Sara looked through the glass walls at the people who mattered to her most. Nick, Warrick and Greg were in the break room, laughing and teasing; brothers. She saw Catherine hesitate in the hallway. The expression on the new supervisor's face suggested that she was torn, her new role creating a distance that kept her from joining the fun.

Then Sara looked through the walls into Grissom's office and a pain gripped her heart. Sofia was walking towards him as he picked up a book. He seemed so relaxed with the blonde. Sara wished things could be so easy between her and the entomologist. She saw Sofia's expression and knew what the woman was hoping for with Grissom. Hell, why not? It was what Sara wanted too. Sofia had said something earlier about trust. Sara admitted to herself that she didn't trust the other woman; she was a threat. After all, Sara had loved Grissom for years.

Turning her attention back to the computer screen, Sara typed in a name in the search box. "Laura Sidle w/2." She studied the screen for several minutes before sighing and looking around again. The guys had left but Grissom was still in his office, conversing with Sofia. Sara frowned and looked back at the screen. Despair was pulling at her again and sitting here, with Grissom and Sofia flirting in the next office wasn't helping. Finally, she exited the program and closed the laptop. Then grabbing her things, she headed out of the lab. It was too much, looking at the end of the family she had been born to and sitting in the office and watching her new family slip away.

A few weeks later, she sat despondently in her apartment. She had really done it now. Her whole career was down the toilet because she'd let a case get the better of her and lost her temper with Catherine. It was just that…everything was collapsing around her. She'd lost her family to years of abuse and then murder and spent the rest of her childhood in foster care. She'd carefully created a life with no ties, no connections, until she met him. And then everything had changed.

She'd come to Vegas because he had called her. And there she had found a new family; brothers in Nick, Warrick, and Greg, an uncle in Jim and something of a sister in Catherine. She'd always heard how sisters fight and she and Catherine certainly did. But they always had each other's back. Until now. Sara sighed. And Grissom? Where was he in this family? Involved with Sofia, that's where. And now it was all slipping away.

Ecklie would fire her, she knew. He would make Grissom do it and Grissom would because she had crossed Catherine. Sara knew there was something between the two of them. It wasn't romantic, although Sara never understood why not. There certainly was chemistry there. But they'd never crossed that line. Still, when it came to Catherine, Grissom would be unforgiving. And with the loss of her job would come the complete loss of her strange family. She would be on the outside, again. She took another sip of her beer as she fought back the depression that encompassed her.

A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door. It was Grissom, coming to fire her no doubt. She let him in and sat, waiting for the inevitable. But it didn't happen. Instead, he wanted to know why she was so angry and she found herself spilling her whole sad story to him complete with embarrassing tears. And then he did something she never would have expected. Instead of shying away from emotions, he reached out, his hand slowly taking possession of hers. And she began to cry more, whether for her past or because of what he had done, she wasn't sure.

Finally her tears subsided and she looked at him with red rimmed, stinging eyes. Why was he still here, she wondered. He didn't do well with emotions. But he was here, with tears sitting in his own eyes. She blinked, surprised.

"Sara…" he sighed, "I didn't know."

"I didn't want you to, didn't want anyone to know."

"But why?"

"I don't like the pity that comes with it. I don't want it. I just want…"

"What do you want, Sara? Tell me."

She looked at him squarely. "I came here because I wanted…you. I thought when you called me…I thought…" She watched in fascination as several expressions washed over his face, finally settling on incredulous…and uncomfortable."

"I…don't know what to say," he said awkwardly.

"I know. You've never been comfortable with…me."

Suddenly he looked focused, his blue eyes boring into her. "No, that's not true…well, not like that anyway. It's just…when we met, I felt…it was…like nothing I've ever felt before. And then I had to come back and it seemed like it was…over, even though we stayed in touch. And then when you came here, it was…confusing. And then, I was losing my hearing and …I didn't know…"

"You were losing your hearing?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't know."

"No one did, except Catherine guessed. She came to the hospital when I had the surgery."

"You had surgery?"

"Ah…yeah. And it's okay now."

She sat, dumbfounded. He'd gone through all that and she hadn't had a clue. How could he do that alone? Except he wasn't alone, Catherine was there for him…again.

"Anyway," he continued, "everything was so confusing. I was afraid…of what it would do to my career. And…you were my subordinate and there are rules…and…there still are. But…" he looked like he was going to throw up, she thought. "But what?" she asked.

"I can't … keep doing this," he said miserably.

"Doing what?"

"Denying what I feel…about you," he said shyly.

"You…feel …about me?"

"Sara," he hesitated but then seemed to decide to forge ahead. "Could we…I mean, could you… is it…" he was lost again.

"Grissom?"

He looked up, his blue eyes inquisitive. "Yes?"

"Have dinner with me?" she repeated the question from what seemed so long ago.

She watched as the tension flowed out of him. A small smile worked onto his face as he relaxed. "I'd like that."

Okay, anyone who knows my fic knows I am not into GSR. But watching Nesting Dolls the other day, this just fell into place. Hope you enjoyed.