AN: Thanks for the reviews and support, here is the next chapter.

Chapter 9: Taking the risk

A week later

Grissom was in his office, finishing up his paperwork when he head a knock on his door.

"Come in."

The door opened a second later before he heard Warrick's voice. "Hey Griss, can I talk to you about something?"

Grissom looked up from his paperwork and smiled at the young man. "Yeah, sure."

He then sets his pen down as the other man walked up to his desk, holding a piece of paper in his hand, then after a moment, he cleared his throat and handed it to him. "I need you to sign off on this."

Grissom took the piece of paper, read what it said and looked up at Warrick. "You want some vacation time?"

"Yeah, only for a couple of days, shorter if my plans don't go right." He then sighed before finishing, knowing it was going to be hard for the older man to hear. "But if they do go right, I'll come back until Nick returns, then I'm leaving again, for good."

Grissom looked a little shocked, and admittedly a little sad. "Really?"

"I'm sorry. I hate to do this to you, but this is something I know I have to do."

Seeing he was serious, like a man on a mission, Grissom nodded his head as he lowered the vacation form down on his desk, and as he was signing his name on the bottom, he asked. "So, may I ask where you are going?"

Warrick didn't even hesitate. "Miami."

Grissom looked up at him in surprise after he finished signing his name, then asked again as he handed the form back to him. "Catherine?"

Warrick nodded again, his smile showing up on his face each second. "Yeah."

Grissom still looked a little shocked as he asked. "But I thought Sara mentioned a girlfriend?"

"And she was a wonderful woman, but it's always been Catherine, no matter how much I tried to push it away. And seeing her again, despite the circumstance, only reminded me on how much I really do love her. I just hope she feels the same as me."

Grissom nodded in understanding before commenting. "You know it's a risk putting your heart on the line with only 'hope' guiding you."

"True, but some risks are worth taking, and for me this is one of them. I don't want to look back one day and regret never at least trying."

Knowing exactly how that felt, Grissom could do nothing but agree. "Then I only wish you good Luck." Warrick smiled again with a nod before Grissom finished with a smirk. "Even though the selfish part of me doesn't want to see you leave."

Looking at him with sympathy, he held out his hand toward the older man, the man he's looked up to since he walked into the lab eight years ago. "I know, and I would hate to lose you as my boss, but I..."

Grissom cuts him off as he took the other man's hand. "You have to follow your heart on this one, I understand."

As they released hands, Warrick spoke again after clearing his throat. "Thank you for never giving up on me, you are the best man that I have ever known and I feel blessed and honored to have called you my boss/mentor."

Feeling up with emotion, but keeping it down, Grissom replied after clearing his throat. "You're welcome, and I feel blessed to call you my student, you are a great CSI, don't let them forget that in Miami, if your plans go the way you want them to that is."

"Yes sir." They smiled at one another before Warrick finished. "Bye, Griss."

"Bye, Warrick."

Warrick then turns around and walks out of Grissom's office, shutting the door behind him while Grissom smiled a little, yeah he'll miss him like he said, but if everything goes right, he just wants him to be happy. Both of them, really, they deserve a happy ending, or, more like a new, happy beginning.

Later that Morning

While they were eating breakfast at his condo, Grissom had asked Sara about her night/case, and after filling him in, she asked before taking a bite of her pancake. "So, did anything exciting or unexpected happen with you?"

He nodded as he took a bite of his breakfast before replying after swallowing. "Yeah, we might be losing another team member."

She looked a little shocked as she asked. "Is it Nick? Did he decide to..."

Grissom cuts her off with a shake of the head. "No, Warrick. He asked for some vacation time, then said if everything goes to plan, he is transferring." He paused for a second before finishing. "To Miami."

She slowly smiled, feeling like she knew why he would pick that location, and also now understanding why she did sense a 'but' when she found out about the new woman in his life.

"Catherine?"

