This is set towards the end of season 7, there shouldn't be any major spoilers but if you haven't seen seasons one to eight, you really should, they're amazing! But then you all know that so I'm going to stop rambling and just get on with it. Please review.

Oh an I don't own CSI. If I did I'd make them wear crime scene suits all the time. I have to suffer wearing them, so should they!

Apologies for being so cruel in advance.

Wings Of An Angel.

Chapter 1 – The Day The World Ended

"Where's Sara?" Grissom asked walking into the break room.

"Haven't seen her." Catherine replied not looking up from the magazine she was reading.

"Well she's late then."

"That's not like her." Catherine said finally looking up. "I'll ring her." She took out her cell phone and hit a number on speed dial. She listened for a while and then dialled a second number. "No answer from her cell or her home phone." She announced frowning. "Maybe she's driving, didn't want to pick up."

"You're probably right." He sat down and handed out the assignments for the night. She still hadn't arrived by the time he had finished. "I'm going to stop by her apartment on my way out." He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, Sara was never late and even if she was stuck in traffic she would have called in.

He fished his keys out of his pocket and hurried out into the car park. He drove easily through the evening traffic, that definitely wasn't the reason she was late, and pulled up in front of her apartment within fifteen minutes of leaving the lab.

He jumped out of the car and hurried up the stairs until he came to her front door. He knocked several times but heard only silence from inside. If she was there she definitely wasn't answering.

"Sara?" He called urgently through the door. He took his phone from his pocket and hit the first number on his speed dial. He could hear a familiar ring from inside. She had to be in there, she wouldn't have left without taking her cell phone with her.

He found the key that Sara had given him many months before and unlocked the door. He looked around the living room and nothing seemed to have been moved, nothing touched. "Sara?" He called again as he checked the kitchen and then finally paused with his hand on the handle of her bedroom door.

He opened it slowly and froze with the sight of what he saw there.

She was lying on the bed, dressed for work. Her body was still and although she was clearly dead Grissom couldn't help but step forwards and gently place two fingers against her neck, desperately hoping to feel a pulse beating beneath his fingers. Her skin was cold to the touch and he knew that she had been dead for some time.

Without really thinking about what he was doing, he took his phone and dialled another number.

"Brass?" Came the familiar reply.

"Jim, I need you to come to Sara's apartment now." He stated shortly.

"Griss, what's wrong? Is Sara ok?" Brass replied anxiously.

"No." He said and hung up the phone. He dropped it onto the bed and gently sat down beside her. All thoughts to preserving the scene had gone out the window. This wasn't just another case, this was Sara, his Sara, and she was dead, someone had taken her away from him. And suddenly nothing else mattered.

He sat beside her gently stroking her hair away from her eyes while he waited for Brass to arrive.

He heard Jim come in through the door which, in his haste to find Sara, Grissom had left unlocked.

"Gil?" Jim had called as he walked though the apartment until finding him sat on Sara's bed. Jim took one look at Sara's lifeless body and gasped with sheer shock.

"What happened?" He asked, he couldn't stop staring at her.

"She didn't turn up for work this evening. I came by to check she was ok and ..." He trailed unable to say it.

Jim took out his phone and called in. "I need assistance to 1425 Evergreen Court. I've got a dead body." His voice shook as he said the last words. He knew that all the CSI's would hear and recognise the address immediately but he knew that they needed to play this by the book if they wanted to get Sara justice.

Within minutes police officers were arriving at the scene. He stopped anyone coming into the scene, not wanting them trampling over evidence. The CSI's then turned up seemingly together wanting to know what was going on, none considering the awful truth, that their friend was the dead body.

"Jim what's going on? Is Sara ok?" Catherine asked as she walked down the corridor in front of the group.

He simply shook his head, his face was answer enough.

"What happened?" Nick demanded, his face white with shock. The group had stopped, trying to digest what they had heard.

"It looks like she's been strangled. Grissom found here."

"Where is he?"

"He won't leave her. Coroner's on his way."

Catherine pushed past Brass and found her way through the apartment. She found the bedroom door open and stepped hesitantly through.

