DISCLAIMER: Don't Own It, No Money Made... Just for fun & enjoyment.

RATING: M for Mature. For language and mature situations in later chapters.

A/N: Here's a little more of what you've all been asking for... More Grissom ad Sara :D

REVIEWS: Thanks to all who have reviewed.


Chapter 21

The bellman cart that sat in the hallway was under the guard of two of LVPD's finest and was laden with evidence boxes. Inside the room where the cart was parked, it appeared as though a chop shop crew had come for a visit. Large swathes of carpet were missing, the artwork had been visibly removed from the walls, there was not a scrap of linen to be found, and every single object not nailed down had been packed up. As Catherine and Grissom surveyed the room with their hands planted firmly at their waists, Nick and Greg continued to tote the evidence boxes into the hallway.

"Looks like we've set a new record for stripping a hotel room in this town." Catherine said with a grin on her face.

"Did we remember the towels?" Grissom gave a little wink.

Catherine slapped her hips and turned to face Grissom, "Okay, well, I'm gonna take the boys and the evidence back to the lab. I assume you'll finish up here and then work the bodies while we start processing the other evidence?" Catherine looked away when the hotel manager appeared in the doorway, which helped her to avoid Grissom's watchful gaze, and kept him figuring out her ulterior motives.

Grissom followed her line of sight to the door, and they both nodded at the man standing there, "Yeah, as long as you continue to deal with that guy." Both of their faces displayed the same amused smirk.

Catherine lowered her gaze to the floor to keep from laughing, "You got it… See you back at the lab." And with that Catherine walked over to the hotel manager, where she began to play the political game with him as she started down the hallway with Nick and Greg pushing the bellman's cart; the officers in tow. Grissom watched them depart and shook his head at the humor of the situation.

He turned back to scan the suite once more, before he blew out a deep breath. Then he reached down to pick up his kit, before heading into the bathroom area to finish his work.

Upon entering the door, he looked around the very large room in search of something. When he lowered his gaze to the floor, his eyes found what he was looking for; Sara Sidle. She was lying on her back with her head and arms tangled up inside the cabinet of the Jacuzzi tub, where most likely she was searching for any evidence that might have been caught in the traps. Grissom realized what a dedicated CSI she was when he saw her struggling to get further into the cabinet. He knew that most women would have passed on this task to one of her male counterparts. There were a great many things that Grissom admired in Sara, and they all struck him as he set his own kit down on the countertop the younger woman had already marked as cleared.

Grissom carefully removed the tools he would be using to assist Sara in processing the bathroom, and set them out carefully on a tray. When he looked up from his tools, he was nose to nose with his own image in the mirror before him. He could see that the gray had finally won dominance in the hair on his head and in his beard, and it caused him to experience the pangs of vanity he usually worked to avoid at all costs. He tried to remember just when time had become his greatest enemy. However, before he could sink any farther into his reverie, he was brought back to the scene by the sounds coming from behind him.

THUNK "Dammit!' THWACK "Shit!"

Grissom turned to watch as Sara was wriggling violently inside the cabinet, almost as though she was trying to get even further inside. "Sara?"

BONK "Owwww… Yeah?" Her voice sounded distant and frustrated.

"Are you okay in there?" Grissom had bent down beside her and was trying to get a picture of what it looked like under there.

"I'm fine… But this drain trap is about to get shot." CLANK "Son of a-."

"Sara!"

"Look, you can either listen to me swear, or you can help by getting that other panel off and see if there is a better angle for this damn pipe wrench." It was quite obvious that Sara's frustration level had reached its peak.

Grissom stood up and looked around with a puzzled expression, "What panel?"

"C'mon, Grissom…" BANG BANG BANG "Follow the noise." BANG BANG "And get that thing off, so I can try to get out of here." Sara's tone was anything but amiable, and in fact, Grissom got the distinct impression she was truly angry at that moment.

