Moving On

Disclaimer: I obviously still do not own the rights to CSI.

Chapter 12

Sara went home that night and flopped across her bed tiredly. It had been a long day and she still felt bad because she knew Grissom was heartbroken. Knowing him, the next time they saw each other, he'd pretend like it never happened. She knew it had to be hard for him to admit his feelings, and could only imagine how much it hurt him to have them rejected. She just kept reminding herself that in the end this was what she wanted. She thought back to all the time he had spent pushing her away and hurting her and she knew she hadn't made a mistake. She fell asleep without even climbing under her blankets.

When she woke up in the middle of the next afternoon, she felt very refreshed. Part of her still felt really bad for what she had said to Grissom, but mostly she was certain she had done the right thing. As she got dressed and ready for work, she sang along to the music she had playing on the radio. Had anyone been observing her, they would have noticed a definite change in her. She arrived at work in a much better mood than the previous day, catching her co-workers off guard.

"What's with you?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean, what's with me?" she asked.

"Yesterday you stormed in here looking like you were ready to kill anyone if they so much as said hello to you and now you're Miss Perfectly-happy-with-the-world," he countered.

"Yeah, Sara, he's right," Alex agreed.

"Let's just say I was finally able to move past something that held me back for a long time," she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat with her new friends.

"Well that's good to hear," Lucy grinned, "did I tell you I've been talking with your friend Nick a lot?"

"No," Sara raised her eyebrows in interest.

"Yeah, he's a really sweet guy," Lucy said, "I'm thinking about maybe getting a transfer to Vegas."

"Isn't that moving a bit fast?" Sara asked, nearly choking on her coffee.

"I guess so. Maybe I should go visit him. I've barely met the guy," Lucy laughed, "I guess I should get to know him a little better before I go getting myself transferred to another city."

"Nicky's a really nice guy, I'm sure you guys would get along fine, you just don't want to make any huge life-changing decisions for a guy you hardly know," Sara explained.

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience," Jack jumped in.

"I am, sort of," Sara said, "it took me a long time to realize what I did was so stupid. Love can blind you to reality."

"Does all of this have anything to do with that man that was here to see you the other day?" Fred asked, having wondered in the break room.

"Yes," Sara admitted, "and I'm really sorry I was in such a bad mood yesterday, guys."

"It's okay, we've all had days like that," Alex laughed, "I seem to remember one time when Fred came in here and literally threw our assignments at us."

"I'm only human, as much you'd like to think I'm a sort of superman," Fred shot back.

Alex choked, "Yeah right."

Sara leaned back in her chair, a smile across her face. This was nice, being able to just sit in the break room with her co-workers and joke about things. There was no tense air, everyone was truly free and comfortable with one another. Every moment, she was more and more certain that she had not been wrong to turn Grissom away. After a lot of wasted years, her life was finally back on the right track. Her old passion for her job had returned and she no longer had to worry about how she acted in front of the people she considered her friends. Things would remain tense between the two for a long time, but Sara had finally allowed herself to move on and that was what she had needed all along. She had the feeling their friendship would suffer, but it would not be tossed aside because they knew a lot of things about each other that no one else knew and they had always had that special connection. The sort of connection that went beyond any other feelings that had come between the two.

"You're absolutely sure you want to come with me?" Lucy asked once more as they were loading her stuff into her car.

"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, yes!" Sara laughed, "besides, which one of us really knows their way around Vegas?"

"I don't know, you've been gone for over a year now, will you remember?" Lucy teased, "and to be fair, I've visited quite a few times myself."

"Yeah, Nick told me about how lost you got yourself on the strip," Sara smirked, "and you always flew to Vegas before, this time it's driving, you don't know much other than the airport, right? Besides, you were here to help me out and get used to Denver. I would be more than happy to help you out in return."

"Well, Nick will sure be glad to see you," Lucy told her, "it's been a while. I know he misses you. He told me that you guys were really close friends before you left."

"Nick's a great man," Sara nodded, "you ready to go?"

"Let's take one last run through to make sure I'm not leaving anything behind," Lucy pulled her keys for the last time.

Sara helped her search her apartment, making sure that nothing was hidden from sight. She couldn't believe the first friend she'd made in Denver was now heading for Las Vegas. It seemed strange that someone she knew was going to be fitting into the old lab, being around her friends without her. Of course, she had the feeling it was more than a coincidence that a spot had opened up on swing shift at the same time Lucy had been certain she was in love with Nick.

"I think you got everything, this place is spotless and empty," Sara told her.

"All right then, let's hit the road!" Lucy exclaimed.

Sara felt awkward as they entered the crime lab that she hadn't been in for over a year. It felt weird to be walking into somewhere she hadn't been in a while. Lucy lead the way, as the receptionist had directed them to the break room where Nick and the rest of the swing shift were.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Sara Sidle!" Warrick announced when she entered.

"Hey Warrick," Sara hugged him, "it's good to see you."

"Hey Sara," Nick gave her a quick hug before turning to Lucy, "hi Lucy."

"Sara," Catherine also hugged her old friend, "it's good to see you. Looks like you're doing really well."

"It's good to see you all again," Sara smiled, "it's been too long."

"We hear you're really happy in Colorado though," Warrick said.

"Yes I am, I've found a renewed passion for the job," Sara told them.

