Thanks for the reviews G glad you like this!!
Chapter TwoThey hadn't gone far when Catherine stopped to look at the yellow bricks beneath her feet. Looking around, she spotted some loose rocks that lay just beside the road, and bent down to touch one, her fingers instantly covered in yellow dust. Standing up she looked at her colleagues and smiled. "Look at the yellow it's hard to miss, I wish my path would shine like this."
The others stared at her and she looked up at them worriedly. "What is wrong? Why do you stare? Oh god is there something wrong with my hair?" Lifting her hands to her hair she patted down the strands and turned to glance at the others before stepping up closer to Warrick.
"You know I trust you, tell me the truth. Do I have anything stuck on my tooth?"
"Uh," Warrick looked to the others for help, but Catherine stepped even closer to him. "Catherine, you're talking in rhyme."
"Talking in rhyme? Well that's absurd, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Stopping suddenly she clamped her hands over her mouth and stared back at him in horror. "How did this happen, I think I'm ill. You're the expert on Shakespeare, help me out Gil."
Grissom stared at her open mouthed and for a moment tried to act as if he hadn't noticed anything. "Uh...oh look…a beetle," Pulling on Sara's arm he ignored the blonde who was imploring him to answer her. "Bring my jar."
"You and your jars Grissom," Sara beamed, following him willingly, leaving the situation behind her for the others to deal with.
Catherine looked from Warrick to Nick then on to Greg. She kept her mouth tightly closed, afraid that when she opened her mouth she would again speak in rhyme.
"Oh come on Cath, it's kinds cool," Nick grinned, nudging her arm as they started to walk "think of how you'll stand out in a crowd.
"Nick I don't think standing out in a crowd is really the thing here," Warrick told him as he sneaked an arm around Catherine's shoulders. "Come on Cath."
When they had walked across the yellow brick bridge, they headed towards Grissom and Sara who had mysteriously stopped bug hunting and were wiping chalk from each other again. "Guys, when you've finished brushing the chalk off, we're heading in this direction," he called out.
Sara leapt away from Grissom and shrugged her shoulders quickly. "You know Grissom, we really should think of something else instead of chalk, can we try something else maybe?"
"Hmm, like what?"
"Why don't you read that booklet Rosa gave you for some ideas?" Her smile spread across her face as she reached out to pull on his arm so that they could follow Catherine and Warrick.
Behind them, Nick and Greg started to follow slowly behind. "You know," Greg started, "I've been thinking."
"Isn't that kinda dangerous for you?" Nick scoffed.
"Au contraire," Greg tutted. "Listen, if G/S is Griss and Sara, and G/C is Grissom and Cath, then what is Gr/N?"
"I'm more concerned with the N/S," Nick shrugged his shoulders. "Well S is obviously Sara," he mused.
"Oooo I got it," Greg grinned triumphantly, "Nick and Sara, N/S!"
"Hey man, don't even joke about stuff like that," Nick warned, his face suddenly going pale, "that is so wrong on so many levels."
"Hey you know what isn't fair?" Greg asked with a sigh.
"What?"
"You guys all have a pairing except me. Why? Doesn't anyone like me?" Greg whined sadly.
"Oh man, of course they do!" Shaking his head, Nick ran through the list that Rosa had reeled off to them. "Okay so we know G/S, G/C, N/S…so what are Gr/N and W/C?"
"Yeah, don't forget the S/C, I can't think who that can be…" Greg's voice suddenly trailed away and he stopped walking. "Oh God."
"What?" Nick asked in concern, his hand reaching out to touch Greg's shoulder.
"Uh, Nick, you might want to remove your hand from my arm," Greg groaned.
"Sure," Nick shrugged, "why?"
"I've just realized what Gr/N means…"
"Well if N is for me, then Gr must mean…oh MAN!" Nick leapt away from Greg as if he had the plague. "This is so wrong…so, so, wrong."
"Hey I didn't suggest it!" Greg complained as he started to follow Nick across the bridge.
"Just stay over there," Nick warned, pointing to the other side of the road.
"Hey, I do have some pride you know," Greg grumbled. "Why do you think I'd pick you anyway?"
"I…"
"Why, because you're such a catch?" Greg asked huffily as he stomped off towards the others, leaving Nick to stare after him.
***
As they walked, they came to a fork in the road. Stopping slowly, Grissom put his field kit onto the floor and reached inside his pocket to pull out the paper that Rosa had shoved in there. "Maybe there's a map," he told them as he started to unfold the paper.
Leaning over his shoulder, Sara started to randomly pick out names to read aloud. "ImagineJorja, Laredo Grissom, Gibby," this doesn't look like a map, Grissom."
