Author: Moggie
Status: Complete
Summary: [GSR] Do the 'Rules and Regs' get in the way of a relationship?
Genre: Romance
Notes: This was my very first fanfiction. Some may have read it, some may have not. I felt the need to adjust it slightly. Give it some looking over and a spelling test. The grammar and language has also been adjusted, but the storyline is same. Reviews are welcome. .
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Book I | Book II | Book III

Over the past few months they have been growing closer, both trying to get over the confusion, pushing away and the leave of absence. They began treasuring the time they had been sharing. Reading each other's minds when on a hot case and working on experiments late into the day shift.

They had been out to eat together a few times, but never alone. The gang was always there. They both hadn't come up with the courage to take that next step. DATING. but there was still plenty of time. But who knew that one- day could change it all. No more brief touches, foreheads bumping, speaking at the same time, picking up the same things at the same time, stealing glances when they think no one is watching or. the list could go on.

They were walking down the street towards the diner for breakfast to meet the rest of the gang. It had been a long gruelling few days and when that vital clue was discovered, the case came to a close, the good guys won and the bad guys went to prison.

The sun was still down, but the rays had started to show in the distant. It looked like it was going to be another steaming hot day with barely a breeze in the city of Las Vegas.

The two in question walked side by side, dodging a sweaty jogger heading in the opposite direction of the diner. They were about to cross the road when Sara stopped dead in her tracks. Grissom suddenly realised he was walking alone and turned back to see what was wrong.

Sara was practically hiding next to a dark overhanging building they had just passed. Walking up to her, she seemed distracted and looking across the road. Grissom turned to see what had caught her attention and saw whom she was trying to avoid.

It was Hank.

'What was she doing? I thought she was going out with Hank.'

"Sara, what are you doing?" He asked as he moved to stand next to her. Her delayed reaction amused him.

"Sorry... what?" Before he had a chance to repeat the question, Sara panicked. "Oh no! He's coming this way."

Grissom looked over her shoulder as she turned away from Hank. He was crossing the road and seemed to be heading straight for them. 'I don't think he's seen us.'

"Sara, I thought you were seeing Hank?"

"I wasn't 'seeing' Hank, we went to movies, but not anymore." She furrowed her brows at him. 'Like he would believe her.'

"Then what are we doing hiding." He looked around them once more and continued. "In the shadows of an empty building?"

"Damnit!" She cursed.

Hank was half way across the road and Sara thought she saw a look that he registered his seen them, which made Sara turn back to face Grissom so quickly she stood on his foot.

"Ouch!" Grissom said as pain surged through his big toe.

"Oh Griss, I'm so sorry." She apologised as she placed a hand on his arm as a small apologetic gesture, but her panic kicked up a gear when Hank got closer. She gripped Grissom's arm, hard in her panic, causing more pain for Grissom.

"Ow Sara!"

Hank looked up from his inspection of the road as he crossed and turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice.

Grissom just stared at Sara in amazement. 'What was she trying to do, kill me before breakfast?'

"Grissom!" She practically whispered, but before thinking of an escape, she said the first thing that came to mind. "Kiss me"

Grissom's head snapped up, instantly forgetting the pain in his foot and arm. "Quickly." She added.

"What?"

Sara turned them so Grissom was standing where Sara was and Sara was standing where Grissom was.

"Sara?" He whispered back as she looked over his shoulder then back at him.

Grissom searched Sara's face when she looked at him, for something, anything. All he could see was sheer panic and worry. The next thing he knew was Sara, still holding his arm, pulling him quickly to her and wrapping her other arm around his neck as she hastily pressed her lips to his.

Grissom stood there in pure shock. After a few seconds, he had to support himself by resting both his hands on Sara's waist. He couldn't believe what she just did, but as the shock left him, he relaxed and returned the kiss, not knowing what else to do. Not that he ever wanted to kiss her, he just thought it wouldn't be sneaking around the shadows, hiding from Hank.

Hank passed them with a glance, but didn't recognise them. He continued down the street.

Both Grissom and Sara had their eyes closed so they didn't even see Catherine leave the diner and get into her Tahoe. She didn't see them until she drove by. She nearly hit a traffic cone that was in the middle of the road blocking any vehicle from going over a rather large hole in the road. The shock left her face as the huge grin replaced it, She shook her head at them as she continued to drive down the road. 'I'll talk to Gil later.'

Getting carried away in the moment, Sara let go of Grissom's arm and gripped his shirt by his waist not wanting to let go. She ran her fingers through the hair on the back of his neck. Grissom wrapped his arms around Sara and ran his hands up her back between her shoulder blades.

As they pressed against each other, Sara moaned into Grissom's mouth. This immediately registered in Sara's mind and she pulled away quickly, almost falling backwards, but Grissom grabbed her arms to steady her. He let go as soon as she got her balance back. They stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Sara's face reddened with embarrassment and broke the stare to look at the floor. Grissom noticed Sara's face go red and knew he had a similar colour shade his cheeks too.

Sara was the first to break the silence with a hesitant apology. "I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed happen. I just panicked and."

Grissom chuckled softly at her embarrassed apology. He took a step closer and she looked up. They stared into each other's eyes. Sara was about to close the distance between them when they were interrupted.

"Hey Sara! Grissom! You coming or what!? Foods getting cold!" Nick yelled from the diner window.

Grissom and Sara looked up at Nick and shouted back "Yeah!" Taking their time, they cross the road. Grissom gently took Sara's elbow as they started across the road. -

Later after breakfast everyone went home. Sara went straight to sleep as soon as she hit the pillow, she felt like she'd been up for days.

Six hours later, her cell phone rang. She stirred, but chose to ignore it. Although she never slept long, she couldn't make herself wake up. As the ringing stopped, she buried her head in her pillow again and pulled the covers around her shoulders before falling back to sleep.

An hour and half went by and again her cell phone went off. She grumbled as she pulled herself and the covers with her as she sat up to lean her head against the headboard. With her eyes still closed and still half-asleep she grabbed her cell to answer it on the 5th ring.

"What?" She said sleepily into the phone.

"Sorry, I obviously woke you. I'll…ring back later." Sara was suddenly awake and sat bolt up right at she sound of the familiar voice.

"Uh no, Griss wait. I never sleep this long, it's just been a long few days and. Hold on…did you ring earlier?"

"Yes I did, but… well um... you didn't answer, so… I thought I'd ring now… anyway I remember you telling me once that you never sleep so… I rang you, sorry."

"Don't be. I should be apologising for not picking up. Sorry, I must have been more tired than I expected. Something wrong?" He only ever rang her at home when a huge case came in.

"No, no, um I was just calling to." A silence formed and Sara was beginning to worry, she was about to speak when he continued. ".Um… I was wondering... um...I wanted to ask you... if you wanted to… do something before work tonight?"

Sara listened carefully with a smile etched across her face. Listening to Grissom stutter and reel off the last bit rather quickly, she realised that she hadn't said anything when Grissom spoke hesitantly. 'This is so funny.' Sara thought, trying not to laugh. "S... Sara? Sara are you still there?"

"Yes Griss. I would love to do something, what did you have in mind?" Sara said as she got out of bed and headed for the kitchen.

"Well, I thought you might like to see the sun go down. I know a great place a few miles outside the city where we can get the best view and afterwards we could maybe get a coffee."

Sara poured herself a cup of coffee that was timed to brew for when she woke up and as Grissom spoke she took a long sip. She carried the coffee back into her bedroom and sat on her bed. "That sounds great Griss, you gonna pick me up or do you want me to meet you there?"

"No, I'll come pick you up."

"Ok, see you soon."

"Yeah, oh and Sara?"

"Yes Griss?"

"Wrap up warm, it's going to be a bit chilly tonight. I know it's the desert and all, but it does get cold at certain times of the year."

"Ok, thanks Griss, see you tonight, Bye."

"Bye."

She pressed the end button and placed the phone in its charger. While taking a shower and getting dressed, a smile had taken up permanent residence on her face. Grissom had taken that next step and she was so excited. She was going to be in the desert, alone, with just… Grissom.

Sara had three hours before he arrived. She made herself something to eat, which wasn't much, just some soup and tidied up the place a little. She even watered the plants that were starting to droop from lack of attention. They seemed to perk up immediately after watered. Sara sat down on her couch with a glass of apple juice and picked up a journal she had started reading.

Fifteen minutes later there was a knock at the door. This was confusing. Grissom wasn't supposed to pick her up for another fifteen-twenty minutes. Sara put the journal down and as she passed the kitchen unit, she placed her empty glass on it.

Never opening the door without checking first, she looked through the peephole. Taking a step back and clamping a hand over her mouth, stopping herself from making any noise, she tried not to move. On the other side of the door stood Hank Peddigrew. 'Wasn't he supposed to be working tonight?' Sara thought to herself? 'Anyway I thought they both agreed to keep mutual distances from each other, since there little misunderstanding.'

Looking through the peephole again to see what was happening, she groaned. 'Oh great! He's not leaving and Grissom would be here soon. What am I going to do? I have to open the door and get him to go. Now!'

Sara unlocked the bolt at the top and at the bottom of the door before turning the key. She opened it slowly and Hank inspected her appearance before saying anything. 'Great what now?'

"Hey Sara, you're home, I was beginning to wonder where you were. I know that you don't start work for a few more hours yet and I'm on a break, so I was wondering if you wanted to go for a coffee or something to eat." Hank leaned against her doorframe and peered around her as though he was looking for something. Sara looked down her drive, then back at Hank. "So, you up for it?"

Grissom's Tahoe pulled up, catching her eye. "Oh um. sorry Hank, I have plans for tonight."

Grissom got out and started walking towards her. She smiled and Grissom smiled back, but it disappeared when he saw Hank leaning into Sara. He could see the silent plea, which was amusing.

'Please Help Me Griss' Sara then saw a grin cover his face. 'What's he up to?'

Hank saw Grissom walking towards them and stood up straight. Grissom walked passed Hank, who had taken a few steps back. Giving her a hug, but as he held her close, he whispered into her ear. "Play along." He pulled away and took her hand in his. "Sorry I'm late. You ready?"

Sara looked at him. He wasn't late he was on time. 'Don't argue, your glad he turned up when he did.' His face was serious and she knew she had to put on the same face to pull this off. "Yep, just let me grab my coat." Grissom let her hand go as Sara went back inside to grab her coat and scarf. She stuffed her gloves into her pockets and headed back to Grissom. "Ok, ready."

Grissom turned as Sara shut her door and locked it. Again Grissom took her hand in his, but this time he pulled her to him and kissed her quickly on the lips, but just as quickly released her before she forgot Hank was staring at them and smacked him. Looking at her light coat and low-rise jeans, he asked. "You sure you're going to be warm enough in jeans, jumper and coat? It's going to get colder than I thought." He said, concerned, but then a smile crept onto his face, which Sara returned, knowing exactly what he was thinking. She could play along just as much as he could.

"I have you if I get too cold… come on, we're going to be late." Sara led Grissom to his car, still holding his hand, but before they reached the car, she stopped. She tugged on his hand bringing him closer to her, but before she could carry out her next move, he made it for her.

He hesitantly leaned into her and kissed her. After smiling against her mouth, he pulled away to look straight into her sparkling chocolate coloured eyes. 'This was too much fun.' They both thought.

Before they got into the car, Sara turned to Hank, who was standing with his mouth hanging open and a 'what-the-hell-just-happened' expression on his face. "Sorry Hank, I've got other plans, see you around." She smiled as she climbed into the car.

