Chapter 2

Sunday May 28th, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada
Stokes Residence
10:26 p.m. P.S.T

"Nick! You better hurry up or Catherine's gonna have your ass for being late!" Vittoria called from the kitchen.

"I know, I know. I'm going," Nick said as he raced into the kitchen throwing his jacket on as he went and giving Vittoria a quick kiss before grabbing the bottle of water she handed him and heading for the front door. "Sara?" Nick asked as he opened the door, only to find her standing on the other side, her hand raised to knock.

"Wow, I almost got to knock on your head," Sara mused as she lowered her hand. "Hello, how are you, why aren't you at work, and where's Tori?" she continued as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ha, ha," countered Nick. "Hi. I'm fine. I'm on my way and she's in the kitchen," Nick said as he stepped out and around Sara.

"Have fun at work," Sara called after him before grabbing the suitcase and stepping inside. "Tori?" she called as she shut the door.

"What are you doing here?" asked Vittoria as she leant up against the doorframe leading into the kitchen, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, you forgot your luggage and cell phone back east," Sara shrugged as she set it down. "Well, that and a 'oh hey, I'm heading home, see you later Sara', or anything along those lines...oh, and did I mention an explanation? That would have been a good thing..." she added as an after thought. "Ignoring all that, are you okay?" she asked concern evident.

"I'm fine," Vittoria replied flatly.

"And you're a horrible liar," Sara countered. "Okay, there is chocolate in this place right? We get chocolate, maybe a drink or two, sit and talk, yes?"

"There's nothing to talk about Sara," Vittoria said as she turned and walked back into the kitchen and started putting the dishes away again, a task she was doing when Sara first showed up.

"Well, can we talk about when you got married?" Sara asked as she followed her. She had planned to ignore that little gold band at first...even if she had initially been ready to trip over her own two feet when she first saw it.

"This morning," Vittoria said, refusing to look at Sara as she continued with the dishes. "Not that it matters any."

"How does your getting married, not matter?" Sara asked flabbergasted. "And why wasn't I invited to this wedding? I introduced you for crap's sake. You're my best friend, he's like a brother, and do I get an invitation...no..." Sighing she leant against the counter. "Tell me at least Catherine wasn't there because that would have been undeniably wrong if she was there and I wasn't..."

"Only Peter was there," Vittoria said quietly.

"Well, I suppose I can't complain. Pete did get pictures right?" Sara asked with a smile.

"There's one on the mantle."

Sara nodded and walked over to look, "Venetian, nice choice," she called before setting the picture back down. "So...what brought up the 'I'm not Shannon' thing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Vittoria said as she once again stood in the doorway leading into the kitchen.

"Envelope, letter saying 'Sorry, I'm not Shannon', ring...sounds familiar to me at least..."

"I'm surprised he showed it to you, course then again, why wouldn't he. You are his 'little sister' after all…" Vittoria began before shaking her head and pushing off the wall. "You know what, I don't want to talk about this," she said as she walked over to where Sara had left her suitcase, grabbing it by the handle so she could take it into the bedroom. "Thank you for bringing this back. You know how to show yourself out," she said walking off towards the bedroom.

"Vittoria Cassandra Stark Stokes, stop your ass right there!" Sara snapped before stalking towards the stairs. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into you and to be honest I'm not going to make you tell. But here's the deal, a. yes he's my brother but that doesn't mean he tells me everything. b. I only know because he gave me the letter as I was there when it arrived and he fucking collapsed. c. He didn't tell me anything, so excuse me if I'm a bit confused over the fact that I go up to Boston and things are fine and dandy and come back to find you had disappeared and the only evidence you left behind that you weren't kidnapped was a letter saying 'I'm sorry I'm not Shannon' and an engagement ring. You're not getting out of talking to me, I'm not going to just stand by and be stuck in the middle with no fucking clue of what's going on, on either side. If I'm gonna be stuck in the middle I want to know what the hell happened!"

