AN: Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter – lots of more Sara/Grissom/Sam interaction in this one! And those of you who presented theories on why Grissom left earlier – see if you can spot how I worked some of them into this chapter! Thanks to WalkerTRngr for the beta help on this chapter, and if any errors still slipped through, they're all on me

Disclaimer: I don't own anything relating to CSI

Chapter 6

Sara's not sure if it's Sam's initiative or Grissom's – she's kind of leaning towards the former but hoping for the latter – but after their evening at the dog park, he leaves a note in her locker whenever he's at the lab, or texts when it's been a few days since they've needed to call him in, to ask if she wants to come over for an afternoon at the pool or movie night, meet them at the park, or tag along on whatever adventure he and Sam are going on that day. Over the next few weeks, they visit the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and Adventuredome at Circus Circus – which Grissom probably enjoys the most out of the three of them since Sam has apparently not inherited his love of rollercoasters and refuses to go on any of the scarier ones. They take a day trip to the Hoover Dam when Sara admits that she's never been there, despite having lived in Las Vegas for almost a decade now. On Halloween, he practically begs her to take Sam trick or treating so he won't have to, and since it's at least an excuse to get out of being on the other end of the whole thing and having to hand out candy to the over-sugared kids in her neighborhood, she agrees after just a little token grumbling.

Sam's the one who talks her into staying to watch The Nightmare Before Christmas after they get back – since it's apparently tradition – with the promise of sharing some of her candy.

"Oh, no, I saw your haul," Sara objects when the girl hands over a couple of bags of Smarties and candy corn. "Cough up a chocolate bar and some Skittles." Sam rolls her eyes and huffs, but does produce a Snickers bar, two Reese's cups, and the requested Skittles. "Thank you."

"What about me?" Grissom asks, and Sam sticks her tongue out at him.

"You didn't come with us, so you're not getting any. No trick or treating, no treats. I don't make the rules."

Sara snorts. "I think you probably want to share, or you might not get to eat any of that candy."

With an over dramatic sigh, Sam holds out her bag, and he rummages through it for some Skittles of his own and a bag of M&M's.

"Pick out five things, and then we're putting the rest of it away," he then instructs her.

"But Daaaaad, it's Saturday, and Halloween," she complains. "It's literally a holiday about candy."

Sara knows what's coming before he even opens his mouth.

"Actually, originally, Halloween was a time when people remembered the dead," he starts, his voice taking on its characteristic teacher tone. "It's believed to be a Christianized version of the Gaelic festival of Samhain, which dates back at least as far as the ninth century, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld was believed to not be as strong as it usually is. People thought the spirits of their loved ones who had passed on were able to visit them, so it was tradition to set a place for them at the table. They also believed that fairies, or elves, were able to walk freely in this world, and the costumes we use today might be from the people back then trying to disguise themselves."

Sam is quiet while he talks, and when he finishes, she looks up at him, biting her lip. "We didn't set a place for Mom at dinner," she says quietly, and Sara feels her heart breaking a little for the girl.

For a moment, Grissom looks completely caught off guard, and she's about to step in and say something – she does have some experience with losing a parent, after all – when he pushes himself out of the armchair he's been occupying to move to the couch next to Sam. He puts a hesitant arm around her shoulders, as if half expecting her to pull away, but she just cuddles into his side, sniffling a little.

"I'm sorry, Sammie," he tells her, voice low and comforting. "I haven't thought about those old traditions for a long time, so it didn't occur to me to suggest it."

"It's OK," Sam replies, the words mumbled into his shirt. Then she lifts her head to look up at him. "But maybe we could put some candy away for her?"

He smiles and squeezes her shoulders. "I think that's a nice idea, sweetheart."

Sam immediately starts rummaging through her bag of candy. "Mom liked peanut M&M's the best, but I only got regular ones."

"I'm sure she'd love those too," Grissom assures her. "You want to put them on the shelf?"

Sam nods, sliding down off the couch to cross the room to the built-in bookcases that cover an entire wall in the den. One shelf has been dedicated to Andrea, with a photo of her and Sam, a teddy bear Sam's uncle helped her buy for Mother's Day the year before the accident, and a candle Sam sometimes likes lighting. She puts the small bag of candy down in front of the photo and picks up the lighter, glancing at her father over her shoulder, waiting for his nod before lighting the candle, and then bounds back to the couch.

