A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. I think this is the penultimate chapter... I will try to tie up the loose ends in the next one and get that shiny complete! :) Have a nice weekend! Charli xx
Greg loitered in the doorway, his eyes begging her to reconsider but she avoided his gaze. Sobs shook her body as her hands moved to cover her face and he realised that the best thing he could do was to step away right now.
She had gone through an incredibly traumatic experience. As much as he wanted to tell her she was being irrational and impetuous he knew that the words would serve no purpose in that moment, they would be washed away with her tears as she struggled to absorb the huge amount of information being forced upon her.
She was pushing him away and there was nothing he could do about it.
He took the elevator to the first floor, following the flow of people towards the canteen. Plastic tables and chairs stretched out in front of him, a few fake plants were dotted around and a long stainless steel serving bar stretched the length of one wall as faceless people slid their trays along it collecting their food.
Sara was sat by the window, 3 empty coffee mugs sat in front of her lonely and discarded as she stared out the window and a bag of chips lay opened but untouched in the centre of the table. Her eyes were fixed on a Willow tree draping its leaves onto the ground.
Greg cleared his throat nervously as he took the chair across from her.
"You're back already?" She asked, checking her watch immediately.
Greg shrugged in response, turning his own eyes to the scene outside. The peace and tranquility of nature.
"What's going on?" She questioned, her brow furrowing in confusion.
"I... I think she broke up with me..." He muttered, still slightly shocked about the whole thing.
Sara frowned immediately, scanning his face for signs that he was pulling her leg but everything about his told her he was speaking the truth. The sadness that dulled his eyes, the lethargy that had settled into his limbs, the sense that he had already given up.
"What do you mean?" She asked, somehow hoping there was a way to misconstrue what he had just said but knowing deep down that his words had been crystal clear.
"Exactly what I said" He sighed, meeting her eye and sending her a feeble little shrug "She told me to get out..."
"Maybe you heard her wrong..." She rationalised but Greg shook his head, snatching a chip from her packet and crunching on it distractedly.
"I don't think so...she's really messed up about all this" He remarked flippantly, waving his hand towards her.
"That's what this is about?! because of me?" Sara cried, her voice loud and incensed.
"It doesn't matter" Greg soother, attempting to calm her trademark quick temper.
She had been almost placid in recent years, the things that used to make her see red seeming to slide off her shoulders like nothing but now he saw that familiar fire burning in her eyes as her defensive nature took control.
"Yes it does Greg" Sara insisted, closing her hand over his and catching his eye.
"I... I'll be fine" He muttered, quickly glancing around the dining hall "you want to get some food?"
"I'm good" She shook her head, watching as he unwound himself from the table and turned towards the food "Greg...?"
His eyes caught hers again, the sadness reflected in them tugged at her heart-strings. He really did care deeply for Robyn and she would readily admit they made a sweet couple. She had watched him caring for Joel with a sense of deep pride at the man he had become.
"Yeah?" He responded.
"Are you ok?" She asked.
She understood it was a bit of a redundant question. The aftermath of a break up was never easy, for anyone involved. Least of all the one reluctant to let go.
"I dunno... I guess I will be" He shrugged, leaving the table and taking a tray in his hands.
Sara watched him moving through the queue, with every move he took she felt herself getting more and more angry. Robyn was putting him through this unnecessarily, she was completely unjustified in pushing him away and the more she thought about it the more she realised she had to do something about it. She pushed her chair away from the table, keeping her eyes fixed on Greg as he chatted to the servers and when she was certain he wasn't looking she marched her way to Robyn's room like a woman on a mission.
She looked up as soon as Sara stepped through the door looking like she had the weight of the entire world on her shoulders, but Sara had no time for sympathy.
"Sara..." She whispered, her eyes suddenly wide and almost afraid.
"What the hell are you thinking doing that Greg?" She attacked, not holding back the anger burning on her tongue "don't you know a good thing when you see it?!"
"It's just better this way" She mumbled, shaking her head and refusing to catch Sara's eye.
"Look, I don't expect us to be best friends. If you never want to see me again then that's fine but Greg doesn't deserve this"
"you don't understand..." Robyn attempted to protest but Sara was in full ranting mode, pacing the room and taking absolutely no notice of her.
"You know what? I don't understand.. you are completely out-of-order! Don't you realise how lucky you are?!"
"Lucky?" Scoffed Robyn, making Sara stop dead in her tracks and turn to face her.
"Yes, Lucky!" Sara found herself yelling as she lost all self-control and just let rip "You got out! You got the nice family, the big house, the normal childhood... you never had to find ways to avoid going home, you never had to hide bruises, you never had to lie to the police. I bet you wouldn't even know what it was like to have to learn to trust someone enough to have a relationship...you've been married, you've had a child... you have Greg! So, yes... I think you're pretty goddamn lucky!"
A silence settled between them as Sara slowly felt the adrenaline leaving her body. Robyn looked so shocked that she actually began to feel sorry for her. Guilt flooded her system as Robyn's body shuddered with the effort to hold back her tears and she found herself turning slowly on her heel to face her.
"He won't want me now anyway... it's just better like this" She sobbed quietly.
"what are you talking about?" Sara questioned.
A frown furrowed on her brow as she hastily took a few steps towards the bed. Robyn had that same self-deprecating aura around her she recognised in herself and she knew all too well that when she was finding herself drowning under her burdens the very first thing she did was to push everyone away. Not to hurt them but to protect them.
"Look at me! Look what I've done to myself" She cried "I might never walk again, I might never be able to carry his child, I might ruin his life too..."
