Title: Part of Me

Summary: What if Sara hadn't sent Grissom the video? More than two years after their last encounter, Grissom and Sara meet again, but not under the best circumstances. Secrets will be revealed and misunderstandings will be debated. Will they give each other a new chance?

Disclaimer: Nah, I don't own them.

Author's note: I wrote this a few years ago – after One to Go, actually – but at the time I hadn't thought about publishing it. I found it a few days ago, and after reading it all again, I decided to give it a chance. I'm still working on Something for the Rest of Us, so I thought I'd give you guys a new story to read while I slowly finish that one.

This one is already finished, so if I happen to receive some feedback, I'll update very soon. It's totally AU – I mean, I wouldn't have guessed that Sara would come back married to Grissom a few months later, right? Anyway, Riley is here, and so is Ray. Warrick is still dead, Catherine isn't leaving anytime soon, Nick is Nick, and Greg is Greg. I didn't even know Grissom's mom was alive or that Sara's mother was schizophrenic. Oh, how the writers can surprise us. Let's just pretend that Sara left Vegas for the last time in The Happy Place, and never came back again. Hope you like it!

Chapter One

February 2011, San Francisco

The sun was shining brightly that particular afternoon; tourists and locals walked around with their families, dogs – occasionally stopping to let the kids play or to read a book sitting on a bench. It was a Monday, and the Golden Gate Park was peaceful and content. The air was still slightly chilly from the winter, but the weather was very pleasant.

Sara Sidle cherished days like this. She loved walking around the park, enjoying the sunlight and the children's laugh. More than two years ago, she had made San Francisco her permanent residence. For years she lived in Las Vegas, hardly ever enjoying the days, and now she had a home–away from that heavy atmosphere she left behind after Warrick's death.

She had always loved San Francisco. After she left the lab and made amends with her mother, she knew she would have to make a decision–and she knew she couldn't go back to Las Vegas. She traveled and had a good time, and now she worked as a teacher at USF and owned a house in a nice neighborhood. She had a new life, and she was happy.

Life went on, and she moved on.

"Mommy, look!" A loud voice interrupted her thoughts as she came back to reality. A boy, who wasn't over two years old, was pointing at something on their right. "Dog!"

She was sitting on the grass, with some toys around them. The little boy was standing up, his light brown hair a little disheveled from playing and his blue eyes showing joy. On his side, Laura Sidle was holding a ball, laughing. Sara smiled at her son and looked to their right to spot a large Boxer a few feet away.

"That's a big dog, buddy," the man on her side said, smiling at the boy. He started talking something, but Sara wasn't really listening.

Her smile trembled slightly at the sight of the dog, remembering a familiar Boxer who used to climb onto her bed and jump every time she arrived home. She looked away almost immediately, focusing on her son's smile. The little boy stared at her, his big blue eyes showing joy and happiness, and she wondered, not for the first time, what would have happened if she didn't have him in her life.

The boy, now forgetting the dog, started playing with his grandmother. The man stared at her.

"You still think about him a lot, don't you?"

She frowned. "Who?"

"You know who."

Sara took a deep breath and looked at her son, who was now clumsily kicking the ball towards his grandmother. "It's hard to forget him when I look into his eyes every day."

Silence overtook them, but soon the man spoke again. "You know what you should do about this."

"I know, Chris, but… I also know Gil. He'll be happy and he'll be hurt, and he'll do the right thing. But even now, I'm not sure we want the same things." Sara said slowly, knowing that her voice could betray her confidence.

Chris Anderson was an old friend of Sara's–they met during her early years at the San Francisco Crime Lab. They met again when Sara returned to the city, but he was now the Night Shift's supervisor; recently divorced, he reminded Sara of Warrick sometimes–cool, down to earth. A different person, obviously. A good friend who had a good perspective and loved her son.

"He needs to know about Theo, Sara."

"I know that. I do," she replied when he arched his eyebrows, "but it's not easy. I… I should have told him when I was pregnant. I know that."

