I Can't Feel My Face

Rating: It's fine for now.

Disclaimer: I don't own any songs or characters... or the tv show :(

Summary: "Write this down... I haven't had sex in six... no, seven months!"

A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews! You guys make me so happy! As promised, here is chapter three! I think you guys will like this one! I apologize for any grammar mistakes! TOO EXCITED TO SHARE IT WITH YOU GUYS!

She's standing in the layout room, the table lit up in front of her and illuminating every piece of evidence she's collected from the crime scene. Even with all the work in front of her though, she can't seem to concentrate on any of it. It's been almost three hours since the start of her shift and she still hasn't seen or heard from Grissom. She hoped he wasn't avoiding her after what happened the night before. There are butterflies in her stomach every time she thinks about their kiss and the way his hands came up to frame her face. She grinned like some love-struck teenager every time she thought of what their next date would entail. 'Date,' she thought in her head. 'Who said they were dates? But you just don't go out to dinner, kiss at the end of the night, all to not have it be a date,' she thinks to herself, the blood spatter photographs in her hand forgotten.

"There you are." His voice startles her and she nearly drops the photographs. She sighs and shakes her head, laughing at herself a bit as he comes into the room.

"You scared me." Before she knows it he's standing right beside her, their arms brushing against each other. His eyes scan the table quickly, taking in all the evidence in front of them before he fixes his gaze on the woman beside him. He had thought about her all night… and morning. He was so anxious to see her again, he could barely fall asleep when he had gotten home after seeing she had made it back to her place safe.

"What are you working on?"

"Oh… this is just some stuff from the crime scene Nick and I processed yesterday." He knew better than to offer his help unless she asked for it. She was capable of solving some of the most complex crimes… it would be just a matter of time until she cracked this one. She opens her mouth to ask him if she'll get to see him later on during their shift, but her personal cell phone begins ringing and Sara appears in the doorway, her hand gripping the frame of the door while she leans in halfway.

"Hey, Grissom," she calls out, but Gil's eyes are locked onto Catherine as she reaches around to grasp her cell phone out from her back pocket. She brings the phone closer for both of them to read the name that pops up and Catherine's eyes close slowly, her head falling back as her shoulders slump. It's her mother. He knows that she's never had the best relationship with her mother and ever since Lily agreed to take Lindsey after school until her daughter could find herself a reliable babysitter, the two Flynn women had been at each others throats lately.

With Sara standing only a few feet away from him, he dare not touch Catherine, as he would have liked to. So instead, when Catherine forces her eyes back open and makes a move to answer the call, he leans in just before she can answer and whispers for her to come and find him whenever she's not busy.

And when he turns to Sara, she's watching his every move, her eyes narrowed a bit. There's nothing for her to grasp at though. He's always been the type to talk softly to the people he works with, especially Catherine. As he walks closer to her, she shrugs back away from the door and holds up a few papers that have been stapled together. She hands it to him, their fingers brushing together as he accepts the results. Her eyes flicker up to meet his, but she's left staring at his blank face. He's not looking at her.

"Lab results you wanted from Greg," she can hear the disappointment in her own voice and she realizes how silly she must look, upset over the fact that he didn't realize their fingers brushed together… that they finally made some kind of physical contact. It's all he manages to hear as he drowns out her voice and goes over the results himself, focusing on the woman behind him and the different emotions playing out in her voice, instead.

'What do you mean a fight?'

Pause.

'No, of course not! I…'

Pause.

'I never saw it!'

Pause.

'Are you insane?! Half of this city would like nothing more than to see him dead! And you let her go with him?!'

She wastes no time pausing to let her mother get another word in.

'You call me the second they walk through the door. No later. I'll pick her up in the morning.'

/

He's sitting in the locker room, in front of her locker with his hands clasped together when there's a soft knock coming from the door. He lifts his head and Sara tries her best to offer up a half-hearted smile.

"Heading out soon," she asks with her coat folded over her arms. He opens his mouth to answer her question, but Catherine is suddenly walking through the empty space next to Sara, completely oblivious to the younger CSI standing there. Catherine is checking her messages through her phone, reading over Lindsey's in particular.

