Chapter 2: A Plan
A/N: I know to some the relationship seems a little weird. All of sudden, Sara forgets about Grissom and goes after Greg. Never would happen, right. But trust me, in the next few chapters all should become clear, I promise.
"What do mean, so what now? I thought I made my intentions clear," Sara asked confused.
"You did but there are questions that still need to be answered, such as do we tell the guys at the lab?"
"Ah, yes. That is a good question. I would say "no". I wouldn't want this to be under the office microscope before it has even got off the ground."
"I would agree. No need to become water cooler fodder. Then I just have one more question."
"Which is?"
"When is our next date?"
Sara smiled at the last comment. She could tell that Greg was just as excited as her at the possibility of a new relationship.
"Well, when is your next day off?"
"Thursday. You?"
"Friday, but I'll see if I can get Warrick to switch with me."
"Okay, how about dinner and a movie?"
"Sounds like a date."
The two of them finished up their meal in relative silence and paid the bill. Once in the parking lot, Greg leaned in and kissed Sara's lips; she immediately responded by deepening the kiss. They finally broke apart.
"I could get used to that," Greg said, smiling back at Sara.
"You better," Sara responded, giving him a playful hit before heading to her car.
Greg drove himself back home, too wound up from the day's events to even consider sleeping. But there was still a nagging thought at the back of his mind. It had all been too easy. Sara had been holding out for Grissom for years and suddenly she flips and decides to go out with him. Something just didn't seem right. But he wasn't about to let this opportunity slip by because he was a little unsure. But he was still going to take things slow.
"Hey Greggo, how was the day off?" Nick asked the next day as he strolled into the locker room and saw the young CSI sitting down on one of the benches.
Greg turned to respond and Nick noticed the dark circles under Greg's eyes.
"Hey man, I thought you were going to catch up on your sleep yesterday. You look like hell. What happened?"
"I was unavoidably detained from my bed."
"Hot date?"
"Lunch with an old friend."
"How'd it go?"
"Better than expected."
"Well, it's good to see you starting to have a life outside of work again. You were getting a little too wrapped up in the field work lately."
"Thanks, Nick."
The two guys got up and headed towards the break room where Grissom would inevitably be ready to hand out assignment. The rest of the team was already in the room, Catherine was seated at the table, thumbing through the entertainment section of the paper. Warrick was hunched over the fridge, scrounging for something to eat before the shift started. Sara was sitting back in one of the chairs, reading a medical journal. And Grissom was just strolling in carrying a small stack of files.
"Okay, busy night guys, so some of you are flying solo tonight."
The group grumbled audibly. While working a scene solo is rare and welcomed, it also usually meant more work and more heat if something went wrong.
"Warrick, suspicious circs out in Henderson. Father found his son bleeding out on the front lawn. Here's the address," Grissom said as he handed Warrick on the file on top.
"Great. Prints on grass are impossible," Warrick said as he headed the door.
"Catherine, assault at the Bellagio. Tourist couple got mad and started swinging."
Catherine grabbed the file and left.
"Sara, you're with Nick. DB at a gas station."
Nick reached for the file, but Sara snatched out of Grissom's hand first and spun around to leave without even a word to Nick. Nick followed her out and said as he was leaving that he was driving.
Greg and Grissom were the only two left in the room. Greg moved over towards his supervisor.
"So what are you and I tackling today? A couple of DBs found in a casino pool? A suspicious circ out in the desert?"
"Actually Greg, we are working the evidence from the Lawrence case a few months back. Some of the evidence was excluded at pre trial for procedural problems. But there was still enough to go to trial, but it doesn't look like enough to convict. We have to finish processing."
Greg was a little disappointed. He had been working in the lab for nearly his entire career and now that he was able to go out into the field, he much preferred that to lab work. But deep down he knew the any experience was good experience.
The night moved quickly and Greg was able to keep his work until about half through his shift, when a familiar brunette head came into his peripheral view.
"Would you believe it, 5 minutes after we get there, the gas station attendant cops to the killing. Something about the guy trying to steal gas from the pump."
"Nice for you," Greg answered Sara without looking up from the piece of evidence he was processing at the moment.
"Thanks, What are you working on?"
