Author's Notes: Thanks to all who read (and reviewed) chapter five, sorry it took me so long to get this together! This story just doesn't want to be written. This chapter's a bit boring, but necessary to further along the rest of the story. Thanks to Emmithar for convincing me not to delete the whole story. No one's beta-ed this for me, so all mistakes are mine.

Please let me know if you're still reading and what you think!

Jenny

Chapter Six:

Sara sank onto her bed, her hands shaking as she covered her face, trying to quiet the sobs she couldn't hold in. She knew it was unfair to Greg for her to walk away when he obviously was in pain, in need of help, but she couldn't face him right now. Her heart raced as she wiped away her tears, taking in ragged, desperate gulps of air in order to calm herself down. This wasn't the past, it wasn't her parents...this was Greg, he'd never intentionally hurt her. He didn't know what he was doing.

Any normal, good, caring wife would be trying to calm him down. Instead, she was hiding in her room, wishing that this would all go away. As much as she was frantic with worry over her husband, she couldn't get the images of his uncontrollable rage out of her mind. If she hadn't of somehow gotten through to him, what would he have done to her? What if this continued? What if he wouldn't get help for it? What if she wound up in an abusive situation similar to the one she had escaped so many years ago?

The room spun around her as she stood, and she sank back into the bed, disabled by fear, overwhelmed by tears. Comparing Greg to her father would be completely ridiculous, the only similarity they shared was that they were both men. Greg was never violent, never out of control, this was the first time he had even raised his voice to her. Usually it was the other way around, she was much more likely to fly off the handle. So why couldn't she trust him? Why couldn't she walk back into the living room and make sure he hadn't had a complete nervous breakdown?

She forced herself to her feet, taking several deep breaths to try and steady her nerves. She couldn't just sit here and have an internal battle, she had to fix this before she hurt Greg even more than he was already hurting. He needed her, she couldn't let him down.

Her entire body shook as she unlocked the bedroom door, slowly creaking it open and peering into the hall. Her heart ached as she found Greg leaning against the wall, his hand on their bedroom door as he slept.

She turned to glance at the clock, cringing when she realized she had been absorbed in her own thoughts for nearly an hour now. It was clear he was still weak and drained from his ordeal, the last thing he needed was to be subjecting his achy muscles to the hard wooden floor. Taking a steadying breath, she knelt down beside him, shaking his shoulder gently, "Greg? You can't sleep out here, sweetie, wake up."

Greg stirred softly, barely opening his eyes as he moaned her name. Shaking him harder, she called his name louder, "Greg, baby, lets get you into bed."

It took several more tries before she managed to get him coherent enough to stand and stumble to the bed, and before she could even get him covered, he was lightly snoring. She laid down beside him on the bed, propping her head up with her elbow as she stared at the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest. No, he would never hurt her, he'd die before he'd actually harm her. She could only imagine how he felt, how she'd react if she was in his shoes.

How could she hold him responsible for his actions when he was trapped inside of a living nightmare? All of the pain, the fear, the uncertainty she felt...he must be feeling it a hundred times worse. It was illogical and senseless to even begin to feel threatened by his actions, she needed to be soothing and comforting, not yelling and making him feel even worse about himself. What would she have done if he had died?

Kissing him lightly on the forehead, she silently vowed to try and be more understanding. She couldn't oppose him right now, not when he needed her the most. She curled up beside him, careful not to aggravate any of his injuries, and stared at his chest as it slowly rose and fell. How could she be scared of him when he looked so harmless? So fragile? She knew the next few weeks, probably even months, would be difficult, but for now, she could close her eyes and pretend nothing had happened. No matter what they were facing, they could overcome it if they worked together.

--

Sara awoke with a start, her breathing rapid and shallow as the image of Greg choking her to death stood fresh in her mind, courtesy of her latest nightmare. Shakily bringing a hand to her forehead, she whispered softly, "It's just a dream, just a dream."

Her first instinct was to throw her covers off and flee to the living room, where she could bury herself in a bit of work or some television documentary, but using all of her self control, she shut her eyes once more and laid back down against her pillow. She had to stop running from her problems, it wouldn't be fair to Greg for him to wake up alone if he needed something.

She shivered slightly, inching closer to Greg's side of the bed, only to find it uninhabited. With a worried sigh, she rolled out of bed and stretched slightly, wondering where her husband could possibly be in the middle of the night. She was certain she would have heard him get up, and in his condition, he couldn't have gone too far.

She found him in the living room, sitting on the sofa and staring blankly at the television. With a frown, she sat down beside him, surprised to see he flinched when she moved her hand to cover his.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy."

Sara's frown deepened at his cold tone, her voice soft after a moment of hesitation, "Because you do realize you're watching the Disney channel, right?"

"What's wrong with Disney?" Greg replied, a hint of a smile lightening his features, "Not all of us are Court TV junkies like you are."

Sara nudged his shoulder lightly, deciding to play along and try to loosen him up a bit, "Disney isn't bad, but 'High School Musical' is."

"It's a great story." Greg countered, "You liked 'Rent', right? It's sort of like that, except without the drugs, the AIDS, the blatant homosexuality..."

"So, in other words, they sing?" Sara teased, "That's why it's called 'High School Musical'..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, "I was disappointed that you weren't there when I woke up."

Greg shrugged, turning his attention to the television as his smile faded into a grimace, "I didn't think you'd want me there."

