Gil Grissom sat at his desk. Blinds drawn on his windows. Door closed. A message to the world that here was a man that wasn't to be disturbed. He was engrossed in reading information on his laptop. A casual observer might of thought him asleep, as he seemed rooted in his current position. The occasional click of the mouse the only indication that he was indeed awake.

The ring of the phone on his desk broke the silence. He was sorely tempted to ignore it, convinced that his current research was about to pay dividends. After the fourth ring, it had started to annoy him, make him want it to stop, knowing that if anyone was prepared to hold on that long it must be important, he book marked the current page he was viewing and with his left hand reached for the receiver.

"Grissom."

"Gil, it's Jim. Have you seen the news?"

"No…why?"

There was an audible sigh at the other end of the line. "Howard Delhomme trial. He's out."

"What?"

"Some legal technicality. Judge had no option but to let him go."

"Cath…"

"I know. That's why I'm calling. Where is she?"

"Sent her out with Nick." He glanced at his watch. "Three hours ago should be back any time."

"You'd better get them all back, you know the Sheriff, he'll want to brief us all."

"How could this happen Jim? Our evidence was solid."

"Who said it was because of your evidence?" With that last comment the phone call ended.

Gil allowed himself a couple of minutes to compose himself. He had a sick feeling in his stomach. The first time they'd encountered Delhomme his team had almost been torn apart. They'd just about repaired the rift then he'd returned to haunt them. He sighed heavily before picking up the phone and making the necessary calls to bring them all back to the lab.

Half an hour later Gil Grissom walked into the break room to be met by the expectant faces of his team. An uneasy tension filled the room. Thinking about it rationally, this had been evident ever since the high profile trial had commenced, as if in some small way they were reliving the events of the previous year. Tempers had been short and conversation had been cut to a minimum. At the time, he'd thought this was due to the amount of overtime they'd recently had to work, but on reflection now, he wondered just how much the shadow of Delhomme's trial had to play in this.

They all moved as one to their familiar places around the table. No one spoke; they sensed this was serious if Grissom had called them all back from the field it had to be a major incident. The last time this had happened was when their evidence had been called into question. They were all too aware of the only current case where their evidence was being used; silently the five team members wished they were not going to be called into question about this one.

Gil cleared his throat. He'd retrieved a pen and some paper from his desk before joining them and was now idly rubbing the pen between his thumb and forefinger, while contemplating the best approach. Finally, as the air became oppressive, he decided on his wording. He took his reading glasses off with his left hand placing them gently on the table, before placing the pen next to them. He clasped his hands, his left thumb resting above his right.

"Okay, you are probably wondering what caused me to bring you all back here." He chanced a glance at each member of his team. His eyes finally settling on Catherine, sat beside him. She raised an eyebrow at him, willing him to continue. "As you are all to well aware, the Howard Delhomme trial has been proceeding for several weeks and we were expecting a jury decision any day. I've been informed that the judge has had to let Delhomme go, as of an hour ago he was a free man. I'm expecting the Sheriff to arrive momentarily to brief us further."

Nick looked across at Catherine. "The evidence was good, right?"

Gil interrupted. "I looked at everything before the case went to trial. I know for us all this was… was a difficult case. The evidence we provided in my opinion was solid. Look, we don't know why he was acquitted; before we start accusing one another; let's listen to what the Sheriff has to say."

As if on cue, Sheriff Atwater bustled into the break room. He glanced nervously around at the gathered team then sat at the empty place at the head of the table. He raised his right hand to his face, nervously stroking his moustache a couple of times before speaking. "I'm sure by now you have been made aware of the situation with Howard Delhomme." He paused, letting a brief moment of silence cement the reality of what had happened in the minds of each person in the room. "I know this was a difficult case for all of us. I am confident that the evidence you submitted was above reproach, which is why I've come here. The case collapsed due to errors made by the prosecution, nothing to do with your evidence, the jury were unable to convict based upon the charges and case the D.A. presented. I've spoken with Judge Edmonds he could find no fault with your testimonies or the evidence you presented. I thought you needed to be made aware of this as the case was played out in the press there will be fallout, which we will have to deal with. We have a team on that already, however I'm sure you are aware of the lengths the local press will go to, to get a headline quote. If you are asked about this case from any source, other than official department staff, no matter how much they try to antagonize you, or catch you off guard, you are to make no comment. Is that understood?"

The room was silent. All eyes were cast so they could not meet another's, nobody wishing to expose their reaction to the news and the veiled insult the Sheriff had just given them, they were professionals, they didn't spend their time deliberately feeding sound bites to the local media.

