VII - TIGHT SPACES
"Grissom," the sudden loud sound of Brass' voice through the cell phone made Gil wince. "Yeah Brass. Catherine and Warrick are working on the venting; Nick and Sara are processing the side of the building. Greg's with them. I'm heading back to the lab in a bit to talk to Robbins about out bodies.
"Yeah, I spoke with Mr. van der Brucke. I don't know if I learned anything useful yet or not. You find Marta? Uh-huh.Yeah. You bringing her back to the station, right? Right. The concierge - Mr. Miles - he's arranged for a driver to take van der Brucke to his new hotel," Grissom's tone turned slightly sarcastic, "he's all about client satisfaction. Yeah, Brass. Let me go talk to Warrick and Cath, tell them what's up and find out what's going on with Sara. See you soon."
* * * * *
Catherine was about halfway through the venting shaft, mumbling to herself, when she heard Warrick greet Grissom through the static of her head set.
"Hey Warrick - you tell Grissom to lose some weight. The next time someone has to crawl through a shaft or tubing, it's gonna be him," her tone was slightly breathless, and she smiled when Warrick's chuckle hit her ears.
"I'm not telling Gris that, Catherine," his deep tone admonished her gently, "I'll let you do it when you get out. Gris wants to know how things are going."
"Slowly," Catherine grunted, "Christ, this is a tight squeeze. Tell him I've found some fibers - I've got about 5 evidence bags already."
"Will do." Warrick relayed the information to Grissom, "Cath - you're taking pictures right?"
"No, I was born yesterday. What do you think?"
"She's taking pictures, Gris," Warrick relayed. Catherine giggled.
"Hey, Warrick - can you give me some more slack. I'm almost at the end of the rope here."
"Sure thing, Cath. You should start feeling some fresh air soon. Another 20 feet or so, and you'll be at the end."
"Great. And then I get to back out. Should be fun. Gris still there?"
"Yeah, but he's heading up to the roof to get the extra headset - find out what's going on with everyone else. Then you're what Gris?" Catherine heard Grissom's muttered answer in the background, followed by Warrick's voice, "Then he's headed back to the office. Brass and O'Reilly are meeting him there with Marta."
"Could you ask him how big our cat-burglar is? I'm still trying to figure out how he made it through the venting."
"Give me a minute," Warrick turned to Grissom, hand covering the mouthpiece of his headset, "She's not having fun in there, Grissom. She wants to know how big the cat-burglar was. Says it's a tight fit, even for her."
Grissom sighed, "Well, he wasn't very tall. I'd say no more than 5' 6" - slight stature."
Warrick quickly relayed the information to Catherine.
She snorted, "I know what our other suspect looks like, then. He'd have to be petite as well, so tell Grissom to get a police artist to draw a picture of a small man in a black mask and watch cap and put out an APB."
Warrick just laughed, "You're a pistol, Catherine."
"You don't know the half of it, Warrick."
She continued moving slowly up the shaft, half listening to Warrick and Grissom, flashlight sweeping the silver insides of the venting. The material kept pinging and buckling under her slight weight, the noise echoing eerily around her, and she could feel a cool breeze blowing towards her down the shaft. The feel of the air on her face was refreshing, and she smiled. And that's when she saw if - two feet in front of her at the top of the shaft, several strands of dark brown hair fluttered in the breeze.
"Warrick - I found some hair," she crowed happily, "stuck in a crease at the top of the shaft. It would have been ripped out - we'll have epithelials." She hummed to herself as she snapped a picture and quickly collected the strands into an evidence bag.
"That's good, Cath. Every little bit helps, as Grissom would say. He's heading out - says he'll see us back at the lab."
* * * * *
Greg watched avidly as Nick carefully removed the bullet from the side of the hotel, grinning when it was dropped into a small evidence bag, "Good eyes, Greg."
