DISCLAIMER: Don't own it... No money made... Just for fun and enjoyment.

SUMMARY: Sequel to Displacement. The CSI team and their recently hired coroner Stephanie are back to work solving cases, sharing companionship and generally making their way through the dire world of criminal investigation with humor and friendship... This one will show the development of the relationship between Grissom and Sara and there should be some other surprises down the road as well. Romance/Drama/Angst/Mature Situations

RATING: M for Mature - I'm starting this one out at "M", since we won't be waiting quite so long for the smut this time out ;) Also, there is a sprinkling of language throughout the story.

A/N: This one is really long... And it might require some kleenex. You have been warned.

REVIEWS: I am always looking for ways to improve my writing, and your reviews let me know if I am hitting my mark. Thank you in advance for the time you take to review this story.


Chapter 16

Sara and Grissom pulled up in the driveway at the O'Halloran townhouse. It was about six thirty that night, and the sun had already started to leave them more quickly since September had fallen on Vegas.

Before either one had a chance to get out of the Denali, the young occupants of the townhouse were exiting through the garage. Thomas was carrying a pilot case and a garment bag, while Stephanie was dressed in her standard scrubs, carrying two cups of coffee.

As she watched Thomas head to the back of the Denali, Sara released her seat belt, leaned over to the driver seat, and kissed Grissom goodnight. This was her night off, and he still had to go to work, after having dinner with Thomas and dropping him off at the airport. Sara had made plans for dinner with Stephanie, so this was where she was getting out. "Have fun tonight… And don't be late, again." Her admonition held a hint of suggestion, bringing a slight blush to Grissom's cheeks as he nodded his understanding.

He took her hand in his, held it up to his mouth and laid a chaste kiss upon the top of it, "As you wish, my love." She giggled slightly at the display and then jumped down from the passenger seat, just in time to look at the back of the SUV and see a serious goodbye kiss being exchanged between Stephanie and Thomas. Not wanting to intrude, she looked back into the Denali and motioned for Grissom to be patient.

Grissom rolled his eyes, and smirked, "Kids." Sara raised an eyebrow at his comment, and he laughed at the irony of his remark, for he had often felt like a kid as he and Sara continued to explore "this."

The smile was still on his face when Stephanie poked her head into the SUV, "Thanks for doing this Uncle Gil… I don't get too many chances to spend time with Sara, and this conference was a last minute deal."

He nodded his head as Thomas slipped past both women to climb into the Denali. "It gives Thomas and I a chance to share grievances on the way to the airport." Thomas looked almost stricken with that statement and quickly turned back to Stephanie.

"I swear, I have no idea what he's talking about, Honey." Stephanie and Sara both laughed and then Sara slammed the door on him as Stephanie handed her the other coffee cup.

As the SUV drove away, Stephanie put an arm around Sara and they walked into the house through the garage. "I see you've made excellent progress with him lately."

Sara was a little confused by the suggestion, "What do you mean?"

"Are you kidding?" Stephanie laughed, "I've known him most of my life and he doesn't even like it when I kiss him in public!"

Sara blushed a bit at the statement, "Yeah, well, there's still nothing at work, but with you guys, he just feels a lot more comfortable, I guess."

"Honey, that was a lot more than comfort I saw." She winked and bumped Sara with her hip before letting go of her shoulder and headed for the door.

But Sara just had to get the last word in, "Like you have any room to talk there, Hot Lips." And they both laughed on the way inside.

As they walked into the house, Sara was instantly assaulted with the most amazing aromas, and when they rounded the corner into the kitchen area she realized that Stephanie's dinner invitation had meant she was cooking dinner. "I sure hope you're hungry."

"Well, if I wasn't when I got here, I sure would have been catching a whiff of that!" Sara was absolutely delighted by the smells of whatever Stephanie had been cooking.

"Oh good! Because I got a little crazy this afternoon…" She took survey of the kitchen and walked over to the refrigerator, "I picked up some of that white tea you liked so much, and chilled it in the fridge."

