For disclaimer and notes and all the other stuff, please see chapter one :-)

Additional A/N: Sorry it took so long. Here's chapter five. Chapter six to follow shortly. Thank you to Gomey for reading through part of this for me, and assuring me that it isn't complete rubbish :-)

Chapter 5

Catherine stood at the open wardrobe and considered the selection of clothes before her. She had been here for almost ten minutes and had, so far, not made any progress at all towards making a decision on what to wear.

Lindsey's voice startled her and she turned to face her daughter, who was leaning against the doorframe.

"Is this a date?" she had asked, voice deadly serious.

"No!" Catherine replied, perhaps a little too emphatically.

"Then does it matter what you wear?" Lindsey offered, rhetorically, before walking away.

Catherine frowned, her mind screaming 'Yes!'. She stared at the now empty doorway for a few seconds longer, pondering Lindsey's words, then she turned back to the wardrobe.

----

"… And then Greg turns round and Ecklie is standing behind him, dripping wet, and holding the bucket, and he says: 'If I were to dust this for prints, Sanders, would I find yours?'"

Catherine laughed as she finished her story, and, at the image of Greg's backfired practical joke, and Ecklie soaked to the skin, Grissom couldn't help but laugh with her.

"I can just imagine his face," he said.

"Oh, it was a picture," Catherine responded, as she tried to calm her laughter, and used her napkin to dry her eyes. "And Greg's face was a picture when Warrick was gloating to him about the failed prank… Needless to say, he soon found his new office rigged with several more booby traps."

Grissom smiled. "Warrick in my old office?… I always knew he could do it."

Catherine smiled fondly. "He's doing well… Of course we butt heads every now and again… Even more so since my promotion… But, you know, I've got to keep him on his toes."

Grissom's smile widened and he realised that it had not left his face since earlier that evening when he had picked Catherine up from her house.

The minute she opened the door, he smiled. She wore close fitting black trousers, and a pale pink halter-top, the colour of which brought out the slight blush in her cheeks as he complimented her outfit.

"Is it smart enough?" she had asked. "I didn't know how… dressed up I needed to be."

"It's perfect," he had responded, then he waited while she locked up the house, before leading her to his car.

Their journey to the restaurant had been made in relative silence, and, while he kept his eyes mainly on the road, he did notice that she was tapping her fingers against her thighs, as if she was nervous. And a glance at her face, which was turned to watch the world passing by her window, revealed that she seemed unaware that she was doing it.

She had seemed to relax a little once they were inside the restaurant and had ordered their food. He had asked her about the others and so far she had told him about Nick moving back to Texas after his father's death last year, and about Warrick's promotion to Supervisor.

"How is he coping with Greg?" he asked, bringing his thoughts back to the present conversation, though part of his mind remained on observing Catherine's expressions and behaviour, monitoring her nervousness.

She laughed. "How did you cope with Greg?…" It was a rhetorical question. She took a sip of her wine, and then continued as she returned the glass to the table. "It helps that they're used to each other. And, although Greg occasionally likes to hover close to it, he still knows where the line is, and he doesn't cross it."

"So Greg's still Greg?" he smirked.

Catherine smiled fondly. "Wouldn't have him any other way."

Grissom smiled, thinking back over some of the stunts Greg had pulled during his time in Las Vegas.

"You should see them before you leave."

Catherine's words broke into his thoughts, making him aware that they had been sitting in silence.

He nodded quickly. "I'd like that."

Catherine smiled, a sparkle of what looked like excitement in her eyes. But she also looked like she was relieved that he had agreed to this. "I could try and arrange for us all to go for a drink. Maybe tomorrow? It might just have to be coffee, because Warrick and Greg'll be working tomorrow night, but…" she trailed off.

"Coffee would be fine. It'd be nice to catch up… I've been out of the loop."

Catherine shrugged. "You had other commitments."

Grissom nodded, understanding that she was referring to his mother, and the two of them fell into another silence as he tried to figure out if he wanted to actually speak the words that were in his head.

He decided he would, and took the breath to facilitate them, but then he noticed Catherine smile at something just over his shoulder, and a waiter came into his view, carrying their food.

Catherine looked almost relieved again, so he decided it was best to change the subject. He waited until the waiter had placed their plates, and then reinitiated conversation as they started to enjoy their meals.

"So, you never told me what Sara is doing now," he commented.

