Title: Alive Again

Summary: Sara and Warrick become closer after he saves her life.

A/N: Oh the ANGST!!! Buhahahaha...thanks for the reviews folks. I hope you guys like these cliffhangers. *evil grin* :)

Spoilers: Possibly anything all the way up to Early Rollout.

Rating: PG13 for language and some adult situations.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it. If I did I wouldn't be living in this shoddy little apartment dreaming about winning the lottery. :)

Chapter Ten:

Warrick stormed into his apartment like a bull seeing red. He wanted to hit something. Anything. How could she do this to him? Especially after the intimate moments they had shared the day before.

He knew that Sara once had a thing for Grissom, but Warrick truly believed her when she said that it was over. Obviously that wasn't true. Seeing her not only kiss the older man but surrender willing to his touch proved that much.

Warrick plopped himself down on the couch and tried to push his anger away. He should have expected this. He had no one to blame but himself. Catherine had warned him that this relationship might be difficult.

Looking around his apartment he felt as if he could still sense her there. He could smell her presence. Warrick knew better than to walk into the bedroom. Finally he got up, grabbed his keys and left the apartment.

Nothing like a few hands of Texas Holdem to take his mind off of Sara.

*****

By the time Warrick returned to his apartment later that afternoon he felt calmer and more in control. He even considered giving Sara a call to hear her side of the story. He cursed himself for being so weak and decided he would give each of them a few days to cool off before speaking to her.

A small part of him realized that perhaps he should have let her explain what happened, but at the time he could only feel betrayal. He had left early that morning to meet up with her at the end of her shift. Warrick remembered putting his car in park when she had exited the building in good spirits. He was just about to get out of the vehicle and yell out to her when Grissom had caught up to her. Grissom had taken her by the hand and led them to a more private area between two cars. A short conversation later and Grissom was kissing her.

The part of the memory that struck him as odd however was that Sara had pushed away from Grissom and seemed to be frantically saying something to him. A moment later Grissom had turned and practically ran away from her back into the building.

Was it possible she had rejected Grissom?

Warrick went to his bedroom and laid down with the intention of drifting off to sleep. He could still smell Sara's scent on his sheets, but now he found some solace in her fragrance. Perhaps she had not betrayed him. Perhaps she had chosen him.

Warrick would never in a million years have thought he could have fallen for a woman like Sara Sidle. If someone had told him four years ago when they first met that he would find himself thinking about her constantly he would have asked that person if they cared to play the odds and place a bet. If judging her solely on first impressions it would be easy to dislike Sara. Even during her best moments she could be a brash know-it-all. She often used her superior intelligence as a way of elevating herself above others.

First impressions rarely went well for Sara Sidle. Luckily Warrick had been given time to look beyond her icy exterior and see the woman inside. What he found there had surprised him. Sara possessed an amazing amount of compassion for the victims she worked with. She never seemed afraid to speak what was on her mind even if it would not be the popular opinion. She put a hundred percent of herself into everything she did. Once he had taken the time to get to know her he realized that her cold and distant manner hid a peculiar vulnerability that she tried to hide from everyone. Sara put special effort in trying to not let people get close to her so that they would'nt see her weaknesses.

When Warrick had saved her life he hadn't thought anything of it. He would have done the same thing for anyone on their team without a second thought. He remembered being surprised at how grateful she had seemed as if she had to repay him for something. During his whole time in the hospital she had brought him food daily and did her best to entertain him. Warrick tried to tell her that she didn't owe him anything besides lunch, but she couldn't seem to accept that.

It was then that he decided to give up trying to get her to stop coddling him and attempted to get to know the woman a bit better. What he found within her surprised him. He always knew that Sara was compassionate but he didn't actually expect her to be kind. She claimed that she wasn't good with kids, and yet the few she had run into in the hospital while visiting him were instantly drawn to her. She had an amazing sense of humor, but told the worst jokes ever. Warrick chuckled as he remembered the first time Sara had tried to recite a joke to him and couldn't seem to remember the details exactly. By the time she finished with the horrible joke, he had no idea what she was talking about but laughed anyways. It was that gap toothed smile she gifted him with. Perhaps the most beautiful smile belonging to a woman ever.

Warrick bounded out of his bed and walked brusquely to his phone. Looking at his clock he figured she was probably still asleep so didn't expect her to answer. When he got her answering machine he left a simple, but meaningful message on her machine.

"Sara this is Warrick. Listen we need to talk ok? Please call me as soon as you hear this...I miss you. I need you."

When he hung up he felt a bit better. He knew that Sara wasn't a flighty kind of woman. The more he thought about the things he saw earlier in the morning the more he realized that Grissom had made the first move and Sara must have been surprised. When Sara had regained control of herself she had pushed away and probably told Grissom that she was involved with someone else. That would explain why Grissom had rushed away from her.

Warrick let himself drift off to sleep knowing that she would be in his arms again very soon.

*****

Warrick woke up to the sound of his phone ringing. It was just past midnight. This vacation was certain to spoil him. He reached over and picked up the receiver expecting the call to be from Sara.

"Hello?"

