Growing Together

Part 21

Summary: People have different perceptions of the same thing.

A/N: Since I couldn't make it last week, I thought I'd post this a little bit early. It's different from the other chapters, but I hope you will still like it.

xxxxx

They had all decided to go together. Catherine would ride with Brass while Warrick picked up Nick and Greg.

After Catherine had told them to leave Grissom alone two days ago, they had done just that and now no one knew if he would be going. It had been a highly unusual request, especially from Catherine, but even she had tried her best to remain strictly professional.

Seeing Grissom in such a bad condition that she knew was brought on by stress had left her feeling more than a bit guilty. After all, she had been the one who kept bugging him.

Brass was steering the car through the streets, focused on finding the right address, while Catherine was dividing her attention between taking in their surroundings and watching him.

Ever since he had picked her up she felt that he knew something she didn't. It was nothing specific. He just looked a bit too calm, didn't ask any questions – not one since they got the invitations – and from time to time a slow smile spread on his face. On the whole, he seemed so sure…about what, Catherine couldn't tell.

She turned in her seat to get a better look, momentarily forgetting about the streets and where they were going. This time, Brass noticed that he was being watched but didn't turn his eyes away from the road. "Wanna ask me something?"

Catherine chided herself for being so obvious but decided it was better to take the most straightforward approach. "Do you know something I don't?"

There it was again, the knowing smile. "Would I keep anything from you?"

It was more than a rhetorical question. His answer was dripping with sarcasm.

"Tell me."

"Didn't Grissom once say something like 'The wisest people know that they don't know anything?' No, well, sounds like something he would say."

Catherine only stared at him, looking for a moment as if she wanted to strangle him.

"Hey, I'm not the CSI here." Brass winked at her quickly and focused back on getting them to their destination safely, leaving Catherine to stew over his answer.

And stew she did.

For the rest of the ride she was wondering what Brass might have a 'theory' about while she had no idea what was going on. If she was honest, that was what bothered her the most, that she had no idea.

She had lost her touch.

The last year or so hadn't been easy for her, but she seemed to have lost some of the connection to her colleagues and friends. When was the last time she had really done something with them? She couldn't even remember the last time she'd had breakfast with Grissom.

Come to think of it, Grissom had been acting strange for a while – more than usual.

He had distanced himself even more and she hadn't seen it. They didn't socialize that much outside of work, but even that bit had petered out in the last couple of months.

There had to be something up with him, and she had to find out what.

If he came tonight, she would talk to him. But not like the other day. This time she had to tread more carefully.

Suddenly, Catherine noticed that Brass was pulling over to the side of the road, parking in front of an ordinary two story house.

This was not what they had expected.

"Are you sure this is the right address?" She turned to Brass, but found him just as surprised.

Whatever he had expected, it had obviously been 'less.' He caught himself quickly and nodded. "Absolutely."

Upon taking a closer look, he noticed something that made him sit up straighter and decided to point it out to Catherine. "Guess who's here?"

xxxxx

"Do you think Brass knows where he's going?" Nick joked as Warrick followed Brass' car through the streets.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't." To Nick's surprise, it wasn't Warrick who replied.

Greg had been eerily silent since they'd picked him up. Usually quite a chatterbox, he had just given them a quick greeting, taken his seat, and started staring out the window.

This uncharacteristic behavior from the young man had made Nick wonder what was wrong with him. He didn't think it was the silence after a long, hard shift or the quiet mourning after a broken relationship; no. Greg had matured over the last year, and it was from more than just wanting to go out in the field.

Nick turned to get a look at him to judge his mood, but Greg must have thought his statement needed some further explanation. "GPS. Brass has GPS."

Satisfied, he turned back to watching the houses fly by, but he left Nick more confused.

Greg had given him the impression that there was more to what he had said than just the fact that Brass had GPS. Did Brass – or Greg – know something?

If Greg knew something, wouldn't he react exactly opposite? He would probably spout off his theories, fidgeting around and waiting for confirmation. Being quiet like that was just not Greg.

Nick looked back at Greg again, but this time he was ignored. There was nothing he would get out of Greg right now, so he turned his attention back forward and decided to focus on Warrick. "Have you heard from Sara?"

"Not since we met for breakfast."

Nick nodded in agreement before he said what he was really thinking about. "Do you think she's coming?"

The change in Warrick's eyes told him that it wasn't only him who was wondering about that.

He had missed Sara terribly, but he knew that this vacation was something she needed. Although her mood had gotten lighter recently, she was still tired.

It was more than just tiredness born from her habit to stay awake for days on end and working too long. Something else had been bothering her.

When they met this week, she still seemed to be a bit stressed out, but her 'spirit' didn't seem as tired. She was being more open and receptive again, smiling honestly when he made a stupid joke. He really liked that new old Sara, but what he really loved was that she wasn't walking around with that dark cloud over her head anymore.

She would never be one of those all-smiles girls that he sometimes liked to go out with to balance the darkness in his life, but that just wouldn't be Sara anyway. The occasional smiles and the spark in her eyes, however, told him enough to know she was happy again.

He was really looking forward to working with her again, hoping that the old light atmosphere would be back. Maybe she would even be at the gathering today.

"If all of us got an invitation, why shouldn't she get one either?"

Nick noticed that Brass was slowing down and wondered if they had reached their destination. Brass pulled up to the curb and Warrick followed.

This was not what they had expected.

"Are you sure this is the right address?"

"As Greg pointed out, Brass does have GPS and this is definitely the right place." Warrick looked at the invitation he held in his right hand and back out the windshield again.

Upon taking a closer look, he noticed something that made him sit up straighter and decided to point it out to the others. "Guess who's here?"

TBC