He was so engrossed in his reading that he never even heard the first two rings. He jumped on the third.
"Grissom." He answered curtly, irritated at having his peace interrupted.
"Oh, excuse me." The pleasant female voice on the other end apologised. "I was trying to reach Catherine Willows?"
"Oh. Well, she's already left work for the day. I'm her supervisor, can I help with something?"
The voice seemed to deliberate for a moment.
"I'm calling from Victim Services." She stated at last. "I just wanted to give Ms Willows an update regarding Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes."
And just like that, any irritation Grissom had felt at being interrupted melted away.
x X x
"I'm sorry."
The apology drew Catherine's gaze from staring across the garden, to the sun-lounger where her sister was attempting to tan herself between wisps of cloud.
"Why, what have you done?" Cath asked, mooching back to join her sibling.
"I don't know." Nancy shuffled upright. "But you're obviously in a bad mood with me for some reason."
"Oh," Catherine laughed softly, sinking onto the seat opposite and curling her legs beneath her. "No, it's not you."
"Okay." Nancy hummed. "So...?"
Cath inhaled and exhaled sharply, shaking her head.
"I don't know what it is to be honest." She offered, pursing her lips. "Sara was talking to the guys in the break room earlier about hanging out by the lake. Nick had gone up to visit her new digs."
"So, what's the problem?" Nancy pressed, reaching out and helping herself to a handful of grapes from the bowl sitting between them.
"Well that's just it," Cath sighed. "I don't know. Something about it just ... unsettled me. Seeing her so relaxed with them, it was weird. She's usually so closed off, with them at least."
"Ah, green-eyed Catherine strikes again." Nancy chuckled, chewing on her grapes.
"What do you mean?" Catherine demanded, insulted.
"Well it's obvious, isn't it?" Nancy asked rhetorically. "This is your pattern."
"I have a pattern?" Cath scoffed.
"Yes, you do. You like to fix people, and once you get your claws suitably settled into them, you don't like to give them up."
"Oh please," Catherine lay down and draped an arm across her eyes. "I do not have my claws in Sara."
"You were enjoying being her one confidant, getting to see a side of her that no one else saw." Nancy continued cheerily as if she'd never spoken. "And now she's starting to relax around the boys in a way that previously she only was around you. It's very simple really – you're feeling possessive over her."
"No, no, not possessive." Cath countered pointedly. "Just ... protective."
"Please." Nancy snorted. "Protective against the boys? You really think you need to keep her safe from them?"
Catherine shifted uncomfortably, not liking at all where this conversation had gone.
"I knew this would happen." Nancy surmised. "You always go for the damaged ones, but you hate to let them go once they're healed."
Catherine stared at her long and hard for a moment, before narrowing her eyes at the character assassination she had just endured.
"Next time, sunbathe in your own damn garden."
x X x
"Ahem."
She looked up at the soft noise, surprised to find herself being watched.
"Oh, hey." She greeted, slipping her jacket off and hanging it up in her locker.
Grissom shuffled in, dragging his shoes across the tiled floor. He had been planning this conversation in his mind all day, but the words he'd had prepared suddenly dissolved on his tongue, leaving him to try and fumble something together on the fly.
"I, uh, I got a call that was meant for you today."
"Oh?" She queried.
"Yeah. A very nice lady at Victim Services called to tell you that Sara and Nick had completed their mandatory sessions, following your referral."
She had stilled, her eyes wide with alarm and her jaw clenched. Slowly, wordlessly, she turned to face him, silently challenging him to cross the line.
He stepped closer, taking the bait.
"Why did you make a referral for them?"
"That's none of your business." She retorted quickly. "What did they tell you?"
"Not much." He conceded. "Catherine, I have a right to know what's going on with them."
"No, you don't." She snapped back, slamming her locker shut and turning to face him properly. "This has nothing to do with work."
"It doesn't?" He queried, surprised by this statement. "So, you just happen to make referrals for them both ... at the same time...?"
"I'm not going to tell you anything more about this, so you can stop asking." She cut him off. "You shouldn't have taken that call."
"I'm their supervisor, Catherine." He pointed out. "Their welfare is my business."
"No, it's not – at least, not where Sara's concerned. You're not her supervisor anymore; she's mine now."
