INTERRUPTIONS

Authors: Anne and Caroline (run for your lives!)

Chapter 1: Farm-ily Road Trip

Spoilers: Nothing specific. A minor reference to "Burden Of Proof" later on. Fourth season fic.

Genre: C/G

Rating: CSI-3

Disclaimer: Anne and I do not own CSI or its characters. The humor/smut/sap/etc. is all our creation, however :)

Caroline's Note: Sorry this first chapter's so short, guys! The rest will be longer, don't worry.

Summary: When the team must take a trip to a body farm to brush up on basic skills, things take an interesting turn... and then keep getting interrupted.

"She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes... toot, toot! She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes... toot, toot! She'll be comin' 'round the mountain, she'll be comin' 'round the mountain, she'll be--"

"GREG!" Five simultaneous voices exclaimed.

Greg Sanders, from the middle of the backseat, looked around and shrugged innocently. "What?"

Grissom shook his head at the spikey-haired lab tech in his rearview mirror. "Let's put it this way. If you don't stop, you'll be comin' 'round the front bumper of the car!"

"Come on!" he whined. "Car songs are fun! Let's do another one!" He opened his mouth in preparation for a new song...

Sara clenched her teeth together, raising a fist menacingly. "So help me God, if you start singing 'The Wheels On The Bus,' I'm gonna bash your teeth in."

"Whoa..." he chuckled. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of their vibrator, huh?"

"Y'know what, Greg--"

Catherine, from the passenger seat, rolled her eyes, turning over her shoulder slightly to face her 'kids.' "Guys, come on now... we've only got another hour before our next stop."

But her admonishing tone fell on deaf ears...

"Keep your hands on YOUR side!" Warrick told Nick, from the very-back seat.

"What the hell is the matter with you, man?" Nick asked. "I'm just sitting here."

"Your hand is on MY side."

"We have sides, now?"

"Yes. In that I have my side and you have yours."

"How come they're allowed to argue and I'm not allowed to sing?" Greg asked.

Grissom turned to Catherine. "Cath..." he whined.

She turned to him. "What?"

"Do something."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you expect me to do about it, Gil?"

"You're a mom. You're good with this kind of thing."

Her eyebrow arched even higher at this comment. "So because I'm the mother and a woman, I'm supposed to fix this?"

"Um... yes?"

"God Grissom, you're so insensitive." With that, she turned and faced the window.

The car fell into silence for a moment. Even Greg raised an eyebrow at the exchange witnessed between his superiors. Catherine turned slightly in her seat, shooting Grissom an icy glare, before turning back to Greg and smiling overly-sweetly. "Greggy, honey, why don't you sing the 'ABCs'?" she suggested in a chipper voice, and shot Grissom one more look as she spun back around, as if saying, 'Deal with that.'

Greg took no notice of Catherine's intentions, and grinned a mile wide as he exclaimed, "Okay!" and began the annoying song... subsequently causing the others to groan in agony.

Grissom glimpsed quick at the royally-pissed strawberry-blonde in the passenger seat beside him, eyeing her folded arms and tightly pursed lips before turning his eyes back to the road, leaning slightly toward her. "Catherine..."

"I'm not talking to you, Grissom," she huffed, pulling her discman and headphones out of her backpack. "If you've got something to say, say it to the windshield."

His mouth dropped slightly as if to retort, then... upon seeing the anger in her tightly set jaw, he closed his mouth sadly. He then watched as she pulled her headphones on and turned away from him, before his eyes flitted to the windshield, a whisper escaping his lips. "I'm sorry..."

The rest of the hour was spent uncomfortably... Grissom attempting to both drive and deal with the belligerent CSIs in the backseat, while Catherine remained deliberately oblivious to it all... staring out the window while music blared in her headphones.

"Ewww, Greg! Don't put that in your mouth!" Sara whined.

"What? I blew it off first!"

"Grissom!" she whined in a tattle-tale tone.

"I don't even wanna know," he grumbled back, shaking his head. A moment of silence passed briefly... aside from the smacking noise Sara's hand made upon coming into contact with the back of Greg's head, then...

"Dude! I said keep your hands on YOUR SIDE!"

"What is the matter with you? I am keeping my hands on my side!"

"Then whose hands are they?" Warrick asked.

Greg burst into peals of laughter, and then yelped as Sara slapped him upside the head again. "Abuse!" he cried. "ABUSE!"

"Greg," Grissom warned, his eyes still occasionally checking on Catherine.

"They started it!" he accused, pointing at Nick and Warrick.

"How in the hell did you work that out?" Warrick asked, wrinkling his forehead in confusion.

"Keep your hands on your own side," Greg mimicked.

"I swear I'll punch you in a minute," Nick warned him.

"Come and get me," he taunted, sticking his tongue out childishly.

The minute Catherine heard the scuffle and felt her seat being kicked, she let out a long sigh and took off her headphones. "Grissom, pull over."

"Cath..."

"Pull over!" she barked again.

Everyone was silent. Catherine was pissed, and they were terrified. "Cath, we promise we'll be good," Greg said, voice shaking slightly.

She turned to face them. "If I hear one more word out of any of you before we get to the next stop, I will not be responsible for my actions. Understand?"

"Why does she get to be boss..." Sara muttered.

Greg elbowed her. "Shh! You heard what she said!"

Grissom glanced at Catherine and their gazes locked. He grinned at her. After a moment, she grinned back.

TBC