Chapter 6: A Chance To Say Goodbye

I looked away and I looked back at you.

You tried to say things that you can't undo.

If I had my way I'd never get over you.

Today's the day I pray we make it through,

Make it through the fall make it through it all.

-Avril Levine

Catherine sighed as Grissom hung up on her without even a 'fare thee well'. That was just like him, stubborn, hurting man that he was. She shook her head as she shut her cell phone and clipped it to her belt. Then nodded to Nick, it was time for him to find Sara.

Sara was in the lab as per usual (due to her leaving she had finished up any open cases that were assigned to her and then moved on to paper or lab work) when Nick found her. "Hey, Sara."

Sara looked up from what she was working on as she heard the familiar Texan accent, she replied "Hey, Nick. What is it?" "Do you think you could swing by the break room in about forty-five minutes? I wanted to run some ideas by you on that Macmillan case." "Sure. No problem." "Great, see you then." "Bye."

Nick grinned in satisfaction. His job was almost done. He only wondered if they would able to pull this off, he looked at the assigned jobs list, it had been copied down in haste and so was hard to read.

Job assignments for Sara/Grissom sense knocking mission:

Get Sara there: Nick

Get Grissom there: Catherine

Guard duty (against Ecklie, Hodges and all other minions of the "Dark side"): Greg, Warrick

Nick sighed and shook his head, he had known for along time now how the two felt for each other- he had overheard Sara asking Grissom to dinner one night (had cheered her on in his mind), he had been so sure that Gris would say yes and everything would be perfect. He had done a double take when Grissom said no. Almost wanting to punch the man when he heard the hurt in Sara's voice. . . He only hoped it wasn't to late for them (Not only because he was a big, old fashioned, Texan sap, but he also had a decent amount of cash riding on those two). . . And that if it was to late: He hoped Gris never figured out that he had had a part of this. Damn, he hoped Sara never found out about it. He shuddered at the very thought.

Sara looked at Nick with raised eyebrows as he glanced nervously at his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes, "Do you have somewhere to be?" She asked, "We can look over this case tomorrow. . ." "No!" Nick cut her off, his voice sounding louder and slightly pinched, "I mean, no." "Nick. . .?" He suddenly looked extremely relieved, "I see Cath. I-I need to ask her something. About, uh, the case! That's right. I-I'll be back really quick. . ." Without waiting for a reaction Nick hustled from the break room. Sara stood and attempted to call him back but he ignored her and practically ran from the room. Sara spun around to face the wall fighting the urge to stomp her feet and flail her arms in a childish tantrum, instead she folded her arms tightly in front of her chest. Then she heard it, "Sara . . ." she spun around, the hairs on the back of her neck rising, her arms falling limply to her sides. Her spine stiffened and her face was covered in a mask that let no emotion through, though her heart was beating so hard that she thought it was going to break through her chest. But when she spoke her voice was so calm that it surprised even Sara herself, "Grissom."

Not even a second after Grissom had walked through the doors of the CSI building Catherine had intercepted him, leading him directly to the break room.

As the reached the door it had swung open, and Nick had exited, holding the door open as he said, "Hey, Gris, we've been missing you 'round here." He fidgeted nervously for a second then turning to Catherine he said, "Hey Cath, can I talk to you for a sec?" it was as if the two were communicating on a different frequency, one that Grissom was unable to decipher, Catherine turned to him saying, "Just go on in Gil, I'm sure this won't take long."

Shrugging off his sudden feeling of suspicion Grissom walked into the room, but was halted in his steps by the sight that met his eyes. Sara. Her back was turned toward him but he knew it was her. Sara. Her short dark hair in curly disarray, her arms folded in front of her. "Sara. . ." Her name fell from his lips and she spun around, her whole body seeming to tense. Her face hardened, eyes shuttered. When she said his name in a politely disinterested voice his greatest fear was realized, she couldn't care about him now. Not after what he had done to her. He wanted to run from the room, but he couldn't move, frozen by the fear that when he looked away she would vanish like smoke blown away by the softest of breezes.

He took an unwilling step forward, his hand stretching out slightly, as if to touch her face, but she shrunk back from him like a skittish doe. He dropped his hand feeling as though struck.

She must have seen something in his eyes because then she was reaching out to him, her hand tightly enclosing his own. Her eyes softened slightly as she looked at him and for a second he thought that he could see tears behind them, but she blinked and they were gone. "I. . ." she said, her words catching in her throat, "I have missed you." It was as if she was admitting it to herself, he realized, and suddenly he felt a blossom of hope begin to grow in his heart, but then she continued to speak and the words she said broke his heart, "I was afraid that I wouldn't get a chance . . ." she looked lost for a second and he tightened his hold on her hand, "A chance to what, Sara?" She looked him in the eye as her silent tears began to fall, "A chance to say goodbye to you, Grissom." He gave in to the emotions bubbling inside him and drew her gently into his arms. It felt right, holding her. A tear of his own fell slowly down his cheek.