Lock-in
Summary: Sara just wants to move on. GrissomSara.
A.N.: This is for the CSI Secret Santa that took place December 2005. It was fun. But I'm so glad it's over. And cameo's from the other CSIs, but tiny ones.
Note to CSISlave: Assume that Grissom intentionally broke Sara's heart in the past (you will find out why) so she left LV…and this is set sometime in the future. Merry Christmas, honey. I hope you like it!
It was supposed to be a conference of sorts, a get together for CSIs, lab techs and detectives all over the country in some unknown town in backwaters of California, where they could talk about cases that they'd solved, victims that they'd failed to save, families whose lives where ruined by death and deceit.
Where detectives could get together with scientists and finally belong; where lab techs could really understand the full extent of how much they were involved in the process of arresting a suspect based on evidence.
Where Sara Sidle could finally meet the man she never thought she'd see again.
But there he was, standing to the side of the room, talking to a red-head who'd introduced himself to her earlier as "Horatio Caine, supervisor of Miami-Dade Crime Lab", all sunglasses and charm.
When he looked up, she looked away; instantly becoming more interested in what her companion ("Danny Messer") was talking about.
"So, you see, Mac always gives me a hard time, but it helps me learn more."
"Yeah, yeah," she replied, not fully understanding what she was agreeing with, but agreeing all the same. "I'll be right back." With a nod of the head from Danny and quick pat on the arm, she headed his way.
"Hello Sara," Horatio greeted, turning towards his companion. "I'd like you to meet Gil Grissom, head of the Las Vegas division. Gil, this is Sara Sidle, one of the best CSIs in Miami."
Sara just stood staring at Grissom, as Grissom stood staring back. He looked more drawn than the last time she saw him. Then again, the last time she saw him, she was falling into a deep peaceful slumber, not aware that when she awoke the next morning, he'd be gone. The mood shifted.
Horatio, picking up on this, asked the one question any stranger would want to know, "Do you two know each other?"
"Once upon a time," Sara replied. "How are you Grissom?" She held out her hand politely, resisting the urge to tense when he grasped her hand lightly, running his thumb over the back of it.
"I can't complain, really." No, you can't, she thought, releasing his hand. "How long have you been working with Horatio?"
"About six months," she mentally added "since you walked out on me."
Grissom ducked his head, staring into his drink. Sara smiled at Horatio and turned to walk away when Grissom spoke up.
"Can we meet up later? Just to catch up?" he asked shyly. Sara turned back, shock evident on her face. "Please?" he added, stepping towards her. Not really knowing what she was getting herself into again, she nodded.
-.-
He'd called her hotel room an hour later, organising a time and place to meet up, so at seven-pm, she walked into the lobby of the hotel, and waited. Surprisingly, he was already there.
"So, where are we going?" she asked conversationally, realising there was no point to being nasty with him. He did look really sorry for what he did, if the guilt in his eyes and the stiffness in his shoulders was any indication.
"One my first day here, I got lost, ("That sounds like you," Sara offered; Grissom just grinned) but found this lovely little café about half-a-mile from here. We can walk, or catch a cab." Grissom opened the door for her and Sara smiled, mentally, at his gentlemanliness.
"Walking's fine." She wrapped her coat around her a little tighter as they headed up the road, passing by the major restaurants with their loud music and obnoxious greeters. They passed by countless couples, too wrapped up in each other to notice where they were walking (they'd bumped into Sara enough times already), but all they did was remind Sara of what Grissom had done to her, and if the gap between her and Grissom was any sign, he was reminiscing too.
"So," he started, ending the stretch of silence, "I didn't know you'd gone to work in Miami."
"There's a lot you don't know about me," Sara offered as a reply, inadvertedly letting the sarcasm slip by.
Grissom sighed and shook his head, rubbing his hand across his eyes as if tired. Sara supposed he was. "I deserved that." He sounded resigned and Sara instantly let go.
"I'm sorry." She shifted the subject to Las Vegas, "How's everyone doing back home?"
