AN: This has been in my mind for a long time and I thought I'd finally share it.
Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or Jaws or anything.
Jaws
Catherine Flynn slurped her soda until there was just ice at the bottom of her cup. She scanned the crowded theatre once before she turned and flashed a winning smile at the boy working in the concession. Within seconds, she had a new drink in her hands.
"So where are they?" she asked, returning to her friend, Laura, who was standing on her tip-toes to see over the crowd.
"I don't know," she replied, "but they should be here by now."
"Care to tell me again why I'm sacrificing my Friday night to do this?" Catherine questioned, leaning against the wall as she disdainfully eyed the door.
"Because Doug needs a date for his cousin, my mom won't let me go out alone, and you just so happen to be my best friend," Laura reminded her. Catherine raised an eyebrow. She had just caught sight of Doug Berkley, Laura's date, at the door, followed by a young man she didn't recognize. That must be the cousin.
"This guy had better be worth it," she muttered.
"Come on, Cath, lighten up. For all you know, you could wind up married to this guy someday," Laura told her, "Oh, there they are!" she exclaimed, rushing to Doug. Catherine made a face that clearly said, 'As if,' but Laura was too far-gone to notice. With a sigh, Catherine pushed herself off of the wall and walked towards her friend.
"And there's the life of the party!" Doug greeted her as she approached. She forced a smile.
"Always a pleasure to see you too, Doug," she said pleasantly enough, even though Doug Berkley annoyed the hell out of her. He grinned cockily.
"See, I told you she wasn't all bad," he said, poking his cousin in the ribs. The cousin looked uncomfortable.
"Do you have enough manners to introduce us, Doug, or are we going to have to do it ourselves?" Catherine asked. Her jibe didn't even faze him.
"Gil, this is my girl, Laura, and her smart little friend, Catherine," Doug said, "Ladies, this is my cousin, Gil Grissom."
"Nice to meet you," the cousin finally spoke. Catherine appraised him. He wasn't all that bad looking, in fact, some would call him handsome. His dark, curly hair was much shorter that Doug's and he had the most intense blue gaze. And it appeared that he knew how to dress. The brown leather jacket suited him.
"Likewise," Catherine nodded, throwing him a confident smirk to show him that she wasn't buying into his obvious good looks. No one could look that good and not be flawed. He was probably the same arrogant prick that his cousin was.
"So what are we seeing?" Doug asked, slipping his arm around Laura's waist.
"Ladies choice," Gil said politely, gesturing to Catherine and Laura.
"I could see anything," Laura gushed. Catherine rolled her eyes. She knew what was on her friend's mind. The smirk on Doug's face told Catherine that he was on the exact same brainwave as his girlfriend.
"I'm thinking Jaws," Catherine finally said when it became apparent that no one else was going to say anything. The last time she tried to see it, it had been sold-out and she had had to find her own fun, namely Mickey Dunn, who hadn't been all that much fun. She eyed Gil carefully. If he was like his cousin, he would mock her choice of movie. She was prepared to fight for her pick, though. She would not feel foolish about wanting to see a movie. Fortunately, Gil didn't seem to mind.
"Nice choice. It was sold out the last time I tried to see it," he said, smiling at her. Catherine smiled a small smile back.
"Same," she said. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad.
"Well, shall we?" Doug asked, gesturing to the theater. The four of them walked deeper into the tightly packed building, filled with all of those who had missed the movie the first time around.
"Ooh, Doug, let's buy some popcorn!" Laura squealed, pointing to the concession stand.
"Great idea, Sweetie," Doug cooed. Gil and Catherine grimaced as they watched as Laura practically dragged Doug towards the concession.
"So how'd you get roped into this?" Catherine asked, leaning back against the wall.
"Doug begged and pleaded," Gil shrugged, "You?"
"Laura can be quite annoying when she wants to be," Catherine replied, "Her mom said that she can't go out without me."
"And what does your mom have to say about this?" Gil asked curiously. She rolled her eyes.
"Nothing. What does your mom have to say about this?" she shot back.
