Rating: PG13 bad words and sexual situations.
Disclaimer: Not mine. No money, don't sue. No infringement intended.
Archive: Anywhere just let me know so I can visit.
Spoilers: None
Pairings: Gil/Cath
Feedback: I'm not above begging for it...
Summary: The CSI's have some unsolved cases on their hands and Gil's having a tough time dealing with it.
Chapter 1
This news just in. A body has been found. According to authorities, the victim was a female in her late teens, and was found early yesterday morning. Her body was discovered in a drainage ditch by a local businessman. The name of the victim has not been released, pending notification of her family. The Las Vegas Police Department feels that this victim may be connected to a recent string of similar homicides.
Gil Grissom stared at the open case file sitting on the desk in front of him. He pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his knuckles.
Kristen Saliege.
The name of the girl found yesterday. Kristen had been ID'ed quickly and easily. She had been tossed into the drainage ditch fully clothed wallet in her back pocket, ID intact. Just like the others.
It had been on the news all day.
Kristen was the third.
Reagan Wilson had been first. 3 months ago. A few short weeks later, Michelle Morris was found. And now Kristen.
The girls could have been sisters. Blond hair, green eyes. 17 years old. Tall, thin, model beautiful. And smart. Very very smart. All three were honor students. Two were headed to Harvard in the fall...the other to Dartmouth. It was almost scary how similar they were.
And the similarities did not end with their deaths.
There were identical injuries in all three cases. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head. But the cause of death was drowning.
They had drowned in about 4 inches of water.
There were no apparent signs of struggle. Small pieces of evidence had been uncovered on the bodies and at the scenes where they had been found. All three had been found fully clothed IDs intact. It was almost as if they had been walking along the road...and had somehow slipped and fallen into the ditch, drowning to death.
If you happened to overlook the head trauma.
Had the wound been found on the forehead or even somewhere within the temple region and if it had been only one girl an argument could have been made that death had been accidental. But from what Gil had seen, there was no way these wounds were accidental. Someone had struck each girl, very hard, on the back of her head. Splinters of processed wood had been found in the wounds, leading Gil to believe that wooden bats had been used. But no weapons had turned up anywhere.
And there were no witnesses. Not one.
The entire CSI team had been working almost 24 hours a day for three and a half weeks on the original case. And then came the second. Sara and Warrick had been pouring over samples of mud and murky water from the banks of the ditch and down inside of it, the slivers of wood, and other various pieces of possible evidence. Nick had been questioning every single person they had found with connections to each victim and some that had no connections to anyone.
They had found nothing. Not one single thread of evidence pointing the finger at anyone. As the days wore on, the team grew more and more frustrated with their lack of progress.
Now they had a third case.
Gil's eyes dropped back to the file. He felt the anger and frustration quickly building within him.
"Shit!" He shoved the file, along with everything else around it, off of his desk. Glass shattered as some fragile items struck the floor. Papers slipped from between the flaps of the folder and fluttered slowly to the ground. Gil watched as each sheet seemed to float gently on the air before touching down on the tiles.
He clamped his teeth together and attempted to stop the tears he felt coming. He failed. The hot, salty drops spilled from Gil's eyes as sobs shook his body. His head dropped into his hands and he wept.
Gil Grissom had always been able to control his emotions.
Always.
But this time something was different. Something about this case had tugged him in. Maybe it was the victims themselves. Three brilliant girls, already on their way to living successful lives had been wasted. Deprived of their futures. It made him physically and mentally sick.
Gil leaned back in his chair and wrapped his hands behind his head, his fingers braiding together at the nape of his neck. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks and splashed onto his desk.
"Hey, Gris." Sara Sidle pushed open the door and stepped into the office. Her eyes were glued to the file in her hands. "I've been working on this soil sample we pulled from the Saliege crime scene and..."
"God damnit, Sara!" Grissom's voice sliced, razor sharp, through the air. "Do you always have to barge into my office like that?"
