December 2000

Grissom watched Sara's movements as she walked through Scott Shelton's apartment. Her movements methodical, gliding through the space as she looked for clues of Kate. He watched as she rounded the corner to the back hallway. She could feel his eyes on her but she didn't let on. She sprayed the luminal on the left wall. Nothing. The floor. Nothing. She looked toward Grissom who nodded his head toward the right wall. She sprayed on. The pinkish color began to surface, revealing the streaks of blood.

"I have no idea how that got there." Shelton exhaled. Smirking ever so slightly.

Grissom watched as Sara's eyes turned in intensity. Piercing. "How it got there?" She stood, taking two easy strides toward Shelton. "It got there when you shot your wife in the head, wrapped her in a blanket and dumped her in the mountains!"

Things got heated quickly. Shelton slapping Sara's wagging finger from his face, her shoving him back, "You touch me again—"

"Sara! Sara!" Grissom grabbed her from behind, pulling her back as Brass did the same to Shelton. "Hey, hey" he softened his voice once Shelton was gone, turning her in his arms to face him. "Hey, what is the matter with you?"

She pulled away violently. "I am a woman with a gun and look how he treated me. I can only imagine how he treated his wife." She walked away. His eyes following her, his feet quickly doing the same.

They drove back to the lab in silence for the most part. She stared out the window of the passenger seat, arms folded like a child.

"Sara..."

"Save it. I get it, I was out of line."

A moment passed before she continued, "Guys like that just really get under my skin."

"I can see that" Was all he offered. Until he continued, "Look Sara, there are three types of crimes that get me going: Sex crimes against kids, Drug dealers, and men who hit their wives. I get it, I do. But we can't let these personal issues seep into our work. We can't let that happen again."

She sighed outwardly as she continued to look out the car window. He passed sideways glances at her every now and again until they finally pulled up to the lab parking lot. He reached out to touch her shoulder and felt her flinch below his hand.

"If he's guilty, we will get him." His words were meant to be reassuring, to offer the little amount of comfort he could.

She turned to face him, eyes intense and dark, "He's guilty."

Hours later, Grissom couldn't shake the moment from his head. He sat behind his desk, staring at the linear regression timeline of bugs that turned up a result of 'four days dead'. Not the result they wanted, but the result they were stuck with. His head cloudy with Sara's intensity on replay. He pulled out a number from his rolodex and before he realized what we was doing, dialed.

"Crow."

"Hey, Dave. It's Gil Grissom."

Without skipping a beat, "Is Sara okay?"

"Yes—yes. She's fine." Grissom could hear Dave sigh in relief. Is started a bit awkwardly, "A few months back, when we spoke..."

"Yes?"

"You mentioned something about how there is more? More to Sara?"

"I can't discuss that with you, Grissom. Has she gotten emotional with a case?"

"I can't discuss that with you." he quipped back.

"Your call tells me that she has. She's a good CSI, Grissom. Sure, she's got flaws, like we all do. She'll bounce back. She always does. If she needs me, I'm here. She knows that." He paused, "Take care."

He pinched the bridge of his nose hard. What was he doing? Why was he so concerned with her reaction to this case? If Warrick or Catherine had done that he'd have sent them packing for the day. Was he loosing his perspective here? What was it about her that made him loose his balance? He opened a book in hopes of quieting his mind.

"Hey." He voice pierced through him.

He looked up to see her standing in his doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Hey... You find out anything about Warrick?"

"Um.. I'm here about something else. You know how you always say we're the victim's last voice? I thought it was our job to speak for Kate Shelton."

"You don't crunch evidence to fit a theory."

"What if you hear the victim's screams, in the car at the store..."

"You have empathy for her Sara. You want someone to pay for what was done to her. That's normal." His word choice was purposeful, empathy not sympathy. It was a hunch that he'd hoped was wrong, but she gave no indication in either direction.

She cocked her head to the side, "You want to sleep with me?"

Yes, yes I do. Heat rose within him, imagining what that would look like, what that would feel like. He could deny it to his brain all he wanted, but there was no denying to his body what he desired. "Did you just say what I think you did?" He took off his glasses tentatively, staring into her eyes, trying to read what was behind them.

"That way, when I wake up in the middle of the night under the blankets in a cold sweat, hearing Kate's screams, you can tell me its just empathy."

His mouth opened but nothing came out. She looked down at her feet, something he'd seen her do so many times before when eye contact was too much for her to bare. She looked up at him again, his cheeks feeling flushed but it didn't show. She shook her head slightly before walking out.

The blanket.

Later that night Sara got what she wanted. A night with Grissom. She could have done with the pig and bugs but, anything to get a little time with him. She wrapped a blanket around his neck and handed him a thermos of hot coffee. "Thank you."

He smiled back at her with that boyish grin of his. They spent the night chatting, catching up and enjoying one another's company, something they really hadn't done since she moved to Vegas.