Chapter 3

Unlikely Coincidences

Half way through the night a noise startled Sara. Panicking as she did not see Grissom anywhere in sight, she turned on the light as fast as she could manage. She was saddened to find Grissom curled up on the hardwood floor of their hotel room without a blanket or a pillow. Sara didn't know whether to flick off the light and forget about aiding to Grissom's comfort or offer him a spot on the bed and prevent any morning back pain.

"What am I thinking? He was a jerk last night and scared me half to death. I knew he had a temper but I never thought..." Sara ended her thoughts there. She didn't want to know what Grissom was capable of, but she did know he would never take his anger out on her. It was just a spontaneous outburst brought on by her own stupidity and anger. She deserved it.

"Grissom…" Sara exclaimed while looking sadly on the floor at her boss.

"Yeah…" Little did Sara know, Grissom had been crying. His whimpers diminished as he realized he let his emotions escape once more.

"Umm, you know this bed is massive and I don't think you're going to take up all the room up here… If you want to join me…" Sara tried not to stumble over her words as the thought of Grissom being beside her under the covers gave her several shivers.

"I think I'm safer away from you…Would you like to recall our earlier attempt at conversation?" Grissom bitterly retorted.

"Alright… We both did and said stuff that we regret. Can you please come up here and forgive me if I forgive you?" Sara forced a smile to her lips when Grissom lifted his head from the floor and stared into her eyes. His eyes were still glistening with a few tears which refused to fall and Grissom had to fight extra hard to make sure Sara didn't see any succumb to gravity's demise. He slowly got up from the floor and stood over Sara. Right away Sara noticed that his blue dress shirt he had slept in had become messy through several hours of tossing and turning. All of his buttons had come undone leaving his chest exposed. She took the opportunity to memorize every curl and curve as she may never see such a sight again. Grissom finally allowed a smile to show through his coarse exterior as he gently climbed onto the bed lying beside Sara. His head rested on one a fluffy pillow as he tried to stop himself from turning around to face his "partner."

"Well if he's not going to do anything why can't I?" Sara thought as she placed her hand under his chin and turned his face to hers. The action left Grissom with mixed feelings as he struggled with the words to form his apology. His heart rate increased drastically as he drew closer and closer to Sara.

"Sara…I understand if you don't want our connection to evolve more then just a plain 'hello' everyday…A relationship would never work between us, there's too much of an age difference…And I would never be able to cater to your needs Sara. As for everything I did to you tonight, I'm sorry and I hope it won't interfere with our practices at work." Grissom continued to stare into Sara's eyes as he felt her pull him closer.

"News flash Grissom…I forgive you. We all make mistakes and I just provoked your anger."

"That's no excuse…" Grissom rubbed Sara's arm where only a few hours ago he had forcefully took it into his possession. Together they looked at each other for what seemed to be an eternity, unsure of what one should say or do next.

"What are you afraid of?" Sara was determined to find out why Grissom was so scared of commitment. His heart rate climbed once more as he tried to come up with an excuse.

"Nothing…" He let out one final exhausted breath before rolling over on his side away from Sara. Keeping his distance was the smartest thing to do.

'I can't let my guard down sweetheart…I hope you can forgive me and move on.' Grissom thought as he drifted off to sleep, leaving Sara confused and saddened by his lack of response.

'Don't think I'm not going to get to the bottom of this Gil Grissom…I have at least two weeks to make you love me and I'm going to try as hard as it takes to make you see the light.' Sara's mind was racing rather then resting at devising a plan to conquer the unconquerable as she watched Grissom sleep.

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Grissom awoke with a jolt as he realized that the opposite side of the bed was cold. Figuring Sara had gotten up and showered, he decided to make some coffee and start on ordering room service. As his stomach let out a hungry growl he got up from the bed and sluggishly made his way over to the coffee machine. As he scooped the grains into the machine, a pang of fear started making his way to his gut and cutting out any hunger he may have experienced previously.

