AN: Thanks as always to those wonderful people supporting and following this story. You guys are amazing.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to acknowledge that this chapter is being posted on the day that the final episode of CSI ever is being shown for us in the US. What an amazing show, what an amazing run, what an amazing legacy it has left regarding the crime television genre. Will be sad to see these characters officially leave my weekly television screen.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care and enjoy.

CHAPTER 27

CATHERINE POV

"You missed morning assignments."

"I had a lead," Sara answers without looking up from the photo in her hands that she's rearranging with another. "On one of our suspects from the desert rave. Finally tracked down the driver of the Bronco with the obscured plate number."

"Yeah, Grissom informed me."

Looking up, Sara's hands pause in their motions.

"I'm sorry," she says hesitantly. "It was hours after shift…I assumed you were asleep…I wanted to be sure it would pan out before I woke you and dragged you in here for nothing, since you have your daughter to take care of…I wasn't trying to cut you out of the case…"

"Sara," I stop her apologies. "I'm not mad, that's not even why I came in here."

Sara's posture straightens, the younger woman putting the photos down.

Laughing lightly, I resist the urge to take her hands in mine, to try to help settle the clearly rattled CSI.

"You know, I'm not always tracking you down to lecture you or yell at you, so you can stop looking at me like that."

Sara smiles slightly, eyes leaving mine briefly as she takes a long, calming breath.

"Why did you come in then?" she brings her gaze back up to mine.

"Since you weren't at assignments, you missed my invitation." Sara's brows furrow. "Well, really Lindsey's invitation. But I wanted you to hear it from me instead of one of the guys."

My daughter definitely caught me off guard yesterday during our dinner conversation. Just goes to show you should never try to predict the whimsies of a child, particularly not your own.

"Apparently she somehow picked up somewhere that houses are supposed to have parties. Well, more that people are supposed to have parties for their newly acquired houses." I smile thinking about to Lindsey's wording of her statements last night. "AKA the thing that us adults call a housewarming."

Sara's brows furrow even deeper.

"Long story short, she thought we hurt our house's feelings that we never threw it a party. Not sure she understands the actual purpose of a housewarming…but…"

I shrug. "This upcoming Saturday, if you're free, we're having a small group of people over around noon to cook out and just get together. Meet the neighbors, some of the parents from Lindsey's class, that sort of thing. I would love to have the team there if you guys can make it."

Sara's expression shifts slightly, the previous confusion changing to something much more unreadable now that the meaning behind my words becomes clear.

"Oh, I…"

She hesitates, clearly caught off guard.

"If you already have plans," I tell her, "that's fine. Don't feel pressured. I just know it would mean a lot to Lindsey if you were there, Sara."

I watch the confusion rising back into her expression.

"She keeps asking about the 'pretty friend' from dinner," I supply.

Sara looks away, but not quick enough to miss the light pink crawling up towards her ears.

"I'll…" she clears her throat. "I'll try my best to make it."

I nod, appreciating the brunette keeping an open mind. I know she likely isn't one for social gatherings in general, mostly seeming to keep to herself when it comes to outings such as these. But, furthermore, she isn't naive enough not to understand the added complexities of this particular gathering. Specifically, knowing me and my social circle, she is very aware of one particular guest whom will definitely also be in attendance. Someone she likely has many mixed feelings regarding seeing again.

But, as she picks her pen back up to resume her work, I can only hope that she and Kelly can perhaps someday reach a good place with one another. After all, this isn't likely to be the first nor the last time their paths will overlay.

"Let me know when the driver is ready for the interview."

Sara nods, "Of course."

Leaving, I head off to get some work done before we finally move forward again in the rave case.

"You went running again, didn't you?"

Sara glances up, lowering herself gently into the metal chair beside me.

"That obvious?" she questions quietly after a moment, likely debating whether to waste her breath denying it, and not wanting Brass to overhear from where he's waiting by the door.

"You're putting up a gallant effort," I offer, keeping my own voice low. "But yes, pretty damn obvious."

Sara lets out what sounds like a low curse.

"Why the hell are you trying to keep running on a clearly sprained ankle?" I get out, my own voice tight.

Having watched her closely as she walked with me to the interview room, I stayed a couple steps behind her towards the end to confirm what my eyes were telling me even while my brain was trying to convince me that no one could be that stupid. That stubborn.

But, no, apparently Sidle is.

"You're an idiot," I supply when Sara remains silent.

Snorting, the brunette simply leans into the interview table, tucking her ankle, the focus of this debacle, carefully under the chair.

