Sara quietly made her way into the auditorium where the day's lectures were being held. She had gotten stuck at work, so was running slightly late, but it didn't matter. She wasn't expected to attend these lectures- she did it just because she wanted to. The current lecture was about methods of incapacitation during a crime. She had seen the lecture advertised on a bulletin board that morning and decided to attend- working in the coroner's office had introduced her to the world of forensics, and she was fascinated by it. The lectures she had been attending for the last couple of weeks were all based around forensics in different capacities, and so far, she hadn't been disappointed.

"So, let's start off by reviewing what you know," said the lecturer, bring Sara back to what was happening around her. "Who can tell me a way of incapacitating a victim?"

Sara watched as several of the college students in the seats raised hands. The lecturer pointed a woman in the front row.

"You can use the old tried and true method of chloroform," she said.

"You can. What else?"

"You can knock the person unconscious."

"That is certainly an option, though it definitely has it's downsides. Anything else?" asked the lecturer, and when no other hands rose, he said, "very well. Let's look at all the different ways criminals have rendered their victims unconscious."

Sara found herself already taking notes before the slideshow presentation was even up. Of course, she knew the options listed by the students- everyone knew them- but she wanted to make sure she didn't miss anything.

"This is chloroform, as mentioned already," the lecturer said. A picture appeared behind him, showing a white cloth and a bottle of liquid labeled as chloroform. "It won't kill a person, but it will leave them unconscious for several hours."

Sara listened intently as the lecturer went through the rest of his presentation, taking notes as she listened. By the time the presentation was over, she had filled out two full pages of her notebook, surprising herself with how much she had learnt from a one hour lecture. She was finding herself eager to learn even more by this point, and, once she had packed away her belongings and most of the students had left the auditorium, Sara made her way down to the front of the hall.

"Excuse me," Sara said to the lecturer. "I was hoping that you could tell me where I can learn more on the subject of incapacitation? I found your lecture very interesting and informative."

"Did you now? I was sure that by the end nobody was even listening to me."

"I was listening. I can't say what everyone else was up to."

"What's your name?" asked the lecturer, fascinated.

"Sara Sidle."

"Are you a student at this college?"

"Yes, but I'm a grad student. I just attend these lectures because they interest me."

"Well, Miss Sidle, I'm Gil Grissom. I actually work and live in Nevada, but the college asked me to guest lecture this week. How would you like to get a coffee with me and I'll let you ask me anything you want?"

Sara smiled. "I'd like that," she said.

Twenty minutes later, Sara took a seat at her favourite off campus coffee shop. Grissom was sitting across from her, reading a newspaper article while he waited for her. Putting down the paper, Grissom smiled.

"I was starting to think I had the wrong coffee shop," he said.

"Sorry. I got stuck talking to a professor," Sara apologised.

"It's okay. So, you really are interested in forensics?"

"Very much. I'm working in the coroner's office at the moment, just while I'm studying forensics. I plan on working at the crime lab."

"Have you decided on a specialty?"

"Not yet. Ballistics seems interesting, but I think I like material analysis too. What did you specialise in?"

"Entomology."

"Bugs and insects?"

"That's the one."

Sara considered that, then said, "what's it like?"

"Sorry?"

"What's it like to work in a crime lab?"

"It's nice. I enjoy my job. I go out to scenes as well, so it's not all lab work."

"Do you work in a team?"

"I do. Currently, it's me and one other person, but we have a couple of hopeful additions coming in soon."

"That sounds good."

Grissom smiled and nodded. "So, what did you want to ask me?"

The two chatted for an hour. Before they even knew it, they were both laughing and making plans to stay in touch.