"Hey Sara," Cath asked casually, interrupting the comfortable silence that had befallen them as they worked on opposite sides of the AV lab. "You like Italian food, right?"

"Sure." Sara answered absently, not even tearing her gaze from the screen.

"You tried that new place at the Palazzo yet? I'm told they have a big vegetarian selection."

Always on the lookout for new veggie-friendly places, the brunette quickly abandoned her work and spun her chair around, a hopeful look on her face.

"Really?"

"That's what I hear. You, uh, you want to try it on Fri..."

"Hey Sara!" Catherine's question was cut off by Greg's enthusiastic greeting as he catapulted himself into the room. "You ready to go?"

"Go?" She blinked at him.

"Yeah – you and me, going for break ... together?" He reminded her, feeling his confidence suddenly start to wane.

"Oh, sorry Greggo." She winced, having completely forgotten about their arrangement. "We're kind of tied up here."

"Oh." A small pout crept onto his face, but he quickly replaced it with an optimistic smile. "Well, you still gotta eat, right?"

"I'm sorry Greg," Cath interrupted sweetly. "But we really need to carry on. We're against the clock here."

The lab tech turned to the other woman, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at her blatant efforts of sabotage.

"Don't worry." She chirped, nodding towards Sara. "I'll make sure she doesn't starve."

His bottom lip crept out again, causing her devilish smile to spread.

x X x

Having had little confidence in him to begin with, Warrick wasn't in the least bit surprised to find his mate sulking in the break room with Sara nowhere in sight; but it still drew a laugh from him as he ambled inside.

"You bottled it, huh?" He asked jovially, slapping Nick on the back.

"No, I did not bottle it." The Texan snapped. "Catherine came in and took Sara off onto her case before I had chance to ask her."

Warrick chortled brightly at this revelation.

"Oh, man." He shook his head in amusement. "She's good."

"You know, I didn't even think she was serious about this." He continued, frustration seeping into his voice. "I just thought that she was joining in to, you know, teach us a lesson or something."

"For a hundred bucks?" Warrick challenged. "Nah, Cat's too competitive for that. She means business."

"Yeah, maybe, but to play dirty like that? That's not cool, man."

"Maybe she just really wants a date with Sara." Warrick joked playfully.

Nick shot him a decidedly unimpressed look, but before he could respond, Greg sloped into the room and sank onto a stool, mirroring the CSI's morose demeanour.

"She shot you down, huh?" Nick asked, with a touch more sympathy than Warrick had offered him.

"No." Greg scuffed his boot across the floor sadly. "We were supposed to be going on a break together, but Catherine said they're too busy to stop working now."

Nick shot Warrick another look and raised his hands as proof of his point.

"You know what," he pointed at him. "I think you're right – I think Catherine was really serious about this. She really does want to win."

"You think?" Greg quirked an eyebrow. As put out as he was about Catherine's interference, the idea of the two women together still created a pleasing image in his head.

"Please." Warrick scoffed, quickly obliterating his fantasy. "He's just bent out of shape because she's beating him."

Nick scowled at the retreating form of the dark-skinned CSI.

"Yeah, you just wait! She'll sabotage you too!"

x X x

Something was amiss.

He wasn't sure what, or quite who it involved, but something was definitely going on with his team.

Nick and Greg were giving Catherine the evil eye, which she was doing her damndest to ignore. Warrick appeared to be aware of it and greatly enjoying himself at her expense – or at theirs. Perhaps both.

The only person who seemed oblivious to the tension brewing in the room was Sara, who was parked at the bench, contentedly perusing a forensic journal while periodically sipping from a mug of Greg's special coffee.

"You going to share those, or just carry them around all night?"

Catherine's idle question startled him out of his reverie and he glanced down at the assignment folders clutched to his chest.

He had come in to hand them out, but his bemusement over the strange atmosphere had stalled him. How was he supposed to pair them up when he didn't even know who was angry with whom, or why?

When Catherine continued to stare at him expectantly, he cleared his throat.

"Warrick – 419 at the Boardwalk Casino. One of the singers collapsed on stage." He declared, deciding to start with the easy ones first.

"Cool." He nodded appreciatively, accepting the assignment and using it to gently slap Sara on the shoulder. "Hey Bay City Girl, you like Motown?"

The question finally drew Sara's attention from her reading material and she looked up with an optimistic glint in her eye and eagerly confirmed the assumption.

"You want in?" Warrick asked, waving the folder temptingly in her direction. She shot a hopeful look in Grissom's direction, who in turn glanced down at the next slip in his hand.

"Sure, okay." He agreed, somewhat reluctantly. He had intended on pairing himself with the brunette that evening, but he supposed he could take one of the others instead. Maybe then at least he'd figure out what they were all up to.

However, bizarrely, the rest of the team appeared to share his disappointment as they all stared at the two departing CSIs with visible dismay.

Suddenly, though he still wasn't sure why, he found himself faced with two increasingly pissed off criminalists and two remaining assignments.

Deciding to spare himself the agro, he did a quick 180 on his earlier decision to pair up himself with someone tonight. He could handle the double homicide by himself.

"Catherine, you and Nick have a burglary in Summerlin. Enjoy." He declared, tossing the folder onto the bench, where it skittered to a stop in front of the woman. She quirked an eyebrow at it, clearly unhappy with getting the softball case of the night, but he didn't stick around long enough to hear her response.

Whatever they were up to, he decided he'd rather not know.