After Everything – Chapter Three

Notes: I'm aware that this chapter kind of sucks, but I really wanted to update and I haven't got a lot of time to edit it. Thanks so much for the nice reviews and I hope you guys aren't disappointed by this:)

Catherine sighed, her shoulders and back aching as she trudged down the hallway of the lab and made her way to the locker room. One more case like that one, she thought, remembering the tiny eight-year-old girl shivering in the corner of a run-down trailer, and she'd be hiding a flask of whiskey in her purse every time she came into work.

She opened the locker room door and walked in to find Warrick standing in front of her, half-naked, holding a shirt in his hand and grinning.

"Heeelloo," she said, eyebrows raised. "Now this is just what I needed after the day I've had."

He held out his arms towards her and she walked forward to hug him, hardly hesitating. "I was thinking," he said, the sound of his voice coming through his chest vibrating under her ear. "Maybe tonight you could come over to my place and I'll make you dinner."

She looked up at him, studying the smooth contours of his lips and the intense green of his eyes before saying, "Make it my place," and kissing him. He put his hands in her hair and turned her around to push her against the lockers softly.

"What if someone sees us?" he mumbled, pressing a hand against her lower back.

"Then someone sees us," she answered. She pushed him closer to her and was about to kiss him even more deeply when they both heard a loud 'ahem'.

Gil stood in the doorway, one hand on the frame and the other behind his back. He was wearing a look that almost made Catherine cringe. "I'm sorry to interrupt," he said slowly, walking in the room cautiously and standing away from them. "But Ecklie is prowling around and I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to suspend you both." He raised an eyebrow and left, looking impatient and very angry.

Warrick exhaled. "That was awkward."

She was standing in her kitchen cleaning later that day when she heard the doorbell ring. Wiping her hands off on her pants as she walked, she opened the door to find Gil standing there with a very abashed look on his face, holding a bottle of vodka.

"Hi," he said, smiling. "I came to apologize." He handed her the vodka and she let him in the house.

"Apologize, huh," she said slowly, "for what?"

He gave her a pointed look and leaned against her counter. "For the way I acted today in the locker room. I'm sorry for being so…" he paused, staring her in the face, "you know."

She nodded, smiling. "Yeah, I certainly do." Opening the bottle of vodka, she made them both screwdrivers and handed one to him. "What was that about, anyways?" she asked, slugging the alcohol back.

"I was just being… territorial," Gil answered, once again watching her and looking very nervous.

Catherine raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Territorial towards your favourite CSI, your best friend, or...?"

He looked confused and vulnerable. "I don't know why I felt the way I did, it's just that maybe… you," he coughed, "mean more to me than I thought you did."

She tilted her head, taking his vodka from him and drinking it. "That's… extremely inconvenient," was all she could manage.

"Tell me about it," he replied, looking gravely serious. Sighing, he reached over to the bottle of vodka and poured them both another drink.

Warrick came about ten minutes late that night, dressed in a soft-looking blue sweater and jeans. "Hi," he said, his voice low. She smiled and let him in, her heart beating faster in excitement.

"Has Grissom talked to yet?" Catherine asked, pouring them a drink.

"No," he said, sounding almost confused. "Why, what did he say to you?"

She stared at him for a few seconds, feeling vulnerable and slightly nervous, although she wasn't sure why. "Nothing," she lied, then walked over to him and pressed her body against his. "Typical Grissom," she murmured, reaching up to pull his head down for a slow, intense kiss.

"Well, now I know why you wanted me here." His eyes were glassy and focused on her body and she felt a sudden surge of self-confidence. "You're just using me, aren't you?" he joked.

"As if you mind," she replied, and pulled off his shirt.