"You want to know what happened, fine," Vittoria snarled as she spun around to face Sara, her voice rising as her emotions finally broke loose. "I'll tell you what happened. Your bastard of a brother did it to me again. You warned me but did I listen. No. I stupidly let myself get involved with Jeth only to have my heart ripped out. I know I should have stayed. I know I shouldn't have left the way that I did. But I'm not perfect Sara. Nobody is. No. Wait. Correction. Shannon was perfect. Well guess what folks, I'm not Shannon and I'm not perfect."

"Okay," Sara nodded slowly. "Feel better now that that's out of your system?" she asked softly before holding a hand up. "Let me finish before you answer, I don't think you should have stayed you did what you had to in the situation, it's not your fault, you can't control your heart…just please next time you run off for a perfectly good reason...at least leave me more of an explanation. You have no idea the trouble I went to so I could keep my annoying bastard of a brother from trying to get out here when I figured the last thing you needed was to see him. So, chocolate?"

"You don't get it do you," Vittoria said, attempting to wipe away her tears. "I had him Sara. I finally had him. After twenty years of watching from the sidelines and being brushed off as nothing more than your friend that he had to tolerate, I had him. But it wasn't me he wanted."

"Oh Tori," Sara whispered.

"It wasn't my name on his lips. It wasn't me sharing his bed. When he looked at me it wasn't me he was seeing…it was Shannon," Vittoria sobbed as she collapsed to the floor, to overcome to remain standing.

"Jesus Jeth," Sara whispered under her breath as she sunk down next to her friend, carefully embracing her. "Shh, let it out Tori, let it out..."

"Oh God Sara, I didn't know what to do…I tried to leave him earlier in the evening but he wouldn't let me and then he asked me to marry him, only it wasn't me…" Vittoria cried as she seemed to collapse even further in on herself.

"I know Tori, I know," Sara whispered as she rubbed her friend's back. She had no idea how to even help her...she was going to strangle that man...

"I just…I had to get away…I couldn't face him come morning knowing it wasn't me he wanted to be waking up next to so I…I ran."

"It's okay, you did what you needed to do," Sara echoed softly.

Monday May 29th, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sidle Residence
3:08 a.m. P.S.T

Watching as the clock ticked over to eight after, Sara smirked before picking up the phone and dialing the familiar number. She had left Vittoria's just after midnight and found herself in the mood to tell a certain someone off...seeing as it was too early, she waited and munched on chocolate until now.

"Hello?"

"Good morning," she smiled when she heard the grogginess in his voice. "No coffee yet, huh?"

"Brat? You do realize the sun isn't even up yet right?"

"Quite so, but I need to chat so you get to wake up. Now, you know I love you like a brother Jeth, but the next time I see you in person I'm smacking you, very hard."

"Why?"

Sara just rolled her eyes at the confusion in his voice. "Bastard, you screwed up big time. And we're talking about the fact that you talk in your sleep another time. But I've seen her, she's alive, she's well...for the most part. And she's married..."

"What?" she heard him ask in shock, something crashing in the background. Sighing she found another container of Dibs before making her way to the couch to sit and explain the basics about Nick and Vittoria.

Then she'd yell at him.

Sunday December 31st, 2006
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sidle/Grissom Residence
11:45 p.m. P.S.T

Sara stretched out along the couch as she watched the people in Times Square celebrating the upcoming New Year. Glancing towards the kitchen she smiled when she saw Gil in there hunting for something, that ridiculous blue Hawaiian print shirt that he always wore. Rolling her eyes she looked back at the screen before glancing around the room. She smiled when she spotted the wedding picture she had gotten out of Nick and Tori over on the bookcase. Seven months and they were going strong, even with the insanity that revolved around the wedding itself. Jethro hadn't taken the news well in some regards but accepted it, he hadn't been to visit though, and instead Sara would go back and see him in Maryland. His memory was coming back in small sections, still not fully back but he was able to function amongst society.

Things in Las Vegas had gone pretty well since that day so long ago that she got back. After getting attacked by her co-workers, Sara had explained the relationship between her and Jeth, that his first wife had been her foster sister, and no she wasn't going into the details of why she was in the system. Catherine wasn't happy, but they let it go. The others also found out about her and Gil's relationship, though they still kept it under the radar for work and only the team and select members of the night employees knew about it. They had moved in together just before Thanksgiving, and it was rather nice being domesticated. Now, if only she could get Catherine to drop the pestering about when the wedding was going to be...

