Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any places/persons/things mentioned here.

A/N: This is my first published fanfic. I'm currently working on another one but this story just begged to be written at this time. It contains slight spoilers for episdoe 8x07. This is just how I see how things could turn out for Sara (and Grissom) in the long run.

Sara pulled her rented SUV in front of the Las Vegas Crime Lab and turned off the engine. Resting her head against the headrest, she breathed deeply but it did nothing to settle the excitement zipping along her nerves and the butterflies flitting in her stomach. Home. A grin spread across her face as it struck her that she was finally home to stay. Funny, but when she first moved to Vegas nearly eleven years ago, she never thought it would really feel like home. At the time, home had meant ocean vistas, cool breezes, and sea salt in the air. But now, she hated every minute that she had to be away from Vegas despite its gaudy lights, endless string of gawking tourists and the scorching desert heat. Guess the old adage "home is where the heart is" really was true. Course, as a slight frown settled on her face at the thought, things were about to change and in big ways. She didn't know how her old friends were going to react to her big news. Or how Grissom would take her big, big news. That was the one that really worried her. But she was never one to shy away from a challenge or a problem. So she jumped out of the SUV and groaned as cramped muscles protested the movement after driving nearly 15 straight hours. It had been a long haul but it was worth it. She had made it in time so she could see her friends before the night shift started.

With one final stretch, Sara turned on her heel and walked to the rear of the SUV. She lifted the hatch and dug around the boxes and bags that were stacked to the ceiling. Finally, with an "Ah-ha, there you are", she pulled out a green- and yellow-striped gift bag. She slammed the hatch shut and started walking towards the lab. At least she didn't have to worry about Ecklie anymore, she thought as she chuckled to herself. Almost a year ago, Ecklie had gotten canned. No one had ever heard the official reason for his dismissal but the rumor on the grapevine was that Ecklie had been deliberately withholding promotions of some personnel while advancing the careers of those who stroked his ego. Sara had laughed when she first heard that one. She guessed that she never would have gotten far if she had not left the lab shortly after her kidnapping. There was certainly never love lost between Ecklie and herself. After Ecklie's dismissal, the position of assistant lab director had been offered to Grissom but after much deliberation, he eventually turned it down. He claimed he didn't want to deal with the paperwork and politics that came with the position but Sara knew it really was because he didn't want to give up the fieldwork or working with his protégés. Taking one last deep breath of the June evening air, she stepped through the doors of the lab.

Judy, the receptionist, looked up and immediately greeted Sara warmly. "Sara, how nice to see you! Are you back in town for the weekend?"

"Hi, Judy," Sara replied as she walked over to the receptionist's desk and leaned against it. "Actually, I'm back home for good now."

"Really?! Well, congratulations!"

"Thanks. I'll need to make a few quick trips back east but I'm pretty much home to stay."

"Bet you're glad to finally be done."

"Well, I'm not completely done. That's why I have to make a couple trips yet." Sara glanced around. "Have you seen Gris around?"

"I saw him come in about an hour ago but not since. Shift hasn't started yet so he must be around somewhere. Do you want me to page him?"

"No thanks, Judy. I'll just wander around until I find him."

As Judy replied, "Alright", Sara began wandering down the halls.

A lot had changed in the last three and a half years yet everything was still the same. The layout of the lab had remained unchanged so Sara could walk around confidently finding her way. As a visitor, she really should have been escorted by an employee, or at the very least, worn a visitor's badge, but no one stopped her or questioned her. Everyone knew who Sara was. She was greeted by lab techs and others everywhere she went. Some of the faces were new but many were familiar. She had worked with a lot of them during her days at the lab while others she had gotten to know during her many visits since then.

Walking past the A/V lab, Sara saw Archie deep in concentration watching some video. She stepped into the darkened lab. "Hey, Archie. How's it going?"

Archie jumped at the sudden interruption. Annoyed, he looked over his shoulder to see who startled him. When he saw it was Sara, a broad grin broke out. "Sara, good to see ya."

"You, too, Archie. What are you working on?"

"There was a triple homicide over at the Bellagio. Two bodies were found in a hotel room and another in a service elevator. They don't know if the two crime scenes are related or not. I've been watching surveillance video for the last," he quickly glanced at a clock, "oh, about 14 hours."

"Ouch. You must about be cross-eyed by now." Although she didn't envy Archie his task, Sara felt an exciting tingle at the thought of digging in and solving crimes again. For a couple years after her kidnapping, she was bothered by crime scenes. But eventually, she started to miss the adrenaline rush that came with chasing down the clues and solving the mystery. "Any significant leads?"

"We thought we had something. There was this one shifty character that we spotted going up in the elevator with one of the vics but his alibi checked out. So now I'm having to start over."

"Too bad. Well, I want to catch everyone before shift starts so I'm off. Good luck."

"Yeah. See you around," he replied distractedly as he turned his attention back to the video.

Sara continued down the hall. Along the way, Hodges greeted her from his lab but she just waved a hand in reply and hurried along. She didn't want to get caught up in one of his long-winded, arrogant speeches or she would never get around to seeing everyone.

Coming round a corner, she spotted Nick coming out of the locker room.

Nick, upon seeing Sara, hollered "Dr. Sidle-Grissom!" He rushed over, captured her in a big bear hug and swung her around.

Sara laughed as she returned his hug. "Nick! It's so good to see you!" she said as she pulled out of his arms. "And it's not 'doctor' yet," as she lightly punched him in the arm.

