A/N - I really enjoyed writing this particular chapter. Like, I kind of want to make out with it a little bit. So obviously, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. And thanks to my hardworking beta GSFanatic, who always has something awesome to contribute.

Thanksgiving was coming up in a few days, and Sara didn't know what to do. Usually she went with her husband to his parents' house in New Orleans, but he wasn't going this year.

"There's too much work to do around here," Robert said when she called and asked about his plans. "A few people are taking off, and I want to stick around in case they need some extra hands around here."

"Well, do you want me to come hang out for a couple of days? If they need an extra hand, maybe I can help."

"Oh, no, babe, that's not necessary," he said quickly. "We hired a few extra people since you've been gone, so we'll be fine. I just want to make sure we're covered."

"Oh, okay. I guess I'll see you when I see you, then," she said.

She was a little surprised that he didn't want her to visit. She'd been in Vegas for nearly 3 months, and she hadn't seen him at all. It was rocky at first, but in the past month he'd been calling her more often, telling her he missed her and hoped to see her soon. He even sent her a necklace he picked out for her, which she loved. So this turn of events was a bit strange.

"I do miss you, though," he told her. "You are coming back soon, right? Jack's been talking about retiring more than usual lately. You are going to be here to take the supervisor position, right?"

"Of course," she said, and she was 98 sure about that. "Yes. That's the plan."

"Okay, just making sure. I love you, Sara. I hope you're doing whatever you need to do out there that's going to bring you back to me."

"Me too," she said. "I love you."

They hung up, leaving Sara wondering about her husband's weird behavior. She was feeling a little homesick now after talking to him, and was a little bummed out about not being able to see him. And then, of course, Grissom came walking down the hall, sending those goddamn butterflies flying around in her stomach as usual.

"Hey," he said. "What's up?"

"Not much. Oh, there was a weird-looking substance on that body Nick and I found by Lake Mead. It was blue, and it was in her hair, on her face, on her clothes, even in her mouth...I sent it to trace."

"Good," he said, nodding. "That'll help."

They walked together to the break room, making small talk about the weather. It was getting easier to talk to him about the little things, but at first, she found it hard to talk to him about anything but the cases. She was worried she would slip and say, "Greg found a hit in CODIS, and also, I would really like to talk about that night when we kissed." That would have been awkward.

He was also trying to maintain a little distance between them, she noticed. And she still wondered why this was happening. It was a little frustrating, because sometimes she wanted to just sit down and talk to him. She wanted to sit next to him, talk about things that mattered, look in his eyes to see if she saw a hint of anything in there. She wanted something she couldn't have, something that he wasn't allowing her to have, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

In the break room, Catherine and Warrick were sitting side by side, sharing an orange and reading the paper. Sara remembered how she and Robert used to do that when they were brand new, and it made her more homesick than ever.

"Hey, Sara," Warrick said. "How are tricks?"

"Tricks are for kids," she said. They both chuckled. She liked Warrick; he always offered a different perspective than everyone else and she liked listening to his theories.

"Hey, Sara," Catherine said. "Warrick and I were wondering what you were doing for Thanksgiving. We were going to have a little party at my place. Nick is coming, and he's bringing his new lady friend. I think I might have managed to convince Greg to come, too. What are your plans?"

"Well, I thought I was going home for a few days, but my husband will just be working, so I'll be here."

"Would you like to join us? Warrick carves a mean turkey."

Sara thought about it. Why not? She couldn't think of a reason not to.

"Sure. Sounds like fun. But what about the turkey? I hate to be a pain, but..."

"Oh, right. Its fine, we'll make sure to serve whatever it is that you vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving. It's really no problem," Catherine said.

Sara looked at Grissom questioningly, wondering if he was going to be in attendance.

"Oh, me?" He said. "My daughter's coming in from Cornell, so Avery and I are having dinner with her."

Interesting, Sara noted. For even though she knew their marriage was over, Sara was still curious about this woman that was married to Grissom for 20 years.



On Tuesday, Grissom picked his daughter up at the airport. He was always happy to see Charlotte, and he was proud of how successful she was turning out to be. He wasn't a big fan of lawyers, but he'd make an exception for his daughter.

"Hi, honey," he said, and gave her a forehead kiss. "Welcome back to Vegas."

