Grissom sits in his office rubbing his temples. This shift had been hell. The Mirage murders had hit the papers first thing this morning. The CSI team had identified the body . The car the head was found in had belonged to the victim. She was an undercover narcotics agent with the FBI. She had been made by the drug cartel her task force was about to bust , thus the pig blood on the walls. The murderers had been caught on surveillance tape and Grissom had been forced to turn the investigation over to the Feds not a half hour ago.
"Hey, How was the conference" Sara asked standing at the door to his office.
Grissom looked up. Thinking about the fact that he had been in stranded in an airport just 12 hours before.
"Fine" he answered tiredly.
"Tough Break on the Mirage Case." she offered " Not really, she was a Fed. They need to take care of her. If it were one of us we would want to get the bad guys." he said "I guess your right, but word is Ecklie's spinning it to look like we dropped the ball or something and asked for Federal help" She said. Grissom looked up at her. He didn't answer, but he hoped she was wrong. Everyone in the department would know that stepping aside and letting the Fed's handle a murder of one of their own agents was just a professional courtesy, but the with the right spin the media could hurt the public's opinion of Grissom and his team. Public opinion mattered a great deal when asking for promotions and funding for your team .
"Dammit" Grissom muttered "Don't shoot the messenger and don't you have to be in court today ?" Sara said as she walked away "Dammit" he muttered again as he grabbed a file and his jacket and headed for the court house.

He didn't have to drive by on his way to court, but he had time. He justified the side trip by telling himself it was a reminder not to cross the line. He almost crossed it with Sara and he had cross it was her. Lady Heather's lay ahead to the right. Odd how the light of day changed the house. When he drove by at night it sent erotic shivers up his spine to think of her. She had gotten him to let down his guard and he had punished himself by betraying her trust. She didn't give her trust easily , a trait he understood and had used to try to prove… what? He wondered what would happen if he just parked and knocked on her door? No. Leave it alone, he had finally began to put the need he had felt for Lady Heather in a place where he could deal with it. He only drove past the house only when he was under a great deal of stress. Maybe he really needed to examine what that meant in relation to what went on in that house. He chuckled and turned toward the courthouse.

"Don't I know you from somewhere"

The words made Grissom startle. He had been so engrossed in reviewing his case notes. It was her.. From the airport…Ann… April..

"Dr. Grey, what a surprise." He answered.

"I'm sorry am I disturbing you?" Abigail asked. "I think were are here on the same case. The Brady Case"

"You're right. Messy ,ugly case" He looked up from his notes

"Your end is just the beginning. You found out how it started, I get to work out the ending, hopefully." she said.

"I've never thought about it from that point of view, I never really give the cases much thought after we close our end of the investigation" he answered. She looked at him curiously and sat down on a bench .

He sat down next to her. She had opened her file and absorbed herself in its content.

"I'm sorry, did I say something to offend you " Grissom offered.

"No, but it is hard to believe you dismiss the human beings involved in these cases as just some means to an end." she said quietly. He looked at her. This must be a female thing. Why did all the women he encountered from day to day demand he see the emotional side of everything. Nick and Warrick didn't demand he offer some sort emotional confirmation in their "relationships".

"Mr. Grissom you don't have to explain yourself to me. In fact, I was out of line in making that observation. Please accept my apology" she said.

This caught Gil off guard and before he could say anything the doors of the courtroom opened and the lawyers explained that a juror had been dismissed and that they would not be needed that day.