Title: Black Eyes and Sore Members

Author: Roxanne Kowalchuk and Kelly Port

Feedback: roxettemts.net or donas13aol.com

Category: Romance/Humor

Pairing: S/G (Sara/Grissom)

Spoilers: Play With Fire

Summary: The team find themselves in an unexpected adventure.

Notes: This story has been written as a joint effort and is WIP.

Disclaimer: CSI and characters do not belong to us. We are just helping TPTB come to some realizations.

Archived: Sure.

Feedback is always welcomed.

Chapter 6 Confrontation and Comfort

"Sara!" Grissom yelled as he burst from the doors of the bar, only to find the empty parking lot before him.

"Sara!" Grissom yelled again, whether in frustration or in the hopes that she would suddenly appear standing before him.

He began to look around the parking lot, and realized that Sara must be walking, as there weren't any taxis in the immediate area, and knowing Sara that wouldn't stop her form going wherever she wanted.

Grissom decided that she would be heading back to the hotel, and that was the way he was going to go.

As Sara burst from the doors of the bar, the cool night air slammed against her body making her shiver even more. Without a pause, Sara continued to run.

Her immediate need was to put some distance between herself, and Grissom. Once she figured she was far enough away from him, she began to slow down so that she might be able to hear her own thoughts above the roar of her pounding heart and rushing blood sound that filled her ears. Slowing to an almost stop, Sara looked around and in the distance could make out the sign for their hotel, and as she continued forward she realized that her little burst had taken a toll. Sara looked to her left and saw that there was a park, with benches. As she began to make her way along the path to the first set of benches, the enormity of what had just transpired, not to mention her full out run made her stagger and then finally collapse on the nearest bench. As she sat there she leaned forward, not only to catch her breath, but the staggering weight of the emotions she was feeling made her feel so heavy.

As Sara, leaned forward and placed her face in her hands, the past and the future blurred into one as the tears streamed down her flushed cheeks.

He was determined to get to the hotel and fix what was wrong, if he could just get her to talk and then listen; maybe he still had a chance. He hoped he still had a chance, why had he waited so long...because he was scared. Grissom was so preoccupied with his thoughts, that he might have missed her. But he heard her before he saw her.

Off to his left was an opening to a park with benches and he could just make out her form, while the whispers of weeping echoed through his head, causing his chest to tighten.

Grissom slowly approached the bench and finally made his way to stand in front of Sara's crouched form, as he knelt in front of her, he whispered her name.

"Sara."

At the sound of her name, Sara looked up into the blues of the man she loved and loathed.

"Grissom, what have I done...I am sorry," she managed through her hiccups and tears.

"No honey, I am sorry, sorry for continual hurting you, Sara..." Grissom stopped mid-sentence as more tears began to fall and Sara's head slowly moved from side to side.

"Grissom, I was attacked years ago, by someone that I loved and although physically I healed, emotionally, well that is something that I have come to deal with. But the terminal onslaught of pain that you cause me is something that hurts so much worse. I love you! How can you not see that, yet you push and then you pull? I feel like a rag doll that's been wrestled over, your on either side and depending on your mood you pull me towards the side that I think loves me as well and then your evil twin rears its ugly head and you decided that you don't want me and pull me the other way. I can't keep getting pulled; it is like reliving that night over and over again!" Taking a deep breath, Sara continued before Grissom could. "Please, please just stop hurting me." pleaded Sara as she once again lowered her face into her hands.

Grissom knelt there in front of Sara, unsure. Anger and hatred coursed through his veins as he battled the demons within.

When he finally began to speak, his voice was not his own, "Sara, I know that I am now too late! I now know that no matter what I say will never undo what I have done, but I want you to know that it was never my intention to push and pull you. I have loved you for so very long. I just didn't realize that, well I was stupid and foolish. Oh, god Sara, I never meant for this to turn out like it has. I do love you and want to be with you, and now I realize that will never happen, I don't even know if we can be friends, well, why would you want to be friends with such a monster. I hate what I have done to you and I hate myself even more, I just hope that one day you will realize that what I was doing I thought was for the right reasons. I am your supervisor and so much older then you, you never really could have loved me...or at least that is what I thought and now you never will."

As he stopped talking, Sara looked deep within the eyes that she loved and that had caused her so much pain but looked to his lips as she saw them tremble and then tears began to fall from those beautiful eyes. He was broken, Grissom looked as she felt.

As the tears began to fall he could no longer look her into the brown depths of her eyes and as he began to lower his eyes towards the ground, he felt the warmth of Sara's hands on the side of his face while her thumbs brushed away the tears and her lips meet his trembling ones.

It was brief, but for them both it conveyed more then any words could.

As Sara pulled away, she whispered softly to him. "Enough pain and tears have been shed for one night. I am looking forward to the start of a new day and a new beginning." And with that she rose from the park bench and began to walk to the hotel, feeling much lighter and with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

As Sara stepped onto the sidewalk leading towards the hotel, she called over her shoulder to Grissom.

"I'll see you in the morning and you better not be late this time!" Sara called over her shoulder.

As he watched her go Grissom brought a hand to his lips to see if all that had transpired had been real, and when he saw her pause ever so slightly, the words that she said knocked him to the ground and rocked his world to the core.

"I'll never be late again," He thought as he began to look forward to the future for the first time, although not necessarily to the next day of classes.

TBC...