A/N: Since I myself felt that the story couldn't end on such a sad note, I decided to post a second chapter. Thanks to those of you who have reviewed, you have no idea how much that means to me. And thanks to those of you who need to be thanked, you know who you are.

They threw her a farewell party in a small café down town. Correction, they threw her a farewell party that she didn't want, nor had given permission for, in a small café down town.

She hadn't gone back to work after handing in her resignation, she had enough free time to take up at least five times the free days she needed, to cover her two weeks notice.

Nick had shown up at her door, told her to get dressed -which, to be honest, wasn't something she now did frequently-, and after letting her take a quick shower and dress in a pair of faded jeans, and a black tank top, he had whisked her off to his car, and had driven them to this place called 'A Little Irish Pub', which it indeed was.

Guinness and Murphy's richly flowed, not for her, but for them and somewhere in the midst of drinking gallons of tonic and unwrapping presents, she actually started to have fun.

She and the guys were seated at a big round table, and even Catherine had decided to tag along and join the fun. There was only one person missing in action, but she could have smelled that coming from miles away.

She had no plan yet on what to do next. Las Vegas had never felt like a home to her, but now that she was sitting here with her friends, she wasn't entirely too sure she was ready to leave them all behind and start a new life. Again.

Barely had there ever been contact between her and those she left behind in San Francisco. Her 'very best friend in the whole wide world forever and ever' Jane, being the only exception.

They had known each other since foster care, they had gone to high school together -Sara helping Jane out with physics and science, Jane helping Sara pass French and crafts- and after her four years in Boston, Sara had found Jane to be standing right there at the airport, welcoming her home to California with open arms.

Warrick suddenly wrapped an arm around her, squeezing her shoulder lightly before asking, "hey girl, are you having a good time?"

She looked around the table at Greg and Nick bantering and Catherine leaning casually back in her chair while slowly sipping on a glass of Irish red beer.

"I think I am, thanks."

"Okay! Time for more presents!" Greg yelled while pulling out a big box wrapped in something that could only be described as the clown-costume from hell and putting it on the table.

"Even more presents?" she asked while looking down at the pile of things already in front of her, an organiser, a pen, a book, and a small silver bracelet that said 'star of the Las Vegas Crime Lab'. The latter had made her cry.

She had gotten all the gifts anonymously, out of a large basket in which all the members of her team -and Doc Robbins and David- had put their presents.

The clown-esque box had made its way to the center of the table and Greg prompted her to stand up and 'dive in'.

Before she got a chance to rise from her seat however, Catherine quickly stood up and announced that she wanted to make a toast.

"Alright, here it goes," she said, "Sara, we're here to say goodbye to you as a member of our team. You chose to keep the reasons of your resignation to yourself, which didn't surprise any of us because you always have been a pretty private person. We just hope that you're happy with your decision and that you won't regret it.

"You and I both know we haven't been the best of friends over the last couple of years, but I am going to miss you as a colleague, as a person, and most of all as a female in this men's world of crime fighting. So, here's to you, Sara, I hope you will find a wonderful new job and that you will have great colleagues like the ones at CSI."

"To Sara!" was the general reply.

Sara smiled and stood up. "Okay, I guess I have to say something back now, right? You guys know I hate giving speeches…"

Her colleagues however were relentless. They sat back in amusement and smirked up at her.

She shot them all an angry glare before continuing. "I've loved working with all of you guys this past time, even though we weren't really off to a good start. I've never worked in an environment in which there was such a broad variety of people, yet still so much respect for each other's opinions.

"Greg, I loved being able to teach in stead of being the one to be taught for once and I truly hope you learned a lot of good stuff. I know you're going to be a great CSI if you keep being focused on the job. But don't let the dark sides of life quell that little spark in you okay?"

Greg beamed at her, and winked.

Sara continued to address all of her colleagues one by one, describing their special bond and wishing them all well in a personal way. As she looked down at all those faces, all those people that had made up the best surrogate family she had had in years, she felt a sudden urge to stay. Stay in Vegas, stay at the lab, stay with her friends and the comfort of the known as opposed to the anxiety of dipping herself once more into the unknown.

She wasn't a person to cry often, so she kept herself in check although tears did burn behind her eyes.

After the formalities of speeches she got to open the big box to reveal even more presents.

In that box lay a lab coat, coveralls, her CSI jacket, and her kit, containing amongst other things evidence bags, print powder and her maglite. She smiled at the stuff that had surrounded her all the time she had worked at the lab.

"I thought we weren't supposed to take our jackets when we left the lab?" she said. The deep crimson color on Greg's cheeks told her he was responsible for the illegal theft. "Thanks, guys."

"There's cards in there too. Everyone on the shift and some from the lab and PD put in a card."

"Everyone?" Sara asked, raising a brow.

Catherine winked at her, "everyone."

A sense of warmth spread through Sara's body, because even if she had fought with Grissom, stormed out of his office, and hadn't seen him since, he still, at the end of the day, mattered to her.

One by one she picked the cards out of the box and read them out loud. Nick's was just plain sweet, telling her that he had many sisters back home, but here in Vegas she was a very good surrogate. He made her promise to keep in touch and gave her a big hug to accompany the words on his card.

She picked up Greg's, which was wacky, as was to be expected and started to read, "don't read this out loud… oh!" Her eyes skimmed the words he wrote and she laughed. "Thanks Greg, but I think I'll sit this one out."

Greg gave her a disappointed look, then grinned at her. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

"And I won't."

The next card had a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge on the front and immediately she knew it was from Grissom. They had stood on the bridge together in the past, when he came to San Francisco to help out her department on a case, and they had talked about what she hoped to achieve professionally.

She opened the card and prepared to read out loud, but the writing was so sloppy that she couldn't make anything out. Even though she had read many a report written by Grissom, this card was totally unreadable, even to her trained eyes. She could vaguely make out her own name, and a 'g' at the bottom, but that was pretty much it.

"Come on, read!" Catherine said.

"I would, but Grissom seriously needs writing lessons."

"Here let me see that."

Sara handed Catherine the card, but even Cath couldn't decipher it. Eventually they tossed the card aside, much to Sara's dismay, and after reading another two cards, the box was empty.

"Another round!" Nick cheerily announced before taking a big gulp of his fifth or sixth pint of Guinness.

Sara knew the evening was almost over, so she just sat back and smiled.

Warrick, who had stayed sober because he had to work later on that night pointed at Greg, who was running back and forth between the bathroom and the tap. Sara smiled. "I had a really great time tonight."

"Good," Warrick said.

She folded Grissom's card open once more and stared at it.

"I still, for the love of God, can't figure out what this says, though."

"It says, 'Sara, I'm so sorry I judged you. I love you. I know I've been a jerk, but please don't leave me.'"

She turned around to find Grissom standing a few feet behind her.

"I would've included 'please marry me' but I figured that I'd better ask that later, in a more private setting."