Charlotte scoffed. She hated Vegas, and he knew it. She moved to New York to go to NYU the day after she graduated from high school. She only came to Vegas to visit her parents, and most of the time she begged them to come to New York. "It's just too damn hot! And disgusting! And there's so much crime! How can you stand it, Daddy?" She'd always say. The funny thing was, he never really had an answer for her.

On the way to his house, they chatted about life in New York. She loved it there, and she enjoyed learning about the law.

"I know you hate lawyers, Daddy, but there are some lawyers who aren't greedy pigs. Some of us actually aren't in it for the money."

"And I know that, but you know that I've seen my share of the ones who are," he said.

She nodded, not wanting to get into this argument yet again. And then they moved on to the topic he hated talking about more than lawyers, and that was a lot.

"So...have you found anyone yet?"

Grissom sighed. He would never understand his daughter's interest in his love life. She was like a mini-Catherine, always wanting to know everyone's business.

"No. No, I haven't. And I'm not looking, either, so...be quiet, young lady."

"Daaaddd...you've been divorced for almost 5 years! Maybe you can try internet dating. I've heard that really works for some people."

It was Grissom's turn to scoff.

"Are you kidding? Can you really see me doing that?"

"No. I guess not."

She turned up the radio, reflecting on something. He knew she had something on her mind. He didn't know a lot of things about a lot of people, but he knew when his daughter had something on her mind.

Minutes later, she turned down the radio and said, "Mom says that you hired someone to replace Holly. She said you've known this woman for a while. What's her name? Kara?"

He glared at his daughter. How the hell did Avery know about Sara? He certainly hadn't mentioned it to her.

"Her name is Sara, but you probably already knew that. I met her at a conference about 10 years ago. She was very intelligent and her eyes didn't glaze over when I talked about entomology, so we kept in touch. She was the natural one to replace Holly. And that's about it."

"Interesting," Charlotte said, smirking.

"It's not that interesting, Charlotte. She's married."

"Happily?" She asked hopefully.

He didn't say anything, because honestly, he wasn't sure if she was happy. Spending so much time away from her husband must be taking a toll on the relationship, but of course he never talked to her about it. He wanted to. He wanted a lot of things, but he knew there was a time and place for everything, and he was a patient man.

"Interesting," she said again. He rolled his eyes. Charlotte finally took this as a sign to lay off, and she turned up the radio again and they drove to his house without talking about any other annoying topics.



Warrick and Catherine shared a charming little house in Summerlin. When Sara arrived, Catherine's daughter opened the door.

"Hey. I'm Lindsey. My mom and Warrick are in the kitchen. Later."

Sara watched as the teenager ran upstairs, cell phone glued to her ear. She heard that Lindsey lost her dad a few years ago, around the same age Sara lost hers. She still envied that little girl, because after all she'd been through, at least she still had her mother.

She didn't really know where the kitchen was, but she followed the noise and found it. Warrick and Catherine were in the middle of a spicy looking kiss, which Sara found herself staring at for some odd reason. Finally, Catherine noticed her standing there and ended the kiss.

"Heh, sorry. You were engaged once, you know how it is."

Sara remembered. She and Robert were engaged for 6 months, and it was the best 6 months they ever had. She remembered thinking about how happy this man made her, and how excited she was to get married to him. During those months, Sara never even thought about Grissom. Well, not more than once or twice.

"I remember," she said. "Hey, is there anything I can help with? I make awesome mashed potatoes."

"Well, you can peel the potatoes if you want," Warrick told her. "But you can also be our guest and not do anything but kick your feet up."

Sara laughed. "Oh, yeah? What's that like? Point me towards the potatoes."

Catherine gave her the potatoes and the peeler. Sara got to work.

"We made you a nut roast," Catherine said. "It looks disgusting, but we don't have to eat it, so it's okay."

Sara laughed. She was used to non-vegetarians making fun of her food.

While Sara peeled the potatoes, the other guests started to arrive. Greg came without a date, claiming that Sara was his date for the evening. Nick came with a girl he met at the grocery store, of all places. Her name was Olivia, and she was gorgeous. She also couldn't take her eyes off her date, and Sara couldn't blame her. Olivia's date was a handsome man.

A few minutes later, Brass showed up with Jane. It was the first time everyone had seen her since the funeral, and nobody was sure what to say. The woman looked like she could fall apart at any second.