Sara's voice came to an abrupt halt. Her eyes shot to her boss. His back was to her, his face hidden. She could, however, see his shoulders shaking slightly. Could hear the wavering in his voice.
"Gris? Hey, what's the matter?" Sara slowly approached his desk. "Are you ok?"
Gil cleared his throat roughly.
"I'm fine, Sara. Why are you here? Did you find something?" His words were icy and laced with anger. He paused and tried to calm his voice. "In the sample. Anything we can use to find this bastard?"
The sound of Grissom's voice startled the young CSI. She had never heard him like this before. It made her very nervous. And the fact that he wouldn't turn around and face her made the situation even that much more uncomfortable. Everyone knew that Grissom was the stable one in the group. The one who made emotional detachment an art form the one people tried to copy when they started to become too personally involved with a case.
"No, Gris." She glanced back down at her file. "There was nothing unusual found. The sticky fluid that was mixed in with the soil turned out to be nothing more than tree sap."
"Check again." Gil ground his teeth together as he spoke.
"We've already done three screens on..."
"Did you hear what I said, Sara? I said check it again!!!" Gil's voice thundered through the office.
"Jesus, Gris! Check it yourself!"
Sara slammed the file down on Grissom's desk and stormed out of the office, the door banging shut behind her. Tears of rage burned twin paths down her cheeks. She rushed down the hallway and right into Catherine.
"Whoa, Sara." Catherine placed a hand on Sara's arm. "What's up? What happened?"
"Something's wrong with Grissom." Sara paused, her breath hitching. She sniffled and ran the back of her hand across one cheek.
"Settle down. Tell me what happened."
Sara sighed, and forced herself back under control. "I went to his office to show him the results of the soil tests, and he totally snapped at me."
Catherine chuckled softly to herself. Gil and Sara were always at each other. It was almost a daily occurrence. Probably because they were so similar. Sara young and stubborn. Gil old and stubborn. She couldn't even remember a time when it had been any different between them.
"Sara." Catherine voice was soft, consoling. "Are you sure you're not overreacting? You and Gil argue and butt heads all the time. You know that. Gil knows that. I think the entire world knows that."
"No, Catherine. He was different this time. He wouldn't look at me." She tried to call up a picture her boss, the way he had been back in his office. Back turned, shoulders hitching, voice catching slightly when he spoke yelled, actually. The memory of him made her shiver uneasily. "I think he may have been crying, but I don't know for sure. He asked if we had found anything in the samples, and when I tried to answer him, he freaked out." Sara shook her head slowly from side to side. "I don't know Catherine. It was weird. I've never seen him that way before."
"Well, I'll go check up on him." Catherine motioned down the hall towards the labs. "Why don't you go have Greg run that sample one more time. See if he can come up with something."
Sara nodded and turned.
Catherine watched her back fade. As she walked towards Gil's office, she still had the feeling that maybe Sara had been overanalyzing the situation. But, Sara had seemed very serious and very convinced that something was wrong with Grissom. Catherine knew that Gil had been upset over this recent string of cases so maybe that was his problem.
She and Gil had been friends for a very long time. And while she didn't know a whole lot about him personally he was such a private person one of the things she did know was that Gil Grissom did not like cases to go unsolved especially when they dealt with kids.
Catherine stepped into Gil's office, closing the door softly behind her.
"Sara, I told you to..." Grissom spun to confront the junior CSI and was surprised to see Catherine standing there instead. "Cath. Oh, God Catherine, I'm sorry. I thought you were..."
"Sara. I know." Catherine's head tilted to the side as she took in the sight of her friend. She was shocked at how upset Gil actually looked. His eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks splotchy and damp from tears. But rather than react, she let the corners of her mouth curl into a knowing smirk.
"What?" Grissom shifted uncomfortably under her scrutinizing gaze. He had seen that look on her face many times over the years, but he still had no idea what it meant. "What!"
"So does that mean if I had been Sara, that you wouldn't be sorry for screaming at the top of your lungs?"
