Title: Close Encounters

Author: loubric

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimers: I have no rights to CSI. It belongs to CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Anthony Zuicker and any number of persons and entities other than me. No infringement is intended in any way, and this story is not for profit. The storyline, however is mine so please don't use it without my permission!

A/N: This is chapter 2 in "The Beginning" There is no particular time frame maybe round about pre-6 season. I would appreciate any constructive criticism. Positive and negative feedback is always welcome! Thank-you.

Chapter 2

Close Encounters

Grabbing his arm to stop him, she replied, "I think a beer will be a much better idea …. don't you? Come on you didn't think I'd get rid of you that easily?" she grinned, trying to act friendly.

His heart felt like it leaped up into his throat and he was speechless, as he realized that he still had a chance. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her, but he still wasn't sure how she felt, or what she really wanted.

Feeling him stare at her, she felt nervous as she unlocked the door and walked in. Her apartment looked like a bomb had exploded and she mumbled "Sorry about the mess..." as she quickly grabbed some discarded clothes that were lying about.

He sat on an armchair, while she rummaged in the kitchen.

"I only have Miller Light … is that okay" she shouted from inside the fridge.

"That's fine, thanks." He replied absentmindedly from the living room.

Sara walked back into the lounge, handed Grissom his beer, and sat down on the large couch opposite him.

They drank their beer in silence.

"So …. Um … where were you tonight … I mean no … sorry that's … ah none of my business …" Grissom said quickly, downing the last of his beer.

"No it's fine … I…" she brought her legs up, so that her knee's were rested close against her chest " … I was…. actually at your place…" she whispered softly under her breath.

He thought he had heard her say his place, but he wanted to make sure "Sorry ….. didn't hear that…"

She got up suddenly "Another beer?"

Smiling to himself "Sure, that would be great.."

An hour later and at least 10 beers between the two of them, they were both feeling pretty happy and confident.

They had avoided any personal conversation, talking mostly about the lab and cases they were working on.

Grissom was at his most relaxed and knew that he was drinking too much but he had been having such a good time, he hadn't really noticed how much he had drunk, until he stood up and the room had started to spin.

He grabbed the side of a chair to steady himself.

"Had one to many?" Sara said between laughing fits.

He glared at her pretending to scowl but it proved too much for him and he grinned back "No, I was just making you feel better by pretending to be drunker than I am …"

"Yeah sure … whatever…" she smirked.

He walked over and sat down next to her on the couch.

"So do you think you'll be able to forgive me hhhhmmmm?" he asked directly, staring at her with his deep blue eyes.

Her intake of breath was sharp "Not beating around the bush are you Grissom?" she sighed, sobering up quickly. She had made up her mind on the way to his house that she was going to forgive him and maybe start the beginnings of a relationship, but after sitting outside waiting for him and now chatting with him over a few beers, she wasn't sure if she was ready to start a full-blown relationship.

"I'm probably not in the best frame of mind to be talking about this now, but you asked so….. yes I forgive you …. But …" her voice trailed off.

He sighed, sobering up himself "… There's always a but …"

She smiled sadly "Gil, there's a big part of me that wants to throw caution to the wind and just go for it, I feel that we share a deep connection, something emotional that I can't explain or even begin to understand. It just seems that for all the chances I've given you, to give us a try, it's never seemed to be the right time for you. I won't lie to you, it's been hard. I get mixed feelings from you and now when you finally seem to have figured things out, I just don't think I'm ready to explore that, not on the level that you do anyway. I have this enormous attraction and pull towards you, both physically and mentally, but I don't think my heart could take another rejection from you. At this moment I would love to be just friends with you, no matter how hard it might be……" she cautiously placed her hand on top of his, her eyes glistening with sadness.

The subtle touch, was electrifying, and for a second she wished she could take back what she just said and throw herself in his arms, but she knew this time she couldn't.

Feeling a heaviness descend on his heart, he sighed and murmured softly "If that's what you want Sara. I'll wait and I'll do anything I can to regain your trust."

She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek "Thank-you" she said quietly.

