Title: The Revolving Door

Author: Angie

Email: hillgrics.net

Disclaimers: 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: Ellie wanted me to post a fic for her birthday, and well I knew I had this chapter almost ready... So instead of a fic, it's a chapter, hope that's all right. I was going to wait until after the update to post this so I wouldn't have to get it ready to put on the website today, but Allison told me that was wrong. So I'm posting.

Many thanks to Marianne, as always, for a wonderful beta... not to mention answering all my doubts.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: anything and everything is fair game but nothing specific

Distribution: The GraveshiftCSI Homepage

Ecklie looked down at his watch for the tenth time, sighing as he watched the two CSI's before him.

"You're free to leave, Ecklie, if we're boring you." Catherine called behind her from her place on the floor.

"I can't leave and you know it. I'm stuck as long as the two of you stay here. Have you found anything yet?"

Gil shook his head before speaking. "We're still looking. If you wanted things to go a little faster, you could jump in and help instead of watching us work your case."

"I'm letting you be here, Gil. I can kick you out of here and off this case anytime I want and don't you forget that."

"Are you threatening me?" Gil started to walk towards Ecklie, but stopped when he heard Catherine clear her throat.

"If you two make me stand up, you are going to regret it. Gil, keep looking for the pictures. Ecklie, get off your ass and help out. You aren't making things go any faster and I really don't want to be here all day."

The two men followed Catherine's commands, neither wanting to do anything else to upset her. They went to opposite sides of the room, quickly getting to work. They had soon uncovered a large amount of photos that Catherine was diligently sorting through, hoping the picture hadn't been destroyed.

"Yes! Owww…" Catherine moaned in pain that her sudden yell caused. "Here's the picture." She held out the photograph so the two men could see it.

Gil took the picture from her hand and passed it to Ecklie, not giving it a glance as he knelt in front of Catherine. "We need to get you out of here."

"I'm fine. I don't…"

Ecklie spoke up, surprising everyone. "Gil's right, Catherine. Shocking, I know; I'm actually agreeing with Gil. You shouldn't have even come here today, you aren't supposed to return to work for a week… and judging by the way you look you should probably be off longer than that."

Catherine looked up at Ecklie, the shock clearly evident on her face. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted before she could say anything.

"I didn't mean that you looked bad… well, maybe I did. You are a gorgeous woman, Catherine, and nothing can change that. But it's obvious that you are in pain, no matter how hard you try to hide it. You figured out what was missing, which is clearly something that no one else would have been able to do. Let us work the case. I know neither of you think highly of me or my team, but I promise we'll do everything we can to find out who is responsible for this and I'll personally keep you informed of our progress."

Catherine glanced back and forth between the two men and sighed in defeat. "You're not going to let me win this one, are you?"

"You don't have a chance." Gil grinned at her. "Besides, if we leave now we can swing past the school and pick up Lindsey."

Catherine nodded and watched as Gil made his way to her, kneeling before her and pulling her into his arms before standing. "Gil, you don't need to carry me. I can…"

"I know I don't need to." Gil whispered, trying to keep their conversation away from Ecklie. Turning around, he moved his focus onto the other man for a minute. "Ecklie, do you think you can get the door for me?"

"No problem, Grissom. And Catherine, I meant what I said. I'll keep you informed on the case and what we find out." Ecklie started to move towards Catherine and then abruptly changed direction and headed for the door. With the photograph in hand, he opened the door as they all left the house then secured it behind them, taking time to ensure the door was sealed shut before stepping away. He then moved to the car and opened the passenger door for Gil. Ecklie remained silent, watching as Gil got Catherine settled and shut the door. "Can I talk to you a second, Gil?"

"Um, sure." Gil stepped away from the passenger door, leading Ecklie towards the back of the vehicle.

"What exactly is… never mind. I don't think I want to know. I'm sure you are aware of the policies against getting involved with…"

"What are you saying Conrad?" Gil immediately tensed up, not liking where this conversation was heading.

"I'm not going to say anything, and I don't want to know anything. I like Catherine. But if I can tell there's something going on between the two of you then I'm not the only one who knows. If you go to Mobley now… he may not fire you. He doesn't like you either, but he likes Catherine. Just don't let him be the last person to find out about you two. You can probably get him to relinquish one of the Tahoe's for personal use as well. It will definitely be a lot easier to get the wheelchair in, and it might make it more comfortable for Catherine to maneuver."

Gil remained silent. Not able to believe that this adversary was offering him this advice, and actually being somewhat civil as he was doing it.