"Cath, come on. Give me a break." He ground his knuckles into his bloodshot eyes. "You know how I am. How I get about this kind of case. When I can't find one damn thing to solve it."
Catherine wandered over to his desk, stepped behind it, and perched on the edge directly in front of Gil. She glanced at the littered floor and sighed.
"And does throwing temper tantrums, tossing around files and abusing the staff make you feel any better?"
"No." Gil paused, his voice catching in his throat. He rubbed at his temples. "No, it doesn't. I just don't know what to do, Cath. We've been over everything a hundred times and we haven't found anything. And now this new case. If we don't find something on this guy soon, we'll have a fourth and a fifth." He stopped again, the wave of tears he'd finally been able to get under control, rose up and overtook him. "But there's nothing. Not one damn thing. I don't know if can do this. I feel so helpless."
Catherine pulled Gil's head down into her lap, cradling it within her arms. His body crumpled against her as he quivered with sobs, his breath coming in short choppy gasps. She felt his arms slip around her back, hugging her holding on to her as if she were his anchor. She ran her fingers through his hair and rocked back and forth trying to calm him down. She didn't speak until his breathing began returning to normal.
"Gil?" She slid her hand under his chin and tried to lift his face to meet her eyes. He refused. "Gil, please. Look at me."
Grissom sat back in his chair, wiped his palm across both eyes and met her gaze. His hand dropped into his lap as Catherine reached forward and brushed the remaining tears from his cheeks with her fingertips. When they were gone, she didn't pull her hand away. She caressed his face gently.
"Gil, we can't do everything, you know. We're scientists, not God. And sometimes...things just are, you know? We work with what we're given."
He nodded, his moist cheek brushing against her hand. The look on his face was breaking her heart. Catherine reached down and grasped his hand.
"We've been friends for a long time, Gil." Catherine studied his face the face she'd known for so many years. His eyes, the blue eyes that had seen her at her best and sometimes, her worst. "We've gone through a lot of bad times, and then some really bad times."
Gil sighed deeply and lowered his eyes to their hands. He weaved his fingers through hers, his thumb stroking along her palm gently, and nodded again.
"We will get through this, Gil." She waited until his eyes lifted to hers, then squeezed his hand tightly. "We always do. You and me. Together."
They sat in silence for what seemed like hours. The air within the office was charged and crackling with the electricity that was passing between them. Catherine didn't know who leaned in first, who initiated the kiss, it just seemed to happen. One minute they were lost in each other's eyes the next, their lips were together. It started out very gentle lips barely brushing against lips. Their breath mingling between them. Gil's hand found its way into her hair and he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Catherine didn't resist when he tentatively parted her lips with his tongue, but her breath did catch when he entered her mouth. He was so...gentle. Warm. And it had been such a long time since anyone had kissed her in this way.
Startled by her quick intake of breath, Gil pulled back and tried to turn away from Catherine.
"Shit! I'm sorry, Catherine. How stupid of me! I didn't mean to..."
"No, Gil. It's ok. I understand." She reached out and grabbed his forearm, stopping him from turning.
"God." Gil felt the crimson heat of embarrassment sweeping up his face. He couldn't look at her, and trained his eyes on the floor. "Cath. The last thing I ever wanted was for this to happen."
Gil felt her hand fall away from his and he forced himself to look at her. Confusion was reflected in her eyes. It may have even been hurt, but Gil couldn't be certain.
"No, wait. That's not what I meant to say." He reached out, grasping her hands tightly in his. "What is it with me? I never say the right thing." He sighed, frustrated with himself. "I've never been good with this type of thing or anything not related my work for what it's worth. And I don't even really know the right words to use, so I'm just going to say something to you, and if I say it wrong, I'm very sorry." Gil paused and gathered his thoughts.
"I've had this thing or really I've felt a certain way about you for, God, to be honest, I can't even remember how long it's been. Probably since the day we met. But you were with Ed. Married. Then you weren't. And it's been a while since I...well...and I had no idea how to start. Especially with you. But I can safely say that I sure as hell didn't want to start it this way. I'm an emotional wreck right now, Catherine, and the last thing I want is for you to think that it's the only reason I want to be with you. Because it's not."
