Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. They belong to their creators.

A/N: Thank you so much for your kind reviews for Headache. They made my day. I will do my very best to write more fanfics in the future. Having them dancing in your head and actually writing them down is a totally different thing;-)

Pairing: N/S (of course)

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Familiar

He had waited for so long, so very long. Waited for her to move on, to get over Grissom and then she moved on. But she also retreated in her shell. She had built a brick wall around herself. He was ready to move in, to break that brick wall down with his bare hands, stone by stone, but he didn't.

There was something about her, something familiar, which held him back. It scared him. The look in her eyes scared him. It scared him, because it reflected the look in his eyes. He could deal with his own pain, but he wouldn't be able to deal with hers. It would be too much. She never talked to him about what happened. No, she never would. He knew what happened anyway. He knew because it happened to him as well.

Beautiful, strong Sara. The Sara everyone knew and loved. At least they thought they knew her. Determined, headstrong Sara, but also vulnerable, fragile Sara with a look in her eyes, which was so familiar to him.

Did anyone know? Did Grissom know? Was that why he kept Sara at a distance? He knew Grissom had gotten to know Sara long before she came to work in Las Vegas. But if he knew, would he assign her to the cases the most painful to her? Grissom didn't know. Even with his non-existent social skills, Grissom would never put her through so much pain.

Did Catherine know? Catherine who he had confided in, but only because her sixth sense had picked on something during one of the cases they had been working on. Catherine and Sara had a fluctuating relationship. Sara wouldn't confide in Catherine. He thought she didn't even confide in herself, pushing away her biggest fears, her darkest secrets. Just like he did. He did a better job though. At least he thought he did…..

They had been talking in the locker room when she turned to face him. She had looked into his eyes. They had been talking about the case they had been working on and she just turned around to him and looked at him with her beautiful brown eyes. Those exact same eyes which scared him. The eyes filled with pain.

She whispered. He could barely hear her. But sometimes, you don't need to hear someone in order to know what they are saying. She whispered: "You know, don't you?" She kept looking into his eyes. She stepped up to him and put her arms around him. "You know, because it happened to you too."

They were just standing there. Clinging to each other. It felt like he would never be able to let her go. He loved her, he loved her so much, he would die for her if it would take her pain away.

And here they were. At a place he thought they would never be. He didn't need to break down the wall she had built around her heart; she had given him the key to the secret door in the wall.

END