Disclaimer:All characters belong to CSI and are not mine - I'm just borrowing them. I promise they will be cared for and fed and watered and returned in pristine condition. BUT until I'm given Season 9 to entertain me, they are mine to play with… as I like…

The idea for this came from the final scene of season 6 opener 'Bodies in Motion'.

I also do not own 'The Peppermill' or its 'Fireside Lounge'

Author Notes: Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this!! Especially those who are STILL taking the time to review and all the new people who take the time to put me on their story and favourite alert lists. I am so honoured. THANK YOU!!

Stars in Motion.

By Rianne.

Chapter Eleven.

When Gil Grissom stepped out into the harsh light of the hallway, his feet sinking into the soft pink plush, the quick change to the much contrasting bright after the darker privacy of the men's room had him blinking against the gaudy vividness of the pink and the blue. He lifted his head and came to a halt without even noticing that he was no longer moving.

Down the hall, shadowed against the burn of the strip lighting, was the figure of a long and lithe beauty. Her dark curls haloed by the radiance, which beat down from the ceiling above, bathing her in a luminescent silky glow.

He sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. His forehead creasing.

Sara Sidle… she was usually somewhere in the back of his mind.

Okay, he'd admit it she was always there and more often than not in the forefront of it lately, but this was getting a little ridiculous.

He must be wasted if he thought she wasn't back dancing and smiling with Nick and the others.

Or maybe he was dreaming.

Or maybe it was a very bad indication of the state of his intoxication, how many drinks had he had this evening…?

Or maybe, and this was more likely he had to admit, maybe this was a pretty huge clue as to just how far gone he was with his irrepressible feelings for her.

But it was just plain wrong that he was starting to see her in place of every woman that he met.

With another sigh he started walking again, heading back to the table, hardly anticipating spending some more time in sulky silence with Warrick.

But when he got closer to the woman he saw that it actually was Sara. His mind wasn't playing tricks on him after all.

She stood in the hall, Nick's traded cowboy hat dangling forgotten from her fingertips.

"Sara? What are you doing?"

At his voice she spun so quickly to face him he thought she might fall over. She just about managed to keep her ground, wavering slightly.

Her expression was a new one, triangulated somewhere between relief, embarrassment and something akin to rage. Her eyes flashed with it, seeming to well up a little, as her cheeks bloomed pinker and she moved her mouth in an interesting motion.

"Sara?" He tried again concern watering his tone. "Are you okay?"

He started to move towards her, reaching out his arms to touch her shoulders, but within two steps she had instead crossed the space between them and launched herself into his arms. Rocking him back on his heels. Winding her lovely long limbs tightly around his neck.

Huffing out a breath that was equal parts amusement and complete bemusement, he froze a moment, arms in the air, looking down at the willowy arch of her back and dark curls that lay on her shoulder.

Standing with her for the first time all night he came to the totally irrelevant realisation that she wasn't quite his height, even in those shoes.

She didn't move. He could feel her heart pounding. Her grip was tight with a physical strength he hadn't expected.

Lowering his arms he let his palms fall gently onto her shoulders, rubbing the slender, almost birdlike bone structure he felt beneath the warm skin and silk.

She began to shudder softly against him.

Oh, God! Was she crying?

What had happened?

He hadn't been in the bathroom that long… had he?

He really had no idea what was going on here?

Her shuddering had increased, and she'd started to make a noise, her face still buried in his shoulder.

Then the noise got louder… was that… was she laughing?

He leant back, placing a little force in counterbalance on her shoulders, trying to coax her away from him.

She was laughing!

When she finally drew back enough for him to see her face she was laughing so hard that tears were slipping down the curves of her cheeks.

She tried to control it, covering her mouth with her hand, but seeing his look of utter confusion seemed to set her off again.

She was even laughing loud enough to draw the momentary interest of the big darkly dressed bouncer who loomed at the far end of the hall. Grissom gave him a fake smile and seemingly satisfied that Grissom had the situation under control he continued on with his pacing of the doorway, much to Grissom's relief.

Clutching her stomach lightly she finally looked him in the eye and then caught him completely off guard by slamming her palms against his chest, rocking him backwards again, her huge grin and less than forceful contact proving that she was teasing him. That she was shaking off some kind of frustration with him.