Sara fixed her eyes on Robyn as she stepped across the room and took the chair by the bed. She found this new side of Robyn somehow endearing. It was strangely comforting to find they shared the same kind of behaviours. Sara knew better than anyone what it felt like to be in that place and the hostility she had felt towards her vanished in that moment.
"Robyn... none of that matters to him. He loves you" Sara declared with certainty.
"and I love him too... which is why I told him to go"
Robyn met her eye, begging her to understand but before she could respond the movement of Greg in the doorway distracted their attention. It was clear he had been listening for a while, he marched across the room towards them both, his eyes fixed on Robyn's.
"Why didn't you tell me all this?" He demanded.
Sara shifted uncomfortably in her seat, unsure what the etiquette was in this situation. She wasn't entirely sure she should still be there at all as Robyn's tears broke free and Greg's arms wrapped around her. She watched as she crumbled in his arms and he held her close.
"I'm scared Greg" She confessed, her face burrowing into his shoulder "I'm scared of what all this means..."
Greg caught Sara's eye as though asking her for the right words. She widened her eyes and shrugged slightly in response. This wasn't her battle, these confessions weren't meant for her ears.
"That's ok... its ok" Greg whispered "but pushing everyone away isn't going to help"
Sara sighed, pushing herself up from the chair and meeting Greg's eye. She had done what she intended to do and felt she had outstayed her welcome.
"I'm... gonna go" She declared in a long exhale of breath.
"No...you're going to stay" Greg instructed, holding his hand up to her and gesturing for her to sit down. The defiant Sara Sidle she had deep within wanted to protest but she realised she had already spent a lot of her energy on arguing today. It really wasn't worth it. "we are fixing this right now"
"Greg... you guys clearly have things you need to discuss" Sara argued as Robyn lay back against the pillows. Her eyes cast over the younger woman with renewed understanding but that didn't mean that Robyn would be willing to let her in.
"hey... there are no secrets with family, right?" He smiled, looking between them both and hoping that the tension between them had finally dissipated.
Sara found herself simply drawing breath and holding Robyn's loaded eye contact. She was seeking permission to stay, although it was too subtle an exchange for Greg to even suspect anything was happening the tiny nod that Robyn allowed her told her everything she needed to know.
In the hour that passed the tense atmosphere that seemed to cloak them had dispelled. Conversation seemed to naturally turn to Greg's many mishap's in and around the crime lab and laughter filled the room as a small knock broke everyone's conversation.
Grissom stood in the doorway looking awkward and confused although infinitely as relieved as Greg was to have the women in the same room without tearing each other's eyes out.
"Sorry to interrupt..." He muttered.
Greg nodded him further into the room and he stepped cautiously across the white tiled floor towards the congregation around the bed.
"How are you feeling?" He asked Robyn with a nod.
She shifted in bed as Greg attempted to slide her over so that he could perch beside her before smiling at Grissom and whispering her response.
"much better... now"
Her head rested heavily on Greg's shoulder, her eyes fluttering closed every few seconds as she fought off exhaustion. Grissom caught the eye of his wife, the expression she wore much more relaxed than what he had witnessed over the past few months.
"May I borrow my wife for a few hours?" He smiled, holding her eye contact with his.
"I uhh I need to wait for Greg" She said, remembering that she had drove them there.
"its fine" Greg piped up "just give me your keys and I'll take your car"
Sara smiled, handing him the small bundle of keys as she stood up.
"That's hardly a fair trade..." She grumbled.
She pressed a small kiss to his cheek, her hand reaching out and nervously squeezing Robyn's before she left the room. As they stood in the narrow corridor she glanced inside the tiny window and watched as Greg settled back in the pillows and held Robyn's magazine out in front of him. He wrapped his spare arm around her shoulders and read to her as she settled in his arms.
"So, I managed to buy some more time at home" Grissom began.
Sara frowned "how did you do that?"
"I'm going to be guest lecturing at UNLV for a while" He shrugged as if he were talking about taking out the trash when in reality this bombshell had the power to change the entire dynamic of her life. She was already considering what it would be like to come home from work to find him there every night. She was already imagining how great she would feel if she woke up beside him every morning and went to sleep beside him every night.
"How long is a while?" She asked, cautiously raising one eyebrow in suspicion.
"3 months... to start with" He said, curiously watching her reaction.
"you're serious?" Sara continued, excitement beginning to rush through her blood stream already.
"of course" He nodded.
"you're really staying in Vegas?"
Grissom smiled, a smile that mirrored all the anticipation that she felt. A wide genuine smile that told her that he was looking forward to their time together as much as she was.
"I'm staying in Vegas"
"That's what your meeting was about" Sara stated, somewhat unnecessarily.
She had stopped asking what they were about a long time ago because inevitably it would end with him being sent to ever exotic countries over the globe and she phased out the explanation anyway. Grissom simply nodded.
"Well... Why?" She said.
She realised all of a sudden that she didn't ask him why nearly enough. He had always taught her that they were not in the business of why and maybe that influenced her decision to never press him for answers but the truth was, this wasn't business, this was their lives and she needed to know hos motives.
"what do you mean, why?" He frowned.
"Why now?"
"I guess all of this family talk made me finally realise what's important" He stated almost flippantly.
He had the ability to make the most profound statement sound like nothing as it found its way to his lips but luckily she had the ability to see past it for everything it was worth.
"you are amazing" Sara declared, swinging her arms around his neck and finding his lips with hers.
"May I take you to dinner now Mrs Grissom" He asked pointedly.
Sara smiled and nodded with a sultry half-smile "You can take me anywhere you like Mr Grissom"