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. Rating Applies BIG TIME in this chapter.

A/N: A little birdy asked me to post this one a little early (a blue one ) I bet you were wondering how I was going to resolve this one :D

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 61

Catherine made her way to the locker room, and decided she must have started living right, because they managed to process the body, get back to the lab, send the prints through AFIS, and got a hit, all within six hours of the shift starting. And after finding out the body had fallen off a truck on its way to the body farm, they only thing she and Nick had to do for the rest of their shift was to get caught up on paperwork. She figured that she and Nick probably pulled the best case, since they were the only ones to have made it back to the lab before the shift was over. If it was any other morning, she might have called to see if anyone needed help, but today she had other plans.

When she got to her locker, she found an envelope taped to the door with a hand written note inside it.

i

Cath-

I'll be at that address I gave you for the rest of the morning. Hope you can still swing by when you get off shift.

Thanks,

-WB

i

Reading the note, she realized that Warrick not only beat her back to the lab, he had called it a night before they had even finished their case. She quickly grabbed her bag from the locker and headed off for the bathroom to freshen up before heading out. As she passed Nick on the way, she stuck her hand down into her jacket pocket, just to make sure she still had the card there. She had no idea what she was doing, but at the same time, she really did not care.

CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR CSI GSR

Catherine rode up in what passed as an elevator to the second floor, and when she stepped out onto the floor, she remarked to herself that she finally understood how they were able to rent the spaces for so cheap; This place is a real dump! She had been to flophouses with better conditions, and she silently wondered what in the world would have possessed Warrick to ask her to meet him there.

She glanced at the unit numbers to the left and the right, and knew she needed to head left to find the one on the back of the card. Catherine was extremely grateful she had decided not to change clothes, because that meant she still had her sidearm at her waist. As she made her way down the dimly lit hallway, she had to remove her jacket as she began to perspire from the lack of conditioned air, or any air at all, for that matter. She figured that must have been one of the other things they skimped on to offer the spaces at such ridiculous prices.

She wiped at the back of her neck, because of the insane level of heat inside the building, and began to seriously question the man's wisdom at even being in the place, given the conditions. But she continued down the hall, and she quickly realized from the spacing of the numbers that she would be going all the way down the hall. As she neared the end of the dark, narrow and blisteringly hot hallway, she began to hear music. It started out faint, but the closer she got to the end of the hall, the louder the music got. It sounded like someone had a radio playing on one of the easy listening stations, because it was a soulful melody which seemed to be just the kind of piano jazz piece she usually heard in her mother's car.

She looked down at the card once more, and discovered the next space should be her destination. The music appeared to be coming from that space, because it got much louder as she finally reached the door in question. Catherine took in a deep breath, dabbed at her face with the tissue she had pulled from her purse, and then knocked on the door.

As soon as her knuckled rapped on the door, the music stopped completely; which struck her as odd somehow. However, that thought would be lost when the door opened onto the smiling face of her friend. "Wow! You musta caught a good one tonight." Warrick turned to allow her entry into the space, looked down at his watch and then said, "I figured you'd be at least another hour, minimum."

Catherine walked into the room and was instantly blasted with cool air, to which she gasped in response. Warrick laughed at her reaction, "Ya know, for a native desert rat, you gotta lot of trouble with the heat."

"Well, I grew up around the casinos, so air conditioning is part of my blood now." The shock of the air conditioning was only the first surprise for Catherine. When she looked around the room, she found a bankers box overflowing with sheet music sitting underneath a brass lamp stand, a large and well-worn black leather sofa, and the suspect air conditioning unit in the window. But her biggest surprise came from the antique upright piano resting against the wall of the tiny space.

She tried to spot the radio she thought she heard from the hallway, but there was not one to be found in the whole place. That was when the truth dawned on her. "That was you playing?"

Warrick blushed at her outburst and nodded his head. "I'm pretty rusty, but since I had to move it here, I really don't play too much anymore." She stared at him dumbfounded and he motioned for her to take a seat on the couch. As she sat down, he pulled the stool away from the piano, and settled it closer to the couch, as he sat down upon it. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Catherine removed her sidearm, dropping it into her handbag, which she settled onto the floor at her feet. She did not understand where he was going, and so she looked up to ask, "I don't get it."

