Chances

Disclaimer: I own nothing that has to do with CSI: unless you count my DVD sets of Seasons 1-4 and my CSI: Companion book. Please don't sue me - all I have are two kids and one husband, and I seriously doubt you'd want any of them.
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Sara had just finished paying the girl at the drive-thru for her food when her cell phone rang. Fumbling through the mess on her passenger seat, she finally found the receiver.

“Hello?”

“Sara...its Grissom...did I catch you at a bad time?”

Shocked that he had actually called her outside of work hours, she replied. “Um, no...I was just headed home to catch something on TV...why? I thought you were on your way to Boston.”

She could sense urgency in his voice. “Well, I am. Tomorrow...it’s just...well, Nick just called. His sister and brother in law are expecting their first baby, and well, Janine went into labor today...2 months early. I can’t ask him to not be with his family at a time like this, but I really need someone to go with me to this conference, you know?”

Sara questioned. “What about Catherine? She’s got more seniority than I do…”

“She does,” he said, “but Lindsey has a program as school this weekend. I couldn’t ask her to miss that.” Sara noticed a hesitance in his voice. “I was wondering...since you know a little bit about linear regression, would you care to make the trip? I mean, I know it’s very short notice, but you’ve proved to me on several occasions that you know what you’re doing…”

Sara’s heart leapt up in her throat. “So you just want me to up and go with you to Boston this weekend for this conference?”

“Sure...I mean, I certainly don’t expect you to say yes, but I really need someone who knows the schedule to be there...and you would be paid for your time, along with all expenses…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Sara blurted out a yes, not even thinking about the plans that she had made with Greg for the weekend.

“That’s GREAT,” she heard him say over the line. “I’ll take care of all the name changes on the reservations, and if you will meet me at the office tomorrow at, say, 7 AM, we’ll head over to the airport together.”

“Sounds great,” she said as she disconnected from the call. Rushing home, she gobbled up her take-out and hurriedly packed her bags. Barely sleeping that night, her mind ran over every possible scenario for the weekend. Yes, she was living in ‘Fantasyland’, thinking about being forced to spend all that time with Gil Grissom, but it was fun, and didn’t hurt. As long as she kept those things to herself, all would be fine, right?


As she pulled into the employee lot at the Las Vegas Police Department early that Friday morning, she noticed that he had already taken the liberty of calling a cab, and was waiting for her to arrive. Dressed very casually in a pair of khaki slacks and a blue button down, he looked handsome. Too handsome for it to be this early in the morning. He rushed over to her car and started to unload her luggage from the back seat, loading it into the trunk of the cab.

“You have no idea how thankful I am that you are doing this for me,” he said as they climbed into the backseat of the car. “I appreciate it so much.”

Sara just smiled and laughed. “I wouldn’t do this for just anyone–but you.” She couldn’t believe that she’d actually said that last part out loud, but she had always had a habit of saying more than she meant to, especially when it came to him.

The rest of the short ride to McCarran was a silent one, save the cabbie cursing half the people on the strip. Grissom paid the driver, and then loaded their luggage onto a cart, and together they started into the busy terminal. After securing their seats and going through security, they sat down and waited for their boarding call. He excused himself and came back with 2 cups of coffee, a couple of doughnuts. “Quickie breakfast,” he said, biting into his glazed just about the time their flight was called for boarding.

“Again, I can’t thank you enough,” he said as they found their seats and got settled in. “I know it was a short notice...”

“No problem,” she said. “I’m actually looking forward to seeing Boston again. I’ve not been back since I graduated from Harvard.”

“Really?” Grissom said, looking down at her as he stowed his carry on in the overhead compartment. “You’ll have to tell me a few places to see before we leave. Maybe you could be my tour guide, if that’s OK with you…”

“OK with me? What does that mean?”

“Well, I’ve only been to Boston once, and that was such a whirlwind trip, not to mention the fact that I got snowed in my hotel room...”

The pre-flight announcement interrupted their conversation. Sara buckled herself in and closed her eyes. She didn’t want him to see that she was nervous about this trip – alone – with him.


Landing in Boston, she noticed the immediate change in climate, and was proud that she had packed a cardigan in her carry-on. As they made their way into the terminal, she noticed that there was a car waiting for them. Retrieving their bags, they got into the car and waited for the driver to clear traffic before starting on their way to the hotel.