Beside Greg, Sara nudged him with her elbow, "It was worth bringing you out here after all," she teased, "first the singing and now finding the bullet."
Greg blushed slightly at this, "Maybe Grissom will let me do more field work."
"Why would I do that, Greg?"
The sudden crackle of Grissom's voice over the headset made them all jump, and Greg and Sara both craned their necks upward. Nick just chuckled, "Geez, Gris. Don't you know it's not a good thing to make people jump when they're dangling in a cage forty levels above the ground?"
Even through the headset, they could hear Grissom's slight frown, "Everyone all right?"
"Yeah, no one's plummeted to their death yet, Grissom," Sara responded lightly. "You up on the roof?"
"Where else would I be?" he sighed back. "Listen, I'm heading back to the lab. When you guys are finished, pack up and I'll meet you there. I was going to take Greg back with me, but seeing as you're not done yet I suppose he'll have to stay with you."
Nick replied, "Fine with us. He's actually being useful." He winked at Greg when he said this, and Greg snorted at him. "He found a bullet - stuck in the fascia between floors."
"Finding anything else?"
"Just blood," Sara responded. "We're getting swabs."
"Okay, then," Grissom sounded tense. "Hook up with Catherine and Warrick before you leave. Be careful."
"Aren't you going to lean over the edge and wave goodbye to me?" Sara teased, forgetting for a moment that Greg and Nick were also there, with headsets on.
Grissom cleared his throat, the sound sounding oddly like a growl through the ear pieces, "That's not funny, Sara."
Sara grinned, "I think it's plenty funny, coaster boy. Catch you later."
Nick shot her an amused look when Grissom muttered his goodbyes. "What was that?" he questioned, smiling when her eyes shot to his and she shrugged. "You flirting with Grissom, Sara?"
"I wasn't flirting, Nick, I was teasing him," her tone was sharp, but her eyes quickly skipped away from him.
"And the difference is?"
She sighed, "You're the ladies man, you tell me."
"Didn't that sound like flirting to you, Greggo?" Nick turned to the younger man, who was watching them both with a bemused expression on his face.
"Uh, Nick. In case you haven't noticed, you're pissing her off. I'd shut up before she decides to pitch you out. It's a long way down." Greg winced when Sara punched him tightly in the arm, quickly adding, "And she wasn't flirting."
Nick just laughed.
* * * * *
"I can see the end of the shaft," Catherine told Warrick happily. "Thank God! I can start backing out in a few minutes. I can't see a grate."
"Maybe they didn't re-attach it when they exited the vent," Warrick responded. "Can you see it at the mouth of the shaft?"
"No. I can't. Give me some more rope, would you?"
"Don't get too close to the opening Cath, your 80 floors up, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm in a horizontal shaft, so I don't know what you're worried about. Just hold on tight - 10 feet is all I need." She grunted as she moved forwards slowly, pushing her camera and field kit easily in front of her as she traversed the last several feet. The rectangular opening was indeed grate free, and Catherine could see no grate lying or propped in the mouth of the vent. "No grate," she muttered to Warrick. "They wouldn't have taken it with them, so where did it go?"
"I don't know," he responded. "Are you sure there would be a grate?"
"Well, there'd have to be something here to close it off," she responded. "Otherwise, what would keep birds out of the air exchange system? Flip channels on your head set for a second -ask Nick to check for us, since he's out there anyway. I'll wait."
"No kidding. Okay, give me a minute," Warrick responded, quickly switching frequencies. "Nick - Sara - you guys there?"
"Yo, Warrick!" Nick responded, "What's up?"
"You still out in the cage?"
"Yessir, but we're almost finished - we'll be heading up in a minute. What about you and Cath?"
"She's at the end of the vent. Listen, do us a favor. Can you tell us what type of covering you can see for the air exchange systems between floors? Catherine says the shaft she's in is wide open."
Nick cocked an eyebrow at Sara and Greg, and the three of them immediately began scanning the building between the floors. "We're looking now, Warrick. Greg - ask Mr. Powers what we should be looking for."
