Title: Everything Changes
Author: cjacsifan
Pairing: Catherine/Sara
Rating: R
Disclaimer: CSI is owned by CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer
Summary: Nothing can stop everthing from changing.
Spoilers: Grave Danger

The CSI team was chatting while waiting for Grissom to bring in the night's assignments, "So Grissom what's on the agenda for tonight?"

Grissom just gives Greg one of his patented 'Grissom raised eyebrows' as he puts the files on the table and then begins to speak, "Well Greg, Warrick and Nick have a reported 187 and 211 at Andropov's Jewelers over on Sunrise Cove go with them because it's seems like a big scene...as for you two..." Grissom turns his attention towards Catherine and Sara, "you two have a 419 on Lake Mead, seem a coupke of swimmers went for a moonlight swim and found the body."

"Oh joy, a floater..." Sara interjects her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's either that or paperwork Sara."

"Ok...Cath let's head back to the locker room and get into our overalls because I am not going to wade in the Lake in decent clothes."

"Good idea, see you guys later," Catherine says as she takes the assignment sheet from Grissom and heads to the locker room.

Once in the locker room, Catherine goes to her locker and begins to remove her better clothes and change into her overalls, before she can turn around a second pair of arms wraps around her waist, "Damn you look sexy in just your underwear."

"Damn it Sara you scared me, I know you want to have fun, so do I but not right now..."she then turns to look Sara in the face, "but once we get home I'm all yours..okay." Catherine then gives Sara a chaste kiss.

"Okay, I'm sorry I guess I'm tired of sneaking around like this, I wish we could tell the guys we are a couple."

"I know baby, so would I but with getting Nick back just 2 months ago and the team getting back together again and working as a unit once more..." What the guys didn't know was that Catherine and Sara became a couple right after Nick was saved from being buried alive; the girls knew they felt something for each other but it took Nick's kidnapping to get them to admit their feelings towards each other, "You know what how about after tonight's shift we take them out for breakfast and tell them all."

"Even Grissom?"

"Even Grissom...okay...good, now let's go before Grissom finds us and gives us paper work duty for a month," Catherine says as she kisses Sara and zips up her overalls

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once out at Lake Mead, Catherine and Sara see Detective Sofia Curtis, "So Sofia what do we got?"

"It seems our two skinny dippers over there came out here for a little late night romp under the stars and after words decided to take a dip in the lake."

"Thanks Sofia, let's check the body, but I'm doubtful we'll get anything because of the body being in the water."

What the CSIs or the LVPD didn't know was that they were being watched from the woods over looking the scene, "You failed to weigh the body down properly, as you can see the body has been discovered," says a man with a heavy oriental accent, as he looks through a pair of binoculars.

"I am sorry Sensei, it will never happen again."

The two men leave unnoticed because of all the activity surrounding their earlier visit to Lake Mead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once back at the lab, Sara and Catherine take what they have to the appropriate labs for testing then head down to the morgue to see what Doc Robbins has to say, "So Doc what can you tell us about our body?" Catherine is first to question.

"Good Evening Ladies, well our vic was killed with a bullet to the back of the head, I photographed the wound and sent it up to Bobby in ballistics, I found miniscule amounts of trace in his clothing and some sort of muddy substance on his shoes and under his fingernails so I sent all of that to Hodges...and I took the liberty of taking his fingerprints." the coroner says as he hands the fingerprints to Sara.

"Thanks Doc always a pleasure to see you," Catherine says as the two ladies leave.

"The pleasure is all mine ladies." Doc says before going on to his next case.

Catherine and Sara walk into the fingerprint lab, "Hey Jackie how are you?"

"Doing great, I just got finished helping the guys with their case...so what do you have for me?"

"This is from our floater in Lake Mead, we dont have much to go on because the vic's face was taken off by a bullet shot from behind."

"No problem it will just take a minute..."Jackie takes the prints and runs them....Holy Shit...Catherine...Sara... I think you better take a look at this..."

Catherine and Sara look at the screen and are shocked by what they see:

NAME: Martin Chung

AGE: 43

HOMETOWN: KANSAS CITY, KANSAS

OCCUPATION: FBI Undercover Agent for the Las Vegas Field Office

"We are so screwed..." Catherine then pages Grissom, "Grissom it's Catherine, Sara and I need you in the  fingerprint lab ASAP."

Grissom walks into the fingerprint lab, "Catherine, why the page...you know you could have just come to my office and told me if you had anything important on your case."

"I think you'll change your mind once you see this..." Catherine moved out of Grissom's way and let him take a look at the computer screen.

"Oh shit."

"Well that makes it unanimous," Sara says but then closes her mouth again when her attempt at humor fails.

"You know we have to tell Ecklie about this...and before you two get angry with me I am going to very strongly suggest he keep you both assigned to this case...now I just saw him in his office on the phone let's go talk to him."

Catherine, Sara and Grissom walk to the Assistant Director's office and knock on the open door, Ecklie sees them and motions them to enter as he hangs up his phone.

"Gil...Catherine...Sidle, what can I do for you?"

"We are about to have some trouble on a case." Catherine pipes in.

"What happend did Sidle threaten another suspect."

Sara balls her hands into fists and squeezes them so tight, that her knuckles begin to turn white.

Seeing this Catherine reaches over and puts her hand on the fist closest to her, Sara twitches at this at first but seeing it was Catherine she automatically opens her hand and lets Catherine squeeze it showing her support.

"No Conrad we came he to show you this..." Grissom hands the printout from the fingerprint lab to Ecklie.

Ecklie takes the paper from Grissom, looks it over, "Great just what we need the Feds on our turf...You do know Gil that they will want jurisdiction on this."

"I know and what you will tell them is the two original investigators stay on this case and be allowed to help them."

Ecklie just stares at the three CSIs and sees three pairs of eyes staring back, "I don't know if that's possible but i'll see what I can do...now leave so I can call and set up a meeting with the local agents," Ecklie then picks up his phone summarily ending the meeting.

Gil heads back to his office as Sara and Catherine head in the direction of the ballistics lab to see if Bobby got anything from the photo of the bullet hole that he got from Doc Robbins.

"So anything from the photo of the entry wound Bobby?"

"Sara, Catherine I was just  going to page you from the hole in the your vic's head it looks like it was a .357 magnum...major gun..."

"...Major damage" Sara says finishing Bobby's sentence, then she stands there thinking where she had seen a killing like this before.

"Sara...Sara are you in there..." Catherine gives a little nudge to her girlfriend.

"Oh..sorry I zoned out there for a minute...thanks Bobby," Sara says as Catherine leads her towards the break room.

"You okay honey for a minute there you were somewhere else and I wasn't about to get your attention the way I do when we are together after hours...if you get my drift."

Sara blushes as she and Catherine walk to the break room for some coffee, finding the breakroom empty the two women sit next to each other and hold hands as they sip their coffees.

Ten minutes later, they are paged by Ecklie and head towards his office, "Looks like Ecklie got his answer." Catherine says as she leads the way out of the breakroom.

The two are soon joined by Grissom who also got paged, "Now we'll see if the FBI wants to play ball our way."

The three enter Ecklie's office and are met by three people in very smart looking business attire, "Allow me to introduce the three CSIs working the case...Miss Catherine Willows...Miss Sara Sidle... and their supervisor Gil Grissom."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Special Agent in Charge Robert Maxwell and these are two of my best field agents, Jacqueline Woodrow and Andrew Chavez."

Pleasantries are exchanged and then talk turned to the case, "So you found our agent floating in Lake Mead with a bullet hole in the back of his head and his face all but gone..." Agent Maxwell starts the conversation.

"Yes, but who in there right mind would kill an FBI agent and for what reason."

"I can't divulge too much, but Andrew, Martin and I were working a case that dealt with drugs and prostitution, both coming from the far east..."

"Triad..." was all Sara says and the assembled group look up at her, "Remember Catherine how I said this death looked familiar, well when I was working for the San Francisco Coroner's Office we had alot of Triad victims on the table this was their way of sending a message."

"We can't be too sure ...as I was saying Martin was the man on the inside and Andrew and I were acting as buyers for some of the merchandise...both human and narcotics."

"Grissom, why don't you take Agent Maxwell to see the body and look at what evidence was collected so far...and the other two agents can follow CSI Willows and CSI Sidle to the crime scene."

"Good idea Mr. Ecklie...Andrew, you and Jackie go ahead with Miss Willows and Miss Sidle and I'll coordinate from here along with Mr. Grissom and Mr. Ecklie...and not to worry the local PD will be kept in the loop."

"Okay, Let's get to it then come see either me or Agent Maxwell when you return."

As Catherine was leaving the meeting she already had her phone out and dialed a familiar number, "Jim, it's Catherine could you and Sofia meet us out by the crime scene at Lake Mead...Sara and I have Federal escorts if you get my drift...25 minutes okay see you there."

"CSI Willows,  you and CSI Sidle lead the way and Jackie and I will follow."

"Sure and by the way please call me Catherine..." Sara takes the hint, "and please call me Sara."

The FBI agent pleasantly shakes the ladies hands,"Please call me Andy."

"Thanks Andy see you at the scene," Catherine says as she and Sara get into her SUV and the FBI agent joins his partner in his. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Across the street from the CSI building a young couple dressed as if they were on vacation is taking pictures of the goings on in the parking lot, "The Sensei will want to see these photos," the man tells the woman as the man puts the camera in his pocket and the two of them just keep walking.

As Catherine and Sara drive to the Lake Mead scene, Catherine notices Sara's far away look, "Penny for your thoughts, babe?"

"Nothing really, I guess I was thinking about my time in San Francisco, the friends I had there...the job at the coroner's...even my mother and father."

Sara had told Catherine about her past when the two started dating, so Catherine knew Sara was very upset about something because she never really thought about her parents that much, and when it did happen, it was usually in the form of nightmares that woke both Sara  and Catherine, who had to calm Sara down before she was able to sleep soundly again.

"Try again...it's about this case isn't it?"

Knowing full well she couldn't get anything past Catherine, Sara just nodded her head and kept her gaze out the window, "Mind telling me why you are thinking about your parents at this point and time." Catherine broke the silence.

"Well as I said back at the lab it looked like a Triad assissination...the problem is...that..." Sara began to cry a little.