The Plaza International Hotel was not that far from the airport, which was just fine with Sara, as she was feeling the effects of the three hour time difference. Grissom said that he’d take care of getting the room keys, and so she excused herself to the restroom. As she made her way back into the lobby she noticed that he was still at the front desk, apparently in some sort of discussion with the clerk.

“Everything alright?”

“Well,” he said with a hint of hesitation in his voice. “...They’ve had a glitch in booking...they have 2 rooms booked for us....for tomorrow night. They do have one room available for tonight–the room that was assigned to me.”

The look on Sara’s face either frightened him or concerned him. “Sara, it’s OK…”

He watched as she started toward the pay phones in the lobby. Flipping through the yellow pages, she started to look through the hotels section.

Excusing himself from the front desk for a moment, he started toward the pay phones. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to see if I can find a room in a nearby hotel for the night.”

“No you aren’t,” he said. “The suite they have me booked in is plenty big enough. You can stay in my room tonight.”

The mere sound of his voice speaking those words to her sent her stomach into a flip flop. “No, that’s not fair to you...”

He interrupted her. “Yes, it is...I’m the one who drug you up here on short notice. It would be terrible of me to put you out like that. C’mon...I’m not that bad am I?”

She looked up and smiled. “No, I guess not.” Taking her arm, he led her over to the desk, and after getting two keys to the room, they followed the bellhop, who led them up to their sixth floor room.

As soon as the door was opened, the smell of fresh cut flowers greeted them both. As they stepped into the suite, Sara could see the beautiful arrangement that graced the table. She’d never seen a room as nice as this one, and in order to keep him from knowing that, she casually strolled over to the balcony. The darkening skies were setting the perfect backdrop for all of the twinkling lights as the city started to make its transition from day to night.

“Sometimes, I wonder why I ever left here,” she said to him as he joined her out on the balcony. “It really can be pretty. I guess I was young and stupid.”

“Stupid? I hardly think so,” he mentioned. “More like sane...it’s cold out here!”

He stepped back inside, all the while hearing her laughter, then the proclamation under his breath that he was a “wuss”.

“Excuse me; did I just hear you right?”

“Hear what?” she said, the look of an innocent girl crossing his face. He just gave him a sly smile, and then closed the balcony door. We’ll see who the wuss is, he thought as he slowly shut the sliding glass door, then quietly latching it shut.

It was just a few minutes later that he heard her light tapping on the door. “What?” he said, walking back over to the glass, where he could see her lips beginning to chatter slightly. “Is everything OK?”

“I think the door locked...can you unlock it?”

“Why? Are you getting cold out there?”

Immediately noticing that she had indeed heard her, she began to plead. “Griss, let me in, you are not a wuss...its fucking cold out here!”

Laughing, he unlatched the door and let her back in the room. “That’ll teach you to call me a wuss again!”

Taking her hands she put one on his left cheek. “Wuss.”

Gil shivered at the chill they gave him, both literally and figuratively, and immediately turned to get away from her and the chill of her hands. “Not funny, Sara. Not funny at all.”

He lurched at her as if he was going to chase her, and she ran down the small hall, opening the door to the bedroom.

“Um, OK...how’s that going to work?’ she thought to herself as she noticed the single, queen size bed in front of her.

He followed in behind her, and noticing the puzzled look on her face, he began to speak. “You ok?”

The ring of the phone interrupted him, and she watched as he stepped over to the bed and answered it. Walking away, but still in earshot, she could hear his side of the conversation.

“Hi, how are you?...........Yes, the flight here was just fine....there was a mix-up with the rooms........No, we got it settled...........Dinner? Sure? What time should I expect you?..............That sounds wonderful........I can’t wait to see you either….bye.”

She tried to pretend that she was reading when he hung up the telephone and walked over to the desk where she was sitting. “We’re going out to dinner...do you care to join us?”

“I couldn’t intrude...I think I’ll just stay here and work on the presentation for tomorrow,” she said, starting to pull some papers out of her briefcase. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to be a third wheel.”

He started to laugh. “A third wheel? What makes you think that?”

“Well, I couldn’t help but overhear you on the phone...sounds like you have a date....”

