Disclaimer: I don't own anything or anyone from CSI. If I did, well let's just say it would be fun and leave it at that.
"Grissom! GRISSOM!" Sarah called as she chased him past the garage.
Gil Grissom recognized Sarah's voice and turned. She nearly ran into him, smiling from ear to ear.
"I lifted a print! It's only a partial, but it could get us something!" she said rapidly.
"Good work." Grissom said simply.
As Sarah started to explain where she recovered the print, Grissom noticed how terrible she looked. Her eyes were bloodshot, her skin pale, hair in tangles, and she was holding an empty coffee cup. He also noticed her eyes unfocusing and refocusing as she spoke.
"Sarah," he interrupted, "how long have you been here"
"Just a couple of hours overtime." She lied, trying to get more coffee out of her cup.
"Go home." Grissom told her. "We have plenty of people"
"I'm not tired." She protested.
As soon as the words left her mouth, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed. Grissom caught her before she fell; dropping the papers he was holding. The angle in which she fell made him stagger backward and slam into the wall.
"A little help here!" he yelled.
Warrick emerged from the garage, wiping his hands on a towel, looking around.
"Warrick…" Grissom said calmly.
Warrick turned to see Grissom pinned to the wall barely holding up Sarah's limp body. He rushed over to them.
"What happened?" he asked, grabbing Sarah around the waist so Grissom could move.
"You know Sarah. Just a little overtime…" he said, swinging her arm around his neck and sliding his arm under her knees, picking her up.
"She probably hasn't slept or eaten in twenty four hours. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with her"
"Sounds like someone else I know." Warrick said giving Grissom a look and making sure he had a good hold of Sarah.
"I know when to quit. Could you pick those up for me and put them on my desk please, I'm off." Grissom said, glancing at the papers on the floor.
"Sure. Hey, where're you takin' her?" Warrick asked.
"Back to my place so I can keep an eye on her." Grissom said as he walked away.
"Yeah, I bet you will." Warrick mumbled to himself as he returned to the garage.
Grissom couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten so many confused looks, and he had gotten a lot in his lifetime. Despite the fact that Sarah was passed out in his arms, he said his goodbyes like he normally would, not stopping to answer questions.
"Later." He told Catherine as she tried to form words.
Unlocking his SUV, he set Sarah gently in the passenger side, buckling her seat belt. He drove home in silence, not knowing if music would wake her. He scooped her up again, and brought her into his home, laying her on the couch. He went to his bedroom, stripped the bed, and put on new sheets, knowing how she was with germs. After that was done, he removed her shoes and put her in bed. He slept on the couch.
Sarah opened her eyes, squinting from sunlight. She had no idea where she was. As she sat up and looked around, she caught a familiar smell.
"Grissom?" She asked herself quietly looking around.
The room she was in defiantly had the feel of Grissom. It was spotless. She could feel that the sheets were clean and she smiled at his thoughtfulness. She was looking at an ant farm that was on a table against the far wall when her stomach made a noise. As she got out of bed the smell of food invaded her nostrils. Remembering that she hadn't eaten properly in two days, Sarah opened the door and saw Grissom strait ahead of her in the kitchen. She walked over and stood next to him by the stove.
"Hi." She said.
"Hello. Sleep well?" he asked, flipping a pancake.
"Yes. Listen, about that…" she started, but Grissom turned to face her and interrupted, "How do you like your eggs"
"What?" Sarah said, confused.
"Your eggs. How do you like them." Grissom asked again, waving a spatula.
"Um, scrambled. Are you okay?" She asked.
"A question I should be asking you." He said, pouring her a cup of coffee."Sit."
She sat at the table on her left. She watched Grissom pile food onto two plates. He set one in front of her and one in front of himself.
"Eat." He motioned toward the plate.
Sarah ate all right. She ate her three pancakes, two eggs, and two pieces of toast, plus the extra three pancakes and the leftovers of Grissom's plate. He watched her the whole time.
"Wow." She said as she sat back. "That was amazing"
"Thank you." He said, staring at her.
"Do I have food on my face or something?" Sarah asked, wiping her face again.
"No. You just look better is all." He replied, not moving his eyes from her.
"I'm sorry." She blurted out.
"For?" Grissom asked, raising an eyebrow.
"For pushing myself like that. I'm sorry that you got stuck with me." She said. "Why did you bring me back here anyway"
"I didn't trust you at the office. I figured once you woke up you would just go back to work. You can't keep doing this to yourself Sarah." He said. Sarah looked down at her plate.