"What's wrong baby..please tell me why you are crying," Catherine began to panic seeing Sara this way.

Sara calmed down enough to finish what she was saying, "Usually the Triad not only went after their targets...but also co-workers and family of the ones they kill, so right now my stomach is in knots thinking about what might happen to you, Lindsey, one of the guys or anyone else either of us knows."

Catherine thought about it for moment, "After we get to Lake Mead tell the agents your fears and see what they think ought to be done...beside honey I won't let anything happen to the people I love especially you and Lindsey...feeling better."

"Thanks to you I am," Sara gives Catherine a reassuring smile

Agents Chavez and Woodrow are following the two CSIs in an SUV of their own, "So Andy what do you think of the CSIs assigned to the case?"

"They seem competent enough, Jackie so in my opinion I think we should let them in on this, I'm sure Bob is doing that exact thing with their supervisor right now."

"The only thing is as I look over the histories of the two, there are a few red flags, for instance; Catherine was a former stripper and recovered addict, and Sara here it says has been written up numerous times for  berating and threatening witness...she seem like a loose cannon."

"Jackie you can't always go by what is said in those things, hell if you look at the solve rate when these two are on the case the conviction rate is 97.6% so what does that tell you..."

"It tells me they are damn good at what they do...oh you better slow down it looks like we're here," Agent Woodrow says as she notices the CSI SUV coming to a stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Grissom and Ecklie have been going over the evidence of the FBI agent's murder with Agent Maxwell , "From what our ballistics lab noticed the hole looked like that of a .357 Magnum, but we won't know for sure unless our people come back with a weapon and hopefully a shell casing...is there anything you can tell us about who did this?"

Ecklie gives Grissom a stern look, but he does undertstand why he asked the question; he wanted to know what his people were getting involved in and even though he had a strong dislike for Grissom's team, especially Sara, he knew that he had to put aside any personal feelings for the good of the case.

"Well it looks like the work of Lee Wong Zhin, he runs a club in Chinatown in San Francisco..."

"Wait a minute Agent..." with that Grissom runs to the breakroom and gets the paper from a few days ago,"...Is this the man?" Grissom asks as he points out an article about a new Chinese themed club opening off the main Vegas strip

Agent Maxwell looks at the picture in the newspaper and the one from his file, "Yes that's him...looks like he is trying to move his operation east seeing that we know about his business in the San Francisco area, probably thought it was safe to move here."

Ecklie pipes in, "Why weren't the authorities here in Nevada or Las Vegas ever notified?"

"Reason being Mr. Ecklie, we found his place after it had closed down and he moved on, he probably knew we were on to him and we didn't know where until we heard about the death of Agent Chung, he was an undercover operative that was working inside Zhin's business in San Francisco, and the San Fran office transferred him to our office once they found out Zhin was moving his base of operation, but at the time we were unsure where...Would you mind if I took a look at the body, it's not that I don't trust your people but I need to see it for myself."

Grissom nodded and led Agent Maxwell to the morgue, meanwhile in the penthouse office overlooking the Bushido nightclub; the newest in town and the one from the newspaper Grissom showed the FBI agent, a pair of vacationers are showing Zhin the pictures they took, "Very interesting, I see four people but can only see two face; one a petite strawberry blonde and the other a tall brunette, I must know who they are....Mr. Jackson please find out who these two women are please."

Turning to the two photographers Zhin says, "You have done well my students, please continue your activities and let me know who the other two people are."

"As you wish Sensei," the two then bowed to him and left without another word.

Ten minures later Mr. Jackson came in with some paper woek and handed it to Zhin, "Very interesting, the two women are crime scene investigators Catherine Willows and Sara Sidle, we must find out more about them and make sure they make no more trouble for us," Zhin says as he lights a cigar and looks out the window at the multitude of people dancing in his club.

Catherine and Sara exit their SUV, seeing this the FBI agents follow suit, "So Catherine, Sara how do you want to handle this?"

"Well I think we should split up into two groups one on the shore, the other checking the lake itself...good here comes Jim and Sofia," Catherine says as she sees the two detectives exiting their cars.

After all proper introductions are made, it is decided that Sofia will go with Catherine and Andrew; while Sofia goes with Sara and Jackie. It is decided that Catherine's group will be the one trolling the water.

After a few minutes of silent searching Andrew breaks the ice, "So Catherine how long have you being in law enforcement?"

"Truthfully only about 12 years...and yourself?"

"Well from an early age I knew I wanted to be in law enforcement because my father was a police officer while I was growing up...I remember reading in your file that you have a daughter do you want her following in your footsteps?"

"Well not exactly..."Catherine chuckles at Andrew's confusion, "you see Agent, before I was a CSI, I was an exotic dancer so you see why I wouldn't want that for her.

"Wow from exotic dancer to CSI, talk about a complete 180 degree turn."

"Well it was because I was married and got pregnant that I had to quit dancing, because if there is one thing that is really bad for the exotic dance business it's pregnant dancers...so I went to night school at a local university and here I am."

Meanwhile on the beach, Catherine's conversation isn't going unnoticed by Sara, who is looking somewhat forlorn at the closeness of her girlfriend and the male FBI agent.

"Sara are you even hearing me...Earth to Sara, I think we have just found the casing."

"Oh sorry Sofia, my mind must've wandered...what were you saying."

"I said we just found the shell casing, so I figure we should radio Jim and tell him to search the lake in this area...." Sara nods her head in agreement, "And don't worry Sara, you know Catherine loves you."

Sofia gives Sara a supportive hug and then radioes Jim about where to search and find the gun.  Sofia then notices two vacationers taking pictures by the lake and gives them a warning that they are trespassing on a crime scene and should leave before they are arrested, the vacationers do as they are told.

After about twenty minutes of searching, the gun is finally brought up to the surface, "Damn Bobby sure knows his firearms..."Sara says which gets looks of confusion from the rest of the group,"Don't you remember Catherine, Bobby told us the weapon was more than likely going to be a .357 Magnum."

"Now that you mention it your right...so let's get this stuff to the lab and then treat these guys to good old fashioned Vegas diner breakfast," Catherine says pointing to Andrew and Jackie, when everyone agrees everyone gets back to their cars and begins to drive to the lab to drop off the gun and casing and then to the diner.

Getting back to the lab in half an hour Sara and Catherine head towards ballistics and show Bobby what they got, on the out of the ballistics lab, Sara decides to pose a question to Catherine, "Catherine do you love me?"

"Of course I do Sara, why would you think otherwise?"

Sara answers shyly, "Well I saw you and Andy talking animatedly and ....never mind."

"No Sara tell me what you are thinking."

"I was wondering what you were talking about."

"Sara he was asking me about how I became a CSI and about Lindsey that's all honey...you have nothing to worry about..." but still seeing that Sara was still unsure, Catherine takes drastic measures and pulls Sara into the ladies restroom.

"Catherine why are we in here....and why are you unbuttoning your blouse?"

"I just want to prove a point to you Sara..." Catherine says somewhat angrily, "You feel that..." Catherine asks as she places Sara's hand over her heart and Sara nods, "That is my heart beating for you Sara, it's beating for you and no one else because it is and always has been yours...I love you Sara Sidle and I will until the end of time."

Sara hugs Catherine tighter than she has ever held anyone before, "I 'm so sorry Cath...I promise never to doubt you again...it's just with my issues..." Sara is cut off by Catherine's lips that meet hers in a passionate kiss.

"So no more talk about you doubting my love, okay..." Sara nods and the two walk out of the rest room hand in hand and see the others waiting for them before heading off to the diner.

As they reach their SUV and get in, Sara turns to Catherine, "I love you too Catherine Willows from now until the end of time."

As the group of law enforcement employees are eating breakfast Sofia notices two people staring at the group, "What is it Sofia?"

"Those two people staring at us, I noticed them earlier while we were at Lake Mead...."

Jackie looks up, "You know I think I saw them standing across the street from the CSI building when we were leaving for the Lake..." the agent then non-chalantly takes out her cell phone and takes a picture of the two people.

"We can use the facial recognition software back at the lab after breakfast and find out who they are," Brass says and everyone nods in agreement.

Once breakfast is done and everyone is back at the lab, Jackie hands her camera over to Archie who then runs the FRS and after a few minutes the computer comes up with two faces and names, "Jesus Christ..." Jackie says.

"I'm going to get Bob in here...now this is getting serious," Andrew says before he leaves to find his boss

"Will someone please tell us what the hell is going on?"

Just as Sofia finishes her question Andrew comes back to the A/V lab followed by Agent Maxwell, Grissom and Ecklie, and Andrew shows his boss the computer screen and Agent Maxwell's face goes pale, "Will someone please tell the rest of us who these two people are?" Catherine repeating Sara's earlier question.

"These two people are Triad assassins."

"Nothing at the present time...there's isn't much we can do." Agent Maxwell says.

"So what are we going to do, sit on our hands while these two killers roam the streets?" Sara asks angrily.

"No we have to connect the dots and make sure that these two are in fact connected to whomever killed Agent Chung."

"Oh so we're playing games now..." Sara was about to continue until getting a glare from Ecklie so she decided to keep her comments to herself.

It was at this time Agent Maxwell filled in the rest of the team about Zhin and the Bushido nightclub, "...So you see Miss Sidle until we find a way to connect those two and their handler to Agent Chung's killer and then to Zhin...You see where I am coming from."

"I do...but I don't like it."

"Neither do I Miss Sidle...but it's the best we can do at the present time...also what we need is your full team Mr. Grissom, can they be spared?"

Grissom looks over at Ecklie who nods in agreement, "Okay from now on this is night shift's only case...any of you that have any cases open hand all materials to me and I will make sure my team gets them so you can all work on this case."

"Pinch me." Brass says out of the blue.

"Why Jim?"

"Because Gil, I must be dreaming if Ecklie is being this cooperative." Everyone chuckles at Brass's joke.

"I think what we need to do is check Martin's notes and see if there is any mention of these two or any connection he may have made between them and Zhin..." Jackie states.

"Good idea Jackie, but I still think we should have someone on the inside...okay ladies and gentlemen I suggest you get all your materials from your open cases to Mr. Ecklie and then we can meet in the breakroom in about 30 minutes and try and come up with a plan," Everyone nods in agreement and heads to the areas where they do their paperwork.

