Author's Notes: Last chapter's feedback was, in a word, incredible. I was overwhelmed, seriously. That my story makes that sort of impact...wow. But now I feel like I set some sort of bar that I need to keep up with. I don't know if I'll succeed, but I hope you'll keep tuning in anyways. My thanks to those who do;)
Letting Go
by Kristen Elizabeth
The man that came between us was looking out for number one
He didn't care how bad he hurt you by the selfish things he'd done
But looking in the mirror today, I finally came to see
The man that came between us was me
- Aaron Tippin
To: CSI Sara Sidle, Kakanj, Bosnia-Hertzegovina
From: Clerk of the Court, Joseph Brent, Las Vegas, Nevada
This is an Official Notice from the Office of the District Court of Clark County, Nevada, ordering your appearance as a Witness for the Prosecution in the People vs. Callie Marie Lamb, the charges being as follows:
One (1) count, Murder in the First Degree
One (1) count, Assault with a Deadly Weapon
One (1) count, Attempted Murder
One (1) count, Unlawful Kidnapping
One (1) count, Assault against a Law Enforcement Officer
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on December 5th of this Year, with an expected trial start date of December 20th. As you are currently a Citizen of the United States residing out of the Country, you are requested to be available to the Prosecution no later than December 10th.
Reimbursements for travel and/or local accommodations can be requested in writing through this Office within ninety (90) days of your appearance.
For all matters related to this Subpoena, contact the Clerk of the Court within seven (7) days of receiving these Summons.
"Well, we knew this day would come." Jan sighed and slung her arm over Sara's shoulders. "Frozen ground, frozen bones…nothing we can do until spring."
"It's just as well." Sara sipped her coffee. "Time to get back to the real world."
Doc Ashe studied her profile in the light of the camp fire. "I thought this was as real as it gets, my dear."
"There's such a thing as too much reality," she replied with a smile.
"Amen," Jan added, downing the last of her drink. "Personally, I'm looking forward to having a car again. I had no idea I'd miss driving. My bathtub and bed, sure. But my car? Who knew?"
"I miss…" Sara paused. "The lights. It's never night in Las Vegas." She looked up at the sky. "On the other hand, no night means no stars. I will miss the stars."
"There's stars in London," Simon spoke up. "Won't you be going back there with the rest of us?"
She set down her coffee and pulled her long ponytail over her shoulder. "I have to take care of some things at home first. But I'll be back."
"You're going home?" He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, almost nervously. "Why?"
Jan kicked him lightly with the toe of her boot. "Quit being nosy."
The Dick snorted, none too softly. "Must we be subjected to this 'will they, won't they' crap on our last night here?"
"Oh, shut up," Jan told him. "I propose a toast! To us, our freaky little family of displaced intellectuals."
"To the work we've done," Doc Ashe added. "And the work we have yet to do."
Sara raised her mug and gestured to the morgue. "To them. May they rest in peace."
Because it was expected of him, the Dick rolled his eyes and said, "To life and all that sentimental nonsense."
Simon locked stares with Sara. "To finding something beautiful in the least likely of places."
As they drank, she broke the stare. Now she understood what Grissom had meant when he told her he didn't know what to do about "this."
Grissom stormed in the break room, startling every person gathered for assignments.
"Nick, Greg, dead guy in a hotel pool. Warrick, dead guy in an alley. Catherine, you're with me. Home invasion." He handed slips all around, but no one made any immediate moves. "Hit the road, everyone."
The guys looked at Catherine, as if desperately seeking out sane leadership. All she could do was shrug and jerk her head towards the door.
"I really liked Pod Grissom," Greg muttered on his way out.
Once they were gone, Catherine turned on him. "Talk. And don't even bother acting like there's nothing wrong. I'm not playing that game."
Grissom shook his head as he headed for the door. "And I'm not in the mood."
"Oh, you're in a mood. A really shitty one, but it's a mood. And I want to know why." She jogged to catch up with him, not stopping until she was a pace ahead. "You know that I won't let up until I get my way, so save us both the time and trouble and just talk."
Grissom increased his speed to get around her.
"Hey!" Now running out the front door, Catherine made a grab for his arm to stop him. "You're ignoring me now? Are you kidding me!"
He shook her off. "I don't want to talk, Catherine. I'm afraid it's not possible to make this concept simpler for you."
"Condescending. Always a mature approach." She ducked in front of him blocking his path with her slender frame. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"I don't…"
"Answer the question."
