Love and corpses.

Disclaimer: I do not own C.S.I or it's characters and am not making any money out of them.

Chapter one

Sara's p.o.v

Note: This sort of fits into the middle of the current series (series seven).

The body in front of Sara was barely recognizable as human. It was rare for them to find a body so decomposed, they were usually either fresh or bone. Over the years her nose had got used to the stench, her eyes the sight. The one thing she didn't get used to was the strong taste of rotting flesh in the air that assaulted her vegetarian taste buds. Truthfully it wasn't the rotting pig that made her give up meat but her first three-week corpse the night after. Twenty-one days, add heat, add moisture add insects and animal and human flesh looks the same.

She looked over the mound of rotting flesh, at the face of her boss and lover. He was examining the body with an intense and grave look. Out of respect for the dead and secrecy she tried to remain serious and professional, however she couldn't help it if her heart gave flutter at that look. The intensity of that look reminded her of the one he'd often given her before he'd gentle cup his hand around the back of her neck and gently bring his lips to hers. Unknowingly her lips spread into a smile. He looked up; she waited for the strange remark he always made about a body, that geeky sense of humour she loved so much.

'Sara, start processing the scene with Greg.'

'Uh, okay.' Startled by his unusual sullenness she walked across the bare room. The building was meant to be demolished the following week. A last sweep round the buildings ordered by the demolition team had uncovered the body. The multiple stab marks and lack of blood told them that the man had been stabbed somewhere else and the body dumped here. The place was a likely dump, it was easy to see from the outside that it was empty, the fact it was to be demolished had been told in a local newspaper. It would have been simple to break in, the hardest part would be to carry the body the small distance from the street to the building without being spotted.

The room was carpeted, that was good. Carpets can hold and hide important evidence like fibres and hairs. The light switch might be the best place for fingerprints.

Sara knocked sharply on the door to Grissoms office; she waited for his easily recognisable voice to shout 'come in.'

She smiled, she'd got a fingerprint from the under side of the door handle. It had found a match on AFIS, which in turn had an address. It was as good a place as any to start. She hadn't really talked to Grissom today; he was already up when she awoke. That wasn't strange; lately he'd lost a lot of sleep over the miniature killer. He was quieter than he usually was after one of his sleepless nights. He'd barely said a word, it worried her slightly, but then he did have a lot on his mind. With serial murders every day that you leave the case unsolved could cost another person their lives. Needless to say it was a lot of pressure. At the scene he seemed to purposely keep her away from him, sending her to fingerprint then to the lab to run fibres. She was hopeful that the break in this case would cheer him up a little.

'Hey Griss.' He looked up from the pictures he was poring over, Sara recognised them as the pictures of a bloody doll from various angles. The miniature murders.

'I got a match on the fingerprints…'

'Sara.' He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh and took his glasses off, holding them in his left hand.

'I'd like to examine these again in peace. Could you tell this to Catharine, please.'

She stared at him. 'Okay then.' She answered reluctantly.

Sara stared at herself in the mirror. She didn't like what stared back. A part of her was starting to feel old. Or maybe a part of her was starting to realise she was getting older. Not a pleasant realisation to make, it seemed to her as if her youth had crept away from her whilst she wasn't looking. He eyes showed her all the chances she'd missed, all the things she'd wished for from life left unaccomplished. Was this what Grissom saw when he looked at her? A lifetime of disappointments, a woman beginning to get old. She was no longer that young woman who used to try and make him smile when he was giving lectures. She no longer waited behind after her classmates had left to tease him. Their relationship had changed over the years, mutating, advancing, was it now becoming extinct?

She sighed wearily.

She walked into their bedroom. Grissom was lounging on the bed reading Moby Dick in his blue Hawaiian print pyjamas.

'Gil?'

He looked up at her, his expression unreadable.

'Do I look different to you?'

Grissom looked her slowly up and down. The intensity of his expression when he looked at her sent a shiver down her spine. Not in the good way, he was examining her in the way he'd examine a crucial piece of evidence. Taking in every detail, going over it in his mind. With carefulness, precision, interest and concentration. But not with tenderness.

