Hello again. Sorry this chapter's been a while but I've been ill and haven't been able to get to the computer. Anyway thank you for the last reviews and feedback. Anyway chapter 9.

Catherine had been working her fingers to the bone for the past 6 hours and although she should technically be exhausted, she was running on adrenaline and 5 cups of coffee that she had consumed during the night.

Ever since she'd left Warrick at the hospital she was determined to take her mind off him, so the Danielle Cleaver case was the obvious solution. She far she'd talked to Robbins who had told her cause of death, time of death and the vital part of information. Cause of death was strangulation; time of death 9AM Thursday morning and guess who's epithelial happened to be around her neck. The stepfathers. She'd called Brass about an hour ago. This case was up to him now. She didn't want to sit in on any interviews or present any evidence or crack any cases she just wanted to go home and be with her daughter.

However, before that was possible she had a large pile of paperwork that unfortunately wouldn't write itself. She was half way through it when the computer screen in front of her flashed. She broke her concentration from the paper and looked up and read 'New Message'. It was this new 'Instant Message' system that had been installed in the office. Apparently it would be easier to email people than talk to them. She reluctantly clicked the left mouse button over the ok option and read silently.

"Sender: Warrick Brown. Subject: None. Message: Heard you cracked the case?"

She frowned and read the text again just to make sure she wasn't imagining it. She rubbed her tired, dry eyes with the heels of her hands and once they had unclouded and focused on the screen again she found that the message was indeed still there. She clicked the reply button.

"Sender: Catherine Willows Subject: Who are you? Message: Stop fooling around Warrick's in hospital so whoever this is just go away."

She waited anxiously for the reply and when it didn't come within five minutes she sighed and convinced herself that she'd scared whoever it was away. She continued with her paperwork only to be interrupted once more, seconds later.

"Sender: Warrick Brown. Subject: It's Me! Message: It is me and I'll prove it. Ask me a question that only I would know."

Once again she hit the reply button and punched the keys furiously. This was getting beyond a joke. Whoever was doing this was going to be in deep trouble in a minute.

"Sender: Catherine Willows. Subject: I'll give you a question.

Message: How about you tell me where you are right now?"

She punched the return button with a serious amount of venom. She was angry at whoever was doing this. She was tired, had a lot of work to do and some one was mucking her about. She looked at her watch and found it to be 8AM. Her shift had officially ended an hour ago but she couldn't go home quite yet. She frantically worked through the remaining paperwork and eagerly waited for a reply. Whoever this joker was was in deep trouble now.

Once again her screen flashed and she clicked over the Ok option.

"Sender: Warrick Brown. Subject: Where I am. Message: Well I'm not in the hospital anymore if that helps."

This was the last straw. She finished the paperwork on her desk and got up, pushing the chair from underneath herself. Her nerves were seriously frayed at the moment and she didn't need some idiot annoying her. She grabbed her coat and put it on furiously. She decided to scour the floor. She had to be able to run into them somewhere. She paced quickly past Greg's lab, which now held a chap from the dayshift. Grissom's office was also vacant which wasn't surprising. That left the break room, the locker rooms, the morgue and the assignment room, and since the assignment room was the only one with a computer out of the four she went there first.

Sure enough there was a faint colourful glow radiating out through the window and gathering up the last of her strength she flung open the door. "Right!" She exclaimed angrily. She walked further into the room to find the computer deserted. She turned around only to find Warrick seated next to the door, looking pretty darn comfortable on the leather chair.

"How are you here when. Who. Why." Questions and sentences formed. All were left unfinished and unanswered. Catherine noticed her resolve had eluded her and she took a deep breath to try and regain some form of composure. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, after Nicky left I kind of discharged myself from the hospital. But I mean it was really only a broken rib and a few cuts and bruises, they didn't need to keep me there."

"Well you shouldn't be here."

"Nice welcome."

"Well I thought you weren't speaking to me. I came storming in here trying to bust some joker's ass and you're here."

Catherine was severely relieved that Warrick was ok. He shouldn't be here he'd only been in hospital for 8 or so hours but relieved all the same.

"Really?" He drew out the word so that it became long and sultry, his deep, husky voice adding to the effect. She found his voice so incredibly sexy but she knew how much she'd hurt him and she refused to give in. After all it was probably only the painkillers making him feel like this.

"Look I've got to go, Lindsey's' waiting for me. So if you'll excuse me." she took a step closer to the door and Warrick rose from his chair. He winced slightly at the pain that coursed through his chest but he reached out and took hold of Catherine's delicate wrists.

"No I don't excuse you."

"I'm really not in the mood for this Warrick. If you've got something to say please just come out and say it."

"How you treated me back at the church was awful. I was only there to be a friend to you and you threw it back in my face. I thought you cared about me and then you just denied everything, you really hurt me Catherine."

"Well thanks for the guilt trip," She interrupted, "I'll be off now."

"It's not a guilt trip if you'd let me finish you would find that out. I've never felt this way about anyone before. I've kept myself distanced from people because of my past. Everybody has skeletons in the closet and I had no right to intrude on yours. What I did to you back at the hospital was wrong and no matter how angry I was I had no right to treat you like that. So what I'm trying to say is. I'm sorry."

By now Catherine was close to tears. She was overjoyed at what Warrick had said; it meant that he forgave her. She laughed when she thought of a flirty response. "Who said sorry was enough though?"

"Ahh I was hoping you'd say that."

"Oh were you now,"

"Yep because now I can do this," Smoothly and gracefully he leaned in and took hold of her face with his good arm. He stroked gently and then he began kissing her. It was filled with all the emotions that the past few days had held. She gingerly raised her hands and slowly traced irregular patterns onto his back. She felt so close to him, so into him at that moment and from the way he was kissing her, like every second mattered, she knew he felt the same way. Eventually they broke apart and he smiled broadly at her. "You were right, Sorry just wasn't enough."

She laughed and took hold of his hand. "Come on lets go home, I'll give you some much needed TLC."

"What about Lindsey?"

"I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you as well." Slowly they wandered out of the building, hand in hand, smiling at the new relationship that had formed. The problem with the past is it always comes back to haunt you, but luckily this time, everything had worked out in the end, for all concerned.

Please R&R and all reviews and feedback would be much appreciated. Once again sorry for the delay and I hope you enjoyed it. Until next time. =) XX