Grissom and Sara talk after Greg's beating in "Fannysmackin'."

This is just a short little story I thought of. Since Grissom and Sara were together during season seven, I thought it would be interesting to see a conversation between them about Greg's beating and aftermath.

Please read and leave me a review!

I do not own CSI.

Gil Grissom opened the door to his townhouse to find Sara Sidle, the woman he loved, sitting in a half-darkened room crying.

He didn't need to ask why. She had been to see Greg Sanders, someone she loved like a brother, after he had been nearly beaten to death by a gang of thugs. Placing his keys on the table by the door, Gil knelt down in front of Sara, who was sitting on the couch.

"How was he?"

Sara wiped away a tear from her cheek. "Not good. The kid, Demetrius James, died."

Gil closed his eyes and sighed sadly. He remembered visiting Greg in the hospital. Greg was almost unrecognizable, with bruises practically everywhere. Gil and everyone on the team knew that Greg had saved one man's life and hit Demetrius James because he truly felt his life was threatened.

Gil took Sara's hand. She let a few more tears fall.

"When I saw him at the scene," Sara began quietly, "He was more worried about getting the evidence and processing the scene than himself. I told him, I was there for him."

Gil smiled sadly. "When I visited him he was...scared. For the kid that he hit, the man he saved...and for his mom."

Sara looked at him, confused. "His mom?"

Nodding, Gil said, "He told me his mom has always been very protective. He said he hadn't told his parents about him being a CSI because they worry so much. He said his mom was going to freak."

Sara smiled sadly. "What did you say?"

"I told him to tell her that he risked his life to save someone else's. I think she'd be very proud of him."

Sara gave Gil a lopsided smile. "I think she would."

Silence enveloped the pair for several minutes.

Finally, Sara spoke. "When Nick and I visited him, and we told him that we caught the gang...there was a little relief, I think. But I think Greg knows that 'Pig' isn't sorry."

Grissom nodded. He knew from what Brass and Sofia told him that when they arrested Cole Tritt, a.k.a. Pig, he was unrepentant and even proud of the fact that he and his gang beat up four people, one of them fatally. Taking Sara's hand, Gil sighed. "I wish there was something...Greg didn't deserve this."

Sara squeezed Gil's hand. She knew that Grissom was proud of the young man and thought of him almost like a son.

"He's going through hell right now," Sara said. "What can we do for him?"

Gil sighed. "There's going to be a coroner's inquest, and he'll be confined to the lab for a while."

Sara nodded. "I wish there was something else..." She looked down at her hand in Gil's.

Gil lifted Sara's chin to look her in the eyes. "Just be there. He may not need a magic word or something. He needs you. He needs to know that no matter what, he's not alone right now."

Sara held Gil's gaze. She knew Gil was right. She wished she could take all of the pain-physical and emotional-from Greg. She and Gil knew that no matter what the press would say or what anyone else thought, Greg risked his life to save someone else and did what he had to do.

"Sounds so simple," Sara told him.

Gil gave her a thoughtful smile. "Just stand by him. That's what he wants and what he needs."

Sara nodded. No matter what came for Greg in the following weeks, she would be there for him.

The End.