"Sara Sidle please." Gil Grissom spoke into the phone. Waiting for her to answer the inquiry his fingers played with the dried remains of a cockroach lying on his desk.

"Hello." A somewhat breathless voice answered, causing Grissom's gut to clench.

"Sara, it's Grissom." He said a little stiffly.

"Grissom?" She questioned in surprise.

He could hear her dropping into a chair on the other end of the line. "Yea, um, how's everything going in San Francisco?" He asked as he shifted papers on his desk in nervousness.

"It's fine." She answered in confusion. "Grissom, why are you calling me? And at work?"

"Oh, it's the only way I knew to get a hold of you. I don't have any of your numbers." He said stumbling over his words.

"But why did you want me in the first place?" She questioned again.

Grissom blushed; glad he was in the privacy of his office. "I wanted to offer you a job."

He could picture her biting her biting her lip on the other end. "Do you think that's wise?" She asked. "Given our history?"

"I need you." He answered simply.

There was a long pause. He went on to explain the situation before she could make a decision. "Warrick, one of my best guys, was injured a last night while on the job. The cop clearing the scene got sloppy and Warrick was shot."

"Is he okay?" She asked when he became silent.

"Yes, he got lucky. But he's out of work for at least a month and we were already one person short. I'm desperate here Sara."

She sighed over the phone line. "I have a lot of vacation time stored up. I could probably take some leave and give you a trial run."

"I would really appreciate it." He said before hanging up. Rubbing his head he stared off into the distance.

Other parts of the lab.

"Hey Greggo. Catch." Nick yelled as he threw a nerf ball back across the lab and into the doorway of the DNA room.

"And it's a perfect catch." Greg cheered as he leaped up to catch the ball. Landing off balance he crashed into the side of his workbench causing various tubes to rattle ominously. "Whoa." He said holding his breath until everything stopped shaking.

"Dude, give it up and admit that I'm the better player." Nick said as he walked into the DNA lab. "I'm more athletic." He taunted as he grinned at the younger man.

"Believe what you want. I'm better with the ladies." Greg said smugly as he tossed the ball back.

"Only in your dreams pal." Nick responded as he lobbed a high pass.

"Ah, but those are such sweet dreams." Laughing he attempted a side pass, groaning when the ball slammed into a beaker of clear liquid, causing it to shatter.

"I really hope that wasn't evidence." A deep voice spoke from behind him.

Greg winced as he turned around to see Grissom standing in the opposite doorway with his arms folded. "Hey Grissom. I was just taking a little break."

"Well next time you take a break, take it outside the lab." The old man advised.

"Ease off him boss. It was mostly my fault. I threw the ball to him in the first place." Nick called from where he was leaning against the doorframe.

"I am aware of that Nicky." Grissom said, sending him a long look. Turning back to Greg he addressed the younger man. "Let me know the minute you have the DNA report on the Headrick murder."

"Sorry man." Nick sent Greg an apologetic look before turning to follow his supervisor.

Greg grimaced as he looked down at the mess in front of him. "Smart Greg. Real smart." He said as he donned big rubber gloves to clean it up. Bending down he stared at the yellow monstrosities in speculation. Standing up he looked around before pulling them off and sliding them on his feet.

Catherine came to the door to see the goofy lab tech walking around the lab with his arms folded and flapping. "Were you just quacking?" She asked.

Greg grinned. "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, guess it is a duck." He showed her his yellow feet.

"I suggest Donald duck gets back to his work before he's having to ask scrooge for a loan." She advised before walking away.

"Hey, good one." She heard him call out.

Shaking her head she walked into the CSI lounge where she greeted the other two members of the team. "Seems quiet in here with just us." She observed.

"I've talked to a friend of mine and she will be down by the end of the week. She has agreed to help us out for a while." He smiled briefly at the thought. "In the meantime the rest of us will be working twice as hard to keep up with the work load. As day shift is stretched to the max as well all overtime has been approved."

"Uh, Grissom. Did you forget that I'm in court all week? On the big movie star case. Not only is it widely publized, but it's already been delayed three times. There's nothing we can do at this point." Cath pointed out as she helped herself to some coffee.

