Many thanks to Marlou and Burked for beta-ing. Also thank you to all of the kind reviews, you guys are the best.                                   Chapter Fifteen

At 5pm, Sara looked down at her watch for the tenth time only to see that a minute had passed. Her whole body was tense and on high alert as she tried to figure out what she was going to say to Grissom when she saw him. Should she shake hands? No, he didn't like anything formal like that, she countered. Maybe she should take advantage of his surprise and give him a kiss on the cheek? 'Yeah, like that was gonna happen anytime soon,' she mused.

Closing her eyes with a groan, she leaned back against her seat and fought with everything she could to focus on something else, anything that would stop her heart from exploding with nervous tension. She had left him behind after all; she had made the ultimate sacrifice and given him everything he'd wanted. She'd given him back his life, everything exactly how he had it before she arrived, before he had ever known her. After all, she loved him enough to walk away, making her absence her final gift to him.

The last few months had been torture and she felt as if she had been put on trial, her loneliness being her sole punishment for falling in love with a man she couldn't have. Was this his way of ensuring that her penance would be paid? Did she have to atone forever for her sins? Was he coming here to act as the judge and executioner to finally tear away the tiny strip of hope that she'd clung to in her desperation to keep her connection to him? Perhaps he wanted to finally see for himself that she had lost everything in her quest for his love.

The small space inside her car had started to become almost claustrophobic, its closing barriers incarcerating her inside a metal tomb. Pushing open the door, she climbed out into the warm evening air, gasping lungfulls of air into her tired body. A few days ago she had finally started to feel the tiniest piece of courage inside her to convince herself that she was going to survive this separation, but now, he was coming back into her life to reopen the old wounds that hadn't had a chance to fully heal.

More and more she wished that Nick was here with her, he would know exactly what to say to her to keep her grounded. Thoughts of her friend manifested inside her mind, his presence there calming her nerves and giving her the courage she needed to do this.

Taking a deep breath, she looked over towards the airport with increasing anxiousness. Part of her held a nervous excitement to see him again, and the other half of her was dreading the encounter. She had no idea how he would react to seeing her, or if he would even react at all.

Bringing herself up to her full height, she forced her courage to combat her fears, taking this forced air of confidence with her as she slowly began to walk towards the main entrance to the airport. Every step felt heavier than the last; as if one more step would lead her closer and closer to her own execution. The automatic doors parted for her, their phony welcome only imposing more anguish onto her battered heart. Finally, she stepped over the threshold of sanity and walked blindly into the gates of torment, not knowing what punishment lay in wait for her this time.

Half an hour later, Sara sat on a seat inside the lounge and stared down at her hands. It seemed that every time she lifted her head she could see people staring at her. They all seemed to know what she had done, their pitying eyes unable to hide their sympathy. She felt raw, exposed to everyone. Standing up quickly, she could hardly hear the sounds around the airport over the thumping inside her heart. She wanted to run, she wanted to escape and hide away to stop the emptiness from spilling over to consume her completely.

Her body stiffened as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She could feel him, her finely tuned senses homing in on his presence and she found herself slowly turning around to scan the crowd for him.

Grissom stilled, rooted to the spot as his eyes caught sight of her through the passing crowd of people that separated them. His heart lurched inside his chest as he took in her features. He had almost forgotten how beautiful she was, and now, when she looked over the sea of faces, searching for him, he knew she felt their connection too.

His eyes burned with unshed tears, his emotions finally unable to withstand the barriers around them any longer. With deliberate slowness, he started to walk towards her until her eyes suddenly found him, locking them together in a steady gaze.

Sara's heart leapt inside her throat the second she saw him. His slow approach allowed her time to take in his handsome features, igniting the spark inside her that she had deigned to bury so long ago. Her eyes filled with burning tears until she could no longer fight the need to be close to him. Moving slowly, matching his unsteady pace, she began to move towards him.

Grissom's eyes roamed her face when she came to stop before him, her gaze just as tremulous as his own.

"I…Sara," he said softly, his voice dying on his lips as he longed to let his emotional rambling escape him and confess to her that he had missed her, but the fear in her eyes held him back.

"Grissom," she whispered, her own body trembling as she spoke. "I…um…"

Grissom had never been a man to show his emotions, but he was very aware of how emotional he was right at this moment. He could see her fighting to control her tears, and at this exact moment he couldn't think of anything more than needing to hold her.

Dropping his bag at his feet, he stepped forward and pulled her into a tight embrace. For a brief moment, Sara stayed deadly still, her hands hanging limply at her side. He had been here all of a minute and already had started to confuse her again. He was holding her so tight, but she was still unable to allow these feelings to claim her once again. Slowly, the enormity of the situation sank gradually into her mind, Gil Grissom had his arms around her and she may never have this feeling again. Pushing away the doubting fear, she slowly, raised her arms to embrace him, holding him with as much force as he did her.

Their bodies shook with desperation as they clung to each other for what seemed like an eternity, but the time for their brief encounter soon came to an end, and he felt her start to pull away from him slowly.