"That's really sweet… You didn't need to go through that much trouble, Stephie." Sara held a hand up to her mouth as soon as she had spoken the nickname on accident. She had heard Gil use it so often lately that it simply slipped out. The straightening of the young woman's back and the expression on her face when she turned around showed that she was less than thrilled at its use. "I am so sorry… It's just, Gil doesn't really call you anything else and I-…"

Stephanie held up a hand to stop her, "It's okay… I was um… I was just a little thrown by it. I mean, I ah, I don't even let, ah… Thomas doesn't even use that name." That caused Sara's heart to pound a bit harder. She knew there was probably a reason for the name's limited use, but obviously their relationship had not progressed that far yet. And with the slip, she was not sure it would get there any time soon.

Stephanie moved to the stove and removed a couple of the pans from the flames and reached into the cabinet for some plates. She then started to dish the food out onto the plates in a silent and careful manner. Sara was struggling to find a way to break the silence, but her mind was still reeling from the notion that she had just caused the young woman a great deal of pain. Finally, Sara simply let her instincts take over and she walked up to stand beside the woman and tenderly laid a hand on the middle of her back. "Is there anything I can do?" She felt the woman tense the instant her hand had made contact, but then she felt something very unfamiliar; Stephanie sagged. It was as though that pain was something she had held onto for a very long time and Sara's mistake, along with her gesture of support, were the keys that were needed to unlock the doors that held her pain inside.

When she finally turned and looked at Sara, she was completely unprepared for the sight she beheld. The amazingly optimistic, bubbly and jubilant Stephanie had tears streaming down her face. In an uncharacteristic move, Sara did not hold back and immediately put her arms around the young woman, letting her release whatever it was that was torturing her so deeply. Very much to her surprise, Stephanie yielded to the affection. And even though she was easily five inches taller than Sara, it felt as though she had shrunk with her grief, as she laid her head on Sara's shoulder and held her tight while she sobbed. Sara instantly realized that she knew exactly what the younger woman was feeling: She was grieving!

Sara had felt enough grief in her lifetime to recognize the effects, and she was quite certain it was what Stephanie was feeling in those moments. Sara stroked her back and tried to offer solace to the woman who was quickly becoming much more enigmatic to her by the moment. She had managed to bury her pain so deeply, that Sara had never gotten even the slightest hint it was there, and it furthered her conclusion that Stephanie and Grissom were indeed kindred souls.

She could feel the tide was turning and Stephanie was slowly regaining her composure, so when she began to pull away, Sara was prepared. She reached over as Stephanie had released her grip and grabbed a paper towel from the rack to hand her. Stephanie softly took the towel and wiped away the tears and when she drew in a deep breath, Sara returned her hand to the middle of the younger woman's back, "Sorry about that… It's just this conference came at a really bad time." Once the tears had been wiped away, Stephanie returned to preparing the plates.

Sara sensed that she needed a few moments to gather herself together, so she stepped away and went to the cabinet to retrieve some glasses. "Where are we setting this up?" Sara was working to give her the space she needed to sort herself out. Sara was used to that part of the personality; all too well.

Stephanie steadied herself on the counter and took a deep breath before answering, "Living room… Nothing formal tonight." The words were hard to speak and Sara sensed the pain in each syllable, but she took the glasses down and got the tea from the fridge before walking out into the living room.

Just as she had set the items down, Stephanie was entering the room with the two plates and two napkin rolls containing their silverware. "I hope you like portabellas."

Sara smiled at the mention of one of her favorite foods, "Are you kidding? Sometimes I can't get enough of them."

Stephanie was able to offer her a weak smile in return, before setting the plates down on the coffee table, "Well, these are braised and grilled, served on rustic bread from that bakery you recommended. Some artichoke hearts in a white cream and butter sauce and I threw in some seasoned butter beans for protein. Oh wait!" She looked as though she remembered something and disappeared into the kitchen again. When she came back out she had two small plates of greens in her hands, "I also made a mixed green salad with currants and pecans… I hope you like currants." She had a concerned look on her face, but Sara simply smiled again to reassure her that everything was fine.

