"I don't understand why you're so eager to go back, Sara." Grissom watched as she walked around the room, packing a small suitcase.

"They need the help and… I don't know… I feel responsible."

"Responsible?"

"First I left, then I wasn't there for Warrick… I could have done something…I could have kept him safe…Kept him in line…"

"Sara…"

"And then I took you away, too."

He stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "None of that is your fault… you know that… don't you."

She shrugged, "It's short term. Just until they can find and keep someone."

"And then you'll come back?" There was a hint of concern in his tone, it wasn't lost on her.

"Of course." She touched his cheek, "Though, if our grant comes through sooner, maybe you'll be joining me back in the states."

He nodded a bit absently, unconvinced. "I'm going to miss you."

She smiled sadly and gently pressed her lips to his, "It won't be for long." She looked down at her hands to see what Grissom had just placed in them.

"Keys to the condo. You left yours behind last time so…"

"Thank you." She looked down at her feet for a brief moment, "It'll be weird to stay there without you and Hank."

He nodded knowingly. He knew all too well exactly how that felt. "And you're sure… you know… that you'll be okay. The job, Vegas…"

"I'll be okay." She nodded reassuringly, "And if I feel otherwise at any point, I'll come back. But honestly, I'm good now. Really good." She touched his cheek again, running her fingers over his jawline. "Better than I thought I could ever be again."

"Be safe Sara." He spoke as he gently closed the cab door for her, leaning into the window. "Please."

"I will, Gil. You don't need to worry. I'll be okay."

He smiled through his worry and kissed her lips gently. "I'll see you soon…"


Sara walked the familiar hallways for the first time in a long time. No man stands in the same river twice, and Sara could feel the truth of this wisdom now. She had changed and so had the lab. New techs she didn't know walked through the halls right past her. But some things were the same.

"Sara! Welcome back!" Judy exclaimed at the sight of her, "They're all in the break room."

Sara could hear their familiar voices before she made her way to the room's threshold.

"Nobody in the lab should be. Talking to anybody in the media about an open investigation! I mean c'mon guys. You've all been doing this long enough at this point." Ecklie's sharp tone was unmistakable.

"Hey! Take it easy, Ecklie. I'm sure she's not the leak." And there was good 'ol Nicky.

"I can defend myself." Catherine shot back.

"This is a discipline problem, Catherine. Get a grip on your people. I'm beginning to think Riley was right about you."

"What is that supposed to mean!?"

"You didn't read her exit interview? I put it on your desk. I always thought Grissom was the one who flopped with paperwork, not you. Just. Take a look." Ecklie spun around to leave, passing right by Sara. His anger blinding him to her presence.

She leaned against the door frame, "Uh… hi guys. This a bad time?" She smiled widely as she took in their familiar faces. In a sense, she felt home.

"Sara!" Nick exclaimed and shot up from his seated position. "Sara! My god! What are you doing here!?" He took two easy strides to her and wrapped her in a big texan hug.

"Wow, Sara. You have no idea how relieved I am to see you. I thought he was sticking us with another level 1 hire."

"So Ecklie didn't mention this to any of you?"

They shook their heads, including Ray who finally introduced himself.

"Sara!?" She heard her name called out from behind, causing her to spin around.

"Greggo!" She smiled widely as he scooped her up into a hug.

"What are you doing here?" He gushed once he finally let her go. "You tired of being happy and married?" He teased.

"No…" Her smile felt permanently fixed on her face, "Grissom is guest lecturing at the Sorbonne while we're waiting for our research grant to get funded, and Ecklie called. Said the team was down a mind. And you know, as much as I love Paris—and my French is actually getting pretty good—I realized I missed you guys."

"Well, we missed you too. How long will you be here?"

"Probably just a month or so. Just until you can find and keep a replacement. I hear it hasn't been that easy…"

"Yeah… I'll fill you in over coffee after shift?"

"Perfect."

"You uh, you seem really good Sara."

"Thanks, Greggo. I feel really good. The time away was… well it was healing."

Greg's phone buzzed and and quickly excused himself just as Ecklie made his way back down the hall.

"Sara. Welcome back."

"Good to be back." She smiled.

