Title: Las Vegas Knights

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. These character's are owned by some ridiculously rich people who think that character development means that you turn one of your best characters into an alcoholic.

Chapter Ten:

Once she left the lab Sara admitted to herself that Grissom had been right to send her home. Of course he hadn't known that she had downed half a bottle of Tequila earlier that morning. She still felt a bit woozy, but was confidant that she hide her condition from anyone observing her. In many ways Sara hated herself for having to hide anything.

Sara knew she wasn't an alcoholic, but she also recognized that she had a problem in the making. Brass had confronted her about it over a month ago, but she had blown him off as best she could. She wondered now if she should have used his shoulder to lean on. Sara hated feeling dependent upon anyone, yet at the same time she was filled with an overwhelming sorrow. Nick had been doing his best to reach out to her lately, but she never could quite bring herself to confide in him. Somehow she doubted that, despite his best intentions, Brass would be able to help her either.

While she had never forgotten what happened between herself and Grissom all those years ago, she had been surprised that he had mentioned it. He had never even once brought the topic up since she had come to Las Vegas. She still remembered the feeling she had when he called her asking for her assistance with the Holly Gribbs matter. And when he asked her to stay as a CSI in Vegas, she hadn't even hesitated to think it over. Sara had thought that he wanted to start over.

At first it had seemed that way. They were close. She had spent most mornings after shift chatting with him on the phone. Their past always lay there between them, however, Sara assumed that they could work through it and move on. Start over.

That was until her second year in this city. Slowly, over time, Grissom stopped assigning her to cases that he was working on. He told her that she needed hobbies, that she needed to get a life. He began to ignore her. At the time this treatment had surprised and perplexed her. And so it was during this time that she started dating Hank.

"Gawd that was a disaster in the making," Sara muttered as she made a right turn onto her street.

Hank's betrayal had hurt deeply at first. However, it didn't take Sara very long at all to realize that she had never loved him at all. Hank had been a diversion from Grissom. Sara tried not to think of Grissom's diversion in one Lady Heather. 'Or was that woman a diversion at all? Perhaps thats the type of woman he really wants,' she thought morosely.

Sara squeezed her steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white. The memory of hearing the rumors about Grissom and that woman still caused her deep rooted pain. She wondered sometimes if he were punishing her. A part of her mind told her that she deserved this for what she did to him all those years ago.

Despite her exhaustion she knew that it would take at least a few drinks to push Grissom out of her mind before she could sleep.

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Sara made sure that she arrived to work that night earlier than usual. She popped into the lab without offering greetings to those who tried to strike a conversation with her. Instead she practically sprinted towards the break room and more importantly, the coffee machine. She felt like the equivalent of warmed over feces. Sara knew that she had entirely too much to drink that morning and hoped that a few cups of coffee would calm her nerves down.

Sara groaned when she saw that no one had started a pot yet. She reached for the jar of coffee and the box of filters. When she opened the filter box she saw that it was empty.

"Dammit," she grumbled irritably.

"Something wrong Sara?"

Sara closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't turn around. "Hi Grissom. No coffee filters."

"Check the top cabinet. I brought some more in yesterday," he replied calmly.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." Sara reached up into the cabinet with her right hand for the filters. As she brought them down she stared at her hand for a long moment. It was shaking. She brought her left hand up next to the right and noticed that she couldn't keep that one still either.

"Sara?"

She sighed. He hadn't gone away. "Hey again Griss."

"I think we need to talk. Come to my office once you get your coffee please."

"Sure."

Sara took her time preparing the pot of coffee knowing that anything Grissom wanted to talk about privately with her couldn't be good. Finally she poured her cup and left it black. She needed something strong this evening. Sara walked to Grissom's office and knocked lightly on the door.

"Come in Sara. Shut the door behind you," he said politely. "Sit down please."

Sara sat down in the chair across from his desk and took a sip of her coffee. The strong brew burned her tongue and she winced. She set the mug on the edge of his desk and placed her hands in her lap. She hadn't yet looked him in the eye since entering the office and when he sighed loudly she guessed he must of have noticed.

"Sara do you want to tell me what is going on with you?"

Sara shook her head. "Nothing is going on. I am just not feeling so hot right now."

"Sara you look horrible tonight. Earlier when the Miles' were in the morgue with us you looked even worse. When was the last time you slept?"

"I slept earlier today Griss," she replied plainly.

He looked down at his desk for a moment before posing another question. "Is this because of me?"

Sara's eyes shot up to meet his. She wanted to shout at him that her condition was indeed his fault. Instead she shook her head in a negative fashion. "No Grissom. Not everything is about you. I am just feeling a bit under the weather."

Grissom looked like he wanted to say something else, but couldn't find the words. Instead he changed the topic to the case they were working on.

"After you left this afternoon I stayed here for a few hours and made a few phone calls. Including one to Scott Lansmier who was able to help me with a few names," Grissom commented as he reached across the desk to hand Sara a list he had created. His knuckles brushed against the mug of coffee and he accidentally pushed the steaming liquid into her lap.

"Oh fuck!" Sara yelped out, suddenly feeling instantly awake. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Grissom grabbed a roll of paper towels he kept in his office and rushed to her side. He tried to mop up as much of the liquid as he could while she danced around muttering curses. Finally he convinced her to sit back down. Grissom was examining her right arm which had received the worst of the coffee when something caught his eye. He grabbed each of her wrists and pulled them close together. When he let go he examined her hands for a moment before giving her an accusing stare.

"Sara your hands are visibly shaking."

"I uh...the coffee," she stammered. She couldn't look him in the eye.

"Sara are you going to tell me the truth?" Grissom asked, not trying to hide the anger in his voice.

She refused to answer him. Instead she lowered her head so that she wouldn't have to look at him.

After a moment Grissom stood up and observed her sitting before him, her head lowered so that she wouldn't have to face him. "Sara I want you to go home and get some rest. Come back tomorrow night," he said before walking out of his office.

If he had stayed a moment longer he would have seen the tears flowing down Sara's face as she raised her head.

To Be Continued...