Chapter two

I do not own CSI; the characters are not mine. I am just borrowing them

Catherine Willows groaned as she looked at the clock in the break room; 3 A.M. Shift was only halfway over. All she wanted was a warm bed and about 20 hours of sleep. That was her idea of priority. She poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down at the table, pouring over a crossword puzzle that Grissom had started over a week ago.

When Sara disappeared, they had all worked extra hours around the clock to find her. Since the time that she had been pulled from underneath that car, Catherine had been working doubles and even triples to fill in for not only Sara, but for Grissom as well. She was exhausted and irritable.

Sara was out for an extended period of time; Ecklie had given her full paid leave. No one at the lab expected her back for at least a month, but everyone knew that she'd be clawing the door to get back in within two weeks' time. She didn't know when Grissom would be back at work; no one really knew for sure. The only thing that Catherine knew for certain was that what happened to Sara had done something to him. She had never seen him lose control before, had never seen the raw emotion, the powerful rage that had consumed him. For the first time in the 20-years that she had known him, Gil Grissom had scared the shit out of her.

Catherine glanced up at the sound of footsteps and smiled wearily as Nick and Warrick came into the break room. They both looked beat as they headed for the coffee. "Hey" She greeted

"Catherine," Nick said, getting his coffee and sitting next to her at the table. "How's your case going?"

"Oh, you know…" she drawled, "Dead body, lots of blood, no one will admit to the crime. The usual."

Warrick chuckled as he sat on the opposite side of the table, "Try not to let your enthusiasm show so much, Cath."

Catherine glared at him. "Honestly, I don't know how the hell Sara ever did this." She shot out in exasperation. "I've barely done a double today and I feel like I am going to collapse into a withering pile of muck."

Warrick smiled at her analogy. "You're lookin' pretty good for a withering pile of muck."

She shot him a disdaining look. "I'll just be glad when at least Grissom gets back to work." She said, tossing the crossword puzzle to the center of the table.

"Sara was a workaholic," Nick stated. "She's the only person I have ever known who could pull off a triple, leave long enough for a shower and a change of clothes, and then come back and do it again." He shook his head. "And she never missed a single detail, even with no sleep…best damn solve rate in the state."

"Hell, in the country." Warrick chimed in. It was no secret that they admired Sara, what also was no secret was the way that the men in the lab adored her. She was their friend, their co-worker, and their confidant. Even Catherine found that despite their differences, in her darkest hours of need, it was Sara who was there offering quiet support and unyielding strength. No matter the depth of what Catherine was experiencing, Sara never broke their confidence, carrying Catherine's secrets as if they were her own. For those reasons, Catherine had come to think of Sara as a friend.

Nick and Warrick were silent, glancing at each other across the table. Nick looked down at his coffee, steeling a sidewise look at Catherine. "You think Grissom's okay?" He asked, voicing the very subject that was on everyone's mind.

Catherine sighed, pondering his question. "I don't know, Nick. Honestly…" She trailed off, unsure of what to say.

"All I know is I have never seen that man behave like he was the last few days," Warrick stated as he twirled his coffee cup around in his hands. "I seriously thought he was losing his mind. Grissom doesn't act that way…it was…freaky."

Nick nodded, "Well, this whole thing has been pretty traumatic. I mean, c'mon guys, it was Sara…and she nearly died…hell, she did die." He shook his head. "We were just lucky that she came back…"

"Now, there's the question," Warrick looked from Nick to Catherine, "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Nick smiled. Sara was the one person he knew of who could bounce back from anything; she had a strength that was envied by just about everyone in the lab. "Sara?" He grinned. "Hell, nothing can keep that girl down. She'll be back to work even if she has beat Ecklie down with her crutches to get here."