Grissom sat in the waiting room and rested his elbows on his knees, face in hands. His mind's eye played his favorite memories of her on a loop.

When she wiped chalk dust from his cheek.
Her bouncing ponytail the day they met.
The look she gave him as she finished his crossword puzzle.
The feeling of her head resting on his chest.
That glimmer in her eye she gets when she's about to break a case.
The feeling of her lips on his, soft and sweet and tender.
The first time he entered her, her eyes darkening as she looked back at him.

And his favorite image of her, in his bed glasses perched high on her nose, a book in hand, strands of hair falling in front of her face.

He rubbed at his eyes. The exhaustion from the day was finally syncing in. He felt delirious.

"Gil." Catherine's hand appeared on his shoulder as she took a seat next to him. He looked up at her, face warn and tired. He was a mess. "Where is Sara?"

"In surgery."

Catherine nodded, "Have her parent's been notified?"

Grissom shook his head.

"Okay, well I can take care of that. I'll go get the next of kin information from reception."

"No need. Her parents aren't listed on it." He continued after the confusion crossed Catherine's face, "Her father died when she was young, and her mother… they don't speak much."

"Oh." Catherine felt ashamed that she didn't know such basic info about the woman she'd been working with for more than seven years. "Okay… next of kin?"

"Uh... that, uh, would be me, actually."

Catherine nodded silently again before finally speaking, "So you two. You've been together for a while then… haven't you."

She watched him shrug and look down at his feet again.

"Hey guys. How is she?" Greg sat down across from Catherine and Grissom. He handed each a cup of coffee.

"Thanks." Grissom accepted the hot beverage. "She's in surgery. They're working on her ribs, shoulder and wrist."

"Okay." Greg nodded and continued, "So I just went to Sara's apartment to get a few things for her so she can be more comfortable." He held up a key, "We exchanged spares a couple of years ago. But, she must have failed to mention she moved. There was a young couple living there."

"She hasn't lived there for some time. I'll get her things later."

Greg and Catherine exchanged looks. Brass was right, Catherine realized, they must be living together.

The doors opened and a doctor in scrubs emerged. She began walking toward them and took a seat next to Greg, opposite Grissom.

"Dr. Grissom. My name is Dr. Feinberg. I'm the trauma surgeon who attended to Ms. Sidle. I'd like to give you an update on her status, would you like to do that here or in private." Grissom signaled that she should continue here, "Ms. Sidle is in recovery now, receiving fluids and additional monitoring. We'll get her transferred to her room soon so you can see her. The surgeries went well. We were able to address her rib fractures, arm fractures, dislocated shoulder, and internal bleeding. Her medical history informed us of the previous fractures. Her ribs were fractured in identical places and patterns as her previous injuries. Her arm, however, sustained duel fractures unrelated to past incidents. She'll need a full arm cast for a couple of months. Lastly, many patients take a long time to wake up from an ordeal like this. Have appropriate exceptions. When she does wake, she'll likely be in a lot of pain."

"Thank you Dr. Feinberg."

She nodded, "Someone will notify you when you can go see her." And with that the doctor stood and disappeared down the hall.

"That's a relief." Catherine spoke through a released breath. Brass and Warrick joined now. Nick followed shortly. "Okay," She continued, "Greg, You'll collect evidence from Sara here when she's available. We'll still want any nail scrapings, hair combings, and collect her clothing as well. Nick and Warrick take the cars, both Natalie's and the red mustang. I'll follow up with he psychologist on her eval. Let's keep the other miniature murders in mind as well. We'll need to bury her under evidence to ensure the jury does't sympathize with her. Everything above board and by the book to a T."

Catherine took a moment to ensure everyone was on board with their marching orders, "Ecklie said they can lend one person from days, but swing is still so understaffed so this will be on us. Grissom..." She turned her attention toward him, "Maybe while Greg collects evidence here, you should go get some things for Sara so she can be a bit more comfortable. It sounds like she may need to stay here for a while."

He nodded, "Yeah. Thanks Cath."

"Dr. Grissom." A nurse spoke from the edge of the hallway, summoning him, "Ms. Sidle is in her room now if you'd like to see her."

Catherine put an encouraging hand on his knee, patting it gently before he stood and took quick strides toward the nurse. He followed her down the hall.

The door to her room opened, revealing Sara on the hospital bed, covered in wires and monitors. Bandages lined the right side of her face. He found his way to take a seat next to her bedside. The steady beeping of monitors let him know that she was okay. But her eyes stayed closed.

