Disclaimer: broken recordish: I don't own them.

Summary: Changes in the lab leave Greg and Sara's relationship in the open. SaraGreg

Rating: T

A/N: So, I better refrain from rambling here and say only a quick thanks to singingstarryknights for betareading.


Close distances

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Taking out his sunglasses and putting them on his nose accentuated, Greg looked into the low-standing sun over Las Vegas. Grinning broadly, he turned to Sara, who was biting on her lower lip to avoid laughing.

"Succeeded again," Greg cheered, and continued walking along the street.

"In what?" Sara asked smiling, also on the fact that Greg was especially up-beat today.

"Getting that smile on your face," he responded, thinking that Sara actually seemed often very willing to let him make her smile. She even laughed when he made admittedly rather lame jokes.

Her smile had now broken into a small grin. "Wow, you're really mushy today."

Greg laughed and took her hand in his. "All for you."

"And you're acting like a teenager with a crush."

Greg had to admit that this was a least a little true. They were just on their third date and Greg had spent most of the time grinning broadly at her.

"Well," he let go of her hand and laid his arm around her waist instead. "I think there's something I have to tell you." He leaned a little closer to her and whispered in her ear. "The looks deceive: I'm thirty-one."

Sara looked at him, gauging him. "Well," she said doubtingly.

"Well, what? You don't believe me?" Greg joked.

"It's difficult sometimes."

Greg took her left hand in his hand that he had had on her waist so far, and leaned to her again, kissing her hair.

"Greg, stop," Sara protested, "People could think-,"

"Think what?" Greg asked lightly, "That I have such a crush on you?" He tried to prevent the disappointment washing over him. Sara was only not willing to show too much tenderness in public, he was sure of that. Sara blushed slightly, and looked downwards at her feet, while they were still walking down the street.

"I'm still for the tee-shirts, you know," Greg tried to lighten the moment again. "Mine could have a saying like 'I love Sara'."

Sara punched him lightly in the side. "Don't you dare."

"Just kidding."

"You never know when it comes to you," Sara shook her head, chuckling.

They continued walking almost in silence, only interrupted by Greg's occasional comments on things or people they saw along the street. After a while Sara looked at her watch. "It's time, Greg. It was a great day, but I want to head over to my place before work, so we have to go now."

Greg nodded, looking around. "Where did we park our cars? This direction?" he pointed to Sara's left side. They had walked around rather randomly for hours, so he was not so sure about the direction.

"Yeah, I think so."

Some minutes later they arrived at their cars, without having gotten lost on the way, and Greg turned to Sara once more. "So, are there any chances for working together tonight?"

She shook her head. "No, I'll go with Nick over what we got from that scene at Lake Mead last night. So I think it will be you and Grissom, Warrick or Catherine tonight."

"Great," Greg said, though his tone did not exactly match up to his words. "But we'll meet for breakfast, won't we?"

Sara took his hand in hers again, and squeezing it lightly, she agreed, "Sure." She let go of him and opened the door of her car. "See you," she said and climbed into her car, while Greg made the few steps over to his own, watching her driving away.


Some hours later Greg let himself fall in the chair next to Sara in the break room. They had still some minutes to go until the beginning of their shift, although that did not necessarily mean anything, and Greg whispered something in Sara's ear, causing her at first to purse her lips, before chuckling quietly, until Grissom cleared his throat.

"Can we start now?" he asked rather monotonously. He knew what was going on between Greg and Sara. It had been obvious enough, even for Grissom's underdeveloped social radar.

As they had not really changed their behavior at work, had kept everything professional, Grissom had chosen not to comment on their relationship.

"So, Nick, Sara, how is the case from Lake Mead going?" he started, banning any non-work-related thoughts out of his head.

Nick answered, "We spent a double yesterday going over the scene and will start as soon as we're out here to look into everything we found."

Sara nodded only briefly in confirmation.

"You're free to go and start working," Grissom declared, and Nick did not hesitate. He got up, and walked out of the room, only stopping briefly in the door to wait for Sara, who said a short goodbye to Greg, and followed Nick.

"Greg, I have some questions about the report you finished up yesterday…," Sara heard Grissom continuing while she walked down the hallway together with Nick.

"Grissom seems to be in a good mood today, doesn't he?" the Texan commented.

Sara, however, was straining to listen to Grissom, and not listening to what Nick was saying, only mumbled in vague agreement.


Half an hour later she and Nick had spread hundreds of items in the largest layout room, and that space was also necessary considering the unusual amount of things they had gathered the previous day. It was no surprise that they had needed a double to go over the scene, Sara thought, while looking closer at a strip of cloth that had a stain on it that could possibly be blood. Sara made a mental note to send it to the DNA lab later on.

At this moment Warrick came into the room, waving a file. "I think I have a case here that could be related to yours." He handed the file to Nick, who browsed it quickly, while Sara looked over his shoulder, reading.

"I don't have time for that now, as I'll head out to another scene together with Greg in a few minutes," Warrick continued.

"We'll look into it," Sara assured him, just when Greg stuck his head into the room, smiling briefly at her, before he turned to Warrick.

"I'll change quickly into some other clothes," he stated, and grimaced, looking at Sara again. "DB, water, lots of fun."

"Well, then take a shower later. I'll refuse to go to breakfast with you, when you smell like death."

Greg chuckled. "Meet you in ten in the locker room," he said to Warrick and left.

"You heard it: I have to go, before your boyfriend sits in the driver's seat of the SUV, ready to go. I value my life," Warrick said, directed at Sara.

"He's not my-, okay, he is my boyfriend. But don't say it in that tone," she started to protest immediately.

"What tone?" Warrick asked, before leaving the room quickly.

Sara heard Nick chuckling next to her. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Nick assured her, turning back to his task.

Only two minutes later, Warrick returned with an evidence box in his hands. "I got you the stuff from my case as Greg's still changing." He put the box on the table next to Sara.

"Thanks," she muttered briefly.

Warrick grimaced at Nick, but Sara got notice of it, and glared shortly at the both of them, before opening the box Warrick had brought and taking evidence bags out of it. Warrick left again and Sara and Nick continued working in silence, only interrupted by brief comments on their findings.

The silence was then suddenly broken though by an earsplitting sound ringing through the lab. Sara knew immediately what it was. She remembered too well how the fire alarm had started after the explosion in the DNA lab some years ago.

She glanced at Nick. "We have to lock away the evidence quickly and then get out of here."

Nick nodded and started to pile evidence bags into a box, Sara doing the same with the box Warrick had brought only some minutes ago. She was almost finished with packing up the box when Nick held up another evidence bag. "Don't forget that," he said smiling, though looking a little nervous.

Sara sealed, marked and signed the bag quickly, watching out of the corner of her eyes how people hurried along the hallway to get out of the building. When she was finished she placed the box into the closet where Nick had already put several other boxes. He locked it, and said, "Let's go."

They had not needed more than two minutes to pack everything up, but now it was really time to go, Sara thought nervously, and hurried together with Nick out of the room, wondering briefly if Greg and Warrick had already left before all hell broke loose in the lab.

TBC