Open Road
Chapter 7
Grissom loaded their bags into the car as Sara and Sheila hugged.
"Thank you so much for letting us stay with you," Sara said tearfully. "This has been the greatest week."
"Come back anytime," Sheila replied quickly. "And you'd better keep in touch more often, or I'll hunt you down."
"Deal."
Grissom stood by the curb, feeling awkward as the women sniffled and clung to each other. Eventually they separated, and Sheila turned to Grissom. "Sorry I called you old," she said, looking sheepish.
"It's okay."
"And stodgy."
"It's fine."
"And stupid."
"Really, it's..." He frowned. "You never called me stupid."
She froze. "Uh... sorry I called you stupid behind your back."
"Well," he smirked, "do you think I'm any of those things now?"
"Nah." Sheila smiled and hugged him. "Take care of our girl," she whispered.
"Will do."
As they pulled away from Sheila's house, an uneasy silence settled over the car. Their vacation was over in a matter of days, and they needed to start heading back toward Vegas. The car pointed west, and Sara pulled her knees up to her chest, feeling miserable.
"We don't have to go back," Grissom said hopefully. "We could find other jobs... I could become a professor somewhere, and you could finish grad school."
"You could write a book," she suggested, the corner of her lips quirking.
"As could you. We could write crime novels together."
She nodded, watching the dotted line in the road. "You could become a male model."
He snorted. "You could work in a butcher shop."
"You could be an exterminator."
"Okay, you win." They chuckled together. "Seriously, though. If we wanted, we could even become consultants... make twice the money and get to travel all the time. It'd be like a permanent road trip."
It sounded tempting. They could make their own hours, work when they needed money and spend the rest of their time together. Sara allowed herself a moment to picture it, before she squeezed his hand.
"We need to go back."
"Why?"
"Because they need us there. Greg, and Nick, and Warrick, and Cath... we've got their backs, professionally and personally. And whether we want to face it or not, we've both put down roots in Vegas. I'm still paying off my apartment, and you've got your... uh... pets to take care of." She cocked an eyebrow. "And they are not traveling with us."
"Hey, in my experience, roaches make excellent traveling companions. But if I had to choose between you and them..."
"Yes?"
He pretended to consider it. "How are you at racing?"
"Very funny," she said, swatting at his leg. "Besides, you should know. You drove behind me for miles when the team ran that marathon."
"Oh yeah." He grinned at the memory. "That was quite a view."
Sara remembered the chill of the night air, the way that his gaze on her back had left her breathless. "Grissom... what will we do when we get back to work?"
"Well, I'm thinking we'll process crime scenes. Investigate them, if you will."
"I'm serious."
He glanced at her, noticing the apprehension in her face. "What do you want to do?"
She sighed. "If we don't tell anyone, we'll prevent any awkwardness with our coworkers, and our impartiality won't be brought up in court cases. Not to mention the off-chance that Ecklie might fire one or both of us if it were to come out. So it probably makes the most sense to keep it quiet."
"Yeah." He nodded, then raised an eyebrow. "But I didn't ask you what would make the most sense. I asked what you want to do."
"That's not a fair question."
"Why not?"
She threw up her hands in frustration. "Because what I want to do is drag you into the middle of the lab, stand on a chair and announce to everyone that I'm head over heels in love with you, and that we're finally together and I'm happier than I've ever been."
Grissom couldn't help the pleased smile that formed. "So if that's out of the question, what's a happy medium?"
"I don't know." She pouted for a moment, then laughed at herself.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm being stupid," she replied. "I have a great job... a great guy..."
"Great legs..." he supplied.
"Exactly. For once in my life, everything's perfect. I should just allow myself to be happy." She reached out and squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Griss. For making me happy."
He squeezed back, staring at the road ahead.
They arrived back in Vegas on a Monday, just before dawn. Sara drove into the parking lot of her apartment complex and parked next to his car. It felt like they'd left it there a lifetime ago.
Grissom pulled her in between the two cars and kissed her. Kissed her desperately, like a drowning man, like he'd never get another chance. And then he was gone.
He didn't answer his home phone that day. Nor his cell phone, nor the three e-mails she sent his way.
At six, she got a call from Catherine.
"So."
"So... what?"
Catherine heaved an exasperated sigh. "So you went somewhere with Grissom this past month, didn't you."
"What makes you say that?"
"Come on, Sara. You two both disappear for an entire month, and we're not supposed to suspect anything?"
A knock on the door startled Sara.
"Cath, hold on a second." It was a delivery man, with a single order of udon noodles. "Sorry," she said, fumbling with the phone after handing over some cash. "I ordered dinner."
"Anyway," Catherine continued, "I know something's up. He's acting odder than usual."
Sara fished some chopsticks out of a drawer and scooped up some noodles. "Who is?"
"Who do you think?"
She blinked. "He's at the lab?"
"Yeah, Ecklie called him in for a bug consult. He's been here all day."
"Oh." Some part of her had been hoping for a surprise visit.
"When do you come back to work?"
"Tonight," she mumbled.
"Okay. Well... I'll see you when we overlap."
"See you."
Sara arrived at the lab early, hoping to dive right into an ongoing case. But Greg and Sofia, who'd also arrived early, quickly quashed those plans.
"Thank god you're home!" Greg yelped, pulling her into a bear hug.
"Yeah, we've missed you," Sofia added kindly. "Did you have a nice vacation?"
"I did," Sara nodded.
"What'd you do?"
Before she could answer, Grissom appeared, stealing the breath from her lungs with just his presence.
"I need to see you all in the conference room," he said shortly, not meeting Sara's eyes.
"Shift doesn't start for half an hour," Greg whined.
"If you don't want to work, then why are you here?" Grissom shot back with a dark look, then spun around and stomped off. He was clenching and unclenching his hands, Sara noticed, a nervous habit of his.
Sofia rolled her eyes. "Looks like somebody could have used another month off."
They were surprised to find Catherine, Warrick, and Nick waiting in the conference room.
"Where's Grissom?" Greg asked.
Catherine shrugged. "Beats me. I'm supposed to be in Trace right now, but he said he really needed to meet with us for a minute."
Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. Their heads swiveled in unison to watch him march in and slam the door behind him.
"Gil, what's this-"
"Can you all take your seats, please?" he barked.
They all sat at once, even Catherine.
Grissom made two fists, breathed in deeply, and stepped up onto a chair. "Okay. Okay, um..."
No. Sara's throat constricted. He wouldn't.
"I'd like you all to know," he stammered, looking sick to his stomach, "that I spent this past month with Sara. We're together, and we're very happy. I hope you'll understand that this stays between us." He got off the chair, paused, then stepped back up for a second, mumbling, "AndIloveherverymuch."
Mouths gaped and eyes bugged out as Grissom scurried out of the room. Once he was gone, the questions erupted. Catherine started screeching about how she knew it, she just knew it, while Warrick scratched his head and murmured to Nick, "Why'd the dude have to stand on a chair to say all that?"
Grissom walked the halls, slowly regaining the feeling in his limbs. It was exhilarating and nauseating, all at once. His pager vibrated, and he let out a long breath when he read the single word on the screen.
Forever.
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