a/n: thanks for the feedback, guys. you rock. oh and by the way, is anyone's wondering where the nature's law song came from, it's called 'Nature's Law' -- Embrace. I think it might get big over here in North America soon, so you should gove it a listen. anyway, thanks to sparklin-strawberries for beta reading this chapter, and so politely telling me that the brass part at end of the last chapter (and i quote) "blew ass chunks". thanks for the brutal (emphasis on brutal) honesty, dude. anyway, thanks for reading everyone.
Sara woke up, sleep muddling her brain in fragments of warped memories.

Nick inside that box…racing to find him…the explosion…the ambulance…

Sara's body went rigid as more memories flooded her mind. Touch, sight, smell, hearing, taste...

Grissom's hand on her cheek, his arms around her…him in his apartment, on his couch…Grissom's lips against hers…

Her eyes flew open and she sat up straight. She found herself in Grissom's apartment, lying on his leather couch.

Alone.

Alone with his butterfly collection, alone with his almost-too-clean townhouse, alone with his collection of entymology textbooks.

Alone: like he was every day here.

She took a moment to briefly wonder if he liked being alone here. Without human contact...without her. Then she wondered if he would feel any different about being alone here now that she'd been in his towhouse with him. She knew she did, because once he'd come over after the Adam Trent case, the loneliness in her apartment had multiplied by ten. It was like he'd sucked all of the life out of there, and he could only refill it if he came back.

Why would he just leave me here? She thought, tears stinging the backs of her eyelids.

Damn him. Damn Grissom. Trust him to kiss me like that and let me fall asleep with him, and then leave me alone. He's probably off somewhere right now trying not to think about it. Telling himself it never happened…

Sara's mind jumped around, thinking of possibilities and jumping to conclusions. The tears threatened to fall.She blinked them away and her eyes refocused on a white post-it note on the coffee table.


Sara,

I'm on call, and Brass has a 420 for me. Get some rest. Help yourself to breakfast if you like.

G.

P.S. Nick is fine, all is well at the hospital; don't worry.


Sighing, she crumpled up the note. He had left her. As always, job comes before relationship. Job comes before life. Of course, he had a convenient reason to leave…then again; having time away from her might be a good thing. Having time to get his priorities straight. Hopefully those priorities would lean in her favor now that they'd kissed.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her stomach growled loudly, no doubt because she hadn't eaten in…she counted back on her fingers.

Ten hours. Add to that stress and crying… Her stomach growled again and she decided to take Grissom up on his offer of breakfast -- although she'd rather be sharing it with him. She plopped herself down at the breakfast bar. Munching on toast, she was surprised to see Grissom's voice-mail flashing red.

On.

Off.

On.

Off.

Much like our relationship…Sara thought; her tone sarcastic as usual. She then began to ponder whether or not to listen to the voice-mail.

What if it's for me? But Grissom's a very personal guy…What if he gets mad? But what if it's about Nick? She argued with herself, until eventually just giving in and pressing the button. Grissom's voice floated through the room.

"Hi…Sara…It's um, me. Sorry I had to leave. Crime waits for no man…"

Sara smiled at his corny attempt-at-a-joke. Crime…Time…Rhyme…

Only Grissom.

"Anyway, I hope, er…I hope you got an okay sleep. Nicky's fine. Maybe…Maybe you'd be interested in visiting him? Call me back on my cell."

Beeeeeep.

And that was it.


Grissom was just walking into the Crime Lab when his cell phone rang. The screen proclaimed Sara's name. He sighed, flipping it open with his chin.

"Grissom." He said in his usual manner, not trying to sound biased because he knew it was her.

"Hey. Umm, it's Sara," She answered, a bit awkardly.

"Oh. Hey. So, you got my message, I take it?" He asked, keeping his voice low, not wanting to be overheard.

I'm sure Ecklie would have a stroke if he knew where Sara is right now...

"Yeah. Nick's doing well then?" Sara asked, secretly hoping that he would re-state his offer to take her to the hospital.

"Yeah," Grissom answered softly, a little touched at the relief in her voice, "Yeah, he's gonna be fine. Well, since you're trapped in my townhouse...do you want to see him before I give you a ride home? I'll be done here in...20 minutes?"

"Sounds good. Oh yeah, and Griss?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

And before he could answer, she had hung up.


