Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.
No spoilers.
Sara Sidle slammed the door of her locker closed after a strenuous case. A young girl had been kidnapped from her bed, only to be found two days later floating in Lake Mead. She had been raped and beaten, before having her throat slit, resulting in a painful death. Grissom had tried to take her off the case, but she would not let him. That girl, Melanie Alama, deserved answers. While the rest of the group were searching for clues, Sara went with her gut and found evidence on a significant person in Melanie's life. Her uncle.
Sara had noticed that Douglas Alama had spent a lot of time avoiding the CSI's. Her also appeared in a few photographs with his arms round Meanie. But most importantly, Sara noticed him looking at her quite a bit. Because Melanie Alama looked exactly like what Sara did when she was sixteen. She had the same hair colour, a golden brown from being in the sun so much, as they were both cheerleaders. They both had deep brown eyes that drew a person in instantly and when Melanie smiled in the photos, she had a small gap between her two front teeth. The only difference between Sara Sidle and Melanie Alama was age, and the fact that Sara was no longer tanned and had dark brown hair. But none of the team noticed the similarities. They seemed to be fine with letting Sara investigate the case.
'At least I put that bastard away' Sara thought to herself. She had found semen stains on Douglas' bed matching his and Melanie's DNA and dirt from the lake on the sleeves of his shirt. Having enough to get a warrant for his DNA, they matched it to the scrapings that they took from u under Melanie's nails.
Standing up, Sara left the locker room and moved to the exit. On the way, Doc Robbins stopped her.
"Sara, can I talk to you fro a sec?" he asked, ushering her into an n empty office. Closing the door, he sat down on one of the seats available. "Sara, while everyone else seemed to miss it, I noticed the similarities between you and Melanie. I remember when you had lighter hair a while ago, and the gap in her teeth. She could have been a younger you" he said, clearly agitated.
"She did look exactly like me at 16. There are literally no differences between how we look. That could have easily have been me" Sara whispered.
"Why didn't you say something? We could have pulled you off"
"Because I didn't want to be pulled off the case. She needed closure and I gave it to her. I put the bastard behind bars for good"
"But the risks to yourself. I mean, that could have been you. As you said, you look like an older Melanie. What would have happened to the team if you did go missing? They would have freaked" Robbins was pleading with her by then. "If we ever get a case like this again, where the victim looks like you, can you please tell Grissom so that I can stop worrying?"
"Okay, I will tell Grissom"
"Tell me what?"
Sara and Robbins turned to see Grissom standing in the doorway.
"Um… nothing" Sara said, looking away.
"It's not nothing, now tell me"
"Sara and Melanie Alama looked exactly the same" Robbins butted in.
"They looked similar, yes. But not exactly alike" Grissom replied.
"You knew of the similarities and let her stay on the case?"
"I tried to get her off of it but she refused. I had no reason to remove her" Sara looked between the two men, amazed that they could argue about her, but not include her.
"Guys, stop it. Okay, Grissom, yes, she looked exactly like me when I was 16. And Doc, he did try to remove me from the case. But I refused. Now both of you shut up and let me go home!" With that, Sara stormed out.
Three hours later, Sara heard a knock at her door. Crossing her living room, she looked through the peephole and saw Grissom. Unlocking and opening the door, she stepped back and invited him in.
"Can I get you anything?" she asked as he stood in the living room.
"No, I just wanted to talk" he answered. Looking around the room quickly.
"Talk about what?" Sara asked, exasperated.
"Talk about why you didn't ell me how much alike you and Melanie were"
"Look Grissom, if I told you that Melanie liked exactly how I did when I was sixteen, would you have let me continue on the case? As it was, I was the only person that suspected the uncle and I was right. So why should worry about what you think?" Sara said and she turned and walked into her kitchen.
"Jesus Christ Sara, you could have been hurt! How the hell would o deal with that? Sara, you're my best CSI and I need you"
"Stop hiding behind all of this lab shit! I don't just work for the lab! I also have a life and I don't appreciate you the fact that you can't accept that. So either say what you mean or get out," Sara screamed as she pointed a finger to the door.
"Fine!" Grissom yelled back, coming forward and pulling her into his arms. "I can't stand the fact that you seem to be willing to risk you life. I can't lose you because it would mean loosing a part of myself, a big part that I cherish the most! I don't give a fuck about the lab, but I am not going to let you endanger yourself anymore. I love you and I'm not going to lose you" at this announcement, he lowered his lips to hers and immediately invaded her mouth. He continued to kiss her until he ran out of air, and once he broke the kiss, immediately began kissing her neck. Finally he stopped kissing her, and rested his forehead on hers.
"Wow" Sara said after she had caught her breath. "You do realise that if we do this it's going to be long term, right?"
"That what I have planned. Is forever too short a time period for you?" he asked.
"No, it's perfect."
The end.