Disclaimer/Author's Notes: I don't own them, but maybe with all of the overtime I've worked this week, I could put a down payment on them. Lol. Thanks to my good pal, Emmithar, there may be a 4th story in this series. She's such a good inspiration to write...you rock!

I'm hoping to have another chapter up this weekend, but I can't make any promises. Replies may help speed up the process, though.

Jenny

Eleven:

Greg sat on the cold bench in the locker room, tears stinging his eyes as he stared at the concrete floor. He had gone over the edge, taking that first swing at Nick, and now he was destined to pay the price.

Nick didn't waste any time swinging back at Greg, angry words being shouted by both of them in a bitter waves of hatred and rage. Both knew they were saying and acting in ways that one day they'd beg to take back, but never would be able to do. In less than 1o minutes, friendships had been ruined, bodies battered, and the two men had unknowingly taken the fate of an unborn child into their own hands.

After Greg dealt the initial blow, Nick had tackled him in a brutal retaliation. For several minutes, they both wrestled on the floor, taking cheap shots and yelling truculent insults back and forth.

Warrick had stood back at first, although Catherine was silently motioning for him to break the two men up, knowing that both were carrying a heavy burden inside, and it would ultimately be helpful for them to get it out now, rather than later. After he could see their blows weren't dying down, and their ranting was getting worse, he stepped in to pull them apart.

Catherine had been out of the way, so far, standing in the far corner of the room, watching the scene with a horrified expression. Normally, she would be in the center of the fight with Warrick, trying to break them up. Today, however, she was holding back for her child's sake, knowing that in the middle of any brawl, anything within striking distance is fair play.

Warrick wasn't having any luck stopping the angry men from their testosterone battle, and he had yelled for Catherine to go get help. She had been careful not to get to close to the altercation, but as she was passing by Warrick, Nick had taken a cheap shot at Greg's gut, to which he forcefully pushed Nick away. Nick, in return, fell against Catherine and knocked her against the table with great force.

The howl of pain that came from Catherine's mouth was enough to stop Nick, Greg, and Warrick in their tracks for a split second, before Warrick snapped back into action, rushing to his fiancé's side and yelling for one of the other men to get some help.

After standing in a stunned silence for a few more seconds, Nick rushed off to get assistance, leaving Greg staring at Catherine's pale face with a heavy heart and a sudden jolt back into reality. Warrick had lowered a tearful Catherine into a chair, running off a string of questions that finally clued Greg in to the fact that Catherine was with child.

His body had gone numb, and he was certain he was going to pass out. He wasn't granted that brief release from reality, instead, he had to watch as Catherine was escorted, via stretcher, into an ambulance and brought to the hospital.

He was faced with the knowledge that if, at any moment, something happened to that baby, he would have another layer of guilt hanging over his head. If Catherine or Nick decided to press charges, he could not only face a small jail sentence, but he would lose his job and the only friends he had. Of course, the friendships had already been ruined by his actions tonight, but he would lose the chance of making amends if anything happened to that baby.

How was he going to face Warrick or Catherine again? He almost hoped they did fire him, the guilt with seeing them every day would be too much for his soul to bear at this point of his life, at any point of his life.

Was it not bad enough that one member of their "family" was in the hospital, but now he was responsible for yet another one being admitted?

Grissom had instructed Greg to remain in the locker room until summoned to his office, Nick had been instructed to remain in the break room. Both considered themselves lucky they hadn't been put in holding cells until this mess had been resolved.

He slammed his fist angrily into his locker, the pain that radiated from his hand to his shoulder with a sharp throb temporarily taking his emotional pain away and replacing it with physical. Physical pain, he could deal with. After the throbbing faded to a dull ache, he resorted to worriedly pacing around the locker room, frightened not only for Catherine and Warrick, but for himself and Nick, for Sara, for the relationship they all shared. Things officially would never be the same again.


Nick held a small sandwich bag full of ice against his eye, moving it down to his lip once and awhile. He had only caught a brief look at himself, and what he had seen then was awful. Experience told him that it probably looked a lot worse now, and by morning, he would look like something that rolled out of Doc Robbins's office.

He was pretty sure that his nose was broken, the bleeding had slowed down a lot over the last hour, although it hadn't completely stopped. He was certain he would have a black eye in the morning, and possibly a fractured jaw to top it off. The physical scars, he knew, would not run nearly as deep as the emotional ones.

