Title: Third Time's the Charm
Summary: AU: Catherine returns to Vegas to help find the terrorist who exploded a bomb in her casino, the Eclipse. This tragedy also brings back Gil Grissom. Is she ready to see her ex Sara with her Ex-husband, and what are these strange feelings she is having every time she is near Sara?
Fandom/Pairing: CSI – LV: Catherine Willows/ Sara Sidle
Author: Cherokee62
Rating: NC-17/M Sexual Situations involving women, hurt, comfort, language, angst
Spoilers: Final episode of CSI Fix it fic
Word Count :20,212

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, just having some fun with them. They are owned by CBS Corp. No profit is being made with this story.
Edited by: dhamphir
A/N: This is a fix it fic in response to the final episode of CSI. I love the show and have shipped Catherine and Sara for years and felt insulted both intellectually and fan wise to her 'sailing off in the sunset' with Grissom at the end of the series finale. So I decided to end it my way. Made me feel better at least. I hope you at least are amused by it and thanks for reading it.

Third Time's the Charm

Chapter 11

Sara stood next Conrad and smiled for the camera, holding up her new badge. She didn't see Grissom standing in the background smiling like a proud parent. Conrad turned and shook her hand, "Congratulations, Sara, you deserve this."

"Thanks, Conrad. I'm just shocked it wasn't Catherine."

He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze, "It was always yours. Good luck." He nodded to Grissom and walked away.

Sara turned and smiled when she saw him, not even really noticing how nervous he seemed. "Gil, nice of you to come out for this. Thanks!" She gave him an honest smile and stood waiting for him to say whatever it was he obviously wanted to say.

Gil Grissom nodded and wrung his hands together, looking for all the world like a scared little boy. "Congratulations, Sara. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Gil." Sara paused then sighed. "Well, it was good to see you again, Gil. I hope you find whatever it is you're looking for." She stared at him for another moment, then just sighed again and walked past him to her new office.

He watched her go, still wringing his hands, looking like he missed his chance to say what he had been practicing all night to say.

Sara sat at her desk finishing up the case paperwork, her mind going back to Catherine and what she had said to her the night before. In all of their time together in the past, neither of them had ever gathered up the courage to utter those three magical words to each other. Maybe if they had things would have gone differently, maybe not. Sara had no idea, all she knew was Catherine had found the courage last night. The courage and the passion to say, "I love you, Sara." Sara could not stop replaying it in her mind, and it just made her downright giddy with happiness. Right that moment it didn't even matter if the words had been just a byproduct of too many orgasms, Catherine had said it. Right to Sara's face. Both of them stone cold sober, she had said it.

The knock on the door startled Sara, but she smiled when she looked up and saw Lindsey. "Hey. What's up?"

"Hi. I just wanted to drop off the tape of Grissom's final interview with Lady Heather."

She held up the envelope and Sara reached for it with a smile. "Thanks." And placed it on her desk without so much as a glance. The case was over and Grissom was safe, she no longer cared about Lady Heather.

"I watched the whole thing. It was interesting, I learned a lot from it…especially the end."

Sara nodded and returned her interest to the report she was working on, dismissing Lindsey.

"You should watch it…especially the end." Lindsey paused then turned to leave. "I think you might find it very interesting."

Sara looked up as Lindsey left then picked the envelope up thinking, "What could I find interesting in Gil's final interview with Heather?" She started to drop it back on the desk but curiosity got the better of her. She rolled her chair over to the tape player, opened the envelope, let the tape slide out, and popped it into the device.

After fast forwarding to the last fifteen minutes, she watched with her mouth agape. She then rewound and watched it again, and again. After the third time she shut it off and just stared at the blank screen before glancing at her watch. Without a word, she grabbed her messenger bag, turned off her computer, and left her office.

Catherine called Sara again and frowned when her voice mail picked up again. "Hi, sweetie. I was just calling to see how your first day is going. I saw you on the news earlier, you looked so incredibly sexy it should be against the law!" She laughed a deep, sexy laugh before continuing. "I'm so very proud of you, darling. I hope you are able to get off on time tonight so I can take you out for dinner. We have to celebrate this wonderful occasion. Call me back when you can. I love you!" She hung up, fiddled around the suite for a little, then called again.

"Me again! I was thinking of coming in and seeing about checking out my new office, just to get the feel of it." She laughed, "Yes, yes, I'm already getting bored. Maybe I can stop by and say hi to the new boss. I hear she's pretty hot. See ya soon!" She hung up, grabbed her keys and jacket, and headed out the door.

The taxi pulled up to the dock and Sara got out. She stood at the bow of Grissom's boat and waited until he noticed her. He looked up and was shocked to see her standing there. He held out his hand and she took it, stepping aboard his boat with a smile. They stared at each other for a moment then he asked softly, "Why?"

"I actually have the same question," Sara replied. "After all of these years, why would you tell Heather that you have loved me? You never told me, why would you tell her?"

Grissom looked embarrassed then glanced off at the water, unable to look her in the eye, "I…it was easier to tell her how I felt about you then it was to tell you."

"How is that possible, Gil? If you loved me, you should have been able to say it to me."

He nodded, "Love you. Not loved, not past tense."

"Oh." Sara dropped her eyes, surprised and unsure how to even answer that.

"And you never said it to me, so how could I say it to you?"

