Days passed and then months, and Grissom longed for Sara. For the weight of her sleeping beside him, for her sent to fill his senses, for her touch below the pads of his fingers. Soon the semester would come to a close, Sara had only been back to paris twice since they'd last been in Vegas together. And that last visit was months ago now, a distant but fragrant memory. Sara, her name danced off his tongue but the sound simply bounced back to his ears off the empty space of the room as he awoke.
He looked to his phone to see a missed call from her. It'd been happening a lot lately, he'd return a missed call to get a voicemail, she'd do the same in return. It wasn't terrible though, they typically went back and forth like that maybe three times before reaching each other finally. He scrowled to the texts of his phone to find one from Sara:
Sorry I missed you. I'm guessing your sleeping now. Call me when you wake. I love you. -SG
-SG, He smiled at the initials. While she'd legally kept the name Sidle, they often played with the idea of changing her surname to Grissom, even if it was just for the two of them. He knew when she signed a text like this, that meant she really missed him. His fingers quickly dialed her back.
"Sidle."
"You mean to answer, Grissom, no?" He spoke in loose french causing Sara to smile.
"Hello, Gilbert." Her playful voice rang through his ears, filing his core with warmth.
"Good morning, Dear." For while Grissom knew it was actually night by Sara, she was most likely getting up for work now around this time too. "You sound like you've been up for a while."
"Just coming off a double actually."
"I should have known." He jested. Then sat up a bit in bed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have something to talk with you about..."
"Okay." Sara said apprehensively, not sure what was to come next.
"The grant wasn't funded. I found out two days ago."
"Oh."
He could hear the disappointment in her voice, heavy and heart breaking. "We could reapply next year, or perhaps change the research project for another county, maybe we can reapply somewhere in the states."
"You want to come live across the pond again?" She teased easily, "That sounds like a good plan." She continued but the disappointment was still there. "I hate to start this process all over again. It could be another year now." She admitted.
"I know." He ran his hand through his soft curls now, then over his beard, scratching his jaw line. "My teaching position closes soon." He began but paused for a while. She thought of jumping in, asking him to come to Vegas but she stayed quiet, waiting for him to talk. "The government in Peru asked me to join a team of consultants there. An archeology team of sorts."
"Is that something you want?" Her voice was calm and reassuring, easing his discomfort.
"It sounds exciting. Would you have an interest in coming with me? They can use another scientist and it could fill our time while we reapply for grants."
"When do you start?"
"They'd like me to fly out in two months."
"I see." Sara paused briefly "I—" She was cut off by the sound of someone in the background. He could only make out bits and pieces of it, but it sounded like Ecklie's furry. "I'm sorry Gil, I've got to go. We'll discuss this more later?"
"Okay. Bye, dear."
"Goodbye, Gil."
The silence on the other end became deafening. Grissom closed his phone and replaced it on the nightstand before standing and stretching the day hello.
September 2010
"Headed out on time?" Nick called from his seated position behind his desk as he watched Sara walked past his office. She stopped in her tracks and peaked in, brows raised. "You've got the next two days off too." He noted nudgingly.
"What are you getting at Nicky?" She played along, leaning on the doorframe. This doorframe that used to be apart of her husband's office. She often felt nostalgic when in that room now, she couldn't never really shake it.
"You getting a visitor? Perhaps from Peru?"
She smiled widely, "I am." She readjusted her bag on her shoulder, "Goodnight, Nick."
As she turned to leave he called after her, "Happy birthday!"
She smiled and left.
Grissom had taken the consulting job in Peru a few months ago at this point. She had decided not to join him there. The grant will come through, and then they will be together, She had justified. They applied in both the states and in France again. Both currently pending review. Sara drove to the airport straight from the lab and waited for him to land. His flight had been delayed nearly half an hour, but she hadn't known that until she'd already arrived at the terminal.
She hadn't seen him since he'd left for Peru, having only seen him one month prior to that. She grew anxious with anticipation as she tried her best to wait patiently.
"Looking for someone?" A voice from behind came and she quickly spun around to see him there. His bearded face smiled widely at the sight of her, blue eyes dancing.
