Explanations
By: Emmithar
Rating: K+
Summary: What happened before, during and after the decontamination shower? What I felt like were missing scenes. Spoilers for 4X4
Disclaimer: Don't own CSI, or the charaters, or the places. 'sighs
A/N: Just a bit of inspiration, nothing to extravagant. Since it is off of memory, some things may be incorrect. There are spoliers for 4X4, just in case you haven't caught on yet.
Explanations
Everything had been going fine. He and Sara had arrived at the house in the late morning, shortly after getting the call. They were working this one without Grissom, something that wasn't particularly odd. Grissom had let them work alone more often as of late.
Processing the DB had been easy enough, there wasn't much to do; they had assumed he had died from blunt force trauma. That wouldn't be confirmed until the autopsy was complete; still, that's what they were going to work off of for now.
Sara sat cross legged on the floor, snapping various pictures of the gym equipment around her. Their DB was a body builder; he taught personal sessions, using various weights, and machines to do so.
Greg glanced at her, making sure she wasn't watching as he turned back to the mirror, rolling up his sleeve, posing in front of the large mirror for a few seconds. He wouldn't mind having larger muscles, although nothing like their DB. That was just a little too disturbing.
He sighed, pulling his sleeve down as he turned around, making his way to the other side of the room. They spent the next several hours processing, chatting quietly on and off, talking in general about nothing. They must have swabbed everything in that room for any sign of blood, but was unable to find anything.
It was like any other scene; they came, they processed, found dead ends, and tried again. Everything had been going fine. That's when the front door suddenly opened; Greg and Sara looked up as two men, both dressed in bio-hazard suits came rushing in. Sara was on her feet in an instant, both confused and angry.
"What's going on? This is still an active scene," she informed them, a bit thrown off as the first man grabbed her by the arm, already dragging her out the door.
Greg took a step back as the second grabbed for him, only relenting when he saw Sara give in a bit. Still, it worried him. What exactly was going on? "Sara, what's happening?" he asked, fairly certain he wouldn't get a straight answer from either of the men.
"Just go with it Greg," Sara called over her shoulder, trying to keep up with the maddening pace that the man was pulling her at. "Can you at least tell us what's going on?" she asked him again, the same concern filling her voice as she had heard in Greg's.
"We have a bio-hazard situation," he answered as they reached the walkway. "You need to be decontaminated immediately."
Her eyes came to rest on the blue tent that was set up right out front. She tried to say something, but wasn't given time to hardly think as the man pushed her inside. Greg was not too far behind.
They two men returned, each holding open a large bag in front of the pair. "We need your clothes in here," they instructed in the same tone they had when they first entered the house.
Sara's eyes widened as she glanced up at them. "All our clothes?" she asked, glancing back at Greg who was sharing the same look as her. They nodded simultaneously, lifting the bags up.
Sara groaned lightly, already pulling her shirt over her head. This wasn't going to be her fondest memory, but she knew better than to argue. They hadn't explained the situation to them in full; only that their health was at risk.
Sara shivered as the first blast of icy water hit her, closing her eyes as it ran over her head, soaking her hair before running down her body. Her first instinct was to draw her arms around her bare torso, in attempt to keep warm and at least cover herself some, but reminded herself mentally that they had instructed her to keep her hands to her side. If this had to be, which it did, then she may as well do it right the first time.
Turning slowly, teeth chattering, Sara couldn't help wonder how exactly they ended up here. The thought prompted her to open her eyes, checking on Greg who had been just as nervous as she was, wondering dimly how he was handling everything. She had done so without even thinking, forgetting momentarily that they were both naked, standing only a few feet away.
She turned away as soon as she realized though, but couldn't help but take a longer, second look. His head was down as the same icy water was ran over him. Of course it wasn't just water; Sara wasn't sure exactly what it was. If it was just water then Sara would have opted for her own back at her apartment, at least she had hot water. She watched, as he turned, mimicking her own movements.
Blinking, Sara looked away, realizing she had stopped turning for a moment. This went on for several more minutes, how long exactly she wasn't sure. The next thing she really knew was that a towel was being wrapped around her. A nice, warm, dry towel, as she pulled it around her shoulders tightly. Her feet were numb, as she took a few steps in place in attempt to warm them up, the puddle water splashing lightly under her gentle steps.
She was shivering hard, aside from the fact it had to be nearly eighty outside. Her head was down, her hair covering her face, the ends still dripping with the water they used. The only thing she could really think of at the moment was, now what? They had taken all their clothes away, shoved them in a large plastic sealing bag, and stuffed them in buckets, carting them away shortly after. Did they just expect for them waltz back to lab in these thin towels?
"What do we do now?" Greg asked, as if reading her thoughts.
