Back in Vegas, Nick stood in his kitchen numbly as he listened to Sara's voice mail. His heart thudded inside his chest as he heard her soft voice crack. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before the ache in his body began to rise up into his eyes. His best friend was hurting, she had been hurting for a long time and that the last thing she needed was for him to add additional pain. He would miss her enormously, they all would. Making a decision, he decided to send her a message, one that would make her understand that she would always have him, no matter what happened.
He stared down at the blank screen for a few seconds as he tried to think of what to say. His first instincts were to call her and tell her that everything was all right, but what if she was in the middle of a case? What if….
His finger hovered over her new number in his cells phone book, his aching need to hear her voice overwhelming his logical brain. In a few seconds he pressed down the button before he could talk himself out of it and held the phone to his ear.
After a few rings he heard her voice, a heavenly sound that calmed his aching heart.
"Hey, it's me."
"Nick?" Her voice shook a little as she whispered his name, and he could tell by her breathing that she was fighting for control."Honey I just wanted to call you and let you know that it's okay." Nick tried to hide his own tempestuous emotions, knowing that she needed to hear this from him. "You know I'll miss you right?"
"God Nick," she whispered hoarsely, "I was so scared that you'd be mad at me for not saying goodbye. I just couldn't do it. I'm so sorry…"
"Hey, it's okay Sar, I understand, I really do. You know I'm here for you right?"
"I do," she whispered softly, her voice breaking slightly. "I have to get back to work now, but I'll call you later okay?"
"I look forward to it. You take care, you hear me? No working yourself into an early grave or else," he told her, smiling through his tears.
"Okay, I promise. You take care too and say hi to Warrick for me."
"Will do, talk later then okay? Bye Sara."
"Bye."
The other end of the phone went silent, her absence only causing the silence to escalate even higher. Hearing her voice had only increased the ache inside him, but he was glad he'd called. She needed him just as much as he needed her. They'd get through her absence, they all would.
An hour later, Nick walked into the break room to be met by his colleagues sitting in silence. Part of him knew that the news of Sara's departure had hit, and another part of him was grateful for the closeness he shared with her. Looking over at Warrick he offered him a smile. "Hey bro, why the long faces?"
Warrick lifted his eyes to his friend, knowing that he would be most affected by the news. "Nick, Sara's gone."
Before Nick could reply, Catherine bristled and sat up straighter in her chair and glanced nervously over at Grissom who was silent beside her. "Didn't say goodbye to anyone apparently."
"She's fine," Nick said quickly, watching the reactions of his colleagues, which ranged between utter disbelief and hurt.
"You've spoken to her?" Warrick asked quickly, his eyes losing their worry as he started to smile. "She okay?"
"Yes she's great, busy working as usual," Pulling out a chair he sat down beside his friend and grinned. "She told me to say hi and that's she's sorry for not telling us."
"Hey, as long as she's okay that's all I need to hear," Warrick drawled. "Everything else we'll work out later."
"Yeah that's what I told her too." Nick nodded, "she's calling later so you can talk to her."
Warrick's lips turned up into a beaming smile, accepting the situation as best he could. Sitting up, he moved to grab his coffee, only to stop when he heard a voice from the doorway.
"Uh…Grissom is this where I'm supposed to be?"
Grissom's head snapped up, his mind still reeling with swirling pain. Sara's image floated through his mind to take a firm grip over his heart and there was nothing he could do but let her take this time to breathe. Somewhere through the fog in his brain, he saw Jared standing at the door, his questioning eyes breaking the spell that bound him to Sara.
"Come in Jared," he managed, his voice sounding foreign to his own ears. Turning to his team, Grissom stood up and went to stand beside Jared. "This is Jared Peters, he'll be taking over for Sara in her absence."
The others stared at him silently, both Warrick and Nick trying to absorb the new information. Catherine was the first to move, pushing back her chair to stand up and hold out her hand to the new man. "Hi I'm Catherine Willows."
"Hi," Jared smiled, shaking her hand gratefully.
