When It Started Summary: Sara did not know when it started but things were certainly going… oddly, badly, … confusingly? Sara-centric. Chapter 1 Sara opened the fridge, disgusted to see sandwiches that seemed to be left over from last year lying in there undisturbed. The yoghurt she had put in the fridge a few days ago was still left over as well though. She grabbed it and was quick to shut the fridge again, a rather indifferent wonder on her mind whether the sandwiches were supposed to be eaten one day or were an experiment of Grissom to see how long they would have to stay in there until they started to live and walk away. “Sara.” The voice that interrupted her musings had come from behind, and turning around she saw Nick standing in the door to the break room. He was wearing an overall and looked as if he needed a shower very urgently. “Is it true?” he asked, and her expression became puzzled immediately. Nick seemed downcast, so much could she see under the dirt. “What is true?” she returned the question, looking around to find a spoon, unable to imagine what Nick could mean that let him appear so crestfallen. “You’re leaving?” Nick questioned sadly. It took a moment before Sara reacted at all, for Nick’s words did not make sense at first. “What?” she shot back then. “What are you talking about? Where did you hear that?” Her tone was probably sharper than it should have been, but this sudden question astonished her. “So it’s true?” Nick asked again, not answering her question. “No, it’s not,” Sara replied firmly, putting down her yogurt, feeling unable to eat it now. Where on earth had Nick heard that? “Nick, I have no idea who told you that, but I’m certainly not leaving.” Nick seemed to relax a bit, his shoulders slouching down. “Unless it’s Ecklie or Grissom who told you something I don’t know about yet,” she added with a somewhat sarcastic air. “Have you-?” Nick started. Sara grimaced. “I haven’t done anything that would give them a reason. I think.” Now Nick smiled. “Well, then it’s alright. I wouldn’t want you to leave.” Sara smiled back, but her expression turned into a frown. “But Nick, honestly, who told you I was leaving?” Her glance fell on her abandoned food and it took a few moments before Nick answered. “Greg,” he said. “He’s probably crying out his eyes right now.” He smiled sympathetically. “Greg?” Sara exclaimed. “Has he gone nuts? Why would he tell something like that?” She took a few steps forward, thoughts rushing through her head. “I’m going to tell him something-“ “Sara,” Nick interrupted her. “I don’t think-“ He did not get to finish his intervention, for Sara was already dashing out of the break room and down the hallway, glancing left and right into the rooms she was passing in search for Greg. She could not believe he would spread something like that. On the other hand, Nick had said that Greg was upset about it, so it did not sound like he had made it up that Sara was leaving. Anyway, she would get out of him where he had gotten that idea from. She just saw spiky hair vanishing into the locker room and was about to follow when she was once again called from behind. “Sara.” The brunette turned around, a strained smile on her lips. “Hey, Catherine.” The other woman did not look amused and Sara wondered if she had heard about the leaving rumor as well. She did not think Catherine would be as heartbroken as Nick or Greg, but still, maybe she just did not like the idea either. “Where have you been?” Catherine asked though and the last rest of Sara’s smile disappeared. “I’ve been working on the Reeves case the whole night, took stuff to trace, gave Wendy some samples…” She frowned, wondering where she had been supposed to be and what Catherine was so irritated about. “I paged you-,” Catherine looked at her watch, “-six hours ago to go and work a scene with Warrick out in Henderson. I called him to ask how it’s going and he told me you didn’t turn up.” “Why didn’t he call me?” Sara shot back directly, astounded. “And I didn’t get the page.” She breathed out slowly. She had to clear this calmly, but realized that the encounter with Nick and Greg’s rumor spreading had already put her off. “Warrick thought you’re out on another scene,” Catherine replied grumpily. “He’s been working his ass off alone, probably won’t be finished so soon.” She looked as if she was about to turn and leave Sara standing there. “I’ll go and help him out,” Sara said, stopping Catherine in her tracks. “This comes a little late,” the blonde replied. “Anyway, there’s another case you can take.” “But-“ Sara started. “What?” Catherine returned. “Well, you just interrupted me.” Sara rolled her eyes. “As I’ve told you before, I didn’t get the page and I’m sorry Warrick had to work the scene