"Noted."

Looking up, we hear the door open as our suspect is escorted in.

"What do you think?"

Sara gathers the papers in front of her, tucking them neatly back inside the casefile.

"He knows something."

"Everything?" I ask.

"Not sure," Sara answers my unspoken question. "Not convinced he's our killer."

"But…" I lead her to continue her thoughts.

Sara looks over, hazel eyes sharp with thought as she processes the information we gathered from this interview.

"But I think he knows who is."

I nod, working my way through my own judgments, ones that I'm glad to see mostly mirror my younger colleagues.

"Agreed," I respond, standing from the table. "Now we just need to figure out how to get him to talk."

Sara pushes upwards as well, suddenly grabbing for the table as she steps forward.

"Shit," she gets out, catching herself just before her buckling leg can send her to the floor.

"Sara," my voice is a mix of concern and frustration. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she answers quickly. "Just moved it too fast."

"This is ridiculous," I tell her sternly, watching as Brass glances at us curiously through the door from the hallway.

"I'm okay," she reassures me. "I just need a second to loosen it back up again."

"What you need are fucking crutches."

The look she sends me would send a weaker soul to their knees.

"Don't you dare glare at me, Sidle," I warn her. "Or I'll kick you in that damn ankle myself."

Smiling slightly, Sara tentatively tests increasing amounts of weight on her ankle, carefully letting go of the table when it seems better equipped to hold her weight this time around.

"See?" she says, eyes looking over at mine. "All good."

"You're an idiot."

"So you keep telling me."

Sara laughs lightly, and I can't help but realize this is perhaps one of the only and most genuine laughs I've ever heard from the brunette.

It sounds beautiful.

"You sure that's everything?"

Kelly smiles, sending me a look.

"I know, I know. I've asked you this like fifty times. I just feel like there's something we're forgetting."

"There's enough food here for three thousand people," Kelly tells me with a snort. "If we forgot something I don't think it'll much matter."

I groan in defeat, "Alright, you win."

Reaching over, I squeeze Kelly's shoulder.

"Thanks again for all your help. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Sure," Kelly shrugs off my thanks, glancing at her watch.

Then, seeing we're literally minutes away from the first guests arriving, her expression seems to falter slightly despite her best efforts to control it.

"I don't know if she's even coming," I tell my friend softly.

Kelly looks over, nodding quickly and rearranging the already arranged utensils.

"Hey," I reach out, stilling her hands with mine. "It'll be okay."

Kelly appears hesitant, looking away.

"You're both good people, Kelly," I tell her sincerely. "Neither you nor Sara is the type to be spiteful or hurtful. You'll both be civil, and you'll both hopefully get to a point where you can mutually move past this."

Squeezing her hands, I watch my best friend take a deep, calming breath.

"I hope you're right," she responds quietly.

"You're kidding?!" I laugh, eyes widening as I listen intently to the impossible sounding story Nick and Greg are sharing, giving me insight into times and memories before I entered their lives here in Vegas.

"Wish I was," Greg laughs. "But nope, I turn around, and Grissom is right there."

"Oh God," I laugh heartily, trying to imagine the look on Gil's face. "He probably had a stroke."

"He hid it well," Nick laughs himself. "But boy was Greggo here in for some tough times in the lab for the next couple months. And Grissom's samples mysteriously always seemed to be completed days ahead of everyone else's."

Cheeks blushing, the young lab tech shakes his head, half amused and half embarrassed.

I laugh again, enjoying this time to continue to bond with my new team members. While they have been nothing but welcoming to me since I started here, it's been hard to really get to know them within the walls of the labs. Especially since on the cases we work together I'm their supervisor.

I'm so glad they were able to come today, and I can't believe we've already been here for a couple hours, the time flying by as I've mingled back and forth between them and my other guests.

"Hey!" I hear Greg exclaim cheerfully, looking over my left shoulder. "'Bout time."

Turning around, I nearly do a double take as I see who's stepping into the room.

Dressed in light jeans and a dark sweater, I almost missed her in the crowd as she moves closer.

"Hey," she offers, her greeting much more subdued than Greg's as she gives everyone a soft smile.

"Sorry I'm late," she says to me when her eyes reach back to mine. "Something came up last minute that I had to take care of."

I shake my head, "It's fine, I'm just glad you could make it. Everything okay?" I ask regarding that last portion of her statement.

"Yeah," she deflects my concern. "This, uh, is for you."

I raise a brow, accepting the bottle of wine and the smaller, wrapped package from her in appreciation.

