A/N: This is the final chapter (sniff) but the story will include an epilogue just to tie up the loose ends per se. Thanks again for your support. God bless you all.

-11-

"Oh you think I'm going to confess some type of ulterior motive concerning Sara?" Doug asked.

"I don't know. Are you?" Grissom countered.

"No." Doug chuckled. "Believe me if I wanted to start things up again with your wife, I certainly wouldn't be down here trying to save your ass."

"You might be trying to make sure I don't come out of this alive," Grissom said and then instantly regretted it. What was wrong with him? He was not acting rationally at all. Maybe he hadn't been for quite some time. "I apologize. I'm not up on Sara's day to day life lately, so I don't know the status of your relationship with her."

"Because you're an idiot," Doug said nonchalantly.

"Why does everyone think I'm an idiot?"

"Seriously?" Doug asked thinking now the man sitting there was even denser than he originally suspected. "You have his wonderful woman who adores you, and for God only knows what reason, you throw her away."

"I didn't throw her away," Grissom said emphatically. "I went after her. I wanted her to be with me. But she keeps leaving me and taking another piece of my heart with her every time she goes." Grissom tried to calm himself down. "I couldn't. I can't keep letting her leave. Not knowing if she'd find someone else out there. Someone more suited to her." Grissom put his head down then. Doug nodded. He was starting to piece together Grissom's dilemma. It wasn't just jealousy that fueled him, but the feeling that he was somehow not man enough for Sara. Feeling bad, Doug felt he needed to explain his and Sara's relationship.

"We are not having an affair if that's what you're thinking. There was a plane crash last year on the Strip and I was assigned to investigate it. I knew she was married to you, but I had also heard that you were not around all the time." Doug paused for a minute thinking back about that case and the reconstruction they did. "Would love to say my intentions were 100% honorable but I would be lying."

"I appreciate your honesty."

"I could sense she was sad. We've always had this kind of connection you know?" Grissom nodded. There was a time when he thought he and Sara had one too. Where it went Grissom was beginning to wonder. "We had some good times, but I just wasn't who she wanted to share her life with."

"You seem less emotionally stunted than I am. Maybe you would have been a better choice," Grissom said sadly.

"Nah, I was always too emotionally immature for her. Besides she met someone else and I just knew that I couldn't compete." Doug turned away. He doubted Grissom could see the single tear that slid down his cheek but nevertheless he didn't want to show how affected he was. He too understood what it was like to lose such a wonderful woman.

They sat in silence for a while. They could hear noises coming from up top and could only surmise that rescue efforts were being made slowly but surely. Grissom thought about all the times he didn't let on how he felt, and how many times Sara had let it slide. He was so happy to have found someone who didn't judge him or try to change him. She accepted all his quirks, and maybe he felt that he didn't need to be any different for her because of that.

"So who did Sara meet?" Grissom finally asked.

"You," Doug replied. Grissom looked at him surprised.

"We were never intimate back then in San Francisco."

"Oh I believe that you didn't have sex, but intimacy and sex don't necessarily go hand in hand," Doug replied. "About a month or so after she went to that conference, she came to my house and told me that she couldn't see me anymore."

"Did she give you a reason why?"

"I didn't ask," Doug replied. "That's the thing about Sara. She'll tell you the truth. Be blunt as hell – if you ask. I guess I didn't want to know."

"I feel like I should apologize to you for this," Grissom said. "Not sure that I am sorry though."

"I wouldn't be if I took Sara away from you." Grissom nodded and they both fell silent. So many thoughts started swirling in Grissom's head. Maybe he really was an idiot. Who or what gave him the right to decide who Sara deserved to be with? Wasn't it not her choice? Maybe he needed to throw out all those irrational thoughts that clouded his judgment, and accept what God has graciously allowed him to have.

Grissom closed his eyes after a while. Time passed. How long Grissom didn't know. He called out to Doug at one point, but Doug didn't answer.

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Cranes were brought in to carefully take the concrete and dirt from above where the ground had sunk in. DB and Nick paced nervously while Brass maintained his hold on Sara. She appeared to be holding up pretty well, but Brass felt that she would break if he let go. Maybe it was his way of quelling his own anxiety.

