Sara was amazed at the efficiency Rusty wielded to organize and educate his research team. It took a mere three days to mobilize the group and get them out into the field. Sara faithfully called Gil each day and filled him in on all the activity. He was fascinated by what she getting to do and reveled in her excitement over it.

Finally, she broke the news, "Gil, we're going out in the field first thing in the morning for five days, so we're back to radio silence."

He groaned, "Aaaw, Your calls are the highlight of my day!"

"Well, you have the contact information to the base station, so if you need to get a message to me, you can go that route."

"That is reassuring. Sara?"

"Yes?"

"Promise me to keep safe."

"I will if you will."

And off she went. The heart of the rainforest was stunning. The wildlife was so abundant and beautiful, and the flowers and plants were different from anything she'd ever seen. She started snapping pictures almost immediately as they departed. Her extensive experience with photography was invaluable, but as a CSI she had always taken pictures of still scenes. She quickly learned that she would need to gain some timing with the shutter and learn a thing or two to get shots of moving animals in the wild.

People from the station came along to get them set up, and that allowed the group to go right to work. Rusty was impressed at Sara's grid and search abilities, so the two of them started mapping out grids and left a student at each section to document the birds present. Once the area was mapped out, and he saw how she skillfully and efficiently she documented what was there, he gave her two extra sections, which she could easily handle. Rusty remained at camp logging and organizing the information that came back.

They were not only counting the birds, but determining what they ate, where they nested, what their mating behaviors were, and what defenses they used against predators. Sara used her camera and took notes that were remarkably detailed and accurate. How incredibly refreshing it was for her mapping out a rainforest and not a crime scene.

The successful birds were blue crested Motmots, and they were spectacular. In addition to being magnificently plumed, they had unique tails and behaviors that were fascinating to observe. It was a joy to find one, and they were plentiful.

Along the way, Sara took in all the sights and sounds of the rainforest. She was so happy doing this work; it exceeded her expectations in every way.

Their last day in the field, Sara photographed a Motmot feeding on some kind of red colored beetles. Later when Rusty came across the pictures, his interest clearly piqued. "What is it?" Sara asked, wondering what he was so interested in. She had taken lots of similar pictures.

"That beetle," he pointed to the beetle the bird was about to eat, "I can't remember what they call it, but I'm pretty sure it's poisonous. I don't think I've ever seen a bird eat one." He looked deep in thought, and then shrugged, "I really need to get an entomologist up here. This could be a breakthrough already."

It was Sara's turn to look surprised, "Um, I know one!" She tried to sound a bit calmer, "An entomologist that is, I mean I um, I know an entomologist."

Rusty laughed, "That's nice, and I know several," he looked at her with a sideways glance.

Sara was a little embarrassed after that exchange. Who am I kidding, Grissom would never come here anyway, and they surely have their own people. But, she was so surprised by the coincidence; she couldn't help but just blurt it out.

It was a tired crew that hiked back to the base station. Sara was really looking forward to a hot shower, but put that off to call Gil. She really couldn't wait to fill him in on things.

After she had rambled on and on about everything they had done in the field, she finally got to the beetle story. Grissom had been on the edge of his seat already, and now was practically drooling over the work she was doing.

"So why do you think this beetle is so important, I mean I photographed those birds eating all kinds of insects?"

"Well, dwindling habitat is the culprit nine times out of ten when trying to explain declining animal populations, so it stands to reason if a species can expand it's food source in the face of that, it will maintain it's population. Now, if a bird species can evolve to tolerate a previously poisonous food source, it's certainly going to thrive when others decline. That's why he's all hyped up about the beetle. So now he's got to bring in an entomologist to study all the insects these birds are eating."

"So are you studying some interesting bugs where you are?"

"No." The answer was terse, "I don't even want to tell you about the case I'm working, it's practically making me sick." They had just started working the case of a serial killer who kills couples, after brutally torturing the women.

"I'm so sorry," Sara didn't really know what to say to him after that. She just wanted to scream you don't have to do it anymore! But didn't think it would be very well received at that moment, he was clearly in pain, and had to make his own decisions about how much more of it he wanted to be faced with.