"I can't keep it here anymore, because they've had too many break ins lately. And those regular storage places aren't any better." Catherine nodded and he continued, "I've already taken over Steph and Thomas' garage. And I don't know when I'm gonna be able to afford a place where I can keep this thing. It's gonna take me a while to recover from this whole divorce thing, financially." She could tell that Warrick having to tell her about his situation hurt him deeply. "Steph and Thomas have already been so cool, so I wouldn't even want to ask them about this. Nick's won't work either. And Greg's… Well…"

She stopped him before he could continue, "It's Greg's, I know." She looked at the piano and shrugged, "Well, if you wanted to sell it, I could see if Sa-…"

"I can't sell it!"

His vehemence scared her, but more importantly, she could tell her words had scared him. "Well, it would solve a big chunk of your fin-…"

"Catherine, I can't sell it. It was my grandmother's. It's all I got left." And that was her answer. Catherine felt her heart sink when she realized what she had just done. "Look, I'm sorry. I ju-jus-…"

She reached over, put her hand over his forearm to quiet him and said, "What do you need?"

"Well, I ah, was talkin' to Linds at the party…" He looked up into her eyes and their gazes were locked. "Anyway, she said she's been taking lessons for a while, but she's only got a keyboard to practice on at home."

Catherine shook her head and said, "Yeah, my parent's were talking about getting her one of the electric pian-…" And that was when she realized what he was trying to do. "Warrick, you cannot give Lindsey a piano!"

"No, but I can loan her mine." His eyes were pleading with her and she found her resolve melting fast. "Just until I get back on my feet. And that way she can decide if it's what she really wants and you won't be out anything." He was quickly becoming desolate and Catherine was struggling with the whole concept. "I could even give her some lessons… I just… Catherine, I don't know what else to do." He hung his head down in defeat.

She took a deep breath and then moved up to sit on the edge of the sofa. When he simply remained silent for too long, she took her other hand and tucked it under his chin to bring his gaze back up. However, she did not plan on just how close that would bring his green-eyed gaze to hers and she was forced to fight the lump forming in her throat. With her simple gesture of comfort, she found herself excruciatingly close to the raw emotion pouring from his eyes. "I-I just don-don't know." The last word seemed to trail out into a whisper, because they were less than an inch apart, and she could feel his breath as it blew out across her face.

The tension between them in that moment was actually palpable, and for Catherine it was almost unbearable. When he started to move forward, to close the gap between them, she knew what she was about to do would be the hardest thing she would ever do in her life. "Stop."

His eyes opened wide with shock, and his whole body began to flush with his embarrassment. He struggled to deal with everything raging in his head and between his distraction and the low volume of her voice, he missed what she said. He was only brought back to the conscious level by the feel of her grasp wrapping tightly around his arm. "I just… I can't be that thing."

The pain he saw in her eyes startled him, but it was her words he had trouble understanding. "What?"

She took in a deep breath, but she never broke the contact between them. "You're still going through this whole divorce mess, and it's going to take you a while to sort through it. Believe me, I know. And I just can't afford to throw my hopes away on this when I know you're just trying to get through it." He understood what she was saying, but not why, and the confusion showed on his face. "I can't be that crazy thing you did to get over her."

To say he was shocked at her assessment would have been a gross understatement, and to demonstrate his disbelief he reeled back in his seat and then jumped to his feet. She fell back into the sofa in surprise at his sudden movement, and then he began pacing inside the tiny room. His hand was wringing tightly at the back of his neck, as he fought to put words to all of the things bouncing around inside his head.

His pacing appeared to be a long term project to Catherine, and she thought it was best if she left him to sort through what she had said and whatever he was thinking. She scooted up to the edge of the couch to rise as she said, "Look… I should get out of here and leave you a-…"

He flew across the room in an instant, his hands wrapped tightly around her arms, stopping her from going any further. "NO!" The raw and unbridled emotion she saw in his eyes as hers flew up to meet his gaze, burned into her soul and she was rendered completely speechless. As she watched through terrified eyes, his mouth moved, but no sound came. They were unmoved, like statues, in that position for an immeasurable period of time, but it was finally broken when he lowered his chin to his chest and sunk down onto his knees in a heap, releasing his hold on her arms in defeat.

