Note- This is my first ever fanfic and am interested to know what anyone
thinks- constructive criticism would be much appreciated. Hope you enjoy
the story!!!
Love in the Dark
Another hot day in Las Vegas was coming to an end and the Night shift C.S.I team was readying itself to start work.
Grissom found his staff in the break room. Nick and Warrick were deep in conversation about the previous night's football results. Sara was busy reading a magazine while Catherine was making herself a cup of coffee. They were waiting for their boss to arrive and give them their assignments.
One of the team in particular was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Grissom.
As he entered the room, Sara tried not to look up, she was after all trying to play it cool around him. Instead she acted as if the article she was reading was the most amazing piece of literature ever written.
"Ok guys, lets get going. Nick, Sara..." At their names they both looked up to their boss waiting for their instructions. "...you've got a burglary at 24 Carat Jewellers, big diamond's been stolen."
Nick took the assignment slip while Sara followed him out of the room with her head bowed down. Grissom continued. "Warrick, D.B found in a dumpster."
"Oh great, I'll be swimming in rubbish all night." He sighed as he left leaving Grissom and Catherine in the room.
"And Catherine, it's you and me."
"Oh goody." She smiled sarcastically. "What have we got?"
"Dead body found in a closet at a student party."
"I'll put my dancing shoes on then."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Grissom and Catherine pulled into the drive of the student house. Remnants of the party still remained, there were plastic cups all over the ground and a keg lay overturned. The couple got out of the Tahoe and walked towards the open door.
They ducked under the yellow tape and went into the messy house. Catherine stopped to talk to a detective who was already there, while Grissom glanced up the stairs and around the hallway until his eyes rested on the closet that housed the body.
Catherine came up behind him and filled him in on what she just heard as they made their way to the body. "Apparently these kids were playing some game. Two people, male and female, go into the closet. They don't know who the other is but it's up to them what happens in there. Kinda like spin the bottle."
"Yeah, It's called love in the dark." Grissom said matter of factly as Catherine stared at him disbelievingly.
"And you know that because...?"
"I've played it."
"You've played it? Well, you are full of surprises." She entered the closet, carefully avoiding the body which was in a standing position against the wall. She looked closely at the victims face. "I think this guy got some love in here as I don't think passion pink is his colour." She indicated the bright lipstick that covered the victim's lips. "So, did you find love in the dark Gil?"
Ignoring her question, Grissom also got into the closet and then looked up. He turned on his flashlight and shined it above.
"Come on Gil, it might help me better understand the case if you tell me." Catherine pleaded to get more information out of her friend.
Sighing in resignation Grissom decided to tell her more. He knew that she would just keep hounding him if he didn't tell her anything else. "When I was teaching at Harvard I went to a party at a colleague's house." Catherine's eyes widened at the thought of Grissom at a party as he continued. "They were playing the game and before I could object I was in a closet with someone, in the dark."
He finished what he was saying and immediately continued his investigation of the closet. Catherine remained still, expecting to hear more and when it didn't come she sounded her frustration. "That's it? You're not going to tell me anymore?"
"There's no more to tell. Now you're in my way." Catherine moved over as Grissom checked the sheets stacked on the shelf behind where she was standing. "Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me?"
She rolled her eyes at him in annoyance and then got to work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back in the lab, Nick and Sara were processing hair strands and blood found at the burglary site. They were waiting for Greg to give them some results.
Catherine had just arrived back and was waiting for the autopsy to start on the kid in the closet when she poked her head through the door to see how they were doing. "Hey guys, how's it going with the burglary. Find me any diamond rings?"
Sara looked up at her blonde colleague. "Hi Catherine. Yeah, got some nice jewellery here. It's evidence though so you can't touch it."
Nick joined the ladies in conversation. "How's your case going at the student house, I can only imagine what went on in there." Checking her watch to see if she had time to talk Catherine explained the case. "Got a body in a closet, some sort of game gone wrong."
"What sort of game is played in a closet?" Nick asked puzzled.
Before Catherine had a chance to answer Sara spoke up. "Love in the Dark. Two people, in an enclosed space, what happens in the closet stays in the closet."
Catherine was surprised again, wondering how the two science geeks knew of a game that involved presumably drunken behaviour. "Am I the only person who hasn't played this game?"
"I've never even heard of it and I was a frat boy."
"Frat boys don't know everything Nick." Sara smiled teasingly.
"Yeah but what we do know makes up for what we don't." He winked as he left the room. "I'm gonna check on Greg." Catherine and Sara continued talking.
"So tell me more about this game Sara, I'm assuming you've played it." Catherine took a seat next to where Sara was standing and pulled out another chair for her to sit on.
Sara followed her indication to sit. "Yeah, I've played. It was a while ago though- when I was in college." She saw that Catherine wanted her to continue. "I was at a party with friends and someone suggested playing the game. We were having fun. The organiser of the game picked two people to go in the closet. I went in first and then some guy joined me. I don't know who he was but that guy sure could kiss." She smiled softly at the memory and Catherine raised her eyebrows.
"Did you know him at all?"
"Maybe, but I never saw him. He did have a really sexy voice though that I'm sure I recognised. Kinda seductive, you know?"
"That is some game. So the people inside don't know who the other is? But there must be someone who would know?" She said contemplatively as she got up. "Thanks for the info Sara. Remind me again, what college were you at?"
"Harvard."
