Author's Note: Thanks again for reading and reviewing! I hope this installment of Busted! is enjoyable! Please review! I have two more installments left, and I can't decide which one I want to save for last. Nick and Greg are left. Nick's story will, I hope, be funny. Greg's story, I hope, will pull on your heartstrings. Any preference?

Busted! Warrick Brown Discovers GSR

Warrick had been collecting evidence for a highly interesting case for quite some time now. This was no typical case; it involved zero homicides, zero suicides, zero deaths at all, zero weapons, zero bad guys, zero everything, really, from a typical case standpoint. So why, then, was Warrick working this case?

Well, he was working it for his own personal satisfaction. The official-looking name on the outside of the case folder was "John Doe #37492: I-90 Body Dump," but that was nothing more than a front. On the inside of the case folder were the letters, "GSR." Warrick had given himself a mental pat on the back when he had come up with that. GSR, to him, now meant GunShot Residue as well as Grissom, Sara, Relationship? Even his case title could seem like actual work!

Warrick had started to compile evidence on this case a while ago when Grissom randomly brought Sara a veggie burger, but nothing for him, or anyone else for that matter. It's not like it was a big deal, Grissom had said he hadn't known Warrick would be there, and that made sense, but at the same time, it just wasn't a very Grissom-like thing to do. Sara seemed pretty smug about it, too.

Once he had had a minute to dwell on the exchange, he was able to recall a few other interactions between them that may have had significance in this case. There was that time maybe a couple months ago that he had walked by Grissom's office and happened to see Sara sitting in Grissom's desk chair, rummaging through one of his desk drawers. He had asked what she was doing and she told him that Grissom had asked her to find something for him that might help them with their current case. That seemed reasonable, and Warrick hadn't given it another thought at the time, but no one ever sat in Grissom's chair.

Then there was that time, gosh, how long ago was that?, when he had heard Grissom and Sara arguing about Hank in Grissom's office. He had popped in there to hand off a case file to the boss, and when he heard the name Hank, he had said, "Hank? Sara, tell me you're not back with that cheating ass EMT?" Sara and Grissom both looked uncomfortable as Sara had informed him that she was not dating that piece of crap again and then walked out. As soon as Sara had walked out, Grissom made it clear that they weren't going to discuss whatever the Hank thing was by asking for the case folder and promptly shooing him out of his office. Again, in and of itself, Warrick had dismissed the interaction from his mind. They had disagreed about something, and they weren't going to tell him what. Looking back, though, the way Sara had suddenly had the deer in the headlights look when he mentioned her old boyfriend could potentially indicate she felt guilty about that guy- guilty because her new boyfriend was standing next to her? Interesting thought.

Once Warrick had linked all three of those incidences together in his mind as possible evidence that there was maybe more to Grissom and Sara's relationship than he thought, he had officially begun collecting evidence.

Today was Valentine's Day. He sat down in the otherwise empty break room, grateful to have a minute to himself, even if it meant sitting in a room covered in cutesy hearts and cupids that Judy, the receptionist, had insisted on putting up. He had a small pile of case folders with him so that if was caught looking at his Grissom and Sara file, he could close it and shove it in-between a couple of real case files and pretend he was working on one of those. Warrick felt ready to confront the potential couple soon. With the coast clear, he settled back in his chair, opened up his GSR folder, and began to read through his list of suspicious moments for the millionth time:

Date unremembered: S told Greg not to go bother G about their case because she thought G had a migraine.

Date unremembered: Cath said S gave G half her packed lunch at their crime scene. She thought it was weird that G consented to take the lunch because every time she tried to force G to eat, he declined.

Date unremembered: G&S argued about Hank. Who is Hank? Why did they look uncomfortable when I walked in?

Date unremembered: S rummaged through G's desk while sitting in his chair. Why?

Date unremembered: G watching S in interrogation through 3-way glass. Odd expression on face. Didn't hear me the first time I tried to get his attention.

09/21/2006: G brought S veggie burger. Nothing for me.

09/26/2006: Should have been S's turn for a decomp case. G assigned it to me.

Warrick shook his head at that memory. He hadn't been thrilled at that particular moment and had said, "Yeah, sure, I get the decomp when it's definitely Sara's turn," and had stood up to grudgingly take his assignment slip. Grissom had looked confused and had asked, "You guys keep track?" He seemed genuinely astonished to learn that his underlings did indeed keep track of the number of dumpster dives and decomp collections they'd been assigned. At that time, Warrick took Grissom's astonishment at face value, but later that day, he had come back to thinking that Grissom knew more than he let on- if he didn't, how come the numbers were more or less even for each member of the team?