Grissom drove onto the highway and headed out of the city. Once they turned the corner of Sara's street, they both burst out laughing. Sara was laughing so hard she started to cry. Grissom was also laughing while carefully navigating the streets of Las Vegas towards the desert.

Sara tried to apologise for what just happened and again for the morning, but Grissom wouldn't have. He told her that he would have done anything to help, even if it meant being able to kiss her. She laughed and blushed at his admission. They talked briefly before Grissom brought up that this was as good a place to start dating. Sara said something along the lines 'Well, its about damned time you did something, I was going crazy' Grissom laughed.

After the laughing stopped Sara asked where about they were going and hoped they weren't going to miss the sun going down. It only took seventeen minutes to drive to the deserted spot and the horizon could be seen in the distance.

Grissom pulled over and got out. He walked around to open Sara's door before climbing up to sat on the bonnet. They leaned back against the windshield, side by side as they looked out over the desert sands, watching the sun slowly hide, ready for the night sky to show its face.

As the sun was in its last stages, Sara felt eyes on her, she turned her head and noticed Grissom on his side, propped up on his elbow, staring intently at her. Sara in turn took one last glance at the horizon before turning to face him. They just stared at each other for a few minutes. It had started to get cold when they left Sara's house, but it had gone down a few more degrees now the sun had gone to bed.

Sara shivered, which was not gone unnoticed by Grissom. "I told you it was going to get cold." He said softly as he reached across and slowly rubbed her upper arm.

"I know. I also remember saying that I had you, if I got cold." She smiled and took his hand, entwining her fingers with his to stare at their hands.

Still holding her hand, he turned onto his back and pulled her to him. Wrapping his arms around her as Sara rested her head on his chest. In turn Sara hugged him, keeping them both warm from the chilling air. They watched the stars peek through the few clouds that were in the sky and watched them sparkle.

"Are you warm enough? We can go if you're getting too cold." Grissom said as he squeezed her body to him.

"No, I'm fine, I just want to stay right here… with you… holding me." As she finished, Grissom pulled her in a tight warming embrace and kissed the top of her head.

"Ok."

Half an hour later the temperature seemed to get a little warmer, but not a lot. It was getting late and nearing time to go if they wanted to grab a coffee before the beginning of shift. Grissom shifted a little, getting Sara's attention. "Are you ok?" Sara asked with concern as she lifted her head.

Grissom winced as he moved to sit up. "I'm fine, just a window wiper that has befriend my kidneys." He said while rubbing his back with one hand and holding Sara around the waist with the other.

She laughed and leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. He looked her straight in the eyes to find any objection as he leaned forward and kissed. While steadying herself with one hand, she grabbed the lapel of his jacket with the other, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. Grissom wrapped his arms completely around her and pulled her to him as he lean back against the forgotten offending window wiper.

This was their first proper kiss that they hadn't had to perform for an audience. This was slow and passionate, which turned to something more when Sara laid herself half on him with a leg resting between his. As she pushed against him, he moaned into her mouth. He ran his hands up her back, only to run back down in his mission to feel more of her. One handed rested on the small of her back, the other covering her rear.

Sara's hand was caressing his cheek while the other ran through his hair. Her fingers in his tight curls were driving him crazy. In turn, his hand grasped her ass. It was Sara's turn to moan and as she did, ground against him. The need for oxygen was too great and Sara broke the kiss to start trailing kisses down his jaw to his neck. Grissom began nibbling and suckling her ear. Sara then licked and planted wet kisses on his neck, causing Grissom to take in a sharp… breathe at the sensation.

'Blast… what is that… noise!? Damnit!!! It's my cell… no, its not mine.' Sara's mind ran riot as she reached for her pocket whilst still kissing Grissom's neck. 'It's got to be Grissom's…isn't he going to answer it?' She started to laugh softly and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Grissom stopped when he no longer felt Sara's mouth on him. He then heard it, his phone. He groaned into her hair and swore. Never if hardly ever was a time that Gil Grissom swore. He reached for his cell and answered it, with Sara still lying on top of him. "Grissom!?" He attempted to bark into the phone, but became difficult when Sara started to kiss his neck again.

Now Sara was amazed he answered the phone, because as soon as he did she couldn't help herself. She began to kiss his neck and run her tongue down his jaw stopping when Grissom squeezed her hip, causing her to gasp.

He tried to listen to the caller, but was having more and more trouble concentrating. "No… I'll signed it when I get there." Grissom lifted the phone away from his mouth, but still kept it to his ear. He turned his head to kiss Sara below the ear, but stopped. He was getting agitated with the caller. "No, he doesn't have to… no listen… of course he could."

Sara lifted her head and touched his face to get him to calm down. He looked into her eyes as he pushed back a strand of hair and caressed her cheek. She leaned into his hand and held it with hers. She kissed his palm, gazing into his eyes.

"Look, you can wait and I'll be in as soon as I can. Yes, Sara will be there tonight like she is every night…why'd you ask?" Grissom smiled when Sara furrowed her brows in confusion. "She's a workaholic remember… yes… we would need to sedate her to get her to have a day off."

At that comment, Sara hit Grissom on the arm and tried to stifle her laughter when he dropped the phone. Grissom sat up quickly as did Sara and he jumped off the Tahoe to reach for the phone in the dark. He dusted it off and shook some of the sand from it before holding it to his ear. Smiling at Sara, he continued the conversation. "Sorry Catherine, dropped my cell."

Sara's laughing seized immediately with a hand over her mouth and a concerned look on her face at the mention of Catherine's name. Grissom laughed, which startled Catherine. "No Catherine it wasn't anything you said… no Catherine I'm not drinking." Now Sara burst out into tears of laughter, which only made Grissom laugh harder into the phone. "No... Catherine please listen, I've not been drinking and I'm not on drugs, I'm laughing because you ring at the most awkward moments and I'm going to have to go now. A very strange, tall, brunette just fell off the bonnet of my Tahoe in a fit of laughter." At that, he hung up and walked around the car to see Sara holding her sides and trying to breathe. "You alright?"

"Oxygen. I. need. oxygen." Sara said between laughing fits.

Grissom chuckled and lifted her to her feet. "There's plenty of oxygen back at work, ready to go face Catherine? She's more than likely to have figured out what's going on by now." Grissom brushed the sand from Sara's back while she was still shaking from laughing and brushing sand from her hair.

"You know, that was a bit odd, it's not like you." She turned to face Grissom to brush some sand from his jacket collar and shoulder. He raised an eyebrow and Sara did the same. "Practically telling Catherine we just made out on your car bonnet in the middle of no where." She grinned and turned to get in the car. Grissom did the same.

"Well, first of all, I didn't tell Catherine where I was or who I was with and I did not tell her what I was doing." Grissom climbed in and put his seat belt on. He started the car and did a U-turn, heading back into the city.

"So, if you didn't tell her who you were with, who else do you know that is 'very strange, tall, brunette'? Although I don't think I'm strange, tall and brunette maybe, but not strange." Sara said while tracing a line with her index finger down his jaw to his chin.

Grissom tried to concentrate on the road as he took her hand from his face and brought it to his lips. Sara just watched as he kissed her hand and set it down on his leg, covering her hand with his. "No one but you, you are tall and brunette, definitely, but also… strong, athletic, sexy." He said, glancing at her and noticed her blush.

Sara grasped his leg as Grissom tightened his hand around hers and continued "Caring, passionate, beautiful, and did I say strange?" Sara's nails dug into his leg and he nearly hit a road sign when the pain shot through his leg. "I'll tell you something if you stop cutting into my poor leg."

Sara loosened her nails, but still held them there at the ready. "I have begun to form a hypothesis that began while we were waiting to cross the road this morning." Sara looked at him and turned red with the mention of the activities that had happened suddenly by the side of the road earlier. Grissom looked at her and smiled.

"I'm sorry against about what happened and Hank. I wasn't trying to make him jealous or anything." Sara looked down at her lap.

Grissom squeezed her hand, getting her to look up. She saw him smiling, which she turned her hand and entwined her fingers with his as she returned his smile.

"My hypothesis started this morning. I have just this minute started to recall all the data. When that first shot of pain went through my foot, then again through my arm, when we were sitting on the hood and then just a minute ago with my leg. You, Miss Sidle, love to inflict pain on my personal being without even realising it." Grissom laughed when she squeezed his hand almost painfully. "See? No matter what I do, you seem to enjoy seeing me stutter and swear when in a painfully vulnerable situation."

"Well, I see some flaws with your hypothesis, Dr. Grissom."

"Really and what would those flaws be I wonder?" Grissom had driven his way to the C.S.I building by avoiding the busy high streets and pulled into the car park. He killed the engine before turning to Sara, who did the same.

"Ok, bare with me. The first time was an accident and I don't usually stomp on peoples feet…the second was pure panic and the third and fourth were because you deserved it. How about that?"

Grissom leaned closer and kissed her lips. He pulled away, looking into her eye s, smiling as he said. "See? Strange."

Sara laughed and shook her head. Before she could say anything more, Grissom captured her lips in mid laugh and kissed her deeply. Sara's hand cupped his face and ran it slowly down his neck to his shoulder. They broke the kiss and got out the car.

Walking around the car, Grissom saw concern cover Sara's face as she looked at the lab doors. "Sara, what's wrong?" When she turned to him, he knew exactly what it was. He took her hands in his. "Sara… don't worry about the others. I don't care who knows about us and as far as I know, we are not breaking any rules and no one is saying that we can't see each other."

She smiled at his caring nature and leaned forward bringing her mouth to his ear. "You're right, but… when we go in there, there's going to be the Spanish inquisition waiting for us."

Grissom's eyes closed, he held her hands closer to him as she kissed just below his ear. Her breath on his skin was driving him insane. "It's more than likely Catherine has told everyone."

He opened his eyes as she took a step back. "Come on, the others won't be in for a while yet. It's still early. Let's get that coffee I promised you." Grissom smiled and while adjusting his grip on her hand, walked towards the front doors.

Showing their ID's to the front desk, they walk to the locker room to get their lab coats. Grissom went to his office to collect some paperwork, but not before giving Sara a kiss while still in the locker room. They went there separate ways, promising coffee together when they had both finished the small jobs they had to do first.

Later the boys came in; both looking worse for wears.

Sara was sitting on one of the couches in the break room when Nick walked in and headed straight for the coffee pot. Shortly afterwards, Warrick followed the same path. Both sat down opposite each other at the table with a coffee. Nick laid his head on his arms while Warrick winced at every sound made in the hallway and throughout the lab.

"You guys ok?" Sara stood up and walked over to refill her cup. Realising that no one was answering she continued. "Someone lose a bet? Who drank the most and who passed out first?" Both Nick and Warrick pointed at each other, causing Sara to burst out laughing. Nick and Warrick instantly covered their ears. "Sorry, you shouldn't gamble. Especially when it involves alcohol." She said more quietly.

Just then Grissom came strolling in and once he saw Sara, he couldn't stop grinning. She looked up and saw him with an uncharacteristic grin, which she returned with a smile and eyebrows raised. "Griss?" She asked silently what he was up to.

He tried to put on an innocent face, but failed. "What? I didn't do anything." He squeaked, looking at Nick and Warrick, who were both resting their heads on the cool metal table.

Grissom just walked by them towards Sara. "Don't even think about it." She warned.

