Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1

Part 2 of 3

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Grissom checked in with Greg as soon as they returned, while Sara headed for the break room and steeled herself for a round of teasing from everyone about her impromptu dip in the lake. After updating himself on the progress of all the nightshift cases, Grissom returned to his office and completed some paperwork, but was disturbed just before the end of shift by Sara's arrival. Taking one look at her appearance, he left the office.

"Greg, I need you to do something for me," said Grissom as he entered the Layout Room and found him poring over some evidence from their crime scene.

"What do you need?" asked Greg immediately.

"I need you to go back to the lake."

"Did we miss something?"

"No, we caught something, or at least I think Sara did." Greg stopped what he was doing and gave Grissom his full attention. His supervisor was leaning against the table, looking at Greg intently, his expression grave. When Greg didn't say anything, Grissom continued, "I think there might have been something in the lake that's affected her."

"She's sick?" queried Greg, his face going pale. He was unable to meet Grissom's gaze.

"Yes, I think so," confirmed Grissom.

"And you think it's from the lake?" Greg's voice was very squeaky.

"It's a logical conclusion to draw, but I need evidence to be sure. So, I need you to go to the lake and get some samples of the water. She might have been bitten by something, but she says she doesn't have any obvious marks, so it may be something in the water; she swallowed a bit when she hit the water."

"But, you're not sick," pointed out Greg.

"I didn't swallow any water. Can you go to the lake? I need to make sure Sara is okay and start filling out the accident report."

"Uh, sure. What exactly do you need me to do?"

"Come by my office and I'll give you some containers. Fill them with water. You'll need to go out as far as Sara was in the water. Do you remember?" Greg nodded. "Good. Get samples from there and a few other places. I need you to do that and get back here as quickly as possible so we can run the samples. Oh, and Greg? You have to keep this quiet. You know how much of a tourist haven the lake is, we can't let anyone know about this until we're sure, don't want to cause a panic."

"Okay," said Greg, but there was hesitation in his voice.

"I mean it, Greg, I need this done fast."

"Okay. Where do I get a wetsuit?"

"You don't have time for that, Greg, you'd need to fill in the paperwork to take one out. Oh, you'll be off the clock for this as well. I can't authorize overtime for something like this."

"That's okay, I just want to help," said Greg emphatically.

"Good. Get your jacket and come by my office for the containers."

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Greg knocked on the closed door to Grissom's office warily, entering only when he heard the call from within. The sight that greeted him compounded his earlier guilt and he couldn't remove his eyes from Sara. She was sitting in a seat, coughing, her body heaving with the strain. Her eyes met Greg's for a moment before she coughed again and collapsed back against the chair.

"Sara?" croaked Greg nervously.

"Hey, Greg," she smiled, before giving into another coughing fit.

"I'm really sorry."

"Here," said Grissom, thrusting a bag of empty sample containers into Greg's hands. "You remember where you need to take the samples from?" Greg nodded. "Be back as soon as you can, Greg."

"I will be, I swear." Turning his eyes to Sara he added, "I won't even take time to change, Sara. I'll be back before you know it. We'll find out what's made you sick."

"Thanks, Greg," she said weakly.

"Call me when you're on your way back, Greg, I'll get the equipment set up," instructed Grissom before returning to his desk and picking up his phone.

"Jim, it's Gil. I need you to do me a favor…"

Taking his cue, Greg hurriedly left the office.

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Greg had entered the lake wearing jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket, having taken the time to quickly remove his shoes and socks. He had swum out to the point he remembered Sara being at and took some samples from there, then swam a little farther to get another sample, just to be on the safe side. Another couple were taken nearer the shore line before he left the water and he was thankful Grissom had given him a waterproof pen to use on the containers so he could label each sample as it was collected.

As he emerged from the lake, he was startled by the sight of one of the officers posted at the scene taking photos of him.

"Too good an opportunity to resist," shrugged the officer with a wry grin. "Makes me glad we have to bring cameras to scenes now."

It was a very wet and cold Greg Sanders who got back into his car to drive back to the CSI lab, though he had benefited a little from the temperature that was starting to rise by that time of the morning. However, he hadn't wasted any time, so could not take advantage of it to help dry his clothes.

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Greg had called Grissom as he left the lake, giving him an ETA on his arrival back at the lab. He was told to report directly to Grissom's office and was currently standing outside the darkened room, his hand raised to hesitantly knock on the door.