"Great," Catherine smiled.

"You have to stay here long enough to see Greg before you leave," Nick informed her, "he was really excited when I told him you were coming."

"Okay," Sara suddenly felt a little nervous at the prospect of running into Grissom for the first time since their talk in Denver.

"So does it feel weird to be back here after being for more than a year?" Catherine asked, handing the two women cups of coffee.

"You know it really does, I wasn't sure if it would. It feels like it's been so much longer," Sara blew absently on her hot drink.

"Yet here you are again, just couldn't stay away, right?" Warrick teased.

"Yeah, that's it," Sara snorted.

Her three old friends exchanged a look. It had been so long since they'd her genuinely happy. It was a nice change in her that no one had expected, but Nick, who had seen her twice in the intervening months from her transfer. Of course, as gossip always had its knack of doing so, everyone in the lab had heard of Grissom's disastrous trip to visit Sara. Catherine had actually been secretly proud of Sara for being strong with him, as she knew it must have been hard for her to turn down the man she had spent so many years hoping would notice her. Swing shift had to get going on their cases, leaving Sara sitting alone in the break room.

"Sara!" she was nearly tackled from behind.

"Hello to you too," she laughed as the formerly spiky haired lab rat stepped in front of her.

"Sorry, how are you?" Greg asked.

"I'm great, how are you? You look pretty sharp," she teased.

Greg's cheeks flushed slightly pink, his wardrobe and appearance had greatly changed, "I'm good, and thanks, I know I'm damn sexy."

"I wouldn't go that far," Sofia muttered from behind him.

"Hey! Who asked you?" Greg glared at the woman who suddenly decided she didn't want to be around.

"Nice to see you Sara," Sofia said before she left.

Sara was dying from laughter at Greg's comment about himself. He hadn't changed all that much after all. He did look a little more mature, like a real CSI.

"Stop laughing," Greg pleaded after watching the brunette crack up for what seemed like an eternity.

"I'm sorry," Sara took a deep breath, "I couldn't help myself."

"Right," Greg said, "so how is the job in Colorado?"

"It's going really well. I like it, the only improvement could be if you were there," she teased.

"I always knew you secretly loved me," Greg winked, "but seriously, I'm glad to hear you like the new city."

"So how are things going for you? Are you enjoying being a CSI?" Sara asked.

"Very much. A lot better than being constantly confined to the lab," Greg said, "but we have had some tough cases."

"Yeah, it takes a while to get used to some of the stuff you see," Sara nodded knowingly, "but I take it you're doing well?"

"I'd like to think so," Greg smiled.

"Trust me, you'd know if Grissom thought you were doing a bad job," Sara said.

"Good point," Greg nodded, his pager going off, "well that'd be Doc Robbins. I better head over there. It was really nice to see you."

"It was great seeing you too, glad to hear you're doing well," Sara watched as the young CSI left, "tell Doc I said hello."

Sara was about to leave the crime lab when she heard someone approaching the room. Her heart quickened, wondering what to do if it was Grissom. Of course it was, and he seemed stunned to find her in the lab.

"Hello," he said slowly.

"I take it no one told you I was coming?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head.

"The new CSI on swing shift is my friend Lucy from the lab in Denver," Sara explained, "and I took some time off work to help her move out here because she was there for me when I moved to Denver."

"I see," Grissom poured himself a cup of coffee. Somehow, he looked older and more tired.

They sat in awkward silence for several minutes, neither sure what to do or say.

"I don't want to keep you from your work," Sara said finally.

"I've got a big headache of a case," Grissom said, "but it was good to see you. You look really nice. Not tired like before you left here."

"Yeah, I think the new city helped me get back into the swing things. I was really close to burnout here," Sara told him.

"I know things are probably going to be really awkward between us for a while, but I want you to know that I don't hate you. I completely understand why you said what you did and I should have seen that coming. It was just a shock and I didn't know how to react. You're still a bright, beautiful woman and I'm glad to be able to consider you a friend," Grissom explained to her.

"I'm sorry things couldn't have turned another way, but I am also glad that we can still be friends. I honestly wasn't sure you'd ever want to see me again," she sighed.

"It took me a while to realize that you deserved to say all that to me, but now I know you needed to do it," Grissom shrugged, "life can't go exactly the way we want it to."

"Yeah," Sara nodded slightly.

"I've really got to get back to work, but it was good to see you, I mean it," Grissom moved forward and hugged her briefly, whispering into her ear, "don't ever change Sara."

Sara watched, quite surprised at how well that had gone. She was glad that the pair could still remain friends. She smiled as she left the lab, heading for her hotel. It finally felt like all was right in the world and it was a great feeling. She no longer had to worry about seeing Grissom, or perhaps even calling him for his expertise on entomology if she ever needed it. Things would never probably be quite as easy and free between the two, but this was better than nothing. She had moved on and he had been eventually understanding and allowed her to do so.

A/N: The end! I had to have one more interaction between Grissom and Sara. I hope you are all as satisfied as you can be with this ending. Don't expect too much from me in the next few weeks because it's practically down to the wire on this semester. Just know, I intend to keep writing stories when I finish finals (and maybe a little sooner, it all depends on how much time I have). A big thank you to everyone who reviewed this story and to all who read it, I appreciate all of you.