Greg quickly turned to the man at the controls of the cage, telling him what they were looking for, following his hand when he pointed to a fine mesh black grate built into the fascia about 10 feet away from their cage.
"It's a black mesh grate, built into the sides."
"You catch that Warrick?"
"Got it. Thanks man. Switching over to tell Catherine. See you soon."
* * * * *
"Well, it's definitely not here," Catherine stated. "And why would they take it with them?"
"I don't know. Maybe they dropped it?"
"From 80 floors up? Wouldn't someone have seen it fall? Found it near the dead guy when they came to check him out?" Catherine's tone was slightly incredulous, and she heard Warrick sigh through the headset.
"Listen, Cath. I don't know, okay. Just hypothesizing here. Come on back, and we'll go and check it out. It was night time after all, and Greg says black mesh - maybe no one spotted it."
"Okay. Fine. I'm coming out."
It was quicker backing out of the vent shaft than it had been going in. For one thing, Catherine wasn't looking for evidence anymore, and could slide backwards faster. After being in the shaft for what seemed like hours, she was relieved to hear Warrick's voice echoing down the vent, "I can see your feet, Catherine."
"Can you see my ass yet?"
"Don't start!" She heard him laugh slightly and smiled. Her feet exited the grating first. She was almost all the way out when she suddenly pulled up sharply.
"Ouch. Dammit!"
Off to her side, Warrick crouched down and spoke over her shoulder, "What's the problem?"
"I pushed myself up on my arms to soon, and I've gotten stuck on something sticking out the top of the vent. Probably a screw head." She twisted violently, trying to get free, cursing under her breath when it didn't happen. "Can you see what I'm stuck on?"
"No, I'm off to the side here. Can you lower yourself at all?"
"No, dammit. I'm hung up. How much further until I'm all the way out?"
Warrick stood and looked at the open shaft. Catherine's legs and butt were all the way out, knees propping her up slightly from the floor. "You're out to about your waist."
"Yeah, well - I'm giving myself a wedgie here. You think you can reach in and find out what I'm caught on?"
"I can try. You caught up on the right or the left side?"
"Middle," Catherine responded. Warrick crouched beside her again, admonishing her to quit moving. She felt his arms brush up her back as he reached into the shaft, feeling for whatever had snagged her.
"I can't see what I'm doing here, but I can feel where the material is bunching. It's right between your shoulder blades."
"Can you get it?"
Warrick grunted, reaching in further, coming up empty. "Can't get it from this angle. Give me a second." He stood up and stretched, his gaze traveling over Catherine's tiny frame - what he could see of it. He tried not to grin when he saw that she did - indeed - have a wedgie.
Catherine wiggled, pulling the material even tighter. "Quit looking at my ass, and get me out of here."
Warrick crouched down again, smiling into the shaft, "I thought you wanted me looking at you." He grinned when she grunted, "Listen. I'm going to have to stretch out here. Lower yourself as much as you can, and brace your knees on the floor. I'll have to see if I can reach it from above you."
"Just don't squish me."
Warrick sighed, "This isn't gonna look too good if someone walks in on us."
"Just shut up and do it, Warrick."
Warrick slid in behind Catherine, stretching his length against her, chest pressing into her back. "Too heavy?"
"No, no. It's fine," she sighed. Warrick pressed his face into the middle of her back, arms stretching up the bunched material. Through the Forensics jumpsuit, he could feel her warmth burning into him and smell her perfume. Closing his eyes against the sudden heat that enveloped. He was pretty sure Catherine would be able to feel the sudden rapid beating of his heart pressed against her back.
"Still can't get it. I have to slide up a bit more, and I don't know if I have the room."
Catherine sighed, rather shakily, as Warrick inched upwards a little more. His entire body from the waist up was pressed firmly into her, and she could feel his muscular legs propping hers slightly as he strained to free her. Beneath her, thin metal of the vent buckled musically.