She nodded, "I never said it to you because I was afraid you would laugh at me. How could you love me, a silly little girl, in your eyes? If I had told you how I felt and you didn't feel the same, I would have died. So I just never took the chance." Sara lifted her gaze, "Still doesn't explain how you could confide in her."

Grissom smiled, "If you saw the tape, then you know. Heather taught me to open my heart, to let you in. I knew I loved you for a very long time, Sara, longer than I had admitted it to myself. I needed to know it was okay to open up and accept the love you were offering me. I felt she deserved to know what she did for me."

Catherine walked down the hall, smiling to herself, and waved to Conrad.

"Hi, Catherine, what brings you in? You're not due to start until Monday."

"Bored, restless, not used to having so much free time. With Lindsey working here now, I don't even have anyone to shop with!" She laughed and Conrad just rolled his eyes.

"Well remember that feeling when you want to complain I overwork you."

"I will, I promise." Catherine laughed. "Hey, have you seen Sara?"

"Oh you're not gonna start in on her already are you? I told you before, I had already given her that position by the time you decided you wanted to apply for it, Catherine, it just wouldn't have been fair to—"

Catherine held up her hand and grinned, "And I told you I was fine with it. I just wanted to poke my head in and say hi and congratulations, but she wasn't in her office."

"Oh. No. Check with Sanders. Maybe she's down checking on a case."

"Okay, I will. Thanks, Conrad." She waved and moved off shaking her head. "Lord, I must have been a class 'A' bitch to Sara when I was here before, the way they jump to protect her."

"Hey, Greg! Have you seen Sara lately? I wanted to pop in and give her my congratulations but I can't seem to find her."

Greg Sanders looked up and grinned. "Catherine!" He grabbed her and gave her a bear hug, lifting her off the floor and twirling her around. "I can't believe you're back for good! I have missed you soooo much!"

"Well nice to have been missed that much! I love you, too." She gave him a huge smile and hugged him back. "So have you seen her?

"Who?"

"Sara."

"Oh, not for a few hours." He bent back over his microscope and said nothing else.

"Umm, any idea of where she went, when she's coming back."

"Oh, I saw her get in a taxi about two hours ago. Not sure where she was heading but it was after Lindsey gave her the tape of Lady Heather's interview. Maybe Lindsey knows, you should ask her."

"Heather's interview? Who conducted the interview?"

"Grissom, I think."

Catherine felt a cold wave run over her body and she shivered. "Thanks, Greg. I'll talk to you later." She headed out to look for her daughter.

"Oh, excuse me." Lindsey looked up from her tablet and then smiled, "Mom! What are you doing here?"

"Oh, Lindsey, I'm sorry. Are you alright, honey?" Catherine held onto her daughter's arms so she wouldn't fall over and looked her up and down, ever the protective mother.

"I'm fine, Mom, just a bump. What's up, why are you here today?"

"I'm looking for Sara, but I can't seem to find her anywhere. Greg said he saw you with her earlier so I thought maybe you know where she ran off to."

"Oh. Umm…yeah. I did see her earlier but just to drop off an interview tape." Suddenly Lindsey seemed unable to meet her gaze.

Catherine felt her daughter's hesitation and moved her head to force Lindsey to look at her, "Lindsey? What are you not telling me?"

"Nothing!" Suddenly defensive, she was pulling away, in a hurry to continue onto where ever she had been heading before they had collided in the hallway. "I need to get back to the lab, Mom."

"Just one moment, young lady. You haven't gotten any better at hiding things from me then you could when you were little, so just spit it out and get it over with." Catherine narrowed her eyes and gave her a stern look, "Do you know where Sara is, or where she was heading when you saw her last?"

"Look I just gave her Heather's interview tape, told her she should really take a look at it and then left. That's all! After that, I did see her leave the building and get in a taxi, but I have no idea where she was heading. I swear Mom!"

"What was so important on that tape you thought she should watch it right away?"

Lindsey shrugged, "I dunno, just thought she might find it interesting is all."

"Lindsey…"

Lindsey sighed, "Mr. Grissom said some things to Lady Heather that I thought Sara might want to know. I saw how he had been acting around her, and how…well how frustrated it made Sara, so I thought it might put her mind at ease a little." Lindsey looked at her mom and for a moment seem to regret her decision. "I was just trying to help Sara, Mom. You know I've always liked her, and I hate to see her upset or unhappy."

Catherine felt an icy finger of fear spear her heart and took a deep breath, "Where is that tape?"

"Why?"

"I want to see it."

"I guess it's in Sara's office."

Catherine took Lindsey by the arm and pulled, "Show it to me!"

"You really love her don't you?" Lady Heather asked Grissom.

He smiled and nodded. "She's my best friend and I will miss her for the rest of my life."

Catherine hit rewind over and over, her eyes burning with unshed tears, her mind racing. "Will this change things between me and Sara? Sara had always complained that she never knew where she stood with Gil, even after they had gotten married. Well now she does. He loved her. Hell, he cherished and adored her, no question about that anymore."

Catherine looked at her watch and stood suddenly. "Maybe there's still time."

"Time for what, Mom?"

But Catherine just rushed out of the room, leaving Lindsey with the playing tape.

She ran out of the building and jumped into her rental car and headed for the marina, praying that she hadn't wasted too much time looking for Sara, that she hadn't missed her chance to stop her. "Please, baby…please don't be rash like before. Wait…wait for me!"