A/N: Hey everyone. He we are with chapter two of my new project. I really am enjoying writing this. It brings back some great feels from the past. But, I won't say too much (wink). Best not get the hat out too soon. Thank you for the reviews. I love to hear what you think, please keep them coming. As always, thank you to calim for the beta and support and to Nat for your friendship, putting up with my sh.t and moods, lol.
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On we go….
Chapter 2
Sara watched as her husband paid the cab driver, then took hold of his arm. When he turned to face her she gave him a glorious smile.
"It's such a lovely evening isn't it," she said, looking up to the sky as they approached their apartment building.
"Beautiful."
Glancing back at him, Sara felt her knees quake a little upon finding he was looking at her and nothing else. Puckering her lips at him, she unlocked the complex door and they headed to the elevator.
"You know if the weather is nice tomorrow maybe we could take a walk," she suggested hitting the call button. "Have a picnic."
"Hmmm, maybe."
"Don't like the idea?" she asked not really hearing much enthusiasm.
He looked at her. "I like the idea but let's see how we feel. Might just want a lazy day."
Her lips twitched. "Oh? Planning on being tired, are we?"
Sucking on his lip, he looked her right in the eyes. "I hope so."
Sara laughed, holding up their take-out bag. "Well, got lots of sugar right here to keep up those energy levels."
"I can't wait for a little snack," he teased.
As the doors pinged then opened, she flashed him a toothy grin as she stepped inside and pushed their floor number. Turning toward him, she took hold of his hand.
"Let's just hope I can satisfy your appetite then."
Vegas
Catherine shook her head as Max hit stop on the tape recorder. "This is crazy," she said.
"So, you recognised that as well?" Max asked.
Blowing out a breath, Catherine shot Penny a look and then once more her eyes found the crime scene photos.
"Yeah." Holding her hand to her head, she rubbed. "But it's impossible. I mean…"
Before she could finish, they were interrupted by Allie who came rushing into the room.
"Max you gotta … Oh, hi Catherine."
Catherine threw her a rather uneasy smile. "Hey."
"What have I gotta?" Max asked curiously.
Allie pointed over her shoulder. "Come see this. The victim has a message exactly like the one last week."
Max's mouth dropped open and she looked shocked. "Our victim from yesterday?"
Allie nodded and Catherine frowned.
"Okay, now I'm even more confused," she admitted. "Are you saying this links to another case?"
Shrugging, Max headed for the door. "I think we're about to find out."
San Diego
Stepping into their apartment, Sara headed for the kitchen area, looking over her shoulder as she went.
"Just going to put our goodies in the fridge for later," she told Grissom.
"Goody goody," he joked.
Sara snickered as he dropped his keys on the table by the door and walked across the open plan apartment. Opening the fridge and sliding the take-out bag into a gap, she heard a beep.
'You have one new message.'
Closing the fridge door, she spun around and approached her husband as the message played out.
'Hi, Doctor Grissom, this is Walter Bergman from the University.'
Sara's eyebrows rose in surprise, watching as Grissom leaned against the sofa folding his arms while they listened.
'I'm just calling to let you know that after looking through your resumes, my colleagues and I would be very interested in organising a meeting with yourself and Sara. We have several positions here at the university, especially within the marine biology division, we hope you may be interested in. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience. Have a nice evening. Bye, bye.'
"Wow," Sara said, watching as her husband's eyebrow went skyward once the message finished. "He sounded keen."
"Yeah," Grissom agreed. "Considering we only dropped our files off yesterday I'm surprised he's been in touch so soon."
As her lips yet again found a smile, she drew close and reached for his tie, her fingers fiddling with it.
"I'm not surprised."
Clearing his throat, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him.
"You're not?"
"You are a brilliant man who was always very much in high demand," she told him proudly.
"Well," he began, head dipping and he kissed her cheek. "I wouldn't go that far."
"I would," she disagreed. "How may job offers did you get while you were at the lab?"
Watching as his eyes worked in thought, Sara felt his hands roaming down her back and she shuddered a little as they found her butt and squeezed.
"A few," he admitted quietly.
Lips puckering at his modesty, her arms lifted to drop over his shoulders. "Anyone would jump at the chance to have you."
"It's not just about me, my dear. You are rather impressive yourself."
"Why thank you," Sara cooed but then she had a thought. "You're not sorry that we did this are you?"
