Hey'all! Miss me? This is the second to last chapter.

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IV. Little Miss Tuffet… Muffet… uh… Puffet?

"Something wrong, Gil?" Catherine inquired sweetly, fluttering into her friend's office. "Gil?" She bit back a laugh when she spotted Grissom with his forehead resting on the desk… fast asleep. "I'll come back," she whispered, even though she knew he couldn't hear her, and quietly closed the door behind her.

­­­­­GC

"Alright, Grissom, you gotta get up now; come on." A nudge to the entomologist's shoulder and he was wide awake.

"What? Huh? Cath, what is it? Did I miss something?"

Catherine shook her head and laughed. "No, you goon. I figured it was time you got up, seeing as you're at work and all…" she trailed off expectantly. "So, spill. Why the hell are you sleeping at work?"

"I was, uh, up late," Grissom lied lamely.

A cocked eyebrow was her reply.

"Okay, fine. I was… out."

"Mhmm…"

"Doing a favour for a friend."

"You have other friends?"

Grissom glowered at her. "Oh, shut it."

"Still waiting, Gil."

"Fine. I was- babysitting."

Grissom grinned when he heard her jaw hit the floor. "You were what? No way. You?"

"Yes, me; for a neighbour."

"You know your neighbours?"

"Catherine."

"Shit, Grissom, babysitting? I think you need to take a vacation," Catherine grinned, immensely enjoying herself.

"Catherine." He looked at her with tired eyes. "I must have read one single story to her at least five hundred times. The damn kid wouldn't fall asleep."

"What was the story?"

"Uh… little miss… tuffet? No, that's not it…" Grissom's brow furrowed, and it was all Catherine could do to hold back her laughter. "Little Miss Tuffet… or maybe it was Muffet… or Puffet? What?" he asked indignantly when he looked up to spot his friend's nearly purple face.

Catherine choked on her laughter. "Muffet, Gil, muffet."

Grissom snapped his fingers. "I knew it was one of them," he muttered, his expression creating lines of concentration on his forehead.

"I never thought I'd see the day. Actually, I never thought it'd happen… at all. Hah."

"Give a guy a break."

"Have you eaten?"

"Uh-uh." His head rotated side to side almost imperceptibly.

Catherine jumped up. "I'll get you something." He protested, but by the time he did, she was halfway out the door.

GC

"I sure hope you still like Chinese, that was the closest thing to here."

"Mmm. Fine."

"Don't sound too enthusiastic," she said sarcastically, then thought. "God, I sound like your wife."

He had nothing to say to that.

For a full thirty seconds, two blue gazes were locked on each other. The only noise in the room was the sound of the ticking clock on the wall. Finally, Catherine swallowed, cleared her throat, dropped the bag on the desk, and averted her stare. "Here," she mumbled, "eat it. You need food. I'll see you later."

Grissom opened his mouth to reply, but she was gone in the blink of an eye.

Brilliant, Doctor Grissom. You've done it now.