Grissom found himself standing in the home of another domestic violence case. It was an every night thing that CSI responded to. Sometimes the couples were alive or dead, the one before him was where one live and one died. Robbins was present as was David as he and Warrick walked in with Brass. Seeing the woman lying on the floor, he was thankful that he and Sara didn't have issues to such a degree. They were too alike and even then, they hated fighting. He'd heard people say that before but they honestly hated fighting. It reminded Sara of her parents and he just never wanted to make Sara cry again. Plus the fact they'd wasted years didn't sit well with them.

Brass looked at the victim. "Janice Cutler, shot in the mouth."

Doc Robbins looked down as he spoke. "Judy and I deal with our marital problems a little differently. Counseling, separate vacations every year. She's never pulled a gun on me yet."

"Well I'm divorced so I'm out." Brass stated.

Warrick chuckled, "Tina and I just fight." He glanced over at Grissom, "what's yours and Sara's secret, Griss? You two always seem happy with each other."

"Well, we try not to fight. If we do, we mend the fences usually fairly quickly."

"What's the longest you've gone from fighting to make up?" Brass was the one to ask.

The older CSI shrugged. "Two, maybe three hours. We have a spare bedroom and I made it a space for Sara in case she gets annoyed with me. So far, we haven't needed it."

"Two to three hours?" Brass turned to the man. "How does that work?"

Robbins chuckled, "Gil, it doesn't work like that. Things don't mend after a screaming match after two to three hours."

"For us it does." He saw Warrick looking at him. "Look, we've known each other for years and we spent weeks talking before we did anything. No dates, no vacations, no sex, no anything. Once we were on the same page across the board, we started doing what normal people do when they date. We were on the same page from day one."

"Can you believe this guy." Brass looked to Robbins, "hitting it out of the park."

Robbins chuckled, "I'm telling you Gil, it doesn't work like that."

Sara found herself entering the house as Grissom was leaving, she smiled at him and he caught her wrist gently. "Warrick's probably going to interrogate you. A conversation got out of hand between the four of us, but I said very little."

"Hmm, I'm sure you did." Sara smirked, "before or after you opened your mouth?" He was silent and she nodded. "That's what I thought.

"I'm so sorry."

Sara put her hand on his arm. "It's fine. I've gotten used to fielding questions from Catherine. You know if I can handle her, I can handle Warrick."

"God, I love you."

"Excuse me, that's my line." She told him playfully. "I expect my quote next time we talk."

"I should find one you really will tattoo on your body." His eyes glanced down her body and back up.

Sara smacked his arm while pointing despite the grin on her, "I have two to choose from. I just haven't decided where I'll get the tattoo yet."

"Am I interrupting a domestic disturbance to come?" Brass asked and they looked to him standing behind Grissom. "I mean, the cops and the coroner are here, so we're set if you two want to go a few rounds."

"No, why would we?"

Grissom chuckled, "he thinks we're lying by saying we resolve our issues no more than two or three hours after we fight."

"Come on, you'll be straight with me Sara. From fight to make up, how bad was it after the Martino case? I know he must have been pretty mad at the stunt."

"An hour." Sara stated, "we don't fight often. Twice since we started dating."

"Fourteen months and only two fights." Brass shook his head. "you need to teach relationship seminars."

"No." They both spoke at the same time.

Processing the scene, Sara paused at a wedding photo. It was like a lot of wedding photos she saw at scenes. All smiles that usually were only for a few hours. Reality set in on the honeymoon more often than not. Testimonies over the years were repetitive regarding how marriage changed everything and once, a young girl about twenty had said she'd been happier before the wedding. Sara told her that people don't change after marriage, life is what does and the idea of marriage doesn't always match the reality.

"Was it the happiest day of your life?"

"Me and Tina?" Sara looked towards him as he let out a breath of air. "Happened so fast. Time will tell."

"I hope one day you'll look back and see all the hard work and know it was worth it."

Warrick shook his head. "You and Grissom seem so happy all the time. How is that possible? I mean, you two must fight and be angry and dislike stuff each other does. He says you two make up within hours but that doesn't seem real. None of my relationships, even in dating, has happened like that."

"We fight but not often." She sighed, "fighting is traumatic for me. Ironic given my temper, but it causes my past to rear its ugly head."

Lowering his camera, Warrick watched her. "I heard some rumors."

"Probably true."

"So your mom killed your dad? For real?"

Sara nodded, "yeah, battered women, it takes a while for them to realize but when they do, it's not pretty." She looked up at him, "except, she wasn't his only victim. I grew up on physical abuse and screaming."

