A/N: I don't own CBS, CSI, or any other known entity. Spoilers for 8x7 (Goodbye and Good Luck) and 8x8 (You Kill Me), but mostly the latter. This is a one-shot I derived from the brief scene between Greg and Grissom in "You Kill Me". The sequel for "The Savior of the Broken" is coming, I swear... haha. Enjoy this one until then, and please review. :)

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Going On, With You Gone

The day she’d left had ripped his heart out entirely. She left without saying a word of goodbye to him, although something had told him that he shouldn’t have expected her to. Someone who had ignored his affections for her probably wouldn’t think twice about leaving without a word, even though they had been good friends. And now, a week after her departure, he was having a hard time moving on and continuing working.

His shift ended, and he couldn’t wait to get out of there. Walking the halls of the lab had become like walking through the house of a recently deceased family member, with the expectation of seeing her despite knowing that she was gone. As he walked toward the locker room, he kept his gaze averted toward the floor, deep in thought. He had cracked the case him and Catherine had been working on- that of a murdered four-year-old, and even though it was over, it didn’t sit well with him. Murdered kids never did. He barely noticed anything around him as he walked past Grissom. “Night, Greg,” his supervisor addressed him kindly.

“Yeah, whatever,” Greg grunted in reply. He never looked up to notice Grissom stopping briefly, watching the young CSI as he retreated through the lab. Truth be told, Greg didn’t care much about what anyone thought about him right now. There was only one person’s opinion that mattered to him, and she was long gone.

Sara, Grissom’s fiancée and love, had been his mentor in the field. She was the biggest help in his growth, and his biggest cheerleader when he was down. And while he had previously had a crush on her, he had gotten over it, and grown to being friends with her.

Or, at least he thought they were friends. But friends didn’t just up and leave without saying goodbye.

He sighed, slowly stripping away his sweat-soaked dress clothes in favor of something drier and more comfortable. Anything to get away from the stench of today’s horrid victory. As he pulled on a pair of jeans, Nick walked into the locker room, finding a bare-chested Greg in his locker.

“Hey, Greggo,” Nick said cheerfully. Greg grunted an acknowledgement as he pulled on his shoes, not feeling much for talking right now. The older CSI stopped what he was doing to look at his colleague. “You okay?”

“Fine,” Greg replied curtly.

“You don’t sound it.”

“What does that matter?” Greg threw a shirt quickly over his head, grabbing his jacket out of his locker.

“Hey, you wanna grab a beer or something? Maybe talk about it?”

“Nah, I’m good, and I don’t need to talk. Thanks, though. Rain check?” He wasn’t sure why he bothered to make some form of open invitation. He couldn’t even care about the present right now, let alone the future.

“Yeah, sure. Take care, Greg.” Greg grunted in reply as he quickly strode out of locker room, leaving the lab quickly and quietly. The last thing he wanted to do was get stuck talking to someone else. Someone else he would end up pissing off.

As he strode across the parking lot, the ringing of his phone caught him off-guard. He fished it out of his pocket with a grunt, not bothering to look at the caller ID before answering it. “Sanders,” he groaned, more annoyed than angry.

“Well, that’s less animosity than I expected you to answer with,” she replied. Her voice rang through his head and his heart, making him unsure and nervous. He didn’t know if this conversation would turn out well, given his emotions toward her and the day he’d had, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t.

“I didn’t even look.”

“Yeah, I bet. If you had, you probably wouldn’t have answered.” He sighed, climbing into his car.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Really? Because I would, given what I did to you. I’m so sorry, Greg.”

“It’s okay.”

“Really, I just… I had to get out of there.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“You’re angry, though.”

“No, I’m not.” He turned on the car, strapping in as well.

“You sound it.” He sighed, shaking his head, even though she couldn’t see it. “And from what Grissom’s been telling me…”

“Grissom’s had his head down a microscope ever since you left. You gonna trust him?”

“I trust him with my life.” Greg sighed at hearing the harsh tone in her voice.

“Sorry. My point was that he’s avoiding us and throwing himself in his work to avoid, well, everything else.” Greg put the car in motion as he waited for her response.

“Sounds like him,” she replied. “Putting work ahead of figuring out his problems.” Greg yawned slightly. “Am I boring you?”

“No, not really,” he answered. “I just got off a long shift, and you’re chatting me up about my boss.”

“Sorry. I wanted to check in with you.”

“Why? You’re the one that left. Should be the other way around.”

“Come on, Greg.”

“Come on what, Sara?”

“You don’t understand.”

“Look, I understand. You left because you couldn’t take it anymore. We all saw the burnout coming. And, given that you have a history that I don’t know that much about, I imagine that had something to do with it. Not to mention, it’s hard to come back from something like you went through. I wouldn’t know personally, but I can imagine. So, yeah, I think I understand.” She sighed softly.