He breathed in her sweet perfume, she smelled like a summer afternoon, and he felt a lump in his throat. It felt like this time his heart was breaking. I will make her mine, no matter how long it takes he thought to himself.

A week or two later ...

Grissom tried to concentrate on the evening's paperwork, but he was finding it nearly impossible. It was exceedingly hard for him to be just friends with Sara, harder than he thought it would be.

A knock from his half-opened door alerted him, and he looked up at the intrusion. Hodges was standing in the doorway looking bemused.

"What is it Hodges? I'm trying to catch up on some paperwork before everyone gats back from their assignments." Grissom remarked, slightly irritated.

"I know you're busy, but we have ah … a little bit of a situation.." he replied trying hard not to laugh.

"What do you mean a situation?" Grissom said, his eyebrows rising.

"Maybe you should come and see for yourself.." Hodges added.

Grissom followed him down the empty corridor towards the kitchen. Once he entered the break room he looked around, trying to see what was going on and came face to face with Sara's butt sticking out of the walls air duct.

Hodges, upon seeing the situation again, couldn't control himself and started laughing uncontrollably.

A loud, and very angry voice came echoing from above."If you don't keep your big trap shut, I swear Hodges, when I get down from here you're going to be sorry you were ever born."

Grissom coughed loudly, trying to suppress a laugh.

Sara was quiet Great, I get to humiliate myself even more and now Grissom has to witness it as well she thought miserable from inside the stuffy space she was stuck in.

"Don't worry Sara, we'll get you down." Grissom added trying to reassure her, then turning to Hodges he whispered. "I would go and hide somewhere, she's not going to be happy with you when I get her down."

Grissom turned away and tried to asses the problem.

Suddenly the room was lit up with a bright flashing light.

"What the hell was that?" Sara yelled from her awkward position "Was that a flash? Did Hodges take a picture?"

Hodges holding a camera left the room running at full speed.

Sara, hearing him scuttle away, cursed under her breath.

Grissom grabbed a chair, and positioned it against the wall, under where Sara's lower body was dangling down. "How did you manage to get yourself in this position Sara?" Grissom asked amusingly as he climbed on the chair.

"Don't even ask." Sara's muffled voice answered.

Grissom stood on the chair and found himself looking at Sara's very shapely backside. Sara knew where he was and felt the heat rise in her face.

"I'll try and get you out her as painlessly and as quickly as possible, okay?" He murmured softly.

Sliding his hands along her thighs, and pushed them between her hips and the opening of the duct, he felt his pulse quicken.

Sara was astonished, the gently touch of his hands on her body was exhilarating, and she felt something stir in her lower abdomen. Her breathing increased, and it wasn't from the lack of fresh air.

Feeling around with his fingers, he was confused as to why or how she was stuck. She seemed to be smaller than the opening, and her legs were dangling far enough out for her to maneuver her way down. Pushing one of his hands along the top of her thigh, he heard her groan softly.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked softly.

Far from it she thought as his hand continued to move along her body.

"Uh …. No, I'm ah, just feeling slightly claustrophobic…" she lied.

Finally removed his hands from under her, he looked around her and finally saw what he thought must be restricting her.

"Sara, I have to lean across you, it looks like the side of your shirt is caught on something, let me see if I can get it loose…" he said.

Before she had a chance to say anything, she felt the heavy weight of him behind her, it was agonizing, and not in a bad way.

"I'm not too heavy am I?" He asked tenderly as he felt along the sides of the duct, trying to find where he had seen her caught shirt.

"No, not heavy at all…." She murmured softly.

Finally, he grabbed hold of her shirt and yanked it free from where it had been stuck. He had pulled on it quite forcefully, and they both heard a loud rip and he stumbled slightly from the effort.

The kitchen chair, already slightly unbalanced, wobbled in protest. Gravity was against Grissom, and he felt himself fall. He reached out for what he thought was the opening of the duct, but was in fact Sara's leg.

Her body was unstable from lying in an awkward position for so long and she didn't have the strength to support herself once her shirt was free. Once Grissom grasped onto her for stability, this proved too much and she felt herself slip out of the air duct and follow Grissom downwards onto the floor.

