DISCLAIMER: Don't Own It, No Money Made... Just for fun & enjoyment.

RATING: M for Mature. For language and mature situations in later chapters.

A/N: This one was a tough chapter to write, so I really hope I managed to pull off the dialogue

REVIEWS: Thanks to all who have reviewed.


Chapter 13

As he walked through the halls of CSI headquarters, Warrick Brown was trying to work through the evidence of his case. He read something in the report in his hands that did not jibe with his running theory, which meant he was back at square one again. When he dropped the folder to his side and grabbed at his neck with the other hand, he was startled by the loud crashing sound of metal on metal coming from the locker room. What he found as he peeked around the corner was not an unfamiliar sight. With her head resting against the lockers, Sara Sidle looked to him like she was about to fall completely apart, and he knew of only one thing that brought her to that breaking point: Grissom.

"Hey, Girl." As soon as he spoke those two words, she was instantly on guard and jerked her head in his direction. The look on her face confirmed his suspicions; she really was about to fall completely apart. When it appeared as though she was going to spook like a trapped animal, he knew he had to get her out of there, and fast. "Grab your stuff." He did not ask her anything, he just commanded, and she followed. He casually gestured for her to follow him and once again, she obeyed.

He made his way through the halls with her right beside him, and eventually they found themselves outside of the building and standing beside her car. "You been burning that candle again, why don't you get out of here." Again, it was more of a command than a question, and again, she just nodded her head and complied. She was too far gone to resist Warrick's help, and she was certain that she was about to break into a million pieces, so it also came at just the right time. If she had been in her right mind at that moment, she would have recognized that theirs was an extremely unconventional friendship, which had started with her investigation of the Holly Gribbs' murder, but it turned into probably the best relationship she ever had. And if Warrick had thought about it, he would have said the exact same thing. Instead, she got in her car and left the parking lot, with Warrick blocking the sun from his eyes as he waved goodbye to her.

Once he was sure she was not turning around and coming back, he headed back into the building shaking his head. His and Sara's friendship was not the kind of thing where they talked about everything, but it was more about silent unanimity. They were empathetic of one another's plights and most of their communication was left unspoken. Sure, they joked with each other on a daily basis, but that was just their front, and the real secret to their friendship was the quiet understanding that passed between them in subtle ways. It was comfortable for both of them, and it seemed to work as well.

As he dropped down into the chair in the break room and slapped the report onto the tabletop, he realized how hard this week had been on him, too. They had all been pulling extra hours, simply from the volume of cases coming through their doors. Just as he was closing his eyes and leaning back in the seat to stretch his back and try to clear his head a moment, his ears told him that someone had walked into the room. He looked in the direction of the door and found Grissom peering in; he was obviously looking for someone. "What's up, Doc?"

Grissom seemed shocked from his task and it took him a moment to be able to respond, "Huh? Oh, um, I was looking for Sara…" He looked down at the file in his hand and then around the room again, "I'm trying to decipher her notes in the jumper case from yesterday."

Warrick now had to figure out how he was going to explain the fact that he had sent her home. And as he was grasping for ideas, Catherine nudged her way past Grissom and headed straight for the coffee maker. "Yeah, um, she was havin' trouble keeping her eyes open," Warrick went out on a limb now, "And Cath sent her home."

When Grissom turned to address a shocked Catherine, Warrick did his best to motion for her to cover for him, and to her credit, Catherine handled it like a pro. "Yeah, well, the girl's been working doubles all week. She needed to get out of here before she maxed out on overtime in the first week."

Grissom looked confused and mildly irritated at Catherine's assumption of his role as supervisor, "What are you talking about? I know we've been busy, but no one else has done doubles this week."

Now it was time for Catherine to be irritated, "Gil, you really need to look at that schedule in your email every week…" When she saw that her comment was not registering, "Sara has been in court all week AND pulling her regular shift because she didn't want to leave YOU short-handed." She turned back to the coffee pot and finished pouring it into her mug before moving past a dumbstruck Grissom to take a seat at the table. "You really need to pay more attention to what's going on around here, Grissom… Especially with your own people."

After a few more moments of shocked silence, Grissom turned around and walked back out of the room. And once Catherine was sure he was gone, she kicked Warrick under the table, "Don't you EVER do that to me again."

Warrick was grabbing at his shin in pain, but he had to chuckle at the situation, "Sorry, Cath, but I needed some excuse for gettin' her outta here… I don't know what happened, but she was this close to losin' it."

Catherine sat back in her chair and blew across the top of her mug, "Well, we both know there's only one thing that gets under Sara's skin like that." They just shook their heads and looked out the doorway at the ghost of a man who had only just left the room.

Catherine sipped at her coffee for a moment, and Warrick took that as a sign to get back to his report. But he was pulled right back out of it by her next outburst, "Hey!" She put her cup back down on the table and leaned forward in a conspiratorial manner, "You can fix a car, right?"

He screwed up his mouth up into one of those sideways smiles, "I guess… Would depend on the trouble and what kind of car. You havin' trouble?"

Catherine shook her head, "Oh, no, not me… The new coroner has an old car."

He interrupted, "Oh yeah, one of them Things, right?"

"Yeah, you've seen it?" He just nodded with a smirk on his face. "Well, I guess the ugly beast was totally dead when she tried to take it to work today… And as you well know, she's been having one seriously bad week." Catherine added her own bit of attitude to the statement.

"Oh yeah… Nothin' like starting a new job and havin' it be THE single busiest week ever. How many bodies has the morgue posted this week, anyway?" Warrick knew it had been very busy, but he also knew that Catherine would have the body count.

She looked up, as though she were reading the figures in the air, "Ah, well when we started shift, it was up to thirty two bodies… And Steph had posted twenty two of them… But that was before shift started, so I think we're up to like fourty for the week." Catherine took another sip from her mug before looking over at Warrick's shocked expression.

He shook his head, hoping the action would give him some clarity on those figures, "Are you serious?" His expression showed the severity of those numbers, "Man, that girl has some skills."

"Tell me about it." Catherine leaned forward again to ask him her favor, "So, think you could swing by her place after shift to take a look at her car?" Warrick sat back in his chair and thought about the request a moment, and Catherine decided to add one more thing, ""I'd hate to leave that poor kid at the mercy of a Vegas import shop, ya know?"

That made sense to Warrick and he thought it would also be a fine gesture for the young doctor to know just how much everyone in the lab appreciated her presence on the night shift. The fact was he had been really worried about the new coroner coming on board, and fitting in with this unconventional team of investigators and technicians. His fears were quickly erased by her fast work and insightful conclusions. She had caught something on each of his cases in the morgue that week he had missed and he had been seriously impressed by her thoroughness and sense of humility. But it was when he witnessed her put Hodges in his place the day before yesterday, that he knew she was a perfect fit for this crazy place.

As he considered everything that had happened in their lives lately, he realized it really was important to work with good people, and he was going to do his part to make sure they felt welcome, "Alright… I'll swing by there and see what's up." Catherine gave him that electric smile of hers, and Warrick played her with that humble kid from the streets grin, "At least give her something to take to the shop."

Catherine sat back in the chair, content in the notion that she had done her good deeds for the day. Warrick took one look at her expression, and simply could not resist, "You don't gotta look so much like your nickname, Miss Thing." They both laughed at the thought, but it was true; sometimes Catherine really did look like a cat when she was pleased with herself.

She just shrugged her shoulders and said, "Hey, it's hard to hide a purr."