

Warrick was silent for a long while, realization slowly hitting over his features.

"No," he said, "I haven't. The way I feel when I'm with her..."

He trailed off and Grissom saw the inner debate his protege was having.

"I love her," he finally whispered. "I do, Griss. I love her."

"I know," Grissom said and Warrick blinked in confusion.

"Then why ask me?"

Grissom stood up, pacing a bit.

"Because I needed to be sure. Look, Sara is important to me and I never really knew how important until this accident. When I saw you defending her today I just knew you felt the same way and well..that's a problem."

"So now what?" Warrick asked.

Standing before Warrick the older man took the time to really look at him. Noticing the change in him, he had grown immensely as a person. Before him sat a confident, terrific CSI and a good person. A big difference from the cocky, reckless guy he had hired so many years ago. His hunches had been right though, Warrick had lived up to every expectation Grissom ever had of him.

"We try to deal," he finally said. "I don't want to have another conversation with you like we had before. I may love Sara but you...You are very important to me too. Always have been, you know that."

Warrick blinked.

"Are you getting all sentimental on me?"

Grissom winked at him, a real smile on his face this time.

"Why do you think I closed the door?"

Warrick laughed before standing up.

"We deal," he said. "We have no choice."

He wanted to walk out of the office but hesitated.

"Griss," he said. "Just promise me that you'll stop hurting her once she get's her memory back."

Grissom saw the pain in his eyes and he hated the idea of hurting him so much. That didn't stop him from getting what he wanted though, it wouldn't stop him from finally telling Sara how he felt once she was back to her old self again.

"I don't want to play games with her anymore. We've done that long enough."

Warrick nodded, ignoring the pain he felt inside.

"Good, that's good."

The door was already open when Grissom asked him the final question.

"Would you be able to handle it if me and Sara got together?"

Warrick turned back to his boss.

"I'd have no choice," he said. "In the end I just want her to be happy."

He closed the door behind him and walked out of the CSI-building without looking back. Breaking down once he got into his car. He meant what he had said, he wanted Sara to be happy but every time he thought of her and Grissom together his stomach turned. He would have to handle it but he didn't plan on seeing it first hand. If they got together he would wish them all the luck in the world and leave. He just hoped it wouldn't have to be this way. He hoped that maybe, just maybe, she could love him too. Even if she knew about her past. He started the engine and drove of, deciding that he would have plenty of time to think about this after she got better. He needed to focus on her now, his pain would come later.

Six hours later a sleeping Warrick was dreaming about love and loss when persistent knocking on his door forced him to wake up. He got up, still half asleep and walked out of his bedroom into the hallway to open the door. To see a very agitated Sara.

"Sara, what are you doing here? And how did you get here?"

She said nothing, her eyes big and he was really worried until he saw a slow grin creeping across her face.

"Loving the look, Warrick. Really enjoying it."

He shook his head, stepped aside to let her in and closed the door behind her.

"What do you expect me to wear in bed, Sidle? A suit? I like sleeping in my boxers."

She took in his appearance again, having the time of her life.

"And I love that you like to sleep in boxers. Makes me want to come over when you sleep all the time."

"Weirdo," he mumbled, disappearing in his bedroom to find a t-shirt.

"Find a mirror and look at yourself, Brown," she yelled after him. "I'm not weird for liking what I see, just healthy really."

When he reappeared again she was settled on the couch, a look of disappointment in her eyes.

"I like the old look better. Can we go back to the old look?"

He rolled his eyes, trying very hard not to laugh.

"Ok, stop treating me like a piece of meat and tell me what's up."

" Nick brought me here after I called him. I came to you because I was thinking about Grissom," she said and his heart missed a beat. He just stood there, hoping against hope that they could avoid this issue somewhat longer.

She didn't seem to notice his reaction and carried on.

"He was acting weird, War. Almost jealous. Why would he be jealous?"

He sighed, sitting down next to her.

"What do you want to know, Sara?"

She looked at him and was shocked by what she saw, fear. He was scared.

"Does he have feelings for me?" she asked and he just nodded, not wanting to elaborate on the subject.

"Ok," she said. Sinking deeper into the couch and processing this new information. And then it hit her, why he was so scared.

"I had feelings for him too, didn't I?"

He finally had the courage to look at her.

"You know?" he whispered and when she shook her head a big part of him was relieved and he hated himself for it. She needed to get better, even if it meant losing her.

"No," she said. "I guessed, I have no memories what so ever of Grissom. Lately little tidbits have been coming back. Mostly from my childhood and some little things from work. Things about you mostly. I remember us taking apart a car and sitting outside playing cards. That sort of things, nothing about Grissom."

He glanced over at her, a big smile on his face. One that erased his pain for a while.

"You remember all that? Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged, looking away.

"I don't know, sometimes these memories just wash over me, out of nowhere really. They mostly come when I'm alone and usually when I'm with you I forget to tell you."

He looked at her with the most funny expression on his face.

"You forget to tell me?"

"Yes," she said, looking at him. "When I'm with you these old memories don't seen so important all of a sudden. Being with you and making new memories with you is more then enough."

She gave him a shaky, nervous smile after her confession and he was lost. Leaning in he kissed her, cupping her face between his hands and allowing himself this one moment of happiness. The real world came crashing down all to soon though and he pulled back, hating himself for his weakness.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

"Why?" she asked him. "Why are you sorry? I want this, I want you."

His thumbs reached up to stroke her face.

"I know you want me," he said and he really believed that. "But when this is all over...I don't want you hating me after all this."

Her hand reached up to grab his hand and she placed a kiss on it.

"You still don't get it, do you? I could never hate you. Never."

He stood up, placing some distance between them.

"Grissom may not seem like a big deal to you now but he is. You've been in love with him for as long as I can remember. I saw the way you used to look at him, I know how much you've cried over him. How much you wanted him. These feelings will come back with your memory and..."

He stopped talking when he saw Sara standing up. Coming over to stand before him.

"And what, Warrick?"

"And I don't want to get hurt..." he finally admitted.

He felt two arms around his neck and then she was hugging him and he responded by wrapping his arms around her, clinging to her. They stood like that for what seemed like an eternity. Finally she pulled away from him.

"I don't have any answers for you, Warrick."

He smiled, brushing some hair out of her face and placing a short kiss on her lips.

"I can wait until you have the answers," he said. "But I can't leap into this thing, it's to dangerous and we could both end up regretting it."

She nodded, not at all convinced but knowing that she had to do this, for him. This was obviously hurting him and she didn't want to do anything to make it worse.

"We still get to see each other, right? Spend time together?"

He rested his forehead against hers.

"You try and stop me, Sidle," he said.

She smiled, relieved.

"Good, in that case I have a mission for you."

He let go of her, folding his arms in front of his chest.

"A mission?"

"Yep," she said. "When's your next night of?"

"Now," he replied confused.

She bounced up and down, obviously excited about something.

"Great, then you can take me on a grand tour."

"A grand tour?"

She sighed.

"Yes, dummie. You can show me Vegas. Maybe I will remember something."

He slowly nodded.

"I can do that," he said.

She sat back down on the couch, looking him up and down.

"Then get dressed, I don't want other women in Vegas seeing you like that."

He grinned, disappearing in his bedroom.

"Las Vegas, here we come," she whispered. Hoping that this would help. They needed some fun, both of them.

Tbc...