Author: Joyce
Title: Better Memories
Disclaimer: Boy, these things are getting hard to write. But no, again, still not mine.
Note: As usual a big thanks to everybody who reviewed this story and a big shout out to Jade. You really gave me courage to go on with this chapter, having faith that it would not turn out cheesy, thank you! And a shout out to Cecile who is without computer for a while, girl I feel your pain! Finally I want to say that I know this part is a bit silly, I just felt the story needed it though after writing such a sad Warrick the last couple of chapters. I still have some doubts about this part but I do hope you guys like it.
Ok, this note is getting way to long. Here comes the story!
A day in paradiseWarrick stood in front of his closet, debating what he should wear today. He finally decided to go casual, wearing a pair of jeans and a simple black short sleeved t-shirt. When he walked into the living room Sara gave a short whistle, indicating that she agreed with his choice.
"Looking good, Brown."
He did a little turn for her benefit and then promised himself that they were going to have fun today. There would be no more talk of Grissom or his feelings for her. Today was about enjoying her company.
"Thank you, Sidle," he said while taking in her appearance. "You look very lovely too."
She beamed and he inwardly smiled at her reaction. He grabbed his jacket and opened the door, motioning her to follow him.
"Ok, let's head out. We're gonna party like it's 1999."
Sara followed Warrick out of his house, trying to forget that he just said that.
"Yeah, let's have fun," she said.
Five minutes later they were still standing on the parking lot in front of his house, looking at each other helplessly.
"So," Warrick finally said. "Where do you wanna go?"
She had no clue what so ever and why was he asking her? He was the one who lived in this town his whole life. Eventually she made a suggestion.
"We could hit the casino's?"
He started the car while nodding and she winced while inwardly cursing at herself. It was never a good idea to suggest going to a casino with a gambling addict.
"Or not, that's probably not a good idea."
He looked at her, trying to reassure her and gave her half a smile.
"It's fine, Sara. With you there I can handle it. I won't place any bets myself but I could give you some pointers. God only knows how much gambling experience I have."
He had meant it as a joke but somehow it didn't come out quite right. He was handling his addiction, had been for a long while now, but he was probably never going to be able to joke about it. Because every time he did a vision of Holly popped up in his mind and he was reminded again. His addiction was not a joke, it would never be a joke. He was lost in his thoughts, being brought back to reality by a small hand covering his much larger one.
"We're not going to the casino's," Sara said.
Leaning in she placed a short kiss on his lips. Pulling back with a sheepish grin on her face.
"I know we agreed to take things slow and wait untill I have my memories back but I couldn't help myself."
He was actually grinning by now, amazed by the fact that she could alter his mood in a heartbeat.
"Why couldn't you control yourself?"
She studied her hands, suddenly very afraid to look at him.
"Because I can't stand to see you hurting, I wanted to make it better."
His hand was placed under her chin and he lifted her face up. Giving her a kiss that took her breath away, slow and gentle.
"Thank you," he finally said. "For everything and for caring so much about me."
She was still speechless and just nodded which made him laugh.
"I have an idea," he suddenly said. He started the engine, pulled out of the parking lot and winked at her. "This is going to be so much fun," he told her. His grin was evil though and suddenly Sara was very afraid.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see," was his only reply and he kept on driving. Half an hour later they were walking on the strip and Warrick pointed to their destination. She arched her eyebrows.
"We're going to an arcade?"
He shrugged, a playful glint in his eyes.
"Why not? This thing is on the middle of the strip so you can see all the casino's and we can play some games that don't involve any gambling, just some shooting and killing. It's fun!"
She rolled her eyes.
"If you put it that way then I'm all for it," she said somewhat sarcastically.Looking around she took in the video games and the noise in the arcade.
"War, you and me are the oldest people here."
He didn't hear her though, his eyes were glued to a video game that some kid was playing. He grabbed her hand an pulled her towards it.
"We'll play this one," he said decisively.
She read the title of the game; "Bloodsuckers in Space. Are you kidding me?"
