**Author's Note: special thanks to Anne and her bird, Blue for inspiration!!

Chapter 3-approximately 10 am

"I see skies of blue and clouds of white." Greg sang, bobbing his head as he poured a cup of coffee. "And I say to myself-"

"What a wonderful world," finished a strange voice.

Greg spun around to find himself face to face with a large bird whose cage was resting on the main table of the break room. The bird stared at Greg, who began to back out the room, almost bumping into Grissom.

"Try facing forward when you walk from now on," Grissom said to the younger man.

"Where did that thing come from?" Greg asked with wide eyes.

"From the crime scene you're supposed to be analyzing the DNA for," Grissom replied setting another bird cage down on the table, this one containing a smaller green bird. "I'll be in with Doc Robbins so just page me when you know something."

Greg nodded and headed back to the DNA lab as Grissom headed for the morgue.

"How's it going?" Warrick asked walking into the layout room where Catherine had spread out almost 50 photographs of the Red and Blue Rooms.

"We're going to have to back," Catherine sighed setting one of the photographs back on the table.

Warrick nodded his agreement, "With all that blood there had to have been a hair or a partial somewhere. I mean no one's that careful."

"Is Grissom still in with Doc Robbins?" Catherine asked, standing and stretching.

"I think so," Warrick replied.

"Well I'm going to go grab a cup of coffee and see how Greg's coming on those DNA results," Catherine replied. "If you want to take a glance at those photos, be my guest. A fresh pair of eyes might do some good."

Meanwhile Sara and Nick were on their way to the break room.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Greg said sticking his head out of the DNA lab.

"Is Grissom breeding fireflies in the microwave again?" Nick asked as he and Sara walked in the break room.

Greg, however, hung back. "I, uh, need to get back to the lab," he sputtered practically running down the hall.

Nick and Sara merely looked at each other and shrugged.

"So where'd these guys come from?" Nick asked motioning to the two bird cages on the table.

"Well the mouthy one is from the Red Room," Sara replied pointing to the large bird who squawked loudly. "And this little one is from the Blue Room. Isn't he cute?"

Sara bent close to the cage of the small blue bird who was tweeting happily. "Hey little guy," she said softly. The bird hopped over to the edge of the cage and chirped.

"Looks like you've made a friend," Nick quipped, but as he did so, the little bird made a hissing noise and began to gnaw on the bars of it's cage.

Sara jumped back and muttered, "Okay maybe I spoke too soon."

Catherine made her way down the hallway intent on one purpose and one purpose alone: coffee. So she definitely did not expected Greg to jump out into the hallway in front of her.

"Going to the break room?" he asked.

Catherine nodded, "Is there some sort of problem with that?"

Greg placed a hand on Catherine's shoulder, "Be careful, it's a jungle in there...or rather an aviary."

"Greg, how many times do Grissom and I have to tell you not to watch the Hitchcock movie marathon on tv?" Catherine sighed.

"Catherine I swear, the big one was looking at me funny," Greg said, bobbing his spiky head furiously for emphasis.

"Well I'll take my chances," Catherine said, moving past him.

"Hey Catherine!" Greg called after her.

Catherine turned, "Yeah?"

"Can you grab me a cup of coffee while you're in there?" Greg said with a big smile.

After Catherine had delivered a cup of coffee to Greg, who was now working hard on the case, she headed for her favorite quiet place in the lab to drink her coffee. Sinking into the chair behind Grissom's desk, she closed her eyes for a moment and let the warm liquid soothe her now raspy vocal chords. Lindsey had come down with a sore throat the previous week, and Catherine only hoped that germs hadn't stuck around long enough to infect her.

"Excuse me, is this Gil Grissom's office?" a voice asked.

Catherine opened her eyes to see a well-dressed woman standing in the doorway.

"Uhm yes it is, may I ask who you are?" Catherine asked, standing. Visitors to Grissom's office were highly unusual.

"Oh, how silly of me," the woman replied. "My name is Theresa Birmingham. Could you buzz Gil and tell him I'm here?"

Catherine stared at her for a moment, then said, "He's in the morgue right now, is there something I can help you with Ms. Birmingham?"

"Well my dear, if you could just see that Gil gets this, I would be greatly appreciative," Theresa replied, handing Catherine an envelope.

"Will do," Catherine said, flashing Theresa a gigantic fake smile.

As Catherine watched Theresa excited the office, she left her smile turn to a slight frown. Her frown turned into a glare as she watched Theresa spot Grissom coming down the hall.

"What brings you here?" Grissom asked as Theresa approached him.

"Well after I spoke with you earlier, I realized that the ideal opportunity for you to speak with Edgar's friend and associates would be at my son's gallery opening tonight," Theresa replied, lowering her voice to a whisper at mention of the dead man's name. "You remember my son, Reynard, don't you?"

Grissom nodded.

"I left the invitations with your secretary, feel free to bring someone along," Theresa continued.

"Thank you," Grissom replied, wondering when he acquired a secretary.

"Well I would love to stay and chat, but I've got an appointment a little ways from here at 11," Theresa said, glancing slightly at her diamond studded watch. "I look forward to seeing you tonight."

Grissom merely shook his head as she walked away, still unsure whether his reunion with Theresa Birmingham at the crime scene was a blessing or a curse. He stepped into his office to find Catherine perched on his desk, holding an envelope.

"Charming," Catherine said, giving Grissom an odd smile.

"You know the old friend I mentioned?" Grissom asked, clearing his throat. For some reason, the entire situation made him uneasy. But before he could say anything more, his pager went off.

"It's Greg," he said to Catherine, who handed him the envelope as she hopped off the desk.

After a brief but silent trip down the hall, Grissom and Catherine were met by a very enthusiastic Greg.

"I found something very interesting in these blood samples," the young lab tech began.

Although Grissom barely heard Catherine's comment, he did not miss the sarcasm in her softly spoken words.

"Do you want me to take a memo?"

***What did Greg find in the blood? Will Gil attend Theresa's son's gallery opening?? Will Greg get over his fear of birds?? And what about that creepy voice Catherine heard at the crime scene?? All this and more coming soon in Chapter 4 so stay tuned!!