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: Unbearable

A/N: Apologies for the delay. This was a very hard chapter to write. Let me know if you like it.

Grissom paused as Sara came rushing into the common room. She was late, and her hair was damp, as if she had recently showered.

Sara is never late. What's going on?

"I'm sorry, I … overslept." Sara said as she tried to catch her breath.

Greg hid his laughter in a cough, and muttered quietly, "Yeah, right."

Sara shot him a look of death, but Greg ignored her, focusing his eyes on Grissom with a half-smile on his face.

"Thank you for joining us tonight, Sara." Grissom's tone was sarcastic. Where was she? Greg knows.

"Warrick, you have the Parker rape from last night. Greg, you're with me. And Sara, since you feel that showing up to work on time is not a priority, you can finish up on the evidence from the Mayes homicide."

Sara glared at him. The Mayes homicide was an evidence boar. Sometimes at a scene, they didn't find enough evidence. At this scene, evidence was everywhere. They had arrested the suspect easily; a Mr. Joe Harlan, his prints and DNA were everywhere. He had priors, so they found him immediately, and he squealed like a pig. But the evidence from the scene still needed to be catalogued.

Realistically, it was a job better suited for Greg. Giving it to Sara was an insult. And Grissom knew it, but did it anyways.

Sara stormed out of the room after their meeting was finished.

oooooooooooooooo

Grissom wasn't surprised when Sara showed up at his office at the end of her shift. He suspected as much and was prepared.

Perhaps I can find out what is going on with her.

Sara closed the door, but didn't sit down.

So, she's going to yell. Fine. I'll get her to tell me what she's up to by having her scream it at me.

Either way, she isn't leaving until I know what's going on.

"What you pulled tonight was uncalled for," Sara said in a harsh voice. "I have been late for work once, once, in five years, and handing me shit work because of it was totally off-base."

"Why were you late?" Grissom asked her quietly, but not without some malice.

"It's none of your business why I was late. I was… had… a personal matter to attend to." Sara looked away from him.

"It is my business when you do not report to work on time. Just as it is also my business when you have a problem at work that visibly upsets you." Grissom's tone was superior. You are going to tell me what is going on with you, young lady.

Sara was getting annoyed and frustrated. Grissom knew how to push her to get her to react, and saw that she was attempting to control her temper. Before she could speak, Grissom gave her another nudge.

"Is there perhaps a new someone in your life? I do hope it is not Mr. Bennington, as inter-office dating is frowned upon in this office. I wouldn't want to be forced to write a negative conduct report regarding this."

Rage crossed Sara's face, but then it was replaced by something much colder.

"You want to know what I'm up to." Sara said shrewdly. "You want to know if I'm dating Scott or not. That's what this is about. You are such a shallow bastard!"

Oops. Grissom was surprised. He never suspected Sara to catch on to him.

"Well, for your information, yes, I was with Scott Bennington this evening." Sara was haughty. "We had a lovely dinner together."

Grissom's heart cracked. She's dating him? Did she… did she sleep with him? Is that why she was late?

"And, for your information, inter-office dating is not frowned upon in this office, as you quite adequately proved with Sophia!"

"I did not date Sophia!" Grissom's tone was defensive.

"Oh, so she was just a roll in the hay for you? No wonder she left. You were more disrespectful to her than you were to me. I almost have pity on her."

"I didn't have sex with her, Sara… I didn't touch her at all! It was a business dinner!" Grissom yelled at her.

"Yeah, I always call my business dinner associates, 'honey' the next day too." Sara sneered.

"You don't understand…" Grissom groaned at her. "Why can't you listen?"

"Listen? I've been listening for five years, and remember? You have nothing to say. Haven't we been here before?"

"You don't listen, Sara. You just talk. Christ, you never shut up."

"You want me to shut up? Is that what you want? Fine." Sara stormed out of Grissom's office.

He assumed she had left, but she returned five minutes later, her eyes filled with tears.

