Chapter Three: Moving On

There it was, plain as day, or night, whichever made more sense. The car hadn't been moved, in fact, no one had touched it since finding out that it could possibly be tied to a kidnapping. Grissom said it was unlikely, but Sara had requested it, and he had followed through.

The ride there had been silent. Warrick and Nick lost in their own thoughts, unable to secure good reason to why Greg had left so suddenly. Sara had thought of several scenarios, some of them far-fetched, while others were more grounded. Still, she was never able to bring herself to suggest them. She knew why he had left, but not where he had gone.

It was Hodges, who had confirmed her worries, in an almost maniacal way. He seemed to be enjoying himself; then again Hodges seemed to feed of the misery of others. Not only was he a sycophant, but he had an annoying persistence of knowing every detail, of everything, that was. The man could make a decent field agent if he had half a mind. And that was a big if.

"Missing anything important?"

"I'm really not in mood to play games Hodges." Sara warned with a click of her tongue.

"If you insist," he shrugged his shoulders, watching as the test results printed. The machine had been replaced temporarily by an older unit, and the entire process took twice as long as normal. The head of the printer hummed across the page, pausing for a moment, before humming back to the other side, the paper inching out little by little. "Just wondering if you need help finding anything…papers…files…Greg…test results…evidence…"

"How do you know I'm looking for Greg?" she asked suddenly, interrupting his little speech.

He gave her half a smile, before composing himself, his face taking on the flat, passive look he normally held. "Word gets around."

"Where is he?"

Hodges shrugged, reaching over to pick up the printed results. "Victim's blood, suspects DNA, you solved another case, good for you."

"David," Sara's tone was short, gritting her teeth as called him by his first name, something that was a rarity. "What do you know?"

"Not very much obviously," he stated, capping the pen he held in his hand. "But I do know one thing; I don't blame him for leaving. I mean, theoretically speaking here now, that if I found out my girlfriend was using me, I'd leave too."

She was stunned for a moment, but shook it off quickly as she regained her composure, not want to show how affected she was by his statement. It was followed by immediate confusion, and her brow furrowed. "Hodges…you don't have a girlfriend…"

"I know," he said simply, the simple fact not bothering him. "They're too much of a pain."

Sara bit her lip as she slid into the car, running a gloved hand over the steering wheel. It felt odd, normally she found herself sitting in the passenger seat, listening on as Greg rambled about one of his childhood stories. She found them all fascinating, having very little good memories of her own.

The door opened across from her as Warrick poked his head in, the beam of his flashlight sweeping across the seat. "I've got a hair," he stated, pulling out a pair of tweezers. "And unless Greg has some weird fetish with wearing a brunette wig, we've got our first suspect."

"It's mine," Sara stated bluntly, ignoring the look of confusion from him. She let out a sigh, knowing it was better to come right out with it, rather than try to hide it. "Greg and I…we've been seeing each other. I was with him Sunday night, we went to the movies…we used this car."

"You and Greg have a relationship?" Warrick inquired softly, stunned when she nodded. "Did you talk to Grissom about any of this?" Again, there was another shake of her head, but no verbal response. "Sara, you shouldn't even be working this case."

"I have to."

She had kissed him…actually kissed him. He had been standing right there, just talking, one hand running through his hair, the other supporting his weight on the table…and she had kissed him.

It was meant to be a small kiss, nothing more. But when their lips met, it was unexpected, she felt lost…and it felt wonderful. When he didn't return the gesture, she pulled back abruptly, shamed and somewhat disgusted with herself. Why in the hell had she just done that?

Just because he was there…just because she needed the affection so badly, because the sting of rejection was too much. She tried to reason with herself, but she knew the real reasoning behind her actions. It was because of her, the one woman that stood out in Grissom's life, the only one the scientist ever noticed. It was because of Sofia.

Sure, others would call her crazy…but the others didn't see the way he looked at her, the way he reached out gently to brush the hair from her face. They didn't see the kiss…in her mind, Sara refused to believe any of it. But the longer she stayed there, the more real it became. Grissom was in love… and not with her.

It wasn't fair…she had been here all these years, she had confessed her love for him, had done everything he had asked of her, even going through counseling if it meant a possibility of them moving closer. But it was all in vain. Who knew one person could cause so much trouble? After all, Sofia had been here just over a month, and with the snap of her fingers, she had stolen her love away.

Sara smiled grimly, a plan forming in her mind. Two could certainly play at that game, and in her heart, she knew she could win. She just had too. Grissom was with Sofia, so there was really no way that he would ever see her. But if she were to find someone…

It would have to happen tonight…but how? She had pondered over it many times. Perhaps asking him out when Grissom was in earshot, or maybe flirting with him outside his office. It was then that he walked by, and she panicked, doing the first thing that came to her mind. She kissed him. She kissed Greg.

But when she had pulled away, she saw confusion, not repulsion on his face. Her heart skipped a beat as she raised her voice, one eye still on Grissom who was just standing outside the door now, his head buried in a book. "Do you want to go do something?"

She felt like a fool now…it had seemed like a good plan at first. She hadn't stopped to realize what she was really doing. Then again she had never meant for it to get so out of control. Sara let out a sigh leaning against the wall as Warrick paced back and forth in front of her, his cell pressed against his ear.

"Yeah," he nodded, his head down as he turned on his heel, walking the other way. "Yeah, I know….yeah."

She smiled inwardly to herself, amused at his vibrant vocabulary. The distraction only lasted a short time, her thoughts already changing. Grissom hadn't even noticed…which was the worse part. Then again, who was she trying to kid, Grissom never noticed anything about her, unless she was in some sort of trouble. The only time Grissom was there for her was when her job was in jeopardy. The lab explosion…the DUI…the suspension…and there was the mental patient, the one who held her hostage…

Sara rubbed her neck briefly, closing her eyes, wishing away the rising fears. Grissom had only listened; he hadn't offered any comfort. Greg had offered his shoulder…had held her in a warm embrace, had rocked her to sleep that night, and had taken her out the next morning. Sure, maybe it was overkill, but he had really cared.

That was the difference…He had cared…Grissom didn't. It was strong awareness, a sickly feeling. How could she have done this to him…to the one person she truly loved? Yes, she was ignorant; it had taken her five years…five years to come to this realization.

"Yeah, she's right here," Warrick announced, handing the phone off to her.

Sara paused for a moment, before reaching out for it, her fingers closing around the small object. Taking a breath she brought it up to her ear. "Sidle."

"Sara…"

She let out a shaky breath, already moving to cut him off. "None of this matters, Greg and I were going out, we were being friends."

"Friends don't have sex with each other," Grissom pointed out.

"How?"

"I'm not as ignorant as you think," he told her quietly. "That's not what I'm calling about. The case is being closed, the three of you are expected back tonight, I've already made arrangements to have a small plane pick you up."

"Grissom, I just can't…leave him."

"There's nothing criminal going on, it's time to close the case. Come home, you're needed here."

TBC