"There weren't any professors at this party, were there?" Catherine asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, could've been." Noticing Catherine's grin she carried on. "But it wasn't that sort of party and they would have kept their distance from the students."
"Right." And with that Catherine left Sara reminiscing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Flashback to Sara's college days.
Sara felt someone drag her shoulders from behind. She was having a blast at a party and everyone was getting drunk around her.
"Come on Sara, it's your turn."
She turned to see one of her friends, Jenna, pulling her towards an empty closet.
"We're putting you in first and then we'll put a nice hot guy in there with you. Just keep your eyes closed to begin with. And remember you can't talk about what goes on in there."
Sara twisted in her friend's grip. "I know the rules, now go get me a man." With a push, Sara was in the closet. She stood still as the door closed and she was plunged into darkness.
On the other side of the room, two men that appeared older than the students at the party were deep in conversation. They gestured wildly as they ignored the noise going on around them.
Suddenly Sara's friend grabbed one of the men and was taking him towards the closet. The blonde girl smiled sweetly at him as she explained what was happening.
"Since you're here, you may as well join in with our fun. I'm putting you in that closet for ten minutes."
The man reacted to her explanation. "How is this fun?"
"You'll see." She spoke strangely as he raised his eyebrows to her.
"There's someone in there waiting for you. Now you have fun Dr. Grissom." The girl stood Grissom so that his back faced the door. She opened it quickly and then pushed him inside making sure not too much light could get in. "You're ten minutes starts now." She shut the door.
Grissom now stood in a small space and could see nothing. He could hear the slow breathing of another person and felt a twinge of excitement as he smelled an intoxicating perfume in the air. "Hi" Was all he could think to say.
From the darkness he heard a reply. "Hey."
His confusion was at its peak as he didn't know what was required of him. "So what now?"
The voice startled him as it spoke again. "We do whatever we want. But what happens in the closet stays in the closet." She spoke in a low, faux ominous tone.
He recognised the voice but wasn't sure who it was. All he knew was that whoever it was had managed to raise his pulse rate considerably.
Sara felt it too. She had no idea who he was but the electricity she had felt as soon as he entered the enclosed space was immense. It was as if her body was drawn to him subconsciously. She shuffled in the space she was occupying and inadvertently grazed his hand with hers.
She withdrew her hand in surprise but could still feel it tingling long after the connection was broken. "We could just talk, you know. Don't feel pressured or anything." She stared into the darkness waiting for an answer.
He stayed quiet for a moment thinking about what he was doing. He entertained the thought of maybe doing more than talk. It was just a bit of fun after all and no-one would know anything. He had been at the party for over an hour and he hadn't seen any students he taught so didn't have to worry about it being one of them. What harm would come of kissing this girl who smelt so good it almost knocked him off his feet when he entered the closet. Realising he had yet to answer her he replied.
"I've always found talk to be cheap." He almost laughed when he finished the sentence realising how corny it must have sounded.
His voice swept over her and gave her goose bumps as the waves reached her skin. "There are better ways to communicate." She whispered back seductively.
The last sentence gave him the green light and he fumbled in the dark for this mysterious girl. His hand found her soft, wavy hair and he stroked it lightly before bringing his hands down to cup her cheeks. He then used his thumb to brush lightly over her lips so to use it as a guide to his own lips.
He brought his face down and pressed his lips to hers. She snaked her hands around is waist and pulled him closer to her. They kissed frantically, barely coming up for air.
And they carried on like this for the rest of the ten minutes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sara was woken from her daydream by Nick calling her to say Greg had their results back. She couldn't help thinking about that game now that Catherine had reminded her about it. She had always wondered who was in that closet with her but had never found out. She would listen closely to every college guy she met to see if he sounded anything like her closet man. But for some reason none of them seemed to match the image she had in her head.
The person she envisioned was a man confident in himself and mature but that wasn't any college guy she met. He also seemed smart and aloof. But she may have just been trying to envision Grissom as her fantasy man because at the time that was what she wanted.
He was what she'd always wanted.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Grissom was back in the C.S.I building and sitting at his desk. He was reading an article on a day in the life of the common house spider when he sensed someone staring at him. Looking up and over the edge of his glasses he saw Catherine standing with a sly smile. He took his glasses off to view her properly. "What can I do for you Catherine?"
"Well, I've hit a dead end with the body in the closet." He was relieved she was talking about work rather than trying to get more information out of him about his party antics. She continued. "The evidence is giving us nothing and I don't know, maybe we would benefit from a reconstruction."
She could see his mind working at her suggestion. "You think we might be able to pinpoint the evidence if we recreate the scene?" His voice trailed off at the end of the sentence in realisation.
"Exactly. We put two people in the closet in the dark and they scrabble around to see where the victim and whoever was in there with him put their hands. Just as a guide." Judging by his facial expressions she could see he wasn't convinced. "It could only help with the case Gil."
After a few seconds of deliberation he caved. "Ok, seeing as we have nothing. Find someone to do it and let me know the results." He returned his eyes to the article on his desk after replacing his glasses. He realised Catherine hadn't left his office so looked up questioningly. "What?"
"I think that it should really be someone who has experience of the game, they would know where to put their hands and it would be more beneficiary to the investigation."
"Get to the point Catherine." His lips were edging into a knowing smile.
"I think you should do it."
"Are you going to have this any other way?" He viewed her frame, she had an aggressive stance that showed she wasn't going to back down.