About a half hour later the team including Ecklie, Brass and Sofia are in the breakroom trying to figure out just how to as Agent Maxwell put it 'connect the dots'.

"I think we should have someone go in the club and look over the place not only as a patron, but maybe even as an employee that can get close to Zhin," Ecklie pipes in.

"Oh and the last time we tried that Sara almost got killed going after the strip strangler..." Catherine speaks up.

"I'll have you know Catherine, that Sidle asked for that assignment, Grissom couldn't talk her out of it so I all could do was do was sign off on it."

Catherine looks at Sara with wide-eyed surprise at the revelation and then gives her a 'we will talk about this later' stare. Sara hangs her head and stares at the floor for a moment then looks over and gaives Catherine a small smile, which is immediately returned.

Warrick speaks up, "What if Nick and I go to the club and tell the guys we are from some 'family' from the East Coast  and see if Zhin wants to go into business with our family...Brass can have some of his bigger guys be body guards and then maybe we can stage a break in make it look like a robbery...."

"Then I come in and tell Zhin that I am an expert at security and set up a system that will not only feed what the camera sees to his monitors in the club but also to monitors here at the lab that way we can watch and hear him and hear things going on in the club without him knowing about it." Archie pipes in.

"I do not want any non-investigators involved with this case..."Agent Maxwell says vehemently.

"Well you did say you wanted nightshift personnel and Archie is the best A/V guy in the country," Grissom defends Archie.

"Okay Mr. Johnson you're in, but I think we should wait about a week so we can go over the plan and get to know it so well we can do it in our sleep, but I still want to see if we can get anything on any of these people before we put the plan into action...If that's everything I think it's time we had some breakfast...you folks know any place?"

"I do...but first Sara and I have something we want to tell all of you..."

"Really the two of you...dating."

"That's right Nicky and it's all because of you."

Nick gives Catherine with a confused look, "Well Nick remember when you were buried alive..." Nick just nods and Sara continues, "Well I guess Catherine and I couldn't hold our feelings in any longer because we both figured what happend to you could have happend to any of us...so we, well actually I told Catherine first and to my surprise she told me she felt the same way," Sara then kisses Catherine on the cheek not caring about the people around them.

"So I guess I never had a chance...did I?"

"I'm sorry Greg, but you know that you have been and always will be my best friend," Sara says hugging Greg.

"Hey any way I can get you is okay by me."

Catherine then looks over to Gil, who was very quiet during the whole announcement and notices him trying to force a smile and she points it out to Sara, "I am truly sorry Gil, but I need someone to be there for me not only physically but emotionally as well so please try and understand...I do care for you but it's just not the way I did when I got here I think you are the most intelligent man I know and as a mentor and boss you have been the best and as a friend you are truly among my best."

"As long as you're happy that's all that matters."

"You better not hurt this woman or I will come after your ass."

"Not to worry Rick, Catherine will never have to worry about being hurt again."

"Well not to put a damper on this mini celebration but we best get going...and I just thought of something if those two 'vacationers' were at the diner the last time we were there they will probably be there today as well so what about going to another diner," Jackie pointed out.

Everyone nodded in agreement at Jackie's assessment of the situation, "Hey how about the Cactus Flower diner...it's out of the way and most of the patrons are law enforcement," Brass piped in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About an hour later the breakfast was over and everyone was heading back to there cars, "Hey babe you want to come over for some coffee or do you need to get home?"

"No I think I can spare a little more time away from Lindsey besides she doesn't have school today some kind of teacher's conference I think...so I 'll see you at your place in 20," with that Catherine got in her SUV and Sara got in hers

The drive home was very short for Sara because the whole way she was thinking how happy she was to have her and Catherine's relationship out in the open now, she waited for Catherine to park her car and the two of them walked up the three flights of stairs to her apartment, with each step Sara cursing her landlord for in her words 'being too god damn lazy to get the freakin' elevator fixed'.

As the two women got to Sara's apartment, Catherine notices the door slightly ajar, "Honey did you remember to lock your door last night before shift?"

Sara not paying too much attention because she was looking at the newspaper she picked up from her mailbox, "I'm sure I did why?"

"Take a look," Catherine shows Sara the open door and the two women creep slowly into the apartment.

"What the hell happend in here?"

"I don't know but I'm calling Ecklie?"

"Why him, why not call our guys?"

"Because this might be a conflict of interest, but if you want to call them go ahead."

Catherine called Ecklie and Sara called Grissom and the two men told them exactly the same thing; not to touch anything and that they'd be there asap, "Sara what's that painted on the wall over there," Catherine notices a chinese symbol on the wall in red paint

"I don't know but I sure as hell don't like the looks of it."

Gil and the rest of the team make their way to Sara's apartment, along with Ecklie, Brass, Sofia and the three FBI agents.

"Jesus, Sara...Catherine... are you both okay...it looks like a tornado blew through this place." Gil asks

"We're okay Gil, just a bit shocked and take a look at that," Sara points over to the character on the wall.

"My God, that looks like blood...Greg take a sample...does anyone here know what that character means?"

"Death, Mr. Grissom...it's the chinese character for death," Agent Woodrow speaks up.

At this news  Sara began to pace like a nervous father in an old delivery room, "What do you think I should do?"

"You're coming home with me...hell you practically live there now so what's the big deal." Catherine says as calm as possible and hoping her humor would lighten the mood.

"No Catherine...I wil not come home with you."

Catherine looks at Sara with hurt embedded deeply in her eyes, "Why not don't you love me anymore....I gotta get some air," and with that Catherine steps out of the apartment and down the stairs.

Sara just looks at Grissom, "Go ahead we can finish up here," Sara gives him a sad smile and heads out to find Catherine.

Sara finds Catherine just outside the apartment complex door sitting on the an old bench, "Penny for your thought honey?"

"I thought that you loved me but I guess I must've been mistaken...I can not believe after telling the team about us no more than 45 minutes ago you pull something like this why I evhmphh."

"Now will you please shut up and listen..." Sara says after ending the kiss that stopped Catherine's rant, Catherine nods and looks at Sara, "Catherine I love you with all my heart and with every part of my being and that's why I can't stay with you now."

Catherine just looks at Sara as if she had spoken in an ancient tongue, "What the hell does that mean."

"That means those Triad assassins know where I live and that means that you'll be in danger if I stay with you...now do you understand why I won't stay with you I am not going to put you or Lindsey in any danger....by the way where is Lindsey tonight?"

"She's with my mom and Sam....but if they know where you live they might know where I live...here take my keys and get in my car, I'm going to tell Grissom."

"Okay meet you down there," The two women then go their separate ways and meet in Catherine's car in 5 minutes.

"Sara I just told Grissom what we are doing  and he just told me that the character was painted in human blood...God this case is just getting worse," Catherine begins to cry.

"Shhh honey, don't worry we will be fine....shhhh," Sara says trying to soothe Catherine but she isn't sure if she's trying to convince Catherine, or herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later the women pull into Catherine's driveway and notice that there is nothing out of the ordinary outside, but they do notice that the door is open an slowly enter in, hoping against hope of not seeing the same thing that they did in Sara's apartment.

"Catherine, look...up on the wall," Sara says pointing to a spot on the wall next to a photo of Catherine and Lindsey.

"Those Bastards...WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO US...." Catherine screams as angry tears roll her face, and all Sara can do is hold Catherine until she calms down

"We have to call Grissom...," Sara hits speed dial on her phone, "Grissom it's Sara....we're at Catherine's house....yes we have another character...yes it's the same one and the same color....you want us to meet you there once Sofia gets here...okay see you back at the lab."

"What's up?" Catherine asks getting her composure back.

"DB in a hotel  just of the strip, Grissom wants us to meet him there."

"What about your apartment...my house... who's going to go through those scenes?" Catherine asks angrily

"Ecklie's shift and our guys will split the scenes some from his team and Rick over here while Nick and Greg and others from Ecklie's team will be at my place."

"Sara I'm sorry about my outbursts it's just that now that we might be targets...I'm scared."

"I am too Cath, but I always remember one thing my favorite foster mom told me."

"What's that?"

"Nothing happens, until it happens, if it happens...get it?"

"I think so...let's get moving."

Ten minutes and Gil sees Catherine and Sara walking towards him, "So everything okay between you two...," both women nod, "Good, let's go see what we have."

What the three CSIs see almost sickens them; a man tied to a chair that has been beheaded and his head is in his lap, "My God that is a gruesome way to go?"

"That's for sure Gil, and Sara does this man's face look familiar?"

Sara turns around and looks at the head and says, "My God that's the male assassin."

"Which means...."

"Which means ladies...Zhin knows we are on to him."

"Zhin...Grissom who the hell is that?" Sara asks as she feels as if she is on her last nerve.

"Zhin is the owner of the Bushido, that new club on the strip."

"Oh yeah, I remember reading about him in the paper...Sam was all nervous because of his reputation for bringing clubs into areas and they becoming so popular that the established ones close down..." Catherine states, "but what does he have to do with all these killings." 

"He is the one we have been looking for, the Feds knew about him but didn't let us in the loop until they found out that Zhin had killed their agent..."

"Which is where this whole god damned nightmare started." Sara finishes Gil's statement.

"Why the hell did they wait so freaking long to tell us anything?" Catherine asks, anger rising in her voice. 

Gil replies calmly knowing full well the anger in Catherine's voice is not directed at him but at the situation the Feds put the lab in, "They said it was because they weren't positive it was him, but when the body was found in Lake Mead and it was Agent Chung, Maxwell and his team knew it was Zhin."

"Great and we meaning the fine law enforcement community of Las Vegas just let him and his organization waltz in here and start over what the Feds stopped them from doing back in Sa Francisco....is there anything we can do?" Sara's anger spills out in her voice.

"Not really, according to the State of Nevada and City of LAs Vegas he owns a night club...he is a legitimate business man...hopefully when we figure out a plan to infiltrate his organization we will stop him."

"Meanwhile we sit and wait while the body count just keeps going up."

"I think I know someone that might help us...."

