Chapter 5

Sara's mother had called back as soon as she heard the message. She caught Sara on her way back into Vegas.

"I'll be there tonight Mom." Sara told her mother as clearly as she could as she tried to hide the fact that she was still crying a little.

"Ok honey. You will drive carefully won't you? I don't want to get a phone call from a hospital or a visit from the police. You know how much it concerns me when you insist driving rather than flying." Mrs. Sidle continued to ramble her concerns to her daughter as Sara reached the inner city towards her apartment.

"Mom." Her mother still chattered in her ear as Sara wiped her eyes at a red light. "Mom, I'll be there in one piece. Don't worry. I've driven the same roads since forever. Don't stress yourself out and I'll see you tonight." She waited as silence greeted her.

Finally Mrs. Sidle breathed out a heavy sigh. "Ok Sara."

Hearing the smile in her mothers voice, Sara sighed a little happier. "Bye Mom, see you later."

"Right. Bye honey, drive safe."

"I will. Bye." Sara hung up and headed home.

Smoothing out the letter for the fourth time, Grissom reached for his cell phone and dialled her number. If she was going away, he needed to talk to her before she left.

Engaged.

Closing his cell, he sighed and leaned back in his chair. Defeat and sadness filled his pores. He knew he had waited too long. After all that they had been through, he still kept her at a distance and the outcome was worse than he had imagined.

"You and Sara-" Anna interrupted his thoughts.

He looked up and shook his head. "Its complicated."

Anna moved into his office and sat down on the corner of the desk. "Complicated?" She sighed and reached for his hand. "Gil, you know things are what you make them."

He looked at their hands and squeezed hers before pulling his away and rubbing his face with both hands tiredly.

"Do you regret what we've done?" Anna asked him quietly.

Grissom's head snapped up. "What? No." He quickly replied, getting up to hold her. "I'd never regret anything we've done."

Anna leaned her head against his shoulder and breathed in deeply before letting it out. "I guess it's about time this fantasy ended huh?"

Chuckling lightly, he kissed her neck. "And what a fabulous fantasy it was."

"Hmm yeah, that it was." Anna said dreamily, running her fingernails over his scalp and through his curly soft hair.

"I've got so much grovelling to do." He sighed heavily, tightening his hold on her warm body.

Pulling back to look into his eyes, she stared at him with dark eyes. "I get the impression that she's not that kind of girl."

Grissom nodded, his eyes looking over her shoulder. "Sara's a strong individual. She's me in a lot of ways, but different in many others." He paused for a thoughtful second. "She's-"

"Your equal." Anna finished. She smiled slightly and shook her head as she ran her hand down his face. "We've had our fun, but it's time for us to go back to the real world. I've already hurt someone I don't know-"

"Ann." He sighed. "Don't blame yourself. It was me that started this stepping stone game between Sara and I. It's nothing to do with you. She just happened to find out and the others, well, the other's don't know anything but what the gossip tree tells them."

Anna smiled. "What will you do?"

Grissom shrugged, pulling back from her body to step away from her. "I guess I go to work and hope she's there."

"And what if she's not?" Anna asked.

He looked out the window and dropped his shoulders. "I can't do anything until she comes back from vacation. I don't even know where she is."

"I'd let her think things over and then you can tell her what you know in your heart when she returns." Anna helpfully suggested as she approached him from behind to circle her arms around his waist.

The tension was building in his muscles. "I can't believe I let it get this far." He growled at himself.

"Honey, calm down." She ran her hands up to his shoulders and rubbed them as she kissed the back of his neck. "Beating yourself up over this is not going to help."

Sighing in frustration, he leaned back into her hands. "What ever happens, you're still part of my life."

"That's pretty much a given." Anna grinned. "But we're in the past Gil. You have a future with someone else and you need to jump some hurdles before you can rest."

"Mhmm, a metaphor I understand." He chuckled.

"You should, they're your hurdles." Anna turned him and cupped his face. "I'm leaving tonight. I'll call you when I get home. Don't be a stranger." She kissed him softly.

Returning the light kiss, Grissom sighed. "I'll have to tell her."

Anna nodded as she stepped back form him. "I know. And I trust you. Tell her everything if you must, but don't make excuses. Tell the truth, from your heart." She smiled before turning and leaving him standing by the window of his office, looking out at the city bustle of mid-afternoon.

Walking into the trace lab, he looked cautiously around him to spot the infamously annoying Trace tech, David Hodges. When he felt it was safe to go about his work, he slipped onto the stool and pulled out an evidence bindle from his lab coat pocket.

"Hey Boss!"

Grissom jumped, but continued to work. "Hodges." He said sternly.

"Sorry." He mumbled, moving around to the other side of the table to watch what was going on. "What you got?"

Looking up over the rims of his glasses, Grissom stared at the young man for a moment before answering. "A fibre."

"Really?" Hodges asked. "You know, that's my expertise." He gloated mockingly, moving to reach for the evidence Grissom was holding.

"Haven't you got break coming up?" Grissom asked tersely, pulling his evidence away from the tech's hand.

"Sure!" Hodges smirked and left the room. Before he left the lab completely, he popped his head back into the room with a questioning look. "Hey boss?"

Grissom looked up slowly and turned his head reluctantly towards the tech. "What?"

"Nick asked me to tell you that if it was ok with his case detective, he was going to check out Sara's case. Apparently it's linked to his… or something or other." Hodges shrugged and walked away.

Looking completely confused, Grissom turned back to his work. Halfway through placing some of the fibre onto a slide, something started to nag at his unconscious. It was like he was supposed to be remembering something or be someplace, but nothing came to him.

"Yo Grissom." Warrick greeted as he slipped into the room. "You figure out what that fibre's from yet?"

Shaking his head, Grissom pushed the slide under the scope and removed his glasses. "Just about too."

After a moment, Warrick leaned against the table and sighed tiredly. "Man, I wish Nick would hurry up checking on Sara's witness from last week. He's been hours already."

Grissom leaned back with furrowed brows. "Sara."

Warrick looked at the older man with his own furrowed brow. "Yeah." He said slowly. "She was working that case about the housing estate robbery, remember? She had an eyewitness that could identify the robbers, but she's not back from vacation yet and we can't reach her."

Taking a moment to let the words absorb, he snapped to attention. "Warrick… finish this. I'll be in my office."

"Where ya going?" Warrick asked.

"I've just remembered something." He quickly replied.

TBC