I think I'm drowning

Asphyxiated

I want to break the spell

That you've created

You're something beautiful

A contradiction

I want to play the game

I want the friction

You will be the death of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

But our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

I wanted freedom

Proud and restricted

I tried to give you up

But I'm addicted

Now that you know I'm trapped

Sense of elation

You'd never dream of

Breaking this fixation

You will squeeze the life out of me

But our time is running out

You can't push it underground

You can't stop it screaming out

Yeah, you will suck the life out of me

Bury it

I won't let you bury it

I won't let you smother it

I won't let you murder it

How did it come to this?

Greg had often heard the expression 'There's always tomorrow', but now there would officially be no tomorrow. Today was Sara's last day in the Las Vegas crime lab. Ever. It was terrible; this was the second time he expected to never see her again. Since he first found out about her return, he had been playing out these situations, scenarios in which he would say the perfect things and sweep her right off her feet. She would realize how much he cared for her and she would stay. She would put in for a transfer that day and promise to never leave his side again- - the happy ending that he knew would never come. But for that one week, he still had the opportunity to do everything that he wanted, that he thought about constantly. To have the chance at that brutally taken away was devastating. Now he couldn't even watch her across the lab like before; even that feeble routine finally ended. He couldn't see why it was affecting him this way - - he had been preparing for this day since the week began.

But it was fun while it lasted, right? Nope. The last few YEARS he had been sitting there, absorbing details about her like a fucking sponge. He was embarrassed by what he had become - - nothing more than a stalker like the ones in his cases. All he ever did was wait and watch and hope for nothing. Now he had laid it all out in the open, she knew everything and that still didn't stop her from leaving.

As he parked his car in the lab's parking lot, he saw her. She was briskly walking out of the building, the sun catching her hair, highlighting it as she walked, surrounding her in a golden aura. She walked like she was floating on air, that false smile plastered on her face, her posture rigid. Greg got out of his car, grabbing his coffee and downing it in one gulp while he stood by the driver's side. As he was locking his door, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned, startled.

"Sara," he breathed.

And she smiled, genuinely this time. "I stayed with Grissom last night. I explained everything."

"That's...great?"

She nodded. "We worked everything out."

A pause, then she contiuned. "And Greg? Thanks for the push."

He shrugged. "It was nothing".

"I'm coming back for their wedding, so it's not like I'll never see you again". She said, sensing his somber air.

He smiled wryly. "Sure. You'll come back and everything will be back to normal."

Noting his sarcasm, she quickly wished him goodbye and left, grabbing a taxi towards the airport. She lugged her bag through the airport. After getting stuck in airport security for what seemed like an hour, she finally met up with Lisa in the terminal.

"You came back."

Sara laughed. "Yeah, that was the plan. Did you think I'd stay?" and bitterly she added on the afterthought, " There's nothing there for me anymore."

"You sure about that?"

She looked at Lisa questioningly, about to say something before Lisa grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the gate.

Once in San Francisco, they landed and traveled back to their respective homes. Once inside, Sara threw her keys on the counter, her suitcase on the floor, and collapsed onto her sofa with a sigh. Everything was back to normal, but Sara couldn't shake off the overwhelming sense of guilt that was so strong it was smothering her. She couldn't breathe. Greg's nerves were shot that day. He went through the afternoon not really paying attention to anything that was going on. He had gone through cases, collected evidence, and interviewed suspects just like any other day and quietly fell back into that pattern of normality of everyday life. It wasn't until the end of shift when it hit him, in the break room.

His hands were shaking now, so badly that he couldn't even pour himself a cup of coffee. Every mistake he made throughout his life was running through his head right now, every person he let get close that ended up deserting him. He threw the coffee pot across the room, watching it shatter as it collided with the wall. The coffee left stains on the white wall, brown drips that fell like tears. Or blood.

"Greg! What happened?" a panicked Grissom yelled as he saw the shards of glass that had fallen in a pile in the corner.

"I think I'm falling". His voice shook, almost as badly as his hands, as he spoke. He stepped back and collapsed onto the wall, sliding down to a sitting position once he reached the floor. He glanced through the doorway, noticing the curious faces peering in with interest. The day that they all had been waiting for finally arrived. All of them- - Nick, Archie, Brass... everyone - - had been eagerly awaiting his breakdown; the tension in the crime lab had been asphyxiating everyone, killing them slowly. A new anger was choking Greg now, pulsing through his veins, dangerously mixing with adrenelin.

Then, all of a sudden, the anger, remorse, all of it vanished. Greg got up, shouldered past his coworkers in the doorway, and pushed his way out of the hall until he finally reached the front door and the outside world. He simply got into his car and rode home in silence.

After spending the night in a drunken oblivion, the next couple of days were weird. He wasn't depressed or wistful; to tell you the truth, he didn't feel ... anything. Greg felt numb, as if nothing really mattered anymore. It was over and he no longer wanted to dwell on the past, but he was certain he didn't want to move on. He decided to take a few days off work, sit at home, and remember, so hopefully he would feel again.

Sara knew deep down that her trip to Vegas shouldn't end the way it did, but what more could she do? She was in California, Greg was in Nevada - - it wasn't like they could run into each other at the local supermarket. There were hundreds of miles between them and that was too far of a distance to pursue...anything. Wasn't it? She hated that she had begun to question herself, but her discussion with Greg had unnerved her. Everything he said, whether in anger, hate, or devotion, had been true. She had let Grissom ruin her life and she didn't even realize it until Greg had thrown it in her face.

That day she left for California, he had begged her to stay. The heart-wrenching yell begging for a chance, a chance she had also been denied. After all this time, she still couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she had taken him up on his offer.

Greg hadn't said everything. He forgot to mention that he would do anything to get Sara to stay, to stay with him. He didn't say that the idea of never seeing her again had almost driven him to suicide. She was his savior, the only one who could rescue him from the looming madness of life that was threatening to destroy him. In the heat of the moment, these seemed like thoughts to keep to oneself, so he swallowed them and left them unsaid. He let her leave without knowing the whole truth, without knowing why he needed her to stay. He needed to keep some secrets hidden from her, he hadn't wanted her to know everything. And now, thoughts heavy with a sense of regret so strong it literally weighed him down, he realized she never would.

AN: The song in this chapter is Time is Running Out by Muse.

I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this - - these past few weeks have been extremely hard on me, so I tried to let the angst from my life shape this chapter.

There is one chapter yet to come, so please review while you still can. My goal was to reach 100 reviews with this fic, but there's no way that can happen if every person who reads this doesn't REVIEW!( I do realize this is an almost unreachable goal, but I have faith in you guys!)

One final note: I'm trying to read some good classic lit. before next school year... any recommendations?

Leonard Shelby- Guy Pearce, Memento (favorite movie, favorite actor)

Wendell 'Bud' White and Lynn White (really Bracken)- Russel Crowe, Kim Basinger, L.A. Confidential; book by James Ellroy(favorite perverted, horny old writer)

Elizabeth Short- A.K.A. The Black Dahlia- one of the oldest and most gruesome murders in Las Angeles history- unsolved since 1948(I think).