Gil walked into the bedroom, his eyes watching Catherine finish brushing her hair.
"Hey."
Catherine looked at him in the mirror. "Hi."
He walked up behind her, taking the brush and gently running it through the strawberry blonde locks. "How are you feeling?"
"Nervous," Catherine whispered.
"We don't have to go, Cath. The DA told you that you don't have to be there until they want you to testify."
"I have to," she murmured. "For me. I need to see them, hear them."
Gil put the brush down and held her to him. "It's going to be okay. I'll be there the entire time, and we can go whenever you want."
Catherine nodded, standing up and hugging him again. "I love you."
Gil closed his eyes, holding her tight. "I love you too."
"People VS. Dale Graves. Charged with Rape, Assault in the first degree and Attempted Murder. People VS Stanley Graves, Charged with Conspiracy to commit Rape, Assault and Attempted Murder."
Dale and Stan Graves were marched in, wearing suits. Gil felt Catherine stiffen when she saw them. He gently caressed her back in soothing strokes.
"How do you plead?"
"Not guilty your honor," Dale Graves said.
"Not guilty your honor," Stan Graves said.
Catherine's eyes widened. She turned to Gil. "They can't say that! I know what happened! I…"
Gil pressed a finger to her lips. "It's okay, Catherine. We know the truth and the DA will make sure it comes out."
"Bail?" The judge asked, turning to the DA.
"We ask for remand, your honor. This was a vicious, violent crime. CSI Willows could have been killed, and there's nothing to stop these two men from going after her to finish the job."
"Stanley Graves is a police officer, your honor," Stan's lawyer began.
"Which makes his crime even worse," the DA shot back. The DA turned back to the judge. "Dale Graves is a drug dealer. Stanley Graves is a disgraced police officer. The people…"
The judge put up his hand. "Enough. Both suspects are remanded into custody." He banged his gavel. "Court is adjourned."
"How are you doing?" Gil asked Catherine when they got home.
"I'm okay," she murmured, staring out the window.
"Cath."
She glanced at him. "I'm fine."
Gil wondered if he could try reverse psychology on her. "I'm not. I wanted to kill those two when I saw them."
He felt her hand resting on his knee.
"What's done is done, Gil."
His eyes widened. "Cath…what are you talking about?"
"Whatever happens in that trial, it doesn't matter. It's over. They got what they wanted."
"Catherine, this is not over." Gil made her look at him. "It's not over until those two pay for what they did to you. They had no right. And I won't rest until they're both behind bars."
"I don't want this to turn into some kind of revenge thing, Gil." She looked up at him. "You've done so much for me the past few months, and I don't want to lose you." She sighed. "I can't lose you."
"You won't lose me if…"
"Yes, I will," she said firmly. "I know you, Gil. It'll consume you, and you'll make it your life's personal mission to find out whoever did this."
"I can't let it go, Cath."
"I have. I may be still affected by what they did to me, I may still hate their guts, but I'm not going to make it my personal mission to seek revenge." She took his hand. "And if I could let it go, you can."
"What's made this change?" Gil asked, caressing her cheek.
"You," she murmured. "Last night. That changed everything."
"How?"
"There's more important things to worry about. More important things that I want."
"Am I one of those things?" Gil asked hopefully.
Catherine smiled. "You ARE that thing."
He grinned. "I'm glad to hear that."
She leant in and kissed him gently. "And we can concentrate on other interesting things."
Gil arched an eyebrow. "You know…I'm slowly starting to see more of you come back to me." He bit his lip. He hadn't told her out loud about his observations.
Catherine smiled softly at him. "I'm almost back. Thanks to you."
"You did all the hard work," Gil reminded her.
"I think you did a lot of work too," she whispered, leaning against him.
Gil caressed her back gently. "We've got a long way to go, Cath."
She smiled, taking his hand. "We'll make it."
"Hi, Ms Willows, Dr. Grissom." The DA, Jennifer Cowen gestured towards the seats in her office. "It's nice to finally meet you."
Catherine smiled uneasily and sat down, relaxing when Gil's hand grasped hers.
"So, I wanted to talk about the trial. What we can expect. I'll keep you up to date constantly."
Catherine nodded, still saying nothing.
"I was looking over your personnel file." Jennifer looked up at her. "I know it sounds like an invasion of privacy, which it is, but I need to know everything I can. Because unfortunately, the lawyers are going to be attacking you too."
Catherine nodded again. "I'm a CSI. We get attacked all the time."
"This is different. They're going to be getting into your personal life as well as your professional life. Your sex life." She glanced at Gil and then back at Catherine. "Are you two in a relationship?"
"Yes," Catherine said. "But I don't see what Gil has to do with any of this."
"He's going to be brought up. As are former lovers. As is your husband. As is your former career." Jennifer looked at her. "They're going to throw as much dirt on you as they can to make it seem like you wanted it."
Catherine saw Gil clench the seat out of the corner of her eye. "Look, all I can say is, that I know what happened that night. They know what happened that night. They can't hurt me anymore than they already have."
Jennifer nodded. "I'm glad you feel like that." She smiled. "Now, you don't have to attend the trial at all, except for your testimony, unless you want to."
"I need to be there," Catherine said. "It's…it's part of the process."
"I understand." Another pause. "I can't promise I'll put them away, but I'll do my damn hardest."
Catherine smiled. "I appreciate it."
Catherine walked into the bedroom that she now unofficially believed belonged to her and Gil. He was sitting up in bed, looking at a huge pile of papers.
"You're bringing work to bed now?"
"I'm going through cases of rape. Ones in relation to your case, and ones in relation to the Grave's officers."
"You're kidding."
"I'm not."
Catherine reached over, scooped them up and pushed them into her closet. Gil looked up at her, surprised.
"Catherine, what are you doing?"
"This is me not losing you to this case?" Catherine asked, gesturing to the papers.
"This is me trying to put these guys away!" He folded his arms. "And since when do you refer to yourself as a case?"
Catherine ignored the second question. "Gil…what happens out there to do with the trial…" She sighed. "I don't want it in here."
"Why won't you let me help you?"
Her eyes widened. "Gil! You have done nothing but help me since this happened! This is going beyond what I want you to do. I don't want you to get yourself into this!"
"I am in this, Catherine. And I can't let these men get away with what they did to you!"
Catherine sat down on the bed. "Even if that means sacrificing what we have?"
Gil's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, what?"
"How many times do I have to beg, Gil?"
"You want to leave me."
Catherine turned away from him. "No, I don't. That's the problem."
"I don't understand."
"You doing this, is like me reliving that night over and over again. I can't spend my life doing that. I want to move on, with you. And you're going to become obsessed with this. I can't do it, Gil. I just can't."
Gil's hand went to her shoulder. "Catherine, look at me."
She slowly turned around, and Gil inwardly cursed himself as he saw her struggling to fight back tears.
"You want me to stop looking into this?"
Catherine nodded.
Gil got up and went to the wardrobe. He got out the papers and stuffed them in the bathroom trash can, before coming back and sitting beside her. "Stopped." He caressed her cheek. "You're the most important thing to me, Catherine. I won't lose you."
She leant over and kissed him gently. "Thank you."
He put his arm around her, smiling as she leant back against him. "I'd do anything for you, Catherine."
"I know," she whispered. "That's why I'm asking you not to do this."
"I won't," he replied. "I promise."
"I love you."
He smiled, caressing her stomach. "I love you back."
TBC