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: Good grief, Charlie Brown! This one took me a long time to write :O
Now, as you read this chapter, please keep the following phrase in your mind: "Meanwhile... Back at the ranch."
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 58
"No, you have to curl your fingers under and rock the blade… This isn't Benihana."
Sara dropped the knife onto the board and turned to Stephanie with her brows squeezed tightly together, about ready to explode. "Are you trying to be that annoying? Because if you are, you can stop now."
Stephanie laughed, coughed a little and laughed some more before she responded to the challenge. "Look, you aren't chopping this up for your salad… And if you don't do it like I say, you're gonna lose a finger and/or get carpal tunnel by the time you've chopped just one ingredient." Stephanie stood up slowly, grasping the counter as she gradually moved up beside Sara and moved her hands to sit over Sara's. "Now, you have to curl your fingers under as they rest on the food to hold it still and to keep this from turning this into a dissection." Sara gave her a questioning look and Stephanie elaborated. "I only want diced vegetables, not diced Sara. I think Uncle Gil would mind." They both laughed at her joke and she continued by moving Sara's hands in a rocking motion with the knife over the peppers on the cutting board. "By rocking the blade over the food you can standardize the size of the pieces and it takes like no effort to cut. See?"
Sara smirked, seeing that Stephanie was indeed correct, and then she bumped the younger woman with her hip. "All right, I got it. Now go sit back down." Stephanie grinned at the gesture and slowly made her way back to the chair.
As she sat down with a great sigh she looked up to see the concern in Sara's eyes and shied away from the gaze, "It's only bad when I move around too much. So, quit it… I'm fine." She strained through another deep breath and Sara struggled to avert her gaze. "It's just the asthma, honest."
Turning back to the task, Sara tried to ease her worry, but it proved more difficult as Stephanie coughed a few more times. "So, how are you planning to deal with that once everyone gets here?"
She chuckled as she thought about that dilemma, "Oh, I figure that will be done for me… This is just you and me, and I'm getting mothered enough now… Can you imagine it with everyone here? I mean… I'll be lucky to go to the bathroom alone."
Sara could not help it, she bust out laughing at the image evoked by Stephanie's conclusion, "Yeah, I can see that being a problem… But no one invited Hodges, so you should be safe."
All Stephanie could muster was a groan and a shake of her head. "Does that guy get along with anyone?" She suddenly got a disgusted look on her face and before Sara could respond, she said, "No wait… I don't think I want to know… The images would be hard to scrape out of my mind."
Sara kept chopping away at the peppers, dumping each batch into the bowl as she proceeded to cut through them all. She watched Stephanie from the corner of her eye as she pulled the inhaler from her pocket and took two of the metered doses in with two labored breaths. Sara was not unfamiliar with the problems of asthma, but she had no experience with the sudden severity that seemed a characteristic of Stephanie's variety of the ailment. She had even gone so far as to ask Dr. Robbins about the symptoms in order to calm her own fears. When he had explained that those people who suffer from allergy induced asthma were often the most adept at understanding their own symptoms she had questioned the reason for it, and his answer had not made her feel any better about what she had seen. He told her that allergy induced asthmatics had the most to lose, since their episodes were often the most life-threatening. That worried her, but she also knew from her previous experiences that remaining calm herself, tended to help the other person get through an episode. Her friend at the group home would work herself up even more if the people around her were freaking out, but if they remained calm and soothing the attacks would subside much quicker. So, she did her best to remain calm, but stayed very attentive.
She watched as Stephanie's breathing became less tense and it settled her own nerves enough to cause Stephanie to notice. "I said it was just the asthma."
There was a slight blush to her cheeks at having been caught, "What, I'm not allowed to worry?"
Stephanie shrugged and then one of those dangerous glints came to her eyes. "I don't know… Hold up your hands."
"Why?"
"Just do it." Stephanie was grinning at that point and it caused Sara some concern. But she put the knife down and held up her hands, like a doctor scrubbing up for surgery. "Nope… You're not allowed yet."
