I know, I know, i'm taking ages to update, I apologize. I'm back for good and I'm going to try to update once a week. Sorry again for the delay. Thank you very much for your reviews :)

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So ;)

Ps: Thank you Immi for the help and the insight.


Chapter 2

Sara's POV

I arrived at work with a knot in my stomach, but now that I am chatting with Nick and Warrick, I feel like I came back home after a long trip. A few lab techs are there as well and in a few seconds the break room turns into a gossip radio. I get to know just about everything that has happened for the past two months.

I'm laughing at something when I get a page from Grissom for a meeting in his office, I'm barely at the door when the next gossip topic comes on the table.

"So did we find out if whoever's Catherine is dating is working here?"

I stop my movement then go on in direction of Grissom's office unable to process the information.

Cath's POV

"Stop it!" I giggle as Emily is kissing my neck lightly, tickling me in the process. "Come on, Em, I'm going to be late," I laugh.

"Alright," she smiles and pulls away, not before kissing my cheek. "Call me when you're done, I'll come and pick you up," she smiles.

"Will do," I give her a sweet kiss and step out of the car.

"Have a good shift," she winks at me before driving away.

I walk to the entrance of the lab, Emily always drops me away from the a lab – at my request – it's not that I'm ashamed of her but rather that I like to have her to myself and not have my private life spread all around the lab, even though I already know that Emily's identity is one of the hot topics of the windmill.

I met Emily a little more than a month ago, an accident – literally, some crazy guy was driving like a maniac and in order to avoid a collision with him I had to swerve which in result led me to collide with Emily. It was not a great day to say the least and to make a complete wrong impression I was on my way to court and had absolutely no time to waste with an accident report so I basically send Emily packing giving her my number so we'd sort this out later.

One meeting led to another one and another one, and she was a welcomed breather in my life, the ray of light piercing through my depression and misery. I wasn't looking for anything after the Sara fiasco, but it was shockingly easy to move on which made me realize that maybe the whole affair with Sara was never healthy to begin with and was destructive more than anything.

I'm taking things slow with Emily but things are like night and day compared to what they were between Sara and me. I'm adopting a new policy about not dealing with complications, things with Em will be simple or won't be, and so far I'm glad to say they are.

Sara'sPOV

"Welcome back," says Grissom.

"Thank you," I nod. There's a short silence, neither of us has ever been really comfortable with words, at least not with each other when it came to personal matters. "Thank you," I repeat.

He frowns but doesn't reply, catching on the fact that something has shifted in my tone. I rub my hands together nervously. "Thank you for allowing me to have some time… away. I uh… really needed it," I elaborate

"I'm your friend," he states after another silence. "And I care, even though sometimes I might… I am a bit awkward as to how to deal with it. I'm not exactly good when it comes to feelings, not that I don't have any but rather that it's easier for me to put them aside in favour of reason or logic, much less dangerous things."

"I know."

"And I've always been very protective of you…" he adds in a whisper.

"I know that too," I smile a bit. "And I really appreciate everything you're doing for me."

He acquiesces and for several seconds neither of us speaks. He's obviously trying to decide whether or not to ask his next question perhaps feeling that he's overstepping a boundary. "Are you… better?" he opts for a neutral question.

"I'm better, but I'm not fine," I answer honestly. Two months ago I hit rock bottom, I'm certainly nowhere near the surface but at least I'm trying to swim back up, that's progress. "There are a lot of things I need to sort out," I confess. "The good news is that, according to Adam, I'm getting better at discussing my issues and facing them… most of the time anyway."

"You're still seeing him?"

"Yeah, incredible but true."

"How is it going?"

"Let's just say that he knows when to push my buttons and when to kick my ass."

Grissom chuckles at this. "He's always been quite intuitive."

"I am ready to be back on the field," I assure him as if feeling what was coming.

"I trust you Sara, I trust that if indeed you didn't feel ready you would have told me," I nod in assent. "If at any point you feel that you need a break…"

"I'll come to you immediately if I think anything could affect my work."

"Good," he sighs. "You're with Nick and Greg tonight," he hands me over a pink slip. "Off you go," he winks at me, effectively putting an end to our conversation.

