Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. I am but a humble fan and writer.

A/N: The first ficlet of my favorite CSI couple (sandle). Sara gets herself into trouble but unlike the finale, I'm telling you she survives. Not set in any particular time period but I hope you like it just the same.

Ficlet 05: Reckless Sara

They were checking out a body by Lake Mead. Dave pronounced time of death around midnight, and he helped load the body onto the ambulance.

"I guess we're just about done," Brass commented, while looking around. There were still a few pictures being taken, and the area was being searched.
Catherine was supposed to help Sara, but she got tied up in something personal, so Grissom sent over Greg.

"Body dump?" Greg asked, finally able to talk to Sara.
"Could be. There was no blood trail, but the victim had an open wound."
"Guess we'll have to wait until the official C.O.D."
"Yeah," Sara looked around, shining her flash light around before something caught her eye.

"What's that," she wondered. She walked closer, spying a piece of red cloth on a tree. It was dangling a few feet above her, caught in a branch

Sara looked around, and determined if she didn't get to it soon, the wind would blow it away. Greg caught sight of her just as she put one hand on a lower branch.
"What are you doing?"
"Help me get that cloth down. It could be a key piece of evidence," Sara looked at him, expecting to get a lift.

Greg was unsure. Normally he would jump at the chance to hold Sara steady, but he didn't think it was a good idea.

"That must be at least fifteen feet. Sara, I don't think you should..."
"Don't worry. I've climbed higher before," she gave him an impatient look, and Greg just sighed and held out his hands. Sara smiled at him, and grabbed hold of his shoulders. He picked her up, and she was able to firmly grab a hold of a thick branch.

"Grissom's gonna kill me," Greg muttered as he watched her hoist herself up.

She was close... she could see it now, and realized it was a shred of bloody cloth. With a cry of triumph, she grabbed hold of it. The cloth was in her gloved hand, and she looked down to see a concerned Greg.
"Don't worry, I'm-" before she could finish her sentence, she felt her other hand slipping.

'Crap,' she thought, 'I can't lose the evidence...'
She held the cloth tightly, not realizing she should've been more worried about herself. Her foot slipped from under her, and she lost her balance.
Greg saw everything, and could only stand still as she fell ten feet, still clutching the scrap of cloth.

He was definitely responsible. He told Brass and Grissom everything, expecting them to be angry at him. He just received a reprimand from his supervisor, and the rest of the CSIs were considerably upset.
They all visited her at the hospital, even though she was embarrassed by all the fuss.
"I just sprained my ankle. The only thing that's really hurt is my pride," Sara managed to laugh it off.

It took a while before Greg was alone with Sara, then he let her know how he felt, "Sara, I'm sorry," he began
"You really shouldn't be. I guess I should've listened to you, but I was really focused on getting that evidence," Sara smiled at him, as she laid her hand on his.
"Yeah, well... maybe you'll listen to me next time," Greg wagged his finger at her, and Sara burst out laughing.
"Well, seeing as how you agree, how about you and I go out to eat this weekend?" Greg waited tensely, not expecting her answer.

"I'd love to," she smiled warmly.
"Wow... what else would you do?" Greg winked at her, and grinned.
"Don't push it, Greg," she smirked.

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Those who know where these fics originally came from may recall that this wasn't my first sandle fic. I'm only posting ficlets that I like and feel came out decently, and maybe after a while I'll post my other ficlets.

Anyway, thank you for reading and please review.