He raised an eyebrow at the insinuation and replied with a 'would-I' expression. He picked up his cup and Sara filled it with coffee. He waited for her to put the pot back, waiting for her to raise her cup to her mouth before he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek saying, "Thanks honey." Before walking out the room

Nick and Warrick's heads shot up, both immediately regretted it. Holding their heads and with shocked faces, watched Grissom retreat from the room, listening to Sara shout after him "No Problem!" She laughed and walked towards trace.

Warrick suddenly felt very sick and charged… no, scrap that... bolted from the room towards the restrooms. Nick just laughed, but stopped abruptly with a groan at the sound of it echoing in the room. Both forgetting momentarily about what they just witnessed.

Catherine walked in and placed a brown file on the table with a thud. "God Catherine! Did you have to do that so loud?" Catherine just laughed softly and helped herself to the coffee. Nick looked up and said. "I wouldn't touch that coffee if I was you." She stopped with a cup in one hand and the coffee pot spout resting on the lip of the cup. At her pause, Nick continued. "Sara drank from it. She poured Grissom a cup and he drank from it."

Catherine jumped in before he could finish while continuing to pour the coffee into her cup. "So?" She took a sip and spat it straight out at Nick's next words.

"He then kissed her on the cheek and… in his exact words and hers 'thanks honey', she shouted as he left 'No Problem' then also left the room." Catherine tipped the coffee and the coffee pot contents into the sink just as Greg walked in, not wanting to take chances.

He shouted across the room, which yet again echoed throughout the room and Nick winced. "Catherine ! NO!.. Damnit!… that was a new batch too."

Catherine turned with an apologetic and its-for-you-own-good expression, then left the room in search of Sara or Grissom, whichever one she found first, for questioning.

Nick was about to explain to Greg when he suddenly didn't feel too good and just as Warrick did, bolted from his seat and out the door. Greg looked after him with an even more confused expression. What was going on?

Grissom had gone back to his office with his coffee in hand. He had nearly done the paperwork that arrived on his desk and was just signing the last piece of paper when there was a knock at the door. It was Catherine, he could tell by the leaning against the doorframe shadow that flowed into the room.

He looked up and smiled.

Catherine smiled back and sat down in the chair across from him. Grissom looked at her for a few minutes and she did the same. Just before Catherine could speak his beeper went off. As he reached for it he stood up and read it.

While smiling on the inside, but keeping a straight face on the outside, not letting Catherine know it was Sara, who requested his presence, in the Dry Room no less. As Grissom headed for his office door, Catherine stood and stopped him.

"Um. Cath. I need you to move, so I can leave 'MY' office." Grissom tried to go around her, but it didn't work. Not wanting to waste time, he took a deep breath and waited for her to say something.

"Well?" Catherine crossed her arms over her chest like you would, waiting for a good explanation to tell your mother why you stayed out till gone two in the morning. Grissom slowly smiled and pushed passed her. "Gil? Don't think you can get away that easily. I'll catch up with you later and you will tell me!" Catherine's voice got louder as he got further down the hall, but watched with a huge grin on her face as Grissom practically skipped down the hallway. She shook her head and went to find Nick and Warrick to work up a batch of her hangover concoction.

Grissom opened the door to the Dry Room. In the hallway were two cleaners and no one else around for a few corridors. As he walked into the room looking for Sara, he noticed the lights were out, as he was reaching for the switch he felt someone behind him.

"Hey"

"Hi" He greeted as her hand reached for his and turned him around. He squeezed it and pulled the rest of her body towards him until it was pressed up against him. Grissom lowered his head to her neck and trailed kisses along her neck to her collarbone.

Sara's hands grasped his and pulled him further into the room until she was pressed up against the cold wall. Grissom leaned into her and pressed his entire body against her, pinning her to the wall. Sara snaked her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair, sending shivers down his spine. He moaned into her neck as he sucked on her collarbone.

Sara dropped her head towards his ear and said. "No one will be in here for a few hours." Grissom pulled his head back and smiled before leaning back in and kissing her.

Grissom and Sara pulled their clothes back on fairly hurriedly. It was nearly time for the night shift to start officially. Sara watched with a smile as he pulled her shirt over her shoulders and pushed the buttons together. Grissom watched Sara as she returned the gesture. Once they were both dressed and decent to work, Grissom leaned into her, pinning her to the wall again.

A huge smile played his lips. Sara looked at him and laughed. He closed the distance between them and kissed her. She raised her hand to run her fingers through the curls above his ear. Grissom's hand caressed her breast through her shirt as the kiss grew deeper.

Sara tried to speak, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. "Griss. we have to. mmm. work-to do. Griss. you need to-stop. I would do this all day. oh. with you.. If I could. .OW!"

Grissom raised his head from her collarbone to give her a sheepish smile. "Sorry." He placed his hands on her waist gently as he gazed into her eyes.

"Yeah right. You did THAT on purpose." She playfully pushed him, but he pushed her back and leaned in to her to kiss her lightly, brushing his lips with hers.

"Did not." He whispered.

She leaned forward trying to capture his lips, but he was having too much fun teasing her. Sara whimpered against his lips making him smile and push his tongue into her mouth again.

Suddenly Grissom's cell phone rang.

He looked at Sara and then at the phone. He was about to pocket the offending item when Sara grabbed it to look at the caller display. With curious eyes, Grissom watched Sara answer his phone. He could only smile.

"Grissom's phone, Sara speaking. Oh! hey Catherine."

Grissom laughed and buried his head into Sara's shoulder. ".no I'll tell him. thanks, bye." She turned the phone off and pushed it into his shirt pocket.

Looking up to hear her reply, he waited.

"That was Catherine."

Grissom nodded his head with a smile.

"We have a case, but Nicky and Warrick are not too well, so they both don't mind the menial jobs… could be fun," Sara smiled, making Grissom laugh.

"Your evil. Nicky and Warrick are sick and you want to tease them." Grissom grabbed her hand and lead her out the Dry Room.

"Hey, they'd do the same." She grinned.

Grissom and Sara were stared at as they walked down the corridor hand in hand, that was now filling with lab and police personnel.

"Your right." Before he could continue Sara added seriously.

"…as usual."

He chuckled.

They both entered the break room after collecting the case report from the front desk. Nick and Warrick stopped talking and looked up. Sara let Grissom's hand go and headed for the coffee. Holding up his cup she asked. "Griss… you wanna cup?"

"I'd love one." He walked up to her with his head in the report as he took the cup. He took a sip and looked up. "Thanks honey."

She couldn't believe it, he said it again. Sara shook her head and sighed, "What am I going to do with you?" She sat down on the couch to drink her coffee. Grissom sat at the table next to Warrick. Catherine and Nick sat opposite him.

Looking up when the room got to be too quiet Grissom looked at Sara with a concerned expression. "Did I do something wrong?"

Standing, Sara walked up behind Grissom. She put a hand on his shoulder to whisper in his ear. "There in shock. Yesterday nothing, today we act like we're married." Sara sat at the end of the table waiting for anything to form.

Grissom laughed and continued to read the report. "Right then... Nick, Warrick I hear your not well, so light duties is it?" They didn't reply so he continued. "Hangovers?" Still nothing, he looked up and said. "Hey guys, I know this is a shock to the system, but get used to it." Grissom reached for Sara's hand and squeezed it. "Catherine did you give them that hangover cure of yours?" He looked over Warrick and Nick again.

Catherine snapped to her senses at the mention of her name "Yeah… won' kick in for another hour or so. give it time, they'll be fine." She drank her coffee and stood. "What we got?" She asked as she walked towards the sink, placing her cup in it to get a sandwich from the fridge.

Grissom returned his eyes to the report. "Well… says here that there is a body covered in insects by the sewage pipe down on the strip… could be something for Nick or Warrick to help with." Grissom looked to Sara who grinned, 'let the teasing begin'.

"How about it guys? Up for it?"

Nick and Warrick groaned.

"Unless you think you can't handle your liqueur and do your jobs at the same time. Although I think Sara… could handle it, you know 'be a man' in your place." Grissom grinned when their heads shot up and looked at Sara.

Sara laughed and playfully punched Grissom's arm. "What? I'm sure you can handle drinking and working at the same time. These puppies on the other hand don't seem to be able to."

Nick was the first to speak up. "Hey, I can do anything she can."

It was Warrick's turn to step in and defend them. "Yeah man… anything a women can do, we can do better." Warrick and Nick nodded together and stood.

Catherine shook her head with a wide smile. "Don't jump the gun guys… you both just volunteered for sewage drag and might I add you have hangovers. Anything stronger than the smell of bacon is going to make you puke."

Grissom got up and headed out the door with Sara. Nick and Warrick staggered after them, holding their heads.

"Man, it's gonna to be a long shift." Warrick grumbled.

Nick nodded the best he could without causing the lab to spin. "Yeah, I can tell Sara's not gonna let up."

Nick and Warrick got into Catherine's Tahoe while Sara got into Grissom's. "Hey, when did we miss them two getting together? Yesterday they hardly spoke to each other and today Griss is holding her hand and kissing her in public." Nick stared at the Tahoe in front from the backseat.

Warrick turned to Catherine who hadn't seemed to be bothered by the fact that Sara and Grissom were seeing each other all of a sudden. "Catherine, how long have you known about them? I mean, you seem to know something that we don't."

Catherine continued to follow Grissom's Tahoe out of the car park towards the strip before answering Warrick. "Well, this morning when I left to go get Lindsey ready for school, I saw them kissing. In the shadows of this building. I almost didn't recognise them. I think it's great, don't you?"

Warrick looked at Nick then back at Catherine. "Hell yes!" They said in unison.

Catherine grinned and came to a stop behind Grissom's parked car. They watched the two in front get out and grab their gear from the back. Nick was the first to break the silence. "I mean, It's about time. They've been flirting with each other for over a year now and it was starting to drive me over the edge."

"Damn right it was, but I thought Sara was seeing that EMT guy, Hank." Warrick got out the car and grabbed his case.

"She was, but only as a friend. She said they just went to the movies together, but called it to a stop when Hank tried to kiss her or something." Catherine walked towards Brass.

Nick burst out laughing. "I'm surprised she didn't put him in hospital for that move." Nick stopped behind Catherine and Warrick while Grissom and Sara spoke to the officers with Brass.

"She did give him a black eye." Warrick snickered at Catherine, remembering the EMT in a bad way when he saw him last.

Catherine laughed. "How do you know? Did she tell you?" She turned to look at Warrick.

"Nope." Warrick put his case on the floor.

Nick joined in the friendly banter. "Then, how do you know?"

"I saw him pass Sara in the Hospital the other day. You remember, the rape victim that was in a coma?" They both nodded in remembrance, urging him to continue. "Well, he saw Sara and gave her a wide berth as she walked by him. Additionally, he did have a black eye. It looked like the 'Iron Fist Sidle's' handy work from where I was standing."

They all burst out laughing and the laughing increased into hysterics when Sara walked up to them.

"Hey guys, what's so funny?" Sara asked with amusement.

She shook her head at them and handed Catherine a list of witnesses. "Catherine, Griss asked if you could start questioning the witnesses. The names, addresses and numbers are all there." Sara pointed at the list before turning to Warrick and Nick.

They stopped laughing and moaned when they realised what she was going to say. "Suit up fellows, time to go fishing." She laughed and headed back towards Grissom.

The boys headed back to the car and suited up. "Oh man, this is gonna kill me." Nick tucked his pant legs into his socks and pulled on the sewage protection suit. Warrick did the same.

