Huge thanks as always for the reviews, I really appreciate every one of them. Chapter Seventeen

They entered the lab side by side, their shoulders bumping occasionally as they walked. Grissom watched her silently, his mind overcome with regrets. He had wasted so much time when he could have been close to her. Sara had offered him a heavenly opportunity to embrace a better life and he had turned his back on her and walked away.

These last three months without her had been almost unbearable. At first he had managed to fool everyone into thinking that her absence had not worried him, but as the days wore on and he became more reclusive, he started to fear that his colleagues would see right through his façade

.

"You okay?" Sara asked suddenly, breaking him out of his reverie.

Looking down at her he tried to hide the emotions that had managed to creep its way up into his eyes. After everything he had put her through, she still had the capacity to forgive him. That in itself only endeared him to her more. "I'm fine."

Sara watched his eyes soften as he spoke and found herself mesmerized by him. He had always had the power to command her affections, and even after all these months apart, he still held her captive. He still managed to cause her heart to beat faster whenever he deemed her worthy of a smile, and she realized a long time ago that she was tired of fighting him. If anything, these months apart had only increased her love for him, but it wouldn't do her any good, she knew that, but she couldn't seem to let him go.

Swallowing down the growing sorrow, she guided him towards a small room that had a large table and six chairs in the middle of it. As she entered, she turned slowly to realize that he wasn't following her and looked over at him worriedly. His eyes were looking around the small room from the doorway to slowly fall back to hers again. His sadness caused her to catch her breath and she was suddenly fraught with the urgent desire to hold him. Stepping closer to him, she pulled him by the arm to guide him into the room. Her touch seemed to bring him closer and he found himself willingly following.

 "The coffee pot is over there," she told him, pointing towards a set of cupboards. "I'll go and see if Andrew's here."

"Andrew?" he asked quietly, his body still aching for her touch.

"Yeah my supervisor, Andrew Dale." Turning back towards the door she looked back at him briefly as she forced a nervous smile to her lips. "Make mine sweet."

"Huh?" he asked quickly as he tried to find something to say to her that wouldn't scare her away.

"My coffee," she told him quietly as she backed towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Oh," he nodded, his own smile dying on his lips as he watched her walk away from him. Maybe it was the change of scenery that had lifted his hope a notch, or maybe it was seeing Sara again. Hs money was on the latter of the two. He had missed her so much and seeing her now had only increased the growing love he harboured for her, yet still he felt incapable of controlling his tempestuous emotions. Everything he tried she shied away from, but he wasn't giving up on her, ever.

He turned from her retreating form to take another look around the room. It was much like their break room back in Vegas except this one was smaller. Turning towards the counter, he picked up two mugs that were upturned on a tray and set them up the right way. This didn't feel right, none of this did. Sara should be in Vegas where she belonged, not hundreds of miles away. Closing his eyes briefly, he tried to calm his shuddered breaths bringing them somewhere near normal.

"Dr. Grissom," a cheerful voice chirped from the doorway, causing him to turn around to see an older man a little in front of Sara. Coming further into the room he held out a hand. "Andrew Dale, it's good to finally meet you. Sara here speaks very highly of you."

At his side, Sara looked away as the slow blush crept up over her cheeks giving her a rosy glow. This was far more information than she had wanted Grissom to know, so she decided to let the comment pass. "Who wants coffee?"

Grissom watched Sara with a mixture of love and pride, a look that didn't go unnoticed by the other man who stood in the room with them. His eyes lingered over her body for a few seconds more before returning his attention back to Sara's boss. "Thank you," he nodded. "I understand from the sparse details that you faxed to me that you needed my help with some beetles."

"Yeah," Andrew nodded, taking the offered mug from Sara as he pulled a chair out to sit down. His eyes met the young brunette's with a smile, silently thanking her.

She held another mug of coffee out to Grissom, motioning for him to sit down before she took the seat next to him, close yet not enough to touch him. Her eyes lingered over his face as he smiled at her and for a moment she couldn't seem to turn away.

"I thought you needed to sleep," Grissom said softly, nudging her arm lightly.

"Me? Sleep?" she asked quietly, leaning into him unconsciously. "I will when I take you back to your hotel."

