Disclaimer: All right everyone, sing along… "I don't own CSI, its characters, or anything associated with the show. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is the sole property of CBS and Alliance Atlantis." This document was written purely based on the fact that my muse will not stop nagging me. For the entertainment of you folks only.

Spoiler: Nesting Dolls, Burden of Proof, Playing With Fire, Butterflied, dude – pick any GSR episode you want.

A/N: Well, Chapter 5 was interesting, wasn't it? The park I described is not in Las Vegas. It is in southern New Jersey – and I used to go there many times when I was a teenager. How the park magically transported itself to the outskirts of Vegas is anyone's guess, but I'm glad Grissom likes it as well.

Sara couldn't believe what she was hearing, nor that she was hearing it from Grissom. Her mind raced frantically, trying to absorb all that he had said.

His comment about needing her drove itself deep into her heart. So now he needs me. Whereas three years ago, the lab needed me.

Ecklie must know something. Has he looked at my file? What if I am dangerous… a loose cannon.

And Catherine? What was with her? Clearly her new role as supervisor had made her forget any sense of loyalty that she had to Grissom. This must hurt him. She was his friend long before I even knew him.

Clearly Grissom suspects trouble at work. He thinks Ecklie is after him, and he's probably right. It's like a war between them. No wonder Grissom didn't react to the split. He knew it was coming.

Words from a year ago suddenly echoed in her head. "… we have a big decision to make … we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her."

"I couldn't do it."

"But you did," Sara said, breaking the silence and focusing herself on the present. She turned and stared deep into his eyes, but all she saw was confusion.

"What?"

She faced him; her eyes and her mind were crystal clear with sharp realization.

"You risked your job for me."

He turned away and spoke quietly, folding his hands in his lap. "Yes, I did."

"Why?"

"Because I had to."

"Again, why?"

Grissom's posture shifted, clearly uncomfortable with her direct questioning.

But Sara wasn't going to let up on him. Not by a long shot.

"Sara … "

"Dammit Grissom! I am so done with this game of yours! You yank me around, flirt with me, act like you care, and when push comes to shove, you pull this wishy-washy 'I Don't Know What To Do About This' shit with me! I can't take it anymore. I'm telling you now; I can not take it any more."

Grissom's voice was quiet, filled with remorse. "It isn't a game, Sara."

"Well then what is 'it'?"

"It's something I don't know how to handle."

"Oh that's rich."

"You don't understand."

"Oh yeah? Well I'll give you something to understand. I came here because of you, because I wanted to be with you. It was wrong, and it didn't work. So I wanted to leave, and you sent me a plant and for some asinine reason, I stayed. And I had hope."

Sara was on a role, all the pent-up frustration from four years of uncertainty erupting out of her like wildfire.

"Then the lab exploded, you were right there and I thought 'AHA! He does care.' So I asked you to dinner. Dinner! You freaked out and said 'No' and left me with egg splattered all over my face, feeling like a complete fool."

"So I back off, and we get a case where the damn vic looks just like me and you freak out and turn into some possessed CSI maniac. And I heard you talking to that perp, by the way, that loser who killed that girl. I heard you say that you couldn't give up your work for me. And I wanted to scream and run into that room and rip into your ass. Because you should have told me. But I didn't. I drank myself into a stupor instead. How brilliant is that?"

"When you came and picked me up at the station that night, and brought me home, I almost died from embarrassment. So I went away for a while. And I should have stayed away. But no, stupid me, I come back."

"And we don't talk, you avoid me, and I when I tell you that my counseling is done, because I have to tell you, and I tell you why I came here, in attempts to show you that I'm moving on… what do you say? 'DUH'"

"Finally I get suspended, it's been long overdue, and you come over to my apartment, demand to know my innermost secrets, get them and disappear."

"Until I come into work today, where you promptly drag me out into the middle of nowhere so we can talk. And again, here we are, at the same point in this game where I'm doing all the talking and you are doing nothing!"

Sara had reached her peak, her voice loud and echoing across the lake. She was standing now, hovering near him, her anger and frustration so intense and she was shaking and tears of rage streamed down her face.

"Is it nice up there on your high horse, Sara?" Grissom's voice was filled with bitter sarcasm and he looked up at her, eyes cold as flint.

Sara stood up straight, stepping back, her voice dripping venom. "Excuse me?"

"You, Miss Sidle, do NOT understand. You think this is all about two normal people, who can have a normal relationship, just like everyone else."

"Has it not occurred to you that I am your supervisor?"

"Has it not occurred to you that I am fifteen years older than you?"

"Has it not occurred to you that there might have been something else going on in my life when you asked me out?"

Grissom's voice was growing louder, the anger building up within him, burning through his restraints on his temper.

"Has it not occurred to you that I do not want to be your next little boy toy, for you to discard when I become to old or unappealing?"

"Has it not occurred to you that I may not be what you really want, since clearly you 'look for validation in' .. oh, what was it .. 'inappropriate places' and you are attracted to 'emotionally unavailable men'?"

Grissom was up, standing next to her, eyes blazing with fury.

"Has it not occurred to you AT ALL that I am not what is best for you?"

The remainder of Sara's self-control shattered.

"YOU BASTARD! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU TO SAY WHAT IS BEST FOR ME"

"I DON'T BELONG TO YOU!"

They were inches apart, raw emotions flickering between them, burning, mixing, feeding upon themselves, ultimately incinerating all their defenses, leaving only a baseline of desire in its wake.

Grissom's eyes shifted from flint to molten steel, and he reached for Sara, pulling her against him with one arm, his hand firm on the small of her back. The heat of his touch surprised her. His other hand reached up for her, his fingers brushing against her face, his palm caressing her cheek as he reached behind her neck, through her hair, moving her face to his.

Sara's resolve evaporated at Grissom's touch on her skin. Her mind lost in unrequited desire, her world spinning around her, she leaned against him as he pulled her closer.

Eye to eye they faced one another, fire to fire, soul to soul. Four years worth of restraint melted away as he bent down to her and kissed her.