Thank you for all the support for this story. I had a blast writing it. Going to miss CSI but as long as it is in my heart, it will never really be gone. God bless..

Chapter 10

Three weeks later...

"So Jim how's the shoulder?" Sara asked as she took a bite of her salad.

"It still hurts but I'm not sure if it's from the bullet or old age. Hang on," he said retrieving his phone from his pocket and answering it. "It's Catherine. I'll put her on speaker."

"I sent DB a copy of my report. Did he let you all see it?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah I read it. Shocking is an understatement. How did you get her to talk?" Sara asked.

"She seemed to want to. I'm not sure if it was a cleansing for her or she thought she would garner sympathy. How's Gil?"

"He was gone the next day after the airport thing. Put his mother's house up for sale and left town. I got an email from him about a week later telling me that he returned to Paris," Sara said sadly.

"Give him time Sara. Must have been hard for him to find out all that Heather did and all that she was," Catherine said trying to reassure her.

"I'm just glad there isn't going to be a trial. Do you think she will ever get out of the mental institution?"

"Doesn't really matter. She's not going to taste freedom ever again," Catherine said. "I have a meeting in ten minutes. Just checking in. " Both Brass and Sara said goodbye and then Brass put his phone back in his jacket pocket.

"So why didn't you tell Catherine about Heather's request?" Brass asked.

"Because she would just tell me it would be a bad idea to visit her."

"You think I'm not going to tell you the same thing?" Sara smiled.

"Jim as ornery as you can get, you've never scared me as much as Catherine does."

"Truer words," Brass replied. "So finish telling me what the report said."

"Alright I think I told you all the background stuff about Heather's younger years so I'll fast forward to the start of the murders. Apparently the groundskeeper was nearby the morning when Gil called for the warrant for Heather's insulin needles after the foam murder. He knew of Heather's despondency and her feelings of betrayal which I have to say I can understand to a point."

"Small point," Brass said and then told her to go on.

"In an effort to console Heather, he got a little handsy and when she rebuffed him, he began to taunt her. That was her first kill. The other two girls witnessed it and therefore they had to go."

"I'm surprised that missing persons reports were never filed," Brass said.

"Heather had a knack for picking people that had little outside connections. It was part of the way she controlled them. They clung to her because they had no one else."

"Explains her and Gil's relationship."

"Thanks Jim. He had me. He always had me," Sara said with tears in her eyes.

"That's not what I meant," he said patting her hand. "She seemed to be there when he didn't realize he had you."

"Anyway," Sara said wiping her eyes and continuing with the report findings. "Heather stayed away from Gil for awhile until her daughter's death brought him back into it. She thought she had a second chance with him until she found out that he was with me."

"So she just started killing people because she couldn't have Gil?"

"In a way. She said if a girl said something derogatory about Gil or looked at him a little too hard then Heather had to snuff out the competition," Sara said.

"I'm surprised she didn't go after you."

"I think that was part of her master plan. Sell her business. Become a respectable therapist. Get rid of me and then Gil would be hers."

"But you got taken by Natalie and then you left so she did not have to get rid of you," Brass said.

"Basically. When she knew I was back in Vegas after Gil and I got married, I think she saw that her plan could still work. She seemed to have a great deal of patience." Sara said putting down her fork. "Since he continued to communicate with her, she knew where he was and where I was. She swooped in and I get handed divorce papers."

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this Sara," Brass said sincerely. She smiled and got out her wallet. "I've got this. It was nice of you to spend time with an old man."

"Jim, I love you and if I had met you first..." Sara said smiling as she stood. Brass seemed to blush.

"Hey before you go running off, what about the baby?" Brass asked.

"She tried to insinuate that it was Gil's but testing proved it wasn't. The father I guess will remain a mystery in Heather's head," Sara said putting on her coat. She reached over a gave Brass a kiss on his cheek and left the restaurant.

\-\-\-\-\-\-\

DB walked Sara to the entrance of the state mental hospital. He asked her again if she thought it was a good idea to see Heather. "No one would blame you if you wanted to wipe this all from memory."

"I appreciate that but I did that with my father's death and it nearly destroyed me. Seems like Heather has always been a thorn in my side and I just need to pull it out once and for all." DB nodded and opened the door for her.

"I'll be outside waiting when you get out." Sara smiled and walked in. She gave the guard her identification and put her purse and gun in a locker before being led to a room to wait for Heather to be brought in. Ten minutes later, a very sedated looking Heather was brought in and helped into the chair opposite Sara.

"Sara," Heather breathed out. "I'm so happy you decided to come. I would offer you some tea but I seem to have lost my good set."

"That's quite alright Heather just tell me why you wanted to see me."

"I wanted to congratulate you."

"For what?" Sara asked bewildered not only by Heather's words but by her whole demeanor. This was no longer the tough Heather she knew.

"For winning Gilbert Grissom's heart. I know that you will take good care of him."

"You think this was a competition?" Sara asked.

"Of sorts. You would swoop in and then he would let you go and then I would appear and then he would run from me."

"And those people that you murdered just happened to get in the way?"

"They didn't know to play their parts in the game," Heather said showing no emotion. Sara attributed this to the medication she must be on. She was quite psychotic when she was first brought in after the airport scene. They had operated on her shoulder to remove the bullet and then was sent to the mental hospital.

