Title: Leo

Pairing: Sandles

Author: xSincity

This is in response to a challenge on talkcsi.

1. Sara cleans out her apartment and finds a stuffed lion Greg gave her for valentines day

2. Sara must cry on the lion

3. Hank must be mentioned

4. Sandle

5. Lion has a name

6. Lion is brightly colored

7. Lion has a 'funky' mane

No character death

It's called Leo because of the Lion by the way.

So here it goes.

Sara was loaded, pale, water, Windex, a sponge, and even a broom; she carried it all into the kitchen and dropped in near Greg's feet which were covered by an old battered pair of converse shoes, "What's this?" He asked with a smirk on his face, he folded his arms and raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.

"What do you mean 'what's this'?" Sara asked hands on her hips, she brushed a stray hair out of her face and tucked it neatly behind her ear. She wore her hair up in a high pony tail, and had a pair of sickly yellow gloves on her hand, sleeves rolled high.

"I mean exactly what I said." He said staring at the cleaning materials laying at his feet.

"Greg!" She shouted giving him an icy glare, wavy the broom at him in fury, "You said you'd help me!"

"Alright, alright." He said throwing his hands in the air and retreating a few feet, afraid that the flying broom would hit him, or worse, knock over something, "I surrender, I'm here to help." He said laughing; he stood closer to Sara, paused and grabbed her broom, "Only for you." He whispered in her ear, and walked away to sweep.

Sara stood there, as butterflies starting creeping up to her stomach; she closed her eyes for a second after he walked away. It was only a crush, the whole Greg hitting on Sara thing, she knew it, he'd probably get over it soon. That's what Sara kept telling herself ever since she arrived to Vegas. But every time he got close to her, she could feel the tension between them, the butterflies erupting in her stomach, the sudden urge to touch him, just a little, it was overwhelming, and left her feeling light headed and dreamy.

Sara took a deep breath, and forced all feelings about touching Greg out of her head. She walked into her bedroom, which wasn't that bad, she even managed to fix her bed this morning, everything seemed to be in order… except for the closet. Sara steadily walked over to it stared at the shiny brass door knob for several seconds before closing her eyes and turning it. She hadn't opened that for at least a few months, it's where she usually threw stuff when she didn't have a place for it. Who knew what could be in there, she opened it just a crack, stood back and then kicked it the rest of the way open.

There is was, the answer to all her problems staring back at her. Its bright fiery colors were fading; but its funky mane still was spiked just how it was when she shoved it in there. Terrible guilt spread through her, making her weak at the knees, she stumbled forward and grabbed it, nestling her face in it's worn out fur.

It was Valentines Day; the Valentines Day Hank broke up with her, the Valentines Day where she had no chance of being with Grissom. He'd rejected her so many times; in fact everyone was rejecting her. She walked down the hallway at the CSI labs, it was like walking through a fog, her heart was breaking, slowly and painfully, it was like she could feel it bleeding, her head felt heavy, her eyes felt watery blurring her vision, her knees were shaking. And when Greg slid across the floor, almost crashing in to a wall, grin glued onto his face, Sara almost fainted, he'd surprised her, but she wouldn't show it, she had learned over the years to keep her emotions bottled up.

Greg practically shoved an old stuffed animal into her arms, the colors were fading, and some of its spiky mane was coming out. "Greg," she paused raising a brow at him, "What's… What's this?" She held it up to eye lever, and examined it, "This isn't apart of the case I'm working on is it?" Greg shook his head, his bleached hair almost matching the color of the lions.


"Of course not! Happy Valentines day!" He said wrapping his arms around her, in a tight embrace; he paused holding her for a moment before letting go.


"Wow, Greg, Err thanks for this… Stuffed animal." She said half smiling.

"It's Spiky, I've had him since I was six, it was my most prized possession till I got my first chemistry set when I was seven. I thought I'd give him to you for safe keepings," His smile faded slightly as he started to remember the memory the lion brought him. It would be difficult to part with the childhood memory. But anything for Sara.

"Aww, thank you Greg, you're so sweet." She gave him a short hug before continuing her way down the hallway. She remembered thinking that Greg was just a kid, he wasn't what she needed, she needed someone more… mature.

Greg had given her something he'd had for over 20 years and she threw it in the closet, could she be more of an idiot? She clutched the bear, it smelled like Greg, the smell was slowly fading away but she could smell the sweet yet strong smell of his cologne, his coconut shampoo, the kind of smell that helped give her that light headed, butterflies feeling. She pulled her face away from its fur and realized she'd been crying.

"Sara?" Greg said dropping the broom, it hit the ground with a loud thud that echoed through the house, it startled her. "Sara honey, are you okay?" Honey? He kneeled down in front of her and wiped away a falling tear, the feeling of his skin on hers gave her goose bumps, she shivered. She'd only started feeling this way about Greg this year, she realized how much he changed, he wasn't that kid anymore. He was the guy who was sweet enough to help her clean her house, the guy who would do anything just to see a smile on her face. She was sure now that Greg, Greg was really what she needed.

"I'm so sorry Greg." She leaned against his chest, burring her face in his grey shirt, "I didn't mean to shove your lion into my closet, I didn't really." She cried, to her surprise he laughed, she looked up at him.

"You're crying over this old thing?" He referred to the lion, "It's no big deal Sara! The truth is I was too cheap to buy you a real Valentines Day gift, no big deal okay?"

Sara half smiled through her tears, and kissed him, she could feel his breath on her face, she could feel his chest moving as he breathed slowly, the contact between them, the warmth from his body, this is what she needed, she needed Greg, the immature lab rat, the sweet field mouse, spiky hair, bleached, curly, punk rock, band tee-shirts, she needed it all. Greg was the one to break the kiss; he looked at her confusion written on his face, "Sara?"

"Shut up," She breathed, kissing him shortly one more time, "I love you."