Disclaimer: Not mine. Sucks to be me.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Cropper and her precocious 4 year old Garrett. He's the first guy I've ever heard of with a gum fetish. LOL! Thanks Crop!

The Long Road

Chapter 5

Warrick drove home without really seeing the road in front of him. His car seemed to be on autopilot while his brain replayed the argument with Catherine. He couldn't help but think that he was missing something. He had been flying high since Jonathan's birthday party when she had asked him to have dinner with her. He thought the date had gone well. When he dropped her off Friday night she was practically begging him to kiss her. This morning, after her fight with Lindsay, she invited him to dinner at her house. Now she couldn't risk Lindsay getting hurt? One of the things he had always found attractive about Catherine was her honesty. No one ever had to guess where she stood on an issue. Why was this different? Why did he feel that she wasn't telling him the truth?

The next day was Sunday and Catherine spent it by the pool with Lindsay. To her credit, the girl didn't ask about Warrick's abrupt departure the night before. As a matter of fact she was quiet, as if she sensed her mother's mood and didn't want to risk an argument. By six o'clock Lindsay was complaining about starvation so, even though she wasn't hungry, Catherine called for take out. After dinner, Lindsay went to her room to watch television leaving Catherine curled up on the couch alone. When she realized that she was crying while watching a sappy Lifetime movie, she clicked off the set and went to bed.

Of course, lying alone in the dark, with nothing distracting her, her mind began to roam. She went over their conversation, pulling apart every sentence, looking for a way to make him understand her fear. After hours of tossing and turning, she fell into a fitful sleep. When the alarm clock buzzed at six a.m. she groaned and reached out a hand, hitting it hard enough to hurt herself. Cursing at the pain radiating through her fingers, she threw back the covers and sat up.

She stumbled to the bathroom and, catching a glimpse of her reflection, sucked in a breath at her haggard appearance. Catherine prided herself on always being well put together. That wasn't going to be the case today. She had bags under her eyes and her complexion was sallow. Hoping that coffee and a hot shower would help she headed for the kitchen, stopping to give Lindsay her first wake-up call along the way. While the coffee was dripping into the pot, Catherine was standing under the pelting, hot spray of the shower. On her way back to the kitchen she was surprised to find her daughter's bed empty. There were usually three calls of increasingly threatening proportions before Lindsay's feet hit the floor.

"Morning," she grumbled. "You're up early."

Lindsay just looked up from her cereal and nodded. After Catherine had taken the first few sips of coffee, Lindsay said, "What happened?"

Catherine gave her a blank look, not quite understanding what the question was about. Realization dawned and she replied, "I'm not sure."

"Did you do something to him?"

"Why does this have to be my fault? Couldn't he have done something to me?"

"I heard the door slam and I know it was Warrick. If it he was the one who did something wrong why would he slam the door?"

Unable to combat the logic, Catherine sighed. "I explained to him that I couldn't risk hurting you by having him become a big part of your life and then disappearing."

"That's bullshit," Lindsay exclaimed.

"Lindsay Willows," Catherine snapped, glaring at her daughter, "watch your mouth."

"Well, it is. You're not protecting me. You're protecting yourself. What are you afraid of? That you'll really fall for him and he'll bolt like the others?" Lindsay stood and carried her bowl into the kitchen. Walking back through the breakfast nook she stopped and said, "Don't you dare blame this on me. I don't want him to think I'm the reason you're screwing this up." With that parting shot she was gone, leaving Catherine staring into her coffee cup.

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Warrick was coming out of the break room, ready to head home, when he ran into Catherine - literally. He grabbed her upper arms to keep her from falling. When she was steady he released her slowly.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention. You okay?"

Catherine nodded. When he would have turned away, she put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?"

Studying her face he shook his head. "No. I'm not okay. I won't be okay until you tell me the truth."

Looking around to make sure no one could hear, she said, "I've told you the truth. I don't want Lindsay hurt."

With a disgusted sigh, Warrick shook her hand off his arm and stepped back. "You know, Cath, if it was anyone but you I would let it go. When you get ready to talk to me you know where to find me." And then he was gone.

Sucking in a deep, steadying breath Catherine headed toward her office. Going in, she closed the door and silently cursed the glass walls that provided no privacy. God, if it was this hard to see him after two dates what would it have been like if they had become serious? With a shake of her head she picked up the envelope on top of her inbox and opened it. Like a sign from a higher power, it was Gil's evaluation of Warrick. Without even bothering to read it, she flipped to the last page and signed her approval before stuffing it back in the envelope and labeling it for H.R. Feeling frustrated and restless she stood up and headed for the break room.

It wasn't until she arrived in the middle of assignments that Catherine realized why she was there. "Hey, Stan," she greeted the day shift supervisor. "How's it going this morning?"

He gave her a quizzical look before replying. "We're pretty busy. Why? Is there something you need?"

Catherine thought for a second and then said, "Yeah, actually, I was wondering if you would let me ride with Sara today. I need to get out in the field. Keep things fresh."

"Um…sure. You're the boss." He handed her the assignment slip and said, "Sara, you two have a dead body at the Four Aces. There's a witness on the scene. Have fun."