"Thanks," I tell her sincerely. "You didn't have to bring anything. That's very sweet of you."

"Nothing big," she tells me, a light pink discoloration moving towards her ears for the second time this week. "You can open it later."

Taking the hint, I nod, locking eyes with her before I move and place the package down for safe keeping until it can be opened away from the prying eyes of the rest of the team.

To say I'm intrigued would be an understatement.

"Hey Cath, where do you want the…"

The statement trails off, Kelly's steps immediately coming to a halt as she spots the group's new addition.

"Uh, where do you want the extra ice?" she continues, voice somewhat less steady as she tries to keep her tone even.

"In the freezer in the garage is fine," I answer, trying to keep my own expression neutral so the guys don't pick up on anything. "Need help?"

"No," she shakes her head. "Most is in there already, just wanted to confirm before I moved the rest."

I nod, watching as Kelly's eyes fall involuntarily to Sara's.

"I'll uh," Kelly swallows. "Go finish that."

Heading off, she disappears behind the small group gathered by the back of the house.

Seeing Sara's tension, I glance over at the nearby table.

"Sar, there's plenty of food and drinks left in the kitchen. Please help yourself."

Taking the appreciated out, Sara sends me a relieved nod as she excuses herself, moving to disappear into the opposite end of the house.

KELLY POV

Knowing I can't avoid it any longer, feeling like an immature teenager at the amount of time I've already avoided it so far, I take a deep breath, squaring my shoulders as I exit the house to step out onto the back porch.

"This seat taken?"

Sara's head jerks up quickly, clearly having grown used to the relative quiet outside compared to all the laughter and voices flowing inside the house.

"No," she responds quietly, moving over to give me space on the step.

Sitting, I grow even more tense at the close proximity to her, even though we've literally rearranged ourselves to be as far apart as the steps allow.

She looks good.

It's my first thought, and I know it shouldn't be. That's not the healthiest thought to have about the person you turned away just a few weeks before.

But, I still have eyes. Seeing her formfitting jeans, the way they hug low to her hips, her soft, fitted sweater that emphasizes just how trim she is, her dark hair moving slightly in the gentle breeze where it lays past her shoulders...

But, then, my eyes move to her face, and seeing her dark, tense expression, it brings much less pleasant thoughts to the forefront.

It reminds me why I'm not allowed to have those other thoughts about Sara and how beautiful she is.

Not anymore.

"How have you been?" I ask her, knowing it's lame but wanting the answer all the same.

"Fine," she says predictably. "Yourself?"

I consider brushing off the question like Sara clearly did, but instead I go with honesty.

"Not so good."

Sara's jaw tightens, the brunette taking a sip of what looks like hard cider.

"Which is why I'm surprised that you're fine," I tell her. "Since you're the one with every reason not to be."

Swallowing tightly, she glances down, picking at the label on the amber bottle.

"What does it matter?" she asks quietly. "If I'm fine or not."

"It matters to me."

Letting out a breath, I shake my head.

"You wanted me to make an informed decision, Sara," I state quietly. "And then you did the bravest and most selfless thing I have ever witnessed by telling me everything you did. I can't thank you or express to you enough how much I respect that, respect you."

Sara stiffens, and I hope she gives me the opportunity to say this, worried she'll get up and walk away at any minute.

"I made my decision, yes," I tell her openly. "But that doesn't mean I stopped caring about you. There are a lot of ways to care about someone, and it's not conditional to being in a relationship with them."

Sara's gaze is dark as it bores into the step below us.

"Is this the 'let's be friends' speech?" she questions.

"This is the 'we're still human beings, still two people who share a connection' speech. One that I don't want to turn my back on because a relationship won't work between us. There are a lot of different ways to keep the people that you care about in your life. And yes, one of those ways is friendship."

I sigh.

"Look, Sara, I know it isn't my place to even be the one discussing this. I can't imagine how hurt you must be by my decision. To have opened up to someone only to have them turn away from you. I know how hard it is for you to open up at all, let alone to the extent that you did with me."

"You don't know," Sara corrects me. "You don't know me at all."

"Is that why you aren't interested in friendship?" I ask. "Because you're afraid now that I actually do know you too well? And it scares you?"

Sara is so tense that I'm not surprised when she pushes herself to her feet. But, I am surprised when I see the brunette wince as she grabs for the railing, I reach forward with concern before I realize what I'm doing.

Her violent flinch away from me brings everything into focus and into a stillness that's almost suffocating.

