Title: When Prince Charming met Cinderella

Author: Kharma (Emma)

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't belong to me. Every Christmas and Birthday I drop hints but it doesn't work.

Summary: Read it and see.

Spoilers: None

Warning: Nick and Catherine romance (If you don't like that, then don't read it and if you do read it, please don't flame me).

Notes: I am in no way, shape or form to be held responsible for this one. This is entirely the fault of my younger sister betting me a month's supply of Ben & Jerry's ice cream that I am incapable of writing Catherine with anybody but Grissom or Warrick and making it believable (it's up to you tell me whether or not I win the bet). It is also partly the fault of the Graveshift group for having a discussion a few weeks ago about something that was in the original show bible.

Feedback: It would be greatly appreciated. Any flames will go toward lighting a fire under my muse and getting her to actually do some work on my half dozen WIP's.

When Prince Charming met Cinderella.

Catherine leant against the side of the Tahoe with a sigh and glanced at her watch. She cast an irritated look in the direction of the convenience store she was standing in front of and angrily kicked at a stone. "For crying out loud, Nick," she said to herself. "How long does it take to buy ice-cream?"

They had been driving back to CSI after attending a scene and Nick had got a sudden craving for ice cream, so he had insisted on stopping at the first convenience store they came across. He had promised her that he would only be a few minutes, but it had been almost 25 and Catherine had had enough. She was just about to march in there and drag him out when the door opened and Nick strolled out like he didn't have a care in the world and knowing Nick, he didn't.

"About damn time!" she snapped, but she felt herself start to melt when Nick gave her most charming smile. "Oh no you don't," she said irritably.

"Don't what?" Nick asked innocently, knowing perfectly well what she was referring to.

"Don't even think about pulling that Prince Charming crap with me, because it won't work."

"Catherine!" Nick said in feigned indignation. "I would never try that with you."

Catherine didn't bother dignifying the remark with a response. She suddenly looked down and smiled. "Jesus Nick, how much ice cream did you buy?"

Nick shrugged. "A little of this, a little of that," he said with a small smile and then grinned and reached into the bag. "I also bought these," he said casually as he pulled out 2 ice-cream bars.

Catherine's eyes lit up when she saw him holding her favourite ice cream. "Are those for me?" she asked.

"One of them may be," Nick said with a smile. "It depends what I get for it."

Catherine thought for a moment and then she smiled. Nick suddenly found himself getting very nervous for some reason. When Catherine started slowly walking towards him, he backed away until he hit the side of the car. Catherine stopped right in front of him. She was close enough to feel the heat radiating from his body, but not so close that they were actually touching. "What do you want, Nicky?" she practically purred and smiled when he visibly swallowed.

"Er, a kiss on the cheek?" he said hesitantly as he flushed slightly.

Catherine knew that what she was doing could backfire badly but she couldn't stop herself. "I don't know, Nicky," she said quietly. "I mean, you bought me my favourite ice cream. I think that deserves more than just a kiss on the cheek." She deliberately made her voice husky as she leaned up and whispered in his ear, smiling when he shuddered slightly at the feel of her breath on his neck. "What do you think?" she asked quietly. Not giving him a chance to answer, Catherine brushed her lips against his for a few seconds before pulling away.

"Thanks for the ice cream, Nick," she said with a smug smile as she took it from his suddenly nerveless fingers and turned to walk away. She stopped and spun around in shock when Nick's hand suddenly reached out and gently grabbed her wrist.

Nick smiled at the confusion on her face. "Did you enjoy your little game, just then?" he asked quietly and Catherine blushed but didn't answer him. She yelped in surprise when Nick suddenly tugged her forward. He used just enough force to pull her off balance without hurting her.

Catherine suddenly found herself pressed up against his body with his arms securely wrapped around her and she had no idea what was going on. He may have had a reputation as a ladies man, but Catherine had always thought that most of the things she had heard about him were just rumours. Now she wasn't so sure. "Nick?" she said hesitantly, putting everything she wanted to know into that one word.

Nick let his hand drift up from around her waist and started playing with her hair. He didn't say anything for almost a minute, he just played with her hair and watched her then he smiled. "Payback's a bitch, Cath," he said in a whisper as he covered her lips with his own in a firm but gentle kiss.

Catherine was too shocked to protest, she just let the kiss happen and by the time she though of stopping it, it was too late because he had released her and stepped away. Her hand flew to her mouth and she stared at him without saying anything, unable to process the fact that Nick had just kissed her and she had enjoyed it.

Nick suddenly went bright red as he realised what had happened. "Oh God, Cath!" he exclaimed, instantly contrite. "I'm sorry. I should never have done that. I don't know what came over me. Please don't hate me." He started to get nervous when Catherine continued to look at him without saying anything. "Please say something," he begged.

Catherine looked at him for a minute and then smiled. "You know something, Nicky?" she asked as she closed the distance that he had put between them. "You talk too much." She surprised him by grabbing the front of his shirt with one hand, putting her other hand behind his neck and pulling him down until their lips met. Nick resisted for about 2 seconds and then wrapped his arms around her waist and spun them around until she was pinned up against the side of the Tahoe.

Catherine sighed when she felt Nick's tongue trace her bottom lip and eagerly allowed him to deepen the kiss. She wrapped her arms tighter around Nick's neck and tried to pull him closer by wrapping her leg around one of his. She moaned into his mouth when she felt his erection press into her hip and he responded by moving his hands from her waist and sliding them up the back of her shirt.

The kiss seemed to go on forever and it was the ringing of Catherine's cell phone that finally forced them back to reality. It took Catherine a few seconds to get enough breath back to answer the phone and even then she was still a little breathy. Catherine pulled the phone out of her pocket and thought about not answering it but decided she had better. "Hello," she said breathlessly, making Nick smile smugly with the knowledge that he had made her sound like that.

"Hey Grissom," Catherine said. "Oh, I'm fine, I left the phone in the car." She took a few steps away from Nick's distracting presence while she talked. "Nicky's around here somewhere," she said with a slight blush and then smiled when she caught his eye. "I think he's doing his Prince Charming act on the local female population."

"I'll show you Prince Charming," Nick thought as he wrapped his arms around Catherine's waist from behind and started kissing her neck. She glared at him briefly but had to fight back a moan when he suddenly nipped her earlobe.

"What was that, Grissom?" she asked as she tried to concentrate on their conversation. "Oh, we'll be about 20 minutes. Okay, Bye."

Without bothering to disconnect the phone, she turned around in Nick's arms and pulled him back in for a kiss. "That was very naughty, Nick," she said sternly when she finally let him up for air.

Instead of answering, Nick smiled smugly and took her hand in his own. "Come on, Cinderella," he said with a laugh. "I take it we're needed back at the lab."

Catherine let him lead her back to the Tahoe and even let him guide her into her seat and fasten her belt for her, understanding that it was something he wanted to do. She waited until he had climbed into the driver's side of the vehicle before saying anything. "Nick?" she said and waited for him to look at her. "Cinderella?"

She smiled when he blushed slightly. "Sorry Cath, but every Prince Charming needs his Cinders."

"I can live with that," Catherine said and then reached out and gently stroked the side of his face before pulling him slightly towards her. "Just so you know," she said quietly. "This Cinderella has no plans to turn back into a scullery maid in the morning."

Nick looked slightly confused for a second and then realised what she was trying to say. "This Prince Charming would never let you," he promised before kissing her softly.

"Come on," Catherine said with a smile. "Let's get back to work. We can discuss this later."

"Yes ma'am," Nick agreed as he pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to the lab. Neither of them noticed that they had left the ice cream in the middle of the parking lot.

The end.