Entreaty
Chapter 17
Side note: Thanks again to everyone that is reading this story. And, again, thank you Alison.
An alarm sounded and Sara woke to find the tent flooded with early morning light.
She stared at the man entangled in her arms for a long breathless minute, before slowly extracting herself to search for the source of the annoying sound.
Moving a shirt aside, and then Grissom's blue jeans, she found her own jeans. The sound appeared to emanate from there. She pulled the watch that Mattie had given her out of the pocket and stared at it for a second before pressing the off button. She looked back at Grissom; to her surprise, he still slept. Not wanting to waste time, Sara stretched out beside him again, only to hear another beep sounding throughout the tent.
Sitting up quickly, Sara did not realize she had startled Grissom awake as she scooted towards the tent flap and groped for the zipper.
"Sara? What is it?" Grissom sat up with a puzzled expression and watched her movements. "Is someone here? Another bi-plane?"
"No. Listen, Grissom." Sara held the tent flap open, but the sound had faded.
Grissom began to wonder if his hearing was failing him again. "I don't hear anything."
"The watch. Mattie's watch is synchronized with his dad and brothers." Sara gave him a stunned look. "Grissom."
Sara moved back into the tent and picked up the watch. She held it up for Grissom to see and a light bulb clicked on behind his eyes.
"You heard it outside of the tent?"
Sara nodded. She looked back at the watch. "Mattie told me that their watches are synchronized to go off three times a day-breakfast, lunch and dinner. They could all eat meals the same time, every day." She glanced back towards the tent opening.
"One or both of them could be out there." Grissom stated.
"Maybe it's simply the watch, Gris. It may have fallen off one of them and mixed into the sand. Metal detectors are fallible." The words lifted her own mood and she grabbed her t-shirt and slipped it over her head.
Grissom debated grabbing his own metal detector to conduct his own investigation of the desert. Common sense urged him to wait. The heat in the Mojave during the day hours was horrendous and it would not bode well for him or Sara if either of them developed heat exhaustion. He decided it would be best to wait until the timer on the watch went off in five hours. Pushing away thoughts of Kyle or Andrew, he decided to lighten the mood that had settled over the tent.
"Are you going to fix breakfast for me, Sara?"
"Pancakes, eggs?" Sara was relieved that they could push reality aside for a little while longer.
"I'll take the pancakes." Grissom watched Sara pick up a brown bag and toss it over to him. He caught it and waited for her to join him with a bottle of water before he opened the bag.
"I'm not sure that I like the way you cook, Ms. Sidle."
"You cook next time." Sara joked back.
Grissom raised his eyebrow, but said nothing as he pulled out the powdered doughnuts, a bag of peanut M & M's, and more potato chips.
The water was tepid as Sara took a long swallow. "There will be a next time, right?"
Grissom glanced up from staring in disbelief at the junk food. "You mean before or after we get home?"
"When we get home." She did not feel like playing with semantics.
"I'll show you what a true breakfast is when we get home, Sara." Grissom reached for the water and relaxed when he saw her smile.
"I'm going to hold you to that."
They spent the next fifteen minutes eating junk food and swapping the bottle of water back and forth.
"You know that it's going to be the hottest part of the day when that watch goes off again." Sara picked up a green M & M and handed it to Grissom. "We need to keep drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated."
Grissom took the M & M and popped it into his mouth. "We also need to conserve our energy." He added as his eyes swept over her body.
"Then I'd better put my jeans on." Sara teased. She allowed her gaze to soak in his bare chest. "You better put some clothes on yourself, Gris."
"It's too hot for clothes."
"It's too hot without clothes."
Grissom met her eyes with a soft smile, before moving slowly towards her lips.
------------------------------- ---------------
Several hours later, Sara was pulling her shirt back on and searching for her blue jeans. Grissom reached for her waist and she avoided his fingers by inches.
"It's reality time, Gris." Sara zipped her jeans, shooting him a sympathetic look. "The alarm should be going off any minute."
Sara tossed him his boxers and then his blue jeans. She then picked up Mattie's watch and turned to search for her shoes.
"You need to put on a hat, Sara." Grissom zipped his jeans and reached for his ball cap. "Wear this." She felt his baseball cap land on her head and his fingers began to tuck her long strands of hair inside it.
"I don't want to take your cap." Sara protested as she started to lift the cap off her head and give it back to him.
