Ties That Bind

Disclaimer: Every time I write another disclaimer saying I don't own anything about this show I die a little more inside. CSI belongs to CBS…

A/N – I would like to offer a thank you to everyone who has been patient with the segmented story. And, a special thanks to all of those who review. You're awesome people, and your comments make me want to keep writing.

Sara rolled over in bed and snuggled closer to Grissom, pressing her head into the crook of his neck. "God, tonight is going to be horrible."

He was barely out of slumber, struck by her words. "Mmm?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. … I was just thinking about work tonight. Go back to sleep. We've still got a few hours left." Sara shut her eyes and willed him to do the same.

"Honey, work is going to be fine. What are you worried about?" he asked groggily.

"Catherine," Sara merely stated.

Grissom winced at the thought of the pain that was cursing through Sara. It really was going to be hard being a professional and personal team. Hell, he admitted to himself that they were not exactly a professional team – he was her boss. Inwardly, he was still torn between knowing it was wrong and feeling it was right to tell Sara about Catherine's tirade.

Grissom the boss should have – and would have – told her nothing. Grissom the lover told her what she wanted to know. It was going to be a very hard line not to cross when it came to supervisory decisions and actions versus his personal feelings for the woman in his arms.

There was one saving grace in it all – Grissom knew that Sara would not run in there and demand anything from Catherine. He knew Sara well enough to know that she would just stay away from the blond and silently brood about it. As hard as it would be for her to swallow the pill of knowing what she knew, Sara was discrete if anything.

Still, he feared what else he might tell her if she were to ask. Each moment he looked in her eyes, it was getting harder and harder for him to tell her no to anything she asked. That, in itself, would not bode well for either of them. He had to remain aloof and professional when in the lab.

He thought back to the last time he really squared off against Ecklie in reference to Sara. The moment he ran into the office and took the heat for what Sara had done. He put his professional life on the line in that moment. Never once did he regret what he had done. He wanted to believe he would have done it for anyone on the team, but, in reality, he knew better.

Not one single part of his being was divided when he made the resolve to walk into the office and tell Conrad Ecklie that he was not letting CSI Sidle leave the lab. He could not let Sara Sidle out of his life. His selfish fear at the time was that if she left the lab that she would leave him – because he could never have brought himself to tell her about his feelings before.

He had never told her what he told Ecklie, and he believed that he never would. He had not done it out of pity, but how would Sara understand that? The selfishness he could explain, but would she accept that?

However, the moment at hand still hung in the air. Grissom struggled with what to tell her and what not to say. Complicated was an understatement in his mind. Could he live with not telling her what was going on at the lab? Did he not need to be honest with the one person in his life that he wanted to be open with?

He had lived solitarily for all of his adult life, consequentially shutting people out when they got even remotely close. He wanted to walk home to her every day after work and tell her about his day and what bothered him the most. Then, he thought, she would already be there for it, they worked together after all.

The fear of bogging her down with added worries of the political nature – which he hated taking part in – of his job, when it was part of her too, concerned him. He new she carried the job home, as did he. It had been their common ground for so long. They drowned themselves in their work and wallowed in the sadness for so long, and now they had each other to confide in.

Grissom made up his mind in that moment that he needed her so desperately that he would do anything for her. He was wrapped up in her to the point that if she pulled away that he feared he would crumble into pieces. He owed her more than a distant jerk that monitored what and when he said anything.

He could, would, and should share everything with her. Maybe the downfall of his career, but Grissom could not care less. He was willing to let it all go for love – a love that had consumed every fiber of his being. And, he mused to himself, he was not dealing with top secret clearance or world-altering data – it was just political and personnel challenges.

Opening his mouth to finally speak, Grissom noticed the steady rise and fall of Sara's chest as she breathed deeply in sleep. He inwardly chuckled that he had thought so long and hard about what to tell her that she had fallen asleep before he could say anything.

Hours later, Sara awoke and looked up at Grissom staring at her. He had not slept a wink in that time, relishing the sweet touch of her body as he caressed the skin of her back gently as she slept. The little faces and noises she made while she slept intrigued him. She was so peaceful and beautiful. Those were some of the moments he cherished the most in their relationship.

