May 2009

Catherine walked briskly into the break room waving a while envelope in her hand. "We've got another one." She smiled from ear to ear and she pulled out a seat and joined her colleagues around the table.

"Alright, I'm out of here." Reilly spoke as she pushed her chair back.

"You don't have to leave." Greg looked up at his now standing co-worker.

She shrugged, "This is your thing. I barely even knew Grissom when he was here. And I've never met your beloved Sara." She was trying to mask her irritation with a light playful tone, but they all saw through it.

"Suit yourself." Greg spun back to look at Catherine. "Alright, open it."

By this point, the team had already received six other postcards from their former colleagues: Mexico, Argentina, two from Chile and two from Peru. But this letter was different. It wasn't a postcard, but instead a regular letter inside a normal envelope.

Catherine opened it and began to read to Langston, Nick and Greg:

Hello team!

Our last stop across South America was in Paraguay. The culture and sights were unbelievable. We went through two hikes and traveled over 30 miles by canoe looking for indigenous insects (you can guess whose idea that was). At this time, we've traded in our broken Spanish and Portuguese to learn French as we've just arrived in Paris. While our trip across South America was unforgettable, we're happy to finally have consistent plumbing.

Grissom's been offered a temporary teaching position at the Sorbonne. Admittedly, his French is much better than mine but I'm still working on it. While he's teaching I'll be consulting with the Paris Criminal Investigation department—I guess even abroad Las Vegas is well known in the field for its extensive criminalistics capabilities and lab abilities.

Another plus about settling in Paris for a while is a consistent phone number. I've added ours below should anyone need to reach us.

Hope all is well,

Sara and Grissom

"So she's a CSI once more." Greg said a little cooly,

"Consulting." Catherine amended, knowing exactly what Greg was getting at.

"They sound like they're doing great." Nick smiled as he took another sip of coffee, "It's hard to believe Grissom's been gone for five months at this point. And Sara for even longer."

"Sara hasn't worked with us since May 2007." Greg lifted his brows, "Now that is crazy. That whole ordeal was two years ago."

"Ordeal?" Langston had heard chatter around the lab about Sara and Grissom before, and he knew the circumstances under which Grissom had left, be he had never known Sara or her story. Nick took the liberty of giving him a somewhat brief description of the events that lead to her ultimate departure from Las Vegas.

"So let me get this straight." Langston readjusted himself in his seat, "Nick, you were buried alive: Greg was beaten by a mob: Catherine's father was murdered in front of her, your late colleague Warrick was killed by one of our own, and Sara was abducted." He furrowed his brows, "And you all still come into work each night."

The team laughed, realizing just how much they'd all been through together.

"I guess the only one missing from your list there was Grissom." Greg mused aloud.

"He had is fair share of guns pulled on him through the years." Nick offered.

"I never really got why he didn't carry. Especially with the wrap sheet Ray just compiled for us." Greg shot is coworker a playful smile.


Sara stood in the kitchen stirring the contents of a pot on the stove as Grissom walked into their apartment. They'd easily found a little place on a quiet part of town in the outskirts of paris. One with hardwood floors, a small patio area with double doors leading to it. Sara had a small garden growing out there with fresh tomatoes, basil and mint.

"Hello, Dear." Grissom spoke as he dropped his brief case and made his way to the kitchen, kissing her on the cheek. "Whatever you're cooking smells amazing." She smiled up at him and placed a soft kiss to his lips.

"How was the first day?"

"Incredible. You'll have to come by some time and meet the other professors. The students are a little greener than I expected, but it gives me a chance to re-learn how to teach the basics."

"Have you seen Pierre?"

"I have. He and Melanie would like to have us over for dinner next week." Sara laughed at this for some reason, "What?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"Nothing—nothing. It's just... so normal."

His thin lips turned up a bit, "How so?"

"Could you imagine us doing this while in Vegas?"

"No." He agreed readily, "But I think I like it."

"Me too." She smiled again, thinking to how far they'd come in distance, in their relationship, emotionally.

A short while later the two sat on their balcony and enjoyed the simple meal Sara cooked with red wine.

"You begin consulting tomorrow, yes?"

"I do." She sipped at her wine.

"I was a little surprised when you told me that you were pursuing that here."

"I know." She admitted, "It's a good step to get my feet wet again. When we eventually go back to Vegas, It seems reasonable for me to go that path again." She watched as confusion filled his eyes. "You don't want to go back to Vegas?"

"I didn't say that." He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes briefly, "I just didn't realize that was where your head was."

There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence before she responded, "What do you want?"

"I don't know." He spoke honestly, "I just never pictured us back there."

"Your mother's there. Our family is there."