He picked up her hand and gently brought it to his lips, allowing himself to fully feel the weight of his emotions for the first time since the whole ordeal began. He stroked her hand softly, feeling the warmth of her skin, the steady pulse in her wrist.

Time of unknown duration passed. Diligently, he sat next to her. Her hand stayed within his cupped hands until her fingers began to move slightly in his grasp causing him to look up.

"Sara?" His voice was small and soft and full of hope. "Sara?" He tried again and her eyes began to flutter open.

"Gilbert." She managed through wrangled breathing and an effortful smile.

He brought his hand to her face, careful not to touch any burns or scrapes. He pushed some hairs behind her ears. "Sara." He spoke again with relief.

"You found me." Her voice was small and raspy.

"Of course we found you." He kissed her hand again, pulling it to his face and resting it against his cheek.

He watched as she scanned the room, the monitors, the wires, her body. Panic began to stricken her features.

"You're okay." He soothed quickly, "Don't try to move." He grabbed the cup of water from the tray next to her bed and brought the straw to her lips.

"Thanks." She smiled. "You should probably head back to the lab soon, right? You shouldn't be here too long."

He simply shook his head in response, "They all know now, dear."

"What?"

"It had to come out. I couldn't hide it through this."

She closed her eyes briefly, "Okay." She opened her eyes to see his looking back at her. Soft and unconcerned.

"I'm not sure yet." He answered her unspoken thoughts, "But you're okay. So we're okay." He gave her hand a little squeeze again. "I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone."

She shot him a sidle-signature look, brows squinted, "Are you really quoting Lord of the Rings?"

"I thought I could get away with that one." He smiled with such lightness the two forgot, momentarily, the situation they were in. The monitor beeps, the wheeling gurneys beyond her door, the team sitting in the waiting room, fully aware of a secret the two had been hiding comfortably for so long. They just shared in the warmth of normalcy together. His heart ached.

"Sara..." His voice trailed, crackling slightly.

"I know." She nodded with the smallest of movements, cutting him off. She could only imagine the emotional turmoil he'd been slugging through since the last time they spoke. The phone call they shared just before her abduction. And she could see it all weathered on his tired and drooping face. Sand and dirt caked in his hairline.

"Who's processing?" She said with a bit more reality infused in her tone.

"Who would you like to do it?"

"You."

"I can't." He smiled sadly. "But Greg is just outside. I thought you might be more comfortable—but if not, Catherine—"

"No, Greg's the right call." She cut him off and smiled sadly.

"Want me to stay?"

"Not really." She spoke honestly. He simply nodded in response. Understanding fully.

"I'll go home and get some things for you."

He felt her hand squeeze his now. He lifted his eyes back up to hers and noticed now for the first time since she woke up, a few tears shedding from her eyes. He leaned in and wiped them away. Like he had in her apartment when she first told him of her childhood. Like he had just a few months ago, after she had held the showgirls hand as she died. Like he had the night Greg was injured.

But these tears kept falling. He moved to sit on the edge of her bed and leaned down. His forehead was mere inches from hers now.

"You're okay now. You are safe. We have you." He watched as the water continued to pool into her eyes, threatening to fall again. "I have you."

She closed her eyes, letting the tears fall once more as he leaned in and kissed her lips softly. She inhaled to take a deep breath but winced immediately.

"Oh. You should avoid deep breaths right now." He leaned back to sit up. "You have two fractured ribs." He watched as her eyes expressed her registering the information. She began to really scan her body for the first time now, "Your left shoulder was dislocated, your left arm is fractured in two places."

She nodded, "Okay." Taking in the information and coming to terms with her reality. But part of her still felt trapped under the car, hard to breathe.

He wiped away the last of her tears and offered her another sip of water.

"I'll go get Greg." She nodded in agreement. She closed her eyes as he kissed her forehead softly. Then, he walked to the door, turning around and giving her one more look before exiting her room.

"You're up, Greg." Greg stood, kit in hand. He gave a small head nod toward his supervisor and walked passed him down the hall.

"I'm having a uniform bring your car here. In the meantime, let me give you a ride." Brass spoke while standing. The rest of the team had dispersed to take care of their agreed upon tasks.

Grissom simply nodded in turn and walked with Brass to the elevator bay.

"Hank home?" Brass asked as he walked in the door.

"No. He's still with the sitter." Grissom responded. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, no. I'm fine. Go head…" Brass gestured with his head, "Maybe a shower too." He suggested before adding, "Is there anyone else we need to contact for Sara?"