Sara put her hands down on the counter for balance and shot her an incredulous look, "What have my hands got to do with being worried about you?"
The younger woman shrugged her shoulders again and then said, "Until you get that ring, you're still just a friend. Only family can worry." Even if Sara could have, she would not have been able to hide the absolute shock that fell onto her face. "You really should work on that, ya know."
Sara was still struggling to come up with a response for Stephanie's suggestion when there was a noise at the front door. With some loud rustling and the sounds of feet on the tiles, Catherine and Lindsay came barreling into view. "Hey gals! Sorry, but I wasn't waiting for slowpoke to get to the door… I hope you don't mind?" Catherine followed the amused gaze of Stephanie to the slack-jawed face of Sara and surreptitiously dropped the bags she was carrying onto the floor and brought a determined hand to her hip. "Hey! You weren't supposed to start the harping until I got here!" Sara was broken from her stupor to then stare at Catherine in agitated disbelief.
"I can't believe you two!" Sara dropped what she was doing and turned for the sink.
The other women were still laughing as Lindsay rounded the breakfast bar to head for the fridge. She held up one of the bags in her hands and asked, "Should I put these in the fridge, Sara?"
"Go ahead, Linds… I'm afraid Sara's a little mad and your Mom and me right now." Stephanie took the other bags from the girl as she gestured for to complete her task.
"Figures." Lindsay seemed to have already learned a valuable lesson about her mother and Stephanie and that just made the women laugh harder. "So, what should I do?"
"You guys brought the apples, right?"
Lindsay nodded enthusiastically, "Oh yeah, fifteen pounds of mixed apples; Gala, Granny Smith, Pink Blush, Jonathan and Golden Delicious. Three pounds each, just like you said."
"Two stores later! I still don't why it had to be all those." Catherine was indignant at what she had considered a meaningless task.
"Well, if you'd gone to the ONE I suggested, that would have been it and you wouldn't be getting here so late." Stephanie stuck her tongue out at Catherine to finalize the gesture as the older woman started stacking up the other items on the breakfast bar counter. "As it is we'll be lucky to have this dessert ready in time for tomorrow." Stephanie started looking through the bag that was sitting beside her on the floor, but she seemed to be unable to find something. "Hey Sara?" She did not answer right away, and so Stephanie asked again, louder, "SARA?"
"What!" Sara spun around to answer her, still reeling a little from their previous exchange.
"What did we do with those two little boxes I had on the kitchen counter?" Sara's whole expression changed the moment she realized she had just been given her cue.
"Oh crap! I think I left them there." She looked positively flushed at the thought, and Catherine gave her a questioning glare. "I was, um… Distracted?"
Catherine shook her head and threw out her hand in disgust, "That distraction wouldn't have curly hair and blue eyes, would it?" Sara just smiled at Catherine's question and the older woman knew she had her answer. "C'mon, Linds… Looks like we still have some running around to do." She grabbed her purse from the stool and turned to Stephanie for further instruction, "What is it and where I am looking for it?"
"Ah, apple peeler/corers… In their boxes, on the kitchen counter, shouldn't be able to miss 'em. The guys'll be out back, so just walk right in." When Lindsay walked up to follow her mother Stephanie reached out for her hand. "But leave Lindsay here… We can get started on the other stuff so it's ready for the apples once we have the peelers. S'at okay with you, Linds? Being here with us old ladies?" Stephanie gave the girl a sly wink and Lindsay smiled.
She turned back to her mother and pleaded, "Please, Mom? Steph promised to teach me how to the make the apple dessert."
Catherine threw up her arms in disgust that time and turned for the door, "Fine! But I better not hear about any funny business."
Lindsay called after her mother, "Thanks, Mom!" Lindsay turned back to Stephanie when she heard the door slam and said, "Okay, so what ingredients do we need out and what the heck're you guys scheming about for Mom?" Lindsay thoroughly enjoyed the looks of shock that came from the two older women as she had caught them in the act.