Grissom's hands stilled her movement. "If you don't wear it, neither will I." Grissom held up his shirt. "Besides, I have this."
With that, Grissom tied the shirt around his forehead and smirked.
"You need sleeves." Sara ran a hand over his pale skin. "I have sunscreen in the car. I should have time to get it and another shirt." She stepped out of the tent and hurried towards the Tahoe. The desert heat grabbed her before she had taken five steps and she berated herself for not bringing a hat of her own. Grissom was standing outside the tent when she returned. A frown played about his lips as he glanced around the desert.
"Hold this." Sara put the shirt in his hands and flipped the top off the sunscreen. Without hesitating, she lathered the lotion along his chest and arms before moving to his back.
Grissom pulled the long sleeve shirt on and held out his hand for the sunscreen. "Your turn." He lathered the lotion along her arms and the exposed areas around her chest and neck. "You should wear sleeves."
"I tan, Gris."
"It's over 107 degrees out here, Sara. Tanning isn't an option."
Sara wanted to reassure him, but a beep resounded from her pocket. Quickly she turned it off and they listened for the echo of another alarm.
"There it is." Grissom began to walk rapidly towards the sound, followed by Sara.
They paused several times, changing directions and moving further away from the tent. Sra was on the verge of going back to retrieve water when Grissom froze. They stared at the sand until the watch ceased beeping.
Crouching down, Grissom began digging in the sand, at first slowly, and then with more vigor. Sara joined him, knowing he would not stop until they found the watch. It took only seconds for Sara to gasp and reach for Grissom's hand to stop his movement. He followed her eyes to where she stopped digging. Fingers reached up from the sand. Grissom bent forward and began pushing the sand away from the fingers until the hand, wrist, and watch were uncovered. When he looked back over his shoulder at Sara, she shuddered at the wild expression in his normally calm eyes.
"Grissom." Sara touched the wet cloth that clung to Grissom's back. "We need to leave the scene as untouched as possible. We need photographs."
Grissom knew she was right even as he cleared more sand away from a spot that was to the right of the watch. Blond hair blended with the sand.
"Kyle." Grissom sat back and took another deep breath. He looked around them and then back at Sara. "How did the FBI miss finding him? He can't be 100 feet from the campsite."
"Maybe he wasn't out here, then." Sara touched his arm. "The body could have been brought here after they stopped the search."
Sara was feeling parched and knew that they should re-hydrate as soon as possible. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she weaved a little and caught herself from falling backwards. Grissom's eyes narrowed as he took in her expression.
"You need water."
Grissom grasped her hands and they stood on unsteady feet. Taking her hand they moved slowly back to the tent.
---------------------------------------- -----------
Sara was not sure that sitting in a sweltering tent was any easier than being exposed to the blistering heat of the desert. Pulling off her jeans, she then gripped the water bottle tightly in both hands.
Grissom appeared lost in thought, his own water forgotten as it sat beside him on the tent floor. Sara nudged him lightly with her toes.
"Gris? You need to drink your water."
Grissom made no move to retrieve his water. He looked drained, and Sara could sense the emotional conflict that was raging through his mind.
"Gris?" Sara touched his cheek until his eyes focused in on her own face. "I'm sorry about Kyle. This afternoon I'll get my kit and we'll do a proper investigation." She kept her hand on his cheek. "You need water, now."
Grissom licked his bottom lip and processed what she was saying to him.
"What am I supposed to feel, Sara?" His voice cracked and his eyes held such bewilderment that it made her heart ache. Grissom continued speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know him. A week ago, I didn't even know that I had half brothers and never considered the possibility. Now I don't feel anything."
He squeezed his eyes tight and leaned forward until his forehead was touching hers. "I feel like a robot sometimes, Sara."
"You are most defiantly not a robot, Grissom." Sara rubbed his left arm with her fingers but she did not pull away from his own touch. They stayed frozen for several minutes before Sara finally pulled back and lifted the water bottle.
"We need to consume so many gallons of water per hour. Drink."
Grissom took the water and obliged. Satisfied, Sara took another long sip of her own water before lying down on top of the sleeping bags. She knew that it was best to not talk much in this sweltering condition, but she was compelled to offer him comfort.
"Gris, I wish that I had the right words but I don't know what to say except that I'm here for you."
