"Brown."
"You two coming or what?"
"Yeah Brass we're on our way."
"Bye."
"Bye" Warrick hung up the phone and glanced at Nick before turning down the final street to their crime scene.
"Nick, put this aside for now and later, I'll listen to everything, ok?"
"I'll try."
"No, if you suspect Brass of being in on it, then you have to pretend like everything is cool. He'll report what he sees." Warrick said firmly.
"Yeah, ok."
"We'll talk over burgers after we drop off our evidence. Maybe we could figure something out." Warrick suggested.
"Ok, Let's go; I'm in the game now." Nick forced Sara out of his mind.
"Cool." Just before they got out of the car, Nick grabbed Warrick's forearm.
"Hey…thanks."
"I'm just lookin' out for you, bro." Warrick smiled and both men exited the car.
Brass kept a watchful eye on the young Texan. Nick was putting up an admirable act, but Brass knew something, most likely Sara, was bothering him. A few hours later, the two men left.
Warrick and Nick had dropped off their evidence and clocked out for lunch. After they had placed their orders, Warrick launched the conversation.
"Ok, spill it; you're buyin' by the way."
"Ok, ever notice how protective and secretive Grissom and Catherine are being about Sara lately?"
"Grissom's always been protective of her." Warrick argued.
"Catherine hasn't."
"Point for you; what else?"
"I saw her face; it's covered in bruises." This peaked Warrick's interest.
"When?"
"Yesterday after shift."
"Is that it?"
"Not hardly; I tried to see if she was a patient at the hospital. The receptionist wouldn't tell me anything. I even tried to play it off like I was her brother, but it still didn't wok."
"Maybe the hospital is cracking down on security." Warrick suggested.
"That could be; a few days ago, a woman came into PD for a line up viewing. She was in a wheelchair flanked by Ecklie, Grissom, her doctor and Brass. Ecklie didn't have her sign the visitor log." Warrick's eyebrow rose.
"That's unusual."
"I know. The woman was doing her best to conceal her identity with a wig a hat, sunglasses, a thick blanket over her legs and she kept her gaze down. When I saw Sara at her place, she had on the exact same sweatshirt as the mystery lady."
"You're right; it is…" Warrick was cut off.
"Oh, and since when is Grissom compassionate with anyone?"
"Ok, you've got another point there. As I was saying, you're right; it is mostly circumstantial."
"I think that's what irritates me the most; it can all be explained away." Nick was angry and Warrick knew it.
"I've got an idea; let's go." Just then the server arrived with their food. Nick looked at her.
'I'm sorry, but something came up. Can we get these to go?" She smiled and nodded. Nick handed her more than enough money for the bill and told her to keep the change.
Back at the lab, Nick checked on their evidence and Warrick set about doing some research. Nick was curious about the experiment. Warrick had caught Catherine in the hall and stopped her.
"Hey Cath, I know it's rude to ask, but how much do you weigh?" She looked suspicious.
"Why?"
"Nick and I are doing an experiment."
"For what?" She was still suspicious. Truth be told, Warrick didn't want to ask her; especially since she was a suspect, but he couldn't exclude her without raising suspicion either.
"He needs to prove someone is lying. Please? I won't tell anyone and you're not the only one I'm asking; just the first." He smiled at her and her smile indicated that she didn't believe him.
"Prove it." Se challenged. He sighed and pulled out his cell phone.
"Hey G, how much do you weigh?...an experiment…thanks." He hit another number on speed dial.
"Super Dave, I'm collecting data for an experiment. How much do you weigh?...thanks, can you ask the doc?...Thanks Super." Warrick hung up and faced Catherine.
"Greg is one thirty, Dave is one sixty, and Doc is one sixty-five."
"What's this for?" She asked.
"Forget it." He started to walk away.
"Wait! Fine; one ten." She told him quietly.
"Thank you; see you later." He pulled out his cell phone as he walked away and Catherine also saw him grab a clip board and begin writing down his data.
"Grissom."
"It's Warrick."
"What do you need?"
"I need to know how much you weigh; Sara too."
"Why?" This was his second challenge. Grissom and Sara were too sharp and might not cooperate.
"Why?"
"For an experiment." Warrick felt like he was being interrogated over the phone.
"About what?"
"We'd rather tell you when we have the results." Warrick evaded.
"Hold on, let me ask her…She's no telling, but I'm about one seventy; plus or minus three." Sara's was the one he needed.
"Catherine told and so did every other woman I asked." Warrick bargained.
"I'll try again…one seventeen." Grissom sounded a little irritated. Warrick privately thought Sara needed to start eating more.
"Thanks Grissom; see you tomorrow." Warrick hung up; glad to be done with that phone call. He found Nick waiting for him in the garage.