alone.” Catherine glared at her. “Just take this,” she said, handing her a slip of paper, before she walked off. Sara looked after her for a moment, before she turned on the spot, heading off to the locker room to see if she would still catch Greg there. The room was disappointingly empty though. Sara dropped on the bench, glancing at the slip of paper in her hand. She certainly felt like somebody was out to get her today. She just wondered who and why, telling herself at the same time that the idea was ridiculous. While Greg might tell silly stories about her – for which he would pay later - he had definitely not had the opportunity to manipulate her pager. Actually, the pager had certainly not been tampered with at all. It was just another ridiculous idea. Catherine had probably forgotten to message her at all and was now taking it out on her, or maybe she just thought she had informed Sara. The brunette shrugged, standing up to open the locker in front of her and taking out her jacket and vest. She put both on, preparing for what she knew was a chilly morning. She left the locker room, glancing briefly into the direction of the labs, wondering where Greg had gone. Maybe he was out on a scene as well. It would make sense, but she really would have liked to get to talk to him as soon as possible. And if she did not know, she probably would not have the opportunity before the next night. And she certainly did not have the desire that Greg spread his stories even further. She shook her head. It was not the time to think about it now, since the young CSI was not even around, or at least not visible to her. She turned to walk towards the exit and saw Catherine standing in the distance, frowning at her. Sara wandered off silently, wondering if the other woman was watching to see if she was actually leaving. What interesting connotations this had. Sara could almost visualize in her mind how Catherine was standing and watching to make sure that she was actually leaving the lab for good. Had she heard about the gossip as well? Sara accelerated her steps and dashed out of the lab. ************************************************************** She returned late in the morning and as she had expected there was no sign of Greg anymore at this time. She mused that he probably would have liked it to know that she was looking for him so intensively, probably not anymore though if he knew why she was doing it. However, he had to expect it. What else would happen when he made up stuff like that? Sara glanced at her cell phone, considering calling him, but decided to wait until she got the chance for a direct confrontation. Looking at her phone, she remembered Nick’s call earlier in the morning when she had still been out on the scene. He had told her that he was going home and had wished her a good day. It was not like he was doing this every day, so Sara figured it was still because of Greg’s stupid rumor. She could not forget though that Nick had told her that Greg had been really upset. What was if he really believed she was leaving? And an almost equally important question was why he would believe it. In any way, she had to clear this. Now she did not get the opportunity for it as it were only dayshift workers she was meeting along her way through the lab. Even Grissom seemed to have left by now. She did not meet him anywhere and his office was deserted as well, besides the certainly existing living things in there. Catherine had known why he she had given Sara that case. Positively thinking, she had done so because she knew Sara would not mind working long; negatively thinking, she might have wanted to get back at her for not showing up at the scene Warrick had been working, not that it was Sara’s fault, but the brunette was not quite sure that Catherine had understood that, or had wanted to understand that. Well, as matters where she could not do anything against it. What she could certainly do was getting back at Greg. She would make sure she’d get to talk to him tonight. Sara drove home but the annoyances of the night still followed her. She had never been good at leaving those things behind. She still felt the sting of Catherine’s accusation and while she did not care so much what Catherine was thinking, she did care about Warrick’s impression and that had certainly been that she had just not turned up to help him for whatever reason, as she could be sure that Catherine had told him that Sara had been at the lab while Warrick had been working the scene alone. Sara wondered if he was even already back yet, as Catherine had hinted that it was a lot of work he had to do alone. Of course, it was not like she could help him out anymore now, not even knowing where it was, as Catherine’s information about it had never reached her after all. Sara would not have been opposed to working another scene now; it would have been better than going home and probably sleeping little while brooding over Greg (in a manner he would certainly not be ecstatic about), Warrick and Catherine. TBC
