Chapter I

Turning Points

Turning points came around all the time, you just had to know where to see them. Warrick Brown knew that every small decision could end up with big consequences. He'd turned down semi-pro baseball for college, a good decision to be sure. Other decisions had turned out less fortunate. The death of Holly Gribbs often came back to haunt him. The guilt from leaving the young rookie by herself, which ultimately lead to the young woman's death, often sat in the pit of his gut, killing his appetite and robbing him of sleep. There were other mistakes, miscalculations in his life and career that he wasn't proud of.

The latest of his mistakes had ended his marriage. He'd jumped to conclusions. Tina, his wife, was not a suspect and in marriage you couldn't just let what you think was evidence make all of your decisions. His words to her still haunted him. Neither of them had mentioned divorce, but he had yet to go home. He still wore his wedding band, but he found that he wasn't sure if he wanted to anymore. He was at another turning point in his life.

Despite his own problems, Warrick Brown considered himself to be a good man. So when he'd heard someone crying, he'd gone to check it out. It had been during those dark hours when they hadn't known if Jim Brass would live or die. They were all running on caffeine, nerves and hope... He'd been passing by the drying room, a very creepy joint, when he'd heard something. At first he thought it was Greg on the phone, he'd found the reformed lab rat on his cell more then once in there. The sounds, though, were not a spiky-haired CSI's words, but quiet, heart breaking sobs.

He went in, expecting to see perhaps Catherine, or maybe one of the techs, or one of the guys who'd tried to find a quiet place to show their grief. No one came to the drying room all that much, so it was perfect for quiet moments of reflection...or grief. So he pushed the door open, ready to talk or give comfort. When he saw who was sitting on the ground, muffling her sobs with her knees, all of his words dried up.

Warrick's relationship with Sara Sidle had never been...easy. It wasn't that he didn't like her...they just had a series of bad circumstances between them. She'd come to Vegas to investigate him. She'd been only one small step up from the rat squad, Internal Affairs. Then she'd been Grissom's pet, his go-to girl. She'd butted heads with him more then once. He and the workaholic woman had rarely seen eye-to-eye. They worked together just fine, most of the time, but his relationship with Sara outside of work was...well, there wasn't one, really. They'd never connected...of course that was true about most people at the lab save Grissom...and perhaps Greg. The shift split hadn't helped matters between himself and Sara at all. When they'd come back together, after Nick was out of danger, safe and sound, well things had pretty much gone back to the status-qou. He couldn't say that Sara was his best friend...but.

Seeing the usually strong, stoic and steely Sara Sidle folded up on the floor crying...it tugged at him. Many people, and unfortunately he was guilty of it as well, had compared her to Grissom. Had said that she had no feelings. He'd seen her during Nick's ordeal, if she had broken down, no one had caught it. This time, she was caught. When she looked up at him, brown eyes bloodshot and surrounded by dark circles of fatigue he realized that she wasn't just a Grissom clone. He, himself, had always been a private person, he'd not even told his best friends about his wedding...Sara, though, Sara was the epitome of private...and he'd stumbled onto her at her most vulnerable.

As soon as she saw him, Sara jumped up, and used her sleeve to swipe at the tears. "Warrick!" Suddenly, the always confidante woman was nervous. "What do you need?" He looked at her, "You okay?" She flashed him a smile, "I'm fine." He narrowed his eyes at her. How many times had he seen that too-bright smile and heard those brave lies? Sara Sidle was most definitely not fine."Sara..." She roughly wiped her eyes again, "What? I'm fine. Do you need me for something?" Her voice cracked and he knew that the strong facade she was putting on would not last much longer. He took the hand that she'd been wiping her tears with in his own. "It's all right, Sara, you can cry." For a moment, he thought she'd fight him. He expected her to square those shoulders, throw up her chin and walk away. He expected her to be the stony workaholic he was used to. So when she gave in and threw her arms around him and buried her face into his shirt, he was shocked. He was scared. He was ashamed. He wrapped his arms around her slim figure and let her cry. The sobs wracked her body and all he could do was hold on...and try to comfort her. By the time her sobs had become sniffles, he'd come to a decision. It was time to put the past behind them. Yes, he and Sara had been through their share of problems...but it was high time, no past time, that they moved on.

She pulled away, much calmer, and very embarrassed. "Sorry...I just...sorry, I didn't mean to go all cry-baby on you." He shrugged, "It's no big, "You wanna talk about it?" Though she had been reluctant at first, they had ended up sitting on the floor of drying room, surrounded by the clothes of countless victims, talking. It was then and there that he finally met Sara the woman, not just CSI Sidle. Sara was scared, worried for Jim. She and the detective had a close relationship, it seemed. He'd helped her with her drinking...issues and had talked to her about her PEAP counseling sessions, had encouraged her to go. He was the one she turned to for help, for advice. He was more then a colleague, he was her friend, her family. Warrick was surprised to find that the two had occasionally spent a holiday together. Brass's daughter, Ellie, always left him high and dry during holidays...and though she didn't mention it, Warrick knew that Sara had family issues of her own. Sara and Brass...how had he missed it? He knew how. Everyone called Sara Grissom's pet...but in reality, she turned to Brass when she needed help, comfort, friendship. When she was all talked out, he couldn't ever remember the brunette ever talking so much, he hugged her again. "Listen, Sara, you shouldn't have kept this in. Next time you need to talk, you can come to me." The smile that lit up her face had been true and bright. Then their respective pagers had gone off and they parted ways. As he had walked to trace, Warrick promised himself that he would keep an eye on Sara...especially if Brass didn't...pull through.

When they'd stood at that window and Jim looked at him...Warrick had to smile, his heart felt lighter. He and the Capitan had been through their ups and downs, but he was a good man, a good friend. When Sara had spontaneously hugged him, he'd smiled again. With his marriage in shambles, it was good to know that he still had good friends, that he could be a good friend. As far as turning points went, it had been a damn shame that Jim had to get shot for him to wake up and see what was right in front of him the whole time.

Author's Note: Now, I'm no fan of weepy Sara...but the way that three times damned episode portrayed her... I don't think it showed any of the CSIs properly upset, well Sofia...never mind, I'll get to that a little bit later...Anyway, this whole scene came from that cute Sara-Warrick hug moment at the end of Way to Go. It struck me as odd, I mean Nick was standing right there, and I've always thought that Nick and Sara were closer then Warrick and Sara...and Sara's not usually so demonstrative...so why the hug? So that's where that scene came from. Also had flash-backs and angst. Warrick angst...Never done that before...hope it came out all right. Please please give me some feedback, especially on Warrick!