No one said it but there wasn't much hope that either Grissom or Doug was still alive. In deference though to Sara, no one was willing to stop the recovery effort until they were sure. Once the rubble was carted away, teams of men attached to safety wires, started the task of digging around the location where they had assumed the men had fallen in.

As they dug deeper and deeper, they started to hit more and more concrete. This made the task more arduous, but still they prevailed. Nick and Greg had joined in the effort in the second half hour to give a couple of guys a break.

"Nick, check this out," Greg yelled. Nick moved over and saw a pocket form in the dirt where Greg was digging. They looked at each other and started to dig in that spot until they hit a concrete slab. They dropped to their knees and pushed the dirt with their hands. Both looked shocked when they saw a glimmer of light seep through. They followed along the edge of the concrete and dug alongside it.

"Grissom! Doug!" Nick yelled. Nick continued to yell their names as they dug. Greg shushed him for a moment and told him to listen.

"I can hear someone," Greg yelled jubilantly. Nick signaled to DB who got on the phone and radioed Ecklie who was standing next to Brass and Sara. Brass had to hold Sara back from running on to the scene. She wanted to see Grissom. She had to see Grissom. But Brass told her to wait.

Nick and Greg accompanied by two other workers were able to make a pocket big enough so that someone could jump down and assist Grissom and Doug in getting out. Nick looked at Greg and told him that he couldn't do it. Greg smiled and touched Nick's shoulder letting him know that it was alright.

Greg climbed down and saw Grissom first. He looked dirty but amazingly unhurt. "Do you need help getting up Griss?"

"Just stiff Greg. Hey Doug you need help? Doug?" Grissom got on his knees and tapped Doug's leg. Doug did not respond. "Greg, check his pulse." Greg went over to his neck and felt a weak one. He shook Doug but there was no response.

"There's blood on his head but it appears to be dry. I don't see anything else – wait. Grissom there appears to be a somewhat fresh gash on the back of his scalp." Grissom moved over to take a look at it.

"He's in shock. Greg, go tell them to get a stretcher. Then you and I are going to pick him up and hand him up top," Grissom said ripping a piece of his shirt to tie around Doug's head. "Damn fool."

"What was that Grissom?" Greg asked as he came back and stood on the other side of Doug.

"Nothing. Ready?" he asked as the both grabbed under Doug's arms. Grissom counted to three and then they lifted him up. His height and the fact that he was dead weight, was forcing them to drag him over to the opening. Once they got there, two rescue workers grabbed Doug and lifted him up and onto the awaiting stretcher. Nick then leaned over to take Grissom's hand and assist him. Greg helped hoist him up and then climbed up himself.

Sara and Brass were now standing at the awaiting ambulance. She watched the stretcher come near her and at first was unaware of who it was. She focused her eyes and realized that it was Doug. She looked back over to the pile of rubble and noticed Nick and Greg helping Grissom down. She let out a deep breath of relief knowing that he was able to walk out on his own.

Once Grissom was on solid ground, he shook hands with both Nick and Greg, and then looked around for the one face he was desperate to see. A couple of EMTs then stepped to the left of his vision and there she was. She was looking straight at him with a beaming smile – a smile that would melt even the Grinch's heart. Though he was exhausted and dirty, he found the strength to sprint to her and take her in his arms.

"I thought I lost you forever," Sara said crying into Grissom's shoulder.

"Only an idiot would let you go."

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"How is he?" Grissom asked as Sara came back into the ER room.

"Awake. Telling me his concussion is way better than mine. Hitting on a nurse. So normal," Sara replied pulling up chair. Grissom was lying back with his head propped up. He seemed to have no injuries internal or otherwise, but the doctor wanted him to stay in the ER for a little while longer just to be safe.

"He seems like a good guy. Honest."

"Yes he is," Sara replied hesitantly. She didn't want to talk about Doug, and while it might not be the best time, she needed to know about the state of their relationship. So many emotions had gone through her over the last couple of days that she needed closure one way or another.

"Sara –" Grissom said at the same time as she said his name. She stopped and put her head down fearing the worst. "There are some things I need to tell you." Uh oh Sara thought.

"We don't have to talk now. You get better and in a couple of days we can hash things out. Decide what we both want."

