AN: Here's the first chapter of the story. It's not done yet, obviously. I hope y'all enjoy it.

"Hey Sara," Greg greeted chipperly as he set a take out carton in front of her. "On veggie burger for you, one beef filled buffet for me," the youngest CSI stayed eagerly.

Sara looked up from the case she was currently working on. "Thanks Greg, but I'm not hungry," she answered, before returning her gaze to her work.

"Gotta take a break sometime, Sar, now is as good a time as any. Besides, food is good, and so is my special coffee…" he stated with a Greg Sanders patented crooked grin.

"Again, thanks, but no thanks Greg, on the food, anyway, I'll save that for later, the coffee I'll take now," she gave, turning around long enough to take the cup from her friend.

Greg nodded a bit and took Sara's carton. "I'll put it in the fridge for you, Sara," he answered.

"Thanks, Greg."

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Catherine walked in about an hour or so later.

"Hey Sara," the woman greeted. "Lindsey and I are going to the mall later, care to join us?"

"No thanks, Cath," the brunette responded.

"Come on, we've got that black-tie next week, we'll find you an outfit to blow Grissom's socks off."

"I'm not concerned with Grissom's socks, Catherine. I'd rather he keep them to himself, actually."

Catherine attempted to hide the smirk that was forming at her co-workers comment. "Come on, Sara, new clothes are always fun."

"Maybe later, after we finish this case," Sara responded.

Catherine sighed as she turned, having been summarily, if not unofficially, dismissed. Once she had made her way back into the break room she shook her head at her cohorts. "Not even a bite, though she'd prefer it if Grissom kept his socks to himself."

The group chuckled, including Grissom.

"Don't worry, I intend to do just that," the man paused. "Especially after last nights decomp," he noted, grimacing a bit.

"We should probably lay off for a bit. She'll get suspicious if we don't," Catherine noted.

"Cath's right, guys. Besides, she'll never open up if we don't give her some space," Warrick noted with a shrug before pouring himself a mug of coffee.

"War's got a point. We know she's got issues, more than most, but we gotta give her time, and, hopefully, she'll choose to open up to someone," the Texan CSI gave, shaking his head a bit.

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Grissom stopped by the layout room at the end of shift, not surprised to see Sara working intently. He thought she was working, at any rate, until he heard her light, sigh-like breathing. Grissom offered a slight smile and slipped closer.

"Sara?" he questioned.

She didn't wake up, so he shook her gently, and ended up with a fist to his cheek.

Cringing he rubbed his cheek and looked at Sara's waking form.

"You have one helluva right hook, Sidle, remind me never to piss you off," he gave before opening and closing his mouth a few times, trying to assess the damage done. "Sleep well?"

"Sorry," she murmured, indicating his cheek. "And I wasn't sleeping, I was resting my eyes."

"Well, if you were just resting your eyes, what did I do to deserve that," he motioned to her still balled up fist.

Sara rolled her eyes and stood, stretching slightly. "You don't really want me to answer that."

"Yes, I do. Come on, Sar," he sighed. "Shift's over, let's go get some breakfast," he gave, stopping her as she started to argue. "Seriously, you need some meat on your bones."

"Griss," she started, "I'm fine, I promise."

"That may be, but, we've all seen it, Sara, you're thin, you're pale, and you're distant. More so than usual. Let me take you to breakfast, whether or not you tell me what's going on, that's fine, so long as you know I'm here for you. So are Greg, Nick, Warrick and Cath."

Sara sighed. "You won't leave until I agree, will you?"

"Nope, come on," he gave before he started tidying up the layout room.

"Alright," the woman responded and started helping her supervisor.

Once the pair was done Grissom turned to Sara. "Where do you want to go?"

She shrugged. "Anywhere is fine," was her response as Gil led her out of the lab, a hand on the small of her back.

"How do pancakes sound?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sara gave, a half-grin on her face. He had a way of getting to her, no matter how hard she tried.

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The pair showed up at the local IHOP not too long after leaving the lab. They had settled themselves in a back booth and sat in silence until their server came. Grissom ordered blueberry pancakes, Sara, meanwhile, ordered banana pancakes.

Once their pancakes arrived, Sara pulled a picture out of her wallet. Quietly she slid the picture across to Gil.

He took the image and looked at it before looking at Sara. "Your niece?" he questioned, looking back at the image of Sara's carbon copy.

"Her name is Elizabeth Cotrane, and, no, she's not my niece."

"She looks just like you, down to the gap-toothed smile," he gave.

Sara nodded, before carrying on. "Mark and Rebecca Cotrane," she pulled out a family portrait of Elizabeth, Mark and Rebecca, "are her parents. They died last week, in a car crash. Lizzy was at a friends place."

"Sara…"

"Don't tell me I'm getting too involved, Griss, I am involved," she paused, looking at the curious expression on his face. "Elizabeth Cotrane was adopted. Thirteen years ago I was in the maternity ward."

Gil blinked, he wasn't putting the pieces together.

"Gil, she's my daughter, and I have to make a decision. Do I leave her in foster care, she'll never get adopted, she's too old, or do I try to play mommy to her…"

"She's… you never said anything. Does she know?"

"Yes, she knows, she just doesn't know who. She gets why I gave her up. She's a very bright girl."

"Just like you. Is this why…" he motioned to her.

Sara nodded. "I was told right away, it's put a lot of stress on me."

"Do you want her in the system?"

"No, I mean, I was in the system and I hated it, I don't want her to go through that."

"I think you've made a decision…"

Sara nodded. "I guess I did, I just needed someone to talk to about it. Now she just has to agree to come back here, otherwise I'll have no choice but it leave her in the system. I don't know if I can do this," was stated.

"If you need anything…"

"Would you come to San Francisco with me? I don't know how long I'll be there, but company would be nice."

"We have enough vacation time worked up, I think we could both get sufficient time off. I'll call Catherine, I think we can probably leave today."

Sara nodded. "Thanks."

Grissom put in the phone call to Catherine as Sara ate her pancakes. He didn't tell Cath why the duo needed the time off, nor did he give how long they'd be gone. After he hung up with her he called his travel agent, booking two tickets to San Francisco and asked her to rent a car while she was at it.

"Our flight leaves at three, that should be enough time to pack," he offered, receiving a smile from Sara.

"You're a life saver, Griss."

TBC