TITLE: No More Death, No More Murder

AUTHOR: Micky Fine

DISCLAIMER: None of the characters that you recognize from the show are mine. All others came from my head. Any similarity to characters previously on the show is not intended. I am making no profit from this piece of fiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it took me so long to post the next chapter, things have been a little hectic lately. Thank you to all of you who wrote wonderful reviews. They are deeply appreciated. Just a little thing, I know it's unlikely that you can actually see the stars in Vegas but let's just call it artistic license.

Reviews always welcome.

Nick pulled up to the front of the lab and turned off the car. He then turned and looked at Sara in concern. She was staring straight ahead and her face was very pale. Her hands were in her lab, clenched so tightly that the knuckles had turned white.

"Sara?" he said softly.

Her reaction was a slightly delayed before she turned to look at him.

"I'm going inside, I'll be right back. You stay here."

She stared right through him for a moment and then said, "Ok."

With one more concerned look he stepped out of the car and headed inside.

Gil Grissom was doing paperwork at his desk when he heard someone breathing. He was once again thankful for the return of his hearing. Looking up, he saw Nick leaning against the entrance to his office.

"Back already?"

"Yup."

"Get the weapon."

"Yup."

"Get the suspect."

"Yup."

"Good, I have a new case for you and Sara to work on."

"Yeah, about that..."

"Where's Sara?"

Sara was surprised by a sudden blast of hot air when the passenger side door opened to reveal Gil Grissom. She blinked, trying to reduce the fuzziness of her brain. When that didn't work she shook her head, attempting to clear it and somehow focus on what was going on around her. Some clarity returned to her and she noticed Nick standing several feet away looking at her with concern. She attempted to smile at him and then returned her gaze to Grissom.

"Hey Sara," he said softly.

"What's up Gris?"

"Oh nothing really, Nick just told me what happened."

"Oh."

There was a moment of silence. It was broken when Sara removed her seatbelt and turned her body towards Grissom.

"So, have you got a new case for me and Nick? Or do you want us to finish the paperwork on this one first?"

"Sara, honey, you're not going back to work today."

"I'm fine, Gris, honest."

"No. You are most definitely not fine. You're still in shock."

"I can shake it off. Just give me a couple minutes and I can be all pulled together and back to work."

"Sara, you almost DIED. I know that's tough to think about, but you did. In fact, if the gun hadn't misfired you would be dead. And that's not easy for anybody to handle. So, no, you're not going back to work."

"But Gris..."

"No buts. No more death and no more murder for you today. Period. End of discussion."

"Fine."

Sara gazed at Grissom for a moment, attempting to read his thoughts behind his blue eyes. Unsuccessful, she pointedly looked at the ground and the door.

"Can you move so I can get out of the car and go home?"

Gris moved aside, but as Sara stood up her knees gave out on her and she almost fell to the pavement. Fortunately, Grissom caught her before she hit the ground.

"You're still not quite yourself. Just sit in the car for a minute."

"Like I have any choice."

She watched him walk over to Nick and have a very brief discussion. Grissom turned to look at her once more before walking back inside. She turned back to look at Nick, who was coming towards her.

"Looks like you need to hand over your keys."

"What?"

"Gris wants me to drive you home."

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed Nick's offered hand and was grateful for the strength keeping her upright.

Grissom stared at the paper in front of him. It seemed to him that he might have been staring at it for several hours. He glanced at his watch. It had been four hours since he had sent Sara home. Four hours he had been sitting here staring at this piece of paper. It hit him once again what he had almost lost. Sara would have been dead right now if the gun hadn't misfired. A fluke occurrence had saved her life. He mentally thanked whatever power had allowed that to occur. He could have lost her. Again. He shuddered.  Today had been too close. Much too close. It scared him how close he had come to losing her. And it scared him how much it scared him. He wasn't supposed to feel like this.

And then he wondered why. Why he couldn't have feelings for a wonderful, smart and sexy woman. And then he suddenly realized that he could. That he could even act on those feelings. There was nothing barring the way. Except for him. Shocked at his mental discovery he grabbed his jacket. He needed to get out and think about what to do. He didn't have to be here for the shift. Catherine could handle things. He needed to plan and figure out what he was going to do.

Sara felt the cold cement against her back. And then the sensation seemed to fade. She felt as if she were soaring upwards towards the stars and if she just reached out...she could touch them. She tried and was startled back to reality by a sudden pain in her arm. Then she felt the warm wetness against her body. Attempting to tune out the pain, she once again turned her gaze to the stars she could see ever so faintly behind the bright lights of Las Vegas. It was one of the things she missed from home. At night she would go out and just stare at the stars. They were mesmerizing for her. Again the pain cut into her thoughts. She groaned. And then the lights of the city and the stars disappeared into the dark. Faintly, in the distance, she heard the sound of sirens.