Chapter 14 (2)

A/N" Sorry, I didn't intend to take so long to post, but I got a touch of writers block, trying to tie a couple of chapters together and include some more conversation. Shouldn't be so long between for the next few. Thankyou to all those sticking with this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or anything to do with it, except for my own characters.

Step two.

Sara tossed her keys on the counter and moved into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of cold water from the refrigerator she rounded the counter once more and headed to the couch. She flopped down onto the comfy cushions and taking a swig of the water let her eyes close.

What a day. Actually it was more like four days.

Finally she could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The department psychologist had ok'd her for work, but not for two more days.

"You seem ok to me Miss Sidle for the most part, but I think you would benefit from a couple more days away from work, especially since you are adamant that you won't come back to see me."

She had been a nice enough woman, but Sara had never liked talking about things with strangers. Heck, she didn't even talk to people she did know and she wasn't about to make visits to the psychologist a regular thing even if the woman thought it would 'be to her benefit'.

Yes she was still having flashbacks, but she knew that would pass with time. She had been cooped up here in her apartment for the first two days with baby sitters that never left her alone except when she showered or went to the toilet. She had been so frustrated that she had threatened to castrate Rod if he they didn't leave her alone. Thankfully he took that as a sign that she was getting back to normal and left her alone.

The IAB investigation had been relatively easy, with the shooting witnessed by several FBI and PD officers, there was no doubt it had been a correct shoot. She was grateful for that, her career was after all her life and while the shooting would never be correct in her mind or heart, it had relieved some of the tension surrounding her.

Now she could relax and ready herself for work on Wednesday. Flicking on the TV she channel surfed until she came across a documentary on the life of bees on the discovery channel. With a smile she got comfortable and settled in to watch.

About ten minutes in she realised that she couldn't concentrate and her mind had wandered to Grissom, as could be expected watching a documentary on insects.

She had phoned him in desperation the night of the shooting. His was the voice she needed to hear and she made a small groaning sound as she realised how pathetic that was. She left to forget the man and as soon as there is a crisis he is the one she calls. Well she mused; they were already communicating and getting back on track with their friendship. Phone conversations were obviously the next step. It was just that she hadn't expected to be doing it so soon. Yes he had asked, but she had decided to wait a little longer and she laughed aloud as she thought of that.

My, how quickly things can change.

His voice had soothed her troubled soul and mind and she had secretly delighted when he had called her honey repeatedly over the course of the conversation. She knew that it was a term of endearment he used when he was upset for her, but he hadn't just said it once.

She thought back to the morning after that phone call.

When she had finally woken the next morning and demanded an explanation as to why Ally was in bed with her she had been a little surprised when told that Grissom had mentioned her nightmares and asked Ally 'to take care of her for me'. That little bit of information had been another sign that he did care about her. Ally had told her how his voice had been little more than a whisper when he had said it and that he had hung up before she could talk to him any more.

Now, sitting on her couch watching a documentary she knew he would love, she felt that it was time to move things along a little, so she reached for her phone and punched in speed dial one.

Grissom hadn't heard from Sara again since that middle of the night call and he was grateful for that because to him it meant she was doing ok. Unfortunately there was a part of him that wanted her to call.

The little voice of reason in his head told him not to read too much into her call, that it had been nothing more than the need to hear a familiar voice. But he really wanted to believe that she had called him because it was him she needed.

I mean she could just as easily have called Nick, who had always been her best friend, or Greg who could usually bring her out of her funks. Or maybe Warrick who could always be counted on to be the rational one. Catherine had been in the same position, but she and Sara had not always seen eye to eye.

No she had called him and it made his heart feel lighter.

He tried not to worry about her, knowing that she had plenty of support in Washington, and that IAB would clear her quickly. He had seen the news reports and there had been a lot of witnesses. Tried was the operative word here, because he just couldn't help it.

He would always worry about Sara.

He was startled out of his reverie by the ringing of his cell phone.

"Grissom" he said, as he walked into the kitchen.

He listened closely and grabbed a pen and paper to write down the relevant details.

"No problem, it'll probably take me twenty to thirty minutes to get there, I have to check my kit' he listened again. "Ok, see you there."

He closed his cell and opened the hall closet to grab his kit. Surprisingly it was fully stocked, so after grabbing some extra specimen jars and some food to keep the insects alive he grabbed his keys and headed out to his first job as the County's consultant entomologist.

He was gone for over three hours; there had been two bodies and a lot of evidence to collect. He had worked with Nick and Greg, and he had appreciated the fact that they knew what to expect from him and were able to help with the collection. He would do the time line at home, not the lab and as he arrived home he headed straight to his basement to begin.

