If Warrick hadn't been there she would almost certainly have shouted at Grissom more than she did, and there was a strong possibility she would have cried, not something she liked to do too often, especially at work. Catherine was sat pouring over the evidence again, still churning up nothing despite the addition of the completed analysis of the CCTV footage from around the times of the attacks. All they seemed to show was that the rapist was attacking at seeming random times, possibly waiting for the right woman to catch his eye before he made a move. That thought alone was slightly unsettling. She was already nursing her third coffee of the shift, Sara's return to work the previous shift doing nothing to help her sleep; in fact if anything, it had only made her worry more.

"What's this?" She asked when Grissom handed her a new assignment slip.

"What does it look like?" He said.

"But we already have an assignment Gil. We haven't wrapped up this serial case yet."

"I know that Catherine, but we have had no new evidence for three days now and until we do, there's not much more we can do."

"But Gil…"

"I'm sorry Catherine, but there's nobody else. I need you and Warrick to work this." She looked down at the slip of white paper held loosely in her hand, studying it carefully.

"Does it really need both of us? We are both capable of working a home invasion as a solo case."

"I know that." He sighed. "But I would rather you work it together." They both looked exhausted to the point where ordinarily he would have considered not letting them out into the field at all, but that just wasn't an option now. At least if they were out there together, they could keep an eye out for each other.

"But we can't just abandon this case…" She argued.

"I'm not asking you to abandon it."

"No, just brush it aside for a while." She snarled. "This isn't just any case Grissom…"

"You think I don't understand that?" He said, cutting her off and raising his voice slightly for the first time.

"No, of course not." She said apologetically. "I just mean that not solving this case is not an option for me. I can't do that to Sara."

"It's not an option for any of us." Warrick said, speaking up for the first time since the conversation had begun. Grissom sighed.

"It will only take a few hours." He said. "Please Catherine. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"Ok." She breathed. Grissom nodded gratefully and then silently left the room. "I guess we better get going." Catherine said quietly, feeling Warrick's dark eyes upon her. She began to pile up the papers she had been studying, only to stop when she felt a strong hand resting on her forearm. She looked up at him, and he saw the turmoil in her eyes.

"You ok?"

"Fine."

"Cath?" He prompted her gently, sensing she was lying.

"Warrick it's fine." She said again. "Let's just go ok?"

"Do you want me to talk to Grissom?" He offered.

"And set him on the war path? He's already tense Warrick, don't make it any worse." He couldn't help bit raise his eyebrow at this blunt comment and it didn't go unnoticed by Catherine. "Sorry Warrick. I'm just…" She dropped her head into her hand then slowly ran her fingers back through her hair, taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. "This is all so hard. I can't even imagine how Sara is coping… I can't even sleep, let alone her. I just keep picturing it… picturing her…"

"Me too." He sympathised. She gave him a watery smile but held back her tears. She was exhausted but determined that her surfacing emotions would be kept under control and that tiredness would not get the better of her. She suggested again that they leave for their crime scene and Warrick agreed. The sooner they closed this new case, the sooner they could turn their attentions back to the serial rapist case.

Nick had not been specifically looking for Sara when he walked into the lab to find her hunched over a microscope, but he was pleased when he did. He had been worrying about her since he beginning of the shift.

"Something interesting?" He asked, standing behind her and peering over her shoulder. She flinched slightly at his unexpected presence but turned around to face him with a small smile on her face.

"Only the evidence that's going to solve us this case."

"Not bad for your first day back." He grinned.

"Well I am pretty good." She chuckled, spinning round the chair so she was facing him properly. "Was there something I could help you with Nick?"

"No not really." He admitted.

"Ok." She chuckled. "So… I better get back to it." She said slowly. He nodded, hesitating before he spoke.

"I was speaking to Greg earlier…" He trailed off.

"I would hope so. Working a case together without talking could be rather difficult."

"True." He smiled. "Well the thing is, we are all planning on going out for a few drinks for his birthday after the shift on Thursday and well, he didn't want to ask you himself in case you felt like you couldn't say no, but I know he would love it if you could be there. I understand that you might not feel like it after… well, after everything that's happened… but if you could make it for just a little while, it would make his night, I know it would." She bit her lower lip, considering the offer carefully. She wanted to be there for Greg but she just wasn't sure she was ready for a night out on the town. "You don't have to decide now." He said, sensing her indecision.

"No I, I'll be there." She said.

"Ok." He sighed, sounding slightly relieved. He had been worried this proposal may have upset her in some way. "So um, how's the case going?" He asked.

"It's going well. I have fingerprints running through AIFIS as we speak and I'm just comparing the fibres we found on the victims clothes with those from our suspect's car. What about you? How's your case going"

"I'm just heading down to autopsy now, see if Doc Robbins can cast any light on things."