"Gil!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a long, deep kiss. "Gil." She spoke again once they broke the kiss, breathing his name.
"Hello, dear." He kissed her forehead and then her lips again gently. "Happy birthday." She glowed as she looked up at him.
"Let's go home."
They didn't waste much time once they loft door was opened. Clothes shed nearly immediately. Kisses broken only to get shirts over heads. His warm breath whispering terms of endearment in her ear. Kisses trailing down her neck, over her collar bone, down her chest. Legs intertwining, fingers dancing over soft skin. His kiss on her lips breathtaking. They held each other tightly in the throws of passion. feeling months of built up tension wash away in minutes.
They had grown good at living a world away from each other. In many ways, it allowed both to be the loners they truly were a part, while having the comfort of knowing the other was out there. Things weren't perfect, of course. But they were managing just fine—both agreed on this. That is, until they reunited in either Las Vegas, Paris or Peru, and were overwhelmed by the feeling of the others presence. Then it all reset.
He heard the shower water turned on as he opened his eyes. Had he fallen asleep? For how long? He lazily rubbed the sleep from his yes and sat up, finding Sara not in the bed beside him. He moved toward the bathroom, opening the door slowly to see her foggy figure behind the shower glass door, seam rising. Already disrobed, Grissom slipped in behind her.
She gasped in surprise, "Gil!" She finally laughed once her heart beat began to return to normal. He simply smiled in return pulling her to him, hugging her soapsud-soaked body to his. He cold feel her exhale contently against him. He rested his chin on top of her head and just stood there holding her. "Happy birthday" He finally spoke into the silence, "officially."
He knew birthdays weren't her favorite thing. She'd never really had proper one's growing up so the day never really felt like anything special to her. But she'd grown more accustomed to the idea since being with Grissom. They'd often share a simple day together, a nice dinner in the evening and often end the day with a small but thoughtful gift from Gil. But he knew better then to get her a cake or make any kind of real fuss over her.
He remembered the day that Sara opened up to him about the last birthday wish she'd ever made—At 13 years old. It was 2007, and their relationship had finally found a comfortable groove. He'd greeted her at home after work with a homemade meal finished with a small cake, a single candle perched atop. He sensed the shift in her mood at its sight.
"What's wrong?"
"No-nothing. This was very thoughtful. Thank you."
"Sara... You can tell me."
He remembered her smiling sadly as she told him why she never really celebrated her birthday. How just one month after making a birthday wish on candles for "the fighting to stop" that her mother stabbed her father. In a child's attempt to make sense of life events, she'd blamed herself for her father's death, attributing it to that birthday wish. She new as an adult, as a scientist, as an atheist, that this made no logical sense. But the memory still prickled the hairs on the back of her neck.
No, Grissom did not make that mistake twice.
They spent the day together taking long strolls, talking about recent adventures, catching up. At night, they'd gone out to dinner—Grissom having made a reservation at a nice restaurant. They shared a bottle of red wine as they spoke softly in French. She loved the way it sounded in his voice, and he knew this.
The three days together came and went and soon he was off again to Peru.
"I'll be back soon." He reminded her as they stood in the airport once more, a scene that was getting old to both fast. "The even at Gilbert College is in just two months. I'll stay the week if I can."
"Okay." She agreed, "I should probably brush up on my sign skills."
Grissom nodded, "It'd be a good idea. But you'll have me there to interpret." She kissed her lips gently and said goodbye. She stood and watched as he disappeared into the crowd.
November 2010
Sara arrived at the Gilbert Foundation for the Deaf's grant finalists event. Grissom was supposed to fly in the day before, but he'd been caught up on a project for the government in Peru. He'd promised her he'd be in to walk into the event together but she had yet to hear from him and it was getting late. Not wanted to stand up Betty Grissom, she decided to go in alone.
Sara's eyes darted around feverishly for Betty as she walked down the stairs to the event. She wore a blue silk, haltered dress. Her hair pinned up with a few pieces dangling loosely on purpose. A few eyes turned to watch as she walked into the crowd. Her heart began to pound to the rhythm of the drums as she grew anxious, not wanted to walk into this party alone. Suddenly her phone rang to see Grissom's name scrawled across the lock screen. She quickly answered and turned to walk up the stairs, seeking a quiet place to talk.
