A/N: Again thank you for the reviews and patience while I finish off yet another semester. Again stream of consciousness writing. I think this ends in 2 chapters. I keep thinking it's going to end and then something else comes up.

Chapter 10: Colorblind

"Hey Greg." Sara said walking into the break room after a long unexpected shift.

"I heard you got called in." Greg said sipping his coffee. "How was the talk?"

"Movement forward."

"In the right direction?" He asked.

"Yes." Sara replied, "How is Jade?"

"Good. "

"Do you think you could help me out and try to get her to answer one of Grissom's text messages, or maybe dinner tonight before shift?"

"Grissom texted me earlier. I'm guessing he got my number from you." Greg asked not upset that Sara had given his number to Grissom.

"Yes. He is trying to make things right. He knows he screwed up."

"Always covering for him." Greg said a bit bitter, Jade had told him everything that had occurred and for the first time Greg really wanted to punch Grissom in the face, and Greg was not the violent type.

"No. I am trying to help him make things right." Sara said a little upset that Greg thought she was just trying to smooth things over for Grissom. Far from it, she was trying to give him a chance, he was the one who had to take that chance. "Please do it for me?"

"I'll do my best." Greg said.

"Thank you." Sara said.

"Speak of the devil." Greg said when his phone went off on the table indicating he had a text message . The screen lit up with the first line of the message from Jade. "She's out front."

"How about we all go out for breakfast?" Sara said knowing if she and Greg double teamed the girl they might get results.

"Ok." Greg said kind of wishing he would have said no after he said ok. He kind of liked having one on one time with Jade. She was well different, and he liked different.

Jade was surprised to see Sara walking out with Greg. Greg had been kind enough to let her use his car while he was working. She did not really go anywhere, but it was nice to know if she wanted to she could have driven somewhere.

"Good morning." Greg said climbing into the front seat.

"Morning." Jade said, "How was work?"

"Good." Greg answered as he buckled his seatbelt. "Sara is coming with us to breakfast. Hope that is ok?"

"Yeah." Jade said not overly thrilled. Despite being angry at Grissom for what he had said and done, Jade still was on his side regarding everything that had happened at the house between Grissom and the jerk. Sara had taken the jerks side, and that was a clear violation of Jades code. Jade would have Grissom's back almost any day of the week, even now when she was extremely upset with him. She respected him even if she now hated him.

Sara smiled at Jade from the backseat of the car, "Has Greg shown you the sights yet?"

"Yeah." Jade answered and continued to tell Sara about the places Greg and she had gone to. Greg had showed her all of the tourist attractions. "I actually got him on the Stratosphere"

"That is one of Griss's favorites." Sara smiled at the memories, "He probably dragged me onto that roller coaster a thousand times over the years."

"Well it was fun." Greg said noticing the uneasiness settling over the car.

The diner was not too far from the lab, and the three easily found parking the the early hours of the morning. Once inside, Sara waited for her moment to come to bring up Grissom again. The moment came just after they finished eating. Greg excused himself to go use the rest room.

"Have you heard from Grissom?" Sara asked Jade.

Jade looked at Sara and was deciding how to answer, tell the truth or lie. "Dr. Grissom has tried to contact me."

Sara noticed the use of Dr. Grissom and not Doc, so the girl was still pissed. "He has been worried about you."

"Really?" Jade said genuinely surprised.

"Yes." Sara said following up with, "What happened at the house, you have to understand that he was under a lot of pressure and well Griss does not deal well with emotions. He blew up at you, and I am not defending him, he was a dick, but he did not mean what he said. I know he didn't. He was just hurting and overwhelmed with emotions at the time."

Jade just looked at Sara not sure how to respond. Sara decided after a few seconds of silence to continue to talk, "If you could give him a chance he really does want to talk to you. Just give him a chance."

Sara watched the girl for a few moments trying to gauge if she was even listening.

"I'll try." Jade said, "I am still upset with him."

"I know. He is a dick sometimes. Believe me I know."

"Did you two talk?" Jade asked instantly feeling embarrassed for asking about personal details, it was unlike her, but she seemed to care.

"Yes. And it was productive."

"Good." Jade meant it too. She had hoped her adviser would find a way to work things out with Sara.

Before Sara could continue the conversation her phone rang. Looking at the screen and frowned, she did not notice the number.

"Hello Sara Sidle." Sara answered the phone.

"Um Ms Sidle." The voice was unsure, "I'm here with a Betty Grissom and well I did not want to leave her out front without knowing someone was around, given her condition."

Sara was confused, out front where? "Where are you?"

