Chapter Twenty Four:

Sara stepped into the lab, quietly making her way to the locker room.

She could hear the guys as they changed for shift.

She leaned against the locker and whistled.

Nick glanced around.

“That’s sexual harassment,” he announced with a grin as he came over shirtless and hugged her.

She wrapped her arms around him, letting one slip to yank on his boxers. “This is sexual harassment,” she purred.

“You need to go away for medical leave more often,” chuckled Warrick. “I’ve never seen Nicky here so embarrassed.”

“You can harass me,” announced Greg.

“That would not be sexual harassment but fulfillment of a fantasy,” she teased.

Warrick and Nick chuckled.

“You owe me a dinner,” Greg said.

“Seriously, Catherine told me you were not scheduled to come back for another week,” said Warrick.

“I got bored,” she admitted.

“You look tanned,” smiled Nick.

“I’ve been in the sun…not dark,” replied Sara.

“Hey, you heard from Grissom?” asked Warrick.

“No…I haven’t. He came to the beach house but left,” she said. “He just wanted to make sure I was fine. I am.”

It felt good to tell the truth.

Warrick and Nick exchanged glances. “You mean Grissom hasn’t been with you?”

“No.”

“No one has heard from him…in weeks,” said Warrick.

Don’t panic, Sara…

We just went our separate ways….

to think, right?…

She told herself not to call him as days passed since her return and yet no one from the unit had heard from him.

Days turned into a week.

The date for his scheduled return came and went.

She paced her apartment each day, hoping he would call but he didn’t.

Brass was just as baffled.

He’d interrogated her thoroughly but she had no additional information.

She had no idea where Grissom went to think.

They had each told one another it would be a time to think, to understand the consequences of their actions but more importantly, know that each had much to risk.

She had spent every waking moment desperately missing his body next to hers.

She told herself she had not become that obsessed with him but nothing seemed to fill the void.

As she sat in the daylight, sunning herself, the tears flowed freely.

There was no one around to hear the sobs or the hiccups or the curses from her heart.

She berated herself for not asking.

She was almost willing to track his credit card transactions to see if he could be located.

About was fair play, wasn’t it?

One evening he suddenly appeared.

He picked up his messages and then ran through the caseloads.

He did everything like he had done for countless years except enjoy it.

There were the usual hellos and pats of the back.

He had been missed.

Well, that counted for something, he hoped.

The team stepped into the lab together.

They had met early that evening for dinner at the diner.

One look down the hall and he was spotted immediately.

“Hey Grissom!” came the yells.

He turned and smiled.

He chatted with each of them, nodding as his eyes scanned the perimeter for her.

She was there, looking a bit tired already but she seemed happy, he thought.

He’d hoped she would have missed him.

“Did I miss a meeting?” he asked.

“Oh….we went to the diner for dinner,” explained Catherine.

“So, where have you been?” asked Warrick. “You look…tanned.”

All eyes shot back to Sara.

“I rented a nice villa on a private beach,” he explained as he sifted through the messages.

“Sara went to a beach also,” said Greg, glancing at Sara.

“Good. Did you have a restful time?” he asked her.

His eyes settled directly on her.

“Good,” she replied.

Grissom’s eyes returned to the messages. “Tell me the Rollins is closed?” he asked Catherine.

“No such luck. We need to talk about that one,” she said as she pulled him down the hall.

Sara licked her lips nervously as she avoided the others.

She threw her stuff into her locker and stepped into the hallway.

She’d made it halfway down the hall when she saw him standing outside of the conference room, listening to Hodges grumble about the inefficiency of the lab since he’d been gone.

She walked past him but suddenly she felt his hand in hers.

Her eyes glanced around as he held her hand firmly in his while he instructed Hodges to stop sucking up so soon since his return.

He pulled her body close to his and kissed her before she could protest.

Nick stopped dead in his tracks while Greg almost lost the box of evidence he was carrying.

She tried to struggle but he held her firm against his body.

She finally relaxed as he forced her to respond.

Slowly he eased his assault, letting his lips slip from hers as he whispered in her ear.

“Watching you…from the beach house…next door…was…sheer…madness,” he said. “It was just like what I used to do…here….for all those years…always watching…never touching.”

“Griss…you shouldn’t have…they're...watching us.”

“Did you miss me, Sara?” He whispered.

“Yes, I did,” she admitted.

“I submitted my notice…two weeks ago,” he said. “I came back to tie up a few loose ends.”

“Wait...you submitted your notice..."

"I'd already decided when I came to the villa," he said.

"But, you never said..."

"I wanted you to be sure...my own fear...sorry," he whispered.

"You're really going to just leave?" she asked.

“We can leave…together…this time. Maybe…just jump on some research boat and wind up in the jungle.”

“I think you spent too much time in the sun,” she gasped.

“What do you fear, Sara?” he asked. “I don’t fear anything…as long as I’m with you.”

She stood there not caring that eyes stared at them.

He leaned in and kissed her.

His hand pulled hers to his lips and kissed it. “What do you fear?” he whispered.

“I fear you’re going to regret this…later when you’ve had time to think,” she sniffled.

“There's nothing to think about. This job is nothing…you…are everything. Come with me, Sara. Come and be my assistant.”

He stopped as she shook her head.

“I can’t,” she said.

He’d tried.

He’d put everything on the line.

He couldn’t fault her.

He waited for such a long time to come to this point.

She kissed him quickly. “We’re partners….colleagues…mates,” she corrected.

He smiled. "You lead, I'll follow."

She gulped.

He was giving up everything to be with her.

Sara Sidle was worth the risk.

He pulled her down the hall.

She ignored the stares.

“Griss…I need to finish the shift.”

“Why?”

“Because I need to give a two week notice,” she replied.

“I submitted it this evening,” he said.

“You what?”

“I submitted it…hoped you would have agreed…but then if you didn’t…you could have straightened out the mess after I left.”

“Anything else you need to tell me?” she asked.

“Brass and Heather….want to rent to the beach house,” he whispered.

“About Heather,” she said.

“That again?” he asked. “Sara…”

“She explained…that it was her idea…you just wanted to protect me,” said Sara.

“Do you still…fear my relationship with her?” he asked.

“I just wanted…what you had…with her,” explained Sara.

He stopped abruptly. “Sara, we were just friends…who trusted one another….nothing physical.”

“You took her hand…with ease…without fear…you kissed her…without wondering who was watching…there was no fear in your eyes when she appeared…I wanted that.”

He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I’ll try to make it up to you.”

"She told me a few other things," she said with a slight Sidle grin.

He frowned. "I think I confide in her too much."

"I don't mind," grinned Sara.

"Not going to tell me what she said....are you?"

"I'll show you," she whispered.

He swallowed.

“Jungle, huh?”

“It’s better than teaching in some University. Don’t get me wrong…a jungle is no place to have a family.”

“Family?” she asked nervously.

“Why, Sara, what do you fear?” he grinned.

“Nothing…Penny, never let’s anything really bad…happen…right, Penny?”

Author smiles as she finishes the sentence, the next story already fresh in her mind as she writes the final words.

The End…for now.

Note from author:

I want to thank every reader. Some of us are old friends. We been together for some time now and I wanted you to know that I have enjoyed this time with you. We share a common thread and it is this crazy obsession with GSR. I hope that we get to see our favorite couple next year but in the mean time I know they are safe here in fanfiction. Be safe, have fun this summer, stay in touch through emails, facebook, etc and I will see you soon. Oh don't forget Billy's play starts soon. I can't wait to see it!

Take care,

Penny