Chapter Nine: Home Once Again

She had a headache. Not that it was something new, she had had a headache now for hours, and taking some Tylenol hadn't helped either. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Catherine closed her eyes for a moment, before turning her attention back to the map in front of her.

"There were only three routes our vic could have taken," she told them, marking the ending point with a large X. "We need to find out what route she took, and who she could have run in with during that time."

Next to her Nick shrugged, leaning on the table. "Sure," he said sarcastically. "No problem." Catherine's sigh matched his own.

Working had been tough. It was now in fourth day since Sara and Greg had disappeared, and still was no word on what had happened to them. They hadn't had anytime to go out in search for them again. Three new cases had come in, keeping them quite busy. Tomorrow a recovery mission began, but that didn't make her feel any better.

She had already talked to Ecklie that morning, claming full responsibility for their losses. Though Grissom had assured both her and Ecklie that it was mistake, her punishment, as Ecklie called it, had yet to be decided. It didn't bother Catherine much, Ecklie could kill her for all she cared, it still wouldn't make up for what had happened.

This was the second time she had messed up big. The first was the lab explosion, that nearly killed Greg, leaving him in the hospital for several weeks. Not to mention Sara had been hurt in the explosion as well. Now they were both gone, and she had no one to blame but herself.

Shaking her thoughts off, she pointed to the start of route A that was already marked on the map. "If she took this route here," she turned to Nick, "There are a lot of stores along this way. No telling what could have happened."

"But we should have a good witness account," Nick pointed out, "Saturday night, everyone's out on the town."

Catherine agreed, moving to route B, "More desolate, not much of a chance of running into anyone, but if someone was following her, we have no witnesses."

Once again, Nick nodded, but this time did not say anything to contribute. Before anything else could be said, Catherine's cell phone went off, a sleek tone she had chosen for business use.

Pulling it from her back pocket, she flipped it open, pressing it against her ear. "Willows."

Her eyes shot open as she straightened up, nearly losing the hold she had on her phone. "Greg," she practically yelled, catching Nick's attention quickly. "Where the hell are you?"

Nick couldn't hear Greg directly, but could tell that he was rambling. He couldn't help but smile a little, it was the same tone Greg used whenever he was in some sort of trouble. He quickly banished the thought though, more interested in learning of his whereabouts. And after all this time they thought they were dead…not that he actually given up hope, but there was little to go off of, given the circumstances.

He watched Catherine nod, her bottom lip tightening. "Sara too? Alright, we're on our way."

She closed the phone with a sigh, nodding to him. "Desert Palm Hospital, Greg says they've been there for the last few hours now, and they're finishing looking over Sara."

Nick watched her, frowning, "How did they get there exactly?"

"Walked, I gather. Come on, let's get going, I'll give Grissom a call on the way out, he can meet us there."


Greg was a mess, quite literally. Not only was he covered head to toe in dirt and who knew what else, he also didn't smell all that clean. His hair was folded back, obviously showing that he was at one time, thoroughly soaked, and his clothes definitely needed to be washed.

He met them with a short nod, popping another handful of peanuts in his mouth before stuffing the empty bag into his pocket. Running a hand along his face gave them a small smile, a small hi was all he was able to offer.

Nick patted him on the shoulder before sitting down next to him, "It's good to see you man."

Greg nodded in agreement, "Believe me, you have no idea."

Catherine shook her head, standing still as she crossed her arms. "What exactly happened?"

Greg fidgeted lightly, folding his hands together. "Well…that's sort of a long story. To make it short, we fell, took a wild ride on the river, probably would have been more enjoyable if it wasn't so cold and if there weren't as many rocks," he said, grimacing lightly at the thought. "Then spent the last three days trying to hitch a ride home only to realize that no one was willing to pick up two drowned rats and take them to the hospital."

"You're not hurt are you?" Nick asked, watching his expression.

Greg shrugged, wincing some. "A little I guess, the doctors say I have some bruising of the ribs, but that it's nothing serious. And that I'm a bit dehydrated…can you honestly believe that? I had to have swallowed over half that river, and I'm dehydrated. Go figure."

"What about Sara?" Catherine prodded, glad to hear that he was okay for the most part.

"She took a hit to the head, but seemed to be fine. More in likely dehydrated like me, and hungry. I'm starving, you didn't bring anything did you?"

Catherine shook her head, about to say sorry but was interrupted as Grissom walked up behind her. "I did, I figured as much," he stated, handing the McDonalds bag over to him. "I didn't know what you liked, so I got you a cheese burger, everyone likes cheeseburgers."

Greg took the bag readily, nodding his thanks. "Unless you're a lactose intolerant vegetarian," he pointed out.

Nick laughed harshly, "Man, that would suck. You have any idea how much food that wipes out?"

Greg grinned in between bites as Grissom stood next to Catherine, inquiring on how Sara was doing. They didn't have to wait long, as Sara joined them in a few short minutes, taking a seat next to Greg.

She made a face, turning away. "How can you eat meat, I just don't get it."

Grissom laughed softly, handing her the other bag, ignoring her protests. "It's a salad, supposed to be really good, or so I hear."

Sara nodded, pulling out the container, holding it on her lap. "What I really want is a shower," she said, grimacing as she touched the bandage on her head. "And I have a headache."

"Probably because you're starving," Greg nudged her in the arm. "You need to eat."

Sara frowned, watching him. "You might want to at least chew that you know," she told him, opening her salad.

Greg grinned at her, causing her to shake her head.

"That's disgusting," she said quietly, turning up to Grissom. "I just really want to go home, get cleaned up and forget any of this ever happened."

Grissom nodded, taking a step back. "I'll take you home," he glanced up at the others. "One of you giving Greg a ride home?"

Nick nodded, offering almost as soon as Catherine did. The two laughed a little, Catherine finally giving in, choosing to return back to the lab. They had driven separate vehicles in, seeing that Nick's shift was almost done anyways, Catherine wanting to do more work on her own.

It certainly was a good feeling to know that they were safe.

TBC