Sara found herself edging to the side of the roof to climb down the ladder that CSI had put against the side of the house. Even with her climbing gear, she required a spotter when climbing up and down the ladder. Grabbing her radio from her pocket, she made the call.

"Hey, this is CSI Sidle. I'm on the roof and I need a spot." She waited and the radio didn't respond, she called again. "This is CSI Sidle. I repeat, I'm on the roof and need a spot."

Ten minutes of waiting and she shook her head. Tightening the climbing gear, Sara got on her hands and knees and moved slowly to the ladder. Once on the metal ladder, she climbed down all the way to the ground and released the climbing gear, pulling once the knot of the rope was free. Taking the climbing gear and her evidence to her trunk, she filed it away before looking up to see Catherine and Warrick walking out of the house.

"Hey, I'm going back to the lab. You guys good here?"

Catherine nodded, "yeah. See you there?"

"Yeah."


After dropping off the evidence at the lab, Sara headed over to PD and didn't have to look far to find Sofia. Of the two, Brass or Sofia, she needed Sofia because she knew CSI protocol better than Brass. Sure, the man had been in charge of CSI for a while but he didn't understand the predicament she was in.

"Sofia, you got a second?"

Sofia turned and nodded, "yeah Sara, what's up?"

"Office Baker left me on the roof by myself and I had to break at least five rules getting down. No one answered the radio, so he either didn't hand it off or he was out of range."

"Are you serious?" Sara gave the woman a 'does it look like I'm kidding' look and the blonde huffed. "Come with me."

Five seconds later they were in Brass' office and the man looked up when they both walked into the room. "Uh oh, something happened. What happened?"

"Oh, I don't know. Probably the fact that Baker left Sara on the roof without waiting around, didn't hand the radio off, and she was forced to break lab rules getting down."

Brass sat up quickly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Went rock climbing with the guys a few times so a roof is easy getting down from. I'm just trying to handle it before Gil gets wind. You and I both know Baker will be shitting in his pants if he confronts him." They looked confused, "everyone knows that Baker has serious arachnophobia."

"Oh right."

Sofia smirked, "maybe we should let Grissom settle this. I mean, what's a few spiders to him risking your life."

"Just don't." Sara stated, "please."

"Okay, okay." Brass reached for his phone and dialed a number. "Hey, Baker it's Brass. Mind swinging by my office for five minutes? Yeah, thanks." He hung up and motioned to the window, "you should wait outside, it'll be more entertaining that way."


Brass was reviewing a report when the door to the office opened and one of the younger, but not newer, walked in. "Detective Brass, how can I help?"

"You forget something?"

"Uh, I'm not understanding."

Brass held his hands together. "Did you forget something? At the Sidley residence?"

"I don't think so sir. I submitted all interactions and interviews to Detective Mitchell as required."

"Well," Brass smiled, "you did." He pointed towards the window and Baker turned as Sara waved at them both.

Baker looked back at Brass. "Uh, sir. I'm sorry, I forgot that CSI Sidle was on the roof."

"Look, I'm going to be giving you a verbal warning. A CSI up on a roof with no spotter when going up and down breaks a few rules but also endangers the CSI." Brass sat back, "trust me, what Detective Curtis suggested could be worse than a reprimand."

"Sir?" He asked as the two women walked in the office.

Brass chuckled, "may not have made it all the way through PD yet but you should be treating CSI Sidle like she's the best person in the department. I mean, given your phobia."

He seemed confused so Sofia continued. "She's dating Dr. Grissom over at CSI." She waved her hand, "the guy who owns like three spiders."

"Five as of last week, actually." Sara interjected.

"See, reprimand or five spiders." They watched Baker turn white as a sheet as Brass spoke. "Now, CSI Sidle is doing you a favor by making sure you get reprimanded before Dr. Grissom finds out. I think a verbal warning is more than fair."

Baker nodded, "yeah. Just tell me where to sign." Sofia nudged Sara's arm with her own and smirked. The brunette shared in the smirk, both doing their best not to laugh or chuckle.

"See, we handled this without issue." Brass looked to Sara, "everyone's happy, right?"

