In the heat of war.

I forgot to write this in the first chapter; this one is for Foxy Nighthawk and Gryffindor620 for dragging me away from my West Wing fics for a second, and for ReversedSam… I don't really like Christmas either, so, I'm chanelling that through Sara;)
And of course, for all of you who take the time to read and rub my gigantic ego with your reviews. What would I ever do without you:) You rock!!

Enjoy my darlings!

Jellicos

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"We wish you a crappy Christmas, we wish you a crappy Christmas, we wish you a crappy Christmas and a sucky new year." I really didn't care if I was being childish, this holiday sucked and singing altered lyrics made me feel better. Besides, I was bored.

Grissom had refused to let me work and there was nothing on TV except those damned Disney Christmas specials. If you weren't depressed before, you would be after ten minutes of cute little kids with too white smiles and freakishly big eyes, convincing the world that Santa really existed. So, instead I was spending Christmas day cleaning my bathtub and singing my own version of traditional Christmas carols.

The knock on my door caught me by surprise. I wasn't expecting any company and this was a rather odd time for a surprise visit.

Wiping my hands and face on the closest towel, I stood up and made my way out into the hallway. The insistent knock continues and maybe that's why I open the door without looking through the peep hole.

"Lindsey?" To say I was shocked would be a terrible understatement. There is little Lindsey Willows, dressed from head to toe in thick pink overalls, hat, scarf, mittens and thick insulated boots. Sure, it was snowing in Las Vegas for the first time since I moved here, but really, snow overalls was a little much, even for Catherine.

"Sara, common!" She grabbed at my hand but because of her thick mittens she couldn't get a proper grip.

"Easy Lindsey." I had to smile at her excitement. "What are you doing here? Where's your mommy?" She had to be around here somewhere, there is no way she'd ever leave Lindsey. But what were they doing here? And where exactly was Catherine?

"She's waiting downstairs, get you coat." God, she was much too like her mother when she was ordering me around like that. Needless to say, I grabbed my jacket off the hanger and wrapped it around me.

"Are you alright, is Catherine?" I had to ask. Not that Lindsey didn't seem perfectly fine, and I know she wouldn't have come to me if anything had happened to Catherine. Actually, I didn't even know that they knew where I lived.

"We're fine Sara, now hurry up, it's snowing!" As she dragged me towards the elevator I couldn't help but think that those Disney movies would be so much better if those obnoxious little brats had been a little more like Lindsey.

"Down here Sara." I had no idea where she was going, but the little path we were on between the apartment buildings only lead to one place.

"Linds, why are we going to my backyard?" I asked as I was manhandled through the winter cold by a seven-year-old with unusually strong hands.

"Do you ever stop asking questions?" She stopped and looked at me, but I was so thrown that I didn't say anything. That was just freakishly Catherine-like. So the little Willows just grabbed my hand again with a shake of her head and pulled me into the tiny little yard between the buildings.

"What the…" Okay, did I fall into the tub and bang my head? There was no way Catherine was standing behind my house, a big smile on her face, using both her hands and arms and everything else she could to scrape the thin layer of snow from the ground and place it on the dirty little heap of snow that I'd call the beginning of a snowman if it wasn't so… well, pathetic.

"Alright Sidle, get your ass over here, this snowman isn't going to build itself." She said as she proudly slapped some more snow onto the little shapeless heap that almost reached her knees.

"Catherine, have you gone insane?" I sceptically looked around as Lindsey let go of my hand and ran to aid her delusional mother.

"Don't be such a curmudgeon, Sara." Did she just call me a…

"Curmudgeon?!" I gaped, but quickly shut my mouth as she turned and smirked at me. Open mouth and Catherine smirking is not a good idea, it equals drooling, which is very bad.

"What are you doing here?" I had to ask, I didn't want to seem rude, but I had to know. This was just a bit too surreal not to.

We weren't friends. Sure we were civil, even friendly at work now days, but that was a far cry from making snowmen in each other's yards. That's when it hit me; the gift.

"Making a snowman, now are you going to help or just stand there looking confused?" At least she didn't comment on the seasonal shade of red my face must have taken as I realised what must have caused this. She didn't say a word about it, and as long as she didn't, I wouldn't. Maybe this was her way of saying thanks?

I'd had a slight case of brain-function-loss when I decided it would be a good idea to actually give her the music box I'd bought ages ago. I'd seen it in the store window of this little antique toy store in the outskirts of Las Vegas. I'd thought of her, or more precisely, the box had screamed her name, so I bought it. I still couldn't remember what I thought at the time. We hardly spoke to each other and I never thought I'd get a chance to give it to her. I wasn't even sure I wanted to at the time; she'd probably have smashed it against my head.

But then, when the opportunity arose, my brain decided to run out on me and make me do stupid things. But now, seeing Catherine and Lindsey building sad looking snow-things in my yard, I'm suddenly very thankful that I'm an idiot.

"I think you're being a bit too optimistic." I reasoned, picking up a handful of snow. "Snow-cat maybe." I grinned as she turned, her eyes squinting and her expression showing I was in for it now.