"I'm sorry. The way that woman talks to me sometimes, you'd never think she was the one who gave birth to me." She shoves the phone back into her pocket. "How about breakfast?" When she doesn't receive an answer, she looks down at him to find his eyes moving back and forth from her to the door. Catherine spins on her heels and sees the brunette standing there, arms crossed over her chest now. "Sara… I'm sorry," she apologizes for completely missing her upon walking in. "I..." Catherine has to stand there and wonder how many times this has happened before for the younger woman to look so damn upset. "Would you like to join us? We can call back Nick and Warrick."

Sara shakes her head and shows them a small smile.

"No, it's fine. I'll just head home… kinda tired," she muttered… and then she was gone. Catherine lets her head fall, her chin almost to her chest and sighs.

"I just can't do anything right lately, it seems," she says with closed eyes. From where he's sitting, he can see the weight of all the stress she had been under lately take toll on her body. She was slightly hunched over with her head still hanging down, her eyes tightly closed, and one hand coming up to massage the spot near her temple where he knew a migraine was starting. She took his silence as a need for an explanation. So she takes a seat on the bench next to him and unloads.

"My mother calls earlier, as you saw, informing me that my daughter has been involved in a fight at school and that the principal sent her home with a note explaining that she's suspended for the next three school days. And as if that doesn't piss me off enough, my mother goes on and on about how Lindsey needs a more positive role model in her life… that- that my work is too consuming." Gil opens his mouth. "Oh! And… and how she feels that Lindsey isn't getting the childhood she deserves, so she takes it upon herself to let my child go out into the most dangerous city with Sam Braun, of all people." Gil shuts his mouth. "And Sam Braun… don't get me started on him." He stands and grabs a hold of her, much like last time, and leads her out of the lab without a word. "Gil- what are you doing?" He's headed for his car and she turns her head back, watching her own car grow further and further in distance. "But… Gil, I've got Lindsey."

"We'll pick her up after," he says, unlocking his SUV and opening the passenger door for her. She grabs a hold of the handle above the window that's anchored into the car's frame and steps up onto the SUV's running boards then sharply turns on the balls of her feet, now facing him. Even with the heels she's got on and with her standing on the running boards, she comes out only a few inches taller than him. "Together," she asks.

He has to take a moment to himself to appreciate that she actually wants him around Lindsey. Since the day she was born, Catherine had protected the little girl from pretty much every man who could've broken her heart. Except protecting Lindsey from her own father had been quite the challenge, he remembered. Not only a year ago had the accident happened and since that day, she kept her daughter close.

When he had heard the news of Eddie Willows' death, a mixture of emotions ran through him that night. The bastard wouldn't be able to lay a hand on Catherine again or try to weasel his way back into her life, but that meant that Lindsey would grow up without a father, and that was enough to see the bad in all of it.

"Together." He realizes it's becoming more and more like them to repeat the other's words, making sure they're on the same page before going any further.

It's all it takes to get her to duck into the front seat and allow him to shut the door once she's buckled in. He walks around the front of the car and climbs into the driver's seat, starts the engine, and pulls the SUV out of the parking lot… leaving her own car behind.

They drive around for a few minutes in complete silence. She looks over every now and then only to be rewarded with his very concentrated look and sighs.

"Where are you taking me," she begs for an answer, but before he can tell her, he stops the car and points towards the front windshield. Her eyes grow wide. "No." She looks over at him again, the concentration gone. Instead, he's sporting a boyish grin and bright eyes. "No," she says again desperately, but it's too late. He's taken the keys out from the ignition and is coming around to open the door for her. She's stuck to her seat, not even attempting to unbuckle herself, so he does it for her. "Grissom," his name comes out a little more forceful than she intends, but somehow, he's pulling her from her seat in the car with his hand. "I'm not getting on that thing."

"There's a better chance you'll die from crossing the street," he says in the 'Gil Grissom matter of fact' way.

