I am proud to present you all with the first episode of Season 10, "snicker-fied" of course! After reading a few reviews on my last story, I decided that writing this story would be a good healing tool for those of us who were upset over Sara and Grissom being married. =(

The cases will remain the same for each of the episodes. The only thing that will change is the interaction between the C.S.I.s because I am the author and I will it that way. =D

This is for all you Snickers fans out there! Keep the sliver of hope alive!

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or its characters. Unfortunately, CBS does, and if I had been in charge, things would've gone the "Snickers" way from the beginning. I wish I owned George Eads as well, but alas, I do not own him either.

"I need help Ecklie," Catherine stated as she walked down the long hallway of the familiar C.S.I. building with her boss.

" I'm sorry Catherine, but I have more pressing matters I have to deal with than finding you a new member for your team."

Catherine looked at Conrad Ecklie, trying very hard not to reach out and punch the older man in the face. " Listen Ecklie, we've been short-handed since Riley left unexpectedly…"

Conrad stopped in the middle of the hallway to look at the female supervisor. " And whose fault is it that she left in the first place?"

Catherine's eyes widened at the accusation made against her. " You think that it's my fault?

Ecklie folded his arms over his chest. " You didn't read Riley's exit interview yet, did you?"

Catherine opened her mouth only to abruptly close it. Riley's folder was on her desk, among the 40 other folders all documenting cases that were closed and needed to be signed off on and filed away.

" I was going to get to it eventually…"

Ecklie raised an eyebrow in the blonde's direction, causing Catherine to place her hands on her hips. " What do you want me to do? I'm swamped with all of the cases Riley conveniently didn't finish before she left. I need help Ecklie!"

Ecklie turned away from Catherine to peer into the busy DNA lab. " Can't you just get Stokes or Sanders to help you out?"

Catherine rolled her eyes at the back of her boss's head. " They have their own cases to deal with."

Adjusting his tie using the reflection in the glass, Conrad turned back around to face the irritated supervisor. " I'm sorry Catherine, but the lab has had to make some cutbacks, and we just can't afford to get you a new C.S.I."

Catherine, who just seemed to become angrier every time Ecklie spoke, was now up in her boss's face. " If you don't get me someone new by the end of shift, all of the folders that are currently taking resident on my desk will become your new house guests. Do I make myself clear?"

Ecklie nodded furiously, knowing Catherine was capable of much worse. Catherine backed off, allowing Ecklie to breathe again. A phone began to ring, and Catherine picked it up to read the text message.

" Red flag on a traffic accident."

Abruptly turning to leave, Catherine started towards her office when she remembered something she had forgotten to tell Conrad.

" Oh and Ecklie."

Conrad took a large breath and turned to look at Catherine, very much afraid of what would come out of her mouth next. To his chagrin, Catherine was grinning.

"I want someone who knows what they're doing. Heaven knows I don't have the time to train someone new!"

With that said, Catherine continued on her way, leaving Ecklie in the hallway, praying no one saw him get pushed around by Catherine.

SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS

After fully documenting Olivia Hamilton's scene to the best of their ability, and a minor disagreement between Nick and Greg, Catherine and her team were finally back at the lab. Nick and Ray had headed to the garage to examine Wilkes's car while Catherine went straight to her office. Arriving at the door and spotting the two large stacks of folders, she let out a gigantic sigh. Taking a seat in her over-sized chair, Catherine skimmed the folder names until she spotted the one she was looking for. Careful not to tip over the rest of the folders, Catherine slid Riley's from the pile and placed it in front of her. Grabbing her glasses from the top desk drawer, she perched them on her nose in Grissom-like fashion and pulled the folder open.

Many words began to jump out at her including "ineffective leadership", "no team unity", and "poor communication". Frustrated, Catherine practically ripped the glasses from her face before shutting the folder with a gentle thump. She knew things weren't going well, but she hadn't thought things were that bad. A small photo caught the corner of her eye, causing Catherine to emit another sigh. The picture had been of the entire C.S.I. team a few years back when Greg has been promoted. The shining faces of the entire team stared back at Catherine and she couldn't help but produce a sad smile.

Things had been so easy back then. There was a bond that had been formed that was very reminiscent of a family's. The family had fallen apart though, starting with Sara's departure followed shortly by Warwick's untimely death. The family had been in a weakened state when Grissom had delivered the final blow by "moving on."