"And Grissom won't let you be put into that situation again, however brief." Warrick nodded, "do you think he just does everything to make you happy, possibly sacrificing some of the things he'd prefer?"

"No." She chuckled, "trust me, he has opinions and I hear about them."

"I bet."

Sara smiled at her friend and colleague. "We really are happy though."

"How do you make it work?"

"Talking. We have this tradition." Sara told him, "when we get home we sit down and have breakfast together. Whether we make breakfast or pick it up, we always have breakfast together. I mean, there are exceptions but they're rare. Breakfast is our time to talk about anything we want to talk about without having interruptions. Weekends we try to leave the house and do something together. I keep one of his hobbies and he keeps one mine, something to do together."

Warrick nodded, "Tina and I, we aren't doing good Sara. I told Grissom earlier in the year and Catherine knows but conflicting schedules don't bode well."

"Can I be blunt?"

"Always. We may not like what you and Catherine say half the time but it's always what us guys need to hear."

"You rushed into the marriage and now you're playing catch up. I hope it works out Warrick, I really do but Nick's kidnapping wasn't a reason to rush things."

He nodded. "I know that now. What did you guys do after the kidnapping?"

"We went home, showered, walked our dog, and went to bed. Same as every other day."

"I meant afterwards in general, not immediately afterwards."

Sara chuckled, "nothing. Remember that we weren't dating publicly yet."

"Okay Mrs. Grissom, don't tell me." He told her and turned to the phone but turned back when Sara did say something.

"We did have a lot of sex that weekend though."

Warrick made a face. "Okay, I get why Nick doesn't want to hear that stuff. It's like hearing your dad is having sex with your sister." Sara laughed and looked around. "Why don't you take a look at this phone here and tell me what you think."

"Blood on the keypad, away from the spatter."

Sara found herself going from calm to chaotic quickly. After giving Grissom the article about Sammy Cutler's death, she found herself driving to Desert Palm lights and sirens full blast. Grissom was beside her but he was on the phone with Catherine regarding her picking up Brass's medical power of attorney from their townhouse.

"No Catherine, not the cabinet under the right desk. There's a cabinet under…" Grissom stopped talking when Sara took the phone from his hand and put it to her ear. "What…"

"Catherine, Sara here. Cabinet under window, far left top drawer. Drawer is labeled alphabetically, should be under a file labelled 'Brass'. Got it? Great, meet us at Desert Palm. Bye." She closed the phone and handed it out, which Grissom took. "Gil, when I say let me call Catherine," she looked to the side, "let me call Catherine."

He glanced at her and chuckled. "Are you going to be like this in ten years?"

"Oh definitely." She stated sarcastically. "When I have to drive our kid to the ER because you gave them the great idea to do some experiment with corrosive chemicals. Except, on the way I'll be calling Catherine to go dispose of your body and evidence I murdered you."

"I forgot; stressed Sara equals sarcastic Sara."

She shook her head, "how you stay calm like this I have no idea."

"Sara?"

"What?" She bit out.

"I'm here." He took her hand and squeezed it. "Breathe."

After taking a breath, she spoke as calm as she could. "I know."

Sara sent Greg to help Nick and Sofia with the train case, McKeen had taken one look at Sara and then Grissom when he returned to the waiting area. The three sat there for silently for hours until Sara picked up her head. She heard a disruption and faintly heard Brass's name. She stood up and put a hand on Grissom's shoulder, he nodded to her before watching her walk away. Sara made her way around the corner and saw a woman she knew from photos was Ellie Brass.

"Excuse me." Sara spoke as she neared the window. "Ellie?"

The girl turned to her, "what do you want, lady?"

"Ellie, my name is Sara Sidle. I'm a coworker of your father's."

"Okay, well some guy named Grissom called me. Where is he?"

Sara pointed to herself, "I'm his partner and I'm willing to take you to him but I need you to understand a few ground rules first."

"Look lady, I don't care you work with him, I just want to speak to him about my father."

"I'm his girlfriend actually and this," she motioned between them, "I'm not allowing you to create chaos. We called you here for your father, but if you're like this with Dr. Grissom, a man you don't know and is being kind enough to call when he doesn't have to, you're going to be out of line with your father. He doesn't need that. Do you understand?"

Ellie snorted. "You must be some mom, treating me like I'm so teenage girl you can boss around."

"I'm not here to boss you around. I'm here to make sure your father doesn't die because of your flippant and uncaring attitude. So, are you willing to listen to what I have to say?"