"Sounds wonderful… When did you sleep today?" Sara shook her head at all the preparations, and decided that Stephanie really did express hyperactive tendencies the way Nick had commented recently, but she also suspected that this might be something else altogether.

Stephanie just shrugged, sat down next to Sara on the couch, and handed her the salad, before digging into her own plate. Sara noticed that the salad already had a dressing on it, so she decided that it might be a good way to keep the conversation going, "What kind of dressing is this, Stephanie?"

"Oh! Sorry, it's a combination of oils and just a splash of balsamic vinegar; flax seed, canola and sesame oils." She watched as Sara took her first bite and smiled broadly as she chewed.

"Wow… That really has an amazing flavor. I'll have to get you to give that recipe to Gil." Stephanie gave her a puzzled look following her request. "What, Gil hasn't told you what a horrible cook I am?"

"How can you be a vegetarian and not know how to cook?" Stephanie was dead serious and it made Sara smile from the side of her mouth.

"It's Vegas… I can name at least three twenty-four hour Vegan places across the city. Plus, most Thai and Chinese food is vegetarian, so I'm set." Stephanie shook her head at the humor of Sara's logic.

"Sorry, but that stuff is total poison if consumed in any quantity. At least, the stuff they serve the anglos is lethal. I'm not a vegetarian, but I couldn't survive on take-out for more than a couple days." Sara looked at her with a quizzical expression. She was always surprised by the things she learned about Stephanie, but this had to be one of the big ones.

"So, you really don't eat out that much?" Sara asked just before she took the last bite of her salad, enjoying the sweetness of the currants mixed with the nutty flavor of the dressing.

"Once a week, when Catherine and I meet for a meal before shift on Sunday night. And maybe something during the week when I end up pulling a double and Thomas can't bring me anything." Stephanie had put down her empty salad plate and then slid onto the floor to start on the main portion of her dinner. As Sara digested that information Stephanie poured them both a glass of the nearly clear tea.

Sara noticed that Stephanie had moved to the floor and decided she should join her there, to avoid making the mess that she was sure she would have managed with her face that far from the plate. Stephanie smiled as she joined her on the floor, and set about to attack her portabella mushroom. "Well, it seems to be working for you. I think you might be the healthiest person I know."

"Thomas thinks I need to cut loose a little more. But he's just afraid I'll get too obsessive about it again." She plunked a large bite of the mushroom and bread into her mouth and Sara realized that she had just shared another interesting piece of the puzzle that was Stephanie. After she had finished chewing, she continued, "I was still a little crazy about food when we met, and he's heard all the horror stories from Steph, so he makes sure to harp on me now and then."

Sara could not let that one slide, "Was there a problem before?" She made sure to take her own bite and look away, in case her question caught Stephanie unaware.

"Only because I was being a total Nazi about everything. It was when I was playing collegiate ball. I was so obsessed with keeping my lean muscle mass up, I sort of forgot that chicks kind of need a little body fat to function normally. Had some trouble with hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis for a while after that, but once I broke the cycle it all evened out." She paused a moment to contemplate something and took a drink of tea before continuing, "The amennorhea took the longest to go away though. Which is probably why Thomas is such a nag about it. Try explaining that one to a boyfriend who is totally freaking out every month." Stephanie let a small chuckle escape and it heartened Sara to know that she was dealing with sharing that information fairly well.

"I can imagine… But it didn't progress any further than that?"

Stephanie quickly swallowed the bite in her mouth and answered the question, "God no! I have a complete and total lack of vanity, once I realized that my eating habits were affecting my ability to play ball, I totally backed off. The team doc said it wasn't uncommon for female athletes to go overboard with their training like that, but he saw it most in gymnastics and track." She paused to wash down her last mouthful. "He also said the male wrestlers were the worst, especially when they were trying to make weight. Then he told me most of the girls were on his doorstep freaked out about being pregnant the first time the amennorhea showed up, so that usually shocked them out of it fast. It wasn't an issue for me."

"No fella at the time?" Sara asked before plopping the next morsel into her mouth.