He had never seen Warrick so frightened. He had always managed to maintain his cool, no matter what the situation was, but tonight he had seen Warrick near his breaking point. He knew Warrick loved Catherine, but he never realized how much until he saw them interacting as they waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Pregnant. He had no idea. He had initially blamed Greg for the incident, after all, he had thrown the first punch, he had pushed Nick into their friend and caused the fall that may take an innocent life. Now that the anger had faded, he felt nothing but overwhelming guilt.

What kind of friend had he been lately, anyway? He hadn't been able to be truly happy for the couple when they announced they were getting married. He hadn't known Catherine was pregnant, even though he could now see all of the signs had been in place, as if a neon flashing sign had been plastered over her belly saying "Baby inside, bun in the oven, here, here!"

He hadn't realized his words were hurting Greg, whom he considered one of his closest friends at the lab. They had been close since Greg started working in Las Vegas, and back during their days of playstations and arcades, so close that he never would have thought they would be beating each other to a bloody pulp in the viewing room. Of course, he never thought Sara would give in to Greg's constant flirting, and he never pictured her fighting for her life in a hospital bed.

What made the guilty feeling even worse, at least toward Greg, was knowing that Greg had to feel even worse than Nick did. He was obviously beside himself with worry, he looked as if he hadn't slept in days, he had lost at least 10 pounds since the accident, yet Nick had to open his mouth and taunt him. He had no right to be angry with Greg in the first place, Sara wasn't his to claim.

Oh, but he would love to claim her. They had shamelessly flirted for years, forming what he had thought was a special bond between them. He should have known Sara wouldn't be his when she told him Greg professed he had serious feelings for her. Of course, she had told him she shot him down and he was upset with her. After seeing them together, friendly, a few days later, he just assumed they had made amends. He never would have thought they were dating.

It did make sense though, the more he dwelled on it. The quiet whispers, coming to work and leaving together, the subtle hand holding, the way they'd jump apart when anyone entered the room. He had seen the spark return to Sara's eyes, which had been absent for weeks following the shooting, when she killed to save Greg's life. He has noticed Greg relax rather quickly, as well, after being shaken up from that incident. They had helped each other move on, and as a result, moved on to new territory as well.

Catherine's pregnancy also made more sense as Nick started to piece the signs together. Just last week he had mentioned to Warrick that he needed to stop feeding her so well, her clothes were starting to get tight. Warrick had laughed and told him that he liked her clothes to be tight, it made her more sexy. Nick had responded with a question on when Catherine was ever less than sexy.

She had been working less hours, and when she did pull a shift, it seemed to drain her. She had been feeling sick, which she attributed to being overwork, but even then Nick had felt like something was off.

He noticed how uplifted both Warrick and Catherine's moods had been, and he had attributed it to their pending nuptials, but now that he knew, it seemed like it had been written across their faces the whole time.

It made his heart ache to think they wouldn't be able to hold that baby in their arms, that Warrick would remain childless, that Lindsey wouldn't get a baby brother or sister. It made him feel even worse that he never got a chance to congratulate them, and may never get that opportunity.

He lowered the ice to his sliced lip, shuddering as it started to throb once more. He and Greg could have been responsible for the death of something that was completely unable to defend itself. What kind of people did that make them? Would he ever be able to forgive himself if something happened to their child? Would Greg? Would Warrick and Catherine?

His heart plummeted as Grissom walked into the break room, a desolate Greg in tow.

Grissom motioned for Greg to sit across from Nick, and pulled out a chair at the end of his table for himself. He looked from Nick to Greg, then sighed heavily, shaking his head, "I honestly don't know what's gotten into the two of you, but we're going to hash this out right now, verbally, then we'll move on to the consequences of this childish behavior."


Warrick sat in the chair next to Catherine's small white hospital bed, grasping her hand tightly with unshed tears glistening in his eyes. The scare had only been, indeed, a scare. The doctors had labeled her cramping a threatened miscarriage, and were keeping her under observation overnight to make sure it didn't escalate into an actual miscarriage.

For now, a fetal monitor was strapped across her belly, the sound of their child's heartbeat flowing softly through the silence of the room. Catherine had her eyes closed, although both knew she wasn't asleep, neither one of them would be able to rest until they were positive their baby would be okay.

