A/N: If you can't tell, season 6 and 7 are my favorites so I'm diving in a bit deeper into them. When I started this I never expected to reach 20+ chapters but here we are. I do plan to take this all the way through the series finale and perhaps a chapter or two of epilogue. Hope you're all still enjoying! Reviews are always appreciated!

November 2006

Sara and Greg had been spending more time than usual outside of work since the incident. Something she had told Grissom, that the two had done more frequently before she and Grissom had become involved.

"Greg may know." She confessed to him one night in bed after she had been out with Greg for a few hours after work.

"What do you mean, may."

Sara and Greg had been sharing a quick breakfast after shift.

"Want to watch a movie?" Sara had suggested. Monthly movie nights between the two had become non-existent since she and Grissom got together and Sara truly missed her friends company outside of work.

"What so you can talk through the whole thing?" He jabbed playfully, "Yeah lets do it. Want to just go to your apartment. It's closer."

"Sure!" She said automatically without thinking. But realization settled in and she had to think quickly, "Actually, let's go to your apartment." he looked at her quizzically, "My place is a mess right now."

"Oh, I don't care about that. Here, you go home and 'clean up'" he smiled, "I grab some popcorn and beer and meet you there.

She was in a corner and didn't know what else to do, what else to say to preserve the intimate secret she and Grissom shared. He could sense something was up,

"Sara?" Greg paused seeming to think about why she wouldn't want him in her home. He knew she didn't have feelings for him, knew she didn't really care about whether or not he saw her apartment as a mess.

"You know, Sara, you've been working less overtime. You're leaving shift when shift actually ends. You're taking your days off..."

She diverted her eyes not knowing what to do. And as if by some divine miracle from a higher power she didn't really believe in, her phone rang. The voice on the other line dispatched her to a scene off the strip and she was able to make an easy exit.

"That doesn't mean he knows."

She shrugged, "Just means we need to be a little more careful. If he doesn't know yet, he's on the path to get there." He agreed and gently kissed her forehead.

"You're okay with this still right?"

"With what?" She asked innocently.

"With—um." He paused. Finding the right words to speak to her was never easy for him and he couldn't fully understand why. "With keeping this a secret."

She smirked and inched closer to him, pushing her body flesh against his. Her hand made its way to his check as she placed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

He smiled softly.

Grissom and Sara walked around the older woman's house. She had seemingly been thrown through a window face first. Grissom looked at her from the outside while Sara photographed inside.

Their working relationship seemed to be stronger than ever. Working through scenes quickly and efficiently with their own developed short hands. He could see today, though, that she was just slightly distracted. Something he chalked up to her being worried about Greg's public inquest today. The inquest was to be held to determine if he acted justly in the death of Mr. James.

Sara worked the case with Catherine. After hours of working it they continued to eliminate suspect after suspect. That is until the nephew came into the lab holding a large cardboard box. Sara approached him carefully and peered over the top. Her face went white.

The first thing she saw was a perfectly rendered half inch model of the murder. The second thing she saw was an empty bed, realizing quickly that Grissom would be once again infatuated with the case.

It had been a week since the second miniature was delivered to the office. And like Sara expected, Grissom was infatuated. He was working late again, skipping meals and not sleeping soundly. She wasn't quite sure what to do for him other than give him his space.

Grissom sat behind his office desk and opened a letter from Williams College:

Dear Dr. Grissom,

As an accomplished entomologist in the field of forensic science, we would be honored for you to accept a visiting professorship to teach a graduate seminar on the interdisciplinary subject of the Walden Pond.

He continued to read the letter, which ended by stating:

Consider taking a sabbatical to join us.

Just then Catherine entered his office to update him on the case of two twins, murdered in the same night at completely different scenes. He quickly folded up the letter and slipped it into the top drawer of the desk.

The rest of shift Grissom thought about that letter. He could tell he was burning out, Sara had pointed that out to him on a few occasions. The miniature cases had been keeping him up at night. He also recalled her saying just a few months ago that he should look into teaching. He hadn't, of course, as work consumed all of his time like it usually did. But here an opportunity seemed to fall into his lap. But could he do it to the team? To leave them short handed for five weeks?

He battled with those questions all night. Finally, once the cases were wrapped he retreated to his office. There, he sat down in a comfortable chair and pulled Thoreau's Walden from the shelf. The subconscious act linking to the seminar's topic of Walden Ponds was not lost on him.

He glanced up as he saw Sara turn the corner of the hallway and now appear in his doorway.

"I heard the guys solved a double murder."

"Mhmm" he nodded somewhat mindlessly.

"I spent the day sitting on a bench outside the court room. They never got to me."

"That sucks." He returned his attention back to the book.

She cocked her head to the side to see what he was reading, "Feeling transcendental?" she pursed her lips.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he looked up at her once more.

"Thoreau? I haven't read him since college." Her smile lit her face in a soft glow.

"Me neither. It holds up. I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself then be crowded on a velvet cushion."

Her smile continued as her eyes glanced downward to see the abandoned crossword puzzle.

"Oh look, you've missed one. 63 down." She only thought for a brief second. "Misanthrope." She placed the puzzle back down as he looked at her almost bewildered. "I wont wait up." She smirked and made her way to exit his office.

She got him, he realized. She understood more of him then he really understood himself. He watched as she exited the office and then disappeared down the hallway in awe. After all this time, she still amazed him. Even in his darkest hours she shown a light.