Discovery II
Part 10 of the Diurnal Dreaming Series.

by maven

STANDARD DISCLAIMER: Characters owned by CBS Television, Jerry Bruckheimer and a few other production and distribution companies.

RATINGS DISCLAIMER: PG Rating. Catherine/Sara. Just two or three people talking. A few bad words.

CONTINUITY DISCLAIMER: Season Five spoilers and setting. No real case specific spoilers.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE: This is the answer to Femvamp's snowbound challenge where Catherine is to fall back on her coke habit and Sara is to find out. Couldn't quite do that.

RESEARCH DISCLAIMER: I watch the show, I read an article in the Toronto Star and this website http://members.aol.com/remiped/csi-news-realcsi.htm. That's about it.

STORY SPECIFIC NOTES: None

FEEDBACK, COMMENTS AND FLAMES: Email at maven369@sympatico.ca



"Catherine, thanks for stopping by."

"Jim, what's up?"

"The Travis case. The ADA wants to look over the interview with me. She thinks if she can get the reaction I described out of him at the trial the judge will throw a max sentence his way. And as no one deserves the ten portion of five-to-ten like that scumbag I was hoping..."

"Travis case?" I ask. I know exactly what he's talking about. Exactly.

"Travis. Two boys. Sara spent the entire case shooting daggers at everyone and nearly went Krakatoa on the suspect. Not that Sara going ballistic..."

"I remember the case, Jim."

"Then you know where the tape is? It was gone when I checked after delivering the guy. I assumed you gave Sara some space and picked it up."

"No, we didn't leave the interview room until you came back," I answer. The knowledge of what happened in the room being on tape counteracts the blush that the knowledge of what happened in the room would normally cause.

Jim snaps his fingers. "Nick and Warrick. They'd just left the viewing room. Maybe they know. I'll go..."

"No!" He looks at me, taken aback. I try for a calmer, less strident tone, "I'll do it. My responsibility. I'll get it to you as soon as possible."

He looks confused but nods. "Fine. I'm meeting with her tomorrow. Anytime today is fine."

I turn and get five steps before I let the anger hit. I love Warrick and Nick. They're friends and my biggest regret about taking the supervisor's job is the wedge it drove into our relationships.

I am, however, going to have to kill them. Or hurt them very, very badly.

As I head to DNA I formulate a plan. On the minuscule chance that the boys were chivalrous and not thinking with their testosterone I need a little proof before I rip them a new one.

"Greg!"

"Catherine! I didn't do it!"

I pause. "Do what?"

"Anything. You have this look. Like, like you're about to send me over the top and rush the machine guns."

I drag him into the nearest lab and into a corner. "Shut up and listen. You know about Sara and..."

"No!" he yelps, causing the tech at the far end to look up. "No," he hisses in a quieter voice. "I don't know anything. I didn't see anything. I don't remember anything. I certainly didn't tell anyone or even, you know, allow it to enter my mind late at night when..."

"Stop," I order. We both draw a shaky breath and I wonder what Sara had said to him. "We need your help. I think Warrick and Nick have a tape of Sara and I. She was upset and I was trying to comfort her."

He looks puzzled. "With a hug," he states, "like I saw in the lab." His eyes grow wide as he notes my blush. "With more than a hug. And they didn't show me! I mean, and they didn't erase it! Bad, bad boys."

"They might have erased it..."

"Not a chance in hell."

"But I need to know before I confront them."

"Greedy bastards. Wait, how explicit is it and do you want me to see it so I can make sure it's..."

"No, Greg. Just find out if they have it. Leave the rest to me."

"You, ah, won't let Sara hurt them?"

"Sara? Hurt them?"

"She told me if I blabbed I'd die slowly and painfully and she or you would handle the investigation."

"You know she was teasing you, right Greg?" He nods but doesn't look convinced. "You in?"

"Yeah. They're in the garage. They're not total AV geeks so I think I can fool them with the log and auto back up ploy," he says, wheels turning. "Just hang by the bay doors."

"Thanks, we owe you."

I follow him to the garage, watching in amusement as the quietly talks to himself. "Oh, that'll work better. I'll need to let them know that I know," he says to me as we turn the last corner.

"I can't speak for Sara I don't care if the entire world knows. But I certainly don't want the world to see it on Funny Cop Videos."

He looks at me bemused before entering the garage. I hug the wall and crouch slightly so that anyone casually looking out the window won't see me.

"Nick, War," Greg says.

"Greg-o. What's up?"

"You have the results?" Greg asks.

"We've only been working an hour on it, Greg," Warrick protests.

"Yeah, results that fast require some incentive. Like, oh, fresh coffee to perk up our synapses."

"Perky synapses," Greg says in a 'I know something you don't know' sing-song voice, "I got info that's better than coffee."

And they say women gossip.

"What?"

"Catherine's seeing someone," Greg says, baiting the hook. "Someone you'll never guess in a million years."

"Sara," Nick and Warrick say simultaneously with studiously bored tones.

"No, it's Sa... what!"

"Oh come on," Nick says. "We've known for weeks."

"So have I," Greg says defensively. "I probably knew before you did."

"Ha," Warrick snorts. "Cite your source."

"They were hugging in Sara's lab after the Travis case," Greg says, his tone that of someone holding a twenty in Blackjack. I wonder why he switched the dates.

Nick laughs. "We saw them kissing in an interview room. Day before."

"No way," Greg says.

"Way."

"Well, too bad you can't prove it," Greg says. I can hear the sour grapes tone and almost see the pout.

"Hell we can't," Nick says.

"Nick," Warrick says, tone cautioning but Nick ignores it.

"Five minutes of Catherine all over Sara video. Let me tell you..."

"Tell us what, Nicky?" I ask as I open the door.

"Catherine, as agreed," Greg says, smug grin. "Next time, share," he hisses at the boys before turning and heading out, leaving Nick and Warrick to their fate.

"We can explain," Warrick says.

"I doubt it."

"Really. We figured the ADA and Brass didn't need to see that."

"But you did?"

"Oh yeah," Nick says reflexively just before Warrick swats him across the chest.

"Any last words?"

"No, ma'am," Warrick mutters. He swats Nick again and Nick shakes his head.

"Right, I want the original, with everything after Brass leaves with the prisoner deleted, in Brass' hands within two hours. I want all your copies on my desk by the beginning of next shift. Got it?"

"That's it?" Warrick asks.

"Oh no," I assure him. "At some point, you'll never know when, I will call and you will cover for either I or Sara. Or both. And I don't care what you're in the middle of, got it?"

"Yes."

"Yes," Nick agrees.

"Oh, Catherine," Greg says, sticking his head back in. "I fixed the AV room log to read that they used it for personal use and erased the auto back up. You'll just have to initial off as their supervisor."

I love the boy. Nick and Warrick exchange a worried glance. "Thanks for covering their asses, Greg."

"Anything for you and Sara, Catherine. I'm just honoured that you both trust me with this important aspect of your personal life," he says. I suspect he's laying it on a bit thick but Warrick and Nick don't seem to notice.

"We clear?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Yes," Nick agrees. "You, ah, going to tell Sara about this?"

I smile and they both blanche. I'm not about to keep this from her but I'm willing to play with her reputation around the labs to our benefit. "You know how Sara is about her privacy and how I am about my family. I suggest you get Greg his results off the vehicle and worry about your life expectancy later."

I turn and leave. Always have the last word. Always leaving them sweating.

It isn't until I'm half way home that it hits me.

Family.

END

Next: Détente
URL: www.oocities.org/maven369/in2/csa.html
Main Page: www.oocities.org/maven369
Email at maven369@sympatico.ca