Catherine leant against the Tahoe, Gil's arms around her as they watched the kids start to trickle out of the school. Lindsey finally came out, talking to her friends. When she saw her mother and Gil, a smile lit up her face, and she raced across to them.
"MOM!"
"Hey, honey," Catherine smiled, hugging her. "How was school?"
"It was fine. How are you?"
"I'm doing good."
Lindsey grinned and hopped in the backseat, as Gil held the doors open for his two girls. Then he went around to the driver's seat and got in.
"Where to?" he asked, pretending to be a chauffer.
"Can we go get ice cream?" Lindsey asked.
"That sounds like fun!" Catherine said, turning to Gil.
He paused and watched her carefully. "Are you sure?" he murmured.
She nodded and took his hand. "I really want to."
Lindsey waited silently in the backseat for the conversation in the front of the car to reach its conclusion.
Gil kissed her hand. "Okay. Let's go get ice cream!"
They were soon all seated at the ice cream parlor. Catherine had a double choc chip sundae, Gil had peppermint swirl and Lindsey had rainbow blitz.
Under the table, Gil and Catherine held hands, and his touch relaxed her.
"Tell us about your day, Lindsey," Gil asked, his hand slowly stroking the top of Catherine's.
"It was okay. Just typical school stuff. I didn't get any homework today, which was great."
"That's great, Lindsey," Catherine said, a grin on her face. "No homework."
"What did you guys do?" Lindsey asked.
"I took your mom to the movies," Gil explained.
Lindsey's eyes lit up and she turned to her mother. "Really?"
Catherine nodded. "Yeah. We went and saw the "Phantom of the Opera."
"Cool. Was it good?"
"I had a really good time," Catherine admitted, squeezing Gil's hand.
"We both did," Gil agreed.
Lindsey wrinkled her nose. "You guys didn't get all mushy in public, did you?"
"It was dark. No one could see us," Catherine teased.
Gil felt a tug on his heart. For once, he could slowly see his old Catherine coming back to him. But he was so afraid that she was going to be taken away again by the trial.
Catherine cuddled closer to Gil as she heard the alarm go off. "Gil…why is the alarm going off?"
"You wanted to come to work with me tonight, remember?"
"Mhm…"
He took her hand, kissing it gently. "You sure you still want to come?"
"Absolutely," she agreed. She looked up at him. "Just paperwork though, right? I don't have to go anywhere?"
"I promise, just paperwork," Gil assured her, caressing her cheek. "As long as you're ready."
"As corny as it sounds, I feel like I can do anything when you're with me."
"It's not corny," Gil said. "And I'm so glad you feel that way." He smiled and kissed her gently. "How about you start getting ready? I'll go see if Lindsey has finished her homework."
Catherine nodded. "Okay."
Gil went and knocked on Lindsey's door. After her invitation to come in, he peeked around the door. "How's it going, Lindsey?"
She looked up. "Hi, Uncle Gil. It's all okay. Just finishing the maths."
"You remembered that I'm taking your mom to work tonight?"
Lindsey nodded and put the pen down. "You think she's going to be okay? I don't think we should push her."
"I know. But this was her idea, and she's going to be with me in my office the whole time. I'll take care of her Lindsey."
Lindsey smiled. "I know."
Catherine signed her name with a flourish and placed the paper on top of the "done" pile.
"Another one done!"
Gil peered over his glasses at her, a grin on his face. "Having fun?"
"I always thought I'd ask you to shoot me if I ever said this…but yeah, I'm having fun doing paperwork."
Gil grinned. "And I never thought I'd say this…but I'm glad you're having fun doing paperwork."
Greg knocked on the door, for the first time looking shy about it. "Uh, I just wanted to say hi, Catherine."
Catherine looked up and smiled warmly at him. "Hi, Greg. It's good to see you again."
Greg got one of his bashful smiles on his face. "Yeah…well…see you soon!" He disappeared out of the hallway.
Catherine turned back to Gil. "It's good to see him again."
"It's good to see you here again," Gil murmured.
Catherine met his eyes, reaching over and taking his hand. "I don't know what I would have done without you over the past couple of months."
Gil kissed her hand. "Let's not think about it."
Jim Brass was their next visitor. "Hi, Catherine."
Catherine smiled. "Hi, Jim."
Jim turned to Gil. "Stan Graves lawyer wants to plea bargain. He reckons avoiding trial for Catherine is his reason but…"
Catherine looked confused. "Jim…what trial?"
Jim turned back to her. "We arrested Stan and Dale this morning. Warrick rang Gil when we were about to do it…" He trailed off once he realized Catherine hadn't known. "Ah. You know what, I'll talk to you later." He left the room, closing the door behind him.
