Disclaimer: They're not mine
Rating: T or PG-13 for language and violence
Summary: It's 2am. The doorbell rings. A baby is crying. What are you going to do? W/S with GCR moments and a major case
Alrighty then – I'm updating. Thanks reviewers for all your ever-brilliant reviews, topsy, JennCorinthos, Aleja21 (must be those spidey senses...), Kelly, icklebitodd (definitely, I love writing anger, too.), CatStokes (hehe – is this better?), charmed1818 (Ditto – I'm not a peanut butter fan either...), Review1234 (very slick – 852 words. Of course, it's not quite 16 pages...), Megara1, Lizzy Sidle and MissyJane.
I'll try and make my next update faster because this is more of a bridge between two chapters. Visit write underscore impulsive, the Live Journal creative writing community, if you have time. But read (and review) this first! Enjoy! Love LJ xXx
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Wake The Hope. Chapter Eighteen. When You Call
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"Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen."
ANON
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Shutting the office door behind him, Warrick stands awkwardly by the exit. Grissom gestures to the chair in front of his desk as he takes a seat behind it.
"Sit down, Warrick." Grissom instructs him. Warrick hovers by the chair but doesn't sit.
"Griss – if this is about me talking about Sara or whatever with Nick and Greg, I'm sorry. I'll keep my mouth shut next time," he begins to defend himself. "I'm not having such a great day but I know I shouldn't be letting that get to me..."
"Did I say anything yet?" Grissom cuts him off. "Just sit down, Warrick."
Warrick opens his mouth, about to continue his objection, but thinks better of it, closes his mouth and sits. Grissom is infuriatingly slow in making a response. He leans his elbows on the desk, removes his glasses with deliberation and looks directly at him.
"You were right to think that this is about Sara." Grissom says calmly. "But it's none of my business who you want to talk about with Nick and Greg, as long as it doesn't break down the team."
"No, no – it won't. I just needed to voice it," Warrick assures him hurriedly. He offers a weak smile. "Perhaps next time I'll just call my grandmother or something, huh?"
Grissom shrugs. "That might be an idea."
Warrick nods, wondering what's coming next. Grissom is still watching him intently and pauses before speaking again.
"Admittedly, I don't know the full story – only what I gathered from the end part of the conversation I overheard," Grissom starts, speaking carefully. "So I don't know what's happened between you two but I wanted to say that, after what's happened and what's been going on with the case and Sara, I think you've been very good with pulling your weight and helping her out. It never occurred to me that there might be something more than that until she took off."
Grissom thinks back to Warrick bursting in on him and Catherine, remembering the way the man's voice shook – the frustration, the confusion and the very raw fear. Warrick says nothing and Grissom goes on.
"I know it's not my place but, for what it's worth, you both seemed happy last week after you found her," Grissom tells him. "From what I've heard, the thing that broke this up was something seemingly very trivial. All I'm asking is that you cut her a little slack on this one, Warrick. If there are things she's not accounting for, it's for good reason. Give her some time."
"I know, I know." Warrick exasperates.
"Warrick – it's understandable how it's in your nature to want to know the facts about everything straight off," Grissom continues gently. "That's what makes you so good at your job – hell, that's what makes us all so good at this job. But I learnt a while ago that you can't apply rules from work to life. Especially not to people. I know Sara, you understand. We all do; but there are some things for which she has her own reasons, reasons that she might not be so ready to volunteer. Give her a break, Warrick. Things haven't always been so easy on her."
"Yes, yes – I know." Warrick nods impatiently, not really taking in what Grissom is telling him. What is he doing telling him all this? And wasn't he the one to turn Sara away in the first place? Grissom was probably the worst person to take relationship advice from, especially when it came to Sara.
"No," Grissom says firmly. "No, you don't." He pauses again and looks at Warrick, smiling as he realises what's going through Warrick's head.
"You think I'm crazy for turning her down, don't you?" Grissom asks genially.
Warrick laughs awkwardly before answering honestly, "With all due respect, Griss – I always thought you were kind of weird; letting Sara go just clinched it."
Grissom nods and grins, somehow pleased with the response. "Good," he says. "Then you won't lose her over something like this, will you?"
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Hours later, as his shift is ending, Grissom catches up with him in the locker room. Their talk had ended on that line, leaving a silence hanging in the air until Warrick was dismissed to get back to work. It had worked; the supervisor's words had been revolving in his mind all day.
So when he sits beside him on the bench and says, "I hope you thought about what I said."
Warrick truthfully replies, "Yeah – yeah I did." Warrick smiles grimly. "I've been a real jerk."
"No, I wouldn't say that." Grissom assures him. "But I was hoping that perhaps you'd thought about it enough to agree to go over there and keep an eye on her tonight."
"You can't get a uniform out there?" Warrick asks.
"I can but I'd rather it was someone she knew," Grissom furthers. "We got a match from the DNA of the hair on CODIS. A Tom Redley. There's going to be a raid at the last known address and I don't want Sara finding out about any of this until it's all wrapped up. I need someone to go over there – someone who will keep her from calling up the lab or listening to the police scanner or coming down herself. She's not on the case anymore but, if she finds out that we might be bringing in the guy tonight, she'll want to be."
Warrick nods – that did sound like Sara. "She might not let me in," he warns Grissom.
"Doesn't mean you can't still take that chance," Grissom answers, leaving Warrick alone in the locker room.
As he grabs his jacket and backpack from his locker, his cell phone begins to ring. His heart leaps up into his mouth when he sees Sara's name flash up on caller ID and flips open the phone to press it to his ear.
"Warrick," he greets, trying to steady his nerves. He rolls his eyes at himself; since when has he been nervous to have Sara phoning him?
He hears her sigh before he hears her speak.
"Warrick, it's me," she says, not even needing to elaborate on who 'me' is. "I just wanted to check that I hadn't completely freaked you out when I flipped out this morning." She speaks with forced light-heartedness, her lips still grudgingly holding back an apology she won't mean if she says.
"No," Warrick laughs uneasily. "No, I recovered."
"Good." she replies shortly. There's a long pause in which both of them wonder whether they should say goodbye. When Warrick doesn't say anything, however, Sara caves and adds in a small voice, "Are you finishing soon? Would you like to come over? I'll make you that dinner I promised..."
She trails off and he winces, both of them remembering where that promised meal had landed them, though it was difficult to say who, on either end of the line, found it a more painful memory to confront.
"I want to talk to you about something," she says quietly, breaking the sensitive silence.
"I'm off now," he tells her. "I'll be over in ten."
Sara waits until she hears the line go dead before she pulls the phone away from her ear and sets it back in the holder. Then she turns to Nate who's waiting to be put to bed and smiles.
"We'll try to keep our voices down this time, baby Nate." she whispers softly as she carries him off into his nursery.
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