AN: Ok, this is it. This started to drag toward the end, so thanks for keeping with the story. I have a couple of other fics I want to develop, so it's time to put this one to bed.

I steal a glance at you
And save it up for later
You see what I've come to
I really should know better
But I can't help myself
Help myself
I'm lost in you
-Julie Fordham, "I Can't Help Myself"

Epilogue

Catherine watched as the movers carried the last few boxes out of the now-empty house; it amazed her to think that a year ago, she had left with Grissom to go to San Francisco for an overnight trip and now she was moving there for good. In the end, it hadn't been a difficult decision. Lindsey had fallen in love with the Bay area, and Sara had already promised to buy her a surfboard and teach her to surf. When the dayshift supervisor position had opened up, Captain Harris had offered her the job that very afternoon. When it became apparent that LVPD wasn't going to counter the offer or try to increase her possibility for promotion, the decision was made. In the ensuing two months, Sara had found a larger house in one of the historic districts and managed to close without telling Catherine; Catherine could still remember her huge smile as she stood there, the sunlight streaming through the dusty windows in the living room, lighting her auburn hair and warming the dark wood floors, as she told Catherine the place was theirs. Lindsey was upstairs, picking out a bedroom, while Catherine gazed at Sara with amazement.

And just when she thought that Sara had run out of ways to surprise her, she had sent Lindsey a picture of a labrador retriever puppy that they were adopting as soon as they arrived. So Catherine stopped waiting in anticipation and just basked in the warmth that was Sara Sidle in love. Never had she expected how open and easy Sara was in the relationship, but she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised. Looking back, she realized that Sara's job had been the outlet for her empathic and giving nature since she had been denied other outlets. Sure, there were still arguments and all-out fights -neither of them had lost the stubborn and competitive parts of their personalities, after all- she thought as she remembered one historic blow-up over the idea of a commitment ceremony, but they were surprising good for each other.

Catherine was startled out of her musings as she stood in the empty living room by strong arms encircling her waist and a soft kiss on the crown of her head. "We're going to be late to dinner," Sara whispered in her ear. "Lindsey's already in the car, complaining about being hungry." Catherine smiled; dinner with their friends from the lab, then a leisurely drive up the California coast in a certain red convertible to her new home. "I'm ready," she said.