"Nothing. I'm 20. You, my young friend, are not," he stated. She raised an eyebrow.
"Gil, I'm sure you're a nice guy, but we're not friends," Catherine said, pushing herself off the wall to walk towards Laura and Doug, casting him a look over her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows and stared at her retreating back before he walked towards the other three. This was boding to be a good night for him, he thought sarcastically. He wanted nothing more than to go home to his bug collection.
0
Catherine groaned. Not even 30 seconds into the opening sequence, Laura and Doug were already making out. On her other side, Gil was sitting quietly, engrossed in the underwater movements of the shark. She tapped him on the shoulder.
"What?" he whispered.
"Can I trade you seats?" Catherine whispered back. His gaze fell on the couple next to her.
"No," he answered pointedly.
"Please!" she hissed.
Someone behind them "Shh"-ed them.
"No," he said again. Catherine rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. After a few minutes, she shuddered after hearing a moan escape her friend's lips. Gil's eyes shifted from the screen to Catherine and her grossed out expression. He sighed.
"Do you still want to switch?" he relented. Her eyes lit up, but then she halted in her movements.
"You don't feel sorry for me, do you?" she asked stubbornly. He rolled his eyes.
"Of course not. We're not friends, remember. The guy in front of me keeps moving around," he made up, incredulous of her sudden surge of pride.
"Okay then," she said and they switched. She quickly noticed that the guy in front of her was not moving in the slightest. What was he playing at?
"Thanks," she said after a moment.
"Shh," he said, turning his attention to where Chief Brody was butting heads with the mayor of Amity.
0
They were silent until Brody was slapped by Mrs. Kitner, at which several people, Catherine included, laughed.
"Nice hit," she commented.
"You're all for the abuse, are you?" Gil asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Hey, it's his fault her son was fish food," Catherine shrugged, taking a slurp from her soda.
"Technically, it was the mayor's fault," he said back.
"Don't get technical," she told him, before both were absorbed in the movie once more. She smirked.
0
Catherine shuddered again, but not because she heard her friend making out with an older guy. This had to do with the movie. Matt Hooper had just cut open the shark's stomach. Gil smirked.
"Does that disgust you?" he asked.
"Doesn't it disgust you?" she retorted.
"Au contraire. I'm an intern in the L.A Morgue," he told her. She shot him an odd look.
"Interesting," she said, raising her eyebrows.
"What, you haven't taken Biology, yet?" he asked.
"I know everything I need to know, thank you very much," she retorted, turning back to the screen, only to give a little scream and grab his arm. Several people screamed when the corpse head appeared in the hole of the sunken ship. Even Gil jumped, but soon he was chuckling at her.
"Scared?" he taunted.
"Shut up," she told him as she released her grip on his arm, "You jumped, too."
"I was just surprised," he argued.
"Were not."
"Were too."
"Whatever," he said childishly. Both quieted and both settled with self-satisfied smirks.
0
"I think that I am familiar with the fact that you are going to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and BITES YOU ON THE ASS!" Matt Hooper yelled at the mayor.
"I hope the shark does swim up and bite him on the ass," Catherine commented.
"Again, violence?" Gil questioned, raising his eyebrow. She rolled her eyes.
"Watch the movie," she told him, settling back into her chair. He shook his head and returned to the movie.
0
Catherine leaned forwards, so engrossed and anxious that she didn't realize she was gripping Gil's arm instead of the armrest. Gil noticed, but was more interested in the shark swimming to the pond where Brody's son was on his boat. It was when the shark was swimming towards Mike Brody that Gil felt Catherine's nails dig into his flesh.
"Ow!" he hissed, pulling his arm from the armrest. Catherine jumped and let out a yelp in surprise. Several people laughed. Gil chuckled.
"Think that's funny?" she asked. Then she punched him in the shoulder.
"What was that for?" he whined, rubbing his sure-to-be bruised shoulder.
"What do you think, Smart Guy?" she shot at him, crossing her arms and leaning back in a huff.
"You're the one who used my armrest," he reminded her. She glared at him.
