Sorry I have been MIA the last while, I lost my muse for a bit.. and I've been exhausted! But here is the second and final chapter to this little story. The AFTER of Empty Eyes, in my mind... this is what may have happened.

Enjoy!

"I held his hand. Just like I held her's. I lost perspective."

As they walked out of the lab, Grissom's hand pressed firmly and confidently against the small of her back.

They always made sure to keep work and home life separate, in fact they had made it a fairly strict rule. No touching at work. No "looks". That particular rule had been made one morning after a notably heated discussion about fantasies around the conference room table, leaving Grissom dumbfounded for several moments after everyone else had gotten up to leave.

No - they were usually very good about it. Keeping things private. Quiet. They were diligent in not allowing their coworkers, professional observers, to find out about them.

They would in time, they both knew that much. Especially now that they shared an address. It was bound to come out eventually but until then, Sara and Grissom were happy to live in their secret. They weren't ready to let anyone else in just yet. Their home was their sanctuary. Their life together, their love, was just theirs.

Tonight, though, was different.

Grissom sensed it.

He wasn't particularly good at reading human emotions, especially those of the opposite sex. With Sara it admittedly took him a while to figure out her cues, but this situation didn't need deciphering. She was hurting. Traumatized. She was blaming herself. She was mourning someone she didn't really know but was with in her last moments. She was heartbroken and angry.

He knew this had hit differently.

Sara was the most empathetic human being he'd ever met. It was what endeared him to her all those years ago at the Forensic Academy Conference. During his talk he had briefly mentioned linear regression and she had risen her hand with a stubborn straight arm, asking if he actually collected live bugs and then stabbed them with a pin onto a chart. When he replied that yes, in fact, he did on occasion... she looked appalled. He remembered chuckling at her, thinking she was adorable. Only his Sara Sidle could have such passionate empathy for a maggot.

He later learned that same empathy that horrified her back in the Bay, was the same empathy that drove her to her vegetarianism. He still felt like an ass for asking her to clean up that ground beef that day. He must have apologized for it a dozen times, each time met with a light giggle and a kiss on the cheek.. but he would continue to do so over and over.

He knew that holding a woman in her arms while she died.. it was going to shatter her.

She had seen enough death first hand in her lifetime. She had been present when her own father was stabbed to death. Watching and feeling someone's life slip away in such a violent way wasn't something anyone should experience, let alone his Sara. When that tear rolled down her cheek, he needed to touch her. His heart broke for her.

He wiped a tear with the back of his finger, winced his eyes and gave her a knowing look and they left.

With his hand still on her back, the couple made their way to his car, and he held the door open as she lowered herself in. They'd worry about her car tomorrow. If anyone asked, he gave her a ride home, which was true as true could be.

The drive back to their condo was quiet. Sara leaned her head on the car window and stared out at the aggressive city lights as he drove. He could tell by her breathing that she was trying her best to calm her emotions. Every once in a while he would glance over at her and see her eyes closed, or her fingers would be playing with the zipper of her jacket in her arms.

"Sara?" He spoke softly as they were approaching their condo, pulling onto their quiet street.

"I'm fine. I'm ok." She cleared her throat, giving him a nod and a half hearted smile.

He knew she wasn't, but he nodded, accepting her answer.

They made their way inside and immediately shoes came off and jackets were hung.

Passing the kitchen, Gil's hand rested on her lower back, and led her to their bedroom. Their sanctuary. When his hand fell away Sara wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if she were cold, and without a second thought, Grissom walked to their ensuite bathroom and began to draw a bath.

A moment later he reappeared in the bedroom, inching closer to his lover and Grissom tucked a strand of hair behind Sara's ear. She gave him a small, sad smile.

"I love you." His was voice hoarse, as he kissed her forehead. He wasn't one to say those three little words often, he wish he was. But Sara knew, and he knew. She was aware he struggled when it came to his emotions, but Grissom knew this was a situation where she needed to hear it. "Have a bath. I'll start some tea."

With a nod, Grissom left her to her privacy, and Sara made her way to the spacious bathroom.