Sara was silent as she and Catherine gathered their kits and walked out to the car. She was silent as she pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the strip. Finally, when Sara thought she might explode, Catherine spoke.

"I fucked up. Bad."

"Oh. Well, that explains a few things." Sara glanced at the woman sitting rigidly in the seat beside her.

"Explains what?" Catherine snapped.

"Why you wanted to be in the field instead of behind your desk. I have always been able to forget about everything else when I'm working the evidence." Sara's lips lifted in a half smile and she shrugged, "And it explains why Warrick was moping around the break room when I got in this morning."

"He was moping?" Catherine asked. "Did he say anything?"

"No. He just grunted when I spoke to him. I was afraid to ask." After a brief pause, Sara asked, "What happened?"

Glancing up, Catherine noticed that they were less than a block from the Four Aces. "We'll talk about it later. Let's get this done first."

Recognizing a stall tactic when she saw one, Sara nodded. When they had pulled up behind the medical examiners van both women got out and retrieved their kits from the back of the Denali. Walking toward the lobby doors, Sara looked over and said, "Don't think that I'll forget." Seeing Catherine's scathing look she just laughed and pushed the door open.

Never, in all their combined years as CSI's had the two women ever seen anything like the sight that greeted them in room 419. Standing just outside the open door they pulled on gloves and shoe covers before stepping over the threshold. Without bothering to look at anything else they walked straight to the chair where the body was sprawled.

Looking from the man to Sara and back, Catherine said, "What the hell is that?"

Sara bent down to get a closer look. Straightening, she said, "Gum."

"What?" Catherine leaned in for a closer look. "Oh my God! It is gum." Turning her head, she caught the tremble in Sara's lips that said she was holding back a laugh. Suddenly, the absurdity of the situation became too much and they both burst into gales of laughter.

"Hey, what's so funny," Detective Vartaan asked as he stepped through the doorway. When neither woman could form a coherent word he walked over to find out what was so funny. "Oh, jeez, that's disgusting," he said before beginning to chuckle. "Why would anybody do that?"

Wiping tears from her eyes, Sara managed to croak an "I don't know."

Catherine said, "I've heard of leaving your gum on the bed post overnight but never this," as she continued to choke back her laughter.

"He better be glad he's not going to feel it when that gets removed," Sara sputtered. "That could really hurt."

"You women are sick," Vartaan said, shaking his head as he winced in sympathy for the victim. "I'll be outside with the normal people."

When they had finished processing the scene, they went in search of the witness. They found her in a small conference room just off the lobby being kept company by two of Las Vegas's finest. Clearing her throat, Catherine glared at the uniformed officers who were hovering around the woman. The officers beat a hasty retreat and Catherine and Sara entered the room.

"Hi, my name is Catherine Willows and this is Sara Sidle. We're with the Crime Lab. I need to ask you a few questions." Catherine had schooled her features into a carefully neutral mask. No matter how funny the situation, she refused to laugh in the woman's face.

With a shake of her head, the woman drawled, "I'm Georgia."

"Mind if we sit down?" Catherine asked.

"Suit yourself. It don't make me no never mind."

Sara smiled as she sank gratefully into a chair and said, "Thanks. Why don't you tell us what happened. Then, if we have questions we'll ask."

"Sure," she replied, fluffing her hair and settling back in the chair. "Well, see, I was Gary's date. We went out to eat and then to a club. Don't know why he wanted to go to a club, he couldn't dance a lick. Anyway, we came back here and drank some more and we was both pretty drunk. Then we started making out. He couldn't dance but he sure could kiss." She smiled a little at the memory of that. Realizing where she was and why, Georgia shuddered and said, "Then he offered me some gum. I tried to tell him I don't like the stuff. My mama always said that the only difference between a person chewing gum and a cow chewing cud was that the cow looked smarter. So, I said no. And he said that he was paying and he wanted me to chew the gum. I figured what the hell. Next thing I know he's naked and in the chair. 'Come over here and give me some love'. Took me a minute to figure out he wanted me to go down on him with the gum in my mouth. Then he's tugging on my hair and telling me to wrap the gum around him. I thought he was nuts and told him so. He just kept saying please. So I'm on my knees wrapping gum around his penis and he starts moaning. I think he's getting off when I hear him moan kinda funny. I look up and his eyes are rolled back and there's blood coming out of his nose. I jumped up and got my clothes. Then I called 911. That's it. That's what happened."

After a few questions, Sara and Catherine thanked Georgia for her help and turned her over to Vartaan so that he could get her address and other vital information. They gathered their kits and the evidence they had collected and drove back to the lab. The rest of the shift passed in a blur. Catherine had gone back to her office while Sara dropped off the trace and prints from their crime scene. Then Sara was sent out to help on another 419 and time just slipped away. She returned to find a copy of the autopsy on Gary Bevins, the guy with the gum fetish. He had apparently died of an aneurysm while in the throes of passion. Realizing that it was time for her to pick up Jonathan, she hurried to the locker room and gathered her things before heading out the door. It wasn't until much later that she realized Catherine had avoided her question. With a chuckle, Sara vowed to find out what was going on with her friends and to fix it if she could.