"Gil?"
"Yeah?"
"Shut up."
"But I want to make sure that you understand that this...that you are not just a distraction from..."
Catherine chuckled softly. She placed her fingertip to his lips and met his gaze squarely, a smile spreading across her mouth.
"I understand what you're saying. I really do. And you know what? I want to be your distraction. I want to take your mind off of this case and any other cases that may be bothering you."
"Catherine, you need to know that this means more than..."
"Gil?"
"Uh huh?"
Catherine licked her kiss-swollen lips.
"I really think you need to shut up and kiss me. Right now, okay? I'm serious. Because if you don't." She leaned forward so her face was within inches of his. "I may have to kick your ass."
Chapter 2
Gil returned Catherine's smile and stood. He leaned down towards her, placing his hands to either side of her body, and pressed his lips roughly against hers. He positioned himself directly between her legs and wrapped his hands around her ass. He gripped her tightly and pulled her closer to him. He felt her legs slide around his waist, locking him against her center. Heat coursed though his body at the intimate contact, alive and pulsing. His legs threatened to buckle beneath him, but he somehow managed to stop it from happening.
Catherine felt her body beginning to respond to Gil. Warmth spread through her, pooling between her legs. She shifted on the hard surface of the desk, in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position. Each time she moved, her groin rubbed temptingly against his growing erection. She couldn't believe how amazing he felt. When Gil began to grind against her, Catherine started panting into his mouth. She wrapped her hands tightly into his shirt, and pulled him closer. She thrust her tongue deep into Gil's mouth, her legs gripping his torso like a vice. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore.
"Gil," Catherine broke the kiss, his name rolling from her swollen lips in a breathy sigh. Her head fell back as Gil's warm, moist mouth traveled down her throat, pressing heated kisses into her skin. Her fingers slid into his hair and she pressed him tightly against her body. "Oh God, Gil. We can't. Not here."
"Yes, we can." Gil's voice was muffled against her neck. He nuzzled at her collarbone, tongue slipping over her sweaty, goosebumped skin. "This is my office. I can do what I want." He dug his fingers into her ass and pulled her into his solid erection. Their eyes met. "And you are what I want to do. Right now."
"I know. Believe me, I know. But here?" Catherine pushed him away slightly, but not completely. She kept his shirt knotted within her fists.
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course I do. But trust has nothing to do with..."
She paused and looked down at the cold, tile floor. Her gaze moved from the floor, to the file cabinets, to the desk she was sitting on, and back up to Gil's face.
"...the lack of a proper place, Gil."
"Like I said, do you trust me?"
A frustrated sigh escaped Catherine's lips, but she nodded anyway. She allowed Gil to gently remove her hands from his shirt and back away from her. She watched as he got down onto his knees and proceeded to crawl under his desk. She was very confused.
"Gil, what the hell are you doing?"
He reappeared, a huge grin on his face, with a rolled up sleeping bag in his hands. Catherine couldn't help but laugh. Gil's face dropped into a pout. He turned away from her and set the bundle down on the floor behind his desk. When Catherine's laughter continued, he quickly shot her a disgusted look and began to unroll the bag.
"Catherine. I'll have you know, I was a Boy Scout when I was younger."
The words made her laugh even harder. Tears began to spill down her cheeks.
"What do the Boy Scouts have anything to do with us doing...this? And how is the fact that you keep a sleeping bag under your desk involved?"
Grissom unzipped the bag and spread it open. He removed his shoes, then stood and looked over his work. He gave it a satisfied nod and turned back towards her the grin returning to his face. He kissed her quickly on the cheek before whispering into her ear.
"Rule #1: Always be prepared." He backed away, arms crossed over his chest, a smug 'Grissom' look on his face.
"So are you trying to say that you've been preparing for this...uh, situation...for a while?" Catherine asked as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"What do you think?" Gil leaned in towards her as he spoke, blue eyes glinting mischievously.