It was decorated perfectly. Very Grissom, with some of her own touches. Baby blue accents in a white room filled with mounted butterflies along the walls. Instead of a bar of soap by the sink, what had been there the first time she used his ensuite, now there stood a foaming liquid soap dispenser that smelled like lemons and mint. Instead of just one towel hanging on a hook, two more hung from the second one. One for her body, one for her hair. The walk in shower and companion soaking tub were huge selling features when Sara was deciding to make the decision to move in or not... aside from the obvious benefit of living with her lover. Instead of just a bottle of unscented 2-in-1 body wash and shampoo, now there lay several assorted bottles of shower gels and hair products, as well as shaving cream and in shower body oil that smelled of cedar wood and cinnamon.

The bath especially, was a huge draw for her.

Not only did she thoroughly enjoy unwinding in it on her own with a glass of wine when Grissom was at court or working on her night off, but she found shared baths with Gil to be even more enjoyable.

She never pictured him as a bath kind of man, but maybe he had never had a bath bath before.. not until she enlightened him anyways. Now it was one of their favourite ways to spend an evening, and one of their favourite places to make love to one another.

As she undressed, Sara avoided looking at herself in the mirror. She just couldn't. She knew she looked like shit, and she knew she would only see her mother reflected back at her.. and that was a trauma she couldn't bear today.

She stepped into the bath cautiously, allowing her feet and legs to adjust to the heat and then gingerly sat herself down into the lavender scented bubbles. The pores on her freshly shaved legs stung in the heat of the water but she welcomed the pain with a few deep breaths.

It's the least I can do, to bear through the pain on my legs when six young women were stabbed to death.

She composed herself and then smiled at Grissom's thoughtfulness. He knew a lavender oil bath was her favourite. A close second was a spicy, warm, citrusy blend.. but that was usually when their shared baths had a more erotic purpose. The lavender was for moments like now, when she needed clarity and calm.

Turning the water off with her toes, Sara turned on the light jets and closed her eyes. The white noise was a welcome sound to her busy mind, and the heat saturated her body and muscles perfectly.

When Grissom reappeared quietly in the floral scented bathroom, he eyed her up and down, with a cheeky grin.

Sara Sidle, his partner, lover and now housemate, was in his bath. Their bath. Her cheeks and the top of her chest were flushed pink from the heat and her forehead was shiny with perspiration. Her small but perfect breasts floated atop the water, her nipples barely visible under the bubbles. Her hair was curling naturally around her face in the humidity of the small space. She looked beautiful.

He still couldn't believe it sometimes, that this woman chose him. Adamantly chose him, too. Stubbornly chose him. Passionately chose him... before he had even really seen, she chose him.

It's always been you... she explained to him after their first time making love as they had lain in her bed entwined in each other's limbs, and he knew in his soul it had always been her for him too. He was speechless and couldn't tell her in that moment but it was. It would only ever be her for the rest of his existence.

It had taken them so long to get to this point. This point of comfortability in their relationship where she could shamelessly lounge naked in their bathtub while he tenderly observed her form. The point where they could communicate without words, and touch one another exactly where it was needed without tender direction. As if they were one, and could work together in such perfect harmony. They had always made a good team secularly, and it carried over extraordinarily well into their home life and their bed.

"Are you going to stand there and watch all day, or come in and join me?" Sara suddenly spoke, her eyes still closed, but her lips turned up into a small smile.

"I was just reading the room, dear." He spoke with a grin. "Would you like me to join you? Or do you need some time?"

At that she opened her eyes and gazed at him, softly. He had placed a cup of ice water and a mug of ginger tea on the round accent table beside the tub, and was leaned up against the sink counter casually, sipping his own mug.

"I'd like you to join me." She nodded, as she shifted forward in the water, making space for him behind her.

With a mischievous grin, Grissom undressed and quickly fulfilled her wishes and sank down into the warm water behind his lover. Her still tense body instantly melted into his as she leaned back into him.

"I'm sorry about our date.." He whispered into her ear as he moved her wet curls away from the back of her neck and kissed her soft flesh gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." Sara sighed and shook her head gently, a small gasp escaped her lips as his hands began to massage her tense hips under the water.

She closed her eyes and relaxed into him as Grissom kissed her sweaty temple tenderly. "Not yet." She confirmed.

They sat in silence for several minutes, Grissom's idle hands caressing her arms, hips, shoulders.

"You know, I was thinking the other day.." he started, and then trailed off.

