Title: Last Chance - Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters connected to it, any other characters in this story are made up in my imagination. So their mine, and no you can't have them. No profit is being made so I wrote this for my own amusement only.

Authors Note: Slightly OOC. But what fun is GSR lately if we stay in character right? I know I promised a murder investigation...and I promise its coming. Random Spoilers through season 6. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone. Please read and review! Flame me if you want. All feedback is good feedback to me!

Sara looked into the mirror and a hoarse chuckle escaped. She couldn't understand how easy it was to pretend to be happy - when inside she felt like she was falling apart. She undid the clip holding her soft brown hair up and watched it fall to her shoulders. She always thought she'd been through enough as a child - that growing up would be her escape. But it seemed the older she got, the closer the shadows of her past caught up with her. Standing there looking in the mirror she could see her parents looking back. Her hair, the same length as her mothers was that night...and it was the same dark shade as her fathers had been. Her eyes were the same shape and color as her fathers and when she smiled the wrinkles around her eyes reminded her of her mom. The older she got the more she hated who she was - and the more she hated it the more like it she became. How much more would she become like the two monsters she'd ran the furthest to get away from...

Sara shook her head "No, you're a scientist, you know there are no such thing as monsters...just people pretending to be them." she thought as she reached into the shower and turned the water on as hot as she could stand it.

She let the steam fill her small bathroom as she peeled off her clothing. She gingerly stepped under the scorching spray and only then, with the hot water pouring over her did she let down her defenses and cry. She'd run to fast and to far from her past, and now yet again she felt it catching up to her. It was affecting her work, abuse cases of any kind sent her into a frenzy. And her personal life, she didn't trust men. A chuckle escaped her again despite the tears running down her face. She did trust one, but she had spent a good portion of her career following him around like a lost puppy. And she was done. She'd already made up her mind and the deal was already done. She was leaving Vegas for somewhere easier. Somewhere that she wouldn't have to avoid Grissom half the day and see the horrible things people did to each other on a regular basis. She was still amazed how many murders were committed not out of revenge...but in the name of LOVE. Sara never understood how love could cause the amount of death that it did. It just downright baffled her. Even after living it. Even after her mother killed her father..for her...to protect her...because she loved her...Sara didn't get it.

Two weeks from now she was boarding plane. It amused her that for once in her life she didn't have anything planned, other then just leaving Vegas. She didn't know where she was going, or what she was going to do when she got there. Working for 6 years and having no life other then her work life, she had managed to save up quite a bit of money. She was taking it, and starting over.

Today she had given her notice to Ecklie, she had went over Grissom's head and she knew he was going to be pissed when he found out. Probably by shift tomorrow. She couldn't have given it to him because he would have looked at her and asked "Why?"

And she couldn't bear to look him in the eye and tell him she was leaving because of HIM. Because for whatever reason he couldn't, wouldn't, or didn't love her back. Because everyday she came to work and he avoided meeting her eyes, hell, avoided her all together when he could, but left her back burning under his gaze as she walked away. It was like stepping on the same nail in the floor day after day, even though you knew it was there. No sane person would! They'd remove the damn nail or at very least step over it. Eventually. They sure as hell wouldn't continue stepping on it everyday for 6 years. So no, NO, she had to get it approved over his head. And tomorrow when he asked her why she was leaving she could just shrug her shoulders and tell him that it was personal, which wasn't a lie, and that it wasn't any of his business. He wasn't dense, not by a long shot, he would figure it out, but no frickin' plant was going to keep her in this hell one minute longer. Besides there are only so many fathers abusing daughters, mothers killing sons, brothers killing sisters, neighbors killing neighbors, friends hurting friends, or teenagers dumping their newborns in the trash because they were to scared of their parents to ask for help, that a person could take without losing faith in the human race. Sara knew that crime was a worldwide problem and she would never outrun it. But she also knew that in some places they went 10 years without a murder. In Vegas they were lucky to go 10 hours without a body being discovered.

"Everything happens in Vegas," Sara said out loud, "I hope that when I leave everything really does stay in Vegas."

The water was cooling off and the temperature of the water was starting to feel icky. Sara shuddered as it reminded her of spit or vomit maybe. She quickly shut off the water and stepped out of the shower grabbing a towel off the rack and wrapping it around herself. She shivered slightly as she opened the door and the rush of cold air assaulted the wet bare skin of her arms, legs, and face. She grabbed another towel off the sink and wandered to her bedroom where she sat on the edge of her bed and towel dried her hair. Tonight was her night off but she knew that Greg was still out sick with Mono. Which meant that she was on-call if they got swamped and needed her at the lab tonight.

She got up and dressed in purple cotton pajama bottoms and a white spaghetti strap. She crawled into bed even though she had only gotten up seven hours previously. It had been so long since she had gone to bed before the sun came up. Even though she knew it went against her bodies nature, it seemed to her that sunlight actually made her sleepy. She guessed that was what she got for living in the dark for six years. She'd actually begun to like the paleness of her skin. Besides sleeping while the sun was shining its brightest had its advantages. Her risk of developing skin cancer was slim compared to most women of her age.

Sara rolled over to stare out the window. It was always amazing to her how fast and far her mind traveled when she let it. But it always finished on the same subject. Grissom. She wondered how long he would be where her mind settled. How long after she was gone would he be what she saw behind closed lids as she drifted to sleep? When would he stop being the reason she bit her bottom lip when she was having sex - so his name wouldn't tumble off her lips in the midst of her passion? How many more tears was she going to cry for a man who never cried for her? Sara brushed a stray tear off her cheek as the rain started pattering on the roof above her.

To Be Continued...