"Lawrence case. The work of lawyers make our lives more difficult," Grissom added as he walked into the room, "I take the DB was solved quickly."
"Yeah, attendant confessed, so we headed back. Nick's in the break room looking for Greg's secret stash to make a fresh pot."
Greg's eyes widened.
"I better go help him look before he tears the place inside out."
And with that, Greg rushed out of the room with Sarah right behind him. Greg was making a beeline for the break room when Sara caught up with him and pulled him into an empty evidence examination room and shut the door.
"I thought you said Nick was looking for my secret stash. I need to stop him."
"I lied. He is in there sleeping on the couch."
"Then why the story?"
"I talked to Warrick before he headed out to Henderson. He agreed to traded days with me. But only if I told him why I needed the day off."
"What did you tell him?" Greg said, concerned.
"I told him the truth. I had a date. But don't worry it, I didn't tell him who with and that seemed to satisfy him. But you might get some questions from Nick. He kept giving me strange looks and muttering something about how I looked like I was glowing."
"Thanks for the heads up."
"No problem. So when did you want to do this dinner and movie?"
"How about I pick you up around 6. I'll make reservations and then we can catch a flick down on the Strip."
"I'll be ready with bells on."
"Great."
The two of them exited the room and went back to the exam room and to the break room. But neither noticed a very confused Catherine standing in the hallway, holding a forgotten bag of evidence in her hand.
The week had blown by quickly and before Greg knew it, Thursday was upon him. The week had been fairly uneventful. But Greg had noticed some strange looks from Catherine whenever he and Sara were in the same room. He didn't think much of it until he saw her pulled Sara aside during a break on Tuesday. He had called Sara later that night to get an explanation.
"Sara?"
"Hey Greg, just calling to make sure I'm still on for Thursday?"
"No, I was actually wondering what Catherine said to you today during break. You know she's been giving me odd looks all week whenever you are around."
"Funny you should say that because she asked me whether you and I had a thing going on. She saw us coming out of the exam room together the other day."
"Are you serious? What did you tell her?"
"I told her that I was given you some help on the Lawrence evidence. You were unsure as to how to process a certain piece of evidence."
"And she bought that?" Greg asked, not believing that Catherine would buy something like that.
"I think so, but we should probably be more careful at work. It might be easy to fool one CSI but five CSI, no way."
"So I probably shouldn't pull you in the utility closet for a makeout session then."
"Probably not."
"Okay then. Good to know."
"Goodnight, Greg."
"Night, Sara."
And now, he was in his bathroom shaving and putting the finishing touches on his hair before heading out to pick up Sara. He had made reservations at Antonio's, an Italian restaurant just off the Strip. Not Spago, but definitely not the diner either. And for such an occasion, gone were the obscure t-shirts and cargo pants. Instead, he was wearing pressed khakis and a blue stripe button down shirt. But he still wore his beat up sneakers. After one final mirror check, he punched in his security code and locked the front door.
About fifteen minutes later, he was knocking on Sara's door. She answered the door in an outfit she would never wear to work. She was wearing a little black dress that stopped just above the knees. It clung in all the right places without looking trashy. Her hair had been pulled up and she had applied a natural makeup look. And on her feet were a pair of strappy stiletto sandals.
"Hey, I thought that shoes like that were murder on a girl's feet," Greg said, pointing to Sara's feet.
"They may be, but they make my legs look nice," she responded, kicking her leg back for emphasis.
They certainly do," Greg said, staring at Sara's legs.
"And might add that I love your choice of shoe wear," Sara said, gesturing at Greg's sneakers.
"Hey, nothing's too good for you, my dear. Your chariot awaits."
He held out his arm and Sara took it and walked out to Greg's car. Greg opened the passenger door for Sara and then got in on the driver's side and turned the car on.
"…And I don't want ya, and I don't need ya. Don't bother to resist or I'll beat ya…"
Greg panicked and started punching random buttons and somehow managed to get the radio stuck on a Spanish speaking station. Sara watched the whole thing and tried rather unsuccessfully to contain her laughter.
"You know Greg I think that Marilyn Manson was better."
"Well, if you reach under my seat, there should be a folder of CDs. Take your pick."
Sara rummaged around and procured a black leather notebook and started flipping through the pages. A small smile came across Sara's face as she selected a CD and popped it into the player.