He just glared at the kid, who had finished his game and was ready to play another one. Seeing the look on the older man's face the boy wisely decided that maybe it was time to play another game. Warrick took his place behind the machine, a happy look on his face.
"Get over here, Sidle. Take the other joystick. We're playing against each other."
She sighed but had to admit that she had fun watching him being all excited.
"So, how do we play this?"
"Well," he said, completely serious. "We're the leader of a spaceship and we've gone on a mission to see if Mars can provide us any new drinking water. Only when we get there we discover that Mars is invaded by vampires. So now we have to beat them and get water at the same time. We have all these weapons to use. Ordinary ones like stakes and crosses but also this cool lasergun that evaporates the vampires." He glanced over at the screen. "Look, the game is loading now. Just shoot at any moving thing you see. You'll be fine."
Five minutes later the game was finished and Warrick put both his hands up and did a little dance, celebrating his victory. She just shook her head and laughed.
"How the hell did you get this good in Bloodsuckers in Space?"
He was busy typing in his name, proud of his high score.
"When I stopped gambling I still came to the strip a lot, the casino's drawing me in. One day I walked in here and started playing this game, just to take my mind of gambling. I ended up playing it every day for a period of two weeks. In a way this game became my security blanket, whenever I had the urge to gamble I came here and killed some vampires instead."
He looked at her after his story, afraid that she would find him crazy but she just smiled at him.
"When was the last time you played it?" she asked.
He thought about it.
"Over a year ago," he finally admitted.
She nodded, not hiding the proud look on her face.
"Then why did you bring me here today?"
He looked at her with a smirk on his face, ready to play another round.
"I wanted to show you, I've never taken anybody here before and I just needed to share this with you." She was touched until he continued. "And I also wanted to kick your ass of course."
She narrowed her eyes.
"Get ready to lose, Brown," she said.
It took her some time but an hour later it was Sara's turn to throw her hands up in the air and do a happy dance. Meanwhile Warrick was watching with an odd expression of disbelief and complete adoration.
"You won," he commented rather stupid.
She pulled him towards her in a happy hug and suddenly losing wasn't that important anymore. He just held her for a while, being content with being so close to her. Eventually she pulled away.
"These kids are looking at us, Warrick."
He rolled his eyes and look around to see that she was right. They were being watched by a couple of kids who couldn't quite understand what these adults were doing here in the first place and why they were clinging to each other.
"Let them watch," he decided, placing an almost chase kiss on her lips. "There just jealous."
By now the most bravest one of the bunch stepped forward and shoved Warrick aside.
"Get lost old geezer, I'm not jealous. I just want to play Bloodsuckers and you're hawking the machine."
Sara couldn't contain her laughter while Warrick was still processing that he had just been labeled 'old geezer.' Eventually Sara grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the arcade while he got his composure back.
"The game is called Bloodsuckers in Space!" he yelled at the boy who didn't even bother to look up. When he was outside Sara was still giggling and he narrowed his eyes.
"You think that's funny?" he asked.
"Yes," she nodded, still holding his hand while walking along. "Now c'mon, move your that old body of yours, I want to see more of the strip."
He followed her, a hint of a smile forming on his face.
"Don't be so full of yourself, you were caught kissing an old geezer in there."
She laughed again and then kissed him right in the middle of the street.
"I would kiss your old bones anywhere," she admitted.
He just looked at her and couldn't believe again how special she was.
"Didn't we agree to stop with the kissing?" he eventually wanted to know.
"Yep," she said while trying to look as innocent as possible.
"That's not working out very well, is it?" he observed dryly.
"Nope" she agreed, grinning in a way that indicated that she didn't mind at all. He laughed too, slung his arm around her shoulders and they continued their way down the street until Sara noticed a bar she desperately wanted to visit.
"C'mon War, it will be fun!" she said, throwing his earlier words back in his face.
Meanwhile he had a look of real fear on his face.
"No! No way, Sidle. No freaking way!"
They were already inside however and Sara sat down at a vacant table, filling in a piece of paper that was lying there that she then gave to the waitress, along with their order.
