Title: Entreaty
By: Manigault
Disclaimer: Same as chapter one except it is Alliance-Atlantic .
Note: This chapter is geared towards getting the geeks moving on the adventure. Also, thanks to Alison for beta reading this for me!
The sweet smell of blueberries drifted around Grissom's nostrils, tweaking him to stir and open disoriented eyes. Several seconds elapsed as he struggled to regain his bearings and pull himself into a sitting position. Images locked into place within his mind and he found himself searching wildly for a familiar face in this unfamiliar apartment.
Sara's profile came into focus as she stood in her kitchen, bending over the counter in complete concentration on some task. With a wide yawn, Grissom stretched his arms towards the ceiling before bringing his arm back down so he could glance at his watch.
"I slept ten hours!" He exclaimed loudly. His body twisted towards Sara, who was now watching him with an amused smile.
"You needed it." Sara told him without hesitation. "If you are hungry, I'm making blueberry pancakes."
"I'm not hungry." Grissom assured her, but the mention of food triggered something within his stomach, because the blasted organ betrayed him with a rumbling growl.
Scowling in indignation he stood up and muttered something about his cell phone.
"Your cell phone is on the counter, Grissom." Sara flipped a pancake onto a growing stack before looking towards him. "It rang once and I answered it."
With alarm etched on his face, Grissom reached his phone in two long strides. Grabbing it, he looked from its betraying silence to Sara's calm face. Too calm for his taste.
"Sara," Grissom's voice was laced with exasperation. "I was expecting a call from Elaine."
"She called." Sara pushed the plate of pancakes towards him and met his eyes without blinking. "The camping equipment is back in her house. We are meeting her this afternoon, at her home." Sara looked away from his astonished eyes. "By the way, I don't get how the feds could have kept the bags as evidence for so long when they claimed they held no clues to what happened to them."
Grissom watched her pour batter into the pan as he listened to her ramble about the camping equipment.
Beside him, Sara felt his stare lance through her and she could not help wondering for the hundredth time since he walked inside her apartment if he had regrets. She placed another pancake on the plate beside her and pointed towards him.
"Grissom, eat." She gestured towards his untouched pancakes. "You need to eat something and then take a shower before we hit the road."
"We?" Grissom stammered. He had not come here to involve Sara in his personal problems. "I don't want you involved in this Sara."
Sara handed him a fork and did not speak until he took the utensil from her slightly shaking hand.
"Then you shouldn't have come to my home Grissom, because I'm so involved now you could turn a blind eye on everything and I would keep investigating."
"Keep investigating?" The shock on Grissom's face matched the alarm in his voice. "What have you been investigating, Sara?"
Sara pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and spoke with the urgency she felt. "Grissom, I want to help you if I can. I spoke with Elaine and she wants us to come to her home for a reason other than the bags. She may have some new information."
"Us." Grissom repeated. "She wants us to come to her home? That's what she said?"
Sara bit her lip and glared over the counter. "You, Grissom. She wants you to come, but she invited me to come with you."
"And you told her that you knew me-how?"
"I told her the truth." Sara jabbed her fork into a blueberry that had escaped the batter "I'm one of your investigators at the CSI lab and I'm helping you with this case."
Grissom watched her chew the blueberry and doubted that she tasted a bit of it. He knew that he had driven to her apartment, but it never entered his tired mind to go anyplace other than Sara's. He could blame it on the lack of sleep, but the truth was a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he shared his burden with Sara.
He suddenly became aware of her probing eyes as she watched him and tried to decipher if he was regretting coming here. Looking away from her he picked up his fork and jabbed it into the pile of blue stained pancakes. The anger he had felt initially was ebbing away and turned into uneasiness that encompassed more than the flat out shock of discovering he had an extended family.
Finding that she had lost her appetite, Sara began a quick cleanup of the kitchen as Grissom gulped down his food without comment. She sensed him move to the coffeepot as he reached for one of the empty mugs she had set out beside it and then felt his eyes bore into her back as he sipped the heavy brew and leaned against the counter.