He frowned a bit. "What?"
"You know, left the ocean. Moved back to a city."
Inhaling deeply, Grissom entwined his fingers behind her back and swayed a little. "Given the circumstances it was the right decision."
Typical Grissom. Not really answering the question but answering it at the same time.
"Are you missing it?"
As soon as the question left her lips, Sara regretted it because she knew the answer and her mind suddenly flashed back to the doctor's office and recalling the look on his face ….
Flashback: Doctors office
Sara watched as the doctor examined her husband, doing a few standard checks – Blood pressure, eyes, balance, reflexes, heart rate, after which he decided to take a blood sample.
"I'll send this over to the lab and let you know if there's anything you need to know as soon as I have the results," the doctor said as he retook his seat behind his desk and Grissom sat next to his wife.
Grissom nodded as Sara reached for his hand and lightly squeezed.
"So," the doctor continued, alternating his attention between typing up his findings and his patient. "Your blood pressure is a little high. How has your sleep been recently?"
Head tipping from side to side, Grissom's eyes met Sara's for second. "Up and down," he admitted. "Sometimes okay, sometimes not so great."
"And what about alcohol?" Doctor Jensen asked.
"Now and again," Grissom said. "I've never been a heavy drinker especially at sea."
Doctor Jensen nodded. "Good. I'd say it's likely the stress over your condition worsening may have heightened your blood pressure, but the blood tests will pick up anything I'm not seeing."
"Okay," Grissom said quietly.
"Your sense of balance is off but considering the circumstances, I expected that more so than not."
Sara breathed in deeply. "So, what can we do?" she asked.
"So," he continued, placing hands on the desk, entwining his fingers and giving his patient his full attention. "I know this isn't what you want to hear, Gil.…"
As soon as Sara heard that her eyes closed for a second, stomach clenching as she felt her husband's hand tighten upon hers. She knew what was coming.
"But it is my professional opinion and recommendation that you stay off the boat."
Hearing the long sigh that left her husband's lips she looked at him.
"For how long?" Grissom asked, his voice notably irritated.
"Indefinitely."
Sara's heart dropped as he looked at her. His eyes were so sad.
"And what if I don't?" he dared question, looking back at the doctor.
Although Sara wanted to say something, she held her tongue for now. Considering whatever decision was made could change the rest of their lives, he had the right to ask.
"Your condition is governed by motion, Gil, as you know," Ray told him. "The more motion your body experiences, the higher chance there is that your condition will worsen. As you've found out. You should remove yourself from that environment in order to prevent the symptoms from reoccurring and becoming worse because they will only get worse. You also need to think about the danger of being at sea when you are not stable on your feet. I don't think I need to explain to you what could happen."
Lifting a hand to his forehead, Grissom rubbed, sighing again and Sara bit down on her lip knowing her husband was devastated by this news.
What did they do now?
End of flashback
"Being on the ocean?" he asked, kissing her temple, his lips slowly dabbing soft kisses down her cheek.
Sara sighed into him, fingers sliding through his hair when he latched onto her throat.
"Hmmm," she mumbled, toes tingling as his soft, warm lips played havoc with her senses.
His head tipped back and their eyes clashed.
"Spending the best part of a decade on the water, I think it would be impossible not to miss it. But life is too short for regrets. It's not about where we were, it's about where we are now and making the most of what we have."
That made Sara's heart truly sing. A month ago, she doubted he felt that way. Maybe the phone call from the University had given him a blast of optimism for the future or maybe he was just a little tipsy and in a good mood. Whatever it was, she didn't care, because it felt good and she was keeping it.
Dipping her head, she kissed him on the cheek, gliding her lips across to his ear and hearing him sigh.
"Why don't we go to bed and I'll show you just how good life is."
Vegas
Catherine followed Max and Allie into autopsy, spotting Sonya working on the body.
"So, what have we found?" Max asked as the group reached the victim laid out on the table.
Sonya watched as Allie picked up a set of tweezers then plucked what looked like a piece of gooey paper from a small tray.
"Found this in the victim's throat," she said as she held it aloft.
Catherine slipped on her glasses as both she and Max leaned in close to read what was on the paper.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Catherine asked as her eyes scanned over a mixture of letters and numbers scattered on the page, none of it really making any sense.
