Catherine went home and tried to sleep.  It was difficult as she kept remembering the events of earlier in the day.  At some point she did drift off to sleep.  She woke up when Paul Newsome came into her room. He had picked Lindsey up from school. 

"How did it go?" he asked.

Catherine shrugged her shoulders as she struggled to come fully awake.  "You know Gil, he handled it like a rock." 

"How was he when you took him home?"  Paul asked.

"I didn't."  She explained to Paul how Gil had asked her to leave after Jenna passed away. 

They talked awhile longer and then Paul offered to make Catherine some coffee and Lindsey a snack. 

Before he left Catherine gave him a long passionate kiss, something she never did when Lindsey was in the house with them. 

"Wow!!  What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't think I let you know, often enough, how much you mean to me." 

"I better go make the coffee."  He realized that he needed to leave before this moment got out of hand.   As he walked away Catherine remembered the first time she saw Paul.  Has it really been a year?  A building had collapsed, killing 3 elderly sisters.  Paul was the city's District Engineer.  He also started off as her prime suspect; something he's never let her forget.

There was something about him though that she couldn't get out of her thoughts.  She found herself calling him, one day.  She claimed she wanted his input on another case.  She then asked him out to

lunch; to apologize for thinking he was responsible for the building collapse.  He was more than glad to accept her invitation. They've been together ever since.  

Before heading off to work, Catherine tried to contact Gil at his house, and on his cell phone.  He wasn't answering either one. 

She called Sr. Laura, to find out how he was when she last saw him.  Sr. Laura explained to her that shortly after Catherine left, Gil gave the authorization to take Jenna down to the morgue.  Before

leaving, he exchanged wedding rings with Jenna.  He told Sr. Laura that this way Jenna would always have something of him, and he would always have a part of her.  He kissed her good-bye and left.  She hasn't heard from his since.

Paul offered to drive Catherine over to Gil's, but Catherine realized that wherever he was, he didn't want company.

"You don't think he'd do anything foolish?"  Paul asked, implying that Gil would try and bring an end to the pain he was suffering.

"Noooo, not Gil."  Catherine said confidently.  "It isn't in his character to take the easy way out."  She then added, "but he might just disappear on us." 

She had called the CSI team right after she left the hospital and updated them on what happened.  She arrived at work early, just in case anyone wanted to talk. 

They were all there early.

When Sara arrived she encounter Greg Sanders in the hallway. "How are you doing, Sara?" he asked, concerned about her.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she snapped back at him.

"Nothing," he said defensively.  "I was just wondering how you're doing."

She stopped.  She was sorry she snapped at him.  "I'm sorry," she said.  "I'm fine."

"Have you heard from Grissom?" he asked her.

"No, why would I?" she snapped again.

"I don't know," he said, afraid to inquire any further. He wished he knew how to talk to her. 

"Damn it," Sara thought to herself, "he was just trying to be friendly."  Next time she promised herself she won't snap.

She did tell him that she had tried to reach Grissom by phone.  When she found that he wasn't answering his phone she drove over to his place.  The shades were drawn and the door was locked.  His Tahoe was parked in the same place it had been for the last few weeks.  Greg told her that he had done the same thing, before coming into work.

Sara and Greg headed for the break room.  Not surprising, neither Nick nor Warrick had heard from Grissom either.  Then Catherine came in and asked everyone to come with her.  They entered Gil's

office, setting off that annoying Big Mouth Billy Bass that he had hanging over his office door.  He liked to tell people that it was his version of a watchdog. 

Catherine had just returned from being paged to the front desk.  She was given a special delivery envelope that she had to personally sign for.  The envelope was address to CSI TEAM C/O CATHERINE WILLOWS.   

It was obvious that it was from Gil Grissom.  Nick closed the office door as Catherine sat at his desk and opened the envelope. 

Inside were various papers.  On the top was a letter he had typed to them.  She read it out load.

         My dear friends,

          I am sure that by now you have figured out that I won't

          be returning to the lab.

          Please don't be angry with me for making this decision,

          but Vegas no longer has anything for me.  I'm afraid

          that staying would just turn me into a lonely, bitter old

          man.  I have made arrangements to assume the life that the

          FBI had created for Jenna and me. 

         

          Catherine, once again I am going to impose on you.  My

          house has been sold, but there are things inside that

          need to be disposed of.  I have been in contact with the

          Entomology Department at UCLA.  They will be sending

          someone to take my bug collection.  Everything has been

          boxed and labeled for them.  I am also giving them all my

          books, magazines and research papers.  Prof. Bob Harkens

          will be in contact with you to make arrangements to pick

          these things up.  

          Goodwill will be by to take everything else.  Before they

          get there, whatever any of you want, is yours.

While Catherine was reading the letter Greg Sanders was staring at the ground, wondering what life in the lab would be like without Grissom's guidance, and then he heard his name and looked up.

         GREG, I own very little sentimental property.  When I

          graduated from high school my mother bought me a microscope

          that she found at a flee market.  I didn't realize

          until I was in college that this was a Carl Zeiss

          (circa 1880).  It was important to me before I realized

          it's value and history.  I would like you to have it as

          I know that a great scientist like you will appreciate it

          for it's history and not it's financial worth. 

