A/N: Yeah, you wouldn't have expected this anymore, huh? Well, it's been a while, but I thought that it would be a nice idea to finish this story before its first birthday lol.
Instead of going into more talking, here we go with the last chapter!
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
Chapter 9: Slowly
Greg turned the key around in the lock and opened the door, stepping back to let Sara enter first. She walked slowly into their apartment and Greg followed her, after he had closed the door behind himself quietly. Sara had gone into the living room, facing the window there, but Greg doubted she was actually looking outside.
The sun was shining brightly into the room, and once Sara turned around, Greg was hardly able to see her face for he was blinded by the light. It had been a friendly day, weather-wise, the actual occasion being much sadder.
During Grissom's funeral Greg had suspected that Sara tried to force herself to remain calm, to not cry, and he had been worried about it, for he doubted it to be a good idea for her to shut in her grief. But short before the end of the ceremony Sara had not been able to hold herself together anymore and had finally cried openly.
Most of the ceremony had gone by in a fog for Greg, he caring mostly for Sara, at the same time trying to say goodbye to Grissom himself.
Now he was approaching her, taking her into his arms. Sara seemed surprisingly relaxed in his embrace, and Greg smiled sadly, nestling his head onto her shoulder. Sara drew back after some moments.
"What about me getting us some food? Are you up for Chinese?" she asked, and again she appeared rather calm and relaxed. Greg hoped it was not just show.
He nodded. "Sure."
She smiled faintly, stepping to the phone and dialing a familiar number. A few minutes later the order was taken, and Sara turned back to Greg.
"You're coming back to work tomorrow?" she asked then. As far as she had heard from Catherine, Greg had announced that, more or less that was.
"IAB's finishing their report and everything…" Greg replied slowly.
"So you'll come back tomorrow?" she insisted. Greg avoided her gaze. "You don't think they'll blame you in any way?" She stepped towards him. "Greg, we've been through this…" Sara reached out, grabbing his arm. "Come back to work…" She caught his gaze now. "I miss working with you." She pulled him towards her, kissing him lightly. Greg smiled faintly.
She could hear the sounds coming from the different labs, but the hallway was deserted safe for her. The door of the office in front of Sara was open, the room itself empty. Catherine was not here. Sara knew exactly where she was, but did not really want to think about it right now.
She walked carefully into the room, leaving the door only a crack open. Nobody had cleared the room yet, put things away. Catherine had not changed anything either. Sara could see that she had cleared some space on the desk in order to be able to do the paperwork she had to do, but Grissom's stuff was still there. So were the rest of his things in the room, his books and his strange collection. Sara looked around in the room sadly.
She jerked around when she suddenly noticed that another person had entered the room, and her eyes fell on Catherine who was standing in the door.
"I can go…" the blonde woman started. Sara shook her head slightly.
"It's okay." After all, this was Catherine's office now. It was her who could kick Sara out actually. Noticing the file in Catherine's hand now, she asked, "Is this…?"
Catherine nodded. "Yeah, the report from IAB. I still have to sign it." She sighed, walking around the desk and laying the file on it, grabbing a pen. Sara who was standing a few feet away, looked into the direction of the paper, but was not able to read anything which would probably have been rather futile anyway, since the file was apparently dozens of pages thick.
Catherine put her name on one of the papers, closing the folder then and turning around to Sara. She caught the sight of the brunette, obviously figuring what Sara had been looking at.
"If you want to read it, go ahead, but it's not really advisable. I mean, I don't know if you really want to read the excerpts from the coroner's report and everything…" Catherine shrugged, watching Sara closely.
"No," Sara shook her head. "I just wanted to know…" She paused. "… Greg?"
Catherine fixed her with her gaze. "Sara, I thought we'd cleared that. It wasn't Greg's fault. And this report," she picked up the folder again, "doesn't say so either."
Sara breathed out slowly, a weight falling from her. Catherine was still watching her.
"You're not blaming him, are you?" she asked, some sharpness in her voice.
"No, of course I'm not," Sara replied quickly. Catherine nodded, smiling weakly.
"I think Warrick could need a hand with his case," she told Sara now. "He's in the AV lab." Sara nodded, leaving Grissom's former office slowly. "If you see Greg anywhere, take him to help you," Catherine called after her. Sara turned briefly back to her boss, giving her a weak smile and a nod.
Sara made her way to the AV lab, but glanced into every room she was coming by to see if Greg was in there. She finally found him in the smallest layout room. His back was to the door; he was leaning over the table, going over blood-stained clothes, cutting off samples. He had apparently not heard her coming. Sara hesitated for a moment before she knocked lightly at the open door.
"Hey," she added quietly after a second. Greg turned around to her, motioning to the clothes that were spread on the table.
"I'm helping out Warrick on his case," he explained.
Sara nodded, smiling at him faintly. "I was just searching for you to ask you to do that."
Greg nodded as well, turning back to his work, and Sara stepped towards the table, stopping next to Greg. She looked at the fabric in front of them.
"You've heard about the report?" she asked quietly. Greg gave a short nod, continuing to cut the cloth he was holding.
"Nick told me," he answered. "And Catherine did as well."
Sara nodded, watching Greg working for a minute. "I'm going to help Warrick, too."
"Yeah." Greg did not look at her, like she would have wanted. She hesitated to leave.
"Are you alright?" She looked at him from the side.
"How am I supposed to be?" he returned, not pausing in his work. Sara put a hand on his arm which finally made him to.
"Do you think I'm feeling great?" she asked him openly. Greg turned around to her at last.
"It wasn't your fault," he stated, sorrow in his voice. Sara looked at him sadly.
"It wasn't yours either," she reminded him. "Do I have to hit you over the head with that damn report?" Her voice had become agitated and Greg could see a shimmer of tears in her eyes.
"No," Greg answered slowly, laying an arm around her back and rubbing it lightly.
"Good for you. It looked heavy," Sara said jokingly, but crying by now. Greg wanted to stop the tears but knew that he would not be able to, that his only option was to be there and wait, trying to keep calm himself, knowing that it would not help if he fell to pieces again as well.
"Greg…" Sara sobbed, looking at him, her eyes reflecting anger and sadness. Greg could not really be sure that she was not blaming him deep inside and had just told him the opposite because she thought she had to do it. He would not be able to do anything, if she told him now that she felt that way, told him to go.
He took her into his arms anxiously, holding onto what were maybe the last few seconds he would be holding her. She was crying more quietly now, repeating his name after a minute.
"Greg…" she said quietly, "… just hold me."
The End
