Disclaimer: I don't own them, I didn't create them, and I don't profit from them, but as always, coffee is on me if George and Jorja have the time.

Author's Note: This is dedicated to Mel, just because surgery rounds are no fun. And to the rest of my readers, I have not abandoned my other story, just haven't been feeling to well and my mojo is under the weather too.

Game over.

Warrick Brown hung his head and let out a resigned sigh as he loosened his tie. It had been a long day and it was going to be an even longer night, especially after his coworkers found out that he'd spend the better part of the afternoon in divorce court. It was a place he'd never intended to end up; in his mind a marriage was forever, but apparently Tina hadn't shared the sentiment regardless of what their marriage vows had said. The biggest gamble of his life had turned out to be a complete bust.

A far too cheerful Nick Stokes sauntered into the locker room curious about why Warrick was in so early and dressed in a suit. "I thought the Mikelson case went to court tomorrow." Usually the team was well aware of when another of them was in court because they liked to offer moral support by being there.

Warrick glanced up. "This was personal." He looked defeated and wondered to himself for a moment if Nick hadn't been buried alive if he'd taken the plunge with Tina or if it, like the rest of the relationships he'd had, would just run their course sooner or later and be done. Perhaps there was something about marriage that you had to approach differently and tying the knot at a drive-through wedding chapel probably hadn't been the best way to start it off.

Nick looked taken aback for a moment and then the pieces slid into place. "You and Tina, man?" He'd been just as surprised as everyone else that Warrick had just eloped, but he'd tried to be supportive of his friend. However, over the last few months, from snippets that Warrick had shared with him, the marriage seemed to be anything but wedded bliss. Tina had been on Warrick about the number of hours he worked and he'd been mistrustful of the fact that she worked so closely with her ex. Nick wasn't surprised at the news, just sad for his friend.

Warrick nodded. "Yeah, she decided that she made a mistake and she wanted to go back to David." Warrick hung up his suit coat and pulled out a shirt more appropriate for working a crime scene as he begun to unbutton his dress shirt to stow in his locker.

"Sorry, Rick." Nick wasn't sure what to say; he hoped that if he ever got around to getting married that he'd have better luck; but part of him knew that it took more work than luck; his parents were a case in point. Maybe that's why he'd put it off so long.

"Yeah, well, it's been coming for a while; I just thought maybe she'd change her mind." He lifted up his left hand and pulled his wedding ring off and tucked it into his suit pocket where it hung in his locker. "I guess I don't need this anymore." He didn't really sound all that sad; more disappointed really that he'd failed.

"You feel like getting a beer after shift?" Nick regarded his friend curiously; he knew if it were him he'd probably want to go lick his wounds for a while after downing more than a few beers.

Warrick shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. "Nah, but I might need to crash on your couch for a few days until Tina gets a place of her own." He'd inherited his Gram's house and he was giving Tina a courtesy of a few days to clear her things out without him there. They may not have had a successful marriage, but that didn't mean he was going to be an angry ex; at least to her face.

"You can crash on my couch as long as you need to, but just be forewarned that it isn't very comfortable for sleeping on." Nick had been informed of this very fact from one Ms. Sara Sidle who had utilized the couch just last week after a movie marathon with him.

"Why would Warrick need your couch?" Catherine walked in with a quizzical look on her face as she tried to piece together what might put Warrick in a position to need a couch to sleep on in the first place.

Warrick glanced up at her and flashed his left hand in her direction. "Tina and I split up..." He let out a weary sigh. "Divorce was final this afternoon." Somehow he wished that he'd at least given the rest of the team a clue of what was going on; but then, he hadn't bothered to tell any of them about his wedding either.

Catherine looked predictably shocked. "Divorce? I didn't realize the two of you were having problems." In reality, ever since Warrick had eloped Catherine had distanced herself a bit because of the feelings that she'd harbored for Warrick; she had tried to be as professional as possible.

"Hey, I've got to go find Sara and follow up on a case. Couch is yours if you need it, Bro." Nick cast Warrick a knowing glance. He would have to be an idiot to have missed the sparks that had been flying between his two coworkers long before Tina entered the picture and before Catherine had been promoted to supervisor.

"Thanks, Nick." Warrick finished changing his shirt and glanced over as Catherine sat down on the bench next to him.

Concern was evident on her face as she placed a hand on his thigh. "You doing ok?"

"Yeah." Warrick wasn't sure he sounded convincing. Truth be told, he was glad that the drama was finally over. The last few months had been nothing but arguing between he and Tina and the final straw had been when she'd announced that she had decided to get back together with David, by then, she'd already filed for divorce and it was just a matter of time until they had a court date to make it final. The hours he'd been working had helped to keep his mind off of it until today.

"You sure?" Catherine knew that even if you were ready for a marriage to be over, the finality of signing the papers and standing before a judge was still a huge blow to your ego.

"I'll be ok. I just need to give Tina a few days to clear the rest of her stuff out of the house that's all." There was really a lot more too it. Almost as soon as she'd filed, she'd started spending more and more time at David's until she really only had a few things left at the house. Warrick just didn't want the reminders of his failed marriage to taint the home he'd grown up in. Today he felt like inheriting his Gram's house was both a blessing and a curse.

"You don't need to sleep on Nick's couch...you can stay with me and Lindsey. We've got a spare room my mom uses when she stays over." Catherine knew she was probably crossing a line; in the back of her mind she had silently kept the fantasy of a possible romance with Warrick alive.

"I appreciate the offer." Warrick had half a mind to turn it down; how would it look for him to finalize his divorce and then stay with the person that Tina had accused him of cheating on her with to justify why she had broken off their marriage? Not that anything had ever happened between him and Catherine outside of his imagination, but suddenly, he didn't care what Tina thought; things between them were over as of today. He smiled a tired hopeful smile in Catherine's direction. "I think I just might take you up on that."

Catherine smiled back at him, suddenly feeling a flurry of hope for the possibility. "Good."

The End