Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, however, I do like to take them out and play with them from time to time.
Author's Note: So don't even ask how I know that the American Academy of Forensic Science has their annual meeting in San Antonio in a little over a week; just enjoy the story and see where it goes.
Sara's brow was furrowed and with the way her thoughts were swirling through her head she wasn't so sure that she wasn't mumbling under her breath in frustration. Grissom had been back less than a week and she'd just been informed by Ecklie that since she was behind on her continuing education credits, she was being sent by as a representative of the Las Vegas Crime Lab to the annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Science which was scheduled to take place in a little over a week in San Antonio, Texas. Not that she didn't find the prospect of attending a forensics conference thrilling in and of itself; it was just that she had spent the last four weeks trying to analyze where the hell her relationship with Grissom was in the midst of his sabbatical in which the only communication she'd had with him had come in the form of a cocoon that hadn't even been accompanied by a note. When Grissom had returned, her feelings about the situation, which she had spent that entire time he was gone squashing down, had surged to the surface with such a force that she didn't know what to say to him and so she'd done her best to avoid him. And because they hadn't talked and he didn't seem to have a clue that he'd screwed up, she really had no idea where she stood with him; leaving right now just seemed to be bad timing.
The sound of footsteps coming into the locker room broke Sara out of her reverie and she glanced up to see Nick Stokes walking purposefully to his locker. Nick smiled at his coworker as he stowed his gear and began to get ready for shift, "Hey, Sara." He was sure that it was going to be another long shift; they all had been lately, but at least they had Grissom back finally and just in time when he considered the news that Ecklie had intercepted him with. The thought of it made him smile just a little bit wider.
"You seem happy," Sara could tell by Nick's demeanor that he was in an especially good mood, although she refrained from asking him if he'd gotten a new girlfriend even though the thought did cross her mind. She'd heard all of the guys teasing each other about 'getting lucky' when they came into work a little too happy and at the moment, Nick seemed to fit the description.
Nick glanced over at her, his smile now looking kind of smug and his tone seeming to match, "I'm going to San Antonio." Not only did he get to attend the AAFS annual meeting, it just so happened to be his home state, and while it wasn't in Dallas, it was close enough to feel like he was taking a trip home. And the fact that the lab was footing the bill certainly didn't hurt either. Yes, he was definitely in a good mood.
"So Ecklie intercepted you too?" The tone of Sara's voice lilted upwards as she tried to keep her disappointment about her current situation out of it and tried to force a smile.
Nick's observation skills kicked in as her facial expression registered in his mind, "You don't look very happy about it." He was a little surprised that she didn't seem more excited about it; Sara was a criminalist's criminalist. Of anyone he knew outside of Grissom, Sara would find going to a conference like this the equivalent of most people being offered a trip to the Super Bowl.
Sara hoped that her attempt to widen her smile came across as genuine, but she knew that if Nick had picked up on her lack of enthusiasm that forcing a smile probably wouldn't convince him. "It's not the conference; just the timing," she started to raise an eyebrow and ended up rolling her eyes instead, "and maybe just the way Ecklie informed me that I was attending." She left out the whole part about her relationship with Grissom and how she really didn't know what was happening with the quirky entomologist and how unsettled that left her feeling.
"Yeah, he didn't exactly make it sound like attendance was optional," Nick too had been told rather than asked about the conference. The caveat of it all was that he was behind on his continuing education credits, as was at least half of the nightshift CSIs and while he would have preferred choosing to go to make up those credits, he wasn't going to complain about the opportunity either. Ecklie was an ass at times so his somewhat abrasive delivery of the news didn't come off as being out of character.
"Have you looked at the brochure yet?" Sara hadn't even glanced at it after Ecklie had given her the packet, she reasoned that it didn't really matter, her registration had already been sent in by Ecklie's assistant and she would sign up for the seminars that she was interested in when she got there.
"I have," Nick smiled a bit conspiratorially, "the legendary Dr. Henry Lee will be there during an evening session." The man was in fact legendary; he was the modern day father of forensics and had even appeared on multiple episodes of the New Detectives, the Forensic Files, and the FBI Files. There were very few forensic scientists that were even in his league.
Sara seemed to visibly brighten that a man that she held in such high esteem professionally would be at the conference; she only hoped that she'd have the opportunity to meet him, "Wow." Clearly she was going to have to read the brochure and gear herself up for something that would probably be extremely rewarding despite Ecklie's barked order that she attend.
"You're going to love San Antonio; not only is it located in a fabulous state," Nick puffed his chest out a bit with pride about his home state of Texas, "but there's a lot to see very close to the convention center and I'm going to make it my personal mission to see that you have a good time." He smiled at her; the last month while Grissom had been gone, she'd seemed to withdraw a bit, and now that their boss was back, it seemed to be even more pronounced. Maybe in the atmosphere of another place she'd be able to let go of whatever seemed to be troubling her and be able to just live in the moment and get her mind off of a man that Nick was convinced was never going to do anything about the apparent feelings that he had for Sara.
"Oh, you are, are you?" Sara appreciated her friend Nick and despite her unsettled feelings about the chasm that had developed between her and Grissom over the last four weeks that she had no idea what to do about, she was somehow looking forward to the conference. Maybe a week away focusing on forensics and meeting new colleagues from around the country and taking Nick up on his offer to help her have a good time would be just what she needed to gain some clarity on things.
"Yes, I am." Nick had been looking forward to attending the conference when Ecklie had given him the news, and now that he knew that Sara was attending as well, it seemed to sweeten the deal. He was definitely going to make sure they both had a good time.
Warrick poked his head into the locker room with a single brow raised, "You two coming or are you going to stay in here all night and admire the construction of the lockers?" It was close to the start of shift and from what he'd heard from a few day shifters that were looking at pulling doubles, there was going to be plenty of crime in Las Vegas to go around tonight.
"Right behind you, bro." Nick smiled warmly at his coworker as he headed back out into the hallway. Warrick was really was more like a brother to him; especially after the ordeal he'd had being buried alive. This group he worked with had formed into a sort of family for him and he was sure that he'd do just about anything for them.
Sara gathered up her gear and followed Nick to the briefing. Somehow this little chat they'd had cheered her up a bit and the fatigue that she'd felt a short time before had somehow disappeared; and she was definitely looking forward to going to San Antonio.
TBC...