Her attention was immediately drawn to the deep red marks around her throat and the hand shaped bruising across her mouth. Sara was lying on her back, one arm had fallen off the side of the bed and was dangling inches from the floor. He head was tilted slightly to the side facing the door, her eyes were open staring lifelessly at Catherine.

"Gil?" She muttered quietly. "Will you come with me?"

"No." He replied. "I can't leave her alone."

"The coroner will be here soon."

"I can't leave her alone." He repeated. "I should have been here for her."

Catherine hovered beside him until she heard the coroner arrive. She left Grissom momentarily to go out and meet him.

"Catherine." David said as he walked through the front door. "Is it true? Is Sara really dead?"

Catherine nodded. "She's through here. Grissom won't leave her." David wasn't surprised grief made people do strange things. He followed Catherine through to the bedroom.

David moved towards Sara's lifeless body. "Cause of death looks like strangulation, she's got defensive wounds to her hands and forearms, looks like there was a struggle. Marking over her mouth suggests that the suspect tried to silence her before killing her." He began sadly before taking out a thermometer.

"Going by the liver temperature, she died about ten hours ago."

Catherine looked at her watch. "We'll she left the lab at ten this morning and it's ten thirty now so that would put time of death at about twelve thirty. About half an hour to get home, that's if she went straight home, she clearly didn't have time to change out of the clothes she was wearing last night."

"I'll take her to the mortuary."

Grissom couldn't take his eyes off of her, he barely even registered what David and Catherine we're saying.

"Griss, perhaps it would be better if you went outside."Catherine said gently.

"No." He replied shaking his head. "I don't want her to be alone."

"David's going to take her to the mortuary."

"No. She shouldn't be there, she'd be cold, she should be with me, I need to look after her, keep her safe."

"Gil, there's nothing you can do for her. Let David take her to the mortuary, then we can process the scene and get her justice."

"This isn't a scene Catherine, this is her home, this isn't just some case, it's Sara."

"I know Gil, but she's dead and the only thing we can do for her is get her justice. Find the bastard who did this and put him away."

Grissom nodded slightly. "Be gentle with her." He muttered to David and looked away as they lifted her into a body bag. He followed them as they carried her out of the room and through the front door.

Nick, Warrick and Greg were stood outside each looking shocked, unable to accept what had happened to their friend.

The stood silently and watched as her body was carried past them. Tear ran down Greg's cheeks and although Warrick and Nick remained dry eyed their hearts were breaking with the unbelievable pain of losing someone so close.

Catherine put her phone in her pocket. "That was Ecklie. He wants us to process the scene, sensitivity never was his strong point, apparently days are understaffed and snowed under, he said he'll get them to relieve us as soon as possible. It needs to be done completely by the book. If anyone doesn't think they can handle it then they can return to the lab."

They all put gloves on and carefully made their way into the scene.

"There's no sign of forced entry, Sara must have let them in." Nick said looking at the door.

"Or they had a key." Catherine added.

"Do we have a TOD?" Greg asked.

"David thinks about twelve thirty."

"She's been dead all day? And no one realised."

Catherine shrugged. "She was, er, still wearing what she had on last night."

"She can't have been home long." Nick said staring at a pair of shoes by the door.

"How do you know that?" Warrick asked.

Nick pointed to the shoes. "Sara never leaves her shoes out, can't stand them being untidy."

"Ok, Greg, Warrick you process in here. Nick and I will do the bedroom. Ok?"

As soon as Catherine stepped through the doorway to Sara's bedroom, she saw a vivid image of her lifeless body in her mind.

"The bedding is untidy, that's not like Sara." They turned the light out and examined the room under UV light.

"Is, was Sara seeing anyone?" Catherine asked tentatively.

"I don't know, why?"

"There's semen on the bedding. I think it's fresh. This could be a sexual assault as well." Catherine said quietly.

Nick shivered involuntarily.

Catherine continued examining the bedding, she moved the pillow and a book fell out. After turning the lights back on she flipped the book open, she immediately recognized Sara's writing and realised that it was a diary. This book contained more information about Sara than Catherine had learnt about her in seven years. She bagged it thinking that it would be useful later.