"Better than that… I was still a virgin," Sara nearly choked on her dinner at the matter of fact way she had mentioned that information. "And I'd never been what you would call regular, so there were none of those red flags for me. Not until I passed out at practice with the most horrible extremity and upper abdominal cramping ever." Sara nodded, having recognized the symptoms of the lactic acidosis and hypoglycemia, but there was something she needed to ask about that other tidbit.

"So, how old were you then?"

Stephanie looked up after she had put another forkful of the butter beans into her mouth and worked to discern her answer. "Um, my last year, didn't play the first year, because of my age, so that put me at eighteen or nineteen… Almost nineteen, because we were in the Sweet Sixteen that year."

Sara smiled as she continued to chew on her food, and then she remarked, "Which explains why Nick has been walking funny since that pickup game the other night?" Sara's upturned eyebrow was enough to elicit a small laugh from Stephanie.

"Yeah, I guess I am still a little competitive… But I also work at staying in shape. It helps me keep my edge and increases my stamina… For a lot of things." Stephanie's faraway look and suggestive tone brought a slight blush to Sara's cheeks, but it also reminded her of another question she had wanted to ask.

"So, how old were you when you started dating Thomas?"

Stephanie did not hesitate to answer, "That following fall when I started med school." Sara stared at her blankly for a moment, trying to process all of the information into a coherent thought and when Stephanie looked over and watched her expression she laughed, "Yeah, that's what it means."

"So, he's the only guy you've ever been with?" Sara was completely shocked. She truly did not think anyone did that kind of thing anymore.

"Well, it's not exactly easy for a six foot plus, incredibly athletic girl, who is also two to three years younger than the other youngest person in class, smarter than most of the teachers and not afraid to show it, with a cop for a father, to get a date." It was Sara's turn to laugh that time. She remembered back to her own school days and how difficult it was for her to date, so she could only imagine the trouble Stephanie had. "See? Even you, the self-professed science geek would have been laughing at me. I had to get all the way to L.A. before I could at least get away from the cop father thing… And at least by then I was over eighteen, so I wasn't jail bait anymore."

"I'm sorry… I really shouldn't be laughing, but-…"

"Thomas always says he got the only supermodel wallflower in existence, but he exaggerates, badly… Man, if it hadn't been for my best friend in college, I wouldn't have even been on a date before I'd met Thomas. Thankfully, my friend took pity on me from time to time, and conned his frat buddies into taking me to various functions." Stephanie shrugged and shook her head as she took another bite from her plate.

Things had been going along smoothly, so Sara decided to test the waters, "So, why did Thomas have to go out for this conference?"

She took a deep breath before answering, "One of the attendings had to cancel because his wife was showing signs of labor. Thomas volunteered to go… Trying to make points with the chief, I think." Sara saw the sadness return to her face and was sorry for having brought it up.

"Sorry, I guess it's not really my pla-…"

Stephanie put a hand on her forearm to stop her, "It's not that… It's just, my Mom doesn't even know that I still do this. It would hurt her… And Thomas… just wasn't looking at the calendar, I guess." Sara put her right hand over Stephanie's and squeezed it. Stephanie smiled faintly at her for the gesture. "And I'm sure you're totally lost, since I know Uncle Gil doesn't talk about it."

That comment had Sara's undivided attention, "What do you mean?"

Stephanie took a deep breath, pushed her plate away and took a long drink from her glass before she exhaled sharply and began to speak, "Did you know that I'm not really an only child?" Sara only shook her head to indicate she did not know that. "Has Uncle Gil ever talked to you about his trouble with cases that involve kids?" Sara's breath was caught tightly in her chest by the lump that had just come up in her throat, but she only shook her head again in response. "Yeah, I kinda figured he hadn't."

There was a silence that hung in the air for quite a while before Sara heard Stephanie draw in another deep breath. When she looked over, Stephanie was reaching into the end table's drawer and had pulled out a small picture frame. She took another steeling breath, turned it over, and gazed at the picture it held for a few agonizing moments before Stephanie passed the photograph to her in total silence.

