Chapter 20

Sara awoke the next morning to an unfamiliar smell in an unfamiliar apartment. She was groggy and a little confused. The events of the night before were still a little hazy. She wasn't sure what time it was, so she looked at her watch. 6:30 a.m.!

"Hello?" Sara called out.

"In here," Alex called from around the wall in the kitchen.

Sara stood and stretched. Obviously, whoever was here with her knew her. The voice didn't sound surprised at her calling. Sara's head throbbed a little. Last night was vaguely coming back to her but when she saw Alex in the kitchen the memory flooded her mind. She also found the source of the smell.

"I made pancakes," Alex said, presenting Sara with a plate. "I was going to make eggs too, but I wasn't sure if you ate eggs."

Sara, suddenly feeling ravenous, took the plate and sat at the table. "Why weren't you sure if I ate eggs?" Sara asked, a little confused.

"You're a vegetarian, aren't you?" Alex responded.

Sara nodded. How does she know? She wondered.

Alex could see the question in Sara's eyes. "Gil told me you were a vegetarian, but I wasn't sure which type you are."

Wow, he finally remembered, Sara thought. "I eat eggs," Sara informed her. "Just no meat."

They sat in silence for a few minutes eating. Neither knew what to say to the other. Their silence was finally interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Wonder who that is?" Alex said, as she got up and made her way to the door.

Alex peered out the peephole. She recognized Nick, but not the guy with him. She opened the door.

"Hey Nick!" Alex greeted him, giving an awkward hug.

"Hey Alex," Nick replied. "I'm sorry to bother you so early."

"Oh, it's not a problem," she said ushering the two men in. "I was up anyway. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, sorry, I forgot you guys haven't met yet," Nick replied. "Alex, this is Warrick Brown."

Warrick was taken aback at Alex's appearance. He had heard about Alex's ordeal and knew she was bruised, but not like this. Her face was still slightly swollen, the bruise across her cheek still quite red. Black, blue, and green marks painted what was visible of her arms and neck. He was amazed she got around at all with a cast on her right leg and one on her left arm.

Alex stuck out her uncasted right hand for him to shake. "Nice to meet you finally, Warrick. I've heard many good things about you." She smiled.

Warrick smiled back and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you as well." Even with the bruises, he could see why Greg—and Nick—couldn't stop talking about her.

"So what's up?" Alex asked, figuring this wasn't a social visit since both had on their badges and guns.

"Well, we were wondering if Sara was here," Nick explained.

"She hasn't answered her cell or beeper in about eight hours, nor has she returned any of our voice mails. So we were getting worried. We finally tracked the GPS on her phone to your parking lot," Warrick added.

Sara heard Warrick from the kitchen and patted down her pockets. Damn, she thought. I did leave the phone in the car.

"I recognized the complex as yours and thought maybe she was here," Nick finished.

"Um, well…" Alex hesitated, not knowing if Sara wanted them to know she was here.

"I'm here," Sara said, coming around the corner.

Relief and bewilderment washed over Nick and Warrick. While both were glad she was all right, neither was sure why Sara would be here.

"So why the search party?" Sara, annoyed, asked, ignoring the obvious question from Nick and Warrick.

"Another tech has quit and so Greg's been pulling double duty. Grissom was going to see if you would be willing to come back to work tonight," Nick answered.

Of course, work, Sara thought. "So he sent two CSIs after me?" She was irked.

"Well, you never don't answer your phone," Nick said, trying to diffuse her growing annoyance. "Especially when it's the lab. And then when you hadn't returned the message, we thought something had happened."

Sara knew she shouldn't be upset, at least not at them. If any of the other CSIs hadn't responded to the contact attempts, she would have thought the same thing. She was more upset at herself, for being caught here because there would inevitably be questions she didn't know how to answer. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself.

"I'll be in," Sara responded, once she was sure she could answer calmly.

"We'll let him know," Nick said, but didn't leave.

The four of them stood awkwardly in the foyer of Alex's apartment. Nick and Warrick were hoping Sara would leave so they could ask Alex why Sara was there. Sara was hoping Nick and Warrick would leave so she could come up with a good cover story that Alex would agree to.

After a minute or two of the four of them staring at each other, Alex finally broke the silence. "You guys want some pancakes?" she asked Warrick and Nick.