Sara's been feeling a little like an intruder for the last few minutes, and is surprised when Sam, instead of going back to Grissom's side, leans against her.

"Can we start the movie now?"

She glances at Grissom, but he just shrugs before reaching for the remote.

By the time the credits are rolling across the screen, Sam is snoring softly, her head in Sara's lap and her feet in Grissom's. Sara's not completely surprised by the surge of… love, probably, if she's being honest with herself, when she looks down at the sleeping child, it's been creeping up on her for a little while, but it's still more than a little overwhelming.

Unaware of her inner turmoil, Grissom sighs. "I hate to wake her, but with all the candy she had today, I probably shouldn't let her skip brushing her teeth tonight, huh?"

Sara swallows down the lump in her throat. "Yeah, that's probably not a good idea." She runs her fingers through Sam's hair, before shaking her shoulder lightly. "Come on, kiddo, time for bed."

The girl stirs, rubbing her eyes. "What 'bout t'movie?"

"All over," Grissom tells her, getting to his feet. "Come on – time to brush your teeth and then bed."

Sam grumbles a little, but gets up. "Night, Sara."

"Night, kiddo."

"Thanks for going trick or treating with me, it was the best." The last word is swallowed by a huge yawn, and Sara smiles.

"I had fun too. Sleep tight."

Father and daughter disappear up the stairs, and Sara slumps back against the couch.

It was inevitable, she knows. She and Grissom are definitely firmly back to being friends by now, and she gets closer and closer to forgiving him every day, even if she still doesn't know if she'll ever be able to trust him completely again. And Sam… she's the easy part of all of this. There are no complications to their relationship, no old feelings or disappointments tainting their interactions. Plus, she's a kid. Sara's never really had much to do with kids, at least not since she got out of the foster system, and whenever she's around them through work, there are always extenuating circumstances.

Sam is just… Sam. Who's determined to teach Hank to play dead after seeing it on YouTube. Who hates frozen waffles but absolutely inhales the ones Grissom makes from scratch. Who hides her peas in her napkin when she thinks nobody's looking. Who knows all the state capitals and is trying to memorize the periodic table.

The fact that she's Grissom's kid isn't even in the top ten reasons why Sara loves her.

"Hey, you want something more substantial than candy to eat before shift?" She looks up to find him at the bottom of the stairs. He frowns when their eyes meet. "You OK?"

Mentally shaking herself, Sara puts on a smile and gets up from the couch. "I'm fine. And yes, some actual food is probably a good idea, that Snickers bar wasn't very filling, for some reason."

"There's not too much to choose from, I'm afraid," he warns her as he leads the way up to the kitchen on the main floor. "I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow."

Which she knows, of course. She's very familiar with the Grissoms' weekly schedule by now – Sundays are grocery days, Saturdays are fun days. Mondays, Sam has swimming practice and Tuesdays and Thursdays, gymnastics.

It's all so domestic she can't think too much about it or her head starts spinning.

"It's fine, you know I'm not picky," she assures him, taking a seat at the large kitchen table while he goes to inspect the fridge and pantry.

"Grilled cheese OK?" he asks a moment later, opening the freezer and producing a tub of Half Baked. "I can even offer dessert."

Sara has to smile. "You'd brave Sam's wrath if she finds out we ate her favorite?"

"I'll pick up more tomorrow, she never has to know," he brushes her off with a shrug, putting the ice cream back before turning to the stove.

She watches him for a while, for once letting all emotions run free. She knew she never really stopped loving him, of course. She admitted as much to Greg, even, when they first found out Grissom was coming back. But she did think that the whole breaking her heart thing would keep those feelings from evolving into actually being in love with him again.

Apparently, she was wrong.

She's definitely not ready to explore those feelings yet, though, so they're just going to have to wait until she is.

It doesn't take long before the food is ready, and Grissom puts a plate down in front of her before sitting down.

"You want to know something funny?" Sara asks, spearing a piece of grilled cheese on her fork and popping it in her mouth.

"Of course."

"I made up a whole bunch of… scenarios, I guess. After you left. Where you just… came back with some crazy explanation and I'd either forgive you or not. And not one of them included unexpectedly getting custody of a child you didn't know about."

