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Sara was early, so there was no one else in the locker room to hear her slam her locker shut as hard as she could. It helped, sort of.

The day shift was still there. She said hi to the few people she knew, ignored the people she didn't, and went to get the evidence for her current case out of the evidence lockup.

The day shift took up even more space than her night shift, so she took the crime scene photos with her to the lounge and spread them out on the table. She was still staring at them, hoping something would click, when the night shift started to drift in.

Grissom poured himself a cup of coffee, looked over her shoulder, and left without speaking to her. Catherine and Warrick came in talking sports and spared her a quick hello.

Nick was almost late, and he stopped to chat. "The Robbins case?"

"Yeah. I can't figure out how the gravel fits in."

"It had to come from somewhere." Nick leaned over and picked up one of the pictures.

"Yeah," Sara mused. "I had Greg running some tests yesterday."

"He should be able to tell you something today." Nick sipped his coffee. "Hey, you and Hank have Valentine's Day plans?"

She could feel her lips compressing into an unhappy line. "Not anymore." She swept the pictures up into a stack.

"Hey, Nick!" Greg was late, but they'd worked together for long enough that she knew coffee was usually his second task of the day. "Hello, Sara. Happy Valentine's Day." Greg flashed her a smile she didn't return.

She gathered her evidence together and pushed past Nick to escape from the lounge.

"What's with her?" she heard Greg ask as she left. She was out of earshot before Nick answered.

***

"Hey, you all right?" Warrick asked in the car on the way back from a crime scene.

Her jaw clenched and she stared determinedly out the window. In the reflection in the window, she could see Warrick glance at her.

"If you want to talk," he said, leaving the offer open.

She couldn't let it go unacknowledged, so she nodded sharply, and he let the subject drop.

***

"Hot date this morning?" Catherine asked her while she changed her shirt after gathering some particularly messy evidence. She slammed her locker shut again and found that it was a little more satisfying when there's someone there to hear it.

Catherine's eyebrows went up. "I guess not." She leaned back against the doorjamb. "Things not working out with Hank?"

Catherine's calm acceptance made it easy to talk. "He dumped me this afternoon. He left a message on my answering machine."

Catherine winced. "That's cold."

"Yeah." Sara's anger started to fade, just a little.

"You're probably better off without him," Catherine advised, and she pushed through the door into the hallway.

***

There was a small envelope taped to her locker when she went for her purse to pay for a late lunch. She took it down and opened it. It was one of those Valentines kids give to their classmates. "Be mine," it said, in a bright colored heart. "He didn't deserve you," it said on the back. Greg's name was scrawled beneath the note. She tucked it into her purse and took the money out to pay her share of lunch.

Grissom was gone for the night, plus it was a holiday, so lunch was something of a party. They relaxed and didn't talk about work. Warrick and Nick talked sports with Catherine chiming in to tell them they were both wrong. Greg exchanged jokes with Catherine and tried to make Sara smile. It didn't work, but she did feel a little better about being dumped on Valentine's Day.

***

Sara, sulky: I don't want breakfast. I want dinner.

Greg: We can have dinner.

Sara: No one serves dinner at 6 AM.

Greg: I know a guy. Come on, just dinner.

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Ruth Sadelle Alderson

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