Somebody Else

Disclaimer: If it's familiar to you, it doesn't belong to me.

Spoilers: Butterflied

A/N:  I just had to write this.  Mostly because the whole GSR thing irritates me to no end.  But that's a whole other can of worms.  Anyway, here's my N/S take.  Oh, and just a warning, this is (obviously) not GSR friendly.

~*~*~*~*~

Sara stood behind the one-way glass and stared at him, her face expressionless, as she listened.

"…all of a sudden, we get a second chance.  Somebody young and beautiful shows up, somebody we could care about.  She offers us a new life, with her…"

Grissom had just admitted he had feelings for her.  Not directly, but she knew he wasn't just talking about their suspect.  She knew he was talking about himself.  And her.

Six months ago, this revelation would have meant something to her.  It would have been what she was waiting to hear, for so long.  For so long she had worshipped him, hanging on his every word, doing anything and everything to please him.  But that was six months ago.  Six months ago, she would have cared about how he felt.  She didn't care anymore.

"…I couldn't do it, but you did.  You risked it all…"

Maybe Grissom thought he still had time, that he could take that risk after all.  But what he didn't know was that he and their suspect were more alike than he would have hoped.

"…and she showed you a wonderful life, didn't she?  But then she took it away and gave it to somebody else…"

There was already a somebody else for Sara, a somebody else who was unlike Grissom in every way.  A somebody else who was willing to risk their friendship to see if there was something more out there.  A somebody else who cared for her and respected her.  A somebody else who she had a wonderful life with.

The suspect was taken away, but Grissom remained seated in the interrogation room, alone, as he thought about what he had just said.  He looked up at the one-way glass, knowing she had been watching, hoping she had understood what he was trying to tell her.  Wondering if she was still there, waiting for him.

How dare he? She thought furiously.  He had no right, not anymore.  She gave him his chance, waited patiently with high hopes that he would reciprocate her feelings.  But he pushed her away, and as far as she was concerned, that meant for good.  He was too late now.  He had his chance, and he didn't deserve a second.  She had moved on, and she wasn't looking back, especially not for him.

She angrily turned away, not wanting to look at him anymore.  She was feeling great after they had solved their case, but Grissom and his confession, or whatever he thought it was, had ruined her high.  Once again, Grissom had turned a great shift into a lousy one.

As she stormed off to the locker room, she knew there was only one person who could fix that.  Relieved to find the locker room empty, she leaned up against the closed door to ensure some privacy.  She reached for her cell phone and called the first number on her speed dial, knowing that just hearing his voice would make her feel better.

"Hey," he greeted warmly, knowing who it was from his caller ID.

"Hi," she said back, unable to completely hide the sorrow and anger in her voice.

He immediately sensed something was bothering her.  "What's wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

"Nothing," she said simply, not wanting to get into it.

He didn't push any further but waited for a few seconds, knowing she would talk to him if she wanted to.

"How's the convention?" she changed the subject.

"Great.  The weather sucks though."

"It's Minneapolis.  The weather always sucks there."  She heard him laugh, which brought a smile to her face.  She loved that sound.

They stayed on the line for several seconds in silence until Sara spoke.  "Nick?"

"What?"

"I miss you."

This time it was Nick who smiled.  "Sar, I've only been gone a day."

"When are you coming back?"

"Saturday, I told you," he reminded her.

"Can't you come back sooner?"

"You can't live without me for three days?" he teased.

"No," she giggled girlishly.

"Well that's just too bad missy, you're just gonna have to suck it up," he said.

"Fine," she replied with mock anger.  "But you owe me."

"Do I?"

"Big."

"Well, I think when I get back we can work something out," he replied flirtatiously.

"I'll be waiting," she teased back.

After a few seconds he spoke.  "I miss you too."

Sara smiled.

"Well I gotta go.  The seminar on 'Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization Probing for DNA Analysis' is gonna start soon," he told her.

"And we can't miss that," she said sarcastically.

"Of course not."

He actually sounded serious, making Sara smile yet again.  Sometimes he could be such a science geek.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," he said.

"Okay.  Bye."

"Bye."

Sara smiled as she flipped her phone shut.  Finally, her life was good.  Her life with Nick.  She was happy, genuinely happy, a feeling she had felt so rarely over the past few years.  But she knew that feeling was here to stay.  And she owed it all to Nick.

The End