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Chapter 7: Favors and Fantasies

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Towards the end of shift, Nick bumped into Fayre on the way to Trace.

"Hey, Fayre, what's up?"

"Standby… It sucks arse."

He couldn't help but laugh at her Irish twist to the American phrase.

"What? What's so funny?" she asked, genuinely confused.

"Nothing, nothing… um…" He looked for a change of subject to hide his smile. "How's Aidia?"

"I think she's still sleeping," she said with a frown. "She won't answer the phone. I had to cancel another date with Warrick so I can go straight home and check on her. She was pretty out of it when I left."

Nick's face turned serious. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Fayre smirked. "Oh, she'll be fine. I just want to be there when she wakes up."

"Well, look, if it's no big deal, then why don't you give me her address? I'll stop by after shift and make sure everything's alright, and you can go on your date with Warrick. Everyone wins."

"Oh, would you? That would be grand!" she squeaked. "Ta, Nick! You're a life saver!"

Giving him a quick peck on the cheek, she ran to go find Warrick, leaving Nick with a smudge of lipstick on his cheek and a triumphant smile on his lips.

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Grissom looked at the clock. It was 6:30, a half an hour before the end of shift. He sighed and sat back in his chair, slightly irked yet somewhat relieved at how quickly time flew tonight. There was no point in assigning anything, seeing as most members of the crew were exhausted and DNA was backlogged. It was actually a welcome reprieve. Rarely did crime let Vegas rest, with an average murder count of two per week and countless other petty thefts, chip scams, and the like. For once, the city seemed to be behaving itself.

He was somewhat surprised when he looked up to see Catherine standing in his doorway.

"Griss, can you tell me what the hell is going on around here?"

Rubbing his temples as he sat forward, he asked, "Am I always just expected to read minds?"

She smirked as she took a seat in one of the chairs directly across from him. "You don't need to read minds to see what's happening, Gil. Fayre just left with Warrick, to go out to breakfast I gather, and Nick left about fifteen minutes ago to check on Aidia, who I'm guessing will be perfectly fine when he shows up… Not to mention, a little birdie told me that you and Sara… well, you made up today."

She stopped to take a breath but laughed outright as Grissom's eyes grew wide and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"So it is true. Nick wasn't seeing things… Oh, don't worry, I won't say anything." She held up her hands in surrender when he shot her a worried look. "You may want to say something to Sara though, because it's perfectly obvious by the smile on her face. She's been sitting in the break room for damn near an hour."

At that moment, his pager went off. Both leaned forward to read the message as it skittered across his desk:

"My place or yours? Italian or Chinese? SS."

Catherine smiled. "Sounds like you've got plans. I'll just leave you to it…" she got up to leave, but stopped in the doorway. "Just don't hurt her, Gil. It'll kill you both."

His brows furrowed. "I always sensed a lot of tension between you two… Why do you care about what happens to her?" he challenged.

"Because you do… and you're my best friend. But don't you even stat lecturing me on my relationship with Sara. You've got no stones to throw, mister."

As she left his doorway and walked away down the hall, Grissom reached for his cell and whispered, "Maybe just one," as he typed a response to Sara's page. It read:

"Meet you at yours. I'll bring Chinese. GG."

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Half an hour later, he pulled into her apartment complex and parked next to her car. He sat in his Denali for a moment, gathering his wits and asking himself if this was what he really wanted.

'No,' said a nagging voice in the back of his mind. 'I'll never make her happy. She'll leave and I'll be all alone again… I can't take that much pain.'

'But I've already tasted happiness,' another voice argued. 'It would be worse to stop now and know what I'd be missing.'

'She'll still leave when she gets bored.'

"But I have to try," he said aloud, more determined now than ever. He grabbed the familiar little white Chinese take-out boxes and headed up to her apartment. Taking a deep breath, he knocked twice.

The moments passed. When she didn't answer, he began to worry and was about to knock again when he was startled by a tap on his shoulder and a whisper in his ear.

"Hey, stranger."

"God, Sara! You scared the shit out of me!"

She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I just went down the hall to check on Aidia… but I ended up not going in."

"Why not? I thought you went to save the day," he teased.

"Trust me," she said, an evil grin spreading over her features. "No one in that apartment needs saving."

Determined not to read any deeper into that statement, Grissom shook his head and held up the food, as if to remind her of the reason he was there.

"Oh!" she cried, her hand flying to her face to hide her embarrassment. "Right, um… Let's go inside, shall we?"

