A/N: This is my first fan fiction ever, though I have read hundreds from CSI and the X-Files. Any comments in ('') are Sara's own thoughts. This started out as a challenge and spun out of control.

High Incident

LVMPD...

Warrick walked into the break room and immediately smiled. In the center of the table was a large cake box. "Thanks for the cake guys, but I thought we were going to do this at Cath's house." He opened the box and swiped chocolate icing from the big cake.

"Maybe Catherine wanted to get the party started early." Nick suggested.

"Sounds like a plan." Sara agreed, extracting a knife and paper plates from the cupboard.

"Happy Birthday to me!" Warrick sang as he sliced a healthy piece of cake for himself, and then repeated the process several more times for his friends.

"Did someone say cake?" Greg's spiked head peered from around the corner.

"Hey guys! We've got ourselves a peeping-tom here." Catherine called out from the hall, and then pushed Greg through the door. "Double chocolate! Yummy!" Catherine snatched a piece for Greg then for herself.

"You didn't bring this for me?" Warrick asked Catherine, confused and maybe a little disappointed.

"Nope, probably Grissom." She said between mouthfuls. "Oh God! This is great!"

"Yeah, probably didn't want it to be a big deal." He agreed and tried not to watch the fork disappear into her mouth with too much interest.

Grissom's Office...

"Come in."

"Hey Gris." Sara greeted as he looked up from his file. Her stomach did a flip-flop when their eyes met over his wire-rims. She loved when Grissom looked over his glasses. He had the whole 'smart-is-sexy' thing going on. She was lost in his blue eyes when he raised a questioning eyebrow at her silence.

"I- I- uh, brought you a piece of cake."

"Thank you, Sara. Are you not going to have any?" He asked, motioning to her now empty hands. She smiled sheepishly.

"I already ate mine." But I wouldn't mind watching you eat yours! "Okay, so you're heading over to Catherine's straight after work?" Sara inquired, refocused.

"Yes, I am. I'll see you in a few."

Thirty minutes later at Catherine's house...

"Hey Warrick, Lindsey said to tell you she was sorry she would miss your party and to give you this." Catherine relayed, handling Warrick a small gift.

"Thanks Cath. Maybe I can drop by some other time and thank Lindsey in person?" Warrick suggested boldly, not sure what had gotten in to him.

"Sure. Whenever you'd like...I mean, I'm sure Lindsey would be happy to see you." She responded, trying to cover and not too sound desperate or anything.

"Hey Cat, you got any alcohol?" Greg asked between mouthfuls of more chocolate cake.

She gave him a sharp look at his calling her 'Cat.' The only person she let call her that and got away with it was Warrick.

"Yes, Greg. In the kitchen cupboards."

"You guys ready to eat?" Catherine asked Sara, Grissom and Nick, who were sitting on the couch and loveseat. She only got a few grunts in response, as they all seemed to be in a daze.

Meanwhile, Greg rooted around in the cupboards and reemerged with a tray full of drinking necessities. "Let's play a drinking game!" He recommended, totally hyped.

"I'm game." Warrick called out. "Come on guys, stop staring at the walls!"

One hour later, the five CSIs and Greg were all engaged in some drinking game that they suspected Greg made up.

"I quit!" Sara said pouting and threw her arms around her chest.

"Aw, Sara. You can't quit now, it's just getting to the good part!" Greg whined.

"The good part? Greg, we've been knocking back shots for the last hour. If it gets any better, none of us will be able to make it to work tonight." Grissom observed.

Grissom didn't know about them, but he was feeling mighty fine. The alcohol working on his sleep-deprived brain left him feeling more relaxed than he had been in years. Looking around at the others, they looked to be in a permanent state of relaxation also - except Sara. Sara was still sitting on the loveseat frowning. God, she was sexy when she pouted!

Whoa! He needed to settle down before he embarrassed himself.

"Come on Sar, don quit cause you're losin'. " Nick slurred. His heavy Texas accent drew everyone's attention.

They all turned to Nick then burst out laughing. Who knew why - when you're high, everything was funny. They laughed for what seemed like ever and then Sara started to cry.

"Sara, honey what's wrong?" Grissom wanted to know, on his knees beside her immediately.

Quite frankly, she didn't know and whatever thoughts she had in her head left the moment he moved into her personal space. She leaned in closer as he placed his palm on her cheek. Hmmm. At this distance, she could smell his shampoo, conditioner and perspiration that made up the unique Grissom scent she dreamed about in her sleep.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Grissom tugged Sara gently to her feet.

Sara couldn't put two words together, so she nodded in agreement. Her and him in a small and enclosed space? Add nine years of repressed sexual tension and she wasn't sure she would be able to control herself - she wasn't sure that she wanted to!

Inside Catherine's bathroom, Grissom moved around with relative ease as he fished out a washcloth and hand towel for her face. Sara couldn't help but be annoyed.