"You look lost in thought," Gil mused as he came around the side of the couch, plate in hand. Glancing up at him she shrugged before sitting up so he could sit, only to stretch back out using his lap as a pillow. "How much longer to the ball drops?"

"About twelve minutes," she answered before he nodded and picked up a nacho. Smiling to herself over the fact he had made fresh nachos without meat, she reached up to steal some, and they settled into relative quiet for the next ten minutes.

"You have sour cream on your nose," he pointed out with a smirk. Rolling her eyes she reached up to wipe it off before finding a napkin dropped on her face.

"Hey!" she grumbled as she reached up to pull it off, only to find a rose dangling above her head. Looking at it, then raising her eyes to look at him she just giggled, he was trying to look like he wasn't doing anything as he held the rose upside down over her head. "Weird man," she informed him as she reached up to grab the stem only to find something tied around it she hadn't noticed, something small, circular, and resting against the base of the flower so she hadn't noticed it when it was upside down. Flipping the flower over she caught the ring as it slipped off the stem. "Gil?"

"Oh, how we danced on the night we first met, We vowed our true love though a word wasn't said. The world was in bloom, there were stars in the skies, Except for the few that were there in your eyes. The night seemed to fade into blossoming dawn, The sun shone anew but the dance lingered on. Could we but relive that sweet moment sublime, We'd find that our love is unaltered by time," he answered softly. "Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner," he continued quietly. "I don't want the dance to end honey…"

Smiling Sara reached up to trace his cheek, "Then why let it?"

Wednesday February 14th, 2007
Falls Church, Virginia
Judge Advocate General Courthouse
4:45 p.m. E.S.T

Since marrying Nick, Vittoria had slowly managed to pick up the pieces of her shattered soul and move on with her life by focusing on her marriage and her work. She had been back to Washington a number of times since her sudden marriage to Nick, each time to testify in a different trial for a different government agency and each time she went east she managed to avoid running into Jethro. She would fly in the day she was due to testify and fly home again when she was done, keeping her time in Washington to a minimum.

Her life was finally starting to balance out. Her relationship with Nick was growing stronger by the day as the pain Jethro had caused her eased. Her past seemed to finally be behind her, allowing her to fully move on with her life; that is until it all came crashing down around her.

/-/Why is he asking me these things? How did he even learn about this?/-/ thought Vittoria desperately as Lieutenant Bud Roberts continued his cross examination of her.

"Answer the question Dr. Stark," instructed the judge when Vittoria didn't answer.

Looking up Vittoria caught sight of someone at the back of the courtroom. The one person she never expected to see again, the one person she had hoped to never lay eyes on again was sitting in the back row, a smug look on their face as they watched Vittoria's life start to crash down around her with every answer she was forced to give.

It took Vittoria a few minutes to realize the judge had excused her and called the court to recess for the day, before she finally stepped down from the witness stand and started making her way out of the courtroom, things around her a blur.

"Vittoria," Bud called quietly as he laid a hand on her arm to stop her as she walked past.

"Don't touch me," Vittoria hissed.

"Vittoria, I'm sorry…"

"You're sorry?" she asked in disbelief as she tried to hold her tears in check. "I can't believe you. I can't believe you would stoop so low Bud. I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, Vittoria," Bud argued. "I had no choice…"

"No choice? That's bullshit Bud and you know it. You had a choice. Nobody made you reveal what you did and yet you did it anyway. Am I supposed to forgive you for ruining my life?" demanded Vittoria.

"Vittoria…"

"No Bud. You can't simply apologize for this and expect me to forgive you. I thought you were an honorable man, Bud, I guess I was wrong," Vittoria said before turning and walking away, not giving Bud a chance to answer. "Are you happy now?" she demanded when she stopped in front of the one person she knew was ultimately responsible for everything that had just happened.

"Not yet."

"What more do you want of me?" demanded Vittoria, desperation entering her voice.

"I want you out of Jethro's life permanently."

"I've already walked away from him. I'm married to someone else for God's sake," Vittoria snapped, refusing to let the other see her cry.

"But you're not out of his thoughts, or his dreams and therefore not out of his life."