When Sara dared to look down at the image, all the air in her chest gushed out at once with what she beheld. In the picture, she instantly recognized Gil, but he was much younger and he was walking with another man who was taller and older than him. Between them, a tall, but obviously young girl walked holding their hands in hers. But the thing which impacted Sara the most was the tiny little boy that sat perched atop Gil's shoulders. They were all smiling, but the little boy seemed to be practically beaming, and with that mop of red curls on his head, she could tell it bounced as they walked. She deduced from his size that he was probably no more than three or four years old in the picture. Sara's heart was in danger of bursting, because she knew this was not going to be a pleasant story.

"That's my little brother." She paused, and Sara saw the tears trickle down her cheek before she wiped them away and continued, "Michael Gilbert MacInnerney. Pop didn't want a junior, even though Mom insisted on naming him Michael. She said we could call him Mickey, but everyone just called him Little Mac." Stephanie almost smiled at the memory, but her sadness appeared to overwhelm it, and it died there on her face. "Uncle Gil was there when he was born, because Pop was in the middle of some hostage thing or something. So, when it came time for them to fill out the birth certificate, Mom and Pop both agreed his middle name should be Gilbert. Uncle Gil said it was cruel and unusual punishment, and when I asked him what that was, he told me to look it up in the constitution." That time, a small chuckle left her throat, and Sara had to admit that it was a completely Grissom thing to have said.

"Anyway, we had three and half amazing years together. He was really smart, but his speech impediment was worse than mine. He had a lisp AND he couldn't say his R's at all, so he sounded like a lispy Bostonian. Uncle Gil called him his 'Little Boston Bean.'" There was a faint smile on Sara's face with that revelation. "So, he was the first one to call me Stephie, because he just couldn't manage the whole thing. Of course, when he said it, it sounded more like 'Shtuffy', but I didn't care."

Stephanie took another sip from her glass as the memory flooded her eyes with tears once more. "Mom was only teaching one or two classes after Little Mac was born, because she said we were more than a handful to keep track of, without adding a few hundred more kids into the mix. And most of the time we stayed with Pop or Uncle Gil when she had a class. Uncle Gil was teaching and getting one of his degrees back then, so he was usually on campus, or at our house. When either of them couldn't be there, they dropped Little Mac at the campus day care for that hour or so. I usually stayed at a friend's house after school on those days. This was before the days of taking your kids to work, so arrangements had to be made on those rare occasions."

Sara sensed that the story was about to turn ugly and she wrapped her arms around herself in preparation. "Uncle Gil got called in by the State Patrol on some case that involved bugs on a body they found, and Pop went with him, so they were gone for a few days. Mom told me to stay at my friend Simon's after school that day and that Pop and Uncle Gil would be home that night and would pick me up on their way to the house, and I should be very good for Simon's mother while I was there. Which translated to, 'the woman has enough trouble with Simon, so don't go pulling any pranks while you're there, you little troublemaker.' I had something of a reputation when I was a kid, but I swear, it wasn't all me."

Stephanie stopped a moment, giving Sara a slight reprieve from the onslaught of pain before she continued, "Pop and Uncle Gil picked me up that afternoon and we waited for Mom to get home with Little Mac, so we could all go out for supper. Uncle Gil was showing me the two new butterfly specimens he had found while they were gone, and Pop was checking in with the station house. So, when Mom got home, Pop was the only one downstairs, but when we heard her scream, I was completely frozen. Uncle Gil made me stay in my room and he ran downstairs. I stayed right there, for a really long time, and didn't even move from the chair I was sitting in. I still had the magnifying glass in my hand when Mom came rushing into my room. She held me really tight and cried, and told me she loved me, over and over again. If I hadn't been scared before, I sure was then, because, up to that point, I had never seen either of my parents cry before." She paused once again, her voice was faltering, and she took another sip from her tea. Sara was crying by that point, and she was terrified of completely breaking down from the unbelievable things Stephanie was telling her. She had always known that it must have been something horrific to have caused Grissom to be so sensitive with any cases involving children, but she had truly underestimated how terrible it had been.

