The sun was setting over the endlessly busy city of Las Vegas. The lights were shining brightly enough to be visible to the other side of the globe. Or at least, that's how it seemed to Sara Sidle as she walked at a sluggish pace down the hallways of the police department, staring out the window and carrying a folder in hand. The lights, of all different colors and formations as they blended together, were so mesmerizing... She felt like she could just stare at them all night. It was something she hadn't really noticed in San Francisco as much – although there were very bright lights there as well, they never seemed to stand out like the ones in Vegas did.

As she crossed the threshold into Grissom's office, she shook her head to clear her dreamy state of mind up. It had been a long day on a solo case and she was looking forward to going home. But first, she had to think clearly enough to turn in her report of the shift's events. Not that Grissom ever really did much with them, if the pile on his desk was any indication, but no one could say she didn't do her job, at the very least.

"Hey!" she greeted enthusiastically as she entered the room.

Grissom didn't answer. He sat hunched forward on his desk, elbows propped up. His brow was furrowed quite intensely – he was obviously very absorbed in whatever he was doing... In one hand was a magnifying glass. In the other, a smaller object she couldn't quite make out.

She squinted at it. "What's that?" she asked after a moment.

"It's a beetle," he answered shortly. "A beetle with an odd anatomy problem."

But he didn't divulge further.

So Sara tried again. "What... kind of... anatomy problem?"

"An unusually large array of extra legs," he replied. "Sometimes a bug will grow an extra leg or two, but never this many in all my years an an entomologist."

And he again fell silent, sliding the magnifying glass slowly around the tiny bug pinched between two fingers. She frowned – how much could you learn from examining the same miniscule bug body with the same magnifying glass so intensely for so long? She shrugged with the realization that, as intriguing as Grissom had always been to her, his bug fascination was something she would never be able to understand.

Minutes passed, and he didn't seem too inclined to attempt further conversation. Or reveal any more about his bug friend. So she cleared her throat and gave the folder in her hand a visual once over.

"Um..." she began, "I finished my case, so..."

"That's good."

She blinked twice. "Yeah. Yeah, it was great. Lonely case, but great."

"Mmm."

"Shall I... just... put the folder up here, then?"

"That would be great."

She sighed, and did as instructed, depositing the folder on top of the already sizable collection of them.

"Okay, then," she said, beginning to inch her way out the door. "I'm, uh... I guess I'm going home."

"Okay."

"See you tomorrow," she added.

"Yeah, sounds like a plan."

She waved formally. "Goodnight."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow, Sara."

Now THAT sounded almost impatient...

Well, sorry to bother you, she thought impatiently to herself. Her arms came up around herself and she exhaled sharply as she headed off down the hallway. You're the one with the plaque that says 'Night Shift Supervisor' on your desk. I'll do the job, if you really don't want to... The extra money would be fantastic.

As she went along down the hall, she came across Catherine and Warrick. They both looked about as tired as she felt. And the way Warrick's voice cracked a little when he returned her brief greeting was a confirmation to her that he hadn't slept in a while.

She stopped while they passed and watched them go into Grissom's office, where the folder Catherine was carrying joined the top of the assortment with a light slapping sound. Grissom looked up immediately, and even set his bug down on the wax paper in front of him, as they helped themselves to the chairs in front of his desk.

She didn't stick around to listen to their conversation, though. She shook her head again, as if to clear away the sudden resentment she was feeling, and continued off down the hallways. The automatic lights still hadn't kicked on, even though the sun had set minutes ago and the city was dark out. But she still recognized the room she was coming up on – or rather, the person inside of it... and he appeared to be quite energetic. She couldn't help the small smile that came to her face as she went for the door to the DNA lab hastily.

But as soon as she stepped foot inside of it, her smile faded. Greg Sanders was, as usual, listening to music. Vile music, by the sound of what was coming from his earphones... and way too loud, as was also a usual for him. Although she couldn't help feeling amused by his weird arm movements and body jerkings, she knew conversation would be a lost cause. So she threw her hands up and went away from the door.

It was quiet in the lab at this time a night. The day office and maintenance staff had gone home and were being replaced by their nighttime counterparts. But even though she could hear other people settling in for the night, the only other person she actually saw as she went was a bum-looking janitor, who seemed as absorbed with repeatedly soaking and wringing out his mop in his bucket as Grissom had been with his beetle. At least, until his good buddies had come in...

She rounded the corner into the locker room and made a beeline for her things. Swinging her locker open with more force than necessary, she rifled through the duffel bag roughly. Purse, wallet, makeup, change of clothes, hairbrush, overnight bag with spare toiletries... Yep, it was all there.

Good, she thought icily. Get me the hell out of here...

As she yanked the zipper on her bag closed and slammed her locker door shut, she almost jumped through the ceiling. The metal door had given way to the abruptly close face of Grissom.

"Jeez!" she shrieked, catching herself on her locker. "God, Grissom... Don't do that!"

His answering smile was almost shit-eating. "Sorry," he halfheartedly apologized. "I just wanted to catch you before you took off."

Her eyes flashed down to a new folder in his hand and then back up to his own eyes. "Oh, no..." she began.

"Oh, yes," he said. "Homicide, hotel on the strip. Address is in the case file. Nick will be joining you, he's just had a day off."

He thrust the folder into her hands, causing her to jolt a little, and took a step back.

"Good luck!" he added, backing away.

"Yeah, it sounds like fun," commented Warrick. "I'm out. I just came off a double, I'll see ya tomorrow."

He flung each of his long, large arms around Grissom and Catherine.

"Yeah, me too," said the latter. And she waved at Sara before disappearing around the bend. "Go get 'em, girlfriend!"

"Yeah, and that reminds me: how did your first case turn out?" she heard Grissom asking before their voices faded out again.

Sara exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. In weariness, she looked down at the folder she was holding.

"Damn it," she muttered in annoyance, and began to stuff her duffel bag back into her locker...

...so she could trade it out for the science kit with her name on it, stacked against the back wall.