"So, what is this experiment?" Nick asked and Warrick told him. Nick smiled and together, they began to set it up. When they were done, Nick looked to Warrick.
"So what's the weight we need?"
"One seventeen." Warrick said confidently.
"That's not an average?" Nick asked.
"No, but in order for them to tell me, I told Grissom we would share our results with him."
"It's a good thing you wrote everything down then. I know how we can use this. We'll have to do a few more surveys though."
"I'm down with that." Warrick agreed.
"This whole cover up just bit us in the ass, didn't it?"
"Yep; that's why I have to help you. This was my idea." Nick smiled and the two men went back to work. They had completely shut themselves off from the rest of the lab to set up the 'real' experiment and also create a false one. Greg found them an hour after shift had ended.
"Hey guys, how was the experiment?"
"Fine; we've still got more to do though." Nick answered and blocked entrance into the garage.
"Oh, I guess I'll see you guys later." Greg's shoulders slumped.
"Sorry man, we're just in a groove." Nick apologized. Greg nodded and started to walk away.
"Yeah, I'll see you tonight." Nick watched him walk off, grabbed a quick drink from the fountain and went back to Warrick help clean up.
Catherine was out the door twenty minutes after the shift ended. She was somewhat surprised to see Sara answer the door.
"Hey."
"Good morning; how was shift?"
"Nothing major; did Warrick call you guys?" Catherine asked.
"Yeah, what kind of experiment was it?" Sara asked.
"He said it was to prove someone is lying." Sara thought about that for thirty seconds.
"Oh. My. God. It's Nick! He still doesn't believe us and now he's recruited help."
"You're right; where's Grissom?"
"Sleeping." Sara told her and for some reason, blushed a little.
"Did you wear him out?" Catherine asked teasingly.
"Hardly; he's been pushing himself too hard just like you and Brass." Sara got emotional.
"Hey, why are you crying?" Catherine put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"You've all just been so selfless lately. You have no idea how much that means to me. I finally know what it means to have a family." Catherine was confused.
"What do you mean?"
"This isn't the first time I've been attacked."
"Oh, Sara…Wait, is that…"
"Yes, that's why I take those cases to heart." Sara finished Catherine's question.
"I admire your strength."
"Thank you." Sara sniffled.
"Shall we get on with the cleansing ritual?" Sara appreciated the subject change.
"Are you making a pass at me?" Sara joked.
"Are you that type of woman?" Catherine retorted and neither knew that they were no longer alone in the room.
"Not anymore; you?"
"Never tried it. I've been offered the chance a few times. How is it?" Catherine was astounded by the things she was learning about the private woman standing in front of her.
"Depends; the few times I did it were varied, but always satisfying."
"Really?"
"Want to try it?" Catherine's eyebrows weren't the only ones in the room reaching for the ceiling.
"You're actually offering?" Sara shook her head.
"I know someone; should I call her?" Grissom felt the need to make his presence known.
"Is this before or after we met?" Both women flinched at the sound of his voice.
"Both; it wasn't a frequent occurrence by any means."
"How many times?" Gil asked and Catherine was interested in the answer.
"Less than ten altogether."
"Was it the same woman every time?" He asked.
"Sort of." Sara was beginning to feel a little exposed.
"What do you mean?" Catherine asked.
"Answer me first; should I call her?"
"Let me think about it." Catherine answered.
"Michele wasn't always the only one. Sometimes there was another guy or another girl there too."
"How recent was the latest rendezvous?"
"How recent was yours? Or yours, Catherine?" She challenged them both.
"Nine years ago." Grissom answered honestly.
"Two years ago." Catherine bowed her head slightly.
"Five years ago. Grissom, have you ever experimented?" His face flushed.
"Not with a guy, no."
"What then?" Catherine remained silent.
"I've not done much. Once, there were two women and even then I was fairly buzzed. I felt like the third wheel."
"Maybe you need a different experience." Sara suggested.
"I don't think so." Sara eyed him for a minute and then changed the subject.
"Tomorrow night, I'm going back to work. How can we assuage Nick?"
"I thought we took care of him?" Grissom asked and his confusion was evident in his voice.
"So did we. When Warrick harassed my weight out of me, he said it was because Nick wanted to prove someone was lying." Catherine explained.
"Do we know how he was doing this?" He asked.
"No, it had something to do with our weights…oh my god' I know what he's up to! He's…"
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A/N: Bwa ha, ha. I had to. I want to know if you can figure out the experiment that Nick and Warrick performed. You will get your answer in the next chapter. Thank you all for the reviews and I can't wait to read your predictions. I will tell you if you're right unless you don't want me to. (but then you also need to tell me that).
In the next chapter, Ecklie will be back for a bit and there will be a confrontation between Grissom and one of the CSI's.
Have a great day everyone! Kelly