Finding Equilibrium

[notrosesshadow]

Who: Martha Jones and Open
Where: The Bar
When: Sometime after her patients are released from the hospital.
What: Martha takes Jack's advice to work through her feelings seriously.

Comments

[trusts_evidence]

Grissom was wandering again. Clearly, the hotel didn't want him finding the Tahoe.

He'd had morning tea with Giselle - a new tradition he was glad to have - and left her to do her own thing for a while.

Hearing music coming from a door on his left, Grissom decided to move toward it and investigate. The bar looked rather comfortable, he noticed, and a smell that...

His nose scrunched slightly at the familiar smell. It was always the thing you didn't like that smelled strongest.

[notrosesshadow]

Martha watched the unfamiliar man enter. He was big. Probably could take her down if he wanted to. For the past year, Martha had been relatively safe from people attacking her. But her perception filter didn't work here in the hotel, and after the last man she ran into threatened to kill her with a scalpel, she was fairly cautious around strangers now. Three broken ribs didn't help matters.

She stayed quiet, though she stopped writing. She watched him scrunch up his nose and pressed herself further into the corner of her booth. Shadows were her friend.

[trusts_evidence]

Grissom stared at the jukebox for a few moments, listening to the tune and thinking he would have picked a handful of other classical tunes, over that one. Then again, how many people would put classical music into a jukebox?

He could feel eyes on him, but after the short time he'd been at the hotel, Grissom was beginning to get used to the feeling. Not that he throught the walls had eyes, of course, but he'd made the mistake, once or twice, of turning on the TV in the middle of the night to watch crappy movies.

And, with his line of work, someone running through unseen passageways behind walls really wouldn't surprise him.

[notrosesshadow]

He wasn't leaving. Oh why wasn't he leaving. Martha realized the inanity of her question. Why would someone come into a bar with the intention of turning around and leaving. She wondered if she could slip out of the place unseen.

A tickle made itself known in her nose. Please don't let me sneeze, she prayed to herself silently even as the tickle strengthened. Not only would the sneeze alert the man to her presence, it was going to hurt like hell.

"AAACCCHOOOO!" she exploded suddenly followed by an involuntary groan of pain.

[trusts_evidence]

"That's the one," he nodded. "City that never sleeps. Well," he quickly corrected, "that's New York. But, Vegas never sleeps, either."

"But, yes. Gambling, hotels and, sadly.. crime."

[notrosesshadow]

Crime. Crime was the only way to live under the Master's rule. Especially if you were part of the Resistance.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she replied automatically. She didn't know what else to say. She wanted to ask what it looked like when it was lit up. She wanted to ask why there was a roller coaster at the one hotel, and why another had pirate ships. She had so many questions about the city, but she couldn't ask them. Asking would be like putting a big neon sign over her head announcing something wrong.

[trusts_evidence]

"It's not your fault," he replied with an honest smile, then raised an eyebrow. "Unless, of course, it is your fault?" he added, with an even cheekier smirk, if that was possible.

[notrosesshadow]

"I suppose without the crime you'd be out of a job though," she added slyly.

"I wondered though... why was it built out in the middle of a desert. I mean, I walked for days before reaching it. Who thought that'd be a great idea?"

[trusts_evidence]

Grissom smiled just a bit wider and nodded toward her glass. "Was it that you're drinking? And does it pair with turkey and cheese?"

[notrosesshadow]

She looked at the glasses in front her. "They hypervodka or the banana shake?" she asked. She wiped her eyes for the last vestiges of tears as she pushed them down. "I don't think either would go with turkey and cheese. Though I'll warn you. The hypervodka feels like it's tearing tiny holes into the back of your throat."

Martha typically wasn't a heavy drinker. But she had been introduced to hypervodkas on her travels with the doctor. The throat burning sensation was awful, though strangely calming when one was very upset.

[trusts_evidence]

Grissom raised an impressed eyebrow at her mention of hyper vodka. Sounded extreme. His next thought was that he and Catherine were long overdue for scrambled eggs and screwdrivers in the wee hours of the morning.

"Can't say the milkshake does anything for me, but you've got my interest with the vodka," he told her with a smile.

[notrosesshadow]

She smiled. "It's strong. Like I said... tiny holes burning in your throat. Was introduced to me while on a planet in the near future."

She looked at her glass. "I promise you I'm not a heavy drinker. At all." And at the moment, she was still quite sober.