Thank you for the reviews, and huge thanks to my beta's Marlou and Burked. Chapter Twenty- Two

Mason Patterson looked up as he heard Treyson yell something indistinct to Sara. Both she and Grissom slowly made their way through the small crowd that had, as so often is the case, gathered around the crime scene.

"Sara," Mason nodded when she came to stand beside him. His eyes drifted over to the older man by her side. "Mr Grissom."

Grissom nodded, acknowledging the other man. "Just Grissom," he told him politely, "no Mr."

Stepping towards the body on the ground, Sara crouched down to gain a closer look. She surveyed the scene with her piercing scrutiny, ignoring the sounds around her to focus on the young woman on the ground.

Both Treyson and Mason watched in silent fascination as Sara slowly stood to her feet and shone her torch around. Her eyes scanned the area around her searching for anything that could lead to a crucial clue that just might prove to be the case opener. Feeling a familiar presence beside her, she smiled inwardly. "What ya think Grissom? Look to you like she fell?"

Leaning closer, his hand closed over hers holding the torch to turn it upwards. Leaning together, their eyes followed the beam of light to a steep bank that levelled up into a concrete platform. "Could be."

"I should go up there and take a look," she told him quietly, her smile lingering slightly as she moved away from him. "Shine the flash light up for me would you please Grissom?"

Mason came over to them, concern in his eyes. "Sara, that looks dangerous, I'll do it."

The second the words left his lips he felt two sets of angry eyes on him. Swallowing quickly, he turned to look at Grissom first and then back to Sara. "She can do this," Grissom told him, his voice taking on an annoyed tinge as he turned away from Mason to watch Sara avert from them and walk towards the bank.

Andrew Dale, who had watched the entire scene unfold stopped what he was doing and came over towards the two men who both watched Sara begin the climb up the grassed bank. "Mason," he said, keeping some authority in his voice as the younger man turned to him. "I need you to do a sweep of the perimeter."

"Okay," he nodded quietly, his eyes sneaking back to Sara briefly before turning to walk away.

"She's an amazing CSI, isn't she?" Andrew spoke softly as he came to stand directly beside Grissom.

"Yes she is," Grissom smiled, his eyes unable to tear themselves away from the woman he loved.

"I don't mean to be rude Grissom," Andrew started, his voice hesitating slightly as he spoke. "But what are you doing here?"

"I was with Sara when she got the call to come here, so I tagged along." Turning his head briefly, he caught the other man's eyes with a knowing look and instantly turned back to Sara again.

"I see," Andrew nodded as he patted Grissom's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "Will you be accompanying her back to the lab as well?"

"Is that a problem?" Grissom asked quickly, his heart almost leaping into his throat as Sara slipped slightly. Letting out a slow breath, he watched helplessly until she reached the ledge. "I still have a few days here and I usually work nights anyway." He offered the older man a small grin and shook his shoulders, motioning that either way he was staying.

"No, no, that's great actually. Joe Wilson is off tonight, so if you're free to help out it'd be very much appreciated."

"Consider it done," Grissom nodded, his eyes instantly lifting to the ledge when Sara's voice called out to him. "Excuse me."

"Of course," Andrew smiled knowingly as he turned away from the scene before him to make his way over towards Treyson who stood waiting for the coroner to prepare the body for removal.

Sara's eyes surveyed the ledge around her, leaning over slightly to watch Grissom as he carefully followed her pathway up the grassed bank. After a few seconds she stepped closer to the edge to help pull Grissom up onto the concrete ridge with her. Their hands joined and held for a few seconds before they released each other. "Hey," she grinned, her excitement indicating more than just her happiness to see him. "Come and look at this."

Walking towards the far corner of the platform, she crouched down to pick up a piece of material in her gloved hands. "What do you think? Could be the victim's."

Stepping beside her, Grissom crouched down to gain a closer look at the shredded material. "Could be," he nodded, his eyes looking around the immediate perimeter. Standing up again, he pulled the torch from his pocket and shone it above them to a set of steps. "Where do those steps lead?"