And then it hit him.

Oh God! She thought he had left.

She thought that he had done exactly what he always did when she opened up to him.

She thought he had fled, and why shouldn't she…

He felt his forehead crease with a frown as he watched her turn sideways, moving so that she could support her weight by leaning heavily on the wall. Her breathlessness still overcoming her. She scrubbed her fingers over her cheeks in an attempt to remove the wet streaks.

Their eyes met again and the flare of understanding that flashed between them made her groan out loud in embarrassment.

Oh he knew her false assumption all right.

Dipping her head, she lifted Nick's cowboy hat and slid it back onto her head. Tilting the rim low to hide her face.

Her flush and her tear streaks made her look so endearing, but she clearly thought that they were just another example of proof of her every growing list of humiliations where he was concerned.

She was embarrassed by her outburst and he'd allow her that, but only for a few more moments.

He stepped closer.

Time's up.

Moving so that the tips of his shoes met the bare toes of hers.

Moving so that their stomachs were a hairsbreadth from touching, and began to brush with every breath they took.

Moving so that she was effectively boxed in. A captive audience.

He had to say this. He had to ask. Even if he knew it was a rhetorical question.

"Sara," his voice seemed to have deepened an octave, and he saw his breath tease her curls. "Did you think I had left?"

When she didn't re-emerge from under the hat he angled his upper body closer. Stretching out his arm on the wall, from elbow to wrist, to support himself as he leant in.

He reached out with his free hand and carefully tilted the hat up so he could see her again.

He gave her his best 'Tell the truth,' expression. Head tilted to the side, blue eyes teasing and bright.

Her mouth turned up at the sweet, and almost proprietary, way he was around her, even the way he was speaking to her. Oh she was getting herself into trouble here… and she liked it!

She could tell him the truth. It wasn't like he didn't know it already and it wasn't like he invited her to talk openly often.

Well, she tended to make her own opportunities to talk; well she talked, usually at the worst of moments… whilst he… well, he just floundered…

But here he was, giving her an invite, asking her about what was going on in her head.

She should seize this opportunity with both hands!

Gil Grissom opening lines of communication!

She hadn't expected that at all.

She had to worry if she wouldn't be taking advantage of him, him being under the influence of several glasses of whisky… at least. But he certainly seemed like he knew what he was saying. Although he was practically pinning her to the wall right now. And this time she hadn't asked for it.

It was always going to be a little weird at first, them learning how to be with one another in this new context. Even though they worked well together and had known one another for a long time, it still didn't do away with the awkwardness that always came with getting to know someone in this new way. Moving from colleague and friend to…

New relationships were always rife with misunderstandings at first, however small, and the sweet cosmic joke was that these little embarrassments were the things that built a foundation together.

It was normal to feel like this and it was certainly nice to feel normal, considering all the differences they had facing them.

But he was still waiting for her answer.

All he wanted was for her to admit it, to admit that she had been frightened that he had run again. To just to be honest with him and go on from there. He wasn't judging her here. He wasn't going to laugh at her for her insecurities.

Maybe he felt guilty; especially after all the ditching he had put her through in the past. He was standing out there, opening himself up to her and all she had to do was say one word… yes… come on Sidle, say it!

Yes, I was worried that you had left, and it was stupid, and silly and I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for doubting you.

But it was so hard for her. She was cornered. Her mind was fighting to retreat back to her usual defensive posture, hackles raised. It was so much easier than being vulnerable before him.

But the look he was giving her made it too hard to refuse him anything.

He genuinely wanted to hear her answer, he genuinely cared and if she was completely honest with herself she felt like it did need saying. If he had picked up on her fear, letting him know he was right so he could think about it again in the future before he acted couldn't hurt.

Come on Sidle… the sentence starts with Yes

But she just couldn't manage to get her mind and her mouth to work in tandem. He was too close, too warm, looking at her in that way… it was just too much and she certainly wasn't going to trust replying to some stupid squeaky schoolgirl voice.

The best she could manage was a nod, which rendered her childlike and embarrassed looking despite her best efforts not too.

Yet at her nod his eyes closed, he sighed softly, such a look of regret shadowing his face that she wanted to reach out and touch him, stroke her palm down his cheek like she had all those years ago, but before she could move he had leaned in first, moving his mouth to hover close to her ear.