"So you decided to destroy me?" Vittoria asked.

"Yes."

"Why? What have I ever done to you?"

"You've done enough."

Vittoria stood there and watched as the other person simply walked away from her before turning and making her way as quickly as possible out of the building and to the airport. She hoped against hope that she could get to Nick and explain things before the truth about her past hit the news. This was a high profile case; the Governor's daughter had accused a Marine Colonel of rape. It was almost guaranteed that at least a part of what was learned about her past would come to light, she just hoped she could get home in time to deflect as much of it as possible.

Wednesday February 14th, 2007
Las Vegas, Nevada
Stokes Residence
8:45 p.m. P.S.T

"Nick? Baby you home?" Vittoria called as she entered their townhouse, hoping to catch Nick before he headed into work for the evening.

"Vittoria," Nick greeted as he stepped out into the hall from the bedroom.

"God I've missed you," Vittoria said as she walked over to where Nick was standing, leaning up to kiss him.

"Why don't I believe that," Nick said, stopping Vittoria cold.

"Excuse me?" she asked in confusion as she stepped back slightly. "Nick I…"

"Save it Vittoria," Nick snapped coldly as he brushed past her into the living room.

"Nick, what's going on? What's gotten into you?" Vittoria asked worriedly as she followed Nick over to where he had stopped to look out the window, putting her hands on his shoulders and leaning into his back.

"Keep your filthy hands off me, you whore," snarled Nick as he forcefully shoved Vittoria away from him.

When Nick shoved her out of the way, Vittoria stumbled backwards, her lower legs hitting the coffee table causing her to fall backwards and hit her head on the end table that sat next to the couch.

"I can't believe you, Vittoria," Nick continued, not even seeming to care about the fact that his wife had just fallen over the furniture and hit her head in the process. "What, did you think I wouldn't find out?"

"I tried to tell you," Vittoria wept as she realized her worst fear had indeed come true and Nick now knew the truth.

"Obviously you didn't try hard enough," he sneered as he stopped in front of where Vittoria still lay on the floor, towering over her.

"I tried Nick but you wouldn't listen," Vittoria answered.

"Oh, so now it's my fault that you're nothing more than a…"

"Nick please," Vittoria pleaded through her tears. "It doesn't change who I am. I'm still the woman you married. I'm still the same Vittoria you fell in love with. I love you Nick…please…let me explain."

"You've had your chance Vittoria and now it's too late. You only have yourself to blame for this," Nick said harshly. "And I do love you Vittoria, but I'll never be able to trust you again. I want you out of this house by the time I get home from work tomorrow morning. I never want to see you again," he finished grabbing his gear and stalking out of the house, slamming the door behind him as he went.

Vittoria remained where she was on the floor until she was sure that Nick had pulled out of the driveway and was away down the street. Once Nick was completely gone, Vittoria took stock of her injuries, making sure nothing was broken or in need of medical attention. She was pretty sure she had a minor concussion but nothing that required a visit to the hospital. The last thing she wanted was to be seen by any of her colleagues right now. If Nick's reaction was anything to go by, she would not be receiving a warm welcome from anyone, save one person; the one person in town who knew the truth of her past. Carefully getting to her feet, Vittoria grabbed her purse, pulling out her car keys as she made her way towards the door. She knew she shouldn't be driving if she suspected a concussion but she had no other way of getting to where she needed to be. Climbing into her car, she pulled out of the driveway and made her way across town. Once at her destination, she stepped out of her car and made her way up to the front door, knocking lightly.

"I was wondering when you'd get here," the person at the door said when it opened.

"I need your help."

Wednesday February 14th, 2007
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sidle/Grissom Residence
9:48 p.m. P.S.T

"Sara…"

"I'm almost ready," she called back glancing at the clock. They had overslept, and were running a bit late for work. Why was it men could always get ready so much faster, even with her who was far from the 'girly-girl' persona?

"Sara honey…you need to come out here…"

"You're not letting me finish getting ready you know," she countered as she walked out, running the brush through her hair. "What is it?" she continued before following his line of sight to the TV and the news on CNN. "Wasn't that the trial that Tori was involved with?" she asked when she noticed the headline mentioning the trial of the Marine Colonel accused of raping the Governor's daughter.

