Something Happens (Greg/Sara)

Chapter 8

Sara was silent for a long time and Greg did not dare to say anything either. Finally he went into the bathroom, cooling his face, looking at his reflection in the mirror then. How had he dared to tell her that he loved her after what had happened to her because of him? He could not believe himself.

If Sara wanted to leave, she had the opportunity now while he was in the bathroom. She could go without any further awkwardness and possible hurt. And Greg almost wished she would, for he did not know how to deal with the situation. He did not know what he should say to her, what he should do. Would he ever feel that his apologies were enough? He doubted it.

He left the bathroom, and saw Sara still sitting on the couch. Now he was glad that she was still here. He would not be able to live with her leaving without another word either.

To his surprise, Sara suddenly smiled at him.

“It’s just really a bad time to tell me that, you know,” she said, and Greg looked at her confused for a moment before he realized that she was talking about his confession.

He nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I wanted an explanation and now I have it.”

Sara was still smiling at him, and Greg dropped somewhat lost onto the floor in front of his armchair, leaning against it, looking at Sara puzzled. He was silent and she seemed to watch him for a while.

“I just wish it were under different circumstances, you know.” Sara sounded earnest and somewhat sad. Greg nodded again.

“Me too.”

Nothing of what she had said so far gave him really an idea how she was feeling towards her. And he did not expect her to change that.

Greg was trying to think of something that he could do, that he could say. Sara was just sitting there, making herself comfortable on the couch, looking at Greg from time to time. She was probably just tired and did not want to admit it.

They were jerked out of their tranquility, when Sara’s cell phone started to ring. She was quick to answer it and Greg was torn between not wanting to eavesdrop and the curiousness for the situation. He was just about to stand up when Sara motioned him to keep sitting.

“It’s Nick,” she told him quietly, listening to the Texan talking. Greg nodded and remained where he was.

“Yeah, I’m at Greg’s,” Sara was saying now while Greg watched her. She was silent then and Greg could hear the subdued, quiet sounds of Nick speaking. Sara seemed to tense up then, her expression becoming stiff, but Greg did not miss the sadness he had already seen earlier that was there as well. He wondered what Nick was telling Sara, his heart beating faster as his nervousness increased.

Sara did not talk a lot during the whole conversation and when she said finally bye to Nick, she dropped the phone next to her on the couch, staring into the air.

“I talked to Nick,” she said finally, after she had been silent for a while, worriedly watched by Greg.

“I know,” Greg nodded.

“He told me how sorry he is about what happened,” she stated. “Wanted to talk with me.” Sara’s expression seemed to drop altogether. “I lied to him.” She closed her eyes, clearly trying to compose herself. “I hate it.”

“Sara, we can-“

“I have no idea how I am supposed to lie to him the whole time,” she rambled. She was clearly upset and rather pale, almost as if she was going to get sick.

Greg was getting more and more uneasy. He knew that Sara would not be able to lie to Nick and their other co-workers the whole time. She was certainly able to hide things, to conceal them, to never tell a single person about something, but since the lab was working the case, she would have to lie to them again and again. Actually not only because of the case, the topic would certainly come up again and again anyway, unless she managed to bring home the message that she did not want to talk about it anymore. Which would certainly be respected but until then the damage was done.

Sara looked Greg directly into the eyes and he knew what she was thinking. She realized that they would have to tell the truth, that she would not be able to go through with concealing what had happened.

Sara seemed as if she wanted to just leave, but remained sitting, while Greg was rubbing his forehead.

“I’ve got to go home,” she said finally, and Greg nodded. It did not seem like there had any decision been made. Some minutes later Greg closed the front door behind Sara, feeling suddenly the tiredness falling over him. As he planned on taking only a short nap, he had to work tonight after all and it was not like he did not have other things to do during the day, he crashed onto the couch, avoiding his bed, knowing that it would be too difficult to bring himself out of that again.

The first thing he realized when he woke up, was that he had definitely slept longer than a short nap for the room was already lying in darkness, showing the far progressed time of the day. The next thing he noticed through the fog in his mind was that it was the ringing of the phone that had woken him up.

Somehow torn between wanting to make it to the phone before the caller gave up, and not caring at all, Greg stumbled towards the phone, picking up the call breathlessly once he reached it.

“Sanders.” He did not like how tired he sounded.

“It’s Sara.”

Greg nodded, realizing only a second later that she could not see him. What was up with him anyway?

“Hi, Sara. What’s up?” This was yet another stupid move. How could he ask her what was up, knowing it very well, but sounding now as if he had forgotten about it in his carelessness?

“Okay,” Sara said, and Greg thought he heard a sniffing. Greg knew immediately what she meant and felt his stomach twisting, but told himself that it was the right thing to do and that it was good that Sara finally agreed with it.

“Okay,” he echoed her, “that’s… good.” Greg was sure that Sara thought him to be the greatest moron on earth by now. He seriously wondered why she cared so much to not turn him in. Okay, actually now she would be doing exactly that, but only after a lot of convincing.

“But…” Sara added then, and there was determination in her voice.

“What but?”

“Only under certain conditions.”

Greg was confused. He could not imagine what she meant. Either they were coming off clean completely, or they let it be; they could not go and tell parts of the truth and keep hiding other parts of it.

He thought he could hear a sigh from Sara, before she went on.

“I’ll go down to PD and tell Brass everything, also everything you know about Charlie,” she explained. “It will help them with the investigation.”

“Yeah.” It was certainly easier for Sara to go to talk with Brass than with anybody at the lab, like Grissom for example.

“And you,” Sara continued, “will stay at your place. I don’t want you near any possible trouble.” She was still caring for him, but Greg knew that there was no point.

“Sara, this isn’t going to work anyway.” He was silent, waiting for an answer from her that did not come. “I’ll come too, we’re in this…” Greg stopped. How could he claim they were in this together? They were on completely different sides in this drama. Sara was the victim of it, and he was… he did not even know what he was in all of it.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sara agreed with him though. “We’re in this together.” She sounded calm, surprisingly, after everything that had been communicated between them recently. Greg breathed out slowly, maybe she would really agree to him coming as well.

“I’ll go to Brass and tell him the facts,” Sara decided evenly. “We can then face the storm at the lab together.” Now more resignation sounded in her voice. And Greg doubted that he ever had to show up at the lab again. He did not even think there was a point in going in to work tonight, apart from making it more convenient for them to fire him, being there in person and all.

“Okay,” he agreed resignedly.

“I’ll call you later,” Sara finished the conversation and shut off the call. Greg still did no see her point in wanting to go alone. He felt the whole matter to be his responsibility and the last thing he wanted was that Sara was taking the first blow of it.

Determinedly he got into his shoes, grabbing his phone and keys, before he walked out of his apartment hurriedly. On his way to his car, he dialed Sara’s number, waiting for her to pick up. When he was just climbing into his car, she finally answered the call.

“Sidle.”

“Sara, it’s Greg,” he brought out quickly. “Stay where you are, I’ll pick you up, and we’ll go to Brass together.” He hoped there was enough determination in his voice, for he knew that he was sure of Sara’s anger for trying to break her decision anyway, but trying and failing was an even worse alternative.

She sighed. “I’ll wait for you.” They were in this together after all.

TBC
 
You're really the only one. :lol:


Chapter 9

Sara was silent during the drive. Greg could hardly make out her expression in the dim light of the car, her face being lit only for a split second every time they drove past one of the bright lights along the street.

There was nothing to talk between them anymore, their decision had been made. Greg wondered if it had been certain from the very beginning that it had to come to the current situation, if there had been anything they could have done differently, apart from telling the truth right away. Maybe they would have been able to keep it to themselves after all, even though it would have been hard, and wrong anyway.