Sara nodded, "I'll see you guys later, I have to go run the evidence from the roof." She left and walked down the hall, chuckling as she did.


Grissom walked into the breakroom as Sara made herself coffee a couple hours later. "What's this I'm hearing about you being stuck on a roof?"

"I'm fine Gil. I took care of the situation." She took a sip of her coffee. "Got down and reported the officer to Brass. He got a reprimand and I'm here."

"Who was the officer?"

Sara shrugged, "Baker." She saw realization slid over his face and he turned. "Gilbert Grissom stop right there." The man stopped in his tracks as Catherine and Warrick entered the breakroom but they paused. "You even try to do what you're thinking about doing after I took care of the situation and you aren't going to like the consequences." He turned to look at her and opened his mouth but Sara pointed at him. "Don't even try to refute what you were planning. You forget I know you."

He threw up his free hand and turned around, leaving the breakroom without a word. Catherine and Warrick looked at Sara, both impressed. "What just happened?" Catherine asked as Sara picked up her coffee again. "Because I'm impressed."

"Baker left me on the roof and forgot to hand off the radio. I didn't have a spotter and to be honest, forgot you were inside so I climbed down myself." She shrugged, "after rock climbing with the boys, the roof isn't an issue. Everyone knows about Baker's arachnophobia so I handled the reprimand with Brass and Sofia before he found out."

Catherine chuckled, "he wants to scare Baker with his spiders, doesn't he?"

"Which is why I handled it. You saw him try to go off after learning who it was."

Warrick shook his head. "I am so glad I'm not married to you. You'd kill me just for thinking something."

"You're not my type." Sara threw at him before turning back to Catherine. "I have some evidence to check on."


Grissom looked up from working on an insect pinning when Hank got up and left the room. The front door closed following by Sara telling Hank how happy she was to see him. He chuckled when he heard her ask Hank 'where's your dad' before appearing in the doorway. The look on her face was relaxed and she smiled. "So, am I in trouble?"

"Did you go after Officer Baker?"

"No."

"Then you're not in trouble." She moved into the office and sat at her own desk. "You should ask Sofia or Brass about the whole thing though because it was more fun and games than you'd think. Brass told him that he should treat me like I'm the best person in the department and Sofia dropped the bomb I'm dating you." She spoke as she removed one of her journals from the stack, red faux-leather, and a pen from nearby. "He is overwhelmingly not going to do anything like that with me ever again."

"Good, he shouldn't." Grissom turned to watch her writing in her journal. "When I ran into Brass and he told me, I thought you were still on top of a roof. He asked if I'd heard you were stuck on a roof and it scared me."

Sara turned her head, "climbing gear and a ladder. I don't go up on roofs without all the essentials. Even then, if the lab ladder had fallen or something, there was the suspect's ladder. I wouldn't have liked using it but if I had to, I would have."

"Next time, make Nick go."

"I was primary and besides, he was dealing with the body. Just because I used to work at a coroner's office years ago doesn't mean I want to that again. I hate the smell of burnt bodies, I'd take the roof any day."

Grissom thought about what she was saying. "You could have told me before I found out from Brass."

"To be honest." She turned completely to him, "I was just pissed off about it and then Sofia and I were laughing about it. I totally forgot to tell you as my mind focused on evidence and dealing with Catherine. I'm sorry it scared you. Next time anything remotely similar happens, I'll let you know immediately."

"You and Sofia were laughing about something?"

Sara smirked, "oh if you'd seen how Brass, Sofia, and I were dealing with Baker, you'd laugh. The man went whiter than some of the corpses we've recovered. It was kind of hard for Sofia and I not to share a smirk and a laugh. Silently of course."

"Of course." He stood up and walked over to her, turning her chair around so she was facing the desk's flat surface. "Journal while I make breakfast." He leaned down and kissed her crown.


As he left the office, she called after him. "How's Heather doing? I was asleep when you got home from coffee yesterday."

"She's recovering." He turned to her. "I managed to convince her that therapy, actual psychotherapy, might help." He paused before speaking, "I was thinking about maybe the three of us having breakfast one day. She's interested in meeting you, further at least."