Still dumbfounded by the drama of the moment, Catherine remained stock still, but that would change when she heard the whisper escape his fallen countenance. "She was the crazy thing."

Not knowing why, Catherine lowered herself back to the couch and reached her hand out to tuck her fingers under his chin, as she tried to get him to raise his gaze once more. He shook his head and whispered again, "She was the crazy thing I did t-… to get over… you." Each word dripped with pain and Catherine found that her mouth had gone completely dry, leaving her without the ability speak. In fact, with that final word, she had gone completely catatonic. She only held still, almost as though she was afraid a single movement, a single breath, would make everything melt away.

Slumped there on the floor, Warrick found that he had finally reached the end of his rope. Everything was slipping away from him and he had nothing left to lose. In that darkest moment, his heart had finally spoken for him, in a way he had never allowed before in his lifetime. The first time; he remained silent, fearing she could never care for him the way he cared for her, and so he had settled for another woman. But he was wrong.

When she was about to walk out the door, he knew it would be his last chance, but even then, the words were failing him. He did not know how he could convince her that his heart was hers, and always had been. He could not find the words to tell her she was in his every waking and sleeping thought. He fought for a way to tell her how impossible it was for him to envision a world without her in it. His heart struggled to inform his mind how to tell her that he would spend the rest of his life trying to be worthy of anything she could offer him. But mostly he wanted to say, "It's always been you."

His eyes shot up when he realized he had actually spoken those words, and what he found staring back at him, with tears streaming down her face, made his heart contract. The fingers that had been resting under his chin began to trace the line of his jaw, and when they raked down the side of his face, he found himself leaning into them. Her other hand reached out and wiped across his forehead, and then trailed down the other side of his face as she moved to cradle it in her grasp. He closed his eyes for only a moment, reveling in the warmth of her touch, and he hoped, against all hope, to never lose that contact again.

When his hands came up from his sides, she had not noticed the movement, because her gaze was transfixed on those tortured green eyes. But when they made contact with the sides of her legs, she felt an electricity surge into her body, making her keenly aware of his presence there. Her breath caught in her throat, as he gathered up the courage to slide his hands further up to rest at her hips, with their eyes never losing contact.

So intent was their shared gaze, she almost did not register that he was rising up from his crumpled position on the floor to stand on his knees before her. His broad hands continued their ascent up the side of her body until they were holding her shoulders in their firm grasp, and still she could not breakaway from his intense stare. She was about to say something, but he had one more thing to say that would shatter her whole world. "It's always gonna be you." His hands drifted up over her shoulders, along the length of her neck, and rested on each side of her face as he pulled her to him. His lips, soft and unbelievably warm, caressed hers, as though he were making a solemn vow to her with only their touch, as he pressed them into hers.

Somewhere in that tender and intimate gesture, things began to change. Catherine did not know when they changed, but she soon found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, desperate to get just a centimeter closer to him. The kiss suddenly became a hunger they both shared for each other, as it deepened into something neither of them had ever experienced before. It overwhelmed them, overtook their senses, until the only thing they were aware of was the desperate caresses of their tongues, as they each fought for purchase within the other's mouth.

Then were was the sound of a pop as their lips finally parted, but Catherine's gasps grew ragged, as she found her neck being assaulted by his lips, and she threw her head back at the sensation. That move only gave him a better angle at which to explore her throat, which served to excite her further.

Her hands were going on their own exploration, as they roamed up and down his back. But they kept getting caught up in the shirt he was wearing, so she tried dragging her hands down his back to the hem of his shirt. However, she was stopped when he surged forward, pinning her to the back of the couch by the shoulders as his mouth began to trail from her throat to her collarbones.

With the object of so many of his fantasies within his grasp, Warrick was no longer in control of his actions. With his fear of loss, and fueled by his long denied desires, he wanted nothing, but to abandon himself, as he devoured the woman beneath him. He felt as though he had been waiting a lifetime to be in that position, and there was nothing that was going to stop him from getting what he wanted, ever again. As his mouth glided over her collarbone and onto her shoulder, he found the strap of her tank top, and decided it was just another obstacle he needed to overcome, before he could have what he wanted.

