Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of its characters. The story and everything else is mine.

A/n: I want to thank Chelles for helping me with those things I have trouble with. I tried to put your advice to use in this chapter; I hope I managed to fix the things we talked about. Please let me know if I did. Also, thanks so much to Aussie for catching so many of my typos. You're both the greatest. :D:D

Chapter 11

Sara stepped out onto the porch and breathed in the cool, brine scented air. The breeze ruffled her hair and she quickly brought up her hands and pulled it back, wrapping a rubber band around it. She looked around, watching as the wind whipped the leaves around the ground. With a deep sigh she started down the steps, noting as she did that they were the same steps that her father had installed when she was a kid. She felt pride that her father's work had lasted so long and looked around for other things that he had made.

At the far end of the porch, hanging from the tall oak, she glimpsed the tire swing that he'd hung for her brother, and on the other end of the porch, she noted with some surprise, was the porch swing that he'd made and hung when she'd been a baby. She remembered many times as a little girl cuddling up with him on that swing while he pointed out the constellations.

With a smile on her face and lightness in her step, she started down the path to town. She could have taken her car but she felt a need to retrace the steps of her childhood. A few minutes later she found herself standing outside of Angela's old house. From the state of the house she could see that no one lived there now. She walked up to the small porch and found the rock that used to hide the spare key. She picked it up, finding nothing, just like on the night her father died. Dropping the rock she turned and headed back down the path to town.

The town had changed little in the intervening years. A few stores had been added; a Blockbuster's occupied the space where Dyer's shoe store had once been, and more fast food restaurants had sprouted along the road where once only trees grew. Mitchell's Grocery still stood proud in the middle of town, looking fresh with a bright coat of paint on the awning; the bricks looked as though they'd been sandblasted until they were clean as the day they were laid.

Rona had said that old Mr. Mitchell might know where her mother had gone. Deciding not to put it off any longer she crossed the street and entered the store. The man standing at the cash register was older than she remembered, but not as old as she'd expected. He might have been in his sixties, and though he was balding, he'd kept himself up pretty well. He was with a customer, so Sara wandered over to the candy stand and absently picked up a bag of M&Ms. The customer left and Sara took a deep breath before heading over to the register. She laid down the candy. "Hello, Mr. Mitchell," she said, nervously.

He looked up and Sara expected him to be unsure of who she was, but he surprised her. "Sara Sidle, my dear, it's good to see you." He held out his hand and when she extended her own, he grabbed it with a hearty shake. His smile beamed down at her. "Goodness, but it's been years!" he said with a laugh.

Sara smiled. "It's good to see you too, Mr. Mitchell." She withdrew her hand when his grip loosened and clasped her hands on the counter. "How have you been? I see the town has changed little."

"Oh, there have been changes, some small, some too large for some to bear." He shifted and extended his hand to a group of chairs behind the register. "Sit, sit, tell me what you've been doing." He sat down and patted the chair next to him.

Sara cleared her throat, wondering how much to tell him. "Well, I'm a forensic investigator in Las Vegas. I'm...," Sara took a deep breath, "I'm engaged, to a man I work with." She had meant to tell him as little as possible, but as soon as she started talking it seemed she couldn't stop. She talked and talked, telling him of how she met Gil Grissom and how she'd chased him for years. Finally she made herself stop before she went into things in more intimate detail. It was just such a novel thing, to be able to talk about her love without feeling as if she was being judged, or just to be able to talk at all.

When their relationship had come out at the lab she'd thought they'd get more questions, but no one had ever even given her a questioning look. She'd heard Greg intimate that he'd known all along, and maybe he'd had some kind of intuition about it, but she doubted it was more than that. She'd really expected Catherine to ride her about it. But no, for the first time in two years she could talk freely about the man that she loved, and no one had seemed interested.

Mr. Mitchell sat quietly as she told her tell, and when she'd finished he smiled. "Well, you always were a persistent little thing, and now I can see you've grown into a smart, strong woman. I'm glad to hear that you've found your love. Some people never do."

Sara ducked her head, her cheeks turning pink. "Thanks so much, I didn't mean to dump that all on you." She cleared her throat and looked him in the eyes. "I actually came here to ask you if you might know where my mother moved after she sold the Inn."

At this, Mr. Mitchell ducked his head, his cheeks coloring. "My dear, that is the thing I feel worse about in this whole thing. I, hell the whole town, thought that your father was an abusive bastard. Your mom would come in here with bruises, and limping, and she would say things about your father, we were all convinced."

Sara reached out and gripped his hand. "You couldn't have known, none of you. What made you change your mind?"