Chapter 2 While she was definitely not ready to admit it, Sara was pretty tired, when she came in to graveyard shift at night. She had not really managed to do a lot during the day, and sleep had not really come either. She had experienced a lot of those days in the past though, so she just tried to shrug it off. She walked out of the locker room, hiding a yawn from anybody who might be looking into her direction, but was suddenly very much awake, when she saw Greg vanishing around the corner down the corridor in the lab. She hastened to keep up with him. Walking around the corner, she could see him talking to Archie, but he was already about to move on again. “Greg!” she called loudly. He stopped in his tracks while Archie walked away towards the A/V lab, glancing curiously at Sara. Greg turned towards her, smiling. “Hey, Sara, nice to see you.” Sara scoffed. “Didn’t think this would happen, huh?” “What do you mean?” Greg looked confused. Sara grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into the nearest empty room. She certainly did not need audience to her conversation about rumors he had spread, or she could just as well hold a press conference and confirm these. “Ooh, Sara-,” Greg started, but her expression made him fall silent. She shut the door behind them with a clack and turned to Greg. “What did you think you were doing?” she questioned him sternly, crossing her arms. “Wha-?” “I know you’re coming up with a lot of stuff, but-“ she went on, but Greg held up his hands. “Wait, wait,” he pleaded. “Sara, can you please tell me what you’re talking about?” “I’m talking about you spreading the rumor that I’m leaving,” she stated angrily, her eyes piercing into him, so that Greg took half a step backwards but was caught by the table behind him. “Rumor? I didn’t spread a rumor,” he said. “I’m just… I’m sad you’re leaving, and I told Nick about it and-“ “Greg,” Sara interrupted him firmly. “I am not leaving.” Greg looked at her, lost for words for a moment. “You’re not leaving?” She shook her head. “No, I’m not, and I have no idea-“ She was once again not able to finish her sentence as Greg was taking her into a hug enthusiastically. “Greg, stop,” she said, laughing at the same time. “I’m just glad,” he said sheepishly. “I figured,” Sara returned, and Greg let go of her. “So why did you think I was leaving?” she wanted to know, hoping to get finally to the ground of this whole mess. “Grissom told me,” Greg said quietly. “That’s weird though, isn’t it? He seemed to be sure about it. He wouldn’t tell me otherwise, I mean-“ “Did he really tell you straightforward that I was leaving?” Sara wanted to know, interrupting her friend again. Grissom. She couldn’t believe it. “No-o,” Greg admitted slowly. “We were on a scene and I was just making a comment about overtime, and then he said something about how more of it could be necessary once you’re gone and… well, I asked him if I had heard right, and then he told me to keep working and asked me something to distract me. A few minutes later I asked him again about you because I really wanted to know and he didn’t answer me. I mean, if he knew you were staying, why wouldn’t he answer me? So I figured it was really true that you’re leaving,” he ended, looking at her. “I’m happy you aren’t.” Sara looked at him thoughtfully and also Greg was frowning slightly. “I wonder what’s up with Grissom though,” he voiced her thoughts. “Maybe he’s just as mislead as you were,” Sara suggested warily. Still she had to wonder where all of this originated from. She doubted Grissom would just make it up. She chuckled. The thought was more than ridiculous. She had already not been able to imagine that Greg would just come up with something like that, but it was still in the league of the possible. The idea that Grissom would, was impossible. “I wonder why he didn’t talk to me about it though,” Sara pondered loudly. “I mean, he’s my supervisor after all…” It didn’t make sense. Why on earth had he not talked to her? He had never been the most communicative type of person, but she would expect him to talk to her at least about professional matters. Greg shrugged. “I don’t know.” “And why did you not talk to me?” Sara changed her thoughts to a more current matter. “You could’ve asked me.” She sounded slightly hurt. He had not asked her about it, instead he had gone to Nick. “I wanted to,” Greg said somewhat defensively. “But you weren’t around. I even thought that