Grissom thought a moment, "Actually yes. I'll give him a call as we drive back." With that Grissom disappeared down the hall toward their bedroom. He grabbed a duffle and began filling it. First with a bathrobe, then some sweatpants and comfortable tops, underwear, toothbrush, hair clip. He paused and to think for a moment. Then, reached for her reading glasses and made his way down the hall to the study. He grabbed a few books, one of which was her original childhood copy of Moby Dick.

He then grabbed a few quick items for himself before hopping in the shower. Within ten minutes he was dressed and walking out to the open space. Grissom took the opportunity to make the call during the drive back to the lab.

"Crow."

"Dave, it's Grissom."

"My god." Dave breathed into the phone, "I saw the reports but they didn't release the CSI's name."

"She's okay now." Grissom quickly replied to put the man at ease. He could hear typing on the other end of the phone.

"I'm moving my son out of school today, I'm going to fly from Boston to Las Vegas tomorrow morning."

"I think she'll be happy to see you."

"She's really okay?"

"She is. She has a dislocated shoulder, left arm is fractured in two places and uh… well her ribs were refractured." He heard Dave's head sigh on the other end. "I know, the old injuries."

Brass turned into the hospital parking lot.

"They're not from her father." Dave spoke with some hesitation. Going on a hunch which Grissom proved correct with his reaction,

"Oh. On the job?" He questions a bit confused. He thought she'd said she'd fractured her ribs in childhood.

"No. Her mother." Grissom's heart sank as he listened to Dave explain the complexities of what Sara would have to heal from again, "When she went to call the police that morning, her mother found her and stabbed her in the ribs, resulting in a double fracture."

"I didn't know…"

"Keep me update if her status changes, otherwise I'll see you tomorrow."

Brass parked as Grissom hung up the phone, he caught Brass' eyes on him.

"Dave Crow… her supervisor from San Fransisco." He explained. Brass simply nodded in turn.

"I'm going to get back to PD. Tell Sara… tell Sara that I'm glad she's going to be okay." He gave a small smile to his friend as Grissom got out of the car and thanked him.

Grissom walked back into the hospital, duffle slung over his shoulder. When he got to her door he saw through the glass that Greg was still with her. Her eyes were closed but she was smiling as Greg went on in an animated way about some story. He took in her smile and breathed.

A few moments later he knocked lightly on the door and entered. Sara's eyes flickered open and a warmth consumed her features at the sight of Grissom again.

"Hey boss." Greg spoke as he put some evidence baggies in his kit. "I'm all done."

"Thanks, Greg." Grissom spoke softly, continuing to keep his eyes on Sara. Once Greg had exited the room he took up the seat next to her bedside again and opened up the duffle. Pulling out some items he knew she'd be happy to see; her robe, toothbrush, comb, and then, he pulled out the stack of books he brought and watched as she smiled even wider now.

"You know me well." She responded to the sight of the five books now stacked on her bedside. Then he pulled one more book from the bag.

"Can I read to you?" He asked simply as he pulled his reading glasses from his shirt pocket.

"Please." She settled into the pillow a bit more and closed his eyes as he began.

"Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world. It is a way I have of driving off the spleen and regulating the circulation. Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people's hats off—then, I account it high time tozz get to sea as soon as I can."

Page after page, Grissom's voice softly filled the air between them. Speaking the words of their shared favorite book. And as he turned each page, he'd glance up to see her relaxed features, her chapped lips in an easy smile, her eyes remained closed.

The next morning Dave's flight landed without delay. He made his way straight to the hospital and by nine in the morning he was talking with reception to gather her room number.

Two soft knocks. Sara looked up to see him standing in the doorway. Grissom stood.

"Dave?"

He walked to her with a couple of quick strides. "Sara." He stood on the opposite side of her bed as Grissom. "My god." Escaped his lips as he took in her appearance. "Are you okay?"

"I'll give you two some time." Grissom gently squeezed Sara's hand and walked out of the room.

"I'm okay." She responded in the smallest voice.

He nodded silently and sat. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner." He placed a gentle hand on top of her head, "I'm so sorry, Sara."

"I'm okay, really."

He nodded silently once again.

"I was moving Harry out of Harvard. He just finished up freshman year." He offered, knowing well that Sara would rather talk about anything else.

She shook her head in disbelief, "But he's only ten." Sara spoke with the levity of jest, because while he was now 18, Harry always remained 10 in her mind.

Dave smiled at this, "Susan would agree with you." He paused a moment, "They flew straight back to San Fransisco but send their regards. When you're out of here, you should come visit. It's been a while."