"Where's her suitcase?" Grissom's voice held a sense of panic as he quickly made his way down to the bathroom down the hall. Hearing no water running, he tapped on the door hoping she had the suitcase inside the room with her.

"Sara?" Grissom inquired as a headache started to grace his presence. This wasn't normal, they were on an assignment and she just wouldn't leave him here without a note or a message. "Maybe she got someone to pick up our luggage and she's just out running a few errands before we leave." Grissom tried to remain calm and objective as he picked up a phone and dialed the front desk.

"Yes…I was just wondering if you have any messages for me… It's room 204…Nothing? Yeah, thanks." Grissom slammed the phone down in anger as he realized Sara may have left him alone, giving up on their assignment. "Why would she just leave?" Grissom grabbed Culpepper's card out of his pants from yesterday and was about to call the number when he heard a noise from outside the hotel room. Giggles and loud bursts of laughter snapped him back to reality. He knew that laugh from anywhere. Feeling a sense of dread loom over him, Grissom quickly made his way to the door and peered out of the 'peephole'.

"You know… If I didn't get up in the middle of the night to take advantage of the pool area we may not have met…" Sara's voice held a sense of attraction for the younger man holding her hand.

"Yeah well, let's just say I'm a lucky man for bumping into you." The younger man had slicked back blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes and a flawless chiseled body. He was either a body builder or generally obsessed with working out.

Grissom felt bile come up to his throat as he saw the young man plunge into Sara's mouth with a sense of urgency. His hand went up Sara's shirt, cupping her breasts as she let out a muffled moan of excitement. Before their passion got too far Grissom swung open the door and gapped at the 'couple' with his mouth wide open in shock.

"Ummm…Grissom…I was just…" Sara stepped back from the body builder and closer to Grissom.

"Don't say anything…Actions speak louder then words Sara." Grissom's struggled to retain his anger once more as he clenched his fist as hard as he could.

"What? We're not even together Grissom! You just said last night that our age difference was too great…" Sara couldn't believe Grissom could be so shallow to state one thing then retract on how he felt. He was an enigma, one she had given up on figuring out. Last night she was tired of planning, she was restless and her loneliness was taken away by Chuck's friendly nature. He was willing to listen to what she had to say and he was not shy in hiding the way he felt. She slightly still wished Grissom could be as forceful in explaining his emotions. Chuck read like an open book, a quality Sara had recently become attracted to.

"I thought you loved me…" Grissom stated in a low voice looking away from Sara and Chuck, trying to forget what he had just witnessed.

"Yeah well maybe I moved on Grissom. Something you should do. You're just too complicated, one minute I have you figured out and the next you are a mystery! Your father moved out when you were younger correct?" Sara bluntly asked. Grissom merely nodded his head to her question. "Well, if you were as half as frustrating as you are now, I don't blame him." Sara's anger left her not thinking straight, and Grissom's was already bubbling to the surface. There was only so much holding back he could do. With one powerful slap to her face Grissom knocked Sara to the ground. Her head banged against the doorframe leaving her unconscious on the floor.

"What the hell are you doing?" With that statement Chuck punched Grissom in the face. White flooded his vision as he succumbed to the darkness. He didn't deserve not to feel pain for what he had done. The cycle was complete… Like Father, like Son.

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Grissom woke in a cold sweat on top of an unbearably warm bed. The morning's light blinded his eyes as he slowly took in the horror of his dream. After several slow, soothing breaths his heart rate returned back to a steady pace.

'Alright think logically…I would never hurt Sara. I am not my father and I do not have an anger problem. You're just experiencing past memories of you and your mother and it is clouding your judgment in the present. Snap out of it! Sure he was released from prison a month ago, get over it. He's not coming to get you.' Grissom continued to reassure himself when a familiar sense of deja-vu hit him hard.