"HERE," she sobbed, throwing a piece of paper at him. "Problem solved."

The paper was older, and wrinkled a bit from being folded for a while. It was a request for a leave of absence form. It was her request from three years ago. She had changed the date to today.

"Sara, this isn't what I meant."

Grissom's heart was pounding, his brain in denial.

She can't do this. She can't leave. She won't leave. She likes it here. I can't believe she kept this.

"Bullshit. You've wanted me out of your life for a while. I know I need you out of mine. I should have left a long time ago."

Sara began to cry, tears streaming down her face.

"I can't work for you anymore, Grissom. I can't take this… I can't take you."

Her words cut through him like daggers, slicing him to the core. The pain was too much, and he reacted instinctively in defense.

"Then leave." Grissom's voice was as cold as death.

Sara stared at him, her face frozen at his blatant admission that he wanted her gone.

"You want to leave? Then fine, be my guest. LEAVE." Grissom's eyes were overflowing with rage and anguish.

Sara was frozen, unmoving.

"ARE YOU DEAF?" Grissom screamed her, subconsciously signing to her at the same time. "I SAID 'LEAVE'!"

Grissom pounded his fists on the desk, shaking everything, and pain shot through his left hand as he had hit some hard object hidden beneath the papers.

In his rage at the new onslaught of physical pain, he swept everything on his desk onto the floor with a crash. When he looked up and saw the raw fear in Sara's eyes, he realized what he had done, and what it meant to her to see a man behaving so violently.

Guilt flooded him, drowning his rage, and he stepped out from behind the desk, walking towards her.

Sara's face turned ghost white and she fled.

Grissom stood for a moment, amid the papers and debris, the consequences of his behavior soaking through to his soul. He ran from the office, desperate to find her.

He caught up to her in the parking lot, but she was in her car already. He stood in the middle of the road, blocking her from leaving the lot. The sun was just rising, he could feel its warmth on his back, and he couldn't see inside Sara's windshield due to the glare.

He panicked, wondering if she would hit him with her car, but he didn't step away as she came speeding towards him.

Her brakes screeched a little when she realized he wasn't moving. Her car stopped within sixteen inches of him, the glare making her windshield as opaque as the deepest fog.

"Please, Sara, forgive me. I'm sorry. Please, come inside and we'll talk. About everything."

The car didn't move. Neither did Grissom. Time passed and Grissom began to break down. He hands started to shake a little, emotions overwhelming him. Fear, guilt, sorrow, loss.

He stepped aside, knowing there was nothing he could do to repair the damage he had caused today. His heart cried out for a flicker of hope, pleading for it, but there was none.

Her car drove by him slowly. He watched it pass, unable to see Sara inside.

He turned to face the back of her car, knowing he may never see her again.

His heart and his hands spoke for him, signing what he could not force his voice to say.

"I love you."

"Please… don't leave me… my soul will die without you."

He stood, watching the car depart. It slowed, and came to a stop a good forty feet from him.

Sara stepped out.

She turned to him, her body shaking visibly.

She spoke and signed to him, "Why?"

And as Grissom ran to her, she fell to her knees, sobbing furiously, each one shaking her body more than the one before.

He reached her and surrounded her body with his. He kissed her hair, her face, constantly murmuring, "I'm sorry. It's okay. I love you. Please don't go."

Her sobs receded, and she looked up at him, her eyes fragile, exposed, her heart screaming at the anguish and pain he knew he caused her. And through it all, he saw into her soul, and the love that she held for him.

His hand caressed her cheek as he looked down at her, his love for her overcoming him, overflowing his heart. Tears rolled down his face unhindered as he spoke to her.

"I love you, Sara." He smiled as he kissed her lips gently.

She clung to him, kissing him in return, and both were lost in their own private union of two souls finally meeting as one.

A fleeting thought passed through the back of Grissom's mind, not quite drowned out by the surges of joy and love he felt for the woman in his arms.

Sara knows sign language?