A/N: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! You're the best!

I don't own CSI.

Sound Advice

"May I have this dance?"

"Of course," Sara smiled, reaching for Grissom's extended hand.

Returning her smile, he pulled her close. They began a waltz around the morgue, with Dr. Robbins playing the violin as accompaniment. David appeared, playing the piano, but it didn't sound like any piano Sara had ever heard before, it sounded like –

"Phone," she muttered groggily, struggling to wake up. She reached for the receiver on her nightstand, pushing the button to answer it. "Hello?"

"Sara?"

"Yeah?"

"It's Mary, sweetie. Oh, no, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"Maybe a little …"

"Oh, Sara, I'm so sorry. I keep forgetting that you've become nocturnal."

"Ha ha," Sara said, waking up more fully. "What's up? Other than me, thanks to you."

"I am so sorry," Mary said again.

"Don't worry about it. I needed to get up, anyway."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure," Sara said. "Now, what's going on? How are you?"

"Fine," Mary replied. "Um … what are you doing this weekend? Are you working?"

"No, I have the weekend off. Well, Friday and Saturday nights, anyway," Sara replied. She smiled. "It's my first weekend off since I moved to Vegas. I'm sort of excited."

"Well, how would you like some company?"

"Some company?" Sara repeated blankly.

"Yeah," Mary said, her excitement obvious in her voice. "Spring break starts on Friday, and I thought that maybe I could come out to visit you."

"Mary!" Sara shrieked, jumping to sit up in bed. "Are you serious?"

"I wouldn't joke about something like this!" Mary exclaimed. "How 'bout it? Can I come?"

"Are you kidding?" Sara laughed. "When will you get here?"

"Friday night, if it's all right with you."

"Definitely!"

"Great! I have free tickets coming from the flight I was bumped off the last time I flew home, and I want to use them. I'm thinking of booking a flight coming in Friday night and flying out Sunday afternoon. How does that sound?"

"Such a short trip," Sara sighed.

"I know," Mary said. "But, I'm going to leave you to visit Tom for a few days …"

Sara laughed. "Always second to the boyfriend."

"Not really," Mary smiled. "I'll see you first."

"I can't wait," Sara said. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

"I know," Mary sighed. "I can't wait, either."

For the rest of the week, Sara could talk of nothing but Mary's impending visit. Her coworkers were infected by her enthusiasm, even if they had never met her former roommate.

"You'll come out with us one night, won't you?" Sara asked as they sat in the break room together, eating breakfast. "We can all go out for dinner or drinks or coffee … anything really. I want her to meet all of you."

"Of course," Nick replied at once. "I can't wait to meet her."

"I'm in," Greg agreed.

"Sure," Warrick said.

"Love to," Catherine added.

"Grissom?" Sara asked tentatively, noticing that he had not looked up from the journal he was reading. "Will you come out with us? I want you to meet Mary, too."

He looked up to see her looking straight at him. Her big, brown eyes were open wide, beseechingly, and he was falling into them, getting lost in them. He wondered if she knew how hard it was to deny her anything – from the simplest request to the most complex – when she looked at him like that.

"Grissom?" she asked again.

"Of course I'll come," he said.

Nick and Warrick looked at each other in surprise. They could rarely convince Grissom to go out with them – whether it was just the two of them or the entire team – but Sara had managed to get him out of his shell with one simple question. Catherine, too, raised her eyebrows. Maybe he was ready to get some personal stuff.

A beaming smile broke out across Sara's face at Grissom's response. "Thanks," she said. "I can't wait for you guys to meet her. You're all going to get along so well."

Thursday's shift went incredibly slowly for Sara. All she wanted to do was to go home so that she could sleep and get ready for Mary's Friday afternoon arrival. By the end of the shift, she was sitting alone in the break room, willing the time to go quickly until she was released from the lab.

"You know, I've heard that, contrary to popular belief, looking at your watch does not make time go faster."

Sara looked at Nick with both annoyance and amusement. "You're a real comedian. You should have your own show on some cable network."

"You think so?" he asked, pretending to consider it. "Maybe I'll look into that."

"Do."

He smiled and sat down next to her. "You look bored."

"I am."

"Finished your case?"

"Yup."

"Isn't there some paperwork you could do?"

Sara just looked at him in disbelief.

"Right. You're Sara. Your paperwork was done on time, if not early."

"I'm not Grissom."

"Yeah, I think we're good with only one of him." Nick glanced around, making sure that they could not be overheard. "Look, shift ends in thirty minutes. If you want to leave now, I'll make sure that no one knows it."