"Sara…"

"I'm off tonight, I'll sleep then," she told him firmly indicating that she wasn't going to argue.

Admitting defeat, Grissom couldn't keep the smile from lingering over his lips as he turned to the other man across the table. "I'd watch out for this one," he smiled, directing his comment to the other man while his eyes lingered over the woman beside. "She'd work a double shift and still be able to survive on very little sleep."

"I'm fine," she told them both defiantly, her eyes sparking with annoyance as she unconsciously moved away from Grissom.

For a few moments both Sara and Grissom lost themselves in an uncomfortable silence, the light banter that had brought them so close together in the past all but lost to them. In some ways the distance from Vegas and the lack of protocol here had somehow eased an enormous amount of tension away and Grissom could feel the emptiness lifting, little by little until he couldn't remember why he should be fighting her. Venturing a brief look into her eyes, he caught her looking at him only for her to avert her gaze and look down into her hands. With a heavy sigh, Grissom turned back towards the other man, noticing instantly the curiosity in his eyes.

"So," he said quickly as he sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "What kind of beetles?"

Sara's cell phone started ringing suddenly and she reached down to retrieve it from her belt. Looking up apologetically, she nodded to both men as she stood up. Looking down at the screen she saw Nick's name light up and smiled brightly. "Hey Grissom, page me when you want to leave okay?" Glancing towards the other man she offered him a bright smile. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Andrew told her, instantly returning her warm smile.

 Grissom just nodded silently, his mind screaming out to him that he should have done something about this a long time ago instead of running away. He watched her, slightly miffed as she walked towards the door, watching as she put the phone to her ear.

"Hey sweetie what'ya doing up at this hour?" Her laughter filled the room before she left it completely, to leave Grissom gulp down the growing fear inside his chest.

"Her brother I think," Andrew offered gently, his own knowing smile forming on his lips as he watched Grissom's face pale considerably.

"Yeah," Grissom nodded, hoping that she hadn't moved on and left him behind, even though he knew he deserved everything she threw his way.

"From what I gather," Andrew pushed, "she's at least thinking about staying on here…"

Pushing the fear away, Grissom sat up a little straighter as he fought to control his racing heart beat. "So," he continued, pretending that Sara had no effect on him at all. "These beetles…"

*****

A short time later, Sara sat in the small locker room smiling at something that Nick had just told her. Catching a glimpse of Grissom and Andrew in the corridor, she lowered her voice slightly. "Sweetie I gotta go, say hi to everyone for me okay?"

"Got some hot date you've got to get to?"

"Oh yeah sure," she laughed, "of course, you're talking to Sara Sidle here, the take out queen."

Nick erupted into laughter at the other end which only caused her to plaster a huge smile on her face. Grissom heard her unmistakable laughter and stepped closer to the door, nodding silently to Andrew as he went back to his office. Leaning against the doorframe he watched her quietly. He was torn between waiting outside, wanting to give her some privacy but at the same time wanting to be sure she didn't have someone else who had captured her heart.

"I miss you honey, you take care."

"Awww, you going soft on me?" she laughed, only to soften her voice as she closed her eyes. "I miss you too. Give the guys my love?"

"Count on it. I'll call you in a few days, oh and I better go before Greg realizes it's you I'm talking to and harasses you!"

"Oh my hero," she beamed. "Okay go now before Greg gets the phone. Talk to you soon okay?"

Sudden relief flooded Grissom's heart as he realized whom she was talking to, and he started to relax as he watched her, keeping a safe distance away.

"Sure will, bye sugar."

"Bye Nick," she smiled, pulling the phone from her ear. Snapping it closed, she stood up and offered Grissom a small smile. "You ready to go?"

"Um yeah," he nodded, "you sure you're okay with this? I can call a taxi."

"Grissom of course I'm okay with this," she told him as she pulled open her locker to retrieve some letters from inside.

From his place in the doorway Grissom could see clearly the photo she had taped to the inside of her door. His heart sank when he recognized the two men in the photo with their arms wrapped around her. Sara watched as the sadness rose up into his eyes and found herself following his gaze. She turned to see the cause of his distraction and smiled softly as she let her eyes fall over the two men in the photo. "That was two years ago," she mused, "my second Christmas in Vegas."

