At one minute past midnight, Catherine Willows sauntered into Gil Grissom's office. She found him, as she expected, buried beneath a library's worth of entomology books.

"Happy Christmas!" A scowl took residence upon her face as he failed to move. She cleared her throat, a little louder she repeated the greeting. As he failed yet again to acknowledge her presence, she thrust the envelope in her hand, before him, slamming it down on the page he was engrossed in. Then swiftly turned, and marched out of his office.

A look of puzzlement crossed Gil's face. He'd been lost in the mating rituals of the mountain pine beetle, while listening to a recording of Pink Floyd's reunion concert that he'd downloaded earlier in the shift to his iPod. To suddenly have an envelope thrust before him and then be greeted by the retreating form of Catherine did not bode well. He had as he saw it two choices, run after her and hope the contents of the envelope were of no real significance, or deal with the envelope first.

Seeing as her anger was directed towards him mainly through the placing of the envelope, rather forcibly before him, he discounted his first option. He tore it open, smiling as he saw her all to familiar writing.

`Catherine's Christmas List '

`I have but one wish, this Christmas, make my wish come true, all I want for Christmas is you.'

His smile spread to a grin as he realised the implications of what she'd written. They'd been in a relationship that went beyond the bounds of friendship for more than a year. He'd often raised the prospect of making it permanent, taking that extra step, only for her to shy away, insisting that their friendship was worth more than a shared few moments of lust. He'd tried to reassure her it was love not lust, but somehow the words never seemed to convey the meaning he wished for them. He'd slowly let the idea reside in the backs of their minds, never forgotten, merely not at the forefront of their minds.

Now with Lindsey away in college, she'd made that first step to reigniting his hopes. Letting the paper fall from his hands, to glide to a landing amongst the clutter of his desk, he knew he needed to find her. But first he had a few things to put in place. He raced out of his office and the lab, a man possessed, for he was not about to lose the one chance of happiness he'd secretly craved for a quarter of a century.

It may have been the early minutes of Christmas Eve, but Gil Grissom was fortunate that the city he'd decided to make home was truly a twenty-four hour one. He was also privileged in the fact that over the many years he'd worked in the city, he'd amassed a great deal of favours through his work. These were to be his saving today.

In the meantime Catherine Willows had locked herself in her office, to the casual observer she was engrossed in reports, but to those who knew her, they'd soon be made aware of her state of distress.

She had had it all planned out, she'd wish him Merry Christmas, watch his face intently as he opened the envelope and digested the words, then they'd kiss and declare their utter devotion. Well maybe not the devotion, she was talking about Gil here, but she thought he loved her, cared for her. Maybe her timing was off, he was engrossed in his entomology books, but still surely he'd have read her note by now. Why hadn't he come to see her? Talk to her?

She snatched another tissue from the box on her desk, blowing her nose, a little too loudly. Cursing the day she presumed to believe that Gil Grissom really did love her. What made the whole situation seem to magnify out of control was it was Christmas. Her first Christmas without Lindsey, who was spending Christmas with her boyfriend Jon, in upstate New York, before the two of them would fly to see her for New Year. She thought her timing would be perfect, imaging herself and Gil snuggling together beneath the Christmas tree, planning their future. But no, she was stuck in her office, an endless pile of reports before her, and a victim once more of her romantic wishing.

It was just before sunrise, when she was planning an early escape from the lab, and a last minute, life-threatening bit of retail therapy amongst the insanity of Christmas Eve shoppers, when her cell phone rang. She silently cursed the timing of the victim of the crime.

"Willows." She tried to hide her obvious upset and evidence of a half a shift spent crying.

"Ehmm, Cath, it's Jim. I'm afraid I need you…"

"Where?" She sighed.

"Ehmm, are you okay, you sound…"

"I'm okay." She stated, nearly adding, for someone who's once more made a fool of herself in love.

"Missing Lindsey? Must be hard, what this being her first Christmas away…" Catherine detected a sharp intake of breath from Jim, as if he was in pain, and was sure she heard a harsh whisper of `get on with it', she was sure she recognized the voice, yet could not place it. "Anyway, back to business, we have a small problem out at Boulder Beach on Lake Mead. Can you come and meet us here? I've already cleared it with Grissom."