Eventually, the food was served, and everyone gathered at the dining room table. Even Lindsey cleared some time in her busy texting schedule to join the table. Sara was particularly proud of her mashed potatoes, which had no lumps in them at all. She learned how to get all the lumps out when she made dinner for her father, who got very mad very fast if there were ever lumps in the potatoes.

Greg had a piece of the nut roast out of solidarity with Sara. She knew he would hate it, but even if he did, he still ate the whole thing.

It was Nick's idea for everyone to say what they're thankful for, which received a collective groan.

"I know, I know, but that's what we did in Texas, and I'm feeling a little homesick right now, okay? Please, just humor me! I need it!"

Out of pity for Nick, Catherine went first.

"I'm thankful for my friends, who came to our house to celebrate these festivities."

Warrick said, "I'm thankful for my new family, and the friends who came to our first Thanksgiving as an engaged couple."

Lindsey rolled her eyes and said, "I'm thankful that my future step dad is so cool. Or whatever."

Brass said, "I'm thankful that I have this strong, wonderful woman by my side tonight."

Jane couldn't speak for a second or too after that, but she said, "I'm so thankful that I have somewhere to go and people to support me on the first holiday I've spent without my daughter. Thank you."

Brass put his arm around her, and she wiped her tears on his sleeve.

Nick said, "I'm thankful that you guys humored me, and I'm thankful that even though we see such heinous crimes on a daily basis, we still have each other to turn to."

Olivia said, "I'm thankful that I'm the presence of people who risk their lives every day to speak for someone who can't do it for themselves. I'm humbled." Sara's respect for the girl raised about a hundred notches.

Greg said, "I'm grateful that Sara is here with us tonight, because she has given me new life when I was starting to think it wouldn't happen for me."

Sara squeezed Greg's hand. He was such a nice guy.

"I'm thankful for my new friends, who are keeping me company while I'm away from my husband."

"All right!" Catherine said. "Thank you, Nick, for having us do that. It felt good. Can we eat now?"

Nick nodded, and everyone dug in. There were many compliments on Sara's potatoes. There was also a lot of alcohol consumed.

Eventually, Catherine, Greg, Olivia and Sara did the dishes while Nick and Warrick watched football. Brass and Jane left after eating, because it was all too much for Jane to handle.

At the sink, Catherine washed and Sara dried. Sara had something she wanted to say to Catherine, and she felt now was the time to say it.

"Hey, Cath? I think Grissom took a file home that I need for shift tonight. Do you think it would be okay if I went over to his house to get it?"

Catherine stared at Sara, and Sara knew she could see right through her.

"Sara...I don't know if tonight would be the best night to satisfy your curiosities about his family. It's a holiday, he hasn't seen his daughter for a while, and maybe you should wait a day or two. Or maybe not at all, if you know what I mean."

Catherine knew exactly what Sara wanted to do, and truthfully, she didn't blame Sara. But Avery would eat her alive, and when she might have enjoyed that a few months ago, she developed a soft spot for this girl who replaced Holly. She was smart and attentive and picked up on things very easily. Oh, and she was completely in love with Gil Grissom and was quite terrible at hiding it. Catherine had to wonder about this husband of hers and what he must think about his wife being so far away.

"I just really need that file, Cath, and Grissom has the night off."

"I don't think it's a good idea. I can see that you're going to do it anyway, but just know this, Sara...Avery is very possessive of the things she thinks belong to her."

"But what if they don't belong to her anymore?" Sara asked hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, because even if it used to be hers, it can't be anyone else's in her eyes. Especially if whatever--or whoever--wants the thing, already has a thing of her own."

The women both knew the conversation was getting ridiculous, so they dropped it. But they also both knew what Sara was going to do, whether it was a good idea or not.



"Gil...these potatoes have lumps in them! The one thing I let you do, and you still screw it up." Avery tried to say this jokingly, but Avery was not good at joking about anything.

Gil met Avery when they were both undergrads at UCLA. He hadn't counted on meeting anyone in college; all he wanted to do was study. But she was neat and efficient and made herself at home in his life, and he let her. It worked just fine between them because they were both so busy with their studies, they barely had any time to spend with each other. When they did go on dates, she made it so easy.

"Here's where we're going for dinner, and here's what movie we're going to see. Later, we'll go back to your place and I'll spend the night," she'd say. That was fine with him. At the time, he enjoyed having her run the show. Though as the years went by, he found her extremely controlling and demanding, which led to the divorce.

