Introduction: This story takes places midway through 7x15 Laws of Gravity. Grissom has returned from his sabbatical and there's plenty for him and Sara to catch up on. I struggled to match a song for this one, but settled on "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen. Mostly because by the time I was finished writing this, I could only laugh at how ridiculous this all was. Any and all errors are my own, I'm too impatient for thorough proof-reading. :)

He's back…

The smile that she was desperately trying to hide was peaking through on her cheeks. There was no hiding the excitement she had that he had returned. She hadn't realized that he was planning on going straight to the lab. She had assumed she'd just see him at home later, but here he was. Chasing her down the hallway, she couldn't ignore the look in his eyes too.

He looks good…real good.

Sara went into the locker room and put away her kit before she grabbed her clothes and toiletries and headed into the shower. She mumbled under her breath as she scrubbed, trying to rid herself of the garbage stench.

"Of all days to smell like a hot garbage can."

One round under the soap and steaming water hadn't been enough. She had stepped out of the shower and began to dry off, until she held the towel to her face and could still smell the lingering notes from her day. Sara grumbled and threw the towel to the floor before she flipped the shower back on.

Grissom had worked his way back into office, only to be reminded again of the disappointing piles of work waiting for him. He flipped through some of the folders and packages looking for anything marked Urgent and was pleased to not find any. He couldn't help but look at the clock and calculate how much longer he was required to be in the office.

I should've just went straight home.

But he wanted to see her. Working an unexpected shift was worth surprising her in the hallway like he did. He had wished he had ran into her somewhere more private, instead of the hallway surrounded by the eyes of the lab. He had so much he wanted to talk to her about, so much he wanted to express, but when he saw her, the words escaped him and he found himself only able to stare. A small smile crept across his face as he replayed in his head just having seen her.

Judy walked in, disrupting his memory when she handed him a stack of memos. Grissom scrunched his eyebrows and took the papers from her hands.

"Sorry, Mr. Grissom…Ecklie didn't want these to get 'lost in your desk' so he asked I bring them to you directly once you were back."

Grissom's face deadpanned as he stared at Judy over the top rim of his glasses. He opened the top drawer of his desk and shoved the memos into it.

"Thank you, Judy. I'll be sure to read them."

He smirked and Judy smiled and nodded before she walked out. Grissom let out a loud sigh through his pursed lips, scanning his desk and shoving his hands into his pockets. He knew that if he spent the shift in his office sifting through all this mail, the clock would just drag on for how many hours were left. He needed something to help pass the time. Grissom walked to the locker room to grab his kit, figuring he'd join someone working a scene.

He was standing facing his locker making sure his kit was packed that he hadn't paid any attention to the sound of the shower doors opening behind him. Sara walked in and saw him standing in his locker, a familiar flutter sprang across her stomach. She waited for him to realize she was standing there, but after about 30 seconds she figured he was way too invested in the kit in front of him. She leaned against the last locker in the row and tilted her head to try to see his face.

"You know, when you said later…I thought you'd mean later after shift…"

Grissom turned and his jaw dropped. He hadn't even thought she'd still be in the locker room. The aroma of her soap floated off her skin and into the room, encasing him in her. Instinctively, he started to step towards her till he saw her eyes dart to the door. He caught himself and looked slowly over his shoulder himself and took a step back, shoving his hands into his pockets where they were safe from the temptation to touch her.

Sara looked to the ground and smiled. This was hard some days. The desire to be near each other, touch one another. As if they weren't grown adults who just needed to wait a few more hours. But for now those hours felt like an eternity. Four weeks had been long enough. Surely another shift wouldn't kill them.

Sara pulled herself off the locker and walked towards him almost as if she were going to pass right by him. She stood facing him, their opposite shoulders in front of each other. Watching the door, she snuck her arm around his waist, the view of her arm obstructed from the door by his body. She rubbed his side gently, and felt his stomach flinch under her touch. He looked to his side, his chin over his shoulder to face her. It was the touch he needed. Grissom took a deep breath in and closed his eyes. It was as close to her as he was going to get for now.

Feeling gutsy, Sara roamed her hand from his side to the top of his buttons near his collar. Slowly she unbuttoned the first few and rubbed the center of his chest, pursing her lips as she watched him swallow the lump in his throat.

"So…your place or mine?"

Without missing a beat, his eyes shot open and he looked to her catching her glance quickly.

"Mine."

Sara nodded in agreement and smiled. They stood there for a moment, and she could feel his heart beating beneath her hand. Her eyes traced over the features of his face allowing herself the time to realize how much she missed having him in front of her. There was never a day she couldn't remember what he looked like, but she knew now more than ever it was different knowing what he looked like versus knowing what he looked like. That she had the time to memorize every wrinkle, every dimple, every imperfection that made him, him.

When Sara heard the shuffling of company coming down the hallway, she cupped his cheeky quickly before she left his embrace and moved over to her own locker. Grissom smiled and looked to the ground as members from the previous shift huddled into the space between them and carried their conversation rudely across the room despite the extra company. Grissom glanced over to Sara and watched her gather her things. Sara smiled back and watched Grissom discreetly close the buttons to his shirt and close up his kit. Grissom looked back up to mouth 'bye' to Sara, but she had already left. The need to be done with this shift now stronger than it had been before.