Putting It Together

Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS. I wish I had some say in it, but alas, I’m nothing more than a dreamer...

Chapter 5

Twenty minutes later, both Grissom and Sara were pulling into the Crime Lab parking lot. Grissom hoped he had a spare shirt in his office. He knew it was going to be a long day.

“Grissom, isn’t that what you were wearing at the end of shift?” Greg asked.

Grissom looked pissed at the question. “Greg, what I wear and when I wear it are of none of your concern. However, if you must know, I didn’t go home after work. Occasionally, I do find it pleasant to go to movies, ride roller coasters, and take a stroll on the Strip.” He quickly switched topics looking around the room, “Okay. I want two in each Tahoe. We’re working in pairs on this. Nick and Greg, Catherine with Warrick, and Sara, you’re with me. Swing is here to back us up. They’re pulling evidence, and as soon as everything is picked up, they’re gone, and we’re running the show. Let’s go.”

He stopped as he was exiting the door and turned around to add, “Oh, and the media is all over this. You know how to act and what to say.”

Nick said, “Yeah. No talking, no smiling, no flirting, no scratching our butts.”

“Couldn’t have said it better, Nicky.”

Sara sat at the table with pictures and paperwork strewn out in front of her, elbows on the table, and her head in her hands. They were nearing the end of their own shift time. The sun shining outside did nothing to energize the Night Shift crew.

Grissom walked in and took a chair beside Sara. He started droning on about the case and the evening. She had not made a move since he walked into the room. He squinted at her and looked out into the hall briefly. Lightly, Grissom put his hand on her shoulder. Sara jumped.

“Oh, God. Tell me that didn’t just happen,” Sara mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Grissom looked at her with a quirky grin, not relenting in the touch of her shoulder. She turned her head to look at him. Their eyes danced around each other.

“You’re only human, Sara.”

“How do you do it, Grissom? How do you make it through shifts like this?”

Grissom mulled it over for a few seconds. “I don’t know. I just do, I suppose.” Grissom’s lips turned up at the corner in the hint of a smile. “It helps to have beautiful brown eyes looking at me each night.”

Sara blushed as Warrick walked into the room. She looked up at him as Grissom pulled his hand away from her shoulder. “I think it’s time I went home. I’ve been up for far too long to be of any use to anyone right now.” She sighed and shuffled the table’s contents into a folder. She smiled at both men before leaving the room.

“Gris, we’ve got the trace back from the–”

“Warrick,” Grissom replied with a stifled yawn, “we need to let this all rest for the next while. Fresh eyes, fresh evidence. The bodies aren’t going anywhere, and we’re all running on less than empty. Go home.” Grissom patted him on the shoulder. “Get some sleep while you can – we’re running twelves until this case is over. We’ll tackle this tonight as soon as our shift starts.”

Warrick watched Grissom leave with a confused look on his face. Never had he seen Grissom so willing to let something go. He grinned and shuffled the folder under his arm. He mused to himself that even the rock needed a break every now and then.

Grissom flipped open his phone and hit speed dial.

“Sidle.”

“Are you at home yet?”

“Funny. I haven’t even gotten out of the building yet.”

“Would it be presumptuous of me to ask if I could pick up some clothes from home and spend the day with you?”

The tone of her voice conveyed the smile on her lips. “I would love that. But, I’m so tired, I’m just hoping I can get myself home. And, I’m terribly cranky when I’m tired.”

“You’re not cranky. And, I promise to let you get some sleep this time. I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

“Don’t take too long. Because, if I’m asleep when you get there, you can’t hate me.”

They hung up smiling. Warrick had listened to the flirty sound in Grissom’s voice and knew immediately why he had wanted to get out of the office. He smiled at the back of his boss’s head, and for the first time in a long time saw him as a human.

Nick overheard Sara’s end of the call while they were together in the file room. “Hot date, Sar?”

She glanced over at him. Repeating the conversation over in her head, she knew Nick could not have known who she was talking to. “A friend. We were supposed to spend yesterday together, but the I-15 call changed our plans. He wants to come over today and hang out.” Sara chuckled and tried to make her voice sound light, “Who am I to complain if someone wants to watch me lie in a coma for 10 hours, right?”

Grissom knocked on her door forty-five minutes later. She answered with a yawn, “You’re pushing you luck, bud. You had five more minutes and I was going to bed.”

He raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. Grissom’s eyes took in her appearance from head to toe. She looked so casual in her grey sweats and dark blue LVPD T-shirt, with her hair pulled back in a pony tail. “Are you going to invite me in?”

She yawned again through her grin, “I suppose I have to now that you’re here.”

Sara walked back to the bedroom and fell face down on the bed. She was stretched out in the most awkward of positions. Grissom cocked his head to the side. “You look like a crime scene,” he quipped.

“I feel like one too,” Sara mumbled into the pillow.

Grissom changed into a pair of dark green pajama bottoms and a dark grey T-shirt before crawling under the sheets. “Sara, you might want to get under the sheets before you pass out.”

Sara had not moved since she had thrown herself onto the bed. “Shhh. I’m trying to sleep here.”

“You got a few winks of sleep at work. You should at least have an ounce of energy in there... somewhere.”

She grumbled as she scrambled around and with the sheets. Without moving off of the bed, Sara managed to get herself under the sheets and nestled in snuggly. She lay on her side facing her nightstand. Grissom eyed her with the most amusing smiles.

“You are cranky, aren’t you?”

“I told you so,” Sara whined, “I’m so tired. If we didn’t have to go back to work tonight, I’d be more than willing to drink 10 pots of coffee and stay up until next week. But, instead, we have no idea when we’re going to get a day off, and I–”

“Shhh. Relax. Come here.” Grissom moved closer to her in the bed. Sara, wanting his touch more than anything else – other than sleep at this point, slid backwards in the bed towards him. Their bodies met in the middle of the bed, and Grissom wrapped her in his arms. “Now, sleep.”

“Mmm. Your arms feel so good, Grissom,” Sara breathed huskily.

“And, you’re a furnace. I might have been wrong about wanting under the sheets.”

Sara elbowed him in the gut, and Grissom pulled her into a tight hug. She shifted her body around against him until she was comfortable. Grissom spooned her gently. He smiled and nuzzled her hair and kissed her neck.

Sara’s breathing slowed and became a steady rise and fall in her chest. While falling asleep, Sara knew this was going to be the most peaceful sleep she had had in many years. Come what may in the future, Sara knew Grissom’s arms were there to support her.

Grissom watched her breathing, knowing she was falling asleep. For the first time in years that he could remember, he felt at peace with the world. He was no longer alone. He had someone to stand by his side and lend a helping hand when he needed it the most.

“Thank you, Sara,” he whispered into her ear, “Thank you for breathing life into me.” She stirred lightly under the touch of breath on her skin, but did not wake up. Grissom fell asleep almost immediately with the biggest smirk on his face.

THE END