Chapter Seventeen

Grissom awoke to warm, comforting colors. They were very different from his grey, bleak and boring townhouse. These colors were a much better way to wake up from a terrible migraine. He sat up to take a sip of the water that Sara had left him, and saw the note lying on the table. He slowly dragged himself off the couch, wrapping her blanket tightly around him. It smelled just like her, as if her scent had somehow woven its way into the fabric.

He read her note, and took out the pot pie. After staring at it for awhile, he decided he couldn't stomach a vegetarian pot pie. He decided to call her, wondering if it was okay if he went through the pantry.

"Sidle," she answered, sounding distracted.

"Hey, honey. Are you in the middle of something? Should I call you back?" Grissom asked.

"Grissom?" She snapped back to attention. "Griss? Are you okay? Do you need help? What's wrong?"

Grissom was surprised by the edge in her voice. He was only calling to ask if he could go through her pantry. "No, honey. I'm fine. I just got up, and saw your note. But I decided I couldn't take a vegetarian pot pie right now. So I was wondering… can I go through your pantry?"

Sara laughed. "Sure, Griss. You can go through the pantry." She heard him rummaging around in her pantry, and smiled. Hearing him let out a huff of annoyance, she asked, "Problems?"

"You have no feel-better food. None whatsoever. What do you do when you're sick?"

Sara could picture him pouting in front of her pantry. "Lately? I go to you. Because you have feel-better food. And you can always make me feel better now. Before we were together, I just didn't get sick, I suppose."

Grissom sighed good-naturedly. "Do you have any chicken noodle soup? I think you might have been right about the flu. Now that I think about it… I am not feeling that well."

"What about the migraine?" Sara asked.

"Gone, for now. But the soup. Do you have any?"

She laughed out loud. "Griss? You're asking me, the residential lab vegetarian, if I have any chicken noodle soup."

"Sorry, Sara. But do you?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope. No such thing as vegetarian chicken noodle soup. But I'll pick some up after my shift for you, alright? Real chicken noodle soup, just for you. All because I -" she stopped mid-sentence.

"Sara?" Grissom asked, concerned when she abruptly stopped speaking. "Honey are you alright?"

"What? Oh, yeah, yeah... I'll bring it over. Nick, Nick just arrived, and he's got trace results. I've got to go. See you later."

Grissom was about to say goodbye and end their odd conversation when he remembered the case. "How are you guys doing? Do you need any help?"

Sara sounded jokingly exasperated. "We're doing fine. But I really do have to go. Nick is giving me evil stares to get off the phone. And rest! Work and I will be very unhappy with you," she added in a whisper, letting him know love wouldn't be happening that night if he went against her orders.

"Alright dear. No work, I promise," he said, smiling.

"Okay I've got to go. Really. See you later!" she said, and then hung up.

OoOoOoO

Nick was watching Sara as she put her phone back onto her hip. He have her an odd look. "Why would Grissom ask you if you had chicken noodle soup? I thought you took him home."

She looked up at him, a small smile playing on her lips. She stayed quiet though.

"So… you and Grissom?" he asked slowly. She ignored him, and looked down at the trace printout. "C'mon, Sara," he begged. "You can talk to me."

Her smile deepened. Walking around the table, she lightly punched him in the arm, and then slipped her hand into his momentarily. "I know I can talk to you Nick, and I'm grateful for that. But right now… I just don't have anything to say."

Greg walked in; unaware of what was going on in front of him. Looking up, he was instantly embarrassed. "Oh guys – am I… am I interrupting something?"

Sara pulled her hand from Nick's grip, knowing what must be going through Greg's head. "Uh… no, Greg. You're good. I was just about to page you, actually…" her voice trailed off.

Nick flexed the hand that Sara had been holding only moments before. "Yeah, Greggo… let's see what Trace gave us." He motioned to the printout in front of him.

"Right," Greg said, picking it up. "The blue fibre came back as… blue embroidery thread." He looked up, disappointment quickly shadowing his face. "That doesn't really narrow it down a whole bunch, does it?"

Sara looked up, an idea forming in her mind. "Wait… yes it does. The hotel staff… on all of their uniforms, the name of the hotel is embroidered in -"

"Blue embroidery thread!" Greg finished, looking excited. "Way to go Sara!"

She grinned. Greg was so excited at a break in a case. Even after being a CSI for a couple of years, he was still like a little kid, always making the adults smile with his enthusiasm.

Nick's words, however, brought her back out of her thoughts. "Hold on a minute. You were never at the crime scene. How could you know about their uniforms?" His suspicious looks directed at her were obvious.

"What? Oh, I've been to that hotel before, Nick. It's actually a really nice place," Sara told him, thinking quickly. She hadn't actually been to the hotel before her stay with Grissom the night before. "When I came to Vegas from San Francisco, Grissom set me up there, until I finally agreed to move here permanently."

The Texan looked surprised. "Oh. How come Griss never set me up in a hotel like that?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Because," Sara said, unable to hide her amusement. "Grissom called me in on personal request… after Holly was shot." She stopped, unsure of how to proceed. After the rookie CSI had been shot, and then later died during surgery, no one had spoken of it again. "Anyway, he owed me a favour. So I chose to stay in a nice hotel."

Greg laughed. "A favour from what?" he asked.

"Oh I don't know," was Sara's response. "I can't remember. Anyway, let's go back to the hotel; check for GSR on any of the employees. Greg, go find Sofia, and tell her to meet us at the hotel. Nick, let's go."

Nick and Greg did as they were instructed, and followed Sara out the door.