She had to strain to hear his whispered words over the internal echoing thump of her own pulse.

"Sara," He sounded so wistful and sad, he paused before continuing on, his voice taking on an edge of determination she had never heard from him before. "I'm not leaving."

He paused again to collect his thoughts. Whilst she took advantage of his pause to reign in her breathing. This was really it! A moment of actual spoken truth between them. Their history in the making.

"I know I've never given you any reason to believe that, and I'm sorry. But it's different now."

At a sound in the hall both jolted, Grissom moved instinctively and protectively closer to her, shading her, his own face turning sharply towards the sound, as a door to the hall flung open, the space suddenly flooded with music as a woman came fluttering through.

Grissom's head lowered in relief, his breath escaping him.

For a moment both wavered. Hearts beating even faster, if that was humanly possible.

It wasn't someone they knew, but the chances of it being someone they knew were pretty dangerously high.

The woman paid them no attention at all, just carried on past them and down the hall, her avid focus on her intended destination of the ladies room. Clearly a woman who had indulged in a little too much to drink and now had to deal with the protests of her bladder.

A door swinging back closed further down the hall announced that they were alone again.

Still with his nose curved under the rim of the hat, breathing her in with every ragged breath, Grissom took a moment of renewed quiet before he spoke again.

"I know we're pretty new at this," he felt her jaw lift with her smile, pressing more of her deliciously soft cheek against the friction of his beard, "but I don't think we're doing too badly so far?"

He pulled his head back then, slowly, his expression shy and vulnerable, but as her shy and yet reassuring smile spread, so did his own.

"I'm sorry I doubted you." The words blurted from her. She couldn't stop them. He probably couldn't even understand a word she'd babbled, but she was glad the words were out there. Even if they hovered in the air between them. It put them back on level ground.

But he had heard her. The mutual reflection of pleasure at reaching a resolution, which she saw in his eyes, told her he had. They had cleared the air and repaired damage caused in the past that had been long requiring attention. All in the grand scheme of about four sentences! Impressive work!

And his satisfaction at their step forward was confirmed by the way he lifted his hand and placed two of his fingertips to her lips to halt her before she could speak again. Letting her know that he understood and that explanation and further apology were completely unnecessary.

She gently swayed her head from side to side, her lips curving into a smile, as they brushed back and forth against his fingers, making both lips and fingers tingle.

Mesmerised by the expression in his eyes she felt like she sank into the blue of his irises as he slid his fingers ever so lightly along the elegant arch of her cheekbone until they reached her hairline, where he gently lifted the silly hat from its perch, dropping it forgotten to the floor. Then he cradled her head in his open palms, supporting, and warm. His easy stance coaxing her to relax. His fingertips sliding deep into her curls before they began working soothingly, caressing massaging circles against her scalp. As he too stared amazed at the woman before him, drinking her in with the new awareness that she was truly in this with him. That she wanted this to work just as much as he did.

Leaning into the pressure of his touch to encourage him, she wilfully resisted the urge to purr. Her eyelids growing heavy. Oh, this… was… good! She could feel his strokes sending warm tingles all the way down her spine.

It was a little like she had always dreamed… Grissom touching her, and telling her things she had always wanted to hear. His eyes crinkling in a smile, his fingertips…

Except that in her imaginings they weren't in some bar entrance way with their friends on the other side of the wall… not that that didn't add a certain something to it…

But this… this felt good.

Just lingering there, absorbing the heat of each other, feeling the pleasurable tension between them build, enjoying the closeness.

Just relaxing and becoming comfortable with one another in such intimate proximity.

His nearness creating a warm curl in her belly.

Both falling into the warm expressions, and the deeper, more intimate smiles that glittered in their eyes.

Opening tentative avenues of trust between them.

Taking it slowly, which was new territory for her.

Knowing with refreshing certainty that this was a time to enjoy this simplicity. To not worry about going further than they were ready for just yet.

The anticipation of it all was just too damn good to rush.

But he couldn't stop his gaze as it slid from her honey pooled irises, lower to fixate on her lips.

What could just one kiss hurt?

