A/N: Well, the school year is off to a stressful start! I'm going to stick to my promise of weekly updates for now. I'd love to say that I'll have another chapter posted this weekend, but I'm not sure that I'll have the time to devote to it – my students come back tomorrow, so things will only get crazier for me. Hopefully, I'll be able to increase my updates in the future, once I get settled into a routine again.

This is "bridge" chapter; it's a little shorter than the ones I've posted recently. I'm more excited about the next one – it has a bit more action in it.

Thanks as always for reading and reviewing! To everyone in the US, happy Labor Day!

I don't own CSI. Some inspiration, but no dialogue, for this chapter came from episodes 323, "Inside the Box" and 407, "Jackpot."

Comfort Levels

The next day was horrible. Sara spent most of it in indecision over calling in sick. She wanted so much to avoid Grissom, and not being at work seemed like the best way to do so.

But, on balance, she knew that she couldn't do it. For one thing, she had never called in sick. If she did so now, the entire team would assume that she was on death's door, and would probably show up at her door bearing chicken soup.

But, more importantly, she had to do this. She had to go in and face him, because if she didn't do it the first day after he had rejected her, she would never be able to do it. And so, she got ready for work and left on time.

Leaving her house turned out to be easy compared to leaving her car. She parked in her usual space in the lot, turned off the engine and picked up her purse. Then, she sat still, staring at the building. The idea of going in was daunting.

Finally, she took a deep breath and opened the door. She had to do this. She had come this far; she couldn't stop now.

"Hey, Sara!"

Sara turned and saw Nick walking toward her, grinning broadly. "Hi, Nick," she said, slamming her car door shut.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he drew level with her.

"Fine," she said.

"Your hand isn't bothering you?"

"Not that much," she said.

"You're running a bit late today," he commented, as if explaining why he had questioned her about her health.

Sara's eyebrows shot up. "Are we late?" She hadn't thought that she had been sitting in her car that long.

"No, but shift starts in ten minutes. Aren't you always here at least half an hour early?"

Sara visibly relaxed. "Oh. Well, I had some issues getting myself moving today."

Nick smiled. "I'm glad you made it in."

"Me, too," she said, smiling back.

Sara entered the lab with Nick at her side. They stopped in the locker room to drop off their things, then continued on to the break room. Warrick and Catherine were already there, talking about Lindsey's latest fight at school. Sara shook her head.

"I can't believe that sweet little girl would be getting into fights," she said.

Catherine sighed. "Losing her dad has been hard on her."

"Yeah, I know it is," Sara said.

Catherine looked at her sharply. Although Sara didn't continue, her tone alone told Catherine that the younger woman really did understand her daughter's plight.

"Hi, everyone," Grissom said, walking into the break room.

Sara stiffened. This was the moment she had been dreading.

"Catherine, Warrick, you're coming with me to check out a double homicide at the Monaco," Grissom said. "Nick, you and Sara have an accident on the highway."

"The excitement never ends," Nick said, taking the assignment slip from Grissom, who was careful not to look at Sara. "Come on, Sara, let's go."

Sara nodded. "Bye, guys."

"Bye," Catherine said.

"Have fun," Warrick grinned.

Grissom finally made eye contact with Sara. He didn't say anything to her, but the sorrow in his eyes pierced through her.

It's your own damn fault, she fumed inwardly. I gave you a chance. You threw it away. You have no right to look at me like that.

She gave him a look of cool indifference, and followed Nick out of the building.

Any awkwardness between Grissom and Sara was granted a reprieve several days later. Sara and Nick sat in the break room, waiting for Grissom to come in and hand them a new assignment. Warrick was still out in the field on his last case, so they weren't surprised that he wasn't there with them. They were, however, surprised by the absence of their other teammate.

"Where's Catherine?" Sara asked.

Nick shrugged. "I'm sure she'll get here."

"Right."

"So, how's your hand?"

"Great," Sara said, flexing it experimentally. "I finally got the stitches out this afternoon."

"That's great!" Nick exclaimed. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Sara smiled.

"Hey, guys," Catherine said as she walked into the break room. "I've got a double homicide just off Strip for you."

Nick and Sara looked at each other in confusion.

"Where's Grissom?" Nick asked.

"He …" Catherine sighed. "Okay, truth?"

Nick and Sara looked at each other for a moment, then back at Catherine.

"Of course."

Catherine sighed again. "He had surgery yesterday."

Nick and Sara's jaws dropped. Horror crossed both their faces.

"Nothing like that!" Catherine exclaimed. "He … he needed some minor surgery on his ears. He'll be back in a few weeks."

Sara's racing heart gradually slowed down. "Thank God," she murmured.

"So, we're on our own till he gets back?" Nick asked.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "No, I'm in charge till he gets back."

"That's what I meant," Nick said.

"That doesn't count as 'on your own,' Nicky."

"Don't take it so personally," Nick laughed. He took the assignment slip from Catherine. "Thanks, Cath. Come on, Sara, let's go."