Stephanie pulled her into an embrace and kissed her forehead, "I knew I liked this kid!" Lindsay rolled her eyes and Stephanie spoke again, "Okay, we need the big bowl, flour, butter, sugar, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon… And how would you feel about a happier more relaxed mother?"
Lindsay rolled her eyes again and headed for the cupboards as she said, "If you could do that… I'd wash both your cars for a year!"
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Thomas turned the slab of meat over, making sure it was not lacking the desired searing before moving on the next piece. "So, I'm confused… Why didn't we just take the grill over to your place, again?" He took the bottle of beer being offered to him by Gil and waited for the answer.
"Because I don't have a yard to use it in…" He could see that Thomas was not buying the excuse and he carried a sheepish look on his face as he took a drink from the bottle in his hand. "And it wouldn't be as much fun."
Thomas drank from his bottle and shook his head, "Another one of Steph's schemes… I should've known when she stopped bugging me earlier this week that she was up to something."
Gil tilted his head to one side and smirked, "Well, I think Sara and I may have put her up to this one."
Thomas reeled back from that admission, and his curiosity was peeked, but before he could say anything, the cell phone in Gil's pocket went off. He heard the brief exchange and knew that the game was afoot. "So, are you gonna clue me in? Or should I just be surprised later?"
Gil gave him a sly look and then asked, "When was Warrick getting up?"
Thomas nodded his head and laughed, knowing that his wife was indeed involved. "I heard the shower running when I got the bucket of corn… Why?"
Gil shrugged as he took another draw from his bottle and after he swallowed the mouthful he said, "We just have a visitor stopping by."
Cocking his eye brow, Thomas just had to ask, "And that would be something that would need Warrick awake, right?"
"It certainly wouldn't hurt." Thomas laughed at the older man's delight in the little game he seemed to be involved with and knew without a doubt, that the party had shaped up to be yet another crowning achievement in mischief for his wife. That woman is battin' a thousand with these damn things!
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It was early October, and Catherine could not help but remark about the oppressive heat that seemed to have fallen on the city that week. The fact that she had spent most of the day running all over town on various little errands to help with the party that night had not helped in the slightest. She had been late getting to the townhouse because of the heat, since she was feeling less than human after being out in it so much and was in desperate need of a shower when they had finally gotten all of the required items.
As she made her way the few short blocks to Stephanie's townhouse, she remarked at the differences in homes along the way. They went from the simple and efficient single level pseudo townhouses on Gil's side of the development to the more family oriented and friendly ones on Stephanie's side. It made her wonder why Thomas had chosen such a place to call home for his residency. She thought that maybe he had gotten the home, which was far too large for a single man who was never home, because he had been a victim of wishful thinking. She wondered if he had been hopeful that Stephanie would join him in Vegas so that they could start their lives together and maybe even start a family. She liked the idea that he had been so romantic in his choice of a home, that he had made plans for them before they even knew how their lives were going to turn out. And then the pragmatic, logical side of her brain kicked in and she figured he had probably settled on the closest place to the hospital he could find and afford. In the end, those were questions best left unanswered, especially since she had pulled up in front of the house.
"Once more, into the brink!" She found herself quoting some obscure thing and she had to shake her head at herself. "Am I really becoming that much like him?" She could not let herself keep thinking that way, so she courageously jumped out of the car and headed for the front door. When she got there, she hoped that Stephanie was right and that she could just walk right in, because the last thing she needed was to bump into anyone on her little chore. Her nerves were already frazzled from the all the running around, and she needed some of those guards up before dealing with too many people yet.
Catherine was thrilled to find the door unlocked and she pushed her way into the wonderfully cool house. She quickly made her way into the kitchen to search for the boxes and much to her delight, they were right there in plain sight. She was about to get away clean, and without so much as a whisper of contact from anyone.