I take the slip and leave, I go in the break room to warn Nick and tell him to inform Greg, then I go in the locker room to enjoy a little time on my own.

I look at my watch and pick up my phone; I press one of the key for speed dial and wait for an answer.

"Hello?" Adam's voice is quiet as ever.

"It's Sara."

"Your shift has started?"

"Yes, I've just spoken to Grissom."

"How do you feel?"

"I'll let you know when my shift is done."

I don't add anything and just hang up, we've been having those short calls almost everyday for two months, it's not a social call just an obligation on my part in order to stay grounded. I call, Adam knows that I'm not doing anything stupid or destructive, and all is well in the world.

I briefly think that it is a bit sad that I have a shrink, my shrink, on speed dial, but I don't dwell on it because it will put me in a funk. I pick my vest, kit and check one more time that I have everything then leave the locker room.

Cath's POV

"… I swear I thought I was going to die laughing so much I couldn't breathe," Warrick finishes the tale of his latest adventure with Nick. I swear once or twice a month those two decide to act like teenagers.

"You'll never cease to amaze me," I chuckle.

"You have to come with us next time."

"I might, actually."

"Oh, before I forget, do you think I can take Linds with me this week-end? We're having a video game tournament, and I need her on my team."

"It depends," I wince. I trust Warrick with Linds, it's not the question, he's like an uncle to her; he takes her out sometimes to movies or else just so I can have a little time for myself, but sometimes I have to put my foot down because, well, he spoils her.

"We'll make her homework first, I'll cook healthy meals, granted there might be ice cream involved but the rest will be healthy and green, she'll have her beauty sleep, and I promise to get her back by six on Sunday."

I stop at a red light and look at him, I'm about to protest because he took her to an amusement park two weeks ago, I'm all for her having fun but I don't want her to get too distracted from her studies, especially considering that she's been slipping a bit on that level lately.

"Oh the puppy face, really?" I sigh. "You're incorrigible," I chide him.

"Come on, Nick's nephews and nieces are going to be there, they haven't seen each other in months, please?"

Right, I'm a person of strong will but Warrick is one sneaky trickster, he always knows what angle to play when he wants something from me, like right now he pulled out the 'cute card'. Damn him.

"Fine, but I want her home by six on the dot this time," I warn him. "And I don't want her to eat sugar all week-end, you ear me?"

"Healthy stuff, I promise," he smiles brightly, happy to have won. "On the bright side you'll have quality time with whoever you're dating lately," he adds tentatively.

I should have seen it coming. He had not broached that subject once in three weeks, I thought I hadn't given anything away but obviously he was just waiting for me to say something.

"Who said anything about me dating?" I try avoidance.

"Please, Cath," he rolls his eyes. "I know your dating tokens."

"My dating tokens?" my face instantly pictures a mix of disbelief and amusement. "Right."

"You don't believe me?"

"I don't have dating tokens."

"Case in point, after Julianne fiasco you had someone, I wouldn't say it made you happy but you sure were giddy at least for a little time because it went downhill fast. You never mentioned it once which led me to think that either it was a fling or not good enough to write home about. It lasted about four maybe five months, you got really burnt though," he tilts his head. "You let me know if I've been wrong so far."

I could deny that he's right, but that would be a lie and I don't do that. I'm surprised of how accurate he is though.

"Forgetting that being observant is part of our day job, I was a gambler, reading people was essential to win," he continues with a chortle. "We've known each other for a decade now, just because you don't confide in me or put me aside of your life like you've been doing lately, doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on you, you know, to watch your back," he shrugs.

I make a turn and then start slowing down as we're approaching our crime scene. "Look, you know me, I've never been one to pull your teeth out about stuff like that. All I wanted to say is that it's good to see you with a genuine smile and being in a good mood, it hadn't happened in a while."

I put a hand over his before he gets out of the car. "I know I haven't been the greatest friend lately, and that I have pushed you away, but I'm grateful to have you by my side and I love you, don't ever forget it." I simply reply after a long silence.

"Of course you do, I'm irresistible," he says with a charming smirk.

I roll my eyes and lean in to kiss is cheek. "That and you're a smartass," with that I'm getting out of the car, ready to face our shift.

Sara's POV

When I arrive on the parking lot Nick and Greg are waiting for me next to our car. Nick throws me the keys and I catch them in the air.