"I think it means that you're prepared for the nights you sleep here in your office." She shot back as she kicked off her shoes, her laughter igniting again.
"Ok, fine." Gil yielded. He grasped Catherine's hands in his and pulled her to her feet. "You caught me. But even you have to give me credit for this."
Catherine was still laughing, but she nodded. She glanced down at the makeshift bed.
"Well, at least now I can say that my naked ass won't be on that cold floor."
Now it was Gil's turn to laugh.
"But, Catherine. Your ass isn't naked." He paused, waiting for her to look back at him. When she didn't, he spoke one word, simply and matter-of- factly. "Yet."
Catherine's eyes snapped to Gil. He had that expression on his face that she hated. The one where only he knew what was going on...and he wasn't going to let anyone in on the big secret. It drove her crazy when he looked at her or anyone else for that matter like that.
It also turned her on.
She opened her mouth, prepared to give him some snarky reply, but before she could get a word out, his lips were on hers. Catherine seriously considered pushing him away until his tongue entered her mouth. It felt so good that she couldn't help but surrender under his kiss.
Gil pulled her tightly against him. Their tongues danced together, first in his mouth, then in hers. His hands traced lazy circles along her back as he tasted every inch of her mouth. He felt Catherine's hands slide up his arms and over his shoulders. He breathed her in, savoring the flavor of her kiss. She bit down lightly on his tongue, sending a wave of heat through him. His body shivered against her.
"Gil." Catherine sighed within his mouth.
His name was all Gil needed to hear from her. He released Catherine and backed away. Her face was flushed red like a rose. Gil reached out and brushed his fingertips across her cheek.
"God, you're beautiful."
Catherine smiled warmly at him. She reached up and placed her hand over his. She pulled it to her mouth and placed a kiss on his palm. Her hand dropped away from his and she closed her eyes as he traced along the edge her face with his fingertip.
Gil trailed his finger slowly over the soft skin of her neck, and continued down to the pink flesh visible above her shirt. Her skin pimpled under his touch and he watched as her chest rose and fell beneath her clothing. Gil paused at the top button, rubbing it lightly between his thumb and index finger.
Sensing his hesitation, Catherine opened her eyes and met his. She moved her hands to his and placed them both on her shirt. She held him steady as he began to slowly push the first button through its opening. His hands were shaking as he worked. Catherine leaned forward, kissing him softly on his cheek, to settle him.
When all the buttons were free, Gil parted the pale yellow blouse and pushed it over Catherine's shoulders. He leaned forward and kissed the freckles that dotted her shoulders. His lips slid along her collarbone, and moved down over one perfectly formed breast. He paused, dipping his tongue between the two globes of flesh, and worked his way back up to her neck. Gil breathed her scent in deeply once more and reached behind her to unzip her pants his lips again touching along her skin as he worked. Gil released his fingers, and Catherine's clothes fell away from her. He backed away slightly, his eyes lingering appreciatively over her body.
Thank GOD I wore my good underwear today!
The thought almost caused Catherine to laugh, but she managed to stifle it before it came out. She began to shiver as his gaze passed over her.
"Gil."
"No wait." He stopped her. "Just hang on. I want to memorize how you look right now. I want to remember this moment forever."
Catherine actually began to feel a little uncomfortable which sort of surprised her. She had been oogled by men for a career at one point in her not-so-distant past. But this was different. Maybe she felt so uneasy because Gil wasn't just some guy shoving dollar bills into her g-string. He was someone she cared about deeply. Probably more deeply than she wanted to admit. She let him look a little while longer, but finally she reached out and grasped the edge of his shirt. She jerked it out of his pants and pulled it over his head. Then she reached for his pants and began unbuttoning and unzipping them.
"I guess I was moving a little too slow, huh?" Gil offered, a laugh in his tone.
She simply nodded, an uneasy giggle slipping from her lips, as she pushed his pants down over his hips. They dropped to the floor at his feet. Catherine was shocked when she looked down...only to find that Gil wasn't wearing any underwear. Her eyes shot up to his, her mouth dropped open into a stunned "o".
