Disclaimer: I think you guys get the idea that I don't own them. In case you don't know, I can't even afford to stalk them.

Author's Notes: Here's the sequel to "Remorse", and it takes place a few months in the future. You can expect: More Catherine and Warrick romance - the only reason I didn't put too much of that in 'Remorse' is because I didn't want it to be a couple-centered story, the building of Sara and Catherine's friendship as they continue to bond, Greg's pursuit of Sara, as well as Nick's, and Sara having to make a choice. You can also expect some friendly teasing, some witty banter, and a few dramatic turns.

This wasn't actually what I planned for a sequel, but after hearing some of the people at work talking about some of the cases they've had recently, I couldn't help but run with them for story ideas. I was stuck in booking today, which I despise, and if I get stuck there tomorrow as well, Tim, the guy who's supposed to be working booking, will have more serious things to worry about than the stomach flu he's ailing with.

Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think, as always.

Jenny

Jealousy:

Sara strummed her fingers absentmindedly against the table, staring into her coffee cup, her thoughts millions of miles away from the conversation going on around her.

"So then he backs up, all freaked out, I mean, we all were, we thought the guy was dead." Nick explained, laughing so hard that tears were coming from the corners of his eyes, "And he trips over his kit, sending the evidence bags he was holding everywhere, and lands on this guy's cat, who panics and scratches the hell out of him, and he's sitting on the floor, all scratched up, bags everywhere, fingerprinting powder everywhere, and that's the moment Gris decided to walk in."

Catherine turned to eye Greg with horror, "Oh, tell me he's exaggerating."

"No, he's not." Greg replied, his voice on edge, "And instead of checking to make sure the cat didn't, I don't know, nearly kill me, he starts lecturing me on professional behavior. If anyone was to blame, it was the stupid paramedic who said he was dead. How hard is it to check for a pulse and breathing?"

"It was priceless." Nick said, wheezing with laughter as he patted Greg on the back, "We've all had our days, buddy, it just seems like today was all yours."

"So you're telling me that a guy who was checked over by the paramedics who reported him going into cardiac arrest while they were assessing his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene just started moving by himself? I'm surprised Greg didn't wet himself." Warrick laughed, "How does that happen?"

"Well, he wasn't pronounced dead, the coroner hadn't shown up yet, but they did check his vitals and assure us he was deceased." Greg said defensively, "But not 5 minutes later, he had a seizure. That paramedic should be fired, how can you miss the fact that a person's alive?"

"Could you have imagined Grissom's face if Greg had peed himself?" Catherine laughed, "Talk about contaminating evidence."

Nick grinned at Catherine, "It was priceless, really priceless, after we explained what was going on, I thought Grissom was going to kill that paramedic...went off on him about how not properly informing us could ruin some of the evidence, not to mention give his CSI's heart attacks."

"Man, I wish I could have been there for that. You guys had all the fun with a home invasion, of all things, and all Warrick and I had were monumental headaches from all of the dead ends in our 419." Catherine sighed, "It's going to be unsolvable, I can feel it already. What lousy timing, we're about to do evaluations, and I wanted my solve rate to stay as high as I could make it."

"Oh, evaluations already?" Warrick hissed, "Is it that time again already?"

"Oh, great." Greg huffed, "I can see my evaluation now, that same lecture I got tonight, with added tidbits he thought of after he finished ripping me a new one. He's going to send me back to the lab, I just know it."

Catherine rolled her eyes, "Greg, get over it. We all made mistakes when we were rookies." She smirked at Nick, "Some of us still do." She glanced back at Greg, saying reassuringly, "I wouldn't worry about it, you've been out in the field for, what, 10 months? He's not going to stick you back in DNA, if he was planning on it, he would have done it when I went back to field work. You're stuck on the team, buddy."

"Speaking of DNA..." Warrick said, glancing at his watch, "I need to get back to the lab and push for our results. Any lead, no matter how weak it is, at this point, is a good lead. I guess I'll be working a double today." He gave Catherine a small kiss on the cheek, "You go home and get some rest. Give Lindsey my love."

Warrick disappeared from the table, leaving the other 4 to get back to their breakfast and coffee. As he disappeared from sight, Nick stood up, "I'm going to go to the restroom and check on our orders, they should be done any minute now."

"Be sure to wash your hands." Greg teased, taking a sip of his coffee, "I'm starving."

"You're quiet this morning." Catherine said to Sara, who was still staring into her coffee cup, yet to take a sip, although the others were on their second and third cups. "Earth to Sara?"

Sara looked up slowly, as if in a fog, "What did you say?"

"You're being very quiet. You haven't said a word about Greg's crime scene mishaps, you're acting unusually placid." Catherine said, a twinge of worry in her voice, "You okay?"

Sara nodded absentmindedly, using her spoon to stir the coffee in her cup, slipping back into her thoughts. After a few seconds, she could still feel Catherine's eyes on her, so she looked up, "Really, I'm alright." She glanced around the table, "Where's Warrick and Nick?"

"Girl, you're off in your own little world, aren't you?" Catherine asked, covering Sara's hand with her own, "Tough case?"

Sara nodded, blinking back tears, and quickly looking back down at her coffee cup. An awkward silence filled the table, while Greg and Catherine silently communicated to each other through their eyes, Greg breaking the silence, "So, what were you working on?"

