Everyone at the Las Vegas Crime Lab had stayed away from Sara Sidle for the entire night shift, a dark cloud had followed her everywhere she went, sure people were surprised by their supervisor just leaving without saying goodbye, people rumoured at how long he would be away, but Sara was angry, she practicaly bite Hodges' head off when he made one of his snide comments.
But as she stood at the departure gate Sara was no longer angry, her face showed compassion and sadness, but no anger.
'Do you think they brought it, even Ecklie?' Gill Grissom asked loading his bags onto the trolley.
'Oh, I think I fooled everyone, especially Ecklie.' Sara replied smiling slightly in spite of having to say goodbye to the man in front of her. 'They, err, have been placing bets, most believe you left last night, a few went for this morning.' She added wiping away a tear. Gil saw her action, and took her hand is his, raising his other hand to her face, he used his thumb to wipe away the dampness that was still present on her skin.
'I'll call you when I land.' He said softly. She nodded and they kissed softly, slowly, dragging their physical contact out as long as possible. But his flight was being called and they both knew that it was time to say goodbye, neither of them wanting to.
'You'd better go or you'll miss it.' She said looking down at her feet quickly before looking back up and meeting his eyes. They kissed once more gently but quick and Grissom smiled at her as he turned to leave.
He'd only walked a few feet when Sara called out his name, 'Gil.' He turned and watched as she signed to him across the short distance between them, he smiled at her before leaving her alone.
She watched him disappear from sight and wiped her tears away before turning on her heel and leaving the airport. Things at the lab would be strange without his presence, but his lack of presence would be felt mostly by Sara when she was at home.
They'd talked about his leave of absence and she understood his reasons for going, had even played a part in the decision making process. But that didn't mean that she wouldn't miss him, as she unlocked her car and sat in the driver seat her phone vibrated on her hip, she wasn;t surprised when she opened it to find a message form him. "I love you too" it said, she smiled through her tears as she read it over and over again.
