Many, many thanks to both Lori and Sharon who took the time to work this out with me late at night and early in the morning. Also a quick thank you to Amanda for stroking my muse and making this silly-ass story come out of hiding.

"-intense euphoria," Catherine asserted, popping another corn chip into her mouth as her hand absently sought out her bottle of water. Her voice was matter-of-fact, as it was prone to be, and the manner in which she said it had Sara snapping her head to attention.

"But that doesn't mean it can't cause adverse effects," Greg chimed in, halfway through the dishes in the break room sink. "I mean... you could like... shit yourself if you're running from a... lion..." Voice faltering, Greg dipped his shoulders and went about scrubbing a coffee mug.

Sara laughed, pushed her hands against the table, and cackled. "A lion? Yeah Greg, because when in your life are you going to be chased by a lion?"

There was silence for a moment and then, "...if you're... on safari... I might go on safari one day..."

"Oh, okay," Sara chuckled, wrapping up her laugh to stare down at the file before her. While shaking her head, she flickered her eyes up at Grissom, who was seemingly lost in thought. Lips pulled taught, eyes fixed on the table... oh yes, he was thinking.

Taking a long gulp from the tepid coffee in front of her, Sara secretly pondered his posture. "Well," he eventually chimed in, voice low and insightful, "Adrenaline can indeed make you do crazy things."

All eyes were on him… and he noticed.

Perking up, straightening his already-straight collar, "I wouldn't know."

"...is that a jab at me?" Catherine asked, referencing a comment made moments before about her shotgun marriage to Eddie. "Because if it is-" her finger was wagging and the color was rising in her cheeks; Grissom just blinked and pretended not to notice.

"Of course it isn't," Grissom replied coolly, calmly. "I was merely saying that adrenaline can cause side effects that one wouldn't experience through the course of their normal day. It heightens heart rate as well as, as you said, euphoria, and can make a person feel, well, invincible."

The other three in the room nodded, though it was Catherine who helpfully supplied, "Aside from life-threatening situations, you've never had a rush of pure, ecstatic adrenaline... have you?" A pin drop could have sounded, as Sara and Greg both stopped what they were doing to face Grissom.

A wry grin spread across his face, "Rollercoasters, remember?" He said it as though he had proven them wrong, but both Catherine and Sara wore looks of disbelief, stark disbelief.

Catherine scoffed; Sara chuckled, turning a page in her file. "But you expect the rush, you know what will happen. My bet is... you rationalize the fall every damn little bit before you even get into that car."

"Rationalizations negate a large portion of fear," he supplied, and Sara and Greg were left to watch the conversation as though it were Wimbledon. "Negating the thrill too, I'm sure... but there's no preparing your stomach for the very first coast down a steep incline." Voice wistful, head tilted, he looked as though he were somewhere in the vicinity of nine years old.

A flip of her hair denoted an imminent dismissal, "Whatever, you don't take risks, case closed."

Grissom blinked, blinked, gaped a tiny, tiny bit, and buried himself back in the papers before him. Catherine coughed abruptly expecting him to respond, and when he didn't she sighed and grabbed her coffee cup with gusto, sloshing it over the sides, exiting the break room.

With the back of her hand, Sara held in a slight chuckle, noting the perplexed look on her boss's face. Greg finished toweling off a cup and craned his head back, watching Catherine disappear around a corner. "Really, why is she so mad?"

"Excuse me, Greg?" Grissom asked, peering up from his paperwork, glasses sliding down on his nose.

Shrugging his shoulders a little dramatically, he wiped his hands on the dishtowel and grabbed his own cup of coffee, trudging to the door. "I dunno... like, Sara used to be the angry one, and now... she's, you know-"

"What?" she tilted her chin at him, "I'm what?"

"Just happy, and Catherine's... angry and weird." Again, his shoulders shrugged and Greg nodded his goodbye and made his way back to the layout room, in the direction that Catherine had taken.

Left alone, the two glanced at each other and then each returned to the scattered papers before them. Sara intermittently would glance up, only to have him return her glance leaving her to shy away. He did the same, risking a look only to be caught as he was doing so, causing him to snap his gaze back at the files before him.