His laughter only deepened and got louder. “Yeah, if you consider Max Albertson a date-- Although, he is a good dancer...”

Sara could feel her face turning red as she realized her assumptions were way off. “I’m sorry...I thought...I don’t know what I thought. Anyway, still...I couldn’t intrude on your time with your friend. Thanks for the offer anyway.”

“You’re sure?” he said as he headed for his hanging bag, pulling out an outfit to change into.

“Positive,” she said.

She watched as he headed into the bathroom. Sitting down at the desk, she started to make a few calls back to Las Vegas; letting Catherine know that they had made it safely, and to find out about any updates in their ongoing cases. It was then that she heard the water in the shower turn on.

Stop thinking what you’re thinking, Sara...you’ll only get yourself into lots of trouble, she said to herself. But she couldn’t help it–she found the man highly attractive. How could she keep the thoughts of him-naked and glistening-out of her mind?

About 20 minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom wearing a starched white button down and a pair of black slacks. His hair was still damp from the shower–the scent of aftershave escaping from the room. Grabbing his jacket from the bed, he asked again. “You’re sure you won’t come with us?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Go- enjoy dinner with your former mentor. You deserve it.”

He started for his wallet on the desk. “OK, but you have to agree to let me take you out for a drink after I get back, OK?”

She looked up at him. “But I have so much to do....”

He put his hand down on the papers. “And it can all be finished while I’m gone. Say you will Sara...”

She nodded her head, and coaxed a smile from him. “Good. I’ll see you in a few hours then.”

As he left the room, she ran over to the bed and buried her head in the pillow to muffle her screams of delight.


The beds at the Plaza International were way too comfortable. She had fallen asleep rather quickly, and woke up at the ring of the phone.

“Um...hello?” she said, trying her best to disguise the fact that she had just woken up.

“This is the front desk. Dr. Grissom wanted us to give you a call and let you know that he would be back in about 30 minutes.”

Sara looked at the clock, noticing that it was about 2 hours after he had left. “OK, thank you so much.”

Hanging up the phone, she immediately ran into the bathroom and started the water in the shower. Quickly pulling the cream colored sweater and denim leggings out of her bag, she laid them out on the bed and quickly jumped into the stream of hot water. The scent of his aftershave was still very prominent in the shower stall, bringing her thoughts back to things of a very inappropriate nature. Getting lost in her thoughts, she began to daydream. Snap out of it, Sara...you don’t have much time! She quickly wet and lathered her hair, then rinsed it clean. Turning off the water, she stepped out into the bathroom and grabbed her brush.

Makeup? Check. Hair dried and styled? Check. Toenails painted? Ah, skip it. But, this towel just isn’t going to do it for attire this evening.

She opened the bathroom door to check the time on the clock, and was surprised to find Grissom just stepping into the bedroom.

“Oh, God, I am so sorry.” she heard him say as he quickly retreated from the room. His muffled voice could still be heard outside the closed double doors. “I guess I should have knocked first...I am so sorry, Sara.”

“It’s OK,” she said. “I’m almost dressed...I should have already been ready. It’s me that should be apologizing.” Quickly she slipped into the outfit, and then pulled the striped scarf out of her bag. Wrapping it about her neck and slipping into the black shoes she had chosen to go with the outfit, she took one last look at her hair, then grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

She could see him sitting on the sofa, the blush still in his cheeks. “I am so sorry.” he sad again, standing up to greet her. “I really .....”

“You’ve already said that. It’s alright.” She kept quiet that the whole event had secretly excited her. “Now, should we get going?”

He motioned for her to walk ahead of him, and they left the room, headed for the elevators.

Emerging on the ground floor, she watched as he turned to the left and headed toward the hotel bar they had passed earlier today. “Where are you going?” she said. “I’m taking you to a real bar.”

As they stepped into the warmth of the Wild Rose, the blaring music caught her attention. They wandered through the group of people, most of them way younger than them, and found a table toward the back.

“You play pool?” she said as they were walking.

“What did you say?” he yelled, not being able to hear him over the live band that was playing a cross between Aerosmith and Alabama–some rock/country fusion that wasn’t half bad.

Waiting until they were seated at their table, she spoke again. “Do you play billiards? You know, pool?”

