Z sighed as she nibbled on a piece of bread. She and Syd had been sitting in a booth at Café Bella Italia for quite some time and they had yet to order their food. Although she couldn't complain too much, the place was extremely busy and they didn't make any reservations. She supposed that was their fault. After all, they came here on all of their 'girl's nights,' they should know how the place worked by now.
Sighing again, she tried to listen as Syd prattled on and on about the proverbial saber that was lodged in Sky's hind end. She rolled her eyes and remained silent on the subject. She knew just as well as anyone that once Syd got going on a subject she was impossible to stop.
Z, though agreeing with everything Syd had to say, was also confused about Sky. He was stubborn that much was true, but recently he seemed to become a contradiction unto himself. He had on many occasions let his guard down around his team mates. A trait that she was liking very much. He was their leader, after all, and to let his guard down proved to Z that he trusted his team exclusively.
She was so deep in her thoughts that she barely felt the kick Syd delivered to her shin. "I can't believe it!"
Jarred from her thoughts, Z tilted her head at her friend. "You can't believe what?"
"Look who just sat in the booth over there." Syd stated in excited hushed tones while discretely jabbing her thumb off to her right.
Careful not to turn her head, Z glanced in the indicated direction and her breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe it either. Dr. Manx was sitting directly across from the strange new Professor, Mr. Sanders.
"What is she doing with him?" Syd asked crinkling her nose.
Z shrugged. "It looks to me like they are on a date."
Syd blanched. "Why him though, he's so weird. Not a talker, that one."
"Maybe she likes him." Z supplied.
"I can't even begin to see how that is possible." Syd said with her infamous pout. "Everyone knows that she's more into types like Cruger."
Z sent a confused look in Syd's direction. "I always thought she had a thing for the geeky guys, like Boom."
Syd raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow, "Ew."
1-2-3-4-5
Greg was transfixed. He had been nervous until he had seen her eyes in the candlelight. Their wild sharpness that had captivated him before had melted in the soft flickering light and was replaced with warm flecks of gold and green. He had never seen anything like it.
She seemed to grow more beautiful with each passing moment and it scared him like there was no tomorrow. He knew he was in danger betraying Sara with every breath he watched Kat take, and what scared him more was that there was a part of him that didn't seem to care. The same part that told him that it was okay to fall for someone else. He had wondered from the moment he saw her why everything seemed to be so complicated.
"What's on your mind?" He heard her ask in a voice that was just above a whisper.
Tearing his eyes away from hers, he took a sip of his water. "Nothing that would be appropriate to talk about right now." He replied once he had finished swallowing his water.
"Greg," Kat said through clenched teeth. "I'm your friend, if you need to say something, do it."
He caught her eyes again. A spark burned there, one he hadn't seen the like of in a long time. First Grissom had it and then Sara flashed it at him every once in a while, usually when they wanted nothing but the hard truth.
"You can't go through everything on your own." She continued.
Sighing, he rubbed his forehead as if to keep the headache that threatened him at bay. "I was thinking that part of me feels like I'm betraying Sara when I'm around you," he stated carefully before continuing. "Another part of me is happy around you."
Once again he saw softness flood into Kat's eyes. "It's my guess that she would have wanted you to be happy."
The statement was so completely true that it seemed almost absurd and it took a minute for it to sink in. When it did, he let out a nervous laugh. "You know what her last words were?" Kat shook her head and waited for his response. "She said that I made her life beautiful and that she loved me." He shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't see it before."
"See what?"
Greg shrugged and grabbed her hand. "Everything positive aspect of life that she experienced, she would want to share it with me. When she told Nick to tell me that I made her life beautiful, she was implying that she wanted me to have a beautiful life as well."
Kat gave his hand a squeeze and grinned. "She seems like she was a very special woman."
1-2-3-4-5
Kat was surprised at the sudden change in the man sitting before her. It was almost like a part of him that was thought to be long gone had suddenly come alive. He still held the pain behind his eyes, but she could sense that there was something else there as well. Something that pulled strongly at her heart, something she only imagined in her dreams.
He pulled his hand out of her grip and nodded. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out folded piece of paper that seemed to have been read several times over. "You're right. She was very special. She was always taking the side of the underdog, especially if it was a woman." He said as he handed her the paper. "I've only showed this to one other person. For some reason it had given me comfort over the past couple months."
Kat frowned and took the paper. Searching his eyes she found permission to open it. She did carefully, but once she saw it's contents, her face drained of all color and she promptly passed out.