I had to clean this up a bit, the chapters were a little off. Sorry for the re-posting, I removed the original and have made minor changes to this version. Hope you like…
Grissom had a job to do…he had been momentarily flustered by a beautiful brunette who
had a tendency to create a disturbance in his otherwise flawlessly work driven exterior.
Sara had cornered him just a few moments ago,
" Griss, we're not having any luck identifying the three teenagers from CC drive, it's
been two days, no-ones come forward, without an I.D. it's like they never even existed."
She had approached out of nowhere, and he hadn't been aware that she was so close.
There had been a time when he would have sensed her before seeing her. Sara had a
penchant for inadvertently sending a non-verbal signal alerting him of her presence, but
lately she was off the radar. Grissom couldn't identify the exact moment she had fallen
from his map, all that he knew was that he missed her. Instantaneously breaking down
this new information he discovered a unique swagger and revitalized energy. He needed
to re-kindle the old emotions regardless of the consequences. He had spent countless time
in San Francisco and Vegas analyzing her smile…the one that he was aware Sara had not
worn in quite some time, and although he knew he was a partial cause for this he could
not quite admit it to himself.
"We need to get their faces out into the public, newspapers, billboards…" he stated in a
matter of fact and was gently cut off by her lack luster reply,
"Well maybe you could breathe a little bit more life into them." She just didn't have the
fight left in her to take another criticism from Grissom.
His reply had slipped from his lips before he had any time to censor himself, pulling out
his most playful tone he added,
"Yeah, I'm pretty good at mouth to mouth." He had wanted to turn and gauge her
emotions based on the last statement, but his grin was unable to be suppressed. He
internally patted himself on the back for his clever wit and outlandish flirtation. It felt
good to know that he was finally trying once again to make amends.
If he would have turned back he may have seen her puzzled expression. Almost angry,
Sara wondered why he kept on sending these hidden messages. It was heartbreakingly
clear that he could not afford the risk of pursuing a relationship with her, and yet he kept
on delivering these mixed signals. Sara's mouth was agape, like the billy bass above
Grissom's door, but for once not having a word to say. Her ability to speak to him had
intentionally been shut off since she had realized that she over talked around him. She
would not make that mistake again. She had decided to remain utterly professional in his
presence, no matter how much it pained her to do so.
As Grissom conducted the facial analysis he could not help thinking that the reason he
had mastered this specific technique was because of the copious amount of time he had
spent reverently seeking out each line of Sara's face as she smiled. It broke his heart that
he hadn't witnessed that beautiful gap toothed smile in far too long. This was something
that he wanted desperately to fix. He would seek her out after shift and attempt to repair
the damage. He was not certain just how he was going to go about it, but he knew that it
may call for drastic measures.
Sara had a job to do, and yet her mind wandered off track…that last comment from
Grissom, although puzzling and unnerving, was one of those uncharacteristic statements
that seemed flirtatious in nature…STOP! Sara mentally chastised herself, once again she
had to take her mind off of Grissom and focus on the task at hand.
Sara had a job to do, she had to meet with Sophie to continue her investigation. Normally
this would shake her, having the knowledge of Grissom's undisputed desire for blondes,
but today and admittedly most days as of late she just did not care anymore. She didn't
have the energy to care. Sara was tired and found herself getting more emotional and
personally involved. Call it a lack of concern for herself, a gentle reminder of the horrific
things that people do to one another (something she knew all too well), or a giving up of
sorts. She needed to solve these cases now. She had to have that resolve in order to justify
self worth. Nobody else was going to give her a reason to keep on going. This was
it…this was what her life had been reduced to. No more quiet nights pining over
Grissom, no more drinking binges that only led to more self loathing. Personally invested
in her work, it was all she had left. Although something in the back of her mind kept her
hanging on to the hope that if she just solved this case, the next case, the case after that,
Grissom would be forced to notice and at least appreciate the effort she put forth. Sara
couldn't help stumbling onto why Griss had sent up that flirtatious flare
"Yeah, I'm pretty good at mouth to mouth." What the hell was that supposed to mean?
She was definitely over thinking this. She had a case to solve.