But right now Greg had the feeling as if he was driving them to what would turn out to be a very bad night. His heart was heavy when they got out of the car at the brightly lit parking lot at the police department and he saw Sara’s sad expression.

It was his fault. If she had not cared so much about what would happen to him, she would have given an accurate statement right away, would not have been in this mess.

Sara stood nailed to the spot next to his car, avoiding his look, but he noticed that she was sneaking glances at him.

“Let’s go,” he said and it sounded spiritless. Sara nodded, but did not move. Greg walked over to her, and then she hugged him all of a sudden.

“Greg, I’m so sorry,” she sniffed. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hey,” Greg tried to sound lighthearted, patting her on the back. “There’s nothing you need to be sorry about.” She should never be sorry about that she just was not able to lie to her co-workers again and again, even if it was to save Greg’s neck.

Sara collected herself and a minute later they were finally making their way inside the building. When they were walking along the hallway, Greg could not help glancing at the people around him who had been taken into custody and were now being led to holding cells, and wondering if he would find himself in one of them soon as well.

Shaking his head slightly, his determination increased that he would not let that happen. He had not done anything wrong, at least nothing criminal. He had not known about Charlie’s plan, about what he had done, and once he had found Sara, his only intention had been to save her. And Sara would confirm that, Greg was sure of it. He only hoped that they would believe her. After all they could doubt that Sara was able at all to tell what Greg’s intentions had been, what he had known.

And then there was their wrong statement. Sara’s wrong statement actually, and Greg’s silence. It could actually be ruled criminal, an obstruction of justice. But as Sara was the victim in all of this, Greg doubted that they would go that far.

They arrived at Brass’s office soon and Sara knocked at the open door. Brass called them in and smiled when they entered the room. His expression changed to a concerned one though, when he saw Greg’s grave and Sara’s pale and rigid face.

“What’s wrong with you two?” he asked almost fatherly.

“We have to confess something,” Sara replied crestfallen. Brass looked confused, and his expression changed between an almost laughing one and a very puzzled look, apparently thinking he was in the wrong movie or that Sara was dramatizing things.

“Okay, let’s go slowly,” he said, making a calming gesture. “I doubt you two have robbed a bank, have you? Sorry. So don’t look as if you have to ‘confess’ something like that. Whatever it is I’m sure we can talk calmly about it, okay?”

Sara nodded hesitatingly. Brass motioned her to sit down. Sara wondered how on earth she was supposed to start, but Brass answered that question for her.

“Is it about the abduction?” he asked concerned, watching Sara closely. She nodded. Brass looked at Greg. “Do you want Greg to go outside?”

“It has kind of to do with Greg,” Sara returned quietly. Brass frowned, looking at the younger man again, who stood feeling clearly uncomfortable near the door.

“What do you mean?”

Sara knew that she had to tell. That was why she was here. Why Greg was here. She looked directly at Brass, looked into his face that would turn from worry to deep disappointment in only a few moments. The room was not lit very brightly, and somehow it helped Sara in feeling rather distant from herself. She needed to feel like that. She just had to make herself tell the truth without really feeling any emotions, without feeling the sadness about doing to Greg what she had never wanted to do, about having to admit that she had lied to her friends and co-workers.

“Greg was there as well.” Greg who was standing behind her right now, even though she could not see him.

For Sara her statement was clear, so she wondered why Brass’ expression was still confused, why he did not look at her realizing, and disgusted.

“He was kidnapped as well?” Brass tried to clarify carefully, glancing back and forth between Sara and Greg. Sara shook her head. Brass was silent, finally standing up from his chair, turning away from them, rubbing his forehead.

He turned back to the pair. He looked at Greg. “Could you wait outside, please?” Greg nodded and was out of the room quickly with a last glance at Sara, closing the door behind him.

Brass sat down in his chair again, apparently needing the time to calm himself.

“I sent him out so you can talk freely,” he told Sara explaining. “So that we get this right: Sanders kidnapped you?”

Sara shook her head, frowning. If Brass thought that, why had he just sent Greg outside? Or did he trust that Greg would not make a run for it?

“You have to see,” Brass continued, “that I’m rather confused now. So, please, tell me what happened. Open your mouth and talk to me.” The last bit had already an irritated undertone and Sara could not blame him, for she was beating around the bush.

“It was Greg’s friend who kidnapped me,” she started. “And Greg was just there.”

“He was just there?”

“Greg did not know about it. He and his friend were out on a trip to Lake Mead and Greg did not know that Charlie had taken me earlier,” Sara explained. “Greg found me in Charlie’s car and saved me.”

“He saved you?” Brass sounded clearly unbelieving. “I didn’t exactly see him coming here, bringing you to the hospital, or anything else that would have indicated that.” He looked at her sternly. “As far as I know it wasn’t him who found you lying close to hypothermia in the woods.”

“Greg saved me,” Sara stated firmly. “Charlie wanted to kill me and he would have done so if Greg had not kept him from doing it.” She had to convince Brass that it had been this way, she simply had to.

“Why are you telling me about it only now anyway? Why didn’t you tell about it when you gave your statement? Why did you lie to me, to Catherine?” Brass asked her, the anger in his voice now clearly audible.

“Because I didn’t want to get Greg into trouble. I was afraid you wouldn’t believe me,” Sara admitted.

“So why should I believe you now? Do you think Greg’s going to be in less trouble now? If he did save you so greatly, there was nothing he had to fear,” Brass threw back. “But now both of you are in big trouble, I can promise you that.” He turned away from her, looking out of the window, although he could clearly not see anything outside, since the light of the room reflected in the dark window.

Sara stared at the edge of his desk, and despite her earlier resolution, tears were coming up by now. She had never thought she would screw up her job, her career in a way like that. She had even managed to screw up the relationship with the only people she was somewhat close with.

She did not notice how Brass turned to her again. He sat down at his desk, watching her. His anger diminished and he looked at her rather sadly now.

“Sara, I’m sorry,” he said finally. “I shouldn’t forget that you’re the victim here, and not the culprit. I’m sorry.” When Sara did not answer, he brought out a tape recorder, placing it on the desk between them.

“Can you tell me again what happened, from the very beginning?” he asked softly, and Sara noticed that he did not add ‘the truth this time’ to his request. He probably just did not want it on the tape. She nodded and started recalling the events. While she clearly stated the truth this time, she still tried to make especially clear that Greg had only helped her, that he had saved her. Several things she had to speak out sounded very bad for him, she knew that, so it was even more important that she clarified that she had only survived because of him.

Brass’ expression was grim when she was finished. “Are you sure that Sanders was not in it?” he asked her again.

Sara nodded decidedly. She knew that there were extraordinary circumstances that made Brass doubt the young CSI so much. And she had to admit that it was partly her fault that he was doing so. Brass apparently wanted to make very sure to learn the whole truth this time.

He stood up. “I’d advise you to just go home and get some rest,” he told her. “You know that I have to inform the lab about everything?”

He could not really mean it as a question, but Sara still nodded.

“Send Sanders in on your way out.”

Sara looked at Brass questioningly and he shook his head, understanding her silent question. “If he confirms your statement, he’s free to go. It seems as if he really saved you.” Brass did not sound convinced. “We don’t have anything against him yet.”

“You won’t find anything,” Sara ensured him, and Brass nodded, motioning her to get out.

TBC
 
Chapter 10

Sara left Brass’s office, meeting Greg’s gaze outside in the hallway. She tried to give him a somewhat encouraging look, before she motioned him to go into the room she had just come out. It was his turn now.

