Title:
Valid Weakness
Author: IrishDachsie
Rating: PG
Disclaimer:
Still not mine…
A/N: This
is my response to the weekly Improv Fic Challenge posted on Unbound. Special thanks to Ann for the title…and also
for her wonderful skills as beta.
Valid Weakness
“That’s
some swarm of mice.” Greg cringed as he
diverted his eyes from the television screen.
“Bees
are swarms…” Grissom corrected quickly.
Greg
stared at his supervisor. “Who
cares? It’s a shitload
of mice!”
Sara
chuckled lightly as Greg shuddered.
“Don’t like mice?”
“Rodents. I don’t like
rodents.” He glared at the
brunette. “And stop laughing. It’s not funny, saliva-girl.”
“What?” Sara’s eyes widened as she glanced quickly at
Grissom.
“At
least my…weakness…is a valid one. It’s
not like saliva can bite you…”
“Weakness? What…do you think
you’re a superhero or something?”
Greg
shrugged his shoulders, a smug grin forming on his face. “Even Superman couldn’t handle kryptonite.”
Grissom
bit his bottom lip as he listened to the inane argument that was taking
place.
Greg
continued blabbering on. “I bet even
Grissom has a weakness.”
Sara
huffed lightly. “Just because people
have fears…or weaknesses, as you like to call them…”
Greg
interrupted her quickly. “Strong-willed
brunettes who aren’t immediately nauseated by his love for the creepy
crawlies…”
Sara’s
eyes darkened. “Excuse me?”
Greg
chuckled. “Grissom’s
weakness. The validity of which
is still higher than…spit.”
Sara’s
face reddened as her mind raced to come up with a retort.
“Look…could
you two please keep it down?” Grissom
hit the pause button on the remote.
“This is important. And if you
two are going to argue like a couple of kids, you can find somewhere else to
continue.”
Sara
smacked Greg’s shoulder as she muttered a soft “Sorry, Griss…”
Grissom
gave a curt nod and turned his eyes back to the television as he hit play. He quickly scribbled a few notes on the legal
pad resting on the table.
Sara
silently mouthed a threat to Greg. He
smiled in return, obviously proud of himself.
Sara snarled at him as she pushed her chair closer to Grissom.
Realizing
she had moved, Grissom glanced at her quickly.
Offering her a brief smile, he inconspicuously placed his hand on her
thigh underneath the table. He gently
squeezed her leg as he refocused his attention on the eating frenzy taking
place on the small screen.
Greg
groaned loudly as he watched the mice bite the corpse. “Could you at least tell me what the point of
this is?”
Grissom’s
brief light mood ended as Greg spoke. He
grumbled as he paused the video once more. “This is essential to our case, Greg. We have to establish how long the body had
been left with the mice. And unless you
feel like acquiring 300 mice and watching them dispose of a human body, this is
what we do.”
“Leave
it to you to find a video of mice devouring a corpse.” Greg shook his head in disbelief.
“Actually,
Sara located it.” He gave her leg
another squeeze, this time allowing his fingers to rub small circles on her
inner thigh. He glanced into her eyes as
a soft sigh escaped her lips.
She
gave him a brief smile as her eyes darkened with the initial stirrings of
passion. She reached down and placed her
hand on top of his, effectively stopping his movement.
He
cleared his throat softly and directed his eyes back to Greg. “Now, can we please get back to work?”
As he
lifted the remote to restart the video, Catherine walked into the room with a
bag in her hand. Grissom looked up at
her, his eyebrow raised in a silent question.
“Sorry
to interrupt, but I need Greg.”
“Thank
God!” Greg jumped up and practically ran
to the woman. “What do you need?”
Catherine
took a step back as Greg rushed into her personal space. “What’s up with you?”
“He
doesn’t like mice…” Grissom growled as
Sara chuckled.
“Uh-huh…” She shook her head in confusion and held the
bag towards Greg. “Nick found some
artichokes with an unknown substance on them at our crime scene.”
Sara
narrowed her eyes and leaned forward in her chair. “Artichokes?”
Catherine
smirked as she shrugged her shoulders.
“Don’t ask; I don’t know. The
guy’s house was overrun with them.”
Grissom
dropped his pen onto the legal pad.
“Could we please get back to what we’re doing? It’s not like we have an indefinite period of
time to process our evidence.”
Catherine
stared at him, a slight grin forming on her face. “Someone needs sleep…”
Grissom
removed his glasses and returned her stare.
Sara shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
Greg cleared his throat softly and opened the bag he had taken from
Catherine.
After a
few moments, when no other words had been spoken, Grissom quickly pressed play
on the remote and focused his attention on the rodents. Unable to resist the temptation, no matter
how sick it made him, Greg looked at the screen just in time to see one
particularly frenzied mouse rip a chunk of flesh from the body.
“Shit!” He dropped the bag, spilling the artichokes
onto the floor.
“Greg! Out! Now!” Grissom’s eyes
filled with anger and annoyance as he stood up.
Sara
successfully stifled her laughter as she fidgeted in her seat. Greg’s face turned a bright shade of crimson
as he ducked his head and fled the room.
Catherine sighed as she bagged the artichokes.