"You're awfully familiar with Catherine's bathroom."

'Wait, did I just say that out loud? I can't believe I just said that. Now I sound jealous.'

"Um. Sara, Catherine and I have been friends for quite some time. It's only natural that we would visit at each other's homes."

"Yeah right! I'm friends with Nick but I don't feel the need to acquaint myself with all of his personal areas!"

Grissom's head snapped up.

'Shit! Did I just say that aloud again? What in the hell is going on? This was supposed to be an inner monologue!'

"Sara, there's no reason to be jealous of Catherine." He chided her gently as he pressed a warm cloth to her face - though the thought of her in Nick's bathroom bothered him.

'I'm not jealous of Catherine.' Was what Sara wanted to say, but what actually came out of her mouth was: "Would you like it if I was jealous?"

'Hold on! Something's definitely going on with my mouth. I know what I want to say but something else ends up coming out. I must be drunk.'

"Do you think you a have a reason to be?" Grissom countered with a smirk.

"Bastard! You're enjoying this. I don't care if you're screwing Catherine or not. Whatever she does for you, I can do it better. Turn the lock on that door and I'll prove it! Now, that'll take the smirk off your face!"

Grissom's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

'Oh God! It happened again. I said that, didn't I?'

Grissom didn't know what was the hell was going on in Sara's head but he was totally turned on by what was coming out of her mouth. The rational part of his brain was telling him that she was drunk, that she would never say these things if she weren't. But the mellowed part of his brain, thanks to about a half bottle of brandy, was stirring up trouble. Speaking of things that were up, as close as they were standing to one another, there was no way she was not aware of his state of arousal. God! He didn't even think his Sara thought this way. Instead of being disappointed, he was pleased! Did this make him a dirty old man?

He walked slowly over to the bathroom door and locked it, then turned around with a satisfied grin. "I hear Physicists do it with Force!"

'I did say it. This is my brain on drugs.' Sara groaned.

In the living room...

Catherine woke sometime later with a splitting headache and still felt surprisingly high. She frowned at the silence in her house and surveyed the scene. It was a wreck.

At the sound of giggles, Catherine's head shot up. She regretted the action immediately as pain exploded in her head and a wave of dizziness washed over her. After the moment passed, she decided that Grissom and Sara had either gone to the bathroom again or were still in there from earlier. It's a good thing she has two baths in her house.

She walked into the dining room and found Greg asleep on the floor. Catherine vaguely remembered the Lab Tech complaining that the floor would not stop moving.

In the kitchen, she gasped out loud in shock. "What in the hell is going on in here?"

The kitchen looked like one of Grissom's experiments exploded in it. Food items from the cupboards and refrigerator littered the table and counters. Tons of pots and pans were stacked in the sink, not to mention the huge drum Warrick and Nick were hovering over on the stove top.

Speaking of stove, Catherine wrinkled her nose from the smell emulating from the pot. Warrick and Nick looked up with amused smiles.

"Hey Cat, what's s'up?" Warrick greeted, wearing her 'Top Chef' apron and a sly smile.

Damn he was sexy! Catherine mused briefly. But even that sexy smile and puppy dog eyes couldn't distract her from the mess they made in her kitchen. "What are you guys doing in my kitchen?"

"Well..." Nick started in his heavy Texas drawl. "I wanted to make some chili for everyone, but Warrick here, wanted to make spaghetti."

"So, we made both!" Warrick finished.

"In the same pot?" Catherine questioned weakly, almost afraid of the answer.

Nick and Warrick nodded their heads in affirmation, obviously pleased with their problem-solving skills.

"See, my Mama has this famous recipe that's been handed down or generations. I can't tell you the secret but it involves chicken and turkey." Nick stage whispered.

"And my Grandma's spaghetti is just as famous here in Las Vegas. Her secret is to add Italian sausage and a few other spices I will not name, along with the ground beef." Warrick revealed.

"Okaaaay. The only problem with that, is that I didn't have any turkey or Italian sausage." She pointed out the culinary geniuses.

Warrick and Nick clucked their tongues in mock exasperation. "Women." Nick stated, shaking his head. "Can't ever improvise. Of course, we noticed that your fridge was inadequately stocked."

Catherine raised a finely arched eyebrow.

"What Nick meant was that since we didn't have any turkey or sausage, we used lunch meat."

"You put lunch meat in a pot of chili slash spaghetti?"

"Yep!" They responded in unison. Then Nick reached over and removed the lid.

Catherine's stomach started to roll as Nick poked into the pot with a long handle serving spoon. But it was the smell that sent Catherine racing for the garbage can.

An hour later...

Catherine woke up, back on her couch with a warm cloth on her head. She glanced around the living room and found Nick passed out on the floor, Warrick staring at the ceiling, Greg watching cartoons and mumbling to himself, while Sara and Grissom were walking back into the room. She suspected from the bathroom.