"I know. This is strange coming from me. Right?" Ecklie spoke his thoughts.

"Well, it's not like the two of us often see eye to eye."

"I know. I know. Just take care of her. She didn't deserve what happened and I'm going to do my best to find the perpetrator."

"He is going to be caught. I promised Catherine."

"You promised? You can't promise something like that."

Gil shook his head. "I've already heard this from Cath. But look at her. She is not going to be scared this guy is coming after her for the rest of her life. If you don't find him, I will." Gil stuck his hand out, waiting until Ecklie returned the gesture, both men recognizing the rarity of actual physical contact between them. "Thanks for the advice. I'll talk it over with Cath. I will see about the Tahoe though, it will definitely make getting around easier." Gil turned and continued going around the car getting in the driver's seat and turning to Cath.

"What was that about?"

Gil shook his head, still somewhat confused. "He was giving me some advice."

"Advice? Ecklie? Conrad Ecklie?"

He chuckled, a slight smile coming to his face. "That's what I was thinking. But I'm pretty sure he was being sincere."

"What did he have to say?"

"I'll tell you about it later tonight. We should get going if we want to get to the school in time to pick up Lindsey."

Catherine nodded, and closed her eyes as she heard Gil start the car and drive off.

Gil pulled the car to a stop in front of the school and turned towards Catherine. Frowning slightly, he moved his hand towards Catherine, brushing the hair off her face. "Catherine," he whispered softly, reluctant to wake her. Moving his hand to her shoulder he gently shook as he spoke again, this time a little louder. "Catherine? Wake-up, honey." Gil watched as her eyes opened.

"Gil?"

"We're at the school. I'm going to go in to get Lindsey, but I didn't want you to wake up alone. Are you alright?"

Catherine nodded, shaking her head to wake herself up a little more. "I'm fine, just a bit tired. These damn pain pills…"

"You need them. And you need the sleep."

"I know. I just hate this doped up feeling. You know how I feel about medication."

"Cath, I…"

"It's alright. Go. Lindsey should be out soon, and you need to get to the office before classes are over. I'll be alright out here."

"Are you sure?"

"Gil…"

"I'm going, I'm going." Gil placed a quick kiss on her temple and left the car.

"Gil!"

He turned at the sound of his name, smiling and opening his arms as Lindsey jumped into them.

"Mom's okay isn't she? Why are you here to get me? And why did I have to leave class early? And…"

"Linds, one question at a time sweetheart. Your mother is fine. We were out and decided to come and get you."

Lindsey frowned. "What are you doing out? Mom shouldn't be out. She's supposed to be in bed, getting better."

Gil decided to ignore Lindsey's first question. "Let's get going then. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get home." He put Lindsey down and instinctively reached for her hand.

Lindsey pulled her hand away and looked up in shock. "What are you doing Uncle Gil? I'm ten. Do you know what everyone would say if they saw me holding your hand?"

"Sorry." Gil put his hand down and walked beside Lindsey to the car.

"Hi Mom!" Lindsey said as she crawled into the back seat.

"Hey baby." Catherine started to shift in her seat to turn towards the back, but the shooting pains quickly convinced her to remain still. "How was school?"

"It was all right. But you'll never guess what Gil tried to do to me."

Gil entered the car, glancing to the back as he heard Lindsey's last line. "I told you I was sorry about that, Linds."

"Do you know how disastrous that could have been? I'd have been shunned." Lindsey sighed dramatically.

"What happened, Lindsey?" Catherine asked as she watched Gil.

"He tried to hold my hand! I'd have been called a baby for the rest of my life if anyone had seen that. Can you imagine my embarrassment? I'm ten years old, I don't need my parents to hold my hand."

Catherine and Gil smiled at Lindsey's theatrics. Gil started the car and began the drive home, listening to Catherine calm Lindsey down.

"Did anyone see you?"

"No. Thankfully you were here early, so everyone was still in class."

"Sounds like you just missed the bullet. But at least now Gil knows about PDAs with you."

"PDAs?" Gil glanced quickly at Catherine before turning back to the road ahead.

"Public Displays of Affection." Catherine filled in for him, reaching for his hand. "Definitely something that every teenager does not want their friends to see happen between them and their parents."

Gil smiled broadly at Catherine's explanation. "So that means that Linds…"

"It appears so." Catherine squeezed Gil's hand tighter, a smile brightening her face.

Gil drove the rest of the way to his home with a huge grin on his face, listening to the women in his life chatter about their day, as if nothing had changed.