"Yeah…" he agreed before moving over and forcing her to sit down as the anchor returned.

"What…" Sara began looking up at him confused before the television caught her attention.

"Shocking news out of Washington today at the trial of a Marine Colonel accused of rape by the Governor of New York's daughter. The trial took an interesting turn this afternoon when Dr. Vittoria Stark took the stand. Dr. Stark is a nationally recognized and respected psychiatrist, who has testified in many big name trials on behalf of the defense and the prosecution alike. It was at the hands of the prosecution that Dr. Stark took a beating today when they forced her to reveal the truth about how she received her medical degree. It turns out that Dr. Stark financed her medical education while lying flat on her back for some of the wealthiest men in the nation. Dr. Stark admitted under oath to being a high priced call girl in order to put herself through school in the hopes of relieving her brother of the burden of her education as both their parents died when Dr. Stark was still a child. Calls have already been placed to the medical licensing board calling for Dr. Stark's license to be pulled and a full inquiry to be held into her practices as it was also brought to light that her husband, one Nicholas Stokes, a Criminalist for the Las Vegas Crime Lab, was a patient of hers before becoming her husband six months after their relationship as doctor and patient ceased. For more information on this story please check out our website a do dot com…"

"Jesus," Sara whispered after just staring in shock at the screen for a few moments before looking up at Gil. "I need the night off, I need to find her and make sure she's okay..."

"Of course," he agreed immediately. "Did you know..."

"Not a clue," she admitted. "I'm going to smack her for never telling me. Jesus this is going to be ugly..." she sighed, making a mental list to get a hold of Peter while she was at it to tell him to not watch the news if he hadn't already. First though she needed to get a hold of Vittoria, see if she was back in town or what...and chocolate, they would need lots of chocolate...

Wednesday February 14th, 2007
Las Vegas, Nevada
LVPD Crime Lab
Break Room
10:58 p.m. P.S.T

Over an hour after she saw the news, Sara made her way towards the break room coffee pot, praying for some of the good stuff as she rubbed her temples. She had gone by Nick and Vittoria's, the place was empty; a quick call placed Nick at work leaving her with no idea where to find her best friend. She called Peter and told him to not watch the news, only to find out he already had, and like her he never knew, again though, like Sara, he didn't care. And they both wanted to get a hold of that reporter and...well, it was better left not considered. She even had a call from Jethro asking if she knew, at which point she had managed to, rather calmly, explain yes she knew, no she had never known before but it didn't matter, did it? To which he agreed. Then she explained she was trying to find Vittoria so he should get some sleep since it was the middle of the night for him and she'd call when she had news. After that she had gone to ask Nick if Vittoria had been home...it wouldn't make sense to keep trying to find her in Vegas if she was still across the nation. And since Vittoria wasn't answering her cell phone...

"Sara!" Greg's voice drew her from her thoughts as she glanced over her shoulder to see him in the doorway. "Griss said you weren't coming in tonight..."

"Here to find Nick," she answered before turning back to her coffee.

"You saw the news?" he asked softly as he moved into the room. "Is it true?"

"Until I talk to her, I'm not going to make assumptions, neither should you," she looked over at him with a slight glare.

"No assumptions," Greg answered holding his hands up. "Just concern. I like Tori, she's cool. Whatever happened, if it's true...hey who am I to judge right? Everyone has their history, Cath was a stripper, Warrick has the gambling thing, Nick's got that whole womanizer past...I don't know about you and Griss but one can figure everyone's got their demons right? Even I got things I don't like to remember, it's life but you do what you gotta to get through."

Sara smiled as she passed the coffee pot. "Thanks Greg, so you seen Nicky?"

"Layout one," he nodded and she smiled before turning to make her way there.

"Coffee for your thoughts," Sara spoke when she found Nick, staring intently at a piece of evidence. "Well, that and some information..."

"What do you want Sara?" demanded Nick, not really in the mood to talk, especially to Sara of all people.

"You heard from your wife? She still out in D.C.?" Sara countered evenly, not liking his tone one bit. It didn't bode well with her search for Vittoria, she just knew it didn't...

"I've heard from her and where she is I could care less right about now," Nick said.

