Disclaimer: Not mine.

Authors Note: Thank you again to those of you who have sent reviews. You guys are awesome. A special thanks to SilverDragon for recommending this on TDAW. This is my first fanfic so they meant a lot. Please let me know what you think of this chapter. Thank you! Happy reading.

"Come on guys. We're going to need to call in SWAT." They all stood there shocked and overwhelmed by the day's sudden events. None of them were able to move. "COME ON! Our first priority is to try to get Gil and Sara out of there alive. Let's let them answer your questions later."

While Brass called SWAT the rest of the team were able to gain back their focus and make their way back to the street in front of the townhouse. They were all sick with worry that their two close friends were in the most dangerous situation possible, held captive by two angry lunatics with nothing to lose.

Inside, Grissom was still knocked out. His body was limp, lying diagonal, with his head tilted back. Sara moved so she was slowly rubbing her head against his. She was quietly sobbing thinking of how she would be able to go on without him if she made it out of this mess and he didn't. She came to the conclusion that she couldn't. She wouldn't. They both needed to make it through this. She kissed his ear and whispered softly. "Griss…" The lump in her throat made it difficult to speak. "Babe, I need you. Please, please don't leave me. You said we would get through this together!" She sniffled. "Damn it Griss. Please, wake up." She continued to sob. She closed her eyes and thought back to the time when he decided to quit running.

He just showed up on her doorstep. She opened the door and saw him standing there in the rain. He had a look of a man on a mission and she was curious to see what this was about. "Grissom…why…well, come in. I'll get you a towel." He smiled at her stumbling over her words. She went to retrieve a towel and he stepped inside closing the door behind him.

She handed him the towel and pointed towards his feet. "Here. You should probably take off your shoes and socks too. That can't be comfortable. I know I hate it when my socks are wet. It makes me cringe just thinking about it. You-"

"Sara." He cut her off and she was thankful. She knew how bad she babbled around him. He looked sweetly at her as he continued to speak. "Thank you. I uh…I came here to say some things to you. I need you to be very quiet so I can say what I need to without chickening out. Okay?" He removed his shoes, socks, and jacket. He dried off his face and ran the towel over his head a few times then placed the towel around his neck. Sara stared at him baffled by his boldness and incredibly turned on by how sexy he looked with his wet rumpled hair.

"Um...yeah…okay. You want to come and sit on the sofa?" He nodded and they walked over to it and sat down right next to each other, thighs touching. She leaned back with her arms crossed and waited for him to talk. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and took a deep breath. She smirked at the silence but told herself to be patient. God knows when it came to him, she as patient as they come. She waited six plus years for him to come around. She was pretty sure where this was going but she knew better than to get her hopes up with him. If he did in fact come here to tell her that he was ready for a relationship she wasn't going to make it easy.

"I need to know some things from you. Are you…um…still attracted to me?" He certainly didn't expect the silence. He raised an eyebrow and turned to look at her.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you wanted me to be quiet." She tried so hard but failed to keep the smile from forming. He rolled his eyes.

"Maybe. Why?"

"I just wondered if we uh…if we might still have a chance to see if anything could happen between us."

"Maybe. Why?"

"You're enjoying this aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am kind of." Her grin she held came to a frown. "But seriously speaking. Why now Griss? What has changed?"

He shrugged. "Nothing really. I just can't do it anymore. I need you. I need to know if I've lost you or if we still have a chance."

Tears were forming in her eyes at his deep honesty. "Is this another dream or are you really here, really saying this to me?"

He smirked. "You too huh? I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of you."

She sat there agape. "Who are you?"

He chuckled at her astonishment but quickly gained his seriousness back. "I know I've hurt you Sara. Please believe me when I say that it was never intentional. I'm tired of being that man, of constantly running away from you." He sighed heavily. "I just figured the only way I could make this work, if you still wanted to try, was to be as honest with you as you deserve." He took her hand in his. "I care about you Sara, deeply. I…I really want this to work."

That did it. The tears were definitely falling now. He tilted his head to the side and slightly cringed at the sight of her crying. He did the only thing he could think of, he pulled her into his arms. She tensed at first but she quickly relaxed as she put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder. She was glad that his shirt was already damp because she knew she was adding moisture to it. She lifted her head and sniffled. They were looking deeply into each others eyes. She took his hand in hers. "Would it be okay if you came to bed and held me while we talked?" He saw the desperation in her eyes and knew she needed him as much as he needed her.

He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think it would." It was barely a whisper but loud enough for her to hear it. They got up from the couch, still holding their grip on each other's hand, and made their way to her bedroom. They were both so nervous, neither one wanting to say or do the wrong thing. She pulled back the covers and he asked if he could take his shirt off. She hesitantly told him yes.

'You can do this. Just talk.' She told herself. They got into bed, pulled up the covers, and snuggled up to each other like they had done it for years. It surprised them both. She had her face in the crook of his neck with her arm draped across his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

He kissed the top of her head. "This feels so good, finally holding you. I'm so sorry about all the time I wasted."

"Shhh, we can't do anything about the past. And as hard as I try I just can't seem to stay mad at you. It does feel right though, being in your arms." They both smiled and felt completely relaxed. They talked the entire night. They were exhausted by morning but felt completely refreshed at the new life they had ahead of them.

Grissom started to move and it shook her out of her deep thought. She said a silent 'thank you' then spoke to him. "Baby, you okay?"

He groaned and winced in pain. "I'd be doing a hell of a lot better if that jackass would quit hitting me in the head." She smiled at that. He was back.

Brass walked over to where Catherine and the guys were. "Okay, they have the surrounding units evacuated. They have a couple guys on the roof, two in the back, two at the front, and a sniper at the top of this building…" He said while pointing at the building in back of them. "…with a good view of the front window. Unfortunately, the blinds are closed. I gave them Gil's numbers. They're trying to call his home phone now. Let's go listen in." Nobody said a thing. They just looked over to the house and started to walk over to the command post.

After the sixth ring Kevin looked at Sam. "Sammy, shouldn't we get that?"

"If it's for me, tell them I'm a little tied up at the moment."

"I thought I told you to shut up!"

"Sorry, short term memory's not working so well. I guess too many hits to the head." He smirked.

Sam made a move toward Grissom. "Sammy, forget him right now. We need to answer the phone. It's probably them."

Sam glared at Grissom and then walked over to answer the phone. Sara whispered to Grissom. "You know, I don't think pissing him off even more is such a good idea."

He looked to Sara. "Sure it is. He's not thinking clearly. Trust me." He winked at her.

"I think maybe he has hit you too many times in the head." She shook her head and they both looked over to the phone and the Baker brothers.

"What!"

"Mr. Baker?"

He responded sarcastically. "Very good five-o? What do you want?"

"For starters, I want to know that Mr. Grissom and Ms. Sidle are okay. In return, we will fulfill one of your requests, within reason of course."

"Fine. Look at the front window. Kev, take them over to the window."

Kevin grabbed them each by one arm and ushered them over to the window, then pulled up the blinds.

"There. You see them?"

A sigh of relief came from the team. "Yes I do. Thank you. So, what can we do for you?"

"How 'bout you get the hell out of here?"

"I said within reason Mr. Baker. We will not leave them."

"Fine call back in 10 minutes and I'll tell you." He ended the call without hearing a response.

The negotiator took the phone from his ear and looked at it. Brass looked at him. "What did he say?"

"He said to call back in 10."

TBC