Title:
Tick-Tock
Author:
IrishDachsie
Rating:
PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing. No currency is being exchanged for this. Just something that was in my head. J
Tick-Tock
He stared at the door as it slammed shut. He leaned back in his chair and bit his lower
lip as his mind tried to decipher what had just happened. He thought he had said the right thing. But…apparently he was wrong once again.
He pushed his chair back from his desk and stood. He slowly walked to the shelves containing
the multitude of specimen jars. He
stared at the piglet in the jar and sighed.
As he turned the jar a centimeter to the left and slid the glass back into
its original position, a brief smile crossed his face.
It left just as quickly.
Sara was angry. She
was hurt. She was confused. The kiss that they had just shared really
didn’t resolve anything. He ran his
tongue across his lips. They still
tingled from her touch.
He inhaled deeply.
Her scent still hung in the air, surrounding him.
He moved slowly back to his desk and sat down. Tapping the ballpoint pen against the case
folder in front of him, his mind went into overdrive. He automatically picked up the phone and
dialed a number. He hung up after the
second ring.
A plant wasn’t going to work this time.
He swiveled his chair towards the window and stared out at
the bright lights of the city. Out of
the corner of his eye he saw Catherine standing in the hall. There was no doubt that she had seen Sara
leave. And there was also no doubt that
Catherine knew that Grissom was in some way responsible for Sara’s mood when
she left.
He sighed in relief as Catherine began walking down the
hall towards the breakroom. Maybe for
once in her life she decided to let him work this out on his own. Catherine was a good friend, but had a
tendency to butt into his private life.
He knew that she was only trying to help. It didn’t keep him from becoming annoyed with
her.
The soft ticking of the clock on the wall reminded him of
something Sara had once said. He
wondered, and not for the first time, if his time had actually run out. Had he waited too long to confront his
feelings for her?
His eyes focused on the lights of the Monaco. He stood and walked over to the window, placing
his right hand on the sill and his left against the frame. Leaning his head against his left hand, he
continued to stare at the hotel.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he recalled that day,
slightly over three years ago now. Her
first day in Vegas. The first time he
had heard her voice directly behind him in a couple of years. He remembered how his heart had begun to
race. How the day seemed so much
brighter with her arrival. How the
situation at hand hadn’t seemed quite as bad with her presence.
They had grown close again quickly. Each falling into the same routine they had
shared off and on throughout the years since the seminar. He thought he could handle the gentle flirtation
between them, he hadn’t had a problem handling it before.
But, this was different.
He wasn’t going back to Las Vegas from Boston or San Francisco. She wasn’t going back to San Francisco from
Boston or Las Vegas. They were living in
the same town. Working at the same
building, on the same shift.
Together. Every night.
The gentle flirtation quickly grew into something so much
more. Something he wasn’t prepared
for. He realized it wasn’t something he
could just ‘handle’ anymore. He thought
he had admitted his feelings for her at the hockey rink. He was sure he had.
In his own Gil Grissom way.
But, she knew him.
She understood him. At least, he
thought she did. But then again…if she
knew him as well as he THOUGHT she had known him. She would’ve known how he felt. Right?
He shook his head lightly as his own thoughts confused him.
The past year had been horrible. He couldn’t imagine having to go through
another year like that. With his hearing
deteriorating quickly, her…involvement…with that paramedic, the entire
department whispering about his ‘relationship’ with Heather.
A soft chuckle escaped his lips as he thought back on that
situation. Anyone who knew him…or
anything about him…would’ve known that while there might have been some sort
of…attraction…between Heather and himself, he would never compromise a case in
that way.
Sure, they had spent the evening together. Talking.
She had made it clear that she wanted more from him. He had made it clear that he was emotionally
and professionally unable to grant that request. And so they had talked. Yes, they had deepened their bond through
friendship. But, that was quickly broken
as well.
Stop.
That one word ended not only what some construed as a
budding ‘romance’ of sorts…but it had also pretty much ended the friendship
that he had found with her.
He felt a sadness in his heart when he thought about
Heather. But, not for the reasons that
most people thought. He had hurt
her. He had not trusted her when it was
most important to do so. But…she had
listened. She had deduced that his inner
pain didn’t have everything to do with his possible loss of hearing.
She knew about Sara.
Sara.
He had pulled away from her. No, not exactly pulled. He had jerked himself away from her, refusing
to let her in. They had quite a few good
days together over the past year…but, for the most part…he had withdrawn. Resigning himself to her making a life with
another man.
He knew now that he was being childish…allowing his
jealousy to override his logic. He knew
that now. He didn’t at the time.
He turned from the window and made his way back to his
desk. Glancing at the clock, he realized
that she had been gone for nearly an hour now.
He flipped open the folder in front of him and pulled the crime scene
photos out slowly one at a time.