Together they came crashing down. Sara, unable to control where her body would land, fell on top of Grissom.

They both lay in a tangled heap, groaning in protest from landing on the floor.

For a few moments, they lay without moving or saying a word. Sara's upper body was lying across Grissom's chest and she had her head resting there. He moved his head, looked down at her, and smiled apologetically. She looked up at him and their eyes locked. He could feel her breasts pressed up against him, her heart beating strongly.

His gaze was intense "Are you okay?" he asked, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Yeah, how about you? I'm sorry that I landed on you…" she answered sympathetically.

"Don't be sorry.." he murmured fondly "I'm glad I was able to break your fall..."

Neither one wanting to move, something monumental was happening, and Sara wasn't sure what to do, all she knew was that she had never felt anything like this before and she didn't want to move because of it.

Before anything significant could happen though, Greg came running in, followed closely by Catherine.

"Damm..." he said frustratingly, "We missed seeing Sara's ass sticking out the wall, although Hodges did say something about evidence..." he added, then looked away when he received an evil look from Sara.

Catherine raised an eyebrow "Yeah we missed that, but this seems way more interesting ... didn't interrupt anything did we? She said knowingly.

"No ... Grissom was just feeling me .. um .. well helping me get out from the air duct.." Sara mumbled the heat rising to her face, as she tried to stand up. Greg quickly ran to help her up, and she scowled at him. He stared at her, not being able to tear his eyes away from her.

Grissom groaned as he stood up and remarked "She was stuck, I just pulled out ... um pulled her out .." he sighed "…damm it Catherine I was just helping ..." Grissom added exasperatedly as he saw her grin.

"I'm sure you were …. Well come on Greg, let's leave them to compose themselves…" Catherine added with conceitedness as she grabbed a reluctant Greg's arm and pulled him out the room.

Grissom glanced over at Sara and the both burst out laughing.

"So... can I get you a cup of coffee and you tell me exactly what happened?" Grissom asked her as he walked towards the coffee machine. Sara sat down gingerly, rubbing dust off her arms. Grissom handed her a cup of coffee and sat down across from her.

He took a sip from his cup and then nearly choked as he gasped and coughed.

Sara looked at him curiously "You okay?"

Swallowing, he mumbled "Your ... um... shirt ..."

Sara glanced down and was shocked and embarrassed to see a sizable rip in her shirt, and at least 4 buttons missing, exposing her breasts. Thank-goodness I wore the nice black bra today and none of the white cotton ones she thought as she crossed her arms in an attempt to cover herself.

"No wonder Greg's eyes were bulging and Catherine was smirking, we must of looked a mess .." Grissom said affectionately, making Sara smile.

"So ... anyway.." Sara started "...I was up in the air duct because we've been having a rat problem, and I thought they might have a nest up there, obviously I was wrong and when I tried to climb down I got stuck, Hodges found me dangling and was no help whatsoever..." Sara added and stood up. "Well, I better go get cleaned up and changed…thanks again Gris …" she said softly.

Grissom jumped up and grabbed her arm as she reached the doorway. She turned around and looked at him surprisingly "You have some dust on your face" he murmured and then cupped her face with his hand and tenderly rubbed his thumb across her cheek, wiping it clean.

Her heart was pounding, his musky male scent was intoxicating, and she was aware of the close proximity of their bodies, which were inches away from one another. She had a sudden flash back of when she had wiped chalk off his face, and she blushed and turned away suddenly "I better go..." she said as she walked down the hall, she touched her face where his hand had been, it still burned from his touch.

He stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching her. god, she drives me crazy he thought suddenly remembering the chalk incident. He sighed and walked towards his office.

The End …. How much longer can they wait?

A/N This chapter was really hard because I was torn between making her jump on him in the beginning and them starting a relationship that way, but I decided to draw it out longer, he needs to work a little harder to win her over and PLUS the angst moments are the best. Any ideas for moments like that would be appreciated and please let me know if this is going okay …. Lou xx