He nodded with a smile in return. "Yeah, can you believe it?"

She paused to think about it for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Actually, yeah. I've witnessed a few flirty moments and lingering looks through the years, there is definitely potential there. So, I say good for him, them, really. Just as long as they are happy." She then sighed. "Although, I will miss him in the lab."

Despite their rocky beginnings, they have become close friends, especially during the months she was on his and Nick's team on swing shift.

He nodded in agreement. "I will too." She gave him a sympathy look, knowing how he felt about the other man, as he took a sip of his coffee, then as he placed it back on the table, he spoke again. "I told him it was a risk putting his heart on the line with only 'hope' guiding him, but you know what he told me? He said that some risks are worth taking, and that he would regret it if he never at least tried."

Looking at him with loving eyes, she replied. "I don't disagree with that statement."

He gave her a smile as he moved his hand to cover hers. "Me neither."

She gave him a small smile before she cleared her throat and slipped her hand out from under his so she could stand up and take her dishes to the sink. "You uh, you didn't always feel that way."

When they started to become closer, especially after he told her about his hearing, they talked about everything, well, except the time where she heard him talking to a suspect on how he couldn't risk it.

He turned around in his seat and asked in concern. "Sara?"

She took a breath as she placed her dishes in the sink before turning around to look at him. "I heard you. Last year, I was in the observing room when you were talking about not able to take a risk."

He sighed as he stood up, then he walked up to her until he was standing in front of her. "I'm sorry you had to hear that, I can only imagine on how that made you feel, and I wish I can lie and say that's not how I felt, but I can't. I mean the thought of knowing how it feels to be with you, to kiss you, to hold you, to touch you..." He closed his eyes for a second before opening them up while speaking softly/emotionally. "Just for you to walk away from me when you find someone new, someone younger, would absolutely wreck me."

Sara's heart was breaking for him, so she cupped his cheek and spoke with comfort and love. "That would never happen, I hope you really know that now."

He nodded as he spoke softly again. "I do. I can see that, now that I let my heart guide me more."

She smiled with tears in her eyes as she ran her thumb up and down his cheek. "Good, because like what you said last week, I'm not going anywhere without you. It's you and me, always." He smiled as she brought him closer to her so they could place their foreheads together and close their eyes.

After a few moments, she asked as they pulled back. "Can I ask what made you change your mind about risking it?"

He nodded. "The night I got the phone call about your almost DUI." She closed her eyes and looked down with a groan, still embarrassed about that night, as he continued. "My first thought was 'I hope she's ok', then when I thought that if something more terrible had happened to you, and that I never got to know what it felt like to hold you, kiss you, touch you, I would have really regretted that and never forgive myself. And couple that with the whole 'you could really be too late by the time I figured it out' statement, never felt more truer in my life, so I knew I had to do something. I couldn't live being scared anymore."

By the time he finished talking, she had eye contact with him again, and she spoke with a smile. "You know, despite how confident I said that, I don't think that statement would have been true. I think I would have waited forever for you."

With his eyes sparkling, he replied with a smile. "I'm glad I didn't wait forever."

She chuckled as she cupped his cheek again. "Oh, me too, look how many moments we would have missed out on."

He wrapped his arms around her waist to bring her closer as he whispered. "Too many, and I don't want to miss anymore that concerns us."

"Me neither." They kissed softly a few times before she pulled back, and with the best Sara smile Grissom had ever seen, she said. "And that's why I've decided to say yes to moving in with you."

Grissom's eyes lit up. "Really?"

With the smile still on her face, she nodded. "Yeah, it is a risk, but if you're willing to take it and believe we can make this work now, then so do I. Let's do it."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, let's do it."

They stared in each other's eyes, practically beaming, they couldn't be happier in this moment.

AN: Ok, the bad news is that next chapter is the last one in the story, but the good news is there could be a sequel, and a few more after that, if you all want it, so let me know. Thanks for reading and please review.