"I have my overnight bag packed, Grissom." Sara spoke without turning around. "Elaine offered to let us stay in her guestrooms." She stressed the plural before looking over her shoulder to see what his reaction would be to this new information.
Grissom wore his blank mask, but his voice was edged in ice. "I have no intention of staying in Elaine's home."
Sara gave him a tight smile in return, before rolling her eyes and turning halfway around.
"Whatever, Grissom. I'll stay there and you can do whatever you want, but we really should get a move on it if we are going to get to Calienta before dark."
Grissom watched as Sara walked to the front door and grabbed a shoulder bag. "I'm going with you Grissom." Sara stated.
With calmness he did not feel, Grissom took another sip of coffee before he said with flat emotion. "You drive and I'll take this with me."
Relief surged through Sara and she offered him a teasing smile. "You want to stop by your place so you can shower and change clothes?"
Grissom sniffed the air. "Do I smell?"
"Not yet, but you've definitely seen better days."
An actual smile lifted the corners of his lips. "I have a bag in my car. If you want to grab it for me then I will take a shower here."
"No problem." Sara dropped her own bag and reached for his car keys that were lying on the counter where Grissom had dropped them only hours before. "There are clean towels in the cabinet in the bathroom."
"I'll find it." Grissom said as she slipped out the door.
Grissom showered quickly and found that he was eager to be on the road and yet was strangely dreading the confrontation with his newfound sister-in- law. The first meeting had been disturbing enough with its emotional impact and now he was going back for more with Sara beside him. It was almost too much to wrap his brain around. Over the years he had sometimes wondered what had become of his dad, but locked in that childhood pain he had never imagined the elder Grissom would begin a new family.
"Grissom?" Sara called to him from the bathroom doorway, her voice startling him from his musings. He felt the warm spray of water strike his face and chest as he turned the knobs off and pulled the shower curtain back. Pulling a towel off of the counter he noticed that Sara had placed his bag just inside the bathroom door. With a new urgency he pulled out his boxers and clean clothes, eager to be on the road to Calienta.
TBC
By: Manigault
Disclaimer: Same as chapter one except it is Alliance-Atlantic .
Note: This chapter is geared towards getting the geeks moving on the adventure. Also, thanks to Alison for beta reading this for me!
The sweet smell of blueberries drifted around Grissom's nostrils, tweaking him to stir and open disoriented eyes. Several seconds elapsed as he struggled to regain his bearings and pull himself into a sitting position. Images locked into place within his mind and he found himself searching wildly for a familiar face in this unfamiliar apartment.
Sara's profile came into focus as she stood in her kitchen, bending over the counter in complete concentration on some task. With a wide yawn, Grissom stretched his arms towards the ceiling before bringing his arm back down so he could glance at his watch.
"I slept ten hours!" He exclaimed loudly. His body twisted towards Sara, who was now watching him with an amused smile.
"You needed it." Sara told him without hesitation. "If you are hungry, I'm making blueberry pancakes."
"I'm not hungry." Grissom assured her, but the mention of food triggered something within his stomach, because the blasted organ betrayed him with a rumbling growl.
Scowling in indignation he stood up and muttered something about his cell phone.
"Your cell phone is on the counter, Grissom." Sara flipped a pancake onto a growing stack before looking towards him. "It rang once and I answered it."
With alarm etched on his face, Grissom reached his phone in two long strides. Grabbing it, he looked from its betraying silence to Sara's calm face. Too calm for his taste.
"Sara," Grissom's voice was laced with exasperation. "I was expecting a call from Elaine."
"She called." Sara pushed the plate of pancakes towards him and met his eyes without blinking. "The camping equipment is back in her house. We are meeting her this afternoon, at her home." Sara looked away from his astonished eyes. "By the way, I don't get how the feds could have kept the bags as evidence for so long when they claimed they held no clues to what happened to them."
Grissom watched her pour batter into the pan as he listened to her ramble about the camping equipment.
Beside him, Sara felt his stare lance through her and she could not help wondering for the hundredth time since he walked inside her apartment if he had regrets. She placed another pancake on the plate beside her and pointed towards him.
