"Batman."


"No."


"Fine, you'll be Cat woman, and I'll be Batman."


"Catherine, I'm not going."


"Fine. Fine. You win Grissom, if you really wanna go as one of your creepy bugs I'll le-"


"You never taken no for an answer do you?"


A short pause as she mulled over his question before she continued.


"Face it Gil, you're not the life of the party. And each year your presence brings a dark cloud over the atmosphere, standing in the corner by yourself, scowling as I force punch into your hand. For once, I'd like to see you let loose, shake it."


"I'm not going to...shake anything Catherine. As for the parties, I do more then my share of participation."


"Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little, but it is a costume party, you coming as yourself is boring. But I got to admit, last year, Ecklie..." An unlady like snort came from her as the memory popped into her head. "He coming dressed as you was classic."

He managed to take his eyes off the road long enough to send her a glare, but having learned a long time ago that Grissom was harmless, she laughed out loud, enjoying herself on his expense.

Deciding to steer the subject to avoid talking about anything to do with Halloween he turned on the radio, smiling as a classic weaved around them.


She couldn't help but smile as Grissom pitched his voice to match that of Prince. "You're a rare find Gil."


He turned to grin at her, continuing to display his talent...or...lack of. But his sudden moment of happiness turned off just as quickly when his passenger let out a happy scream, and turning off one of his rare favorite songs outside of Classical.

"You can come as Prince! With the medallion and velvet suit!"


Even as he grimaced, he couldn't help but laugh at the image. "You're not going to give up as long as I'm alive right?"


"Is that a yes to you'll do it?"

"No." Grissom shook his head at her, turning off the engine and pointing out to her that they had arrived back at the CSI building. "Let's get these evidence to Greg."


Climbing out and grabbing their cases with her, they walked to the entrance. Smiling as he held the door for her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Come on Gil, I'm just trying to have fun. I haven't been this happy since..." A dark mood fell over her face just as quickly as it passed and she switched the case to the other hand. "Humor me."


They stopped in the middle of the hallway, her leaning to one side as she studied his face. A slow smile spread across her face as he nodded his head and muttered something about her stubbornness.

"But." He held up a finger, "I pick the costume. And you don't get to see it till Halloween, and..." His lips pursed in thought. "I get to pick your costume."


Catherine's eyes twinkled in being the one to succeed in pulling Grissom into the holiday festive. "Deal." She winked at him, sauntering ahead of him towards his office, her voice trailing behind her. "What I was going to wear wouldn't have been appropriate anyways."


------

"You're kidding." Sara looked from her burger, "He's going to wear a costume."

"Oh come on, don't sound so surprised. He does everything I ask him too." Catherine faked a queen like attitude, fanning herself with her fork.

"Yeah. Right." Nick threw back at her, taking a bite of his fry. "What'd you do?"

She shrugged giving in. "I played the guilt card. Pulled out the emotional Catherine. He thinks I'm still upset over the paper finalizing my divorce from Eddie that came two weeks ago."

"See...I wouldn't have fallen for that." Warrick shook his head. "Women always play the emotional card. I've learned to see through the tears."

Catherine tried to look insulted as she set down her water bottle. "Women? For all I know, in the game of life, you deal the hands you're given. Now men on the other hand, you're just jealous you can't play those tears."

"Don't share all our secrets in one day." Sara spoke up dryly.

"Please." Nick scoffed. "I know all of them."
"Oh yeah?" Sara rebuttal. "In what? Fifty Ways to Lose Your Lover?"


Looking insulted, Nick set down the pickle he held in his hand. "No. The Dummies guide to Woman."

"That." Warrick shook his head. "Is sad."


Nick looked around, "Catherine. Come on, wouldn't you say I have appreciated your feelings."


Sara laid down her sandwich, wiping her hand with a napkin as she held down giggles that were bound to escape. "So Catherine, what did he say he was going to be?"

"I don't know yet." She frowned, "He said he was going to pick out my costume for me. I-- "

Her sentence was interrupted as 4 pair of eyes turned their heads toward the doorway as they heard a whistle coming from somebody passing the break room.


Catherine scrunched her forehead. "Was that Grissom...whistling?"

"The question is..." Nick smiled widely. "Why was he carrying a big furry costume?"

------

Her eyes kept wandering over to his office, where she wondered if he was working on the latest crossword puzzle or analyzing one of his many creepy crawlers. She took a hunch, and hoped it was the first. The latter always made her shiver.

Her heels clicked against the floor, hoping that it didn't give her away too much. She smiled, quietly leaning against the threshold as she watched him deep in thought, reading one of his endless collections of books.

So she was wrong, he liked variety in his life. A grinned fell on her face at that thought, causing her to chuckle.

"If you're trying to be discreet, it's not working." He spoke, even as his eyes stayed glue to the page.


"Just. So uh..." Her sentence fell short as she fought for the right words to satisfy her curiosity, without seeming too anxious. "What was that you were carrying in an hour ago?"

"It's a surprise."


"You hate surprises."

"But you don't."

She had to smile at that. It was rare for Grissom to catch her speechless, but there she stood nonetheless, unable to form even a sound. So she gave him one last curious look, and left. She'd let him have his little fun. There was always time for hers.

-----

Her worried frown fell into an amused smile as she watched him slowly pull an item out of the bag. A wig flaming red with curls.

"I love Lucy." She took a guess. " Now is this for me...or you?"

He held up a finger, digging further into the bag.

Leaning forward Catherine grinned. "Please tell me you're Ethel."

He shook his head. "I'm taking this seriously Catherine."


Holding up her hands in mock surrender she took a step back. "By all means Ricky."


He raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't jump to conclusions before you've see all the---"

"Evidence." She finished with an exasperated sigh. "Just show me."


----

"Nice hump Cat."

"Stuff it Nicky."

"I'm just...admiring your attributes."


He held up his sword in protection as a scowl deepened around her mouth. "You gotta admit it though." Snickers escaped even as he tried to hide it being his cup of punch. "Grissom really gave it to you."

"If you don't watch out, I'm gonna really give it to you."


A dangerous spark lit into her eyes as she heard somebody chuckling behind her. Slowly turning around, she crossed her arms as she came face to face with the supervisor of the graveyard shift.

"Well..well..if it isn't our very own mad scientist." She greeted him sarcastically.

"That's Dr. Frankenstein to you...Igor."