"Uh, well, I guess that answers that question."
"What question?" Gil was confused, his face flushing red with embarrassment.
"Um...boxers or briefs." Catherine paused, a smirk curling her lips. "You would have to answer...neither."
"Oh please, Cath." Gil said, rolling his eyes at her. "I haven't done laundry in two weeks. I didn't have any clean underwear left for today." He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "And you thought you knew me so well."
"Gil Grissom, you are a piece of work." Catherine moved over to him and kissed him hard on the mouth. She backed away again and smiled seductively at him, her voice was low deep. "Now help me out of this stuff. I don't want to talk anymore."
She turned away from him, but glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that he was still there. She kept forgetting that Gil was pretty shy when it came to women she didn't want to push him or scare him. But he was still standing there, a shell-shocked look on his face. Catherine smiled softly at him again, and finally he came for her.
Gil helped Catherine out of her bra and panties. His breath caught when she turned around. Her body was perfect in every way. His eyes soaked up every inch of her naked skin. Gil reached out and grasped her hands in his. He got down onto his knees, pulling her down with him onto the sleeping bag.
Their lips met, and neither wasted any time. They each explored the other's body with hands and lips. Their skin glistened with sweat as they discovered each other their lips never parting.
Catherine rolled onto her back, breaking the kiss. Heat surged through her as Gil's lips slid down her throat and over her chest. His mouth closed wetly over one nipple and she moaned loudly, her back arching into him. Catherine wrapped her hand into his hair, and pressed him tightly to her breast. His hands skimmed over the rest of her body, finally coming to a halt between her legs. His fingertip teased the opening and she knew she was ready for him. She could feel the moisture pooling within her center, waiting for him. When his finger finally entered her, she cried out in pleasure.
Gil glanced up at Catherine's face. Her head was thrown back, body arched, eyes closed, teeth clamped down on her bottom lip, sweat dampening her face. She looked so damn sexy like that. As he slid his finger in and out, he felt her muscles clenching and releasing around it. Her chest began rising and falling rapidly, her breath coming in short, choppy gasps. She grabbed his hand, holding him still, and opened her eyes. She looked directly at him as she slowly pulled his hand away from her center.
"I want to feel you inside me, Gil. Right now." Catherine swallowed roughly. "Please."
Gil felt his own arousal deepen. Heat coiled inside his groin and his heart began to pound roughly against his ribcage. Nervousness boiled under his skin and his body shook slightly against her.
"Catherine?"
"Yes?" Her voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
"It's been a really long time." He paused nervously, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat. He ran his fingertips along her torso. "I'm not sure how..."
Catherine reached up and pulled him into a kiss. She slid one of her hands between them and ran it down his chest, over his abs and paused at the patch of hair just above his erection. She broke from his lips and met his eyes. Her hand wrapped around him and gave a long, slow stroke. Catherine's lips pulled into a smile when he sucked in his breath with a sharp hiss, his muscles constricting tightly.
"Just like riding a bike, Gil." She squeezed him tightly in her hand.
Gil flipped onto his back, pulling Catherine on top of him so she was straddling his hips. He held her suspended just above his erection. One side of his mouth curled into a smirk.
"A bike, huh?"
Catherine nodded as she lowered herself onto him.
Chapter 3
"So?"
"So what?"
"So you know what, Catherine." Gil rolled over onto his side so he was facing her. He brushed a stray lock of sweaty hair away from her face with his fingertips.
"I know. But I want to hear you say it." She chuckled when she saw him cringe. "And that's exactly why I want to hear it. Because I know how hard it is for you to talk about this stuff. Even with me."
"Oh come on."
"Say it, Gil." She paused, taking his hand in hers and pressing a gentle kiss on his fingers. "Ask me the question. You can do it. I have complete faith in you."
"Was I any good?"
"Where you any good at what, Gris?" Nick Stokes voice startled them. "Gris? Hey, Gris. Where the hell are you man?"