“I’ll wait here for you,” she promised him and this definitely encouraged him, for he gave her a small smile, before he vanished into Brass’s office. Sara sat down on the closest plastic chair she could find in the hallway. Nobody did really pay attention to her. She had been here many times before and nobody would think she was here for anything other than work, and Sara was glad about it.

Greg closed the door behind himself, meeting Brass’s stern look. The other man told him to sit down and Greg did so.

“It’s quite a mess we’re in here, isn’t it?” the older man started and Greg did not really feel like he was supposed to answer. When he was silent, Brass continued, “You know that you don’t have to tell anything that could incriminate yourself.”

Greg nodded, swallowing. “Are you arresting me?” It seemed like a fair question, considering the captain was informing him about his rights.

“I would have mentioned, if I was,” Brass returned dryly. “According to Sara, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Greg nodded again, hopefully.

“I’d appreciate, if you tell me what happened, but you don’t have to. If you can confirm what Sara stated though, there’s nothing you can do wrong,” Brass explained him.

“I’ll tell you what happened,” Greg stated, and Brass leaned back expectantly. Greg recounted how he met Charlie, how they had celebrated his birthday, how Charlie had turned up in the morning, inviting Greg for a trip.

“When we arrived at the cabin, Charlie kept rambling how he had done something wrong and wondered how he was supposed to get out of it again. He kept glancing at the trunk of his car, so I went finally over and opened it,” Greg explained, rubbing his eyes at the memory.

“And Sara was in there?” Brass asked quietly and Greg nodded.

He did not know how much Sara had told already, how many details she had given, but as Greg continued explaining what had happened, Brass’s expression remained unchanged, so Greg figured that he already knew most of it from Sara. It was for Greg almost as painful to tell about what he had done, as it had been when he had done it. He still could not believe that Sara had forgiven him so easily, even though she knew now that everything he had done had been to save her.

He recounted everything up to the point when he and Charlie had left Sara in the cabin, and his and Charlie’s subsequent discussion about what they would do.

“I was looking to see if the coast is clear to get Sara out, when I was knocked out,” he continued. “I woke up at my place and found a letter from Charlie there, explaining that he had taken care of everything.” He rubbed his eyes. “I thought he had killed her.”

Brass nodded understanding. “And Sara called you…?”

“Yeah, she called me from the lab and told me to come over.”

“That’s it?” the older man questioned. Greg nodded. Brass moved a notepad in front of Greg, handing him a pen. “I want you to jot down any information you can give on Charlie.”

Greg started writing, while Brass stood up, looking out of the window again. “I guess Sara’s waiting outside?” he asked. Greg confirmed this. “You’ll take her home then?” Brass wanted to know. Greg nodded again, while he finished up writing with noting Charlie’s last address he knew. Then he stood up, looking at Brass insecurely.

“I already told Sara that I have to tell the lab of course.”

“Yeah.” Greg knew that Brass was only preparing them for the very likely case that the lab would take measures.

Greg found Sara waiting outside and the both of them made their way quickly out of the building. In Greg’s head formed thoughts that they should have told the truth right away, but he was not going to tell Sara that. She probably knew that herself, he did not have a justification to tell her anything about it. Besides, her worries could have been reasonable after all.

And it was not completely over yet. Brass had not really told him anything. Greg did not know what the investigation would result in, now that new facts were on the table. What if Charlie had managed to get rid of any traces he had left behind? There was his set of DNA on Sara, but it was not like they could match it to him without a sample. What if there was not a single proof that there had been another man in the whole thing at all?

There was Sara’s statement of course, but the fact she had lied before, did not exactly help. It was known now, how things lay: She would lie to help Greg. Greg knew better than that, had seen that Sara was not able to hold up a lie against her friends and co-workers, but they did not know that. Actually Greg did not look forward to the reaction of his colleagues at the lab at all.

Greg dropped Sara off at her place and she got out of the car with a short bye and a smile at least. Greg watched her walking towards her apartment away from the car. She turned back to him for a second, smiling again and Greg wished they could forget what had happened.

Forget and start something that might develop between them after he had told Sara how he felt and she had not rejected him at all, but had just said that it was a bad time. Yes, it was a bad time. If they could just forget, they could have a good time, maybe a great time together. But knowing they could not just move on from what had happened, knowing that there would be an aftermath coming from the lab, Greg realized that there would probably never happen anything between them as matters lay. He watched Sara go sadly.

Greg was relieved when he was back at his place. It was not his normal sleeping time, since he was usually working right now, but now that a big part of the tension was falling off of him for now, he was getting tired and went to bed, not caring if he was messing up his sleeping pattern. He doubted he would be working so soon again anyway.

He did not really know how long he had slept but it was bright day when he woke up. More or less dragging himself into the kitchen, he set up coffee, knowing it was more than necessary. While the water was still pouring, he heard the unmistakable sound of the door bell. After watching the black liquid in the coffee machine accumulate for another moment, his brain still too fogged from sleeping to even really care who was at the door, he slowly walked to the entrance, brushing with his hand once over his unkempt hair to smoothen it somewhat.

Swinging the door open, he found Sara outside. She had obviously been pacing, for she was just turning around.

Greg smiled. “Hey.” Sara returned the expression as well as the greeting and Greg moved back to let her come in, but she was not showing any inclination to actually enter Greg’s apartment.

“Catherine called me,” Sara said. Greg lifted his eyebrows, imagining that this call had not been all amicable. “She told me to come in. And to bring you too.” Sara rolled her eyes. “She did as if we’d hang out together all the time.”

Greg frowned again, wondering if he should be hurt about her last statement.

“Okay,” he told her then. Looking down at himself, he added. “Just have to get a bit more presentable, then I’ll come,” he grimaced.

“Sure.” Sara shrugged, leaning lightly against the wall behind her, still standing outside of Greg’s apartment. Greg moved back into the place, leaving the door for Sara open. He hurried up in the bathroom, unwilling to let her wait long. He was just slipping into his shoes, when he remembered the coffee that had been brewing in the kitchen.

Rummaging in his cupboard until he found paper cups, he filled two of them with the still hot drink. He walked carefully to the front door, trying to avoid spilling any coffee. Sara was still waiting outside and he handed her a cup, receiving a small smile in return.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Greg walked briefly back into his flat, drinking a large gulp from his cup and grabbing his keys, before he joined Sara outside and they made their way down to her car.

“I didn’t think they’d actually call us in together,” Greg remarked, when he was shutting the door on the passenger’s site. Sara nodded, starting the engine. She did not reply to his comment any further though, but looked at him earnestly, before pulling into traffic.

*************************************************************

It was only when they were walking into the lab that Greg really started to worry about what was going to happen. He had tried and succeeded to keep his thought from it so far, and since Sara had not been communicative, they had not talked about it again either. But now that he was making his way along the hallway, Sara walking close behind him, he started to wonder how the lab would deal with what had happened, with Sara’s untruthful first statement and with Greg’s entanglement into everything.

He was glad that it was already well into dayshift, so that the chance of meeting one of his graveyard co-workers was reduced. Greg did not feel like having to face their anger now which would surely come later. He could only imagine how they would react. Certainly disappointed, but considering what had happened to Sara because of him, it was possible that they responded with disgust as well.

His thoughts immediately went from these rather distant worries, when he suddenly made out Ecklie in front of them. The other man turned to the two CSIs who were coming up to him. He did not look amused.

“Ah, here we go,” he announced on seeing Greg and Sara. Greg stopped and Sara came to a halt next to him. Ecklie looked at them sternly. “With who of you will I deal with first? One is worse than the other.” He looked around into the direction of his office, while Greg could feel Sara laying her arm on his back, invisible for Ecklie.