“You don’t know.” He sighed angrily.

“You’re right. I don’t, and you’ll never tell me. And what’s more is that right now, I don’t care.” She paused, and Greg had the feeling that maybe he went a little too far. He sighed softly, calming down. “I’m sorry. It’s been a rough day.”

“No, I understand. Believe me, I deserve it.” He didn’t answer, focusing on his driving for a while. “I’m sorry, Greg.”

“You did what you had to do,” he told her, shrugging as he turned into the parking lot of his apartment and into his spot.

“I should’ve left you all something,” she said.

“Again, you did what you had to do. You wanted to get out of here, fast. No one can blame you.” She sighed.

“Yeah.” Greg climbed out of his car.

“Is everything alright?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you called me. Is something wrong, or did you just feel like reminding me that one of my best friend’s left me?”

“Ouch.” He sighed. He wasn’t doing well with this tonight. Not that he figured this would go well, but it was heading in a worse direction than he had imagined. “No, nothing’s wrong, Greg. I just, wanted to see how you were doing.”

“Why now?”

“Because Grissom told me you were in a bad place.”

“Like either of you care.”

“He cares about you, a lot, you know. And I still care about you too, Greg. You’re still my friend.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll believe that.” She sighed, and he felt a little bad for being a jerk. He unlocked his front door, and she heard the click.

“Home now?” she asked, ignoring his sarcasm. He knew the only reason she let it go was because it would spawn another fight. He took a deep breath, calming himself down. He wasn’t sure why he was so angry with her, because he really did care about her, but he couldn’t help being an ass right now.

“Yeah,” he replied calmly. He stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind him. “Where are you?”

“San Francisco. Out here visiting my mother.”

“Right. I heard that.” He dropped his keys on the table, walking over to his fridge and pulling out a soda. He cracked it open, and sighed. Curiosity and his deep caring won over as he sank down on the couch. “How are you?”

“I’m… okay. Getting better.”

“That’s good.” He took a drink from his soda.

“I had to get out of there, Greg.”

“I know, Sara. I understand.” He heard her sigh, and he took another drink from his soda.

“How are you?” The question didn’t surprise him, but he took the time to think about how to phrase the answer, without sounding bitter or hurt.

“I’m living,” he told her softly.

“Yeah?” she replied. Fishing for elaboration, no doubt. Greg took the bait anyway, knowing that he should probably explain somewhat. Internally, he hoped the answer wouldn’t come off callous.

“I’m tired, I had a rough shift, and the last thing I expected was a phone call from you.” He kicked himself in his mind, knowing that was going to hurt her. He heard her scoff on the other end of the line.

“Sorry to ruin your night.” He groaned at the sharp tone in her voice, shaking his head.

“I didn’t mean it like that. You’ve made it better.”

“Really? Because it doesn’t sound like it.” He sighed.

“What exactly do you want from me? You’re my mentor, my best friend, and you up and leave without saying goodbye. Sorry, I actually cared about you, so when you left like that, it hurt. I understand to death why you left the way you did, but was it so hard to say goodbye?”

“Yes.” Her answer was simple, taking him aback. “I agonized over what to tell Grissom. I had even less of a start in knowing what to tell you guys.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I cared about all of you guys, a lot. I still do. That’s why it’s so hard being away from you guys, but… Greg, I had to get out of there.”

“Hey, I can understand, Sara. Believe me. But I’m sorry, I’m still hurt, and nothing’s really going to change that.”

“I know. That’s why I called, though. Let you know, I’m still here for you.” He sighed, smiling slightly. It was better than nothing, he had to admit, and it truly was good to hear her voice.

“I appreciate that. It’s a two-way street, though.” She chuckled.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. Greg fell silent as the conversation wound down, choosing to take a drink from his soda. He sighed softly. “You okay? You said you had a rough night.”

“Fine,” he replied. “Just, bad case. You know how it is. Nothing a little sleep can’t fix.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Hey, uh, why don’t I let you go so you can sleep? You can, uh, call me whenever you want?” He smiled, yawning slightly.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Night, Greg.”

“Night, Sara.” They hung up, and Greg sighed, relaxing on his couch. He finally got up, making his way solemnly to his bedroom. Without giving much of a second thought to what just occurred, he crashed onto his bed, not bothering to change clothes. Closing his eyes, he felt a moment of peace wash over him, something he hadn’t felt in over a week. He soon realized that was because he had the promise of a continued friendship with his mentor, a fact that comforted him. It would take a little to get things back, but they’d be friends again.

But that still left Greg to go on in Vegas, without her guidance. It was time for him to grow, he knew that, but he wasn’t sure he was ready. It would be hard to keep going on, with her gone.