Allie shook her head. "Don't know, yet. But it's the same kind of note we found on a victim last week. Well, in a victim…"
Catherine frowned. "That was also in their throat?"
Allie nodded.
Max let out a sigh. "I think someone is trying to tell us something," she assumed, moving to the body. "Do we have C.O.D?"
Pointing to the bullet wound in the deceased man's chest, Sonya gave a nod. "Single gunshot wound to the chest."
"You haven't found a bullet have you."
Everyone looked at Catherine.
"How did you know that?" Sonya asked.
Looking over the body, Catherine folded her arms. "Because we didn't find one last time."
"Last time?" Sonya questioned.
Not answering, Catherine drew closer to the body, her eyes noticing the GSR on one side of the victim's face.
"We're not sure how that got there," Allie said, noticing where Catherine was looking.
Catherine's jaw worked from left to right. "Because he turned away from the first shot."
"Do you have a crystal ball?" Sonya asked.
"No," Catherine said plainly, her finger pointing to each cheek of the victim. "Good vs evil."
Max and Allie looked at each other both looking confused.
"Huh?" Allie questioned.
Catherine turned to Max, ignoring the comment. "What about this other victim?"
San Diego
As the couple entered their bedroom, Sara tugged on his hand, pulling him towards her. Their lips united with a purpose. Smiling into him as his arms wrapped around her, the intensity of the kiss encouraged the burning in her belly to kick up a notch.
Sliding hands up his back, she moaned into him as their tongues slid together. God, she could just eat this man forever and ever. Moving her hand, it lifted to his face and she held it there, thumb lightly moving back and forth over his beard. After a minute, their lips slowly separated and their eyes collided.
Sara loved how dark her husband's eyes would get when he was turned on. Sparkling like the deepest blue of the ocean but so much stronger. His pupils black as night, piercing and sharp. With her tongue drawing over her bottom lip, her fingertips trailed across his throat before hands slid inside his jacket to push it off at the shoulders. As she went to work on the tie, his head dipped, lips once again finding her throat. She moaned again, the task of undoing the damn knot in his tie becoming a lot more difficult than it should have been.
"You are so not helping," she accused a little breathlessly.
With that said, his hands glided up her back and then she heard the sound of the zipper on her dress being pulled down.
Tipping her head back at exactly the same time he did, she felt the dress pool away from the top of her body, to settle around her waist.
"Better?" he teased.
Looking down at her bra, Sara pursed her lips. "Not exactly what I meant," she returned.
"Oh," he said innocently, placing his hands on her hips and tugging. Within a second, the dress landed at her feet. "Now?"
Her eyes playfully narrowed at him, her hand surprising him when it shot out and cupped the evident bulge in his pants. Hearing him squeak as she stroked, her eyebrows rose.
"You better get your clothes off, Mister," was all she said, keeping a straight face as she backed away.
She could feel Grissom's inquisitive eyes watch her as she kicked off her shoes then began lighting a few candles about the room.
Once the final candle was lit, she blew out the match and turned back to her husband. Slowly approaching, swinging her hips in a way she knew would grasp his full attention, she was happy at the fact he was now shirtless. However, he was still too overdressed for her liking at that point.
"Much more romantic now, don't you think?" she asked.
"Absolutely," he agreed, head dropping to kiss her but she tipped hers back and he frowned.
Sara fought to keep a straight face. "Why do you still have clothes on?"
His eyebrow lifted, tongue pushing into his cheek, eyes wandering about her body before coming back to meet hers.
"Because you love being bossy?" he said.
Once again, her eyes narrowed. She really had to fight not to smile now truly loving it when things got playful and teasing like this especially in the bedroom. He'd certainly picked the right occasion for it.
"Bossy huh?"
"Bossy," he repeated, leaning towards her with a cheeky grin.
Bridging the small gap that remained between them, Sara made a purpose of brushing her chest and lower body against his and their noses touched.
"Don't you like it that way?" she challenged, her voice deep and serious, moving her hips slightly to catch the ever growing excitement he still hid below.
His eyes twitched as a silence enveloped around them until he cleared his throat.
"Sometimes," he admitted quietly.
Now Sara smiled. "Well, Professor," she began, hand again teasing him through his pants. "Today is your day, so choose and whatever you want, shall be yours."
A/N: Hmmm, the plot thickens….