Catherine inhaled sharply, overcome with a pang of sadness at the loss of her friends. What she wouldn't give to have a smug-looking Sara Sidle standing in her office, with that smile she got when she figured out something incredibly difficult. To have a laughing Warrick walk down the hall alongside Nick, patting his buddy on the back. Hell, she would even love to hear Grissom's impatient voice yelling her name as he played with his bugs in his office. She could almost hear him now…

" Catherine. Catherine. CATHERINE!"

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Catherine stared at the Texan in front of her.

"You alright there Catha? You looked like you were somewhere else."

Catherine gave her head a little nod, not trusting her words at the moment to due her justice. She gave one final shake of her head, trying to knock the last of the memories from her thoughts.

"I'm fine Nick. What have we got so far?"

Nick pulled a thick-bound, brown scrapbook from his side before grasping it with both hands.

" We found this in Wilkes' suitcase."

Catherine replaced her glasses on her nose before holding out her hands for the book. Opening the large binding, Catherine blinked once to make sure her eyes were not playing tricks on her.

"Is that…"

"Olivia Hamilton?" Nick answered. Catherine continued to flip through page after page of colorful pictures of the young actress.

" Sheesh, you think the guy was stalking her?"

Nick folded his arms over his chest.

"It gives us a motive."

Before Catherine could respond, Ecklie appeared from behind Nick. " May I speak with you Catherine?"

Catherine handed the scrapbook back to Nick.

" Find out what Ray thinks of this."

Nick slowly nodded and exited, leaving Catherine and Ecklie alone in the small, cramped office.

" What do you want Ecklie?"

Ecklie cleared his throat before entering all the way into Catherine's office. " I think I've discovered a solution for your problem."

Choosing not to look at Ecklie, Catherine pulled the topmost folder from the large collection, opened it and began to skim the pages. " It better be a C.S.I. or you can start taking these folders out now."

Conrad had to bite his tongue to keep himself from snapping back at Catherine.

" I think I did better."

Catherine scoffed.

" The only thing that would be better was if…"

Catherine was no looking up, and had to stop. There standing next to Ecklie was one of the shining faces she had been looking at moments ago. " It can't be."

Catherine was staring at the brunette who had a large grin on her face.

" If you don't want my help, I can leave."

Catherine was out of her chair in an instant, approaching her old friend and embracing her in a tight hug. " It's so good to see you Sara."

Sara returned the hug with equal fervor before uttering her own reply.

"It's good to see you too Cath."

SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS

Once Ecklie had left, Catherine and Sara had decided to take a walk around the lab to catch-up.

"I still can't believe you're here!" Catherine exclaimed to which Sara smiled.

"When Ecklie called and asked, I was shocked. You must have scared him good Cath!"

Catherine chuckled as the pair continued the walk down the familiar halls of the C.S.I. building.

"What made you decide to come back to Vegas?"

A large sigh escaped Sara's mouth as Catherine looked at her friend expectantly.

" I just really missed you guys, that's all."

Catherine watched Sara's face, reading the new lines that had appeared there since the last time she had seen her. She looked stressed, like something else was plaguing her thoughts.

"Sara."

When the brunette had refused to face her, Catherine placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I want you to know that I'm here for you. If you ever want to talk, I'm here, alright?"

Sara looked at Catherine and offered a small smile. " I appreciate it Cath. I would love to talk at some point, but I was brought in for a reason. Tell me what I can do to help you."

Catherine began to relay the facts of Hamilton's case when a very irritated Greg Sanders entered the building, heading in the women's direction.

"I have a bone to pick with you!"

Sara raised an eyebrow at Catherine who merely responded with a shrug. Greg finally came to a stop in front of Catherine, barely registering Sara's presence next to her.

" We receive the biggest case of the year, and instead of keeping your more experience members of the team on the case, you kept a level two and sent me on a trash run! What give Catherine? I've been a level three for years now! I have superiority over Ray!"

As Greg ranted, Catherine came to the realization that perhaps there was some truth to Riley's interview. Trying to banish the thought from her mind, Catherine put a hand up, causing Greg to stop his tirade.

