disclaimer: i claim nothing. i know nothing.

spoilers: if you can name them then you are truly a csi fan.

Thursday, breakfast

Gil woke up around 4pm headache free. For the moment at least. He crawled into the shower, needing to feel the pulsating water to fully bring him out of his slumber. When he was done he wrapped a towel around his waist and walked towards the kitchen, wanting to eat breakfast before brushing his teeth. The first thing he saw was that he had left the lights on last night. The medication must have been stronger than he thought because he was certain he had turned out the lights before going to bed. The second thing he saw was Catherine. In his kitchen. Cooking That at least explained why the lights were on.

"Catherine?"

"Good morning, Gil. Hungry?" She was cutting peppers for what he assumed was an omelet.

"Yeah, actually, I am." He stood there, staring at her, thinking how did she get in here. "Catherine…"

"The complex manager let me in when I told her I needed to check on you. So take that puzzled look off your face, put some clothes on and help me with this." She dumped the peppers into a bowl and handed it to Gil. "I cooked some bacon earlier, chop it up and put it in here."

Gil complied, but only because he wasn't sure what the hell was going on. His townhouse was filled with the smells of morning breakfast causing him to realize how hungry he actually was. After finishing the bacon he opened the fridge and pulled out several oranges to make some fresh juice. Most people would have just grabbed the carton he had in the fridge and gone with that, but Gil preferred fresh squeezed. He also felt that since Catherine was doing the cooking he should do a little something extra for her.

Gil's skills in the kitchen were really not well know among the CSIs. Most of his team assumed he ate out for most of his meals. He did eat out often, it wasn't really an option with his job. However, he preferred to make his meals at home when possible. His mother had taught him to cook at a young age. She approached her cooking as if it were a piece of art she was creating and she had instilled that quality in her son. Catherine and Lindsey were really the only ones who were clued in to his prowess in the kitchen.

Catherine finished the omelets about the same time that Gil finished making the juice. Catherine had dished up the food and carried it the table where they sat down to eat. Both sat in silence, enjoying each other's company and the good food. When they were done eating Gil took the dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. Catherine was sitting on his sofa, staring out the window.

"So, Gil. It's Thursday." Catherine said, still peaking out the blinds at the city below.

"Yes, it is." Gil was dreading this talk.

"Don't you have something to tell me?" Catherine twisted around on the sofa so that she could look at him. "Like, who I'm going out with this weekend. And where?"

Gil finished wiping the counters off and placed the dishtowel in the sink before answering her.

"Catherine, You asked me to find you a date at the END of shift on Tuesday. We haven't even started shift yet. I still have several hours before I have to tell you who your date is." Ok, it was an excuse, a lame excuse at that, but it was all he had.

"Gil, you haven't found one for me yet, have you?" She was grinning her Cheshire grin and Gil knew instantly that she was just teasing him.

"Well, Catherine. It is not exactly easy to convince a man to go on a blind date and it's even harder when that blind date is you." This was more like it, teasing each other, pushing each other's buttons to see just how far they could push without crossing any line.

"It has to be a lot easier to find a date for me than for a 50 year old, 5'11" workaholic living in a hermetically sealed condo…"

"TOWNHOUSE!" Damn it, he thought, she knew he hated that word. It sounded so like a condom.

"CONDO!" She knew he hated that word because to him it sounded too like condom. She had to agree with him, but still…

"Well, Catherine, I've asked every man I know. I even had Brass go back through our cases and find the men that had been released who might be interested in you. And all of them turned me down. Said something about your being old, not having a personality and being fat." OK, that might be crossing the line.

"I happen to know that a certain Sexy Kitty would kill for the opportunity to take me out," she said laughing, "so bite me, bugman!"

"Anywhere. Anytime, Catherine. Just say the word." Both were laughing now. Gil was thinking to himself that this felt right, felt like they used to act around each other.

"So, the migraine's gone then?" She really was concerned for him. He did not look good at all last night.

"Yeah." He smiled, knowing now that that was the real reason she was there.

"Good." She stood up and walked over to the counter, picking up her purse, "I've got to go pick up Linds from track practice. I'll see you at work." She opened the door and was gone.

Gil still had several hours to kill before going into the lab so he decided to check out the auction sites and see if they had any good deals on Roy Rogers memorabilia and original Pink Floyd vinyls. One of the sites he was looking at had an ad at the top for a service called E-Harmony that said it could find you a compatible match. He clicked on it and looked through the information about the company and decided that it might be legitimate enough. He registered Catherine and spent the next hour filling in the extensive profile questionnaire. After he finished her profile he pulled out his credit card and paid the registration fee. Then he went back and scanned in his favorite picture of Catherine. It was from one of Lindsey's birthday parties. She was sitting beside Lindsey on the playset, both of them swinging as high as they could. Catherine had a look of pure joy on her face. When he was done he went back to searching for more Pink Floyd. His inbox would notify him of anyone interested in her.