Moving his eyes back down to his list, Warrick read on:

10/14/2006: S point blank refused a directive from G, said she could get to it next shift or not at all. G stared at her and walked out without commenting. Roughly 2 hours later, S had run the tests, brought the results to G, and apologized for her outburst. Definitely felt guilty. Did G? He looked confused when S handed him results- said thank you and asked if S was okay? Since when does G ask about our general well-being? Where was the reprimand for disobeying?

10/16/2006: S wasn't on shift. In an unprecedented move, G claimed urgent business and left shift 3 hours early. To see S?

10/21/2006: G ate with us in break room. Not common. Sat across from S. G&S made eye contact often.

10/23/2006: Could have sworn I saw G touch small of S's back. Maybe I'm making it up, trying too hard to find evidence?

11/26/2007: Thanksgiving. Could have sworn I saw post-it stuck on inside of S's locker door that said something like, "I'm thankful you left San Francisco for me." What? S noticed me looking and slammed locker door closed. Gave me affronted look.

12/06/2006: G agreed to participate in LVPD white elephant gift exchange when S badgered him to do it.

12/08/2006: G told Nick to turn off the Christmas carols in the garage. S rolled out from under the car and said she wanted to keep the Christmas music on. G looked at her and then turned the music back on. Case of majority rules or preference for S?

12/24/2006: Christmas Eve. Greg hung mistletoe over break room entrance. G saw Greg kiss S on the cheek under the mistletoe. Looked disgruntled and asked if Greg was being paid to work or flirt. S laughed. Greg made sure G knew about the tradition of mandatory kissing under mistletoe. G asked if Greg would kiss him under the mistletoe in S's place. G moved to mistletoe. Greg paled. S stepped in and kissed G on the cheek. S was still laughing. Said that now that both of them had had their kisses, they could all get back to work. G still looked disgruntled, but gaze lingered a bit too long on S before we all moved on.

12/30/2006: S made comment on interpreting our blood evidence on Smith/Martin double homicide case. Cath asked her to cite her source and S claimed she read it in a book G gave her for Christmas. Cath and I didn't get any gifts from G.

12/31/2006 & 01/01/2007: New Year's Eve. First of all, if I successfully prove GSR is real, I'm going to tell G that if he wants me to keep it a secret, he's going to have to stop assigning me to every damn holiday shift. Anyway, shift met in break room to toast new year. G and S toasted each other first. Randomly near each other or purposefully chosen spots?

01/13/2007: G didn't meet S's eyes when he assigned her to a decomp. Later helped her sort through the human soup in the morgue. Making it up to her?

02/04/2007: Did G call S "dear"? Slip of his tongue or did I mishear him?

Warrick had just picked up his pencil to add a comment to his list that Greg had made earlier. However, the break room door opened, so he closed the file and stuffed it in between a few others. He looked up to find Sara collapsing into a chair across from him.

"Hey girl, you alright?"

Sara yawned and remarked, "I don't know why we can't have one holiday in a year where bad guys stop being bad. It'd be nice to not have 4 new cases on the day people are supposed to celebrate love."

Warrick gave her a commiserating smile and said, "Yeah, but the people who don't have love to celebrate? If any of those are the jealous type, well, I mean, the guy from the murder suicide? He couldn't let his girl love someone else, ya know?"

As Warrick was finishing his comment, Grissom walked in. He looked confusedly at Warrick and queried, "Who couldn't love who?"

This was his moment. The moment he'd been waiting for. Grissom had walked right into it. Should he take the opportunity? What if he was wrong? Would Grissom fire him? Was it important enough to know the truth? Yes?

Warrick took a deep breath, glanced at Sara, turned toward Grissom, and casually said, "Well, I know I'm wondering whether or not you could love Sara."

Dead silence followed. And lasted. After a few seconds that felt like decades, Grissom pulled his glasses off, ran a hand across his face, glanced at Sara, turned toward Warrick, and slowly said, "Did you just ask what I think you just asked?"

Great. Typical Grissom. Buying time by throwing the ball back into Warrick's court. There was another agonizingly long silence. This time, Warrick chose to speak to Sara. "Well, can he?"

"Can he what?"

In an exasperated voice, Warrick sighed, "Come on, you know what I'm asking. I want to know- are you and Griss a thing?"

"A thing?" Grissom's disgruntled voice echoed.

"You're really going to draw this out, aren't you? Okay, fine, let me rephrase: Sara, are you or are you not sleeping with the boss?"

Sara made a noise somewhere in the range of shock and/or anger. Warrick noticed Grissom had closed the break room door and now stood near it, clearly making sure they were not interrupted.