Something had told him that she needed to work this
case. He knew that it was going to be
rough for her. Cases involving domestic
abuse always did. And that’s why he had
assigned himself to work it with her. He
needed to keep an eye on her, to make sure she was alright.
It wasn’t a surprise when she broke down in his office
earlier. They knew who had killed the
young lady. They knew that the murderer
was aware of the victim’s pregnancy.
They had all of the evidence to put the bastard away.
And he had taken the easy way out.
Sara had been the one to find his body crumpled in a corner
of the living room. Her anger escalated
to the point of Grissom taking her back to the lab while Catherine and Warrick
finished processing the second scene.
He had taken her into his office and allowed her to pace,
to rant, to rage. He had never thought
she was more beautiful when she stood in front of the glass-encased pig and
turned the jar slightly, shaking her head as a brief grin appeared on her
lips.
He had crossed the room slowly and tentatively pulled her
into a hug as her tears began to fall.
He had felt her warm breath on the side of his neck right before her
soft lips pressed against his skin.
He had closed the gap when she quickly pulled away,
muttering apologies for the slip. She
had gasped when his lips touched her own briefly before his tongue slid across
the tender flesh.
He had held her quivering body against him as his tongue
softly explored her mouth. He had
offered her a shy grin as he pulled from the kiss and looked into her
eyes. It was then she had asked him a
question. Her voice was so soft he had
barely heard her.
He had smiled widely at her. His answer had been ‘no’. And then he had leaned in to kiss her once
more.
She had flown into an onslaught of obscenities as she
pushed him backwards. The last thing she
had said to him was something about going and fucking himself. And then she had slammed the door. He shook his head softly.
He picked up the keys to the Tahoe and walked out of his
office, waving off people as they called his name to look at this or look at
that or answer a question for him.
He didn’t see Catherine’s smile as he walked past the
breakroom.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He pulled into a parking space beside of her car and took a
deep breath as he looked up at her window.
The lights were off, but he could see the soft bluish flicker of a
television screen illuminate the living room.
His fingers drummed nervously against the steering wheel as
he made his final decision.
Exhaling deeply, he opened the door and stepped out of the
vehicle. With one more quick glance up
at the window, he made his way to the stairs.
He took each step slowly, giving himself enough time to try
to come up with the right words to say.
He sighed sadly, wondering if the ‘right words’ would be wrong
again. He made it to the landing and
looked back at the blue Tahoe parked there.
It wasn’t too late for him to just walk back down and leave. It wasn’t.
She didn’t even know that he was there.
He shook his head violently against that thought and began
to climb the next flight. This time a
little more quickly.
He found himself standing in front of her door without a
clue as to what he was going to say to her.
He sighed lightly and took a step backwards. At that moment, the door opened to reveal
sad, chocolate brown eyes staring at him.
After a brief hesitation, he took a step towards her only
to be halted when she held her hand up, her palm facing him. He looked at her hand, the slightly raised scar
showing prominently in the dim light.
He whispered her name softly, only to feel his heart
stutter as she shook her head slowly.
Ignoring her silent request for him to keep his distance, he took
another step towards her. Stopping when
his chest touched her raised hand.
Reaching over with his right hand, he quickly covered hers
as she attempted to move it and held it against the soft fabric of his
shirt. Her gaze fell to their hands on
his chest. She inhaled sharply as her
fingers made light circular motions underneath his hand. She silently cursed her digits for not
obeying her command to keep still.
As she carefully redirected her eyes upwards, she gasped
when she saw the emotions swimming in his bright blue eyes. Feeling her body relax somewhat, he took
another step forward. With a soft smile,
he gently backed her into her apartment.
Only after he was positive that she wouldn’t throw him out
did he close the door behind him. His
eyes never left hers. With a soft shaky
voice, she was able to utter one word.
“Why?”
He tilted his head slightly and raised her hand to his
lips. After placing gentle kisses over
her fingertips, he answered her question in a whispered tone.
“Because I want to make dinner for you. Not take you out to some busy restaurant.”
He surprised himself with the lack of nervousness in his
voice. He was even more surprised when
she offered him a genuine smile. He
returned her smile as she took a step closer to him. His hand reached out and brushed through her
dark hair as his gentle voice broke through the silence once again.
“Sara, I know what do to about this now.”
Her smile finally reached her eyes as she draped her arms
over his shoulders. “Do you now?”
He chuckled lightly as he closed the distance between them
and brushed his lips across hers. “Let
me show you?”
As their kiss became more passionate, a bell sounded in the
kitchen. He pulled back from her lips
and questioned her silently.
“Kitchen timer…”
“Are you cooking something?”
She shook her head lightly and offered him a bright
grin. “You had two hours to get here
from the time I left the lab…”