Disclaimer: I wish I owned CSI, but obviously don't or I'd be writing real episodes and actually seeing my ideas on TV, not just fan fiction!

A/N – Hope you all like this one, please R&R! I don't know about pairings yet – normally I let the story form to see who should end up with whom, but my plan so far is NS, CW. Grissom will obviously have a very important role though ;)

No More

Chapter 1:

Sara stepped out of the hospital room and leaned against the wall taking a deep breath, trying to stop the tears from falling down her face. How could people be so cruel? She should've been out playing with her friends, hanging at the mall – not lying in a hospital bed. She saw Grissom walking towards her. She knew she couldn't lose it – not now. She had to find who did this, and if Grissom saw her, he would take her off the case. She took another deep breath and filed all her emotions to the back of her mind. How easy it had become just to ignore everything she was feeling.

"How's the victim?" Grissom asked, his eyes searching hers, reading more than she wanted him too. She closed her mind even further.

"Stable, but unconscious. Doctors don't know if she'll wake up. I just finished the rape kit – I'm going to get it to Greg." He looked at her with a questioning look.

"I thought Catherine…?" She shook her head.

"Lindsey got sick at school – I told her I would do it. It's no big deal Grissom – it's my job." He continued to look at her in silence. She felt uncomfortable under his glare. "Well, I should go get this to Greg. See you back at the lab." He nodded and she turned and walked away.

It wasn't just her lack of upset that bugged him; it was her lack of everything else too. She used to smile, she used to get extremely excited over things, but that also came with her getting upset and losing control. The last few weeks, he rarely saw her smile anymore. She didn't laugh like she used to. She also didn't cry. She had been doing so much better since her DUI, but something happened. Grissom couldn't put his finger on when but he knew that she was hiding something.

-+-+-

"Greg – can you process this for me? It's priority." Sara said to the younger lab tech. He looked at her stoic expression, slightly taken aback. He always enjoyed her company, but lately she wasn't the same Sara. Slowly she had been taken over by something, something eating her up inside. She still was the same Sara, only with less of the joy out of her life, but he saw something different. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what was unusual, only that in some way she had changed.

-+-+-

She went to the break room, anxious to eat something. It was amazing how easy it was to forget to eat sometimes. She thought back to the last time she had eaten, and it had been well over 15 hours previous. About to grab an apple from the fridge, Catherine burst into the room.

"Sara – Greg needs you in DNA right now. Thanks again for covering for me. Lindsey's fine, she's at home now with my mom." She nodded and gave her a small smile that didn't reach her eyes, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"No problem Cath. I'll head right over now." Catherine looked at her as she walked out of the room.

"Sara – you okay? You look a little pale, and you, well, just haven't been yourself lately." She shrugged.

"Nothing wrong, no, why?" was all she said. Catherine looked at her closely. It wasn't a typical Sara response.

"Just wondering – you look like you've lost weight too. You sure your okay? I'm here to talk to if you need me." Catherine smiled at her gently, trying not to push but knowing that everyone had noticed the small changes in Sara the last few weeks.

"Thanks Catherine, but honestly I'm fine. I should go find Greg. See you later." She walked out of the break room. Catherine watched her walk down the hall. She had lost weight. Just then, Warrick and Nick came into the room and noticed Catherine's look of concern.

"What's the matter Cath?" Warrick asked, slightly worried.

"I'm concerned about Sara." She turned to Nick, knowing that Sara and him were a lot closer than anyone else on the team.

"She has been acting different. She's not the same – I don't know what's wrong. She hasn't opened up to anyone." None of them knew what to do.

"When did this start?" asked Warrick. They all thought. It had been so gradual but something must have started it.

"She was seeing that guy, remember?" Nick nodded solemnly. He hadn't liked Chris much. He had seemed like such a jerk. From what Sara had said, which wasn't much, he had just dumped her and moved on. She had seemed okay with the breakup about 3 weeks ago, but that's really when she started acting weird.

"Maybe it has something to do with him?" Warrick asked. Nick sat, deep in thought.

"What should we do?" he asked, looking at Catherine, knowing as a woman, she probably knew what was best.

"For now, I think we should wait until she comes to one of us. Just act normal, but be supportive. Let her know you're there if she needs you but don't suffocate her or she'll pull away. Maybe it's just nothing and she'll be back to normal in no time." They all agreed and Catherine and Warrick left to get back to work.

Nick still sat in the break room wondering what could be wrong. They were right, he did know Sara better than the rest of them. They had become great friends and there was something about her that drew her to him. He couldn't figure out why she was pushing away. She had always talked to him about things, but hardly a word was said about Chris and why he had left. Deciding to be a better friend to her from now on, and showing her how much he cared, Nick made his way over to the lab to meet up with Sara and Greg.