The game went on for nearly a half an hour before Sara casually broke the silence. "You, uh... You don't like risks," she said matter-of-factly, taking a moment to gather her thoughts before tipping her head to see if her comment had thrown him.

It had.

"Sara, I-"

A smile on her lips, shining in her eyes, "No, it's not... you don't take risks, I've... known you long enough to know that. You just don't." Her smile faltered but she caught it just before it turned into a frown. "And that's alright, I understand... but I've had this idea and I sort of want someone to partake in it with me."

Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose and licked his lips. Sara knew this motion well and steeled herself for the condescending tone she was about to receive. "Sara..."

Rolling her eyes, she dropped the pen with a clickity-clack onto the table. "Nothing like that, it's just something... risky."

There was silence, a silence that was broken only by the passersby in the hallways. "...I don't-"

"Do you trust me?" came her quiet question, a plea of the basest sort.

"Of course," was his immediate response.

"And do you trust that my degree in physics was hard earned? That I know more about velocity and gravity than, well... anyone in this lab?"

Taking his glasses slowly off of the bridge of his nose, he squeezed again, "Well-"

Sara chuckled and leaned back, "No, really, do you trust me?"

Again, without hesitation, he spoke, "Yes, I wouldn't have hired you if I didn't." There was no blush on his face like she would have expected, there was nothing in his eyes to suggest aversion, but simply interest and confusion. "I do."

Sara gathered her papers together, shifting them into order as she stood and smoothed out the wrinkles in her pants. "Good, then you won't have a problem when I pick you up tomorrow morning."

She raised her brows at him and waited for an answer. Grissom simply opened and closed his mouth a few times before barely nodding. Sara smiled brightly and walked briskly out of the break room, Grissom watching her as she went.

"Wear something comfortable!" she called, already halfway down the hall.

He didn't know what he was getting himself into, but he had a strange feeling that this time, he actually wanted to find out what it was.

---

Bright-eyed and oddly bushy tailed, Sara arrived on his doorstep the next morning. Her knock was loud; the color of her shirt was even louder. Adorned in an aqua tank top and shorts that could be considered to be just a tad too short, she stood on his welcome mat and smiled up enticingly at him.

"Good morning," came his casual if not detached greeting. The corners of her mouth lifted even more when he spoke and Grissom watched as she assessed his wardrobe choice. Comfortable to him meant a worn pair of jeans and white polo shirt, topped off with dark running shoes.

"Good morning to you," she responded and just for a moment stood on tip toes to look into his townhouse. "You ready to go?"

"I'm sure I'd be more inclined to say yes if I knew where we're going."

Eyes glistening with mischief, she shrugged her shoulders and turned on heel, feeling uncharacteristically infused with confidence. "I thought you said you trusted me."

Watching her retreat, Grissom paused and then immediately spun to grab his keys before followed her out to her car. She was already inside when he reached the passenger door and lumbered inside. Silence surrounded them as she gave him one look and then turned the key in the ignition, the hum of the engine allowing him a moment to organize his thoughts. "What would you have done if I hadn't followed you?"

Sara shrugged and put the car in drive, "Didn't think that far ahead, but then again, I trust you, so I know you wouldn't just... leave me hanging like that." There was a hint of malice hidden in the crest of her tone and while it stung him, he knew both the implication and the actuality of the statement were true. A duality of truth, she trusted him, but he had also let her down in the past.

In that moment, something that had eluded him for the better part of a decade suddenly became clear, and he made a split-second, rash decision.Today would be the day that he started to make things up to Sara Sidle. "No, I wouldn't have." With one hand on the handle of the door, the other placed on the edge of the seat, Grissom leaned back and willed his body to relax.

He trusted her, he did. There was no need to be so apprehensive. With scientist's eyes he sought out landmarks and road signs denoting their destination, looking for clues as to where they were headed.

