Title: Tales Of A Random Gifter

Author: Angie

Disclaimer: CSI Crime Scene Investigation does not belong to me, they are the property of CBS, Alliance Atlantis, Jerry Bruckheimer and the wonderful actors who portray them.

Author's Notes: I've never written an episode follow-up before, so this is my first attempt. It's fluff, pure and simple. I needed a little change of pace from the drama and angst in some of the other fics I've been working on.

Many, many thanks to Marianne for her excellent beta job and convincing me that I should post, not to mention convincing me the title is all right. (I need a lot of convincing sometimes.) :-)

Rating: G

Spoilers: "Xx"

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

XOXOXO

Sighing, Catherine shut the door to her locker. She hated cases that reminded her of her past, besides the fact that this particular case was especially gruesome. Picking up her purse, she slowly walked towards the door, stopping just as it opened. She jumped out of the way and barely managed to avoid Nick as he came racing into the room.

"Cath! Good, you're still here."

"Just on my way out, Nicky."

"Can I talk to you for a sec?"

Catherine studied him for a minute, seeing the questions brewing in his eyes. Without a word, she turned back around and headed for the bench. Sitting and waiting for Nick to start the conversation, she slowly drummed her fingers on the bench next to her. "Nick? Something wrong?"

"Not wrong… really. I'm just… Did Grissom get you a Christmas present this year?" Nick said as he plopped onto the bench across from Catherine.

"What? Why are you asking me this now? What happened?"

"That's a yes."

"No it isn't. What's going on Nick?" Catherine leaned forward placing her hand on Nick's.

"We were working the case. Sara and I had gone to see Hodges, and she started spouting off all this stuff about bugs. Hodges commented on it, and Sara mentioned that Gris gave her an entomology textbook for Christmas last year. I'm just wondering if she's the only one…"

"He gave a present to?" Catherine finished. She shook her head in disappointment. "I'm not sure what happened, Nick. You know how Gil is… maybe he just forgot…"

"Forgot to give Christmas presents to everyone? He managed to give one to Sara. Why wouldn't he give them to everyone at once?"

"I'm not sure. I'll talk to him. Find out what's going on." Catherine stood and started heading back out the door.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

Turning back around, she looked at Nick, not sure how to respond. "Nick…We've been friends for…"

"Just say yes, Cath."

"Yes."

"That's all I wanted to know." Nick stood, and walked out of the locker room with Catherine. He stopped in the doorway when she came to a halt and turned around.

"I'm going to go talk to him. I'll take…"

"It's all right, Cath. I know how things work around here. At least now I know where I fit into things." He squeezed past Catherine and walked towards the exit.

Catherine watched him walk away, with head hung low. Once he turned the corner she quickly made her way to Gil's office. Standing in the doorway, she stopped and leaned against the doorframe, watching as he filled out the paperwork that had taken over his desk. When she realized she wasn't going to get his attention, she cleared her throat and fully stepped into his office before closing the door.

"We need to talk." Catherine said as she moved across the room and sat in the chair before his desk.

Gil set the pen down and looked up before answering. "What about?"

"Christmas."

"Christmas? As in nine months from now, or three months ago?"

"Three months ago. Nick came to me in the locker room a little bit ago. Seems Sara was telling him and Hodges that you gave her an entomology text book for Christmas this year."

Gil shook his head, still confused. "Yeah, so?"

"You don't get it, do you? What did you get Nick?"

"An entomology textbook, just like the one I gave Sara. You already know that Cath."

"And when did you give it to him?"

"Right before…" Gil paused, his mind searching for the answer.

"Exactly! You didn't give it to him Gil. Who else did you leave out? Or was it just Nick?"

"I… I don't know. I really thought I gave his gift to him…"

Catherine stood and walked around the desk, holding her hand out for Gil to take. "Come on."

"'Come on' what?" He automatically reached for her hand. The slight pull on his arm causing him to stand and follow Catherine. "Where are we going?"

"To your place."

Gil stopped in his tracks, no longer blindly following Catherine. "What?"

"We're going to your place to get Nick's present, and any other Christmas present you have in your front closet. Then we are going to have a little Christmas in March."

"Can't I just bring them in tonight?"

Catherine shook her head. "Absolutely not. You wont bring them in, Gil, I know you. Unless you have fifty gifts hidden away this wont take long. Then you can take me home, and I wont even make you cook me breakfast this time."

Gil smiled, and let Catherine lead him away.

XOXOXO

Nick walked into the break room, smiling when he saw Catherine sitting at the table.

"Hey Cath, I never did thank you for the other day."

"What? Oh, that. Don't mention it. If I had known he hadn't given everyone their gifts at Christmas time I would have done that a lot earlier." Catherine walked over to the refrigerator grabbing a bottle of water. "You want one?" When Nick declined she shut the door and went back to her seat, propping her feet up on the table.

Nick was about to continue talking when Warrick and Sara came into the room.

"Thanks for talking to Gris, Cath." Warrick said as he took the seat next to her. "And now we all have our own reference book when Grissom isn't around."

They all laughed and took seats around the table, waiting for Grissom to come in with tonight's assignment slips.

"Cath, you never answered my question the other day… and now we're all assuming. What did you get from Grissom?"

Catherine glanced down at the table, muttering softly to herself.

"What did you say?"

She glanced up at Sara, seeing the smug look on her face. The smile slowly appeared on her face, and Catherine fought to control it. "Nothing."

"I know he got you something, Cath. And from your reluctance to answer I can guess it wasn't an entomology textbook like he got the rest of us. So spill, you know we'll keep bugging you till we find out."

"A toaster all right. He gave me a toaster..." Catherine trailed off as Gil walked in.

"What's this about a toaster?"

Catherine looked back at the table, not wanting to answer Gil's question.

"You gave Cath a toaster for Christmas?" Nick questioned, wincing when Catherine's foot came in contact with his shin.

Looking around the room, Gil quickly took in the situation before sitting next to Catherine. "She needed a new one and I knew she would never get one, she doesn't really use it much. But I kept burning my toast. I guess really it was more of a present for… any way. Nick, Sara, Warrick I've got a 419 for you out on Tropicana. Cath, we've got a shooting at the Tangiers. See you guys later." Gil stood and motioned for Catherine to follow him out of the break room.

"You know, that was more of a present for you than me. You've got nine days till my birthday. Think you can do better this time?"

"I'm always willing to try, Cath. For you, I'm always willing to try."