"Gil! I'm here already where are you?"
"I'm still in Peru. Are you at the party?"
"Hold on, uh—hold on, Gil." She walked faster to get away from the noise of the drums. "I can't hear you."
"Sounds like Tiko drums in the background. The deaf love the vibrations, they can feel them on their skin."
"Why are you still in Peru? Is everything okay?"
"They found another mass grave. The government asked me to stay." His voice began to break up.
"Gil? Gil!" She looked at the phone to see the call had been cut short. She sighed heavily in disappointment, resigning to the idea that she'd been attending this party alone after all. Then a woman exited a room with a frosted door just behind Sara. She watched as the woman slid out of the room, fixing her hair and smudged lipstick quickly before rejoining the party. Sara smirked knowingly.
She took a deep breath, bracing herself and walked into the party. This time she was quickly able to spot Betty.
"Mrs. Grissom! Hi." She spoke and smiled. She kicked herself mentally for not being more diligent about studying sign language. He'd promised he'd be here to translate.
Sara took Betty's extended hand warmly before she pulled it away to sign to her. The translator to Sara's left spoke the words Betty signed,
"Sara, I'd like you to meet someone."
Betty turned around to grab a woman's attention. The woman, being the same as the person she'd just seen exit the room upstairs, Sara noted as the woman turned around.
"Julia Holden. Head of the department of Deaf Cultural Studies."
Sara picked up on the quick shock in Julia's sight, knowing Sara had seen what she'd seen upstairs, Julia not knowing at the time who she was.
"Nice to meet you professor." Sara spoke and signed. Proud of herself for at least knowing the basics.
"Julia. Please." Julia signed back, "My students don't even call me professor."
"Sara is Gil's wife." Betty chimed in.
A curious smile washed over Julia's face, "Oh the other Mrs. Grissom."
Sara smiled politely in return.
"Sara Sidle." Betty interrupted, "She didn't take his name."
Sara could read the underlying text there loud and clear, Betty's facial expressions gave this away. A signer's own form of verbal inflection.
"Julia's been like a daughter to me. I'm so proud of her." Julia gave betty a side hug and smiled. An intimate gesture that Sara and Betty had never come close to sharing, "A published author, lecturer, foremost accomplished in deaf culture studies in the country." Betty gushed.
Then a man came over and introduced himself as Dr. Lambert. Betty politely introduced her daughter-in-law and Julie excused herself quickly.
"So, where is your son?" Dr. Lambert directed his question to Betty, but she quickly passed it off with a head gesture to Sara.
"Gil got stuck in Peru. He's been doing some consulting work for the government. He's... He's not coming." Sara's eyes moved rapidly trying to read what Betty was saying in return.
"Seems like my son's away from home a lot." Betty signed to Dr. Lambert then glared her eyes into Sara. All she could do was smile awkwardly. Not knowing how to navigate her relationship with Betty without Grissom by her side. Eventually Dr. Lambert excused himself leaving Betty, Sara and the interpreter at the hightop table alone.
"I know you're disappointed he couldn't make it tonight." Sara finally spoke to cut the obvious tension. "I only just found out a few moments ago."
"I see." Was all she said at first, "I would assume you would have communicated earlier to establish your plans."
Sara sighed, she couldn't win with this woman. "He seems to really love what he's doing there with the Peruvian government."
"Yes. We've spoken."
Sara nodded smally. Not sure what to say when like from divine intervention, someone came to steal Betty away to join a different discussion. Sara walked outside to get some air, not able to handle to the—for lack of a better word—deafening silence inside.
But outside was just as silent. Groups of people stood together signing and smiling. Comfortably enjoying the warm night air—that is until a rumble exploded in the distance. Sara looked ahead to see a ball of fire rush into the sky. She ran toward it to find Julia trying to open the car that was no on fire. She rushed to her side, pulling her from the car before it exploded again.
Betty watched from behind the yellow tape as Sara walked up to two men—Ray and Nick.
"Hey."
"Wait a minute. You did something different." Nick spoke with wide eyes.