"How on earth are you going to pull that off?"

"I'll send everyone who asks where you are on wild goose chases to find you."

"I don't know …"

"Oh, come on. You haven't taken a single sick day, vacation day or personal day all year. I think you're entitled to a little time."

"What if Grissom finds out? Won't I be in trouble?"

Nick glanced around again, then leaned in closer to her. "Look, between you and me, I think there's something to Warrick's theory that Grissom has a little thing for you."

Sara felt the heat rushing to her face as she blushed. "Why would you think that?"

Nick shrugged. "We're trained to look at the evidence. Once you start, you can't stop. It's a hazard of the job."

"Well, assuming you're right – which, incidentally, you're not – what do Grissom's personal feelings have to do with anything?"

"I'm just saying that he wouldn't care if you left early." Nick grinned. "Even if Warrick's completely off-base –"

"Which he is," Sara interrupted.

"Grissom still does care about you as a friend, and I'm sure he won't begrudge you the twenty-five minutes that you are now taking as personal time."

"You'll make my excuses?"

"To everyone who asks for you. Just leave now. If anyone sees you going out, say that you left something in your car, and you need to get it. If anyone sees you driving off, tell them that you need to check something at a crime scene."

Sara raised an eyebrow. "You're really good at this cover story stuff."

Nick shrugged. "You don't grow up with as many siblings as I have without getting good at cover stories. Someone was always trying to cover someone's tracks – not always their own, I might add. Don't worry, darlin'. I won't sell you out."

Sara smiled and stood up. "I owe you one."

"Good. You can buy me a drink when we go out tomorrow night."

"You've got it," Sara grinned. "Thanks, Nicky. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Sara."

Sara crept out of the lab with a stealth usually reserved for spies, and made her way to her car. By the time she pulled out of the parking lot, it was only ten minutes before shift ended. But, she reminded herself, she rarely made it this far into her homeward journey less than thirty minutes after the end of her shift, so Nick's advice had been well worth taking.

Once home, Sara cleaned her already immaculate apartment, then fell into bed for as much sleep as she could convince body to get before leaving to meet Mary's plane. An on and off insomniac, she was certain that this would be one day she would be completely unable to sleep.

Sara did manage to sleep. Perhaps she didn't get as much as she really needed, but it would be enough to get her though the day. Her nerves jangled as she drove to the airport. She couldn't believe that she would see her best friend in less than an hour. A grin spread across her face and showed no signs of fading. She hadn't been this happy and excited in a long time.

Thankfully, Mary's flight was on time. Sara didn't know if she would be able to handle a delay. She realized that it was probably a good thing that Mary had only given her a few days' notice of her visit. She wasn't sure that she could have survived waiting months to see her.

The plane docked at its gate, and passengers slowly began to trickle off. Sara stood alone, rocking slightly back and forth as she waited. She smiled as she thought of how she must have looked, but couldn't make herself stop. No one had ever accused her of being patient.

Finally, Mary stepped off the jet way. With a smothered shriek, she raced across the waiting area and threw herself at Sara. Laughing, Sara opened her arms to hug her friend tightly.

"I can't believe you're really here!" Sara exclaimed. "How was your flight?"

"Fine, fine," Mary said, pulling away. She grinned. "It's so great to see you, Sara."

"You, too," Sara smiled. "Did you check luggage?"

"Yeah."

"To baggage claim, then."

The girls collected Mary's suitcase, then drove to Sara's apartment. She gave Mary the tour, ending with the bedroom.

"I only have a one bedroom, so you're stuck sharing with me," she said, opening the door so that Mary could store her luggage inside.

"I think I can handle that," Mary said, putting her suitcase inside the room. She looked at Sara's large, queen size bed. "What made you buy such a big bed? You always had a double in our apartment."

"Because I liked it," Sara said as they walked back to the living room. "And, because you need a place to sleep when you come to visit me. We haven't shared a bed in years."

Mary grinned. "Well, as long as it was a rational decision."

"So, what do you want to do? Tour? Gamble? Shop?"

"Whatever you say, tour guide."

Sara smiled, remembering the last time she had played tour guide. That night she had taken Grissom out for dinner in San Francisco. "Well, tomorrow night we're going out with my coworkers. I really want you to meet them. Other than that, I don't have anything definite planned."

"I get to meet them?" Mary asked, an excited sparkle jumping into her eyes. "All of them?"