"It has been a while." She agreed as she winced in pain.

"Your ribs?"

"Yeah." She confirmed as she worked to readjust herself once more.

"You've healed so much since then, Sara. I hope you can see how far you've come." He paused, working hard to gather the right sentiment, "You're not a child anymore, your mother is not here."

She nodded, understanding fully what he was worried about. Worried that these injuries would bring flashbacks to the morning her mother stabbed her father to death. The morning her mother stabbed her in the ribs when she caught her calling the police. Fearful that the reinjury could spark a cascading series of breakdowns.

"I'm okay." She worked to soothe his worries.

"You don't have to be." He responded simply, staying locked on her eyes, hoping he was truly getting across to her.

"I remember walking into your hospital room." He began to reminisce about their meeting, "You wouldn't let the nurses touch you. And my supervisor put me on what I considered babysitting duty. I was so annoyed."

"Not much as changed." She spoke through an all-knowing pursed smile.

"You had internal bleeding, your ribs fractured in two places, huge welt on your forehead, but you were sat up in bed working furiously on some paper."

"It was a book report on Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man." She remembered. And after a moment added, "I got an A."

"Of course you did."

Within a week Sara was discharged. It was the first time in thirty years that Grissom had taken off so much consecutive time, committed to spending every moment he could with her. The team readily picked up the slack of being two members short for the cause. Every day another team member came in, and as they visited with her, he would sneak home for a shower, or to check in with Hank's sitter.

"Let's get you home." He spoke optimistically as Sara carefully and slowly got herself into the car. Her bones felt raw.

"Hank!" She nearly squealed with joy upon being greeted by the pup as Grissom opened the door to their home.

"I had the sitter drop him off an hour ago." Grissom spoke as he watched her attempt to pet the excited dog, twirling in circles at her feet.

That evening Sara and Grissom enjoyed the quiet peacefulness of their home. Free of rushing nurses and beeping monitors. Free of hospital food and bright fluorescents. They sat cuddled on the couch reading their own books until he noticed her book slip from her hand. She was fast asleep, her cheek leaned against him, soft hairs sweeping across her face. He put his book down and sat there for a while, feeling comforted by her soft, methodic breaths. Her scent filled his scenes in a familiarity and simplicity that he had feared he'd never experience again.

He was so grateful for her health. That they found her. That she was close enough to him now that he could feel the warmth of her exhales.

He considered what his life would have been like if this wasn't the case. If they'd found her even thirty minutes later. What he would ben doing right now. Planning a funeral, saying goodbye to his best friend, his closest confidant, the brightest light that had ever graced his life. The thought was choking him up, but he couldn't push away the thoughts. It was a thought exercise his brain needed to explore, so that he could put it to rest. So that he could enjoy being acutely present and mindful of the beauty in the moment he had in his grasp now.

He brought his hand up to her face and stroked her cheek softly. She began to stir gently.

"Let's go to bed." He nearly whispered and felt as she nodded with the smallest of moments against him.

Grissom had been back at the lab for a few nights now and Sara was getting a little restless at home in the thick of her recovery. So when Judy called and explained that Ecklie needed her to come in before she could be reinstated, she was surprised at the level of eagerness she felt. Anything to get out of the house.

Sara walked through the lab halls for the first time since her abduction two weeks ago. She could feel the eyes on her as she walked passed the techs and layout rooms. Sympathetic and curious and full of questioning stares.

Two taps on the door frame and she was waved in by Ecklie.

"Hey Gil, message number three. Call me back." Ecklie hung up the phone and took in Sara's appearance. "How's the arm?"

"Fractured in two places." She responded simply.

"Feeling better?" His emotional intelligence, or lack there of, was showing.

"Yeah." She softly smiled as she took a seat on the couch. Ecklie moved to close his office door, then sat in a chair opposite her.

"So you must know where he is."

"Actually, I don't."

He nodded softly, disbelief evident.

"Look, Sara, I don't want to do this as much as you don't. So let's just get this over with as painlessly as possible, alright?" He flipped open the folder in his hand and clicked a pen open. "Okay then. Uh— this is an administrative inquiry. You and Supervisor Gil Grissom were in direct violation of lab policy—"

"Are." She corrected him. A smug grin dared to escape thin lips. She thought about all the times in years passed that Ecklie had made their lives difficult with poor decision making about cases and playing politics. The man in front of her now seemed softer, simpler, more patient. She wondered what was different.

"Are." He amended, "Which states that members of the same forensic team may not engage in a romantic relationship. So when did you and Supervisor Grissom begin your relationship?"