"Oh my goodness, I almost didn't recognize you." Ray spoke with more astonishment in his voice then he wanted to let on.
"Yeah, yeah. Did you get a hair cut or something?" Nick teased.
Sara's mouth fell agape, not sure how to respond, "Please tell me that you—"
"Yes, yes. We have your work clothes." Ray handed sara the department coveralls.
Nick placed his kit down on the ground, "Here's a seat for ya." Sara took the seat and began to carefully slip each leg into the coveralls, shimmying it under the dress. Betty rolled her eyes at the "boyish" manner in which Sara was conducting herself. Although Sara did not realize Betty's disapproval, mainly because she was unaware of her presence at all at this moment.
It wasn't until Sara was asking Julia some questions and Betty rushed to her side that Sara realized Betty had been there.
"Mrs. Grissom, I'm sorry—I need you to step back. Julia, her clothing, it's evidence."
Betty began to sign something quickly, too quickly for Sara to understand, "Wait. Wait. I don't understand. It's too fast." Sara spoke and signed. Greeted quickly by a look of disapproval and dismay by her mother-in-law.
Later at the lab Sara walked with hallways with Catherine, catching her up on the case.
"I'm going to scope the campus, see if Dr. Lambert had any enemies."
"Why don't you just check with your mother-in-law." Catherine questioned, "She's pretty dialed in there."
Sara forced a smile, "Uh, yeah. Communication's not really our strong suit."
"I thought you were learning to sign?"
"I am, I'm improving—It's not really a language barrier... it's just kind of a barrier. She's very hard to get close to. She questions everything, she's got to be right about everything. She's emotionally unavailable." Sara stopped speaking at the sight of a smirk from Catherine followed by a small laugh, "What?"
"I'm sorry," She shook her head laughing, "You just described Grissom. Like mother like son." She walked passed Sara into the AV room where Greg was seated. Sara took a moment outside the room to let what Catherine had just said fully sink in. She didn't really think of Grissom like that—not any more at least. But now hearing it from Catherine, Sara realized that's exactly how Grissom acted toward her in the earlier days of her being in Vegas. But this wasn't sexual tension, it was just—tension. And Sara didn't know how to fix that.
Nick and Sara now stood in Julia Holden's office looking for signs of bomb-making when she spotted Julia, Betty and the interpreter walking toward them.
"What are you doing here?" Julia's face was angry.
"We'll... we're conducting a murder investigation." Sara spoke calmly as the interpreter signed for her.
"What's going on, Nick?" Betty questioned. Causing Nick to side glance at Sara.
"Mrs. Grissom, we have reason to believe that somebody might have planted a bomb in Dr. Lambert's car."
"You don't think Julia had anything to do with it!" Shock filled Betty's eyes.
Sara spoke up, "Julia, you were not being honest about where you were when the bomb went off. Where were you really?"
"I haven't done anything wrong!" Julia and Betty shared glances at one another. The room fell silent.
"Okay." Sara steadied herself, "We are executing a search warrant, and will need both of you to please wait in the hall." Betty's eyes went wide as the uniform ushered them out.
Nick turned to Sara, "You don't seem to be winning any brownie points with your mother-in-law. She really seems to like me thought." Nick smiled playful, but quickly wiped it of his face at the sight of Sara. Lips thin, brows furrowed, unamused.
Sara sat opposite Julia in the interrogation room along with Brass and a court certified interpreter.
"So he wasn't the man you were having sex with at the party?" Julia snapped her head in Sara's direction at this accusation.
"I told you I didn't kill him!" Julia signed animatedly. She paused for a moment before continuing, "Obviously there's a conflict of interest here."
"What's she talking about?" Brass asked the interpreter to sign.
Julia looked at Sara as she answered, "My history with your husband."
She shook her head, a small smirk dancing on her lips, "What history?"
"We were involved. Intimately." Julia held a satisfied look on her face at Sara's obvious naivety.
"Well this is awkward." Brass spoke.
"He didn't tell you? I assumed married people told each other everything."
Sara breathed in deeply, knowing now that Betty was confining in Julia about Gil.
"My marriage has nothing to do with this case."
"It does now."