Catherine swallowed her latest bite of salmon, took a sip of water and then responded. "Sara transferred to Loughlin about… five and a half years ago… She's still a CSI… Actually, at the moment, she's on maternity leave…"

She paused, and Grissom sensed it was to give his surprise time to display itself – which it did, in the form of a raised eyebrow.

Before she continued, she smirked – and it looked to Grissom as if it was intended to say "you ain't seen nothing yet". This was confirmed by her next words.

"Yeah, she and Hodges…" There was another pause for his surprise. "…are expecting their second child any day now… Oh, in fact, two days ago," she smiled.

"Sara and Hodges?" Grissom asked, sounding as surprised as he looked.

Catherine giggled. "Yep… I was as shocked as you are. The first thing I knew about it was when Hodges transferred to Loughlin about twelve months after Sara did… They got married a year later."

"She hadn't told anyone?"

"I think Nick knew, and Warrick… And Greg and Sofia… Sara and I never were particularly close. It's not the kind of thing we would talk to each other about."

Catherine looked down to her food, and speared another piece of salmon with her fork.

Grissom frowned, noting a change in her demeanour. A lot of the tension, that had earlier seemed to have subsided, was back.

"Cath?"

She looked up, and he recognised the smile she offered him as forced.

"Are you okay?"

She forced the smile to widen. "I'm fine… This is nice… I've – " She stopped suddenly and there was a brief flash of panic in her eyes, before she concluded with: "… Not been here for ages… The food's great."

Grissom was pretty certain that the comment about the restaurant had not been what she had originally intended to say, but he also knew that it wouldn't be right to ask her what she had stopped herself from saying. He lost his right to ask for her innermost thoughts when he allowed them to lose touch six years ago.

----

Catherine returned her attention to her food, cursing herself for almost revealing that she'd missed him. She was determined that the issues from seven years ago were not going to come up and invade their reunion. To admit that she had missed him, would open the subject of their friendship, and where that was concerned, the past needed to be addressed – and she wasn't prepared to do that now. His visit would last for merely a few days, she did not want to spend that time opening up old wounds. If this was the start of a renewed friendship; if, this time, they did stay in touch when he went back to California; well then, one day, she would allow the conversation to take place. But this visit was not the time. She would not put herself through the emotion that went hand in hand with their history just to have him disappear again a few days later.

Knowing that the tension that had seeped through her defences had already made Grissom suspicious, she quickly tried to think of a subject to fill their current silence. Eating gave her a believable cover for only a few minutes, but fortunately she suddenly recalled her conversation with Lindsey – the justification she had given.

'We do need to talk about the case.'

She smiled a little to herself, relieved, and looked up, finding his eyes on her, his look that of studious concentration that she had seen on him many times, years ago. It remained only briefly as their eyes met, before he looked away, feigning interest in his dinner.

It still unnerved her; still made her heart flutter; still gave her hope; to look up and find him watching her, and she had to remind herself that things were different now.

She took a sip of water and a deep breath, and introduced the new topic.

"So, how are you and Jacob doing with the case?"

----

Catherine seemed to relax again once their conversation turned to work, and Grissom quite happily recounted the progress he and Jacob had made.

They finished their main course and, after clearing the plates, the waiter left them to consider whether they would like dessert.

"Too much choice?" Grissom asked, smiling at Catherine's look of indecision.

She returned the smile. "They all sound delicious… But, to be honest, I don't think I could eat another thing."

Grissom gave a small laugh. "Neither could I… Coffee?"

She shook her head. "Probably not a good idea… I've got an early start tomorrow."

Grissom nodded slowly, his sense that she was avoiding him slowly creeping back in. He forced himself to smile through it. "I'll get the check then."

"You could have coffee," Catherine offered quickly.

"No, I'll leave it. It's okay," he replied, looking to see if their waiter was nearby.

"Well, we could do it at my place," she said, then her cheeks flushed slightly as she realised how that sounded. Thankful that it was Gil she was talking to, and not Greg, she nevertheless added: "You could have a coffee… Without feeling bad for making me sit in a restaurant while you drink."

Gil smiled, comforted by the fact that she wasn't trying to end their evening as soon as possible. "Okay… If you're sure?… If you'd rather go home and go to - … and sleep…" he said, his own cheeks blushing at what he almost said. "… I'd understand."

"No, I couldn't sleep this early… Come for coffee," she smiled.

"You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure… I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."

She sounded like she meant it, but he also got the feeling that she was trying to assure herself as much as she was him.

He studied her for any sign that she was hoping he would decline the offer, then, finding none, he accepted.

"Okay then… I'd love to."

TBC…