So the story is set during season 7 when Grissom is away on sabbatical. I wanted to try and write something a bit different, something that didn't centre around some dramatic event and this is what I have come up with. Hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think. It's only going to be a short one, just a couple of chapters, but anything you have to say about the style of writting, the characterisation, plot etc. is much appreciated.

In the end they chose somewhere familiar, somewhere they had all spent many an hour unwinding after work together or sometimes even alone when they hadn't been able to face going back to an empty house. The bar was surprisingly busy given the time of day, but then this was Vegas. The only time any part of the city seemed quiet was when they had it taped off to investigate a crime scene and even then the constant hum of traffic and people from every imaginable walk of life was ever present. Sometimes it all became too much, even for the cities hardened CSIs, and a quiet drink with friends was just the remedy they all needed.

It had been Gregs idea. With Grissom away on sabbatical, a replacement CSI had been drafted in and he hadn't really gelled well with the rest of the night shift. Catherine seemed to have taken a real shine to him, not that they could really blame her- he was a good looking guy, even the boys had to admit this, and he had that "hansom-stranger" charm about him, but the younger members of the team couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of the new comer. He was beginning to grate on all of them and after another long shift neither Nick, Warrick nor Sara had taken much persuading when the suggestion of a post-shift drink had been proposed.

Nick held the door open for his friends before himself entering the dimly lit and smoky bar. He found himself wondering why they always seemed to come here when there were so many other more sophisticated bars and clubs in Vegas to choose from. He smiled to himself as he remembered that this was one of the few places they had never investigated in someway, good enough reason in his mind at least for picking this place above any other.

As this little expedition was his idea, Greg had been volunteered to buy the first round so made his way to the bar, hoping to charm the bar maid into serving him before the half dozen other guy also waiting to be served. Nick nudged Warrick in the side and nodded towards Greg an amused smile on his face. "Man he has no chance." Laughed Warrick shaking his head at Gregs pitiful attempts at flirting over the bar. Sara turned to look too and stifled her own laugh.

"Aw leave him alone." She said frowning at the men opposite her. "Gregs not that bad."

"Compared to Mr. Tall-dark-and-hansom over there?" Nick asked sarcastically referring to the man standing on Gregs left, towering over him by a good coupe of inches and who obviously spent a lot of time in the gym.

"Well yeah." She laughed. "I guess we may be waiting a little while for those drinks." The three friends continued to talk and laugh until Greg appeared placing four bottles on the table, which Nick distributed between them onto soggy beer mats.

"Beers all round." He said, sitting himself down next to Sara as a chorus of thanks came from his friends.

"Well, cheers guys." Said Warrick, raising his bottle. "Here's to…"

"The end of a long day? Closing a case?" Offered Sara.

"Yeah all of that stuff." He laughed as the four bottles met above the table and they each took a drink. There was a moment of comfortable silence in which all of the four friends took a moment to survey their surroundings, a force of habit that seemed to come with the job. They were seated at a small round table in a booth with a worn red sofa. The bar was mostly full of groups of men in their mid thirties, mainly locals. There was a group of woman sat in the booth opposite them, which Sara couldn't help but notice seemed to grab Gregs attention for much longer than anyone else in the room. Looking away from the table of woman and taking another mouthful of beer Greg began to speak, raising his voice just slightly to be heard over the music.

"So what do you guys think of Catherine and Keppler?"

"Oh she's defiantly into him." Nick said.

"Yeah but there's no way anything will happen. She's far to good for him." Warrick said shaking his head.

"Is that right?" Said Sara, leaning over the table and grinning at him.

"Yeah that is right." He said grinning back.

"So uh, what do you guys think of Warrick and Catherine?" Teased Nick, holding his hand to the side of his mouth as if trying to hide his words from the man in question. He received a sharp jab in the ribs from Warrick as they all started to laugh.

"But seriously man," Nick continued. "You're back on the market now you need to get out there?"

"And when was the last time you had a date cowboy?"

"Well…" He was glad the dim lights hid the slight blushing of his cheeks. "We're not talking about me are we?"

"Avoiding the subject stokes!"

"To be fair," Greg cut in tipping the neck of his bear bottle in Warricks direction. "We were talking about you first."

"You and a certain CSI Willows." Clarified Sara.

"Ok you're right but really there's not much to tell. Cath and I are just friends and anyway, I think I'm going to give the whole dating scene a miss for a while you know. I mean my divorce has only just been finalised, I don't think I'm ready to get back out there just yet." They all nodded. "So what's you're excuse?"

"For what?" Nick asked innocently.

"Not dating."

"I work bad hours." Nick shrugged, finishing his beer. They all laughed but had to admit that it was true. Working the nightshift and dating didn't exactly go hand in hand. "Another round?"

Of course they didn't say no and neither did they say no to the round after that. They had been sat in the bar for nearly two hours talking about anything and everything. Greg continued to cast glances in the direction of the girls table across from them. When the tall brunette in the tight jeans walked past Sara couldn't help but smile at Gregs expression. Clearly she had his attention and the flirtatious smile on the girls face told Sara that Greg had hers too. She was about to inform Greg of this observation when her phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and stared at the screen, which displayed the name of the man whose calls she had been avoiding for nearly two weeks- Grissom. Only Greg was sat close enough in the dim, smoky room to notice the odd look on her face. She looked somehow sad and angry but relieved at the same time. As the phone continued to ring, Sara still staring at it, Greg gave her a gentle nudge. "Aren't you going to answer that?"