He walked over to where the sound came from, and to his surprise, there was another panel, which looked like it had come loose; most likely from the vigorous abuse it had just received. "Found it… I'll have it off as soon as I can find the latch."

From inside the cabinet, Grissom heard Sara sigh heavily, "There is no latch, Grissom… Get out the screwdriver… And hurry." Grissom looked around for the screwdriver and when he found it he bent down again and started removing the screws from the panel. He was hurrying to get the panel off, in an attempt to avoid anymore of Sara's anger. Once he had all the screws out, he lifted the panel, and peered in to try and visualize the trap Sara was attempting to reach.

He hung his head in defeat when he realized the trap in question was well out of range of the space provided by the panel. "Sara, it's not going to make a difference."

BANG "That's it!" There was suddenly a flurry of movement inside the cabinet and Grissom realized that she had started working her way back out of the cramped space. He stood up and moved back to the side of the tub were her legs were sticking out.

"Sara… Hold still."

"Grissom, I need to get out of here if I am going to get at that trap, so just back off." Sara's anger was building.

"I said… Hold Still!" Thankfully, she stopped wriggling around and he bent down to get a good view of the situation, "Now, hand the tools through to me at your feet." Again, she complied with his command, "Okay, now keep your arms free of any obstructions."

It was very quiet inside the cabinet for a moment and Grissom was about to ask if everything was all right when he heard a resigned sigh, "What are you planning?"

"Well, you could spend the next ten minutes wiggling around to get out, or you can just let me pull you out of there." He was not sure, but he almost thought he heard her breath catch in her throat. He pushed the thought aside, "Ready?"

He heard some movement inside the cabinet and then heard her blow out a breath, "Yeah, go ahead."

He reached out to grab Sara by the ankles, careful to take a firm grip, and gingerly began to extricate her from the cabinet, inch by inch. "Okay so far?"

"Just keep going, I'm fine." Grissom took her defeatist tone as just her wounded pride, and proceeded to take hold of her again, this time at her calves. And again, inch by inch he slowly pulled her from the bathroom fixture. As he reviewed the situation, he realized that one more pull and she would be free of the tangle of pipes, wiring and supporting structures.

He reached up just a little higher and wrapped his hands around the underside of her knees and prepared to make that last pull, but was surprised by the sudden tensing he found in the muscles there. He immediately pulled his hands away, "Am I hurting you?" His words dripped with his deep concern, and he was growing even more apprehensive by her silence.

When he did not think he could stand it any longer, she cleared her throat, "No… I ah… I'm just ah… It just ahh… Well, it tickled." Grissom would have breathed a sigh of relief, but Sara's voice seemed unusually strained. He decided that it was probably nothing, but he was going to try and question her about it on the ride back to the lab.

"Oh, well, I was just afraid of pulling your knees apart by going lower… Are you ready now?" Grissom was explaining the situation with total logic, but even he had to admit to himself, it was a somewhat awkward position to be in, and so he could understand her discomfort. At that moment, he just wanted to get her out of the cabinet and let them both move away from this uncomfortable situation between them.

"Go ahead… I'm ready now." Her words were tense, but he took them at face value and reached out once more to give her that final pull from the cabinet. When he looked down into her eyes, once she was free of the inner workings of the tub, he was struck by the vulnerability he found there.

He held out his hands for her to take them and helped her to her feet, which brought her to within barely an inch of him. He gripped her around the waist when he thought she was struggling for balance and their eyes met once again. For Gil Grissom, time appeared to stop in that instant, and it was not until Sara broke the gaze by looking down that it started again. With the eye contact broken, Grissom suddenly felt the overwhelming tension of the situation, as well as an undeniable urge to make that contact again.

Before he could say or do anything, Sara moved away from him, and to the other side of the room to get something from the tool bag. Grissom took a steadying breath and spoke as a way of clearing the fog forming in his own mind, "Are you okay? I mean, you didn't get hurt under there at all, right?"

"Nope… Not under there at all."