Grissom was gone for a month, during which time Catherine took over for him. She did a great job of running the unit, but it wasn't quite the same as having Grissom there.

Sara was pretty much the only one who never mentioned missing Grissom while he was gone. It wasn't that she didn't miss him – every day without seeing him was terrible. But, she was glad that they had the time to recover from her humiliating decision to ask him out to dinner. With each passing day, the memory faded a bit. Although thinking about it still brought a red flush of shame to her cheeks, it became less painful. When he finally did come back, she knew that she would be ready to face him.

"Hi, everyone."

Sara, Nick and Warrick had been sitting in the break room, talking and joking; Grissom's usual greeting brought an end to their conversation and smiles to their faces.

"Welcome back, Grissom!"

He smiled. "Thanks. It's good to be back." He paused and cleared his throat. "There's something I need to tell you all before we start our shift today."

They exchanged glances, completely unsure of where he was going with this.

"Greg Sanders has made it clear to me that he would like to become a CSI."

"Greggo?" Nick laughed. "I never thought he was serious about that."

"He's very serious," Grissom said. "I want to give him a chance to do some fieldwork. If it works out, then he'll join us as a CSI. If not, then he can continue on as a lab tech."

"Who's going to train him?" Warrick asked.

"All of us," Grissom said. "If there's something you're working on in the lab and Greg isn't busy, have him help you. If there's a time when he can go out into the field with you, take him along. He understands quite a bit about what we do; we just need to work on his skills."

"Who's going to run DNA?" Nick asked.

"For now, Greg will pull double duty," Grissom said. "We'll work on finding him a replacement." He glanced around at all of them. "Any other questions?"

They all shook their heads and Grissom nodded.

"Great. For tonight, we've got a homicide," he said. "Catherine and I are going to check it out. The rest of you need to stay here for now; we'll call you if we need help."

Sara, Nick and Warrick all nodded their agreement. Nick and Warrick got up almost immediately; they still needed to finish their report on their last case. Left alone together, Grissom looked at Sara.

"How are you?" he asked.

"Fine," she said. "How are you? We've all been worried about you."

"I'm fine," he said calmly. "Better than ever, in fact." He paused. "Your hand is all right?"

"My hand?" Sara asked with a frown. "Oh! The stitches! Yeah, it's fine. Barely even a scar." She extended her hand for him to see.

Grissom leaned forward, taking her hand in his. "They did a great job."

She nodded, fighting the urge to curl her fingers around his. "Yup," she agreed.

Grissom released her hand and smiled at her. "I need to go find Catherine so we can get to the scene. I'll see you later, though."

Sara smiled back. "Right. See you later."

Grissom smiled once more, then left Sara alone in the break room. Sara exhaled slowly, curling her shaking fingers into a fist. Why did he always manage to make her melt? Why couldn't she just get over him?

"So, she actually gave you her number after a line like that?"

Warrick laughed. "Never underestimate the power of a cheesy line."

"Okay, you're my friend, so I'll be honest," Sara said. "If a guy ever said anything like that to me, I'd walk away."

"Not everyone is as difficult to please as you are," Warrick grinned.

"Why is Sara so difficult to please?" Nick asked as she walked into the break room.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Apparently, because she thinks that 'your daddy must be a thief, because he stole the stars for your eyes' is a cheesy line."

"A cheesy line that works," Warrick said.

Nick laughed. "That's some game you've got there, Warrick."

"Pathetic," Sara said, shaking her head.

"What would it take you win you over, Miss Difficult?" Warrick asked.

Sara cocked her head to one side, considering her answer. "Honesty," she said at last.

Warrick laughed. "Good luck finding that in Vegas, girl."

"Hey, did you guys see this?" Nick asked from his spot by the notice board.

"That thing about the car for sale?" Sara asked. "Greg put that up. He's trying to sell the car he bought in college. I think it was old and falling apart when he bought it. Don't even think about it."

"My car is just fine, thank you," Nick grinned. "I was talking about this new position."

"New position?" Warrick asked.

"Yeah. It says they're looking to promote someone to Key CSI."

"Key CSI?" Sara asked, her interest piqued.

"Yeah. It says that anyone interested has to give an application to their supervisor, who will nominate someone from his or her shift for the promotion. The lab director will choose someone from those who have been nominated," Nick explained. He looked thoughtful. "Might be worth it to apply."

"Maybe," Sara agreed, already mentally composing her application letter.

"No way," Warrick said.

Sara and Nick turned to look at him surprise.

"I'm happy where I am," he said. "Remember that night Grissom gave me shift? It was hell. I'll be the low man on the totem pole for the rest of my life, and die perfectly happy. I don't want any more responsibility."

"Don't sell yourself short," Nick said. "You did a great job that night."

Warrick laughed. "I had to call Catherine for help because I was afraid to call Grissom. I don't think that counts as doing a great job."

"You did fine," Sara said. "Besides, you're not the low man on the totem pole."

"Who is, then?"

Sara and Nick exchanged a grin. "Greg," they said together.

