I don't own CSI or any of its characters.

I have an idea, but… Who do you think Sara should talk to next? Let me know.

Reviews are always appreciated.

Chapter 09

When Sara returned from her run, she took a long shower, put on her PJs, and climbed into bed. Sleep came quickly and deeply, filled with strange dreams and figures from the past. Yet, it was a happy past: Warrick, Grissom, Nick, the lab, the team working in the field, even bugs. She saw Grissom collecting them and calling out her name. When she looked over his shoulder, she could see a ladybug, but bigger, much bigger, being prodded by him.

"Not very common, huh?" he said.

"I'd say no, but you're the expert," she replied.

"Well, let's open it up, shall we?" Without waiting for an actual answer, he proceeded to dissect the insect with a scalpel. The image that followed was undoubtedly one of the weirdest she'd ever seen. The ladybug was filled with roses inside, and as much as Grissom tried, he couldn't find the bottom of it. But then he reached over and took something from it.

Their wedding band.

She looked at it, then at the ladybug, confused, and then at Grissom, who kept holding the ring for her to see. She felt herself tremble. Although many questions popped into her mind, words failed her. He kept looking at her, waiting, like a teacher waits for their student to reach for the answer. And it's so close, so close…

She woke up. Sara was accustomed to having her share of dreams and nightmares, but this was another level of bizarre. Looking at the clock, she realized waking up a little earlier wouldn't make any difference. So she did. She made her bed, tidied up around the house, drank a bottle of water, and began her routine to get ready for work when her cellphone rang. She glanced at the screen before answering.

Oh my, what a surprise!

"Nick Stokes!" she greeted genuinely happy.

"Sara Sidle, my God! I miss you so much," his kind voice brought tears to her eyes.

"I miss you too! How's San Diego treating you?"

"Can't complain, you know, but I do think about you guys a lot these days. Sometimes I look around and… We clicked as a team, you know what I mean?" his voice filled with longing.

Yeah, she knew what he meant. Sara had worked with a lot of people since she could remember, but never had a team as well integrated as the one in Vegas. Despite disagreements or misunderstandings, they found solace and trust in each other. At the end of the day, they were there, talking, eating together, just being friends.

These were people she really wanted in her life beyond the lab doors. People she could talk to, if she weren't so reserved. People she could hang out with, if she weren't working so hard. People she could host a party for at her house—if she… Well, you get the scene.

"Yeah… Yeah, I know— I…," Sara suddenly felt the same void of words that happened in her dream hit full force.

"It was meant to be a happy call, you know," Nick said, laughing. She did too. Bring two too emotional people together and everyone is crying out of the blue.

"But it is! It's nice to hear your voice, better than text messages for sure. I was just remembering that I dreamt about us, the team, today," she told him.

"Really? How nice! What was it about?"

"Actually… It was kind of nonsense. We were all at a scene and then… Gil found a ladybug, but it was… creepy to say the least," she didn't want to go deeper than that, hopefully he wouldn't ask for more.

"Well, if it were maggots, I'd give you credit for… But ladybugs?" he laughed. "Don't let the bugman hear you say that!"

His voice faded, and then there was silence on the line. The kind of silence that brings realization.

"Sorry, Sar, did I hit a sensitive spot?" Nick sounded really concerned.

"No! No, it's just… It's just…You know he's here, right? In Vegas, I mean," she confronted. Not in a hard way, but she wanted the truth. It was clear in her voice.

And he could sense it for sure. Because he didn't answer right away, but didn't leave her hanging either. He just needed to catch his breath before speaking again.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, sweetie. You know, news travels fast. And I wanted to know how you were. But, hey, I didn't lie at all—I've been thinking about the old days a lot, this call should have happened sooner," when he was finished, she realized she wasn't upset at all. Just… Yeah, the call could have been sooner.

"It's OK, Greg took me to breakfast yesterday. I suppose it was a matter of time for you to show up, really," Sara said in a light tone that made him laugh.

"I told ya you had us to look out for you."

"And I'm glad, Nick, I really am. I owe you so so mu—," she started, hugging herself while sitting down on her sofa.

"You owe me nothing, Sara. I will look out for you as long as I live, I swear. You're very important to me, ok? Let me hear," he demanded in a joking tone.

"Ok, ok! Fine. Thank you, anyway."

"Not a problem. Now, tell me, how are you, how's the bugman doing?" Nick asked.

"All right, I guess. I know sometimes I give him a hard time…"

"He deserves it, Sar," he said.

It really made her smile; she hoped he could hear it in her voice.

"We both made mistakes," she said. God, why did she have to defend him every damn time? - "but really, given the circumstances, I believe we are getting along just fine. It's work, so…"

"Yeah, you guys worked well together. Always have. You two are just this kind of brainy people that just get each other. The rest of us couldn't keep up for long," he stated.

Now, she had to laugh.

"C'mon, Nick, give yourself some credit. Everybody in our team was bright."

"Well, I do think we were intelligent people, no doubt. But not intellectual, not with this highly mental ability you two have. There's nothing wrong with it, we have our specialties. But… I don't know, maybe because you both like to read, enjoy art, movies, documentaries, museums…"

"I do enjoy a good museum trip. So does Gil. When we lived in Europe, we visited a lot of museums," Sara told him.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. I don't even remember the last time I was at one, let alone traveled around Europe to see art. I'd be posing in front of tourist spots and… Drinking beer," Nick laughed heartily at this. And Sara could see the humor in the situation. Yeah, she and Gil were one of a kind; there's no point in trying to deny it. Although they both enjoyed a lot of beers and wines during their time together.