"Grissom, eat." She gestured towards his untouched pancakes. "You need to eat something and then take a shower before we hit the road."
"We?" Grissom stammered. He had not come here to involve Sara in his personal problems. "I don't want you involved in this Sara."
Sara handed him a fork and did not speak until he took the utensil from her slightly shaking hand.
"Then you shouldn't have come to my home Grissom, because I'm so involved now you could turn a blind eye on everything and I would keep investigating."
"Keep investigating?" The shock on Grissom's face matched the alarm in his voice. "What have you been investigating, Sara?"
Sara pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and spoke with the urgency she felt. "Grissom, I want to help you if I can. I spoke with Elaine and she wants us to come to her home for a reason other than the bags. She may have some new information."
"Us." Grissom repeated. "She wants us to come to her home? That's what she said?"
Sara bit her lip and glared over the counter. "You, Grissom. She wants you to come, but she invited me to come with you."
"And you told her that you knew me-how?"
"I told her the truth." Sara jabbed her fork into a blueberry that had escaped the batter "I'm one of your investigators at the CSI lab and I'm helping you with this case."
Grissom watched her chew the blueberry and doubted that she tasted a bit of it. He knew that he had driven to her apartment, but it never entered his tired mind to go anyplace other than Sara's. He could blame it on the lack of sleep, but the truth was a weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he shared his burden with Sara.
He suddenly became aware of her probing eyes as she watched him and tried to decipher if he was regretting coming here. Looking away from her he picked up his fork and jabbed it into the pile of blue stained pancakes. The anger he had felt initially was ebbing away and turned into uneasiness that encompassed more than the flat out shock of discovering he had an extended family.
Finding that she had lost her appetite, Sara began a quick cleanup of the kitchen as Grissom gulped down his food without comment. She sensed him move to the coffeepot as he reached for one of the empty mugs she had set out beside it and then felt his eyes bore into her back as he sipped the heavy brew and leaned against the counter.
"I have my overnight bag packed, Grissom." Sara spoke without turning around. "Elaine offered to let us stay in her guestrooms." She stressed the plural before looking over her shoulder to see what his reaction would be to this new information.
Grissom wore his blank mask, but his voice was edged in ice. "I have no intention of staying in Elaine's home."
Sara gave him a tight smile in return, before rolling her eyes and turning halfway around.
"Whatever, Grissom. I'll stay there and you can do whatever you want, but we really should get a move on it if we are going to get to Calienta before dark."
Grissom watched as Sara walked to the front door and grabbed a shoulder bag. "I'm going with you Grissom." Sara stated.
With calmness he did not feel, Grissom took another sip of coffee before he said with flat emotion. "You drive and I'll take this with me."
Relief surged through Sara and she offered him a teasing smile. "You want to stop by your place so you can shower and change clothes?"
Grissom sniffed the air. "Do I smell?"
"Not yet, but you've definitely seen better days."
An actual smile lifted the corners of his lips. "I have a bag in my car. If you want to grab it for me then I will take a shower here."
"No problem." Sara dropped her own bag and reached for his car keys that were lying on the counter where Grissom had dropped them only hours before. "There are clean towels in the cabinet in the bathroom."
"I'll find it." Grissom said as she slipped out the door.
Grissom showered quickly and found that he was eager to be on the road and yet was strangely dreading the confrontation with his newfound sister-in- law. The first meeting had been disturbing enough with its emotional impact and now he was going back for more with Sara beside him. It was almost too much to wrap his brain around. Over the years he had sometimes wondered what had become of his dad, but locked in that childhood pain he had never imagined the elder Grissom would begin a new family.
"Grissom?" Sara called to him from the bathroom doorway, her voice startling him from his musings. He felt the warm spray of water strike his face and chest as he turned the knobs off and pulled the shower curtain back. Pulling a towel off of the counter he noticed that Sara had placed his bag just inside the bathroom door. With a new urgency he pulled out his boxers and clean clothes, eager to be on the road to Calienta.
TBC