"Ouch! Close enough," he teased before looking at her questioningly. "Say, aren't you a few days early? I thought Grissom said you were first going to be back this weekend."

They turned and started ambling down the hall. "Well," Sara started out, "I worked straight through several days taking only a few catnaps and ended up turning in the final copy of my doctorate's dissertation a few days earlier than I had planned. So I quick packed up and got on the road."

"I was surprised to hear that you were coming back by yourself. I would've thought that husband of yours would've flown out to help you pack up and move back."

"There wasn't much to pack. The apartment I was renting was furnished so no furniture to move. And things like the dishes and pots and pans, well, we've got all the stuff at the house here in Vegas, so I just sold it. What I couldn't sell, I gave away. When you're in a college environment, there's always someone willing to take junk off your hands. So in the end, it was pretty much just clothes and books. But Gris is planning on flying out with me when I have to defend my dissertation."

"Any idea when that'll be?"

"It'll probably be close to the end of summer. Maybe even later on in the fall."

"And then it'll officially be Dr. Sidle-Grissom, doctor of physics." Nick wrapped his arm around Sara's slender shoulders and gave her a squeeze. A warm glow spread over her as Nick whispered in her ear, "I'm so proud of you, Sara. After all you went through, you still had the strength to pursue your dreams."

"Thanks, Nicky," she replied with a catch in her voice. She turned away slightly to hide the tears welling up in her eyes. It really touched her that Nick cared so much. She remembered a long time in her life when no one cared whether she lived or died much less if she finished her degree or not.

"No, seriously," Nick continued as he stopped, grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. "We all understood when you decided to quit the lab and take that position teaching physics at UNLV. Frankly, after you told to us all about your messed-up childhood, I was amazed that you could ever stand to work in criminalistics. But then when you decided to go back to Harvard to pursue a doctorate degree, I was truly amazed. Most people who went through what you did just a short year earlier, well, they would've wanted to stick close to their family and friends. But you got beyond that. You knew what you wanted, what you needed, and you pursued it. That took a lot of nerve and a lot of guts."

"Oh, stop," she laughed lightly as the tears continued to well up. "I couldn't have done it without the support of you and everyone else here at the lab." She turned away and sniffed. Oh, how she hated these darn hormones. Nick's praise was very touching but normally she would've been able to keep herself under control. She was just getting way too weepy lately and she absolutely hated crying in front of anyone, even her friends who had seen her at her best and at her worst. Before she could get any more emotional, she quickly changed the subject. "How are the wedding plans coming along?"

Nick snorted. "Well, let's just say that I'm still counting in weeks but Jenny's counting in days. Man, she's freaking out already. There are times I swear I don't even know her anymore. I can't imagine what she's going to be like by the time the big day arrives."

Sara chuckled. She had met Jenny a little over a year ago when the nightshift had gotten together for dinner one evening while she was in town. At the time, Nick and Jenny had only been going together about three weeks but the instant Sara saw the two together, she knew that Nick was a goner. He had doted on Jenny all evening while she had eyes only for Nick. Nick had met the kindergarten teacher while investigating a domestic violence case at her neighbor's condo and Sara had no doubts that it was love, or at least infatuation, at first sight.

Sara teasingly elbowed him in the ribs. "So how many 'weeks' is it now?"

"Seven. Or as Jenny put it this morning, 52 days."

"You should've done like Gris and I."

"What? Get engaged and married all in the same day and not even tell anyone? No way. I wanted to live."

"We lived! Very happily I might add."

"Yeah, but you weren't there when Catherine threatened Greg and I that if we ever pulled the same stunt, she'd hunt us down and make us sopranos. I tell you, girl, I was shaking in my boots. I think she was dead serious."

"She didn't exactly let us off the hook. We got quite the lecture." Although Catherine and she had not been really close back then, Catherine and Grissom had been very close for years. So excluding their friends had hurt Catherine deeply. She probably wouldn't have taken it so personally but it reminded Catherine too much of Warrick's quicky wedding which had hurt her even more. "You know," Sara continued quietly, "I think she was still hurting from the way Warrick ran off and got married. That's why she got so angry with us."

"Yeah, Warrick's marriage really threw her for a loop. Warrick and I were out drinking one time after he and Tina had a huge fight. Anyways, Warrick kind of let it slip that Cath told him shortly after he got married that she had a thing for him. I'm glad that they were eventually able to work things out. It probably didn't end as they expected it, too, but it's a lot nicer nice now that there isn't all that tension between them. Working with those two used to be like walking on eggshells."

Shortly after Sara had left the lab and Warrick's divorce from Tina was finalized, Catherine and Warrick had indulged in a steamy but short-lived affair. But after about five months, the passion faded and the two realized they didn't have enough in common to create a lasting, committed relationship. For a while after they broke up, there was a nervous tension in the air whenever the two were in a room together but eventually they rebuilt their friendship and moved on.

"All's well that ends well?" Sara asked.

"You bet it is," Nick replied as they turned to start their way down the hall again. "Talking of ending well, what are your plans now? Do you plan on returning to teaching at UNLV?"

"I haven't given it much thought yet. Guess I'll see what turns up in the next couple months," she replied but kept her eyes averted so that Nick couldn't see the truth in her face. That was the problem with having investigators as friends. They were trained to sniff out lies so keeping secrets was nearly impossible. She knew exactly what her plans were but she wanted to let everyone in on her secret – one of her secrets – all at the same time so that no one would feel left out. Thankfully, Nick let the subject drop.

TBC