Gil sensing what Catherine is about to do stops her, "NO Catherine don't do it, you really want to start a 'family war' over this because if that happens you know there will be innocent lives lost among the dead....is that what you want."

"DAMN IT Gil you should know me better than that all I was doing is calling Sam and my mother to see how Lindsey is and then I will talk to same to see if there is any talk in Sam's 'circle of friends' to see if Zhin is looking to hire anyone."

"I'm sorry Catherine it's just...."

"I know Gil, let me go make my phone call and I'll let you know what Sam says," Catherine then leaves Sara and Grissom to use her cell phone outside.

After a few moments of awkward silence, "Hey Grissom I'm really sorry you had to find out about Catherine and I the way you did...I hope it won't damage our friendship and us working together."

"Don't worry Sara, it won't besides I had my chance and I let it slip away....as long as you two are happy I'm okay with it, and as far as working together and being friends, that relationship will always be a good one."

"Thanks Grissom..." Sara then sees Catherine coming back into the room, "So how's Linds and what did Sam have to say."

"Lindsey is fine, she says hello to everyone and as for Sam, he heard from one of his contacts that Zhin is looking for a new head of security, so it looks like it's time to put our plan into action."

"Well let's finish up here, head back to the lab and once let everyone know what you found out from Sam, then when the guys get back from your places and we finish up doing the preliminary work on this body then we can talk about a plan...let's get moving." Grissom says as the three CSI get to work on the body and the room.

Everyone gets back to the lab and checks in and they all go over what evidence they now have, "Well we know that the symbols in Catherine's house and Sara's apartment were both blood; human blood in fact..." Rick starts the meeting.

"Blood we now know is from our victim in the hotel without his head...Doc also confirmed ID from the fingerprints...the victim's name was Thomas Yin, sometime muscle for some of the bigger gangs here in Vegas, sometimes he even worked for 'The Family' if you get my drift..." Catherine interjects.

Agent Chavez takes over, "We also now know the identity of the female assassin; "Her name is Carlotta Yang....and she happens to be Zhin's daughter....and Yin's wife."

"Talk about one man's family..." Nick says trying to lighten the mood, "But what I don't understand is first of all the first name...Zhin seems to be very proud of his asian heritage the name Carlotta sounds like it would be latino...and why would she kill her own husband?"

"Yin and Yang...that's real cute," Sara says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Carlotta was the name of the mother of his late wife Maria; Maria was killed during a war with another arm of the Triad and Zhin's family vowed revenge and took over the whole Triad and in the process Carlotta met Thomas Yin during her time in university and when her father found out he was angry, that was until he found out that Thomas was the son of one of the Triad lieutenants from one of the families he took over...." Agent Woodard explains.

"A regular Romeo and Juliet meets Bonnie and Clyde love story...how sweet" Brass deadpans.

"But why would she kill her husband...isn't he family too?"

"Yes he is but not a blood relative...these Triad types follow the old adage Blood is thicker than water almost fanatically....and he disgraced the family by being recognized so he had to be dealt with."

"Damn that's cold."

"No Greg that's tradition...I read where in families such as those in the Triad make the person that is within the organization kill the their spouse, or other adult family members if they feel that person has done something to put the family in jeopardy...don't you remember the scene in Gofather II where  Michael takes Fredo out on the fishing boat and kills him."

"That was just a movie based on a book Grissom."

"Where do you think the author got the idea."

"Point taken."

"I really think it's time we got some sleep..." Ecklie says seeing how tired the teams are looking, "So why don't we all go home and get some sleep and come back here in the morning and start fresh."

"Good idea Mr. Ecklie, as for Catherine and Sara, I think we will put them up in hotel or our safe house...."

"No offense Agent Maxwell but I'm staying here...you know as well as I do once the Triad realizes that Catherine and I left they are bound to find out where we are...Hell they found out where we live what's to say they won't find out where we are overnight...no I won't put anyone else in danger...we can find something here." Sara says stubbornly.

"I think we have a couple of cots in the storage room we can set you up in the break room." Ecklie says.

"I'd rather go to 'my lab' area thanks all the same."

Everyone knew Sara's lab area was a small room in the back of the lab where she would go to think about a case or to calm herself if a case was bothering her, "Suit yourselves...good night." Ecklie says leaving the break room.

"Why don't you two head to the locker room; take a shower and find something comfortable to sleep in, the guys and I will get you two set up in the back."

"You okay with that Cath, I know I spoke up for you not knowing what you wanted to do...I just whmmph"

"I know you wanted to make sure I was safe so it's no problem, besides it's just another reason that makes me love you more."

"I love you too...I think it's best if we wear overalls to bed, because of the guys saw what we really wear to bed..."

"We'd get arrested for indescent exposure." Catherine finishes Sara's sentence.

Twenty minutes later, Catherine and Sara walk into 'Sara's lab' refreshed and dressed for bed, "Thanks guys for doing this for us."

"No sweat Cath, besides we want the two of you safe....we're a family and GOD only knows what we would do if something happend to either of you." Rick says as the other three men nod in agreement.

"Thanks guys...we love you too," Hugs and wishes of 'good night' and 'pleasant dreams' are offered between everyone.

As the women bed down for the evening Catherine notices how quiet Sara has become, "Sara what's wrong?'

"Nothing.." Sara says trying to hide the fact she's crying.

"Sara are you crying..." Catherine gets her flash light from under her cot and shines it at Sara who has her head in her hands, "Sara, sweety please look at me..." Catherine sees Sara and it breaks her heart to see the woman she loves like this, "Come here baby...." Sara joins Catherine sitting on her cot, "Wanna talk about it?"

"I've been on edge ever since this case began and what Rick said kind of hit home for me; what if something does happen to one or both of us...what happens then, to either me or you....or Lindsey."

"Sara honey...nothing is going to happen to us especially since we have the whole LVPD protecting us...besides wasn't you that said and I quote 'nothing happens, until it happens, if it happens'...so honey let's worry about tomorrow when it comes, because right now I want to cuddle with my girlfriend, lie down baby."

"Thanks Cath."

"You're welcome."

"I love you Catherine."

"I love you too Sara."

The two women fall blissfully asleep; exhausted from the events of the past few days and hoping that all this will be over soon and they can get back to their normal lives once again.

A loud bang wakes up both Sara and Catherine, "Oh my God what was that...." it was then Catherine realizes she and Sara stayed overnight in the lab, "Sara...sweety, it's okay probably Bobby test firing a gun from a case." Catherine calms Sara who looks pale.

"Oh okay...I almost forgot where we were...how'd you sleep honey?"

"Much better than I would on my own or at some hotel at least here there are people around and the Triad would have had to go through them before coming after us...and to tell you the truth I almost forgot about us being here and when I heard the shot it scared the shit out of me."

"Why do you think I reacted and looked like I did...it was almost as scary as...."

"As the night your mother killed your father," Catherine finished Sara's sentence, Sara just nodded; Sara had confided in Catherine about her past abuse at the hands of her parents almost immediately after they declared their feelings for one another, this way there are no secrets between the two of them.

"Well we best get up and showered and dressed, You have an extra outfir here Cath because if not I've got a few so if you need one let me know."

"That's okay babe, thanks anyway...I did bring extra just in case I need them after a case if I get all dirty or slimy or wet."

"You know I love it when you're wet Cath," Sara whispers as she slowly unzips Catherine's overalls.

Catherine loses her bearings momentarily but gets back to her senses and says, "Work now, play later."

Sara pouts a bit, "Promise?"

"You know that I do," and with that the two women head to the locker room and after about 45 minutes they are both up and dressed and in the breakroom looking for something to eat.

"Hey, I forgot I had these here," Sara says as she pulls a couple of boxes out of the freezer.

"What are they honey."

"A couple of microwave breakfasts; one has scrambled eggs, tater tots and soy bacon...the other has pancakes and soy bacon, your choice."

"You know how I love yout pancakes babe so that sounds good to me...why are you eating eggs I thought vegetarians don't eat any type of animal by-products."

"Those are vegans...they are hard core vegetarians; no meat, eggs, cheese, hell they won't even wear leather, wool or anything that came from an animal...understand the difference?" Sara explains as she pulls the two meals from the microwave.

"Yeah, I guess it makes sense...hey these aren't half bad."

"See I told you I could cook," Sara jokes and the two women laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two hours later the night shift including Brass and Sofia comes in, being that the case is so high profile, Grissom's team has the run of the lab whenever is necessary, "So did anyone come up with an idea on how check out the Bushido night club?" Agent Maxwell questions the team.

"Well I was thinking that maybe Nick and I could go to the club and look around...maybe take Mandy and Wendy with us." Warrick says.

"No civilians, Mr. Brown...I think it's best that we use police women in case things get rough...not to say that these women wouldn't be able to take care of themselves, but I feel it best that it be someone with a police background."

"Any ideas Brass...Fia?" Nick asks.

"Well we could use a couple of the ladies from vice, they know what to look for and how not to get caught while doing it....Let me make a few phone calls."

"Before we do that, we think we should get your man Archie on the inside first and set up the equipment we need him to for survaillance," Agent Chavez tells Brass.

Catherine's eyes get a twinkle in them, Sara knows this can't be good, "Whatever you're thinking Catherine don't do it."

"Sara all I'm going to do is call Sam and have him put the information out about a great new computer/security expert he used when building his newest casino and see if Zhin takes the bait and hires Archie."

"Good idea Miss Willows, but we need to come up with a name and complete working history for him."

Archie interjects," How about Kao Shen Loo, that is my great-great grandfather's name and I could tell them that he was a great Shaolin master and my father was his favorite great grandson and so to honor his great-grandfather he named me after him."

"Well that might work because from everything I have heard about the Shaolin they are very private so they would not be able to find out the real truth...what about your parents' names," Agent Maxwell says.

"Well we could tell Zhin they died and there wishes were to be creamated and there ashes scattered in the Ocean."

"But we will need documentation for all that, including school records, employment records and even records for the 'death' of his parents how are we going to pull that off?" Greg asks.

"We can check with the guys in undercover and forgery squads, I'm sure that by the time they're done Archie could be pope." Sofia jokingly says

"How long to you figure this will take Agent Maxwell?" Gil speaks up.

"Well if Miss Willows can talk to her father within the next few days...I'd say that by early next week we could get started....if that's everything then lets get going."

