A/N: I am sick of being shamed for liking Grillows. If you are only going to throw shade at me for not loving GSR as much as you do, or thinking Cath and Vartaan belong together, then please leave me alone. It's really unfair.

Chapter 1

Adrenaline.

It pumped through her and for a moment she wasn't scared. She was pissed off. How dare someone shoot through her home and drive her into the street.

She turned her head to the black vehicle squealing down the street, headed straight for her. She lifted her gun. There was no time to pray, there was no time to think. If she was going to go down, she would go down shooting.

Her heart pulverized her chest from the inside out as the car came to a halt with the window down.

"Get in!"

She saw the silvered hair and the familiar face. She swore she was imagining things, hallucinating, completely mad and delirious. She threw herself into the vehicle, escaping a pelting of bullets that swooshed through the air, slicing it in two with a deafening crack. The car lurched forward, its driver breathing heavily and saying her name as they sped off. The ricocheting of metal off metal was ringing in her ears.

And then she felt it. There was a muscle constricting, searing pain that sent her into waves of dizziness as she moved. She deftly grabbed her white, blood soaked shirt and slid it over her abdomen. She saw the hole in her body and watched as blood spilled out over her hand. Her mouth went dry, as if she had stuck cotton in her mouth. Her lips quivered, her teeth clenched and she shut her eyes, bearing down.

"Catherine? Cath, are you ok?"

"I've been better," she sputtered.

Gil Grissom turned his head to glance back at his old colleague. "Shit."

He had been on his way to see her. Just arriving back in town, he wanted to catch her after her shift, make some drinks, and chat. He stopped by the lab and heard about what had happened. He was hoping to have caught her at work, but when he heard that she was rattled up about this case, he decided to go see if she was ok. He wanted to be the friend she had always been for him. He thanked his lucky star for arriving when he did.

He looked back again. "Catherine, stay with me ok? I'm going to try to pull over somewhere."

"We are going to have to be discreet, Gil," she pushed out. "They will find us."

Grissom wasn't sure of every detail, but he trusted her. He always had. He kept driving, remembering that when he left Las Vegas, he left a piece of himself behind, and still paid rent on it. He rolled the vehicle to a gentle stop, watching Catherine carefully so he didn't jar her, and then moved quickly to get her out of the car.

He opened the door, beckoning to her. "Ok, Cath. I kept an apartment in town, for occasions like this."

Catherine looked at him. "For this occasion?"

"Sorry, not for this exactly, but for visiting."

"Gee, what a nice visit you're having," Catherine breathed. She bit the side of her tongue trying to keep herself from wailing out as Grissom pulled her from his back seat.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm glad I came to you."

Catherine smiled a watery smile to him and fell into him as she exited the car. She was woozy, blooding still dripping from her body.

Grissom was in shock, moving with logic, with the intent of getting her inside and getting help as soon as possible.

She was motionless, standing barefoot in his kitchen, dripping blood onto the tile. He moved around her, grabbing a million things in his arms; towels, water, medication, blankets. He moved effortlessly despite his trembling hands.

He brushed his thumbs across both cheeks before peeling the bloodstained clothes from her body. She fell into his touch, starting to panic as she felt the blood run down her body. He watched her chest rise and fall quickly and tried to slow his movements in response.

"You're okay, Catherine. I'm going to get you some help, you'll be okay."

She could only nod. She looked to him, her eyes swimming behind the tears that surfaced, ready to fall, and her bottom lip quivered. Grissom moved carefully, getting her down the hall and onto the towels he laid down on the bed for her. Once she was down, he grabbed his cell.

Catherine started to protest, but he quelled her. "It's okay, it's okay. No one but a few people at the lab know I'm back. They wouldn't know to track my cell, okay? I'll call Doc Robbins." She nodded again.

In that time, Catherine's eyes slid shut. Grissom's words drowned in the background of her heart thumping in her ears. She would wake every few minutes, finding Grissom in a different place. She picked out different phrases, quiet as he tried to be.

"She's bleeding… I don't know how much she's lost, but enough. She's colorless Doc…. Okay.. okay.. just get here, as quick as you can. I lost one CSI in my arms I won't do it again, not with her, I ca-... Okay… Okay I will."

She felt the weight on the bed shift.

"Catherine, sweetie? C'mon, stay with me," he pleaded. His hands sifted through her hair, pushing it off her face. Her eyes cracked open, doing as he requested. She didn't want to worry him anymore than she had to. He held her hand and sighed.

"You know," she croaked, "I was doing pretty damn well. I… I was really trying to get it together." Her breathing was heavy, but he let her speak. "This isn't like me, Gil… I've been rescuing myself. I've been so careful." Fresh tears brimmed and spilled, cascading down her papery cheeks. "I've been okay without you." She squeezed his hand.

He didn't say anything. He knew she hated feeling helpless. He had half a mind to tell her he had no clue what he was doing. He wasn't rescuing her. She was keeping herself alive, sheer will and determination.

"You're going to be alright, Catherine." He traced over her face, keeping her calm while he waited for Doc Robbins.

When the Doc did show up, it was a blur for Grissom and Catherine. He snuck in quickly, evaluated her condition. Grissom sat on the other side of the bed, holding her hand. She didn't cry, not when he sterilized her wound, not when he poked at it, not when he patched her up. Her nails dug into Grissom's hand, but that was it. She smiled at Doc when he was finished and said thank you.

"You're going to need to sleep, Catherine," he said.

"Whatever the doctor says." She winked.

He talked to Grissom for a while, but she was drifting off to sleep. She hoped when she woke up that she would be somewhere far away from her nightmare.