'Where's her suitcase?' Grissom tried not to let the panic settle into his system as he tried to tell himself that this was just a coincidence. 'But…There is no such thing as a coincidence.' Grissom's logical side took over as he analyzed the situation. 'Dreams are just dreams…They don't come true.' After quickly opening the door to the bathroom and realizing Sara was no where to be found in their entire suite, he allowed panic to finally register through out his body.

"Alright, now I can rightfully panic." Grissom searched his entire room for Culpepper's business card, after remembering an image from his dream, he ran to the pile of clothes by his side of the bed. Just as he was about to dial the number he heard a giggle come from the hallway.

'This isn't possible…Stay calm. It was a dream, damn it. Even if it comes true don't allow the past to consume you.' Grissom slowly approached the door and heard the familiar giggle grow closer and closer. Grissom didn't bother looking through the peephole when he swung open the door this time. He couldn't believe what he saw.

"Uh..Huh…Right… Alright Greg, you're jokes are killing my sides here! I gotta go, Grissom says 'Hi'. Behave and tell Nick and Warrick to watch over you like a hawk, you're only a CSI level one, not Superman. OK, bye." Sara looked over at Grissom whose hair was a mess, several beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, while his t-shirt was soaked from perspiration as well. Large bags were formed under his eyes making Sara worry if he had even received an hour of sleep.

"You look like hell Griss. Bagel? I took our luggage down stairs and left our carry-ons here to pack any small stuff we left around from last night." Sara passed Grissom some breakfast as he still appeared stunned in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" Sara had never seen Grissom look so scared in her entire life.

"Nothing…" Grissom uttered as he searched through the paper bag and examined the food items inside. He shut the door behind him as he made his way to a small table in their 'living room'. He sat down on a fold out chair and Sara chose to join him and sit directly across from her distraught supervisor.

"Umm, you know you can't keep on saying 'nothing' unless you wanna get a divorce." Sara failed at getting a smile from Grissom; instead she received a defined frown which crossed his lips.

"Divorce? Oh yeah…For the assignment. About that Sara, I hope you know that no matter how we act in public our relationship will not go past the professional level. All of our actions will be for show." Grissom took a small bite out of his bagel before turning his attention back to Sara. She looked particularly stunning with the morning light shining behind her from a nearby window. Her hair was neatly styled in a small bun and her black pants and red dress shirt complimented her figure nicely.

"But seriously Grissom. You need to work on your communication skills. If something is wrong, get it out now before our assignment begins in Miami. We will have to focus on the case and we cannot have anything clouding our judgment, don't you agree?" Sara began to feel as if she was Grissom's supervisor and not the other way around as he nodded in agreement.

"I completely agree Sara, however now is not the time for me to discuss my problems. We have only an hour to pack our carry on and board the plane." With that statement of fact, Grissom and Sara quickly began to pack and headed out of their hotel room as quickly as their feet would take them. A limousine was outside of the hotel right on schedule and the two CSI's quickly climbed in and were greeted by Agent Culpepper and two other members of the FBI.

"Supervisor Grissom, you look terrible. May I suggest a dose of coffee?" Culpepper handed out a large Starbucks which Grissom accepted with no hesitation. Sara was offered a cup as well, which she gratefully welcomed. "Alright, inside this briefcase are crime scene photos from all twenty of the serials, we're calling the guy the 'Executioner' as all of his killings are done execution style."

"Interesting, Special Agent Culpepper, but I would prefer to call it an 'unknown signature homicide- suburbs, Miami.'" Grissom raised an eyebrow to Culpepper who let out a chuckle.

"Ah! Nice to know some things never change. But, you have to admit that our version rolls off the tongue better and identifies with the public more. Alright, so you two look over the case files and anything you think of, call me. Don't hesitate now. Enjoy your flight Sidle and Grissom… Oh, or should I say Mr. and Mrs. Grissom?"

Grissom rolled his eyes as he exited the limousine and grabbed his luggage out of the trunk. He helped Sara lower hers safely to the ground before he began the long journey to find their terminal.