Catherine walks up to Agent Woodard, "Jackie how is it that Agent Maxwell knew Sam Braun was my father?"

"Catherine we know everything about you; professionally and personally..." Catherine looks at Agent Woodard with a shocked look, because that means that the FBI knows about what Sam does and about her former addiction to cocaine, "don't worry Catherine, everything in the files about all of you is strictly for the agent's eyes only no one else will see it....and by the way I think it is brave of you and Sara to come out to your team, it probably wasn't when and how you wanted to, and because you two work in law enforcement you thought it would be hard."

"You're right about that Jackie, but the night shift is like our second family and I knew Sara and I couldn't keep hiding it much longer."

"Well we better get going or the rest of the team will come looking for us," and with that Jackie and Catherine join the rest of the team in Ecklie's office to tell him the plan.

Catherine and Sara hear the alarm ring from the bed table besides the bed they are sharing while in Sam's house just outside of Vegas; it seems Sam heard from Lindsey what was going on and immediately told Catherine that she and Sara would stay in his house, of course the two of them were nervous about leaving the confines of the lab, but Sam being Sam told not only them but the FBI angents that his daughter and her girlfriend was staying with him because they were family and felt that he could protect them better because Zhin didn't know where he lived.

"Good morning baby," Catherine says turning over to give Sara a morning kiss.

"MMMM Morning love," Sara says then gets a fair away look in her eyes.

"Penny for your thoughts, hon."

"I'm just thinking about us....I guess I was nervous because not only did we have to come out and tell the team we were a couple but also to Sam and Lily, I think that scared me more than telling the guys."

"Didn't I tell you not to worry, my mom knew from my younger days I was attracted to women but because of the way society was back then she thought it best that I hide that aspect of my personality....but once a certain sexy brunette came from San Francisco I couldn't hide those feelings anymore."

"I wonder if I know this brunette you are talking about?" Sara asks with a smirk on her face.

"Smart ass..." was all Catherine says before throwing a pillow in Sara's direction.

After the laughter dies down Sara looks at Catherine, "I want to thank you for last night; the candle light dinner, the dancing not to mention our bedroom activities, it really meant a lot to me knowing that we can still be romantic even if we are under this dark cloud."

"Sara there is no reason to thank me; I love you with all my heart and soul, besides Lindsey you are the most inportant person in the world to me...I will let nothing happen to either of you...now let's get showered, dressed and see what's for breakfast.'

About thirty minutes later Catherine and Sara, make their way to the dining room in Sam's house and are greeted with hugs by everyone, including Sam; both Catherine and Sara were afraid to tell Sam about their relationship, but once he saw how much they loved each other and but more importantly how much Lindsey loved Sara he knew everything would be all right.

After breakfast Sam, Catherine and Sara went into Sam's study," I did what you asked me to Muggs, I let it be known that your friend from the lab was a great security and computer expert just like you asked."

"Have you heard anything back from Zhin, Mr. Braun."

"Nothing yet Sara, and please everyone in my family calls me Sam."

"Thank you Sam," Sara just looks at Catheirne with a smile; Catherine's eyes are glazed over with tears of joy at Sam's acceptance of Sara into their family, especially knowing the kind of family that Sara came from.

The ring from Catherine's cell phone breaks the silence and she answers it, "Willows...oh hi Grissom...he did, you're kidding....that's great....okay we'll be there asap."

"What was that all about Cath?"

"It seems Zhin contacted Archie and wants him in his office for an interview tomorrow afternoon," Catherine says.

"Now maybe we can get somewhere with this case."

"Well then let me call get Ambrose to get the car from the garage so he can take the two of you to the lab...and Mugs I know what you're going to say, you've said it ever since I've had my driver take you to work, but because the two of you are family, I'm only taking precautions that I think are necessary."

"Thanks Sam," Catherine says as she hugs Sam

"You're welcome Muggs," Sam then hugs Catherine.

Sam then walks over to Sara, "Thank you Sara..."

"For what Sam?"

"For making my Muggs happy..." he then gets a stern look on her face, "But if you hurt her in anyway, shape or form, I will come after you."

"That is the furthest thing from my mind Sam...don't worry I'll watch out for her."

"I know you will...now you two better get going."

After the two women leave, Sam goes to his desk and picks up his phone and dials a number, "This is Sam Braun, may I speak to Mr. Zhin."

"Mr. Braun to what do I owe this call?" Zhin asks as he drinks his morning tea.

"Well I just wanted to know if you looked over the information I sent you on Kao Shen Loo, the security and computer expert I had told you about."

"He looks very promising, I am going to interview him for the position tomorrow afternoon, is there anything you can add Mr. Braun?"

"Just that he is very loyal and a hard worker, from what I have heard from my friends in the business world that have hired him."

"Why then did he leave his last employer?"

"If memory serves me it had to do with a sickness in his family...I believe it was his father that got very ill and died...he left the employer, because he could not serve his boss as well as he wanted to...you see Mr. Zhin...Mr. Loo is very faithful to his family but even more faithful to his work," Sam added the last part in knowing that Zhin would be happy about that.

"Thank you so much for the information Mr. Braun, I'll make sure Mr. Loo knows how pleased I can be with the kind of hard worker he seems to be...Good day."

"Good day to you Mr. Zhin," Sam then hung up his phone and got ready to go to work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Catherine and Sara rode up to the door of the lab and got out with the help of their driver, Ambrose, "I could really get used to that," Sara says with a smile.

"I know what you mean, but if we had a driver that would mean we were rolling in dough and wouldn't need to be here working."

"True Cath, but isn't fun just to see Ecklie's face every morning that we drive up in this thing," Sara began chuckling.

"That is funny...but let's get in there and see what's happening," Catherine says putting her 'game face' on.

As the women enter the breakroom everyone else except for Brass and Sofia are there," Good morning everyone...where are Brass and Sofia?"

"They said they'd be here in a few...something about lining up a date for Warrick tonight." Nick says with a smirk.

"And Tina is all right with this?" Sara asks.

"Well I told her it was just work, so she'e okay with it and she sends you two her best with the message to be safe."

Catherine and Sara smile at the concern of their friends, "Tell Tina thanks Rick...." Catherine says, "I'm really glad the two of you have worked things out."

"So am I, besides I got some news to lighten up our moods about this case...." Rick says and waits for everyone to stop asking questions, "Well Tina went to the Dr. yesterday it seems she about a month and a half pregnant."

"Great news Rick...Congratulations," Sara says hugging Rick.

"Wow, Rick a daddy, who'd have thought that'd ever happen...Best wishes buddy." Nick gives him a manly hug.

"All the best Rick," Catherine kisses Warrick on the cheek.

"Good luck man," Greg says.

Grissom and the FBI agents also give Rick well wishes; the festivities are interrupted by Catherine's cell phone; "Willows...oh hi Sam...you did, what did you tell him..." Catherine motions for someone to get her a pad and pen, "...okay I'll give them the information....okay....Thanks Sam....Don't worry Sara and the guys will keep me safe...Bye."

"What was that all about Catherine?"

"I guess Sam called Zhin and asked him how he liked the recommendation he made for Archie and Zhin said that he was just calling Sam back to thank him and that Archie would be the most likely to get the job just from the resume we set up for him...he also told Zhin that Archie's 'father' was dead and that he left the employ of a friend of Sam's to take care of family business and that pleased Zhin, but what seemed to please Zhin more was that Sam said Archie would be even more faithful to his work."

"That's good news Catherine, I'm glad Mr. Braun came through for us," Agent Maxwell says not saying anything about Sam being Catherine's father because he was unsure who else from the lab knew that information.

Brass and Sofia come in a few moments later and give the start giving the team an update, "We have Rick's date all set up...here is her picture....now Rick remember you are a married man..." Sofia teases, "She's one of our best and you can pick her up at her place, here is the address," Sofia hands him her address.

Brass then took over, "We already sent over the resume and some preliminary papers to Zhin..."

"Sam Braun called Zhin and told him about that Brass and from what Braun says Zhin likes Archie for the job."

"That's good, so now we have to have some birth records printed up...I assume in Chinese and English, being that Archie is supposed to be from China so I figured it wouldn't hurt."

"Good idea Captain...also Mr. Braun called here and told Catherine he told Zhin that Archie's 'father' was dead," Agent Chavez tells Brass.

Agent Maxwell speaks up, "Now all we need to do is wait for the interview, besides when  Zhin calls all of 'Loo's' references what he doesn't know is he will be talking to our agents from all over the country," with that the CSIs and federal agents split into two teams.

The first half of the team gets to work on how to get the female assassin; the other half go to help Archie on planning on how and where to place the electronics in Zhin's office and club so they can catch him talking about any further murders or admit to the ones he's already committed.

The two teams meet up after attending to their separate tasks; Catherine, Sara, and agents Chavez and Woodrow enter the break room only a few moments ahead of the other team that included Grissom, Archie, Brass, Sofia, Nick, Greg, Warrick and Agent Maxwell; "So did you come up with any way to catch Miss Yang, our assissin?"

"Nothing really she's too damn good, no fingerprints, fibers, hell she even picks up her casings...We even tried going back to where Yin's body was found and the desk clerk couldn't remember a thing and the 'security' is a phony camera with a small light bulb...so we got zero...hope you guys did better than we did," Catherine fills in the other team on her team's progress.

"Well we did..." Agent Maxwell begins, "Your suspicious documents man, Ronnie came up with some very good forgeries for Archie's passport, birth certificate...both languages..."

"How did he manage that?" Sara inquires.

"He just made out the English one and switched languages on his computer and basically did an exact copy but in Chinese." Agent Maxwell continues.

"Was Archie able to read it?" Catherine asks.

"I sure was and if I was fooled Zhin should be too."

"As for Archie, we were able to put a wireless microphone in his tie clip and we will have a receiver in an city truck that will be parked just across the I think we can use some more of your undercover people Captain as city workers."

"Whatever you need Agent Maxwell, what will they be doing...if I may ask?"

"I think the best thing would be for them to be replacing the bus shelter across from the club, that way they will be busy for a long period of time and that way no one will be able to see their faces."

"If that's all then...Mr. Grissom, do you have anything for your people to do in the lab that isn;t involved with this case?"