Sara walked up behind Grissom, who was looking at the body next to the pipe. He was collecting bugs and putting them in jars. She watched, not wanting to get too close while the bugs where crawling all over the place. Dead bodies and blood didn't bother, obviously, but the 'bugs', she's never got use to.

Walking the perimeter instead, she waited for the body to be collected and taken back to the lab. She collected evidence and took photos, but when she saw Nick and Warrick approach with unhappy faces, she walked towards Grissom and knelt down next to him. "Griss, look."

Grissom looked at her and then got up as the boys grew closer. He walked towards them and handed them a rake and some evidence bags each. "Have fun guys." He turned away and walked back to the body. Crouching down to the body he called out to Sara. "Don't let this go to your head." She cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow, urging him to continue. "You were right… it is fun teasing them."

She grinned and stood up. "I'll let that go. I'm going to see if Catherine's got anything. See you later Bugman."

He watched her retreating form and smiled. 'One day is all it takes to put things right between us.' He collected more insects and let David take the body. Grissom collected some fibre's from a nearby tree, fence and found footprints in the mud where the body's head was. Later, he found Sara staring into the manhole on top of the sewage pipe with a huge grin on her face. He smirked and joined her. "What are you doing?"

She continued spying on Nick dragging the rake through the sewage water and watching Warrick trying desperately not to contaminate the scene by throwing up. "Oh nothing, just checking in on the lab chimps, making sure they're not wrecking our crime scene. Find anything interesting? What does your little multi-legged friends tell you?"

Grissom laughed "That he's been here for five days if not more. I will have to form an entomological timeline and my 'little multi-legged friends' as you put it, will help me with that. You want to head back now or do you want to stay here and gloat more?"

Sara stepped away from the opening and turned to him. "I was not gloating and nope, I'm ready to go when you are. Do you want to grab something to eat on the way back? We could stop by a diner and pick up some stuff to feed to boys when they're done."

Grissom reached out and brushed a strand a hair behind her ear before leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Sure, lets go."

Brass saw the exchange and called out to them both. "It's about bloody time."

They both blushed and separated as the police captain head towards them. Grissom helped Sara down the small embankment and headed for the car, stopping to pick up their kits and the evidence bags. "Hey Cath, we'll see you back at the lab. You want anything from the diner?"

Catherine turned from a female witness and shook her head.

Climbing into the passenger seat, Grissom watched Sara start the engine. She turned the radio on and began singing along to the music, causing to Grissom smile. He reached out and took her hand. As Sara pulled up to a diner drive-thru, she turned to Grissom and asked what he wanted.

"Salad and a chicken sandwich."

Sara smiled, she knew he would never turn veggie, so relayed the order and ordered herself a salad and got two ham salad sandwiches for the boys. Grissom whispered into Sara's ear. "Better get some donuts for the lab rat." She elbowed him lightly and paid for their order. She handed the two bags to him to which he put them on the back seat.

"Ok, that's done. Let's get back to the lab." Sara pulled onto the high street and headed towards the lab.

Grissom turned the radio off about half way back to the lab. "Sara." He turned to face her.

Sara glanced at him then back at the road. "What's wrong Griss?"

"I was wondering about earlier."

Sara was beginning to worry and jumped in with, "Griss. I'm sorry… if I pushed you. I mean,"

Grissom shook his headed quickly. He looked at the road briefly then back. "No, not that."

She laughed and blushed. "Oh… then what?"

"I was wondering about Hank."

"Griss, I told you I wasn't seeing him. We just went to movies, but not anymore." She looked at him, pleading with him to believe her.

Seeing the sad eyes, he knew she was begging him to believe her. "I believe you, I do. I… what… did he do something to stop you two from going to the movies?" He was concerned, but also relieved.

Sara pulled into the lab car park and turned off the engine. She turned to him and looked down at his hands, which were now holding both hers. "Promise you won't laugh?" She looked him in the eyes and waited.

He was about to nod, but realised that he might not be able to if the answer was going to be what he thought. "I can't promise, but I'll try my best."

She looked down at her hands and made little circles in his palm with her index finger. "Well. We were sitting watching the movie and. when it finished we got up to go, but. when I turned to him. he kissed me, so I hit him. I gave him a black eye."

Grissom burst out with laughter and just as quickly covered his mouth with his free hand to stopped himself, but it didn't work. Sara was about to smack him across the chest when she stopped herself, remembering what he said before shift.

He saw the hesitation and grinned. "See, couldn't help yourself, could you?"

She laughed and got out the car shaking her head. Grissom grabbed the food and followed her. As they walked up the steps, Sara opened the door for him. "I didn't do anything did I?"

Grissom walked through the door and headed for the break room. Sara followed and opened the door again for him. He placed the bags down and turned to her. "Well, I saw you hesitate. I bet it took everything to refrain from lashing out."

Sara walked right up to him, face to face, their noses touching. Grissom pulled her close to him and kissed her softly. Sara broke the kiss and Grissom groaned at the loss of contact. She laughed, picking up her case and heading for the door, but stopped and turned back. "Honey, could you put my salad in the fridge? The boys should be back soon. I'm gonna take these to Greg. See you later."

Grissom nodded and proceeded to do just that.

Sara dropped the evidence off with Greg and stayed to chat with him.

Nick and Warrick came back smelling awful.

Grissom wrinkled up his nose as they walked by his office. "Hey Nicky, Warrick."

They stopped and turned to walk into his office.

Grissom stopped them before they reached the opening of the door. "Don't even think about entering this office smelling like that. STAY right there."

The boys stopped and Nick sighed. "What's up Griss? I wanna grab a shower, while Warrick gives this stuff to Greg."

Warrick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, then I can get this stench as far away from me as possible. I nearly contaminated the crime scene. It stinks so bad." Warrick looked at his clothes and grimaced.

"I just wanted to know if you found anything." Grissom put down his crossword and stood. He walked towards them, but stopped a good few feet away. They stank too much to get any closer.

"We found a knife and a gun, what's the betting one of them is the murder weapon?" Warrick pulled out the two evidence bags to show Grissom.

Grissom looked at the bags. "That's great work guys. Get the gun down to Bobby and the knife to Sara, Ok?" They nodded and turned. "Oh, and don't forget to wash behind your ears." He laughed and sat down again. He picked up his crossword and filled in a few boxes, still grinning to himself.

They all piled into the conference room half an hour later to talk about leads while they ate their food. Although Nick showered twice, using all the shampoo and soap from his locker, he still couldn't get the smell to disappear. When he entered the room everyone wrinkled up their noses. Nick sighed and gave them the give-me-a-break look before asking Warrick his secret. He didn't smell at all, but Warrick just tapped the side of his nose indicating its-a-secret.

The case came to a close when Sara matched the knife to the wounds on the body and Nick matched the bullets in the gun to the bullet in the head of the victim. They were all filling out their reports and collecting the evidence together for the DA. The victim's flat mate was arrested for murder and sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment.

Nick, Warrick and Catherine had gone home an hour ago, but Sara was nowhere to be seen. The last time Grissom saw her, she was chatting to Archie, but then she seemed to vanish. Grissom walked down to the break room and poured himself a coffee. He turned towards the couch and saw a body wrapped up in a blanket. He smiled to himself. "I was wondering where you were." He walked over to Sara and sat on the edge of the small table. He put his coffee down as she turned towards him and stretched.

"I was tired and no one was in here." She smiled up to him.

Grissom rested his hand on her thigh and rubbed it suggestively. He was about to speak when Sara grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him down to kiss him .

Grissom smiled against her lips and pulled back a little, looking her in the eyes then down at her lips. He kissed her lightly and suggested. "Let's get out of here." He kissed her again, running his fingers through her hair.

"Want to have… breakfast at my place?" She said between kisses.

"Yeah. I would like that."

She laughed at his grin and sat up. "I'm thought you might."

He pulled her up and headed for the locker room to get their coats.

Sara was cooking cheese omelettes, while Grissom watched her. Drinking his coffee he turned and walked around her apartment, looking at the books and music on her shelves. He put his coffee down and picked up a CD. He put it into the player and turned the volume up a little. Satisfied with his choice, he headed back to the kitchen, coffee in hand and sat on one of the stools at Sara's breakfast bar.

Sara handed him a plate and joined him. They ate and talked about what they were going to do after eating. Sara knew exactly what she wanted to do and that was to sleep, but she also wanted Grissom to be there with her.

"Well, I want to sleep for a few hours, but." Sara was going to continue, but stopped as she turned to face him.

Grissom put his fork down and looked at the floor. "Sounds good… you… want some company?" He looked up at her and smiled mischievously making her laugh.

She collected the plates and put them in the sink while Grissom went to turn the music off. Walking up to him, she leaned in and kissed him softly. She grabbed his hand and led him to her room. Grissom stripped down to his boxers and climbed into her bed. Sara did the same, but put on an old T- shirt and shorts. She snuggled up to him and rested her head on his chest. Grissom held her close and sighed contentedly.

"Griss?" She asked into his chest.

"Yeah"

"What took so long?" She raised her head to look at him.

Grissom opened his eyes and looked down at her. "What do you mean?" He knew what she was asking, but wasn't sure how to tell her. He can show emotion, but doesn't very often. Talking about it was harder.

Sara knew this, but tried anyway. "Us… Why'd it take us so long to get together? Granted it's only been one day, but it feels like it's been longer, don't you?" She looked down, not able to keep eye contact.

Grissom pushed up her chin and spoke softly. He felt it was time to share those closed off feelings and that would only happen with one person and that person is Sara. "I was scared, Sara… to let you in." She nodded for him to continue. "I have tried, but I always seemed to do something wrong… and push you away in return… it wasn't my intention, Sara, you have to understand that." Grissom caressed her face and she leaned into his hand.

"Yesterday morning when you kissed me, I couldn't believe what was happening and again later in the afternoon. It was like a dream come true, Sara..." A tear escaped and ran down her cheek. He wiped it gently away with his thumb. "And to answer your question, yes it does feel like a lot longer and I think that's because we've been good friends for many years. We know a lot about each other, but we are also still learning. that's what makes a good relationship and that's what this is, a good… no, a great relationship." Sara grinned and Grissom pulled her into a warm embrace and kissed her hair.

She pulled away and looked at him. "Thank you."

"For what?" Grissom asked, confused.

"For sharing with me."

He pulled her to him again and kissed her deeply, which soon turned passion. Grissom pulled Sara's T-shirt over her head and rolled them so that he was lying over her.

She screamed his name as he fell on top of her. The weight was welcomed as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his neck. Grissom lifted his head off her shoulder and looked into her eyes, such love seen there and it reflected his. He kissed her softly and pulled her to him as he turned to lay on his back. Sara laid her hand on his chest as he pulled the sheets over them. They fell asleep in each other's arms for the first time.

It was late in the afternoon when the two lovers stirred, the sun was going down and the streetlights where coming on, the streets where quiet, but the city buzzed with activity in the distance.

Grissom turned and snuggled up to Sara. Her back was pressed against his chest, her arm pushed under her pillow and the other splayed across the bed. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tighter to him. She moaned quietly in her sleep and rolled over. She buried her face in his chest and kissed his skin, causing him to chuckle. Sara raised her head, eyes wide as he squirmed next to her. She grinned widely at the new discovery.

He saw her grin. "Don't even think about it. Sara no!" He tried to be serious, but the smile broke through. He burst into a fit of giggles as she poked him in the ribs and repeated the motion all the way to his stomach and back again. "Sara.. No. Please. Stop." He tried to pull from her, but she straddled him and pinned beneath her. She stopped and laughed with him as he tried to recover from the giggling and squirming. "That was so not fair." He pushed himself up on his elbows to kiss her.