TBC
Side note: Thanks again to everyone that is reading this story. And, again, thank you Alison.
An alarm sounded and Sara woke to find the tent flooded with early morning light.
She stared at the man entangled in her arms for a long breathless minute, before slowly extracting herself to search for the source of the annoying sound.
Moving a shirt aside, and then Grissom's blue jeans, she found her own jeans. The sound appeared to emanate from there. She pulled the watch that Mattie had given her out of the pocket and stared at it for a second before pressing the off button. She looked back at Grissom; to her surprise, he still slept. Not wanting to waste time, Sara stretched out beside him again, only to hear another beep sounding throughout the tent.
Sitting up quickly, Sara did not realize she had startled Grissom awake as she scooted towards the tent flap and groped for the zipper.
"Sara? What is it?" Grissom sat up with a puzzled expression and watched her movements. "Is someone here? Another bi-plane?"
"No. Listen, Grissom." Sara held the tent flap open, but the sound had faded.
Grissom began to wonder if his hearing was failing him again. "I don't hear anything."
"The watch. Mattie's watch is synchronized with his dad and brothers." Sara gave him a stunned look. "Grissom."
Sara moved back into the tent and picked up the watch. She held it up for Grissom to see and a light bulb clicked on behind his eyes.
"You heard it outside of the tent?"
Sara nodded. She looked back at the watch. "Mattie told me that their watches are synchronized to go off three times a day-breakfast, lunch and dinner. They could all eat meals the same time, every day." She glanced back towards the tent opening.
"One or both of them could be out there." Grissom stated.
"Maybe it's simply the watch, Gris. It may have fallen off one of them and mixed into the sand. Metal detectors are fallible." The words lifted her own mood and she grabbed her t-shirt and slipped it over her head.
Grissom debated grabbing his own metal detector to conduct his own investigation of the desert. Common sense urged him to wait. The heat in the Mojave during the day hours was horrendous and it would not bode well for him or Sara if either of them developed heat exhaustion. He decided it would be best to wait until the timer on the watch went off in five hours. Pushing away thoughts of Kyle or Andrew, he decided to lighten the mood that had settled over the tent.
"Are you going to fix breakfast for me, Sara?"
"Pancakes, eggs?" Sara was relieved that they could push reality aside for a little while longer.
"I'll take the pancakes." Grissom watched Sara pick up a brown bag and toss it over to him. He caught it and waited for her to join him with a bottle of water before he opened the bag.
"I'm not sure that I like the way you cook, Ms. Sidle."
"You cook next time." Sara joked back.
Grissom raised his eyebrow, but said nothing as he pulled out the powdered doughnuts, a bag of peanut M & M's, and more potato chips.
The water was tepid as Sara took a long swallow. "There will be a next time, right?"
Grissom glanced up from staring in disbelief at the junk food. "You mean before or after we get home?"
"When we get home." She did not feel like playing with semantics.
"I'll show you what a true breakfast is when we get home, Sara." Grissom reached for the water and relaxed when he saw her smile.
"I'm going to hold you to that."
They spent the next fifteen minutes eating junk food and swapping the bottle of water back and forth.
"You know that it's going to be the hottest part of the day when that watch goes off again." Sara picked up a green M & M and handed it to Grissom. "We need to keep drinking a lot of water to stay hydrated."
Grissom took the M & M and popped it into his mouth. "We also need to conserve our energy." He added as his eyes swept over her body.
"Then I'd better put my jeans on." Sara teased. She allowed her gaze to soak in his bare chest. "You better put some clothes on yourself, Gris."
"It's too hot for clothes."
"It's too hot without clothes."
Grissom met her eyes with a soft smile, before moving slowly towards her lips.
------------------------------- ---------------
Several hours later, Sara was pulling her shirt back on and searching for her blue jeans. Grissom reached for her waist and she avoided his fingers by inches.
"It's reality time, Gris." Sara zipped her jeans, shooting him a sympathetic look. "The alarm should be going off any minute."
Sara tossed him his boxers and then his blue jeans. She then picked up Mattie's watch and turned to search for her shoes.
"You need to put on a hat, Sara." Grissom zipped his jeans and reached for his ball cap. "Wear this." She felt his baseball cap land on her head and his fingers began to tuck her long strands of hair inside it.
"I don't want to take your cap." Sara protested as she started to lift the cap off her head and give it back to him.