In this moment Greg could see Grissom hurrying up to them from the other side. Ecklie saw him, and looking at the graveyard supervisor, he suggested, “Let’s start with Sidle.” Apparently acknowledging neither Greg nor Sara’s presence, Grissom nodded earnestly. Then he looked at the pair after all and Greg could feel the reproach in his silence.

TBC

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Chapter 11

Greg rubbed his eyes tiredly, trying to stay focused on the samples in front of him. He was still not used to these hours. Of course, he had often been working at this time of the day when he had been pulling a double, but it had not been every day; plus he had known that his shift would be over soon. Now he had the whole afternoon still in front of him. Greg longed for a cup of strong coffee, but did not dare to leave his working place to venture into the break room again.

He glanced up and to his surprise he saw Sara in the distance, standing in the hallway, staring at a paper in her hand. It was late for her, although Greg knew that she was nowadays pulling more doubles than ever.

After some moments Sara looked up and into Greg’s direction. If there was a change in her expression at seeing him, then it was only a frown getting deeper. She turned on her heels quickly, walking away swiftly.

Greg had not expected her to do anything else. Sara did not want to know anything from him anymore and it was a fact he would have to live with.

They had not talked at all ever since the day when Ecklie had called at first Sara, then Greg into his office in Grissom’s presence. Sara and Greg might have intended before to face the storm at the lab together, but this resolution had apparently crumbled into dust as soon as they had been called in separately.

It was not that long since Greg was back at work at all. Both he and Sara had been suspended. This was something they had expected and it had certainly not been the worst thing.

After what Ecklie had called “conspiring together”, for what he would have loved to fire them, he had insisted that they would not work together anymore, as if there was the danger that they would breed more mischief at the lab. And not working together had meant that any contact at the lab had to be avoided as far as possible.

For Greg that had amounted to being back at the DNA lab at dayshift. As Ecklie had put it, even as a CSI at dayshift there would have been the probability that he and Sara would have to work together one day. Her having to consult the dayshift DNA was less likely and actually banned now.

Greg sighed. Of course the lab was not exactly in a position to forbid them any private contact as well, but everything had resulted in them not seeing each other outside of work anymore either, in them not even talking with each other at all anymore.

Greg guessed that Sara blamed him that she had been compelled to counseling to be able to handle what had happened to her, as the lab had obviously assumed that her actions had been an aftermath of the shock she had suffered.

Sara surely did not like having to talk about how she felt to some counselor, so it seemed only natural to Greg that she was angry at him. Besides the fact that she had maybe finally come to the conclusion that she hated Greg anyway for what he had done, and even more so what Charlie, Greg’s friend, had done.

Former friend was certainly the more fitting phrase though, a phrase Greg could also apply to his former co-workers at graveyard shift who had not been thrilled at all when they learned what had really happened. Greg had not really talked with either of them anymore either, at least not a single time that was not work-related, since Nick or Warrick sometimes had to come to Greg into the DNA lab when they needed results after graveyard shift was over.

It was almost 2 PM when Greg remembered that he was supposed to be at Ecklie’s office at the full hour, something he was not looking forward to at all. Finishing off the sample he had just been working on, he left the lab, making his way quickly to his destination, being late was not something he thought would be too smart.

He glanced into the office nervously, trying to see if Ecklie was around, but nobody was visible in the room. Figuring it was better to wait outside, he turned to leave when he found himself facing the owner of the office. He ushered Greg into the room, but did not close the door. Greg guessed that they were waiting for Grissom who was off shift now but probably still around.

“Sit down,” Ecklie asked him, and Greg took a seat, swallowing nervously. Ecklie did not say anything further but leaned back in his own chair. Greg was about to just ask something, if only to break the silence, when there was a knock at the open door, and he turned around to see Grissom.

“Close the door please,” Ecklie told him impatiently, and Grissom did so, not saying a word. Just when Ecklie was about to start though, Grissom spoke up after all.

“Wouldn’t it have been appropriate if Sara was around, too?”

Greg glanced briefly at his former supervisor, before he looked back into Ecklie’s direction. It would have certainly only been fair towards Sara to have her involved into the matter that concerned her the most after all, but somehow Greg was glad that she was not here right now.

“It’s new to me that we involve victims in our lab’s procedure,” Ecklie returned at Grissom’s remark. Greg glanced once again to Grissom, painfully touched. Grissom let it go though, and simply indicated Ecklie to start. Ecklie postponed that after all by searching for a file out of his cabinet, laying in onto his desk though without looking at it a second time.

“As you probably know,” he addressed Greg, “the case involving you and Sara was recently closed.”

Greg nodded.

“As far as it was possible, we could confirm Sara’s statement, second statement I should add, that you were involved in the kidnapping, but only in so far as to save Sara.”

Greg did not dare to move or to say anything, waiting for the final statement he awaited from the other man.

“So you’re not going to be charged with anything,” Ecklie concluded and some of the tension fell from Greg. Ecklie stood up. “We may actually thank you for saving one of our best criminologists,” he said, stretching out his hand for Greg to shake who felt more than awkward and wondered what that all was supposed to mean. “Despite the unfortunate circumstances that followed,” Ecklie added.

His expression told Greg that he could go. He was not surprised that Grissom had not said anything, but wondered why he had actually been there since he was not even Greg’s supervisor anymore. Grissom opened the door of the office and Greg was about to leave after him, when he turned back to Ecklie.

“Can I then go into the field again?” he wanted to know. Being back at the DNA lab was not what he had worked for. Hearing his question, Grissom stopped dead as well, turning to look into the room again.

“I’m afraid that not,” Ecklie replied. “It’s out of question that you’re working together with Sara again, and dayshift doesn’t need another CSI. I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” Greg returned quietly. Ecklie was very sorry for sure. Greg looked at the edge of Ecklie’s desk for a few moments, thinking about his next question. “What about me going back to graveyard and working no cases together with Sara?” he suggested hopefully.

The other man shook his head. “I can’t tell the supervisor of graveyard how he distributes his cases.”

Greg glanced at Grissom and saw that he was frowning, but Greg knew that he could not expect any support from Grissom right now. Later maybe, but now the disappointment about that he and Sara had lied was still hanging over them

“And in cases that are all hands on deck, you two would be together necessarily,” Ecklie continued. “It’s a liability we cannot risk.”

Greg wanted to tell him how he and Sara were no liability, and how they were working together well, but he kept his mouth shut, knowing he had no possible chance to overcome Ecklie’s arguments, in that he would point at Greg’s and Sara’s actions after the kidnapping.

Greg left the office disappointedly, even though relieved that he would not have to face any further consequences. He made his way back to the DNA lab, meeting Nick on his way, who pretended to look into the file in his hand though while walking past Greg, ignoring him.

Greg sighed, walking back to his workplace. He hated it here, but right now there did not seem to be a way out.

That none of his former co-workers and friends was talking to him anymore did not make it easier, although he was seeing them not so often anymore anyway. Only Catherine had found her way to Greg several times so far. She had apparently been mostly angry at Sara for lying to her with her first wrong statement, but had still kept a somewhat friendly attitude towards Greg who she obviously did not blame.

The very person Greg longed to talk to the most did not even look at him for more than a second. They had not talked in long, and Sara had not returned any of Greg’s calls. Actually he had tried to call her only twice, figuring then that pressing her was not going to get them anywhere. But he missed her. He missed working with her and even more so being together with her.

Preparing another sample, Greg tried to get his thoughts away from Sara.

TBC
 
another great chapter
poor Greg loosing his job... :(

I hope he gets a chance to talk to Sara soon

good job
 
i read it all today, and all i can say WOW!!! :eek: (i think) this is the best way to explain your story! less words much sense (or not?!) :confused:
please continue :)
 
Chapter 12

Sometimes Sara wished she had been transferred to another shift as well. Then she would not have to endure the attitudes of her co-workers/former-friends, at least not for seemingly endless shifts. They apparently did not know whether to feel sorry for her or be angry at her, and Sara had more than grown tired of it.