"No it's uh, it's not important." She said hurriedly thrusting the still ringing phone back into her pocket, having not realised quiet how long she had been sat there with it in her hand. She wanted to speak to him, to hear his voice but she was angry with him and confused and didn't know what she would say if she were to speak to him. In light of this, she had made the decision not to answer his calls until she had made up her mind about how she felt and about what she wanted to say. He had left for his sabbatical very abruptly and despite being in what Sara considered to be long-term relationship with her, he had not discussed the idea with her once. She couldn't help but feel that he was trying to escape from something, from her maybe. Or maybe it was just Grissom being Grissom. Even he admitted that he had done some pretty stupid things to harm their relationship in the past and maybe this was just another of those things. Sometimes the most intelligent of people can be the most stupid when it comes to the things that really matter. Wanting to avoid any unwanted questioning about the mystery caller, Sara was quick to offer another round of drinks to her friends.

"No I better get going." Said Nick the combined affects of alcohol and a long night making him feel pretty tired.

"Yeah me to. Got an appointment before work tomorrow so need to get some sleep." Warrick agreed. "Want to share a cab?"

"Sure." Nick nodded. "You guys coming?"

"I'm game for one more drink if you want to stick around?" Greg offered Sara, seeing that the phone call had upset her.

"Yeah." She gave him a grateful smile. "You guys go ahead. We'll see you tonight."

"Sure thing." Said Nick shuffling off the sofa and putting on his jacket. "Have a good day guys."

"You too Nicky." Smiled Sara. "See you Warrick."

"Yeah bye guys." Greg said as Warrick too put on his jacket and they began to head to the door.

"See you later." Warrick said. "And try and get him home in one piece." He joked to Sara.

"Yeah I'll try." She laughed. When they had left, Sara and Greg were silent for a moment. She looked away from him and began to search her jacket pocket for her purse, chewing nervously on her bottom lip, knowing Greg could tell something was on her mind.

"Is everything ok Sara?" He asked after a moment. She nodded but didn't look up and continued rummaging through her jacket. He placed a hand on her arm to stop her. "You sure?" She looked up now and flashed him an almost convincing smile.

"Yeah I'm sure Greg." She waved her purse at him and stood up. "I better get those drinks." He stood to let her past and watched her as she made her way to the bar. It was quieter now than it had been and she was next to be served. He had missed this. Spending time with her. They were such close friends but recently they just hadn't had the time to be alone and talk like they had used to. He shuffled along the sofa as she made her way back, placing the beers on the table and sitting next to him.

"I needed this Greg." She said leaning back on against the seat and turning to smile at him. "Drinks were a good idea."

"Something on your mind?" He asked. She closed her eyes and shook her head. There was something and as much as she wanted to tell him she couldn't.

"Just been a long couple of weeks that's all."

"Yeah." He smiled. She sat back up and took a mouthful of her beer. She looked at him, staring across the room at the brunette.

"Go talk to her." She said.

"What?" He hadn't really been listening, his attentions elsewhere.

"Go talk to her. Go on." She nudged him in the side urging him leave but he didn't move. "Go." She laughed.

"No. I don't think so." He said shaking his head.

"Why not. You've been staring at her since we got here."

"Well I can't just leave you sitting here." He said.

"Come on Greg I'm a big girl. I look after myself."

"But still…." He shook his head again.

"Ok." She shrugged, taking another drink. "But for the record, using me as an excuse for not getting yourself a girl, not cool."

"Oh yeah? And what makes you so sure I'd 'get the girl'"

"You'd be great catch Greg." She said sincerely.

"Ok now I think you've just had one too many to drink." He laughed.

"Hey!" She said, putting on her best shocked and offended face. "I could drink you under the table any day!"

"Yeah? That sounds like a challenge."

"Ok Sanders. Hand me the purse."

Three shots of tequila later Greg had to admit she was right. His head was starting to spin and he was sure one more shot would push him too far. "Ok I give in." He sighed lifting his hands in a gesture of surrender. "You win."

"Well I did try to tell you." She said patting him on the back.

"Still think I'm a great catch?" They both began to laugh until tears started to roll down Saras cheeks.

"Oh yeah." She said between the laughter. "I do. Really." She said more seriously this time. He smiled. "Come on." She said placing a hand on his arm. "Time to get you home."

"Surely it should be me saying that to you, me being the man and all." He said, missing as he tried to put his arm into his jacket sleeve, an expression of confusion spreading over his face like he couldn't understand why it might have happened.

"Oh yeah." She laughed. "Very manly." They stepped outside their arms locked together, only then realising how musty the air in the bar was. "At least let me flag down the cab." Greg insisted pulling away from Sara and taking a few unsteady steps towards the curb. He waved his hand at a passing yellow cab, which obediently pulled over. He opened the door and turned to Sara. "After you my lady." He grinned.

Next chapter comming soon...