"They do have some overdue paperwork..." Grissom says to the lead agent but looking at his team.

"Good...have them do that and when they finish we can go over the plan for Mr. Brown and his 'date' tonight and then Archie's interview with Zhin tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After about three hours everyone meets back in the breakroom, "Glad to see everyone is done with their work..." Grissom says sounding like an elementary sckool teacher taking in the class homework, "So Rick do you know what you are doing?"

"Yes I will be picking up my date who from what Brass is telling me is a Sgt. Joanna Bannister from vice then we go to the club, check it out have a good time and that's it...all on the city's dime," Warrick chuckles as he speaks.

"Nothing too expensive Brown."

"Right Ecklie...no problem, I'll ask for receipts tell them Sgt. Bannister is a business associate and this is a business meeting of sorts...if you get my meaning."

Everyone nods, all with tiny smirks on their faces; All except Ecklie who looks like he ate a sour apple.

"So what about Archie here," Conrad says returning the conversation to the business at hand?"

"Well as I said Mr. Ecklie he will have a microphone in his tie clip....and as for the workers on his crew he will notify Zhin that his own people will do the installation, who of course will be agents  and under cover police..."

"What if Zhin doesn't go for that part of the deal?"

"Then the deal will be off which I doubt he will because when Zhin calls for references all his 'ex-employers' will tell Zhin that Archie has his own crew and to let them do the job, because not only are they the best in the country but it saved them money...and businessmen like Zhin love  money."

"Okay if that's all then we are done here...how about getting some dinner."

As Agent Maxwell says that Catherine dials her phone and a few minutes later she says, "Dinner tonight will be at the Rampart...Sam insisted on it."

"Okay Catherine but you know we have to pay for it." Gil says.

"I'm not an idiot Gil and neither is Sam he knows that he just offered all of us... we can tell Sam you are CSIs from San Francisco on a joint case."

"Sounds like a plan let's go," Agent Maxwell says and with that everyone leaves and heads for their cars, Catherine and Sara riding with Agents Chavez and Woodrow.

Everyone is in the breakroom waiting for Warrick to see how things went and as soon as he comes in he begins his report, "Well I only saw a few cameras inside the club...one at the front door obviously...one behind the bar...one by the deejay booth and then of course by the exits."

"How many were on outside of the club?" Agent Maxwell asks.

"Four, again the entrance and exit had an exterior camera and there were two watching the parking lot."

"Any upstairs near the office?"

"I couldn't get to the office but I noticed a door that most employees pressed a button to use that said private and Idid noticea camera like they have in the casinos over the tables, so I'm guessing that is the stairway to Zhin's office because the place has a second floor and all the patrons were on the first floor."

"Now all we have to do is hope Archie gets the position..." Ecklie voices everyone's thoughts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As 1p.m. strikes on his office clock Mr. Zhin welcomes Kao Shen Loo into his office, "Good afternoon Mr. Loo, thank you on coming on such short notice."

"No thank you sir, it is an honor for me to be here," Archie says offering a handshake to Zhin.

"Well now down to business...You told me over the phone you were interested in the position I have open for the computer/security specialist for businesses."

"Yes I would...I feel that I could be most helpful as you can read in my resume I have worked for many places including some that do highly classified work...If I may be so bold as to ask what happend to my predecessor?"

"He was not very loyal to me so I had to get rid of him," Zhin says with a smile; and out on the street Brass listens from inside the Vegas Transit System truck, "Gotcha, you son of a bitch."

"Don't celebrate yet Captain Brass, he has yet to admit anything," Agent Woodrow warns.

Back in Zhin's office, Zhin and 'Loo' share some Scotch Whiskey, "I thought we would be drinking Sake or something from our native land."

"I know Mr. Loo but I have some bad memories about our native land as you put it, I rather hope this country will become my home," Zhin says as he takes a sip of his drink.

"I understand, so I hope I am not being too bold in asking if I got the position?" Archie asks.

"I like a bold man Mr. Loo, the position is yours...when can your people start putting in the new security system?"

"Well probably tomorrow morning, but if you don't mind I'd like a small tour to see what type of equipment you use and see what I need."

"That will be no problem, first here in the office as you can see...."Zhin points to camera in the ceiling, "I have followed the example of the casinos in Las Vegas."

"Very well...but where will my office space be?"

"Your office is right next door...let me show you..." Zhin and 'Loo' walk over to another office on the second floor, "As you can see Mr. Loo it again looks like the security center from casinos, because it works so well for them why should it not work for me."

"Very nice, so I will have my people here tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. sharp..."Archie then gets up to leave, but not before shaking Zhin's hand "Thank you Mr. Zhin."

"Thank you Mr. Loo..." as he escorts Archie out, Archie looks up to see Zhin's daughter Carlotta Yang and bows politely, "Mr. Loo I'd like you to meet my daughter Carlotta Yang."

"A pleasure Miss Yang..." as he shakes the assassin's hand, he gets ready to turn away but hears as Zhin and Yang are walking into Zhin's office, "So any progress on getting rid of those two CSIs, Carlotta?"

Archie then whispers to no one in particular, "Brass did you get that?"

"We got it Archie...Nice work...So what do you think now Agent Woodrow?"

"We got the son of a bitch."

Archie as well as Nick, Greg, Warrick along with LVPD's best computer techs and the FBI's computer techs from Vegas are all in the breakroom going over their plan, "What we need to do is put a piggy back module on all of the computers and security cameras in and around Zhin's club, and also the taps for the phones" an FBI tech says.

"You're guys are the best right..."

"Yes Mr. Johnson we are the best at what we do," an FBI tech says.

"I'm sorry I know you guys are the best..it's just that when your friends are being targeted by assassin..."

"No apologizes necessary, so as I was saying about the piggy back module is we have ones that are small enough that the equipment nor the signal won't be detected."

"Enough with the computer mumbo-jumbo...please explain in english what you two are talking about," Brass says.

Archie steps in, "What we are talking about Captain is we will put this tiny piece of equipment in every computer and camera..." Archie shows Jim what looks like a hearing aid battery, "and what it will do is show you everything that is going on in Zhin's office and my office, not to mention in and around the outside of the club 24/7, but it will also bring up anything on this computer that Zhin or I look up on any computer whether it's the one in his office, or any of the one's in my office...also I am going to put a webcam on all computers so you can see what is going on as well...does that help."

"Sure I think...let's get going, you said this guy liked promptness," With that Brass and the others leave for the club leaving everyone else behind.

"Now all we have to do is wait..." Ecklie says voicing the thoughts of those left behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Twenty-five minutes later 'Mr. Loo' and his technical support team are at the club and head for the door, only to be stopped by a bodyguard, the bodyguard moves and let's all the men through after hearing Mr. Zhin welcome them.

"Welcome Mr. Loo, punctual to the minute I like that in an employee...and as you requested I am allowing your team to handle the installation...Have I not seen you here before" Zhin says to Warrick.

"Yes you have Mr. Zhin...I usually like one of my team to come and inspect the place I am going to be working so I know which type of equipment I need to do the job right."

"Very good...I will leave you to your work then...If you need anything knock on this door and I will answer," Zhin says before going up the stairs to his office.

"Thank you Mr. Zhin...I will let you know when we are done down here and need you to vacate your office."

"Phew that was close..." Jim says from the truck outside, "quick thinking Archie."

About an hour later there is a knock on the door to Zhin's office, "We are finished with all the cameras down here and overlooking the parking lot...but we need to do the upgrade on the computers and cameras here in your office as well as mine."

"Very well how long will that take?"

"Best approximation is 2-3 hours...if that's all right sir."

"For the safety of my club and good name it is...I will just go have a leisurely breakfast and when you are done you can call me and tell me you are done." Zhin then turns and leaves.

"Thank you sir I will do that," Archie says to Zhin before Zhin leaves the room.

After about 30 minutes Archie calls Grissom, "Grissom...okay Archie, let me look...." Grissom turns on the computer and hits the space bar and low and behold sees the inside of Zhin's club, he hits it again and sees the parking lot, "...the cameras in the club and parking lot are working like a charm...okay talk to you later."

Everyone comes running into the A/V office after Gil and he shows them what Archie had done, "Great now maybe we can finally get this bastard," Catherine says.

After about two hours Archie calls Grissom back, "Archie, yea I'm in the A/V lab well we are all in here...okay what's next...okay for Zhin's office webcam hit the shift....and your office hit the cap lock key..." Grissom does as Archie asks and all are amazed, "Wow Arch that is great, did you get the phone taps installed too...good...okay see you back here in about an hour or so."

"Brass I thought of something....what if Zhin has our truck followed?" Archie questions Brass.

"Don't worry Archie we found an empty building to front as your company headquarters and had some agents drive your cars there..." Agent Chavez reassures Archie, "I hope you are nearly done becase here comes Zhin."

"We are cleaning up as we speak..." Archie says and five minutes later heads downstairs to meet Zhin.

"I see you are all finished, very good....now please may we go upstairs and see what changes you made," Zhin leads Archie upstairs and the rest of the tech team head for the truck.

As Archie shows Zhin his improvements, Brass let's Gil know what is happening and Gil turns on the computer and remembers which button is for which office, he is amazed that he can hear Zhin and Archie as if they are in the same room with him.

About 30 minutes later Archie comes out and heads for the truck and it leaves the parking lot, "That's surprising no one is following us," Nick says.

"That's because for now he trusts me..." Archie says, "but we will see for how long."

Back at the lab everyone is waiting for something to come from Zhin's office, the wait isn't very long, "Hello, yes this is Zhin...good good....please come to the club as soon as possible...I want those two female CSIs out of my hair...for good."

"Archie did you get anything from that voice print we got from the phone in Zhin's office about Catherine and Sara yet?" Grissom asks with a hopeful voice.

Nothing yet Grissom, but with the new software we were given by Agent Maxwell we should have something soon...I hope."

"God I hate sitting on my hands and doing nothing...I just wish there was something we could do for Catherine and Sara," Brass says with anger in his voice because everyone in the lab knows that he sees the two of them like his daughters, being that his relationship with his own daughter is non-existant.

"We are doing all we can Captain...it's just that this guy is so good at covering his ass and that of his people...

