Epilogue
The Las Vegas Crime Lab bustled with activity, the city never sleeping and the criminals seeming to come out of the woodwork. Sara stared transfixed at the glass partition of the Trace Lab, observing quietly the interactions of not only her teammates, but the lab technicians as well.
Greg passed by; preoccupied with a new case he'd been assigned. So preoccupied was he that when Grissom rounded the corner they bumped into each other, sending the file and all its contents fluttering to the floor. Startled from the impact, they both bent over to gather up the papers, smashing their heads together in the process. When they came back up both rubbing their heads at the same time and in almost synchronized motions, Sara chuckled openly at the uncanny resemblance. She half expected Grissom to take the file out of Greg's grasp and whack him over the top of the head with it. Uncharacteristically, however, Grissom remained calm. Instead of berating Greg for his inattentiveness, he initiated a conversation over what he'd been so engrossed in.
Before Greg could really begin explaining, Nick came out from the DNA lab, commanding Grissom's attention with some new key piece of evidence, leaving Greg standing in the hall. Sara was about to get up and go to assuage Greg's forlorn look. But again, Grissom did a 360 turn back to Greg and waved him on to join them.
This completely new interaction between Grissom and the team had been near non-existent for a while. Or Sara was just now noticing it. It wasn't as though she ever got to just sit and watch the play by play in the team's dynamics.
What really caught her eye now, however, was Grissom interactions and attentiveness to the others and even to her. When she returned from her week's vacation after leaving Aeric at the hotel, she did some truly deep soul searching and the one thing she kept coming back to was how much better she felt – when she was alone. Before her trip to India, she would go insane if she had to spend any time alone that wasn't involved with a case. She either had to be working all the time or she'd be sleeping. And she never could sleep very long. Now, however, she found that during the week of time-off, she read a few books, did some shopping and even started a regular exercise routine. Twice, she drove out past the city limits to a secluded location, away from the Vegas lights, to stargaze. It had been many years since she'd done that.
Finally, it occurred to her what was happening. She was comfortable in her own skin. She was comfortable being a woman and not dependent on another soul.
I am woman. Hear me roar.
She couldn't help the throaty giggle that escaped her and shyly she glanced around the lab to make sure no one had noticed. Someone might think she wasn't dealing with a full deck. She knew she was alone, yet the tickle on the back of her neck she usually associated with Grissom – her little Grissom radar – made her whirl anyway, but he wasn't there. Shrugging, she went back to work.
The week after her last day with Aeric had been great in one way, but extremely heartbreaking in other ways. He took it hard. They'd met at the fountains outside of the Bellagio the following night and just walked for hours – talking about everything and nothing. By the time she'd left him standing in the parking lot while she drove off, she had tears in her eyes. There had been an undeniable attraction between them from the beginning and from which a romance had developed. But deep within they had become friends, and that friendship would last, hopefully, a lifetime. He called her before leaving and told her he'd be in touch. He had understood and not tried to devalue her feelings. His validation wasn't necessary, but it felt good all the same.
Her choice had come as a hard shock at first, that of choosing herself, her life, her own well being over any relationship with a man. That was until she realized how refreshing it was to not have to rely on or seek approval from someone else. She'd chosen to live her life in such a way as to bring the most fulfillments – for herself. The choice gave her a whole new outlook on life, her work and her friendships. Her work became secondary to her friendships. She spent more time with the guys, especially in mentoring Greg. Seeing Greg in a new light, she realized how much he reminded her of, well, her. Not just in his relentless flirting, but in his relentless search for validation. If she could help him find it in himself, as she had, then she could call her tutoring a success.
As for Grissom, he'd been distant that first week. He wouldn't work with her and was never around at the end of shift when she'd leave. Then after a couple of weeks it was as if they'd warped back in time. He bantered with her, joking even when it fit. It was all in small doses, as if he was working at a friendship.
Her relationship with Aeric soon came up in conversation, however. She'd been rushing out of the break room to make her new Art Appreciation class with Professor Michael Kaplan when Catherine and Grissom came in. When she tried to slip past the two of them, Catherine stopped her, saying, "Aeric must be in town for you to be leaving on time." Sara turned back to them at the door and shook her head. "Aeric and I aren't together. We haven't been since the fundraiser." And with that she'd left.
The following night as she was leaving, she said her good-bye to Grissom as usual but hesitated. She turned back to him and he looked up from his work, peering over the rim of his glasses.
"What is it?" he asked.
"It wasn't because of you."
His brow furrowed grasping at understanding; he leant back in his chair thinking. "What isn't because of me?"
She took a step back into the office. "I decided that Aeric wasn't what I needed. But what happened that night wasn't based on what happened that night." Her head tilted in thought, her eyes drifting to the side in memory. "I realized for the first time that what I needed most..." She smiled brilliantly. "What I'd been searching for all this time wasn't something that could be found in another's eyes." She pressed the palm of her hand to her chest, tapping. "It was always right here."
Nothing more was said. They stared at each other a long moment until Sara gave him a dazzling smile and headed home.
Her distracted gaze once again focusing on her surroundings, she saw Nick, Greg and Warrick walking off with their coats in hand. A quick glance at the clock told her it was end of shift. And she had nowhere in particular to be today, nothing to keep her at work, no appointments. Nothing to do but relax, maybe read out by the pool or head to the lake. The idea of going to the lake refreshed her synapses. Cataloguing her possibilities, she missed the sound of footsteps. The shadow looming over her table was unmistakable, however.
Looking up, she found Grissom leaning against the threshold. He gestured toward the items on the table and asked, "Did you get anywhere with that?"
Shaking her head, she sighed and sat back. "No, this stuff could've been there for days, weeks even. I was thinking of asking you to send Greg back tonight to do some canvassing."
"I think I can give him a few hours on it. Night off, right?"
"Hmm, yeah."
"Any plans."
"Some," she replied with a smile. "Nothing too major. A little Penne Romanoff, glass of wine and my new novel by Linda Howard perhaps."
"Quiet evening."
"Yes, sounds lovely doesn't it?"
"Lonely actually."
Sara's eyes lifted to meet his. Not falling for the bait, she said, "Comforting."
He nodded in approval, a smile gracing his face and reaching his eyes. "Something everyone needs a little bit of... comfort. Happiness is like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the more it will elude you. But if you turn your attention to other things, it comes softly and sits on your shoulder."
Sara scrunched her face up, searching for a name to fit the quotation but came up empty. She gave Grissom a questioning look.
He answered, "Unknown... but never more fitting." He held her gaze then winked, walking away with a bit of a spring in his step.
Sara stared after him. If she was a betting person, she'd layout an easy hundred that he had just told her the butterfly was symbolic of him. Her breath caught and her heart did something it hadn't in a long time with him, it fluttered... like a butterflies wings.
A/N: Finally! I can now call this fic finished. It's been a long haul to get this completed and with some help from great authors and readers alike. My thanks goes out to LSI for helping me get this over with. Your creativity brings a classy touch to the ending of this fic. I also want to thank Chicklit for allowing me to drop the name of one of her own characters. There have been numerous others who've supported me through the beginning when it appeared this was only a Sara/Other pairing, but this fic delved into the G/S'hip just as much. I hope you enjoyed the ending and if you are a diehard fan of G/S, you'll get the meaning.