"You can't make me," Warrick said stubbornly while drinking the cocktail she had ordered for him.
She said nothing but just smiled and waited patiently until it was their turn. When they were announced she grabbed his hand and literally dragged him towards the stage while he was still protesting verbally.
"Shut up and sing, Brown," she told him. "You start."
Three minutes later they were getting a wild applause that Sara enjoyed immensely, even going so far as bowing. Warrick was already of the stage, almost running back to the safety of the table. She joined him a couple of seconds later, a smile on her face that he couldn't recall seeing before.
"I can't believe you got me to sing karaoke," he said, still shaking his head.
She took a sip of her drink, enjoying his company immensely. Warrick had a way of opening her up to life. He didn't realize it but he made her a stronger person and she knew that she wouldn't forget that once her old memories returned.
"Hey," she responded, "You made me play Bloodsuckers in Space, I say we're even."
"We would be if you didn't pick 'You're the one that I want,' he grumbled.
She reached out and ruffled his hair like he was a little kid.
"But I thought you made an excellent Travolta, with the cool and all. Didn't realize you could actually sing though."
"You think I'm cool, huh?" he asked her with an sexy expression on his face, winking at her. He leaned back when he saw that she blushed, satisfied that he could still affect her when he turned on the charm.
"I think you're very cool," she agreed. "But I was a bit disappointed that you didn't want to dance. You could have moved those hips of yours."
He kissed her in a way that was not chaste at all.
"I'll move my hips for you one time, I promise."
She actually forgot how to breath at this point and tried very hard to erase the images that his words projected.
"You're not playing fair, Brown," she said.
He shrugged, indicating that he didn't really care.
"You made me sing karaoke," he reminded her again. "I'm past the point of playing fair."
She stood up, knowing when a battle was lost and grabbed his hand. He immediately followed, mostly because he was glad to leave the bar. He did register that he was getting accustomed to holding her hand and he knew that this was another thing that he was going to miss. Outside she turned to him.
"That was real mature, Brown. Using your sexuality to get to me."
He kept on walking, making his way towards their car that was parked five minutes away.
"All is fair in love and war," he said.
She stopped, looking at him with a curious expression on his face.
"Love?" she questioned and he didn't know how to respond to that. He said nothing and they continued their way. The drive home was spend in an uncomfortable silence and when he stopped in front of her house she tried again.
"Warrick, is there love involved?"
He sighed, brushing some hair out of her face, his hand lingering. He noticed how she closed her eyes and kissed her. She returned the kiss with a passion that surprised him, even after the kisses they had already shared together.
"I don't know," he said in response to her question. Lying to her because he didn't want to make it more complicated. He did love her but she wasn't ready to know yet.
"I do know that we're in way over our heads," he continued.
Sara said nothing for a while, contemplating the man before her. Not able to stop herself it was her turn to touch him. Her hand stroking his face in a gentle, tender way.
"I know," she whispered.
His eyes, that had been closed during her ministrations, opened.
"You feel it too?"
"Yeah." She stopped talking, not knowing how to continue, how to explain and he decided to let her of the hook.
"Get inside," he told her. "You still need your rest and it's been an eventful day."
She said goodbye to him and got out of the car, he watched her go and saw her turn around. Coming back to him. When he got out of the car to ask her what was wrong he was interrupted in the middle of a sentece by her lips upon his in a needy kiss that left him searching for words.
"You want to know how I feel it too?" she said.
He just nodded and she continued.
"It's getting way to hard to say goodbye to you, Warrick."
He had to swallow to get rid of the lump in his throat.
"Can't you just stay with me?" she pleaded and he shook his head.
"You know I can't."
"I know" she reluctantly agreed, a sad look on her face.
She turned around again to go inside, stopping one last time.
"One day you'll be able to stay with me, right?"
Warrick prayed that she would be right.
"One day," he repeated.
Sara gave him one last smile before she closed the door.
"It's a deal," were her last words to him.
Tbc...