"…I'm genie in a bottle.."
"Greg, I never took you for a Christina fan."
"Relic from my youth."
"Oh I see," Sarah said with a smile, "You don't find her attractive or anything?"
"Nah, you know I'm more of a Britney fan."
By that time, they had arrived at Antonio's. Sara let a small excited yelp. Apparently, Greg had done something right.
"I love Antonio's. This is the best Italian food in Vegas. It reminds so much of this little place in San Francisco called Toscanini's. I would eat there at least 4 times a month. I can't believe you picked this place."
"Well I'm glad I did. I've never seen you get that excited unless we are nailing a suspect."
"I take joy in the simple things."
Greg laughed at her comment and they parked and headed towards the entrance. Greg headed towards the hostess table. The young lady nodded and gestured for them to follow her into the seating area. They navigated through the tables until the arrived a cozy little booth towards the back. Greg and Sara sat down and opened their menus. A few minutes later, their waiter came by and they ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer. When the bottle of shiraz arrived, they were ready to order.
"I'll have the penne with artichokes and mushrooms. Caesar salad, please," Sara said to the waiter.
"And I'll have Lasagna Florentine. Garden salad with vinaigrette on the side," Greg said in turn.
The waiter left and Sara turned to Greg.
"I thought you would order something from the dark side."
"I'm unpredictable," he said with a smile.
"That's why I like you."
"You mean it's not my devilish good looks?"
"Now you're sounding like Nick."
"Wow, 15 minutes into the date and you're already insulting me."
"I'm a fast mover."
Greg leaned in and Sara did so, but as they inched closer, an ill-timed server arrived with their calamari. The two separated as the dish was placed on the table. They ate in awkward silence. The kind that you heard at a junior high dance. After the plate was cleared, Greg asked Sara about the latest case she was working on. For the remainder of the time before the entrees came, they talked about what seemed like the only comfortable topic: work. Their food arrived and Sara and Greg dug into heartily.
"You know, I've never tried artichoke before," Greg said, eyeing Sara's food.
"Greg, would you like a bite of my pasta?" Sara replied.
"Yes, please."
Sara took a bit of her food and placed it on Greg's plate.
"Would you like a bite of mine?" he asked gesturing to his food.
"If you don't mind."
Greg sectioned off a piece of lasagna and placed it on Sara's plate. They both partook of the samplings.
"This good. The spinach is really fresh and you can taste that," Sarah said as she looked to see a sick Greg.
He spit the food out into his napkin. He grabbed his wine glass and took a big swig.
"That's disgusting. I now know why I'd never tried artichoke before. Nasty."
"Sorry Greg. I really thought you would like it."
"Well you were wrong."
They had a good laugh about and the evening finally loosened up. They swapped college stories over coffee and dessert. Greg learned that Sara had been a member of a scientific fraternity, and Sara learned that Greg had only made it 3 days through Hell week. He drew the line at swallowing a live goldfish. 'Tradition my ass', were his exact words. Greg had just finished paying the check when a beeping noise started to emanate from Sara's purse. Moments later, Greg's pocket started to beep.
"Grissom. Must be serious to beep both of us on a day off," Sara said as they headed for the door.
Greg called Grissom first and found out it was a FOS, Friend of the Sheriff. It was all hands on deck. Sarah then called and got the same response.
"Greg, drop me off at home, so I can pick up my kit and take my car. The two of us showing up together looking like this is going to raise too many questions. Unless you want provide answers."
"No thank you. I'll drop you off and follow you to the scene. I guess we will need to rain check the movie. Unless you don't want to go out again."
"Now why would you think that."
Sara gave Greg a quick peck on the cheek. Greg blushed and Sara could tell that he was really having a good time. And so was she. More than expected. I guess she always thought a date with Greg would be weird and maybe a little kinky. But this was perfectly normal and Sara was looking forward to more.
They arrived at Sara's house and she popped in and returned with her silver case and hopped into her car. She took off towards the crime scene and Greg followed suit. Somehow, Greg knew that showing up in separate cars wasn't going to stop the questions. Greg started to formulate a plan. He picked up his phone to give Sara a heads up on his plan of action. She agreed and they headed off to face the crime scene.
TBC