Something wasn't right. She had had plenty of highs in her life and this one wasn't from alcohol. "Hey guys? Does anyone feel weird or is it just me?" When no one answered, Catherine tried again. "Warrick, Nick, Greg, Grissom and Sara! Something's going on here."

"What's going on Catherine?" Nick asked groggily.

"I think we're been alcohol or food poisoned or something. I think food though." Catherine realized.

"Food poisoning? You mean from like food?" Greg asked.

Catherine rolled her eyes. "Yes, Greg. From food, but what food?" She looked around expectantly at the perplexed CSIs for help.

"You know what?" Grissom spoke suddenly, causing the others to jump. "I think we should investigate!" He finished with enthusiasm.

"God! You are so smart!" Sara gushed, smiling at Grissom with nothing less than complete adoration in her eyes.

"Thank you." Grissom blushed, and then moved close to Sara, touching her.

Catherine rolled her eyes again. "Get a room already."

"You mean bathroom. But yeah, we should investigate. Uhmm. Because we're investigators." Warrick added with uncertainty.

"What should we do first?" Greg inquired, up for the challenge.

"I think that we should bring our equipment in here." Grissom suggested.

"Right, because this is a crime scene." Catherine concurred. Happy to finally have some help.

"And we're investigators. And we investigate crime scenes." Warrick threw in for the benefit of those who hadn't put it all together yet. "Should we put up the police tape?"

A while later...

Sara walked into the living room behind Warrick and Nick, who were high-fiving each other coming out of Lindsey's room. "What you guys find?"

"We, being the fine investigators that we are -lifted tons of prints from Lindsey's room." Nick boasted.

"Bonus! I got samples of everything from the kitchen. Uh? Do you guys have any idea what that was in the pot on the stove?"

"We'll, I've got body fluids and hair samples from the bathroom." Greg supplied, placing the bottle of Luminol and the ASL back in to the metal case. I'll run it through when we get to the lab."

"Good." Catherine said, and then turned to Grissom. "What are you doing?"

Grissom was lying on the floor, staring in the corner.

"Arachnid. His cephalothorax seems to be damaged."

"Right, whatever."

"Hey guys?" Sara called out as she approached the coffee table with caution. "Did anybody get a sample of the cake?"

"No way, it can't be the cake. Grissom made it." Warrick held.

"I didn't make that cake. I thought Catherine made it." Grissom countered, finally distracted from the spider.

"I didn't make it. I thought Sara made it." Catherine assumed, then turned to Sara.

"Don't look at me, I don't bake." Sara shot back, then lifted the remaining portion of the cake for closer inspection. "Guys, I think I know what happened."

"I knew you could do it." Grissom smiled proudly. Sara blushed.

"Thank you. I had a good teacher."

"Enough already, what happened?" Catherine snapped.

"We need to get this cake back to the lab to confirm it, but I'd bet money that this cake is packed with cannabis."

The crowd ooh'd and ahh'd appropriately.

"You know, the Cannabis Sativa plant, also known as hemp, was introduced to the American Colonies in the early 1600's in Virginia-"

"That's great Einstein." Catherine interrupted Grissom's history lesson. "But what should we do now?"

"I think that we should call the hospital, make sure that drinking all that liquor after eating that cake isn't like frying our brains right now." Warrick suggested.

Sara spoke with the nurse from a hotline number on the telephone for several minutes and then hung up. "Okay, the nurse said that we should be okay in a few hours. Because we ingested the cannabis, it will take longer for the effects to wear away. We should stay put and drink plenty of water. Also, we should eat crackers if our stomachs can tolerate it." Sara explained.

"Ecklie's coming over to take the sample of the cake. I also called Carvello. He was not pleased that the entire night shift is calling in sick but he has the swing shift coming in to cover for us." Grissom reported after ended his own call.

"So, uh? Who brought the cake?" Nick wondered out loud.

Two months later...

The night shift entered the break room one by one and eyed the cake box on the table suspiciously. After the incident two months ago, everyone was still leery of deserts. They found out later that the cake was sent to the department, not for Warrick but as a prank by the relative of a perp busted for drugs. Everyone had just assumed the cake was for Warrick.

"Doughnuts." Sara pointed to the object of everyone's scrutiny. "I brought them in since you all are stuck here and I get to go home." The team then visibly relaxed. "Um, Grissom? Can I speak with you for a moment before assignments?"

"Sure."

Grissom and Sara were still embarrassed by the events of that day and had successfully avoided discussing the issue further.

"How can I help, Sara?" Grissom asked cautiously, after closing his office door behind them.

"I uh- um. I think we should talk about what happened at Warrick's birthday party."

"Sara," Grissom started, cutting her off. "I think that we both did things under the influence of a controlled substance. It's understandable that things got out of hand. I think we should put all this behind us-"

"I wish it was that easy and simple for me Grissom."

"It can be, Sara."

"No, it can't, Grissom. I'm pregnant."