She had resolved on focusing on what she was good at, her work, hoping in the back of her mind that they would find their way back to her. She would be glad if they forgave her lying, if they saw why she had done it, for Greg, but it was not like she needed them.

Still, she wondered what Greg thought. Did he think that she had managed to put the blame on him? It would have been easy enough, after all. And it was him who had to work at dayshift now, back in DNA. He had not done anything wrong, he had actually saved her. He should have rather been congratulated on it, instead of being punished; it had not been his idea to make a false statement.

On the other hand, Sara was happy that Greg did not have to face any other consequences from this whole drama. Grissom had told her that the case had been closed for now, even though the search for Charlie was still on. Sara knew that there had been a chance that the case was more or less twisted to make Greg the guilty party. It had been the very reason for her not coming clear from the very beginning.

This afternoon she had played with the idea to go and talk to Greg. She had hesitated though, standing some distance away from the DNA lab, staring at a paper in her hand, trying to make herself walk the rest of the way to Greg’s working place to talk to him.

She had glanced in his direction, seeing him through the glass walls he had once been thrown through. But then he had looked up, and she had quickly looked back down at her paper. After some moments she had carefully lifted her gaze, but Greg was still watching her, and she walked away, frustrated with herself.

Her shift was long over by that time and there had not been a real reason to stick around that long, save for her feeling like she had nothing else to do anyway, and her desire to talk to Greg.

Sara closed her locker even more frustrated, realizing that she had actually something else to do. The last appointment with her counselor was scheduled for this afternoon.

Sara congratulated herself. She had managed to convince everybody at the lab that she needed that. Obviously everybody thought she was crazy. Well, some had already thought that before, and she had only confirmed their persuasions.

Walking out of the locker room, Sara almost bumped into Nick. He stopped dead, smiling at her.

“Hey, Sara, how are you doing?” he asked.

So Nick was worried about her today, Sara thought. Admittedly he had been most of the time, even though he had given her a hard time as well. He hated lies just as much as she did.

“I’m fine,” she returned, smiling faintly.

“You’re heading home?”

Sara grimaced. “No, I’m not. Crazy Sidle has another appointment today,” she told him with a hint of bitterness.

“Sara,” Nick interjected sighing. “I know you don’t like it, but it’s for you, so you can better deal with everything and all… nobody thinks you’re crazy.”

“Yeah. Sure.” She frowned.

Nick mirrored her expression. “Do you think I liked talking about being buried alive?”

Sara glanced at the floor. “I’m sorry, Nick.”

“It’s alright,” he patted her shoulder. “And you’re going to be, too.”

Sara nodded slightly, and Nick walked past her into the locker room.

“Are we friends again?” she wanted to know, turning her head into his direction.

Nick smiled, stopping his movement to open his locker, looking at her. “Always been, Sara.”

Sara smiled in returned, walking off then, hurrying since she did not want to be late for her appointment, as she was not inclined to explain that she was late because she had once again worked way more overtime than necessary. Her counselor would only assume that she still tried to bury her self in work, which was actually true, but nothing Sara wanted to discuss again.

Two hours later she entered her apartment, making her way groggily directly to the bathroom. She undressed and washed, cramming the dirty clothes into the clothes basket. It was definitely time for laundry; she would actually have to come home in time the next day to do that.

She did not even lay awake for long once she was in bed, simply too tired from work and worn out from the frustration from both her inability to talk to Greg and the finally last counseling appointment. At least one thing that she was over with.

The night at the lab started slowly. Sara was sipping on a cup of coffee when Grissom walked in tardily, followed by Catherine and Warrick.

“Nick’s already out on a B&E, that’s the only thing we have so far tonight,” their boss explained. His gaze fell on Sara, “If it stays like that, you’ll leave early, Sara. You’ve been here too much lately.”

Sara frowned at this order, at the same time wondering that he had even noticed.

“If you think so,” Sara replied, trying to sound neutrally. She was not inclined to argue at all. She would have wanted to, but somewhere in the back of her mind she feared that it would only provoke remarks, remarks she did not need right now, remarks about everything that had happened.

“He’s right, Sara,” Catherine added. Of course she had to give her own part to it, Sara thought bitterly. A hundred things she wanted to reply were going around in her head, but she was resolved on not letting herself being provoked by Catherine this time.

“Alright,” she said, pouring the rest of her coffee into the sink and walking off.

**********************************************************************

It was not even 4 AM when Sara had finished even the last paperwork. Remembering what Grissom had said, she figured that she could just go home. If she searched enough, she would always be able to find more work to do, but the last thing she wanted was that. Grissom reminded her to leave early; she was really not inclined to listen to anything like that.

As inconspicuously as possible she made her way out of the lab, walking over the parking lot to her car. It was very early in the morning. It was too early for breakfast. Too early to do her laundry. Too early to do anything other than sleep. But sleeping was not something she was going to do now.

She sat in her car for a short while, thinking. Maybe it was time to do something she should have done for long. It was not going to lead anywhere if she kicked herself every day again because she had not managed to talk to Greg. And they could not go on like this forever. And Greg would not come to her.

Sara was calm when she walked up to Greg’s apartment. But once she stood in front of his door, she thought that it was not exactly nice to turn up this early in the morning when Greg was probably still sleeping. He was not working nightshift anymore; she could not expect him to be awake when she liked him to be.

On the other hand she still hoped that he would be glad to see her after all. She just wondered if she risked her chances for that with turning up at this time of the night. Frowning she decided that the time she turned up was probably rather unimportant for Greg’s reaction. He was a CSI, he was also used to getting called in early; so he would not be angry if she came to him this early in the morning.

Finally deciding to ring the bell, Sara stepped closer to Greg’s front door, pushing the button that gave the buzzing signal. It seemed to be obnoxiously loud in the silence of the night. But soon after Sara could see the door opening in front of her and she faced Greg’s tired, surprised expression.

He was wearing pajamas and moved back simply, letting her in and closing the door behind her. She walked slowly away from the front door, wondering awkwardly what she wanted here.

“What does bring you here at this time of the night?” Greg wanted to know, sounding groggy. It was a good question.

“I want to talk to you,” Sara went for the honest way. Greg smiled, but turned around then, walking into his kitchen. “What are you doing?” Sara wanted to know, frowning at his behavior.

“I need some coffee,” she heard him replying which was soon followed by the sound of running water. Sara guessed that Greg was telling the truth since he was apparently tired, but she guessed it had also something to do with her sudden appearance and her sudden offer to talk.

A minute later Greg returned, smiling at her. “It will be ready in a few,” he said lightly. He leaned against the door frame to the kitchen, looking at her wondering. “I didn’t expect you to come, you know.” He looked down at himself, obviously remembering only now that he was still in pajamas.

“I’m sorry I turned up at this time,” Sara apologized. “Grissom kicked me out. Sort of,” she added, rolling her eyes.

Greg’s eyebrows had shot up. “He kicked you out?”

“Out of the lab,” Sara said quickly. “It was a slow night, so he told me to leave early. Look who’s talking.” She frowned, reminding herself of the reason she had actually come. She looked at Greg again who still stood there somewhat lost, brushing with his hand over his hair that stood into all directions.

She moved towards him, kissing him then and Greg returned the affection after a second. She let go of him for a moment, smiling, before she kissed him again, laughing then somewhat nervously.