"All of them." Sara sat down on the couch. She had a feeling this wasn't going to be a quick conversation.

"Even Grissom?" Mary asked, sitting down next to her.

"Yes, even Grissom."

Mary giggled. "I thought I wasn't allowed to meet him until you were engaged to marry him."

"That was back when I thought that I would marry him someday."

"You've given up hope?"

"On the institution of marriage? Years ago."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Yes, Miss Feminist, I already knew that. I meant, have you given up on Grissom?"

"Pretty much," Sara sighed. "He's killing me, Mar. Every time I decide that it's never going to happen, he does something that makes me think that he cares about me."

"Did anything come of your conversation about the Delta Incident?"

"Not really. He did make some rather suggestive comments – you know, flirty – for awhile, but he's backed off." She looked disappointed for a moment, then brightened. "But, according to Nick and Warrick, the fact that he's willing to come out for drinks with us is amazing."

"Not exactly a social butterfly?"

"Quite the opposite."

"Well, I'll reserve judgment until after I've met him," Mary said. "Now, I believe you suggested shopping?"

Sara nodded with a grin. "Get your purse."

"What are you wearing tonight?"

"That," Sara said, pointing to the frilly tank top and dark jeans she had laid across her bed.

"Heels?"

"Always."

Mary smiled. "So, not the fanciest of places, but not a dress-down event?"

"Well put," Sara smiled.

Mary nodded and began to dig through her suitcase. "I'm a little nervous," she admitted.

"Why?" Sara asked in surprise. "I'm sure whatever clothes you choose will be fine. You have great taste."

"Thanks," Mary smiled. "But I'm not worried about my clothes."

"What are you worried about, then?"

Mary shrugged. "I don't know … it's almost like I'm meeting your boyfriend for the first time."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Mar, we've been over this. Grissom is not my boyfriend."

"I didn't mean like that," Mary said, selecting a denim skirt. "I just meant that everyone I'm meeting tonight means a lot to you, and it's a little intimidating to meet them."

"Don't be intimidated," Sara said. "They're great. You're going to love them."

"I'm sure I will," Mary said, rejecting several tops. "I just can't help being a little nervous."

"Well, you don't need to be."

"I know." She finally found the silky top she wanted. "How's this?"

"Beautiful."

"Great. I have an outfit."

Sara smiled. "Look, I'm going to take a shower before we go. Can you amuse yourself for a little bit?"

Mary smiled and picked up the remote. "That's why God invented cable."

Although she was reluctant to admit it after all the bolstering comments she had made earlier, Sara was a nervous wreck as she and Mary drove to the bar where they were to meet her coworkers for drinks. She wanted so desperately for everyone to get along, but was worried that it wouldn't work out.

Catherine and Warrick were already there when they arrived. They had commandeered a large table, which they were saving for the group.

"Come on," Sara said, leading Mary across the room.

"Hey, Sara," Catherine smiled as they approached.

"Hi," Sara said, sitting down across from them. "This is Mary, guys. Mary, this is Catherine and this is Warrick."

"Hi," Mary said, shaking hands.

"It's great to meet you," Catherine said. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Oh, really?" Mary smiled.

"All good," Warrick said with a wink. "Sara thinks very highly of you."

Mary grinned at Sara. "Well, I think very highly of her, too."

Sara smiled. "I'll make sure that I pay everyone off before the end of the night. That was ten bucks each, right?"

They were all still laughing when Greg appeared, his hair spikier than usual for the occasion. He grinned as he sat down next to Mary.

"Hi," he said, reaching out to shake her hand. "Greg Sanders. You must be Mary."

"Yes, I am," she smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Greg."

Greg looked at Sara around Mary. "You didn't tell us how pretty she is."

Sara laughed. "Sorry, Greg. Next time I have a friend in town, I'll make sure you get head shots first."

"Hey, you guys didn't start the party without me, did you?"

"Nick!" Sara exclaimed.

"Hi, darlin'," Nick smiled, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

"This is Mary," Sara said, indicating her friend.

"Hi, Mary," Nick grinned, shaking her hand. "Welcome to Vegas."

"Thanks," she smiled.

Nick walked around to sit next to Warrick, across from Greg. "Are we drinking yet? Sara owes me a beer."

"Why?" Warrick asked.

Sara smiled and gave Nick a disbelieving look. "For reasons that Nick promised to keep quiet, or he won't get his beer."

Nick laughed. "You're making it sound very torrid, sweetheart."

"Okay, out with it. What is going on between you two?" Catherine asked.

