Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. I don't want to…the show makes me sad, mad, disgusted, disgruntled, furious, uncertain, and last but not least wondering if there is a murder gene because I feel it every time the writers mess with our favorite characters.

Another disclaimer: While I have repeatedly threatened to stop watching CSI, Peggy47 has prompted me to continue until the end….which is drawing near since I cannot and will not watch if they butcher the true characters of Sara and Grissom.

Setting: this is how the story should end…take notes CBS.

The Happy Place

True to Character

She opened the door, and he stood there drenched in the rain.

By the look on his face, she knew it probably involved a case.

She had become his source of information when it came to dominatrix life.

She didn't mind.

He was the one person she longed to find on her doorstep.

She loved him pure and simple.

He had saved her at a time when she did not wish to be saved.

He had come to know her as intimately as she knew him.

It wasn't a sexual relationship but more of the souls.

They each could sense when the other was "off."

It radiated from him the moment he stepped inside.

As he sat there in a chair, he rattled off the details of the case. She poised her body at the edge of the desk and gave him what he needed.

Of course, she could sense it was not information he needed.

He told her he sought information. But, she pointed out she had given him nothing that he could not have learned from a textbook. At that moment, his eyes gave him away.

He longed for comfort.

"Does Sara know you're here?" she asked as she stood there in front of him.

"Sara is gone," he managed to get out.

"She's away….but she's coming back," said Lady Heather.

Grissom shook his head. "She's uhm happy where she's at. She can't be happy in Vegas."

"Are you happy?" she asked stepping close to him.

"I'm uhm lost," he whispered. "I'm tired and sad, and I've lost all sense of…."

"Balance," she finished. "I feel it. Does anyone know you're here?"

He expected Brass to know where he would go for information.

Even Catherine would know.

He didn't care.

He just needed….her.

"Come with me," said Heather as she took his hand and led him to her private room. The outside noise of the dominion floated away and was replaced with silence.

Bless silence as Grissom stood there and listened.

"Submissive?" she purred.

"Yes," he said. "I prefer…"

"The submissive have control. You think you've lost that…not here. You're in control," she said.

He said nothing as he felt himself tremble.

"Lie down," she said.

He did not object as soon he was there on her bed. He did not bother to pull down the covers. He just lay there as she shut her door.

The lights were dimmed as she joined him on the bed.

"Turn around," she commanded.

He rolled over to face her.

"I want you to touch me," she said.

His trembling hand reached out and stroked her hair.

"Who do you want me to be?" she asked.

"Sara," he choked out.

"What do you want to do with Sara?" she asked.

"I want to bury myself into her and never leave," he said.

His hand stopped with the strokes.

"Continue," she said.

His hand sifted through the long strands of her hair.

"She cut her hair," he whispered. "I loved it long, and she cut it. It falls into curls…she doesn't like the curls…I do. She says she has no control over the curls. Always control," he whispered.

Heather shook her head.

"Sara is not in control," she said. "You are. She gave up the submissive role."

He looked at her.

"Sara waited patiently for you to love her. It took years…patience…but, in the end, she made you submit to her."

His chest heaved.

"Gil?"

He stared into her dark eyes.

"You're now the submissive. You now control her with that love. She can never be happy without you. You are her happy place," said Heather as she placed her hand on his chest where she felt his beating heart.

"Your heart belongs to her just as hers belongs to you. She sent that message letting you go…knowing that you were unhappy….she wants you to be happy….at the cost of her own…she fears you do not love her as deeply as she loves you. You have the control. You can crush her by letting her go, or you can submit and follow her. Isn't that what you want to do?" she asked.

He pulled her into his arms and held her tight.

"I want Sara. I need Sara. I'm not happy without Sara. I want my happy place back," he choked.

"Then you know what you need to do," she said.

"The lab needs me," he said.

Lady Heather shook her head. "The lab existed before you, and it will exist again without you. Can you exist without Sara?"

"I uhm don't know if….if that's what Sara wants," he said.

"What does your heart say?" she asked.

His lips rested on hers.

"Gil?" she whispered.

"I'm so tired, Heather," he said.

"Close your eyes and sleep," she said. "I'll watch over you while you sleep."

His head rested on her chest as her hands gently rubbed his back.

"Rest, and then put your plan in motion," she said. "Put your affairs in order, and then go to Sara."

"You make it sound so simple," he said.

"Can you survive any other way?" she asked.

He shook his head.

"Then sleep," she said.

"Heather?"

"Yes?"

"I do love you," he said.

She smiled.

"I love you, too. Go to Sara, Gil. Be happy."

It was the first peaceful sleep he'd had in weeks.

He woke to the feel of her body pressed tightly against his. He rolled over wanting to make love to her, but he stopped when he realized it was Heather.

"Soon," she said. "Soon, you'll be in your happy place."

There was a sense of urgency behind everything he did at the lab.

The others watched as he reviewed each case and cleared away the clutter on his desk.

Some thought he had finally come to terms with Warrick's death as well as the loss of Sara.

Some worried that he had settled for someone else; and perhaps, it was probably for the best since there was no indication Sara would ever return to Vegas.

Rumor in the grapevine was that Sara had sent a formal letter of resignation releasing herself permanently from the lab, Vegas, Grissom and everyone who had come to love her.

It had been mentioned to Grissom.

He did not seem to care.

It made Catherine more nervous as she hovered in a corner of the diner with Brass.

"I'm worried about Grissom," she said. "He acts like…"

"He's either putting his affairs in order, or he's moving on...going back to the way he was before Sara came to Vegas."

"What do you think he's going to do?" she asked.

"God, I hope he's leaving," said Brass. "He deserves to be happy. He was happy with Sara."

"No quip? No one liner?" asked Catherine.

"Want to go somewhere?" he asked.

Catherine stared at him.

"Look, we've known each other for….years…watched each other screw up our lives…helped each other fix our screwed up lives…"

"Yours or mine?" she said quickly.

"Maid came today," he said.

"Yours," she said.

He finished off the resignation and slipped it into the envelope. His bags were already packed, and Hank was waiting at home.

He walked through the lab as he stopped from time to time and shook a hand or patted a back. He even shook Hodges hand leaving him speechless.

All heads turned as they watched him stroll through the halls. He stepped out the door without hesitation as he went in search of his happy place.

Note from author:

I wrote this because I was sooooo mad at the last preview for the next episode. There are only three chapters…I know, do not faint. Please leave a review for each chapter.

Take care,

Penny