(1:00 AM the next night)

The sound of glass shattering pierced the night. A dark figure stood unmoving next to the elementary school window listening intently for the shrill sound of sirens. After a few moments of silence the man crouched down and opened the black duffel bag at his feet. He pulled out a pair of black driving gloves and closed the bag. While pulling on the gloves he examined the jagged edges of the broken glass.

After unlatching and opening the window he climbed inside, being careful not to jostle the contents of the duffel, and trying not to cut himself on the shards. Looking around he quickly realized that he stood in a classroom. The room was colorful and spoke of innocence with children's drawings decorating the walls along with oversized letters of the alphabet. He spotted the door leading to the hallway and moved quickly through the maze of miniature desks toward it. The man walked quickly, his footsteps echoing loudly in the deserted hallway. His destination was a broom closet in the core of the school where it had been decided that he would leave the package.

He looked around noticing the various cleaning supplies on the shelves and briefly wondered how the chemical would affect the blast. He placed the duffel bag on the floor next to a plastic mop bucket and opened it once again. He hesitated only a second before setting the timer for thirty minutes and switching on the small device. Quickly he made his way back to the window that he had come in through. He surveyed the scene outside of the window making sure that no surprises awaited him. Satisfied that the police had not been called, he climbed through the window and dropped silently to the grass.

He crouched low and close to the building as a black car traveled slowly down the otherwise empty street. The car rolled to a stop and sat idling about twenty feet away from where the man knelt. With one last look at the window, he jogged over to the car and got in the passenger seat. The car pulled away from the curb and continued down the street, red taillights glowing in the darkness.

(11:00 PM Earlier that night)

Sara walked into the crime lab with her shoulders back and head held high. She figured that word would have gotten out already and she was determined not to let it bother her. She went straight to the locker room and put her bag away. Sara took a deep breath and grabbed her badge, then headed for the break room.

As usual Sara was the first to arrive for assignments. She poured herself a cup of hot coffee and sat down with a magazine. Grissom's words from the night before floated through her mind and she smiled. She hoped that things would change and that their problems weren't so far gone that they couldn't at the very least resurrect their friendship. Sara believed that he was willing to try, but she just worried that he would decide that it was too hard or complicated and would just settle for friendship, or worse nothing at all.

She shook her head. She would trust him; after all if they didn't trust each other they wouldn't get very far. Lost in thought Sara didn't hear Nick and Warrick coming down the hall towards the break room. They walked into the room and silently observed Sara shaking her head to herself. They shared a smirk and sat down opposite her.

"Sara I heard something about you," Nick said frowning.

"Yeah, I head -" Warrick broke off as Catherine and Grissom walked in. sara took a deep breath to brace herself. "Hey guys," he nodded at the two before continuing, "I head about what happened yesterday."

Grissom started to intervene but Sara shook her head. She may as well get this over with. She had nothing to hide and she thought that they would believe her side of things.

"You were the talk of the station Sara. Detective Vartan has been bragging about you to everybody." Sara blinked in surprise, her gaze flew to Grissom's His face registered confusion as well.

"Yeah, I think he might have a crush on you Sara. He can join Greg and David in the Sara Sidle Fan Club," Nick chimed in with a wide grin on his face. This earned a frown from Grissom.

Warrick continued as though Nick hadn't spoken, "He said that when Coombs came flying out of that trailer with a shotgun you were cool, calm, collected, and professional. You just pulled your weapon and kept the suspect covered while Vartan got him to drop the shotgun and cuffed him. He said that you didn't even blink let alone panic when you were staring down the barrel."

"I've had a gun pointed at me twice and I lost it both times. I'm proud of you Sara. He said after the guy was cuffed you just went to work." Nick grabbed her coffee cup and lifted it in salute.

"Sara, I didn't know about that! Were you okay? Are you okay?" Catherine asked, mild concern evident in her voice.

"I was fine. I am fine. I wasn't a big deal." Shit. She had forgotten about that. Sara looked over at Grissom wondering how he was reacting. She had gotten so wrapped up in the evidence that she forgot to tell him.

"Sara we're glad that you are alright but you're going to have to fill out an incident report. You'll need to do it right away so that you don't forget." Grissom's lips twitched slightly.

She let out a relieved breath. He didn't seem mad or upset. Next she began to feel irritated. 'Is this how it is going to be? Do I have to be afraid that one wrong move will send us into a backslide?' She quieted her inner voice as Grissom started handing out assignments.

"Catherine, Nick; you have a DB in a hot tub at the YMCA. Warrick; a robbery at a Quickee mart, third hit this month. Sara, fill out that incident report and then see if Warrick wants help. I've got a meeting to attend and then I'll check in with you guys."

Everyone filed out of the break room. Nick, Catherine, and Warrick headed for the exit and Sara and Grissom turned in the other direction to his office. Once inside Grissom turned questioning eyes to her.

Sara smiled faintly. "I forgot."

He tilted his head to the side in disbelief and stepped behind his desk. "You forgot that a suspect waved a shot gun in your face?" he asked as he rifled through some folders in a drawer.

"Yeah, when I found the car that belonged to the other victim I forgot all about it. Then…stuff happened," she finished with a shrug. "It really wasn't a big deal but I didn't even think about having to file a report."

He finally pulled a folder out of the drawer. He handed her a form from the folder and she looked down at it.

"You can't sneeze around here without filing a report so I don't know why I didn't think about it." She held up the paper. "Thanks. I'll put it on your desk when I'm done." Sara headed for the door.

"Sara." She looked back at him waiting for him to continue. "How are you?" He wince inwardly at how stupid the question sounded. She turned to face him fully with a small smile on her face.

"I'm okay. Actually, I feel better about things than I have in a while." He smiled.

"If you need anything, Sara…" he trailed off. Sara nodded; he didn't have to finish the thought because she knew he meant it. With a man as unrevealing as Grissom just those few words conveyed a lot.

She opened her mouth to respond but she couldn't think of anything adequate to say. She nodded again and settled for a quiet "Thank you." With that she quietly left Grissom's office. Sara thought back to the night before, when shortly after informing her that things were going to change he ordered her to rest and left with a promise that they would continue later. Still remembering, she headed back to the break room to fill out the report, walking with a small bounce in her step.

TBC…