"Well that's not exactly new, Gilbert." Sara teased sadly.

He chose to ignore her, and smiled into her hair, "I was thinking about my family."

"Your Mother?" Sara spoke quickly, turning her head in his embrace, concerned for the 83 year woman, "Is she ok?"

"No, yes she's fine." Grissom chuckled, "I was thinking about our family. Us."

Sara deadpanned, her eyebrow raised speculatively and her mouth fell open in surprise, "Us?"

Grissom nodded, and then eased her back down to his chest, urging her to relax. His hands began their work at her hips again because he knew that was her kryptonite. She was putty in his hands once he started on her hips. She carried every ounce of her stress and anger there. It was her favourite place to be touched aside from, well, the obvious. He figured that fact out on their fourth date, before they had even become sexually intimate. A wave of brevity came over him and he had come up behind her while she was washing some dinner dishes and placed his hands on her hips, massaging her.

They had just finished an especially physical case at a landfill and it involved a lot of hands and knees work, so he figured she would be sore. He knew he was. She had let out a deep involuntary moan, shocking both of them. She turned and flushed immediately, embarrassed and about to apologize, but Gil flushed elsewhere in his body and felt the furthest thing from timid at inadvertently discovering one of her androgynous zones. Now, he made sure to indulge her as often as he possibly could.

"Yes, us." He confirmed a few moments later, his fingers tracing along her hip bones. "I was thinking about how very glad I am to have this family with you. And Hank." He shrugged with a small chuckle.

Sara simply nodded, still in shock at his words. They were a family?

"You know," Grissom began again, "I never understood it before.. the immense and desperate need people have to share their space and their life with someone else. It never made any sense to me. Why bother letting a stranger into your sanctuary only for them to make changes and mess it up and disrupt the status quo."

"Are you regretting letting me commandeer your hand soap, Gil? Or all of my plants?" Sara laughed.

"Not at all." He smiled into her hair. "I realized it's because once you are family with someone, once you let them into your heart and allow yourself to love them... letting someone into your home and life is just the next logical step. I don't think I could possibly live here without you.. or your plants anymore."

"That's not very rational and scientific of you, Gilbert." Sara teased again to try and conceal the fact that her heart was beating a million miles a minute, but she knew he could feel it.

"No, I suppose it's not, is it." He smiled as she turned in his arms again to face him.

"So this means I can keep replacing your milk with my almond milk?" She beamed, remembering his hilarious look of horror when he went to grab his 2% milk for cereal the other day and only found unsweetened almond.

"Well, let's not go that far. It's a big fridge. We can buy one of each.."

Sara nodded and pursed her lips, as her eyes searched his face tenderly. She was about to speak when he began,

"And having a family, having each other, can help ease the blows of the job. I'm glad I can be here for you and with you after nights like last night, Sara." He cleared his throat, suddenly realizing he was speaking very uncharacteristically. He never spoke this way, he was a man of few words, but something about Sara brought out his inner romantic and his inner comforter. "If this case had have even been a couple of years ago, I wouldn't have been able to touch you.. bring you home. You would have.."

"Dealt with it alone." She nodded sadly, kissing his cheek, "Well, alone with a few bottles of beer."

Grissom returned the nod.

"I can pour us some wine if you'd like." He smiled, knowing full well she did not have an issue with alcohol, but rather had had issues with herself... and him.

"No tea is good for now." Sara leaned up and kissed his lips gently. "I am getting a little overheated in this water now though. I think I'll hop out and put on some pjs and crawl into bed. See what movies are on TV. You coming?"

Grissom nodded, and held her hand as she stood up and watched as her dripping, pale, freckled body stepped out, "Careful." He commented as she planted her wet feet on the bath mat.

He watched the bubbles slide down her back and the small curve of her bottom, and gently stood up himself.

Wrapped in a fluffy white towel, Sara turned to Grissom and outstretched a hand offering him his own. She gave him a quick once over, not failing to notice his semi hard member, and gave him a quickly grin. With a wink she quietly made her way into the bedroom as Grissom dried himself off.

Throwing her damp hair in a loose pony tale and slipping on one of Gil's baggy t shirts and a comfortable pair of cotton underwear, Sara listened as her lover dried himself off in the other room. She slipped into their shared bed, the soft bamboo sheets a few days old, well used and musky with their own lovemaking. She sighed as she sunk down and hugged her pillow.