"Let's get you set up with equipment." Sara walked alongside Ecklie toward processing to retrieve her department issued gun, badge, ID and vest.

"Grissom or Sidle?" Ecklie spoke quickly.

"Excuse me?"

He looked back at her as he signed off on her paperwork, "For your name tag—you know, on your vest."

"Oh, right." She Hans't thought about it but quickly decided it would be too weird to have Grissom on her CSI vest. "Sidle." She decided.


Sara followed Catherine through the lab halls as she gave her an updated run down on the caseload. They approached the locker room. Catherine walked in and opened her locker and sighed.

"What's next?"

"Look, Sara… I know you walked in to some fireworks in the break room…"

"What? Ecklie? Sara laughed off the comment.

"No I… I just read Riley's exit interview. She had some pretty harsh things to say about my leadership style. That the team is fractured. That it lacks cohesion because of me, because of my managerial style." Catherine took a seat on the bench and looked up at Sara, "I don't know. I admit it. I admit that things are different since Grissom left."

"Well…" Sara began, her tone soft and supportive, "It's like when a great baseball team loses their clean-up hitter. Everyone is swinging of the fences, and no one is out there playing small ball."

Catherine raised her brows, a smirk spread over her lips, "You're using a baseball analogy." She pointed out with amusement.

"Apparently, a part of being married is attempting to share in your spouses interests." She offered with a soft smile.

"Okay." Catherine laughed, "It's a weird side of you."

"I know… Look. You still have a lot of great players. And some new talent. Maybe you just need to reshuffle your line up."

"English please."

"You're a great CSI, Catherine. And you know how to manage your team. The only thing that Grissom had, that you don't…" She wanted as Catherine braced herself to hear another flaw, "… is you."

She breathed in, "Have I mentioned how great it is to have you back?"

Sara laughed softly, "It feels pretty good to be back, to be honest. I want't sure it would."

"How's Grissom doing?"

"He's really good." She nodded, enjoying being about to talk about him, "The sunshine suits him."

"It suits you too, Sara. You look well."


Sara walked into the condo for the first time since arriving in Vegas. Boxes from Grissom's office lined the living room. Otherwise, it seemed relatively the same. She glanced at the clock, realizing Grissom would be up now and getting ready to walk to the university.

"Before I say anything else, just know I'm completely fine." He could hear her placing her keys in the bowl by the door and walking down the stairs toward the kitchen.

"Sara." He sighed, his voice was layered with stern concern. "What happened?"

Sara proceeded to tell him about her first shift back in Vegas where she and Nick had engaged in a shootout with a group who was attempting to steal evidence.

He sighed, "Sara…"

"I'm fine. Really."

"You enjoyed it." He accused, knowing her too well.

"A bit." She confessed, "It feels like I'm back. Like a version of me I thought had died out in the desert. And as much as I've been enjoying our adventures abroad, it really feels right to be back."

"Professeur Grissom, un instant s'il vous plaît?" Sara could hear someone speaking in the background.

"Are you at the university already?"

"Assieds-toi" He responded to the student in his doorway before returning his attention to Sara, "I've got to go, dear. Get some rest."

"Have a good day."

Sara hung up the phone and took a look around the kitchen. It didn't feel like home anymore and she wasn't sure if it was because Grissom and Hank were absent, or if it had been that long since she'd lived there. Her eyes scanned the fridge. She became perplexed when she didn't see the photo of her and Grissom from the Golden Gate Bridge. The first photo they'd taken together from the week they met. It had been on the fridge under the heart magnet since they day they moved in together and its absence from the fridge seemed significant.

She made her way down the call to the study and peaked her head inside. Everything seemed in order. Nothing of note out of place or significantly different. She continued through the home like this, investigating her updated surroundings before making her way to the linen closet to retrieve fresh sheets for the bed. That's when she spotted the missing photo. Warn and creased, lazily propped up against a book of poetry on Grissom's night stand. Her heart began to break when she realized what she was looking at. The pillows covered her side of the bed. Her Harvard sweatshirt laying there. She could see him now, laying there staring at the photo, unable to sleep in the vast expanse of the bed they once shared. She'd known how difficult those months had been for him, but seeing the evidence hit her harder than she could have expected.