you had maybe already left…” Sara sighed. “So you talked to Nick?” she inquired further. Greg nodded. “He said he’d seen you around earlier, so you couldn’t have left yet.” “And I won’t do that.” Sara raised her eyebrows. “Did you play with my pager?” she asked suddenly, feeling random. Greg looked confused. “No, of course not. I didn’t even see it anywhere. Did you lose it?” Sara shook her head, smiling. “Don’t worry about it.” Greg returned her smile. “Okay. Nick and I are going to have breakfast in the morning. Do you want to come along?” “Sure,” Sara nodded. “I guess we should get back to work now,” she added, looking at the door. “You’re right,” Greg agreed. “I wonder though what people will think if they’ve seen us disappearing into an empty room for five minu-“ “Shut up, Greg,” Sara said, chuckling though, and opened the door to walk out into the corridor. Greg followed her. He had just fallen into her pace, when Grissom came around the corner and stopped in front of them. “Are you two busy?” he asked. “No, but-“ Sara started. Grissom nodded. “Good. We’ve got a triple homicide.” He handed her a slip of paper. “Take Greg. I’ll send Nick over later.” “Grissom, we need to talk,” Sara rushed to say. Grissom shook his head. “Warrick and I have to get to work. The DA says he’ll release our suspect if we don’t bring him more evidence by 6 AM. I have to go,” he said, and turned away to leave, missing Greg’s grimacing into Sara’s direction. Sara stared after him. “Is he avoiding me now?” she wondered loudly, addressing no one in special, but talking rather to herself. “Nah, he’s just busy,” Greg felt inclined to answer nevertheless. “Is he angry because I’m leaving? Because he thinks I’m leaving? This man makes no sense,” Sara went on, undisturbed by Greg’s presence. “Uhm, Sara?” “Yeah?” She turned to him now. “What about going to our scene? You can continue wondering in the car,” Greg added innocently. Sara raised her eyebrows, but Greg took the paper from her hands and let their way out of the lab. “I’m not quite sure I’ve forgiven you yet,” Sara said in a slightly threatening manner. Greg laughed lightly and Sara realized that Greg was certainly not taken this threat very serious. Of course, whatever she could do to him, there was the possibility that he would even enjoy it. Sara chuckled at the last thought. ************************************************************* Sara ripped off a piece from her bagel, turning it briefly around in her hand before eating it and biting more heartily in the major rest of the bagel. Nick and Greg were sitting opposite of her at the table, chatting happily while she was pondering about the stupid leaving-the-lab business. It bothered her that she did not have a chance yet to talk to Grissom. The three CSIs had only briefly returned to the lab before heading off for breakfast. As Grissom had promised, Nick had turned up shortly after Sara and Greg had arrived at their scene and as expected, it had proven to be a lot of work so that it was already in the morning when they were done. Grissom was probably still busy with his urgent evidence business, or already dealing with the DA. At least he had not been around at the lab. By now Sara wondered if she should not just give up on finding out what had been behind the gossip mill. Nick and Greg did now know that she was not leaving, they were happy again, so there was not really a point in her wasting more time and thoughts about it, was there? She did not want Grissom to think she was going, but if he had only held Greg in the belief she was leaving… Sara took a gulp from her coffee. This whole thing was certainly giving her a headache. On the other hand, if Grissom thought really that she was leaving, he would come to her and talk about it eventually. He had to, naturally, he was her boss after all. So there was really no point in bothering to get to talk to him. Sara nodded to herself, unnoticed by Greg and Nick. It had not been her who had started the whole stupid rumor, so she would not chase after it anymore. She had more important things to chase after. She had to admit though that the unsolved mystery gave her quite a sting. Greg and Nick laughed suddenly, and Sara looked up to them from the ruins of her bagel, and saw them cheering each other with their coffee cups. “What are you doing?” she questioned amused. “Celebrating you staying,” Greg said. “I never intended to leave,” Sara tried to make clear. “Still,” Greg shrugged and cheered to Sara as well. Their laughter was interrupted by a cell phone ringing and it was Nick who retrieved it quickly out of his bag, answering the call. “Hey.” He listened for a few moments, his expression turning to confusion. He looked at Sara. “She’s right here.”