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Warrick was still mad at himself for having slept through his alarm, not once, but twice. He had wanted to be up and ready to help Thomas first thing that afternoon, even though the man had told him he was not needed. With everything that had happened over the last few weeks he had come to realize just how much he owed the people around him for their support through what he hoped would be the worst period of his life. However, his shift had gone on for what felt like forever and had been emotionally draining on top of it, so when his head had finally hit the pillow late that morning, he was ready to sleep for a week, instead of the three hours he had planned for himself. When his eyes had finally opened, after his other senses had woken him up, he realized that he had over slept by nearly two hours and that it was almost two in the afternoon, and that his alarm clock had managed to turn off at some point. He had no idea how that had happened, but what he did know was that there was an unbelievable smell wafting into his bedroom window from the backyard, which meant he had not missed out on everything. He had quickly hopped into the shower so that he could get downstairs and at least help finish everything up.
His shower had been just the thing he needed, and he was again thankful for the kindnesses of his friends, because he was certain that Stephanie and Thomas had the best hot water in all of Vegas. The hot had never been short in supply, even when all three of them were getting ready for a shift, and the pressure was just right. And on one occasion he had emerged from his bathroom to find that someone else was showering in the other bathroom, yet neither the pressure nor the temperature had been affected. When he had finally asked Thomas about this oddity, he had been shown the utility room at the bottom of the stairs in their pseudo-basement; they had two hot water heaters. Warrick had decided in that moment that if he were ever to have a house of his own, there would definitely be two hot water heaters, even if he had to install the second one himself.
He looked outside and could see the two men standing by the grill, and by the way Thomas was nursing that bottle in his hands, he could tell the heat was still in full swing. With the oppressive heat of the last few days, he figured his time would be better spent standing in the sun instead of trying to dry his hair in the house. So, he took one last look in the mirror to make sure the shape was not out of line with his style and once he was satisfied, he wrapped the towel around his neck to catch the remaining drops of water and pulled out a t-shirt to put on once it had dried.
Warrick shut the bedroom door behind him and started for the stairs with a lighter spirit. In that moment, he decided that this would be the start of his new life, and whatever that meant, he was going to meet it headlong with a smile on his face. That realization caused him to hitch up his step and he practically ran down the stairs to join his friends in the backyard.
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With a real smile on her face for the first time all day, Catherine scooped up the two boxes containing the peelers and quickly headed back for the front door to make her escape. As she turned she could hear Gil's laughter drifting in from the backyard and her ear immediately tracked the sound. It truly was good to hear her friend laugh and her smile deepened at the thought of how much happier the man had been since he had started his relationship with Sara. She wondered if that was what love really was all about.
She was about to clear the stairs when she realized she was actually going to get away totally unnoticed and then it happened. Her vision and her progress were stopped dead when she ran face first into a solid mass. At first she thought her distraction had caused her to smack into the wall, but the mass was not cold plaster. Instead, as she brought her hands up to push away from the mass, they had found purchase on a warm, soft and slightly damp surface. That was when she wobbled and suddenly felt other hands wrap around her arms to steady her teetering. When she looked up the expanse of what she thought might be skin, she found a swath of white fabric that could have been a towel, but with such a close up view and her own shock clouding her vision, she was finding it hard to focus. Her gaze kept following up the mass until it found the end, and at that end she found a startled and concerned familiar face.
"Whoa… Are you okay?" He pulled her back just a little to inspect that she was indeed okay, and she could feel the fabric in his hand press into her arm. She looked at that hand and saw that he was carrying a shirt, and when she looked back in front of her she realized that it was because he was not wearing one at the time. Warrick moved his head back and forth, checking to make sure he had not hurt her when they had collided, and the motion caused a drop of water to fall from his hair. Catherine watched, as though it were in slow motion, as the drop plummeted in the shallow space between them and then shivered as it landed directly onto her collarbone. The shiver turned to a tremble when the drop trailed down her front to slide right into her cleavage.
Warrick became even more concerned that he had caused her harm when she started to tremble, so he moved her over to the chair in the living room. He asked her again, because she had yet to answer him, "Are you okay, Cath? I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't looking and I didn't really expect anyb-…"
Catherine had finally found her voice as he frantically tried to assess the situation and she took in a deep breath to speak, "I'm fine… Just scared me, is all… Really, I-I'm fine." She worked desperately to pull herself back together and then, when she had found that courage she stood up, and away from his powerful gaze. "I just need to get these-…" She instantly realized that she no longer had the boxes in her hands and tried to change her focus to find them.