"Listen, Greg..." Sara began, her voice trembling slightly as her anxiety began to grow, "About earlier...I probably overreacted a bit..."

Greg shook his head firmly, refusing to meet her gaze, "No, you didn't do anything wrong. It was me, I--"

"You can't beat yourself up over this." Sara pleaded, squeezing his hand tightly, "Yeah, it wasn't the best move. Yeah, I didn't react well...but dwelling on it won't really fix anything, will it? We need to move forward--"

Greg pulled his hand out of her grasp, clenching it into a fist as it began to tremble, "No, don't try to smooth this over. When you were a kid, and your Dad was abusing you and your mother, I bet she tried to smooth it over many times, to make excuses, to find reasons for his behavior. In the end, it didn't change what he did, it just tried to justify it. I'm not going to let you do that Sara, I made a mistake, I have to own up to it."

"Greg, you've been through a lot, I can't expect you to just come out of it with a smile. You're a strong, brave, terrific man, but you aren't superman. I expect you to hurt, I expect you to lash out, I expect you to have problems moving forward. God, Greg, that woman was a monster. She was worse than a monster...and the moment I came in this apartment, I knew that something was wrong with you. I knew you weren't in the right frame of mind, but I couldn't stop myself from..I don't even know what to call it...the survival instinct? I reacted badly, which only made the situation worse...I shouldn't have pushed you away, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I'm really sorry I let you down, Greg."

Greg turned to Sara, finally letting himself look into her teary brown eyes, and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it lightly despite the pain it sent to his wounds, "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but--"

His sentence was cut off by the shrill ring of Sara's cell phone, which laid on the coffee table in front of them. Sara glanced towards it, then back at Greg with a questioning gaze. With a slight nod, Greg whispered, "Get it, it could be important."

"Sidle."

"Sara, this is Grissom...I need you in right now. I know you've only been home a few hours, and you wanted to stay with Greg, but this can't wait."

"What's going on?" Sara asked, unable to stop the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had made it perfectly clear when she left that she couldn't be bothered unless it was an emergency. For Grissom to sound so nervous over the phone, it had to be something horrible.

"I'll explain when you get here, just hurry."

Before Sara could ask any more questions, he had hung up, leaving her filled with worry and dread. With an apologetic smile to Greg, she slowly rose to her feet, "Grissom--"

"I understand." Greg replied, cutting her off, "We can talk when you get home." He glanced down at his hands with a nervous chuckle, "I promise I won't attack you when you come home this time."

Her heart slowly breaking, Sara placed a worried kiss on Greg's head, "We'll talk when I get back. I won't be long."

"Don't make promises you can't keep."

"I fully intend to keep this one." Sara whispered, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Greg replied, trying not to sound bothered by the thought of being home alone, "I'll get some sleep, watch some tv, you know...enjoy my time off work while you're slaving away for the lab."

Sara shook her head sadly, searching for her shoes, "I swear, I'll hurry back." she glanced over her shoulder, a small smile tugging on her lips, "After this movie, change it to adult programming...if I come home and you're watching 'Dora the Explorer', I'm filing for divorce."

"Spoilsport." Greg teased in response, tossing Sara her keys, "Be careful."

"Always." Sara replied, "Love you."

"Love you too."

The door clicked shut behind Sara, and Greg let his head drop to the back of the couch, a loud sigh escaping his lips. It was one thing, being awake and knowing Sara was sleeping just a few feet away. Alone, with no one to keep him calm? To keep him safe? He wasn't sure how he'd make it until she returned home.

--

"Oh, great, you're here." Grissom spoke as Sara entered the locker room, "We need to talk. Come with me to my office."

"Do I need to get my--"

"No, just follow me."

Sara's anxiety grew as she followed a fast-paced Grissom to his office. As he shut the door behind him, she felt her heart plummet into her stomach. Whatever this was, it had to be major.

"Where's everyone else?" she asked, tapping her fingers nervously against the arm of the chair, "What's going on?"

Grissom handed Sara a thick manilla folder, a heavy frown pulling on his face, making him seem years older than he actually was. With a sigh, he spoke in a tense, tight voice, "Alyssa Miller was released on bail tonight."

"What?" Sara yelled, jumping to her feet, flinging the folder back at Grissom, "That's impossible, they don't release people suspected of murder on bail!"

Grissom motioned for her to sit, but she ignored him, anxiously pacing the room, occasionally glancing up at him with a questioning gaze.

"Sara, we didn't have enough to prove she killed anyone. The most we could do was charge her with kidnaping, assault, and unlawful disposal of a human body. She made a call and someone showed up with the money to bail her out. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Sara shrieked, woozy from the burst of adrenaline that had spurred from Grissom's statement, "That doesn't help Greg, does it? That crazy woman could be at our apartment as we speak! She could be planning to finish the job she started. You know as well as I do that she killed those people!"

"I know, but we couldn't provide solid proof, at least to the district attorney's standards, for him to file charges. Brass is going to put people on your apartment, we're going to get a restraining order. Nick, Warrick, and Catherine are on their third shift trying to find something else on her. I just wanted you to be aware of what's going on--"

Grissom was cut off by the notes from 'La Cucharacha' coming from his pocket. With a growl, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, answering, "Grissom" He was silent for a few moments before answering "Okay, we'll be right there."

He hung up, his face ashen as he moved towards the door, "It's Greg, we've got to go."

TBC