He gave in to her demands. "Alright, set it up and I'll meet you there."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour later and Catherine had used a closet in the building to recreate the one at the house. She used photos of the crime scene to put sheets and boxes in the correct places and was satisfied she had an exact copy of the closet.
Grissom rounded the corner to find quite a crowd in the hallway. Walking up to them he told them to get back to work on their cases. Greg was among the crowd and made himself known to Grissom. "So, you and Catherine alone in the dark then?"
"This is a murder investigation Greg, we find evidence in whatever ways we need to. And I thought I said get back to work." His tone was firm and managerial. Taking the hint Greg scuttled away to the D.N.A lab and Grissom turned to Catherine.
"Can we do this quickly? I've got other stuff to do."
"Yeah we're ready, you're the one who's late." She picked up a brush with bright orange powder on it. "Give me your hands." Grissom frowned at her. "You're going to be in the dark, we need to see where you have put your hands." She dusted over the tips of Grissom's fingers and then on his palms.
Confused, he stared at Catherine. "Who's going to dust you?"
She pursed her lips at him. "Didn't I mention, that I'm not going in with you?" He rubbed his head, even more confused.
"There's someone in there waiting for you, you have fun Grissom." She opened the door and pushed him inside and locked the door as it shut before he could say anything.
He was plunged into darkness, from the outside he heard Catherine shout "Ten minutes, do your thing." He listened in the pitch black to make sure he wasn't alone. He thought that maybe he was at the wrong end of a prank but then he heard her voice.
"Who's that?"
"Sara, is that you?"
"Yeah. Grissom?"
"Yes. What are you doing in here?"
"Catherine said she needed some help with a reconstruction. She said because of my experience with this game I would be ideal. Why are you in here?"
"Same reason."
"You've played Love in the Dark" She giggled quietly at his confession.
"Is there something funny about that?"
"No, I guess not. You play it when you were at college?
"Technically, I was at a college."
The darkness stayed silent until Grissom remembered the reason they were in there. "I think we should start marking the areas."
"Yeah, I agree." She whispered into what may as well have been the night sky as Grissom grabbed a shelf to leave markings behind him. Sara pushed her hand forward thinking she was facing the wall but instead came in contact with Grissom's chest. She let her hand linger there for a split second revelling in the heat radiating from his body.
Grissom grabbed her wrist before she could pull her hand away and he leant towards her ear. "You're going to have to explain that mark to Catherine."
"Hey, what happens in the closet stays in the closet Griss." She retorted.
He let go of her hand as soon as she uttered the words. He thought back to that day in the closet at his colleague's house. He knew the voice was familiar to him back then but hadn't known Sara that long so couldn't associate the voice with a name.
He thought to himself, surely it can't have been her, she wasn't at that party. What if it had been her though? That would mean that he had actually kissed Sara Sidle.
The times he had spent imagining kissing Sara he could have just thought back to those amazing ten minutes in a closet about 15 years earlier. A loud voice broke the silence in the closet.
"Hey guys, are you alright in there?" Catherine didn't wait for an answer. "You've got about seven minutes left. I hope you're marking everything."
Grissom didn't have time to go back to his thoughts as Sara filled the silence. "This has got to be one of the weirdest things I have ever done in the name of science."
Grissom didn't answer her, instead a playful thought came to his mind. He needed to know if it had been her all those years ago so he was going to test her. "You said you had played Love in the Dark before."
"Yes, at college."
"Did you know who was in the closet with you?"
"No."
"Did you want to know?"
"Yes. I tried to find him after by his voice but couldn't."
"That's interesting." A sly smile spread across his face. "So I'm guessing you just talked inside the closet then Sara."
Sara was glad to be in the dark seeing as her cheeks were turning a lovely shade of red. "Oh yeah, of course."
Grissom knew she was lying but didn't call her on it. "Sara, do you know what?"
"No, but I'm sure you will tell me."
He leaned in to where he thought her ear might be. "I've always found talk to be cheap." He leant back against the wall waiting for his words to take effect.
Sara was shocked. Those were the same words she had heard when in the exact same situation many years before. And true to the rules of the game she had never told anybody what had happened in the closet. The only person who would know the words would be the man who was in the closet with her.
She dredged her memory banks for what her reply was to that statement until she remembered. "There are better ways to communicate." She said slowly and quietly.
"Sounds to me like you've said that before Miss Sidle." There was a flirtatious quality to his voice that Sara hadn't heard for a while. She was sure that had she been able to see his face his lips would be twisted into a sexy half smile and his ocean blue eyes would be sparkling.
She pondered the situation and what was happening. She so wanted to see his face at that moment so she could tell what he was thinking. His eyes were always so expressive that she would know exactly what was on his mind just with one look. But because of the dark she couldn't tell a thing. Was he flirting? Or was he just being Grissom?
"Have you said it before?" The silence was killing him, he wanted to make sure Sara knew what he was getting at.
"Oh yeah, I've said it before. What followed the last time I said it though was one of the best ten minutes of my life."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, but you already knew that didn't you Griss?" The dark had given her a new confidence that seemed to make her say things she wouldn't say had they been talking in the open. She waited anxiously for a response.
Grissom opened his mouth to talk again so he could prolong the flirtation that was making the air fizz in the tiny room. The words stayed in however when a voice sounded from outside again. This time it wasn't as loud as when Catherine shouted in but it was still audible. It was Warrick coming back from his D.B case.
He saw the group surrounding the closed closet door. "What's going on here?"