He watched entranced as she rubbed her glossy lips together under his scrutiny, unsure whether it was instinctive, or an invite, but he didn't really care. It all read as the same thing to him.

He moved in, his nose brushing, nuzzling against hers, his lips parting and hovering over hers, teasing with his heated breath… before a gruff clearing of the throat, and a tap on the shoulder jolted Grissom aware.

0000000000

On the dance floor Nick, Catherine and Greg all cheered wildly as the band reached the end of another number, before they crashed right on into the next.

"Where'd Sara go?" Greg yelled loudly towards Catherine and Nick.

Both screwed up their faces, mouths opening in incomprehension. Shaking his head, Greg, bounced closer to them both, leaning in between them, close to their ears, to shout again.

Nick lifted his head in understanding, nodding with a grin.

"Bathroom I think," Nick responded stressing his words with a shrug.

Greg leaned in again, "What happened to Grissom then?" he shouted, before leaning back and pointing at the empty space beside Warrick at their table.

Catherine's face was a picture as she insinuated without any words at all just where she thought they might be! Raised eyebrows wiggling with her cheeky grin.

The boys just laughed, shaking their heads. No, not Sara and Griss, that whole thing that had gone on way, way to long for anything to happen between them now.

"Oh, Man, look at Warrick," Nick shouted, cocking his head in the direction of their dejected looking friend.

"I'll get him!" Cried Catherine, but Greg, grabbed her waist, sending her twirling around with him as Nick thanked Warrick's lucky stars and slipped off the dance floor towards him.

Arriving at the table, Nick, relieved to finally be able to hear himself think again, slid in next to Warrick.

"Hey 'Rick… not dancing?" Off Warrick's look he continued. "Okay… What happened to Griss?"

"Bathroom," came the close to monosyllabic response.

"Oh man, I'm sorry 'bout this party… Wanna slip outta here and find some of those strippers we talked about?" Nick's eyes flashed at the mention of ladies, trying to coax his friend either to deny his bad mood and come and dance, or admit what was troubling him, but Warrick didn't really respond.

"It's not the party, man…" Warrick tried half heartedly to explain, slapping his friends shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring way, but then he seemed to run out of words.

"I'm good." He finally finished with. "I'm good. I'm just tired. It's been a long week, you know."

But he knew he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

0000000000

The look on Sara's face was an absolute picture.

Grissom checked her expression, his own eyes widening, but she didn't look too horrified and he took that as a good sign as he drew back from her and slowly turned to face the intruding interrupter.

The bouncer loomed over him, even in comparison to Grissom's six feet, he was a big guy.

"There's no loitering in the hallway," came the gruff voice, which matched the demeanour.

What didn't quite match the demeanour was the way that the big guy's mouth was twitching, as he tried to restrain the grin which threatened at trying to discipline too adults, especially one with greyer hair than his own, for behaving like a horny teenagers.

Hell, he didn't really want to tell them to go, they looked like they were just about to get to the good stuff and make up after the little spat they had been having. They had been a pretty good source of entertainment for him for the last few minutes; most of the folks passing by him had been disappointingly boring so far tonight. And as far as he was concerned the younger woman was gorgeous and the guy, he was one lucky son of a…! Even if their pairing, when viewed through outside eyes, seemed to be somewhat of an unlikely combination, there was a powerful connection between them and it certainly worked. And what was sweeter was the fact that both of them were blushing, whilst trying not to laugh as well.

But his boss would have his hide if he let them stay here, 'always keep the corridor clear and inviting… We don't have trouble here.' if he heard that one more time.

But he knew that these two weren't trouble, and they relented easily, the man grunting softly with embarrassed frustration, and the woman biting her lower lip to smother her laughter as they slipped away from one another with lingering fingers. The woman headed to the bathroom, and the guy back to the club. Both smiling at him in contrite apology.

A duo of smiles, which he returned with a nod. Hey, if those two could make it work, maybe there was hope for him and his own disastrous love life too.

He cleared his throat again, lumbering over to snag the forgotten cowboy hat, as the woman rushed back to take it from him, murmuring her thanks.

And then he turned, resetting the smile back to grouchy before he went right back to his job.

0000000000

Standing in front of the mirror in the ladies bathroom, Sara found herself examining her expression for at least the third time today.