" I'm sorry you felt cheated Greg, I really am, but Ray needs the experience. I sent you on the trash run because I figured you were the one who would make the least amount of noise about having to do it."

Greg's face suddenly turned into one that was ridden with guilt.

"Let's just forget I said anything."

Catherine gave a small nod, and watched as the younger man turned around and headed back down the hallway. Hardly being able to resist the opportunity, Sara called out to him. " It was nice chatting with you Greg!"

"It was nice to see you too, Sara."

Greg suddenly stopped his forward movement and Sara smiled as she watched the former lab rat turn around with wide eyes. Finally realizing he hadn't imagined her voice, a huge grin broke out onto his face as he re-approached Sara.

"Well, I'll be darned. Sara Sidle is back in Las Vegas!"

The two shared a brief embrace before Greg backed away, his eyes once again shining with pure excitement, the tirade from earlier, completely forgotten.

"How are you? How's Grissom been treating you?"

Catherine watched as Sara's face tightened, only for a second, before retuning to its casual smile.

" I've been better, and Grissom, well let's just say he's being typical Grissom."

If Greg had noticed anything, he had chosen not to voice it. " Well that's good! How long are you here for?"

Sara peered over at Catherine.

" As long as you guys need me for."

Greg was still beaming at Sara, which was beginning to creep Catherine out, so she ushered him off to go finish his case, promising him he could catch up with Sara later. No sooner had Greg left, Nick and Ray emerged from one of the AV labs chatting animatedly. Catherine made a head motion for Sara to follow, and she quickly obliged.

" Where are we on Wilkes?"

Ray gave a bit of a satisfied smirk, which caused Nick to roll his eyes.

"Turns out Wilkes wasn't in the driver's seat. When I went to go visit him in the hospital, the ALS showed visible signs of trauma going from his right shoulder to the left side of his abdomen in the shape of a seatbelt."

Nick sneaked a peek at Catherine before doing a double take when he spotted Sara.

" Hey there Sunshine!"

Ray stopped himself to look at the woman to look at the woman next to Catherine who was now smiling broadly at Nick. " You haven't called me that in years."

Nick grinned and held his arms open for Sara.

" Get over here darlin'."

Catherine watched as Sara's smile seemed to increase more as she walked into Nick's arms. It had been obvious that the two were very close when Sara had still worked in the lab, but now watching the two interact, Catherine began to wonder if there was more than met the eye with the pair.

Letting Nick and Sara have their moment, Catherine turned to look at Ray. " I'll explain later. Continue please."

Ray turned back to his supervisor and did as he was told.

" Nick also discovered a transmitter on top of the lights that Olivia had stopped at forcing her light to turn red, leaving her as a sitting duck."

Catherine nodded as she digested the information.

" So, someone must've known that Wilkes was a stalker, used the transmitter to set the scene, then, after the crash, staged it to look like Wilkes was responsible for the killing."

Ray smiled at Catherine. "Exactly."

Catherine noticed Nick and Sara part and posed her next question.

"So then, where are we with suspects?"

"I can answer that question," said Nick as he re-entered the conversation.

"Turns out our little protection friend had a little chat with Wilkes that night. From the looks of the things from the hotel video footage, it seemed pretty intense."

Ray then took the reigns from Nick. " Noticing that O'Neill had no damages to his face that would account for a car accident, Nick and I delved a bit deeper into his history. The guy teaches a class for racecar driving, which means he would have a helmet. We managed to get a warrant from Brass, found the helmet in his bag with a suspicious white powder on it. We had sent it to the lab and just got the results back."

"Airbag powder?" question Sara, who was now fully immersed in the conversation. Ray pointed at Sara and nodded his head.

" It was airbag powder. We just need to bring him in Catherine."

Before Catherine could respond, thumps were heard at the other end of the building, followed by gunshots. Chaos ensued as men clad in black suits emerged from the morgue, holding guns and yelling in a foreign language. Shots rang through the air for a second time and Nick immediately tackled Sara to the ground in order to protect her. Ray managed to kick one of the men through the glass walls of the lab, while Greg moved to a position between Catherine and the men, taking out his gun and firing shots of his own. A few of the men fell, but several managed to escape, clutching a black body bag. When Nick was sure they were gone, he removed himself from his protective stance over Sara. Sara's eyes were wide as she looked at Nick before they both questioned each other in unison.