Gil laughed. “No, not really. I can attempt it, though, if you are willing to show me how.”

Geez, you dope...could you sound more ignorant...

A waitress was over quickly to take their drink orders, and he quickly ordered one scotch, and one Michelob Light.

Sara was almost embarrassed that he remembered her alcohol of choice, what with her earlier actions that had gotten her suspended. He’d bailed her out of that mess, going to bat for her against Ecklie.

The waitress brought over their drinks, and Sara was conscious not to drink too much or too quickly, as she had skipped dinner. They made small talk while sitting there, mostly about people surrounding them and the activities that were planned for the weekend. Pretty soon, they were approached with the news that their pool table was available. Grissom pulled her chair out for her, and as they walked through the crowded bar, she felt his hand land on the small of her back, leading her through the people.

Several drinks, and 3 games of pool later, she had been properly schooled in the exact things NOT to do when playing pool. “Told you I wasn’t very good.” he mentioned, smiling the whole time as he called for their tab. “OK, I admit it. I’ve played pool a couple of times in my life.” He laughed after making that statement, and it took Sara by surprise. “I’m sorry. It was just so funny to watch your expression as I waxed you each and every game.”

Sara just rolled her eyes at him as they headed out of the bar, and he quickly hailed a cab to take them back to the Plaza.

As they made their way up to their room, he began to fumble for his room card. “I can’t find the damned thing.” he said, ruffling through the pockets of his overcoat.

“Not to fear, I have mine,” Sara said as the elevator doors opened. She let them both into the room and after setting her purse down on the counter, excused herself to the restroom. After splashing a bit of water on her face, the events of the past few hours crossed through her mind. It almost seemed as if they had been out on a date.

No, surely not, she said to herself, he’s just being nice because we are stuck together. That’s all.

Sara noticed the balcony door was cracked, and she pondered whether or not she should join him, relieved when he motioned for her to come out and stand with him.

“Sure is beautiful here,” she said, the moon shining down on the city below.

“Sure is,” he said.

Sara could have sworn that she felt his hand graze hers, but passed it off as her imagination.

“Sara I have to ask you something. Please, tell me if I am putting my nose somewhere it shouldn’t be, but I need to know. Are you and Greg...?”

The question shocked her, but she answered. “We’ve gone out a couple of times on and off, but nothing exclusive, at least not for me, that is.” She was shocked at his direct line of questioning. “But, no, nothing serious, at least from my point of view. Is it a problem – no interoffice dating?” She asked the question mainly to get an answer for herself – maybe she could find out why things with them had not ever taken off.

Grissom glanced down at the pavement as he spoke. “Oh, no, it’s not really a problem. I mean, I can tell that there is something between the two of you, and I just wanted to know...” He paused a beat and then started again. “...just wanted to know my chances.”

“Your chances?” she repeated, a lump forming in her throat.

“Yeah, my chances. I don’t want to intrude on someone else’s turf, you know?” This time she knew for sure that she felt his hand, as he moved a wisp of hair from her face. His touch sent chills down her spine. She didn’t know exactly how to take what he had just said, but from her assumptions, it seemed like a good thing, and that scared her. She hadn’t exactly had the best luck with relationships, especially in her earlier attempts with him.

“It’s getting warm, I mean, um; cold out here...I’m going to step back inside.”

Damn you...damn you and your defense mechanisms, she thought as she headed toward the bedroom to immerse herself in some paperwork that she hoped would take her mind off of all the conflicting thoughts that were racing through her tired mind. She could hear his footsteps coming up the hall, and quickly turned on the desk lamp and started to pore over the papers in front of her.

“They sent up a fax while we were gone, you need to be at the breakfast tomorrow morning at 8:30 rather than 8 AM.”

She stood up to hand him the fax, and caught her toe on the end of the rug, tripping herself in the process. He rushed to catch her fall, and as he pulled her up, their eyes met. She could feel the stinging tears forming in the back of her eyes as she stared at herself in the gorgeous deep pools of blue looking back at her. She was so drawn to him, his gaze hypnotizing her, his lips like a magnet. As his kiss barely met hers, she lost all rational thought, and pulled him in closer to her. The surge of electricity in their embrace made her knees weak, and as the kiss deepened, so did the insanity that held her captive.

She barely even realized when they fell to the bed........