I pulled up to the parking spot and jumped out of the car. Leaving the car running, I dropped the coins in the machine and opened the door, pulling out the morning paper. Hopping back into the car, I buckled my seatbelt before driving us back to the lab.

“The big emergency we had to stop for was so that you could buy a newspaper?”

I turned to Catherine, watching her face question my motives. “If I don’t get it now they’ll all be gone before we leave the lab.”

“What is so special that you absolutely had to get that newspaper?”

I turned away from Catherine and pulled the car into gear, trying to think up a plausible excuse for needing the paper. “There is supposed to be an article in here about the opening of the…”

“A bug exhibit?”

“Yeah. The one I told you about last week.”

Catherine rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat. “You went to all that trouble to get an article on that exhibit? You know you could have picked up a copy of the paper at work. Someone would have left the article for you and there are always old papers lying around.”

“I didn’t want to take a chance.” I said, pulling into the lot at the lab, parking the car and opening the door before Catherine could question me further.

*~*~*~*~*~*

I walked into the break room, heading directly for the fridge. Grabbing a bottle of water, I turned and noticed Catherine sitting at the table. “Can I get you anything?”

“I’m fine.”

I reached back into the fridge and took out a second bottle of water. Walking over to the table, I set the bottle in front of her before pulling out the chair across the table and sitting down.

“I told you I was fine.”

“I know. But I also know that in about five minutes you’ll try and talk me into sharing some of my water or getting you your own bottle. So I thought I’d save you the hassle.”

I watched as she smiled at me, then opened her bottle. My eyes focused on her lips closing around the bottle and I shifted in my seat, allowing room for the inevitable.

“Thanks.” She murmured, wiping away the drops of water that clung to her lips.

I tried to contain my moan as my body reacted to her.

“What was that?”

“What was what?” I replied quickly, feigning innocence.

“That sound. Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

She rolled her eyes at me. I know she isn’t buying my act, but she hasn’t said anything else yet.

“I’m fine.”

And I’m safe yet again. She isn’t pushing me to answer a question I don’t want to answer. “That’s good.” I tell her, and I mean it. Nothing makes me happier then when she is happy. “So…any plans for the holidays?”

“Just the usual. What is with you tonight?”

“Nothing is ‘with me’. I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Well, you’re not very good at the small talk. You’re trying too hard. You need to relax a little. Stay there.”

I feel my eyebrow inch up as Catherine rises from her chair. My eyes follow her movement as she walks around the table and stands behind me. I start to turn in my chair, but her hand on my shoulders stops me.

“Stay there.”

I follow her command and stay still, tensing immediately when I feel her hands start to rub my shoulders.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s called a massage. Would you just relax and stop questioning me? You are so tense. Close your eyes.”

I can feel her body press against me and seconds later I see her hair before my eyes moments before her upside down face appears.

“Close your eyes.” She repeats.

I close my eyes and feel her pull back to a standing position, her fingers tightening on my shoulders before releasing again. I can’t help the sigh that escapes as her hands begin manipulating my body.

“You like?”

I nod my answer, keeping my eyes closed.

“Can I ask you something?”

I nod my head again, waiting to hear her voice. The sound of the whisper right next to my ear causes me to tighten again.

“Why did you lie to me?”

My eyes snapped open and I turned to look at her, the hurt unmistakable in her eyes. “I didn’t lie…”

“About the newspaper.”

Uh-oh…. I looked down, knowing I had been caught. “Catherine…”

“I looked through the paper. There is no article having anything to do with bugs of any kind in there. Why didn’t you just tell me why you got the paper?”

I looked back at her and turned around in my seat, reaching for her hands. “It isn’t a big deal.”

“If it isn’t a big deal then why did you lie about it?”

Catherine was right. But I couldn’t go back now. I looked up at her and squeezed her hands lightly.

“You don’t want to talk about it.”

I nodded and she pulled her hands out of mine.

“I’ll be waiting in my office. Page me if you hear anything about our DNA results.”

Catherine walked out of the room and I felt my shoulders tense again.

*~*~*~*~*~*

I walked up to her office, noticing the closed door and dark interior. Hoping for the best, I knocked lightly and twisted the handle. The door swung open and I walked into the room, shutting the door behind me. I made my way around her desk and smiled at the sight before me.

“Cath?” I said softly, not wanting to startle her. Not getting an answer, I knelt down, next to her sleeping form and brushed the hair back from her face. “Cath?” I repeated, smiling when she stirred and then opened her eyes.

“Gil…”

“You could have used the couch in my office. It has to be more comfortable than the floor.”

“I thought I told you to page me.”

“You did.” I replied, holding my hand out to her to help her up. “I decided to drop by instead. Are you alright?”

“Why do you keep asking me that?”

“Because you keep giving me reasons to ask.”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Yes I do. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want to know.” I refused to let go of her hand, instead guiding her to her chair. Once she sat, I leaned over putting my hands on the armrests.

“Gil…”

“Catherine…”

She looked up and stared at me. Her mouth opened and closed and I could tell she was trying to figure out what to say.

“Just tell me, Catherine. It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s Sam.”

I could feel myself tense at the sound of his name. “What’s he doing?”