Grissom's hands stilled her movement. "If you don't wear it, neither will I." Grissom held up his shirt. "Besides, I have this."
With that, Grissom tied the shirt around his forehead and smirked.
"You need sleeves." Sara ran a hand over his pale skin. "I have sunscreen in the car. I should have time to get it and another shirt." She stepped out of the tent and hurried towards the Tahoe. The desert heat grabbed her before she had taken five steps and she berated herself for not bringing a hat of her own. Grissom was standing outside the tent when she returned. A frown played about his lips as he glanced around the desert.
"Hold this." Sara put the shirt in his hands and flipped the top off the sunscreen. Without hesitating, she lathered the lotion along his chest and arms before moving to his back.
Grissom pulled the long sleeve shirt on and held out his hand for the sunscreen. "Your turn." He lathered the lotion along her arms and the exposed areas around her chest and neck. "You should wear sleeves."
"I tan, Gris."
"It's over 107 degrees out here, Sara. Tanning isn't an option."
Sara wanted to reassure him, but a beep resounded from her pocket. Quickly she turned it off and they listened for the echo of another alarm.
"There it is." Grissom began to walk rapidly towards the sound, followed by Sara.
They paused several times, changing directions and moving further away from the tent. Sra was on the verge of going back to retrieve water when Grissom froze. They stared at the sand until the watch ceased beeping.
Crouching down, Grissom began digging in the sand, at first slowly, and then with more vigor. Sara joined him, knowing he would not stop until they found the watch. It took only seconds for Sara to gasp and reach for Grissom's hand to stop his movement. He followed her eyes to where she stopped digging. Fingers reached up from the sand. Grissom bent forward and began pushing the sand away from the fingers until the hand, wrist, and watch were uncovered. When he looked back over his shoulder at Sara, she shuddered at the wild expression in his normally calm eyes.
"Grissom." Sara touched the wet cloth that clung to Grissom's back. "We need to leave the scene as untouched as possible. We need photographs."
Grissom knew she was right even as he cleared more sand away from a spot that was to the right of the watch. Blond hair blended with the sand.
"Kyle." Grissom sat back and took another deep breath. He looked around them and then back at Sara. "How did the FBI miss finding him? He can't be 100 feet from the campsite."
"Maybe he wasn't out here, then." Sara touched his arm. "The body could have been brought here after they stopped the search."
Sara was feeling parched and knew that they should re-hydrate as soon as possible. Wiping the sweat from her eyes, she weaved a little and caught herself from falling backwards. Grissom's eyes narrowed as he took in her expression.
"You need water."
Grissom grasped her hands and they stood on unsteady feet. Taking her hand they moved slowly back to the tent.
---------------------------------------- -----------
Sara was not sure that sitting in a sweltering tent was any easier than being exposed to the blistering heat of the desert. Pulling off her jeans, she then gripped the water bottle tightly in both hands.
Grissom appeared lost in thought, his own water forgotten as it sat beside him on the tent floor. Sara nudged him lightly with her toes.
"Gris? You need to drink your water."
Grissom made no move to retrieve his water. He looked drained, and Sara could sense the emotional conflict that was raging through his mind.
"Gris?" Sara touched his cheek until his eyes focused in on her own face. "I'm sorry about Kyle. This afternoon I'll get my kit and we'll do a proper investigation." She kept her hand on his cheek. "You need water, now."
Grissom licked his bottom lip and processed what she was saying to him.
"What am I supposed to feel, Sara?" His voice cracked and his eyes held such bewilderment that it made her heart ache. Grissom continued speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know him. A week ago, I didn't even know that I had half brothers and never considered the possibility. Now I don't feel anything."
He squeezed his eyes tight and leaned forward until his forehead was touching hers. "I feel like a robot sometimes, Sara."
"You are most defiantly not a robot, Grissom." Sara rubbed his left arm with her fingers but she did not pull away from his own touch. They stayed frozen for several minutes before Sara finally pulled back and lifted the water bottle.
"We need to consume so many gallons of water per hour. Drink."
Grissom took the water and obliged. Satisfied, Sara took another long sip of her own water before lying down on top of the sleeping bags. She knew that it was best to not talk much in this sweltering condition, but she was compelled to offer him comfort.
"Gris, I wish that I had the right words but I don't know what to say except that I'm here for you."
TBC