Catherine tried to quiet him whilst recoiling at the smell emanating from him. He had obviously had a good look around that dumpster. Holding her nose she spoke quietly. "We've put Grissom and Sara in there together, figured they needed a push. I'm expecting fingerprint dust everywhere, except in the closet."
Not understanding the powder reference he said "I'm sure that makes sense to you Cath." He then heard a screeching metallic sound behind him so turned around.
There was Greg dragging a chair into the corridor and taking a prime position for what was sure to be a good show. Knowing he was being watched he looked up. "They haven't come out yet have they? I want to see Grissom's face after Sara turns him down."
Warrick eyed the youthful expression on Greg's face. "Dream on Greg, you don't stand a chance. Now pick up your chair, I have some work for you."
Greg's shoulders slumped as Warrick directed him back to the D.N.A lab.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sara and Grissom had been listening to everything that was happening outside. When they heard no more Sara spoke first.
"Catherine set us up. She was asking me about when I played Love in the Dark at college."
"She made me tell her about my colleague's party at Harvard. She wouldn't quit"
"Professor Armstrong's party?" She just wanted to make sure they were talking about the same thing.
"Oh yeah, but you already knew that, didn't you Sara?" His tone was deep and husky and it excited Sara to hear her words quoted back at her in such a way. She was startled as she suddenly felt Grissom's hand on her shoulder.
He didn't know what he was doing, he just felt like touching her at that moment. His hand had somehow found itself on her shoulder and due to the cut of her top was now stroking her bare skin. The fizzing air in the room was displaced as he stepped closer to her and dropped his hands to his sides.
She could feel him standing there right in front of her, his apprehension was evident in the way his breathing stepped up a notch. She could feel his warm breath tickling every nerve ending on her face. She wanted to tell him how much she felt about him because it didn't seem so real in the closet. She thought back to when she said it was easy to wear your heart on your sleeve when you're not looking him in the eyes. It was true. Had she been looking at him she would never have told him.
"Griss... I...er...want to kiss you right now."
She braced herself for the inevitable. He would soon be pounding on the door, pleading with Catherine to let him out. He would try and get as far away from her as he could, as soon as he could. She still felt his breath though. He hadn't shifted at all. If anything he had moved closer to her.
Within seconds his lips had descended on hers. But she pulled away. Concerned, Grissom backed away completely from Sara sensing that maybe he had misread her and she didn't really want to kiss him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. I think we should get out of here."
"No. I want to kiss you. But not here. I don't want Catherine to think she achieved what she set out to do." She started plotting in her head. "I think we should play a game of our own."
The atmosphere changed quickly from tense to playful as Grissom realised what Sara was up to. "What do you have in mind?"
"What if she thinks that our little time together backfired and left us hating each other?"
"We could do that. I'm no good at acting though and I wouldn't be able to hate you convincingly."
"What about if I..." There was a loud smack as Sara hit Grissom right across the cheek. "Now the dust will show I slapped you and I'm sure there will be a red mark."
"You could have told me what you were going to do, then I could have been prepared." He reached to stroke his face feeling for damage. Never had pain felt so good to him. "So are we going to start this little charade?"
"Yep. And Griss, sorry about the slap. I'll kiss it better later if you like." Now she turned towards the locked door and started pounding on it. "Catherine, the time must be up now. Let me out of here." She tried to sound as angry as possible.
The door opened and Sara flounced out of the closet and walked quickly towards the locker room. Catherine looked after her wondering what her problem was. She turned back to the closet to see Grissom adjusting to the new bright light with dust over his face and a big red mark appearing. She also noted the powdered hand print on his chest and his bemused expression.
"What happened Gil?" She questioned with worry.
He explained that his helpful instructions to Sara on how to best mark the closet were perceived as condescending and she slapped him. He clarified that the mark on his chest was a result of her pushing him back when he tried to apologize. "Honestly Catherine, I don't know why I put up with her any more. I thought bringing her to Las Vegas could only be a good thing but now I'm not so sure."
Seeing that Catherine was taken aback by his statement he silently congratulated himself on his acting skills. She believed that he was mad at Sara and thus hung on his every word. "I suppose she is a good C.S.I, but her attitude is lousy. I wish she would act a little more grown up."
Catherine couldn't stay silent any longer. "Gil, I think you should sort this out."
Catherine didn't notice but Sara was coming back. Grissom used this to further the act by waiting until she was in listening distance to reply to Catherine. "Why should I sort this out? She's the one being immature."
Understanding this as her cue, Sara stormed over. "What the hell Grissom? I'm gone a minute and already you're bitching about me behind my back. That's one way to be mature."
He countered rapidly. "Maybe you should have thought about maturity before you slapped me."
The commotion had caused Greg to come out into the corridor again. The beaming smile that lit up his face when he saw the state of affairs could have replaced the sun in the sky. Sara had slapped Grissom and he assumed he was right about Sara refusing his advances.
Catherine saw that people were starting to get disturbed by the disorder so ushered the couple into Grissom's office. She sat them both down and decided to play teacher to the two children fighting in the playground.
"I don't know what happened to you two but whatever it is needs to be sorted out, and soon. You are both adults who should be able to settle a disagreement without squabbling. I'm going to leave you alone in here for a while so you can talk out your differences like grown ups. I have a child at home so I don't want to have to deal with children at work." She left the room and closed the door while Sara and Grissom still pretended to be mad at each other while secretly yearning to touch one another.