“He wants me to bring Lindsey to his house for Christmas. I told him I didn’t think it was a good idea, but….”

“But?”

“He’s trying to insist.”

“What’s he doing?”

Catherine shook her head then looked back up at me. “I knew this wasn’t a good idea.”

“What?”

“Can we just let it go? Please? I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”

She flashed me those eyes. Those ones I can’t resist and I knew I was going to give in. I pushed off the chair and stood up, again holding my hand out to her. “Results are back. Want to go find out if we have a suspect?”

*~*~*~*~*~*

I watched as Sara left my office, smiling at the new scarf I had given her. Not the most imaginative gift ever. But at least I was consistent. The only problem was Catherine. I knew I couldn’t give her the same gift I gave everyone else. But I also knew she was going to find out I had given everyone else their presents.

I put the pile of ads back in my desk and picked up the case files. This could be a long night. I made my way to the break room looking at the faces of my co-workers. Sara was still wearing the same smile she had when she left my office. Nick and Warrick had smirks on their faces. Catherine… well she just looked mad.

“Nick, Warrick, Sara… you’ve got a 419 out on Boulder Highway.” I told them as I handed Nick the folder. “That’s the only case for now. Cath, you can go home on call if you want. If anything comes up I’ll let you know.” The glare Catherine shot me was enough to scare everyone else out of the room. I continued staring at her while the rest of the team glided past me, until the two of us were left alone.

“On call?” Catherine asked as she stood and shut the door. “What is this about?”

“What? I thought you might appreciate the time off.”

“Then why didn’t you call me about it? You could have told me while I was still at home.”

“How was I supposed to know if…”

Catherine rolled her eyes and I knew I was in trouble.

“That’s what being on-call is about. You’d have just called me. Sit down.”

I didn’t question her, just shut the door behind me and moved across the table from her. I pulled out a chair and sat, waiting for her to talk again.

“What is going on with us?”

“What are you talking about?”

Catherine sighed and looked up at me. “You’re shutting me out, Gil. First the lie about the newspaper.”

“I told you that was…”

“Nothing, Gil. I know. I heard you the first time you told me. But now you’re avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.” I moved to stand up, but the look on Catherine’s face quickly stopped my progress.

“I want to talk about this, Gil.”

“We are talking.”

“Then don’t try and leave.”

I looked at her and settled back down in the chair, waiting for Catherine to continue.

“What is going on?”

“Isn’t that supposed to be my question?”

“Why are you avoiding me? Every other time you’ve put someone on call they were at home. You made a point of calling them before they came in to work. Why didn’t you want to call me?”

“It’s not that I didn’t want to call you. I just…”

“What?”

“I was busy and forgot. I’m sorry, Catherine.”

“You were busy calling every other person we work with into your office so you can give them their Christmas present.”

“Cath…”

“Don’t, Gil. I’m going home, give me a call if a case comes up.”

I watched Catherine stand and walk out of the room. Seconds went by before I stood and followed her out the door, running down the hall after her. I reached for her hand and stopped her in her tracks. I held on to her hand as I caught my breath, refusing to let go when she tugged. “Come here.”

“Gil.”

I gripped her hand tighter and pulled her towards me. “No. You got your say, now I get to speak.” I turned and walked to my office, dragging her along with me. Opening the door, I pulled her into the room and shut the door behind us, twisting the lock before I released her hand. “Do you want to know why I didn’t call you?”

“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“Do you want to know why I lied to you about the paper? Sit down.” I pointed to one of the chairs in front of my desk and walked around the desk. Bending slightly, I removed the ads from the drawer and handed them to Catherine.

“This is why I needed the paper.”

“Ads?”

“Ads.”

“What did you need the ads for?”

“Do you want to know why I didn’t call you into my office earlier?” I asked Catherine, ignoring her question. “I don’t have a gift for you.”

“But…”

“But I had one for everyone else. They got scarves. All of them. I… I couldn’t get one for you.”

“Why not?”

I could hear the confusion in her voice and knew this was my moment. “I couldn’t get you the same thing I got for everyone else. You deserve more then that. I wanted to get you something special. Something uniquely you. That’s why the ads. I was hoping I would see something in there. But…” I trailed off and looked over at her.

“You’ve been doing all of this… for me? Why did you go to so much trouble?”

“I wanted to make your Christmas special. You’ve been going through so much lately with Lindsey and… well I just wanted to do something nice.”

Catherine rose out of her chair and walked over to me, bending down to bring her eyes to my level. “You didn’t need to go to so much trouble. The perfect gift for me is in this room. It always has been. All I want… is you.”

My surprise could not be masked. My eyes went wide, my mouth opened slightly, ready at once to ask the questions careening through my mind. I am, after all, a scientist, bent on equations equaling certain ends.

Before I could utter a sound, however, her mouth of sweet, supple velvet, was on mine. Tasting. Seeking. Giving. Most of all giving.

It was an odd quirk of fate, my scrambling mind finally came to realize, that her Christmas request of me, this moment of togetherness, was not just her dream, but mine as well. In fact, it was my own one and only Christmas wish.

Catherine Willows. And love. This, I knew, was going to be a great holiday.