"Stop doing that," Grissom said strongly. Sara looked up at him confused. "Stop letting me off the hook. Stop making things easier on me. Why do you do that?"

"I thought that's what you're supposed to do when you love someone," she replied looking away.

"I don't want you to do that anymore. You shouldn't have to put up with my crap any more than I should have to put up with yours."

"What crap do I give you?" she asked a bit upset.

"Why don't you ever tell me what you really want? Why does everyone else know? I know I'm daft at times, but the more I thought about it when I was underground, the more I realized that you don't tell me."

"You don't ask," she defended.

"Point taken," he replied remembering what Doug had said. "Tell me now. What would make you happy?" Sara thought for a moment. She then tried to turn the tables and ask him what he wanted. "Oh no, you first."

"Well," she started as she got up and started to pace. "I don't want a divorce that's for sure. I don't know why you thought it would be a good idea in the first place."

"We will get to me after you finish answering my question." Sara let out a deep sigh. Somehow she wasn't sure that any answer she gave would be the right one. She thought for a moment about their relationship. How she seemed to gravitate towards his wants more so than her own. She thought it was because they were so connected that they seemed to want the same things. But, maybe they didn't. Nevertheless it appeared to be the time to honestly put all her cards on the table, and see if she could come up with a winning hand.

"Alright. Alright, as I said I don't want a divorce for the obvious reason that I am still in love with you. The other things are first of all I want a home base. My home will always be in your arms, but I want a physical building with walls and windows."

"Doors too or are they optional?" he asked. Sara rolled her eyes.

"I want to continue to work in Vegas as a CSI. It's the only thing I know I'm good at. I understand that you are doing very important work all over the world and I support that but I hate that you tend to make unilateral decisions without discussing them with me. You get so wrapped up in whatever bug you're examining that you forget that your actions affect my life also."

"Anything else?" Grissom asked. Sara paused and then shook her head no. "Why don't you sit down, please." Sara obliged. The silence was maddening and Sara felt the urge to fill it with something.

"Look Gil, I know that I probably shouldn't have sprung that all on you." Grissom shushed her.

"I asked you to so don't feel bad." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Can you tell me what you want?"

"You," he said simply. Sara stared at him in disbelief. "The last couple of days I've been living Ebenezer Scrooge's life. Going back over the past, present, and looking into the future. I learned some things along the way through the help of some friends." Sara smiled.

"I thought if I said that I wanted you to be happy then I was doing my job as your husband. But they were just words. I assumed that because I went after you that everything was okay. I didn't have to work at being a good husband. I made the sacrifice and that was that."

"I said I got why you had to go back to Vegas and while I pretended to be supportive, inside I saw it as kind of a betrayal. You sounded so happy. Happier than you had been in a long while."

"I was happy being married to you," Sara interjected.

"At the time I didn't see it. The more I felt that you were happier without me, the more I stayed away until it snowballed out of control."

"So you thought you'd make me happy by divorcing me?" Sara said with little emotion.

"Silly as it sounds yes that was the general reason."

"Gil, I think there is something you should know before we go any further. After we had the divorce talk, I was feeling so hurt and so lost that I went out and, and," Sara couldn't finish. Grissom reached for her hand. She just couldn't give it to him. "I'm so sorry Gil."

"Did you sleep with him?"

"No."

"Was it Doug?" He asked.

"No. It was actually someone I met at a bar." Sara put her head down. "It was just a couple of kisses, and the guy showed up at my birthday dinner. Only that was a setup courtesy of Basderic." She gave him the Reader's Digest version of what she went through with Basderic. When she was finished, she leaned back in the chair and hoped for the best.

"Sara, give me your hand," Grissom said and waited for her to shakily give it to him. "I don't know how I feel about what you just told me, but I do know there are more important things to say." Sara looked at him hopefully. "I knew from the moment I saw you all those years ago that we would be ever connected. Not to make this sound risqué in any way, but you are my greatest rollercoaster ride. You have both thrilled and terrified me. I just have to stop being so resistant to some of the larger dips and turns that life throws us. Learn to ride them out with you together."

"Oh God Gil I just love you so much," Sara said resting her cheek on his hand.

"I love you too sweetheart. I know that we have more to talk about, but we have a lifetime to do that."

Epilogue to follow…