"A 14 year old girl and her mother were murdered, we're thinking the husband did it. They were shot from bullets out of his gun, but since the gun was in the house, it could have been anyone, really. Daughter was sexually abused, according to Doc Robbins, it's probably long term sexual abuse, and the semen came from the Dad. They're holding him, but all they can book him on right now is child molestation and incest." Sara said in a flat voice, not looking up from her cup, "We found pictures in his bedside table of 17 young girls, with fingerprints and dried semen, which we're pretty sure indicates he was molesting other kids as well. We're going to talk to the other girls tomorrow, we ID'ed them from Samanatha'sthe daughter'syearbook."

Catherine's eyes lit up with anger. Grissom knew better than to stick Sara on a case like this, it was going to eat her up until she solved it, and probably long after. How many times had they all gone to him and expressed concern over her handling these types of cases. Sure, it was something Sara would have to learn to deal with and accept, but she could have been just as useful on the home invasion or the 419. Her voice was a lot harsher than she meant it to be when she asked, "And you were solo?"

"I was originally doing backlogged paperwork, the call came in after you all had left, Grissom told me to just go ahead and work it, he'd get someone in to help me after one of the other cases had been solved." Sara replied, her voice detached as she continued to move her spoon in circular motions, "It's not a big deal."

Catherine wanted to say 'Of course it's a big deal, just look at you!', but one stern look from Greg told her to back off.

He spoke softly, taking the spoon from her hand, "Are you okay with this?"

"I have to be, it's my job." Sara muttered, pushing the cup away, closing her eyes, and taking a deep breath to steady herself, "You can stop hovering, I'm fine."

"If you need to talk..." Catherine began, catching Sara's eye as the younger woman nodded, "Anytime, I mean it."

"That goes double for me." Greg said with a wink, giving Sara a wide grin. She couldn't deny that having their support made her feel better, they had really made a difference in her life the last few months. She hadn't realized how much having social relationships outside of work helped level off the stress, as well as having a shoulder to cry on. And, she could say with the utmost certainty, Catherine and Greg were her two best friends.

Nick made his way back to the table, a plate in each hand, and one balancing on each arm, "Breakfast, is served."

"Grissom says this home invasion isn't priority enough to be cleared for overtime." Nick said while munching on his hamburger, "But I'm going to call him a few hours before shift starts to see if the sheriff's changed his mind. I'm thinking about paying our victim a visit at Desert Palm this evening, if I'm cleared."

"Just see if Grissom will let you come in late to make up for it." Greg said with a shrug, "If it's not approved. Want me to come with you?"

"I think you've been close enough to the body for now." Nick teased, earning a half-hearted glare from the newest CSI. "Your case was approved, Cath?"

Catherine nodded, "Of course, our vic was a personal friend of the sheriff's, so that's probably why."

"What about you, Sar?" Nick asked, "You've been staring at that cup for an hour now, what's so interesting?"

Sara's head shot up, "We've been here an hour? I need to get back to the lab." She started to gather her jacket and purse, but stopped when Catherine grabbed her arm.

"You didn't even touch your meal." Catherine said in a stern motherly voice, "And if I recall, you weren't approved for overtime either."

Sara shook her head, throwing a 10 dollar bill down on the table, "I'm not really hungry anymore, and if I don't get paid for overtime, it's not a big loss. I can do it on my own time."

She scurried out the door, leaving the 3 remaining CSI's wondering what was going to happen with their over-emotional friend. As the door slammed behind her, Nick rose to his feet, "I'm going to talk to her."

Before Catherine or Greg could say anything, he had also disappeared.

Nick caught up with Sara outside of the diner. She was leaning against her car, her hands pressed against her face, taking deep breaths and trying to calm herself.

"Hey there, are you okay?" Nick asked, touching her arm gently, "Sar?"

Sara shook head, trying not to break down in front of Nick, of all people. God, she hated working sexual assault cases. She took a few steadying breaths and removed her hands from her face, certain no tears were going to fall. "I'm going to be fine, it's just one of those cases, you know..."

"Do you need some help? There's three of us working the home invasion, and I'm sure Grissom could spare Greg or me to help you out. You can't wear yourself out on this, Sara, it's not good for you." Nick said gently, still holding on to her arm, "We're worried about you."

Sara turned away from him, wiping a tear angrily from her eye, "You don't need to worry about me. Sure, sometimes I get too involved, but this is not one of those times. I'm just doing what I need to do to get this solved and move on to the next case. Even with Greg out in the field, cases tend to stack up."

"Well, just remember that we're here to help you if you need the help." Nick told her softly, rubbing her arms and pulling her into a hug, "If it gets too much to handle..."

Sara nodded, turning to reciprocate the hug, "Thanks Nicky."

From the window, Greg watched the scene with a mixture of anger and jealousy. Sara was his best friend, he should be out there hugging her and trying to reason with her. Looking down at his breakfast, he felt a wave of guilt wash over him. Sure, Sara was his best friend, but Nick was up there on top of the list as well, and Sara's wasn't his to be jealous over. Maybe, just maybe, he'd have to try and change that.

In the lab, Warrick sat in the break room, his cell phone to his ear, "Yes, that's a reservation for Warrick Brown, for 7:30 tomorrow night. Could you please get a secluded booth, this is going to be a very special occasion."

(TBC, if there's interest)