AN: popped in a couple of references to a couple of old episodes, and pulled out Sara's speech to Gil from 'Immortality'; credits for those belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Stahl, Andrew Lipsitz

Here we stand, just me and you; with everything and nothing too

After a few minutes, Grissom wiped his face with a handkerchief pulled from his pocket and straightened his shoulders, determined to get his life back on track. Making the marquee his first port of call, Grissom dropped the photo album into his mother's lap and pressed a kiss against her cheek, running a finger along his son's smooth cheek as he lay snoozing in her arms.

-Sara? –

-Talking with Jim and her boss in the next tent along –

Grissom flashed a quick thanks before smoothing down the front of his windbreaker as he headed over to the next tent; spotting Sara and Jim talking quietly at the rear of the tent while Nick and an unfamiliar white-haired man talked near a table set up at the side of the tent. Nick glanced over and spotted Grissom's arrival first. "Here he is now," Nick said, curling his fingers in a welcoming gesture. "Good catch up with your mom?"

"It was very…illuminating," Grissom replied, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking slightly on his heels. "Any progress here?"

"Ah…both packages contained chemical timers and minimal explosives; so we're thinking they were warnings aimed at Sara rather than any attempt at mass destruction," the white-haired man said, before stopping and offering a hesitant smile of welcome. "Sorry, didn't introduce myself; Diebenkorn Russell…good to finally put a face to the name Dr. Grissom."

"After the painter?"

"Uh-huh," Russell gave a slight nod, waving his hand over the evidence placed on the table that he and Nick had been looking at before Grissom entered. "Take a look at this, tell me what you think?"

Grissom stepped closer to the table and picked up the evidence bag containing the key that Henry had pulled from the lab explosion, pulling on his glasses, he turned the bag over in his hand, examining it from every angle. "At first blush it looks like a key to the Red Room, Heather once told me that there were only 13 of these issued to privileged members at the Dominion; if memory serves, she called them 'Gold Key members'."

"And this 'Red Room' was where, exactly?" Russell asked, a faint frown creasing his forehead.

"The Dungeons at the Dominion," Grissom confirmed, just as Sara and Jim walked over, having finished their quiet conversation. "We need to get over there and take a look."

"Already one step ahead of you, Gil," Jim held up the white paper in his hand, "I called a favour, got a warrant to cover the entire grounds…we're lucky that the contract hasn't exchanged hands yet, don't know if we'd have got the warrant otherwise; guess it really is a case of let the seller beware."

"Contract?" Grissom repeated, placing the key back on the table, "Heather's selling the house?"

"She gave up her practice to focus on raising Alison after the accident," Sara confirmed, "it was purchased by the Gaming Commission for their new headquarters."

"Guess Heather didn't think shackles and manacles were suitable décor for her grandkid," Jim joked, only for Sara to slap his wrist playfully.

"You know she's been out of that business for years."

"Yeah, yeah…so, I know Sara's not gonna want to stay behind," Jim said, wafting the warrant in the air, "so that means Gil's probably coming along as well, anyone else?"

"I'm in," Nick volunteered, "be interested to see whether the place has changed much over the years…boy, I haven't been back there since…what, 2001 or 2002?"

"Not me…" Russell held up his hands and backed away slightly, "I'm gonna stay here and keep an eye on the troops, we're running evidence from two different scenes so someone needs to keep track of everything coming in."

"I've got a spare kit in my Tahoe," Sara pulled out her keys and tossed them over towards Grissom, who caught them reflexively, "I'll grab another spare from the mobile labs, meet you by the trucks in five?" Without waiting for a response, Sara ducked out of the tent and swung by the next tent, quickly advising Betty that she and Grissom were heading out, before jogging over to the lab and collecting one of the spare kits stashed by the door. Alerting the rest of her team where they were heading, Sara hurried over to the trucks, sliding the spare kit into the trunk of the truck that Nick was driving, before heading over to her own Tahoe, where Grissom sat in the passenger seat.

Pulling up to a stop on the driveway outside of Heather's former home, Sara unclipped her safety belt before exiting the Tahoe and walking around to open the trunk; Grissom following silently behind.

"Wow, 30 minutes in the car, no words. If you were playing the silent car game, you definitely won," Sara finally broke the long silence after handing over her spare kit, Grissom just gave her a sideways glance, looking slightly confused.

"I didn't know what to say…then I was waiting for you to start…you've always been able to fill the silence but you stayed quiet, so I followed suit."

"Uh-huh," Sara held up her hand as Nick and Jim strolled up to join them.

"How about Nicky and I check out the house, while the pair of you check out this 'Red Room', that Gil mentioned earlier? I'm assuming that's the old pool house where the Dominants had their fun?"