Love in the Dark
Another hot day in Las Vegas was coming to an end and the Night shift C.S.I team was readying itself to start work.
Grissom found his staff in the break room. Nick and Warrick were deep in conversation about the previous night's football results. Sara was busy reading a magazine while Catherine was making herself a cup of coffee. They were waiting for their boss to arrive and give them their assignments.
One of the team in particular was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Grissom.
As he entered the room, Sara tried not to look up, she was after all trying to play it cool around him. Instead she acted as if the article she was reading was the most amazing piece of literature ever written.
"Ok guys, lets get going. Nick, Sara..." At their names they both looked up to their boss waiting for their instructions. "...you've got a burglary at 24 Carat Jewellers, big diamond's been stolen."
Nick took the assignment slip while Sara followed him out of the room with her head bowed down. Grissom continued. "Warrick, D.B found in a dumpster."
"Oh great, I'll be swimming in rubbish all night." He sighed as he left leaving Grissom and Catherine in the room.
"And Catherine, it's you and me."
"Oh goody." She smiled sarcastically. "What have we got?"
"Dead body found in a closet at a student party."
"I'll put my dancing shoes on then."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Grissom and Catherine pulled into the drive of the student house. Remnants of the party still remained, there were plastic cups all over the ground and a keg lay overturned. The couple got out of the Tahoe and walked towards the open door.
They ducked under the yellow tape and went into the messy house. Catherine stopped to talk to a detective who was already there, while Grissom glanced up the stairs and around the hallway until his eyes rested on the closet that housed the body.
Catherine came up behind him and filled him in on what she just heard as they made their way to the body. "Apparently these kids were playing some game. Two people, male and female, go into the closet. They don't know who the other is but it's up to them what happens in there. Kinda like spin the bottle."
"Yeah, It's called love in the dark." Grissom said matter of factly as Catherine stared at him disbelievingly.
"And you know that because...?"
"I've played it."
"You've played it? Well, you are full of surprises." She entered the closet, carefully avoiding the body which was in a standing position against the wall. She looked closely at the victims face. "I think this guy got some love in here as I don't think passion pink is his colour." She indicated the bright lipstick that covered the victim's lips. "So, did you find love in the dark Gil?"
Ignoring her question, Grissom also got into the closet and then looked up. He turned on his flashlight and shined it above.
"Come on Gil, it might help me better understand the case if you tell me." Catherine pleaded to get more information out of her friend.
Sighing in resignation Grissom decided to tell her more. He knew that she would just keep hounding him if he didn't tell her anything else. "When I was teaching at Harvard I went to a party at a colleague's house." Catherine's eyes widened at the thought of Grissom at a party as he continued. "They were playing the game and before I could object I was in a closet with someone, in the dark."
He finished what he was saying and immediately continued his investigation of the closet. Catherine remained still, expecting to hear more and when it didn't come she sounded her frustration. "That's it? You're not going to tell me anymore?"
"There's no more to tell. Now you're in my way." Catherine moved over as Grissom checked the sheets stacked on the shelf behind where she was standing. "Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to help me?"
She rolled her eyes at him in annoyance and then got to work.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back in the lab, Nick and Sara were processing hair strands and blood found at the burglary site. They were waiting for Greg to give them some results.
Catherine had just arrived back and was waiting for the autopsy to start on the kid in the closet when she poked her head through the door to see how they were doing. "Hey guys, how's it going with the burglary. Find me any diamond rings?"
Sara looked up at her blonde colleague. "Hi Catherine. Yeah, got some nice jewellery here. It's evidence though so you can't touch it."
Nick joined the ladies in conversation. "How's your case going at the student house, I can only imagine what went on in there." Checking her watch to see if she had time to talk Catherine explained the case. "Got a body in a closet, some sort of game gone wrong."
"What sort of game is played in a closet?" Nick asked puzzled.
Before Catherine had a chance to answer Sara spoke up. "Love in the Dark. Two people, in an enclosed space, what happens in the closet stays in the closet."
Catherine was surprised again, wondering how the two science geeks knew of a game that involved presumably drunken behaviour. "Am I the only person who hasn't played this game?"
"I've never even heard of it and I was a frat boy."
"Frat boys don't know everything Nick." Sara smiled teasingly.
"Yeah but what we do know makes up for what we don't." He winked as he left the room. "I'm gonna check on Greg." Catherine and Sara continued talking.
"So tell me more about this game Sara, I'm assuming you've played it." Catherine took a seat next to where Sara was standing and pulled out another chair for her to sit on.
Sara followed her indication to sit. "Yeah, I've played. It was a while ago though- when I was in college." She saw that Catherine wanted her to continue. "I was at a party with friends and someone suggested playing the game. We were having fun. The organiser of the game picked two people to go in the closet. I went in first and then some guy joined me. I don't know who he was but that guy sure could kiss." She smiled softly at the memory and Catherine raised her eyebrows.
"Did you know him at all?"
"Maybe, but I never saw him. He did have a really sexy voice though that I'm sure I recognised. Kinda seductive, you know?"
"That is some game. So the people inside don't know who the other is? But there must be someone who would know?" She said contemplatively as she got up. "Thanks for the info Sara. Remind me again, what college were you at?"
"Harvard."
"There weren't any professors at this party, were there?" Catherine asked suspiciously.