"No it's a list of the missing authors," he told her. "Xant, Anansay, Tripple pirouette, Sara Grissom." The last name caused Sara to take in a breath and when he looked towards her he could see the rosy flush on her cheeks. "That's a very good name," he winked.
"Cut it out both of you, just kiss her and get it over with Gil. We've seen you do this dance forever, so do us a favour already and get together!" Catherine huffed out a groan and turned away from them.
"What's eating her?" Sara asked quietly as she tried to ignore Grissom's closeness.
"I think it's the rhyming," he told her, his eyes returning to the list. "She hates it."
"Um…about what she said…"
Lifting his eyes to hers, he offered her a soft smile. "Let's find these missing authors and then we'll talk about this."
Sara's eyes sparkled with warmth and she leaned in closer to him. "Okay."
"Okay, we also have, Anya, Burked, Hazeleyes57, IrishDachsie, Jane Moss, Laura Katharine, LSI, Marlou, Mossley, ShannonSto and Amanda Hawthorn"
"I say we should split the list between the six of us," Sara suggested.
"I'll have Hazeleyes57," Greg told them, his voice causing all eyes to turn to him. "What? I like the name, that's all!"
"Greg we can't pick who we want to rescue," Sara told him, "but when we're back at the lab, I'm sure one of them will give you their number."
"Humph, you would say that! You're paired with Nick as well as Grissom!"
"What?" she gasped, her wide eyes looking over to Nick and then back to Greg. "That is…"
"I know," Nick nodded, "I already said that!"
"But…you and me?" she shook her head. "I've heard about keeping it in the family, but this…ewww."
"I know Sar, I agreed with you." Nick caught Grissom's eyes and cringed slightly. "Honest Gris, I have no interest in your girl."
Sara looked from Nick to Grissom and folded her arms across her chest huffily. "Why? What's wrong with me?"
"Sara?" Grissom started, his voice rising slightly.
"Uh…nothing's wrong with you Sara…I…um…I'm gonna go over and see what…oh look there's Warrick." Nick skulked away quickly, but not before shooting Greg a glaring look.
"Sara," Grissom sighed, turning her to face him. Shoving the paper back into his pocket, he placed both of his hands on her shoulders. "You are amazing, beautiful, smart…"
"Really?" she asked coyly, her cheeks flushing as she averted her eyes.
With lightening speed, Grissom's hand was on her cheek, his fingers gently lifting her chin so that he could see her face. Their eyes met, and he found her impossible to resist. Lowering his head, he met her lips softly with his own, their soft kiss promising so much more. When he pulled away, Sara gazed up into his eyes and smiled.
"Hey, hey, let's break this up." A familiar voice spoke, causing all six of them to turn around.
"Brass?" Grissom asked, his eyes looking up and down his friend's attire.
"Hey, don't knock the outfit," Brass warned, his hand smoothing down the taffeta dress that he wore over his suit. "I'm the good witch I'll have you know, and since when have you seen a witch in a suit?"
"Uh…" Sara started, but stopped when she couldn't think of anything to say.
"Okay, down to business," Brass told them. "Gather round kids, I have a job to do."
"Brass?" Catherine asked as she came forward. "If you're a good witch then cut me loose, I'm talking in rhyme like Dr. Seuss!"
"Okay for the record," Brass told them, "for the purposes of this story I am now Brassette," holding up a hand to silence them, he continued. "Seems that I'm the good guy around here so I've been elected to show you the way forward. If you look over that ridge there're some munchkins waiting."
"Munchkins?" Sara asked incredulously.
"Yeah, Archie and Bobby to be precise," he nodded. The rest of the munchkin night shift is around here somewhere."
"Hey Brass?" Warrick asked, but when he was met with a scowl, he bit back the smile, "Sorry, Brassette…what about Catherine?"
"Catherine will be fine as soon as she gets to the castle of Cavallo."
"Excuse me?" Grissom asked, "Cavallo has a castle?"
"For the purposes of this story only," he grinned. "That's where you'll find your missing authors."
"Okay, thanks, but how do we get there?"
"Follow the yellow brick road, my friend," he smiled as he started to turn away.
"By the way," Grissom called out, causing Brassette to turn towards him. "I'd lose the tiara, it spoils the look."
"I know," Brass sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I said that," he looked towards the trees, and threw his hands in the air as if speaking to some unknown person. "Didn't I say that?!"
Grissom looked down at Sara and bent to pick up his field kit, "Okay, lets follow that road."
"As long as you don't want me to skip along it and sing," she grinned.
"No, walking will suffice," he told her as he took her arm.
TBC