Sara looked at the redhead in surprise, "What?"

Catherine nodded, "About twelve years ago. I was a lab tech; he was a CSI 3. He was my mentor. We had known each other for about four years. And I had had a bit of crush on him the whole time. But I was married and dancing. He convinced me to go back to school, get clean, and come work with him at the lab." Catherine looked up at Sara who motioned for her to continue.

The older woman sighed, "Things weren't going great with Eddie. I made up my mind to file for divorce. I told Gil, and he was behind me all the way. One night, we had a really quiet shift and decided to go out for coffee while we were still clocked in."

Sara raised her eyebrows and Catherine chuckled.

"I know; it doesn't sound like Grissom does it? He was a lot more relaxed before he became supervisor. And he was shier. He didn't talk to anyone. Well, he talked to me. I was so in love with him. I couldn't believe that someone that smart would value my opinion." Catherine nervously fiddled with Sara's hand,

"That night we went for coffee, we ran into Ed with one of his bimbos. I fell apart. Gil put us both on call and took me back to his place. I'm sure his intentions were honorable, but mine weren't. He was so good to me and made me feel so special. He put me in his bed to sleep off the crying fit I'd worked myself into. When he came in to check on me, I totally put the moves on him. He said we shouldn't, but I assured him that things were over with Eddie, that it had only been him for years. So we…yeah…"

Catherine blushed slightly. Sara just nodded and waited.

"And for the next month or so, we dated. I moved in with him and things were great. But then I started getting sick. Gil took me to the doctor and we found out I was eight weeks pregnant. Eight weeks. Which meant the baby was Eddie's, not Gil's." Catherine's throat tightened a bit, "It's so weird, you know? Because, four weeks difference and Gil and I would probably be married now with three kids and a mini-van. But it was eight weeks. I don't know what I was thinking. Gil told me that he'd be there for me, but I had to tell Eddie. And Ed was over the moon."

Catherine sniffed, "He got clean once and for all, he swore to me there would be no more broads. And I really think he meant it, at the time. So, I apologized to Gil, I told him that I had to try to make things work with the baby's father. I had never told Eddie that me and Gil had been anything but friends." Catherine laughed darkly, "And I think he found it hard to believe that I would choose Gil over him, anyway."

"You said twelve years ago?"

The redhead nodded, "A month later, he took six months leave. He said he couldn't watch another man live his future. Told me he was going to teach for a semester." Catherine looked up, connecting the dots in her head, "Harvard. Which I guess is where he met you."

Sara gave her an affirmative, "I was a senior. I was all set to go work in a lab in Iowa. I wanted to work in particle physics and phenomenology. But I needed one more credit, so I took his lecture on forensics. I guess I don't need to tell you that the man's a genius. In two and a half hours, I had completely changed careers. I called up Iowa, told them thanks but no thanks, and then called San Francisco to see if their lab had any openings. It didn't, but they were looking for a new intern with the ME. I figured any experience was good experience…The next time I saw Professor Grissom, I told him what I had done and he agreed with me; working with a coroner was a good idea."

Sara shifted uncomfortably, as if what she was about to say didn't sit well with her, "We went to dinner. It wasn't supposed to be a date. Well, I guess I wanted it to be, but it wasn't. Mostly I just asked him everything about everything."

Catherine laughed, "I can so see that; twenty-two year old Sara Sidle, long-legged, totally unaware of how gorgeous she is, and desperate to learn anything about anything."

"Yeah, well. Until then, I had only dated women. I thought I was gay, but…"

"The mighty and mysterious Grissom magic?"

"Something like that. Anyway, as the months passed, we had more and more of our dinners. And I started to think that maybe he liked me, too. I've never been one for subtle-"

Catherine snorted at this, but Sara ignored her and continued, "So, finally I just asked him out."

"Really? That was brave. What did he say?"

"Oh, you know, typical Grissom. 'What he felt was immaterial, he was fifteen years older, he was my professor.' He thought I was an attractive, intelligent young woman, and that we would be great friends for the rest of our lives."

"Oh. Ouch."

"Yeah. So, at the end of the summer, we parted on friendly terms. I went to San Francisco and he returned to Las Vegas. We saw each other a few times a year; always him coming to see me."

"He came back a week after Lindsey was born. He held her in his arms and told me that he would always be here for both of us. That we would always be best friends. So we have."

"And you didn't get back together after the divorce came through?"

"Are you kidding? By then, you were here and I could cut the sexual tension in the lab with a feather."

"The one-sided sexual tension." Sara insisted, "Until the lab explosion last year. To be honest, I think I was only in love with him for a very short amount of time. Everything else was just residual infatuation."

"And now what?"

"And now…nothing. Now it kind of freaks me out that I let so many years slip away pining for a man who had no hope of every returning my love. Especially now, when I find out that I had little chance of ever being more than a rebound girl in the first place- not when the girl he was trying so hard to get over is so spectacular."

Catherine smiled, "Yeah?"

Sara hugged her tighter, "Yeah."

The redhead nuzzled into her favorite place under the brunette's chin, "So now what?"

"I don't know."

"We should probably talk about this most recent development."

"Which is?"

"Rebound girl meets break-up girl; parental guidance advised. It's a working title. It would be 'rebound girl meets break-up girl; NC-17' if I could feel my toes."

"It sounds like a porno series, like the next edition will include 'girls take on the naughty nurses,' or something."

"Let's see how hot the EMTs are when they get here and I'll let you know."

"Umm…how about no?" Sara's voice had an edge.

"We aren't jealous are we?"

Sara growled, "Are you telling me you would be okay with me taking on Hank in the back of an ambulance.

Catherine flushed, "Umm…how about no?"

"So we should talk?"

"Yeah, I guess we should."