*Title: Disney and da Vinci
*Author: Juliet (pandora1251@yahoo.com)
*Reviews: yes please!!
*Rating: I suppose PG13 for a tiny bit of language
*Disclaimer: not mine, enough said
*Spoilers: A Little Murder
*Author's Notes: I wrote this because all of last week I was looking forward to seeing A Litte Murder. I thought, "Finally a Catherine story!" But to tell you the truth, I was a little bit disappointed, especially in the ending. So this is my take on what should've happened.
*Thank You's: Gabe -- just for being you! Joe -- for helping me think of good movies and keeping me updated on the news while I wrote!!!
**ADDITIONAL NOTE TO GRIS AND CATH FANS: just a reminder that I will be starting my Gris and Cath yahoo group very very soon (think days people). I know I have gotten emails from some of you...expect a reply very soon!!!





2:50 pm

Weaving his way through the hallways of CSI Headquarters, Gil Grissom had only one destination in mind. Ignoring the usual scowl from a newly arrived Ecklie, Grissom nearly bumped into Greg Sanders, who was leaning in the doorway of the breakroom.

"She's not here Gris," Greg Sanders said knowing what to expect next.

"Well where the hell is she?" Grissom demanded.

"She went home," Greg said. Then anticipating Grissom's response, he went on, "Brass told her to take tomorrow off. But she waited in your office for a while, stormed out after a while grumbling about having a migraine and needing to pick Lindsey up from school."

Rubbing his palms against his forehead, Grissom felt his own migraine coming on. Why did Catherine have to be so damned difficult sometimes? She hadn't even mentioned the fact that she had been attacked at a crime scene earlier that evening, but the scar on her forehead made it pretty obvious that something had happened. He would now be forced to get the whole story from Warrick, and it wasn't as if he didn't trust Warrick. He just needed to know that she was alright.

"There was nothing you could've done," Greg said softly to the older man. "Warrick and Nick both tried to make her wait around for you, but she made some crack about not needing to run her whole life by your schedule and left."

"Cath can be pretty damned stubborn sometimes," Grissom sighed walking away.

"And so can you," Greg muttered laughing to himself. Then he called back to Grissom, "Have a nice day off boss!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

8:30 pm

"Lindsey honey, have you picked out a movie?" Catherine called from the kitchen.

"Almost," Lindsey answered sauntering into living room with a stack of tapes. "Dumbo is cute, but the songs in Little Mermaid are better."

Catherine smiled as she poured the freshly cooked popcorn into a bowl. Her young daughter loved the task of choosing which Disney movie to watch and took it very seriously. She shuddered at the thought of their weekly movie tradition being ruined because of some burgerflipping jerk who killed someone over a video game.

Suddenly her thoughts were interupted by a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," exclaimed Lindsey running towards the door.

"Check who it is first," Catherine reminded her daughter.

After a few seconds she heard her daughter exclaim, "Uncle Grissom are you going to watch movies with us? Oh!! I know what we can watch!"

As Catherine made her way into the living room, Lindsey scurried past her to go find another video tape.

"So what you brings you here?" Catherine asked Grissom smiling like nothing had happened.

Grissom's heart sank as he recognized Catherine's smile as the same one she'd use everytime Eddie had left bruises on her pale skin.

Seeing his expression, Catherine said softly, "Gris, I'm fine. Please don't make this into something it's not."

"Cath, I just need to know that you're," Grissom began, but then stopped as Catherine gave him a pleading look not to go any further into it as Lindsey came back into the room.

"Uncle Grissom, can I sit next to you for the movie," Lindsey asked.

"Sure Lindsey, but why don't we find a place to put these flowers I brought," Grissom said revealing a beautiful bouquet of tropical looking flowers.

"Wow," Lindsey said. "Mommy will someone bring me flowers like that when I get older?"

"I'm sure they will sweetheart," Catherine answered smiling for real this time.

After the flowers were put in a vase, Catherine, Lindsey, and Grissom sat down on the couch to watch the movie.

"So what are we watching Lindsey?" Catherine asked as her daughter pushed play on the VCR.

Grissom began to get suspicious as Lindsey whispered the title to her mother.

"Good choice," Catherine replied smirking as the title screen for A Bug's Life came up.