"A gift for your return," he states happily.

I look at the keys and realize that my hand is shaking, suddenly I feel a weight on my chest. I take a deep breath in order to keep a little control over myself and throw the keys back at Nick. "Thanks, but I'll pass."

"Alright, who are you and what have you done with Sara?" he jokes.

I chuckle nervously. "The last time I drove to a crime scene, I wrecked a car and almost killed Greg, I think even him fells safer if I don't drive," I try to keep my tone light even though this has been a source of anguish for the past two months.

"Oh come on Sar… it wasn't your fault, some high idiot thought he was in a GTA video game," Nick winces.

"I know Nicky, I'm just… next time maybe," I close the topic.

We arrive on the scene before the coroners' team so we look around, we are in what used to be a factory for dummies, the building is burnt and it appears that we have a body in puzzle inside. My anxiety is slowly fading away as I'm taking my marks on the field again.

I sniff the air and wince when something even sourer than burning material invades my nostrils. "Oh come on… guys, I know we're intimate and all, but please apologize when you let a wind go," I joke.

"It wasn't me!" Nick and Greg answer in unison.

I sniff again and the foul smell is still there, the guys start sniffing around themselves. "Maybe there were products around when the fire happened…" Nick states.

We don't give it anymore thought as David and a young man I don't recognize arrive on the scene. "Evening," David salutes us. He smiles even more when he notices me. "Hey there, good to have you back."

"It's good to see you too," I wink at him and even now he still blushes.

"Guys this is Kurt, Kurt, Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders," David makes the introduction then asks us to give him our first assessments.

Kurt being under evaluation we let him work, it's slow but since we've all been there we wait patiently. "David, I think our needle is broken, I can get a read on the body liver's temp." Kurt says after five minutes.

Nick, Greg and I chuckle a bit but get serious immediately as Kurt's mistake could have been ours some years back. "Please, put him out of his misery," David pleads me in a whisper.

"Your needle is fine," I announce, kneeling in front of him. "He's a state of the art revival Joe, so he doesn't have a liver, therefore no liver temp."

Kurt looks at me with surprise then examine the burnt body in front of him again, then realisation hits him. "Great, I'm the dummy now…"

"Relax, we all had our fair share of rookie mistakes," I try to reassure him. "Learn and move on. The remains are that way," I point the direction of the dissected body.

We are trying to collect as much element to determine the origin of the fire while David and Kurt takes care of the human pieces, I can't help but still be bothered by the sour smell. I take a picture then decide to follow the scent to discover its origins.

I find myself in a room that seems to be used as a reserve of some kind, there are a dozen of plastic barrels with a danger sign on, some shelves, discarded objects that aren't out of place in a warehouse. The fire didn't reach this room, and the smell definitely comes from here.

"Do you have something?" Greg's voice startles me. "Sorry."

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. "Something's wrong here," I state showing him the room. "There's a smell that is stronger than the one left by the fire."

"You're right…" he acquiesces, sniffing the air. "It most likely comes from the barrels."

"Nicky," I call out. I have a bad feeling about this.

"Yes?" he arrives after a moment.

"One of us has to open and find out what's inside the barrels," I simply says.

We all exchange a knowing look, obviously none of us wants to volunteer, so we raise a fist in front of us. "Rock, paper, scissor, go!" Nick chant.

Of course I lose, one scissor against two rocks. I sigh and hang my head as the other two high five with a chortle. I take a deep breath and walk further into the room. I instinctively put another pair of gloves above the one I already have on, I approach one barrel and try to loosen the lid but it doesn't work. I ask Nick for a crowbar or anything that I could use as a lever. Five minutes later I'm slowly popping up the lid of one barrel with a crowbar.

As soon as the lid is of I have movement of recoil as a horrendous smell aggresses my nostrils.

Those are definitely not dummies.

"Sar?"

"Tell David and Kurt to come back," I simply say unable to look away from the barrel.

I hear Nick walking back hurriedly into the main hall, while Greg comes next to me, he takes the crowbar from me and starts opening the barrel next to mine. The putrid smell gets stronger, quickly polluting the oxygen.