Quickly, she moved the pillows and stripped the bed to reframe what she was looking at. And before she got into bed herself, she returned the photo to the refrigerator where she felt it rightfully belonged. As she laid there, waiting to drift off, she was consumed with the hope that this was not how he was sleeping now, alone in Paris. The guilt that she was doing this to him again would consume her if she'd believed that to be true.


"You've been back for two weeks now, Sar—how does it feel?"

"Honestly?" She looked up at Greg as she wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee. The pair had just finished up a double shift and were enjoying a moment together at Franks before heading home, "It feels like I never left."

"You think you'll stay?"

She looked down briefly, "No." Was her honest answer, "We're hoping to have a research grant come through in California. Honestly, I don't think Grissom is interested in coming back to Vegas."

"Once he left, he left for good."

"Yeah."

"I thought that's how you felt too."

"I did. But, I don't know. The time away was healing, and now… the job feels good again. Really good."

"I can tell." Greg smiled, "You're getting that rush again. When you close a case."

Her lips betrayed her, pursing back a smile. He knew her well.

"I thought you were supposed to go back to Paris this week?"

"It just seemed like too much. After all the double we're pulling. I couldn't justify it."

"How'd Grissom take it?"

"I think he's a bit preoccupied with his students."

"C'mon…"

She shrugged, "He was upset."

Greg nodded knowingly, "Let's just hope he's not moping around France the way he was here after you left." He laughed a little, trying to find some levity. Sara followed his eyes as he looked up toward the door and nodded, seeing Catherine and Nick entering. The pair scooted into the booth to join.

"You're not off to Pairs?" Nick asked as he flagged down the waitress and ordered.

"No." She shook her head, "It felt like too much for just a few days."

"Alright Sara." Catherine turned her attention to her, "You're married, you don't work together anymore, its been a couple of years since we all found out…So… we wan't to know."

Sara furrowed her brows, looking between her co-workers, "Know…?"

"They wan't the details." Greg offered, decoding Catherine's question.

"Details? Of what?"

"How did it all start? When?"

"Really?" She looked between them all again, "You guys are still curious about this?"

"Yes." Nick stated as if it were unbelievably obvious.

"Guys, it's really not that interesting…"

"We'll be the judge of that." Catherine smiled brightly, "So, first things first. You knew each other before you moved here?"

Sara played with her mug a little bit before finally answering, "Yeah. We uh, well, we met at the Forensic Academy Conference when it was held in San Fransisco in '99."

"So you two…" Nick gestured.

"No. But we really hit it off right away. There was this electricity between us. But I was still in my 20s and I could sense that made him uncomfortable. We kept in touch afterward and when he asked me to join the team in Vegas… well I read into it. I showed up to find him to be very… platonic. It would take a few years before he finally came around."

"What changed?" Nick asked.

"Well… after you were abducted actually. It shook something in him. He showed up at my door that night and, that's when it all really started."

"And the secrecy?"

"At first it made sense. We were figuring out what it was and knew that disclosure would complicated it and our work… and the work…" She shrugged through a smile, "The work was what brought us together. Then, after a while, after things felt solid between us, it just felt good to keep it a secret."

Catherine nodded knowingly, "What about getting engaged? Before you left…"

Sara smiled at the thought, "He was showing me the bee colony experiment he had out back… and… he just asked. It was sweet, really. And then he re-proposed in Costa Rica and got married there just before we left."

She found herself rather enjoying the intimacy she was sharing with the team. With her family. And Catherine was right, after all these years, with them not working together anymore and married now, it was time to share.

"Alright guys, I'm beat." Greg pipped up and moved to stand.

"Same here." The team parted ways to get some rest before the next shift.


Sara keyed open the door to the condo and immediately felt something was off. She placed her hand on her holstered gun and slowly walked down the stairs. She heard a noise coming from down the hallway.

"Who's there?" She spoke sternly, ready to pull her gun.

"Hey." She heard him before she saw him, releasing her hold on her weapon.

"Gil!?" She nearly ran into his arms. "What are you doing here!?"