"He is so loyal that one of his people are in our morgue as we speak," Gil says

"...The guy is just that good, if you've noticed when he has guests in his office Zhin never uses the person's name but they always call him Mr. Zhin or sensei." Agent Maxwell finishes his statement.

"Hold on guys I think someone is entering Zhin's office..."Archie interrupts.

"Wait that's the same voice...please be quiet we need to hear what he is saying..." Agent Maxwell says.

"Good day Mr. Zhin...a pleasure as always...forgive me for taking so long to get here I was taking care of some business for another employer and I just completed it a couple of days ago."

"Good day to you too sir...Not to worry, just as long as you are here now and can help me with my problem...our usual refreshment...Japanese Sake..." Zhin says and hands over the glass to his visitor.

"Ahh yes the one thing our oriental brothers do well...so I see you have a new valet?"

"Yes unfortunately my former valet needed to be taken care of..."

"Yes I read about the death of that FBI agent...how did you know you had a mole in your operation."

"He always seemed to be talking to himself, when in reality he was talking to his superiors at the FBI..."

And you found this out and had him taken care of..right?"

"Correct but my former valet did not dispose of the body in a proper manner and the body was discovered, so I sent my valet home and he and his family, shall we say....have joined their ancestors."

"Why did you send for me then...if I may be so bold."

"Well you see my son-in-law...excuse me, my late son-in-law was told to get rid of the two investigators in charge of finding the murderer of the FBI agent and he bungled the job and now I must use your expertise..." it is at this point that the mystery person in Zhin's office appears to me and Agent Maxwell sees him on camera, "There get a picture...that's him...."

Grissom is already on his cell to Nick, "Nick, I am sending you a picture of a new assassin that Zhin is hiring to go after Catherine and Sara, try and find a match with the new facial recognition program we just got from the FBI....okay we will be there in a few."

Grissom, Brass and Agent Maxwell have made their way to the lab where the new equipment is set up, "So Nick do you have anything?"

"Not yet Grissom, I just started..." after about ten minutes the computer comes up with an image and a duplicate likeness, "Hey I think we got something...here take a look," Nick moves so the other men can look at the computer screen.

"Good now that we know what he looks like we can grab him and Zhin and send them straight to hell."

"Sorry to spoil your mini celebration Captain but we can only arrest Zhin."

"Why can't we take this other guy down even though we know what he looks like."

"Because Captain he has yet to make an attempt on the lives of CSI Willows or CSI Sidle..."

"So what you are telling me Agent is that this Son of a Bitch can't be arrested until he tries to kill two of my people."

"That's exactly what I'm saying Mr. Grissom."

"Well then we can be there to arrest him when he tries to get Catherine and Sara and misses...Am I right?"

"There's only one problem Mr. Stokes..."

"What's that?"

"He never misses."

"So what you are telling me Agent is that if he takes a shot at my CSIs he will most likely kill them?" Gil questions in a very irritated voice.

"That is what I'm tell you Mr. Grissom."

"Can't you arrest him here for something else he's done in the past?" It was Nick's turn to ask.

"Only problem with that Mr. Stokes is he never stays in one place very long usually once he comes into town and 24 hours later he is gone...and his target is dead."

"We know what he looks like can't we follow him...put a tail on him...something?" Brass asks Agent Maxwell.

"We can try that but as I said before he only stays in one place for 24 hours."

"What about putting an APB out on him and canvas all the places that sell firearms or ammunition."

"Again Mr. Stokes, I wish we could but he has a custom made sniper rifle and ammunition to match, plus before you ask he keeps the weapon in top condition so he won't need to buy anything for the upkeep of his gun."

"Okay so until this guy leaves I'm putting Catherine and Sara on lab duties, no outside assignments until this maniac is found or Zhin is in custody," Gil says getting angrier by the minute.

"No, we must appear as if we don't know what's going on...if Zhin realizes we know something not only the CSIs are in danger, but also their families and don't forget your man on the inside...No it must look like everything is normal."

"On one condition...they wear vests where they go whether it be on duty or off," Brass tells Agent Maxwell and looks at Grissom who gives him a look as if to say 'that's exactly what I was going to say'.

"I'll let them know I want to see them in my office."

A few minutes later a very angry Catherine and Sara storm into Grissom's office, "This damn well better be good Grissom, we were just on the verge of figuring out what kind of blade was used on Yin..." Catherine says fuming.

"It is Catherine please sit down...you too, Sara...." Gil then tells them of the assassin that Zhin has brought in to kill them and about what Agent Maxwell had told him, Brass and Nick.

"So you're telling us, that you are going to let this asshole try and kill us because you want to catch him in the act...no way Grissom I have Lindsey to think about.."

"Not to mention, the rest of her family....Sam, her mother, sister and nephew..." Sara pipes in as she holds Catherine's hand in her own hoping to convey that everything will be all right even if she doesn't believe it herself.

As the group starts to argue rather loudly, Nick comes up with an idea, "You know guys, we have Zhin on record saying that he killed the FBI agent and also that he wants Catherine and Sara killed as well, now don't you think the assassin will talk give himself up if he sees his boss arrested."

"He is loyal to anyone, as long as he gets whatever he wants in return..."Agent Maxwell ponders.

"What the hell does that mean," Sara spits out.

"Meaning Miss Sidle, that if he knows Zhin is in custody he will try and make a deal to save his own ass."

"Criminal and Loyalty...isn't that an oxymoron?" Jim lightens the mood a bit.

"So from now on you two until we get to Zhin you are wearing vests and getting plain clothes escorts to and from the office 24/7 until this is over with, that includes going to scenes." Brass says.

The two just nod, knowing that this is the only way that they will be allowed out of the lab, "But what about when we are on our own time and days off."

"Not to worry Catherine, I will have my guys follow at a distance when you two are on personal time," Brass gives Catherine a reassuring smile which she and Sara return.

"So you were saying that you figured out the weapon that killed Yin," Gil says as he returns to 'supervisor' mode

"Yes we tried all assortment of knives, saws, axes, even some swords and we found out it was the blade that came from a Bushido sword like the one's that the Samurai used in ancient Japan." Sara informs the group.

"Well that follows...his club is the Bushido and his daughter kills her husband with a Bushido...is there anything else." Grissom asks.

"Nothing yet we did find something in the wound that looks like a piece of material but we haven't figured what it is or where it came from."

"Okay get back to work and let Brass know when you two are leaving."

"Oh and don't forget we are taking Lindsey out for dinner on Saturday night for her excellent report card."

"Not to worry my guys will be there, just call me and let me know where you are going."

"We will Jim...okay Sara let's get back to work."

A few hours after the meeting in Grissom's office, Sara and Catherine are working on figuring out what type of material was in the wound track in Yin's neck;  Sara looks over at Catherine who is starting into space and a tear rolls down her cheek.

Sara walks over to Catherine and whispers, "Are you okay honey?"

It was then Catherine's tears fall freely, "No I'm not okay damn it, some asshole has us running around like idiots trying to find him and all the while we are targets of some assassin that the afore mentioned asshole has sent to kill us...and on top of that not only are we in danger our friends and family is in danger."

"Our family, sweetheart..our family..." Sara says trying to console Catherine, "And don't forget we have Archie on the inside so we know what moves Zhin is going to make...as for our friends they all work for the LVPD and I'm sure they are well protected just as we are, you okay now?" Sara finishes consoling Catherine with a hug and quick kiss.

"I am thank you...I guess I just needed to vent thanks for letting me cry on your shoulder sweetheart...I'm sorry about the saying 'my' family instead of 'our ' family baby...forgive me"

After Catherine and Sara began dating, Lindsey, Sam and Lily began to see that Sara was good for Catherine and saw her as a member of the family and welcomed her with open arms,"No worries baby, I understand...as for thanking me for consoling you, there's no need to thank me because that's what I'm here for love...Hey Catherine I think we just may have found what we are looking for?"

"What...you found out what that material was?"

"Yea, I fed the property of the material into the masspectrometer and it came up canvas."

"Canvas...as in tent type canvas?"

"Not really more like boxing ring and punching bag type stuff."

"Why would canvas be doing on a Japanese sword?"

"We all know that Yang is good at what she does, but like everyone that uses a weapon you have to keep your skills at their sharpest level, so she was probably using the punching bags for practice."

"So let's tell Grissom and the rest the good news," with that Sara and Catherine head for Grissom's office to let him and the others know what they have found.

After going to Grissom's office and telling everyone what they found, Catherine and Sara were escorted to police headquarters to question Miss Yang, "So Miss...or is it Mrs. Yang well whatever, do you have any idea why we would find canvas from a boxing punching bag on your sword?" Brass asks sarcasticallly.

"Maybe that's because I'm with a circus," Yang snaps back.

"No its because you were practicing your moves at a local gym or boxing club, now if you are smart you might want to tell us and if you do we might just be able to make a deal, but for that we need something from you first and then we can talk to our D.A." Catherine says to Yang.

"And if I don't..." Yang says trying to bait the CSIs and Brass

"And if you don't...you will go down for not only your husband's death but also the death of a Federal Agent which means you the next time you see the sunrise from anyplace that doesn't resemble a prison cell is right after they stick the needle in your arm...are we clear on that?" Sara says.

"Okay, I'll talk but first I want protection from my father..." Yang says, Brass then walks out of the room, he comes back a few moments later, "You have protection as long as you testify against your father in a court of  law...if not you're on your own."

Yang looks at her lawyer who nods, probably knowing that the two of them will be killed anyway being that he along with his client are on Zhin's payroll, "Okay, this is all that I know..." Yang then procedes to tell Brass, Catherine and Sara the whole story of Zhin's illegal empire.

"Thank you Miss Yang...you do realize this doesn't get you completely off the hook, you are still going to have to pay for killing your husband." Brass explains to Yang.

Yang nods and is led away in handcuffs, "Well that's one down and one to go," Catherine says with a touch of relief in her voice.

"She was only a small player in this game..." Brass reminds her, "now we go after the biggest player in this game...Zhin."

"So now that we have all this evidence from Mrs. Yang and all those hours of tape and an idea of what the assassin looks like we can go after the son of a bitch right?" Catherine asks with hope.