She was beginning to feel uneasily vain about all this self-study. Although looking at the state of her right now, maybe she ought to look in the mirror a little more often.

She was rumpled, flushed, and more than a little smeared. She looked like she had just been taken to bed for a long lazy languid make-out session. And all without partaking in any of the really good elements of that sentence.

She closed her eyes with a sigh, throwing Nick's hat down as she leant on the cool marbled countertop bringing her face close enough to the chill glass to fog her image with a halo of hot breath.

The cool was good for her heated skin; she'd have pressed her whole body against it if she could.

Maybe that would calm her nerves and her heart and her trembles of anticipation!

Grissom had told her he wasn't leaving her.

That he thought things between them were working.

It was exactly what she had been waiting weeks to hear.

Hell, she'd waited years for something, anything, any words to clarify and define the relationship between them, and she'd finally heard them tonight and he had been doing wonderful things to her insides with just his fingertips on her scalp and still he hadn't been able to kiss her uninterrupted!!

Damn that bouncer!

Oh God!!

Not only had they been caught almost exploring each other in the hallway of a bar by a bouncer who had certainly found their compromising position highly amusing, but Grissom had suddenly somehow chosen tonight to develop a new magic way to read her!!

From the moment he had spoken her name in the hallway he had known that she had suspected he had deserted her again!

Ohhhh! She was so stupid!

And to make matters worse once the breath cloud on the mirror evaporated she was once again reminded of the complete disaster that blinked back at her, she had mascara and kohl all down her cheeks.

Lovely. Just great.

She'd cried like an idiot.

But on closer inspection there was something more. Something so striking that she was surprised she had missed it at first. There it was… a glimmer of something new under the smudges. Something alive.

She looked happy.

How long was it since she had looked that?

Dipping her face with a smile she began scrabbling in her back pocket, her fingers sliding over her keys, her cash, before she finally dragged out the only make up she had brought with her, a tube of lip gloss and a small concealer stick she used to try and smother the freckles into submission. And that, for her, was way more make up than she usually took with her when she left her apartment.

Luckily the bathroom had hot water and she managed to remove the streaks of her tears, and she looked a little better, well honestly… she actually looked almost as rumpled as before, but there was nothing else she could do. She couldn't ask Catherine for make-up or she would want to know why.

Then just at that moment that the thought crossed her mind, a woman crashed into the bathroom, moving at such a high speed that she was just a blonde blur right up until the moment she launched herself at Sara, crying, "There you are!"

Gasping for breath under Catherine's tight hug, Sara felt her eyes bug, as she was enveloped by an overwhelmingly sweet wave of perfume, fluffy black feathers and intoxicated and sugar filled breath.

Letting her loose Catherine babbled on manically, "We thought you and Grissom had snuck off to find yourselves a nice quiet and cosy clandestine corner to work out some of that famous tension of yours!" She laughed hysterically to herself as Sara's eyes widened and her mouth fell open in shock at Catherine's directness, before she started laughing too.

There was no way for Catherine to really know how close she came to the mark there.

She was drunk… and a terrible comedienne.

Sara let out her breath… Catherine was just teasing her. Of course… Catherine was teasing her. It was only the bouncer and a completely disinterested woman who had been given an eyeful of the most intimate moment that she had shared with Grissom so far!

Ahhhhhhhh!!

But others had seen them, after all it wasn't like she and Griss had been very 'clandestine' out there in the corridor. If it had taken the bouncer a tap on the shoulder and a low clearing of the throat to alert them to his presence then anyone could have seen them…

What was wrong with them! They were fully-grown, highly intelligent adults and still they were letting their emotions and a sea of raging hormones take control of them and completely wash out any real immediacy to the fact that they could so easily get caught!

She knew that Catherine hadn't seen anything, that she was just making a joke, a direct joke, a bad joke, but Sara was used to calmly accepting the teasing about her feelings for Grissom. She was no fool; she had seen their badly hidden sly glances when she and Grissom argued over a case. She had overheard her name being mentioned as she passed a doorway and then been the person who stopped conversations dead as she walked into the room. So she knew they talked about her.