She broke the kiss and got up. Grissom slumped back down with a groan.

Sara laughed. "What? Work in a few hours and I have things to do. Do you want some coffee?" She pulled on the discarded shorts and t-shirt from the previous morning and turned to look at him. He was watching her intently with a smile on his face. "Well?" She sat on the edge of the bed. He just stared at her. Sara waved a hand in front of his face and before she could say anything more, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, never taking his eyes from hers. Sara looked at his mouth as he kissed her hand.

He grinned mischievously and pulled her down to him, kissing her strongly. He pulled away and got up, pulling on his boxers and his shirt. Sara stared in amazement for a minute before heading for the kitchen. "So? Do you want some coffee? Or are you going to stare at me all day?" She poured herself a cup and waited for an answer.

"Yes I would love some coffee and yes I will stare at you all day." He took the coffee from her and sat on the couch.

Sara walked to the front door, unlocked it, opened it and went to get the paper and mail from her mailbox. When she got back Grissom was no where to be seen. "Griss? Grissom, where are you?" She put the paper and mail on the coffee table and headed back to her bedroom, but he wasn't there. She turned at the sound of running water and pushed the bathroom door open. Picking up two towels as she walked into the bathroom, she saw him in the shower. "Need anything? Towels. soap." Before Sara could finish, the shower door opened and a hand appeared, which grabbed and pulled her under the spray of warm water.

She squeaked at the sudden wetness. "Ah!. Grissom!." She playfully pushed him, which was a bad thing, because he nearly slipped, but he grabbed Sara to steady himself. She laughed, but suddenly stopped when she realised he could have been seriously hurt. "Oh God Griss! Are you ok? I'm so sorry."

Grissom saw the shock and concern in her eyes. He also saw the tears begin run down her cheeks. "Sara, I'm fine, It's ok, really." He reached for her and wiped the tears away with the water still pooling down their bodies and pulled her into a hug. "Don't cry honey, please. It was my fault. I shouldn't have scared you like that." He pulled away to look at her.

"I shouldn't have pushed you. I'm so sorry. I could have hurt you. Again." She looked away, not able to make eye contact.

"Sara, It's fine." He cupped her face and turned her head. "Don't worry. I'm not hurt, so it's ok." She hugged him as he reached over and turned the water off.

"Did you know that most accidents that happen in showers are fatal? I could have killed you. I'm sorry." She said into his chest.

"Come on, lets dry off and get something to eat." Grissom pulled the wet shirt she still had on, over her head, while she pulled off her shorts.

Grissom reached for the towels that were hanging on the bath and wrapped one around Sara's shoulders. He then wrapped one around him and took her hand.

Sara sat on the bed as Grissom sat next to her. She brought her legs up under her, holding the towel to her chest as she moved to lay head on his legs. He pulled her wet hair away from her face and rubbed her shoulder.

"I think I proved you hypothesis, Griss. All I seem to do is hurt you." Sara hugged his lap and cried softly.

Grissom was feeling horrible and lifted her. He dried her shoulders and walked over to a pile of her clothes on her dresser to pick out a t-shirt and pyjama pants. He laid them on the bed and pulled Sara up. She just watched him as he pulled the t-shirt over her head.

She pushed her arms through the sleeves and dried the rest of her body herself. As she put the pyjama pants on, she watched Grissom put on his pants from the day before. He stood there in just his pants and dried his hair. When he finished, he placed the wet towel on the bathroom towel rack to dry. returning to the bedroom, he walked across the room to Sara, who was drying her own hair. He wrapped his arms round her from behind. She dropped her arms and leaned back into his chest. Turning in his embrace, hugged him.

Grissom took the towel and began to slowly dry her hair. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm sorry."

He stopped her and kissed her softly. "You're forgiven. Come on, let's get something to eat."

Grissom was at his place feeding his bugs when there was a knock at his front door. He knew that Sara was coming over before shift, but she had said she needed to do food shopping. That meant she wouldn't be back at her place for another hour at least, so the only one left was, "Good morning Catherine." Grissom greeted as he shut the door after her as she made her way to his couch. "Cath, is something wrong?" He followed her and sat next to her, concern displayed all over his face.

Catherine looked around his room, then smiled. "Nope. Nothings wrong." She turned to face him, bringing her legs under her.

"So, why are you here?" He replaced the concern with puzzlement.

"Well," She began. "I thought that you would need some help, you know, with Sara."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, I know that you two are seeing each other an all, so I was going to offer my services to help you two onto the next level." Grissom was now amused and Catherine saw this. "What!? Did my offer of help surprise you? Gil you haven't been in a relationship for. GOD!! knows how long and I don't want you to mess this one up."

Grissom started laughing, which was happening more lately. "Cath. I'm fine." At her serious expression, he continued. "I mean. I'm grateful for the offer and everything, but I don't need it. I did this by myself and I'm not going to mess it up." He was interrupted by Catherine raising her hand.

She opened her mouth then closed it trying to put the pieces together. "Hold on a minute. You spoke in the past tense." She hesitantly grinned, then smiled widely, sitting up to cross her arms over her chest. "Spill. Now!"

Grissom smiled, then laughed. How was he going to tell Catherine that he had already taken the first, second, third and four step in this relationship? He stopped laughing to compose himself. He squared his shoulders and put his hands in his lap. Ok, well, let's not try to tell her everything, but only a little. He needed to tell someone and Catherine was his best friend after all.

"Ok. BUT, this goes no further. I know the boys know, but Ecklie and the sheriff don't. Although they can't do anything anyway."

Catherine jumped in and added. "Right. There are no rules or regulations that stops you and Sara from seeing each other." Grissom opened his mouth, but closed it expecting her to continue, which she did. "Don't stop there. Carry on. Tell me."

He smiled, shaking his head. "Yesterday morning we kissed, before we met up with Nicky and Warrick for breakfast. That, was only because Sara panicked when she saw Hank. She grabbed me and kissed me. It felt so good, but once Sara realised what she did, she pulled away pretty quick."

Catherine grinned. When did Grissom display his feelings all of a sudden? She didn't want to question it now, so she nodded for him to continue.

"Well, I was going to kiss her back when Nick called us from the diner."

"That idiot, didn't he see you making out with Sara in the shadows? God-" As Grissom's mouth hung open, Catherine realised what she just said. "Oh Shit! I mean. Oh Crap."

Grissom closed his mouth and shook his head. "You saw us, and here you are asking for me to tell you. Catherine." He stood and walked to pour himself a coffee.

Catherine stood and walked towards him, staring at the floor. "I'm sorry. I left at the time you were kissing, and I just wanted to know if anything else happened when I wasn't there."

Grissom looked up from his cup and laughed lightly. He placed the cup down and leaned against the kitchen counter. When he continued to tell the story, Catherine's head shot up. "Later that evening. I rang her to ask if she wanted to go and see the sun go down. you know, take that next step? I said that I'd pick her up and to wrap up warm."

Catherine sat on a stool as Grissom poured her a coffee and handed it her. Grissom replaced the pot and continued. "I was walking up her drive when I saw Hank. I couldn't help myself, and I saw that Sara needed help, so I helped her." Grissom picked up his cup and drank from it.

Catherine smiled and asked. "What happened next, did you punch Hank?"

Grissom laughed. "No. I wouldn't do that. You know that Catherine." Catherine nodded and apologised for the question. He chuckled and continued. "I was a gentleman and rescued the damsel in distress." He laughed again, thinking back to what happened. "I walked up to her and hugged her. I told her to play along and she did. Hank stood there not knowing what to do with himself, while we headed for my car, but Sara hadn't finished toying with Hank. So, she stopped before we got to the car and before she could. I kissed her."

"Well, she definitely brought that wall down that you've been hiding behind." Grissom looked at her to show there was more and was about to continue when. "There's more! blimey." Catherine burst out laughing, but Grissom ignored her.

"Do you want to hear this or not?"

Catherine stopped laughing and sat up. "Of course I do. It's not everyday you tell me what you've been up to and with Sara of all people."

"What's that supposed to mean? Sara's a great woman."

Catherine jumped in again. "Gil! I'm not supposing anything. I'm happy for you. Really and I know Sara is great. It's just. about time you sorted yourself out and realised it. She has been waiting for you to do something and it was driving her insane."

"Since when have you spoken to Sara? About me to Sara? And, I had realised a long time ago. I'm not completely oblivious you know."

"Gil, listen. A few months ago, you hurt Sara with your pushing away and she didn't know whom to go to. So she came to me. Mostly because I noticed that she had feelings for you and confronted her with them. She said she wasn't going to do anything about it. That's because she didn't think you had those feelings towards her. She was scared that you wouldn't return her affections, Gil. I listened to her and told her to be patient, but that just made her angry."

"Angry? How?" Grissom had walked out of the kitchen and sat on his couch.

Catherine followed him. "She said that she'd been patient long enough and that she was afraid to do anything, so it was up to you to make the first move."

"Cath how long ago was this, tell me please."

Catherine thought back and counted. "I spoke to her three months ago and the WHOLE THING about a year and a half maybe two."

Grissom buried his head in his hands. "God! I should have known. How could I have been so stupid?" He sat back and leaned his head on the couch.

"You obviously didn't know Gil. So don't beat yourself up over it. It's all worked out for the best hasn't it? You and Sara are starting that relationship you've both been dreaming about for a long time and all you had to do was wait. It's not everyday you find the one you love and before you know, you'll be ferrying back and forth from each others places, because you left something you needed." Catherine stopped short when Grissom slowly lifted his head. He took one look at her and shift into a sitting position, looking at the wooden floor. Catherine noticed the change and it suddenly hit her. "You haven't?"

Grissom looked at her with a straight face and played along. "Haven't what?"

Catherine moved a little closer. "You have." Grissom started to become uncomfortable under the scrutinising stare so stood and walked to look at his butterfly collection. "Gil, look at me." She stood and walked to him. After a beat, she turned him. "You've slept with her. But, hang on." She looked up at the ceiling in thought, then lowered it when she figured it out. "Not slept with her. Oh god Gil! That is so gross."

"Catherine! What? I can't sleep with her now that we've finally gotten together?"

"No it's not that. Although it's only been a day and a half. You both making up for lost time?" Catherine laughed and brushed her hair from her face before continuing. "Let's see. When I came to see you in your office yesterday, you got paged, but no one else did." Grissom actually blushed and Catherine laughed again when it all clocked together. "You, you…dog you."

Grissom shyly chuckled at her. "I still have no idea what you're trying to tell me Cath, so get it out."

Catherine knew he was lying, so went on. "That was Sara who paged you wasn't it? Gil!?" Catherine stared him down and he blushed again.

"Caught red handed, but is that it? Nope? I guessed as much." He watched as she took a step away and looked him over making him self-conscious about his appearance. "Cath, stop it."

She took a step towards him with a huge grin on her face. "You had sex with Sara somewhere in the lab, didn't you?" Grissom couldn't hold it in any longer and laughed. "I knew it. so where? Come on, tell me." Grissom stopped laughing and chuckled. Catherine gave a warning glare and he held up his hands in an 'I'm sorry' gesture. "Gil you have to tell me-"

Grissom shook his head firmly. "No way Cath. And you have no evidence to prove anything you just said."

Catherine thought for a moment then sighed. "True, but you told me, so it's true."

