I am so sorry for my immense lack of updates. My muse and my mojo took a leave of absence, and have finally gotten back form their extended vacation to Disney World (they brought me back a Goofy hat.).

And now I am ready and raring to write once again. 

Since it has been quite a while since you more than likely last read this, here is a quick recap:

Sara got mad at Grissom. Sara left Vegas. Sara is now in Boston. Everyone else panics.

Well, that was easy. So, before I waste any more time, let's get on with the story…

*a.l.

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The tension in Grissom's office was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Everyone in there seemed to be letting off steam that just added to the strain in the room. No one was sitting down - except for Greg who still had Lindsey in his lap - not even Grissom. He stood next to his desk with his eyes closed. He didn't want to look at the scene unraveling in front of him.

People had begun to stop and stare though the glass into the break room trying to figure out what was happening. Nick had begun to yell at Grissom, and this caused Catherine to yell at him, and Warrick to try and hold her back. Greg and Lindsey sat on the couch, watching in awe at everything happening. Finally Greg suggested that they take this someplace private so no one else would over hear what they were discussing. That was the last thing they needed, someone to make speculations of their own about this newfound problem.

The five of them (and Lindsey) stalked down the hall and into Grissom's office, where the door was then shut. They stood there in silence for quite a while, each wondering what the other was thinking about, but they all had the same thing on their mind: Sara.

Every one was too mad to say anything ration at the time. It was as if they all knew that saying something would just outrage the others even more than they already were.  Nick was mad because he hadn't said anything to Sara sooner. Grissom was distressed because he hadn't said anything to Sara after the fact. Catherine was upset because she had ignored Sara a good portion of the time that they were together, and Warrick was disturbed at the fact that Sara would just get up and go so abruptly. 

Greg on the other hand, was troubled at the fact that no one else had noticed Sara's behavior. It wasn't his fault that he was the most observant out of all of them. He had seen her character begin to deteriorate over the last few weeks and then greatly this past week. Greg had just assumed that she was in a spat with Grissom once again, and tried not to give it a second though. But thinking back on that fact, he wished he had. Maybe then Sara would still be here.

Catherine broke the still silence. "Did she say that she wasn't coming back?" she asked the dimly lit room.

Lindsey took this as her cue to answer, and shook her head 'no.'

"She could have just left for the weekend." Warrick shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the filing cabinet in Grissom's office.

"Sara took the weekend off." Grissom whispered as if talking to himself. "She said that she wasn't feeling to good."

"Well of course she wasn't," Nick said, his voice rising a little with every word. "Probably just as much mentally as she was physically." 

"Nick, come on." Catherine said, turning to look at him. "Just, keep your voice down. I don't think anyone else in the lab needs to hear about this right now."

"Well, I'm sorry then, Catherine. But if I seem a little vexed, I am." He said in one short breath, and then folded his hands across his chest.

Catherine turned away from him and rubbed her forehead, "We're going to need to figure out where she is."

"Why?" Greg said looking up from Lindsey who was still perched in his lap. "She'll come back sooner or later."

"Later, being the key word." Warrick mumbled.

Greg shot him a look, "This is Sara we are talking about. I think she knows what she's doing. If she doesn't, she would have cracked long ago."

"There's no internal clock that tells a person when they are going to crack, Greg." Nick shot back, "People just…snap. There's nothing else to it. Everything was building up inside of her, and finally she let it all come pouring out. She had to take her anger out by leaving, but she really doesn't have a clue, Greg. It seems that none of us do." He added softly.

"So, why didn't she tell us that she was so unhappy?" Catherine ventured.

"She tried to." Grissom replied.

"Oh, and how do you know this Mr. Social?" Catherine retorted. Grissom remained silent. "See? This is the problem. We all say that she gave us these subtle hints, but did she really? How did we know this was going to happen?"

"We've got to stop concentrating on the fact that it came to this, but move on to the fact that it did happen. There is nothing else we can do." Warrick stated. "Cause: who knows? But effect: Sara left. So we don't have the whole puzzle together now, we've at least got to finish it."

"Warrick's right." Catherine sighed.

"So, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Nick snapped. "Hang up 'Lost' pictures around Vegas to see if any one has seen her? Call the missing person's unit of the FBI? Send out an Amber Alert?" 

"Nick, come on and grow up. Stop making this harder on everyone." Greg said, shifting Lindsey's weight.

"Well, I'm sorry then. But I think this could have been prevented."

"But there is nothing we can do now." Grissom said through clenched teeth. " Nick, look, I'm sorry if I was the reason for this – "

"That's a pretty conceited way to look at it Gris." Nick snickered, but Grissom didn't pay any attention to him.

"But we are not going to solve her problem, which is now our problem, by standing around in my office arguing back and forth as to why she left."

Nick opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he kept it shut instead.

"So, what do you suggest we do?" Catherine asked, turning to look at Grissom.

"We've got to piece together the puzzle. Figure out where she is, and get her back."

"I don't think she would have left if she knew what we would do to find her." Greg stated. Everyone turned to look at him. "Let me be frank," he continued, "Sometimes you people don't give her the time of day, but now that she's gone, you're going to drop everything to find her? I just find that slightly hypocritical." Greg scooped Lindsey up into his arms and made his way towards the door. "You'll know where to find us when you have decided how to track her."  Greg and Lindsey left the room without another word to anyone.

The clicking of the door was heard in place of conversation. No one knew what to say anymore. They had to find Sara, wherever she was. She meant a lot to all of them, more than she probably knew.  They weren't going to let her just pick up and leave without a valid explanation.

"Now what?" Warrick asked breaking the silence.

No one replied.

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"Hey Archie," Greg called as he ran down the hall to catch up to him. Archie turned around. "Can you track this phone number for me?" Greg handed him the slip of paper with Sara's cell phone number on it.

"This for a case?" Archie questioned sticking the piece of paper into his pocket.

"Uh, yeah," Greg replied after a moment of hesitation. "Grissom's. He wants to know where this phone was used last."

"Cell phone?"

"Yup."

"In the Vegas area?"

Greg wavered for an instant. "We're not sure." He finally said. "Look, if you can even just give me a general area…"

"I thought this was Grissom's case?" Archie asked.

"Oh, it is. I…uh…I'm finally getting field work." Greg replied tripping over his words.

Archie turned and began to walk down the hall again.  "Well then I'll be sure to find out for you, if it's your case."

"It's all of our case." Greg muttered, and then turned back to his lab.

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