DISCLAIMER:Don't own it... No money made... Just for fun and enjoyment.

SUMMARY: Sequel to Displacement. The CSI team and their recently hired coroner Stephanie are back to work solving cases, sharing companionship and generally making their way through the dire world of criminal investigation with humor and friendship... This one will show the development of the relationship between Grissom and Sara and there should be some other surprises down the road as well. Romance/Drama/Angst/Mature Situations

RATING: M for Mature - I'm starting this one out at "M", since we won't be waiting quite so long for the smut this time out ;) Also, there is a sprinkling of language throughout the story.

A/N: Well, there haven't been any threats of violence yet, so I'm guessing you are enjoying the ride... How about some twists and turns to this rollercoaster?

REVIEWS: I am always looking for ways to improve my writing, and your reviews let me know if I am hitting my mark. Thank you in advance for the time you take to read & review this story.


Chapter 33

The room resembled a war zone, with all the furniture pushed out of the center and turned over, and discarded plastic packages lying just outside of an oblong void for a battlefield. There was a small pool of blood, smeared in different directions from turning the body and the number of people who had just been in the room. There was a ripped lab coat and scrubs top lying at the middle of the void. There were a few pieces of gauze and a pair of torn latex gloves littering the scene as well.

As Jim Brass surveyed the scene before him, he realized that nothing, no matter how horrific, ever prepared you for the hell that came from seeing people you cared about that close to death. He had seen the horror in the faces of his friends. Catherine had not been able to move, and it took both him and Warrick to pick her up off the floor to let the paramedics do their thing. Warrick was running on pure adrenaline. He was feeling nothing and acting only from instinct throughout the scene in that office.

A million things were running through Jim's head as he stared at the floor of the office. What if they hadn't gotten there when they did? What if Sofia had not come looking for Warrick? Or if she hadn't carried an epipen for a bee allergy? What if-… His last thought died before he could complete it. I can't think like that… Not now.

He stared down at his hand… He stared at the cellphone he held there… He stared at the name on the display… Calls like that were never easy, but the call he had to make might just kill him. How does a person call their best friend to tell them the kid they've cared for its whole life might not-… Again, the thought died before coming to full fruition.

Jim Brass turned away from the scene of that office and walked out into the hallway. He could not call them from inside the morgue. He needed some daylight: something that showed him life, instead of the cold, metallic world of a room that epitomized death in every way imaginable. He walked to the receiving bay and when the warm light fell onto his face, he closed his eyes and held his head up; daring the sun to do its worst. When nothing happened, he took a deep breath and did something he had not done in years.

"All right… I know we ain't exactly on speaking terms lately, but this is not the time to be lookin' at scorecards… You gotta watch out for her… If anything happen-… If she doesn't m-… Look, this is gonna kill a lotta people, man… Please see her through this… Even if you don't wanna listen to me, you gotta look at her. She believes in ya, and she lives by the example, so you gotta let her stick around to keep teachin' the rest of us savages how it's done, okay?... Please." Jim dropped his head, made a quick pass through the signs of the cross, and squeezed his eyes shut against the tears threatening to spring forth as he thought about his old friend, and the grief that could destroy him, if anything happened to that kid.

Before he lost his nerve, he pushed that last button on his phone and waited for an answer on the other side.

"Sidle."

He sucked in a deep breath and asked a very deliberate question, "Sara, are you in the same room with Gil right now?" His voice betrayed the reason behind his question. And the next noise he heard told him that Sara understood.

There was a short pause, followed by the sounds of movement, "Ah, yeah, hold on a sec…" He could tell she had put her hand over the phone by the muffled words he struggled to make out. She was telling Gil that she needed to get something off the computer, but that she would be right back. He heard her footsteps as he assumed she had walked out into the hallway and out of the range of Gil's ears. Then he heard her draw in a deep, calming breath and spoke once again, "Jim… What is it?"

"I can't do this over the phone… I thought I could, but it can't come that way… Do you understand?"

"Do you need to come over?"

"No, I can't tell him over the phone… Hell, I'm not sure I can tell him at all… I hate doin' this to you, Sara, but you gotta be the one this time."

"Okay, you're scaring the hell out of me… What's going on?"

He tried to shut his eyes to the images that flooded over him, but there was no use, so he took another breath and blew it out deliberately. "Sara… I don't know how to say this gently… Hell, there's nothing gent-…"

"Who is it, Jim?"

Leave it to Sara to cut to the chase and come out swingin'. He shook his head, even though she could not see him and attempted to breathe again. "It's Stephanie."

"Where is she?"

"Desert Palms. Sofia took Catherine and Warrick over there… We f-… We found her uncon-..."

"Can you drive?"

"Ah, yeah, I uh, I think so."

"Come straight over… We'll be ready when you get here."

"Sara?"

"Yeah, Jim?"

"I'm so sor-…"

"There's no time for that now… Just take us to the hospital, please?"

"I'll be there in a few." He closed up his phone and stared at his reflection in the glass of the receiving bay door. He tried to remember when he had gotten so old. He tried to remember a time when he did not always feel the familiar weight of pain burying him alive. He closed his eyes again and took another deep breath. When he blew it out that time, he felt his resolve return and headed out to the car.