As soon as the embittered words left her lips, she heard Nancy's voice reverberate in her head again and visibly flinched; something that Grissom couldn't help but notice. Biting down on the feelings bubbling up inside her, she straightened up and shoved her shoulders back impudently.
"From now on, if you get any calls pertaining to Sara, take a number and pass it to me." She stated firmly. "Apart from assignments, I hold full responsibility for her now."
Their blue eyes had locked, each trying to out-stare the other.
Finally, Grissom pursed his lips and took a step back, although it was clear from his expression that he was not thrilled to have his authority over the brunette to harshly torn from him.
"So noted." He stated coolly. "Then I'm sure you're already aware that she has signed up for further sessions."
x X x
At the soft knock, she took a deep calming breath before inviting them inside.
Nick opened the door and, ever the gentleman, stepped aside to let Sara enter first.
"Hey guys," she exhaled, her nerves coming through in her voice despite her best efforts to conceal them.
"Hey Cath," Nick greeted with a small frown. "We got your message; you said you needed to speak to us about something before shift?"
"Yeah, I do." She agreed, gesturing to the chairs in front of her desk. "Please, sit down."
The two CSIs shared an uncertain look, but did as requested, while Catherine moved around them to close the door before returning to her own seat opposite.
"I didn't want to have to tell you guys this, but you have a right to know." She began, absently picking up a pen and toying with it. "I received a phone call today from Victim Services, updating me that the two of you have completed your initial sessions."
Nick and Sara shared another look, and finally Sara spoke up.
"We already knew that they were keeping you updated." She pointed out, confused by the blonde's manner.
"Yeah, I know." She agreed softly. "Except I wasn't here when that call came through, so it got transferred to Grissom instead."
Finally, the reason for the impromptu meeting became apparent and both of them straightened up in their seats.
"Grissom knows?" Nick clarified hoarsely.
"He doesn't know why," she assured them hurriedly. "But yes, he knows that I made referrals for you both."
Predictably, the Texan pushed himself out of his seat and ran a stressed hand over his cropped hair.
"I thought you said this would be confidential!" He demanded.
"I know, I'm sorry." She offered genuinely, flicking her eyes from one to the other and back again. While Nick's frustration was palpable, Sara had sunk her gaze into her lap, making her reaction completely unreadable.
"I specifically didn't want him to know about this, Catherine." Nick continued, lowering his voice. "You know, I knew this was a bad idea from the start."
"Hey, it's okay." She stood up and moved closer to the irate young man, gripping his forearms. "I've made it clear that I'm not going to tell him anything further. And he can't make you tell him either. There's absolutely no reason that he needs to know any details about what happened."
Nick's chest continue to rise and fall heavily beneath his shirt, but his dark eyes gradually mellowed at little at her gentle coaxing.
After a moment, he exhaled a deep breath.
"Was that it?" He asked tensely, causing a brief look of hurt to flash across her face, which she quickly replaced with a sympathetic smile.
"Yeah, that was it." She agreed, relinquishing her hold on him.
Nodding brusquely, he stalked back out of the little office, leaving the door to swing open in his wake.
Shaking her head sadly at his response, she turned to find the other party still sat quietly in front of the desk.
"Do you want to yell at me too?" She half-joked, slinking in front of Sara to perch on the desktop.
"No." Sara smiled sadly, lifting her head. "It's not your fault. They shouldn't have told him anything without our permission."
"No." Cath agreed, watching Sara cautiously. "I'll make sure they don't make that mistake again, with your next round of sessions."
It was a pointed statement, one that Sara acknowledged with a small nod.
"Yeah, I was going to tell you about that."
Catherine reached out a hand, which Sara accepted gratefully.
"I'm glad that it's proving helpful for you." She said honestly. "Just remember to keep me in the loop, okay?"
"Yeah, I will." Sara smiled, standing up. "As long as I don't have to keep Grissom in the loop, too."
She shuffled around the chair, tugging her hand free from Catherine's grip and moved to the door, where she paused for a moment.
"I kind of liked that fact that you were the only one who knew about that."
It was not an accusatory statement, merely a sad acknowledgement of the loss of their little secret, and then she was gone, disappeared into the bustling hallway.
Catherine exhaled into the empty office, swinging her legs petulantly against the desk.
"Me too, honey." She mumbled to herself forlornly. "Me too."