See part 1 for disclaimer and other important information.
A.N.: I apologize for the long hiatus. Sadly, being a double major does not go hand in hand with writing fanfiction.
"Sara?" Catherine stands stiffly in the doorway.
"What?" She looks up from her desk.
"My progress report for the massive homicide case from last night." She places the folder firmly in Sara's hand before turning on her heals to leave.
"Catherine wait." Sara stands up, intending to follow if she has to.
Catherine turns around and her voice indicates anything but respect. "Did you need something else?"
"I've been waiting for you to explode—yell—something—so that we can move past this hostility, but that hasn't happened."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You can either have your peace now or I can have you reprimanded for disrespect to a supervisor."
Catherine relents because a complaint against her isn't going to make here case. "I don't like playing other people's games."
"This isn't a game."
"Then I don't know what it is because I seriously doubt that Cavilero would just name you acting supervisor."
"You can believe whatever you want, but that's what happened."
"I'm going to check that out for myself."
"Good and then this ends."
Sara unlocks her apartment door and is only mildly surprised to find Grissom sitting at her counter. The man seems to think that her apartment is the appropriate place for soul searching.
"Hey Honey, I'm home!" she jokes.
"Hey," he responds absently.
"You would not believe what happened to Greg today." Sara works at taking off her coat and shoes as they continue to talk.
"Catherine glued his CD player shut again?"
"No! She did that? Why doesn't that surprise me?"
"It was awhile ago. Different time." Grissom shrugs.
"Sure." Sara decides to get back to her original point. "A nine-year old witness gave him a makeover."
"You got pictures, right?"
"Yeah, Warrick's getting them developed." Sara is pleased to see that Grissom is genuinely amused by the situation. She takes a seat on the stool next to his.
"Why was Greg talking to a witness?"
Sara sighs. "I let him out in the field."
"Really? That's a lot to take on especially with it being Greg."
"He's not that bad when he isn't nervous."
"He needs to get over that."
"It's not his fault you're an intimidating teacher."
For a moment, they both think back to pre-Vegas when Sara was the student and smile at the memories that time produced until Sara looks down at her counter top.
"What are you doing?"
"Fixing your toaster."
"I was going to buy a new one next week."
"Why? What's wrong with this one?"
"It's in a million pieces all over my counter."
"I'll make breakfast when I'm done."
"Whatever. I'm going to take a shower."
"Yes, dear."
"That smells so much better than take out," Sara states as she exits the bathroom still towel drying her hair.
"I'm surprised you can't cook."
"I don't have the patience." She drapes the towel over the back of the chair and sits down.
"Burnt Grill Cheese Syndrome."
"What?"
"That's what my mother called it. Try to cook a grill cheese sandwich with the burner on high and it burns every time."
"So she made you learn how to cook?"
"Yeah, it really isn't any different than a chemistry lab." He shrugs as he places a plate in front of her.
"That's why I'm a physicist."
"But you don't have any problems with crime labs?"
"That's different."
Grissom raises an eyebrow.
Sara decides to change the subject before Grissom decides she needs to learn how to cook. "What did you do today besides fix my toaster?"
"Did you know there's a library down the street?"
"Yeah, I don't really have time to visit it though."
"They have a full section of the classics."
Sara smiles as she listens to Grissom talk about something excitedly besides a crime scene.
"You look tired," Sara states as she enters the DNA lab.
"Never try to out drink Archie."
"I'll keep that in mind. What do you have for me?"
"Oh, the case." Greg feigns being confused. "They're in the system--Robert Windic and William Acman otherwise known as the Pacman. You'd think they'd know better than to spit on one of their victims."
"Good this means that Annie probably doesn't have to testify," Sara states with relief, but a smile can't help but creep up on her face.
""You guys took pictures didn't you?"
"Of course," Sara responds--her smile becoming more mischievous.
"My reputation is ruined," Greg whines.
"Don't worry we'll only show them to a few people." Sara cell phone rings, saving Greg from further teasing.
"Sidle."
An unhappy sounding Brass is on the other end of the line. "Acman and Windic are getting antsy down here. Are you joining the interrogation?"
"I'm on my way."
She snaps the phone shut and gives Greg an expectant look.
"Oh and Brass stopped by an hour ago."
"You could have told me that."
"Sorry."
Sara sighs and exits the DNA lab.
"Sara?" She turns to see Catherine hurrying towards her.
"What can I do for you? I'm on my way to interrogation."
"I just wanted to apologize. I've been a bitch and none of this situation has been your fault."
"Apology accepted." She awkwardly shakes Catherine's hand, wondering exactly what Cavilero told her. "Please don't be too hard on Grissom. He really could use all his friends right now."
"Things with Grissom always work themselves out in the end," Catherine states tiredly, having been in this situation one too many times with Grissom.
"Sara!" She snaps her head around to see Warrick jogging towards her. Catherine makes a hasty exit.
"Warrick?" Sara inquires with a certain amount of exasperation.
"I need you to sign these. The DA has been riding my ass about the Archer paper work."
"Are you really this far behind on paperwork?" Sara asks—concerned about the date of the case. She motions for them to go into the break room so she can have a hard surface to write on.
"Just this case. The Pendan Case got pushed up and I had to prep my testimony and then you know how it goes." He shrugs since this happens all the time.
"In the future, I'd like these soon enough to actually read them." She hands the folder back to him.
"No problem," he responds neutrally, acknowledging the change in the system. He, then, dashes back out the door.
Sara takes a moment to collect her thoughts before leaving the break room herself.
"Sara!"
"What?" She's a more than a little annoyed now.
"Sorry. I just wondered if you wanted any coffee."
"No thanks." She's glad she didn't take a look at the coffee pot in the break room since Nick is going out for some. "I'm trying to go meet Brass."
"No problem. Catch ya later."
"Yeah." Sara wonders if she's going to ever have time for that again.
"Grissom, what the hell are you doing?"
It's the fifth day in a row now that Sara has come home to Grissom fixing or cleaning something in her apartment. If someone had asked her two weeks ago, she probably would have given anything to have Grissom tinkering around in her apartment, but now all she wants is the contents of her freezer not to be melting on her floor and perhaps a long bubble bath.
"Defrosting your freezer."
"Well, you picked a really bad day to do it."
"Sorry, I thought I'd have it done by the time you got home, but I tripped a breaker with the hair dryer." He holds up the industrial looking hairdryer for Sara to see. "Your landlord wasn't too keen about telling me where the breaker box is."
"You talked to my landlord?"
"I had to get the power turned back on." He, then, notices the very exasperated look on Sara's face. "What happened today?"
"The Klingen case went south, Cavilero called me every fifteen minutes about it, and Hodges had the nerve to hit on me."
Grissom sets the hairdryer down in the freezer and walks over to where she's still standing by the door. "There are going to be days like this." He pulls her into a slightly awkward hug. "You can't let Cavilero, the DA, or even Hodges let you forget why do this job."
"It takes me half an hour to get anywhere in the lab," she mumbles into his shoulder.
"Why do you think I spent so much time in my office? Scientists don't make good administrators."
"Or at least very frustrated ones."
They're swaying together now—dancing to music no one else can hear.
"What are we dong?" Sara asks quietly.
"Trying to get a forty-nine year old anti-social entomologist to build a meaningful relationship."
Sara smiles up at him. "You're not doing so bad at it, but if you sleep on the couch again, I'm kicking you out."
TBC
I hope to have more posted soon—or at least in less than a year. Clicking the button on the bottom of the screen helps me write better—please contribute to the cause. Thank you!