“That’s what I’d call a good start into the day,” Greg remarked grinning. His expression turned serious then. “Do you really want that? I mean…”

Sara slung her arms around his back. “I’ve missed you. I missed talking to you and being around you.”

“I didn’t think-“

Another kiss silenced him. “I feel save with you,” Sara assured him. “I want to be together with you.” Greg smiled, but freed himself out of her arms.

“Coffee’s ready, I think.” He marched of into the kitchen again and Sara followed him this time, watching him.

“Greg, I think we have to move on,” Sara started, guessing that Greg’s only reason for hesitation was that he still felt guilty about everything. If he only knew that she still hated herself for the fact that she felt to be the reason why he had sort of lost his job.

“I want that, too,” he said quietly, stopping in his movement to fill two cups with coffee, staring down at the counter.

“We can’t change what happened,” Sara told him insistently. “And nothing of it was your fault.”

Greg turned to her, a faint smile in his face. “I know.”

“Do you really?” She looked at him for a moment, waiting for an answer and when it did not come, she walked over to him, filling the cups herself, handing him one of them then. Greg took a sip, reaching out then to stroke her hair, smiling at her.

“What if… Charlie…?”

“They’ll get him,” Sara said decidedly. “But that’s none of our business. You did everything you could.”

Greg nodded, drinking more of his coffee. He still seemed rather worried. Sara put her cup back onto Greg’s counter, taking his shoulders in her hands then.

“Listen, I want my Greg again, okay? The Greg with who things seem easier and more enjoyable, not harder.” She wanted to have this normalcy back.

Greg grimaced. “I get it.”

“That’s good to hear.”

TBC
 
Nobody wants me to continue this? :p

Chapter 13

Sara blinked into the light of the sinking sun, shutting the door of her car. She left it behind and walked the short distance to Greg’s place.

He had called her earlier when he had still been at the lab, telling her he would be off shift in time. She had still waited for a little longer, before she made her way over to him, but she wanted to use the time they had before she would have to be at work again. Them working different shifts made it necessary that they planned well when to meet.

Not only for this reason wished Sara that Greg would be back working graveyard. But also because she missed working with him, and because she still felt bad for him not being able to work as a CSI anymore.

Greg had actually talked about quitting at the lab, more than once in the last few weeks since they were seeing each other. It was not only for his job, but also because his former co-workers still cut him for the most part. Sara could not understand why.

Now that she and Nick were friendly again, she had thought he might be able to soften on Greg as well. It had not happened so far. Of course, there was not much of an opportunity since they were not seeing each other a lot, but still things could have been better.

With Greg and her things were going very well though. Sara enjoyed spending time with him, and had realized only more how much she missed working together with him.

As much as Greg was frustrated with the whole lab situation, she had not seen him as happy as he was now since the whole mess had started. She liked that she made him feel that way, hoping that she was able to give him enough.

She smiled to herself when she climbed up the stairs to his apartment. They had agreed on spending a cozy evening at home, ordering pizza and watching a movie. By midnight Sara would have to be at work, but until then they had time for themselves, unless she was called in earlier which had happened two or three times when they had met, causing a bit of frustration on both sides, but it was not like Sara could have turned down Grissom’s order to come in early, reasoning it with hanging out with Greg.

Actually, she had not told anybody about their relationship. On the other hand, it was not like she was keeping it secret. Being asked she had mentioned several times that she had spent time with Greg; she was not hiding it, but it was not like they were making out in the parking lot of the lab either.

They were not supposed to work together, but there was not a single rule that they could not see each other off work. And if there had been, Sara would not have cared anyway anymore. In her opinion they were making Greg miserable enough with the unfair transfer back to DNA, they could not tell him what to do in his free time as well. And if Ecklie ever dared to say anything against it, she would… Sara did not really know what she would do, but she would think of something.

She arrived in front of Greg’s apartment, ringing once at the door. She waited for some moments and when he did not open the door, she rang again, wondering if he was even at home and not at work anymore. He had told her he would be home in time, but there was not any guarantee that he did not get any last minute samples to work.

Again she waited for some moments and was already considering leaving, when the door suddenly opened after all. Sara’s expression turned to a frown when she saw Greg who did not look too happy to see her.

“Sara.”

He said it as if it was surprising or even unwelcome that she was there in front of his door.

“Uh, can I come in?” she asked, grimacing lightly that she actually had to ask this question. She wondered what was wrong with him.

“That’s not really good today, you know,” Greg replied, not even coming out of the flat to her.

“No, I don’t know,” she returned slightly irritated.

Sara still did not know why he was like this, but she was turning rather angry now. If he did not want her here, he could have mentioned that earlier, when they were talking on the phone for example, when they were agreeing to meet actually.

“Greg, what’s wrong?” she questioned, her investigative sense winning over the feeling of anger now.

“Nothing,” he answered simply, “I just want you to leave.”

Sara tried to hide the look of hurt that must have crossed her face. She could have just left now, but she was not going to let him get away with this so easily.

“Greg Sanders, tell me what is wrong,” she demanded, moving forward to get into the apartment. He would not shut the door into her face, would he? He blocked her way though, and Sara stopped dead, staring at him angrily.

“Just go,” he told her.

He should have known that telling her what to do was only making her more determined to not listen to it, but to find out what was wrong with him.

“No, I won’t, before you tell me what’s going on.” Her voice was growing louder.

Greg looked as if he was losing his patience.

“Sara, for the last time, go!”

Sara reached out to take his hand, willing to calm him down, making him talk to her, but he grabbed it and pushed her away, so that she almost bumped into the wall behind her, before he shut the door into her shocked face.

Sara stared at the closed door for some moments, pressing her fingernails into her palms, the pain telling her that she was actually awake and that this had really just happened. Greg had thrown her out, without even so much as an explanation, had pushed her away, physically even, apparently not caring if he hurt her.

Of course, it had always been a possibility that things between them were not going to work out. Relationships failed all the time. But Sara had not expected it to happen here and now. And she had certainly not predicted that it would happen this way, had not thought Greg would treat her this way, like the garbage he threw into a can.

Sara felt like kicking Greg’s front door in anger, but did not do it. She felt like crying, but did not want it. Instead she finally turned on her heals, hurrying down the flights of stairs she had come up earlier. If the entrance door of the apartment complex had not fallen heavily into its lock by itself, she would have slammed it shut.

On the way to her car she eventually started to cry. She cried for the thing between them that was lost, and maybe even more so for the friendship that was gone for good. And because she was hurt. She would probably never admit it, but being treated like this, by Greg even more so, had hurt her in her innermost feelings.

She sat in her car for a while, letting the tears fall freely, breaking her head about what she had done wrong. She had thought they were happy with each other; she had certainly been. She had thought she loved Greg enough.

The only thing she had not been able to do was giving him his job back, which she had deeply regretted. And maybe he blamed her for it, but this could not be the reason, she did not believe that. So it had to be herself. She had to be the reason. She was not even worth an explanation from him.

Sara pondered about it, and emotionally she was going more and more from sadness to anger. After everything she had done for him, after she had laid so much trust in him, he was acting like this. She had risked her job for him, and he was treating her like this, not even caring if she was hurt, colliding with that wall. She had not been hurt, but his taking it into account made her both angry and sad.

Sara did not know how long she sat there, thinking, but finally she picked up her cell phone, rubbing her eyes with the other hand. She dialed a familiar number, leaning back in the driver’s seat and taking a deep breath, hoping that she would not sound as upset anymore as she felt.

It took a moment before the person she was calling picked up, but Sara was relieved when she finally heard his voice.

“Brass.”

“It’s Sara,” she started, trying to sound calm. “I need you to send somebody over to Greg.”