"I guess I can tell Grissom we're really experienced with tight spaces, now," she joked, breathlessly, and tried not to gasp when she felt Warrick's warm huff of laughter through her jumpsuit.
"You are in no position to be teasing me right now," Warrick admonished softly.
"I'm in the perfect position - - - to be teasing you now, Warrick," Catherine responded, pausing just long enough to make him think. She smiled when she heard the small hiss of breath Warrick released through his teeth. His fingers were pulling at the material on her uniform, and his heart was thundering against her back. Sliding one of his arms just under hers, he twisted ever so slightly to the side.
"I've almost got it," he whispered, before murmuring softly, "you keep talking like that, and I'll think you mean it."
"How do you know I don't," Catherine retorted just as softly.
She could tell her answer had caught him by surprise, and she grinned suddenly. Despite the fact she was stuck in a ventilation shaft, she felt great. She breathed happily when she felt the material finally give as Warrick released her.
"Got it," he muttered as he began sliding backwards. Once he was out of the shaft, he kneeled behind her and helped her slide out as well, dragging her field kit and camera with her, helping her to his feet as he stood as well.
He was looking at her with a slightly dazed-slightly bemused expression on his face, and Catherine smiled at him in the flickering light of the maintenance closet. "There's no one I'd rather be stuck in a shaft with," she said softly, "but thanks for getting me out. It was getting rather - hot - in there."
"And whose fault was that?" Warrick responded, his slightly husky voice betraying the thoughts swimming around in his head.
He almost died of shock when Catherine stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the cheek, before whispering in his ear, "I blame all the heat on you, Warrick. Now, let's go find everyone else - see if they're finished yet before going back to the lab."
_____________
Author's Note: Nice long chapter today, to make up for not posting in a while. Not a lot of Grissom in this one, but I hope the Catherine / Warrick vent situation made it worthwhile. That was a fun one to write.
"Grissom," the sudden loud sound of Brass' voice through the cell phone made Gil wince. "Yeah Brass. Catherine and Warrick are working on the venting; Nick and Sara are processing the side of the building. Greg's with them. I'm heading back to the lab in a bit to talk to Robbins about out bodies.
"Yeah, I spoke with Mr. van der Brucke. I don't know if I learned anything useful yet or not. You find Marta? Uh-huh.Yeah. You bringing her back to the station, right? Right. The concierge - Mr. Miles - he's arranged for a driver to take van der Brucke to his new hotel," Grissom's tone turned slightly sarcastic, "he's all about client satisfaction. Yeah, Brass. Let me go talk to Warrick and Cath, tell them what's up and find out what's going on with Sara. See you soon."
* * * * *
Catherine was about halfway through the venting shaft, mumbling to herself, when she heard Warrick greet Grissom through the static of her head set.
"Hey Warrick - you tell Grissom to lose some weight. The next time someone has to crawl through a shaft or tubing, it's gonna be him," her tone was slightly breathless, and she smiled when Warrick's chuckle hit her ears.
"I'm not telling Gris that, Catherine," his deep tone admonished her gently, "I'll let you do it when you get out. Gris wants to know how things are going."
"Slowly," Catherine grunted, "Christ, this is a tight squeeze. Tell him I've found some fibers - I've got about 5 evidence bags already."
"Will do." Warrick relayed the information to Grissom, "Cath - you're taking pictures right?"
"No, I was born yesterday. What do you think?"
"She's taking pictures, Gris," Warrick relayed. Catherine giggled.
"Hey, Warrick - can you give me some more slack. I'm almost at the end of the rope here."
"Sure thing, Cath. You should start feeling some fresh air soon. Another 20 feet or so, and you'll be at the end."
"Great. And then I get to back out. Should be fun. Gris still there?"