Grissom closed his eyes. "That's this week?" He asked in despair.

"I put it on your calendar." Cath reminded him.

"Okay, Nicky we have three open cases including the one Warrick was working on. We'll just have to divide our time between the cases and hope nothing big comes up."

Nick spoke up for the first time. "I spoke to Warrick before I came in. He's bummed about being out of work and wants to help. He could do some lab work even with the bum arm." He pointed out.

Grissom shook his head. "Maybe next week. He just got shot last night. He's going to need his pain medicine and he can't work on cases with narcotics in his system."

"If we get a break from court I'll run over and check on him." Catherine offered.

San Francisco

Sara Sidle laid her head on her desk and moaned. She thought about banging her head a couple of times to see if there were any rocks in there.

"Are you okay?" A coworker asked as she walked past.

Sara raised her head an inch. "What is it about certain men. No matter how bad they treat you all they have to do is snap their fingers and we go running." She asked in disgust.

Waving her coworker off she gathered her resolve and headed towards her supervisor's office. "Sir," She started once she had gained his attention. "I need to take some vacation time. I have a family emergency."

"Family emergency?" He grumbled in his gruff voice. "I suppose you'd want to be leaving right away."

"Well he's the closest thing to family I have." She admitted.

"Must be serious." He said peering at her over the top of his glasses. "In the entire time you've worked here you have never taken a day off that wasn't forced."

She shrugged in embarrassment. "I like my job." She forced a smile.

He gave her a baleful stare. "Here are the forms you need to fill out. Give your current cases to Beasley, he's pretty clear right now. Come back as fast as you can." He said handing her a sheaf of papers before turning back to his computer.

She walked back to her desk, staring at the papers in her hand. Deep in her own thoughts she didn't pay any attention to where she was going.

"Hey, Sara, going somewhere?" A male coworker asked as he leaned in to gaze at the papers in her hand.

"I have a family emergency." She responded managing not to wince at the lie.

"I didn't think the frigid Sara had a family." He sneered.

Sara's smile was sharp as she slammed the papers onto her desk. "That's a bad habit you have, insulting women who've turn you down." She responded snidely.

"Bitch." He snarled as his eyes darkened. He took a step toward her, his hands balled into fists.

Sara braced herself for the blow, her hand hovering over her gun. "I'll shoot you." She warned.

"Hey Jeffrey." A voice called over the cubicles, startling them both. "Are you coming?"

"Be glad you're leaving." He warned. He smirked at her as he walked out the door.

Letting out the breath she'd been holding she slumped into her chair. "And to think I didn't want to go." She murmured shakily. Sitting down she started on the paperwork.

Later she tracked down the coworker to off load her two current cases.

"Damn Sara, it must be killing you to give up cases." Beasley teased as he accepted the work discs from her.

She shrugged sadly. "Don't worry Beasley. Even you can solve these. The Bennister case is just waiting for the final DNA analysis. Prelim is pointing to the prime suspect who is in lock up. Lonestine is being picked up by the police. He rebutted and they had to give chase. They're holding him in McMinn County tonight and will be bring him in the morning. You'll need to pitch the evidence to the PA." She handed him a piece of paper. "I already have a statement typed up. All you have to do is read it." She gave him a wide smile.

"Very funny. Now get moving kid." The older man said laughing.

Sara was grinning as she grabbed her bag and walked out the door. Turing a corner she began the two-mile walk to her apartment. Ignoring the neighbors who were enjoying the late afternoon sunshine she walked through the front door and up the three flights of stairs.

"Hello dear. You're home early today." Her elderly neighbor observed as she came out her door.

Sara just nodded and slipped through her door leaving the old lady shaking her head. Glancing at the clock she quickly made calls to the post office to hold her mail, to her landlord to tell him she was laving and the airport to confirm a flight.

She dragged out her suitcase and began stuffing it with clothes. Finished she dragged out a second and stuffed it full of textbooks on forensics. Straightening she glanced around, satisfied with the job and al little sad that her life was wrapped up so quickly. Hearing the beep of the cab she grabbed her bags and walked out the door.