4. It was a very good year

"Bourbon? Is it a good or bad sign?"

"It's a sign of style, Deputy Chief Curtis. Nice press conference."

"Thanks. I heard you solved an old crime." The blonde signed the bartender she wanted the same Sara had. If they were about to have a meeting in style, she could also order some bourbon and take a taxi home.

"We solved a resent crime and an old mystery."

"Taking somebody's identity is a crime."

"I know."

"How is Greg doing?"

"He will okay. Eventually. How do you know it was personal for him?"

"I'm the Deputy Chief, I know what you guys are doing. It might not be my job, but that doesn't mean I don't have an eye on you. We worked together, you remember, back in the days. When Greg's hair was crazy and you were bitchy."

"Yeah, when you were an acting supervisor before you became an ordinary CSI. And then you ran away, didn't fight your way back to your old position."

"I didn't run, it was never my decision to become a CSI, it was an order. I wanted to be a cop, it was what I was trained for. I fought to get what I wanted and I got it."

"You were trained to be a CSI too."

"Yes, I've got many talents, some I like more than others. You guys solve crimes, I wanted to catch bad guys."

"It goes hand in hand."

"It does. A cop is nothing without a good CSI and the other way around. What about you? Plan to climb up the ladder? Become a supervisor?"

"No, I'm fine where I am. Somebody has to do the leg work."

"As a supervisor you have to make decisions your friends might not like. It's harder to be friends with your boss than with your colleague. If you go to Greg later, you go there as a friend, you're eye to eye. If you'd go there as his supervisor, the bitter taste of supervision would be around, no matter how hard the both of you tried to ignore it. A career doesn't have to destroy a friendship, but it can make it more difficult."

"My life is difficult enough."

"And your friendship to Greg is worth more than a boost in money."

"It is. But I think Morgan looks after him, she did talk to him at the end of the shift."

"The way you say it, it sounds like there's more to it than a talk between colleagues."

"I don't know, there might be something between them."

"Do you approve?"

"It's not up to me to approve, they're both adults and I'm the last one to judge about love relationships at your work place." She smiled. "If they make each other happy it's good. If they're better off as friends, I hope they stay friends. Love makes things complicated. Sometimes."

"True." Sofia wanted to ask about Grissom, how he was. She couldn't remember the last time he was in Vegas. Not that she kept track of where he was, but she was sure, if he had been around recently, she had heard about it from Jim.

"How about we finish our drink and go over to Greg's? Maybe he needs a drink with style too. Together with two friends." Sofia suggested.

"Sounds like a good idea." The brunette agreed. Maybe some company was exactly what Greg needed now.