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Chapter 15

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The room filled with whispers of excitement while Culpepper stared at Sara in disbelief. "An order that I don't have to follow, Agent Sidle!" His words came out as more of a sneer. "Let's not forget that it was you who came to me. I gave you this job, not to mention this case! What and who gave you the authority to give orders to me?"

"I did."

The color in Culpepper's face drained as he turned to see the head of the FBI Vegas Department standing behind him.

"D-D-Director Heinsman! What are you doing here?"

The large man straightened up to his full height. "I came to congratulate Agent Sidle and Dr. Grissom on a job well done. They've managed to accomplish what the entire nation's FBI agents have been trying to do for a year and a half, and by doing so, Sidle has earned herself a bonus, not to mention a promotion."

At this, Culpepper's anger began to rise. "A promotion? If it weren't for my supervision, she wouldn't even be on the case!"

"Your 'supervision' nearly got her killed, Culpepper! This case was high profile, and while she assisted on the original, a new field entry should never have been placed on such a case, especially a new forensics field entry. But as it stands, yes, she gets a promotion... and I believe that places her above you in rank, which means that order had better be taken seriously before I turn it into a pink slip!"

His face changing to a resiliant shade of pink from humiliation, Culpepper turned to glare at them all before heading to the door looking as though he had just been slapped in the face.

As the room began to buzz with excitement, Brass gave an order for all LVPD officers to head back to the station. Following suit, Director Heinsman looked at the other field agents surrounding him. "That goes for the rest of you, too. Clear out!"

It took a full ten minutes to clear the apartment of everyone but the Director himself, Sara, Grissom, Brass, and Carlton. When the room was finally empty, Heinsman turned to Sara and shook her hand. "Congratulations, Agent Sidle. A job well done."

"Thank you, sir, but-"

"You handled the situaion better than most of the agents on my task force would. You've done the nation a great service."

"Thank you, but-"

"Now, this promotion places you within a tight circle of well-trained top-notch agents at Quantico, so I expect you to be ready for duty as soon as you're cleared." He turned to leave.

Sara stepped forward and took a deep breath before answering, "No."

The Director turned back, confusion written on his face. "What do you mean, 'no'?"

"I'm sorry, Director Heinsman, but I'm going to have to decline your offer."

"What?"

"What?" Grissom echoed.

"I can't go back to Quantico. While I was working this case, I had a lot to think about, and I realized that at any time, any one of those bodies on a morgue slab right now could've been me. I came to the FBI looking to escape from what I thought was a ruin of a life, but what I discovered was that everything I need is right here." As she said this, she glanced back at Grissom and smiled. When he returned with a grin of his own, she turned back to Heinsman and continued. "I'm sorry, but I quit. This is where I belong."

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Leaving the apartment building, Brass and Grissom walked out to the cars in the parking lot while Sara gathered some items from her apartment.

"So, is Sara going to stay with you for a while?" Brass asked, leaning on the door of his Taurus.

Opening the door to his Denali, Grissom nodded. "Yeah, I think so. She just needs a place to relax and get away from life for a bit."

A smile crept its way onto Brass's face. "Since when did you become friendly with the Feds? I didn't think you had it in you."

Grissom grinned back, remembering that conversation from what seemed like so long ago. He played along. "Never make an enemy when you can just as easily make a friend."

Brass snickered. "Or a girlfriend."

Laughing, Grissom sighed as he watched Sara come down the stairs and start to walk toward them. "Yeah, the FBI's okay... I've never kissed better ass."

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THE END

--The names in this story given to characters not mentioned in the show are completely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or characters in other stories is purely coincidental. --

A/N: Thank you so much to all of my reviewers... you made this story possible! I'd never have been able to finish this without you. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I've enjoyed posting it... Between you and me, this story has been in the works for almost a year now, and I never thought I'd finish it, let alone have such a great fan base for it. You make a great audience. I put out a new fic today... "She's All Yours". I hope that you'll read it and give me your thoughts... It's a short little one chapter posting made completely of fluff, but I think it's cute, and it' resolves some issues for me, so enjoy! I'll start a new mini-novel soon! You have my word! Thanks again for everything... it's meant more than you know!

-Fayre