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Chapter Two
Glass shook violently as Grissom stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.
Sara turned to face the remaining strangers.
"Why are you here? And what in the hell makes you think you could just stroll in here after eight years?" Catherine demanded.
Warrick and Nick threw each other questioning glances. Eight years?
Right. Grissom's best friend, Sara guessed. "You must be Catherine."
"Damn right, I'm Catherine. And I know all about you."
"Can't say I have that pleasure. Warrick Brown, CSI Level III."
"Nice to meet you Warrick." Sara returned, accepting his hand. "Like I mentioned before, my name is Sara Sidle, CSI Level II from San Francisco."
"Nick Stokes, welcome aboard." He offered, shaking her hand as well.
"Don't get too comfortable." Catherine threw over her shoulder as she left the room, heading for Grissom's office.
Grissom was sick. Literally and fugitively. After leaving the conference room, he barely made it to the bathroom before his dinner made a second appearance. Seeing Sara again after all these years, shook him to his core.
He sat down heavily in his chair to relieve his shaky legs and closed his eyes to ward off a headache. At first, he thought he'd seen a ghost. Years after returning to Las Vegas, he would imagine he saw Sara or heard her voice. But this was no mirage, she was real.
He just wasn't prepared for the flux of emotions that hit him all at once. Shock, fear, relief, love, longing and then anger. Grissom had dreamed many times what it would be like if he ever saw Sara again. They would have a chance meeting in the streets of Boston. She would be divorced with twelve children and completely unattractive. Or she would seek him out, begging for his forgiveness.
Sara's return was nothing like that. She was still beautiful and he was now her supervisor. Grissom immediately took up the matter with the Director, after his pit stop in the bathroom, but to no avail. Carvello had long before pressed him to hire an additional CSI but Grissom insisted that he was too busy and forwarded that responsibility to Carvello and Human Resources. Sara was correct - it was final so he had to live with it. The question was, how? Seeing her again just reminded him what he knew all along - he would never get over Sara Sidle.
"How are you holding up?"
Grissom startled at the sound of Catherine's voice. "Fine, I guess." He mumbled while massaging his temples. He felt the migraine building.
"You talked to Carvello?"
"Yeah."
"And?" She prompted.
"And, we have a new CSI to welcome to the team."
"Just like that? He's sticking us with some rookie-"
"It's not just like that and she's not some rookie." Grissom stated defensively. "I've read her personnel file and her record is exemplary. Top notch. We're lucky to have her."
Grissom's tone caught Catherine's attention. She cocked her head to one side in confusion and curiosity. "Really?"
"Catherine, don't start." Grissom warned.
"Grissom, do you want her here?"
"No. Yes. I don't know."
"After what she did to you? Do you want to have to see her face everyday?"
"Catherine, we agreed not to talk about this."
"We agreed eight years ago when we thought you'd never see her again. Now, she's here and part of our team! A team of members who rely on and trust one another. I'm supposed to trust her to watch my back?"
"Yes. And my personal business is just that - personal! It has no place here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need a few minutes before assignments."
"Yeah well, we're not done talking about this."
"I never imagined we were, Catherine. But it'll have to wait until after shift."
Minutes later, Grissom returned to the conference to find everything as it was before his abrupt departure. He gave Catherine her very own DB to keep her busy. The last thing he needed was Catherine interrogating Sara. Without making eye contact, he assigned Sara with Nick and Warrick on a B&E and sent them on there way.
Sara excused herself and went to the ladies room fuming. She knew her reappearance into Grissom's life would be a shock but she had expected him to keep their personal business separate from work.
Deep breaths. She had to calm down. After all, she was the one that walked away. He'd offered her a life with him and she simply walked away without a backwards glance. Hell, she didn't even know if he had married. There was no ring, but that didn't mean there wasn't a Mrs. Grissom somewhere. Actually, she knew there was not a Mrs. Grissom, other than his mother. Sara had been tracking him since they left Boston.
They needed to talk. Soon. She could handle a few days of his ignoring her and open hostility from Catherine while he adjusted to her presence, then they would talk. She needed him to understand why she left then maybe, just maybe he would forgive her.
There was no other choice, she had to make this work. And she only had a few weeks to get it together. Left up to her, she would have never come to Las Vegas. But there was just more than her own happiness at stake.
Several days later…
Catherine had finally closed the case on her dead body and joined Warrick, Nick and Sara in the Conference room. Grissom had done a good job of keeping she and Sara at a distance but he should have known he couldn't pull that off forever. She eyed Warrick and Nick, sending non-verbal cues to vacate the area.
"Um, I'm going for a coffee refill." Warrick announced, picking up on Catherine's hint. "Nick?"
"Yeah, me too."
When their backs disappeared around the corner. Catherine turned to Sara. "Again, why are you here? What kind of game are you playing?"
"Catherine, this has nothing to do with you-."
"Like hell it doesn't! You ripped my best friend's heart out then coerced your way into the only place he's been able to find peace."
"It's not like that."
"Then how is it? What's your agenda?"
'It wasn't my fault!' Sara wanted to scream. She would have gladly married Grissom, moved to Vegas and lived happily ever after, if it wasn't for outside interference. She would have done anything to spare Grissom the pain of her rejection but she did what she thought was best. She was reminded daily of her betrayal of Grissom and wore it like a Scarlet Letter.
Catherine watched Sara wither under her verbal assault. Maybe there was more to this than her dumping Grissom for a younger guy? She leaned back in her chair to study the brunette. She was beautiful. Not in the cover-girl type of way but a more classic look. Grissom said that she was a Physics major. Brainy and cute, definitely his type. Continuing her examination, Catherine noticed that she wore no wedding ring and still used Sidle. So, she was single. And she took a permanent position here. Sara wasn't going anywhere. Was she planning on winning Grissom back?
"What's your agenda?"
"Excuse me?"
"Are you here for Grissom? Are you here to try to pick up where you left off?"
"That's none of -."
"Save it sister. You show up here after all these years. Still young, pretty and single…taking a long term position…obviously you changed your major in college."
"So?"
"So, it sounds to me like you've been following Grissom's footsteps and they led you here. So, now that you are here, what's the plan?"
They shared at each other for several minutes before she gave in with a sigh. This day had been stressful. Shit, the last eight years had been stressful. And Catherine was right, she had come here with an agenda. She understood Catherine's fierce protectiveness of her friend and she knew Catherine would have been the one Grissom turned to for comfort when she left. Unfortunately, Sara also realized that if she had any chance of making things right - any chance of getting Grissom back, then she would have to go through Catherine.
