Chapter 17

A/N: Rating M warning

Everyone was busy sorting through evidence from the latest case. They all knew the stakes of a high-profile case and what it meant for the lab. But for one particular CSI, recent events were laying heavy on her mind. As she walked into the morgue to meet doc Robbins, all the information Sara had received over the last 24 hours was weighing on her and truth be told she didn't know what to do with it. Could this case be connected with the Mclanles gang mob? And if so was it also connected to Lemmur? What if he tampers with evidence from this case? At what point does she share her findings with Grissom?

"Sara, how are you doing? How's the sickness? Rough case ye caught, never good where Mob hits are concerned" Doc Robbins spoke with concerning eyes at her. Sara choosing to ignore the personal questions for the time being wanted to get straight down to business. "hey Doc, ya any information you could give me about the body?"

There wasn't much info Doc could give her other than COD was a bullet to the head which he handed her. she thanked him and left the morgue running straight into Warrick Brown. "whoa whoa slow your roll girl, you ok?" Sara surprised but thankful it was a familiar face, she instantly smiled and had him in a half hug, "hey Warrick how are you, how was your vacation? I'm sorry I mean conference? We missed you."

He laughed at her teasing, "It was great actually I learned a lot but didn't have much time to process, back to work with a bang, my plane wasn't even on the tarmac and Ecklie was ringing me to make sure I came here, what is going on around here by the way, I'm hearing mob hits and we have a new CSI on grave and the teams are all split up again?" Warrick was throwing so many questions at her she didn't know where to start. "well I have no doubt you'll catch up in no time, c'mon let's get back to the lab I'll fill ya in on the case"

They were no sooner back at the lab when they all get an alert to their cell phones, "419 x 2, same MO as Mob hit, Fremont St multiple casualties, all hands-on deck"

Sara and Warrick went to the scene together when they pulled up, they could see chaos. The press was everywhere which they all knew was going to make their job exponentially harder. Grissom, Catherine, Lemmur, Greg and even Ecklie were all there already along with Brass, Sophia and dozens of patrol cars.

Bullets strewn the streets and they knew it had been a bad shoot out. Warrick and Sara looked at each other knowing this double shift was going to turn into a long triple. Ecklie was directing them the minute they got to the scene. Grissom made eye contact with Sara once again as if visually asking her to take it easy. They started processing knowing a lot of evidence had to be collected and fast.

They all went in their separate directions with separate tasks at hand. Sara was by a van collecting shell cases when all of sudden loud pops from a semi-automatic weapon rang out. People were screaming, glass breaking all around them and out of nowhere Sara felt herself being pulled downwards to the ground and up against the wheel of the near by van. she felt an arm cover her head and another arm sneak around her waist and cover her abdomen, she knew it was Grissom, where the hell had he come from so quick? The shots still rang out and they were all in danger, she knew that but she felt so secure and protected there in his arms he had her completely covered, like he was her human shield. She had grabbed his arm that held her bump and, in that moment, she knew, he would do anything for her, for them. She felt it.

As quick as it had started, the shooting stopped. Her breathing was heavy and whilst he was protecting her, she didn't know if he was hurt. He pulled her up and his hands went to her face to look at him, "are you ok, are you hurt? The baby?" he asked, desperation evident in his eyes and his voice. She nodding her head, released the breath she didn't know she was holding looked longingly into his eyes, the same concern mirrored back, "ya we're ok" she said as she put her hand back on her bump to reassure herself more than him. "what about you?" he turned around to survey the rest of the scene but still held on to her, "I'm ok Sara, but I want you to get checked out"

Ecklie, puffed out around the van all of a sudden, "hey are you two ok? they looked like they were shooting straight at ye? Sara, Grissom's right go get checked out that's an order" Grissom had a new-found respect for Conrad in that moment. As Sara walked away with a backward glance at Grissom, Ecklie started toward Grissom, "that was a close call Gil" Grissom nodded his head at him, "too close Conrad but I want to know if their intended targets are already dead, why circle back and take another shot, who were they aiming for?"

