she could feel the eyes upon her as she walked through the familiar hallways of the lab. prying eyes gazing upon her injuries, wondering and imagining her relationship with gil.

she hated this, all of it. everything was so perfect before. She and gil had their life together, away from the lab, their own secret paradise that no one could disturb, they worked professionally- this secret never should have been revealed. it should have stayed just between the two of them, something they could share with each other and no one else.

she thought about when that discussion had first taken place, both agreeing that discretion was the best option. it was after they slept together for the second time, bare bodies remained close and intertwined beneath cotton sheets. it was all so knew, so fresh- she felt the need to stare at him, make sure he was actually there with her. her finger tips grazed and outlined his jawline, lightly scratching the scruff. his blue eyes gazing into her chocolate brown orbs, he leaned in and kissed her forehead lightly, lips lingering a bit.

she sighed at the thought. she wanted desperately to go back to that moment now, where everything was a secret, where she was safe in his arms, where neither could have ever dreamt up someone like the miniature killer.

she was technically still on administrative leave until ecklie finished the administrative inquiry, and until her doctor cleared her. But she had no desire to go back home now, there wasn't much to do there, and it would be too quite and lonely without gil. and as much as she wanted to pretend she was strong and unharmed by the events that had transpired, it was a lie. she hated to be alone- the images of that night creeping into her mind. she shook away the thoughts, for now she camped out in Gil's office until he ended shift.

she laid down with a forensic journal on the couch in his office after closing the door and shades. her ribs were sore, her arm throbbed, and the abrasions on her face still burned a little, each time she tried to relax- finding a comfortable position was difficult to say the least.

- - - - - -

it was about three hours later, grissom made his way back from the crime scene and into his office. he opened the door to find sara asleep on the couch, a forensic journal face down, open, laying across her chest. a cross between a smile and a frown appeared upon his face.

he approached her quietly and lifted the forensic journal off of her, he grabbed a blanket from the other end of the couch and gently covered her with it. he couldn't help but gently brush her hair back from her face, and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

grissom spent the next half hour catching up on paper work, evaluating theories, and organizing his desk. every now and again he would look over to sara and make sure she was still sound asleep.

it was as he was signing off on a case file when he heard her stir. he looked up to see her slightly flinching. he quickly got up and went to her side, kneeling down he put his hands on her, gently stroking, whispering her name. she wouldn't wake. he shook her good arm a little harder, saying her name right into her ear,

"sara- sara honey.... wake up. ... it time to wake up now."

she jolted up, surprising him. her breath quick and shallow. as she looked around and began to recognize her surroundings, her breath began to turn back to normal. all the while gil stayed quite, gently rubbing her back for reassurance.

she turned to him, looking at him,

"im sorry- i, i didn't mean to fall asleep here, i just-"

"shh, sara. its alright." he knew she didn't want to admit to or talk about the night mare she just experienced, "you need rest- but you should really go home and rest- im sure this couch isn't doing your soreness any good."

she simply shook her head, looking away from his eyes. he read the look on her face, and quickly realized that she didn't want to be home without him, that it made her uneasy.

his eyes softened with this realization, "why don't we go home,"

"but your case..."

"is in good hands- and if they really need me, they'll call."

"but ecklie..."

"can wait.- c'mon sara, lets go home, take a nice hot shower, get ready for bed, and curl up with a book?" he ran the palm of his hand over her cheek, she nodded slightly, and with that, he helped her up and lead her out of the building.

tbc....