"Of course you have." She muttered.

"What was that Cath?"

"I said I'll be right there." She tried to smile, hoping that would hide her true emotion, after all it wasn't Jim's fault that Gil was being an ass.

"Okay, I'll see you soon honey, and drive careful you hear."

"I will." Her smile was genuine this time. She loved the way that Jim treated her like his daughter, always insisting she drive carefully, concerned for her when she was upset. She sighed, why couldn't she have fallen in love with him? But no her heart craved Gil, she'd just have to learn to get past it, learn to love again as hard as that may be.

As Jim Brass closed the cell phone, he speared Gil with a look. "There was no need to hit me!"

"Sorry Jim, I just, well I want her here now, I was afraid you'd never get to calling her out here." He replied looking sheepish.

"You do realize she is beyond angry. And I'm guessing that is very much to do with you. Are you sure you don't want me to stay around, play bodyguard?"

Gil chuckled. "I'm quite sure. We'll be fine. One last favour?"

"Yeah?"

"Take my car back to town. I think if she sees it here, she'll turn tail and all this will be for nothing."

Brass smiled. "You sure? You do realize, if she does turn tail, you'll be stranded."

Gil threw him the keys and winked. "Some things are worth the risk. Besides it's Christmas, a magical time, when dreams come true, trust me nothing bad will happen."

Jim Brass shook his head. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you when you're stuck out here alone on Christmas Eve." He closed the car door and pulled away, the gravel crunching under the wheels as he slowly accelerated.

Gil was alone to make the final preparations.

Some fifteen minutes later Catherine pulled up in almost the exact place that Jim Brass had vacated. As she'd driven up to the Lake, she was sure she'd seen Gil's car on the opposite side of the road, but as her flashing of lights had received no reply, she'd reasoned that Denali's were pretty common and she must have been mistaken.

Now as she parked her vehicle her suspicions rose, there was no indication that anyone else was here. Maybe Jim had had to move his car to get nearer to the evidence to protect it; after all it was an unusually cold night.

She cautiously got out of her car, calling out, "Jim?"

There was no answering call, only the faint sound of Michael Buble singing from further up the beach. Never having thought of Jim Brass as a fan of Michael Buble, she smothered a smile and slowly made her way towards the source of the music, calling out to him regularly as she went.

Half way up the beach she found a blanket laid out, two champagne flutes stood on a wicker picnic basket upon it. Puzzled she moved quickly towards it, and then slowly turned around in a circle trying to find the owner.

"Catherine." Before she could move, his hands had caught hold of her wrist.

"Gil. What the…."

He stopped her protests by joining her lips with his, at first she kept her lips sealed, her body rigid, but as he continued the gentle pressure, she slowly melted, her mouth opening to allow his tongue to explore her mouth as her body dissolved against his.

Slowly they separated, Gil gently pulling her towards him, as he sat on the blanket.

"I brought you here as I wanted this moment to be special. I wanted to be away from the madness of Christmas Eve in the lab, I wanted to find a space for us." He paused, as he did, the first rosy fingers of dawn started to spread across the lake, illuminating it with pink shards of light. Catherine's face was also lit by the warmth of the sun, the red of her hair glowing. Never had she appeared more beautiful, nor had he been surer of his decision, his love for her. "This," he motioned with a sweep of his hand, "is why I brought you here, this sunrise and to ask as this day begins, if you will do me the honour of becoming my wife, so we may begin our lives together. I love you, with all my heart, I promise to always love you and never to knowingly hurt you. So will you accept this?"

He held out a simple box. She opened it to reveal a white gold band, which held three diamonds. Tears once more slipped from her eyes. "Yes." She choked out.

Gil gently placed the ring on her finger, "These diamonds are the symbol of my love," he pointed to each of them as he explained. "My love for you in the past, my love for you now, my love for you in the future."

She captured his lips in a languid kiss. "Thank you for loving me. I thought…I…."

"Shhh, I know…I'm sorry I should have come to you, but I wanted to make this special, something we'd remember. I have champagne, I have pastries…."

She smiled. "All I want is you. I love you with all my heart, always have, always will."

They sat together, limbs entwined, hearts beating as one, watching the sunrise on a Christmas Eve, neither would forget.

The End.