"Actually, it was MY armrest," she hissed back, still pouting. Gil shook his head and rolled his eyes as he continued to rub his shoulder. But he did surrender the armrest to her.
0
The whole movie theatre screamed when the shark leapt from the water as Brody was slinging chum into the water. The crowd watched as he slowly walked backwards into the middle of the boat.
"You're gonna need a bigger boat."
Several people laughed.
"Wow, you think?" Catherine commented sarcastically. Gil looked over and saw a glint in her eyes and a smile on her lips. She was enjoying this movie. She looked pretty when she was smiling, he found himself thinking. Enchanting. He didn't notice when she turned to him.
"Movie screen's that way," she pointed out.
"Huh? What?"
She raised her eyebrows, but her smile widened. She looked like a cat that just caught the canary. She leaned closer to him, her face inches away from his. His eyes widened and his heart was racing.
"Like what you see, Gil?" she questioned seductively.
"Huh?" he gulped. She gave him a very seductive stare before turning back to the screen. She smirked when she saw from the corner of her eye that he was sitting there, frozen to the spot.
"Watch the movie," she told him, "It's getting good."
He nodded mutely and turned his attention back to the three men on the boat. His mouth was still hanging open.
"Close your mouth," she whispered, "You're starting to look like the shark."
He obeyed.
0
Every so often, he would cast little glances in Catherine's direction. She had totally spoiled the movie for him with her little seductive trick. When Quint was telling Hooper and Brody about the Indianapolis, Gil saw a look of confusion flash over her face.
"That really happened, you know," he told her.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yeah. I read about it a long time ago."
"Interesting," Catherine appraised, "You'll have to tell me more later."
Gil grinned. He liked that there would be a later.
0
Catherine whimpered and turned her head from the screen as she watched blood gush from Quint's mouth as the shark grabbed him around the middle. Gil turned his head towards hers in concern.
"It's not that bad, Catherine," he said softly, "It's over now."
She hazarded a look at the screen, just in time to see the shark dragging Quint into the water. She visibly relaxed. She smiled shyly at him. He smiled back and in a tentative gesture, he placed his hand on the armrest, next to hers. Her fingers entwined with his, and for once, he found himself enjoying human contact. They stayed like that for the remainder of the movie, at least until Chief Brody's instantly classic line:
"Smile, you son of a bitch!"
There was a unanimous cheer from the crowd. Some people had stood up and started applauding, prompting others to join. Gil found himself standing and clapping beside Catherine, who was smiling, satisfied with the ending.
0
Gil found himself sitting across from Catherine in a coffee-shop across from the Desert Inn, where he and Doug were staying for the night. Doug had suggested that the four of them go up to their hotel room to hang out. Both Catherine and Gil realized what they would be forced to watch if they accompanied Doug and Laura up to the hotel room and quickly opted out.
"So you're from California, huh?" Catherine asked, wrapping her hands around the warm mug.
"Marina Del Rey," he answered, taking a sip of his own, "And you're from Vegas?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered, "Moved to Montana when I was a kid, but my mom couldn't stay away from Vegas for very long."
"I can see why," Gil replied, "I think there's more to it than the city of sin," he said, admiring the lights of the casinos and hotels through the window.
"So much more," she emphasized. They fell into silence, but oddly, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. It was strange.
"So what did you think of the movie?" he asked in between sips, "Everything you thought it would be?"
"More," she said smiling, "So much more."
He smiled too, wondering if it had been him that put that smile there.
They talked for long time until Laura appeared in the coffee-shop, much too soon for either of their likings.
"It was nice meeting you," Gil told her, as the three of them stood together on the sidewalk in the night.
"It was nice meeting you, too, Gil," Catherine replied.
Gil felt a twinge of loss as he watched her leave with her friend. He hadn't even got her number.
Catherine couldn't help looking back over her shoulder at him. There was something different about him.
Later, they both lay in their respective beds, hoping that someday, they would meet again.
Someday came three years later as Gil Grissom stood in line for Jaws2 at a theatre in L.A.
TBC