Sara took an exit south on Las Vegas Boulevard, pressed her sunglasses higher on the bridge of her nose, and turned to smile at him. "Oh, stop... let it be a surprise."

After letting her comment settle within him, Grissom squeezed his eyes shut and opened them with a determination to allow her to have her moment. "Alright."

Sara switched lanes and glanced at him again, her face a mask of slight surprise. "Alright," he repeated, settling fully into the seat, placing both hands on his knees. "So... how long have you wanted to do this risky..."

"I'd called it an... exciting activity," she supplied and settled her left arm on the curve of the door, resting her hand in her hair. "And I've wanted to do it for years, probably, oh... since college?"

Grissom nodded, logging the morsel of a college-aged Sara into the back of his mind for later perusal. "So long ago? Why haven't you done it yet?" He thought too late that he might perhaps be prying, but waited for her to answer.

When she chuckled and shrugged, he knew that his attempt to learn more about her was exactly what she wanted. After a sigh and a lick of her lips she responded, "It's, well, kind of expensive and I couldn't really afford it when I was in college, and then... I realized something that fun and dangerous was something I wanted to share with someone."

There was a pause while she switched lanes. "Greg invited me once though, but that was right before the week he was out with the flu."

So technically, Grissom was a backup... or had she really wanted to go with him? Either way, he could honestly say that he'd never been happier that a member of his team had fallen ill. His apprehension from earlier in the morning had all but melted away and listening to Sara's wistful, excited voice had him just a tad bit excited too. "Maybe it was fate that he got sick," Sara intoned with humor, "Maybe I'm supposed to do this with you."

Sara read his expression and smiled. "Well," she said, "Maybe I really am supposed to do this with you."

He wore his shock like a bad tie, garish and obvious. "Well..."

"I didn't mean to... I didn't mean it like that, I was joking," Sara attempted to calm him down.

Grissom shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "No, no... maybe... it was fate," he agreed and they looked at each other for a moment and smiled.

Sara turned away first, settling her head fully onto her hand. "Either way, I'm glad you're here."

He felt his cheeks getting hot and he turned away to stare out the window. It was oppressive out, the atmosphere creating little glistening patches of heat that danced and rose off of the hot asphalt. After a few minutes of causal silence Sara turned on the radio, resting her head back on the headrest, allowing it to loll from side to side. "Just a little further," she promised.

They had already left the city and were now surrounded by craggy orange rocks and patches of dry desert.

They were headed toward the dam, that he knew, but what awaited them was still a mystery and he was surprised to find that he actually liked it that way.

Twenty more minutes of driving and she pulled to a stop under a bridge that looked, for all intents and purposes, to be out of commission. "We're here."

With no words she bounded out of the car, leaving Grissom to arch his brow at no one. Following suit, Grissom too got out of the car, turning around to see her climbing up a steep incline while grasping onto the railing to steady her. She spun, "Come on!" And then she bounded up the stairs, leaving him in the dust. On achy knees, Grissom followed, pulling his half-century old body up the old concrete stairs.

At the top, he spotted her standing on the outskirts of a group of people who were attempting to untangle a large cord.

Two people sat on the ground, both smiling, one dangerously close to leaning into her own puddle of vomit.

Oh.

God.

"Sara..." he called and walked slowly over to her."Sara... this is..."

"I know, really, really fucking scary. I know this isn't what you were expecting," she spoke quickly, "But I won't do this unless you do it with me."

He eyed the giant cords while a slight tremor of fear ran down his spine. The bridge itself had to be at least two-hundred feet over a large, craggy ravine. The fall itself looked terrifying, but Sara was leaning over the edge of the bridge, gazing below with excitement. Suddenly she spun around, tucking her sunglasses into the collar of her shirt. "I've already paid for us, so we have to go."

Grissom licked his lips and slid off his own sunglasses, swallowing hard. "Sara, this is..."

"Let's just try it, let's just... get up there and see what it's like," she pressed, nearly bouncing from excitement.

"Wait, together?" he asked, incredulous. Taking a moment, he looked on as two men walked to the ledge of the bridge and pulled hard on the bands that were connected just underneath. He swallowed again. "Two people go... together...?"