Stepping closer, he came to stand behind her to take a closer look. "That was the same Christmas that Greg chased you around all night with that sprig of mistletoe," he smiled, nodding at the memory.

"Yeah," she sighed, her sadness reaching into her voice as she remembered that year. Her memories flooded back to the past when Greg had finally cornered her with his damn mistletoe. He'd almost succeeded in kissing her until Grissom had appeared and pulled him away from her. Back then she had thought that there was some unspoken commitment between them, but soon discovered that thinking and actually feeling were entirely two different things. Closing her door with a slam, she turned around to face him. "I'm ready."

Grissom watched her carefully. He could see the sheen of tears that had built up inside her eyes, the welling pools aching to escape. Stepping closer, he took a deep breath before he spoke. "I remember the dress you wore that night, you had all the guys falling at your feet." Moving a little closer he continued softly, "I remember how I couldn't take my eyes off of you when you walked into the room, and I regret to this very day that I didn't ask you out."

Sara's head snapped up in shock, had he really just said those words to her? A tear escaped from her eyes to run a wet track down her cheek, why did he have to come here and stir up old wounds that hadn't even healed. When she suddenly realized that he was coming closer, she started to panic and backed away until one of his hands reached out to tentatively touch her face. Sara seemed rooted to the spot, unable to back away. Moving closer, his other hand joined in with the first as he carefully cradled her face in the palm of his hands and brushed the tear away with his thumb.

"Grissom," she started, her voice cracking beneath the strain of her heart.

"Shh," he told her gently, "I have a lot to apologize for Sara, if you'll let me."

His touch was causing her body to react in ways she had only ever experienced in dreams. He was intoxicating, like a drug that coursed through her body to render her powerless against him. Sudden flashes of pain passed through her mind to bring the remnant rejection that haunted her heart. Lifting her hands up to his, she encased his fingers and slowly pulled his hands from her face. Stepping backwards, she released his hands to let them fall to his sides and for a moment he thought he had lost her completely, until she made to move past him. "Let's get out of here."

He followed blindly, thanking whomever in the heavens for giving him this chance to make things right between them. Quickening his pace, he caught up with her, matching her strides.

As they approached the exit, two men came in through the door before they reached it. "Sara," one of them beamed as he reached out to squeeze her shoulder. "I thought you were off tonight."

"I am, I was just showing my…" her voice trailed off as she thought of a word to describe the man beside her. "…Old boss around."

The other man looked over to Grissom and then cast Sara a sympathetic smile. Leaning towards his colleague he nudged him in the arm. "Mason leave the poor woman alone will ya."

Mason flashed him an angry glare then dropped his hand from her arm to wink at her. "Sorry about him, he's cranky."

"Hey, I'm Mason Patterson." He smiled, directing his gaze towards the older man and held out his hand all the while watching for Sara's reaction.

Grissom shook the offered hand, "Gil Grissom."

"Get outta here," Mason grinned, dropping Grissom's hand to nudge Sara's arm. "Sara's Grissom?"

"He's not mine," she told him haughtily, her face flushing slightly as she looked away.

Stepping closer, Treyson steered Mason away from her and motioned for him to leave her alone. Holding up a hand to Grissom, he offered him a smile. "Treyson Barret."

"Hello," Grissom nodded as he shook his hand.

"Good to finally meet you," Treyson smiled, "Listen ignore Mason, he has a tendency to rub everyone up the wrong way."

"We have to go Trey," Sara interrupted before Grissom could respond. Stepping away from him she leaned over to embrace the younger man. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."

Grissom watched the brief embrace with a mixture of jealousy and fear. Sara had made new friends here and maybe he wasn't doing the right thing by coming here. Sudden sadness leapt up once more to engulf him, but Sara's brief touch on his arm caused him to hold onto his hope as she guided him towards the exit, "Come on, let's go."

Letting her touch entice him outside into the warm evening air, he clung to the far distant optimism that he still held some tiny part of her heart. Even if it meant her never coming back to Vegas, he needed her to know that he was willing to sacrifice everything for her; he just had to figure out a way to tell her.

TBC