David enters the room followed by Nick and Kurt. David approaches and takes a look inside the barrels, he makes a disgusted face but immediately toughens up. Kurt however comes next to me and loses all his colours at once.

He heaves and I just have the time to press my hand against his mouth before he contaminates one of the barrel, his cheeks are blown like balloons and I shove him as fast as I can out of the room. I barely let go that he's already emptying his guts on the floor.

This shift is going to be extremely long.

Cath's POV

"Aaron can you tell us where did you come from?" I ask for the fifth time to the twenty something man in front of Warrick and me.

"Trevor's room."

"Where is it?"

"At his place," he replies with a shrug. "I love your jacket," he says with admiration. "Do you know who has one like that?"

"Aaron, where does Trevor live?" Warrick tries to keep him on track.

"It looks so soft… and it's a bit shiny…"

"Aaron!" I snap fingers in front of him. "Trevor, tell us about Trevor."

"The guy at the zoo!" he exclaims. "He had the same kind of jacket," Aaron smiles with satisfaction.

I purse my lips with frustration. We've been trying to communicate with Aaron for the past thirty minutes with no success because he is in all evidence completely high. I'd opt for bringing him in and then wait for him to come back down, but the problem is that he's covered in blood, human blood, and there are no wounds on him which would suggest that someone is dying somewhere or dead.

We've sent officers canvassing the area but until we get through to Aaron we're in essence looking for a needle in a giant haystack.

"Holy Molly… what is that?" Aaron jumps when noticing the state of his shirt.

"That's what we're trying to find out, can you tell us what happened tonight?"

"Are you seeing this?…" he starts to panic. "… my hand is like a space monkey!" he exclaims before laughing. "Trevor… the monkey… shit I lost Trevor."

Wait, what?

"Trevor's a monkey?" I ask.

"Oh yeah, he says he wanted to be a dragon and all but you should see him jump everywhere, like a ninja… monkey is the good Chinese sign for him…"

What the…

"Do you know that monkeys and spiders are different species? Isn't that funny to call a monkey, spider monkey? I always tell Aaron ride like the wind and shine like a monkey… or the other way around… cause he's a monkey and all…"

"Aaron, enough about the monkeys! Please, try to focus," my voice is laced with a bit of anger, that seems to register with Aaron who looks at me with dread.

"Tell us where you came from and how you ended up with blood all over you?"

"Your eyes are so blue… it's crazy," Aaron says with awe.

I ball my fist and bite my lips. "I'm about to punch him," I grumble to Warrick who chortles

"Oh my, where does that blood come from?"

"That's what we want to know, can you try and remember what happened today?" Warrick explains

"Your eyes are green man… does it feel weird?" Aaron gets sidetracked again. "You know what's weird?" he pauses. "Nobody looks at monkey's eyes… I feel awesome… I don't think that blood is mine…"

"Can you try and tell us whose is it?" I ask calmly but once again he seems distracted.

"That colour is intense, man," Aaron stares at his shirt. "So hot…"

"Aaron, the blood," I prompt.

"Oh yeah… I was so hot…" he rolls his eyes. "You are hot… you're so pretty," he sends me a droopy smile. "… I think I was supposed to do something…" he muses.

Warrick sighs and passes a hand over his face, Aaron is literally driving us crazy.

"My fingers are tingly…" he laughs. "Oh you guys will never believe what I saw earlier…" Aaron states enthusiastically. Warrick and I silently hold our breath, hoping that we'll finally get the first information of our night. "A monkey!"

Please, somebody give the strength not to punch him…

"A giant monkey, well not giant but big, if it was giant it would be like Kong… people always think the monkey is name King Kong, but they're wrong it's just Kong…" Aaron starts ranting. "He looked like he had a romp in with Godzilla, though in my opinion Kong is stronger, look at his arms I mean… your jacket is so shiny, I love it…"

"Wait, wait… where did you see the monkey tonight?" I briefly wonder if Warrick has lost it as well, but don't say anything.

"On the street, there," he makes a move with his hand in no direction.

"Could you show us?"

Aaron is looking at the floor, I'm not even certain that he heard my question. "Monkey feet, that would be awesome…"

Boy, this night is going to be long.

Sara's POV

"I'm glad that the shift has come to an end," Nick states with an emotionless voice.