"You can't keep this up. One day, one of your friends from Vegas will come to visit you and they'll see Theo. They'll know, Sara." Chris said in a calm voice, and Sara was surprised to find herself calm as well. "You should call him. Maybe go to Vegas for a weekend, see your friends. Now you regret not telling him before Theo was born. If you don't tell him soon…"

Chris trailed off, turning back to watch the boy. He met Grissom once, more than ten years ago. He knew that Sara had a crush on the entomologist, and he remembered how he used to tease her about it. Things changed, though; he and Sara spent years without talking to each other. They'd occasionally exchange emails, to see how things were going. Over the eight years that Sara had been in Vegas, he married twice, got divorced twice, had a daughter, got promoted… He truly didn't know much about Sara's life in Vegas. He knew she had had a somewhat long relationship with Gilbert Grissom, he knew about the miniature killer, and he knew she had never spoken to Grissom again after she left Las Vegas.

He also knew Sara still loved the man. He didn't know what happened between them, but he knew Sara still loved Grissom.

That's why he couldn't understand Sara's decision of not telling Grissom about his son.

"Yeah, I know. I think it's time. Oh, here we go again." Sara said as she watched her son pick up something from the ground.

His smile lit up as he made a motion to put whatever he was holding inside his mouth, and Laura was looking helplessly at Sara. She stood up and walked towards her son, crouching up to his side. She tried to remain calm when she saw a red ladybug on his little hand. She wasn't amused–she knew how much her son loved animals and insects, but there were some days when everything was just too much–he reminded her of Grissom too much.

"Oh, Theo, you found a ladybug!" She said in an excited tone, smoothing Theo's hair. "Do you like it?"

The boy nodded solemnly, still watching the ladybug on his hand.

"See, the ladybug is your friend. Like butterflies and ants. You don't eat butterflies, do you?" Sara asked, speaking slowly and making sure he understood what she was saying.

"No. Bug is friend!" Theo stated happily just in time to see the ladybug fly away. He laughed, clasping his hands together and looking at her.

Sara chuckled. "Come on, baby. We should go home."

She picked Theo up and put him on the stroller while Laura started to grab some toys from the ground with Chris' help.

"Thanks for coming, Chris." She said after they had everything packed to go.

"No problem. Bye, buddy!" He said and Theo waved clumsily at him. "Nice to see you again, Laura."

"You too, Chris." Laura said as they headed for the opposite direction.

The ride to Laura's home was quite peaceful. She lived only a few blocks away from the park, and mother and daughter talked about trivial things – the park, Theo, what were the plans for the week. Soon they were in front of Laura's house.

"Why don't you stay here until work tonight?" Laura asked before getting out.

Sara shook her head. "No, I need to get some papers, and this little guy needs a bath. I'll be here to bring him by six."

Laura nodded. "No problem, darling. See you later."

They hugged briefly. "See you later, mom."

After giving Theo a nice bath, Sara knew he'd be taking his afternoon nap and put him with some stuffed animals in his crib; she took five minutes to organize her papers for the class and, when she came back to check on her son, she was happy to find him fast asleep.

She took a quick shower and got dressed for work quickly; it was half past five, and she knew she had to be fast. Ever since she started working again, Theo stayed with Laura–she already had some of his things at her house, so Sara wouldn't have to bring a lot of things over all the time. Still, she packed the usual: diapers, tissues, a few toys and an extra set of clothes. She checked on him again, not surprised to find him still asleep. Normally, he'd be up already, but after a day at the park, Sara was expecting him to be extra tired.

She was putting on some light makeup when the door bell rang and she went to the door; she frowned when she saw a postman, thinking that the mail usually comes in the mornings. Sara opened the door slightly and the man smiled apologetically and showed her a big box.

"Package for… Sara Sidle?" The postman said, and Sara opened the door wider.

"That's me."

He handed her a paper and a pen for her to sign. Just as she started signing her name, she felt a warm cloth against her mouth and nose, at the same time someone grabbed her wrists. She tried not to breath and looked up to see the postman getting into her apartment. She wanted to yell, but knew that if she did so, she would inhale whatever was on the cloth. She tried to move, but someone was holding her arms behind her back.

"You better stay still, ma'am." She heard a young voice warning her, and she kicked the man who was standing in front of her on the knees.

"You bitch!" The man said quietly, but Sara couldn't hold her breath much longer.

Soon, a sweet smell was invading her nostrils and her eyelids closed.

A/N: So, was this too bad? Kinda good? Tell me what you think – I'd love to hear from you!

Next chapter: Where's Theo?