"I know. Thanks for looking out for me." She said.
"We're all looking out for you. You just happened to fall on me." He said, with a small smile.
Sarah's head snapped up.
"I fell on you! Did I hurt you!" she asked, eyes wide. She couldn't remember anything after telling him that she had found a print.
"No. I'm fine. Most of the people in the building saw me carry you out, so there are going to be some questions when we get back." Grissom said. Sarah smirked.
"Not like it hasn't happened before." She mumbled. Grissom swallowed his coffee.
"What?" he asked.
"Uh, nothing. I'll do dishes." She said quickly, getting up.
"No, you shower. I'll do these. We have to be back at work in an hour. I'll swing by your place so you can change." Grissom said, taking the plate and cup out of her hands. "Everything is in the bathroom"
Sarah stared at him.
"Can't I just shower there?" she asked him.
"There won't be enough time. We're already going out of the way just so you can change." He answered.
"Sorry I'm such an inconvenience to you. You should have just left me where I fell." Sarah said hotly. Grissom sighed.
"I didn't mean it like that. It just makes more sense that you do it here is all. Will you please just go shower?" He asked with puppy dog eyes. Sarah snorted.
"I've never seen you make that face before." She said.
"It's only for special occasions. Like when I have to persuade a beautiful woman to get in my shower because we now have forty five minutes and she's still standing in front of me." He said, half smiling. Sarah pursed her lips and glared at him. She cracked a smile.
"Smooth. Very smooth." She said, and walked toward the bathroom.
"Showering at Grissom's place. Weird." She thought. "Hey Gris, could I borrow something to wear until I get back to my place?" she called.
Grissom stopped washing. Did she really just ask that? He walked to his room slowly.
"Sure." He answered on the way there.
He opened the closet door and stared. Numerous pairs of dress pants stared back all hung perfectly and color coordinated. Shirts were on the other side.
"What do I own that's comfortable?" he thought, digging around.
He found a pair of grey sweatpants and an old button up shirt towards the back of the closet.
"This will have to do." He said, folding them neatly.
Sarah pushed open the bathroom door and stuck her head in. Everything looked clean, so she went all the way in, catching her reflection in the mirror as she passed it. She backed up and took a closer look. Touching the dark circles under her eyes, she frowned at herself. Turning away, she saw a cabinet and opened it. It was full of towels. Sarah took out two, feeling the softness. She looked at the tags.
"Egyptian cotton. Nice." She said.
She moved aside the shower curtain and turned on the water, waiting for it to get hot. She surveyed the bath products. Shampoo, no conditioner, and a bottle of body wash, but no pouf.
"At least it's not bar soap." She said, closing the door and remembering what she like to refer to as "that one time" at Nick's apartment when she refused to use his bar soap and made him go buy a new one at the gas station down the street. That time she fell on him. She stripped quickly, opened the door, and ran into the shower, sighing as the hot water ran over her.
Grissom was going to leave the clothes outside the bathroom door, but it was wide open. Steam fogged his glasses as he walked in and set the clothes on the counter. Sarah popped her head out of the crack between the curtain and the wall. "Find something?" she asked. Grissom stared. Sarah had piled all of her hair on top of her head and secured it with shampoo. She looked ridiculous. He grinned.
"What?" she asked.
"Nice hair." He answered.
"It's not going to be so nice when I'm done. You don't have any conditioner here. I'm going to get tangles." She whined, pulling her head back in under the water.
"Is that the scientific term for it?" Grissom asked, and walked out of the bathroom, closing the door.
Sarah rolled her eyes and finished her shower. Checking that the door was totally closed, she got out and wrapped a towel around her slender form. She picked up the sweatpants at her feet and held them out in front of her.
"Just my size." She said sarcastically, pulling them up, yanking the drawstrings as far as they would go and double knotting them. She then put on the shirt that was also too big, buttoned it, gathered the extra fabric and tied it at her side. She folded her other clothes, toweled her hair, and opened the door. Grissom was right in front of her. She inhaled sharply and jumped back.
"Sorry," he said, holding up his hands. "Just checking to see if you were ready to go"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ready." Sarah responded. They walked out to his SUV.
"You know you're wrinkling my shirt right?" Grissom said, as he opened the car door for Sarah.
"I'll iron it for you." She said, getting in. Grissom closed the door.
"Do you even own an iron?" He said as they drove away.