Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. Blah, blah, woof, woof.
Catherine & Greg fell to the group in a crumpled heap, giggling like school children & covered in paint.
"Ahem."
They turned to see the head Officer standing in the doorway into the building looking slightly confused to say the least.
"Sorry sir. It was just…" Greg stuttered as he tried to stand up on the canvas but fell straight back down on his ass. Cath couldn't help but burst into laughter yet again, leaving the PO even more confused and slightly angry.
"I hope you two know that you'll be cleaning this up when you're finished."
"Yes sir, no problem…" Greg turned to see that the doorway was now vacant.
An hour & many buckets of water later, the courtyard was finally restored to its prior glory. Almost. Still in a fit of giggles, Cath & Greg hastily ran back to the SUV to make an overdue escape out of Henderson & back to the lab. In the car, Cath wondered if Grissom had even noticed she was missing…
Back in her office, Cath was glad to be alone. As much fun as she had with Greg, she didn't quite seem to have as much energy as the young CSI. Speaking of energy, she was in desperate need of some coffee, so headed in the direction of the break-room. Pouring herself some coffee, she had presumed the room to be empty so was startled when she sat on the chair and a head popped up from the couch.
"Hey, sorry if I woke you; I thought this place was empty."
Sara rubbed her eyes; it was no surprise to Catherine or any of the team to find her sleeping on the couch. It was a well known fact that Sara Sidle barely slept to start with. "It's ok. I wasn't really sleeping anyway."
Cath realised this would be a perfect opportunity to find out what was up with everyone. "Hey, has Grissom been acting weird to you lately?"
"No, why?"
"Oh, I dunno, it just seems like no-one wants to talk to me or be seen with me in this place." Cath gestured at the surrounding walls of the building.
"That can't be right, everybody here loves you." As those words left her mouth, Sara received a page & dashed out the door with a haste 'Sorry' directed at Cath.
Cath had had enough of whoever was trying to leave her stranded on her own. She walked down to the DNA lab, but Greg was no-where to be seen. She spotted Warrick out the corner of her eye and started heading in that direction.
Planting a kiss on her younger lovers lips, she inhaled his musky smell to which she'd become so accustomed to.
"Hey!" Warrick seemed genuinely happy to see her which gave her butterflies in her stomach. She thought she might actually be in love again. They walked down the corridor, hand in hand like teenagers in high school. Brass called them over to talk to Warrick so Cath went to lean against the window when something pink caught her. She could see something floating up into the sky & was convinced it was a balloon. Warrick came over to her & wrapped his arms around her waist and rested a head on her shoulder.
"What's that?" Cath pointed at the balloon in the sky.
"Oh, it's nothing, probably a balloon some kid let go of." Warrick sounded slightly more edgy than he had before.
Cath, slightly angered at his tone of voice, grabbed Warrick's hand and started to march towards the door leading towards the courtyard.
"I wanna figure out what it was." Cath's inquisitive nature made her a great CSI but also really stubborn when something was nagging her.
"Nah babes, it doesn't matter. Come on." Warrick was desperately trying to drag the smaller but surprisingly strong woman away from the door.
Suddenly, out of what appeared to be nowhere, Greg appeared and captured Catherine's attention with something case-related. Warrick beamed as Cath giggled, obviously remembering her previous escapades with Greg & paint. As Cath walked back to the lab, Warrick grabbed Greg's arm.
"Hey, thanks, man. I woulda been screwed if you hadn't come along & diverted her attention."
"It… It's no prob." Greg was confused as to why he was being thanked, but just shrugged it off as relationship troubles and followed the older CSI into the DNA lab.
Cath stood, wondering why Warrick had shaken her comments off like that. She thought Warrick really liked her. They'd only been dating for a few months, but it was pretty serious; I mean, he practically lived with her & Lindsey. She loved him! She wandered off in a daydream of memories, not realising Greg was having a full conversation with her.
"So, what do you think?" Greg said & motioned to the fingerprint scan running through AFIS on the computer screen.
"Erm, yeah?" Cath had no idea what he was talking about.
"Hey, are you & Warrick alright? 'Cause he thanked me before but I'm not entirely sure why…" Greg's sentence trailed off when he saw how pale Cath's face had gone. "Sorry if I hit a nerve there. I was just worried about you." The lab rat's sincerity made Cath smile a little.
"Yeah, we're fine. Or at least I thought we were. He seems shifty & on edge when he's around me but I've seen him with Nick & he seems fine with him." Greg came & put a protective arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Thanks." Cath smiled at Greg. This made him nervous; it was no secret in the lab that he had a crush on the older woman. "Don't worry 'bout me. I'll just take a break; sit in the break room for 20 minutes, have some coffee. I'll be fine."
Sitting with a warm cup of coffee in the break room, Catherine felt no better. In fact the crappy coffee had just made her feel worse. She looked up & would've sworn she saw Grissom sneak past, not wanting her to see him. She was convinced that lack of sleep was causing her to think the other CSI's were plotting a conspiracy theory against her. Although, the only people who had actually had a conversation with her today were Warrick, generally because she woke up next to him this morning the way most mornings started & Greg because he was on a case with her. She poured the coffee down the sink & went to lie down on the couch which Sara no longer was occupying. Lying there, for the first time since she got her promotion, she wished she were anywhere BUT here.