Disclaimer: Not mine and that sucks.

The Long Road

Chapter 7

Saturday morning found Catherine and Lindsay standing outside of the Grissom household. Catherine rang the bell and shifted anxiously from one foot to the other while waiting for someone to let them in. Grissom opened the door and motioned the two inside.

"Hello Catherine," he greeted them with a smile. "Lindsay, how are you?"

"Hey, Uncle Gil," Lindsay replied. "Where's Jonathan?"

"Sara's getting him dressed. They're upstairs if you want to go up."

"Sure," Lindsay grinned and hurried off, her footsteps thumping up the stairs.

"Hey, Gil," Catherine said as they walked into the kitchen where Grissom offered her a cup of coffee. With a shake of her head, she asked, "What're you doing awake?"

"I worked a little late. There was some paperwork to finish." At her nod of understanding, he continued, "Besides, I'm off tonight. I'm going to take a nap but I want to be able to sleep later when Sara and Jonathan do."

Catherine studied the man she had befriended more than a decade earlier. When he raised an eyebrow in question at her bemused expression, she shrugged and said, "Never thought I'd see the day when you would actually take your days off."

"I never had a reason to before."

"You never wanted to have a reason," she corrected. "She was always willing to provide one."

Grissom thought for a moment before replying in a low voice, "I had to be willing to let her in, willing to risk getting hurt. Until I could do that, I couldn't be with Sara."

"What are you implying?" Catherine sniped. "Don't speak in riddles, Gil. If you have something to say just spit it out."

"I don't have anything to say Catherine." The quirk of his lips told a different story. "What do you think I'm talking about?"

Head lowered, one hand massaging the back of her neck, Catherine sighed. Lifting her eyes to Grissom's face, she said, "Nothing. Sorry. I've just been on edge this week."

Raising an eyebrow, lips lifted in a smile, Grissom said, "Seems to be a lot of that going around."

Catherine was saved from further comment by the arrival of Jonathan who ran straight at her. She picked him up and lifted him over her head, laughing at his squeal of delight. Sara followed him into the room with Lindsay bringing u the rear. Catherine said, "Hey. What's the plan for today?"

Sara looked a little confused until she realized that Catherine was asking about her plans. With a shrug and a quick grin, she said, "I need to go to the grocery store. Gris is cooking for me tonight and he needs supplies. I've got to go to Wal-Mart and pick up essentials. I'm sure you don't want to be stuck with me all day."

Catherine looked a little disappointed. "Oh, well, that's okay. I just thought we could do something. But if you have plans then I'll…uh…find something to do."

Glancing at Lindsay, seeing the hopeful expression on her face, Sara turned to Catherine and said, "Why don't we go grab some coffee? We'll just take separate cars so I can run my errands when we're done."

"Okay. That's good." Catherine gently untangled Jonathan's hand from her hair. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Just let me get put on my shoes." Sara headed off and returned a moment later with shoes on and her purse in her hand. "Ready?"

Catherine handed Jonathan over to Grissom and turned to Lindsay. I'll be back by four. Remember, no help from Gil unless it's an emergency." She turned toward the door, missing Lindsay's dramatic eye roll. "And don't roll your eyes at me," she shot over her shoulder earning a snort from Sara.

Sara gave Jonathan a quick kiss and Grissom a little longer one. "Love you guys. See you later." And she followed Catherine out the door.

Catherine led the way to a local coffee shop about five miles away. Once inside they stood in line, placed their orders and grabbed an empty table. They sat in silence until Catherine said, "Go ahead and ask. I know you're dying to."

"Actually, I figured if you wanted to tell me you would." Laughing at the other woman's expression, she gave in, "Okay. If you insist. What happened?"

Catherine gave her a tight smile and proceeded to tell Sara about the argument with Warrick. With a sheepish look, she finished with, "And, dammit, I don't know how to fix it."

Sara studied the worried face before her, "Surely you aren't asking for my advice." When Catherine shrugged, she said, "Well, if you want my opinion, you remind me more of Grissom everyday – the old Grissom."

Catherine opened her mouth to protest and Sara cut her off, "Save it. You know, as well as I do, that he threw up one road block after another. Why is it so hard to just admit that you have feelings for the man?"

"I do have feelings for him."

"Lust?" Sara asked, eyebrow raised and lips twisted with amusement and a little irritation.

"Yes, but that's not all," Catherine answered hotly. "Is that what you think this is about?"

"Actually, Grissom talked to Warrick. He seems to think you just wanted to have a little fun and then realized he wanted more." Pausing to take a sip of her tea, she continued, "And I will tell you that if all I wanted from Grissom was sex I could have had that years ago. I wanted it all, just like Warrick."

"He told Grissom that I wanted to 'have a little fun'!" Catherine squeaked. "How could he say that?"

"Cath, he told Grissom that you made him feel like he was an itch to be scratched. He told him some other things but I think you need to hear those from the horse's mouth."

Catherine had closed her eyes, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "I knew Gil had something on his mind this morning," she mumbled. "I am so humiliated."

"Don't be. We all know it's not true," Sara attempted to reassure her friend. "Even Warrick."

Finally, Catherine's eyes slid open and she said, "So what else did he tell Gil?"

Shaking her head, Sara said, "Uh-uh. I'm not going to tell you. If you want to work this out you need to work it out with Warrick. I'm going to run my errands now. You need to figure out what to do about this."

"You never dished with your girlfriends did you?" Catherine asked with a sad smile.

"What girlfriends?" Sara shot back as she slid out of the booth. With one last smile, she said, "He loves you. Don't screw it up."

Catherine watched Sara's back, continuing to stare at the place she had been long after she disappeared. Shaking herself out of her trance, she got up and headed for her car.

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For the second time that day Catherine found herself waiting on someone to answer the door. Unsure of what to say or do she was considering getting back in her car and driving away when she heard the locks being turned. The door swung open and the breath got trapped in her lungs. She had seen Warrick in suits and jeans and leather and silk but nothing prepared her for Warrick in the skin tight wife beater and cotton pajama pants he was wearing. He was all long lines and hard muscle and smooth chocolate skin. His hair was messy and his green eyes heavy as he stared at her without speaking.