A/N: Thank you to all that reviewed…most appreciated and loved.
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"Here we go," the Texan drawled as he passed out detailed photos of the outside of a log cabin covered lightly in powdered snow and its lush interior. "Owner was happy to send us all some pictures."
His colleagues and partners-in-crime (ironic as it may be) all held their hands out for the snapshots. When Nick had wanted to make sure that this plan was fail-proof, he had left no pinholes for it to fall through.
The owner of the rental cabins was friendly-he went all out to ensure that any friendly couple that visited would leave a loving couple.
As for the cabin, it was already decked in Christmas colors, a beautiful array of crimson, emerald, and gold. It was quite elaborate, from the magnificently carved furniture to the-believe it or not, the drink coasters. The Christmas tree standing in the corner was elegant and handsomely decorated, a lone gift decked in silver wrapping paper.
"Nice," Catherine commented, flipping through the pictures. For the price that the magazine ad had advertised, this was way better than expected.
Whistling in disbelief, Warrick leaned back in his seat. "You're telling me that's where we're sending them? Man, what I would do to live like that for a week," he groused good-naturedly.
Grissom frowned as he stumbled upon what seemed to be a snapshot of the cabin's liquor cabinet. "Do they really need that much alcohol?" he asked. Indeed, it seemed like whoever ran the place stocked it with every bottle of wine and vodka imaginable. "They'll get drunk with not even a little of that stuff."
He didn't like this idea one bit. Especially since Sara had that DUI a while ago, the older man was overly protective and didn't want to admit it.
"That's the plan," Nick replied cheekily. "You have them set for tomorrow, right, Gris?"
Holding up an assignment slip, Grissom nodded, albeit reluctantly. On it was the location of the 'crime scene'. "I managed to get Ecklie to have a helicopter to fly them up there."
Catherine laughed, blue eyes twinkling. "Don't need to know how many strings it took to pull that one off, Gil."
He shrugged, a smile plastered on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It took a lot of bargaining. Didn't want to lose two CSIs, but it's the holidays." The strawberry blonde noticed the lack of enthusiasm, but didn't say anything.
"So where are Greg and Sara now anyway?" Warrick handed back the photos to Nick as he looked towards Grissom.
Taking off his glasses, Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose wearily. "Some armed burglary at a convenience store off Madison. They'll be back shortly."
"Cool. Well, we better get back to work. Later, Grissom." Nick and Warrick left the break room, going to see Hodges on their evidence.
As soon as the other two men were out of earshot, Catherine turned to her long-time friend. "What was that?"
Grissom didn't reply, instead holding his head gingerly in his hands. Feeling her stare bore into him after a few minutes, he looked up and saw the concern in her eyes.
"You don't want her to move on?" It was more of a statement than a question, and it didn't need an answer. They both knew the truth.
For a while, with him looking down at the papers lying on the table and her gazing thoughtfully at him. When she finally got up from her chair and headed out the door, he was still sitting there, still searching for something.