"What the fuck is your problem Nick?" Sara snapped as she moved in and shut the door. "She's your wife and you don't care where she is?"

"Last I saw her was at the townhouse," Nick snapped. "And no, I don't care where she is because she knows better than to be there when I get home."

"What the hell did you do?" Sara growled as she stalked towards him.

"She lied to me Sara, what the hell did you expect me to do?" demanded Nick angrily.

"She never told me either, do you see me going all psycho about it?" Sara shot back. "Did you even give her a chance to explain?"

"There's nothing for her to explain, is there Sara," countered Nick. "The news anchor did a good enough job explaining to me how my wife is nothing more than a high-priced whore. Makes me wonder about all those trips east she kept making whether or not she wasn't still into that business."

Neither of them saw Sara's hand rise until she had already slapped him, "How dare you," she hissed. "She married you, she's lived with you for nearly a year. You are a goddamn hypocrite Nicholas Stokes; you want people to not judge you because of your past. How many women did you sleep with a night? For how many years? You hate to be thought of as a womanizer, and yet when you find out that your wife, did what she did to get through college you throw it in her face? You accept Catherine and her past as a stripper but you can't accept that your wife, the woman you promised to love, honor and cherish until death made her own mistakes. Yes, she slept with men for money if the news was completely true. But she did it to get through college! How many prostitutes around town do we process for the same reasons and you don't judge them for it."

"Your precious Tori isn't the woman she led me to believe she was, Sara," growled Nick as he rubbed his cheek. "She's a lying, deceitful, dishonest and devious slut. She went into this sham of a marriage knowing my past, the least she could have done was allow me the same courtesy."

"Did she ever try to tell you? Cause we both know that you tend to just ignore things if you are on a happy spree and not wanting anything to ruin your happy little bubble!"

"She claims to have tried but she's had eight months to tell me and yet she didn't. I had to find out thanks to some pansy assed Navy lawyer and CNN!" shouted Nick.

"Nick, stop being all whiney about it. I fucking knew her when we were in college and have known her twenty years, and I never knew. And I found out the same way you did, so enough with this self-righteous anger going on. Yes, you've been married eight months, again did you ever give her a chance to talk or tell her 'oh, I don't care about your past Honey, it's all about the here and now'," Sara spoke in a singsong voice. "You know what, screw this. I get that you're upset, Nick, truth be told I'm upset too. But I'm not turning my back on her, and she's only my best friend, I'm not married to her, I didn't promise her forever. So here's how it's going to be, you look at me wrong in the future, I'll hit you. You say a word about her to me...I don't have the second highest solve rate in this place for nothing. It ends here Nick, no more friendship unless you get your act together and make things right and even then...don't expect me to trust you again. Now, you go back to your work and I'll go back to finding your wife who seems to have disappeared...if you even care," she added before turning and stalking out of the room, everyone moving out of her way as she made her way down the hall.

Greg, Catherine and Warrick shared a look before moving to look into the room she had vacated, Nick back to work on his case and mumbling under his breath about crazy women. Sighing they made their way to Grissom's office to let him know what had happened before someone like Hodges did.

Forty minutes after leaving Nick, Sara found herself on quite possibly the last doorstep she expected to ever be on…when not involved in a case. She had gone to Jim, asked him to put a call out on Vittoria's car, and now found herself standing twenty feet from said car waiting for someone to answer the door.

"Welcome to...oh, hello…" the woman trailed off when she saw Sara.

"Yeah hi I know you and I are the last people anyone would expect to be talking but I need help. Where's Vittoria?" Sara answered as the woman known as Lady Heather just looked at her.

"Please come in," Heather said, stepping back to allow Sara to enter.

Sara quietly moved into the house before looking at her expectantly.

"She's not here," Heather said as she led Sara into her private office.

"Where is she then?" Sara countered as she took a seat for the moment.

"You won't find Vittoria Stark no matter how hard you look Ms. Sidle," Heather said.

"Okay..." Sara drew out. "I'm going to assume that you're not going to help me find her. Are you in some sort of contact with her?"

"I'm not going to help you find her because Vittoria Stark does not exist anymore," Heather said.