Warrick got up from his crouch and went straight for the boxes that were scattered on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, "Here, let me get those." She watched as he took those few steps towards the stairs and then bent over to retrieve the boxes. As he bent over, she suddenly gasped, and then turned to the window to hide the blush that she was certain had risen in her cheeks. "Hey, are you sur-…"
"Really, I'm good… I just need to get these over to Steph before she starts screaming." She quickly took the boxes from his grasp and practically ran for the door. "See ya over there," she shot back from over her shoulder as she bolted out the door.
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"What?... No, I haven't seen her yet." Gil motioned for Thomas to look inside the house as he continued talking on his cellphone. "Thomas is checking now."
Thomas walked into the garage to find out if Catherine had arrived yet, but he was met by a very confused looking Warrick as he reached out to open the door. "Oh! Hey, man… Did you happen to see Catherine in there?"
Warrick looked back into the house and said, "Uh, yeah… She just took off."
Thomas wasted no time and took off running for the front of the house which left Warrick still trying to figure out what was going on. He made his way out the back and found Grissom talking animatedly on the phone. "Okay, we're trying to catch her!... Okay, serving bowls, metal baking tray, box by the dining room table, got it." Grissom closed up the phone and finally noticed Warrick standing there. "Oh, hey, Warrick… You want to help me get this stuff together for Cath to take back to my place?"
Warrick shrugged and turned to allow Grissom the chance to lead the way. "After you."
Grissom gave him a curious look as he walked past the younger man, "Is that a new look for you?"
Warrick looked down at his clothes and instantly became embarrassed as he realized he still had not put his shirt on. When he looked up, he realized that he had probably also embarrassed Catherine and that was why she had run out of the house the way she had. As he followed Grissom into the house shaking his head, Warrick tried to figure out how he was going to apologize for his screw up. His thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of dishware colliding in the kitchen, and as he rounded the corner he found Grissom struggling with a large box. "Here, let me help you with that, Gris."
Grissom looked up from his task and smiled wryly, "Thanks." Warrick walked over, bent down to pick up the box and finally understood why Grissom was struggling with it; the box was heavy. "Don't forget to lift with your legs."
Warrick glared at his attempt at humor. "So, where's it going?"
Grissom shrugged and said, "Well, that depends on whether or not Thomas was able to flag Catherine down before she left."
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Upon reaching the safety of her minivan, Catherine slumped forward in the driver's seat as she banged her head on the steering wheel. "Jesus Cath! Get a grip!" She threw her head back and rested it against the seat back and groaned out her frustrations, "Aaaaaaaggghhh! What the hell is wrong with you!" She shut her eyes tight and struggled to gain control of her emotions. "My God! Where is your head!"
With her eyes closed, she desperately tried to pull herself together, but her mind kept replaying that scene in the house, and her body wanted nothing more to feel that solid, warm mass under her fingers once more. Just when the images were about to send her down a road she was not ready to take, she nearly came out of her skin when the sound of something slamming into her car jerked her from inside her own mind and her eyes flew open to track the sound. At her passenger's window she found a flushed and worried Thomas banging on the glass. She rolled down the window with her hand clutched at her chest and said, "Are you trying to kill me!"
Thomas blushed once he realized that he had just scared the devil out of the woman and he apologized, "Sorry, Cath… But I can't fit this other stuff in my car and Steph needed it." She started to breathe more easily and he felt compelled to ask, "Why didn't you come back and say hi? Gil and I were a little surprised when Warrick said you'd already left."
Catherine took a deep breath and hoped that her voice did not falter as she answered him, "Sorry, I was just in a hurry. And Steph said I should just grab the stuff and go."
"That's okay… Is there something wrong with your phone?" His question confused her completely.
