Previously on 'As The Lab Turns'
A smile began to spread across Sophia's face. "They never checked in for their flight."
"Have I mentioned how much I dislike elevators?" Sara didn't look particularly thrilled as she spoke to Nick in a panicked tone.
He gave her hand a squeeze. "Sara, honey, they're trying to get it working as fast as they can. Why don't you just try and enjoy the view?"
"This wasn't how I had envisioned seeing a little more of Paris on the way to the airport. Leave it to me to get us stuck in an elevator at the Eiffel Tower." She rolled her eyes and held onto Nick's hand for dear life.
"You did not get us stuck." He was trying to lighten the mood because he knew that while she wasn't afraid of heights, she didn't like the concept of dangling by a cable in a confined space high off the ground.
"Well no one else had a problem getting to the observation deck." Sara's voice sounded as if it had wound up a notch.
Nick decided to change tactics as he slung his arm around her shoulder. "Look at it this way. We're all alone with a romantic view…"
Sara's eyes widened as she pushed him away. "We are not having sex in this elevator, Nick…people can see in here."
Nick chuckled. "Sara, I wasn't suggesting that we make a public spectacle of ourselves, I just thought we would try and make a not so fun situation into something memorable and romantic."
Sara seemed to relax a little, but the confinement of the elevator was starting to get to her.
Nick leaned towards her and whispered. "Just let me distract you for a little while." He softly kissed her and when he felt her smile against his lips he knew she was going to be ok.
"They never got on the plane?" Grissom wanted Sophia to repeat herself.
Sophia nodded. "They never got on the plane."
A collective sigh of relief was felt in the room.
"So they're somewhere in Paris then?" Greg had a mischievous smirk on his face. "Probably caught up in the romance of the city."
"And it's a damn good thing too." Warrick interjected with relief.
When the elevator finally started moving, Nick and Sara were fairly oblivious until the doors opened on the ground level and they heard applause at the rather intense lip lock the two were in. Their taxi driver was still waiting for them and quickly whisked them away to the airport where they learned for the first time that the plane they were supposed to be on had crashed shortly after take-off.
It had taken some rather creative convincing on Nick's part to get Sara on the next flight out, but once they were in the air, she fell asleep with her head on his shoulder.
Grissom felt a little awkward. "Sophia, I'm not sure what you've heard."
She smiled. "Gil, I've heard it all, ok? When you work undercover you get used to it, although I admit, this was a little different."
"I mean about, uh…" Grissom didn't know why he couldn't just get the words out.
Sophia smirked. "Look, she may have looked like me, but it wasn't me, ok? Greg is having some of the same issues."
"But you're not Greg's sister." Grissom had an apologetic expression on his face.
"True." Sophia smiled. "But I am yours."
"This is nice that you got your old office back." Warrick mumbled as he nibbled Catherine's neck.
"It's all I ever wanted you know." She mumbled back. "Just a little privacy and you."
Brass stood in baggage claim waiting for Nick and Sara. He'd been in touch with French authorities about which flight they'd ended up on and he wanted to give them an escort to circumvent the press, which had literally been camped outside the airport hounding families of victims and anyone coming in from Paris since the Air France jet had crashed. The weary looking couple smiled when they noticed him standing there.
"Jim." Nick shook his hand as they approached.
"Hey, Brass." Sara greeted him.
"So you missed your flight." Brass had a serious expression on his face, but there was a hint of amusement in it since he knew they were ok.
"Nick wanted to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower before we left Paris and the elevator got stuck." Sara smirked as she felt Nick squeeze her hand.
"Well it's a good thing." Brass wasn't one to show emotion, but there was a bit of a catch in his voice. "I'm glad you're home."
Warrick was standing in front of the coffee machine waiting for the pot to finish brewing when he heard a familiar twang.
"I hear congratulations are in order." Nick had a wide smile on his face as he and Sara walked into the break room later that night.
Warrick turned around and let out a soft chuckle. "So I hear you two got stuck in an elevator at the Eiffel tower." His tone clearly implied that he wasn't sure he believed the story.
Nick feigned surprise at his doubt to the amusement of Warrick and the embarrassment of Sara. "Well, Warrick, we had to get at least one picture outside of our hotel room."
"So it's official then." Brass smiled at Sophia.
She grinned back. "Yes, you're looking at the new assistant lab director."
"You're much better looking than Ecklie." Brass smirked and then let out a dry laugh.
Sophia stepped towards him and straightened out his tie, not making any move to step away as she looked up into his eyes. "You're not so bad yourself."
Brass chuckled softly. "If I didn't know better, I might think you're hitting on me."
Sophia arched her brows enticingly. "I am." She smiled at the pleased expression that flitted across the detective's face.
"Good." He smiled genuinely as he slipped his arms around her waist. "Because I've been wanting to do this since I picked you up at the airport." Brass leaned in and kissed her and smiled as he felt her wrap her arms around his neck.
The End
Author's Note: Yes, I did say 'The End'. That's it. No more. No sequels. No additional chapters. Not another single episode. But then there are no cliffhangers either and everyone gets to live happily ever after…(Grissom has his spider after all) except Ecklie, but we killed him off…
Many thank yous to everyone for reading this. (Except for the one person who didn't quite get the point of a parody…you're taking this far too seriously…it's humor…it's not real…and while we're at it…fanfiction isn't real either…and the real show isn't real…it's fiction too…just let it go and have fun.)