A few moments later, they were seated on the couch, talking and eating with chopsticks. Little white boxes were spread around them as they crunched on egg rolls and slurped noodles.

"This is perfect," Sara said, her mouth full of sticky rice. Grissom gave her a sideways glance that made her swallow before continuing. "This is absolutely perfect… just the way I imagined it."

"What do you mean, 'just how you imagined'?" he asked, slightly afraid of the response.

"Us… This is just how I imagined us. Sitting on the couch at opposite ends, talking… just hanging out... No complications, no fighting, no interruptions… just us. It's my favorite fantasy."

Looking up to gage his response, she laughed at his raised eyebrow and half smirk.

"Oh, come on, Grissom! You can't tell me that you haven't had a few fantasies of your own over the years."

"Fantasies are usually erotic," he stated bluntly, avoiding the implied question, though he had to admit that just being here with her was fulfilling one of his favorites.

"Usually, but not exclusively," she challenged, putting on a wicked smile. "Besides, I said this was my favorite… I didn't say it was my only one."

"True… Very true." He wondered if the others she mentioned were anything like his own.

Sara smiled wider as he took another noodle between his chopsticks. "What's yours?"

"My what?" he asked, his body frozen in anticipation.

"Your favorite fantasy."

The noodle dropped to the floor. Grissom's eyes followed suit and she could feel him withdraw as he slipped into the depths of his pent-up emotions, trying to find the words to tell her what he'd so desperately wished he could for years.

"Grissom?" Concern colored her voice as her smile faded.

When he finally met her gaze, his eyes had shifted to a rarely seen deep blue. Knowing how emotional it must be for that type of reaction, Sara shoved the Chinese boxes out of the way and moved closer, silently vowing to be the friend he needed right now and to worry about the mess later.

"Grissom, talk to me," she pleaded.

His response was barely audible, but it rocked her to the core as she remembered their previous conversations:

"The one where I'm loved."

Her heart broke to hear that he thought himself unloved. Brought nearly to tears, she curled up next to him and laid her head on his chest, her arm wrapped around her waist as she whispered, "You are loved… More than you know."

While she lay there, her mind drifted back to the many thousands of times she would have killed to be where she was right now. None of the scenarios had turned out like this. She played them out in her head. Each one was either preceded or followed by the same heated passion. Coming back to the present, she knew this time would be different, for it was born not of passion but of love.

Not until she semiconsciously wiggled closer did she notice his arm wrapped around her, not controlling or harsh, but gentle and loving, as if their roles were reversed. Reeling in the moment, she closed her eyes and let her senses take over, logging each sensation into her memory, storing each memory in her heart… The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed… His heart pounding wildly like a drum… The repetitive yet comforting movement of his arm against her back and shoulder sending shivers down her spine…

The sound of her name in a hoarse whisper broke through her trance. She looked up at him lovingly, caressing him with her eyes.

He hesitated, then managed in a husky voice, "I'm sorry, Sara…"

She shook her head and silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"No regrets," she whispered, "and no looking back."

He gave a small smile; Sara Sidle had just given him a double entendre of her own. She gave him one of her famous "Sara smiles", making his heart skip a beat. The flush of her cheeks telling him that her desire was as greatas his own, he stood and scooped her up in his arms. Leading her to the bedroom, he looked deep into her brown pools and whispered, "No regrets," as he closed the door behind him.

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A/N: OMG! Finally got this chapter finished! I don't know what it is, but the scenes that you want the most to happen always seem to be the hardest to write... Thank you for all your reviews, they mean so much!

svcmc - Thank you so much for your kind words. That's one of my favorite parts of the story... In fact, the scene where Grissom finally shows Sara how he feels is my favorite part of EVERY CSI story that I read! I just hope that this chapter lives up to the rest of the story.

Wiccamage - I think we'd all be afraid of what would happen if we talked to our bosses that way... But Aidia is bold, and if something needs to be said, by God she'll say it. At the same time, though, something good has already come out of it, right? Chin up... I won't ruin things. :-)

G/S Investigator - OMG! That was the best review I've ever gotten! I've never really thought all that much of my writings before simply b/c it's just a hobby. But thank you so much! It warms my heart to know that I'm doing a good enough job that people actually think I have a future in writing. I hope to keep on writing as long as life allows.

PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING! As I've said before, it makes me so happy to see reviews in my mailbox!