The person rattled off an address, and it was Sara's. "I'll be there in a few minutes." Sara got up quickly, looking down at her phone all of the text messages Betty had sent finally coming through. It was a problem she had sometimes with her phone. Text messages not being received until much later, the cell phone carrier told her it had something to do with the network and a cell tower. "I have to go. Griss's mom is in town." Sara dropped some money on the table having forgot that Jade and Greg drove her to the diner.

Greg choose that moment to come back from his convenient trip to the bathroom. "What's up?"

"Griss mom is in town."

"Really." Greg said interested he had only meant the woman briefly during a case.

"Yes she is out front of my house."

"Better get going than." Greg said trying to grab the check, but Sara snatched it from im and paid the bill at Greg's protest.

"How about we drive you?" Greg said, "We are closer to your house than the lab right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah in the morning traffic it'll be an hour to get back to the lab and than to your house."

"Thanks Greg." Sara said.

"Should someone warn Dr. Grissom?" Jade asked knowing she would want someone to warn her when her mother unexpectedly showed up to town.

When they reached Sara's house the first thing she did was ask Betty why she had not called and warned them she was coming. Someone could have picked her up at the airport.

Betty had signed back that no one had been answering her calls the past two days. She was worried about her son.

The anger on Betty's face was enough to stop Sara from further arguing with the woman on her sudden appearance. Sara replied to her "Grissom is fine. But he is not here."

Betty signed back to her, "Where is he?"

"At a friends."

"That Heather lady?"

"Yes." Sara said, "We fought."

"Will you two ever work it out?"

"We are trying." Sara signed back feeling a bit of comfort that even Betty seemed to be on their side despite the rocky beginning between the two women.

"You better." She said, "You make him happy."

"I try." Sara replied.

"Who are these people?" Betty asked indicating Greg and Jade.

"This is Greg. You meant him before."

"Yes the weird kid from your work."

"Yes. And this is Jade. She is Grissom's graduate student."

"He's not sleeping with her is he?" Betty asked.

"No. She was in town to give a talk as well." Sara answered. "Lets get you inside and settled."

"Hey Sara we are going to take off." Greg said waving to Grissom's mom. "I'll come by before shift to take you to get your car."

"Ok thanks Greg." Sara said, "Jade think about what we talked about."

"I will." Jade said noting Greg's confused face.

Sara moved into he house to help Betty get settled. Once Betty was settled into the guest bedroom Sara took to her phone to call Grissom.

"Hello?" Grissom answered sounding a bit annoyed.

"Griss it's Sara."

"Do you know where Greg is? He has not responded to me yet."

"He's with me right now." Sara said.

"Everything ok?" Grissom asked worried.

"Yeah everything is fine, well sort of." Sara said nervously looking at the closed bedroom door.

"What's wrong?"

"Your mom is in town."

"What?" Grissom said surprised.

"She flew in and did not tell anyone. The taxi driver called me to tell me she was waiting out front of the house."

"I'll get there as soon as I can."

"Ok." Sara replied.

Sara was not sure how to get Betty's attention when she was in a room behind a closed door. She tried knocking, and it seemed to work.

"Grissom is on his way over." Sara said and signed.

"Good. What happened to the wall?" Betty signed indicating the stains that had yet to be cleaned off the wall.

"An accident" Was all Sara signed back. "I am exhausted. Do you mind if I go to sleep?"

"Of course you just got off work. Gilbert will find his own way in I assume?"

"Yes I'll text him to tell him to come on in." Sara said trying to make her self scarce. It might make her a bad host, but she knew mother and son needed time to talk.

"Thank you." Betty signed back to her.

"If you need anything I am just down there."

At first Sara could not sleep. It felt weird to be laying in bed knowing Grissom was on his way over to talk to his mom. Should she be present, should she have stayed awake and been a better host? All of this started to run through her mind until she heard the front door open and then a few minutes later heard Grissom's voice as he was clearly talking and signing to his mother.

"I'm sorry mom." … "It has been a rough couple of days. I slept through most of them…." … "I said I was sorry." …. "I understand you were worried and upset." … "We are talking…She is a good person…No I am not sleeping with her…"

"She is good for me. I care about her and I know I screwed it up."

Those were just the bits that Sara could hear, and with the last line she found herself remembering a time when the two of them had been in the similar position. It was this memory that would eventually would shift her overactive brain into a restful state of sleep.

Sara arrived in front of his house, not sure what brought her there on that particular morning. He had left mad, pissed off to be correct. Sara had gone against his wishes, and walked into an interview of the suspects. Brass and Grissom had been at the guy for an hour trying to trip him up. They were not succeeding so Sara decided it was time for new tactics. She burst into the room and purposefully he pushed the guys buttons, trying to, and successfully getting a rise out of the suspect.

