SORRY ABOUT THE GIMP MASK QUIP, I COULDN'T HELP IT. OH, AND TO THOSE OF YOU NOT ON YTDAW, THE 'CRASS' REFERENCE WAS SOMETHING KESTIN STEWART (I THINK) MADE ABOUT THE NON-EXISTENT BRASS AND CATHERINE 'SHIP.

"So." Catherine sat at the breakfast table, reading a paper and drinking a cup of coffee.

Grissom raised an eyebrow as he bit into his toast. "So wha'?" he asked, spraying crumbs at Catherine.

"You two. Last night." Much to her suprise, Gil just shrugged.

"My, what big ears you have," he commented dryly.

"Hey, I haven't got big ears. You've got loud voices, thin walls and a creaking bed. Not. My. Fault," she reiterated. She caught Grissom's hurt look. "Gil, I'm not judging you. At all. Me and Eddie? Jeez, we were the same."

"I don't really need to know," Grissom told her, grimacing.

"No, Gil, you don't. I'm just trying to illustrate my point. I'm happy for you both. God knows you deserve it. But take others into consideration as well." She shot him a glance over the rim of her mug, it becoming obvious to her that he didn't really care.

"What, would you rather Sara and I gagged each other?"

Catherine choked on her coffee. "I don't wanna know about your ... procilivities Gil, I'm your friend, not your therapist."

"Firstly, do you honestly think I'd share my proclivities with you? Secondly, it feels like you're my therapist, the way you go on sometimes." He stood up. "I'm gonna go check on Sara, see if she's managed to untie herself from the bedposts and pull off her gimp mask yet," he said, shooting Catherine a grin over shoulder.

"Fu-neeee," Catherine retorted.

The group decided to split up during the days when events weren't on, and only met up primarily in the evenings when they set out to venues - although it was nice to be with one another, it was also nice to have some independence. However, they shared a meal on the last night in Monterrey, knowing that it would be a long drive to Anaheim the next day. There were no events on that night, so they all walked to a restaurant on the marina.

Catherine nudged Brass. "You hear those two last night?" she asked, nodding in the general direction of Grissom and Sara, who were accompanied by Greg. Nick and Warrick were off to the side of the group, sharing stories. They all took their seats.

Brass nodded. "Yup. Knocked and told them about it this morning. Gil was cool enough about it."

"You're tellin' me. I pulled him up on it at breakfast, he couldn't care less. Actually threw a couple of innuendo-filled comments my way."

"Poor thing, must have scarred you," Brass commented wryly, smiling nevertheless. "I'm happy for 'em. And I suppose it's good to see that he's still ... functioning." Brass shrugged.

"Maybe, but I need my beauty sleep."

"Ask Warrick to help. Help you fall asleep," he explained, receiving a scornful gaze from the blonde.

"Excuse me? How do you even know I like Warrick? Second thoughts, don't answer that. It's bad enough having those two lovebirds drooling over each other, I'm not giving you guys another couple." Yet when Warrick glanced over to Jim and Cath, she flashed him a beautiful grin.

"My point exactly," Jim muttered. "Seems to me, you're just jealous 'cause you're not seein' any action. And anyways, they're not exactly drooling. Yeah, they're affectionate, put they ain't givin' us any public displays of affection."

Catherine flashed another smile, this time without warmth behind her eyes. "One more thing outta you, and you'll be floatin' in the bottom of the marina. I know how to get rid of bodies without being found."

Jim shrugged good naturedly. "Fine."

Catherine simply growled.

In the middle of the meal, Grissom excused himself to go to the toilet, and Greg leaned over to Sara. "How's things going with you two?" he asked.

Sara eyed him suspiciously. After Brass knocking, and Grissom telling her about the run-in with Catherine, she was beginning to think that maybe the other CSIs were being informed of certain things. "We're fine, thanks. Enjoying the trip," she added.

"Good. I'm glad you two have finally sorted out your differences. You really suit each other. Besides, if I can't have you, you might as well have the only other decent guy around here," he joked.

"I appreciate that Greg," she said, smiling.

"Hey, you're my friend. Why wouldn't I be happy for you? You've always stood up for me, always had my back. I appreciate that."

"Appreciate what?" Grissom asked, returning to the table. He kissed Sara's cheek as he sat down, reaching for his wine glass. "You haven't been giving out sexual favours, have you?" he asked as he lifted the glass to his lips, the corner of his mouth turning up.

"Well, actually, there's something I wanted to confess. I want you, Greg and me to have a threesome," she spluttered, failing to keep her giggles under control.

"Really?" Grissom tried to act surprised. "God, I'm so glad you asked. I wanted us to do that, but I didn't know how you'd react." He winked at Greg, then started shaking with laughter. Pretty soon, the laughter spread through the whole table, even to Nick, Warrick, Jim and Catherine, who had no idea of what was so amusing.

The walk back to the hotel was carried out in companionable silence, the dark skies glittering with stars. "Look," Sara whispered to Grissom, squeezing his hand with hers.

"What?"

"Warrick and Catherine." Gil and Sara were at the back of the group, Nick, Greg and Jim walking at the immediate front. Warrick and Catherine were sandwiched between the two groups, and could only be seen by Grissom and Sara. Catherine was leaning into Warrick's side, and he had put his arm around her.

Gil smiled. "Cute," he murmured, pulling Sara closer. He enjoyed being at liberty to hold her hand, to hold her and kiss her and tell her how pretty she was.

"Yeah. But I was thinking more along the lines of ammunition. Wonder who's gonna be sleeping where tonight," she added, a slight malicious joy in her words.

"Honey, lay off with the schadenfreude, it's not becoming. But I undertsand where you're coming from." It was hard to see his evil grin in the moonlight.

"Sara, you here that?" Grissom had been woken up by a thump sound, and after laying still for a minute or two, had managed to decipher its origin.

The brunette thing next to him stirred. "Hm? Wha', honey? Unless you wanna kiss, let me go back to sleep."

"It's Warrick and Catherine," he whispered excitedly.

"How do you know? Could be Catherine and Brass."

"That's just crass," Grissom chided, holding a hand over his mouth to fight off another attack of the giggles. "Seriously."

Sara sleepily pivoted herself away from Grissom's warm body, and propelled herself out of the bed. Approaching the wall backing on to Catherine's room, she motioned for Gil to join her. They pressed their ears against the wall, and could here muffled cries and assorted noises. They shared a glance.

"Either someone's watching porn in there, or they really are ..." Grissom trailed off, making the appropriate sex gestures with his hands. Sara snorted, and he put a finger to his lips. He slammed the palm of his hand against the wall three times.

"Go away, we're trying to have sex," came the angry female - Catherine - voice. They could hear Warrick cursing.

"Yeah, so are we," Grissom called back, watching Sara dissolve into a fit on the floor. "Unlike you, we gagged each other, consideration for others, you know? Kindly do the same," he finished, creasing up. He held his hands out to Sara, helping her up from her giggling fit. Cupping her cheek, he brought his mouth to hers. "You're so adorable when you're happy," he commented.

Sara reciprocated. "And you're sexy when you get all ...". She waved her hands, gesturing to his prior performance. "Come on, babe, we should get some sleep." She dropped one final kiss to his lips, and led him back to the bed.