It's a roller coaster that twists and turns hundreds of feet above the Strip in Las Vegas, the only roller coaster like its kind… and it's open at eight o'clock in the morning. She's not resisting as much as before, but her ascent to the ticket booth to pay for a ride on the horrifying thing takes longer than usual for him.

"And why did you bring me here," she asks as he holds up two fingers to the girl behind the desk, taking out his wallet, and handing her a twenty dollar bill.

"You need to unwind," is all he says, taking her hand and nearly dragging her to the platform where they'll hand over their tickets and get in. But he's stopped by her dead weight when the actual roller coaster comes into view, and he turns around before he can even give their tickets to the guy operating the ride.

"You mean to tell me this is what you do when you need to relax?" He's staring at her in a manner that lets her know he has no idea why she's so terrified. "I can't do this," she panics, making a move to leave the platform and head back for the SUV. His hand stops her.

"You'll be next to me the entire time." He brings their joined hands up so she can see just how tight he's holding onto her. "I'll even hold your hand the whole time," he promises.

She can feel her stomach flipping and twisting with terror. She hates roller coasters. But he's driven them all the way out here, paid for her to ride, and she can't bear the thought of crushing his fun all because she's afraid of a tiny carnival ride. So she lets out a long, shaky breath and nods her head once.

"Okay." His uncertainty fades away and is replaced by an excited smile. She's quick to shut him up, though. "But so help me God, if this thing crashes down into the streets of Las Vegas, I'll kick your ass in the afterlife."

He's thrilled she's here with him. The only two things in the world that could make him really feel alive… and he'd be experiencing both. He climbs in first, settles in his seat and waits until she's buckled in and strapped into her seat to reach over and grasp her hand.

"Double check this. I don't plan on dying tonight," she snaps at the young operator, who grins and looks over at Grissom.

"Wife's first time?" He doesn't answer the young man who's now triple checking Catherine's harness, but instead looks over at the woman all but having a panic attack next to him and squeezes her hand.

"Catherine." She's mumbling curse word after curse word under her breath, and the young man steps away to resume his position at the control desk. "Look at me." She turns her head towards him so fast, pieces of her strawberry blonde hair whip around her face and he smiles. "You're okay." She nods at his words as the ride jerks to a start. It slowly moves around the track and even though he's been on this thing hundreds of times, he knows it's her first. When the round the corner completely and start to climb the track that'll eventually plunge down at a sharp angle, she's greeting with the rising sun coming up over the mountains in the far distance of the Las Vegas desert.

"Oh my God," she whispers, her fear nearly gone for split second. "I see why you come here," she says over the loud clanking of metal rubbing beneath their feet. As it climbs higher and higher, she begins shaking once more and all it takes is one squeeze of his hand to calm her down. "Oh my God," comes out of her mouth one more time, but it's not in awe like it was before… it's in pure terror as they turn down the track, falling fast. She's screaming beside him, but even through the fear she manages to turn her head and smile.

She's alive.

They go through twists and turns at fast speed, whipping her hair around where he can smell the faint scent of her shampoo and perfume. They're upside down for a split second and she yells out his name, probably in some kind of curse for ever getting her on the ride in the first place. The ride continues and just as she thinks she's gotten the pattern to the twists, turns, and flips, there's more surprises and her stomach feels like it's falling to the bottom of her toes. And before she knows it, after one more sharp turn upside, the ride is pulling back into the docking area and slows down almost immediately.

There's no one else he can imagine being next to him other than Catherine… and as the harnesses come off and lift above them to allow them out, he reaches out with a hand to cup her cheek and turn her to face him in their seats.

Her face is flushed and her eyes are wide. It's a successful ride. She's forgotten about whatever it was that had stressed her out all night.

"See?" Her cheeks lift against his hand as she smiles. "You're okay."

A/N: I've always thought that Grissom would share his little roller coaster fun with Catherine. (I think Sara would be too afraid) haha Anyway! I'll write chapter four soon! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Sorry for any grammar mistakes! Make sure to review to let me know how I'm doing!