The suspect, who had not been handcuffed because at the time it was just a friendly conversation had tried to attack Sara. Grissom was faster, to everyone's surprised, the supervisor somehow managed to move fast enough putting himself between the suspect and Sara who the suspect had launched himself at in attempt to hurt her. The punch meant for Sara connect to Grissom, who returned it with a punch of his own. Grissom's punch had been much more successful, it knocked out the suspect. It had been the talk of the lab the rest of shift. No one, except maybe Brass and Catherine, knew Grissom had the strength or the know how to knock someone out. Let alone someone like the gangster he had easily taken on in defense of Sara.

It was when Sara thanked him, and Grissom responded with a lecture on how she should never have been in the room that the bad mood Grissom had been in turned into an even worse mood. Sara pushed his buttons, she knew she had, but she was upset that he was giving her the run around again. What started out as a conversation where she only meant to thank him, ended in a screaming match, that could have gotten both of them suspended if it were not for the fact that no one had been around to hear it out in the car park.

Hours later, Sara knew she owed Grissom an apology and since the supervisor had the next two days off, she decided it best to show up at his house and apologize in person. Now outside ready to knock on the door she could hear the loud music coming from the other side. The voices that followed had surprised her, as much as the loud music. She had expected Grissom to be alone, but she heard another voice inside. Knocking on the door, she waited for someone to answer.

I am covered in skin

No one gets to come in

Pull me out from inside

I am folded, and unfolded, and unfolding

I am colorblind

"Someone is at the door Gil." Brass yelled to his friend from where he sat on the couch, much closer to the door but not in any shape to actually make the walk.

Grissom looked at his friend, "What you couldn't get up?"

"Not my place." Brass said stretching out on the couch taking a long drink from his bottle of beer.

Grissom opened the door and almost jumped in shock when he saw Sara standing there. He actually expected it to be one of his neighbors there to complain about the music or really anyone but Sara.

"Hello." Sara said seeing the shocked look on Grissom's face.

"Who is it?" Brass asked, "Tell them the cops are already here so no need to call to complain."

"Not the neighbor." Grissom said moving back to allow Sara in.

"Well than who the hell is it.?" Brass got up looking to see who was at the door. "Oh."

"Hello Jim." Sara said smiling at him.

"Sara want a beer?" Brass asked.

"No thanks. It's a bit early." Sara replied.

"Good because there is none left." Brass sat back down. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought I would check on the boxer here." Sara said pointing at Grissom.

"He's fine." Brass said, "Alcohol dulls the pain."

"How much have you both had?" Sara asked seeing empty bottles littering the table.

"A lot." Brass replied yawning.

Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am...fine
I am... fine
I am fine

Grissom had yet to talk, he still stood at the door surprised that Sara was now standing in his house. He also felt a bit jealous at how easy Brass and Sara talk to each other. Why couldn't he talk to her like that?

"Glad you are here Sara." Jim said panting the couch for her to sit next to him. "Gil and I have been having a debate most of the night. And a third opinion would settle it."

"What is the debate?" Sara said walking into the house a bit more.

"Counting Crows, good or bad?"

"Decent?" Sara said, "Early stuff was good, but more recently not so great."

"That is not helpful." Jim said with a sloppy smile on his face.

"Her opinion shouldn't matter. She was what like four when their first album came out?" Grissom said moving into the house and joining the conversation.

"I was old enough to remember." Sara said, "Who's CD is this anyways?"

Jim gave her a look, "Gil's definitely. I have better taste in music."

"They are a good group." Grissom said supporting his music choice. "At least when they were still the original group."

Sara laughed out loud, she couldn't help herself.

"What?" Jim asked seeing Sara laughing hysterically next to him.

"Beside the depressing music you two are listening to. I just never pegged Grissom as a music fan."

"Oh he clearly isn't." Jim said getting up to turn the music down and try to change it. "Anyone who likes Adam Duritz whinny voice does not like music."

"Not true." Grissom said, "He is a good song writer. I am sorry I like my music a bit more intelligent and a bit less my wife left me, the dog died, and my truck broke down."

"I don't just like country." Brass said turning the music down and changing it to a Johnny Cash CD. Something anybody would agree was worth listening too.

"He is right though." Sara said looking at Brass.

"About what?"

"The band can write a song."

"You are just taking his side because…" Jim stopped himself from saying the last few words. "Wait aren't you two supposed to be fighting?"

"We had some words." Sara said, "that is why I am here."

"Come to kiss and make up?" Brass asked.

"Not the kissing part." Sara said, but honestly she had wished it would have been the kissing part too.

"I think I need to go pass out." Jim said leaning against the cabinet that held the stereo.

