AN: Just a nice little background chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own CSI. I wish I did, cuz I have a lot of ideas that I wish that they'd put in the show.

In A Plexiglas Prison With You

Chapter Seven: Always There

Catherine's eyes felt heavy as she willed them open. The first thing that she saw was not the ocean of fins through the glass; it was the navy blue of Gil Grissom's shirt. She inhaled his familiar sent and smiled softly. She lifted up her head and looked around, but immediately buried her face back in his chest. The sharks scared her more than she cared to admit.

The next time she brought her face away from Grissom was when she hazarded a look at her watch. It was 10:21 AM. They had responded to the crime scene at 5:42 AM. They had been missing for almost five hours. She sighed miserably.

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"So why are we headed to L.A?" Warrick asked, looking over at Brass, "There are miles of ocean all along the California coast-line."

"Because that is where 'Feeding Frenzy' is located," Brass answered, not taking his eyes off of the road. Warrick looked in surprise.

"Did you find something with the employee lists?" he asked.

"We hit pay-dirt," Sofia Curtis announced from the backseat of Brass's Taurus, "Jim spoke to his contacts in L.A while I cross-checked some employees of 'Feeding Frenzy'. There are two employees formally from Vegas, Nate Haynes and Norm Lester. And they both have done jail time. Haynes for robbery in 1994 and Lester for obstruction of justice in '92. Guess who worked both cases," she requested. Warrick looked back at her.

"Griss and Cath?" he asked incredulously. She nodded.

"Lester was actually kicked out of the military for it," she confirmed. Warrick shook his head.

"Let me guess: he was a sharp-shooter," he said.

"One of the best," she sighed, "Apparently, he relocated to L.A after he got out of prison. And another interesting tidbit about Haynes; he is the proud owner of a 2003 Chevy Avalanche, the same vehicle Nick caught in the Surveillance footage."

"This is getting good," Warrick commented, staring straight ahead.

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Catherine lay quietly at Gil's side for a long time. She felt immeasurable gratitude for him keeping her calm. If it hadn't been for him, she probably would have hyperventilated. Even after all the things she said, he still rose up and protected her from herself. That was just like him though. In the old days, he was always protecting her.

She stood at his doorstep, sobbing, as she knocked on the door. From inside the apartment, she heard him stumbling around. The door opened and he was standing there, his hair tussled and clad in sweats and a grey t-shirt. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed. She felt guilty.

"Catherine?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Gil, I-" she broke down. Alarm flashed across his face as he watched her, barely dressed, in six-inch heels, wearing far too much make-up. The mascara dripped down with her tears.

"Catherine, it's okay," he said softly, pulling her close, "Ssh."

"St-Stephanie-" her voice broke his heart.

"I know, Catherine," he sighed, shutting the door, "I know."

"She's gone!" Catherine sobbed into him, He could do nothing but hold her.

She never knew how long she had sobbed before she had fallen asleep in his arms the night she found out that her best friend was dead. All she knew was that when she awoke, he was right there, sitting on the floor while she slept on the couch, covered with a blanket.

"Gil?" she questioned. He turned and looked up at her.

"Hey," he said softly, "How are you?"

"I've been better," she admitted. He handed her a glass of water, which she readily accepted. They were silent for a long time before he spoke.

"How long until you are finished at the club?" he asked, looking at his fingers.

"Two more months," she responded. She didn't know how she was going to make those last two months before she quit dancing and started her job as a CSI. She felt like she couldn't go on now that Stephanie was gone.

"You couldn't leave sooner?" he asked, looking up at her with a hopeful look on his face.

"I need to make as much money as I can before I become an intern," she shrugged, "Why?"

"I…I wish you'd stop," he confessed. She looked at him with shock on her face. He'd never told her what to do before.

"What's it to you, Gil?" she asked harsher than she'd intended.

"I just wish you would," he said. She shook her head and got to her feet. He stood up in alarm.

"Where do you get off telling me what to do?" she yelled, "I just lost my best friend and you're preaching to me!"

"I'm not, Cath!" he argued, "I just want what's best-"

"Save it!" she shot at him, walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" he asked, following her.

"Eddie," she answered, slamming the door in his face on his way out.

She had ran out on him because the last thing she had wanted was for him to tell her what to do. She had ran to Eddie because he never told her what to do. In hindsight, she would have been better off with Gil, she thought bitterly.

She leaned into the counter of the bathroom. Those three lines of white powder looked so inviting. They would numb her pain and she wouldn't feel the weight of Stephanie's death. She closed her eyes and prepared herself.

"If you snort that shit, I'll never talk to you again," his voice stopped her. She opened her eyes and raised her head to look him in the eyes.

"Gil…" she didn't know what to say. She cried despite herself.

"I mean it, Catherine," he said firmly, "Do you think Stephanie would have wanted you to get high at her funeral?" he hissed. Her lower lip quivered as she stared up at him.

"It's…it's so hard…"

"This isn't going to make it any easier, Catherine," he told her, "Cath…I don't want to have to go to your funeral too."

"I wish I was dead," she admitted. He shook his head.

"No you don't," he contradicted her, "No. You want to be a great CSI, Catherine. You want to find the evidence to give closure to the victims. You want to put people like Stephanie's killer in jail."

"Where the Hell is my closure, Gil?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I don't know," he admitted, "but why don't we try to find it together, huh? You're not going to find closure in coke, Cath. Come on," he coaxed her, offering her a hand. She nodded and stepped into his open embrace.

That was the smartest thing she had ever done. It was followed by the stupidest thing. A month later, she was engaged to Eddie Willows. And somehow, Gil had remained there for her, despite that stupid mistake.

If we could make it through that, we can make it through anything, she thought as she stared up at the sleeping man next to her.

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"How are they doing?" Greg asked, staring over Sara's shoulder to look at Grissom and Catherine's still forms on the laptop screen.

"I think he's still asleep, but she's awake," she announced. Lindsey looked on the screen beside her in the back seat and smiled. She and Lily had demanded that they go to L.A with them.

"Just hold on, Mom," she whispered as she watched as her mother looked up at her 'Uncle Gil'.

TBC