Title: Magic
Summary: She wanted them to make magic.
Pairing: Grissom/Sara
Rating: PG
A/N: Thanks to Kelly for the beta.

She had thought he was the answer to her problems. She had thought - no, knew - that they would be so good together. She'd wanted them to be good together. She'd wanted them to make magic, but what she wanted wasn't enough. It never was.

Sara Sidle had never really though that love was for her. She'd never calculated it into her life's plan. She was damaged goods, had issues - who would want to put up with that? No one, she'd thought, and dismissed it. It wouldn't do her any good to wish for something impossible.

But then she'd met him, one Dr. Gilbert Grissom. Brilliant. Reserved. Damaged, just like her. They could help each other, she'd thought. It'd be perfect.

Perfect, she thought bitterly, willing away tears. Or not.

They skirted around one another for years - he confused her, and she intimidated him. She hadn't paid enough attention at the time to realize that confusion and intimidation weren't exactly a good basis for a relationship. Even if she had realized it - and maybe she had, somewhere, in the back of her mind - she probably wouldn't have cared. Sara Sidle was on a mission, and she was nothing if not determined.

The actual relationship had lasted less than a month. There was no instant clarity or mutual understanding. No fireworks. No magic. Nothing Sara had expected.

It had been stony, stubborn silences and one-sided conversations. It had been as many - if not more - cold nights alone, as before. Cold nights that were even colder, for some reason.

It hadn't worked. Sara had been proved wrong. How, she wondered. She'd followed the evidence and come to the right conclusion, hadn't she?

But she knew she hadn't. Somewhere, her calculations had been off, her deductions incorrect. Somewhere, she'd gone wrong.

Sara sighed explosively. If emotions were this complicated, she'd stick to crime scenes. At least, even if they were sometimes bizarre, they had a semblance of sense, logic, and rational thought to them. At least she could figure them out. And they were safer, even if they didn't give her magic.

Not that it mattered anymore, anyway.

Grissom hadn't either.

-End