Title: Last Chance - Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters connected to it, any other characters in this story are made up in my imagination. So their mine, and no you can't have them. No profit is being made so I wrote this for my own amusement only.

Authors Note: Slightly OOC. But what fun is GSR lately if we stay in character right? I know I promised a murder investigation...and I promise its coming. Random Spoilers through season 6. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please read and review! Flame me if you want. All feedback is good feedback to me!

It was his night off and Grissom was restless. He was sitting on his couch flipping through his notes on his latest open case. The actual file was spread out infront of him, cluttering his neat coffee table. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. A sure sign that the case at hand was getting to him. He knew he had the right guy in his sights, if he could just put the evidence together to pin him down.

But if he wanted to be honest with himself, it wasn't the case that was bothering him tonight. It was Sara. He'd gone into his office three hours ago to get the file in front of him, only to find a memo waiting for him from Ecklie. Subject: Sara Sidle. She wasn't in trouble again. No, this time it was worse. This time she was leaving. Of her own will. She'd gone over his head to get her resignation approved and that upset him more then anything else. She could have came to him. If she wanted to leave...he would have let her leave. Probably.

He dropped his notes on top of the case file, leaned back into the soft leather his couch and put bare feet atop the entire mess. He slipped his glasses off and entwined his fingers over his chest. "Sara..." he sighed.

He wasn't exactly sure when he had started scheduling their days off at the same time. And he sure as hell didn't know why. They didn't spend them together and he avoided her when they were at work together...and hell. Why did he do that? He just shook his head. That one was easy. Because she is his Achilles heel. His one point of weakness.

She makes him feel vulnerable. Like she can see right through all of his defenses. And nobody in their right mind faces their weaknesses over and over if they don't have to. And contrary to what he knew Sara thought, it wasn't that he didn't find her attractive. Hell, you'd have to be blind, deaf, and just plain stupid not to. She was beautiful, smart, and behind her defenses she cared so much that just the thought made his heart ache and his stomach jumble. Because sometimes she cared so much it hurt her. And he hated seeing her in pain. Physical or emotional. And now his Sara was leaving him.

"Such a fool." he muttered, almost under his breath.

He knew he should talk to her, explain to her, but for some reason every time he tried, the man who could speak hours, to groups of hundreds of people, about BUGS, couldn't find the words. He knew what he felt. And he knew what he saw written across her face. But the only time the correct words ever seemed to come to him was when she wasn't there, her eyes trying desperately to catch his wandering eyes, so it always came out wrong...she always ended up hurt. So eventually he had just stopped trying. She tended to over talk around him, and around her he couldn't even put together a entire sentence sometimes.

He couldn't lose her...but after all the crap he'd put her through, how in the hell was he supposed to convince her to stay? He was pretty sure that no plant was going to keep her here this time. He'd have to get creative. To bad creativity wasn't something he excelled at.

He opened his eyes and glanced at his watch. He was amazed to find that an entire hour had passed since he's closed them. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes again. And again his thoughts went immediately to Sara. Like they always did. Like they had for as long as he could remember. Did she know that? Did she even care anymore? That thoughts of her were where his mind took refuge from the rest of his life? Where for a moment he could forget about the pain and death and hate that filled his life through the actions of others? That his last thoughts every day were of her? That those thoughts relaxed him enough to let him sleep? He needed to be with her - forever - but he was afraid that after years of living in the dark, so much of it had seeped into his heart, that it just wasn't salvageable anymore.

He didn't realize he was crying until he tasted his tears at the corners of his mouth. He let them fall silently and freely down his cheeks as the sky outside opened up and wept with him.

To Be Continued...