"Sure." Sara smiled, "I thought you wanted to keep us apart."

Grissom leaned against the doorframe. "She's not excavating which tells me she's not interested in prying my relationship with you apart. She doesn't want to know how it works or why. I think in some ways, now that she knows you're real, she doesn't want to ask questions. You're not a potential or theoretical maybe. If there are two things Heather values, it's privacy and consent, and she knows I want what happens between us to stay between us. I'm not consenting to it being picked apart so she leaves it alone." He smiled as he watched Sara think. "She does think you're sweet and kind."

"Well, we both know I can be sweet but I can also be a bit…" quirking her lips while thinking, the answer was given to her by Grissom.

"Wild and explosive."

Sara smirked, "calling me a volcano now, are you?"

"If the description fits Darlin'."

"Sure, breakfast sounds good. Just let me know what day." She turned back to her journal while he left for the kitchen.


Catherine found Sara in the locker room after speaking with Don Fitzgibbons. She went to her locker and opened it, turning when Sara stood up in nice slacks and a blouse. None of them were scheduled for court that day and she'd never seen Sara look that nice without it being for court. "Where are you headed looking like that? Grissom treating you to somewhere nice?"

"Uh no." Sara closed her locker. "We're having breakfast with Heather."

"Hold on, as in Lady Heather?" Catherine looked at her confused. "Why?"

Sara was silent before she spoke. "Look, I'm not comfortable telling you about my past, not yet. There's things about Heather that I understand and she's Gil's friend, so going to breakfast isn't strange to me. Also, she wants to meet me, formally at least."

"You took the 419 and I've never seen you on a case concerning her. How'd you meet her?"

"Gil stayed with her the night and morning after she was found whipping Sneller."

Catherine nodded, "I heard about that."

"He was afraid she'd commit suicide." Sara picked up her purse and put it over her shoulder. "Anyways, I drove over there and dropped some food off and a book on grief. I also told her to send him home when he started mumbling, which he does when he gets tired. I didn't go in or sit in the driveway, I went home and that evening I woke up to Gil making me dinner."

"So, you trust them two together?"

Sara smiled, "we're not you and Eddie. Before we went on a single date, we talked about anything and everything. Foundations aren't built on dates and sex; you have to lay the foundation before any of that happens and it starts with talking. Like I told Warrick, there's a ton of shit that happened between us that none of you know about. I wasn't the only one who threw knives, he did too. I knew about his relationships with his exes and about his friends before we went on a single date."

"God, I hate you guys." Catherine stated as she pulled on her jacket. "You got the perfect relationship."

"Oh, we're far from perfect."

Catherine closed her locker, "I know that, but you talk, you trust each other, you have this hold over him that has existed for years before even dating. Tell me, what's the most annoying thing he does in your eyes."

"Thinking I'm beautiful covered in soupy decomp, car oil and dust, or anything else."

The red head looked up at her confused. "Soupy decomp?"

"Yeah, don't ask because I really don't get it. I could fall into a vat of human soup and the man would think I looked like the Taj Mahal at sunrise." Sara shook her head as she spoke.

"See what I mean." Catherine shook her head. "God, if I had known this years ago…" She sighed, "tell me, when you two met, what were you wearing and does he even remember?"

"Jeans, a blue shirt with black flower stitching, white sneakers, and hair in a ponytail." They turned to see Grissom at the door. "I just showed up and heard her question."

Sara chuckled at Catherine's expression. "I'll meet you outside."

"Don't take too long." He stated and she pulled her keys, tossing them to him. After he had the keys, he left the doorway.

"Dear God." Catherine sighed, "maybe I should go to this year's Forensic Academy Conference. Maybe I could meet some geeky scientist that'd remember what I'm wearing eight years from now."

They started walking towards the entrance. "Yeah, I mean you could, but it would be just awkward when you invite him to Vegas and you become his boss." Sara looked at her, "trust me, you don't want that."

"But see, there's this little key difference now." Catherine nudged Sara's arm with her own. "We have a cross-supervision system."

Sara chuckled, "the question I have is, if that happened, would Ecklie let you and this hypothetical man date? One supervisor in a relationship is a headache, two is a nightmare." She paused and looked at Catherine. "Another one and Ecklie might have a stroke."

