Sorry for the long delay in posting this chapter. As always, please consider sending through a review after reading.

CHAPTER 4

Sara arrived at work in good spirits. She had left her husband and her brother sitting in the living room watching a Blu ray documentary on China. She suspected Grissom was enjoying it more than Alex, but still - they were socialising with each other and that had to be a good thing. She had spent the day reacquainting herself with her brother and had pulled some strings to get him into an acclaimed, private rehabilitation centre. He was due there in a week. Life was good.

"Hey."

Sara turned as she walked down the corridor and smiled in greeting at Nick, who matched her pace so they were walking side by side to the locker room.

"Hey yourself." she replied. "How did things go last night with the pool guy?"

Nick shrugged.

"Finished up pretty early in the end." he replied. "Got another call out after that to a triple fatality in Boulder. Guess that will be keeping' me busy tonight."

"Yeah, well thanks for helping me out last night. I owe you one."

Nick snorted.

"Just one?" he said, smiling at her. "I think the tally's up more than that."

Sara mock scowled at him.

"I think you need to learn to count there, Cowboy." she replied as they walked into the locker room and dropped their bags into their respective lockers.

"So," said Nick, changing the subject, "how did things go with your brother?"

Sara shrugged but didn't turn to look at him. "Well, he's staying with us until he gets his life sorted out a bit more."

She heard Nick close the door to his locker and take a seat on the bench, then the unmistakable click of the magazine from his gun being removed.

"He's staying with you? I thought from the way you spoke about him last night that you weren't close?" Nick said, attention divided between the conversation and checking the bullets in the magazine.

Sara shrugged before closing the door to her locker and turning to face him.

"Well, we've worked some things out." she replied.

Nick ducked a glance up towards her.

"Obviously." he chuckled. "24 hours ago I'd never heard you mention you had a brother and now he's living with you? Must be a fast worker."Sara scowled at him.

"It's complicated." she replied simply.

Nick went back to tending to the magazine before slipping it deftly into the chamber of his gun and pulling the barrel towards him to load the first bullet. Pushing himself back up onto his feet, he fastened the weapon into his side holster and grabbed his CSI vest from the bench, slipping into it as he spoke.

"And Gris is fine with all this?" he asked.

Sara glanced at him as she pulled on her own vest.

"Yes. He's fine with it."

Nick smiled at her and raised his eyebrows playfully at her.

"Well, OK then. I'll mind my own business."Returning his smile she replied "I'd appreciate that." before turning and leading them both out to the break room.

Grissom sat in an uneasy silence with Alex, watching the documentary while playing the events of the last 24 hours through his mind. He couldn't believe how dramatically his life had changed in such a short space of time.

"What do you resent most about me?"

The question caught Grissom by surprise.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"What do you resent most about me?" Alex asked a second time. "I mean, come on. I know you hate having me here. I know it's just eating you up inside. So, what is it that pisses you off the most?"Grissom turned his head slowly to look at him. Alex was sitting back in the recliner, smugness written all over his face, watching his brother-in-law as if wanting to see him squirm.

Grissom raised an eyebrow at him.

"Is it my relationship with Sara?" Alex continued, "Or that I'm in your house? Or maybe a combination of the two? Maybe it's because your wife is so willing to put herself out so much for someone like me after only an hour and she didn't even talk to you about it. That must be very emasculating."

Grissoms eye twitched with a mixture of emotions but he didn't bite. Instead, he turned his head back to the television.

"That's it, isn't it." Alex pushed on - determined to push his brother-in-laws buttons. "You have no authority in your own house! Your little wife runs the show. She wants me here and you can't do anything about it. You just have to do what you're told!"

Grissom pushed himself up from the sofa and turned to face Alex.

"My wife a I are equal partners in our marriage. It's born out of mutual love and respect and I pity you if you can't understand that. I'm going to bed." he said before turning and heading out of the living room and heading for his bedroom.

"Oh, come on." Alex called after him. "I'm only messing with you. Where are you going? What? Did I hurt you're poor, delicate feelings?"

Grissom could here his taunts continue as he closed his bedroom door and sat heavily on the edge of the bed. He brought his hands up and rubbed his face, trying to wipe away the anger he was feeling. He dropped his hands back down across his knees and watched the slight tremor of emotion course through them. He rarely lost control - rarely let things affect him - but something about the man sitting out in his living room affected him deeply.

It was becoming clear.

Alex Sidle was his kryptonite.

Sara and Nick spent the night shift working together.

They had a mountain of evidence to process from the previous night and the two colleagues sat opposite each other in the lay-out room - working quietly and independently on their own portion of the case.

Sara had found it difficult to continue to focus. Her mind kept wandering back to her brothers situation and how she was going to help him. Several times she found herself drifting back from a daydream . Occasionally she would look over to see Nick giving her a quiet, amused glance before returning his attention to the evidence, other times she would just realise she had spaced out for a second or two and that her colleague hadn't noticed.

She glanced over at him and smiled.

She enjoyed being back with her team and particularly enjoyed being back working with Nick - her surrogate brother. As their friendship had grown over the years, she often thought about her biological brother and wondered if their relationship would have been similar. The teasing. The fun. The occasional fights. The mutual respect.

"Hey. You sure you're OK, Sar?" Nick asked quietly.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked dumbly over at him.

"Huh?" she replied before her brain kicked in. "Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Nick watched her a moment longer.

"You've been staring off in space for the last 10 minutes. Anything you want to talk about?" he continued. "I'm a good listener."

Sara dropped her head down momentarily.

She had spent her whole adult life building up an impenetrable wall around her past - determined not to let it contaminate her future. She had hidden the details of her childhood from all of her friends and colleagues. She wasn't really sure if she was ready to confide in Nick. They had been friends for years - it wasn't as if she didn't trust him to keep her secret nor was it that she didn't value his advice - but she really didn't want him to think any less of her. She realised how stupid it sounded as soon as the thought entered her head.

It was Nick.

He would tell it like it was, but she knew he would support her even if he didn't agree with her. He was loyal. He was dependable. And, she suddenly realised, he was also an expert on the one subject she was totally clueless on - sibling relationships.

He was the youngest of seven children. He had a whole lot of experience with dealing with brothers and sisters.

If there was one person who could give her advice on the subject it was Nick Stokes.

She smiled as the realisation sunk in and she lifted her head to look into his concerned eyes.

"Can I talk to you in confidence?" she asked quietly.

Nick frowned.

"Of course." he replied before pushing himself up from his seat and moving to close the door to give them some more privacy. "What's up?"

Sara gave a humourless chuckle.

"I don't know how to be a sister?" she said simply. "I don't know how to help."

Nick shrugged, confused.

"Well," he replied, "what does he need help with?"

Sara dropped her hands to the counter.

"Everything." she said simply before she leaned back in her chair and met Nick's eyes earnestly. And, finally, she told her friend the background to her life.