"Nothing else looks disturbed." Nick muttered from where he was dusting the bedposts for fingerprints. "I've got some fingerprints, probably Sara's but we might get lucky." He lifted the prints.

Catherine ended the call and put her cell phone back in her pocket. "That was David. They've started the autopsy, the Doc thinks that Sara was sexually assaulted." Catherine said to the others.

"Shit." Warrick muttered. Nick put his hand to the wall to steady himself while Greg just stood in silence.

"This is so unreal, it can't be happening." Greg said, his voice shaking.

"Greg," Catherine began gently.

"No, we're stood in Sara's apartment investigating her murder. How can this have happened? This shouldn't have happened. It's wrong."

"It is. And we're going to get the bastard responsible. Let's take the evidence we've collected back to the lab, I think we've got as much as we can at the moment." Catherine said.

"Gil?" Jim repeated for the second time.

Grissom looked up after a few moments.

"The Doc has finished the autopsy." Jim said quietly sitting down next to Grissom.

"I want to see her."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

"I want to see her."

"Ok, just give me a minute."

He returned moments later and allowed Grissom through into the mortuary.

Sara was lying on the table covered only with a thin white sheet. She must be cold. Grissom thought as he walked towards her and placed his hand gently on her forehead.

"What happened?" He asked Doc Robbins.

"Cause of death was strangulation, she has ante mortem bruising around her mouth suggesting that the suspect placed their hand over her mouth, possible to keep her quiet. She has bruising around her wrists and also on her thighs. And she was raped."

On hearing those words, Grissom went suddenly very pale. "Gil?" Doc Robbins said noticing his pallor and that he was shaking. Jim stepped forwards and caught Gil whose legs seemed to go from beneath him. He helped Grissom to a chair nearby.

"Did you find any semen?" He asked eventually.

"Yes, I've sent a sample to DNA, there's also a bite mark on her shoulder, I've contacted a forensic odontologist, she's going to come and photograph it."

"I'd like to have some time alone with her." Grissom said unable to take his eyes off Sara's body.

"Ok, we'll just be outside." Jim said and he and Doc Robbins left.

Catherine, Nick, Warrick and Greg returned to the Lab with the evidence that they had collected and went their separate ways to begin analysing it.

Catherine picked up the diary and flipped it open again to a random page.

June 26th, 2005

He kissed me for the first time tonight. It was amazing, he walked me up to my apartment like a total gentleman and then as I was stood there not really knowing what to do and just fumbling with my keys, he lent in and kissed me. It felt like time stood still. I wanted to stay there kissing him forever. It was everything I imagined it to be and more. It couldn't have been more perfect, we had a fantastic evening and it ended stood in front of my door in the silver moon light.

It was beautiful, I've never felt so alive before. He makes me feel so happy, so normal, like nothing bad has ever happened or could ever happen. He was definitely worth the wait, with him around I feel whole. Gil has made me want to live again.

Catherine gasped. She'd known that there was something between Sara and Grissom for years but she had no idea that they had finally got together. No wonder Sara had been so happy recently. Her mind suddenly jumped to Grissom. He must be broken, he'd loved Sara for so long and had finally allowed her to get close to him, something that he had been so scared to do and now she had been ripped away from him.

She took out her cell phone and dialled Brass's number.

"Brass."

"It's Catherine. Is Gil with you?"

"He's at the Morgue, seeing he wanted some time alone with Sara."

"There's something you need to know, I think Gil and Sara were in a relationship."

"What?"

"You didn't know either then."

"No, I didn't. Shit."

"Jim, look after him."

" I will." He ended the call and turned to look at Doc Robbins.

"That was Catherine, she thinks that Gil and Sara were in a relationship."

"The poor man."

Ok, first of all, technically Sara's body wouldn't have been taken away from the scene so quickly, photo's would have been taken, sketches made, trace collected etc but I needed to stretch it a bit to the story moving. Second, there is no way they would let them investigate Sara's death, of course they wouldn't but this is fanfic and television does tend to push the truth sometimes. Third, I'm sorry, you must all hate me but I couldn't get the idea out of my head.

Please, please, please review. Whether you love it or hate it or your floating somewhere in between please let me know.