Instead of being called to enter, the door was opened from within and Grissom looked out at him.

"You got the samples?"

"Yes. How's Sara?" asked Greg. Grissom opened the door wider and stood back to allow him entrance before closing the door again.

Sara was lying across two seats, her torso on one and her feet on the other, hands clasped on her lap. She turned her head slightly at Greg's approach, but didn't raise a smile, instead letting her eyes drift closed again. Only a desk lamp lit the room and he couldn't make out her face very easily, though he could see it was paler than usual.

Grissom walked past Greg and knelt down beside Sara, placing his hands over hers to get her to open her eyes.

"Sara, Greg is back. He has the samples," said Grissom gently, watching as her eyes fluttered open. She nodded her head and turned her head in Greg's direction.

"Hey, Sara," he said quietly, holding up the bag containing the samples. "How are you feeling?"

Grissom had stood up again and was perched on the edge of his desk, his eyes flicking between Sara and Greg.

When Sara didn't say anything, Greg started to panic. "Sara, I swear, we'll figure out what this is. I'm sure you can get some medication for it, there's medication for most things these days, you know that. I'll get started on these samples right away. Well, you know, I'll give them to someone who knows what to do with them; I doubt we're looking for DNA," he babbled, trying to bring a little humor to the situation but only earning himself a glare from Grissom.

"Greg, you're all wet," said Sara suddenly, as though she'd just noticed him dripping on the floor.

"Uh, yeah. I didn't wanna waste time changing," he replied, reminding her of his earlier promise.

"Come here," she beckoned. Greg looked from Sara to Grissom and then moved closer, crouching down beside her. "Now you know how it feels!" she yelled, though she was almost doubled up with laughter. Pressing one hand down on his shoulder, she stood up, while using her other hand to swat the back of his head.

"Ow!" squealed Greg, standing up and looking at Sara in confusion. When he saw her grinning at Grissom, the light began to dawn and Greg looked at Sara accusingly. "You set me up." His tone was wounded and Sara actually felt a little guilt creeping over her, but it was quickly removed when Grissom responded to Greg's allegation.

"Actually, it was my idea," he said, almost proudly.

Greg gave him a hurt look before turning his attention back to Sara, who was now standing beside Grissom's desk and avoiding Greg's gaze.

"You're really not sick?" asked Greg softly. Sara finally met his eyes and shook her head, smiling at him but biting her lip; she was beginning to regret playing such a trick on him, never having thought he would have been so worried about her.

"No, I'm not," she confirmed. "Sorry, Greg, we just couldn't resist."

"Maybe now you'll know not to move around so quickly at crime scenes," interjected Grissom. "They're not play areas, Greg, you have to take your time, notice everything and ensure nothing can be compromised."

"I know," said the younger man solemnly. "It really was an accident, I wasn't messing around."

"We know, Greg," assured Sara, sensing how upset he was becoming. "We just needed to let off a little steam after nearly getting our asses frozen off. Think of this as a good thing, you now have evidence that Grissom and I do know how to have fun after all; I'm sure Nick has some sort of bet running on that."

"You think I'm gonna actually tell people about this?" he grumbled.

"You won't have to, Brass will be bringing the evidence in later," grinned Grissom, then added, "I had him get the officers at the scene to take photos. Of course, I'm sure a number of people also noticed you walking to my office while you were dripping wet, they're all going to want an explanation."

"Man, when you guys decide to have a little fun, you go all out, don't you?" whined Greg.

"We're scientists, Greg, we test things to their limits," teased Sara with a smile. "Just be thankful we don't experiment like this very often."

"What do you want me to do with these?" he asked, holding the bag of samples aloft.

"Pour them down the sink," replied Grissom. "Then get yourself home and get some sleep." Greg nodded and started to walk out of the office, his head dipped and embarrassment oozing from his posture. "Oh, Greg?" called Grissom. As Greg turned around, Grissom smiled and said, "You might want to take a shower and change your clothes first."

Sara laughed at Grissom's comment, but stopped when Greg gave her a 'puppy dog' look. He left the office and Grissom turned to Sara, giving her a wink before he stood up from his position on his desk and returned to his chair.

"I'm glad you choose to use your mind for good instead of evil, Grissom," Sara told him as she took a few steps towards the door. "And I'm definitely glad the evil part is rarely used against me."

Before Grissom could query the 'rarely' part of her statement, she was gone from his office.

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TBC…

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