Meanwhile, back at the lab…
Catherine walked into the break room, assignments in hand. She caught the tail end of the three-way conversation between Warrick, Nick, and Greg. "Man, that's just not like either of them. What the hell's going on?"
"Not like who?" Catherine asked innocently, knowing full well who they were talking about.
Warrick answered for the group. "Hey, Cath. Where the hell are Griss and Sara? Neither of them have the night off, but no one's seen either of them around. It's just not like them to be late. We're a little worried here." Warrick's eye fell on the blue folder in Catherine's hand. "What, so you're in charge tonight? Where's Griss, Cath?" Warrick looked genuinely concerned for the well-being of his mentor.
Catherine looked around the break room. Ascertaining that the four of them were alone, she stepped back to the door and shut it. Turning back to her co-workers with a small smile, she said, "Ok, guys, I need to share something with you, but before I do, I need you three to know that your discretion is of utmost importance here." As if to drive her point home, she continued, "If any of you say a word about this to anyone who is NOT on the team, it is very likely that Grissom and/or Sara could lose their jobs." Her words had their intended effect. Warrick, Nick, and Greg sat in stunned silence, waiting for her to continue. After taking another furtive look around to make sure they were still alone, she continued. "With the possible exception of Greg, you will all be happy to know that Grissom has finally pulled his head out of his ass and realized that he and Sara are meant to be together." She surveyed the group for a reaction. The three otherwise highly intelligent men sat there with their mouths hanging open, looking for all the world like guppies. She continued, "He correctly figured that if they are going to start a relationship, they might need some time to themselves—to adjust to the situation—before throwing themselves back into work. So at this very moment, the happy couple is en route to Florida for a little romantic interlude." With a self-satisfied smirk, Catherine tossed the assignment folder on the table and plopped in a chair while she watched their reactions. Greg looked mortified and Warrick and Nick just looked…well, shocked. She wanted to enjoy this for a moment before she got down to the boring details of how they were going to keep Ecklie out of the loop.
Nick was the first to react. A slow grin spread across his handsome face and his thick Texas drawl came to the forefront as he said, "Well, slap my ass and call me Martha. I can't believe he finally did it."
Warrick finally found his voice. He gave Catherine a blank stare and said, "You're shitting me, right?"
Catherine leaned across the table seductively, making sure Warrick got a glimpse of cleavage. Resting her chin in her hand, she said in a low, throaty voice, "Warrick…would I lie to you?"
Warrick's reply was cut off by a thud. Looking over at the other side of the table, where Greg sat, they saw his head on the table. He looked up sheepishly. "Well, I guess I'm happy for them. God knows he's all she's ever wanted, but damn, I would have loved to have had a shot with her."
Warrick laughed out loud and threw his empty Styrofoam coffee cup at Greg. "Man, you never had a shot with her," he teased. Turning back to Catherine, he said, "Cath, you're serious about this? Griss and Sara are really going on vacation together?"
Catherine pulled her cell phone out of its clip on her belt. "You want proof?" she asked teasingly. She flipped the phone open and hit a few buttons. When she got what she wanted, she turned the phone around so that the display was facing the three guys. The look on their faces as they took in the picture of Grissom kissing Sara in the middle of the Atlanta airport was priceless. On impulse, she quickly flipped her phone around and took a picture of them to send back to Grissom and Sara.
She looked back at the guys, noting that Warrick and Nick now had full-fledged grins on their faces. Greg had a small smile on his face, too, she observed happily. Good, he wasn't too upset. Suddenly Nick snapped his fingers and pointed at her. "Cath," he said mischievously. "You probably know Warrick and I had an ongoing bet about how this would go down, so settle it for us. Warrick bet that Grissom would only come around after a bunch of prodding from Sara, but I said hell, no, Sara's way too proud for all that shit—that it would have to be Grissom who finally got off his ass and did something about it. So which is it?"
Catherine smirked as she answered. "Sorry, Warrick. Pay the man."
Warrick groaned as he dug for his wallet. "Aw, dammit, man." He pulled five twenties from his wallet and plopped them in Nick's outstretched palm.
"Thank you very much," Nick gloated as he pocketed the proffered bills.
Catherine rolled her eyes at the exchange. "May I continue?" The guys nodded their assent, and Catherine got down to business. "Ok, here's the deal. Obviously Ecklie would have Grissom's ass if he knew he was dating a subordinate. We can't let that happen, so we've got to cover for them until they get back. Once they get back, it won't be a problem—they'll just keep their personal lives personal. But we've got to convince Ecklie that there's a really good reason that they're both out of work—with no notice—for a week. So the story is that Sara has the world's worst case of the flu and that Grissom's mother had to have emergency surgery. I'm going to pull someone up from days to help cover the load, but if things start to get really hectic around here, you can bet that Ecklie is going to be all over us, trying to get Sara back in here, whether or not she's sick. I'll do my best to cover, but if Ecklie says anything to any of you guys, you can say that you've stopped by to check on her, and that she is in absolutely no condition to work. I also need you guys to be willing to work doubles if need be. I'm sorry to have to ask you guys that, but for Grissom and Sara…?" Her voice trailed off as the guys eagerly agreed.
Nick piped up first. "Absolutely, Cath. You know I'd do anything for Sara. Grissom, too."
Warrick said, "Not a problem. Hell, they deserve this, and I'll do anything I can to help."
Greg put in his two cents' worth, too. "Doubles, triples, whatever you need." He moved back into classic Greg-mode as he added, "Maybe this'll score me some points with the boss-man."
Catherine grinned at him. He had certainly recovered quickly from the disappointment of losing Sara to Grissom. "Thanks, guys. I knew you'd come through. Now, as far as who is in the loop on this, Brass already knows—in fact, from what I understand, we have Jim to thank for Gil's little wake-up call. Other than that, no one else is to know about Grissom and Sara's relationship. We can not let this get back to Ecklie, ok?"
The guys nodded fervently at Catherine. They all hated Ecklie as much as she did, and she knew that they would do everything in their power to protect Grissom and Sara from his vindictive wrath. She wasn't worried about them letting the cat out of the bag.
"Ok, guys, let's get to work, then." She picked the folder up off of the table and began handing out assignments.