The next day.

"Nicky, where are you at on the cases?" Grissom asked as the younger man walked into his office.

Nick held up the folder in his hand. "DNA came back on the Henderson case and the DA has the file." He said chucking the folder in the done box on Grissom's desk. "That one is out of hour hands. DA's call now."

"The autopsy on the double body count in the desert is back. Confirms suicide. Patrol found their car about half a mile from where they were found. I processed the car this morning before I left. Inside I found the chemical they ingested." He tossed that file in the box on top of the first.

"Good work Nicky." Grissom said looking over his notes. "We're waiting on ballistics and trace reports on the Montvale case, the one Warrick was shot working."

"Hey did I hear my name?" A voice came from the doorway. Nick turned around to see a pale and shaky Warrick leaning against the door jam.

"Hey man, should you be out of bed? You don't look too hot." He asked pushing a chair toward the other man.

"You try getting shot and see how you feel." Warrick quipped, trying to pull up a smile. "Besides I'm going out of my mind just sitting around the house." Warrick said as he sank gratefully into the chair.

Grissom frowned. "You should have stayed in the hospital another night." He said his voice full of concern.

Warrick shrugged then grunted when it moved his injured arm. "What's going on with the case?" He asked instead. He shifted his eyes away from the watchful eyes of his boss.

"Warrick, you know I can't allow you to work for at least a week." The older man said.

"I know you're not allowed to let me out in the field but I figured I could at least run computer searches or something."

Grissom was shaking his head when they were interrupted by the sound of conversation coming through the door. "Okay, thank you." Catherine said into her phone before snapping it shut. "Hey Warrick." She greeted him walking over to kiss the top of his head. "How are you feeling?"

'Good enough to work." He replied smiling up at her. "Maybe you could help me convince Grissom to let me come back to work."

"How was court?" Grissom asked from his position behind the desk. Nick covered a laugh at the look Warrick shot the older man.

Catherine huffed out her breath. "They had so many deliberations with the judge they didn't even get to me."

"Welcome to court life baby." Nick quipped.

Grissom frowned. "We had anticipated you being in court for the rest of the week but I was really hoping they would release you early."

"Uh yeah, actually I wanted to talk to you about that." She interrupted him. She looked at Nick and Warrick expectedly. "Um guys." She hinted gesturing for the door.

"You know I think I'm forgetting to do something." Nick said as he jumped up. Offering his hand to help Warrick up they quickly exited the room.

Grissom raised his eyebrows. "Is it that bad?"

She sighed as she slid into a chair. "Let's just say that it's a good thing they didn't call me in court today." She started carefully.

He frowned in confusion. "You prepared for the testimony. Was there a problem with the evidence?" He asked as he shuffled through the papers on his desk.

"It wasn't that. More like I wasn't there." She waited for the explosion.

"As in mentally? Was your mind on something else?" He asked confused.

"No Gil. As in I wasn't there. I had to leave."

"You left court?" Grissom asked in shock. "Without informing me?" He took his glasses off and rubbed his hands over his face. "Why didn't you let someone know you had to leave?"

"It was a family emergency and I rushed out." She explained.

"Catherine it was court. All it would have taken was a phone call."

"You know Gil I was a little bit worried about my daughter." She said hotly.

"Regardless, do you know how many problems this could have caused? The whole case could have been thrown out." He ranted before what she had said sank in. "What's wrong with Lindsey?" He asked in concern.

She scrubbed her hands over her face. "She feel out a tree at school today. Broke her leg and her wrist. They say they're going to do surgery on her leg tomorrow to place pins in the bone."

Grissom remained silent unsure what to say.

"She's scared, will hardly let me out of her sight." Catherine continued. "You know what this means don't you Grissom?"

"What?" He asked unsure what she meant.

"I'm not going to be available for court. You are going to have to go instead." She told him.

"I can't go. That would leave Nick in the field by himself." Grissom protested as he felt his world tilting.

"You can' expect me to be in court tomorrow. My daughter is having surgery." She exclaimed.

He closed his eyes. "Of course not. I'm up against a wall here Catherine and I don't know what to do."

"I'm sorry Gil. I can't help you out this time." She said before leaving.

Grissom resisted the urge to bang his head on the desk. Instead he walked out of his office and headed for the DNA lab.

