How Far 2/6

Gil Grissom was walking down the hall of the LVPD feeling both physically and emotionally exhausted. The last 36 hours had been brutal to say the least. Hell, the last 10 minutes felt like someone had put a knife through his heart.

There she was … right in front of him. She was offering him all he had ever wanted, and he had pushed her away. It was for her own good he convinced himself. Well, he tried to convince himself anyway.

As he walked out of the doors to the PD to the parking lot, he could see the clouds forming with the smell of rain not far behind. He chuckled softly. To him, it was a perfect ending to the last few days.

He reached the car and collapsed in the passenger's seat.

"Let's go Cath," he said, the exhaustion evident in his voice.

The strawberry blonde just glared at him. Something had happened and it wasn't just the case this time. She had known Gil Grissom for to long not to notice when something was wrong. Since Sara was there … and she was crying, it doesn't take a detective to figure out what the problem might be.

After a few moments of silence, Grissom realized that they were not moving. He could feel her eyes staring straight into him. He wasn't in the mood for this. Eyes still closed he leaned back into the seat a little more.

"Leave it alone Catherine. Let's go." he sighed

Catherine rolled her eyes and reluctantly started the car. She knew him to well. If she pushed, he would just shut down even further. How could a simple intelligent man make life so complicated? She knew he wanted her. Hell, everyone knew Grissom wanted Sara. They felt the tension, heard the flirting and saw the connection.

She would be the first to admit she didn't like Sara at the beginning. Until then, Catherine had been the only woman in the testosterone ocean, and she liked it that way. When Sara came along, suddenly all of the flirtations and affections were showered on her. But after a while, the tension eased and Catherine realized that Sara was right; two sharp women were better than one.

As the two women worked together more and more, a surprising friendship was formed. They were not on each others speed dial list or anything along those lines, but both welcomed the idea of a womanly bond at the lab.

In the time she had known Sara, Catherine had had her suspicions that she was in love with Grissom. But, it wasn't until after the whole Hank issue that she had really known for sure. Catherine felt bad for her so she offered to take her out . She remembered that conversation like it was yesterday.

"Sara, just letting ya know, Hank isn't worth it honey."

Sara took a sip of her beer

"You want my honest opinion? He wasn't all that attractive, and I don't think all the lights were on upstairs if you get my drift. I mean come on! You move evidence at a scene, and then try and place it back the way it was? Even a rookie knows better than that. Hell, I'd prefer it if by chance anyone does move anything if they just told us instead of trying to cover it up." Catherine said.

"You heard about that?" Sara asked , confusion in her eyes

"Warrick. Big Mouth. He is worse than women when it comes to spreading gossip," she paused a moment "…baby."

Catherine thought her attempt at a joke got misinterpreted. Sara looked up from her bottle, looked straight at Catherine and a smile crept to her face as both women began to laugh.

"Seriously honey, forget about it. There are plenty of fish in the sea," she stated taking a sip of her beer.

Sara looked back at her bottle. Her fingers traced the rim, contemplating Catherine's statement

"Yeah Catherine, but ya know, whoever said that was wrong. Sometimes there is only one fish."

"Honey, Hank wasn't your fish!"

"Oh ... hell Catherine I know that! Please give me a little credit. With Hank I was trying to move on, he was more of a 'rebound' relationship if you will."

Catherine was surprised to say the least.

"Rebound? I didn't know you were dating anyone." she replied.

Sara brought the bottle to her lips and took a big swig. She let out a large breath as she set the bottle back down.

"Grissom."

Catherine knew the response before she even spoke it. Nothing ever happened between Sara and Grissom but she knew Sara wanted something to.

"You love him don't you?" she asked bluntly.

"No." she paused "Catherine, I don't know what it is. It's more than love. I have been in love before and love doesn't hurt this much."

She snapped back to reality when she realized she was pulling into the lab parking lot. A feeling suddenly came over Catherine. She realized she was pissed off. And the source of this new found feeling was sitting in the seat next to her.

"You're an idiot!" she blurted out.

Grissom's eyes snapped open

"Excuse me?"

"You. Are. An. Idiot!" she repeated .

"Damn it Catherine, I told you to leave it alone." Grissom replied opening the door to the Tahoe.

"All she wants is for you to love her Griss. And I know you already do. We all know you do. Griss, you have a chance to be happy. You two make a great team here. Just think about what a team you would make outside the lab. Partners in work, partners in life. You two need each other. Why does everyone else see it but you? You are so damn stubborn!"

"Catherine you just don't understand. It's to … " he started

"No Gil, YOU don't understand! I don't know what happened between you two in that room and frankly it's none of my business. What I DO know is that you took this case and made it personal. How many times have you told us never to make it personal? Then you turn yourself into a hypocrite and do what you taught us never to do. The only reason it became personal was because of Sara. I know it killed you to see Debbie because you saw Sara … your Sara, Gil. It hurt you to think that someone could make your Sara, cold … pale …her throat slit … dehumanize her. The woman you love Gil ... lifeless."

"It's none of your business Catherine. Stay out of it," he raged trying to keep his anger in check.

He got out of the Tahoe, slamming the door with such force that it shook the car. But Catherine didn't let up. She knew if she did ,all hope for Sara and Grissom would be lost. She was doing the hard part, breaking him down so all that he had left to do was love her. She was taking the hit for Sara, taking the barrier down for her. If this worked, Sara owed her big time. Thinking like this was killing Catherine too.

"Admit it Grissom! You thought you were saving Sara! That you were solving Sara's murder!" she shouted running after him.

She grabbed his arm and turned him to face her.

"Griss, Sara is not dead. The victim's name was Debbie Marlin. Debbie Marlin Griss, not Sara Sidle. Sara is alive. Everyday I see her breathing. Grissom I've seen her touch things, I've seen her smell the air I've even seen her feel. But Grissom the only time I ever see her live … is when she is around you."

She paused slightly and took a hold of his hand intertwining her fingers with his.

"Right now Griss, the walls that both you and Sara put are coming down. When I walked into that room today, I could feel it. Grissom I can't tell you how sorry I am that I interrupted whatever that was. Something was happening and my bad timing broke the spell. But Griss, there is still magic between the two of you. Don't let it die."

Catherine looked him in the eyes and gently squeezed his hand.

"We all deserve a chance to be happy. Sara is your chance. Take it. Take that chance," she finished.

His eyes lowered from hers staring at their intertwined hands. In that moment Catherine saw something flicker in his eyes. He leaned down and placed the lightest of kisses on her cheek.

"Thank you," he whispered.

All Catherine could do was smile as he headed to his car. If they did end up together she was going to ask for a raise.