Title: Confrontations
Author: Carina Scott
Genre: Slash
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Pairing: Warrick/Gil
Rating: FRM
Summary: Sara returns and demands answers.
Warnings: None really, although I might not paint Sara in the best light.
Disclaimer: Please don’t sue, I’m just having a bit of fun. Will return the boys relatively unscathed.
Author’s Note: I haven’t watched an episode of CSI since ep 2 of Season 7. So I really don’t know what went in insofar as Sara’s reasons for leaving or what the letter actually said. So, this is pretty much AU. All feedback is greatly appreciated. Enjoy!
Word Count: 1,236
Challenge: 20_est_relships ; Prompt #2- Surprise

~*~

“I want answers Gil. You owe me that much.” Sara demanded, pacing around his living room, as she had been since she arrived unannounced more than ten minutes ago.

“I don’t owe you anything Sara.”

“Like hell you don’t!” She’d been expecting a reunion with Grissom, not Warrick Brown answering the door half-naked.

“In case you’ve forgotten, you left me.” Gil replied in the face of Sara’s rising anger, trying to reign his own in.

“I did not! I told you that I needed a break, to find myself, to determine what path my life was taking.”

“And you did it in the most cowardly way you could. You wrote a damn letter! Did you really expect me to be waiting here with open arms when you got back?”

“Yes! I would’ve waited for you, Gil. I thought you loved me.”

“I did! I did! And you just left! I didn’t even think I could love anyone, but I fell for you. I trusted you with my secrets, my fears, and my doubts; and then you just left me. You didn’t even consider the possibility that I might’ve come with you. You didn’t even ask.”

“Would you? Be honest Gil. If I’d have asked, would you have come?”

“Don’t, Sara. Just don’t. You can’t come back a year and a half later and expect an answer.”

“Why the hell not? It’s an easy question.”

“No it’s not. Too much time has passed. I’m not the same man I was when you left.”

“Obviously.”

“Do you know how much my life has changed in the eighteen months you’ve been gone? Do you?”

“Well, obviously you’ve been fucking Warrick! How could you-”

“Don’t you dare say anything about Warrick! Don’t. You have no right! It took me months to allow anyone, anyone, not even Catherine, to see me outside of work. For about three months that’s all I did. Work, work, and more fucking work. I buried myself in paperwork and crime scene sketches. I lived and breathed evidence. I was well on my way to burn out. But I didn’t care. Couldn’t care. I even stopped riding roller coasters. I wasn’t living. I was simply existing. I didn’t feel like I belonged here, felt out of place in what had been my sanctuary. I only stayed because I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Didn’t fit anywhere else. I started playing a role Sara, being Gil ‘The Bug Man’ Grissom, because I didn’t know who else to be. I wasn’t your boyfriend anymore, but I couldn’t go back to the man I was before we started dating. I was completely lost. And I would’ve remained that way.”

“And I guess Warrick changed that?” Sara asked, sarcasm clear.

“Yes, he did. He came here one night and practically dragged me to the damn amusement park. We rode the damn roller coaster like fifteen times that night. He was bound and determined that I’d get out of my funk. He refused to let me leave until I’d had fun. Oh, I tried, fought tooth and nail to make it the worst night of my life, but I couldn’t. And it wasn’t even the damn roller coaster. It was just knowing that someone, anyone, cared enough to try to pull me out of my depression. That somewhere out there, someone missed me. Missed Gil Grissom, the man. Not the entomologist, not the supervisor, not the mentor, just plain ol’ Gil Grissom. It meant more than anything ever had. That letter of yours, it knocked the wind out of me Sara. I thought once again that I’d screwed up, managed to fail at yet another relationship. I blamed myself for everything. Warrick made me see that I was wrong.”

“Of course he did. Teacher’s pet blamed everything on me. Figures.”

Eyes snapping to hers in anger, Gil continued, “No, he didn’t blame you. Everyone else did. Hell, I did. But Warrick tried to make me see your side of things. Told me that just like I was lost, unable to figure out what to do with myself, you were just as lost too. Yeah, he agreed that you took the easy way out, with the letter and all, but for the most part he made me see why you did what you did. So don’t stand there and insult him because of your own anger and guilt.”

“Oh, I’m plenty pissed, but I don’t feel any guilt. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Realizing there was no talking to her, Gil nodded. “You’re right Sara. You didn’t do anything wrong. You did what you felt was right, what was best for you. Now I’m gonna do what’s best for me. Get out.” Gil grabbed her jacket and steered her towards the front door.

“Excuse me?”

“Get out. I’ve said what I needed to say. I’ve moved own. I’m a different man than the one you knew. I’ll never regret the time we shared, the love that I once had for you. But I‘m with Warrick now. I love Warrick; I’m devoted only to him. If you can’t accept that, it’s not my problem. But I have plans with my boyfriend and your unexpected visit interrupted them. Now, I’ll say again. Get. Out.” Gil barely resisted shoving her, but reigned in his anger and gently pushed her into the hall before closing the door.

Sighing, Gil turned back to his living room. He leaned back against the front door, contemplating on what had just happened. He expected to feel sad, angry…anything. But he didn’t. The anger he’d felt while she was here was gone. All that lingered was a profound sense of sadness. He’d loved Sara once, and to see the bitter, contemptuous woman that had just been in his living room, it saddened him.

Startling slightly at the sound of a door opening, Gil looked up to find Warrick walking down the hall towards him.

“She gone?”

“Yeah. You didn’t have to leave.”

“You needed to talk to her, and you it needed to be one on one. Plus, I needed to get dressed.” Stopping just in front of his lover, Warrick caressed Gil’s cheek. “You okay?”

Smiling at the concern and love that was reflected in Warrick’s face, Gil smiled. “I will be.”

Warrick stared at Gil for a few moments, as if gauging the honesty of his response, before leaning in to kiss him. Pulling back, he asked. “You still up for going out?”

Stepping closer, Gil wrapped his arms around Warrick’s waist, looking up into his eyes. “Actually, if you don’t mind, I kinda want to stay in. I feel the need to thank you properly.”

“Of course I don’t mind. But what exactly are you thanking me for?”

“Saving me.”

“Saving you?”

“Yes. You didn’t let me wallow in my depression after Sara left. You pulled me out of my funk. You restored my belief in myself. Showed me that I could love again. Proved that someone could still love me. In short, you saved my life.”

Blushing slightly, Warrick leaned closer, “I’d say you’re welcome, but it was a completely selfish mission.”

Gil closed the distance, sealing their lips in a deep kiss. When they broke apart minutes later, both panting harshly, Gil grabbed Warrick’s hand and led him to their bedroom. “Come on soldier, I have a mission of my own in mind.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

END