Sara smiled. "Okay, I can tell you, but Grissom can't find out."

"Fair enough."

"I wanted to leave work early on Friday morning so I could get some sleep before Mary got here. So, Nick promised to cover for me, and I ducked out early."

"Does this mean you don't owe me a beer? They all know now!"

"You told me she was in the locker room on Friday morning, but I couldn't find her anywhere!" Catherine exclaimed. "I was so convinced that I kept missing her." She turned from Nick to Sara. "He did a good job. You owe him that beer."

Laughing, Sara stood up. "Okay, I'll take orders. What does everyone want?"

"Beer," everyone said in unison. They all laughed at themselves.

"That's easy enough," Sara smiled.

"I'll help you carry stuff back," Mary said, standing up.

"Me, too," Greg offered.

Nick and Warrick exchanged a look and a smile.

Sara stood at the bar waiting for the six beers she had ordered, listening to Greg tell Mary inane stories to make her laugh. She didn't notice anyone approaching until a hand touched her arm. She jumped and turned to see Grissom standing behind her.

"Hi," he said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Grissom!" she exclaimed. "You came!"

"I said I would," he smiled. He nodded toward Greg and Mary. "Is that your friend with Greg, or he find did himself a friend of his own?"

"No, that's Mary," Sara laughed. She reached out to grab Mary's wrist, pulling her out of her conversation with Greg. "Mary, this is Grissom, our supervisor."

"Hi," Mary said, holding out her hand to shake his. "It's great to finally meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine," Grissom said, giving her a smile. He glanced around. "Are the others here? I thought I was running late."

"Yeah, they have a table over there. We're just getting drinks. Can we get you one?"

"Sure."

"We're playing delivery service," Greg offered. "If you want to sit down, we'll bring them back."

"Thanks," Grissom smiled, turning to join the others.

Mary gave Sara a significant look. "He seems nice."

"Nice? Grissom?" Greg laughed. "He's a little scary."

"Here are your beers," the bartender said, putting six bottles down in front of Sara.

"Thanks. Oh, hey, we need one more."

The man nodded and added another. "Twenty-eight dollars all together."

Sara threw down money to cover the drinks and a tip, then passed bottles to her assistants. "To the table."

"Right," Greg said, leading the way.

They arrived at their table and passed out the bottles of beer to a chorus of "thanks" from the group. Sara resumed her seat at the end of the table, with Mary beside her and Catherine across from her. Grissom was seated at the opposite end of the table, next to Nick. Noticing this, Mary leaned in closer.

"How are you with the seating arrangements?" she asked quietly.

"It's fine," Sara shrugged.

"Sar …"

"What?" Sara asked defensively. "Drop it."

Mary nodded and took a sip of her beer.

"So, Mary, Sara tells us you're working on a doctorate?" Catherine said, obviously trying to make Mary feel comfortable with them.

"That's right," Mary agreed.

"I've always liked smart girls," Greg said, putting his arm across the back of Mary's chair.

"Down boy," Warrick grinned. "You be nice to Sara's friend."

"I'm being very nice," Greg replied. "I'm just trying to make her feel welcome."

Laughter rang out throughout the table; it was clear that everyone thought Greg's cover for hitting on Mary was flimsy at best. He grinned along with them.

"I hate you investigator types," he said. "You see through all my cover stories."

"Damn straight," Warrick laughed. "So, watch what you say. Don't you remember the first time that Nick and I took you drinking with us?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Greg said, flushing slightly.

"Oh, how could you have forgotten?" Nick laughed. He glanced up and down the table at the others. "That would be the night that our boy tried to convince a lovely young lady that he worked at Area 51, and had seen aliens."

"She said she liked science fiction," Greg said.

"Right," Warrick agreed. "And you told her that you were the source who gave the sci-fi writers their material. Apparently, all sci-fi books are based on real encounters Greg has had with other life forms on the job."

"Tell me she didn't believe that," Catherine said, closing her eyes.

"He did sort of shoot himself in the foot when he couldn't name a single sci-fi author," Nick chuckled.

"At least I didn't tell a girl that I'm a cowboy," Greg said, giving Nick a scathing look.

"I am, doofus," Nick laughed. "I grew up on a ranch in Texas."

"And traded it all to chase the criminals of Las Vegas," Warrick grinned. "I'll admit, Nicky, that it is a bit of a stretch – childhood notwithstanding."