Immediately pulling my hand away from her, I step back, both of us now standing on opposite ends of the step.

"You learned things about me," Sara gets out tensely. "And you decided based on those things that I wasn't girlfriend material. Don't now offer me friendship as some sort of consolation prize, Kelly. If you don't want me in your life, that's fine. I'm a big girl who can handle it. I don't want your pity."

"Sara," I breathe out, both shocked and hurt at her words. At the message beneath them.

"God, Sara," I continue when I find my voice. "Why do you think I said no to you regarding a relationship?" I question directly, almost afraid to hear her answer.

But, instead, she remains silent.

"Damn it, Sara," I get out.

I step forward, not caring that I'm entering her personal space.

"I don't see you as damaged goods, Sidle," I bite out tightly, having thought I laid that particular concern to rest when we had our initial conversation. "How could you even think that?"

Sara's head shakes angrily.

"No," I cut her off. "You're going to listen to me right now. I said no because of my limitations, not yours. Hearing everything you shared with me, I realized it wasn't fair to you for me to continue on the road we were going."

I lower my voice.

"You deserve someone who can love you and support you in the ways that you deserve. Someone who isn't prone to running when things get tough. Someone who is strong enough to stand by you through it all, and not avoid the hard truths because they can't stand to see you hurting."

I shake my head, wishing I could reach out to her the way I want to.

"I know my personality, Sara," I tell her. "You'd spend our whole lives together protecting me, bringing me strength and comfort. Meanwhile, I'd spend them hating all the people that ever hurt you, all the things you've been through, and I'd hate myself for every time I avoided something that's hurting you because the thought of it is just too much for me. We'd grow resentful, frustrated, we'd grow apart until there was nothing left."

I sigh in frustration, not sure I'm really even making sense anymore.

Her eyes are angry when the meet mine.

"You seem to have a crystal ball that tells you exactly what our relationship would've been," Sara says tightly. "Must be nice. Because all I saw that night was someone giving up before we even started."

Straightening to her full height, she looks at me.

"And, all I see now is someone convincing herself of all the reasons we would've failed before we even tried. I see someone who's trying to give herself all these other excuses because she doesn't want to admit to herself the real reason she said no. Which is the fact that the things you learned about me scared you, Kelly. And that the person you found out I was scared you even more. Simple as that."

Her gaze is even with mine, hazel eyes burning into my own.

"Tell me I'm wrong."

When I'm silent, she nods quietly.

My silence all the confirmation she needs.

It's poignant, it's finally honest, and has my heart feeling like it's being ripped out of my chest.

"That's why I shared those things, Kelly," Sara says sincerely. "To give you the respect of letting you decide for yourself how it made you feel. I just wish you could have given me the respect of being honest about those feelings. I don't need your pity, your fake excuses to spare me from the truth. The person you found out I was scares you. The person you found out I was isn't someone you would want to have as a partner. It is was it is."

She pauses, letting out a long breath.

"I understand that we'll be in each other's lives whether we want to be or not. And I'm not saying no to your offer of at least being in each other's lives as friends versus whatever the hell this cold formality is between us now," she states. "But even friendship will be off the table for me if you're going to keep lying to me like you just tried to do. Friendship is not a relationship, but I still expect my friends to not lie right to my face."

Head lowering, I shake it tightly, ashamed. Ashamed that she's right, ashamed that she saw right through my own excuses. Excuses that were likely more to convince myself as they were to convince her anyway.

Ashamed that her revelations did scare me. That this person standing before me, this beautiful and noble person, harbors secrets and demons so dark and horrifying that it does, deep down, frighten me.

I'm honestly not sure if the fear is founded in a fear of her, or a fear for her.

Either way, I was a coward, and I ran from someone before I even gave them a chance. And, having made that decision up front, there's no going back with Sara. A decision like that can never be remade.

I can only pray that Sara can accept my offer to want to be friends, to keep her in my life in a special way even if it's not as a girlfriend or partner as I'd originally allowed myself to hope for.

"I don't want to lose you in my life," I tell her sincerely, letting her see straight through my eyes to everything that's underneath. "You have been nothing but honest with me since we met, about everything. You deserve the same from me, and going forward you have my word that that's exactly what you'll get."

Watching me, Sara eventually nods, pulling up straighter to step back onto the porch.

"Enjoy the rest of your evening, Kelly," Sara says quietly. "I'll see you around."

As she exits back into the house, I let out a shaking breath, eyes shutting tightly as I feel the weight of this conversation still hanging in the air around me.

AN: Thanks for reading.