a/n: thanks for the reviews you guys :D glad i'm not the only one who enjoys both shows. thanks for those pointers about the other stories too.
a/n: oh, and i posted a prequel to this, called 'Liv in Baltimore'...your Doctor Parrot suggests you read both for a more complete picture. :P

Sara felt like a tourist in her own city, but really she was. She'd moved to Las Vegas nearly four years ago, yet she'd never really bothered to see the place. Sure she knew her way around town, and could pretty much map out the back alleys with her eyes shut. But she'd never really looked up and seen Vegas. She found herself enjoying the sights along with Olivia. They never did make it into work that day

Sara woke to the delicious smell of pancakes again on Monday. 'I could get used to this'

Liv was already dressed this morning when Sara found her at the table.

"We'll go into work, but we're not staying long." Sara declared.

"Fine with me." Liv smiled at her.

"And no getting mad if I get sucked into something."

"Deal." Olivia really just wanted to meet this Greg in person. She'd only seen him once after she'd danced with Sara at the convention.

He was wearing what could be loosely interpreted as 'a suit,' and showing off a card trick. Olivia pulled out her cell phone and pretended to listen to her messages while she wandered closer. Sure he was putting on a cool guy act, with his crazy hair and interesting attire, but as she watched him show the other two (repeatedly for one guy) how to do the trick, she could see that he was just a teddy bear of a guy. Suddenly his head popped up and he watched something cross the room, his eyes softening, looking a little sad, longing, but with a hint of hope. Olivia turned in time to see Sara disappear into an elevator. Greg seemed to deflate afterwards. He quickly lost interest in the trick and had left the guys soon afterwards. Olivia watched him leave and smiled to herself, hoping that Sara called her as soon as possible.

Soon she was dropping little questions about Greg every time Sara called. After the first few times Sara had stopped questioning why, and just retorted with questions about Elliot. It had all been in good-natured fun, but Olivia was pretty sure it was working. After a month or so, Sara started volunteering Greg-antics, and the Elliot questions came less and less. Olivia was rather pleased with herself. She hoped she could do even more while she was in town. Sara was such a nice person who was just so mean to herself. She needed someone like Greg to help her along, keep her from getting depressed again

"You've been quiet on the way over, Liv." Sara observed.

"Oh, nothing."

"What?" Sara cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Uh…I'm not an alien." Liv tried quoting a line from last night's movie to distract her. Sara laughed.

"Sure you aren't. Anyway, we're here, come on in."

Sara took her through the lab. She met a bunch of the lab rats, including the artillery Texan, Bobby, charming as always. She met Brass, who seemed to be a nice guy who wanted to tell her something in private, but they didn't get the chance. Next came Grissom's office. Liv got distracted watching a tech smoke up some fingerprints, ("I've always wanted to see how they did that,") so Sara went to see if Grissom was in his office.

He wasn't, but Catherine was.

"Where's Grissom?"

"Getting us coffee, big case came in." 'And you're no help' hung in the air, unsaid.

"So, how's Lindsey?" They made small talk.

Outside, Olivia was still watching the tech. Grissom watched her for a minute, trying to remember where he knew her from, and what she was doing in his hallway.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh, hi. I'm Olivia Benson, Sara's friend. She's just in talking with Dr. Grissom." Olivia paused, looking at him, "who is you…so who is she talking to?" She turned towards the office door. He realized that left Sara and Catherine in his office and headed in.

"Ah, there you are. We were starting to wonder…" Catherine trailed off as Grissom was followed by this breathtakingly beautiful woman. Olivia spotted Catherine in the room, "You must be Catherine, I'm Olivia Benson. I've heard so much about you." Olivia was proud of herself, sounding so civil. Catherine cast a glare at Sara, causing Olivia's smile to grow. Sara appeared to be absorbed in the bugs in an aquarium, but Olivia could see her small smile. When Catherine didn't respond to her, Olivia went back to Grissom.

"So, what have you been up to since the convention?" Something clicked in his mind and he remembered her, and went off into a story about a recent case.

Olivia could feel Catherine's eyes on her, and enjoyed the upper hand she had on her. Catherine still had no idea who she was, or even which convention they had met at. Olivia had just waltzed in here, knowing everyone, and now Grissom was telling her about a case, Olivia could tell Catherine was barely holding her tongue. Then she caught the flash of her eyes to Olivia's bare ring finger. Olivia barely contained the laugh as she watched Catherine move over to stand next to Grissom. A minute later Catherine bent and reached for her coffee in front of him. Grissom completely lost his train of thought as he followed Catherine's boobs back upright. Olivia couldn't take it anymore and excused herself,

"Well, we'll have to do this again sometime, Dr. Grissom." She smiled at him. He managed something of an answer. She gave Catherine a special, sly smile and then turned to Sara. "Now Sara, where's this Greg you speak so highly of?"

TBC - seriously, we meet up with Greg in the next part. it'll be up soon.