"Sorry," Sara mumbled through the sleepy haze still surrounding her.

"You needed to sleep. Look… Do you want me to talk to Catherine about this?"

Sara wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand and yawned. "Not really. I don't even want to see her tonight." The furrowed brow on Grissom made Sara wince a bit. "I'm not going to go off on her or anything. As much as she wants me to be a lunatic, I'm not going to give her that. … Well, not unless she gives me a reason to."

Grissom pursed his lips in annoyance. "Sara…"

"It was a joke, Grissom. I'm not going to do anything to jeopardize… the lab. But, mostly you. I know they'll blame you if I do something stupid. If no other reason than that, I'll keep my mouth shut." She patted his stomach and rolled from his arms. "We need to get ready for work." She stopped suddenly and looked around. "I just realized… I have no clothes to wear to work tonight." With a quick look at the alarm clock on the nightstand, she added, "And no time to go home and get any."

"Just come in a few minutes late. I'll distract them… with my manly charm," he quipped.

Sara turned and saw a smile on his lips. "Are you crazy? That's not an option – you know that. That'd put us both in too much danger." She sighed heavily.

"Wear one of my T-shirts," he offered, helpfully.

"Yeah, that won't look the least bit odd," she huffed.

"Just offering assistance," he replied with a light shrug and a wink.

Frowning slightly, Sara trotted off towards his shower, calling over her shoulder, "Where are the towels?"

"Hallway closet," he answered absentmindedly as he rolled from the bed. Grissom rifled through his dresser drawers trying to find the smallest T-shirt he had that was presentable enough for Sara to not take offense.

He mused to himself that she just took openly to being in his townhouse. She had no apprehensions it seemed. Her calm demeanor around him and with which she regarded everything in the few days they had been together made him realize just how she really had accepted him, flaws and all.

Grissom found what he was looking for all the way in the back of the bottom drawer. The black T-shirt had not been worn in years. It was a noncommittal color and about a size too small for him now. It might just be what Sara could live with for one evening.

He tossed it on the bed. The next while was filled with his usual routine of the evening before work. He pulled out some clothes for him to wear, started a pot of coffee, and turned on the news channel.

"Your turn," Sara, wrapped in a towel, mumbled on her way past him to the bedroom.

Grissom pried himself away from the weather report to take in her appearance. He wanted to call in sick and hold her in his arms all night. Would she every really know the effect she had on him? "I put a T-shirt on the bed for you."

Her forced chuckle made him smile. Damn, that woman was stubborn. He made his way to the bathroom and quickly showered. His mind was absorbed with thoughts of the shift and how he could help Sara without overstepping his supervisory bounds in the lab. Every thought was gone when he saw Sara sitting on the arm of the couch, sipping her coffee, and thumbing through one of his entomology textbooks.

Without moving or glancing his way, she said, "Your cell has been ringing almost constantly since you stepped in the shower."

Grissom mumbled something incoherent and started dressing while he was checking his voice mail. He realized he had been holding his breath when a large sigh escaped as he heard Brass' voice filter through telling him there was a body that needed some attention just before the shift started.

Sara fidgeted with her coffee sup as Grissom filled her in on the situation and few details that he had. He concluded with, "Start at the lab. Go to my office, grab the assignments off my desk – if there are any, and call me. I'll decide who they go to, and then you meet me at the body."

She found herself giggling and staring at the floor. Grissom found himself perplexed by the odd way she reacted to his directions. What had he said that could make her fall into a fit of laughter?

"What's so funny?"

"You just shifted into work mode. I can't kiss you now," she managed to say through an attempt at a stifled smile.

That brought a smile and a frown almost instantaneously from Grissom. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug. When she looked up into his eyes, Grissom did not waste a second to capture her lips in a very passionate kiss.

"I'll call you as soon as I walk into your office," she breathed.

"Mmm. I'll be waiting breathlessly," he replied with a flirtatious grin.