"Hold on. I didn't tell you anything, other than me and Sara have kissed and that she paged me, which by the way, you have no evidence, or witnesses, for any of it. Thank God may I add."

Catherine smirked, but she still wanted to know where and if there was anything else. "I will find out you know. So be careful. I still want to know if anything else happened so continue."

Grissom pondered this for a moment then relented. "Ok, we went back to her place after shift and slept, just slept."

Catherine knew he wasn't telling her something. "Are you sure there's nothing else you want to tell me?"

"Well, we did sleep, but not before."

Catherine rushed over to him and clamped his mouth with her hand, not wanting to hear the details anymore. She was always one for wanting to know about people's relationships, but when it came to Grissom and Sara; she realised she didn't want to know the details anymore. It would have something to do with working with them both and seeing them everyday. She didn't know if she could look either of them in the eye again if she was told about their sleeping habits.

Grissom pulled away and laughed. His house phone started to ring as he past it. He raised it to his ear and answer it. "Grissom. What? When? . is she all right? . No, she's here. I'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Catherine, concern etched all over his face.

He grabbed his coat and keys, heading for the door.

"Gil, what's wrong? Who was that on the phone?" Catherine grabbed her keys and followed him, shutting the door after her.

"That was Nick. Sara and Nick have been in an accident, they are at the hospital." Grissom was about to get into his car when Catherine took his keys from him.

At his angered face she told him. "I'll drive." He relented and got in the passenger side. Catherine started the engine and backed down the drive. They were at the hospital in ten minutes.

Nick was pacing the waiting room when Grissom and Catherine walked in. "Griss." Nick squeaked out.

Grissom walked up to him and stopped his pacing. He put his hands on his shoulders. "Nicky, it's ok. What happened? Where's Sara?"

Nick looked at Catherine, then at the floor. "She's in surgery." He looked up at Grissom with sad eyes. "I went round Sara's so we could go grab a bite to eat, you know? Get her to spill about you guys, but when we stopped at a red light, a truck came out of no where. Out of no where Griss. How can that happen? One scratch on me, just one god damned scratch and Sara gets surgery. I don't get it-"

Sitting Nick down, Grissom turned to Catherine. "Cath, can you get him something to drink?" She nodded and left the room. Grissom turned back to Nick. "Nicky, tell me how bad it is. Is she going to be ok?"

Nick shook his head and at Grissom panicked look said. "I don't know. The doctor said he'd be out soon. She was driving Griss, but it didn't look that bad, really. The truck hit and afterwards we both looked at each other and then all of a sudden, Sara started coughing. Jesus Griss, she was coughing up blood. There was so much blood." Nick started to cry as Warrick walked in.

"Hey guys, I just heard. How is she? Nick, you alright?" Warrick sat next to Nick, recieving a nod.

Grissom filled him in with what he knew. "We just got here ourselves and the doctor hasn't been out yet. Nick, are you sure you're ok? Did someone take a look at you?"

Nick nodded and sat with his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry guys."

"Hey, it wasn't your fault. Let's wait and see what the doctor says, ok?" Grissom rubbed Nick's shoulder.

Catherine came back with coffee. "I knew you would all need one. Here, Warrick. I'll get another one." Catherine handed him her cup.

"No thanks Cath, you have that one. I'll get myself one." Catherine nodded and Warrick left to get a coffee for himself using the time to be strong for his friends.

Hours went by and still no doctor. Warrick was becoming restless. Nick had fallen asleep on the small couch. Catherine was reading a magazine and Grissom was looking out the window. He hadn't said a thing since Warrick came back with his coffee.

Warrick got up and left the room. He went in search of a nurse that could help and found the doctor halfway down the hall heading towards him.

"I'm so sorry to keep you all waiting, but the surgery took longer than expected." The doctor closed the waiting room door behind him and took a seat.

Nick sat up and Catherine put the magazine down. Warrick stood behind Catherine and squeezed her shoulder for reassurance. Grissom stood looking, waiting for the doctor to continue.

"Firstly, My name is Doctor Peters. I operated on Miss Sidle. She had some internal bleeding from the collision with the truck, but she will be fine in the long run. She will need to take it easy for a few weeks, but no heavy work for a few days. From what I've been told about your jobs, I think paper work duty is safe enough for now, but no more." Nods were received from everyone. "Well then, now that's settled, you can see her, but she will be a little groggy from the anaesthetic for a while yet. She's on painkillers so she shouldn't feel too uncomfortable. I've already explained the light work to Miss Sidle and she understands. Just make sure she sticks to taking it easy for a while until she fully recovers." The doctor led them down to Sara's room and left them.

"Griss, why don't you go in and we'll see Sara after shift. I'll square it with Mobley that you're taking a sick day." Catherine said turning to Warrick and Nick who both nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure?" Grissom had his hand on the door handle.

Nick placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, we'll see her after shift and tell her that we're all thinking of her."

"Ok. Thanks Nick. Oh, and take it easy will you? You were in the crash too. Warrick, keep and eye on him, ok?"

"Will do Griss. See you later." With that Catherine, Warrick and Nick left the hospital.

Grissom opened the door and walked in. Sara was lying still with lines coming from her left hand and arm. The bleep of the monitors could be heard from the hallway. Grissom walked around the bed to her right side and sat in the chair that had been put there by a nurse. He took her hand in his and brought it up to his mouth. He placed a soft kiss on her palm before raising it to his cheek. He held it there for a while returning it to the bed.

A few hours later, Sara shifted and grimaced in pain. She tried to lift her right hand, but couldn't. She turned her head and saw Grissom's head lying on the blankets holding her hand. When Sara managed to get her hand free, she brushed back his curls around the top of his ear and ran the back of her hand down his cheek. He stirred and lifted his head. "Hey." She managed with a dry throat, but started to cough.

Grissom sat up quickly at the sound of her voice and reached for the glass of water on her bedside. He assisted in lifting her head to drink from the glass, then let her head sink back into the pillow. Replacing the glass, he sat and took her hand in his. "You ok now?"

She looked him in the eyes and saw the deep concern. "Yeah, just got a dry throat. I'm better now that you're here." She smiled and squeezed his hand.

He squeezed her hand in return. "How are you feeling?"

Sara shifted, but stopped when pain shot through stomach. "Ow!" She grabbed his hand as he stood, to stop him. "It's ok Griss." She reassured him. "I'm feeling better than I was. Painkillers seem to be wearing off is all."

He nodded tiredly and sat down again. "So, you were going for food with Nick, who is fine, so don't worry. He's with Catherine and Warrick. Anyway you were going to tell him about us."

Sara smiled, but stopped herself from laughing because of the pain that was ready to erupt. "I was not."

He chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah right, try saying that without the grin this time." She smiled and closed her eyes "You should get some more sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, promise."

Sara opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Tell Nick that when I see him, he will suffer for telling you why we were going out to eat." She closed her eyes, but continued speaking. "Anyway, Nick is to me, what Catherine is to you. So don't lecture me. I bet you'd tell Catherine if you got the chance."

"Actually..." Sara's eyes flew open and Grissom chuckled. "She stopped by the house earlier and asked me. She pretty much figured it all out, but whatever you do, don't tell he we did it in the Dry Room, it'll drive her crazy for weeks." Grissom laughed at Sara's shocked expression. "Get some sleep, the others will be by at the end of shift."

With that Sara closed her eyes and drifted off the sleep. The nurse came in a short time later and topped up the painkillers before moving onto another patient.

Back at the lab, Ecklie was snooping around. Warrick had noticed him standing in the doorway to the break room one minute and then he was gone. Later Nick saw him sitting in the waiting room, doing nothing. Catherine was the last to see him. He was standing outside Greg's lab, staring at Grissom's office door. This was becoming too freaky. Catherine decided to put an end to his stalking around on the nightshift territory.

"Hey, Ecklie, what are you doing here? I was sure you worked the dayshift or did someone finally come to their senses and fire you? If that's that case, the exit's that way." Catherine hooked a thumb over her shoulder.

Ecklie just smiled and walked passed her. He left the building quietly, but Catherine, Nick and Warrick knew that he was up to something.

They were all sitting in the break room later that night. Nick was eating a sandwich slowly as he wasn't hungry, but knew he had to eat something. Warrick was reading the sports paper and Catherine was reading over some case files.

Greg walked in and noticed the silence. He grabbed his cup and filled it with his personal brand of coffee before turning to the others. "Ecklie huh?" Everyone looked up at the lab tech and nodded. "Well, I was wondering why he was hanging around. What did he do this time?"

"He's snooping." Nick sighed

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, and I don't like it."

"There is nothing he can do guys." Greg looked at Catherine with a puzzled expression, so she filled him in. "Grissom and Sara."

Greg nodded, but was still unsure what the problem was. "So what? It's not like they're seeing each other or anything." He contemplated what he just said, but the looks on Nick and Warrick's faces clarified it. "Oh."

He finished his coffee and stood. As he was leaving, he turned back to relay some of his knowledge of the rules and regulations for the lab. "You do realise that there are rules for that sort of thing, especially if one is the supervisor and the other isn't of similar rank." Catherine was going to stop him, but Greg continued. "Although, there are no rules stopping them from seeing each other, there are rules that have to be taken to account when at a crime scene and the lab.It's called the 'no affections at work' policy. Don't you guys read anything?" He walked out the door and shouted over his shoulder "PDA's guys, Public displays of affection also not allowed."

The other three sat there staring at the empty doorway with amazement. Nick looked at Warrick, Warrick looked at Catherine and Catherine looked at Nick.

"How'd the lab rat out-smart all three of us?" Catherine said to no one. "Now we know what Ecklie's up to."

"Yeah, we have to get some extra donuts from the next diner run to thank Greg, but one thing." Warrick stopped when Nick asked the question he was about to.

"Why didn't Grissom know about the policy and PDA's? He's the supervisor and he didn't know, but Greg did. How come?" Nick asked Catherine most of all because she knew more about Grissom than most people. Warrick also looked at Catherine, waiting for some kind of answer.

"What!? I don't know. I'll ask him later. Meanwhile, tell me if you see Ecklie or any of his lab creatures walking around. I'm going to talk to Brass about this arson case." Catherine stood and gathered the file together.

Nick still hadn't finished his sandwich and was picking at it. "Nick, eat your sandwich." She said in the motherly tone as she left the room.

Warrick laughed and left to ask Greg some more about the rules for the department.

Darkness had taken its toll on the hospital building and many patients were asleep with only a skeleton crew of nurses and doctors wondering the corridors. In one room it was quiet and the silence was perfectly comfortable. Grissom was leaning his head on the bed and Sara ran her fingers through his hair, but she noticed he was uncomfortable. She scooted over slowly to the side of the bed nearer the machines. Grissom noticed the movement and lifted his head to see Sara reaching for his hand and tugging on it lightly, telling him to lie down next to her. He didn't need to be told twice. He pulled himself on to the bed and Sara snuggled closer, wanting to feel him against her. He did the same, carefully laying his arm on her stomach over the bandages from her operation. She covered his hand with hers and they both drifted into a more comfortable sleep.

The nurse came by a few hours later and found them curled up together. She checked the monitors quickly and quietly so not to disturb them and made sure no one else entered the room, letting them rest. It had been a long day and they were all exhausted.

Morning came and a knock at the door announce a visitor. The nurse from the night before, entered and walked over to the pair still sleeping in each other's arms. She desperately wanted to get home to her husband and two children before he went to work and they went to school. The nurse woke Grissom first, lightly shaking his shoulder. He opened his eyes, wiping the sleep away, slowly pulling away from Sara.