His hands trailed down the length of her body, stopping at her waist, he grabbed at the shirt and tugged it out of her pants, and then pulled it up her back until it reached her neck. He looked up for only a moment, and met her gaze with a feral smile spread over his lips, as he saw the wantonness in her heavy lidded eyes. The shirt was off in an instant, and she made no complaints about the action.

Catherine was beyond rational thought once she got a look at his untamed grin. He was a man possessed; possessed with his desire for her, and she was not complaining in the least. She felt every ounce of the passion he was demonstrating for her, and she wanted him as badly as it would appear he wanted her. However, in her current position, she could do little more than hold onto his head as his lips laid claim to her flesh with his rapturous kisses. But that quickly changed when she realized he was moving her down onto the couch with every touch from his powerful hands. The next thing she knew, she was lying flat on the sofa, with only one foot still on the floor. She had always known he was a smooth operator, but it was only in the moment that she understood it held true to other aspects of his life.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt his hot breath grazing over her breast, as she turned her head to watch her bra falling to the floor. When his amazing lips sucked at the nipple, her body responded for her, by arching her back and pressing herself into his mouth further. She could feel him smile against the skin of her breast and then he began to work his tongue over the aroused peaks; first one and then the other. She was completely lost in the delicious sensation of his mouth.

Warrick found himself falling into the same rhythm with which her body was pulsing under his ministrations, and it made his breathing grow ragged. He had almost gotten lost in the seductive dance of her body, but he felt the stirrings deep in his loins and knew he could not go as slow as he wanted. He wanted to go on pleasuring her forever, but his own need was rapidly building, and it would no longer be denied.

While his mouth continued to bring her to the crest of arousal, his hands began to work their way further south. When they made contact with the button on her pants, they made quick work of the fasteners and then he tucked his thumbs into the waistband of her pants and panties, as he slowly began to drag them down her hips. Her hands grasped at his back, and for a moment he thought she was trying to stop him from going further. His gaze shot up to meet hers to confirm his suspicions, but she only balled her hands up in the fabric of his shirt. He smiled, finally understanding that she had her own need to feel his skin.

He propped himself up on his hands and leaned forward, making another claim on her mouth as he grinned his way down. Her hands found what they had been looking for and he felt his shirt lift off of his back, and when he lifted up from her mouth the shirt was pulled over his head, and then tossed onto the floor to co-mingle with her discarded clothing.

She could finally run her hands over his warm flesh and that alone sent tendrils of arousal steeping through her body. She pressed her fingers into the thick muscle of his back as he made his way down her chest with his tongue. There were so many sensations coursing through her body, she was having trouble individuating them, but they all boiled down to one word; Warrick.

When his touch left her breasts she let loose a whimper, but his touch returned when he pressed his lips into her belly. As his tongue tickled around her navel she nearly exploded from the feeling of intimacy that sensation brought to her soul. However, the real explosion came after she felt the cool breeze of the air conditioner between her legs in the instant before she registered that she was completely naked as his soft, warm lips made contact with her center. She lost conscious thought for, how long, she did not know, but she knew the waves of pleasure crashing over her body left her with little doubt as to what happened when her mind had disintegrated. She gasped as those waves overcame her last defenses and a low, guttural moan escaped her throat.

He felt her whole body shudder with the effects of his mouth in the tender folds of her center and it caused his own arousal to quickly become painful. He reached down to his pants and began to undo the belt and the button, when he realized her movements went beyond that of a climax as he was thrust backwards into the arm of the sofa with her mouth pressed firmly to his in a passionate kiss.

When he felt her hands fumbling around, he was brought back into the moment as he understood that her needs were probably just as powerful as his, and he moved his hands to assist her. However, she pushed his hands away and he found that she had not been fumbling as badly as he originally thought when he lost his breath because he felt her hands wrap around him. She began to stroke him free of his pants as she then lowered the condom she had produced with her fumbling down the full length of him. He struggled to remain focused as spots started to dance over his vision with the amazing feeling of her hands encompassing him so fully.

Her lips crashed into his once more as she released her grip, planted her hands in the taut muscles of his chest, and raised herself up. Warrick knew exactly what was happening, and he guided himself into her as her hips began to lower on top of him. In a flash of sheer physical pleasure, he felt himself become buried inside her, and his head was thrown back from the sensation.