"Yeah, but he's heading up to the roof to get the extra headset - find out what's going on with everyone else. Then you're what Gris?" Catherine heard Grissom's muttered answer in the background, followed by Warrick's voice, "Then he's headed back to the office. Brass and O'Reilly are meeting him there with Marta."
"Could you ask him how big our cat-burglar is? I'm still trying to figure out how he made it through the venting."
"Give me a minute," Warrick turned to Grissom, hand covering the mouthpiece of his headset, "She's not having fun in there, Grissom. She wants to know how big the cat-burglar was. Says it's a tight fit, even for her."
Grissom sighed, "Well, he wasn't very tall. I'd say no more than 5' 6" - slight stature."
Warrick quickly relayed the information to Catherine.
She snorted, "I know what our other suspect looks like, then. He'd have to be petite as well, so tell Grissom to get a police artist to draw a picture of a small man in a black mask and watch cap and put out an APB."
Warrick just laughed, "You're a pistol, Catherine."
"You don't know the half of it, Warrick."
She continued moving slowly up the shaft, half listening to Warrick and Grissom, flashlight sweeping the silver insides of the venting. The material kept pinging and buckling under her slight weight, the noise echoing eerily around her, and she could feel a cool breeze blowing towards her down the shaft. The feel of the air on her face was refreshing, and she smiled. And that's when she saw if - two feet in front of her at the top of the shaft, several strands of dark brown hair fluttered in the breeze.
"Warrick - I found some hair," she crowed happily, "stuck in a crease at the top of the shaft. It would have been ripped out - we'll have epithelials." She hummed to herself as she snapped a picture and quickly collected the strands into an evidence bag.
"That's good, Cath. Every little bit helps, as Grissom would say. He's heading out - says he'll see us back at the lab."
* * * * *
Greg watched avidly as Nick carefully removed the bullet from the side of the hotel, grinning when it was dropped into a small evidence bag, "Good eyes, Greg."
Beside Greg, Sara nudged him with her elbow, "It was worth bringing you out here after all," she teased, "first the singing and now finding the bullet."
Greg blushed slightly at this, "Maybe Grissom will let me do more field work."
"Why would I do that, Greg?"
The sudden crackle of Grissom's voice over the headset made them all jump, and Greg and Sara both craned their necks upward. Nick just chuckled, "Geez, Gris. Don't you know it's not a good thing to make people jump when they're dangling in a cage forty levels above the ground?"
Even through the headset, they could hear Grissom's slight frown, "Everyone all right?"
"Yeah, no one's plummeted to their death yet, Grissom," Sara responded lightly. "You up on the roof?"
"Where else would I be?" he sighed back. "Listen, I'm heading back to the lab. When you guys are finished, pack up and I'll meet you there. I was going to take Greg back with me, but seeing as you're not done yet I suppose he'll have to stay with you."
Nick replied, "Fine with us. He's actually being useful." He winked at Greg when he said this, and Greg snorted at him. "He found a bullet - stuck in the fascia between floors."
"Finding anything else?"
"Just blood," Sara responded. "We're getting swabs."
"Okay, then," Grissom sounded tense. "Hook up with Catherine and Warrick before you leave. Be careful."
"Aren't you going to lean over the edge and wave goodbye to me?" Sara teased, forgetting for a moment that Greg and Nick were also there, with headsets on.
Grissom cleared his throat, the sound sounding oddly like a growl through the ear pieces, "That's not funny, Sara."
Sara grinned, "I think it's plenty funny, coaster boy. Catch you later."
Nick shot her an amused look when Grissom muttered his goodbyes. "What was that?" he questioned, smiling when her eyes shot to his and she shrugged. "You flirting with Grissom, Sara?"
"I wasn't flirting, Nick, I was teasing him," her tone was sharp, but her eyes quickly skipped away from him.
"And the difference is?"
She sighed, "You're the ladies man, you tell me."
"Didn't that sound like flirting to you, Greggo?" Nick turned to the younger man, who was watching them both with a bemused expression on his face.
