"So what's your big plan?"

Grissom jumped up quickly at the sound of her voice, tried not to look too pleased that she had come back. "Uh, I was thinking. . . um, I was offered a place on a seminar tour, cross-country, I'd turned it down, but if I make a few phone calls, I can have my spot back, and we could both go. You'd be my assistant, if you don't mind?" He chastised himself for appearing too eager.

"That's fine. I'm going to call the San Francisco Crime Lab, try to get the case files. The two CSI's I worked with on the case might want to fly out."

"Good, I was just going to ask."

Sara smiled slightly. "Okay."

"Here," he said, pushing the phone towards her.

--------

"He's definitely nervous," Warrick confirmed.

"Oh, yeah," Nick agreed.

"Quiet, both of you, I want to hear what's happening," Catherine whispered. They were listening to the proceedings from just outside Grissom's office door. It was juvenile and immature, but it really was fun to eavesdrop. The three investigators were listening intently, not focusing on their surroundings.

"What's going on?" The question, hissed into Catherine's ear, made them jump and turn around to face a grinning Greg Sanders.

"Damn it, Greg!" Nick screeched, his face pasty. He hated to be snuck up on.

"Quiet!" Warrick and Catherine hissed to Nick.

"Sorry. Whoa!" The door opened from behind them, making Nick and Warrick fall into the office. They looked up on an amused Sara, standing by Grissom's desk, ear glued to the phone, and a not so amused Grissom hovering over them.

"Hi, Grissom." Nick stuttered, the guilty look on his face matching the faces of Catherine and Warrick; Greg had sprinted off towards the DNA lab. "We were, uh."

"Eavesdropping?" Grissom inquired.

"No, no, we were, um."

"Eavesdropping," Warrick conceded.

Nick shot him a dirty look, and muttered, "Teacher's pet."

Sara, who had hung up the phone, said, "Gris, the files are on their way. Ari and Kate are coming with them."

"Ari and Kate?" Catherine asked, slightly territorially.

"Bishop and Lamont, respectively. CSI's out of San Francisco," Grissom said. "They're good."

"They're incredible," Sara corrected. "Ari's the man, he's great. He can pick out an individual fiber of any color that doesn't match the test sample of nearly the same color like nothing I've ever seen. Say your shirt's the sample, Warrick. If you had one millimeter of a fiber that's one shade off of that blue on your shirt, Ari'd see it where everyone else would need a comparison 'scope to find it."

"Interesting," Warrick said.

"What about this Kate?" asked Nick, a little eagerly.

Sara smiled. "Whoa, boy, she's married. She puts things together. Give her all the evidence, and she'll tell you where it happened and exactly how. Nine times out of ten, she matches what the suspect says, to the letter, on details."

"When will they be here?"

"Tomorrow."

----------

A red-haired man knocked softly on the wall of the layout room, where Catherine sat reviewing evidence. She turned; the man was carrying a large file, and was followed closely by another stranger, a short blond. "Hi," the man said. "You're Catherine Willows?"

"Let me guess, Ari Bishop and Kate Lamont?" Both nodded. "Come in, sit down," she said, gesturing to the chairs.

"Thanks," Kate said. "What are you working on?"

"The reason you're out here," Catherine said.

"Mind if I take a look?" Ari asked, picking up a report before she could say anything. "You're not finding anything more than we did, fibers are inconclusive, the soil that doesn't match the local stuff came back unknown.Where's Sara?"

"And Grissom?" Kate added.

Catherine bristled. When Sara had first come to Las Vegas, Catherine had thought that the younger woman was abrasive, that it was just her, but now it seemed that the entire San Francisco Crime Lab staff was like that. "On a plane to Boulder," she choked out. "I'm in charge while they're gone, okay?"