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"I hate this," Gil said, as he watched his wife sit silently in the car beside him. "We both know that you didn't tamper with evidence. This guy deserves what he's getting and is just lashing out because he's not happy." He watched her for a second and then reached over to squeeze her hand. "Cath?"

"Hmm?" she asked, turning to him. She smiled and squeezed his hand back. "I'm fine."

Gil pulled into a parking lot and Catherine looked at him, a confused look on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Baby, I'm worried about you." He smiled and traced the outline of her lips. "I'm not used to you being this quiet."

Catherine sighed. "Or sued."

His finger tipped her chin up so that he was staring into her eyes. "You did nothing wrong, Catherine. You know that. You have nothing to worry about."

Her eyes fluttered back downwards. "I'm being sued, Gil. That's something to worry about."


"What are you guys doing here?" Nick asked, his eyes widening as Gil and Catherine walked into the breakroom where Greg, Sara and Warrick sat with Nick.

"We do still work here, don't we?" Gil asked Catherine, who shrugged.

"But don't you have to…OW!" Greg said, as Sara kicked him.

"Tomorrow, Greg," Catherine said quietly. "I'm just going to work on some paperwork."

Warrick frowned. "They took you off field work?"

"I didn't expect to be kept on," Catherine replied.

"Man, that sucks," Nick grumbled.

"Assignments," Gil said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Sara, you and Nick have a db on the Strip. Warrick, you and I have one at a hotel." He handed the piece of paper to Warrick. "I'll meet you out there in a few."

Warrick nodded and watched Catherine follow Gil into his office.

Catherine narrowed her eyes as she noticed the cages in the room had blankets over them and all the other things in jars were facing away from the desk. "Hon, whose been rearranging your office?"

"Me," he replied, turning to her. "I thought you might like to work in here tonight and I knew you wouldn't want the eyes of the bug world on you."

"You're sweet," she smiled. "And thankyou."

He pulled her closer and his look turned somber. "You're not doing this alone, Catherine. I promise you. That's part of the deal, remember? For better or worse." He bent down and kissed her gently.

"More," she murmured, her lips pressing insistently against his. "Make it go away."

He wanted nothing more than to clear his desk and make love to her over and over again, pushing the court case from her mind.

"Catherine, we can't," he said, pulling away from her. "This place could be bugged or anything. I don't want to hurt you in this case."

"Right," she said, pulling away. "Sorry."

He gripped her shoulders. "Cath, I promise when we get home that I will endeavour to make love to you until the only thing you can think about is pleasure and sleep. But I love you too much to let anything ruin your career because I know how much it means to you."

She got up on tiptoes and kissed him gently. "Thankyou." She patted his arm. "Have fun with Warrick."

Gil's face lit up. "It's got bugs."

Catherine chuckled and kissed him again. "Go on."


Their bodies lay entwined and the cool air of the fan made her shiver as it hit her sweat-slicked body. Her hand traveled down to her abdomen and she held it there, thinking how ironical it was that two days ago, she had just been told she was pregnant…and then five minutes later that she was being sued.

Gil didn't know she was pregnant yet, and she wasn't going to tell him until the court case was over. He'd just worry and she wanted the pregnancy to be something they celebrated.

Her thoughts turned back to the court case and how they were going to pick through her life. She wasn't worried about her former life anymore; but she didn't want her life with Gil scrutinized. It was beautiful and untouched and pure from the trash that they regularly sifted through on cases. She rolled out of Gil's arms and onto her side, her back to him. She cried quietly, desperate not to wake her husband.

"Catherine?" Gil said. He had felt her move out of his arms and he could hear the faint sound of her crying. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, spooning her body into his and kissing her shoulder.

"Catherine, what's the matter?"

"Everything's ruined."

"No, no it's not." He turned her and made her look into his eyes. "Nothing is ruined. Everything is going to be fine, I promise you." He kissed the tears from her eyes. "What can I do to make it better? Please tell me baby, I want to help."

His pet name for her almost made her burst into a strong sobbing, but instead she straddled his waist and bent down, kissing him gently. Her hand skimmed down and stroked his length, pleased to see that he was already hard.

She laid her body atop his and whispered in his ear. "Fuck me."

Gil's eyes almost popped out of his head. "What?" He hadn't seen Cath this animalistic in a while, and although their sex life was more than satisfying, he couldn't help the sharp stab of desire that he felt at her words.

"I want you," she said. "Now."

He bucked up against her as her hand stroked him. "God, Cath…" He looked into her eyes. Arousal and primal need stared back at him. "C'mere," he said, urging her head down so he could kiss her.