"Uh, Nick. In case you haven't noticed, you're pissing her off. I'd shut up before she decides to pitch you out. It's a long way down." Greg winced when Sara punched him tightly in the arm, quickly adding, "And she wasn't flirting."
Nick just laughed.
* * * * *
"I can see the end of the shaft," Catherine told Warrick happily. "Thank God! I can start backing out in a few minutes. I can't see a grate."
"Maybe they didn't re-attach it when they exited the vent," Warrick responded. "Can you see it at the mouth of the shaft?"
"No. I can't. Give me some more rope, would you?"
"Don't get too close to the opening Cath, your 80 floors up, remember?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm in a horizontal shaft, so I don't know what you're worried about. Just hold on tight - 10 feet is all I need." She grunted as she moved forwards slowly, pushing her camera and field kit easily in front of her as she traversed the last several feet. The rectangular opening was indeed grate free, and Catherine could see no grate lying or propped in the mouth of the vent. "No grate," she muttered to Warrick. "They wouldn't have taken it with them, so where did it go?"
"I don't know," he responded. "Are you sure there would be a grate?"
"Well, there'd have to be something here to close it off," she responded. "Otherwise, what would keep birds out of the air exchange system? Flip channels on your head set for a second -ask Nick to check for us, since he's out there anyway. I'll wait."
"No kidding. Okay, give me a minute," Warrick responded, quickly switching frequencies. "Nick - Sara - you guys there?"
"Yo, Warrick!" Nick responded, "What's up?"
"You still out in the cage?"
"Yessir, but we're almost finished - we'll be heading up in a minute. What about you and Cath?"
"She's at the end of the vent. Listen, do us a favor. Can you tell us what type of covering you can see for the air exchange systems between floors? Catherine says the shaft she's in is wide open."
Nick cocked an eyebrow at Sara and Greg, and the three of them immediately began scanning the building between the floors. "We're looking now, Warrick. Greg - ask Mr. Powers what we should be looking for."
Greg quickly turned to the man at the controls of the cage, telling him what they were looking for, following his hand when he pointed to a fine mesh black grate built into the fascia about 10 feet away from their cage.
"It's a black mesh grate, built into the sides."
"You catch that Warrick?"
"Got it. Thanks man. Switching over to tell Catherine. See you soon."
* * * * *
"Well, it's definitely not here," Catherine stated. "And why would they take it with them?"
"I don't know. Maybe they dropped it?"
"From 80 floors up? Wouldn't someone have seen it fall? Found it near the dead guy when they came to check him out?" Catherine's tone was slightly incredulous, and she heard Warrick sigh through the headset.
"Listen, Cath. I don't know, okay. Just hypothesizing here. Come on back, and we'll go and check it out. It was night time after all, and Greg says black mesh - maybe no one spotted it."
"Okay. Fine. I'm coming out."
It was quicker backing out of the vent shaft than it had been going in. For one thing, Catherine wasn't looking for evidence anymore, and could slide backwards faster. After being in the shaft for what seemed like hours, she was relieved to hear Warrick's voice echoing down the vent, "I can see your feet, Catherine."
"Can you see my ass yet?"
"Don't start!" She heard him laugh slightly and smiled. Her feet exited the grating first. She was almost all the way out when she suddenly pulled up sharply.
"Ouch. Dammit!"
Off to her side, Warrick crouched down and spoke over her shoulder, "What's the problem?"
"I pushed myself up on my arms to soon, and I've gotten stuck on something sticking out the top of the vent. Probably a screw head." She twisted violently, trying to get free, cursing under her breath when it didn't happen. "Can you see what I'm stuck on?"
"No, I'm off to the side here. Can you lower yourself at all?"
"No, dammit. I'm hung up. How much further until I'm all the way out?"
Warrick stood and looked at the open shaft. Catherine's legs and butt were all the way out, knees propping her up slightly from the floor. "You're out to about your waist."