Everyone turned and looked at Greg.  He told them that he had seen the microscope once.   Gil had gone with him to a science fair over at the Convention Center and he brought it with him.  

Greg didn't tell them, just yet, that the real gift that Grissom left him was in the letter, when he called him a `great scientist'. 

Catherine continued to read. 

      Catherine, inside this envelope is a letter of   

       recommendation for you to replace me as shift supervisor.

       However, my advise to you is to NOT take the job.

       Your enjoyment, in this job, is doing the work.  Although you 

       have tried to teach me the benefits of playing the political

       game, I don't think you could actually live it. 

       Plus the extra time the job takes would be better spent with

       your daughter and Paul.  There's so damn much paper work,

       there is no time for a personal life.  When I first started

       this job it didn't matter because work was all that I had,

       but it was hard when I tried to make time to be with Jenna.

       And that is exactly what I had to do, make the time.  It's

       not worth it Catherine.  Life is too short and family is too

       important. 

      

       But, this is a decision you need to make for yourself.  And

       if you want the job, you have my endorsement.

Catherine looked up.  "Wow," she said.

"Congratulations, boss."  Nick said automatically assuming she was going to take the job if offered to her. 

She just gave a weak smile and went back to find the place where she left off in the letter.

       Nick and Warrick, I have nothing to leave you except my

       deepest respect and joint custody of my Big Mouth Billy

       Bass."

Catherine and the rest of the team laughed as she read the rest.

      Be sure and dust it once a week and change the batteries every

      six months. 

Nick claimed custody for the first 6 months. 

       

       God bless you all.  Be safe and supportive of each other. 

       Maybe some day our paths will cross again. 

He signed it in his own hand,

       Gris

Then he added a P.S.

      

      Warrick - Thanks for the cake.

This last remark caused Warrick to laugh.

"What?"  Catherine asked.

"He told me once that when he left here there wouldn't be any cake in the break room, that he would just be gone." Warrick told them.

Everyone laughed at the irony in this. 

But Greg couldn't believe that that was the end of the letter.  What about Sara he thought.  Then he asked, "Is that it?" 

Without looking up, Catherine said yes.  She didn't want to make eye contact with Sara; who everyone realized was not mentioned in the letter.  "How could you not mention her?" Catherine thought to herself, disappointed that he would do something so careless.

Although Catherine avoided eye contact, the others looked at Sara with looks of pity.  Something she did not appreciate. "Don't look at me like that, he had a lot on his mind." She said trying to make an excuse for him.

Catherine realized that Sara was uncomfortable so she decided to move on and see what else was in the envelope.

There was a letter for Sr. Laura giving her power of attorney to handle the burial arrangements.  He was donating his Tahoe to the Shelter of Hope.  The money from the sale of his house was to be used

to set up a scholarship program for the girls at the Shelter that wanted to go on to college.

"Is that it?" Greg asked again. 

"I think so," Catherine said as she checked the envelope to be sure there was nothing left inside.  Then she noticed that there was something that had not fallen out with the other documents. 

She pulled out the last envelope and smiled widely, shaking her head.

"What is it Catherine?" Warrick asked.

"Sara," Catherine held the envelope out to her, "this is for you." 

Sara stood motionless, before stepping forward to accept the envelope, from Catherine.

She stared at it while everyone else stared at her.  She started to open it.

"You don't have to open it in here Sara."  Catherine told her. 

Sara felt that she had heard the message he left to them and they should hear the message he left for her. 

The first thing that was noticed is that Sara's letter was handwritten.  He did this as he wanted her to know that his message was personal. 

Sara read the letter out loud,

        My dear Sara, how do I say good-bye?  I left a letter

         with Catherine explaining why I was leaving.  Please try to

         understand, and accept, why I have to do this. 

         I have always been accused of not recognizing other

         people's emotional needs.  I want you to know that I

         wasn't as oblivious as people thought.  I noticed a lot

         of things; it's just that I was never sure at how to

         react. 

         You may think that I never noticed you either as a CSI or a

         woman.  I did.  As a CSI you're one of the best I've

         ever worked with.

         As a woman, you have a charm about you that I did find

         irresistible.  If not for the love I had for Jenna,

         things could have been different.

         My wish for you is that you not live in the 

One of the things she had in common with Gil was the ability to hide her emotions, but at this minute she was losing the battle.  She stopped reading, using the excuse that she couldn't read his handwriting. 

"Here, let me," Greg volunteered.  "I`m use to reading his instructions."  Then he stopped and added, "If that's okay with you?"

"Yea, that's fine."  Sara told him.

Greg scanned the letter to see where she left off.

     My wish for you is that you not live in the past, as I did.

      You need to get your nose out of your work.  Look up once in

      awhile, your destiny maybe standing right in front of you

      and you're missing him.

At that moment both Sara and Greg looked up and made eye contact with each other.  Greg quickly looked down and returned to the letter.

      Be good to yourself,  Gil

He then handed her back the letter.

The phone rang.  It was Jim Brass.  He had gotten a special delivery letter also. He was calling to say it was time to get back to work.  They have an assignment.  Catherine told him that they were

on their way.