"I don't know, could've been." Noticing Catherine's grin she carried on. "But it wasn't that sort of party and they would have kept their distance from the students."
"Right." And with that Catherine left Sara reminiscing.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Flashback to Sara's college days.
Sara felt someone drag her shoulders from behind. She was having a blast at a party and everyone was getting drunk around her.
"Come on Sara, it's your turn."
She turned to see one of her friends, Jenna, pulling her towards an empty closet.
"We're putting you in first and then we'll put a nice hot guy in there with you. Just keep your eyes closed to begin with. And remember you can't talk about what goes on in there."
Sara twisted in her friend's grip. "I know the rules, now go get me a man." With a push, Sara was in the closet. She stood still as the door closed and she was plunged into darkness.
On the other side of the room, two men that appeared older than the students at the party were deep in conversation. They gestured wildly as they ignored the noise going on around them.
Suddenly Sara's friend grabbed one of the men and was taking him towards the closet. The blonde girl smiled sweetly at him as she explained what was happening.
"Since you're here, you may as well join in with our fun. I'm putting you in that closet for ten minutes."
The man reacted to her explanation. "How is this fun?"
"You'll see." She spoke strangely as he raised his eyebrows to her.
"There's someone in there waiting for you. Now you have fun Dr. Grissom." The girl stood Grissom so that his back faced the door. She opened it quickly and then pushed him inside making sure not too much light could get in. "You're ten minutes starts now." She shut the door.
Grissom now stood in a small space and could see nothing. He could hear the slow breathing of another person and felt a twinge of excitement as he smelled an intoxicating perfume in the air. "Hi" Was all he could think to say.
From the darkness he heard a reply. "Hey."
His confusion was at its peak as he didn't know what was required of him. "So what now?"
The voice startled him as it spoke again. "We do whatever we want. But what happens in the closet stays in the closet." She spoke in a low, faux ominous tone.
He recognised the voice but wasn't sure who it was. All he knew was that whoever it was had managed to raise his pulse rate considerably.
Sara felt it too. She had no idea who he was but the electricity she had felt as soon as he entered the enclosed space was immense. It was as if her body was drawn to him subconsciously. She shuffled in the space she was occupying and inadvertently grazed his hand with hers.
She withdrew her hand in surprise but could still feel it tingling long after the connection was broken. "We could just talk, you know. Don't feel pressured or anything." She stared into the darkness waiting for an answer.
He stayed quiet for a moment thinking about what he was doing. He entertained the thought of maybe doing more than talk. It was just a bit of fun after all and no-one would know anything. He had been at the party for over an hour and he hadn't seen any students he taught so didn't have to worry about it being one of them. What harm would come of kissing this girl who smelt so good it almost knocked him off his feet when he entered the closet. Realising he had yet to answer her he replied.
"I've always found talk to be cheap." He almost laughed when he finished the sentence realising how corny it must have sounded.
His voice swept over her and gave her goose bumps as the waves reached her skin. "There are better ways to communicate." She whispered back seductively.
The last sentence gave him the green light and he fumbled in the dark for this mysterious girl. His hand found her soft, wavy hair and he stroked it lightly before bringing his hands down to cup her cheeks. He then used his thumb to brush lightly over her lips so to use it as a guide to his own lips.
He brought his face down and pressed his lips to hers. She snaked her hands around is waist and pulled him closer to her. They kissed frantically, barely coming up for air.
And they carried on like this for the rest of the ten minutes.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sara was woken from her daydream by Nick calling her to say Greg had their results back. She couldn't help thinking about that game now that Catherine had reminded her about it. She had always wondered who was in that closet with her but had never found out. She would listen closely to every college guy she met to see if he sounded anything like her closet man. But for some reason none of them seemed to match the image she had in her head.
The person she envisioned was a man confident in himself and mature but that wasn't any college guy she met. He also seemed smart and aloof. But she may have just been trying to envision Grissom as her fantasy man because at the time that was what she wanted.
He was what she'd always wanted.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Grissom was back in the C.S.I building and sitting at his desk. He was reading an article on a day in the life of the common house spider when he sensed someone staring at him. Looking up and over the edge of his glasses he saw Catherine standing with a sly smile. He took his glasses off to view her properly. "What can I do for you Catherine?"
"Well, I've hit a dead end with the body in the closet." He was relieved she was talking about work rather than trying to get more information out of him about his party antics. She continued. "The evidence is giving us nothing and I don't know, maybe we would benefit from a reconstruction."
She could see his mind working at her suggestion. "You think we might be able to pinpoint the evidence if we recreate the scene?" His voice trailed off at the end of the sentence in realisation.
"Exactly. We put two people in the closet in the dark and they scrabble around to see where the victim and whoever was in there with him put their hands. Just as a guide." Judging by his facial expressions she could see he wasn't convinced. "It could only help with the case Gil."
After a few seconds of deliberation he caved. "Ok, seeing as we have nothing. Find someone to do it and let me know the results." He returned his eyes to the article on his desk after replacing his glasses. He realised Catherine hadn't left his office so looked up questioningly. "What?"
"I think that it should really be someone who has experience of the game, they would know where to put their hands and it would be more beneficiary to the investigation."
"Get to the point Catherine." His lips were edging into a knowing smile.
"I think you should do it."
"Are you going to have this any other way?" He viewed her frame, she had an aggressive stance that showed she wasn't going to back down.
