It was about midway through shift when Sara decided to take a break and have that talk with Grissom. She hadn't felt this nervous about talking to him since before they'd dated each other; even breaking up hadn't made her feel this apprehensive. She made her way down the hallway towards his office and as her shoulder came to rest on the doorway to his office she watched as he glanced up as if he had been expecting her. "You got a minute, Grissom?"

Grissom's expression was weary and he gestured towards the chair across from his desk. "Yeah." Truth be told, he had as much time as she was willing to give him. He hadn't anticipated just how difficult it would be to work with her after they weren't seeing each other any more. He noted that she pulled the door closed behind her and he prepared himself for a conversation that would surely have little or nothing to do with work. Nerves swirled in the pit of his stomach as he considered that maybe she had come to tell him that he was too late, that she had already decided to stay with Nick and that things between them were too far gone to try again.

Sara settled herself in the chair and just looked at Grissom with an expression that was edged with sadness. "I've been thinking about what you said." She really didn't know what she wanted from him; if she hadn't already started dating Nick she might have considered going back to him right away, but she wasn't sure that the hurt that she'd felt at him not taking her request seriously about going public could be resolved without rebuilding trust between them. And then there was the issue of the resentment that she'd begun to feel. She needed to find a way to forgive him, but she wanted him to understand how much he'd hurt her. This wasn't going to be an easy fix even if she decided that all she wanted from him was his friendship.

"Have you come to any conclusion?" There was a flicker of hope in Grissom's eyes as he regarded Sara; he hadn't really understood the impact that she'd had on his world until she wasn't part of it any longer. He desperately wanted her back and he was ready to make whatever sacrifice was necessary to make that happen. He knew he shouldn't presume that she'd left Nick; that was wishful thinking for someone who had screwed up the way he had.

"No. No, I haven't." Sara took a deep breath as she looked directly at him and continued. "Grissom, you can't leave this lab. You are this lab." She didn't want him making that kind of sacrifice for her; especially since she didn't know if it would really make any difference for them in the long run.

Grissom pursed his lips together and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk. "Sara, this lab can survive without me. I'm just not sure I can survive this lab without you." His words were thick with emotion and it was clear from the way he was looking at her that he meant what he said.

"I'm not quitting." Sara wanted to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere, whether she dated Nick or if she ultimately came back to him she had found a sort of family here and she didn't plan on going anywhere.

"That's not what I meant, Sara." He knew that she knew that, but he wanted to make it absolutely clear what his intentions towards her were. "I want you, I need you. Not as a subordinate...I need you; I love you."

Sara felt a pang as she studied his face for a long moment; she never imagined that she would feel quite like this. "Grissom, please don't leave the lab for me." She let out a sigh as she spoke softly. "I don't know if I can be with you again; I don't know that I can't either, but if you leave, you need to do this for yourself, not me." Her words trailed off in a whisper.

"I'm not sure I understand." In his mind it had been fairly logical that if he orchestrated the circumstances so that they could be together publicly, that she would want to come back to him.

"I care about Nick." Sara had found something with her longtime friend that she'd never expected and now that she was in the middle of it, she didn't want to hurt him, but she was confused about both men.

Grissom was perceptive and his expression was uncharacteristically open. "But you still care about me too, don't you, Sara?" He knew that is she didn't care about him she wouldn't have taken the time to even have this conversation with him.

Sara didn't even hesitate. "Yes, I do; I do care about you." Why the hell did this have to be so damn difficult? "But I'm not sure it's enough." Her voice was impassioned as she continued. "When we were together I wanted everyone to know about us, but you weren't willing to take the risk. You were afraid that you would lose your job. But now, now that I'm with Nick, you tell me that you're willing to give it all up to get me back. I'm not sure it's that easy." Her tone was soft, but intense. "If you feel like you need to leave here; need to take a break, I understand that, I do, but please don't do this if you think it'll bring me back. I can't make you that kind of promise right now."

"I was wrong." Those three little words of his were so honestly spoken that it caught Sara's attention. Grissom's inner turmoil was evident on his face. "I never should have put my career before you, Sara. I know that now." He looked at her intently for a long moment. "I just want to know if it's too late."

Sara felt a surge of emotion and confusion and she felt as if her world was spinning out of control. "I don't know, I really don't know." She had a lot to think about and she knew that no matter which one of them she chose it wouldn't be easy.

The trill of Grissom's cell phone interrupted and as he flipped it open he couldn't have anticipated what he was about to hear. "Grissom." His brows immediately furrowed as he noted the tone in the voice of Jim Brass. "Jim? Jim, what's wrong?" The color drained from his face as he processed what he was hearing. "Oh my God, Jim. Where? Are you sure?" His voice reflected disbelief and he felt sick to his stomach. "Yes, I'll come." He ended the call and glanced up to see Sara staring at him with confusion and concern.

"Grissom, what is it?" Sara could tell that whatever news he'd just heard was bad; the only thing she wasn't sure of was how bad and who it involved.

There was a waver in Grissom's voice as he let out a fractured whisper. "Sophia and Vartan got married this morning. I was there, so was Brass, a couple of others from PD. They were on their way to their honeymoon..." His words caught in his throat at the disbelief of it all. "They were hit head on by a drunk driver...they were both killed instantly."

Sara crumpled in her chair as the reality of it hit her and she choked out a sob. She had been there when Sophia was shot and she thought that they would lose her then, but she'd defied the odds and recovered. And now after finding the love of her life in Alex Vartan, they were both gone just like that. Sara couldn't wrap her mind around how unfair this was. "You've got to be wrong; it can't be them." Before Grissom could say anything to reconfirm the horrible news, Sara pulled herself out the chair and fled his office in search of somewhere that she could clear her head.