"After that, everything was pretty crazy. And the only thing they ever told me was that my baby brother was gone to heaven and that I should never go with anyone but the three of them, ever." Stephanie stopped again, but this time it was to wipe her tears away again. "Mom quit teaching and I didn't see her for a long time. She was home, but she never came out of her room. That was one of the hardest parts of the whole thing for me." The tears flowed freely and Sara joined her then. She was not sure what came over her, but she reached over and put an arm around Stephanie and pulled her closer. The younger woman immediately laid her head down on Sara's shoulder and she could instantly tell that Stephanie gained some comfort from the move.

They sat in that position for a few moments longer, and Sara knew that Stephanie was simply trying to find the energy to continue her story. And so, Sara waited for her to be ready for the rest of the gut wrenching tale. "I think that's when Uncle Gil became my whole world." She chuckled a little at that thought, "He lived on our couch forever. Pop took a leave of absence to take care of Mom, but he stayed in Michael's room, and I never saw my Mom. Pop would only tell me that she was very sad and that we had to give her some time. Uncle Gil made all my meals, had a lunch ready for me every morning, did the laundry, helped me with my homework, took me to my lessons, watched all my games and went to any meetings at school. He was everything to me while my parents struggled with Michael's death, and I loved him for every minute of it."

Sara now had a total understanding about the relationship Gil shared with his goddaughter. She had long suspected that there was so much more to their comfort with each other than met the eye, and with that knowledge, Sara realized she had come to love him even more.

There was more that had been left unsaid about the whole ordeal, and that bothered Sara, so she felt compelled to ask the questions, "Steph… What happened to your brother?"

"The most I ever heard was that someone took Michael from the day care, posing as his uncle and they found him dead that night. But I only overheard that part at the memorial. My parents never talked about it, and neither did Uncle Gil, so I never asked any questions. I suppose I could've looked it up when I got older, but I didn't think I could handle it. I saw what it did to my family, and that was more than enough for me." Stephanie wiped away the tears that were fading away, but Sara had one more question.

"What about you?"

Stephanie scrunched up her brow in confusion and asked, "What do you mean?"

"You told me how your parents were affected and what they had to go through to make it out of that time. You told me what Gil did… But what about you, Steph? What did you do? How did you feel?" Sara continued to hold Stephanie close to her, because she felt it was going to be important, if the woman was able to answer her question.

"Me?" She took a deep breath before the next words came out, "I went to school, I went to lessons, I went to practice and I did my homework. Never missed a single day"

Sara instantly understood that Stephanie had learned another of Gil's traits; the way he would simply shut down and became stoic when things were just too hard to handle. And that knowledge broke her heart. "No wonder this is still eating at you… What does Thomas usually do?"

She sighed heavily and answered as best as she could, "Mostly, he's just there. He tries to stay out of the way, cleans up the broken glass, and never lets me get too far over the edge."

To Sara, that was the worst thing she could have said. That was exactly what she had been doing with Grissom for years. No wonder these two have so much trouble expressing their pain… They're both afraid no one would be there for them in the end. "Have you ever told him what really happened?"

She sniffed a little before answering, "Sort of… He knows my brother died."

"Haven't you ever talked about this with anyone else?"

"My friend, Steph… Um, Stephan, that lawyer guy you met at the wedding reception?" Stephanie tried to look up at Sara's face, but was not quite ready to leave the comfort of her willing shoulder.

"Right, the one helping Warrick with his divorce. So, why did you tell him?" Sara was trying to understand the situation better.

"Other than you… Nobody else has ever asked." And, for not the first time that night, Sara's heart was broken with her words. The girl lying on her shoulder had waited for someone to actually ask her about her pain, but until that happened, she simply held it all inside and let it eat at her. Sara made a promise to herself in that moment; she would never let something like that remain unresolved or unspoken, ever again.

"Stephanie, I probably know as well as anybody, that when you hold all that stuff inside, it only tears you up. You have to find some way to talk about this stuff with someone." Sara stroked the other woman's arm as she spoke, hoping to provide her with some additional comfort.

When she sat up and looked Sara in the eye, Stephanie simply said, "I think I just did."