His blush deepened. "Well, about a year after she came back to live in the Inn, we... well we became friendly. She... well you have to understand I was single, she was a lovely woman, and hell, I was lonely as well. We started dating. Well, it wasn't long before her true colors came out." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "We had gone out to some restaurant, when I took her home she invited me in, it wasn't the first time. The next morning she asked me to mow the lawn," he laughed ruefully. "I thought why not, you know, I was in a good mood." He stopped and hissed between his teeth. "Well, seems I had a little too much fun on the lawn, didn't take it seriously enough. Missed a few bits, didn't trim the drive and, well, next thing I knew I'd earned myself a slap. Oh, she apologized afterward but I had my reservations." He stood and started straightening the shelf of magazines. "After that, whenever she was in here, and would hint at wanting to get together, I'd just come up with a reason not to, you know, I'd have a delivery coming in, my mom wanted me to take out her friends daughter, stuff like that. She got pretty vocal towards the end. Finally I just told her I didn't think we should see each other again and she huffed off and started doing her shopping over in Millerton."

Sara sat silently for a moment, pondering how her mother could get off for killing her husband, and think she could go back to acting in the same manner. "Mr. Mitchell, James, if I may?" At his nod she continued. "James, my mother was... is a manipulative, conniving, even evil, woman. You couldn't have known."

He shook his head. "You know, the thing is I didn't cotton on to the truth about your father's death until weeks after that last blow-up. I came across an old newspaper while cleaning out the stockroom and got to reading an article about the trial. Then it just hit me, she didn't do it in self defense!"

Sara nodded. "No, she didn't, but who would listen to a scared twelve year old who witnessed her father's death. According to everyone in my mother's sphere, she was sainted for staying with him. My father was the most loving, sensitive man, and no one seemed to see that after she got through with them." Sara stood and fiddled with a display of lighters. "So, I guess you don't know where she went?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't even know she had left until Rona came into the store and said she'd bought the old place. From what I hear though it had become quite rundown."

Sara nodded. "Yeah, that's what I heard. Do you know of anyone that might have known where she went?"

"Not off the top of my head, like I said, after our little to do she just stopped coming to town," he said sadly.

Sara sighed and walked back to the front of the counter. She lifted the bag of M&Ms and smiled. "I'd still like to get these. I could use a little chocolate therapy. How much do I owe you?"

He shook his head. "Not a thing, take it. It's the least I can do."

"Well, thank you. I guess I'll see you around."

"So, you're staying around?" he asked, leaning on the counter.

"Yeah, I have some... some things to deal with." She waved and walked out the door.

She was just crossing the parking lot when he appeared in the doorway and called to her. "Where are you staying?"

"Out at the Inn."

He nodded. "I'll ask around, see if anyone knows anything."

Sara smiled. "Thanks."

A truck screeched to a halt in the parking lot and a man jumped out and ran around to open the passenger's door. "Well, we're here, baby. Let the countdown begin," he growled as he helped a woman out of the cab of the truck.

Sara watched from her position on the porch swing as he and the woman ran towards the steps. She popped another candy into her mouth and smiled at the look of happiness on their faces. He was wearing a tuxedo and she was wearing a dark green dress with amber scarves wrapped around her waist.

Sara felt she should turn away when he leaned in and kissed her. "Okay, I'm going to go in and register us, why don't you sit out here and enjoy the view. You won't be seeing much of it in the next couple of days, so make sure you look your fill." He grinned and hurried into the house.

The woman beamed, looking around. When she spotted Sara she blushed. "I'm sorry, we didn't see anyone there."

Sara smiled and shook her head. "That's okay. I think kissing is kind of expected at a place like this."

The woman blushed even more and edged her way over to where Sara was sitting. "I guess not," she held out her hand, "I'm Shannon Cl...White." she giggled. "I guess I'm going to have to get used to that."

Sara smiled and gestured toward the other end of the swing. "I'm Sara Sidle. So, you're here on your honeymoon." Sara guessed easily. Shannon nodded and Sara continued. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Shannon, looking a bit surprised, nodded. Sara hesitated, but rushed on. "What made you decide it was time to get married?"

Shannon's face flamed again. "Well, to be honest I - we um, we, my boy-, uh, husband and I had committed to a celibate life until we were married. We've known each other for a year and well, we just couldn't wait any longer. See, we've both had relationships in the past that were always ruined by having sex too soon, so this time we wanted to make sure we were together for the right reasons."

Sara was speechless. She tried desperately to find something to say, but she was saved when the front door opened and Shannon's husband came out. He rushed over and reached for his bride. "Come on ,babe, they're all ready for us." He pulled her hand and she stood.

"George, wait, George! I want you to meet someone." Shannon tugged him back.

George turned back impatiently but smiled in Sara's direction. "Honey, this is Sara Sidle, Sara, this is my husband, George White."

George reached out and shook her hand, but quickly pulled back and grabbed Shannon around the waist. "Sara, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to take my bride here, and if I'm lucky, we won't see anyone again for quite some time." He smiled and pulled a sputtering Shannon back towards the door and into the house.

Sara sat staring at where they'd disappeared. They seemed nice enough, but Sara wasn't sure that it wasn't a mistake to marry someone because you couldn't wait to have sex. It was one thing to make sure you had other things in common, like with her and Grissom, but what happens if you wait until marriage, but rush the marriage because you're waiting, and still end up having your relationship be about sex, which you'd learned in the past didn't work.