"I'm sorry to wake you Mr. Grissom, but there are three people outside who want to see Miss. Sidle. I told them to stand outside and wait while I woke you. I'm sure you didn't want to be disturbed, you know?"

Grissom understood completely as he straightened his pants and shirt before turning to the nurse with a smile. "Thank you. I appreciate it... Nurse... Saunders, isn't it?" The nurse nodded and smiled at him for remembering her name, not many people do. "Is Sara alright for visitors? I mean, I know I'm here an all, but."

The nurse reached out and patted his arm. "Yes, she can have visitors, but not for long. She still needs her rest. I have managed to arrange that you can stay for as long as you want. Miss. Sidle can go home in a day, but will need to be looked after." The nurse checked Sara's monitors and chart.

"You don't have to worry about that. She's coming to stay with me while she recovers and I don't care how much she fights me." He said lightly as Sara began to stir. The nurse nodded and left to let the others know they could go in.

Another knock on the door and they all formed a line around Sara's bed. Grissom stayed standing and stretched his back. Nick noticed the grimace on his face as he walked the aches away. "You ok Griss? You look like you're in pain. Those chairs aren't very comfortable are they?" Nick looked over to Sara, who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She looked at Nick and the rest of the team with a smile, then focused on Nick again.

It suddenly dawned on Nick and he looked worried, which Grissom noticed. "Nicky, you may want to take two large steps away from the bed." He suggested with a grin. Nick nodded and smiled weakly. Sara just stared at Grissom with a serious face as he shrugged his shoulders, but that was a bad idea, as he grimaced in pain once more.

Sara saw this and concern flew over her face. "Griss, you should take a walk in the fresh air or something, relax a bit. You're going to get back and neck ache if you sit in that seat much longer." She watched him as Warrick helped her sit up.

Grissom stood still, looking out the window. "Yeah." He sighed with a short nod.

Sara looked at Warrick, who saw the plea for help and stepped in. "Hey Griss, you wanna come with me? Get some coffee from the diner across the street? Get you out, stretch you legs for a bit? What do you say?" Warrick suggested, looking straight at Sara before turning to Grissom.

Grissom looked at Sara for a few silent seconds. She smiled and said she'd be fine. Nick and Catherine agreed and said they'd stay with her so she wasn't on her own.

"Ok, lets go. Sara you want a coffee of something? The doctor says you can eat now. You hungry?" At Sara's nod, he smiled. "Ok. Nick be careful, she may want to paralyse you for your blabbing yesterday, but just remember that you're in the right place if anything does happen." He grinned and left with Warrick chuckling behind him.

Catherine couldn't help but laugh at the worried and frightened look on Nick's face. He swallowed hard and kept his distance. "So, Nicky my boy." Sara began sweetly with an evil smile. "Want to sit down, although you'll have to come over here to sit on the only chair in the room."

Nick was going to run out the room when Catherine blocked the route of escape. "Catherine!" He pleaded and swallowed again. Catherine pushed him towards the chair and he sat down, reluctantly at first. "Thanks" He gulped, looking at Catherine over his shoulder.

"Now Nicky, you're not afraid are you? See, I'm not exactly in any state to do anything and being a CSI, you should have observed that." Sara reached out and took his hand and patted it with the other.

Nick looked petrified at this point and Catherine wished she had a camera with her. This was something not to miss. "Sara!" He started slowly, pulling his hand free from Sara's grip. He placed her hands in her lap and pulled his hands back. "Sara, if Grissom could tell you were capable of something in your present state, then I sure as hell am gonna believe him." Sara laughed and grabbed for him. She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug.

Catherine laughed and sat on the end of Sara's bed. "Well Sara, you sure put the fear of death into him. I hope you're pleased with yourself."

Sara couldn't stop laughing until the pain in her stomach forced her to.

"Ow! Dammit."

Nick pulled away quickly and panicked when he saw some blood seep through her bandage.

"Shit, Sara are you all right? I'm gonna find the nurse. Christ… just stay still." Nick left the room in search of a nurse. Returning with a doctor instead.

Catherine held Sara's hand as she laid back with her other hand covering her stomach.

"Miss. Sidle, can you remove you hand for me so I can take a look, thank you." The doctor looked beneath the bandaged and shook his head. Carefully removing the bandage, he said. "Ok, it's not serious. You just popped a stitch. Nothing to worry about. I'll get a nurse in here right away and sort you out. Won't take 5 minutes to put one more stitch in and re- bandage." The doctor called for a nurse and she came in with the necessary implements.

Sara just held Catherine's hand and closed her eyes while the nurse patched her back up, while Nick waited outside. The doctor came out, followed by the nurse and allowed him back into the room.

"Well then, where were we... oh yeah a hug." Before Nick gave Sara a hug, he continued. "What ever you do, don't laugh it's not good for you."

Sara smiled and Nick hugged her. "Catherine, Nick, don't tell the others. They'll just worry."

Pulling back from her, Nick looked at Catherine before looking back at Sara. "About what?" They said together.

Sara thanked them and a few minutes later, Warrick and Grissom walked in with some food and coffee.

"Grubs up." Warrick announced, placing two bags on the tray table at the end of the bed. "Hey, Nick, give us a hand."

Nick got up from the seat and rifled through the bag, pulling out sandwiches and a chocolate cookie. Sara's eyes lit up and Grissom took the cookie from Nick and walked over and sat on the bed.

"Now, this is for you." Grissom said, whilst he unwrapped it. Sara was just about to take the cookie from him when he pulled it back, she mock pouted and he grinned. While she eyed the food he looked over her, noticing a change of bandage, but decided not to bring it up. "But, I want some to." Sara grinned and took the cookie from him. The others just laughed at the exchange and ate their sandwiches. Sara broke the cookie in half and while eating it, watched Grissom eat the other half.

After cleaning up the packets and paper, they all talked about the one and only case they had. When Warrick mentioned Ecklie snooping around, Grissom stiffened.

Sara reached up and touched his neck, feeling his pulse. It was racing and then slowed as he turned to her. She smiled widely as she saw recognition flash across his eyes. Last time his pulse was racing, he was pissed off about not finding a body when the only person who knew, was in the same building. Sara had followed him out the building to check if he was all right. She brushed chalk from his face and the air was charged. Of course he was instantly confused at the action and she pulled away. Forgotten, but now they both remembered it. Whenever he was pissed off, his pulse would race and the mere mention of Ecklie's name had done just that.

"Don't worry Gil. We're sorting it out, but we just have a few questions for you." Grissom looked at Catherine and nodded for her to ask away, which she did. "Well, Greg gave us a rules and regulations for the lab and crime scene earlier lecture earlier and he pointed out a few things." She paused and looked around at the other. "So, what we all want to know is, did you know about the 'no affections at work policy' and the 'no PDA's at work'?" At both Grissom and Sara's confused looks, Catherine explained. "PDA's? Public displays of affection. These breaks in policies are what Ecklie is looking for and we think he's got some of his day people to keep an eye out. So far, nothing has been said about the other night, seeing as it was rather slow with just one case on the go. Did anyone else see you? You know up close and personal, so to speak?" Catherine threw her empty coffee cup in to the trashcan, as did Warrick.

Grissom and Sara looked at each other, thinking back and could only think of one person. They both said in unison. "Brass." And turned back to the others.

Grissom explained and answered the question. "Brass saw me kiss Sara at the crime scene, but seemed just as happy as you lot. I don't think he'll say anything, because, being the law he will know about the policy. In any case... Nick, can you go talk to him, explain what Ecklie's up to?" Nick nodded and left, Warrick went with him. "And to answer your question. Yes, I did know about the policy and PDA."

Catherine looked from Sara, to Grissom with her mouth slightly open. "You knew and you broke them anyway? Sara?"

Sara looked down at her hands, then at Grissom. She nodded and Grissom took her hand.

"I can't believe you two." Catherine started laughing, which caused both Grissom and Sara to look up from their inspection of the blanket. "The two most obsessed workaholics in the county… do things by the book… never break a rule. Damn! What the hell were you thinking? No wait! I don't want to know what you were thinking."

Grissom and Sara just hung their heads as Catherine told them off in her motherly mode and paced the room, ranting about what she was going to do with them. Grissom though it best not to say a thing while she was pacing and it almost looked as if smoke was coming from her ears with frustration. Grissom hugged Sara gently and whispered to her so Catherine couldn't hear. "I'm sorry." Sara lifted her head and mouthed 'me to'.

Catherine stopped her pacing with a thought. "Oh no!"

Grissom was suddenly worried. "What Catherine? What is it?" He stood, but held Sara's small hand in his.

"Well, um, remember the page you had yesterday?" Grissom turned to Sara and both blushed. He turned back to Catherine as she continued. "Obviously you do, so, can you remember anything? Were you seen? I mean, no one should have been in at that time, but a few cleaners."

"No, we were careful. Anyway, we were only holding hands whenever we walk down a corridor and that's not a huge PDA if I'm correct, and not many people saw us. It was way too early."

Catherine sighed with relief and then it dawned on her that this could be the time when she got the place in question out of them. One has got to break. She was betting on Sara, but couldn't tell, Grissom sometimes let things slip without thinking. Maybe on rare occasions, but this could be one of those occasions.

"Well, just in case someone did see you, it would be a good idea if you told some one what happened. When and where, so, if you need any back up we could help out."

Grissom saw the question behind the question and knew what she was up to. Sara saw this to and just laid back and pulled the covers up and closed her eyes. "Gosh, I'm tired Griss. I think I'll try and get some more sleep before I can go home tomorrow."

Catherine new she blew it when Grissom ushered her out the room and told her he'd be in later to catch up on the paperwork and thank Greg.

Grissom walked into the lab with a pink and white box under his arm, his briefcase in one hand and a pile of brown file folders in the other. He walked straight to his office and placed all but the box down on his desk. He looked at his watch and headed towards the tech labs, placing the box next to the lab tech he was looking for and turned down the loud music.

Greg looked up, then at the box. Grissom slid the box towards him and Greg opened it. A huge grin formed as he reached in and picked up one of his favourite donuts. He was about to thank Grissom when the DNA machine bleeped and spat out the results it was processing. Greg ignored it and turned back to Grissom who still stood there trying to put the words in order before he spoke. "Greg, remind me to put your name down for the next field assignment we get. I'll need an assistant while Sara's recuperating." Greg couldn't believe his ears. Grissom patted Greg on the shoulder and just before he left, he turned and cranked up the music. "Thanks Greggo."

Catherine and Warrick were sitting in Lab 3, reading over the night before case notes. Catherine was reading some highlighted bits while Warrick was trying to match a sliver of tough fabric to a suspects watch strap. Nick had gone down to chat with Doc Robbins while he waited for his DNA results to come back from Greg. Doc was about to explain how he and Grissom once boiled a head to get evidence, when Nick's bleeper went off.

"Cool! Sorry Doc. Greg's got the DNA results back. I'll catch you later. I still wanna hear more about the boiled head, sounds so cool." Nick left the Doc to an awaiting autopsy to collect the results and then head off to find Catherine and Warrick. He found them easily and shared the new information, which would close the case.

"Hey guys, did someone bring in donuts for Greg and not get us any?" They all looked at each other and shook their heads. Nick continued. "Well, he said that it was a thank you present and that he wasn't sharing them. He hid the box, so unfair man. I'm starving."

