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Love and Other Drugs

"Thank you." Cath mumbled sleepily, accepting the bag. Sara had gone to Nancy's to collect Lindsey, so Catherine had stopped off for some breakfast-to-go. She envisioned a lazy Saturday morning in bed with her girls and enough bagels to sink a small boat.

As she turned to leave, a contented smile on her face, she was met with a pair of cold blue eyes. There was a moment of awkward silence as they faced off.

"Laura." She greeted coolly at last, walking around her towards the door. Tempting as it was, she was too tired to fight today. Laura, however, was not about to let her off that easily.

"I hear James gave you quite a battle in court." She smarmed, following her with her eyes. Catherine stopped, turning around to face her.

"He overstepped a line." The CSI pointed out. "My private life had nothing to do with that case; he had no right to bring it up in court."

"Well, the jury seemed to disagree." Laura smirked. When Catherine didn't flinch, she softened her voice. "Look, Cathy we only did this to show you what kind of mistake you're making."

"We? Oh, so you put him up to this." She rolled her eyes tiredly. "I should have known."

"I was looking out for you."

"Yeah? Well thank you." Cath snapped sarcastically. "But your little plan backfired because our boss sided with us." She saw a twinge of shame flash across Laura's face but it was gone as quickly as it appeared, and in its place a smug grin was spreading across her collagen-filled lips.

"Well, either way you lost the case." Her last-ditch attempt to rile Catherine worked, but not for the reason she was expecting.

"You're actually proud of that? You're husband released a murderer." Laura's face fell, but she continued regardless. "I hope you're happy – thanks to you that bastard is free to walk the streets! And next time he kills someone, it'll be thanks to you and you're slimy husband!"

"It's not my fault that you were sleeping with your understudy." They both suddenly became very aware that other patrons in the sleepy coffee shop were starting to stare. Catherine bit back a gasp at her words.

"I would never compromise a case. And neither would Sara." She retorted. When Laura's smirk didn't fade, Catherine threw up her hands. "Why am I even explaining this to you: you won't get it." She turned to walk away, but stopped in the threshold long enough to cast a dark glance back at the woman. Laura hadn't moved; she remained planted in the middle of the small shop, glowering at Catherine's back. "I don't care enough about you to hate you." The CSI spat. "But I never want to see you again."

X x x

Grissom skulked down the deserted corridor with his head ducked, just in case he ran into anyone. He was sick of the stares and had decided to take refuge for a while in his old friend's office.

"Hey Doc." He greeted, sliding into the morgue.

"Gil." Judging by the curt response, the grapevine had beaten him down here. He sighed, deciding to give in and just take the hit.

"Alright. I know you have an opinion too: lets here it." He waited patiently for the coroner to put his clipboard down and face him.

"I don't have an opinion." He countered. "What Catherine and Sara get up to outside work is their business and as long as they're both happy, I'm happy."

Grissom blinked at him in surprise. "Oh." He frowned. He had not been expecting that.

"But that's just it, isn't it." The older man continued. "They are happy. And you can't figure that out."

"It's not that." Grissom shrugged uncomfortably. "I just think they're making a mistake. This all seems too sudden."

"Sure, it seems sudden to us because we're only just finding out about it." Doc agreed. "But how long have they been together?" He paused, waiting to see if Gil had understood where he was going with this. When it was clear he hadn't, Al continued. "Look Gil, I don't know what's going on between them and you but what I can tell you is this: I have known Catherine for a long time and I can honestly say I have never seen her as happy as she has been in recent weeks."

"I guess." Gil conceded reluctantly.

"Talk to them." Doc advised. "Find out the full story and then see for yourself what they're lives are really like. Maybe, just maybe, they genuinely make each other happy."

X x x

He had taken Doc Robbins' words on, but had not yet decided what he was going to do about it. He decided that he needed some fresh air; a walk. He would go home and take Hank out for a long, quiet walk and think things over.

He had had enough of other people for one day, so opted for sneaking out rather than saying goodbye to the remaining members of his team.

He had almost managed it too, when Brass wandered through the front doors. Grissom cursed under his breath, offering a tight smile to the detective.

"I suppose you have a pearl of wisdom to share as well?"

Brass raised an eyebrow at him.

"No." He shrugged. "Although it hadn't escaped my notice that Sara has been on a more even keel of late."

Grissom nodded. He's expected as much from Brass; always looking out for the young brunette.

"You think I'm wrong for being dubious." He guessed. Brass chuckled dryly.

"Gil, whatever your problem with them is, it's not worth losing their friendship. Just talk to them." Grissom sighed.

"That seems to be the tune of the night."

X x x

Catherine switched off the vacuum cleaner, listening for a moment. She was about to shrug it off and go back to hoovering when the doorbell went again.

Opening the door, she blinked in surprise at her unexpected visitor.

"Hi." She greeted. "What are you doing here?" Grissom fidgeted nervously on the doorstep.

"I wanted to talk."

"Okay." She nodded, stepping aside to let him in.

He glanced around awkwardly as he made his way into the lounge.

"Sara's not here?" He asked, noting the absence of the brunette.

"No, she's taken Lindsey to the park." Cath answered, moving around him into the kitchen to pour him some coffee. "They were getting under my feet." She joked upon her return, handing him the freshly poured mug.

"Huh." He nodded, accepting the drink. They both sat down, sharing an uncomfortable moment of silence. After a while he cleared his throat and began talking. "So, you two…"

"We're happy." She cut him off.

"I can see that." He agreed softly. "I just can't understand how this happened."

"Well, I started confiding in her about certain things." Cath answered evasively. "And we got close. We started spending time together."

"So, you naturally started dating?" He clarified in bemusement.

"Well, yeah." She shrugged. "I don't know, it just happened."

"And you have never … before?" He seemed almost embarrassed to ask the question that had been bugging him. Cath laughed dryly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Look, Sara and I have both had our fair share of complicated relationships. We both want to same thing."

"And what is that?" He pressed, leaning forward in his seat in anticipation. Cath shrugged, mulling the question over.

"Security. Faithfulness. The knowledge that there's always someone to come home to." She listed. "I don't know Gil, I want comfort. You know? I want to not have to make small talk or pretend to be interested in each other's day. Sara and I don't need to fill silence with mindless conversation; we can just be together and enjoy each other's company."

"So, you two don't talk to each other?" Grissom frowned in confusion. She laughed, shaking her head.

"No, of course we do. I just meant that sometimes it's nice to not feel like we have to talk." She clarified. "Sara knows when I'm upset. Or when I'm tired. I don't need to ask her or tell her anything. She just knows."

"Okay." Grissom said, starting to understand what the blonde was saying.

"It's like; the other day I came home from work, I was tired and stressed and I just needed a break. Without me saying a word Sara had run me a bath and got Lindsey ready for school." Gil listened intently to her story, intrigued by the sudden vulnerability her voice had taken on. "Do you know, in eight years of marriage to Ed, he never once did anything like that for me? He was my husband Gil, and all he could offer me was a drug habit and bruises." She shook her head, saddened by how that made her feel. "Sara treats me better than I thought possible. She treats me and Lindsey like we're the only people on the planet that matter."

There were a few minutes of silence while Grissom absorbed this information. He had known Catherine a long time but he had never seen her speak so candidly about her marriage or her feelings before.

"And what about Sara?" He asked at last. "What is it that you give her?"

Catherine took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as she thought about the question.

"I guess there's only one thing Sara's ever wanted from life." She looked up, meeting his curious gaze. "Love."

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:)