AN: Basing information on Catherine's sister from pilot episode which mentioned her having a younger sister named Nancy and nephew Jeremy. The rest is creative license.

Chapter 5/14

Grissom woke from his restless sleep as he heard the front door opening and saw Catherine's sister slipping quietly into the house.

"I'm sorry," Nancy said as she saw him sitting up, obviously slightly startled from the intrusion. "I didn't want to wake her in case she was sleeping so I just used my key." She explained, still whispering as she walked closer to him. "How is she?"

"About as well as can be expected, I guess." Gil said honestly as he looked towards the closed bedroom door.

Without further questioning Nancy walked towards the door, slowly pushing it open to see if her sister was awake. Seeing that she was still asleep, she backed out and re-entered the living room. "What about Mom?"

"Last I saw her she took a valium and went to her room also." Grissom replied quietly, also keeping his voice down to not awaken anyone.

"She'll be out for a long time then, she has no drug tolerance at all," Nancy stated knowingly before uncomfortable silence enveloped them both. They had met a few times, but it wasn't like they had ever really taken time to get to know each other.

"So can you tell me more about what happened?" She finally asked, having only gotten the barest of details from the phone call.

Grissom briefly related the events of the wreck to Lindsey's aunt and offered her a tissue when she started to tear up at the news. Nancy had a reputation for being the strong one, always dependable and level-headed from what Catherine had said. Grissom watched as she worked to compose herself before focusing back on the situation.

"I'm so glad you could be here with her," she said, turning her attention to Grissom. She knew little about him, but did know that he had been a friend of her sister's, as well as her boss for many years. Catherine had once described him simply as an enigma and watching him more closely Nancy could certainly see why. The look on his face almost seemed to be scrutinizing and yet there was no indication of what he might be thinking at the moment as he studied her.

"There's so much to do," she started talking, changing the subject again to keep a conversation going. Making arrangements at the funeral home, getting the house ready for all the guests; she started ticking off the list on her fingers as she began planning things.

"She was certainly detail-oriented," Grissom thought as he listened to her rattle on about all the things she would need to do. While listening to her he knew this was the way some people responded to stress and that Nancy was feeling grief like the rest of them. She was just able to channel it for the moment into the needs of others. He found himself wondering when the two girls had switched places as Nancy seemed to display more of the traits of a firstborn. She assumed the role of leader, apparently being responsible, organized, following family expectations and rules. Whereas Catherine seemed to be more outgoing, creative, and a risk taker, who had confided in him once that she didn't feel she could measure up to her sister in her mothers eyes. All of which were traits more often associated with the youngest sibling in a family. He was jarred from his analysis as he realized Nancy had just said something to him. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I said that it's been good of you to be here, but I know you've got to go back to work, and I'm sure you're tired, so it's ok if you want to leave now." She repeated herself, hoping she didn't sound rude. She wasn't trying to throw him out, but could tell he probably wouldn't be comfortable after the onslaught of family members began. If he studied everyone else the way he did her, she was quite sure they wouldn't be the most comfortable either.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He said almost absentmindedly as he stood to go; part of him wanted to stay by Catherine's side. But the more logical part of his brain told him that it was his time to go, he had done all he could for now and needed to let her cope with this surrounded by her family. "Tell her if she needs anything she can call. Will you please keep in touch with me about arrangements." He asked as he scribbled his cell phone number down for her before picking his keys up off the table.

"Of course," she promised warmly as she escorted him towards the door.

Grissom looked at his watch and seeing it was after 10 p.m. impulsively decided to go to the lab. The team was not only two people short, but he also knew they would want to know how Catherine was holding up.

He was unprepared for the amount of attention his arrival would bring as he was almost immediately swarmed by concerned coworkers with questions about Catherine. After assuring them all that she was handling it as well as could be expected and numerous promises to keep them informed he made it to his office and shut the door for a moment to regain his equilibrium. It amazed him that he had been here less than twenty-four hours ago and how drastically everything had changed in such a short time.

The knock on the door brought him back to reality, opening it he saw a concerned Warrick standing there expectantly. "How is she?"

"Devastated of course, but surviving." Grissom answered briefly, though wishing he knew how she was at that very moment. He had been away from her less than an hour and was already feeling pangs at the separation and not knowing how she was that very minute.

"I'll go round up everyone in the break room," Warrick offered. "It's been a slow night and this way you won't have to keep repeating yourself.

Grissom nodded in agreement and steeled himself to go face the team. He automatically knew that they would already know more about the details of the wreck than he did. But knew they had all cared about Catherine as well as Lindsey, and were also feeling a loss.

After apprising them all of how Catherine appeared to be coping and that she was with her family he started fielding the questions, "how long before they could go see her, would it be ok to call, and so on." Deciding it wasn't too late yet he dialed Catherine's number, correctly surmising that Nancy would pick up on the first ring. He asked how she was and briefly told her how the team wanted to come by and see Catherine the next day. Everyone watched as he listened quietly for several minutes before saying "thank you" and hanging up.

"She said Catherine is still asleep but there's a lot of family supposed to arrive tomorrow. She thinks it would be best if we wait another day." He relayed the message to the group.

"We're her family too." Nick grumbled at the announcement, receiving nods and murmurs of agreement from his fellow CSI's.

"I know," Grissom sighed, feeling some relief that he wasn't the only one feeling shut out right now, before deciding to turn back to what he did have some control over. "So is there anything else about the case that you can tell me?" He asked, feeling morbid even for asking, but knowing that even though he couldn't be there with Catherine he could make sure no stone was left unturned.

He was surprised at how thorough Jim had been in his explanation as nothing the team told him came as a surprise. Everyone agreed with what Jim had said about Ecklie having gone above and beyond in handling this case with care. The only thing that came as a surprise was when Greg indicated that the box of personal effects from the vehicle, including the ipod, were still located in the lab if he wanted to go through them and the car had not yet been towed from the garage. Since it was not a criminal case and had already been thoroughly processed and logged, there was not a concern about Grissom tampering with the evidence.

Grissom knew it was a bad idea even as he heard himself asking to see it, feeling he had too and yet already dreading it as Greg rose to get the box for him.

He stared at the small cardboard box placed on the table in front of him, amazed at how little there was left from something that seemed so catastrophic. Deciding to forego the box for now he chose to go to the vehicle first. With silent looks of agreement the team stayed behind, knowing this was something he would have to do alone.