Masquerade & Disguise

Part Four

Gil Grissom sat at his desk, paperwork in hand as he tried once again to concentrate on the work before him. He couldn't seem to keep his mind focused on anything...anything, but Sara. He'd caught a glimpse of her in the corridors, and spent an agonizing few minutes handing out assignments, desperately trying to focus on anything within the room but her. He was amazed that he'd managed to stand in the same room with her without completely losing his mind. He was trying to minimize his interaction with her, because at that point in time he had no clue as to how he would react, how he'd be able to talk to her, sustain a civilized conversation without thinking of the events of the night before.

It was all too much for him to handle in a span of less than 24 hours. He never could've imagined that in one night, in one single meeting their relationship would move forward so quickly, only to be lashed back to a familiar place for him. But now, more than ever, he was terrified of what would, or would not happen between them. He sighed heavily as he tried once again to immerse himself in the large pile of paperwork stacked up in front of him.

Catherine strode into Grissom's office, intent on sharing with him some very interesting news. But her intentions were cut short. He hadn't even noticed her enter the room. She watched him, waiting for him to acknowledge her presence, but instead he continued to stare down at the paper in his hands, or rather stare through the paper in his hands. He was lost in his thoughts, he often was, but this time, something seemed different. No longer able to keep the news to herself, she sprung forward, trying to make as much movement as possible in that single action, before taking a seat in front of his desk. She frowned, still no reaction. Grissom really was off with the fairies. She cleared her throat, "Earth to Grissom! Snap out of it!" she said as she snapped her fingers and waved her hands in the air. Finally he looked up at her, and she suddenly felt extremely stupid.

"The ball was amazing, you know you really should've gone.." She trailed off as she tried to think of the perfect way to share what she knew with him. He simply watched her, knowing perfectly well that she hadn't entered his office just to tell him what he had missed. She wondered if he was even listening to her, or was still trapped in his thoughts. She shrugged and continued anyway. "Well, everyone looked gorgeous, it was great. But the best thing happened afterwards. We all headed down to the parking lot..."

Grissom's attention quickly snapped back to Catherine. "The parking lot?" He interrupted, feeling his heart rate begin to increase, and almost certainly his blood pressure. His face turned red, the papers in his hands now shuffled with the involuntary shakes, and he could feel himself breaking out into a sweat. He'd begun to freak out, and there was no way he could calm himself down, not now. Catherine watched him, his reaction amused her, though it had startled her as well. She never thought that three little words would do this to him. She remained silent. Something was going on.

"What did you see in the parking lot?" Grissom asked, almost demanded.

"What did you see in the parking lot?" Catherine shot back, still amused by it all. She knew that it had been him she'd seen flee from the ballroom.

Grissom seemed to freeze up. He had no idea what he should say, what he should do, whether he should say anything or just sit there in a frozen state. He continued to fight himself, conflicted over what action to take, what he could possibly say to keep Catherine quiet. He needed to explain things. He needed her to understand what had happened before she drew any conclusions about both him and Sara. More importantly he needed to explain to help him himself understand exactly what had happened. Before he could stop himself, he heard the words leave his mouth, almost as though someone else was speaking them for him. It all spilled out, from his arrival at the ball until the events in the parking lot. He finally finished rambling, and found himself struggling to get oxygen into his lungs.

Catherine remained quiet. Even if they all knew about Grissom and Sara's attraction, she was surprised by it all. Never had she imagined that either of them would ever actually act on it. And not like that. She struggled to repress a smirk. Grissom had finally made a move. He'd dared to play with fire,and the fire played back. But just how burned had it left him? She didn't dare tell him that that wasn't she had meant by the parking lot. Instead she continued to remain quiet as Grissom re-thought through the entire situation once more.

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"So you had fun last night?" Nick asked as he and Sara walked through the corridors.

"Yeah..." She replied pretty absent-mindedly, but Nick let it slide.

"Where'd you disappear off to? We were looking for you."

"I left early." She said abruptly. She really didn't want to be giving away any details from last night. She really didn't want to be talking about it at all.

"That's too bad. You missed all the action in the parking lot." Nick said as he shot her a wink.