"Hey Warrick this is Catherine. Mind if I talk to Sara? Did you wear her out because she is running a little late." Catherine's voice sounded very amused.

Warrick frowned. "Hey Cath. Um, Sara isn't here."

"Oh did she just leave?"

"No. She hasn't been here all day."

"I thought you said she would be coming over after work when I talked to you early this morning."

"Yeah well we had our first fight. I haven't seen her since early this morning. Have you called her house?"

"Damn Warrick, I'm sorry. I've called her house, her cell and her beeper multiple times."

Warrick continued to hold the phone to his ear while he started to pull on some clothes. "Catherine I am going to go run over to her apartment now and see if she is there. Damnit. This can't be good. I hope she hasn't started drin...Shit never mind," he spoke hastily.

On the other end of the line Catherine fell silent for a moment. "Warrick were you about to say that Sara has been drinking?"

Warrick sighed loudly. "Not anymore. She just had a rough time for awhile. I am scared this fight we had might have set her back though. Damnit I should have given her a chance. Cath I'll call you as soon as I know something. And please don't mention the drinking to anyone else. Its not what you might think."

"No problem Warrick. I'll tell Grissom you are going to check on her now. Its a slow night so she won't be in any trouble if she can't make it in."

He hung up the phone and finished collecting his things. A few minutes later he was in his car and driving towards Sara's apartment. He kept trying not to come up with assumptions but a part of him was almost sure she was drinking again. When he pulled up to her apartment he was surprised to find that her Tahoe wasn't there.

He got out of the vehicle and walked to her front door anyways. After knocking for several minutes he decided that she wasn't there and went back to his car. Warrick then decided to drive the route Sara took to work to see if he could see her on the road side with a flat or something. He found this possibility highly unlikely since Sara would have used her cell to call for help, but this would also get him to the lab to see if they had any other information.

He drove as slowly as traffic would allow trying to observe everything around him. Finally by the time he reached the lab he was both frustrated and worried. Very worried.

When he walked into the lab he was greeted with a few hesitant smiles from Catherine, Nick and Greg.

"Heya Warrick did you find Sara taking in a few extra hours?" Nick asked jokingly.

Warrick shook his head. "No man I couldn't find her at all. I even drove her route to work."

Catherine's manner went from relaxed to very tense in a matter of seconds. "So this means that no one has seen or spoken to Sara in over seventeen hours? Shit lets go talk to Grissom. This can't be good."

When they reached Grissom's office he was preoccupied concentrating on some paperwork. Catherine cleared her throat to get his attention. When he looked up he was surprised to see them all standing at the doorway of his office.

"Hi guys. Warrick did you talk to Sara?" he asked stoically.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "No Grissom that is why we are here. We think Sara is missing."

"Missing? You've called her? Went by her apartment? Has anyone beeped her yet?"

"Yes, yes and yes," Catherine muttered. "Grissom I don't think this is good. Warrick last saw Sara this morning in the parking garage and they went their separate ways. We think that is the last time anyone has spoken to her."

Grissom stared at Warrick for a moment before looking back at Catherine. "I haven't spoken to her since last shift either. Lets get the ball rolling. She is probably just running late but I don't want to take any chances."

*****

Warrick waited alone in the break room a few hours hoping to get some word of Sara. Finally when his patience started to run out he decided to go looking for her himself. Just to have something to do.

As he was grabbing his soda Grissom walked into the break room and stared at him for a few moments. A muscle in the older man's jaw twitched a few times before he nodded.

"Warrick how are you doing?"

"As well as can be," Warrick said gravely.

"Would you like to help me with a case I'm working on?"

Warrick furrowed his brow and cocked his head. "Um sure I'll be glad to."

Grissom gave a small smile and motioned for him to follow. Warrick threw his soda away and followed his boss to one of the labs. Greg sat in a corner working on something diligently.

"Greg get out of here," Grissom said firmly.

"But, I'm..."

"Now," Grissom's tone left no room for argument.

Warrick chuckled lightly. It was always fun to watch Grissom make Greg squirm.

Grissom showed Warrick some samples that needed processing and the two of them got to work. Warrick figured that Grissom wanted to talk to him about something and didn't have to wait long.

"Warrick were you there this morning?" Grissom asked without looking up.

Warrick stopped what he was doing. "Yeah. I was."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that you two were involved. I questioned Sara once before about your involvement and its possible effect on this lab. She told me it wasn't my business."

"It wasn't."

"Your right," he said softly. "Warrick, this morning I was trying to correct a mistake I made a long time ago. Sara didn't instigate the encounter in any way."

"Griss why are you telling me this?" Warrick sputtered. He felt shocked that Grissom would even begin to tell anyone this much about his private life.

Grissom set down the things he was working on and looked Warrick squarely in the eye. "I care about Sara and want her to be happy. If she can be happy with you then I will support that."

Warrick was about to answer Grissom when Catherine burst into the lab.

"They found Sara's Tahoe in a grocery store parking lot. The door was partially open and her keys had been kicked under the vehicle. There are a few signs of a struggle. It looks like she was kidnapped," Catherine said urgently.

Warrick felt his heart breaking for the second time in less than twenty-four hours.

To be continued....