TBC
 
Nope, nobody does.. :(

Chapter 14

Sara had not sat in her car for long anymore, walking at first slowly, then quicker back to Greg’s place. She did not dare to enter the apartment complex again, but paced in front of it nervously, hoping that Brass would turn up soon.

If her theory was right, Greg was in danger.

She had broken her head about it, had tried to find an explanation for Greg’s strange behavior, especially clinging to the fact that it had been so uncharacteristically for him who was unusually caring and sweet, a feature he did not even lose completely when he was angry.

He had kicked her out, forced her to leave without an explanation. But as his behavior could not be completely random, there had to be an explanation, Sara had thought. She had not been able to think of a reason why he would be angry at her. Of course, it did not mean there was no reason, but she had not been able to come up with one, and since Greg had talked to her only few hours before and there had been no indication then that he was irritated in any way, it seemed unlikely that this was the case. So he had made her leave although he was not angry at her, had even invited her over earlier.

Sara did not know if she had suspected this kind of explanation if the whole Charlie drama had never happened, but it had, and now it came up from the back of her mind that it was possible that Charlie was back. That he had come to Greg. That he was still at Greg’s, and that this was the reason Greg had made her go.

Sara kept pacing up and down, glancing along the street to see if there were any patrol cars approaching, checking her cell phone again and again.

She could not believe that Greg had not told her that Charlie was at his place, if he actually was. He had had the opportunity. He could have told her, she would have called PD and everything would have been alright.

Sara sighed, realizing that she might be thinking this too easy. A lot of things could have still gone wrong. And maybe Greg had seen a valid reason for not telling her, but kicking her out instead, taking her anger into account. She could even be wrong with her suspicion after all.

But Greg had not wanted her to enter his apartment. He should have just told her what was wrong. Whatever it was, they would have found a solution. Instead, she was pacing up and down here, wondering what was up, possibly wasting precious time. Greg was stupid.

At this moment Sara could not hold herself back anymore, and entered the apartment building. She walked up the stairs, carefully and quietly now despite her feeling of urgency, not even knowing why she tried to be quiet.

She was one flight of stairs away from Greg’s place, when she checked her cell phone again, which was still silent. Knowing she had to make a decision what to do, she walked up the last few stairs, standing in front of Greg’s door now.

Carrying out her decision quickly she rang the door bell, wondering if Greg would even open the door this time. If Sara was right and Charlie was actually there, it was strange that he had opened the door at all the first time around. Maybe Charlie had made him open it. But why had he not come to the front door with Greg then? Sara did not think Charlie had been hidden somewhere by the door, despite Greg’s uncharacteristically aggressive behavior.

Still she did not even know if she was right.

The moments passed while all these thoughts were swirling through her head and the door remained closed. Sara rang again, adding a knock at the door after some seconds. Still the door was not opened and Sara grew anxious.

She knocked several times. Greg had to open up. She would not leave again. Sara banged at the door, calling Greg’s name additionally.

“Open that door, Greg. I know you’re in there,” she yelled, hoping it was loud enough for him to hear through the door, and that he would listen to her. “Whatever it is, please open the door,” she asked. Then she was silent for some moments, trying to make out any sounds inside the apartment.

Sara did not hear anything, but was sure that Greg was still inside. She had been in view of the apartment complex for most of the time since he had made her leave earlier. It was not very likely that he had left and she had not seen him doing so.

Why did he not open that door? He had to know that she would not let him get away with this, even more so after the earlier episode. She knew he was in there.

The only valid reason she could think of why he did not open was that he was not able to, and this thought scared Sara. What if Charlie was really in there and had hurt Greg? Greg had told her that Charlie had always said that he would never hurt Greg which had helped Greg protecting her when Charlie wanted to get rid of her. But after all he had knocked Greg out to get him out of the way for the time being. He had not hurt him badly then, had apparently thought he was doing the best for Greg.

What was if he had acted similarly now? What if he had hurt Greg badly this time, maybe feeling betrayed? Charlie was certainly not informed about the procedures of the investigation, he could not know if Greg had talked, and what he had told.

Maybe Greg was lying in there, needing help, and she was standing in front of his door uselessly. Cursing she wondered where Brass was.

Sara wished she had her gun with her, but she had left it at home, never thinking she would need it when she visited Greg. Nevertheless she had to go in there. She could not wait any longer.

She banged at the door again, calling this time in a much more demanding tone.

“LVPD, open that door,” she called whoever might be in the flat now, may it be Greg or a possible assailant, Charlie. “Open up, or we are going to break down this door,” she added, knowing it was an empty promise, as she would not be able to get that door open by herself. She prayed that Brass was finally coming, but she had no feeling of time anymore, had no idea how long it was ago that she had called him.

She received no response from inside the apartment, so she brought out her cell phone again, dialing Brass’ number, intending to demand that he hurried up. It was ringing at the other side of the line, when the door in front of Sara suddenly opened, and Sara let the phone glide into the bag of her jacket, not shutting off the call.

It was Greg who was standing in front of her again and Sara was relieved to see him, even though she was angry.

“Sara…” he started, looking agitated. “I told you to-“

Sara did not let him finish his sentence, but made a move to get into the apartment before he could shut the door into her face again. He tried to stop her but Sara was quicker and squeezed through the gap between Greg and the door. Greg caught her arm, stopping her from moving further into the apartment.

“Let me go,” she spat out angrily, pulling her arm free from his grip. Greg’s expression got even more agitated, but he was not looking at her, but past her.

“Look who’s here,” said someone behind her gleefully surprised. Sara would have recognized the voice at any time; it was one the two voices, besides Greg’s, that she heard again and again in her nightmares.

She turned around and found Charlie standing only few feet away from her. He was holding the gun he had used during the abduction in his hand, but it was not aimed at anyone. Still Sara moved back a step, banging into Greg who held her until she had found her balance again.

“What are you doing here?” Sara asked, not knowing anything else to say.

“Visiting Greg,” Charlie shrugged. “I didn’t think I had the pleasure to see you again.”

Sara would have thought that Charlie would be angry at the fact that she was alive, but he seemed to rather enjoy himself. She also wondered what Charlie thought about it that she and Greg obviously knew each other, despite what Greg had claimed. Maybe he did not care. Or perhaps he had not even noticed this contradiction, being not the brightest one.

“I had hoped I wouldn’t have the displeasure to see you again,” Sara returned irritated. “Or only behind bars.”

She moved away from Greg who had still been standing close to her, but turned to him now, despite her unwillingness to turn her back on Charlie who was armed after all.

“What is Charlie doing here?” she asked Greg loudly.

“He just came by, Sara, I couldn’t prevent it. I’m sorry. I tried to keep you from coming here. I tried to keep you out of it,” he rambled.

Sara looked at the floor now, trying to hide her expression. “I can’t believe you were into this after all.” She glanced up to Greg, her expression angry now. “I trusted you and you and Charlie have been working together the whole time,” she accused him, and hurt paired with a guilty expression crossed Greg’s face. He searched Sara’s gaze, but she avoided his, turning to Charlie again, wondering what she could do.

“Sara, I was not…” Greg tried to say, but Charlie interrupted him.

“Well, what are we going to do with her, Greg? She walked right into our arms, didn’t she?” he smiled, stepping towards Sara, raising the gun briefly for emphasis.

“Leave her alone.”

“No, Greg,” Charlie shook his head. “You didn’t want her the last time, but you should use the opportunity now, or do you rather want me having a go?” he declared.

Greg moved towards his former friend, getting in front of Sara.

She was kicking herself inwardly for having entered the place. Why had she done that? Why had she been so stupid? She had wanted to find out what was wrong, had wanted to protect Greg, that was the reason, but now she had to admit that she was the one who was in way greater danger here.

