Disclaimer: I do not own the character that would be CBS. All words and probable mistake are mine.

A/N This little one shot contains spoilers for REDRUM. Please read and review.

The Gift

She hadn't expected to receive anything from Grissom, but the small box arrived just in time, the last two weeks since his departure had left her feeling more lost and alone than ever and her usual safe haven of work had had a uncomfortable air about it since the arrival of the mysterious Michael Keppler. Hours had been spent in their usually welcoming townhouse trying to hold on to his presence and cling to the sense of safety and calm his touch infused her with. From his worn clothes in the laundry hamper to his favourite book left on the coffee table she had submerged herself in the ethos he had left behind.

Across the other side of the country Grissom sat quietly in his foreign surroundings, the notion to escape the pressures suffocating him back in Vegas had seemed valid at the time, but two weeks into his self imposed exile from all that was familiar he found himself feeling empty and somehow incomplete. At the most inappropriate moments his mind would be drawn back to Vegas, not to the monotonous stream of deviant behaviour which eclipsed his waking hours but to the one person who had penetrated his protective shell, and with sheer determination and unwavering love had made him feel what he had never truly felt for another human being – love, passion and infatuation. No words could come near to capturing what he felt for Sara, his Sara. It had been this all consuming catalogue of emotions that had held him back from expressing his feelings for nearly five years, the fear of laying himself bare and being rejected was too great a risk to take, but over the years she had taken many risks on him, revealed her inner fears and eventually he had stopped fighting the inevitable and allowed himself to be enveloped in her love, now it was his turn to make a bold gesture. He had explained his reasons for leaving, implored that he wasn't leaving her but her eyes had betrayed the truth behind her brave acceptance, she felt abandoned, rejected.

As she held the gift in front of her she was at first bewildered as to its meaning, then she understood. Her shy, bashful man was sending her his love in the only way he knew, words of emotion frightened him and somehow they had discovered their own form of communication. Actions and expressions said what words could not, he had sent her a gift that represented their growing relationship, tentatively he was expression his hopes for when he returned, how they would rediscover each other and emerge as something greater and more beautiful than before. As she turned the branch slowly between finger and thumb a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. No amount of roses or flamboyant jewellery could convey the message as effective as this simple gesture.

Happy for the first time since he had left, Sara carefully replaced the token back in its box, storing it carefully in her locker before leaving the dimly lit room, cocooned in her rekindled sense of euphoria.

END

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