"The team?"

"Yeah."

"Sara..." His voice trailed hesitantly. "Are you still writing them letters?"

"I am...Why?"

"It's just... there's no reason to hang onto the past."

"They don't have to be our past, Gil."

"Okay, okay. I just—I guess I'm just caught off guard here."

She nodded slowly, "This isn't anything we have to think of now. You're teaching position runs through August. When it's time to think of next steps, we will."

"Okay." He agreed, but he suddenly had a awful pit in his stomach about the whole thing and he wasn't quite sure why.


August 2009

"Sara?" Grissom called as he entered the apartment.

"In here." Sara called back from the bathroom as she towel dried her hair. He walked in and kissed her lips.

"The grant application status has been updated to In-Process." He glowed.

"Great! But you know—It could take months for it to be approved even from this stage."

"I know." He nodded as he trailed kissing along her still wet neck. "That's why in the meantime, I've taken up another semester teaching at the Sorbonne."

She quickly turned to him, brows furrowed, "You did?"

"I did." He said excitedly, causing her to soften. He loved having students again, loved being a professor. She didn't want to take that away from him, but she wasn't convinced that she wanted to spend the next potentially six months in France as they awaited the fate of the research grant to come through.

She sucked in a sharp breath has his kissing trailed behind her ear, to her shoulder, working his way downward. She quickly abandoned her thoughts as they moved to the bedroom.


They laid in bed together, breathing still ragged as he kissed her forehead, wiping wisps of hair out of her face.

"What?" She pursed her lips looking at him, noticing an out of place goofy smile filling his features.

"One of my students, Alexander, had to bring his child to class today."

"Was that disruptive?"

"No, no. She was very polite. About three years old. Just sat in front by me and colored the whole time."

"Oh." Sara was confused as to the point of the story until Grissom continued,

"She was very cute. Her name is Viola. She loves butterflies actually. She drew me about a dozen of them."

Sara nodded slowly, "You have fun babysitting?" She teased.

"Yeah, actually... I did."

Sara's face lost a bit of color, realizing just what he was getting at.

"Gil..."

"I know, you don't want kids."

"No, I just—I thought we decided it wasn't for us."

"I know, but that conversation was years ago now. And well. I think I'm open to the idea."

She nodded slowly, trying to process the information. "I need to think about this."

He simply kissed her forehead in reply, left the bed and turned on the shower water. Sara breathed in deeply, a hard lump forming in her throat as she did. Somehow this was all too much. While she loved Grissom, and the idea of having a child with him was in fact exciting: picturing a little boy or girl with his blue eyes and love for science and her brown hair and love of animals warmed her heart. But a large part of her thought it to be a terrible idea: She thought to her childhood, knowing she had not mother figure to model herself after, and he no father figure given his father passed when he was just nine. The latter feeling seemed to be winning out.

Weeks passed, and the topic wasn't brought up again.


September 2009

Months had passed now and both Grissom and Sara had grown accustom to their new lifestyle. While Grissom continued with his professorship and lectures, Sara spent three days a week with the Paris CSI team. She continued to learn french and volunteered the rest of her time at both animal shelters and shelters for women and children of domestic violence. Her days felt fulfilled, but something was still missing and she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Then one day the phone rang.

"Bonjour, ceci est Sara"

"Hi, Sara?"

"Yes, this is she. " She switched to english quickly.

"Hey. It's uh—It's Conrad. Ecklie."

"Ecklie." She laughed softly, "What a surprise. How are you?"

"I'm well. You sound well. How's Parisian life?"

"Wonderful." She paused momentarily, "What can I do for you."

"Well I was actually calling to speak with Grissom. But this is the only number we have. Cath gave it to me from the last letter you sent them. But, uh—well actually, maybe you can help me out. We're looking for recommendations for a CSI hire. Grave just lost another."

"Who? What happened?" Panic suddenly filled her tone.

"No, no. She quit. Sorry."

"Oh." Relief washed over her.

"Anyway, I know its a shot in the dark but we're really struggling to fill in qualified spots here. And we need someone as soon as possible."

Sara thought a moment. She'd always felt guilty about the way she'd left the team, especially the second time she'd left Vegas. Grave lost her, then Warrick and finally Grissom all within a little over a year. She wanted to right that wrong.

"I have an idea." She began somewhat tentatively, "Why don't I come back temporarily to fill in the gap while you look for replacement."

"Are you sure, Sara?"

"Yes." She spoke more confidently now. "Just for a few months." She amended.

"That would be great, Sara. Really. I'll uh—I'll make arrangements. How soon can you be here."

"Two days okay?"

"Perfect. See you soon."