"Yes," Sara asserted, and made a motion with her head for him to follow her over to the two men who were setting up the cords. Again stopping just before the two men, she turned to him and waited for him to reach her. "Listen, I know this isn't what you were expecting and I'm going out on a limb here getting you to do this with me... but I really, really think we should try this." Sara blinked. Grissom blinked. "This could change everything."

Looking back in the direction from which they both came, he wondered for a moment if it would be at all an option for him to turn back. But the moment he got into the car, the moment that she spoke of adventure and danger he knew he couldn't turn back, and with a barely-perceptible nod he agreed to her proposition. Grinning, Sara turned on her heel and went up to one of the men, introducing herself.

"Hello, Sara... I'm Dan, this is Chris and we're Extreme Nevada. You paid for the double, right?" Sara nodded and pulled her wallet out of her pocket, handing over her credit card. The man looked at it and handed it back with a grin.

"Alright, let's get you two up there."

Sara looked back to her companion, who gulped once more and made his way over. Chris strode over and took down their personal information, including their weight. The two men then went about calibrating the cords and pulleys while Sara and Grissom watched on. "This...is..."

"Scaryashell," Sara said in a rush of sound. "Oh, so scary, I'm totally into this."

Dan motioned for them to step over and they did, the man going through the rigmarole. "-and step up to the edge and just fall, go when you're ready. Everything okay?"

Emphatically, Sara nodded, leaving Grissom to blink and nod briefly.

Going about strapping them in, the two men buzzed around, pulling belts tightly around their ankles and one large one around their waist. As Dan pulled and locked the cord, their stomachs came flush against each other, their noses barely an inch apart. "Ohhhh god, ohgodohgod," Sara squirmed, smiling none the less. "I can't believe I'm going to do this, ohhhhhhhmygod."

At that point, Grissom laughed, sending a warm rush of air over her face. "And yet, you are doing this."

Sara slammed her eyes shut and started chuckling. "Okay, this is going to be fun," she told herself, trying to settle her own nerves. Grissom's hand came up to rest over her arm. Suddenly, her eyes popped open and met his. They smiled at each other.

"Alright guys, you're good to go, just fall off and... you're there," Dan stuck out his tongue a la Kiss, giving them a "rock on" gesture and stepped back, standing next to his companion with folded arms.

They turned back to each other. "Okay, Grissom..."

"Hmmm?"

Sara gulped and looked over the edge. "You have to do this," she placed her hands on his biceps and squeezed. "Just... take us over the edge, take me… over the edge."

Her eyes were still squeezed shut, so he took a moment to look below him.

It was a long, long way down.

Grissom looked back to her and grinned at the fear etched out on her face. "Open your eyes Sara," he pried in a quiet tone.

Doing so, she looked at him as he shifted them over to the edge. "On three?" Sara nodded and took a deep breath.

"One," they said together, in the same, low tone. "Two, three."

And then they were falling, just free falling. As the wind whipped past his ears, he picked up on the ecstatic sound of Sara screaming and laughing. So he started laughing, and it was that simple. They reached the bottom and his stomach hit his heart, the rubber cord launching them back up into the air. "Oh my god," she screamed, peeling her hands off of his arms to let them hang below her head.

Grissom followed suit, feeling his back crack as their bodies flopped and fell back down, his stomach returning to smack into his bladder as gravity took its toll on their free-falling mass. They were flung up three more times before beginning a casual bobbing at the bottom.

"Get you guys back up here in just a few!" Dan yelled down.

And then they just stared at each other, each with wide grins on their faces. Breaths short, hearts thumping fast, they swung back and forth, the slight breeze tickling their exposed skin. Grinning in midair, ecstatic from the rush and from her, Grissom reached up and touched her face.

Sara turned into it, pressing her warm skin against his in retribution.

There were words he wanted to speak about beauty and possibly love but he was breathless and taken by her, so they just swung slowly under the Nevada sun, wondering when they would get the earth back under their feet.

Gravity was a beautiful thing.