"Are you okay?"

SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS

Despite everyone's belief that it had been Olivia Hamilton's body that had been stolen, they were shocked to learn that it was actually the old man from Greg's case. After a run to the DNA lab, results confirmed that the old man had actually been the young starlet's father. No sooner had the evidence been uncovered; a call came in regarding the man's body, or what was left of it. Sara and Nick had been the ones assigned to get the parts of the man back to the lab as well as analyzing what was left of the man's remains.

As they dug through the various pieces, Nick took a look at Sara. " What did he do?"

Sara looked up at Nick, here eyes connecting with his for a brief minute before she shook her head at him.

" I hate how well you can read me."

Nick let out a chuckle before turning back to his work. The room was filled with silence for a minute before Nick posed his question again.

" It's not good to bottle this stuff up, Sar. You know that."

Sara sighed, contemplating whether or not she wanted to confide in him. One look at Nick's face and Sara felt herself crumble.

" Nothing happened Nick. No romantic dinners alone, no flowers, no chocolate, no walks along the beach, nothing. Things were good for a week or so, but then Grissom started to feel lost without his job, and instead of turning to me for comfort, he turned to his bugs."

This caused Nick to look at his friend.

" He chose his bugs over you?"

Sara merely shrugged her shoulders, causing Nick to resume his work, but not before shaking his head and uttering, "Idiot." This caused Sara to smile.

" I needed some time to myself to think about things and when Ecklie called, I knew it was opportunity knocking at my door. I packed my bags, wrote Grissom a note and just got out of there."

The room once again was overcome with silence as the two focused on the work in front of them. Nick once again was the one to break the silence.

" I would never do that to you Sunshine."

Sara peeked over at Nick, who had now stopped his work and was looking directly at Sara. The trance was broken by the sound of the door opening, allowing Ray, Catherine, and Greg to enter. Ray was the first one to speak.

"He swallowed something. That's why the killer wanted the body."

Ray then proceeded to hold up an x-ray of the old man's upper chest and pointed to a small object lodged in his collarbone. Nick moved closer to the image.

" It almost looks like a cufflink."

Sara's eyes widened as she turned to look at Nick who was looking back at her, excitement radiating in his eyes.

" Loser has to buy the winner breakfast?"

Sara grinned at Nick's competitiveness before slowly nodding her head. Without another word, both Nick and Sara began to search through the remains. Several moments later, Nick let out a triumphant, " Ah ha!" as he quickly washed off the pieces to reveal the cuff link in two pieces. Nick handed the pieces to Ray who put them together to reveal the symbol for O'Neill's protection service. Ray smiled broadly before displaying the pin to both Catherine and Greg.

" You can run but you can't hide."

Nick gave Sara a triumphant gaze to which Sara responded by sticking out her tongue.

SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS*SNICKERS

By finding the cuff link, the C.S.I. team was able to nail the death of Olivia's father on the protection agent, Tom O'Neill, but was unable to tie him to Olivia's murder. Sara and Ray had finally received proper introductions and Catherine had promoted Nick to assistant supervisor before handing him half of the folders that had been cluttering her desk.

As Nick was leaving Catherine's office he spotted Sara on her way out.

" Not trying to weasel your way out of breakfast, are you?"

Sara gently shook her head before approaching Nick and taking half of the folders from him.

"I'm a woman of my word Stokes."

Nick turned to look at Sara, as the two started towards his office, and gave her a large grin.

" That's why I love you."

Sara felt her cheeks tinge pink as well as a strange fluttering in her stomach. Although she had no idea why, when Nick had spoken those little words, she was left feeling extremely special to him. Trying to knock the feeling aside, she placed the folders onto his desk before turning to look at him. Nick also laid his side of the folders onto the desk and began to grimace.

" Maybe I should take a rain check on breakfast."

Sara laughed before placing a hand on her friend's back. " That's fine with me. It's been a really long day."

Sara gave Nick a small pat on the back and turned to leave when Nick's voice caused her to turn around.

"It's good to have to back Sunshine."

Sara smiled before responding.

"It's good to be back."

So what did you think? I will try and provide my own version of the episode before the new one premieres but I cannot make any promises. I am a busy college girl, and do have homework I need to get done.

Reviews would be simply awesome!

Xoxo

Cait the Great