Day shift and swing shift were called in to help process the carnage. And it was back to the lab to start the real work. Ecklie let some of the graveyard shift go home for a few hours in random intervals so there was always hands on processing the case. Catherine and Lemmur were busy getting a timeline map and bullet tracing organised, Warrick and Nick were sifting through hours' worth of surveillance from cars, phones, shops and casinos to narrow down vehicles and suspects. Grissom managed to convince Sara to go home and get some rest, shower and she could back in with him in a few hours. He was surprised that she didn't argue but she had been too tired to fight him so she went willingly to his townhouse. They drove in silence to his home and when Grissom put the car in park he looked over at Sara whose gaze was fixed on his home and she seemed hesitant to get out of the car. The last time I was here we were so different, we were in sync, so much has changed now, will it ever be the same for us again? Sensing her reluctance, Grissom ushered around to the passenger side and opened the door and offered a hand leaving her no choice but to go with him.

Once inside, Sara made no effort to move very far away from the front door, she did not say anything but kept her eyes trained on him. Again, sensing her reluctance, he turned to her, she looked so vulnerable standing there looking at him and so he took the few steps towards her. No words were spoken but he gently pulled her into an embrace. She welcomed it, after what happened at the scene, she needed it, she needed him and she couldn't fight it anymore. His big arms wrapped around her and her head buried into his chest, inhaling him, she took a deep breath and released a long sigh. He too breathed in a deep breath and took in that she was safe in his arms. He could have lost her today, he could have lost both of them. If he was being honest, he needed this embrace just as much as she did, his heart rate still had not come back to normal rhythm since the shooting at the scene. His thoughts of the shooting were interrupted when he felt her lips gently brush against his neck, he looked down at her face to make sure he wasn't dreaming it to see her eyes staring into his with a new emotion, desire. He leaned in ever so slightly and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss however gentle it may have started, sent a shot of electricity down her spine and by god he felt it and they were both hungry for it. they both needed it, they needed each other. After a few minutes he gently pulled away but remained his forehead on hers with his hand on the back of her neck in her hair. He stared at her and asked, "are you sure about this? I don't want to rush you"

Which was all true of course. He did want her, that much was very evident, but he didn't want to rush her or pressure her into something she wasn't ready for or worse regret it after. Sara leaned in to his lips once more and placed a soft kiss there, she moved her lips close to his ear and whispered, "take me to bed Gil"

He smiled at her knowingly, took her by the hand and led her to his bedroom. Food, shower, the case and even sleep were all put on hold for the time being. For Grissom, there was nothing more important to him than this woman in his bed, in his life, in his soul and he was intent on letting her know exactly how much he missed her and how much he wanted her. It wasn't the first time they'd made love of course but this time there was a new element for both of them and he was acutely aware of not hurting her but wanting nothing more than to pleasure her. Her body had changed so much over the past few months to accommodate the new life they created and he thrilled in new ways to make her moan, bite her lower lip and arch her back.

After wards they both lay in the after glow completely sated and enthralled with one another, he had both his arms wrapped around her both coming to place on her belly where her hands were also. "what does it feel like?" he asked her so quietly it was almost like a whisper. She took a breath and even though she had anticipated this question many times, she still didn't know how to answer it, "Its hard to describe, its like a very full, heavy feeling, even though I can't feel it moving yet, I can feel it there you know?" she shrugged her shoulders, "I know its not very scientific but I've never done this before so I'm still at a loss for words to describe it" he nodded his head into her neck, "you're going to be an amazing mother Sara, you know that right?"

When she didn't respond, he put his fingers under her chin to turn and look at him in earnest, "You already are and I'm sorry I hurt you or made you doubt yourself or doubt the love that we have because it is real, this is proof of that" as his other hand rubbed the soft skin on her bump. "I know, I love you too and I know you love me. You'll be a great father yourself. Look how you leapt into action today, I don't even know where you came from, one minute I was picking up cartridge cases, the next you had me covered up against a van, I would have been shot if it weren't for you and I don't even think I said thank you" they kissed again and then he got serious, "Sara you have no idea how sacred I was, I knew you weren't far away from me but the second I heard those shots ring out, all I could think about was you. It wasn't the case, it wasn't the evidence, it wasn't the rest of the team, it was just you. It was tunnel vision. God my heart races even now just thinking about it"

She could see the genuine fear etched on his face, she caressed his cheek, "well we're OK, but we need to get some sleep if we're going to have to go back in to that chaos"

He nodded in agreement and held her that little bit tighter as he felt her breathing even out and knew she was after drifting off to sleep. His arms still around her and their baby, he felt content enough and felt himself drifting off also.