Warrick tightened his grasp on Catherine's hand, anger pumping wildly through his veins, even though Catherine had already forgiven Nick and Greg for falling into her. He loved those two men like they were family, but his baby and Catherine meant so much more to him, and knowing that their immature battle could have cost a child's life angered him deep into his soul. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to forgive them, even after this ordeal was over with.

His free hand moved to Catherine's abdomen, resting over their child, their son. An ultrasound in the emergency room had shocked both of them into silence, revealing knowledge about their child that they hadn't gotten to explore yet. For instance, they had just assumed she was newly pregnant, although the ultrasound revealed her to be 21 weeks along. They had learned their baby was a boy when he had so generously spread his legs apart, just when they thought they wouldn't be able to tell.

What they thought was a tiny organism with barely developed arms and legs was in fact a very small little boy, weighing in at 1.8 pounds and 10 and a half inches long. The last still photo the nurse shot was of him sucking his tiny little thumb.

The experience had made it so real for Warrick. He knew she was pregnant, that a baby was growing inside her, but until that moment, when he saw the tiny fingers and toes, did he feel it inside. The more he thought of it, the more anxious he was for the next 19 weeks to pass.

He felt a gentle vibration on his leg, and he looked down to see Grissom had paged him. Squeezing Catherine's hand gently, he said in a whisper, "Gris is paging, I'm going to call and let him know what's going on."

"Okay." Catherine whispered, her hand resting where Warrick's had just moved from. She had been terrified that she would lose her child, but not nearly as angry as Warrick. She knew it was an accident, and since she was fine she didn't see a reason to hold a grudge. She wasn't sure how she's be reacting if things weren't fine, but wondering what could have happened wouldn't help any of them right now.

A small flutter in her abdomen, which she had contributed to gas until a few hours prior, brought her back to reality. That flutter was her baby, the tiny little boy who had totally changed the lives of three unsuspecting people. She couldn't help the wide smile that lit up her face, she loved knowing that she was bringing a life into the world.

She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the doctor enter the room until he cleared his throat.

"Ms. Willows? My name is Dr. Whitmore, and I'll be tending to you while you're in our lovely facility," He delivered the last part with an eye-roll and soft smile, "How are you feeling?"

"The cramping has gone down," Catherine said quietly, "If I could shake this queasy stomach, I'd be ready to go."

Pulling out a pen from his white coat, he jotted some notes down on her chart, "I think I could arrange for you get something to help with the nausea, and a prescription to go. I'm sure the nurse informed you that we will be keeping you overnight for observation. Once released, I want you to stay at home for at least one week, then come back to see me and we'll go from there. He seems like a healthy little boy, so I don't predict any future problems, just try to take it easy."

"Sounds great." Catherine replied, although inwardly she was groaning. Sara was out, Greg was out, Greg and Nick may be fired if the higher up's got wind of this spectacle, and now she was going to be out too? Grissom and Warrick were going to have their work cut out for them for the next week or so.

Dr. Whitmore checked her vitals and tore off the fetal monitor printout. "The baby hasn't shown any signs of distress, so just relax and let us take care of you for the next 24 hours. I don't believe there is anything for you to worry about."

"Thank you." Catherine replied with a yawn, closing her eyes one more, relief washing through her as she realized just how worried she had been, even after the nurse's reassurance. All too familiar fatigue set in, and before Warrick had returned from the payphone, she had fallen into a light slumber.


Sara's eyes slowly opened, blinking rapidly to adjust to the bright lights in her room. Her head was aching terribly, her body throbbing in every place imaginable. She groaned as she tried to focus on where exactly she was, slightly panicked as she realized she was in a hospital room.

Her eyes darted down to her arm, where the needle for her IV was embedded into the top of her hand. Holding her eyes open began to drain her energy, and she tiredly pressed the nurse call button.

By the time the nurse entered, just a few minutes later, Sara was starting to doze off again. She managed to hold her eyes open long enough to ask, "What happened?"

"You were in an accident, but you are going to be okay. Try to get some rest, and when you wake up, I'll give you a full update on your condition."

Sara was too tired to mumble a response, and as the nurse injected some pain medication into her IV drip, Sara drifted off to sleep once more.

TBC