"Are you mocking my snowman Sidle?" She asked, hands on her hips and I could hear a distinct 'uh-oh' in an amused tone from the little girl on my right.

"I sure am, and what are you gonna do about it Willows?" I asked, loving the fact that I got to see this playful side of her, the one usually reserved for, well, not me.

She looked amazing. Her blonde curls sticking out from under a big grey knitted hat, a matching scarf wrapped tightly around her neck, covering the neckline of her beige overcoat. Her hair was ruffled, her cheeks were pink from the cold and the gleam in her eyes was priceless.

All this I managed to take in and think through before something hit my left shoulder. Did she just throw a snowball at me? Oh, she was so on!

"How's that?" She grinned before picking up more snow.

"You're mine Willows." I warned as I started forming the snow in my hands.

"Mmm, you're gonna have to work a little harder than that, Sidle." Oh my god, was she flirting with me? Suddenly the air seemed a little hard to breathe and the world turned slightly dazed, this couldn't be real, I'd fallen in my bathroom, hit my head and soon I'd wake up covered in soap with a pounding headache on the bottom of my semi-cleaned tub. It was always how these things ended, well not so much with the unconsciousness in the bathroom as a dream in bed, but still. She never joked like that with me. Never. She could make those kinds of jokes with Warrick and Nick, even Grissom sometimes, but never me. Did this mean she liked my gift? That we were becoming friends? She couldn't know…

I was harshly pulled out of my thoughts by something wet, cold and hard smacking me in the back of the neck.

"Hey, not fair!" I shouted as I heard the giggles from behind me. "You're two against one!" I protested as Lindsey high-fived her mom for her sneak attack on me.

"What, too scared to take us on?" Oh, that raised brow of hers was the ultimate dare.

"You're going down, both of you." I stated as I hurled my first snowball at Catherine. Wow, she did look sexy with snow in her hair.

"Get her!" The lovely and snowy CSI encouraged her daughter. The last thing I saw was a lot of blonde tussle before my face was covered in snow.

The war was on.

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"More cacao?" I was in heaven. Or my version of it anyway. Tired and drenched from the snowball fight, we'd made our way into my apartment to get dried off. Lindsey had fought her way through half a cup of hot cacao before her eyes gave up the struggle and she dozed off in my couch. Like any kid, she's completely adorable when she's asleep.

Catherine is sitting beside me, her hair still wet and clinging to her face and shoulders. She's wearing a pair of my jeans and my only blue top and my god does she look gorgeous.

It's been a perfect afternoon and the two of us have spent several hours just chatting, about everything and nothing. I'd never imagined we could have so much in common, that we could just sit and talk so easily, joking and laughing. I don't do that a lot, but with her it's just easy.

She didn't even comment on the complete lack of Christmas décor in my place.

"I can't, we need to get going." I wasn't prepared for how those words would affect me and I cursed myself for being this weak. I don't rely on people in that way, not for company. I like that I can be alone, that I don't mind it but rather prefer it, and it bothers me that I don't want her to leave.

"Oh, yeah, of course." I shake my head as if I'd been thinking the same thing but it just momentarily slipped my mind. Out of the corner of my eye I see her face, and I could have sworn I just saw a look of disappointment cross her face. It must be all the hot cacao I've had.

"I promised my mom we'd stop by." She informs me and I just nod my head. Of course she has to go, it's Christmas day.

"You need a hand?" I ask, cocking my head in Lindsey's direction with a little smile. She returns my smile and casts an affectionate glance at her sleeping daughter.

"No, it's ok. I've got it." She says, but doesn't stand. "Thank you, for today." She adds and I feel my heart swell. She had a good time with me. Yay!

"No, thank you. I don't think I've had a better Christmas day." I say honestly and I see the knowing look in her eyes. For a moment I can't help but wonder if she knows, if she somehow found out about my past, or if she just drew her own conclusions from today.

"I'm glad." She smiles. That's when it happens, when my brain turns to coleslaw and my limbs transforms into something you normally would associate with green monsters in old gore-flicks. "And I've never gotten a better Christmas present." She whispers softly as she leans forward and places a soft kiss on my cheek. "Thank you Sara." She whispers against my cheek, and I know she can feel my body tremble at how her breath caresses my skin.

Then she's standing. I don't move; my limbs are on strike. I don't speak; my vocal chords have lost all function. And she's gone, with Lindsey hoisted up in her arms, drooping over her shoulder, she's gone.

What the hell just happened? I don't know whether to kick myself for being an idiot and letting the best chance of my life run through my fingers, or comb through my fridge to see what left-over's are laced with acid.

Too many choices and my mind is still in the state to be made into a salad, so I decide to turn on the TV instead.

And who knew, someone replaced all the annoying little brats in the Disney specials with cute little kids. Why can't the grown ups just see Santa is real?

Shit… I'm in trouble. And it's all her fault.

Its payback time Catherine Willows.

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Merry Christmas to all, and to all some good smut… well, I'm writing this thing, of course there will be smut eventually.
Thank you all for reading:)

Jellicos