He gave in to her demands. "Alright, set it up and I'll meet you there."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour later and Catherine had used a closet in the building to recreate the one at the house. She used photos of the crime scene to put sheets and boxes in the correct places and was satisfied she had an exact copy of the closet.
Grissom rounded the corner to find quite a crowd in the hallway. Walking up to them he told them to get back to work on their cases. Greg was among the crowd and made himself known to Grissom. "So, you and Catherine alone in the dark then?"
"This is a murder investigation Greg, we find evidence in whatever ways we need to. And I thought I said get back to work." His tone was firm and managerial. Taking the hint Greg scuttled away to the D.N.A lab and Grissom turned to Catherine.
"Can we do this quickly? I've got other stuff to do."
"Yeah we're ready, you're the one who's late." She picked up a brush with bright orange powder on it. "Give me your hands." Grissom frowned at her. "You're going to be in the dark, we need to see where you have put your hands." She dusted over the tips of Grissom's fingers and then on his palms.
Confused, he stared at Catherine. "Who's going to dust you?"
She pursed her lips at him. "Didn't I mention, that I'm not going in with you?" He rubbed his head, even more confused.
"There's someone in there waiting for you, you have fun Grissom." She opened the door and pushed him inside and locked the door as it shut before he could say anything.
He was plunged into darkness, from the outside he heard Catherine shout "Ten minutes, do your thing." He listened in the pitch black to make sure he wasn't alone. He thought that maybe he was at the wrong end of a prank but then he heard her voice.
"Who's that?"
"Sara, is that you?"
"Yeah. Grissom?"
"Yes. What are you doing in here?"
"Catherine said she needed some help with a reconstruction. She said because of my experience with this game I would be ideal. Why are you in here?"
"Same reason."
"You've played Love in the Dark" She giggled quietly at his confession.
"Is there something funny about that?"
"No, I guess not. You play it when you were at college?
"Technically, I was at a college."
The darkness stayed silent until Grissom remembered the reason they were in there. "I think we should start marking the areas."
"Yeah, I agree." She whispered into what may as well have been the night sky as Grissom grabbed a shelf to leave markings behind him. Sara pushed her hand forward thinking she was facing the wall but instead came in contact with Grissom's chest. She let her hand linger there for a split second revelling in the heat radiating from his body.
Grissom grabbed her wrist before she could pull her hand away and he leant towards her ear. "You're going to have to explain that mark to Catherine."
"Hey, what happens in the closet stays in the closet Griss." She retorted.
He let go of her hand as soon as she uttered the words. He thought back to that day in the closet at his colleague's house. He knew the voice was familiar to him back then but hadn't known Sara that long so couldn't associate the voice with a name.
He thought to himself, surely it can't have been her, she wasn't at that party. What if it had been her though? That would mean that he had actually kissed Sara Sidle.
The times he had spent imagining kissing Sara he could have just thought back to those amazing ten minutes in a closet about 15 years earlier. A loud voice broke the silence in the closet.
"Hey guys, are you alright in there?" Catherine didn't wait for an answer. "You've got about seven minutes left. I hope you're marking everything."
Grissom didn't have time to go back to his thoughts as Sara filled the silence. "This has got to be one of the weirdest things I have ever done in the name of science."
Grissom didn't answer her, instead a playful thought came to his mind. He needed to know if it had been her all those years ago so he was going to test her. "You said you had played Love in the Dark before."
"Yes, at college."
"Did you know who was in the closet with you?"
"No."
"Did you want to know?"
"Yes. I tried to find him after by his voice but couldn't."
"That's interesting." A sly smile spread across his face. "So I'm guessing you just talked inside the closet then Sara."
Sara was glad to be in the dark seeing as her cheeks were turning a lovely shade of red. "Oh yeah, of course."
Grissom knew she was lying but didn't call her on it. "Sara, do you know what?"
"No, but I'm sure you will tell me."
He leaned in to where he thought her ear might be. "I've always found talk to be cheap." He leant back against the wall waiting for his words to take effect.
Sara was shocked. Those were the same words she had heard when in the exact same situation many years before. And true to the rules of the game she had never told anybody what had happened in the closet. The only person who would know the words would be the man who was in the closet with her.
She dredged her memory banks for what her reply was to that statement until she remembered. "There are better ways to communicate." She said slowly and quietly.
"Sounds to me like you've said that before Miss Sidle." There was a flirtatious quality to his voice that Sara hadn't heard for a while. She was sure that had she been able to see his face his lips would be twisted into a sexy half smile and his ocean blue eyes would be sparkling.
She pondered the situation and what was happening. She so wanted to see his face at that moment so she could tell what he was thinking. His eyes were always so expressive that she would know exactly what was on his mind just with one look. But because of the dark she couldn't tell a thing. Was he flirting? Or was he just being Grissom?
"Have you said it before?" The silence was killing him, he wanted to make sure Sara knew what he was getting at.
"Oh yeah, I've said it before. What followed the last time I said it though was one of the best ten minutes of my life."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, but you already knew that didn't you Griss?" The dark had given her a new confidence that seemed to make her say things she wouldn't say had they been talking in the open. She waited anxiously for a response.
Grissom opened his mouth to talk again so he could prolong the flirtation that was making the air fizz in the tiny room. The words stayed in however when a voice sounded from outside again. This time it wasn't as loud as when Catherine shouted in but it was still audible. It was Warrick coming back from his D.B case.
He saw the group surrounding the closed closet door. "What's going on here?"