Sara sighed. She knew she didn't know enough about the situation to be a judge of it, but something seemed off about it. She'd known Grissom for years, was attracted to him the first time she saw him, and though nothing had come of it then, when they'd met again later those feelings hadn't gone away. Gazing out at the garden she remembered all the times she had had to push that attraction back, and the times it seemed that it would never lead anywhere. Once they were together, however, well, the waiting was over, and Sara couldn't have put off making love with her man for one more night.

Sara reached her hand out and grabbed some popcorn out of the bowl in Grissom's lap. She slanted a glance at Grissom and found that he was staring at the screen. She wished she could do that. Ever since dinner had ended and they'd cuddled up on the couch to watch TV she'd been distracted by everything about him, the clean smell of him, the warmth seeping into her from where their bodies touched, even the sound of him chewing the popcorn. Finally she reached over and grabbed the TV remote and hit the power button. Grissom looked at her wearing that confused look he got every time she did something unexpected. "Is something wrong, dear?" he asked.

"Gil, it's time," she said, firmly.

"Time, time for what?"

She licked her lips, reaching out a hand to run it through his hair, something she'd wanted to do all night. "You know what."

Before he could react she took the bowl from his lap and set it on the table. Ignoring his protest, she swung her leg over and settled herself on his lap. She bit her lip and smiled. "Oh yeah, you know alright."

Grissom brought his hands to her hips, wanting to push her away and pull her closer at the same time. "Sara, are you sure?"

In answer she reached down and gripped the bottom of her shirt, pulling it over her head. Throwing it behind her she reached forward and grasped his head in her hands. He looked into her eyes and knew she wasn't going to change her mind. Finally he released all the restraint he'd been using and gripped her tighter, pulling her into full contact with his erection. An erection he'd had all night, only able to disguise it with the popcorn bowl, and keeping his attention firmly on the television.

With a lunge, he stood, and she gasped as he lifted her up. Grinning she wrapped her legs around his waist and he carried her the short distance down the hall to her bedroom.

He laid her down on the bed, dropping a line of kisses along her nose and cheeks, finally kissing her lips. He stood and their eyes locked, he removed his shirt, then taking a deep breath, he unbuttoned his pants and slipped them down, kicking them away. He stood there feeling more vulnerable then he ever had.

She smiled, her eyes roaming up and down his body, clearly liking what she saw. She reached down and quickly undid her own pants before slipping them down and using her foot to sweep them off the bed. She sat up, maneuvering so that she was kneeling on the bed. She crooked her finger at him and he came to her. Their lips met, hot and wet, urgent, yet gentle. Sara pulled him back with her and they fell together, wrapped around each other, their hands exploring each other. Suddenly he reared up and looked around, but she took his chin and guided his look to her bedside table. "Believe me, I'm prepared, have been since you finally gave in and asked me out. Getting caught in this situation with no protection wasn't an option, couldn't have you backing out on me."

He laughed. "Honey, no way would I ever back out, and just so you know, I've been prepared since before I asked you out."

Sara grinned and grabbed him. "So, let's not hold back any longer." They kissed, hands roaming, teeth biting, and finally joined their bodies with a sigh. No thought was needed, no fumbling hands, no shyness holding them back. They knew what they wanted, and were each sure of getting it.

Afterwards they lay entwined, their hearts pounding. Sara looked up and grinned at him. "Well, is that all you got?"

He stared at her a moment and then laughed. "Darling, that was only a taste. There is so much more I can give you."

Sara pulled him closer. "I can't wait."

Sara jerked to the present when her phone rang. She grabbed it and was relieved to find his name on the ID. She quickly flipped it open. "Hey, I was just thinking about you."

There was a moment of silence and when he spoke, he sounded far more solemn then she felt. "Sara, are you sitting?"

At the tone of his voice a cold chill went through her, the warmth from moments before gone. "Yes, Gil, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"First of all I want you to promise me that you'll remain calm."

"But, Gil..."

"I said promise!" He cut her off.

"Okay, okay, I promise. Now tell me what's wrong. Is it Greg, has he been hurt? Or Nick, Warrick, Catherine, are they okay?" She was scared of what he was going to tell her.

"No, no, the team is fine, everyone here is fine, but I do have some bad news."

Sara remained silent and he went on.

"You remember you asked me to find your friend, Angela?" he asked.

Sara felt herself relax a bit. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. "Yes, you couldn't find her? That's okay, it's not always possible..."

He cut her off again. "Listen, Sara, you remember I told you I was working on a tough case?" Sara nodded mutely listening and wondering where he was going with this.

"Well, when you told me your friends name it sounded familiar. I wanted to confirm my suspicions before I talked to you, that's why I haven't been in touch. Your friend, Angela, well she was living here in Vegas, she was a cop on the police force actually." Sara heard him but couldn't say anything, she didn't like where this was going.

"Sara, honey, she was, um, she was killed. The latest victim of the guy we've been looking for. He's killed two other women, all within the last year and a half," he said in a rush. "Sara, honey, are you there?"

Sara sat, staring out into the yard. She heard him calling her, but couldn't say anything.

"Sara, Sara, are you there? God, Sara, say something!

TBC...