The next day an envelope containing six plane tickets arrived for Grissom. He took a deep breath as he walked into the break room to face the team, hoping that Catherine hadn't told them all about his memory loss.

"So who wants to go to California?" He asked them playfully. The whole team cheered.

"Greg did you call your parents?" Catherine eyed him suspiciously.

"Yes!" He rolled his eyes in a way that reminded her of Lindsey. "They thought it was a great idea, said it wasn't a problem." He smiled.

"Great!" Grissom smiled at the younger man. "Our plane tickets arrived this morning as well. Our flight leaves at 3:30 in the afternoon and we come back the following Monday at 5:30 in the evening. We start back to work then on Wednesday night." He informed them as he handed out the tickets, stopping when he got to Greg. Remembering the last time Greg had been entrusted with his plane ticket to a forensics seminar he pulled it back. "Maybe I'll just hang on to yours." The younger man scowled.

"I can look after my own ticket!" He protested.

"We know Greggo!" Sara put her hand on his shoulder. "Just not very well." Everyone erupted into fits of laughter as they recalled the frantic phone call from Greg at the airport asking had anyone seen his ticket. Greg just continued to pout.

"Alright, alright." Grissom broke up the laughter. "We still have 5 days left of work left before vacation." He reminded them. They grumbled slightly and headed out for their scenes.

-

As the week progressed Grissom became aware that he actually didn't have any clothes or other essential items for going on vacation. He put it off as long as possible but when Sunday arrived he realised that he was going to have to go shopping. He sighed and headed to the mall.

He was in the process of picking out some reading material for the trip when a familiar voice spoke behind him.

"Wow. Bugman at the mall! I didn't know you left the house during the day." She teased him.

"I could say the same about you Ms Sidle." He turned to face her with a cheeky grin that made her smile. The smile that graced her face made his heart dance. It had been a long time since he saw her really smile like that, let alone at him.

"Last minute shopping?" She asked him, eyeing the many bags in his hands.

"Something like that." He laughed. "You too?"

"Catherine...dragged me to the mall with her during the week. The only thing she would let me buy was books." She half-laughed, holding up the bag of books she had just purchased. Grissom laughed imagining Catherine forcing a reluctant Sara into countless shops. For a moment their eyes met and something smouldered between them; the rest of the bookstore seemed to fade away and it was just them. It was just like old times.

"Uhh...I should get going." She stammered when she snapped back to reality.

"Yeah." Grissom nodded, trying to hide the sad look in his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow?" He smiled.

"Yeah, you will!" She pouted then turned and walked out of the shop.

Grissom returned his attention to the bookshelf in front of him but his mind was still on Sara. It was nice seeing her outside of work. She had been so relaxed. They had shared a friendly conversation. They had flirted. Hadn't they? This holiday was starting to look promising, very promising.

-

"Hello."

"Hey Sara." The voice of Catherine Willows said on the other side of the phone. "Just calling to make sure everyone knows the final arrangements."

"Yes Catherine. In case I didn't get them the last 500 times you told us all over the last week?" Sara replied dryly.

"Yes." Spoken like a true mother Catherine ignored the attitude she was getting. "So I'm picking up Warrick, then Nick, then Greg, then Grissom, then you and we'll go to the airport from your place. Ok?"

"OK." Sara sighed on the other line.

"So are you excited?" Catherine asked.

"Sure...it'll be fun." Sara smiled. "You?"

"A week in California, on the beach, in the sun, miles away from work. How could I not be looking forward to it?" Catherine answered excitedly.

"It does sound great."

"And it'll be nice spending time with the guys outside of work. We can get to know each other better."

"Yeah." Sara agreed.

"Speaking of getting to know people better...What about you and Grissom?" Catherine asked unable to stop herself from meddling.

"What?" Sara demanded. "What about me and Grissom?" Sara asked, tight lipped.

"Nothing, nothing. It's just...you seem to be getting along a lot better these days." She pointed out.

"Yeah. So?"

"So do you think anything will happen between you in California?" She asked sounding almost like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Catherine!"