"Greg, how's your caseload right now?" He asked the younger man after turning down the screeching radio.

Greg shrugged. "There's a couple of samples pending but I'm just basically waiting for them to print out. Why what's up?"

"We are in a state of emergency now." Grissom sighed as he thought about it. "Nick's going to be out in the field alone for a couple of nights. Warrick's out with an injury, Catherine had a family emergency and I have to cover her court cases." He looked at the young man speculatively. "You still wanting to get some field experience?"

Greg's mouth dropped open in shock. "Are you kidding?" He asked holding his breath.

The older man smiled. "No Greg, I am serious. I could really use you."

Greg swallowed hard as he resisted the urge to start dancing around the lab. "Yeah of course."

"I'll make some calls, see if the day shift tech will put in some overtime." He looked sternly at the younger man. "You'll be Nick's assistant only. That means hands off. You take pictures, document finds, but you do not touch anything." He cautioned.

"Oh course." Greg agreed, almost bouncing in joy.

"And the DNA lab comes first. You have to finish any pressing work in here before you can come out and play." Grissom subdued a smile at the antics of the technician.

Greg waited until his boss had walked down the hall before he jumped in the air. "Yes, yes, yes." He shouted doing a wild dance. Losing his balance he fell and hit the floor. Unfazed he continued his zealous antics.

Las Vegas airport

Sara walked off the plane and headed for the nearest pay phone. Digging in her pocket she pulled out the battered piece of paper on which she had written the number Grissom had given her.

Biting her lip she dialed the number, unsurprised when it went straight to his voice mail. "Grissom its Sara. I'm in town. I'm going to get settled and I guess I will get in touch with you tomorrow."

After hanging up she walked to the baggage claim to wait for her bags. Ignoring the advances of an elder man lacking in teeth she pulled the first of her bags off the conveyor belt. Walking around the roving contraction she studied each bag as they circled.

Half an hour later she rose from where she was sitting and made her way to the baggage claim office and filed a missing luggage form.

"Thank you miss. You will receive a call as soon as your bag is found." The young clerk assured her.

Sara smiled in thanks before heading for the taxi stands outside. "The Wexford boarding house please." She requested sliding in the back seat.

Uninterested in the scenery provided by the neon lights she pulled out the forensic journal she had been reading on the plane.

"Here we are miss." The cabbie instructed fifteen minutes later. Passing him some money Sara approached the darkened building. She was relieved to find the office unlocked and someone inside.

"Hello, I'm Sara Sidle. I believe Dr. Grissom called you to set up a room for me?" She asked apprehensively.

The geeky looking clerk looked up from his books. Frowning he turned to rifle through a stack of papers. "You weren't expected for a couple more days." He accused.

"I got an earlier flight. Is that going to be a problem?" She questioned, cursing the bad luck she had been plagued with all day.

The clerk looked up at the board. "No the unit's free. If you could just fill out these forms." He handed her a sheaf of papers. "Emergency contact and all that. Your unit has outside access. Dr Grissom said you would be working unusual hours. It has a mall kitchen attached and a sitting area off the bedroom."

"That's fine." She replied as she slid the completed forms across the counter. "I probably won't be there much."

The Lab

"I don't see why Grissom won't let me work in the lab." Warrick complained as he lounged on the couch in the break room.

"He has his reasons." Nick muttered as he riffled through the refrigerator.

"You sound like you agree with him." The injured man accused.

Nick sighed as he stood up to face his friend. "You just got shot. Your body needs to rest in order to heal."

"I feel fine." Warrick muttered.

"Really? Can you catch this?" Nick asked throwing the other man a can of soda.

Instinctively he reached up to grab the flying can, letting out a yelp of pain when damaged muscles where stretched.

"Sorry man but you need to rest." Nick said sympathetically. "You could always find a hot nurse to help you recuperate." He suggested helpfully.

Grissom looked around as he walked in a few minutes later. "Did Warrick leave?"

Nick nodded. "I convinced him that he would be better off getting a few days more rest."

The older man nodded as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Good. But I'm afraid we have another problem." He filled the younger man in on what had happened.

"I'm not sure how good of an idea it is to have Greg in the field with you. You're going to have enough to do without babysitting."

Nick shrugged. "Nah, I think he'll be a big help."

"Let's just hope nothing big happens." Grissom decided.