"Yeah, well - I'm giving myself a wedgie here. You think you can reach in and find out what I'm caught on?"
"I can try. You caught up on the right or the left side?"
"Middle," Catherine responded. Warrick crouched beside her again, admonishing her to quit moving. She felt his arms brush up her back as he reached into the shaft, feeling for whatever had snagged her.
"I can't see what I'm doing here, but I can feel where the material is bunching. It's right between your shoulder blades."
"Can you get it?"
Warrick grunted, reaching in further, coming up empty. "Can't get it from this angle. Give me a second." He stood up and stretched, his gaze traveling over Catherine's tiny frame - what he could see of it. He tried not to grin when he saw that she did - indeed - have a wedgie.
Catherine wiggled, pulling the material even tighter. "Quit looking at my ass, and get me out of here."
Warrick crouched down again, smiling into the shaft, "I thought you wanted me looking at you." He grinned when she grunted, "Listen. I'm going to have to stretch out here. Lower yourself as much as you can, and brace your knees on the floor. I'll have to see if I can reach it from above you."
"Just don't squish me."
Warrick sighed, "This isn't gonna look too good if someone walks in on us."
"Just shut up and do it, Warrick."
Warrick slid in behind Catherine, stretching his length against her, chest pressing into her back. "Too heavy?"
"No, no. It's fine," she sighed. Warrick pressed his face into the middle of her back, arms stretching up the bunched material. Through the Forensics jumpsuit, he could feel her warmth burning into him and smell her perfume. Closing his eyes against the sudden heat that enveloped. He was pretty sure Catherine would be able to feel the sudden rapid beating of his heart pressed against her back.
"Still can't get it. I have to slide up a bit more, and I don't know if I have the room."
Catherine sighed, rather shakily, as Warrick inched upwards a little more. His entire body from the waist up was pressed firmly into her, and she could feel his muscular legs propping hers slightly as he strained to free her. Beneath her, thin metal of the vent buckled musically.
"I guess I can tell Grissom we're really experienced with tight spaces, now," she joked, breathlessly, and tried not to gasp when she felt Warrick's warm huff of laughter through her jumpsuit.
"You are in no position to be teasing me right now," Warrick admonished softly.
"I'm in the perfect position - - - to be teasing you now, Warrick," Catherine responded, pausing just long enough to make him think. She smiled when she heard the small hiss of breath Warrick released through his teeth. His fingers were pulling at the material on her uniform, and his heart was thundering against her back. Sliding one of his arms just under hers, he twisted ever so slightly to the side.
"I've almost got it," he whispered, before murmuring softly, "you keep talking like that, and I'll think you mean it."
"How do you know I don't," Catherine retorted just as softly.
She could tell her answer had caught him by surprise, and she grinned suddenly. Despite the fact she was stuck in a ventilation shaft, she felt great. She breathed happily when she felt the material finally give as Warrick released her.
"Got it," he muttered as he began sliding backwards. Once he was out of the shaft, he kneeled behind her and helped her slide out as well, dragging her field kit and camera with her, helping her to his feet as he stood as well.
He was looking at her with a slightly dazed-slightly bemused expression on his face, and Catherine smiled at him in the flickering light of the maintenance closet. "There's no one I'd rather be stuck in a shaft with," she said softly, "but thanks for getting me out. It was getting rather - hot - in there."
"And whose fault was that?" Warrick responded, his slightly husky voice betraying the thoughts swimming around in his head.
He almost died of shock when Catherine stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the cheek, before whispering in his ear, "I blame all the heat on you, Warrick. Now, let's go find everyone else - see if they're finished yet before going back to the lab."
_____________
Author's Note: Nice long chapter today, to make up for not posting in a while. Not a lot of Grissom in this one, but I hope the Catherine / Warrick vent situation made it worthwhile. That was a fun one to write.