Warrick laughed. "Yeah, that's true. I have to say, though, I've loved giving him all the stuff I don't want to do."

"Me, too," Nick said cheerfully. "He's so eager to learn, too."

"Be nice to Greg, guys," Sara laughed. "He really does want to learn, not to be abused."

"You're right," Warrick smiled. "Abusing him is just a fun by-product."

"Hey, guys," Catherine said as she walked into the break room. "I have a new assignment for you."

Sara and Nick exchanged a frown.

"Where's Grissom?" Nick asked.

"On a safari," Catherine said, rolling her eyes.

"Care to elaborate?" Sara asked.

"Someone sent Doc Robbins a severed human head," Catherine said with a sigh. "Grissom's gone to Jackpot to try to find the rest of it."

"Jackpot?" Sara repeated. "Where's that?"

"That's something we'd all like to know," Catherine replied. "I'm Grissom's contact person here, so I need the three of you to go check out this assault case."

"We're on it," Warrick said, taking the slip from her. "See you later, Cath."

"Good luck," she smiled.

Grissom's jaunt to Jackpot lasted several days. The graveyard shift operated fine under Catherine's control. She helped Grissom with his case from the lab, processing things that he sent her and, once it came out that the severed head belonged to a UNLV student, running to check leads that he uncovered.

The second day that Grissom was gone, Catherine came into the break room for lunch giggling. Sara, Nick, Warrick and Greg looked at her with confused smiles.

"What's funny?" Nick asked.

"Grissom and the villagers of Sleepy Hollow," she giggled.

"Why?" Warrick asked.

"They all think I'm his wife!" she exclaimed, bursting into peals of laughter.

The guys all began to laugh loudly, which covered for the polite, forced laughter of Sara.

"Why do they think that?" Sara asked.

Catherine shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. But, every time I talk to him, one of them says something about his wife being on the phone. The last time I called, he called me 'dear' when he picked up."

Nick, Warrick and Greg laughed even harder.

"I can't imagine Grissom calling anyone 'dear,'" Warrick said. "Does he have the ability to use terms of endearment?"

Sara flushed slightly, a vague memory of him calling her "honey" sliding around in the back of her mind.

"I didn't think so," Greg said. He shook his head. "I can't even imagine the guy with a girlfriend."

"No way," Nick said.

"Definitely not," Warrick agreed.

Catherine shrugged and smiled. "Well, for now, he's my husband, so all those other ladies had better back off!"

Sara shook her head, forcing a smile. "I thought you had sworn off marriage."

Catherine laughed. "I think Grissom swore off marriage before the fifth grade. We'd make quite the pair, wouldn't we?"

"Poor Lindsey," Greg laughed. "Imagine Grissom as your father!"

"Lindsey loves Grissom," Catherine said at once. "And he just adores her. The two of them are darling together. It's like he becomes this different person." She smiled. "But, there is no chance that he'll ever become her father."

"Aw, Cath, you've broken the hearts of the citizens of Jackpot," Nick grinned. "They already had your wedding planned."

"Yeah," Warrick laughed. "The main course at the reception was going to be squirrel."

They all laughed again, barely noticing that Sara had slipped from the room. She walked quickly down the hall, not stopping until she reached the ladies' room. She went inside and leaned on a sink, staring at herself in the mirror.

"Calm down, Sara," she whispered to herself. "It was all a joke. Catherine was laughing hysterically at the thought."

She sighed, knowing that what really bothered her wasn't the fact that the people of Jackpot thought that Catherine was Grissom's wife. It was the fact that her team found the idea of Grissom having a girlfriend so laughable.

Grissom's thoughts tumbled around his head in a confused mess as he drove home from Jackpot. The case was solved, no thanks to the locals. He shook his head, remembering exactly why he hated small towns. They were far too close-knit for his taste. He preferred the anonymity that a big city offered.

His confusion, though, had very little to do with the case, and everything to do with comments made by the townspeople. Every phone call he had made to or received from Catherine had been met with the supposition that she was his wife. He had played along with their theory, finding it terribly funny.

Looking back, however, he was shocked by his own casual attitude toward the situation. How was it that he could refer to Catherine as his wife, call her "dear" on the phone, invite her over for dinner or drinks … yet not be able to go out for dinner with Sara when she invited him?

He sighed, knowing and hating the answer. With Catherine, there was no chance that anything would happen. They had been friends far too long, and had established a strong professional relationship. He found her to be an exceptionally attractive woman, but was not the least bit attracted to her.

In short, Catherine was safe. Sara, on the other hand, was not.

Sara had been his friend for years, too, and they, too, had a strong professional relationship. The difference was that with Sara, there was always something more swirling just beneath the surface – something that he was terrified to examine, not truly wanting to know what it was. Something that could jeopardize the life he had and the relationship they currently shared.

A voice in his head – one that sounded remarkably like Catherine's – jumped on that thought. What relationship?

Grissom shook his head as the lights of Las Vegas loomed before him. He couldn't let it happen. It was better this way. They were both happier – better off.

Weren't they?