"What? I just think this vacation will be good for you two. I mean don't you think this vacation would be the perfect opportunity for you two to...reconnect?" Catherine asked, trying to make it sounds innocent.

"I...don't know." She hadn't thought about it really. "I guess we'll just see what happens." Cath gave a long sigh.

"Ugh...I'm not going to get anything more out of you am I?" Catherine asked dejectedly.

"Nope." Sara smiled.

"You know Sara, this whole gossip and girl talk thing would be a lot better if you co-operated." Sara laughed.

"Sorry Catherine. There's just nothing to say. I really don't know what Grissom is thinking anymore." She sighed. "Saying anything would just be speculation."

"Alright!" Catherine sighed. She understood why Sara wasn't saying anything, it was because she didn't want to get hurt or rejected again. "I'll let you off this time."

"Thank you!" Sara said gratefully.

"Be ready tomorrow at 1 okay?" Catherine reminded her.

"Ok, see you tomorrow Cath."

"Goodnight!"

Sara hung up the phone, with an interesting thought now planted in her head. Maybe this trip would be the perfect opportunity to get closer to Grissom. Maybe he would relax a little when they got out of Vegas and would open up a bit. She smiled at the prospect but still did not allow herself to get her hopes up. Depositing her suitcase by the door she turned out the lights and headed to bed.

The next day at exactly 1 o'clock there was a soft knock on Sara's door. She opened it, expecting to see Catherine standing there waiting impatiently but instead found Grissom with a smile on his face.

"You ready?" He asked. She was still slightly shocked. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt but he looked really good in them. 'He should wear jeans more often!' She thought to herself with a smile before realising she hadn't answered him.

"Oh...yeah! I'm ready." She smiled and reached for her suitcase.

"I'll get that." He reached for the suitcase too. Their hands grazed each other for a moment and an electric jolt pulsed through both of them.

"No, really it's fine." She smiled at him but he put his other hand out to stop her.

"I insist!" He said firmly with a nod. He was being so chivalrous that she couldn't have rejected his offer.

"Alright then. Thank you." She relented and followed him out the door. He loaded her suitcase into the car and returned to his seat, Sara followed after him.

Catherine was playing bus driver, picking them all up in her SUV. She was joined in the front by Warrick who was sitting comfortably in the passenger seat, looking oddly at home in the car. Nick and Greg were sitting in the two back seats discussing some band. They stopped briefly to greet her when she climbed into the car and took the only remaining seat; in the middle beside Grissom.

"Alrighty then!" Called Catherine from the front; you could tell she was a mother. "Let's go!" She cried, eliciting cheers from the rest of the passengers.

-

They arrived at the airport and checked in then proceeded to the departure lounge where they faced a two hour wait before their flight. They passed the time by reading through magazines, engaging in friendly conversation, discussing what they would like to do in California and reluctantly playing "airport games" of Greg's invention.

"Ok I thought of another game. Who wants to play?" Greg eyed them hopefully. No one answered him. "Come on guys, I'm bored!" He whined.

"Alright, I'll play!" Nick offered just to stop him whining.

"Anyone else?" He enquired.

"Not me. I'm going to go to the candy shop and get some gum – for the flight." She pointed to her ears and got out of her seat.

"I'll go with you!" Grissom offered and sprung up from his seat.

"It's alright; I'll be fine alone...you don't have to." She didn't want him thinking she was helpless

"I know you can," he said softly, "I feel like a walk anyway." He smiled and they walked off together to the candy store. When they got there they wasted some time browsing the shelves.

"Gummy worms!" Grissom smiled broadly. "I used to love those as a kid."

"Figures!" She chuckled. He blushed slightly.

"I remember whenever my Dad would go away to lecture somewhere he would always bring me back a big tub of these gummy worms." He smiled as he reminisced. Sara smiled back at him; it was nice to see him so relaxed and happy. When he wasn't paying attention she picked up a tub of the gummy worms and paid for them along with her packet for chewing gum. As they made their way back to the group a voice called out over the speakers.

"All passengers travelling on flight 408 to California please proceed to gate 17. Thank you!"

"That's us!" Grissom said and the team cheered and made their way towards the gate, tickets and passports at the ready.