"Uh. I'm back here Nick." Catherine shot a panicked look at Gil, but he just placed his finger against her lips. "I was exhausted so I decided to take a quick catnap." Gil winced at his own words at how false they sounded when they reached his own ears. He reached over Catherine and quietly pulled the edge of the sleeping bag over their naked bodies.
"Oh." The tone of Nick's voice told Gil that he wasn't completely convinced his boss was telling the truth, but the junior CSI didn't press the matter. "Well, Sara and I re-ran that soil sample and let me just say that boy is she pissed at you!" His hearty laughter filled the room.
"Nick, get on with it please."
"So anyway...it turns out that the tree sap we found, came from a very specific tree."
Catherine and Gil both heard Nick's footsteps as he wandered around the office. They tried to gauge his location by the sound of them, but couldn't pinpoint where exactly he was.
"And?"
"Well, these trees don't grow naturally around here. But there are landscape nurseries that carry them. I was going to take Catherine with me to go and check some of these places out, but she doesn't seem to be around. Have you seen h..."
"Nick, wait!"
"Ooooops. Sorry, boss." Nick chuckled as he stood over them. He tried unsuccessfully to cover it up as a cough. "Didn't know you had...uh...company." He grinned widely. "Hi Catherine.
Catherine was too embarrassed to speak, so she simply smirked and raised her hand in a wave.
"Uh, Nick. Could you give us a few minutes?" Gil paused. "Please?"
"Sure, Gris. No prob." He turned to leave, but swerved back. "I'll...um...be in the lab. Come get me when you are...uh...done with... Ok, see you in a few." Nick rushed out of the office. They heard him laughing all the way to the end of the hall.
Catherine sat up and ran her fingers through her tousled hair. She glanced over at Gil. He had rolled onto his back. His eyes were closed, his arm thrown over his forehead.
"Oh God, Cath."
"I know."
"That was not good." Gil opened his eyes and shifted them to Catherine. She was already half dressed.
"Gil, I know."
"You know that he ran all the way to the lab to tell Sara and Warrick what he saw, right?"
"Of course he did. Wouldn't you?"
"Probably." Gil sat up next to her and began to pull on his clothes. He shook his head and sighed loudly. "You know we're going to be the hot topic of conversation around here now, right?"
"So what? They'll talk about us, make fun of us, and then they'll move on to something more interesting than our sex life."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." He stopped, what she had just said finally registering in his brain, and turned toward her. She was completely dressed and was in the process of putting on her shoes. "Wait a second. We have a sex life?"
Catherine smiled at him, stood and pulled him to his feet. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Let's go to the lab and see what the kids found out about that tree sap, huh?"
She turned and began to walk towards the door to the office. Gil slipped on his own shoes and trailed after her, zipping up his fly as he went.
"Ok. But, Cath?" He reached out and grabbed her hand, stopping her. He walked around in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Seriously, how was it?"
Catherine leaned forward and kissed Gil roughly. When she pulled back, she laughed at the shock reflected on his face.
"I'll tell you tonight." She brushed his cheek with her hand and winked. She slipped past him and walked out the door, down the hall to the lab.
Gil hurried behind her and caught up fairly quickly. They were within three feet of the lab when they heard muffled singing. As they got closer, the words of the song became clear as a bell as did the three voices that were taking part in the little sing-a-long.
"Gil and Catherine sittin in a tree. K I S S I N G!"
Gil slumped back against the wall next to the lab door, his eyes slipping shut, and groaned softly. Catherine stepped up next to him and reached down to grasp his hand.
"First comes love." Warrick's deep voice took the lead.
"Then comes marriage." Sara. Gil cringed at the sound of her sing-song voice joining in.
"Then comes Grissom Jr. in a baby carriage!" Nick's voice finished out the chorus. There was silence for a moment, but it was short lived. The three junior CSI's burst into hysterical laughter.
