My heart beat erratically as I walked away from his office. I was so sure he would hear it while I sat there, playing cool…being unaffected, but in the end I knew he wouldn't.

I walked down the familiar and unchanged halls of the LV PD crime lab, surprised that I still knew my way around the place so well.

I stopped at one of the lay out rooms, seeing a familiar, but different looking figure of a man, hunched over a cluttered and lit table.

I stepped into the doorway and leaned up against the doorframe, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Hey there cowboy." I drawled out with a smirk on my face.

Nick Stokes' head shot up from his work…an ear splitting smile sprawled across his face. "SARA! OH MY GOD IT'S YOU!" Nick practically shouted.

He ran around the table, grabbed me by the shoulders, and pulled me tightly into him.

"Hey Nicky…how are you?" I asked into his shoulder.

"I'm great…seeing you has done sudden wonders to my mood." Nick half laughed as he let me go. "How are you?"

"I'm great actually. I'm happy to see you." I admitted smiling at the man that stood beaming before me.

"I'm really happy to see you…" Nick pulled me into him again. "I can't believe it's you. I suspected…but I had my doubts. Phone calls and e-mails are not enough." Nick said quietly into my hair.

"Whoa there cowboy…let's not get all sappy here." I laughed.

Nick let me go again and said "Same Sara…always the hard shell."

"I'm hardly the same person…I just managed to hang onto some of my better personality traits." I said jokingly.

There was silence and then "Have you seen Grissom yet?"

"Actually, I just came from his office." I said without emotion.

"And he's still alive right? Not that I really care about the man, but we still need a boss and you would need and alibi. You didn't hurt him or anything…did you?" Nick asked half jokingly, half seriously.



"No of course not…I just talked to him briefly about the case and what I wanted our plan of action to be and then I left." I said looking him in the eye.

"And…he didn't say anything…mean to you…I mean he didn't hurt you did he?" Nick asked the first signs of concern setting in.

"No Nicky…I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. And besides…I am well over him." I said confidently…but not completely truthfully.

"Oh yeah…how is your lover boy…Mitch?"

"Mike…and he's good. He's here with me actually…he's working the case with me and another guy." I said smiling at the thought of Mike.

"Oh…so I get to meet your lover boy…give him my stamp of approval?"

"I'm sure you'll like him. He's kinda like you actually."

"Then I'm sure I'll like him." Nick laughed.

There was silence and then another hug. "Sara…I really missed you…we all did. Five years is far too long to not see my girl."

"I know…I feel the same way." I said half smiling into Nick's shirt.

"Should we go out tonight and celebrate your homecoming?" Nick asked letting me go yet again.

"I'm not home…" I said, but I added at Nick's frown. "But it's nice to be back. And actually when I go back to the hotel I was going to take Mike out to BJ's, a club on the strip…you can join us if you like. We'll be there at about ten." I said smiling.

"I wouldn't be imposing?"

"Not at all…in fact bring Greg and Warrick and whoever else…the more the merrier." I said getting excited about a new event filled night.

"I look forward to it…has New York turned my work-o-holic girl into a party girl?" Nick asked.

"Well wouldn't you like to know…I guess you'll have to wait and find out." I said smiling at him.

"Oh you leave me with baited breath." Nick teased.

"Well I suppose I should let you get back to work…but it was really great to see you again…I really did miss you." I said getting ready to leave. I knew Nick had work to do and if truth be 

told…I didn't want to be there any longer, because it ran the risk of seeing Grissom, or Catherine, or worse both of them together.

"Yeah…I guess you should. And it was really great to see you too…I missed you, we all missed you like you could not believe."

"Aw, thanks Nicky." I said as I walked into Nick's open arms for yet another hug.

"I love you Sara…it's good to have my girl back…even if it is for a short time."

"I love you too Nicky." I said as we let go of each other. "I'll see you tonight alright?"

"You can count on it." Nick said with his beaming smile back in place.

"Good…I'll see you then…bye Nick."

"Bye Sara." Nick said almost sadly before he turned and walked back into the layout room.

I was almost sad to leave the lab, it was strange, but it was a true feeling none-the-less. But I walked out the doors of LV PD crime lab for the first time in a long time, and felt…just fine, a new emotion for my long forgotten leaving rituals.

As I walked out to my car I called Mike. He answered on the second ring and I said "Get ready…I'm going to show you a real Vegas night."

"A real Vegas night?" He asked sounding curious.

"Yeah…we're going to meet some old friends of mine at a club." I said as I got into my car.

"Sounds great…sure sick-o here will be alright?"

"I'm sure he'll be fine, how is he?" I asked back pedaling a little.

"Asleep."

"Yeah, then I'm sure he'll be fine. Listen I'm just leaving the lab, so I'll be back in like twenty minutes alright?"

"Yeah, how did things go?" Mike asked just the slightest but of concern in his voice.

"We can talk about it when I get back." I said, not wanting to think about the ready to burst emotions just lying beneath my heart.

" Alright see you then…I love you."

"I love you too." And then I hung up the phone and started up the car.



A Vegas night out…when was the last time I had one of those…PG…Pre-Grissom? Well if I knew one thing…tonight would be fun, something that Vegas and I as a couple were new to.

"A Vegas night out…" I said to myself as I pulled out of the parking lot "Yeah this should be interesting."

A/N sorry this one took me a little longer to write. I have a lot of home work and some writters block. But i can almost promise that the next chapter will come fairly quickly. Thanks for all the nice reviews!