She glanced over her shoulder at him, reaching up with one hand to move her soaked hair from her face. His hair was flat, something she hadn't seen in a while, dripping wet like hers was. He too, had a thin, long towel draped around his shoulders, the cloth ending around his knees. He had drawn it around his shivering body as well, his eyes watching hers as she gave him a small, encouraging smile.
Neither of them had asked for this; the situation was still to bizarre. Sara wasn't still too certain if she believed it or not; she was waiting for Nick or Grissom, or someone to jump into the tent and yell 'April Fools' or something along those lines. Although it was well past April Fools.
Sara sighed, lifting her head up. What was taking them so long? Were they done, or was there another process to this decontamination thing? She was cold, no make that freezing, and they were out of their minds if they assumed she was going back to the lab in only a stinking towel.
The tent flap drew back as they entered again, handing them both a pair of coveralls, and a plain white shirt, since the coveralls didn't zip up all the way on top. Sara glanced at the clothes, then at them before letting out a sigh, realizing that she would have to let go of her towel in order to get the clothes.
She glanced over her shoulder; Greg was already halfway dressed, the towel bunched up, hanging over his neck, his back to her. Sara wrapped the towel around her waist as she pulled the shirt on, before draping it over her neck in the same manner as Greg, stepping into the coveralls, groaning as the bottom of the leggings dragged through the puddle of water she had been standing in.
Once dressed, they were led outside, away from the house. Sara sat down next to Greg in the grass across the street, ignoring the looks they were receiving from all the onlookers. She was truly grateful they hadn't been drug outside before getting dressed.
Sara shivered, pulling the now wet towel around her shoulders in a meager attempt to stay warm. Next to her, Greg wrapped an arm around her, surprising her some as he rubbed and hand up and down the length of her own arm, from shoulder to elbow, pulling her closer to him.
"You warming up?" he asked her, still holding her gently.
Sara nodded against him gently, relishing the added warmth. The sun on her back now, that too felt nice. Shifting to move a bit closer to him, she grimaced at the odd feeling of having nothing underneath, wondering dimly if Greg felt the same way she did, seeing that neither got more than the shirt and coveralls. Her thoughts drifted back to the shower, wondering exactly how much Greg saw…
She blushed at the thought, pulling away from Greg despite the fact if meant losing the warmth. Greg frowned, watching her. "You okay?"
Sara nodded, composing herself before giving him a fake smile. "Yeah, I just got a…shiver, that's all," she stuttered, cursing herself at the same time. A shiver? That was the best excuse she could muster up? A shiver?
Greg only grinned, not saying anything as the two men came back, their suits reminding the two that the danger hadn't passed quite yet. They would know within two days, give or take a few hours if they were in trouble. That alone wasn't an encouraging thought.
They were given clean socks, and boots, ones that were too big for Sara, who mustered a sigh as she pulled them on anyways.
"You should be fine now," one of them said, their voice an odd sounding tone through the mask. "Head back to your lab, you won't be able to get back here for a while yet."
"What about our evidence?" Sara asked, "Everything's still inside."
"We'll take care of it," the second man said, causing Sara to frown. "Only a licensed CSI can handle the evidence at a crime scene, we have to document everything. We just can't leave it behind. What are we supposed to tell our supervisor?"
"Don't worry," he reassured her, "We know what we're doing, trust me. Get out of here for now, if any problems transpire, don't hesitate to see a physician."
Then they left, just like that. Sara turned to Greg, who hadn't said a word during the whole time. He was grinning, laughing nearly.
"What is so funny?" she demanded, frowning.
"It just occurred to me," he laughed, "My keys are in my pocket of my jacket, which is in the bag that's in the bucket, that I'll never see again."
Sara watched him, mouth hanging open slightly. "You mean to tell me we are stuck out here? Everyone else is working a case; it's not like they can just stop what they're doing."
Greg shrugged, laughing still. "We did, besides," he said, turning towards her, "I don't have my phone either." This thought caused him to laugh harder and Sara couldn't help but smile at the simple thought that Greg found this situation so humorous.
"I don't have mine either," she said simply, "So, what do we do now?"
"We can walk back," Greg suggested, grinning as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees.
"It's over three miles Greg," Sara reminded him.
"We did longer in the relay race."
Sara frowned, "Did not; besides, I was motivated then. I am not motivated to walk three miles in this, down the strip of Las Vegas. It's not exactly a trendy fashion."
"Just wait and see," Greg told her with a smug smile, "In a few years, all the kids will be wearing this, I know my style," he grinned, running a hand through his still wet hair.
Sara rolled her eyes, standing. "Maybe someone has a phone we could use."
"I could hotwire the SUV," Greg suggested, "I know how."
Sara shook her head frowning down at him. "You are not going to hotwire a company car," she told him.
Greg grinned up at her, "Okay, I'll just use the spare key then."
Sara lifted an eyebrow. "Spare key?"