"Sorry, Avery. I hope they're still edible."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. Her parents were so weird sometimes.

"Charlotte, how is Cornell? Met anybody there yet?" Avery asked her daughter.

"I've met lots of people, Mom. I'm a sociable girl."

"That's nice. Any young men we should be aware of?"

"There was a guy, but I had to get rid of him. He didn't share the same goals."

Gil chuckled. His daughter never failed to amuse him.

They were digging into the pecan pie Charlotte made for dessert when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Charlotte said. "It may be Kristy. She said she might come by tonight."

Charlotte ran to the door and flung it open. She knew instantly who was standing outside the door, and she knew why she was standing in the doorway of her dad's house on Thanksgiving night. And she felt very, very sorry for her.

"Hi! I'm Charlotte," she said. She wanted to say, "Hi, I'm Charlotte! My mother can be a raging bitch, so you better go now!"

"Hi, Charlotte, it's so nice to meet you. I'm Sara. I just wanted to get something from your dad that I need for work tonight."

"Oh, okay. Come on in, you're just in time for dessert."

Charlotte led Sara into the kitchen, looking forward to what was about to happen in spite of herself. She did love watching drama go down around her.

When Gil saw who walked in the kitchen, he dropped his fork. Noticing her ex-husband's reaction, Avery looked up at their guest.

"Oh, um, hi. I'm Sara. I just needed to pick up that file about the Lake Mead before I head into work tonight," she said nervously, addressing Avery instead of Grissom.

"Oh, Sara. I've heard so much about you," Avery said coldly. "Would you like a piece of pie? Charlotte made it herself."

"Oh, no thanks," Sara said. "Catherine and Warrick fed us enough food for an army. I can barely move right now."

Avery snickered. Grissom looked wildly uncomfortable.

"I'll go get that file," he said, looking back and forth between the women. "Um...yeah. I'll be back."

When he left, Avery got right to the point.

"So, Sara, I'm sorry you didn't get to spend the holiday with your husband. Maybe you'll get to see him at Christmas."

"Yes, maybe I will. I am rather homesick; it would be nice to see him."

Charlotte watched as these women, both of them who had different degrees of love for her father, looked each other over, sizing each other up. It was kind of like watching a car accident in the making.

Thankfully, Grissom reappeared, nearly out of breath from rushing to get the file.

"Here it is. Let me know if you find anything tonight. This is going to be a tough one."

Sara nodded. "I know, but it just seems so brutal. Somebody is going to want to know what happened to this person, and I'm going to find out for them."

Grissom smiled for half a second, and then frowned when he noticed Avery watching him.

"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow," she told Grissom. Turning to Avery and Charlotte, she said, "It was really nice to meet you. Sorry for bothering you tonight."

"Oh, it's no problem," Charlotte and Avery said at the same time. They glared at each other.

Grissom watched Sara leave, so completely confused as to what just happened. Having Avery and Sara in the same room was a little too surreal. He never wanted it to happen again.

"Um, I'm going to bed. Good-night," Charlotte said. She kissed her parents and scrambled upstairs. But like she did as a little girl, she didn't go into her room. Instead, she listened to what her parents were talking about.

"So that's Sara," she heard her mom say. "She's really pretty."

"Avery, don't start," her dad said. "Really, I don't want to hear about it."

"Are you dating her, Gil?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm not. She's married."

"It didn't stop you when you were married!"

Grissom sighed. She never got over it, never. He was starting to feel very, very regretful about telling Avery about the kiss. He told her years later, because he had to. She flat out asked him, and he wasn't going to lie to his wife. It wasn't the reason for the divorce, but it was just another reason in a long list of reasons.

"Well, we're working together now and nothing is happening. Nothing will happen. So please drop it, I beg you."

"Don't worry, I'm leaving," Avery said. "I don't want to fight with you, Gil, but I do want to tell you something."

"What?" He said, irritated.

"Be careful. I know she's married, Gil, but like I said, sometimes that doesn't stop people from making bad decisions. She's a nice girl, I can see that. Don't let lust interfere with what she has going for her in California. Be careful, that's all I'm saying."

As annoying as his ex-wife could be, she said it out of love, and he knew she was right about this. He thought about all the things that could possibly happen with Sara, the things he wanted to happen, and dismissed them. It could never happen. No matter how deep his feelings were for her, it was off-limits. And he was just going to have to make peace with that.