Warrick was too far in to back down. After another agonizing silence, he simply asked, "Well?"

Sara looked at Grissom and seemed to take pity on him, as it was evident he had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation at hand. She gave him a small smile and asked Warrick, "What makes you think Grissom and I are a 'thing'?"

Warrick answered, "Oh, I have my reasons." He casually slid his GSR case file across the table to Sara, got up and walked over to the door, and told Grissom, "I'll watch the door. You might want to read my notes, too." Grissom glared at Warrick, but took a seat beside Sara. The two shared a look, silently communicating. Sara shrugged a shoulder, then they both began to peruse Warrick's unfortunately extensive notes. Warrick felt a bit smug as he watched Grissom's face pale and Sara's shoulders tense, but after a few minutes, his appreciation for the fact that his notes could get one or both of them fired, which certainly wasn't his goal, caused him to take pity on the couple. Warrick joined them at the table and said, "I'm right, aren't I?" in a gentle voice.

Sara gave him a half smile. "You know, you've always been Grissom's favorite CSI, but this- this might demote you and move me to the top spot." Her effort at levity made Warrick chuckle. He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and triumphantly declared, "I AM right. So… how long have you two been a thing?"

Grissom opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, closed his mouth, glanced nervously at Sara, and tried speaking again. In a deadpan voice, he said, "Congratulations, Warrick. You've just passed your proficiency exam by cracking this case." All three of them gave nervous laughs at that.

It was Sara's turn to talk. Now that they really had just admitted to Warrick that they were a couple, they needed information. Sara looked back toward the door to make sure they were still alone and asked, "Now that you know, what are you going to do with your new power over us?"

"Power over you? Whadda you me-"

"Warrick, I mean that you could have either or both of us fired. You could tell the entire lab. You could cause every case Grissom and I have ever worked together to be called into question. You could-"

"Whoa, Sara, stop right there." Warrick reached across the table and put his hand on top of Sara's. "Sara, you can't think I'd do any of that to you, can you?"

Grissom replied, "No, Warrick, I can't. We can't. But this is… this is… um… a delicate situation. I, uh, I'm unsure what to do now."

Sara put her hand on Grissom's thigh in a comforting gesture, which was, of course, not missed by the astute CSI across the table. Warrick answered, "Whoa, listen, I'm not going to do anything with any of this information. You see how long I've been collecting my evidence. I've had all the time in the world to bring the rest of the team into my investigation. I've had all the time in the world to, I don't know, to make your lives here hell- hell, I could've let my suspicions slip out a million times, but do you see anyone else in here?" Warrick gestured to the otherwise empty break room. "Come on, you know I respect both of you too much to use this to hurt you. Honestly, I'm happy for you. You've both seemed happier lately. I like that. I like the idea of you two. Just… just don't blow it for yourselves."

Sara and Grissom were both looking so pitiable and hopeful that Warrick couldn't resist smiling and adding, "I mean, this little cute silent communication thing you've got going on right now will rat you out to everyone else long before I do. I know I AM the best CSI around here," Warrick continued as he smiled widely at the two of them, "but the others aren't that bad at their jobs, so if I was you, I'd try a little harder to hide whatever this is." Warrick gestured between them, still smiling at his lovestruck colleagues.

Grissom and Sara seemed to relax some. Sara looked back at Warrick's notes. She laughed out loud and said, "I almost forgot about the mistletoe thing- who knew Gil Grissom would be the jealous type?"

"Jealous," Grissom spluttered. "I wasn't jealous, I was simply proving my point that he was flirting with you and not simply kissing anyone and everyone under the mistletoe." Sara and Warrick were laughing heartily at Grissom. Warrick said, "Who knew that Gil Grissom, scientist, bug man, could end up with a love story of his own… so, what're you two lovebirds doing for Valentine's Day?"

Sara blushed deeply and muttered something about needing to get back to work. She paused in the doorway before she walked out and said, "You better destroy that case file." Grissom and Warrick watched Sara leave.

Warrick definitely needed to know what that blush was all about. "So, Griss, what're you two doing later that made her blush like that?"

Grissom was still looking at the doorway Sara had just vacated, with a pensive look on his face. Turning to Warrick, he said, "I'm just as curious as you are." Grissom got up to leave, too, and like Sara, paused in the doorway. "Rick- listen, I get to collect the evidence on this one, okay? We're going to sign this case over to me and you're going to get back to your actual work… right?"

Warrick simply laughed and said, "You got it, boss." Maybe working holidays wasn't so bad after all. He really wouldn't have traded this shift for anything. GSR really was a thing.