"Well I better let you get going then." Sara smiled. Nick smiled back, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving her to work. He had to admit she still looked tired, but some of the spark had returned to her hazel eyes since he had last seen her two nights previously. Maybe returning to work was what she needed after all.

When Thursday arrived the team, along with an assortment of lab technicians, made a special effort to finish their shift on time and head to a bar for a few drinks. They chose as popular bar just set back from the strip where they often went to drink after work when something stronger than breakfast and coffee was required. As the shifts supervisor, Grissom took it upon himself to buy the first round of drinks and promptly disappeared off to the bar with Warrick in toe to help carry the array of drinks the team had ordered. Sara, wearing a simple black halter-top and jeans, sat herself between Nick and Greg in corner of the room and found herself a little surprised that she was enjoying herself. She was drinking much slower than her friends, afraid to loose her inhibitions or self-awareness. The only other person who was taking it as slowly as her was Grissom as he wanted to keep an eye on her, make sure the whole event was not more than she could handle in her still slightly fragile state.

"So anyone want to come dance with the birthday boy?" Greg asked after they had been in the bar for an hour or so.

"I don't know, I'm not sure I've had enough alcohol for that quiet yet." Catherine said.

"Come on Cath…" Nick said, elbowing her playfully in the ribs.

"Oh ok sure, why not." She shrugged. "Anyone else?"

"I'm in." Wendy piped up, waving a bottle of beer in the air.

"Yeah me too." Warrick and Mandy said together.

"What about you Sara? Fancy a boogie on the dance floor?" Greg asked, wiggling in his seat beside her.

"You know I'm not sure my dancing skills are up to much." She said, making a polite excuse. "Why don't I head to the bar for another round instead?"

"Sounds good to me." He grinned. She smiled back at him glad to see he was having a good time on his birthday. As the others left for the dance floor, Grissom and Sara were left alone at the table. She began rummaging in her bag for her purse when she felt him move around to sit closer to her.

"You need some help?" He asked.

"No it's ok, thanks Griss." She smiled.

"Greg seems to be having fun."

"He does." Grissom agreed. "What about you?"

"Yeah I am actually. It's good to get out you know. I guess I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately."

"And now?" She looked at him and smiled at the concern and compassion in his blue eyes, evident even with the dull lighting and slight haze of smoke.

"And now I'm starting to feel more like myself again."

"I'm glad to hear that. I don't like to see you hurting." She blinked slowly and looked away, unsure how to react to what Grissom had just said. However well she thought she knew him, this man was hard to interpret at times and it wasn't like she hadn't been wrong before. Their relationship seemed to be on stable ground at the moment and she wasn't sure she could handle any upset to that or any other aspect of her life right now. Even though she had said she was feeling more and more like herself, she knew she was still fragile, still on edge. She flicked her eyes back to meet his searching for an answer in the intense depth of his gaze. But she found none.

"You want the same again?" She asked, deciding to change the subject.

"Huh?"

"Your drink. You want another one?" She asked gesturing to his empty glass.

"Oh, yes that would be great."

"Ok." She said, sliding off her seat and heading to the bar. Grissom watched her for a while as she waited to be served but then found his gaze wandering around the room. His eyes fell on the dance floor. Wendy and Greg were dancing together while Nick and Mandy watched, laughing at their mock provocative moves. Catherine, who was wearing a casual, tightly fitted navy dress, had her back to him but seemed to have already caught the attention of a tall blond man who was making his move under Warrick's watchful eye. He smiled at the scene, at his team having such a great time together. He was glad they all got along so well, even if they did sometimes have their differences, as it meant they all had someone to rely on when they needed it, for whatever reason, personal or professional. He glanced around the rest of the dimly lit room. He himself had only been here a small number of times but he knew this place was a regular haunt of other members of the team and he could understand why. Although the music was not really to his taste he had to admit it had a good beat and he couldn't ever recall working a case there or anywhere in the immediate surrounding area and that had to be a bonus. As the song changed, his eyes wandered back over to the bar in search of Sara. His glanced along the line of people but couldn't see where she was standing among them. He stood up to get a better look but it made no difference. He quickly looked back over to the dance floor, thinking that she may have already been served and had gone to take Greg his birthday drink, but she wasn't there either. He could feel his heart beginning to pound harder in his chest, as his searching became more urgent. I only looked away for a minute. I could never forgive myself if something has happened.

Hi guys. Thanks to those who have reviewed this story so far and added it to thier favouriets. This is now my most popular story so yay!!! Still not quiet beat my previous number of reviews though and if I could do that I would be really pleased (hint, hint)!!!

I know this chapter is a quite bitty but hopefully you like it anyway... Please let me know.

Cheers.