"I can't…"
Her eyes narrowed. "For god's sake, Gil, answer the damn…"
"She hasn't replied!" he shouted, seriously startling Judy the receptionist as she passed by. Fiercely private until the end, he lowered his voice. "It's been three weeks. And she hasn't written back."
Catherine gave him a second to collect himself. "Were you expecting her to?" The anguished look on his face was her answer. "She's got a lot on her plate, you know. We've all read the reports in journals, seen the pictures in lectures and textbooks, but she's living it. Maybe…"
"Maybe it doesn't matter to her." His voice was lifeless. "Maybe I put my heart on the line for nothing." He paused. "Maybe I was right all along."
"You'd just love that, wouldn't you?" Hands on her hips, Catherine glared at him. "You'd be off the hook, then. Free to retreat into your cavern and hide out for the rest of your life, safe in the knowledge that you were wronged and therefore justified in giving up on humanity in general, specifically the one person who made the mistake of not following your rules."
Grissom frowned. "Do you lie awake at night thinking this stuff up?"
Catherine threw up her hands. "If your letter was half as ostentatious and presumptuous as you're being right now, I don't blame her for not writing you back!" She took a few angry paces away from him, then turned back. "In fact, I don't even know why I'm bothering trying to reason with you at all! You want everything on your terms. Do you realize that you are more accepting of the world's freaks…the furries, the sexual deviants, the psychotics…than you are of the people around you? They're allowed to be fallible and human. We're not!"
Two people in the parking lot had stopped to watch them, but Catherine went on. "Sara is a friend and I respect her, but she's an idiot when it comes to you. She's the one who's had her heart on the line, Gil. For years. And the second you decide to return the favor, and she doesn't immediately fall all over herself to accept, you write her off?" Catherine kept backing away. "Whatever. I give up. As far as I'm concerned, you're a lost cause, Gil Grissom. I'll find my own way to the scene."
After she left, the two witnesses scattered like the wind and Grissom found himself alone in the parking lot.
The woman he loved, and now his best friend. How, in such a short time, had he managed to lose so much?
"So."
Sara echoed, "So."
"Sure I can't convince you to stay in London? Wait out winter with us?" Simon nudged her with his elbow. "Doc Ashe has the skinny on the best pubs."
"Tempting. I love a good pub crawl." Her smiled faded. "But I can't get out of this one."
"Maybe I'd be less inclined to keep bugging you if I knew what was so all-fired important back there," he went on. "I thought we were honor-bound expatriates."
Sara shivered in the near-freezing cold of the night air. Everyone had retired to their tents for the last time until spring. Tomorrow morning, a van was coming to pick them up for the return trip to Sarajevo. From there, it would be on to London. And a few days after that, Sara would return to Las Vegas.
This was probably the last chance she and Simon would get to talk for a good while.
She was taking too long to reply. He gave her another subtle nudge. "Vegas?"
"Simon," she started, working up her nerve with each second that passed. "I haven't been completely honest with you."
His back straightened slightly. "Oh?"
"I'm going back to testify against the woman who tried to kill me."
Simon nodded. "Well, a subpoena is a pretty good excuse for taking a rain check on the pub crawl, Vegas."
"There's more." She covered her nose with her hand for a second to warm its cold tip. "You once asked me if I had someone…special back home."
"I did. And you told me it was complicated."
"It is."
"Which means you do."
Sara lifted one shoulder. "I don't know anymore. When I left, things between us seemed…hopeful. Shaky, but promising. I really thought…" She stopped.
"You thought what?" he asked softly. Sara shook her head, dismissing the thought. "You thought he'd keep in contact?"
"I heard from everyone. But not him." She tucked a long lock of hair behind her ear. "If you care about someone who's far away…"
"How can you ignore them for months?" he finished. "Short answer? You can't."
"Then…it's not so complicated. Is it?"
Simon sniffed, looking up at the stars. "Is he what you ran away from?"
"No," she whispered. "But he's what I wanted to run back to."
"I'm sorry."
She blinked out of her trance and smiled at him. "It's not your fault."
He faked a smile of his own. "I guess not." There was a long pause. "So, you'll see him when you go back."
"Yeah. I can't avoid it; he'll be a witness, too."
Borrowing his words from the man he wasn't supposed to know, Simon took her hand into his. "I'll be waiting for you. In London." He raised her knuckles to his lips. "You're worth it."
It was funny. Just like with Lawton, when the words came from the wrong lips, they were just that. Words.
He kissed her a moment later, and she pulled away. She still wasn't sure what to do about him, but she was pretty sure what not to do.
She spent her last night in Bosnia like her first. Alone.
To Be Continued