Her heart skipped a beat. What exactly did he mean by that? And what did that wink mean? Did he know? She could've died right then and there. But she held herself together and fought the urge to begin to hyperventilate. She stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"Well, we couldn't find you, but we couldn't find Greg, or Brass either,so we just left. We headed down to the parking lot, and who did we find?" He paused, and he could've sworn that Sara looked afraid of what he was about to say. He frowned, but continued anyway. She'd been acting strange all shift. "Greg and Brass, drunk out of their minds. Both stripped of their jackets and shirts, their ties wrapped around their heads, swinging their removed clothing above their head as they ran up and down the parking lot singing." Nick broke out into laughter at the mere thought of that night in the parking lot. Greg and Brass would never live this one down. But that's why they'd both mysteriously called in sick today.

Sara smiled. Not so much about Greg and Brass, but knowing that Nick didn't know anything like she had first feared. She was lucky she'd kept her mouth shut, otherwise she would've told him everything. She sighed as they passed Grissom's office, and she dared to steal a glance inside. There he sat at his desk, pen in hand, working as if nothing had happened at all. Typical. She parted ways with Nick as she entered the break room, trying her best not to break out into a rage and break everything within the room. How could he just sit there? How could he just ignore it all? She certainly couldn't, but that's how it had always been. Why had she suddenly believed that anything could go any differently? She hated herself, but she hated him more. Her hopes had gotten so high, and she'd stupidly let them. She'd allowed herself to hope, because for once in her life she believed there was reason. But no. He'd driven her home. He'd looked at her, watched her, waited for her...And so she took her cue, she leant across the center console, bringing her face to his. But he had pulled away. He'd turned his cheek to her, just as he'd done for years. To her, that was the last straw. Whatever they had, whatever they could have had...it was done. And it obviously had meant nothing at all.

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Catherine wandered the halls, alone with her thoughts. She needed to talk to someone about what she knew, but she knew that she couldn't. She couldn't betray Grissom like that. And yet she couldn't bring herself to speak to him. She passed his office, his door closed, silently and discreetly warning her to stay away. She continued to wander, finding herself near the break room, unoccupied except for one single soul. She headed straight to the table where Sara sat, and looked back out into the lab. She and Sara rarely spoke about anything really, but at that moment she knew she wanted to say something. Hell she needed to say something. She looked across at Sara. She stared down into the coffee mug in her hand. The sight reminded her of Grissom and his paper work. Only Sara was different...she seemed almost angry, her brows furrowed, her lips pursed. Catherine considered leaving, but something kept her there.

"Sara, you okay?"

"Hmm?" Sara mumbled as she looked up at her co-worker, "I'm fine." She looked back down into her mug.

Catherine frowned. She wasn't going to get anything out of her. Sara looked at her again, and Catherine raised an eyebrow in response, almost prompting her to say whatever it was that she was thinking.

"I just..." Sara began as movement outside the break room caught Catherine's attention, "...need to be alone."

Well that isn't going to happen. Catherine quickly stood as Grissom stopped in the doorway. She made herself scarce, knowing that she definitely didn't want to be in that room. Grissom silently thanked her for leaving as he stepped into the room. Sara glanced back, wondering where Catherine had gone so quickly, and she found her answer. She pushed the chair back and stood. She didn't need this, not now. He froze. The expression on her face said it all, and he didn't know what to say. She began to move towards him, his heart skipping a beat, her shoulder brushing against his as she tried to push past him. He couldn't let her leave. Not without leaving things unsaid...Not again.

He grabbed her arm, preventing her from leaving him. She glared at him as she pulled her arm free from his grip. She bit back the words that were threatening to exit her mouth, once again trying to exit the room. This time he stepped back, his frame blocking the doorway. Again she glared at him.

"Sara please, just let me..." He began as she tried to push him out of the way. She felt trapped, ambushed, and she hated it. It wasn't fair. "Sara, please." Grissom pleaded, but it was no use. Knowing that hishopes to explain himself had been shutdown, he stepped away from the doorway, watching her leave him once again. This time he was certain that he had lost her.

Thanks for the reviews. Sorry for taking so long. And sorry for taking it down this road, making Sara angry, haha. She needed to be angry, coz I'm angry right now. What is wrong with guys? I tried to use everyone's suggestions somehow, kinda twisted StwbrryCSI's idea around a little, Brass was still involved, although now that I've finished it, I think I should've completely gone with your idea. I still have to choose between the two options. I have a little ideas about where I'll go next, I promise the next chapter will actually accomplish something with their relationship! The next may be the last.Please review and let me know what y'all think. Suggestions and ideas always welcome, and seriously encouraged/ Britt