"No idea," she grinned, standing up beside him to gesture with her hands. "Shall we?"

"We shall," he smiled, their light banter filling his whole body with a peaceful clarity that he had never felt before. Moving towards the five steps, he proceeded to walk up them until he reached the top, then turned to offer his hand to her, helping her climb up the final step.

"Thank you," she smiled, releasing his hand to survey the scene around them. "What is this?" she asked, "Could be a parking lot," she reasoned, answering her own question.

"One car," he nodded, the single torch light highlighting the solitary car that stood sheathed in darkness. Walking slowly towards it, he lifted the torch higher, shining the beam of light in through the window.

"Looks like a vagrant's been living in there," Sara muttered quietly, screwing her nose up in disgust as she took a closer peek in through the window. Scanning the back seat, she spotted what looked like a bloody sheet. "Over here."

Pulling the light away from the front seat, Grissom came closer to her to shine the torch onto the back seat. "What am I looking at?"

Sara's sigh unveiled more than words as she leaned away from the window. "Nothing, I thought it was blood, looks more like a coke stain."

Grissom nodded quietly when he took a closer look, "Yeah, in flash light it does seem like blood. Good for us it's not," he smiled.

"Hey Grissom," she told him quietly as she walked around the car to the passenger side. "Door's open."

"Wanna call it in?" He asked quickly, his own pulse rate rising in anticipation as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket.

Turning away from her, he started to walk around the ground around the car, Sara's voice drifting through the growing darkness to bathe him in awareness. Her footsteps coming towards him caused a new flutter to his heart and he looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of her soft features break into a warm smile. "David's on his way."

"David?" he asked curiously when she stepped close to him and linked her arm in his.

"Detective Charlton," she smiled. "A lot like Brass in some ways."

"Oh," he nodded, "I've yet to meet him."

"Well it must be your lucky day," she beamed, "today you meet all the people I work with."

"All male," he sighed, his eyes lingering with hers before he nudged her gently, indicating he was merely joking around with her.

"Yep all male, lucky me," she grinned. "But honestly Grissom, you've seen who I work with and they're all like older brothers to me."

"Hey I believe you," he smiled, reaching over his hand to hers to caress her gloved fingers. "Sara, you're freezing."

"That's because it's cold," she smiled as she stepped closer to him to wrap her arms around his waist.

Grissom felt her settle against his chest and lifted his arms to wrap them around her protectively, shielding her from the cold breeze that drifted through their clothes.

"I'm glad you're here," she whispered against him, tightening her hold on him as she spoke.

"Me too," he told her with a smile as he placed a soft kiss on her hair. "You know we technically shouldn't be doing this, we are at a crime scene."

"Well the car's not going anywhere," she smiled, lifting her head to kiss the underside of his chin before untangling herself from his arms. "But you're right."

Grissom felt her withdrawal and pulled her back to him briefly to place a soft kiss on her lips, then released her again just as quickly. He watched in amusement as she stared open mouthed at him while he walked back towards the abandoned car.

A few minutes later the sound of a car's engine driving along the pebbled track alerted them to a new presence. Sara looked up as the car pulled alongside them, the lights shining brightly to highlight both of their faces.

Grissom watched her lips turn upwards into a bright smile when the car door opened to reveal a middle-aged man, who offered her a warm smile of his own. "Sara," he grinned. "What we got?"

Grissom watched their interaction and tried to ignore the jealousy creeping up into his heart. Swallowing down the heavy ache, he focused on the car's interior until he felt a warm hand on his arm. "Grissom, I'd like you to meet David Charlton," Sara smiled, her eyes gazing up into his to banish his fears into submission.

"Mr Grissom," David smiled holding out his hand in greeting. "Sara's told me a lot about you, it's nice to finally meet you."

Grissom tore his eyes away from the woman beside him to shake the offered hand. "Oh she has?"

"All good I assure you," he nodded with a smile before overlooking the car behind them. "So, on the phone you said you thought this was abandoned."

