Sara walked into Grissom's office with her usual long strides, but this was only the third time she had walked into his office since she had left. There he sat silently, his nose in paperwork, like no time had passed.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hey," he replied.

"Wendy said I could go on my break now. Do you want to come with?"

"Sorry dear, but I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on."

"Okay," she sighed.

"I'll see you at home later," he said as he moved his eyes back down to his paperwork.

Sara took that as her cue to exit. She thought about turning around to say good-bye, but he probably wouldn't even look up and she hadn't been too good with good-byes lately. She knew that she should have said good-bye to him and the whole team before she left three months ago, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She was afraid that if she said good-bye, it would either mean that she would be gone forever or that they'd resist and she'd end up staying. Although she missed them all, especially Grissom, while she was away, she really did need to get away. In her ten years as a Crime Scene Investigator, she had never willingly taken a break, except for those few fun days she and Grissom had taken off during the honeymoon period of their relationship. After Grissom left for his sabbatical, she went back to being her regular self and when he came back so did he. Yes, their relationship was a little strained because he left, but she mostly understood why he left.

So, why couldn't he be a little more understanding about why she left? However, he had at least said good-bye. She wasn't proud of how she left, but she learned so much when she was gone. She learnt that she could no longer be a CSI, but still wanted to be in the forensic field. So, when she heard about the continuing education classes at San Francisco College for becoming a lab technician, she decided to take a chance. She knew that when she returned to Vegas, she would no longer be working closely with her fellow CSI's, but on swing shift she didn't really either and she survived…sort of. At least being in the lab she could see Grissom more and even work the nightshift, since he wouldn't be her supervisor anymore, that is if he'd take her back after all this. They had talked on the phone a few times and he seemed to be doing okay. They mainly talked about simple things like the weather, even during their first conversation apart. She called him the next day from her mom's house and he sounded relieved, but closed off.

Sara knew that Grissom would have a wall up around his heart when she came home; she had really hurt him. She had hoped though that once she told him the whole story and they had time to be themselves again, his wall would crumble. She had been home for almost a month now and the wall was as strong as ever. He was pleasant and loving to her, but in an untrusting way and that bothered Sara. He was no longer open to her with his feelings; he had resorted back to the way he was when she first came to Vegas. She had tired romantic dinners, and heart to heart talks, but neither helped; neither of them were Grissom. She needed to find some way to show him how she felt in a way that he would understand. At first, she thought about doing something with bugs, but then couldn't figure out what she'd do with them. If they would only stay still and not crawl, she could have written, "I'm sorry, I love you," but they'd most likely just crawl all over her. Sara's second idea panned out. It hit her when she was visiting Greg in the break room during her break and Grissom came in with a crossword puzzle in hand as usual.

A crossword puzzle would take time and effort for Sara to create, but she was more than willing. She wanted to have her old life with Grissom back, back when he trusted her. Sara did know though that if she was going to complete this crossword anytime soon, she'd have to enlist some help. Sara knew she could go to her former CSI team to help, but would they be able to keep their mouths shut?