Grissom slipped into the bedroom quietly, the sound of the tub drain gurgling in the other room, and slid his tacky naked body into the sheets beside her. He didn't normally sleep naked, in fact even after sex he would always find a pair of boxers to wear to sleep.. it was one of his quirks. Sara, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in the nude much to Grissom's pleasure.

"You're wearing clothes." He grumbled and pointed out as he enveloped her in his warm, slightly pruned arms.

"I didn't realize there was a dress code.." Sara chuckled as her fingers found his back and cupped his butt ever so slightly, giving it a quick squeeze.

"There's not. I just wanted to feel you. You know, there are several emotional and even physical benefits for sleeping skin to skin.."

"I'm pretty sure that's for newborns, Gil." Sara rolled her eyes, trying to conceal her smile as she swiftly rose her arms up to tug off the tshirt, freeing her torso and small breasts.

"Mm. Maybe. But I like it just the same." He whispered as he brought her closer to him so that they were, in fact, skin to skin. He traced his weathered finger tips over her soft warm back, lavishing in each vertebrae as he dipped lower and lower.

"Ahh, I feel the serotonin flowing already." Sara teased, as she wrapped her leg around his torso, and pecked his lips.

"Will you be ok?" Grissom spoke calmly, seriously, remembering the events of the case that led them to this moment of somber affection.

With a sigh, Sara nodded, "I will be."

He nodded in return, "You'll tell me, right? If you're ever not ok?.. I-I... I don't want you to keep things inside until they eat you alive, Sara. That would destroy us both."

Sara pondered his words for a moment as they sunk in. She really was the kind of person who would do that. Allow her feelings and her emotions to eat away at her inside until one day she would self-destruct.. destroying him in her wake. Oh, how well he knew her. It was scary, sometimes, how well he knew her.

"You know, for a brief moment... once we knew it was him.." she whispered, "I-I wished I could be alone in a room with him and make him pay for what he did to Cammie. To all of those girls."

"That's normal, Sara." Gil squeezed her tightly, "We all meet suspects and work cases that leave us seeing red."

"But not all of us have a convicted murderer for a parent.." Sara's voice shook as she buried her face into his chest. "Not all of us have a family history of violent behaviour, instability and mental health, Gil."

He nodded and was silent for a moment as he felt her stiffen in his grasp. His hands gently continued their caress to reassure her he had not been scared off by her words.. no matter how terrified they made him feel.

Eventually, he spoke with a raspy, "Do you feel unstable?"

Sara shook her head and he could feel it in the crook of his neck, and exhaled, "No. I just feel sad."

"Then be sad." He kissed her forehead, "Be sad about it, and then let me carry the weight of the rest of it for you."

She was silent for several moments before he felt damp tears begin to pool in the hollow of his collar bone. His poor, sweet Sara. He held her even tighter, as tight as he possibly could, without hurting her.

Several minutes passed as silent sobs wracked her body, and he could feel her back muscles tense and release with every fit. She didn't cry often, but when she did she cried so very quietly, probably instinctively from years of hiding her tears as a child. It broke his heart. Here she was: Sara Sidle, a grown woman with a brilliant mind and a brilliant career, a woman with the toughest exterior imaginable.. pressed bare against his chest, crying into his shoulder.

She was beautiful. Every inch of her. From her physical being, every curve and every scar, to her empathetic heart. She was beautiful.

Finally, her tears stopped, and her breathing deepened. Grissom kissed her hair softly, knowing no words were needed. What was needed was sleep, and he could tell she was quickly falling into it's embrace after a warm lavender bath and a good cry.

"I love you." She whispered on the edge of slumber and his arms tightened around her soft torso.

"Sleep." He smiled into her head, "I'll make up for our date tomorrow and make omelettes for breakfast."

"Mm," she mumbled into his shoulder, "And almond milk lattes?"

"Hrmph," Gil grumbled in agreement with a tease, deciding he made the right choice as his own exhaustion began to overtake him.

The right choice to buy that expensive coffee maker.

The right choice in asking her to live here, with him.

The right choice in finally, finally loving her and letting her in.

Sara would always be the right choice, and he would choose her every day for the rest of his life.