It wasn't a leisurely, sweet kiss. It was hot, passionate and needy. Their tongues dueled and she ground her body against him.


"Oh God," she moaned, snuggling up. "Oh God."

"Feel better?" he asked, his hand gently stroking her back.

"Mhm," she murmured, as he rolled them so that they were on their side. "So good."

He kissed her sweaty forehead. "Sleep baby," he told her. "Sleep."


She sat outside the courtroom, fiddling with her skirt. Gil had gone to get her a glass of water. She had just finished throwing up in the bathroom, although she had told Gil it was nerves. Catherine hated lying to him. It made her feel awful.

"Here you go," Gil said, handing her the glass. He sat beside her and watched her drink it, gently brushing a lock of hair that fell around her face. "Feel better?"

She nodded and putting the glass down, leant into his embrace.

"Wanna go home."

He kissed her gently. "I know, baby. And I promise you that we will go home very soon."

"Are you ready?" Catherine's lawyer said, walking briskly up to the couple.

Gil looked at his wife, who nodded. "As ready as we'll ever be."


"Please state your name and occupation for the court," the criminal's lawyer said drily.

Catherine glanced at her husband, who nodded reassuringly. "Catherine Grissom. I'm a CSI Level 4 at the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

The man looked at her. "The names and ranks of your coworkers?"

"Gilbert Grissom, CSI Level 4. Nicholas Stokes, CSI Level 3. Warrick Brown, CSI Level 3. Sara Sidle, CSI Level 3."

"Your husband?"

Catherine almost felt like whacking the man. "Gil Grissom."

"Your supervisor?"

"Yes."

"How long has he been your supervisor?"

"Four years."

"How long have you been married?"

"Two months."

"How long have you been in a relationship?"

"Three months."

The lawyer raised an eyebrow. "So, you were only in a relationship for one month before you got married?"

"We've known each other for seventeen years."

"During which time you were previously married?"

"Yes."

"To an Edward Willows, correct?"

"Yes."

"During this time, did you engage in a relationship with Mr Grissom?"

"No."

"But you knew him."

"Yes."

"Mrs Grissom, are there any children involved in this relationship?"

"I have a daughter."

"How old is your daughter?"

"Nine."

"Is she Mr Grissom's child?"

"No."

"Do you and Mr Grissom have any children?"

Catherine hesitated. She could see the confused expression on Gil's face and she hated the fact this was how he was going to find out. "Not yet."

The lawyer had caught her hesitation. "Mrs Grissom, are you pregnant?"

"Yes." Her eyes went directly to Gil, who sat staring back at her in shock.

"How far along are you?"

"Six weeks."

The lawyer could see the obvious silent looks going between herself and Gil. "Is your husband aware of this?"

Catherine sighed. "He is now."

"So you didn't tell him you were pregnant?"

"Relevance?" Catherine's lawyer asked, jumping up.

"Your honour, the witness is clearly secretive. She didn't even tell her own husband that she was pregnant! If I can go further, perhaps there are other things she isn't telling us that could have consequences for my client."

Catherine felt sick. Gil was staring at her, his face blank.

"Move along, Mr Capsin. Away from this line of questioning if possible."

"Yes your honour. Mrs Grissom, you used to be an exotic dancer."

"Yes."

"A stripper? At the French Palace"

Catherine looked back at him. "Yes."

"Did you perform private dances for men?"

"Yes."

"Just dances?"

Catherine glared at him. "Yes," she ground out.

"Mrs Grissom, did you ever perform private dances for Mr Grissom?"

"No."

"No? He never asked or you never offered?"

"Move to strike that," Catherine's lawyer said.

"Withdrawn," Caspin said quickly. "Mrs Grissom, was Mr Grissom ever at the French Palace during one of your performances?"

"Yes," Catherine replied. "We sometimes had coffee afterward. He worked the graveyard shift at the time."

"Just coffee?"

"Yes."

"Mrs Grissom, have you ever had a sexual relationship with any of your other coworkers?"

"No," she said firmly.

"And you never had a sexual relationship with any of the men you danced for?"

"No!"

"Does the name Jonathon Melvin mean anything to you?"

"Should it?"

"He works on the day shift, occasionally on the nightshift as a cataloguer of evidence. Mr Melvin says that you engaged in sexual relations with him on several occasions after you danced for him."

Catherine's eyes widened. "He's lying!"

"He showed us a videotape."

As the two lawyers went into combat, Catherine scanned the room for her husband. He had gone.