"Well, we've always had a relationship." She knew it was foolish to pick at the semantics. But the deflection felt better then showing up genuinely in this conversation.

He paused, reading correctly how difficult she was going to make this conversation, "I mean—When did you two become… intimate?"

She took a moment before answering. The images of the night that he'd showed up at her doorstep came rushing back. After they'd found Nick, dirt caked on his face, bags under his eyes, desperate to be in her presence. When their bodies pressed against each others. When their lips met for the first time. Softly before feverishly, with six years of built up passion and longing pouring into one another.

"Two years ago." Her voice was thick with nostalgia, "I think it was a Sunday."

"Two years?" Ecklie's surprise was written on his face and laced in his tone. "Okay." He took a breath, "And who initiated?"

"It was mutual." She responded without knowing how to truly answer. It was her pursual of him for years originally. But he had showed up at her doorstep that night with every intent of courting her for good. Of throwing his caution away and letting himself have what she'd been offering him for years.

"Did Grissom ever…use his position as your supervisor to initiate advances?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was there every any…. behavior that could be construed as inappropriate or uncomfortable?"

"No."

"Do you feel there was ever an abuse of power?"

"Really?" She questioned.

"I need to document it." Ecklie spoke in a matter of fact tone. "You know, so there can't be any lawsuits down the line."

"No." She answered with finality.

"And—uh—how involved or serious would you say the relationship is?"

"It's serious." She shrugged with her one good shoulder.

"Could you be a little clearer?"

"How so?"

"You know, most relationships have milestones. Like keeping a toothbrush at your spouses home, having a drawer in the nightstand… exchanging keys. Things like that."

"Well, we live together." She enjoyed watching the air knock out of Ecklie's lungs at the surprise of her statement. A lighthearted silver lining in an otherwise awkward conversation.

"For how long?" His brows furrowed as he marked some things on the folder in his hand.

"Over a year now."

"Who knew about this?"

"I think most of the lab knows by now."

"I mean—before you were…" He motioned his hand in the air in discomfort, "abducted."

"No one." But that was a lie. Brass knew. As did Greg. But she found no reason to bring them into the fold. Especially because she could claim that she didn't outright know that they knew per se.

"How did you two manage that?"

"By not telling people…"

"Why not?"

"We didn't want anyone to know."

"Because you knew you were doing something wrong?"

Sara suddenly remembered the reason for this inquiry, and the delicate nature of her answers, "Because we're both very private people. I don't think many people know about our dog either. But having a dog isn't in violation of lab policy, right?"

"Hmmm." Ecklie nodded at her side step. A few more moments passed as he penned the paper in his hands.

"You knew each other before you started at the lab."

"Is that a question?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"He brought you here from San Fransisco. You were at the lab there for a few years before starting here?"

"That's right."

"You know, part of this inquiry will date back to your initial employment here. There were plenty of qualified applicants already in Vegas at the time."

She nodded without a word. Unsure what she could or should add to that part of the story.

"Grissom gave a lecture at the Forensic Academy Conference in San Fransisco the year before you started working here. Is that where you met?"

"It is." She responded simply.

"So you knew each other for a year prior to him campaigning for your employment here."

"I was more than qualified."

"That's true." He paused a moment, deciding where to take his questioning next. Dancing the delicate line between his tried and true interrogation techniques and wanting the most accurate, unguarded answers possible. He knew that Sara would be a much easier target for that goal then Grissom once he finally got hold of him.

"When I asked Grissom to fire you. You two were not yet involved, were you?" Ecklie finally continued after a long pause.

"After the double body in tar grave case? No. We were not together."

"Why do you think he didn't fire you?"

"I guess you'll need to ask him that."

"Do you think there was romantic bias?"

Sara scrunched her brows, "Again, I can only speculate. But if you're asking my opinion… then everything I know about Grissom says he would never compromise his team, his career or this lab for anything or anyone."

"Not even for you?"

"No." And she was being honestly. Brutally honest. Despite the love that had grown deeply, intimately, and comfortably between them, she would never expect him to compromise his principles for her. It was something she deeply respected about the man.

"Alright, Sara." He closed his folder. "That's all I have for now. When you do speak with Grissom next, do yourself a favor and remind him that you can't be reinstated until this inquiry is complete. And that includes his interview with me. Dodging me isn't going to help." He paused a moment longer, "What do you want to do when you come back?"

"There's an open spot on swing."

"You want to shift teams?"

"If one of us must, yes."

He nodded, "Alright. I'll get the paperwork started."