They said their good nights, etc, and Sara went off to take a wonderful hot shower and get a good night's sleep.

She had the next day off and decided to do some exploring around the station. When she returned Rusty was anxiously waiting for her. "Hi there, what's up?"

"Sara," he looked rather sheepishly, "You mentioned you know an entomologist?"

She looked confused, "Yes, but…"

He interrupted her with an exacerbated sigh, "Everybody here is up to their eyeballs in projects, they have more going on than they can handle, so I need to find somebody else. I don't suppose this entomologist you know has post graduate training, that's a requirement to do research here."

"Will a PhD do?"

His eyebrows shot up, "Uh, yeah! Is he available?"

"That's the catch, I'm pretty sure he's not. But those guys have a kind of network, I'm sure he can find you someone."

"The guys here are sort of cut off from that stuff, they weren't much help."

"Come on then, let's make a call. I'll get him on the phone, and then let you explain what you need. He's in the CSI lab I left in Vegas."

"Great!"

They went back to Sara's little make shift office, and Rusty noticed she dialed the number from memory. He couldn't help but listen in to her end of the conversation. "Hey there…..yes, two calls today…..oh, sure everything is just fine, but the researcher I'm working with, Rusty, he wants to talk to you about the entomology work he needs done, everybody here is unavailable…....Hold on, I really need him to explain things…..No, I'm not going anywhere," she cleared her throat, "I'll be right here holding my breath," and she handed Rusty the phone.

Rusty just looked curiously at Sara, he had no trouble seeing that this entomologist was much more than an acquaintance. Rusty looked away from Sara and started by introducing himself and asked a few questions about Gil's background, but didn't waste much time getting to the heart of the matter. It was exactly what Gil had explained to Sara, he was obviously more than qualified to do the work. They ended the conversation by exchanging contact information and Gil promised to get back in a day or two, before their next venture out in the field.

Rusty passed the phone back to Sara, she spoke into the receiver "Gil, I have to know, would you ever even consider taking this?"

"Sara, it sounds like paradise, but if I told you the case I was working and what was at stake, you would not want me to leave it."

"I sorta knew that, I tried not to get too excited. I don't even let myself dream that good."

Grissom was crushed, he could feel her disappointment through the phone line, "I'm so sorry. Don't forget, I love you, Sara."

She glanced nervously at Rusty, "Me too."

"He's still standing there isn't he?"

She snickered, "Yes, good bye." Old habits die hard; she was so accustomed to keeping her love for him secret at work.

After hanging up the phone, Grissom was transfixed by this turn of events. While he had said he was unavailable, that was more of a reflex response than a considered one. So now it was time for him to think, really think. He tuned the whole world out while his powerful mind focused on his own life.

He had no idea how much time had passed while he sat deep in thought. Gil Grissom was never one who believed in signs from above or anything like that, but, this was a remarkable collection of events to produce a choice for him beyond anything he could have ever dreamed up. Even he knew that if there was ever a sign from above, a karmic coincidence of epic proportions, then he was certain that this was it.

He had a life long dream to revisit the rainforest. He had an opportunity to study a whole new world of insects, teach, and work alongside Sara again, a happy Sara no less. But, most importantly, he could finally end the loneliness in his life, and reunite with his one true love. She made him happy, and he wanted desperately to feel that way again.

Holding him back was loyalty to a job and a team that he had invested the better part of his life in; however, arguably the job was complete. There was little left for him to accomplish there. He certainly had no ambitions to advance beyond his current job. Then there was the matter of his emotional defenses that were clearing eroding, pulling him down further after every tragic case. And what did he have for an escape, an empty, lonely townhouse waiting for him at the end of each shift.

He was done making his lists.

He no longer needed to wrestle with conflicting emotions.

He just needed to make it happen.

He dialed the number scribbled on the note pad, "Hello, I'd like to speak with Dr. Russell Williams; you can let him know this is Gil Grissom calling him back."

tbc....

a/n: Yeah! Some good news finally..... By the way, search Motmot on wikipedia to see what the birds look like, they are amazing.