"It's good to see you," she whispered, the honesty in her eyes almost bringing him down to his knees.

"Sara…" was all he managed to say before she pulled back from him completely, placing distance between them.

"Andrew said you're here to help day shift with a decomp," she told him, her rambling words hiding the emotion that lay buried beneath. "Which hotel did he put you in?"

Grissom watched her, his stunned silence masking the anguish inside his heart. He hadn't seen her for three months, three whole months, and she was treating their encounter, albeit brief, as fleeting as an empty greeting. For a moment, he just watched her mouth move, until he finally registered what was actually happening. Holding out a hand, he touched her bare arm and watched her voice die on her lips.

"It's good to see you too," he told her, his lips turning into a soft smile.

"Sorry," she muttered quietly as a rosy flush crept its way up her face. "I talk too much, I know."

"I've missed it," he told her as he picked up his bag with one hand, while keeping his other against her skin.

Sara lifted her eyes to him, knowing that his words would be the closest that she would ever hear to him telling her that he'd missed her. As much as she wanted to believe that, part of her still held back, afraid to open herself up to more pain.

"Well I'm sure by the time you return to Vegas you'll be glad to get away again." Turning away from him, she dismissed the thumping inside her heart, and waited for him to follow her towards the exit.

Grissom followed numbly, unable to believe that this was the same Sara he had known for so many years. Maybe he had just gotten used to her automatically falling for his charms, and her refusal to succumb now was his punishment for his betrayal. As he followed her, he focused on her bare shoulders and felt his pulse rate raise up another few notches.

"So, how are they treating you here?" he asked, starting a conversation to combat the painful silence that had surrounded them.

Sara turned quickly, watching him warily for a few moments before answering. "Great," she breathed, "they're great."

"Oh," he sighed, nodding quietly as he walked beside her.

"How's Jared doing?" she asked quickly, cursing herself for cracking and giving into the temptation to need to hear his voice.

"Oh, he's okay. Not like you, but yeah, he's doing good."

Sara looked towards her stationary car and held her hand up towards it. "Uh…here we are."

They both stopped beside the vehicle, both lost in conversations that had bound them together so long ago. Grissom could feel the tension rising inside his body, had he left it too late? After all that had passed between them, was he so easy to forget? Her final letter to him flashed into his mind, the words 'I never wanted you to hate me so much, but whatever I did to hurt you, I am sorry.' And then suddenly everything fell into place like the final piece of the puzzle, creating a clear picture before him.

As she unlocked the doors and pulled the passenger door open for him, he knew what he had to do to regain her trust and repair the damage that he alone had inflicted upon her. Reaching out a hand to her arm. He stopped her before she could retreat from him. "If I tell you how sorry I am, will it make a difference?"

Sara watched him in surprise, catching the honesty in his eyes. For the briefest of moments he actually reminded her of the Grissom she used to know so long ago and felt her heart melt just a little bit more. Unshed tears stung her eyes as she smiled softly. "I think it would."

"Then I am sorry Sara," he told her sincerely. "I never meant to hurt you."

Sara pulled away from him quickly, desperately needing to end this conversation before it had a chance to begin. She wasn't ready to hear this now. Maybe she never would be. "Thanks," she told him simply, knowing him well enough to know that this would be enough for him right now.

Nodding quietly, Grissom threw his bag onto the back seat and climbed into the passenger side of the car and waited for her to join him.

When she climbed in next to him, he waited for her to say something, but when she sat so still, silence surrounding her, he felt compelled to speak.

"Are you scheduled to work tonight?"

Sara almost choked on the breath she sucked in as she turned to him. "Um, no."

"I should go to the lab and introduce myself, maybe you'd like to come with me?"

"I…" she tightened her hands on the steering wheel, gripping it with tense fingers. Her heart was thudding painfully inside her chest as she tried to fight her feelings, but she found herself turning to him and nodding her assent. With a slight tremor in her voice, she tried to smile in reassurance. "Where are you staying?"

"Oh," he whispered, shaking himself out of his trance to delve into his breast pocket to pull out a piece of paper with an address on it. Leaning closer to her, he held the paper out to her, his body jolting as her fingers brushed against his when she retrieved the offered address.

Sara looked down at the address, trying to focus on the words instead of the heat rising inside her body. There was no escaping him anymore, she knew that now. He had a deepening effect on her that would never go away, and that was something she would have to live with.

Turning to him slowly, she focused on his eyes and smiled softly. "I know where this is. We'll settle you in and then I'll take you to the lab. Okay?"

Unable to control his actions any longer, Grissom found his hand reaching up to trace her face, his fingers lingering over her soft skin as he watched her eyes close with his touch. Her reaction caused his heart to flutter out of control and into the realms of joyous celebration. Whatever they had once had between them was still there, and knowing that all was not lost lit his heart with fire. "Okay," he whispered softly, allowing his fingers to slide from her face down to her arm, until he broke their heavenly contact.

Opening her eyes, Sara started the car and offered him another shy smile, before driving them out of the car park and towards his hotel.

TBC