"Yeah," Greg nodded as he stood up as well. "The one I put in the ash tray. Remember? Ecklie made spares for all the company cars, and had me put them away in each vehicle. That was fun…" he added sarcastically, his tone changing as Sara smacked him on the back of the head.
"Ow," he complained, turning to look at her, "What was that for?"
"For not mentioning it sooner," Sara told him, already moving towards the vehicle.
Greg caught up to her, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, I could report you for abuse."
Sara gave him a small smile. "Once they find out what I have to put up, they won't even look at your statement."
"Harsh," Greg muttered, climbing into the driver's side. Fiddling around with ash tray a few minutes before it popped open. Sara was across from him, already pulling a hair band from her small bag under the seat. She was thankful that she had left it in the car to begin with, as she pulled her hair back into a pony tail, in some attempt to get the wet hair off of her neck.
As they pulled away, Sara glanced out the back window, watching all the workers usher the people away. What had happened, and what would be in store for them in the following days? Were they truly okay? Or was the bio-toxin already in their systems, slowly killing them, as it had presumably their victim?
Letting out a nervous sigh, Sara turned her attention back to the front as the house disappeared from sight. She exchanged a quick glance with Greg, both of them wondering the same thing. She didn't feel any different, but that could mean nothing…or everything. Then again, if it was serious, they would have taken them to the hospital, right?
Sara closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the head rest. The ride back to the lab wasn't all that long, but Sara couldn't help but count the minutes as they passed by. Finally, they pulled into the parking lot, Greg shutting the engine off, moving to get out. Not a single word had been said during the ride, and even now, a conversation was hard to start.
They ignored all the looks they received; not only did they come back in completely different clothing, they were also empty handed. Not a common sight coming back from a scene. Finally, Greg laughed nervously, turning to her.
"You know Sara, when we were in the shower…I didn't see anything," he told her, as the two rounded the corner.
Sara grinned, looking up at him, "Oh really?" she wondered, feeling more confident about the incident now. "I saw everything."
Greg returned a look of surprise, one that was quickly masked by amusement. It looked as if he was about to say something, but didn't get the chance as they entered the other room.
It was several days later that found them both closing the case. They knew now what had killed the body builder, but they hadn't really gotten their evidence until that morning. Sara and Greg had been working for the last few hours now, documenting the photos from the camera. Once that was finished, the case would officially be closed.
Greg let out a low whistle, shaking his head as he placed several photos into a single file folder, glancing at Sara for a short moment. "So," he wondered, smiling some, "Did you see anything you liked?"
Sara glanced up at him, confused. "Huh?"
Greg shrugged, "You said you saw everything. I was just curious if you saw anything you liked."
Sara blushed, turning back to her work, at a loss for words. After a few seconds of uneasy silence, she tilted her head. "Well, I didn't really get a good look," she admitted, biting her lip at the comment.
"Uh huh," Greg said slowly, laughing. This was one of the reasons he enjoyed working with her so much, there were very few times he felt embarrassed around her, and even fewer times he felt like he had to impress her with his work. Sara had full confidence in his abilities, which made his job easier.
Working with Grissom he had always felt tense; it felt as though Grissom was just waiting for him to mess up with something. Sara, however, balanced both good and bad circumstances together, and let Greg choose for himself on what to do.
"Really," Sara nodded, her voice more convincing now. "I didn't mean to look, I just…sort of forgot you had nothing on."
Greg laughed sharply, putting his hands on the table. "How in the world did you forget that we were butt naked?" he asked.
Both looked up at the doorway as Nick leaned his head in, a surprised look on his face. Come to think of it, he looked a bit pale too. "Um, okay, I have no idea what you two are talking about, but that last part just sounded wrong."
Sara blushed again, this time more vibrantly as she turned away, her hand covering her mouth. "Oh my goodness," she muttered, facing away from the two men.
Greg laughed again, grinning ear to ear. "Hi Nick," he said, laughing still. "Come on in. Sara here, was just about to explain to me how she forgot that we were both naked together in the shower."
Nick nodded, but didn't move in the room any further. "What in the world were you two doing naked in a shower together," he asked, only to counter it a moment later. "Wait a moment; it's probably best I don't ask, right?"
"It's not like that," Sara explained quickly, turning back around.
"Yeah," Greg agreed, nodding. "I mean, first off, whenever you take a shower, you are naked…unless of course you want to tell us about some weird fetish of yours?"
Nick shook his head slowly, still baffled. "I'm just going…to go…and pretend I didn't hear anything."
Sara held up her hands. "Let us at least explain," she started, frowning as Nick was already down the hallway. Glaring at Greg she gave him her best frustrated look, "Now look at what you did."
Greg grinned, seemingly proud of his accomplishment as the two left the room. "You know, you still haven't answered me yet."
The End