The ride to the hospital had been a little awkward. They hadn't said much, Grissom had just told her what was going on with Nick and about the case he'd had. Of course, he wasn't ready to have an open conversation about what had happened the previous night. Sara just sat there, listening deafly as he talked, wondering when, no, if he'd even acknowledge what had happened and what he'd do about it.

"Hey, guys!" Nick said cheerfully as he saw Grissom and Sara walk into his room.Grissom looked like a wreck, but Sara looked as she always did; tired, yet radiant in a hard-working sort of way. Nick often thought of Sara as his little sister. She was always getting herself into predicaments…with Catherine, with Ecklie…Grissom…

Grissom was a whole other story. You could have cut the sexual tension with a knife. No, scratch that; a butter knife.Nick knew that she had feelings for his boss. Heck, everyone knew she had feelings for him. If Grissom didn't know it, he'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb.

Which he wasn't. Well, at least the blind and dumb parts. Cath had spilled the beans about his hearing problems, but that wasn't of consiquence.

Nick had always been able to see the connection between the two; the unspoken dialogues, the silent gestures, the simple touches. He knew Grissom felt something for her, but for some reason didn't want to give in to them. And when they entered his room together that day, he was secretly rooting that he'd finally give in and see what a beautiful, amazing, intelligent woman he had.

After all, all he wanted was the best for his little sister.


All had gone well with Nick.With a little bit of therapy and some rest, he'd hopefully be fine. Sara looked at Grissom when they'd left the room. He looked tired. The intriguing blue sparkle in his eye that she'd fallen in love with was a little dimmer, his lovely pouting lips having a little less of that secret smile. She wanted to replace that sparkle, that smile, more than anything.

Sara found that Grissom was like a small candle in the emmense darkness that was her life. He was the reason she'd come to Vegas...in hope that he could take that small candle and turn it into a fire. Albeit, he'd added a little fuel every so often, but she wanted more, craved more, needed more. And seeing him standing there after years of slowly adding fuel to the fire, she wanted to make sure that the fire didn't go out.

"Grissom?" She said quietly. He looked up and held her gaze, looking a little sad.

"About last night...I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but...thanks. Really. I appreciate it," She said, leaving the conversation open for him to talk about it or not. It was his choice. She knew him well enough to give him space.

Grissom's mouth opened as if to say something, his right arm coming up quickly, then descending in that classic look of indecision. He looked down at the floor, then his eyes shifted slowly back to hers. He sighed, caught in a mental limbo.

"Sara..." He started, leaning against the doorframe. Alarm bells went off in Sara's head, his actions triggering the memory of his rejection.

"I still don't know what to do about 'this'."

Sara felt her heart shrink at his words. Grissom watched the corners of her gorgeous wide lips suck in in hurt and dissappontment.

Goddamnit, he's rejecting me again. Why was I so stupid to push it? Sara thought, anger and indignation burning behind her eyes.

Grissom sighed again, running a hand throught his salt-and-pepper curls, then dropping his hand to run over his beard.

"I...I don't know what to do, but...but I want to do something about it," he explained.

Immediately, Sara's mouth relaxed and her eyebrows shot up. Grissom wanted to give it a try. Grissom, the most personal man she knew, was finally opening himself up to her. At least a little.

"You do?" She said, not succeeding very well in hiding the surprise in her voice. Grissom couldn't help but give up a small, half-mouthed smile at her reaction.

"To be honest, though? I don't know what that something is. This is new to me," He said, the smile leaving as quickly as it had come.

"Grissom, every case we have has something different in it, right?" Sara said. She could have been talking in Korean by the look on Grissom's face.

"I--I don't see the relevance in this, but--"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"So, what do we do when we have to figure out something we've never come across before, something new?" She asked, hoping that this metaphor would get to him.

"We...do an experiment?" He said after a moment, "You're saying that we have to experiment, aren't you?" Sara nodded with a smile. He'd gotten it.

"Sara, this is a big experiment, and I...I don't want to mess it up."

"Then we'll take it slow. Not all experiments have to be done quickly. Remember the pig?" She said, smiling at the memory of spending hours sitting under the stars with Grissom--even if it was next to the rotting carcass of a pig. The right corner of Grissom's mouth twitched into a smile as he remembered as well.

"And besides, Griss, when was the last time you messed up an experiment?" She said, smiling up at him. And there it was. The sparkle was back.


a/n: like? don't like? well, now that i've re-written this chapter, my old chapter five was blown outta the water and i'm at a dead end with the pre-written chapters. so my updating skills might not be as good. sorry ( but i'll try my hardest, promise! thanks for reading!