The younger brunette sighed. "Yeah, whatever."

"Okay. First, I'm going to get you a room at the motel down the street. Second, you're not getting access to your father's home or property. Third, when you're here, you're going to be respectful and not yell. Fourth, and this one I mean, you will not stress out any of the people here to help your father. That includes doctors, nurses, staff, cops, or CSIs. The Undersheriff is right down the hall, sitting here waiting with us. I don't have to tell you that doing something stupid isn't in your best interest."

"Got it, anything else?"

Sara nodded, "what do you want to eat? I was about to go get some coffee for us. I suspect you haven't eaten yet."

"Sandwich is fine."

"Alright. Come on." Sara started walking and Ellie followed.

Grissom stood as they walked down the hall. "Ellie, hello. My name is Gil Grissom. I called you."

"Your wife here already gave me the rules." She sighed, "what's going on with my dad?"

"I'm going to get Ellie something to eat and us some coffees." Sara stated and looked to McKeen. "Sheriff, would you like to join me?"

McKeen stood up and followed. "You two get married?"

"No, just a misunderstanding." Sara stated and turned back to see Grissom sitting down with Ellie beside him.

Watching from Grissom's side as Brass woke up, Sara couldn't help the tear that escaped her eyes. Beside her, tears in her own eyes Ellie was waiting. She started to run but Sara caught her arm gently. "He needs you. Take it from someone that lost her father young, you don't want to leave. When he's gone, he's gone."

Brass spoke softly. "Hey."

"Hey." Grissom held a cup and held it out. "Here, have some water."

After he'd finished drinking, Brass glanced at the man. "Thanks for not pulling the plug."

"There's someone here that wants to see you." Sara stated and moved so Ellie could see her father.

"Ellie."

Ellie smiled through the tears. "Hey Dad."

"We'll leave you to visit but your fan club will be waiting for their turns." Grissom told him and Brass followed Sara's pointing to the observation window where the team and several other people were waiting. When he waved they started crying and hugging.

Sara patted Brass's foot softly. "We'll come visit in the morning." She nodded to Grissom, "I need to get him home because he's been dead on his feet for days."

"And I need to get her home before she starts taking command of your care team."

"I would not." Sara stated.

Grissom chuckled, "Honey, if you could have commanded the OR, you would have." He guided her to the door.

"Just because I like control doesn't mean I don't know when to back off."

"You have tried to handle everything from hour one, including the car."

Sara huffed. "You couldn't give Catherine simple directions."

Ellie laughed. "They're very weird."

Brass nodded, "yeah they are but they're good together."

"I think I would have ran when you coded if not for Sara." Ellie told her father. "I'm glad I didn't."

"Me too baby, me too."

Sara listened from the bathroom as Grissom spoke to her. She pulled the robed from the hook by bathtub and pulled it on after toweling dry. Releasing the claw clip that her hair was up in, she grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing her teeth. Hank was on the floor of bathroom, head on his paws.

"I don't know. Most people want to die in their sleep, I suppose. Never know that it's happening." He sounded fully in thought, something that made her smile as she finished brushing her teeth. "Like a crime scene. Surprise, you're dead. I'd prefer to know in advance that I was going to die. I'd like to be diagnosed with cancer, actually. Have some time to prepare." Sara brushed her hands through her hair and went to grab a hair tie but paused. "Go back to the rain forest one more time. Re-read 'Moby dick.' Possibly enter an international chess tournament. At least have enough time to say good-bye to the people I love." Walking out to him, she bent down beside the bed.

"I'm not ready to say good-bye." She took his hand and smiled. "Ever."

I uh took some creative initiative and changed a few things. I feel like if everyone knew about Sara and Grissom, she would have been with him at the hospital. I also feel like she would have had some control over access to Grissom and Brass. She also knew about Ellie and is more realistic about what Ellie would want or could try to do instead of Sofia coming to Grissom. I also felt like the first few scenes at the house would have been different.

Next we get to see Sara take on some more responsibility that has call back to A Bullet Runs Through it. Responsibility she's earned vs asked for. It also sets for down the line where things kind of go further AU then scenes here or there.

Regarding the Miniature Killer storyline for season 7, it will still happen but not like you'd think. I really feel like it is compelling but it also set up the story line of Sara's depature from the lab from the very start. I can't do that, especially after all the growth she's gone through in this story. So yes there will be a miniature killer but I will not have Natalie Davis kidnapping Sara.

Let me know what you think if you so choose.