He hunched his shoulders slightly, gapping for a split second before speaking.

'No?'

Sara wasn't quite sure what to make of the answer. She dejectedly walked to her side of the bed and climbed under the covers. She settled down to lie on her side, once comfortable she turned of the lamp on the bedside table next to her. She heard the rustling of the pages as Grissom closed the book. A slight bump as he placed it on his twin table and the creak of the bed as he moved slightly. Sara could feel his eyes on her.

'Are you alright?' His voice was concerned.

'Fine.'

'Are you sure?'

' Yeah.'

He sighed and she felt the bed beneath her move. He was silent for almost a minute, it reminded her of when he said goodbye to her before going on sabbatical. His fingers meeting each other as he searched for words, only to find the wrong ones.

'Sara?'

She turned to face him, she had to admit, and he looked concerned. Just like when he was saying goodbye he seemed to be searching for words, on cue he placed his fingers together. For the first time since they arrived home she smiled. Just a small smile.

'I feel like there's something wrong.'

She knew it, but it still hurt. Physically. She suddenly couldn't breath; her heart seemed to have stopped. She felt as if this was the end.

'Sara?' Grissom reached out to her his hand brushing her cheek.

'What is it?' He asked. He asked, it was her who should be asking. It was him who said he thought there was something wrong with their relationship. It took her a moment to gather the breath she needed o utter her next words.

'There's something wrong with… with us?'

Grissom raised an eyebrow, his mouth dropping open a little in surprise. Sara was confused; the expression on Grissoms face was not what she expected. He looked as confused and agitated as she felt. It took a few minutes for her to realise that he saw it as a statement and not a question.

'What?'

'I, I don't know.'

'Sara, what do you think is wrong with our relationship?' He sat up as he asked again.

Sara pulled herself up to a sitting position so Grissom wasn't looking down at her.

'You've been acting… distant.'

'Distant?' He truly looked shock. 'Am I being distant?'

Sara was starting to feel a little more comfortable safe in the knowledge that he wasn't purposely pushing her away.

'For the last few weeks. I thought it was just the miniatures, but today, you were more distant than you've ever been.' Grissom was listening patiently. 'I started to think that maybe.' She paused unable to continue, Grissom reached out and took her hand.

'I thought that maybe you didn't want me anymore, that maybe you realised I wasn't the student you used to teach any more.'

'Yes I've been distracted. Mainly by the miniature but I have got something else on my mind. Please don't ask me what, it'll all be settled tomorrow and then you'll know.' Sara stared at him open mouthed for a few moments. He was keeping something from her. What? It must have been something terrible for him to worry so much. She wanted to know what it was, wanted to assure him and share his worries with him, yet he was asking her to wait. To trust him until tomorrow. She didn't really have much of a choice.

'Sara, I know you're not the student I used to teach any more. I love you far more than I ever could back then.' Sara's head snapped up she stared into those cold blue eyes. Cold, how could she have ever thought of those beautiful blue eyes as cold? They showed her so much love and understanding and patience. She just had to stop looking so deeply for it, it was right there on the surface she'd just never seen it before.

'What?' Grissom asked.

'You said you loved me.'

'I do love you Sara.'

She rested her hand on the rough skin of his cheek. Stubble was already starting to grow and she adored the prickly feeling against the soft skin of her palm. She leaned in, her eyes closing split seconds before she felt his lips against her own. It always surprised her that after so long of being together his kiss could still make her heart beat faster in her chest and her breath catch in her throat. He responded to the kiss gently running his tongue along her bottom lip, deepening the kiss until their tongues were lightly playing against each other. As his hand came to rest on her lower back and she moved so she could be closer to him she started to feel just like that wide-eyed young woman giving a smiling flirt to the sexy new lecturer.

Well there it is the first chapter to my first C.S.I. Fic. Please tell me what you think. I would really like people to be brutally honest. Do I continue with this?