"No?"

"I guess my imagination has its limit."

Grissom nods thoughtfully and they eat in silence for a while.

"What kind of scenarios did you come up with?" he then asks curiously. "The ones where you forgave me, I mean."

Sara gives him a sheepish smile. "Honestly, there weren't a lot of those. Most were just… letting all my anger out by getting to yell at you, basically. I guess it was my way of processing everything."

"You want to do that now?" he offers. "I can take it."

"I think I'm good, thanks." She can't help but smile.

"OK, so… give me a scenario," he continues. "One where you forgave me."

"Hmm… OK, I had one where you got diagnosed with cancer or something, and thought you were trying to protect me by keeping it from me."

"Huh."

"And then you came back when the treatment was all done, and you were healthy again."

"So, it had to be some sort of life-or-death situation?"

"Not necessarily." She tilts her head to the side for a moment, popping another piece of grilled cheese in her mouth and chewing while she tries to think back to that time. She's spent the last few years trying to forget, so parts of it are a little hazy. "Oh, there was one where the Miniature Killer was… stalking you, I guess? He followed you to the east coast and, I don't know… made some sort of threat, or deal. Saying he'd stop killing if you cut all ties and stayed away, or threatened to kill someone if you went back. Since he disappeared after that miniature he sent while you were out of town, it made some sort of… weird sense, I guess."

Grissom hums, eyebrows furrowed. "Yeah, I might have assumed something like that, if I were in your shoes. There was never a trace of him after that, right?"

"No," she confirms. "Or, not that we've heard of, at least. But if he picked up and moved somewhere else, I assume it would have gotten back to us if he kept killing and leaving miniatures at the scene. I guess we all sort of assumed he either ended up in prison or died."

"Well, I can assure you that he did not follow me across the country and threaten me into leaving the lab," he tells her with a crooked half-smile.

"Good to know," Sara says, returning the slight smile.

"So, that's it? The two scenarios you would have forgiven?"

"There was one more, but I ruled it out pretty quickly," she tells him.

"What was that?"

She shrugs. "I thought maybe Ecklie had caught on to… us. You always said he wanted to get rid of you, so I thought he might have made some… threat to get you fired if you didn't agree to leave on your own."

"So by threatening to have me fired, he made me quit?" he asks with a frown.

"Yeah, that's why I wrote it off pretty quickly," she says. "That and he was walking around all pissed for weeks, complaining that you leaving was bad for the lab and stuff."

"Right." He pauses but then clears his throat. "For the record, if Ecklie had found out and wanted to get rid of me, it wouldn't have been by threatening my career."

She's not quite sure what to say to that, and they're quiet for a long moment, but not an uncomfortable quiet. More the silence of people who are comfortable just existing together, and it's nice to know that they haven't lost that.

"I had a few… scenarios too," Grissom then admits, avoiding her eyes.

If he had told her something like this when he got back, she might have laughed in his face, because why did he have to come up with happy scenarios? He was the one who left. But now… she said that she understood when he told her about what had happened, but looking back, she probably didn't, not at the time. Spending time with him and Sam, though, she thinks she really does get it now. "You did? About what?"

He shrugs. "I was honestly not expecting you to just… accept things."

Sara frowns as his meaning settles in. "What did you think I would do?"

"Get the next flight out." He offers her a sheepish smile. "Yell at me, so I guess our fantasies had that in common. And then you'd meet Sam, and I would get to explain and… everything would be OK. I know that's not realistic, but I… I guess I was hoping."

"That's what you meant when you said I didn't fight?"

"Yeah."

She considers for a moment, not sure how much she actually wants to reveal. But really, what does she have to lose at this point? She doesn't want there to be any secrets between them. There have been too many of those already.

"I probably would have, but I… I don't know, I guess I was always kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop back then, so while it was a shock, it wasn't a surprise. Does that make sense?"

He nods. "Yeah."

She hesitates, but decides to continue. "Also, it… took a while before I was really able to… function, outside of work, so…" The instant look of guilt on his face almost makes her regret saying it, but if they want to move forward and build something new – whatever kind of relationship that might be – everything needs to be out in the open. Still, she reaches over the table to squeeze his hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't say that to make you feel bad, I just… I figured it would be better coming from me." She pauses, frowning. "Greg still hasn't… said anything to you, right?"

