Grissom - Half of My Heart Takes Time
He wasn't sure what his foolish heart had been expecting when he had gone to her door. He shouldn't really have been surprised to see Robert there in a state of undress; he shouldn't have felt his body reacting to her choice of sleepwear. Alcohol had a lot to answer for. It had convinced him that it was a good idea, it had fooled him into picturing a beautiful union of two soul mates, it had told him that everything that could go wrong with their relationship had already gone wrong.
It was wrong.
Now all he was left with a niggling headache irritating behind his eyes and the inability to look her in the eye. He hadn't slept since he left her, his brain wouldn't switch off. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was her, every time he blinked she would flash before his mind's eye forcing him to snap his eyes open in an effort to control himself.
So he had gone to the police station, wandered the dark empty streets at 5am hoping to gain some clarity or at least some closure on the way. He wasn't gifted with either, it seemed the more he concentrated on not thinking about it the more he thought about it. The more he tried to scrub the image of her standing there in front of him in her underwear with those soft dewy sleep soaked eyes and the mess of curls the more it became implanted in his brain.
He shook his head as he stepped through the doors to a frown from the duty police officer snoozing at the front desk. He didn't even pretend to glance at Grissom's badge as he was buzzed through into the offices. There were some serious gaps in protocol in this station; he really could have been anyone sauntering in off the street in search of a distraction from his empty insomnia soaked life.
He poured over the photographs for the rest of the morning, ignoring the staff arriving and chattering outside. They had established the fact that he wasn't to be disturbed early on in this investigation, so while the chatter and laughter escalated outside he was left alone in his cocoon. Exactly the way he liked it.
Nick arrived promptly at 7am with a hot coffee in each hand and a friendly smile. He didn't say a thing, simply handed over the beverage and set to work. That's what he liked about Nick, his dedication and his loyalty. It didn't stop him gazing out into the office in search of Sara.
"I guess Sara's still sleeping it off?" Nick mused "I should have dropped by to wake her up"
"It's her responsibility to get here in time Nick, I'm sure she won't be far behind you"
Nick stared at him over the rim of his coffee mug with some level of amusement in his eyes as he turned his attention back to the case file he had dug out. Every few seconds his eyes were torn to the doorway, hoping or dreading that she would be the next one to walk through the door.
"What do you think about this whole 'Rob' thing? It's good to see her getting out there for a change, don't you think?"
Grissom tore his eyes from the doorway to look at Nick. He tried to gauge whether the man had ulterior motives for asking. Was he genuinely just making conversation or was he fishing for information. He liked to think his feelings for Sara were well hidden, he had certainly been better at keeping it secret than she had but Catherine had already called him out on it countless times.
"It's none of our business Nick"
Vague was his best defense. He could pretend to take the moral high ground and remain detached and professional. At least on the outside.
When she finally did come strolling through the doors she looked more beautiful than he could have imagined. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, reminding him of that first time he had met her. It felt like a million years ago, that fateful day when he had been lost to her. A few stray strands of hair escaped as she smiled at Officer Haslow. The tubby officer leered at her from his chair and he could tell she was uncomfortable with his attentions. There was no trace of the previous night's dramatics on her. She looked as fresh as the morning dew.
He quickly diverted his eyes as she stepped into the room, if he looked at her he might betray himself. His humiliation was enough to convince him that avoidance was his best tool for the moment. He would, of course, have to speak to her eventually. For now he intended to send them both away from the building and away from him for the rest of the day. He needed space to get her out of his head.
When they returned from the house with nothing he had managed to compose his thoughts enough to appear in control. His relentless scouring of the crime scene photographs and the case file had been fruitless from an investigators point of view but it had been therapeutic and had helped suppress the almost pornographic images of Sara running through his mind.
At least until she arrived back in the office. The second he saw her, the second her scent invaded his senses he was back to the beginning again. His cell rang and he took a mental note to thank Greg for the distraction when he got back to Vegas. Her eyes burned into him, she was watching him. Not with a dismissive eye either, she was watching him with passion, with purpose and it took all his self-control not to lock eyes with her and match her expression with passion of his own.
"The DNA and prints got a hit on the employee databases Grissom. It's a police officer. A… Robert Miller" Greg had no idea how significant this discovery was and on so many levels.
Grissom himself wasn't sure how he felt about it. He locked eyes with her across the room; he didn't send passion and lust her way it had been traded for concern and worry. When all was said and done he did genuinely want her to be happy, he wanted her to find happiness and lead a full and beautiful life. If she couldn't find that with him then he would have to accept she would find it with someone else but he didn't want to be the one to break her again. He had already done that too many times on his own behalf.
Robert grinning at her from the doorway and nodding in his direction flared up that now familiar jealousy in him. Now it was tinged with his urge to protect her. The guy she was currently heading after was a suspect in the largest, most horrific crime this town had ever seen and he was well aware that whatever he said could be misunderstood for jealousy.
For this one, he had to tread carefully.