A/N I don't own CSI.

I promise Sara is not as cold or unaffected by seeing Grissom as she seems...i swear.

She stood before me…five years later and there she stood before me. The picturesque Sara Sidle looking more beautiful and attractive than ever.

My heart was in my throat and my stomach was at my feet. My brain was foggy and actually for a second felt like it had stopped working.

"Grissom?" Sara's voice cut through the fog like a knife.

I looked up to find her beautiful chocolate brown eyes staring at me blankly.

"Yeah?"

"Should we go to your office to talk or what?"

I stared at her. She was older…but didn't look it by much, maybe just a few more lines around her eyes that hadn't been there before. She looked taller…her sexy long legs, longer. But maybe it was just the fashionable heals she wore.

Heals? Sara never wore heals…but then again she never owned an over sized purse before…much like the one she had slung over her shoulder. New York had changed her.

Her rail thin form looked thinner…if possible. But her eyes…they were just as beautiful as I remembered them…if not more. Her hair was longer…and lighter. It stopped an inch or two below her shoulder blades and she had light caramel highlights in her hair.

"To talk?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yeah…about the case." She clarified emotionlessly.

"Oh…of course."

I turned away from her and began to walk. I heard her heals clacking behind me and knew she was following me…not closely…but close enough.

I arrived at my office in two minutes…but it had felt like an eternity of silence.

When I opened my door and stepped in, Sara was right behind me. I could smell the unfamiliar smell of her honey dew shampoo…I suddenly missed the lilac.

I turned on the lights and walked around my desk to take my seat. Sara sat down in one of the seats that sat in front of my desk and immediately began to take in her surroundings.

The first words out of her mouth were "You changed your office."

Her statement puzzled me. "What do you mean?"



"The bugs…the spiders…the weird things in little jars on your shelf…they're gone." She commented.

"Oh yeah…umm…so you wanted to talk to me?" I was uncomfortable. Catherine had redecorated my office…made me take my bugs and jars of 'weird' things home. She bought new furniture…new pictures…the works.

"Yeah…" She said slowly. "I had Jack fax over an overview…a timeline of sorts I suppose. I was thinking tomorrow we could start off by going over the evidence we have…your team and mine. And then make a game plan from there."

"Okay." I agreed, staring at her…drinking in the sight of her sitting before me.

"I don't know if Ben will be here tomorrow. He was pretty sick when I left the hotel, but I know for sure Mike will be here tomorrow."

"Your team mates?" I asked.

"Yeah…I had the evidence shipped over here with two police escorts…they should be here tomorrow as well." Sara said looking not at me, but just over my shoulder.

"Okay…I'll tell Ekile to keep an eye out for it." I said trying to catch her eye.

"Ekile still workings here?" She asked, almost sounding shocked.

"Yes…unfortunately he is." I said trying to get her to smile.

She complied but not in the way I thought she would. Her tight lips…curved in a forced manner upward.

"Okay, well…I just wanted to stop by…and go over the case with you. I think I'm going to go…Mike is probably wondering when I'm coming back and can take care of Ben for him."

My heart dropped…she was leaving already? "Alright…you'll be here tomorrow night?"

"Seven on the dot." She confirmed standing up.

Not earlier…I wanted ask, but I didn't.

"Hey, is Nick, Warrick, or Greg here?" She asked…stopping at the door on her way out.

"Warrick and Greg are at a scene, but Nick should be in one of the labs…Brass should be back sometime soon if you wanted to see him too." I answered…hoping she would stay.

"Alright…well I'll see you tomorrow." Sara said walking out the door.



"Sara?" I asked loudly before she could get too far.

She reappeared at my door. "Yeah Grissom…is there something I forgot?"

I suddenly didn't remember why I called her back, but said something before I could think. "You're different…"

"So I would hope." Was all she said before she walked back out of my door. I could hear her heals halfway down the hall before I could process her answer.

She was no longer Vegas…she was New York. Her Vegas toughness was not gone, but accompanied by something else…New York jadedness. She had changed…and it hurt…I would like to say I don't know why…but I do…and I think that hurt more.

She was different…and I felt the same.