Catherine slowly turned around to face Gil. "How could you not tell me?"
"It was the first day since the attack that I've ever seen you truly happy. I didn't want to upset you."
Catherine curled her feet up under her. Gil frowned. That wasn't good.
"There's going to be a trial."
Gil was out of his chair, taking her hand and leading her to the couch. He enfolded her in his arms. "Yes, Cath. There is going to be a trial."
"And I'll have to see him again."
"You may have to see both of them." He cupped her face. "I'll be there with you, Catherine. The entire time. I promise."
"I can't do it," she murmurs, burrowing into him.
"Yes you can, Catherine." He hugged her, then looked into her eyes. "You know how I know?"
She shook her head slightly.
"Because look how far you've come. You went to the movies. You went to pick Lindsey up from school. You let me kiss you and tell you that I love you." His hand caressed her cheek. "And you let me touch you."
There was a knock at the door and Catherine burrowed further into Gil's body. He glanced up at the door, exasperation on his face. "I'm busy!"
"Well, I'm the Assistant Director, so you don't have a right to be too busy for me," Conrad Ecklie said, barging in.
Catherine's hands gripped painfully to Gil's body.
"Ecklie…take a few steps back and quieten down," Gil told him.
"Grissom…I need to speak with Catherine."
"Ecklie, I'm telling you now…back off," Gil growled. "Can't you see she's upset?"
"Do what he says, Ecklie," Sara murmured, standing behind the man. "You don't want to be responsible for causing CSI Willows anymore trauma, do you?"
Ecklie and Gil looked surprised. They knew Sara's dislike for Catherine, so this came as a surprise.
"Please, Ecklie," Gil said, changing tones. "I've never begged for anything before…but I will for this."
Ecklie took a step back. "No need for begging. I just wanted to…see how Catherine was doing." He took another step back, bypassing Sara. "You have my good wishes, Catherine."
With that, Ecklie disappeared. Sara took a long, sad look at the couple. "I'll make sure people know you're not to be disturbed," she told him, closing the door as she left.
When the room was quiet again, Gil turned back to the woman in his arms. "It's okay, Catherine. Everyone's gone now. You're safe. It's just me."
The grip on his body loosened, and a shaking Catherine looked back up at him.
He smiled down at her, kissing her forehead. "It's okay. I'm here. Just you and me."
Catherine nodded slowly, still holding onto him. "I can't do a trial, Gil."
Gil hated himself for what he was about to do. "Yes, you can, Catherine. And you have to."
Catherine looked up at him, her eyes wide. "No. Gil, don't make me. Please…"
Gil felt his heart breaking. "Catherine, you have to. If you don't, they'll be walking around free or worse…they could come back to you."
"No…I won't…"
He gripped her by the arms. "Catherine, for god's sakes, be sensible about this! Do you want to spend the rest of your life being scared? The Catherine I knew wouldn't let them win!"
Gil felt the sting of her hand as it hit him. She struggled underneath him, pushing him away.
"I'm not that person anymore," she told him.
Gil wouldn't let her go. "You are," he fired back, ignoring the ache on his face. "You're Catherine Willows. CSI Level 4. My partner in everything. The woman I love more than anything in the world. And you CAN do this. I know you can. You're the strongest person I know. And I will be right there with you. I promise. I love you, Catherine. I love you so much."
Catherine stopped struggling, looking up at him. "I hit you," she whispered, a tear running down her face. "God…I hit you."
Gil kissed the tear away. "It's okay, Cath. I forgave you the moment you did it. It was my fault. I shouldn't have hurt you."
"I'm sorry," Catherine whispered, kissing him. "I'll do it. Just promise you'll stay. You won't leave me."
"I won't leave you," Gil said, hugging her. "Ever."
They both looked at each other for a moment, realizing the position they were in…Gil laying on top of her. Catherine leant up and kissed him, her arms wrapping around his neck, deepening the kiss almost the second it began.
Gil indulged in the kiss a moment, and how right it felt to be pressed against Catherine like this. Then he took a deep breath, and got up.
"Gil?" Catherine asked, looking up at him, breathing heavily.
"Not here. Not like this," he murmured, looking down at her. "When you're ready to take the next step…we will. But it will be in our bed, and just be the two of us. Okay?"
She nodded, a small smile on her face. Gil reached out his hand and helped her up.
"How about we take you home? I think we've both done enough paperwork for the night and we should get some sleep."
Catherine stood up beside him. "Okay. Gil?"
He looked back at her. "Mhm?"
"Thank you."
Gil smiled at her. "You're welcome, Cath. Forever."