Catherine tried to quiet him whilst recoiling at the smell emanating from him. He had obviously had a good look around that dumpster. Holding her nose she spoke quietly. "We've put Grissom and Sara in there together, figured they needed a push. I'm expecting fingerprint dust everywhere, except in the closet."
Not understanding the powder reference he said "I'm sure that makes sense to you Cath." He then heard a screeching metallic sound behind him so turned around.
There was Greg dragging a chair into the corridor and taking a prime position for what was sure to be a good show. Knowing he was being watched he looked up. "They haven't come out yet have they? I want to see Grissom's face after Sara turns him down."
Warrick eyed the youthful expression on Greg's face. "Dream on Greg, you don't stand a chance. Now pick up your chair, I have some work for you."
Greg's shoulders slumped as Warrick directed him back to the D.N.A lab.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sara and Grissom had been listening to everything that was happening outside. When they heard no more Sara spoke first.
"Catherine set us up. She was asking me about when I played Love in the Dark at college."
"She made me tell her about my colleague's party at Harvard. She wouldn't quit"
"Professor Armstrong's party?" She just wanted to make sure they were talking about the same thing.
"Oh yeah, but you already knew that, didn't you Sara?" His tone was deep and husky and it excited Sara to hear her words quoted back at her in such a way. She was startled as she suddenly felt Grissom's hand on her shoulder.
He didn't know what he was doing, he just felt like touching her at that moment. His hand had somehow found itself on her shoulder and due to the cut of her top was now stroking her bare skin. The fizzing air in the room was displaced as he stepped closer to her and dropped his hands to his sides.
She could feel him standing there right in front of her, his apprehension was evident in the way his breathing stepped up a notch. She could feel his warm breath tickling every nerve ending on her face. She wanted to tell him how much she felt about him because it didn't seem so real in the closet. She thought back to when she said it was easy to wear your heart on your sleeve when you're not looking him in the eyes. It was true. Had she been looking at him she would never have told him.
"Griss... I...er...want to kiss you right now."
She braced herself for the inevitable. He would soon be pounding on the door, pleading with Catherine to let him out. He would try and get as far away from her as he could, as soon as he could. She still felt his breath though. He hadn't shifted at all. If anything he had moved closer to her.
Within seconds his lips had descended on hers. But she pulled away. Concerned, Grissom backed away completely from Sara sensing that maybe he had misread her and she didn't really want to kiss him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to overstep. I think we should get out of here."
"No. I want to kiss you. But not here. I don't want Catherine to think she achieved what she set out to do." She started plotting in her head. "I think we should play a game of our own."
The atmosphere changed quickly from tense to playful as Grissom realised what Sara was up to. "What do you have in mind?"
"What if she thinks that our little time together backfired and left us hating each other?"
"We could do that. I'm no good at acting though and I wouldn't be able to hate you convincingly."
"What about if I..." There was a loud smack as Sara hit Grissom right across the cheek. "Now the dust will show I slapped you and I'm sure there will be a red mark."
"You could have told me what you were going to do, then I could have been prepared." He reached to stroke his face feeling for damage. Never had pain felt so good to him. "So are we going to start this little charade?"
"Yep. And Griss, sorry about the slap. I'll kiss it better later if you like." Now she turned towards the locked door and started pounding on it. "Catherine, the time must be up now. Let me out of here." She tried to sound as angry as possible.
The door opened and Sara flounced out of the closet and walked quickly towards the locker room. Catherine looked after her wondering what her problem was. She turned back to the closet to see Grissom adjusting to the new bright light with dust over his face and a big red mark appearing. She also noted the powdered hand print on his chest and his bemused expression.
"What happened Gil?" She questioned with worry.
He explained that his helpful instructions to Sara on how to best mark the closet were perceived as condescending and she slapped him. He clarified that the mark on his chest was a result of her pushing him back when he tried to apologize. "Honestly Catherine, I don't know why I put up with her any more. I thought bringing her to Las Vegas could only be a good thing but now I'm not so sure."
Seeing that Catherine was taken aback by his statement he silently congratulated himself on his acting skills. She believed that he was mad at Sara and thus hung on his every word. "I suppose she is a good C.S.I, but her attitude is lousy. I wish she would act a little more grown up."
Catherine couldn't stay silent any longer. "Gil, I think you should sort this out."
Catherine didn't notice but Sara was coming back. Grissom used this to further the act by waiting until she was in listening distance to reply to Catherine. "Why should I sort this out? She's the one being immature."
Understanding this as her cue, Sara stormed over. "What the hell Grissom? I'm gone a minute and already you're bitching about me behind my back. That's one way to be mature."
He countered rapidly. "Maybe you should have thought about maturity before you slapped me."
The commotion had caused Greg to come out into the corridor again. The beaming smile that lit up his face when he saw the state of affairs could have replaced the sun in the sky. Sara had slapped Grissom and he assumed he was right about Sara refusing his advances.
Catherine saw that people were starting to get disturbed by the disorder so ushered the couple into Grissom's office. She sat them both down and decided to play teacher to the two children fighting in the playground.
"I don't know what happened to you two but whatever it is needs to be sorted out, and soon. You are both adults who should be able to settle a disagreement without squabbling. I'm going to leave you alone in here for a while so you can talk out your differences like grown ups. I have a child at home so I don't want to have to deal with children at work." She left the room and closed the door while Sara and Grissom still pretended to be mad at each other while secretly yearning to touch one another.