"Good...great. Nick and Greg have moved in together. Cath's finally found a man who won't treat her like dirt," Sara raised her eyebrows in question, "His name's Ryan and he works at the Bellagio casino."
"And Warrick?" Warrick, Sara missed the most. Despite all the animosity at the beginning, they'd grown to be best friends. He'd tried his hardest to stop her from leaving, it obviously not working.
"Still missing his best friend," Grissom replied, glancing at Sara, seeing the tears welling up in her eyes. He touched her forearm and they stopped in the middle of the pavement, ignoring the annoyed huffs from passer-bys. She refused to look at him; she refused to see the concern in his eyes. Grissom held out his arms and, as much as her mind screamed at her to not let him, she fell into his embrace.
Sara managed to compose herself quickly, placing her hands on Grissom's chest as she pushed herself away. He didn't let her go far, however, as his hands tightened on her arms. He reached up and rubbed the few tears that Sara had let fall away, watching Sara's reactions all the time.
When she made no move to pull any further away, Grissom leant forward and kissed her lightly. Sara instantly tensed up, but didn't make to move backwards. Grissom pulled back, took her arm and led her into the café.
-.-
A year ago, Sara would have been jumping at the chance to be tucked up at the back of a cosy café with Grissom, but she wanted to do was finally move on from him. The way he kept talking about Vegas though; he was expecting her to come running home with a few kind words.
She'd had enough twenty minutes later. "Grissom, what are you doing?" she snapped, albeit quietly.
"What?" Grissom asked, completely clueless about what he was doing.
"Did you forget what happened the last time we saw each other?" Grissom ducked his head. "And you haven't even offered me an explanation."
She hated making him look guilty. "But he should be" she thought.
"I'm sorry Sara." He stood up, threw a couple of bills onto the table and fled. It took Sara a couple of seconds to catch up with what was happening before she was out the door too. "Grissom," she called after him.
She could see the back of his head, knew he was walking briskly back towards the hotel; she took off after him, boot heels clicking on the pavement every step. Despite the speed she was running, she didn't catch up to him until he was in the lobby of the hotel.
"Grissom," she called softly, latching a hand onto his elbow and tugging him around. "What the hell is going on?" He turned and she saw the last thing she expected from Grissom; tears. "Hey," she choked out, and against her better judgement, she wrapped her arms around him. He held her tight to him.
"I'm sorry Sara," he echoed his previous apology, and started to leave again. Sara grabbed his arm tightly, looking around for somewhere to talk. She saw a door marked 'do not enter' and pulled him roughly towards it. She shoved him in first and followed soon after, pulling the door tightly behind her.
"No more apologies Grissom. We're gonna talk. And hell, if we're here all night, so be it." She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tried to ignore the startled look on his face. Sara glanced at her watch ten minutes later, when Grissom had refused to talk. "Fine!" She turned and started tugging and pushing on the door handle, sighing when she realised the inevitable. "We're locked in."
"What?" Turning back, she saw Grissom sitting on a crate, head in his hands. She sighed again, and shuffled to sit by him. He looked across at her. "I really am, you know."
"I know Grissom. But why?"
"I got scared. So I ran." Grissom looked straight at her. "But when I ran, I wasn't thinking of the consequences. I knew you wouldn't take it well, but I didn't imagine that you'd run too."
Sara shook her head sadly, "It just hurt to be around you at work. I had to get out. And I remember Cath mentioning that Horatio has called her, and she told me that he was looking for another CSI before gang warfare down there had gotten bad, and they needed all hel-" Grissom silenced her with a kiss.
She didn't want to break away, she didn't want to break the kiss, but her mind screamed at her to put some distance between them, to give themselves time to think. Her body had other ideas though; her hands wound around the back of Grissom's head, intent on keeping him there, her body turned towards his, seeking as much contact as possible.
Gently, reluctantly, they pulled apart, resting their foreheads together and breathing almost as one.
"We'd better get out of here," Sara whispered, stepping towards the door and twisting the handle
Grissom's eyes widened, "I thought you said the door was locked."
Sara just snickered and fled the room, Grissom hot on her heels all the way.
THE END