Hey y'all. To whoever eventually ends up reading this fic all I have to say is: I never got over Vartillows, and since I've been through a lot in my love life, it somehow brought me back to CSI and made me see thing differently, that's why I came up with
this idea.

It just makes me feel better to write about this couple I love so much and it even helps me to find a solution for my problems in real life.

I wish they'd stayed together but, as we know, that didn't really happen, since their paths got implied. So I wanted to give this story a proper ending and hopefully if I accomplish it, maybe I can go on with my life and let this OTP go for real.

Reviews are welcome and so any ideas for the next chapter!

...

It felt so familiar yet kinda strange to be back at her home town. It had been a week since she had gotten back to Vegas. She was so thankful of having people like the CSI family in her life. She got to work with them for a long time and when she felt
a change was needed she went away and moved to another city. The FBI was great for her but she fought sometimes with the urge to come back, sometimes this will was almost unbearable.

Yet, now there she was, running the department, like she always wanted since the beginning of her career.

She was in her happy place doing what she loved with the most incredible people... even with her daughter, Lindsey, whom was following her steps.

Cath was sitting on the chair behind a large desk in her newest office. She brought her collection of books to put on the shelves, some photographs and plants to put over the table... even the fetus pig Gil gave her years ago was there.

Catherine sat back and felt all this energy. She felt good. She felt true to herself. She felt proud of being able to achieve so many things professionally after all she went through in her life.

She was wearing her brown glasses as her blue eyes sparkled witha glimpse of the early morning sunlight shinning thru the window. The strawberry blonde admired the finished paperwork over the table and a very busy lab on the landscape behind it.
She felt calm, almost relaxed after her shift. The job made her feel complete... except in her personal life.

Just by the thought of going home alone the smile on her face disappeared. Lindsey had her own condo and only crashed at her mom's house a few times a month. She was a grown up now and Catherine was still getting used to this reality.

Cath took her glasses off and placed it on the table. She rubbed her eyes as she leaned back in her chair, trying to shuffle her negative thoughts. Sighing she got up. She was wearing a low-cut long sleeve black blouse that was perfectly showing her cleavage showing. She managed to dress her white blazer, which was hanging next to her office's door. She reached for her purse and exited the room, slowly closing the door behind her and entering the corridor slamming her high heels
on the way to the elevator. She grabbed the smartphone inside her purse and unlocked the screen, barely paying attention on the hallway, just minding not to crash into someone. One unread text from Lindsey popped on the screen, which said: 'Pulling a double. See you 2night? XO.'

Cath smiled at the thought of her daughter getting used to the job. Lindsey was really into it, Catherine could tell how strenuous she was about this job. She then texted back: 'Sure. See you later, Linds. Love, mom.'

Catherine soon arrived in front of the elevators and pressed the button to get down, still typing on her phone. The door in front of her opened but before she was able to get in she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey stranger"

She looked up just to see the person who she least expectedin front of her smiling and waiting for an answer.

"Hey!" Cath said abruptly, as soon as she saw Lou's greenish eyes. She felt awkward but there was a certain joy on seeing him again. She knew how they'd left things in the past. And knowing it came from her to end up their 'relationship' she felt bad for turning down on his feelings
down.

"I heard you were back." Lou spoke, making Catherine forget her thoughts. "Oh, and I've met Lindsey." he continued. "She's got a though personality... that's good for the job."

"She has, yeah..." Catherine was still staring at the man in front of her. He hadn't changed at all. Holding a couple of files with his left arm, wearing one of his suits with a deep blue tie. She loved seeing him like this and she could tell that she had missed this view.

"You going down?" Lou asked, once again shaking her from her thoughts. He used his right arm to prevent the elevator's door from closing, he was trying to keep himself calm and straight but the woman in front of him still made him feel fuzzy.

"Um, yeah, I am actually." She said entering the elevator. They were on the third floor and she glimpsed at the button to the lobby, which wa already pressed, with its light brighting on. Lou stepped back standing by her side, both facing the door slowly closing.

In urge to break the silence Cath asked "So, what brought you into the lab?"

"Oh, I came in to grab some results from ballistics." He said pointing to the paperwork he was holding. Catherine looked at the folders Lou had under his arm and slowly shifted her eyes just in time to meet his. Time stayed still for a while. They stopped smiling but kept on starring for a couple of seconds that sure felt like and hour. They were brought to reality by the moment the lights on the ceiling started blinking, making them lose the eye contact, and soon making the elevator abruptly stop.

"Shit" Lou exclaimed as his files fell on the floor.

"This can't be happening" Catherine said in disbelief as she approached to the door. "We must be stuck between the first and second floor" she said looking back at Lou.

"This shouldn't take long until they fix it" he responded as he was still looking at her. He reached for the siren button and pressed it.

"I'll help you with these" Cath said as she crouched herself down, grabbing the mixed files. Lou did the same.

"That's fine, I can do it..." Lou spoke, not even looking at Cath, making her sent a bit of a harsh tone. She just nodded and started thinking about how embarrassing was this situation. She got up and pressed the red button again.

"I don't think this is even working." She stated.

By that time Lou was already done picking up the papers, leaving the pile on the elevator's corner.

He stood up and said while looking at the ceiling "well, the light is still on. It's probably just some malfunction problem." He tried pressing the buttons and none of them were working. "And these are certainly broken".

They were standing side by side even closer than before.

"So we're stuck here until someone notices we're missing." Cath's face was priceless. She couldn't believe in what was happening and why on Earth she had to be stuck with Lou.

"Yep." Lou said facing Catherine. He reached for his pants pocket, took his cellphone and instantly looked at it's screen "If we only had any signal on our phones..."