Sara sat quietly in the run down Café. Nick sat across from her his eyes trained on her face, her's to the plate sitting in front of her, which's contents was being pushed idly around her plate. Taking a deep breath she gathered the courage to meet Nicks eyes. Was he going to ask what was going on? Could she even say it? Would he understand? Did she even? When her eyes met his the things she saw in place of questions were warmth, friendship, and patients. He understood that she wasn't ready to talk. Relief folded through her.

"You actually gonna eat that food, or just play with it?" Nick asked with a smile as her saw her start to relax. Picking up her fork she started chipping a way at the meal in front of her. They filled the next half an hour with talk of their everyday life, something they hadn't talked about for a while. The conversation came easily, at no point did one of them have to go to shop talk to fill uncomfortable silences, there wasn't any. It was all very easy and comfortable. After finishing up and paying the bill they left the old café and headed to the car. They sat for a few minutes in silence Nicks gaze was cast out the window, after a moment he spoke, "I know we haven't been that close lately, but that doesn't mean I've stopped caring Sar" She looked at him in shock. Turning to look her in they eye he continued, " Sara you're my best friend, if you need me, anytime, just give me a hint and I'll be there for you". She gave a small smile. She knew he was being honest, and this wasn't some lip service because he didn't know what to say. She knew he was curious about what was going on and was thankful that he wasn't pressing her to talk about something she wasn't ready to. Her mind drifted back to the lab and into the morgue, the memory of the two girls were so vivid in her mind she could almost smell the formaldehyde. Her heart started to beat faster. Could she do it, go through all that again? Unearth some things that were meant to stay buried? Then again there was a chance this was all a coincidence, after all they would have never let him out…

Her mind was racing, Nick could see it in her eyes. He placed a hand over hers, and her thoughts came to a screeching halt.

"What ever it is Sar, I'll help you" Nick soothed.

Her heart slowed, squeezing her and in his she looked out the window as he started the car

It took 5 minutes on the road before Sara was down for the count. He was worried about her, he never saw her like this before, sure she got obsessive about cases occasionally, but this was completely different. Had she been like this long, had he just not noticed? That thought broke his hear, had they drifted apart so much that he hadn't noticed this change? She seemed to be teetering on the edge of something, with the threat of falling off and shattering into a billion pieces. Outside the morgue it had seemed like she barely noticed he was there. It was almost like she was in denial about something, it terrified him to his soul that he had to tell her the victims were already dead. This was more then a case of the flue with low blood sugar and lack of sleep mixed in. Glancing over at his sleeping friend he knew something was seriously wrong, and that he wouldn't walk away for anything.

Sara woke up in the parking lot of the lab. Getting her bearings she looked over at Nick.

"I was asleep" she said. Nick noticed it was more of a statement then a question.

"How long" she continued.

"About 25 minutes" he answered.

"What, it should have only taken 10 to get back" she said with a questioning look in her eyes.

"I drove around for a while, you looked like you could use the rest".

"Thanks" she smiled shyly pushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No problem", he grinned. So there was a little bit of the old Sara in there.

Sara looked back at the lab in dread. There were calls to make, people to talk to. What if by some curse from hell it was him. Those two fit his pattern. Before she jumped to any conclusions she was going to check and see if there had been any murders in the past little while that fit the same M.O. They walked into the lab, turning to Nick she said, " Thank you for getting me outta here earlier, I was a little out of it, but I'll be okay, I promise" God she hoped she wasn't lying.

" You sure, if you need me just call Sar" Nick said looking at her in concern.

"I know" she nodded her head and smiled.

"I gotta get back to work, I'll talk to you later." She said walking away.

"hey" he called out, turning around she stopped.

"Tomorrow night, do you have it off?"

" Yeah, but with this new case I was.." nick cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"No, you are going home as soon as this shift ends, you are sleeping, then tomorrow night you are coming over to my place where I'll cook something to eat" he said with a smile.

Sara could feel the corners of her mouth turning up as she attempted to look angry at Nick for telling her what to do. Shaking her head she said, "Fine, but if your making me drag my ass all the way to your place it better be good food, no take out" she said grinning.

"Deal" he called to her back since she was already walking away. Turning into the conference room she closed the door behind her. She stared at the phone on the table. Sitting herself in a chair, she picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn't in 7 years.

San Francisco: Today.

Detective John Langdon sat at his desk staring grumpily at a pile of paper work. God he hated paper work. He reached for his pen, might as well start getting it over with, he though gloomily to himself. The phone rang by his hand, grabbing it eagerly, thankful for an excuse to put off the hell sent pile of paper that seemed to b growing as he stared at it.

"Langdon" he replied in to the receiver.

A quiet voice came over the phone, "John".

He recognized it immediately even though he hadn't heard it in 7 years.

Sitting up he spoke into the phone, "Sara, is that you?"

"Yeah, John it's me…I need your help."

Sara's shaking hand put the phone back in the cradle. Taking a deep breath she tried to settle her nerves. A copy cat. She knew there was no way on Gods green Earth that that sociopath would have been released from jail. Still there was a chance this was all a coincidence. John had offered his help, she knew he would have. But before anything was done she had to see if anymore murders in this area fit that M.O.

San Francisco: Today.

Sara Sidle. John sighed. The last time he saw her that morning at her apartment before she transferred away to another lab in Frisco. His heart broke as his mind drifted back.

He lifted his hand and rapped on the door. He hear her moving around the apartment inside, the chain slide, the lock unlock and door handle twist. She stood in front of him. Her eyes red from crying. Turing aside she let him in and returned to the boxes.

"Packing up Ari's stuff" he said looking at the packing supplies.

Picking up a photo and staring at the two smiling faces in the image. "Yeah, I'm sending most of it to her family in New York, she'd want them to have this stuff sent to them". She tossed the photo in to the packing box beside her. " God I hadn't noticed how much stuff we had shoved in this apartment, we have such the same tastes I can barely tell who's is who's" Her voice sounded steady but he knew she was breaking. He nodded silently, not knowing what to do or say.

"I wish, I had gotten there sooner Sar, I wish…I wish this all had turned out differently" he knew this wouldn't really make any difference, because she was probably feeling the same way, but he needed to say this. He knew he would never get to say this to Ari, but maybe saying it to her best friend would do something, a chip in the penance he would be paying the rest of his life.

"It wasn't your fault John" was her soft reply.

He watched her shoulders sag forward. Placing a hand on her shoulder he quietly said, "It wasn't yours either Sara". Sobs broke the quietness of the apartment as he pulled her into a hug.

Thrusting his hand through his hair he got up from his chair. What kind of sick son of a bitch would copy the Frisco Choker? He was worried about Sara, he knew when she left without saying goodbye that she needed time, and that she would be pissed if he knew he had kept tabs on her. Last time this case was around it sent her to ocean ridge, but she got out and she moved on, this time, this time it could end up sending her there for life.

A/n: Ok so I don't have much spare time, if you want me to finish this, you gotta review so I know.