Nick studied his fingernails haunted by Kenny Richmond and how this old acquaintance had nearly cost him his job the previous year, by telling the local news about Murder Central, during the Dominguez investigation. How was he to know an innocent conversation would become the lead story on the news? Yet a part of him chastised himself, he should have known better, that was a rookie mistake, for all his teasing of Greg the young CSI hadn't made a mistake like that. But he had learnt, surely the Sheriff couldn't expect to constantly reprimand him for one mistake.

Catherine closed her eyes, she had tried to forget Howard Delhomme, something about the man seemed to make her skin crawl, like that time when she'd taken bad acid and thought cockroaches were crawling under her skin. She still shuddered now when Grissom showed her his championship cockroach team. Thoughts of cockroaches blended into the darkness behind her eyes, instead the vision of Howard Delhomme lunging towards her, spittle launching from his mouth along with the poisonous accusations, as she faced him that last time. She abruptly opened her eyes, preferring to chance the piercing, accusing looks of her colleagues to the face of a madman.

Sara took hold of the plastic cup of water in front of her. She didn't need a drink but the simple act of raising the cup to her lips and slowly sipping the cool liquid occupied her for a few minutes allowing someone else to break the almost oppressive silence the room had sunk into. She was angry and frightened that this anger might soon become evident to the Sheriff and Grissom. After all, this case was originally hers, despite his little speech she couldn't help scratching at the old wound, thinking if she'd been in charge things would have been different. She slowly swallowed the water, calming herself, the case may well have been different if she was in charge, but would there be more bodies? She had to admit that Catherine had found a way into Howard Delhomme's head, even if by doing so she'd isolated virtually the whole shift.

Gil Grissom was all to well aware of Atwater's motives in his speech. After all, his predecessor had to do a lot of explaining when Gil's own anger had made him unable to keep to the department line during the Strip Strangler case. One small comment to Catherine and Lynda Darby was firing questions at him, being unable to lie to save Culpepper and Mobley he'd let his feelings be known. Obviously Atwater was well aware of this and wanting to salvage some sort of political career felt the need to remind Gil of where his loyalties should lie. Gil knew where his loyalties lay, with his team and more importantly Catherine. He remembered how she'd come to him after they'd arrested Delhomme; they'd sat together watching the local news footage of him being taken away. She'd not spoken much, but she didn't need to. He knew this man had unnerved her, he'd heard from the officer who was in the interrogation room about how Delhomme had attempted to attack Catherine. When he'd tried to talk to her about it, she'd brushed him off, reminding him of the countless times suspects had made a last attempt at challenging them when they knew their cause was lost. It worried him that she reacted in such a way. She was the one who normally tried to get them all to express their feelings yet here she was hiding them away. He'd made unsuccessful attempts since to get her to talk, but to no avail, the only compensation that allowed him to banish his worries was that Delhomme was safely locked away. That had all changed now.

Warrick Brown stared at the table in front of him. He'd effectively distanced himself from the initial power struggle by not putting in for the promotion. This did not mean the case hadn't impacted him, however. He'd had to appear neutral, as Sara had come to him complaining about the unfairness of Grissom in allowing Catherine to take over the lead in the case. He'd listened to Nick as he'd protested about Catherine's use of Greg to help gather evidence. He hadn't however heard from Catherine directly. She knew him too well to try to influence him, well that was his initial thought. Then he'd seen the way she'd reacted to the main suspect. He knew why she'd not come to him, she was afraid he'd go to Grissom and ask for her to be taken off the case due to the way it was affecting her. He should of, he would of, only Delhomme had been arrested before he had the opportunity to do so. She hadn't spoken to him about the case and to be fair, he'd not questioned her. He was too busy trying to repair the rift between his friends.

Greg Sanders shifted nervously on his seat, willing someone, anyone to speak. He didn't like silence. He remembered all to well the silences and the glances Nick and Sara had given him during this case. He felt used, as if Catherine exploited his eagerness to be in the field at the expense of Nick and Sara. She'd assured him that wasn't the case, and as the case progressed and she trusted and valued his opinions he realized that she had indeed taught him a lot. Maybe her intention wasn't to take advantage of him, knowing her now he knew she didn't seek to exploit people to her own advantage, it was just this case left a sour feeling in his mouth. A feeling he didn't want to return but feared would soon reappear.

Gil stole a glance at Catherine. She was sat with her back ramrod straight, her eyes fixed and unseeing. He needed to get her out of here, end this meeting, talk to Brass and get Atwater out of the lab. He needed to speak. He coughed briefly, drawing the eyes of the room to him, intimidating, yet comforting to know they were all with him. "Sheriff, I can assure you my team will comply with your orders. If there are any further requests please do not hesitate to contact me and I'll inform my team. If that's all, it has been a rather busy night and we have quite a lot of evidence to process…"

Rory Atwater nodded. "Yes, yes, of course. Well thank you, thank you all for your co-operation. Keep up the good work." With that, he stood and left the break room as briskly as he'd arrived.