"Uh…yeah," Sara told him quietly, stepping away from Grissom to return to full investigator mode. "Could be our vic's."

"Yeah, could be," he nodded as he took note of the licence plate and walked back to his car to call it in.

Shining her torch inside the back seat again, she caught sight of the stain on the material that she'd first mistaken for blood. Sighing heavily, she lifted her eyes to watch Grissom as he walked around the perimeter, his piercing eyes regarding the scene with as much scrutiny as he always had. His presence filled her with a new sense of peace, one which she hadn't felt in a very long time, but that feeling was soon quashed when confronted with his return back to Vegas where the same problems awaited them both, if and when she decided to return.

David slammed his car door and made his way back over to her again, breaking her out of her silent musings. "The car is registered to a Sandra Cavendish, aged 27. She lives right here in Brunswick."

"Our vic looked pretty young," Sara nodded, returning to the vehicle again. Opening the door slowly, she bent down to shine her torch inside, then moved to open the glove compartment. Reaching inside she pulled out a folded sheet of paper and looked down at it curiously. Slipping a gloved finger under the fold, she opened it and began to read, the words on the page leaping out into her eyes. "David," she called as she stood up, "look at this."

Grissom looked up from the edge of the path and began to walk back over towards Sara and the detective, his curiosity peaked.

Sara lifted the paper higher and began to read. "I leave this note to whoever finds my car and my body. Please tell my mom I'm sorry, I don't know where to turn and this is my way to end my problems. Please forgive me. Sandra"

"Suicide," David sighed, his breath huffing sadly as he looked over the car once again. "Such a waste."

"Yeah," Sara nodded, her eyes leaving the sad words in the note to catch Grissom's gaze. Her lips upturned into a slight smile when he came closer to her, his warmth seeping through into her body as he tried to offer a tiny piece of light to illuminate the darkness surrounding her.

"I'll arrange for the car to be taken back to the lab," David told her while she bagged the note up. "I'll never understand why people do this."

"Maybe their problems seem worse than they actually are," Grissom sighed sadly, his eyes lingering over the woman beside him as he spoke. "Or their will to live has slowly slipped away."

"Whatever the cause, the outcome is always the same," David said quietly as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. "I'll just call this in and I'll leave you both to wait for the truck."

"Sure," Sara smiled, her voice drifting through the darkness. She felt Grissom step a little closer to her and instantly felt her senses enhanced by his closeness.

Grissom watched her carefully as she looked down at the note again which was now bagged up inside a clear plastic evidence bag. "Hey," he whispered, touching her arm gently. "You can't save everyone, Sara."

"I know, but why kill yourself? If things are bad why not just distance yourself from the problem…" sighing heavily, she smiled nervously up at him. "I'm sorry."

"Is that why you left?" he asked, his voice void of anger, unlike anything she was expecting.

Before she could answer, David came back to stand beside them. "Change of plans folks, I'll be waiting here for the truck to arrive. My cousin Brian's coming out here, he works in the department"

"That's great," Sara nodded, turning to Grissom quickly before he had a chance to hear her answer. "You ready for the climb back down the hill?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he concurred before turning his head back to the detective. "It was nice to meet you."

"Likewise," David nodded, shaking the offered hand. "You take care now."

"Oh we will," Sara smiled as she placed the note carefully inside her jacket pocket and proceeded to step down the steps after Grissom.

The slope going down was more worn than on the journey upwards, making their destination much quicker. As he reached the bottom a few feet ahead of Sara, Grissom turned to hold out his arms for her. Her face lit up into a bright smile and she held out her arms to him, allowing him to hold her around the waist and lift her the final distance to place her once again on solid ground.

Around them, Mason and a few of the gathered crowd still littered the roadside, but neither Sara nor Grissom noticed. Their eyes locked and held, their silent communication conveying more in one smoldering gaze than any words could ever say. There was still so much that needed to be resolved between them, but right here, at this moment, everything was how and where it should be. They were together.

TBC