Greg is still stubbornly maintaining his I-hate-Grissom standpoint, refusing to join them when they go out for breakfast or a drink after shift. About once a week, he gives her a rerun of his by now familiar speech, which is then followed by a shift with the silent treatment when she refuses to explain why she's let Grissom back into her life.

It's not a great relationship with her once best friend, but she's hoping they'll get through the rough patch eventually.

Grissom snorts, bringing her back to the present. "Not more than he absolutely has to."

"I'm sorry, I really didn't think it would take him this long to come around. He's been kind of badgering me about… how can you just forgive him, don't you remember what happened, I get that you guys have some kind of connection but really, what could he possibly say that would make you just forget?"

He stares at her for a long moment, eyebrows furrowed.

"You haven't told him? About Sam?" he then asks incredulously.

Sara's eyes widen. "Of course not, it's not my story to tell. But… are you planning on keeping her a secret from the team long term?"

"No. I just…" He sighs. "I wanted everyone to have some time to settle into… everything, I guess. I wasn't planning on telling you so soon, but, well…"

"I literally ran into her. Or, well, Hank did."

"I'm glad you did. Honestly, I don't know how long I would have put it off if that didn't happen."

"I'm glad too. But back to telling the team… Sam's good, right? She seems good, at school, at home… with me?"

Grissom smiles at her question, and she wonders if it's her hesitation or the reference to her and Sam getting along.

"Yeah, she's settled in much quicker than I was hoping. Which I think is definitely at least partly your doing."

"Me?" She feels heat rise in her cheeks. "I haven't done anything."

"You and Hank," he amends. "She was… she was doing OK, before we started spending time with you guys, but in the last month, she's opened up a lot more, at school too. She seems more… comfortable with herself. And maybe it's just that she's had a while to get used to a new city and school, a new house, and make some friends, but… I'm pretty sure you're at least a part of it."

Sara has no idea what to say to that, so she's grateful when he continues.

"But I think it's time to tell the guys, yeah. I'm honestly surprised every time I get out of the lab without letting something slip."

"Oh, yeah, I know what you mean," she agrees. "So Sam's good, and I think the team is about as settled as they're going to get without, well, knowing why you left."

"You think?"

"Yeah."

"So, you think Greg will actually start talking to me if he finds out what really happened?" There's a glint in Grissom's eyes, and she's pretty sure he's joking at least a little. Not that he doesn't want Greg to forgive him…

"I don't want to get your hopes up, but he couldn't get any worse, right?"

He snorts. "True. And… I was sort of thinking that maybe we should just tell them… everything."

"Everything?" She frowns, wondering what else he could want to reveal. It takes her a moment, but when she realizes, she gives him a surprised look. "You mean…"

"About us. If you're ready for that, of course. I know I was the one who basically decided we were going to keep things between us before, but… I doubt even Conrad can justify firing one of the best CSIs at the lab over something that happened years ago," he reasons.

Sara nods thoughtfully. "I guess that's true."

"Besides, I think most of them probably figured out something was going on, at least after… after I left, so it's not like we'd be dropping a bomb on them or anything, just confirming suspicions. I just… I want to get everything out on the table. I don't want there to be any lies or deception going forward, OK?"

It's the same thing she was thinking herself, and while she's still not completely sure where they're going, a clean slate feels like a good starting point – wherever they end up.

"OK."

"Honestly, I'm surprised Catherine didn't figure everything out – you might have changed the whole place from top to bottom, but she still knew where I lived."

She grimaces. "Yeah, she's never been here."

"Never?" Grissom asks incredulously.

"Nope. Not like I had people over a lot before, so I haven't had to… fight them off or anything. Greg's been here, but that's it."

He tilts his head to the side, eyes narrowing slightly. "Well, in that case, I think I have an idea…"

AN: A quick note about the Miniature Killer – I am not planning on bringing her back (and yes, the incorrect pronoun in the chapter was intentional, as they didn't know it was a woman when Grissom left for his sabbatical). Since I got a comment about it being a possible reason Grissom stayed away after chapter 2, I decided to work it into the story and also make clear that he did not stay away while Sara was kidnapped (because that didn't happen in this AU timeline)