Chatter broke out all around the table as other stories began to surface. Catherine admitted to routinely giving a fake name and number to the guys who hit on her in bars; Warrick admitted to receiving a few fake names and numbers. Nick and Greg both confessed to giving out their business cards to girls in bars, hoping that their jobs would make them seem more impressive.

After three beers, the stories became dirtier. Catherine admitted to having sex in a bar restroom; Warrick confessed to doing so in a bar parking lot. Both Nick and Greg stated that they had had sex in past girlfriends' parents' houses.

"What do you have for us, Sara?" Greg asked.

Sara took another sip of her drink. "I'm a member of the mile high club."

Catherine's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?"

"She is," Mary, who, like Sara, was feeling quite mellow, affirmed. "Even Grissom knows about that, right?"

Four head swiveled in unison to stare at Grissom. He smiled.

"You knew?" Catherine exclaimed.

"I did."

"And you didn't tell us?" she demanded, highly affronted.

"Maybe I'm better at keeping secrets than you, dear," he said.

Catherine shook her head. "I'm in a parallel universe. That is the only explanation for what's happening here."

Laughing, Grissom reached down to answer his ringing cell phone. He stood up and made his way out of the bar to talk.

"You told Grissom?" Catherine asked.

"It was … case related."

"How?"

Sara giggled. "Remember that couple from the airplane case?"

"Oh, right," Warrick said. "They were card carrying members of the mile high club."

"Well … let's just say that I had to explain how I knew what was going on in that bathroom."

Everyone was still laughing when Grissom returned. He stopped next to Sara, putting his hand on her arm and leaning down to talk to her.

"I'm so sorry to do this," he said. "But, I just got called out to a scene. Apparently, there's a dead body with a lot of insect activity, and the coroner is having a rough time pinpointing time of death."

"Go," Sara said at once.

"I'm sorry," Grissom said again. "I know you had this whole evening planned …"

"Don't worry about it," Sara replied. "You need to do your job, Griss."

"Thanks," he said. "I'll see you at work tomorrow night."

"Right."

He stood up and moved to her other side. "Mary, it was very nice meeting you."

"You're leaving?"

"Yes, I am. I was just called in to work."

"Oh, well, it was nice meeting you, too," she smiled. "I hope we'll see each other again."

"Of course," he replied. "You'll be back to see Sara again, won't you?"

"Yeah, I will," Mary said, giving Sara a smile.

"Good." He straightened up again, and called a good bye to the others.

"Well, Grissom's gone," Greg said as their supervisor left the bar. "Can we bust out the really wrong stories now?"

Everyone laughed again, and Warrick flagged down a waiter to order another round.

It was late when the completely sobered up Sara and Mary returned to Sara's apartment. Although they were both tired, they were both reluctant to go to bed on their last night together. They collapsed onto the couch to discuss their evening.

"So, what did you think of everyone?"

"They're nice," Mary smiled. "That Greg is something else."

"That sums him up pretty well," Sara laughed.

"Nick is a great guy, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he is," Sara smiled. "He's the one you'd want to take home to meet your parents."

"Are you …?"

Sara shook her head. "He's like a brother to me. He has been since my first day, really."

Mary nodded.

"What did you think of Warrick and Catherine?"

"Are they dating?" she asked at once.

Sara shook her head. "Not that I know of."

"They're cool, though."

"Yeah. Cath's a little tough, but she's one hell of a loyal friend."

"I could see that." Mary stopped without discussing Grissom. She knew that Sara was dying to hear her thoughts about him, but wanted to make her work for it.

"You're going to make me ask, aren't you?" Sara sighed.

Mary smiled. "Maybe."

"Fine," Sara replied. "What do you think of Grissom?"

"Honest answer?"

"Absolutely."

Mary sighed. "He seems like a really nice guy. Upstanding. Sort of Nick-ish in the 'take him home to meet your parents' thing. But, Sara, I think he's married to his job."

"He's a workaholic," Sara nodded. "But, so am I. So are you, if you get right down to it."

"Yeah, but I don't know … it just feels different with him." She bit her lip. "I'd forget him, Sara. Find yourself someone who will be willing to put you first, not his job."

Sara shook her head. "You don't get it, Mar. With this job … the job always comes first."

"Hey, you know what's best for you," Mary said. "I'm just saying … I would find a distraction, if I were you."

"I don't need a distraction. Grissom and I are coworkers and friends, and that's where it ends. I'm fine with that."

"All right," Mary said noncommittally. "I'm just worried about you, Sara."

"Don't be," Sara said almost defiantly. "I'm fine."