Nick was the next to stand, walking over to offer his own welcome. "Nick Stokes."
"Oh yeah, Sara's friend right?" Jared grinned, "She told me you'd be cool about everything. Nice to meet you." Jared's eyes drifted over towards Warrick, who hadn't moved. "You must be Warrick?"
"Yeah. That's me." Standing up, he walked over to the other man and offered his hand. "Warrick Brown."
"Good to meet you Warrick, Sara speaks highly of you both."
"You talked to Sara already?" Nick asked with a widening grin. "She kinda gets under your skin doesn't she… but in a good way!"
"Well I've met her briefly when we exchanged keys and stuff, but yeah, she seems a great girl," Jared's eyes lit up when he saw the two men's acceptance, and he found himself sinking into responding to their light banter. "She'll be treated like a princess when the guys meet her back home."
"A princess huh?" Nick beamed, "now that I would like to see. She'll eat them alive!"
Grissom watched the three younger men bond immediately and felt a growing sense of loss overcome his swaying senses. They spoke of Sara like a supreme being, a thing of magical beauty, which she would always be to him. Swallowing back the biting jealously in his heart, he coughed slightly to clear his throat. "Okay, let's get some work done shall we?"
Warrick and Jared looked up, their smiles dropping from their faces. Nick shrugged, then turned back around and gave Grissom his full attention.
"Okay, Nick, Jared, you have a suicide over at the Plaza," he told them officiously, handing over the slip. Turning to Warrick he held out another slip of paper. "You have a hit and run, it's similar to the case Sara was working on."
"Okay, I'll head right out," Warrick nodded, taking the piece of paper and heading out the door.
As soon as the break room was clear, Grissom turned to Catherine. "We're gonna go over Sara's case, see if it has any connections or similarities to that of Warrick's"
"Nice," Catherine grinned, her eyes holding a certain amount of delight. "Sara probably missed something."
Her words struck an angry chord deep inside Grissom's chest and he spun around to face her. "Sara is the most thorough person I know. She would never miss any piece of evidence no matter what was on her mind at the time."
"Come on Grissom," she snapped, " she's too argumentative and she's too confrontational. Sara's not the saint you make her out to be Gil so stop treating her like it." Stepping closer, she lowered her voice as she touched his arm gently. "Look I know she has a thing for you, and the distance will be good for her, you know, to give her time to get over her little crush. I'm glad she's gone."
Grissom lifted his hand to hers and removed her fingers from his arm. He pulled his hand away violently, letting her hand fall limply to her side. "Don't ever condemn the woman I…Don't speak ill of her when she is not here to defend herself." His voice came out as a growl as he spoke, lowering it so only she could hear him. "If you insult her, then you insult me." Turning abruptly, he left her side to walk out of the door, taking angry strides as he did.
Catherine stared after him in utter shock; she couldn't believe he had spoken to her that way. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she started to walk after him, hoping to somehow apologize and erase the last few minutes from their collective memories.
It was the early hours of the morning in Maine, and Sara had settled in completely with her new work colleagues. Treyson had made her feel welcome and at ease the second she'd met him.
Sara's first meeting with Mason and Joe had been an experience she wouldn't forget in a hurry. Mason was a tall, muscular, dark haired and extremely handsome man. The smile that he had greeted her with could have melted all the ice caps, defrosting them with passion.
"Hi," he'd drawled, taking her hand in between his. "I'm Mason. You need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
She'd smile nervously pulling her hand from his as she tried to hide the blush creeping up her cheeks. "Um…okay I'll remember that."
The other man stepped up to her, his eyes sparkling as much as his greeting smile. "I'm Joe," he'd told her. "You need protecting from Mason here, just let me know."
Sara met his eyes and found herself smiling. He reminded her of Nick, his eyes holding the same dark soulful depths as her best friend. His smile held a certain mischief and his warmth reached out to embrace her, making her feel like she belonged. For the first time in a very long while, Sara felt at ease with herself. Leaving Las Vegas behind was probably the one single thing that she had done right in her life.
tbc