"And what did the baby do that was wrong?" Sara asked.

"The baby?" Heather seemed to not know what Sara was talking about. She tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Oh the baby. Yes well Grissom did not want to have a child so I got rid of it."

"Grissom was not the biological father."

"But being my life meant he had a great deal of say in what I brought into my life," Heather said so very distant. Sara shook her head regretting coming there.

"So Heather why did you ask me to come," Sara said hoping that she would be able to wrap this up quickly.

"I cannot find Gil and I want you to give him a message."

"Believe me or not Heather but I haven't been in contact with him for three weeks." Heather stared at her for a moment.

"I believe you Sara."

"I'm so glad that you do," she replied with a twinge of sarcasm. "But in case I do happen to touch base with him, what is the message?'

"I will whisper it to you," Heather said looking around. "They listen to everything here."

"Not happening Heather. Not get anywhere near you."

"You needn't fear me Sara. I could have killed you dozen of times," Heather said is such a matter of fact tone that it unnerved Sara.

"It's not you that I fear Heather," Sara replied quickly composing herself. "I never know when that murder gene of mine might kick in."

"You don't have and never will have the guts. You are weak," Heather stated.

"After what you did to Gil, I may just take that gene out for a ride," Sara said getting up and walking to the door.

"He'll never love you the way that he loved me," Heather said with a smile as Sara was let out of the door. She went swiftly to the nearest woman's restroom and shut herself in a stall to let the tears fall.

\-\-\-\-\-\-\

DB was sitting in the shade reading a book when he noticed someone familiar sit on the bench near the front door of the hospital. The man looked nervously around holding on to a single red rose wrapped with a ribbon and baby's breath. He looked closer and realized that it was Grissom. DB got up and walked over to him.

"Mind if I sit?" he asked pointing next to Grissom.

"No."

"Come to see Heather?" DB asked. It was a safe assumption all things considered.

"No," Grissom replied strongly. "I was told that Sara was here."

"By whom?"

"Greg told me when I stopped by the lab."

"I wouldn't think that Greg would give out that information to you. Seems he's not fond of you," DB said.

"No he hates me because I made Sara cry. Sometimes I think she should be with him. He cares so much for her," Grissom said sadly.

"Like family. You're the one she's passionate about."

"Still?" Grissom asked hopeful.

"Still," DB replied and stood up. "I was going to wait for her but I think she needs to see you more." DB walked away. Grissom sat on the bench and took a deep breath. He didn't know how long he would have to wait, but he knew that he needed to see Sara. He was fiddling with the ribbon and didn't notice Sara exit the building. She noticed him though. She always did.

"Gil? What are you doing here?" she asked not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"I wanted to see you and to talk to you and to give you this," he said handing her the rose.

"No vegetation?"

"Turning over a new leaf," he replied and Sara groaned. "May we go somewhere and talk?"

"There's a small diner down the road. Meet you there?" Grissom nodded and watched Sara walk to her car.

She arrived first at the diner and got a booth in the corner where it was quiet. Grissom came in a few minutes later and sat across from her. "I didn't expect to see you at the hospital Gil."

"I went to the lab first and Greg told me where you were. I ran into DB while I was waiting."

"So you said you wanted to talk."

"Sorry is just not a strong enough word to tell you how I feel about what happened with us and Heather," Grissom said sadly.

"I'm sorry too."

"I closed up shop in Paris so to speak and have been renting a small condo here for the two weeks. I've looked into a teaching position at the university here." Sara's eyes widened. What was he saying.

"I thought you didn't want to come back to Vegas," she said.

"I don't but I want to be near you. I had the right idea six years ago when I followed you, married you. I just lost my way. I want to get it back. I want to get you back."

"I told you that I couldn't ask you to be somewhere you didn't want to be. It's not fair to either one of us," she said strongly.

"So you don't want to be with me?"

"It scares me how much I love you sometimes," she said quietly. "I was afraid if I held onto you too tight I would lose you. So I let go and lost you anyway."

"You never really lost me. I told you I lost my way."

"What about Heather?" Sara asked unsure.

"Heather was the master manipulator. She seemed to show up whenever we were having a low period in our relationship. I just never made the connection that she was stalking me. What an old fool I am," Grissom said sadly.

"You're not old," she said with a bit of a twinkle in her eye.

"But I got the fool part right."

"Right." She smiled and he put his head down. He leaned across the table and grabbed her hand. She did not pull away from him.

"I'd like to try again," he said quietly.

"I think I would like that too," she replied. He looked at her a little sad.

"You think? You're not sure?"

"No I'm sure," she said shaking her head. "Just still unnerved about what Heather said to me."

"What was that?"

"Funny she said the same thing basically that Natalie Davis said to me."

"Natalie? What was that?"

"Both intimated that your love for me was -" Grissom cut her off.

"My love for you was, is and will always be undying. You are truly the only woman I have ever loved. You once said the only home you ever known was with me."

"My famous goodbye letter," Sara said sheepishly.

"My heart knows no other home that it feels as loved or as safe as when I am with you," Grissom said and then grabbed her other hand. They stared into each others eyes and knew that they would work it out.

Together.

THE END...Or the beginning...