"Yes, the Red Room was off the Dungeon, which was the old indoor pool area when the house was originally built," Grissom confirmed, having taken an interest in the architecture during his morning tea visits with Heather. The two pairs separated off, with Nick and Jim approaching the brick steps leading to the front of the house and Grissom leading Sara around to the side where a large stone building was set slightly away from the main building.

"Alright, listen," Sara said after taking a few steps and then drawing to a halt before they could open the wooden door, she pulled off her sunglasses and looked at Grissom, briefly wishing he would remove his sunglasses so that she could look into his eyes and try and see what was going through his head. "You know before we go in there and look around, I just wanna acknowledge that you and I haven't spoken much since the divorce... I tried getting in touch when I found out about Billy, but we both know that when you go off grid – you really go off grid. We both went our separate ways, you're doing your Jacques Cousteau thing, I'm back in the field.

"You probably have a ton of questions for me, I understand that. But you and I are professionals, and as professionals I think it's in the best interest of the case that we put our own personal feelings aside and just focus on the case," Sara paused for breath, well aware that she'd once again, let herself overshare and her mouth had run away from her again; something that had happened all too often when she found herself in the company of Gilbert Grissom. "So, let's put on our game faces and keep it professional," making a circle around her face with her hand, Sara deliberately widened her mouth into a fake smile, "see, mine's on. You ready to go in?"

Grissom remained still for a moment before his hands twitched slightly and he said quietly – "Seeing you again left me a little speechless," he confessed, waiting for Sara's response and twitching slightly when she let out a slight huff and brushed past him to push open the wooden door. Grissom opened his mouth lightly in preparation to say more when he saw Sara reaching for her service weapon. Glancing past her, he noted the visible signs of forced entry marking the door frame. It was only then that he finally removed his sunglasses.

Flashlights in hand, Grissom led Sara past the jimmied lock and down into Heather's former Dungeon area, the flashlights barely piercing the gloomy confines as the lone window at the end of the multi-level area was boarded over. The narrow beams of light swung over the area, highlighting the cobwebs clinging stubbornly to the rusty chains hanging from the ceiling. Sara shivered slightly as Grissom's flashlight briefly lit up what appeared to be a set of stocks on the lower level, and honestly, Sara wasn't particularly interested in finding out whether her first blush was correct in identifying the torture device.

Walking past the boarded-up window, Grissom headed toward a fairly ordinary looking door, the faint glow of a red lamp showing through the small plate glass window above the door itself. Nudging the unlocked door open, the two investigators could only gape in shock as they peered into the room, noting the table set up with multiple containers of loose nails, screws and staples; circuit boards; coiled wires and neatly lined up sticks of plastic explosives – a suicide bomber's wet dream.

"Ah, Heather," Grissom sighed disappointedly, "what have you gotten yourself involved with now?"

"You can't honestly believe that Heather had anything to do with this, can you?" Sara asked, already pulling out her cell and dialling a number she'd become familiar with ever since Betty had dragged her along to one of their afternoon coffee meetings. When Heather finally answered the call, Sara pressed the speaker button so that Grissom could listen in.

"Heather…it's Sara…you're on speaker and I have Gil with me…"

"Okay…? What's going on Sara?"

"Have you seen the news at all this morning, Heather?" Sara asked, glancing over at her ex-husband and raising her eyebrow, Grissom only waving his hands slightly to indicate that she was running the show, and he was along for the ride.

"No, Alison and I had a late night, so we've only just woken up…"

"Someone sent a bomb to the crime lab, and then tried to blow up Gil and I's old townhouse; we found a key among the debris…a gold key marked with your initials." Sara and Grissom both heard the swift inhalation of breath, followed by a shaky response.

"A key to the Red Room, you're in the Dungeon? I don't understand…that building was completely closed off and boarded up…Alison wouldn't go into the garden until I had the door sealed, it should have been locked."

"Heather, it looks like someone took a crowbar and prised the lock open," Grissom spoke up, swiping his flashlight around the room and up toward the glowing ceiling light, "did the Dungeon have a separate electricity supply?"

"No, it's on the same supply as the house…but I had all the utilities switched off when Alison and I moved out."

"So, you've not been back since?" Sara asked, already knowing the answer but needing Heather to confirm verbally.

"No, Alison and I have not set foot on the property since the beginning of July, the realtors have the keys and I believe only one interested party was shown around before I agreed the sale."

"Thank you, Heather…I'm gonna need you to pop over to the station when you have a minute just to leave a statement to that effect," Sara asked, and Heather seemed only too happy to agree.

"Of course, anything to help…And you, Betty and William, you're all unharmed?"
"A little shaken up," Sara admitted, "but physically, we're fine."

"I'm pleased to hear it, I'll let you get back to work and I'll head across town as soon as Alison has finished eating."

"Thanks Heather, I appreciate it," Sara disconnected the call and sighed heavily as she glanced around the cramped red, room. "I guess we should let Jim know what we've found and then we can start bagging this stuff up."