"Yeah, me too," I reply in a whisper. I already took three showers but I definitely plan on taking more, because I can still smell the horrendous smell of the warehouse.

"You're alright?" Nick's voice seems suddenly far away. "Sar?"

When I look at him I'm surprised at the fact that he's right at my side. "Yeah," I nod.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then, drive safe."

"You too."

He leaves the locker room and I open my locker, when I reach for my watch my hand starts to shake again. I stare at it wishing for the tremor to stop. I hear the door of the locker room opening again.

"I forgot something," Nick announces. He comes next to me and waits for me to look at him, then he leans in and kisses my cheek affectionately. "Welcome back," he winks at me and I grin shyly. He walks out again but this time it's for good.

I focus on my hand again, close my fist and then open it, the tremors subside a bit so I start gathering my belongings.

"Yeah… I swear it was surreal, I'll tell you all about it…" Catherine's voice reaches my ears. "I'll be there in ten…" she chuckles. "Can't wait… see you soon."

I close my eyes in order to steady myself, I can't ignore her now that would be rude. If I'm honest I was glad not to have crossed paths with her all night, but it's not like I had had a lucky shift so far so meeting her just when I'm about to leave fits with the whole night. I put my head out of my locker and look at Catherine. "Hey," I grin awkwardly.

She stops on her tracks and looks at me with surprise, her smile fades away. She turns to her locker and opens it. "Hey," she eventually replies.

Cath's POV

"How… how are you?" Sara asks tentatively.

So far I was having a weird but rather funny shift. As it turned out Warrick and I have succeeded to decipher Aaron's speech. In the end we had to follow the monkey.

He wasn't lying about the giant monkey, well it was someone in a monkey suit. The monkey, a student in medicine had decided to pull a prank which involved blood, he had taken pouches that were about to go to waste because out of date for use – much like Grissom gets his blood for experiments. Our monkey fell and the pouches burst, Aaron helped him and found himself covered with blood. It took us almost three hours to make head and tail of it all but we did it, which is quite the achievement considering that we only had Aaron as a guide.

I spent the rest of the shift taking statement and laughing with Warrick, thinking about Aaron and his uncanny obsession with monkeys.

My good mood all but vanished in the span of two seconds though. I found myself staring at Sara when I walked in the locker room. I hadn't seen her in two months, hadn't heard about her in two months, I felt like receiving a punch in the guts but I got over it quickly.

I slam the door of my locker and look at her. "Listen, I'm saying this without animosity. We work together, we talk about work and that's it. No idle chit chat, or anything else, that's how I want things to be," I declare calmly.

She nods. "Sure, I understand."

"Thanks, you have a good day," I add before leaving the locker room.

Sara's POV

I watch the door of the locker room closing up on me.

Catherine basically drew the line between us. I can't blame her, and honestly I was almost expecting a fight, but instead of that she was calm, detached and clear from the start.

The last time we spoke she broke up with me, after that I never called her back or gave her a sign of life for that matter, I all but dropped off the surface of the planet as far as she's concerned. I wasn't expecting her to welcome me with open arms, so I'd say that it didn't go that bad all things considered.

I grab my backpack and get out as well, more than ready to go home. Something I don't understand happens though, when I'm in my car I have to stop almost immediately after I turned on the ignition. My hands are shaking so bad that I feel the tremors all over, and it's like there was a weight on my chest.

I feel arms around my chest, constricting my airways, every stressful moment of the day comes back to me, images of rotting body parts in barrels full of acid flash behind my eyelids and I have to make myself violence not to be sick.

I had rested my head against the steering wheel but I force myself to sit up to have a better chance at breathing. Once I have some sort of control over my breathing I start the car again, just as I am about to make a turn I see Catherine kissing another woman against a car in the far corner of the street parallel to the lab.

Adam's POV

I open the door of my office and find a very distraught Sara on the threshold.

"I can't stop shaking… and…" she doesn't finish her sentence but I know she's referring to fact that she's crying. "Please… make it stop," she begs urgently.

I let her in, I can only guess that her first shift back wasn't as smooth as she had hoped it would be. She sits down, shaking like a leaf and I take place in my chair ready to try and channel a bit of her anxiety.


I'll come back with more next week.

Thanks for reading