"Let me help you." Grissom said the more sober of the two men.

"I can do it myself." Jim said making his way to the stairs. He slowly made his way up and the next sound heard in the awkward silence was the sound of Jim dropping into the bed.

"Sorry about the mess." Grissom said after hearing his friend made it to the room. He quickly moved to pick up the bottles, "Jim came over after to blow some steam off."

"It's fine." Sara said helping Grissom pick up some of the bottles. "We all had a tough night."

"Yeah." Grissom said not sure what else to say.

"I came to say I was sorry for screaming at you." Sara continued to speak, "I was looking for a fight when I went into that room, and you got hurt in the process. Afterwards I was looking for another fight, and you always seem to be the best candidate for a fight."

"I know." Grissom said sitting down at the kitchen bar.

Sara noticed he looked exhausted, but somehow he still looked relaxed. He was out of his work clothes and into a comfortable pair of jeans and a t-shirt. "Is Brass going to be ok?"

"Yeah he'll wake up in a few hours and find his way home." Grissom said. Brass had been a common visitor ever since he moved back to the homicide unit. The two had always been friends, but now that Brass was not Grissom's boss it was an easier friendship.

"How about you? How is your hand?" Sara said grabbing for his hand to look at it.

"It'll be fine. Nothing is broken." Grissom said.

"Good. I never thanked you." She said moving her hand that had been holding his hand to Grissoms face to check on the bruise that had formed. "How about this?"

"A little tender especially when someone pushes on it." Grissom said surrpsied that he had not pulled back from her touch. Her smooth fingers felt nice against his face.

"Did you put ice on it?" She asked noting that he was not pulling away from her as she inspected the injury.

"I held a beer against it."

"Same difference?"

"Sort of." Grissom said sighing. He liked the position they were in. He could smell her lavender shampoo and before he knew what he was doing his hand was running through her hair. He had always wondered if it was as silky as it looked, and it was.

Sara was surprised when Grissom's hand ran through her hair and than gently down her chin. She did not back away, but the sirens were going off in her head. Would this be like before? They would have a fling, and it would end. Saying goodbye last time had hurt, more than she was willing to admit. His actions towards her since she had been in Vegas had been a caution to her. Would he turn into the cold bastard again tomorrow.

"Can I get a do over?" Grissom asked.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked needing to hear him say it.

"Can we start over, forget about everything I have done. Maybe start with a proper date? And move from there."

"Are you sure this is not the alcohol talking?"

"Part alcohol" He answered truthfully, he could see the pain in her eyes when he said it. "But it is the only because it is giving me the courage to ask. The clarity of mind to know what I want and go for it."

"I thought I was not worth it." She said.

It had surprised Grissom, "You heard what I had said to Lurie?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry. I was a chicken, still am. You scare the hell out of me. " Grissom said.

"Why?" Sara replied moving closer to him. Her hands on his chest now.

"You are a glimpse of a life I never thought I could have. A life I had abandoned. " He answered honestly, she deserved it after all. "I was not sure I could ever love again. That I can give myself to someone completely and survive it when all goes wrong."

"What makes you think it would all go wrong?" Sara asked seeing pain in his blues eyes, a pain she could not quite understand.

"It always does." He said, "You will find someone better. Someone who can make you their everything."

"Someone my age?" She asked.

"That too."

"Grissom you have been the only man I have ever truly cared about." She wanted to say love, but she knew it was too soon. "All I have ever asked is a chance to love you."

"I know." He said letting her wrap her arms around him. It felt odd to be hugged, it had always made him uncomfortable, but this felt comfortable.

"We can take it slow." She said, "If you are serious about this."

"I am." He returned her hug, she felt warm in his arms.

Sara wanted to say, you say that now, but what about when you wake up later.

"I'm tired." He said softly kissing the top of her head.

"Than I better go."

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to go to sleep…" He looked embarrassed now, "in my bed."

Sara smiled, it was a huge step maybe too fast, "I thought we were going to take things slowly."

"Clothes on." He said, "Or I can give you some clothes to wear."

"What about Jim?"

"Like I said he'll wake up in a bit and leave."

Sara was not sure, this was too much too soon. Part of her was still sure it was the alcohol talking.

"Please. " Grissom said, "I don't want to sleep alone." He continued, "I have wanted you in my bed for a long time. I just couldn't man up. I was afraid, and I know I've hurt you. So I have no right to expect you to return…."

"Look who is over talking now." Sara said laughing because she had done the same to him on many occasions. "Fine. But I'm telling you Griss if you wake up and regret all of this and take it back I'm going to kick your ass."

"I won't." He said trying to convince himself too.