TBC
 
Chapter 15

Greg felt cold. And he felt weak, helpless. He was right here at this place, his place, but the situation was not in his hands at all. It was once again in Charlie’s. Greg had moved in front of Sara, knowing in the back of his mind that this would be futile, if Charlie actually went through with whatever he intended.

He had failed in keeping Sara away from here. When Charlie had suddenly turned up at his place, Greg’s first thought had been her, knowing that she would come over later. Charlie had not left him out of his eyes for a second, even though he was not even mentioning the crime he had committed months ago, more or less together with Greg.

He had chatted about what he done in the meantime, had even told Greg that he had been in New York for a short time and wanted him to share stories, knowing Greg had lived there for a while. Greg had naturally felt uncomfortable, never being able to muster up any feeling of friendship for this man again.

Instead his mind had wandered to Sara, wondering how he could warn her, and at the same time be able to inform the PD about Charlie’s appearance at his place. Greg had flinched when the door bell had rung, for he knew what it meant: Sara was there. Greg had not made any move to open the door, telling Charlie it was not important and that he did not want his visit disturbed.

After the bell had rung the second time Charlie had jumped up, declaring he would go and open up, if Greg did not want to, saying it was impolite to leave whoever was ringing standing outside. Greg had quickly refused that Charlie opened, agreeing that it was impolite and that he should go and open the door. Charlie had sat back at the couch and Greg had breathed a short sigh of relief.

The relief had not lasted for long as it was indeed Sara who was standing outside. Several options had been rushing through Greg’s head. Calling the PD was the first one. His cell phone was lying in the living room. Any move to get it would make Charlie suspicious and would only increase the risk that he got to see Sara.

Telling Sara that Charlie was back had been another option. Telling her and asking her to call the police. It had seemed reasonable. But knowing Sara’s character, he had been afraid that she would refuse to leave Greg alone with Charlie. This thought head been strengthened when she had been unwilling to leave although he had clearly told her so and in an openly cold manner. She had been insisted to find out what was wrong. If he had told her that Charlie was there, there would have been a good chance she would not have left. He had not been able to risk that.

Instead he had told her to leave, had been openly unfriendly, although he had had to realize quickly that this did not bring him very far with Sara, as it only made her angry, but not leave. When she had moved to get into the flat after all, he had pushed her out, shutting the door quickly. It was painful that he was doing this again. Doing what he had done when the whole mess had started, when Charlie had kidnapped her. Already then Greg had had to hurt her, only to protect her, and now he was doing it again. He had hoped that she would really leave now, whatever she would be thinking about him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Greg had hoped that Sara would realize after a while, a short while preferably, that something was off. She had already noticed that something was wrong of course, but Greg had hoped that she would come to the realization that Greg had made her leave for a good reason. She was smart; Greg had been confident that she would be able to count two and two together, as soon as she had calmed down that was.

Which had apparently not happened, for soon she had been back, knocking loudly against the door, making Greg’s earlier and current explanations who had been at the door futile. He had heard her yelling at the other side of the door and it was obvious that Charlie was not missing this either.

Greg had finally had no other choice than to open the door; otherwise Charlie probably would have done so. Sara had been outside, more than agitated now and Greg had failed in keeping her outside, she brushing past him into the apartment quickly.

And things had not improved since then.

“Now, what’s up with you, Greg?” Charlie wanted to know, when Greg did not make a move for Sara but had positioned himself in front of her instead.

Greg stared at him, answering after a few seconds, “I want you to let her go.”

Sara was silent behind him. He could not see her, so he did not know how she was holding up.

“No, Greg. We can’t do that,” the other man shook his head.

Greg wished Charlie would stop using “we”, as he did not see any bond between them anymore, and he was even less inclined to be connected with Charlie’s actions in any way.

“Let us go,” Sara said suddenly from behind, sounding determined. “And use the chance to leave, too.”

Greg liked this first person plural use way better, but it surprised him that Sara spoke of “us” after her accusations against him earlier.

“Why would I need to let Greg go?” Charlie asked, somewhat confused. “He’s free to go, but I thought we’d deal with you first.”

Greg looked his former friend into the eyes.

“Sara, go. Now.”

He could not see if Sara was following his order in any way, but Charlie moved forward, gun still in his hand.

“No, Greg, we can’t let her go.”

Greg grabbed Charlie’s arm, stopping him effectively, and turned to look where Sara was. She had actually moved some paces into the direction of the front door, but had stopped dead now. She was looking at Greg with an unreadable expression.

“What is she doing here anyway?” Charlie suddenly questioned, frowning. “Why did she come here?” He was looking at Greg, not at Sara.

Greg wondered what he was supposed to answer, if anything at all. Saying that he and Sara were a couple seemed to be a bad idea. That Greg and Sara had known each other the whole time would certainly enrage Charlie, would at least raise the risk that he would panic which was connected with incalculable consequences.

On the other hand Greg made himself aware again what Charlie’s original motive had been. It had been to get Greg the girl of his dreams, or at least a close resemblance. It had certainly not happened because of what Charlie had done, it was more so that it had happened despite everything that had occurred, but Greg and Sara had become a couple, so Charlie’s original desired result was there.

Greg took a deep breath, hoping he was doing the right thing.

“Sara is here because we’re together,” he told Charlie, and hoping both that this would convince his friend to leave Sara alone and that Sara would believe it as well, Greg added, “I love her.”

Charlie was clearly surprised. “Is it… her?” he wanted to know and Greg nodded.

“Wow, I had really gotten the right girl,” Charlie seemed pleased.

“But you’ve done the wrong thing. You kidnapped her and hurt her, left her in that wood to die,” Greg told him accusingly.

“I didn’t really want her to die…,” Charlie returned almost apologetic.

Greg had a different opinion there; Charlie had wanted to kill Sara, getting rid of her. He had obviously not been able to kill her by his own hand, so he had left her to die, but Greg could certainly not say that Charlie had cared whether Sara died or lived. He was not going to tell Charlie that though, would certainly not remind him that he had wanted Sara dead indeed.

“I know you did not want her to die,” he lied instead. “And you don’t want to hurt her now either. So let her go, please.”

“You think it was wrong what I did, don’t you?” Charlie asked.

Greg nodded earnestly.

“I was afraid you would see it like that,” Charlie added, sighing.

“I told you from the very beginning that you have to let her go,” Greg reminded him of the situation when he had found Sara in the trunk of Charlie’s car.

“I just didn’t want us to get caught-,” Charlie was interrupted when there was loud knocking at the door.

Greg prayed that Charlie would not lose his nerves now. He turned around and saw that Sara was about to open the door. Greg was ready to stop Charlie from whatever he might be doing.

But Charlie did not move. Sara opened the door, backing away from it quickly, pressing herself against the wall next to it, watching Brass and two other police officers rushing into the apartment.

It went all very fast that Charlie was disarmed and apprehended. Greg hardly noticed Sara coming over to him, thinking she was still by the door. But then she grabbed his arm and Greg looked at her confused, while one of the officers was leading Charlie away.

“Sara…”

She was still holding onto him, looking at him earnestly. She glanced briefly to Brass, before she reached into the bag of her jacket, taking out her cell phone, shutting it off.

“Did you have anybody on the phone?” Greg asked wondering.

“Brass,” Sara replied shortly. “I had called him.”

“What you said… about Charlie and me working together the whole time…,” Greg started, hoping she would believe him that it was not true what she had accused him of. He did not need to finish his sentence though.

“Greg,” Sara interrupted him and Greg stopped speaking, his heart beating rapidly.

“I know you were not in this,” she told him sincerely, letting her hand glide down his arm, entangling her hand in his.

TBC
 
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