"Uncle Grissom, do your pet bugs talk like that?" Lindsey asked snuggling up to Grissom.

"Uh, I can't say that they've ever talked to me," Grissom said thinking of the tarantula which lived on a bookshelf in his living room. "Maybe this movie will give me some insight into that."

"Mommy, can Uncle Grissom bring his pets over to visit sometime?" Lindsey asked.

"I don't know how much those bugs like to be moved Lindsey," Catherine answered feeling totally relaxed for the first time all day. There was something about having Grissom there that was just comforting.

"How about this Lindsey," Grissom said to the little girl. "The next time you feel like seeing some real live bugs, I'll take you and your mommy over to the museum where they have rooms full of bug just like in the movie."

"Can we go tomorrow Mommy?" Lindsey asked excitedly.

"We'll see sweetheart," Catherine yawned the exhaustion of the day suddenly catching up with her.

"Here Lindsey why don't you come sit on this side of me so you can tell me all about the movie and your mommy can get some rest," Grissom said scooting over to make room for her.

"Okay," Lindsey said moving to the other side of the couch, which allowed Catherine to lean her head on Grissom shoulder.

Approximately two hours later the movie was over, and as Grissom reached over to the coffee table for the remote Catherine yawned, "Did I miss the whole movie?"

"Yeah, but don't feel bad," Grissom said gesturing to her sleeping daughter. "This one only made it half way."

"Wow! we certainly are boring company," Catherine chuckled. Then she looked at Lindsey and sighed, "I guess I should put her to bed, I just hate waking her up."

"Her room's the second door on the right?" Grissom asked.

Catherine nodded, then smiled when she realized what he was doing. She got up and followed Grissom as he carried Lindsey into her bedroom.

As Grissom tucked Lindsey in, Catherine wondered why he had suddenly started dropping the normally stoic mask he had worn for so long. She had always known him to be extremely good with Lindsey but never to the extent of Disney movies and tucking her in.

"What?" Grissom asked when he realized Catherine was watching him with an amused expression.

"You just surprise me every once in a while that's all," she replied unable to resist yawning.

"Cath, you need to get some rest. You've had a long day," Grissom said as she led him back into the living room.

"Let's see here," she said scanning a shelf of videos. "Mallrats or Silence of the Lambs?"

"Catherine," Grissom began again wondering when she'd finally stop acting like nothing ever happened to her.

Frowning at both of the videos, she said, "Okay, you're right those aren't the best choices right now. How about Citizen Kane? That's more your style."

After putting the tape in and turning off the lights, Catherine sat back down on the couch and stared at the screen intently.

"Catherine don't you think you should," Grissom began as he turned to face her.

"I know, I know, I should get some sleep because I've got through a horrible ordeal today. I know all of that Gil, but I also know that right now I am so jumpy that the first little noise I hear is going to send me over the edge so if you don't mind, I'll stay right here," she said sitting back in a defeated posture.

There was a moment of silence between them, and Grissom could tell that Catherine was trying desperately not to cry.

"You know Cath, it's just you and me here in the dark, and I've already seen you cry," Grissom said softly putting an arm around her.

Despite the tears that were falling down her cheeks, Catherine began to laugh, "You know for a second there I thought you were coming on to me."

The pair settled back to watch the movie and after a few moments of considering how to word what he wanted to say, Grissom spoke up.

"Do you remember that theory about the Mona Lisa?" he asked brushing a strand of hair out of Catherine's eyes.

"Which one?" she yawned snuggling up to his chest.

"The one that suggests that da Vinci painted it his own image," Grissom began trying to savor how close she was.

"Thus suggesting that everyone's true love is themself...or someone exactly like them," Catherine said looking up him sadly. She never thought she'd be able to cry more than once in a matter of 10 minutes, but Grissom admitting that he loved Sarah was about to test that theory.

"Well I think that theory, while insightful, is wrong," Grissom said feeling Catherine suddenly relax at his words. "I think that your true love is the person that balances all of your quirks and flaws with their own."

Expecting a half sarcastic reply about his way with words, Grissom looked down at Catherine to find her eyes closed. He sighed and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead just to the side of her still visible scar.

"Hey Gil," she mummered half asleep. "That time you were definately coming on to me."

THE END!