Gil waited until the Sheriff had left before speaking. "Is there anything anyone wants to say?" Once again, silence greeted him. "In that case, we need to get back to work. Nick you are to continue with your case on your own, Catherine you have a meeting with Brass."

All the team stood, apart from Catherine, exiting the break room not willing to witness the inevitable explosion from Catherine. But what they expected didn't happen. Catherine remained seated; she looked up at Gil questioning his decision.

Unable to resist her silent plea Gil reached out taking hold of her hand. His voice softened as he broke the silence. "I'm worried Catherine. We need to talk to Jim see what we can do to help."

"Why?"

"You know why. The man was infatuated with you. He tried to attack you. I can't, won't stand aside and wait for him to finish what he started."

Catherine brought her right hand up, gently tracing the outline of his face, before cupping his cheek. "Gil, that was last year. A lot has happened since then. He was desperately trying to avoid charges, there's nothing to suggest he's going to do anything to me. I'm here, with you and nothing is going to change that, right?"

Gil brought the hand he held up to lips, kissing her fingers. "I'm not about to let you go. Humour me. See Brass, listen to what he says, than make a decision, okay?"

She smiled, leaned closer and whispered. "If it'll make you happy, I'll listen. I'm not saying I'm going to do what he wants, but for you, I'll listen." She inched closer, letting their lips join in a chaste kiss. Wanting more, wanting to lose herself in him, hide away from the nightmare that had suddenly been thrust upon her, but by doing that he'd know. She had to hide her fear, be strong, and not let him know how much this news was shattering her. Weakness had been the undercurrent of her relationship with Eddie; she wasn't about to lose what she now had with Gil by appearing weak.

Gil pulled away slightly, stroking her hair, before letting his forehead rest on hers, capturing her eyes with his. "Thank you." He sensed her smile, but didn't see it reflected in her eyes. They were closed off to him, which worried him, what was she hiding? How could he help her to trust him?

The sound of a throat being cleared broke the couple apart. They looked up to see Jim Brass smiling, although a little embarrassedly, at them.

"Sorry, guys."

"No problem Jim. I was just persuading Catherine here to listen to you."

Jim chortled, "So that's what they're calling it nowadays!" He paused, taking in their appearance, the concern in Gil's eyes was evident, and Catherine, there was something not quite right, he couldn't put his finger on it. "How are you doing Catherine?"

She smiled; he noted her hand was gripping Gil's. "Okay Jim, just Gil here getting over anxious about Howard Delhomme."

Jim returned the smile. "He just wants to keep you safe, that's all. Well I can't offer you much. In the eyes of the law Howard Delhomme is a free man at this moment in time. We need to be careful, if we try to keep any sort of surveillance on him it could be viewed as harassment. He's got himself one helluva a lawyer; it wouldn't take much on our part for them to be screaming foul. With that in mind our best option is to offer you, Catherine, protection."

Catherine opened her mouth to protest, switching her gaze between Gil and Jim.

Gil squeezed the hand he held. "You promised to hear him out honey."

Jim took a breath, an apologetic look crossing his features. "Even protection… we can't offer you much without just cause. Resources being what they are, I could have a car outside your place for the next week. After that, well, I'd need something to prove the merit of using the resources in this way."

Catherine was aware that both men were staring at her, waiting for her to make a decision. Of that she was grateful, to an extent she was still in charge of the situation. She looked at Gil the worry evident on his face. What was a week of her life, surely she could sacrifice her pride for his reassurance she was safe. "Would I still be allowed out in the field?"

Gil looked to Jim. "I'd prefer it if you weren't, but I know if you aren't out in the field you'll make Gil's life hell. Just make sure you always have at least two other people with you, officers or colleagues."

She looked at Gil. "You really think this is necessary, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

A couple more seconds passed. "Okay then." She agreed. "If it will keep you from worrying about me, I'm sure a week of protection won't be so bad."

Gil squeezed her hand and smiled. "Good. Thanks Jim."

"I'll let you know when I've got two officers assigned. In the meantime, just some simple advice Catherine, if there is anything unusual, or you catch sight of Howard Delhomme at any time near you, let me know straight away."

"I will Jim. But honestly I think the two of you are making too much of this. The man probably barely remembers me." She smiled, hoping it was convincing, not giving a hint of her inner fears.

TBC?