"Oh that'd hilarious Sara." Catherine told her, "since when are you funny?"

"I can be funny. Just depends on the audience."


Breakfast out in town that wasn't cheap meant on the Strip. The two sat talking about Catherine and the hypotheticals she'd played with Sara when a voice had them looking up to see Heather standing by the table. "May I sit?"

"Please." Sara stated and motioned to the chair across from her. Heather pulled out the chair and sat down. "How are you doing?"

"It's a daily process, thank you for asking."

"I understand and thankfully you have one of the most patient ears in all of Vegas willing to listen." She nodded towards Grissom.

Heather smiled, "he certainly is. I hope you don't…"

"No, furthest thing from my mind. I knew about you years ago, didn't stop the lab rumor mill from spinning up dozens of rumors, but I never believed them anyways." Sara smiled at Heather.

Grissom looked to Heather, "did you speak to a doctor?"

"I had two turn me away once they read my profession so I contacted a sex therapist to get help identifying a doctor that would see me." Heather stated.

Sara chuckled, "I had five turn me away because apparently, they thought I should contact a departmental psychologist instead of an exterior one. They only saw the LVPD before the words 'crime lab' and stopped looking."

"You never told me that." Grissom looked straight at her.

"I want you to think about what you almost did to Officer Baker yesterday and that's with me knowing you as well as I do now. I knew you enough back then to know you would have made some calls to the APA." Sara told him, "I didn't need the drama. I had enough with that which I created myself and the drama that Greg created." He held up his hands in surrender.

Heather smiled, "did this Officer Baker do something to warrant some revenge?"

"Yes."

"No." They both spoke at once but Sara turned to Heather and continued. "When we're on roofs, we require spots to watch us going up and down for safety. We have climbing equipment on but departmental rules are there for a reason. Mainly someone got injured once so a rule was created. Officer Baker had the radio and he forgot to hand it off when he left so I was stuck on the roof. I got down without a spotter, thus breaking department rules, and I immediately reported him to one of his superiors. I needed to handle it before Gil got to him because the officer has a well-known case of arachnophobia and Gil has five spiders." She chuckled and saw Heather was amused, "I took care of it but he heard and wanted to go after Baker. I prevented that though."

"Ah, well I'm sure the officer has been disciplined." Heather turned to Grissom, "and you learned that Sara can handle herself."

Grissom nodded. "I already knew that. Sara is not without the ability to take care of herself."

A waiter came over to the table. "I apologize for the wait. What can I get for you?"

"Just coffee." Heather told him with a smile.

"Same for the both of us." Sara told him and he nodded, leaving. When Grissom gave her a confused look. "We have that quiche in the fridge we need to eat before it goes bad."

Grissom nodded, "I forgot about that."

"I know." Sara smiled and turned back to the woman across from her. "Gil said you're taking time off work for a while. Do you have any hobbies or anything you plan on doing? I know when I'm off work, I need things to do. I can recommend somethings if you're unsure."

"I'm actually teaching right now." She smiled, "at the university. One of my former clients teaches Human Sexuality and she invited me to teach her class since she's out on maternity leave. She managed to get it approved by her superiors so I'm a guest lecturer for the rest of the semester. I do teach the course and not just certain areas but she felt it would help me as much as it helps her students. It's only been two weeks but she's right."

Sara nodded, "we taught a class in Colorado just over two months ago for a week. I rarely teach, more of the assistant, but I enjoy it too."

"What was the topic?"

"Human Body Recovery." Sara stated, "FIRS, one of their anthropological sites has bodies in various stages of decomposition. Every so many years they remove the bodies and start fresh. That's when forensic students, if given the opportunity, get to learn about body recovery. It's very informative and very entertaining."

Grissom chuckled, "you just liked that they learn at that moment whether they become CSIs or Lab Techs."

Sara shook her head, "ignore him, I do it a lot."

Heather chuckled as she watched them. "Grissom, I see why you wanted to keep her to yourself." With their attention, Heather continued. "You two mirror each other perfectly."

"Thank you." Sara told her.