Chapter 6

Catherine, and Nick were sitting in Warrick's spacious living room.

"So what should we do?" Nick took a sip of the whiskey that Warrick had shipped from Germany.

"An intervention." Catherine wondered aimlessly and looked at Warrick's bookshelf.

"She is coming apart at the seams." Warrick rubbed his hands together as if they were cold.

"And you are sure this is about Grissom?" Nick directed his question to Catherine.

"Oh yeah. I'm sure. Plus he is not in the best shape either. I am almost positive that he is smoking again. It's has been almost 12 years since he stopped."

"Grissom smoked?"

"Back then we both smoked and both quittogether when I found out I was pregnant with Lindsey."

"So Cath, what do you think is going on?" Warrick motioned for her to take a seat. "Woman stop all that pacing."

"Sorry. I prowl when I'm nervous. Lindsey calls it my panther walk. I think that something happened with Lady Heather?"

"Lady Heather?" Nick was stunned.

"Is all that stuff about her and Grissom true?"

Catherine shrugged. "I could never get a straight answer out of him but I do know they are close and a few months back Sara asked me how I would handle a hypothetical that was clearly about Grissom and Lady Heather and I could have sworn that he showed up for an early roll out smelling like sex. "

Nick rubbed his temple. "Okay that was TMI. I am all for an intervention but I just want to make sure we know what we are intervening about."

"So how do we figure it out?" Warrick looked at his two friends seriously.

"Well gentlemen, the evidence never lies."

"What do we know?" Warrick questioned.

Nick began to tick out a list on his hand. "Well let's see. We don't see them anymore. They don't talk to us anymore. They don't return our phone calls if it's personal."

"I thought it was just me." Catherine spoke as her hand came to rest on Warricks thigh.

Nick rested his glass on the table. "Well she basically told me and Warrick not to call her unless it was about work."

"What? She told you guys not to call her anymore? Okay that's hinky."

"Yep. Said that she had decided that off hours friendships were unprofessional for co-workers of the opposite sex."

"What the hell. I mean she loves you guys. I know she does."

Warrick stared intently at Catherine. "Maybe the whole Grissom thing just soured her on any kind of personal relationship. You know getting played for a weird ass dominatrix could send anybody over the deep end."

Catherine chewed at her bottom lip. "Maybe, maybe. That just does not sound like Sara, you know. I mean she and Grissom have been going round and round for nearly ten years."

"What would make her loose it like this? Grissom being distant or weird? That's normal. She can deal with that and the last time he stopped talking to me was when I got married."

Nick grinned, "Was he jealous?"

"Nah. He was smart, smarter than me. He knew Eddie was a creep. They never liked each other. Eddie always thought Grissom had a thing for me. Grissom broke his nose once when Eddie came to the lab to raise hell. "

"Grissom?"

"Quiet as it's kept. He has a terrible temper. He works hard to keep it under control. Apparently he boxed in college."

Warrick leaned forward, "How bad do you think Grissom's temper is?"

"Awful"

"And what makes him loose control?"

Catherine's green eyes met Warrick's gold ones. "Someone threatening the people he cares about. We've seen it in the office. As bad as we have all screwed up, he has protected us like a lion."

"Even if the threat is real or imagined?"

"And what if he thought someone was threatening Sara or better yet threatening his relationship with Sara."

Nick and Catherine both exhaled softly in unison. "Ahhhhh"

"Even if it's one of us."

"Damn" Warrick sloshed the ice in his empty glass. "He asked me about clothes."

"He asked me about working out."

"I heard him ask Greg about hair."

"Damn" Warrick said again