It was another couple of hours before he ventured back upstairs to get himself something to eat, after his hunger and thirst finally got the better of him. It was only as he went to head back downstairs again that he noticed the flashing light on his answering machine.

To say he was surprised and a little delighted when he heard Sara's chirpy voice, would have been true and when he had listened to her message several times, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. He looked at his watch and after working out the time difference picked up the phone.

It rang several times and when it did pick up, it was her answering machine, not her. After leaving a message, with some suggested calling times, so that they could actually talk to one another he hung up.

He still wore a smile on his face several hours later when he finally turned off all the lights and headed for bed.

He was woken the next morning by the noise of not his alarm clock, but the phone. Still half asleep he reached for it, almost dropping it.

"Grissom" he answered half asleep.

"It would seem that I've woken you once again" the voice sounded amused. You did say I could call you at this time you know. Did you sleep in?" she was definitely laughing now.

Grissom came wide awake when he recognised the voice and quickly glanced at the clock to check the time. He had indeed slept in. Damn!!

"Well there's a first time for everything you know" he answered a little indignantly.

"Mmmm….. This retirement must play havoc with your sleep" she teased him gently, having heard the slight indignation in his voice. "I wish I didn't have to get up with the alarm clock every day. Must be nice."

"I'll have you know Miss Sidle that I was up until the wee hours working on the time line for a consultation I am doing for the Las Vegas Crime Lab. It's not all rest and relaxation you know" he copied her teasing tone.

"I see Dr. Grissom" she said solemnly.

Unfortunately she couldn't help herself and she ended up laughingand she could hear him doing the same.

Grissom thought how nice this was before he spoke again.

"How are you Sara, are you back at work yet?'

"No. Got one more day. I can go back on Wednesday. I'm so booorrred."

"I see you still have those workaholic tendencies Sara. I had hoped you were outgrowing them."

"Never gonna happen Grissom. You know me. I did do some sight-seeing yesterday, finally and it was nice, but I didn't feel like doing it today."

She spoke lightly, but Grissom could tell by her tone that all she wanted to do was get back to work. He didn't want to dwell on her current situation; he was enjoying this light banter. It had been too long since they had been able to do this.

"So, Miss Sidle, what can I do for you this beautiful, EARLY (and he emphasised the word) morning?" he asked.

Sara heard the humour in his voice and was delighted to hear it.

"Well, I just thought it would be nice to catch up. You know? I have really missed our chats and I have especially missed hearing your voice" she paused for a moment.

Grissom was not quite sure what to say, so he stayed silent and waited for her to continue.

"I wanted to try this Griss, I want to take this next step too."

"Thankyou Sara" Grissom breathed out a sigh. "I know we can do this. I've missed hearing your voice too, and I want to hear it more often."

"Good! Because you will be" her voice became serious now. " This last week has brought a lot of things home to me Grissom, and one of those things is that I need my family. What you said about everyone from the lab being your family made me realise that they were my family too" she swallowed before continuing.

"I just hope that they still want me to be a part of that family, because I miss everyone like mad and I really still need you all in my life."

"Sara…." He broke off, not quite sure how to put into words what he wanted to say.

"We…..everyone loves you Sara and you will always be part of our family. I think I already told you that. I think it's time we all started communicating a little better."

He stopped when he heard a little chuckle from the other end of the phone.

"Yeah I know, communication has never been one of my strong points. But what I am trying to say Sara is that it's not weak to need people. We all need to know we are loved and supported, it's not going to be as hard as you think" he finished.

"Thankyou Grissom. I'm sorry I got so maudlin. We can go back to talking about other stuff now" she told him.

"Good. But don't worry about it too much. Everyone will be fine. In fact Nick and Greg were just asking me last night if I had heard from you lately. It appears they think you have lost their email addresses. I didn't tell them about the shooting though, I thought if you wanted to them to know it was your place to do so not mine."

"I don't know if I will or not. I'll see" she wanted to change the subject.

"So, tell me about this case of yours that had you up til all hours."

Grissom chuckled and settled back against the pillows to tell her all about this latest case.

He looked at his clock as he closed his cell phone and placed it back on the table. He was startled to see that they had been talking for well over an hour.

He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he headed to the kitchen for coffee. Once the serious discussion was over they had chatted about cases, the difference in the two cities and what it was like to be a part of the FBI.

He showered, ate and settled himself into the basement once more. He smiled every now and then, remembering a part of the conversation. If anyone had seen him they may have thought he was crazy, smiling for no apparent reason, but Grissom had a reason, he was happy and he was sure Sara was too.

They had just started step two in their relationship and he hoped that it would be as successful as step one had been and that step three would be even better.