Catherine's baser nature had taken over, and the only thought on her mind was having him inside of her. She had taken the upper hand, and she enjoyed the tiny yelp which came from his throat when she had done so. With her hands buried in his chest, she had enough balance to be able to rock up and down over his full length and breadth. Her body was screaming with the sensations that flooded her, and then her hips began to writhe around him as well, taking him even deeper into her center.

The friction being generated from her writhing and rocking, along with his hips thrusting up into her, was sending her up into another climax, and she bit down on her lip to try and fight it back. She was surprised when she found Warrick reaching up to bring her head down into an even more intensely passionate kiss and she lost complete control of her climax when his tongue pressed into her mouth, and his arms wrapped around her as though he was holding on for dear life. When his back and hips began to arch up into her she understood his need to have her in his arms. As the last of their climaxes died out, they were still moving in a synchronous rhythm, one with the other.

Neither of them wanted to move, but she knew it had to happen, and so she had rolled off him, carefully. She had her back to him when she stood up, but he took her hand and turned her back around. When she looked down at him, she could see the desire in his eyes and she knew that it only mirrored her own. As he pulled her back down into his arms, she realized he had already disposed of the condom, and she had to smirk at their combined proficiency in the technical aspects. "Where were you going?" His voice was like smooth bourbon to her ears and she laid her head down onto his chest.

"Mmmm… That A/C is a little much." She curled up against him for the warmth; both physical and emotional.

He reached for the back of the couch and pulled down the blanket he had folded up on top of it. He opened it up and stretched it over her body, making sure she was completely covered, and then he rubbed up and down her arm and her back, "Better?"

The gesture itself warmed her, but the blanket made it all the more palpable and her only answer was the purr to escape her throat. "Mmmmmm…"

Warrick smirked at the sound and then blinked his eyes from the sleep threatening to overtake him. He brought his wrist up to look at his watch and was surprised to see the time, "Do we need to worry about Lindsey?"

She pushed up from his chest to stare at him with her disbelief, "What?"

"Well, it's almost time for school… So, I wanted to ma-…"

She shook her head and squinted her eyes as she said, "First off, the fact that you know when my daughter has school is too much. And second… She has an in-service day, so she spent the night with her grandparents, because Sam is putting her to work today." She continued to shake her head, but a smile creeped into the corners of her mouth, "And I still can't believe you know when she has to be at school."

He smiled and shrugged at her incredulous stare, "Hey, we've been working together for almost ten years… You think I don't know when you need to get your daughter to school?" She finally nodded at his answer and sunk back down to lay her head on his chest. "Besides, I've done my time transporting that precious cargo on occasion." He paused, and then kissed the top of her head when he continued, "It used to be the only way I knew how to be close to her Moms."

She chuckled at the realization that Warrick had been such a big a part of her life for so long, and yet she never noticed how much he paid attention to his place in it. He had been there when she could not express her fears to anyone else. He stood by her and up for her through her messy divorce. He had been a true friend to her through it all, and she enjoyed every moment of it, thinking it would be the only way she could have him in her life. As she rose and fell with his respirations, and she could hear his strong and caring heart beating in his chest, she understood that she had been very wrong.

"Well, if we don't have any place to be just yet, let's catch a nap here." His voice was heavily laden with his exhaustion as he spoke. "Then we can sit down and figure the rest of this thing o-…"

"Bein' kinda bossy, aren't you?" She was only teasing him and to show it, she placed a gentle kiss on the skin at the base of his neck.

He smiled at her teasing and answered, "Nah, I just don't think I'd make it down the elevator, let alone to the cars."

Catherine felt the same way, but she simply could not let the opportunity pass without comment. "Yeah, well, in light of recent events, I believe you should leave the thinking to me."

He drowsily giggled at her insinuation and only answered, "Yes, ma'am."

She flipped her head over to shake her hair out of the way and then looked out into the room. When her gaze rested on the piano another thought jumped into her brain. So, with her final breath, before she drifted off to sleep, she had one last thing to say. "And one more thing… I'll take the piano, but only on one condition."

His laugh vibrated from his chest and into hers at the thought of her even remembering his grandmother's piano after everything that had happened, and then said, "What's that?"

One of those purely feline smiles spread across her face as he looked down into her dangerously blue eyes, and she said, "You have to come with it."