"Well yes and no Catherine.." Agent Woodrow begins, "While yes it is good that we got all this information about Zhin and his 'businesses', we can't go after the assassin untol after he makes an attempt on your life as well as Sara's."

"But don't you think that if Zhin is arrested, he will tell us where he is we have an abundance of evidence and look at how easy Yang turned on Zhin...you've got to think that once the boss is gone the assassin will just give himself up."

"It's not as easy as it sounds Greg, this kind of assassin has been trained to ignore everything but the job..."

"Do you think he'd go through with the attempt even if he knows that he will not get paid?" Sara asks.

"We could arrest Zhin, but keep it quiet for a couple of days and then if he doesn't come in on his own we can go look for him..." Agent MAxwell says and ponders the idea for a moment before speaking again, "Sounds like a good idea, but I still would like Miss Willows and Miss Sidle to wear the vests...just in case."

"Fine with me, but not on Saturday, I promised my little girl we'd go out to dinner at her favorite place and I'm not disappointing her," Catherine says with conviction.

"Okay now let's get a plan in place...I think it should start with Archie calling us....." Agent Maxwell tells the assembled group about his plan to arrest Zhin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday morning the team is assembled at the old warehouse that they are using as a front for the company Archie's alias Mr. Loo owns, "Okay first of all we will have the same group of men go in as the set up team we used to install the equipment...then we will have the police go in and go after Archie as Loo and show Zhin an arrest warrant for him to make it look legitimate..." Agent Maxwell explains.

"That's when Archie as Loo says he has some incriminating evidence against Zhin and for a deal he will hand it over," Brass adds.

"That's when we arrest Zhin and search his office for anything we can get, that would include having Archie help us with the computer." Agent Woodrow explains.

"Okay that was Archie, so are we ready...then let's do this."

Thirty minutes later, Zhin and all the employees are being led away from his office in the Bushido Club and he turns and yells something to Catherine and Sara, "What the hell was all that about?" Sara asks.

Archie looks up and says,  "He just said that no matter where he is he will get the two of you."

"Well I doubt that's going to happen anytime soon..."Catherine says with an air of confidence, "because we have his assassin in custody."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The case against Zhin and his co-conspirators was over and it was finally Saturday; Lindsey's birthday, "So honey are you ready for dinner?"

"I sure am mom...I can't wait to taste Luigi's  Eggplant Parmesan."

"A girl after my own heart..." Sara jokes.

"Hey I thought I was the girl after your heart," Catherine pouts.

"Baby, you've had it since I came to Vegas, I guess Nick's kidnapping made me realize that if I never told you about my feelings it could be too late."

"I know love, I just wish I could have gotten head out of my ass sooner and realize all those fights we had were just feelings of passion, only if I hadn't wasted time fighting with you we could have been together longer...now come on we best get going, Brass will be by to pick us up in twenty minutes."

"No explanation necessary sweetheart, at least we are together now and will be forever."

Brass picks up Catherine, Sara and Lindsey and tells them he will be right outside if they should need anything; Brass knows that the assassin and Zhin are in custody but he feels safer having himself and a few of his trusted men around the three of them until Zhin and his people are gone for good.

The dinner was a wonderful affair; Lindsey got her Eggplant Parmesan, Catherine got Angel Hair with Clam Sauce and Sara got Ricotta Ravioli, the restaurant even surprised Lindsey with a chocolate birthday cake, which Catherine had asked for when the three of them arrived.

Catherine, Sara and Lindsey stepped outside as Brass was driving his car around the corner to pick them up, as he got out her heard three distinct popping noises and ran around the car to check on the safety of Catherine, Sara and Lindsey:  he looks in shock at the three bodies on the pavement, "THIS IS BRASS...TWO OFFICERS AND A CIVILIAN DOWN....REPEAT...TWO OFFICERS AND A CIVILIAN DOWN...GET AN AMBULANCE TO LUIGI'S TRATTORIA IMMEDIATELY..."

The mood at the Las Vegas Crime Lab was somber, it had been three days since the deaths of their friends and colleagues Sara Sidle and Catherine Willows, but what made it even worse was the death of Lindsey; a young lady beginning to grow into a young woman.

Sam Braun is in Grissom's office along with Brass, "You were supposed to protect my daughter God Damn It what the hell happend."

"As I told you before I was getting out of my car when I heard three shots I even radio the patrols I had set up in the area both on foot and in cars and no one saw anything suspicious...and by the time I got to them, it was too late."

"Well you should have had more people on the job, I could have your badge for this...."

"Don't you think I feel anything you egotistical bastard; they were like daughters to me."

"Yea I heard about your real daughter...you protected Catherine and Sara as well as you did her."

"Why you son of a bitch..." Brass reacts and would have punched Braun if it hadn't been for Grissom getting in the way.

"STOP IT YOU TWO!!!!....We're all on edge and placing blame isn't going to bring them back....We all feel the same way here they were our extended family too, so the best thing we can do right now is be there for each other, hell because I was their supervisor my team can't even work the god damned scene."

"I guess your right Mr. Grissom..." Sam says then reaches a hand out to Brass, "no hard feelings Captain."

"No Sam...no hard feelings," Brass takes and shakes Braun's hand.

"Well I best be going, I promised Lily I would take her to lunch, hard to believe we just buried them yesterday."

"Bye Sam..." Grissom says before turning his attention back to Brass, "Do you have anything from the crime scene; a witness, a shell casing, a weapon?"

"Gil as I told Braun, we had people patrolling every inch of that area and we got nothing...and remember, you can't touch this case."

"I know, I know....God now I understand what it feels like for the families of murder victims during an investigation not being told anything....God this is driving me nuts."

"How's the rest of the team taking it?"

"Greg is taking it the hardest, if you remember how he felt about Sara and don't forget she was his 'supervisor' before he became an investigator and he looked at Catherine as somewhat of a teacher and mother figure for him...Nick felt like Sara was a sister to him and Catherine more like a favorite aunt than a co-worker and quasi-supervisor, so that should tell you how he's doing...Rick is taking this about the same way I am; stunned disbelief, I guess that's because he has his wife to keep him grounded."

"Now the million dollar question...how are YOU doing?"

"How do you think I'm doing....I cared for both of them in different ways; I looked at Sara as if she were a student and I was her teacher, proud of all she accomplished...oh I know there was talk about the two of us involved romantically, but I don't think that would have every really happend....As for Catherine she was my sounding board, my connection to the outside world because she was good with people and I'm a wall flower when it comes to social situations, she knew how to play politics and I didn't that's why she did all the talking to the sheriff...I'll miss them both very much."

It was just after Grissom finishes speaking that his cell phone goes off, "Grissom...yes Agent Maxwell...yes he's here too...okay will be there in a few minutes."

"What was that about?"

"Agent Maxwell wants to meet us at the neon graveyard for some reason," Grissom and Brass then leave

Ten minutes later they are at the neon graveyard when a black SUV pulls up, "Mr. Grissom, Captain Brass...I know this is very strange but these three wanted to say goodbye," Agent Maxwell then opens the door and out of the SUV comes Catherine, Sara and Lindsey.

Neither man can believe their eyes, "We just had your funerals yesterday...what's this all about?" Brass asks.

"We feel that although Zhin is in custody some of his comrades are still out there so we felt it better that Catherine and Sara should die, and Catherine wouldn't do anything without her daughter."

"We thought it better this way Gil, when Agent Maxwell approached us on this we jumped at the chance because if we were thought to be dead, you and the rest of our friends and family here in Vegas will be safe...I'll miss you both," Catherine says then hugs both Grissom and Brass.

"I never thought I'd be part of a family until I came here and now because of Vegas I have a real family I'll always think of the two of you as members of my extended family, Brass you are the dad I never had and Grissom you've been a great friend and wonderful teacher and you will hold a special place in my life."

"We'd better get going...Our flight leaves in about an hour." Agent Maxwell says.

Lindsey climbs back in the SUV, while Catherine and Sara get in on either side each of them wave to Grissom and Brass before closing the doors and the SUV driving away leaving Grissom and Brass alone in the neon graveyard.

"So where are we going Agent?"

"Your new identities are in those envelopes in the pocket in back of the front seats."

"My new name is Maggie Doyle....I'm a Physics professor at Polk County Community College...in Des Moines, Iowa...why the hell are we going to Iowa?"

"Because Maggie, you don't know anybody there if you were to go to an area where you could be recognized that would ruin everything." Agent Maxwell says using Sara's new identity

Catherine then opens her envelope, "My name is Siobhan Ryan-Doyle, and I'm a Biology Professor at the same college...I notice that both our last names are Doyle, are we sisters?

"No Siobhan we know that you two are in a relationship, so we are setting you up as a married lesbian couple and it just so happens that Iowa allows same sex marriage and if you look in the records we have you getting married to Maggie in Niagara Falls, Canada and you decided to move there because you wanted a nice quiet place to raise your daughter."

"Well I like that idea but what about Lindsey?" Sara/Maggie asks.

"She is Siobhan's daughter from a marriage back when she was in college, but the marriage broke up over the husband being abusive, oh by the way he was killed in an explosion at the Alaskan Pipeline." Agent Maxwell says in a tone that tells the three others to remember that.

"Stephanie Ryan is my new name...I will be going to Henry A. Wallace High School...a junior, and I'm on the track team that's cool."

"How did we meet?" Catherine/Siobhan asks.

"In a meeting of abused women...remember we know about your pasts," Agent Maxwell says knowing the question that Sara/Maggie was going to ask

"Well here we are ladies...," Agent Maxwell says as he stops the SUV in a secluded area of the airport, "Good Luck in your future." Agent Maxwell drives away as Siobhan, Maggie and Stephanie get out and are ushered into an awaiting lear jet.

"Welcome aboard ladies, please take a seat we will be taking off in moments,"

As the plane takes off the steward brings out a bottle of sparkling grape juice, "I hear congratulations are in order for the new Mrs. and Mrs. Doyle, I took the liberty of serving sparkling grape juice so the young lady can partake in the celebration."

"Thank you for being so kind."

The steward raises his glass, "To a new life filled with love."

"A new life filled with love," the others repeat in unison as the plane flies east towards Catherine, Sara and Lindsey's/ Siobhan, Maggie and Stephanie's new life.

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