"But..." - she had to stop all that Grissom talk, she couldn't let her mind wander through memory lane like it did with Greg. In a few hours, she'd be with him again, and it just wouldn't work. No. - "Speaking of work, weren't you supposed to be at work now?"

"Oh, well, yeah, I should. But I got a little bit sick."

"Oh, no! What do you have, Nick?"

"Nothing serious, I guess, but I got a really bad cold. Spreading it into the lab is not an option, so…"

"Yeah, it's better to be at home in cases like this sometimes," she stated.

"Wait, what?! Sara Sidle telling me to be off work because of a cold? Did I dial right?" he laughed so hard, she could hear some coughs mixed with the sound.

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm very reasonable." - wasn't she?

"Yeah, to be fair, towards others, you are. The only time I remember you having a sick day was because of a bug, right?"

"It was a really bad cold and a bug, all together, I guess. When I go down, I go down with it all," Sara said.

"Yeah, I remember Grissom telling us you were very weak and—" Nick stopped talking suddenly, and then: - "HEY! You were already together at that time, right?"

Sara laughed. Hard. When she caught her breath again, she managed to answer:

"Yes, we were. I was very sick, but… Truth be told, I wanted to go to work."

"Of course you did," Nick said in a low voice.

"Anyway, I offered to do lab work, paperwork, but Gil didn't flinch. So…" - then, it happened: that day came full force into her memory. She could feel his gentle touch, the worry in his voice, the love in his kisses on her forehead.

He entered the room. She was lying on her side, the heavy comforter covering her entire body, leaving only her head outside. Hank rested his own head on Sara's hip. Grissom stopped in his tracks and looked at the scene.

"Hey! Are you OK?" he asked softly.

She must've been feeling really bad because she couldn't deny it, not even think about suppressing the ache in her body. She was shivering, alert, but yet so very tired. It was hard to keep her eyes open. So she shook her head instead of replying in the affirmative.

"Oh, honey, what are you feeling?" she felt the bed going a little bit down when he sat next to her body and felt his hand running from her forehead to the side of her neck. "You're burning. Have you taken anything?"

She had tried, she really did. But she felt so tired and the bed felt so tempting. She thought it would be OK to just lay down for a few minutes before looking for something to take.

"I… tried. Sorry," she managed to say.

He smiled softly and kissed her forehead before saying he would be right back. And true to his words, no more than five minutes - or so she thought - there he was with a Tylenol and water. He helped her sit and waited until she took the medicine. Hank watched the whole scene.

"There, now lay down. I'm going to take Hank for a quick walk around the block and when I come back, I can fix something for you to eat, OK? Are you going to be all right?" he asked while running a hand through her hair.

"Sure."

She had her eyes already closed, but she heard him saying that her cellphone was right next to her, and to call him if she felt funny. And then she felt his lips on her cheek, and she went to sleep. Even though she felt sick, she also never felt so secure that she'd be fine.

All her life, no one really cared about her, not on this level anyway. Fevers, coughs, sneezes, vomiting, pain, headaches, scars, all of them were only noticed if they caused any kind of annoyance for someone. It's why she's so used to handling so much in the wrong way: because it's simple and usually doesn't cause trouble for anybody.

She heard her name being called from afar and opened her eyes. Gil was sitting at the edge of the bed, in the same place he was when she closed her eyes. For a few seconds, she thought he was magical.

"Sara, my love," he said in a gentle tone, "I brought vegetable soup, water, and tea. You don't have to eat everything now if you're feeling nauseous."

"No," she weakly replied.

He blinked several times. How handsome, cute, and polite he was, she thought.

"No what, dear?" he asked.

"I'm not nauseous. I was. Now I'm not. I think."

He chuckled sympathetically.

"Alright. Do you want any help?" he asked.

"Not really, thanks."

The soup was just the tip of the iceberg. He did everything he could: helped her change, held her hair up when she did feel nauseous and ended up vomiting, gave her medicine, Gatorade, water, read to her, held her hand while doing so, and held her when it was time to sleep. Although he respected her wishes to not go to the doctor immediately, he was firm enough when he told her if she wasn't feeling at least 70% better in two days, they would go to a doctor. Period. They would go. Not her by herself.

Yeah, ok, she could agree with that.

"Sara?"

"Huh, yeah, so… I stayed home. I didn't even need to go to the doctor. Did you go?" Sara asked Nick.

"I did because it had been a long time since I last went, so… It wouldn't hurt, right? Well, that's where you're wrong. Doc gave me a lot of exams to do. Routine stuff, nothing serious."

"I'm up to date. Once a year. Full check-up. It's not my favorite moment either, but…" she told him.

They spent twenty minutes more on the line, which was great for her. Although her mind did wander, something she was working hard not to do, it was great to catch up with Nick. She did miss him terribly and told him just that before saying goodbye so she could start her day. He too was feeling emotional and she could swear he cried a little when he told her, one more time, how he considered her as a sister.

For those people Grissom made her know, she could never hate him.