Catherine chuckled and nudged Warrick with her elbow. He looked up. "There from Grissom. He's been trying to thank Greg about all that warning info he gave us and I suppose that was the best he could do. I think it's pretty un- Grissom, but he's trying."

Warrick nodded in agreement and turned to Nick. "Yeah dude. Grissom's whipped, so let it go." He matched the fabric with the watchstrap and jumped from his stool, knocking it back against the wall. "BINGO!"

"Let's get Brass and make the arrest. I wanna get home to Lindsey before she goes to school." They all gathered the evidence and went in search of Brass.

While they were making the arrest, Grissom was sat at his desk doing paperwork. A little less than a day and look what happens; paperwork falls from the heavens and demands signing. Grissom sighed and got on with the monstrosity of a pile in front of him. Two hours into the dreadful mess and he was still no where near finishing. When his phone rang, his whining thoughts were lost.

"Grissom?"

"Hey." The familiar voice sounded tired and a little croaky.

"You should be resting, but I'm glad for the distraction. How are you feeling?" Grissom put his pen down and pushed the offending file away from him as he leaned back in his chair to put his feet on his desk.

"I am resting, but I think I've caught a cold. Funny isn't it? I'm in hospital, trying to get better and I catch something at the same time." She coughed and sniffled.

"You poor thing. I'll be by later to pick you up. Want me to grab something from the chemist?" Grissom ran his fingers through his hair, thinking that with a cold. she's going to need more time to recover and he's not sure how much longer he can take her not being at work with him.

"I'm fine, really, but it may not be a good idea for you to pick me up-"

Grissom interrupted before she could finish, suddenly very worried. "What? Why?"

"Griss, let me finish will you?" Sara coughed for a few seconds and recovered again. "I don't want you getting ill too."

Grissom breathed a sigh of relief. "I don't care if I get sick Sara. I just want to get you home and into bed." Sara snickered, bringing Grissom to realise what he said. "I mean, uh, sorry. I meant, to keep you warm and." This didn't help anything, it just made the snickering increase into laughter and Grissom could do nothing but smile. "Sara, you'd better stop laughing so hard, you may pop a stitch… or something."

Silence and everything stopped. She considered this carefully. She didn't want to do that again, it hurt enough the first time round, which of course, Grissom didn't know about, so she thought.

"You're right. So, you gonna pick me up, whether its good for you or not and I can't talk you out of it?"

"Sara, how else are you going to get home? And no, you're not getting a cab. I'll see you at 9, so be packed and ready to go." Grissom sat back up and rubbed his head, knowing he was going to have to finish the paperwork that was mocking him on his desk.

"Ok, see you later."

"Bye."

"Bye."

They both hung up at the same time and sat staring at the phone, waiting for them to ring again. When it didn't, Sara slept and Grissom finished his worse nightmare.

Grissom was posting the rather large pile of file folders at the front desk when an annoying voice came from behind him. At first he ignored it, hoping it would go away, but no such luck.

"Gil!?" Ecklie stood there in a suit, with his briefcase in hand and a rather large grin on his face.

Grissom looked at the expensive suit before acknowledging him. "Conrad. What do you want?" He didn't want to talk now, not after a pain staking five hours of signing reports, DNA results, and evidence reports. All he wanted to do was pick Sara up and go home.

"Don't be like that. I just wanted to relay a message from the Sheriff. He wants to see you before you leave. Now that's done, I gotta change." He walked towards the locker room, leaving Grissom to head up to speak to Mobley.

Grissom had a fair idea what Mobley would want to see him about, so he wasn't too bothered. He walked up to his office door and knocked three times. When he heard a muffled 'come in' he entered.

"Ah Gil, take a seat." Grissom sat across from the dark orange haired man and waited for him to continue. "Gil, I've heard that you have recently begun a relationship with someone from your team. Now, you know the rules and regulations better than I do, so lets not dwell on that part and get straight to it. Relationships are not uncommon in a close working environment such as this one, so as long as you don't use favouritism towards this other person when working together and to remember the PDA and 'No affection at work' policy, then we shouldn't have a problem. You have a right not to mention that person's name, but there will most likely be rumours floating around, so inform her."

Grissom was surprised to say the least, but he did know that the Sheriff couldn't do anything as long as no rules were broken, although they had already done so, but no one had noticed outside the team, so no harm was done.

"Thank you, Brian." Grissom stood and shook Mobley's out stretched hand.

"Gil, you've been here for more years than I can remember and I have not seen you compromise a case, crime scene or work place, so don't brake the rules and we can both carry out our jobs with out bumping into each other. Ok?"

Grissom opened the door and turned back before leaving. "Thanks again, Brian."

He's late, he's never late. Sara sat on the bed, looking out the window at the sun pouring over the tall buildings and watching the shadows flicker with the clouds that hung in the sky. She looked towards the door, which was open, to see nurses gathered at the nurse's station, all chatting about some new paediatric doctor three levels down. Sara turned her attention back to the window and stood slowly, she walked to look below at the car park, searching for that familiar midnight blue Tahoe, but couldn't see it.

Grissom walked quietly into the room when he saw Sara walk to the window and stare out of it. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. He gave her such a scare she practically jumped a foot in the air. "Grissom!" Sara screeched as she turned around to face him.

He chuckled and pulled her into a hug. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. What were you thinking about?" He pulled back to see her face, waiting for her to answer.

"Oh, nothing really. I was just wondering where you were, that's all. You're late." Sara pulled away and walked slowly to the bed to pick up her bag, but Grissom grabbed it before she could. "Thanks." She said smiling.

"Ready to go?" He helped her put her coat on. Sara winced at the little shoots of pain in her stomach when she stretch to push her arms into her coat. "You all right?" He asked.

She turned to him and answered both questions in one. "Yep." Sara signed the forms so she could leave and they both headed to Grissom's townhouse.

The drive was quiet, mostly because Sara had fallen asleep due to the painkillers the doctor gave her before they left. Grissom pulled into his parking space and climbed out. He walked round to Sara's side and opened the door. She still hadn't moved so he leaned across and unbuckled her seatbelt. He scooped her up carefully into his arms and carried her up to his front door. Sara wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled her nose into his neck. Grissom manage to open the door and close it softly with his foot. He carried her to his bedroom and laid her on the bed. He pulled the comforter from the foot of the bed to her chin and let her sleep.

He sat on his couch with his pet spider 'Samuel' on his hand. The large spider probed with his front legs before moving up Grissom's arm to his shoulder. Grissom let Samuel stay there while he drank his coffee and read the newspaper. After a while, he put the spider back in it's habitat. He feed his bugs and showered. When he came out, he walked into the bedroom to see Sara curled up to his pillow with the blanket now on the floor. He walked further into the room, picked it up and draped it back over her. He was feeling tired, so he removed the pillow from Sara's grasp and lay down next to her. After a few minutes, Sara cuddled closer and draped her arm over his chest. Grissom cover her hand with his and drifted off to sleep only moments later.

When Sara woke, she found herself in Grissom's room, on his bed and with Grissom. He was curled up to her. His head lay on her stomach avoiding the stitches, with one arm holding her to him. She watched him as he dreamed. He seemed to pull her closer as he continued to dream. She stroked his hair and noticed it was a little damp. He had obviously showered not long ago. She played with his salt and peppered curls, wrapping them around her finger and stroking them back. He mumbled something, which she couldn't quite make out. Listening to the incoherent mumbling, she continued to run her fingers through his curls. She fell asleep a short time after Grissom moved his head to her chest. She figured he was subconsciously listening to her heartbeat.

When they both started to stir, Sara's back was press to Grissom's chest. He was holding her to him with their fingers entwined. When the alarm went of, he was the first to move. He let Sara's hand go and sat up, swinging his legs over the side onto the carpet covered floor. He looked at his watch as Sara rolled over to see him sitting there.

"What's wrong?" She pulled herself into a sitting position and took in a deep breath. She reached for the painkillers and the bottled water on the bedside.

Grissom started pulling on clean clothes. "I've got an appointment at 4, so I better get going so I'm not late." He sat on the edge of the bed, tying up his show laces.

Sara downed the tablets and water. "What sort of appointment?" She asked, moving closer to him. She sat on her knees while slowly massaging his shoulders. "Do you want me to come?"

Grissom finished his laces and leaned back into her massaging hands. "Hmmm… that feels goods. I'm not sure you want to come. You caught a cold in that hospital, remember?"

Sara continued to massage and moved to his neck. He groaned at how good her hands felt and the way they worked to relax the muscles that were so tense. "The doctor gave me some antibiotics for the cold, so I should be fine. You still didn't tell what sort of appointment you had." Grissom didn't reply so she stopped and turned him by the shoulders to look at her. "Griss?"

He looked down at his feet. "I forgot about the appointment till just now. I was going to tell you. I just forgot, that's all." Sara lifted his chin so he would have no choice but to look into her eyes.

"Gil?" A tear escaped and ran down his cheek. This was not something he wanted Sara to see. He got up and walked to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and washed his face. Sara watched him in the bathroom from the bed. "Griss, you know you can tell me, don't you?"

He walked to her and cupped her cheek. "I know and I will. I tell you what, when I finish, I'll come back here first, before going to work. Ok?" Sara nodded and pulled him tight against her. She lowered her head and kissed his ear. Grissom felt the kiss and somehow felt that she knew, but she couldn't, could she? "I'll see you soon." Without saying another word, he left.

Sara showered, changed her bandages and made herself comfortable on the couch. She didn't feel like eating anything, so picked up the newspaper that was on the coffee table and read it whilst drinking a cup of black coffee, seeing as Grissom had run out of milk. Oh well. She walked around, looking at the different bugs and the butterfly collection. She reached up and traced the wings of one large butterfly in particular, but stopped when she saw movement in the corner of her eye. It was probably the biggest spider she'd ever seen. It was bigger than the one he kept at the lab. Scary! So she kept her distance. Although it was in a glass container, it didn't look too safe to go near. Sara found Grissom's forensic journals and flicked through them. When she found one she hadn't read, she sat down to read it and before she new it, she fell asleep.

A noise came from the front door, but not enough to wake Sara, who was still on the couch with the book lying open on her stomach. Grissom put his keys down quietly on the kitchen counter as he made his way over to the sleeping brunette. He knelt down and removed the book, placing it on the table behind him. He looked at her from head to toe, toe to head, taking in every each of her. He raised his hand and traced the outline of her jaw, her lips then her ear. He lingered there a bit longer, running his index finger along the creases of her ear.

Sara moved her head to look at him as she opened her eyes. As she focused on him, she smiled and he smiled in return. "Hey, how'd it go?"

Grissom leaned down and kissed her lips before taking her hand to help her to sit up. He sat on the table in front of her, looking at her hands. "Ok, but I have to go back soon." He kissed her knuckles on her left hand and held it against his cheek. Sara moved her hand so her fingers brushed his ear. Grissom looked deep into her eyes, asking her the question, which she should be asking. "How bad is it?" She nodded and he took her hand away to hold. "Bad. But, there are things we can try." He moved to sit on the couch next to her. She pulled his head towards her and kiss each ear before he lowered his head to her lap. "I wanted to tell you for a long time, but I couldn't."

"I know, but you've told me now and you don't need to go through this alone. I'm here for you and so are Catherine, Warrick and Nick."

Grissom nodded with his head still resting on her lap. He brought his legs up onto the couch and they sat, comforting each other. "I love you, Sara."
She brushed his hair back and caressed his cheek. "I love you too, Gil."

Grissom closed his eyes, not wanting this moment to end.

- The End.

Book I | Book II | Book III