She scrunched up her face and reached for her phone when it suddenly dawned on her what the problem. "Shit! Where's my phone?"
Thomas laughed at her response, "Linds has it. When Steph tried to call you, it went off in Lindsay's pocket."
Catherine shook her head and realized that her mind really was on another planet at that point. "Just goes with the rest of the day." She unbuckled her seat belt and climbed out of the minivan. "So, what am I toting now?"
Thomas called over his shoulder as he ran back in the house. "I'll go get it… But you better make room… The box is huge!"
"Why not! Everything else has sucked today, this will just be the icing on the cake." She pulled open the back of the minivan with a groan. "It would figure that I JUST put the seats up again, so now I get to crawl around in the back of the van…" Catherine started pulling out the items in the back and transferred them to the back seat as she complained, "Not like I haven't already had TWO showers today, and I'm still gonna be all sweaty for the damn party." Once all the items had been transferred she crawled up into the back of the vehicle and began to fight with retracting the third row of seats to make room for the box. "There better be someone to drive me home, because I'm gonna get really fucking drunk tonight."
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Thomas nearly collided, head first, into a very large and incredibly heavy box. "Whoa!" As he jumped back he realized Warrick was the one handling the box. "Sorry, dude! I guess I should look where I'm runnin', huh?" The two men laughed at the near catastrophe, but Warrick made the move to get around Thomas.
"Did you catch her?"
"Oh yeah! You want some help with that? It looks heavy." Thomas added that last part with a wink and Warrick smirked at the man's sarcasm.
"Nah, I got it, bro… Just stay out of the way, okay?" Warrick could not help but add his own little jibe to the mix.
"You got it… I gotta check the grill anyways." Thomas turned to head back to the garage door when he decided to shout over his shoulder, "Try not to get tied up out there, man… We got some work to do with the old man, remember?"
Warrick tilted his head and nodded, "Yeah, I remember… Be back shortly."
As he walked out the front door he shook his head at the idea of the soon to be divorced guy and the kid telling the aging bachelor about getting off the pot and marrying the girl. He chuckled and said to himself, "That'll be rich."
He started walking down the concrete path towards the street and immediately found Catherine's minivan, but he could not see her. The only thing he could see was the back of the van hanging open, so he assumed she had to move the seats around to accommodate the box he was carrying. As the weight of the box, coupled with the astounding afternoon heat began to drag him down a bit, he wondered what was actually in the thing.
When he got closer to the vehicle, he was able to see Catherine's head in the back of the van through the windows, as she fought with the third row seats. He figured he needed to pick up his pace so that he could set the box down and give the diminutive dynamo a little hand in wrangling with the seats. However, he lost all thought as he stood at the back of the van when his eyes fell upon a sight he had not been expecting.
Catherine was on all fours, struggling with one of the seats, bent over and rocking back and forth on her knees with her shorts stretched tightly over her round bottom. He could see most of her back, as her tank top had started riding up and he knew the heat was getting to her as well when he watched a trickle of perspiration roll down her spine as she sat up for a moment to gain leverage over the last seat to be taken down.
"Damn."
She was suddenly startled and that was when he realized that word had actually come out of his mouth. With his realization came panic as she turned at the source of the sound and he nearly lost his grip on the box and had to fight to regain control of it.
"Oh damn! Are you okay?" Catherine scrambled out of the back of the minivan and tried to help him grab hold of the package, only to bring their hands to brush up against each others and make both of them nearly drop the box. "Here… Set it in the van, before we both get killed."
Warrick somehow managed to make his feet move through what he was sure was concrete wrapped around them, but he still had not found his voice, so he just nodded. Once the box was safely inside the van, he took in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. "Ah, um, thanks. It was, ah, heavy." He moved away from her nervously and struggled with each word.
"Right, so… I better get this over there." Catherine turned around and reached up for the van door, but Warrick's hands had beat hers there and she moved awkwardly to get out of the way.
Warrick closed the door and Catherine was already on the other side of the van, so he stepped up onto the curb. "Yeah, I'll, ah, see you… Ya know, later."
