(1991- Boston)

Gil Grissom was in Boston giving an introductory seminar on forensic entomology to a large room of young scientists. He could see that it was clearly time to finish his lecture.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen. I will see you all tomorrow." This sentence completed the second of his three day lecture series he had been asked to guest lecture. He had answered the few questions from students that stayed after the lecture to ask. He was on his way out when he caught sight o a young woman still in her chair.

"Excuse me miss, did you have any further questions?" She looked up and locked her eyes with him.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He asked when she said nothing.

"Yes. Goodnight, Dr. Grissom." She quickly packed her belongings and left. He tried to follow her, but got caught in a throng of students. This was going to puzzle him all night long. He recognized those eyes immediately, but could not remember from where or when he'd seen them before.

The next day, he still had no clue as to her identity. He figured since he lost sleep because of it, he was going to find out. He walked right up to her after he finished for the day.

"Can I talk to you?" She was much faster at getting her things together this time.

"Walk with me. I have to go to work." She said and left the room. He walked silently next to her for a few minutes.

"You still don't know me, do you?" She broke the silence and had a quirky little smile on her face.

"No. I lost sleep trying to figure it out. I recognized your eyes immediately, though I can't for the life of me remember how we met." He confessed.

"We met at my parent's house near San Francisco." Case details came rushing back.

"Sara." was all he said. She nodded mutely.

"I have something for you. Do you have a few minutes to come get it?" She asked him near the campus boundary. He gestured for her to lead him wherever she wanted.

He entered her home after her and was surprised and disappointed in equal parts by what he saw. Her place was immaculate, but the walls were just as bare as the day she moved in, save for a large poster of the periodic table of elements and a dry erase calendar. The only facet of her personality that he could see was the books. There were piles of them everywhere. Some of her books were in better condition than the second hand furniture she owned.

"Wait right here, I'll be out in a few moments." She told him. He sat on the couch anyway. While she was gone, he used this time to recollect and reflect on the case details from eight years previous.

"Here." She startled him out of his thoughts. She presented him with the coat he had given her that night. He rose to meet her and put a hand on the jacket.

"You kept this all these years?"

"Obviously." She answered with a smile.

"I mean, why have you kept it for all this time?" He was completely floored that she'd help onto it for so long.

"It wasn't mine to get rid of." She shrugged the response, but he had a feeling she loved the coat.

"Keep it, I don't work there anymore. I'm in Las Vegas now."

"Oh." She said and she looked crestfallen.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I was hired to work in San Francisco as a CSI. I leave in two more months. I was hoping we would be working together."

"We still might. I get called to consult there about once a year." He couldn't explain why it made his heart fill with joy when she smiled at his words. She put the coat away and snatched her keys.

"I hate to cut our visit short, but I need to go to work." She ushered him out the door.

In an effort to prolong their time together, Grissom walked her to work. They walked slowly as to maximize their time together. Sara was met at the door of the busy coffee shop by her boss and he did not look happy. Sara glanced at her watch and realized she was almost an hour late and had not called. Grissom noticed her slowly edge toward him. She wanted to get behind his back.

"Where the hell have you been?" Sara's boss fumed in front of a room full of customers. Sara didn't answer. She continued her backwards trek. Anyone watching might have thought that she was going back out the door. She grabbed his hand as she had done all those years ago and held on tight as her boss publicly reprimanded her. Gil stepped up.

"It's my fault. Sara is a student of mine and we got carried away in our conversation about my lecture." Sara was now completely behind him at this point. The manager turned his angry eyes on Grissom.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Gil Grissom."

"So what was this lecture about that made her so late?" The man demanded. Sara now had a firm grip on his shirt and his hand.

"Bugs and dead bodies." Grissom answered and was highly amused to see the man pale. It only lasted a few seconds before he reached out to pull Sara away from Gil. He was fast enough that Sara didn't see it coming and therefore her grip wasn't as secure as she thought. Gil tightened his grip on her hand.

"Don't touch her." He growled. The man pulled harder and Sara was yanked behind him and sent off in the direction of the kitchen.

"Sara?" Grissom called. She paused and turned around and instantly Gil saw those twelve year old eyes staring back at him. He held out his hand. Sara knew what this signified as did her boss. Every eye in the place was on the trio waiting for Sara to decide. Grissom waited and just as he was about to give up, she slowly slid her hand into his. Gil gently pulled her to him and guided her back out the front door.

"You'll be hearing from my lawyer." These were the last words uttered by Grissom before he guided her out the door.

Back at Sara's place, he held her while they sat on her couch and cried. Suddenly, she crawled in his lap much like a child would. He held her all night as she slept in his arms.

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A/N: I know that this is a major time leap from the first chapter. I'm warning all of you now that there will be angst in this story for most of it, but I think it's coming together nicely. I will post again in the morning. Thank you all so much for the reviews. Please keep them coming. Have a great day!