"I'm getting that," Sara snapped before sighing. "Look, if you talk to her...tell her I don't care. She's still my best friend, and I don't care... and please contact me when she's ready."

"I can try but I make no promises, Ms. Sidle. When Vittoria appeared on my doorstep looking ready to drop, and nearly doing just that, I begged her to remain here, allow me to help her and leave the city in the morning but she insisted that her life here was over and that she needed my help to start over. I have done that, Ms. Sidle. I can't guarantee she will want even a message from this life now that she's been forced to start over. She wanted a clean break from her life here," Heather explained.

Sara nodded, "Then I'll leave it to you. But I'm not going to stop looking for her, just so you know...I just won't expect to find anything I guess..."

"If you know Tori at all, Ms. Sidle, given time, I'm sure you'll find her," Heather said. "If you'd gotten here sooner, I believe you may have been able to change her mind."

"I can only hope that was true," Sara sighed. "Stupid naval lawyer," she added under her breath before rising. "Thank you for helping her. Even if there's very little chance you and I will ever get along...I'm glad she had you when she couldn't come to me."

"I've known Tori for a number of years now, Ms. Sidle. She came to me in desperation. Nicholas' reaction did not come as a surprise to her but she feared your reaction above all others, yours and Peter's," Heather said quietly.

"Crazy woman, she should know Peter and I love her more than anything," Sara whispered. "I should go, I need to let Peter know what I've found out..."

"And it was the loss of that love that she feared most, Ms. Sidle," Heather sighed. "Tori's past is not as the news made it out to be, but that did not stop her believing that you would turn from her because of it."

Sara nodded sadly before rising, "As I said, I should go. And thank you again...if you talk to her please consider passing on my message..."

Heather nodded. "Good day, Ms. Sidle."

Saturday November 1st, 2008
Las Vegas, Nevada
Grissom Residence
11:05 p.m. P.S.T

Months had passed with no word or sign of Vittoria, not for lack of searching on the part of Sara, Gil, the majority of the team save for Nick, Jethro and a few others. Nick had managed to anger his teammates with his reaction, well more his insane desire to not even give the woman he supposedly loved a chance. Though on the other hand they could understand when he got an annulment, it being a bit hard to remain married to someone you couldn't trust, or refused to give a chance to earn back that trust. Sara though refused to acknowledge him, because of his reactions, her best friend had dropped off the face of the earth for all intents and purposes.

It was June though, and with still with no sign of Vittoria, Sara had admitted defeat in a way. They had been found out by the sheriff, and caused quite a stir, but at the same time there was no clause about married couples working together so the original plan of putting off the wedding until Vittoria came home was dropped and they put together a wedding in a matter of weeks. They had picked the Aladdin, no one really sure why, but the rest of the group just chose not to ask Sara or Gil. So the morning of June twenty-third found Sara at the Elemis spa with Catherine who was going to stand up with her, both women getting hair, makeup, pedicures and manicures done in preparation for that afternoon. The ceremony started at one, a small reception of sorts in the suite that belonged to Sara and Gil for the next three days. Jethro had come, given Sara away, and Peter was there…but they were all aware of the one person missing that day that was otherwise perfect.

Since then the months had passed all too quickly at times, months turned into a year, turned into longer. Life went on, she and Gil were happy, they worked, and they enjoyed their time together. They weren't like other couples, didn't bother with fancy dinners and such constantly, once in a blue moon really. The majority of the time they spent together was just sitting in their home, doing this or that. Much to the annoyance of Catherine who declared them entirely too content doing nothing. The only thing still missing was having her best friend there, and even with continued searching on the side, there was still no sign of Vittoria Stark…and nothing from Lady Heather to say she had been in touch with Vittoria.

Glancing back at the box on the counter Sara smiled wistfully, it was her night off; Gil was at work. And if there was ever a time she would want Vittoria or Shannon around more than her wedding it was today…and yet both were gone, Shannon to heaven and Vittoria to heaven only knew where. Getting up she slipped the test back in the box before throwing it away. She needed to do some research, and figure out how best to tell Gil that they were expecting…something neither of them really put much thought into before.

"Where are you Tori?" she asked aloud as she made her way towards her laptop, knowing she'd never get an answer.