"Great. Just great!" Gil peaked through the door and saw the three of them in the lab. Nick was practically rolling around on the top of the table he was sitting on. Warrick was bent over at his waist he almost looked like he was in pain. Sara had tears running down her cheeks.
Catherine couldn't help but laugh at his reaction. Gil's eyes snapped to hers. He did not look pleased. She cleared her throat and leaned in to kiss him quickly.
"Oh, Gil. Come on. It's really no big deal." She paused and squeezed his hand tightly. "Let's go in, face the music so to speak, and get back to work. We still have some cases to solve you know?" Catherine released his hand and reached out for the handle to the door.
Gil ran his fingers through his hair once and turned to follow her.
"You're right. There is work to do, although looking at those three in there, you'd never know it."
Catherine laughed again and pushed open the door to the lab. She and Gil entered. As soon as the others saw them, the laughter died away. Sara's glanced at them before her hands flew to her face, wiping away the evidence of her laughter. She walked over to the chalkboard as Warrick coughed roughly and cleared his throat. Nick sat up quickly and smirked at his supervisors.
Catherine gave them the most dazzling smile possible and rubbed her hands together.
"So what's this I hear about tree sap?" She asked.
Gil walked over to the lab table that Nick was sitting on. He perched on the edge as Sara began to explain what they had discovered.
"It turns out that the sap we found in the soil from the Saliege crime scene came from the ginko tree. When we first ran the tests, I didn't even think to run the sap to check for a specific type of tree. But after Gris yelled...uh...mentioned to me that I should run the sample again, the idea popped into my head. So I had Greg run the sample against different tree species and the ginko popped up." She paused and turned toward the chalkboard behind her. "I did a search on the net for ginko trees and came up with the fact that they don't actually grow here. But there are a few landscape nurseries that do carry them. Maybe the vics were taken to one of these nurseries, struck on the head, driven to the ditch and then dumped into it where they ultimately died."
"Sara and I were going to go through some of the other existing evidence to see if we could connect any of it to landscaping." Warrick paused and gestured to Nick. "Nick was going to take Catherine to check out some of the nurseries located within a few miles of the crime scenes..."
"That's when I came to find you." Nick turned his eyes to Catherine and he couldn't stop the smirk from curling his lips. "I did...find you. Boy did I find you." His voice had dropped, the words barely audible to anyone but Grissom.
"Nick..." Gil's voice warned quietly.
It was too late. Sara began to giggle softly, her hand flying to her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. Warrick was biting his bottom lip to keep it from quivering.
"But...uh...you were indisposed at the moment. And..." Nick paused, trying to contain his own laughter. "And you guys were totally naked!"
Sara and Warrick burst into laughter again. Catherine could see that Gil was mortified. Before he could start in on the staff, she took control of the situation.
"Ok, ok. That's enough guys." She glanced around the room and waited for the laughter to die down. "It was unfortunate that Nick happened to witness what he did, but that doesn't mean that you guys can slack off just so you can tease Grissom and me. But here it is...out in the open. Yes, Gil and I had sex...in his office. And he was fantastic." She glanced at Gil. His face flushed with embarrassment, but he smiled at her. She smiled back and walked over to the chalkboard. "So can we please get over it and get back to work?"
The team nodded in unison. Gil cleared his throat and stood.
"Now that we're done with playtime...Nick, you and Catherine are going to take a ride out to these nurseries to see what you can find out. Sara, you and Warrick need to check through both the Wilson and Morris case files to see if you can find anything that may connect them to landscapers or nurseries. I am going to take another look at Kristen Saliege's body see if I can find anything else we can use."
Warrick and Sara walked out of the lab, Catherine not far behind them.
"Nick, you really need to learn how to keep your mouth shut."
"Sorry, man." Nick offered, the laughter still apparent in his voice. "Couldn't resist."
"Uh huh." Gil muttered, turned and began to walk away.
"Hey, Gris?"
"Yes, Nick?"
"Nice ass."
Gil's eyes snapped to the junior CSI. He shook his head from side to side.
"Real mature, Nick. Real mature."
The End