It had sometimes been a relief in her lowest moments to draw comfort from the fact that others had noticed that there was something, an attraction, between her and Grissom. It had made her feel just a little bit less crazy on the days when she wasn't sure of anything between them. Wasn't sure of anything at all.

Yes, she realised the cliché here, that she was falling for the boss, and that there was a minefield of workplace politics out there, but apart from a few early offhand comments from the boys, no one had ever dared to question her about it directly.

Although Catherine was nothing if not direct, especially tonight, albeit aided by more than a little alcohol.

But Sara could play it cool. She could shrug her shoulders and laugh awkwardly in the way that she was expected too and look like she was joining in with the cool joke, playing the good sport, all the while laughing secretly inside about the real truth. It was actually pretty funny just how close Catherine had come without realising it. Just wait till she told Grissom about this one!

But it did say a lot about their past behaviour around one another, that the best jokes their friends could think up to wind them up involved them being together. It was actually funnier that whilst she and Grissom had thought they had been hiding their feelings, even from each other… that the others had been more aware of their feelings for one another than they had been.

Although it was pretty embarrassing to know that she had been focus of the whole groups attention, she'd spent her whole life trying to fade into the group, into the background. To not be the girl people talked about behind her back. It was just a shame that behaviour like that didn't stop when you graduated high school.

Oh, and the thought that the others had been a part of some kind of discussion tonight… Most likely a discussion started by Ms. Willows here. Catherine' had said 'we'… 'we thought…' Oh God… Mortifying! She had thought they had finally given up with the speculation where she and Griss were concerned. But Catherine's opening line was sounding more and more suspiciously like some kind of premeditated joke.

Oh God, if she left this bathroom to find all the others leaning against the wall outside, with huge grins on their faces, heaven help them… they'd learn what it was really like to be on the receiving end of a Sidle temper tantrum!

"But as you're here, I guess you're not then!" Catherine finished, breathless with laughter that overtook her again in a wave at Sara's attempt to control her expression.

Actually Sara was suddenly filled with a growing sense of indignation that the idea of her and Grissom being together in anyway was so amusing to Catherine. And even if the new developments weren't happening between them, it was pretty hurtful of Catherine to laugh at her, and her feelings like this. Maybe when she told Grissom about this little encounter she'd leave that part out.

But if it got them off the huge trail she and Grissom seemed to be leaving in their wake tonight maybe it was a good thing. And having such a delicious secret was a really good thing!

"Oh! But look at you! You can tell you don't wear make-up like this much. You must keep your hands away from your face!" Catherine admonished as she shook a finger vaguely in the direction of Sara's face, clucking in a motherly way as she threw her clutch bag onto the counter and began pulling out tubes and brushes and pallets.

Sara took a step back, lifting her hands in a universal 'back the hell off' motion.

But Catherine advanced regardless.

Oh God! She was going to make her look like a clown in this state… but there didn't seem to be anything she could do to stop her.

Closing her eyes she felt Catherine get to work, felt the smoothing of something cool, the flick of a brush, the teasing of something under her eyes.

"You know…" came Catherine's voice from a lot closer than she was used to. "You really are beautiful." She sighed a wave of sweetened breath over Sara's face. "Grissom is such a fool."

Sara would have gasped if she were sure that Catherine had intended for her to hear that. She really couldn't be sure that the other woman had known she had even spoken out loud. But that was a full one-eighty change from all her laughter a few minutes ago. Maybe drinking gave Catherine short-term memory loss.

"Ta da!"

Sara felt Catherine finally step back, and then felt herself guided over to the mirror again.

She took a breath and opened her eyes.

"See… nothing to worry about!" Catherine's reflection winked at her in the glass.

She really looked all right, much better than a few moments ago.

Sara's smile was small, and almost shy, "Thank you."

She really needn't have worried about Catherine's state of intoxication. She should have known. It was just that she hadn't remembered to figure in to her equation the fact that Catherine clearly could apply perfect make-up in her sleep. And she must have to on many occasions to be able to make it to work on time and still look so well manicured.

And even now, Catherine's make-up was still pristine. Although her talents at walking, and standing steady were becoming a little less convincing.

"Right, come on… let's go find the others and have another drink!" Catherine cried, grasping hold of Sara's arm and pulling her along behind her back in the direction of the bar.