"Warrick, I just got your page," Grissom announced as he entered the morgue, the doors swinging shut behind him. "What did you need me to look...." He trailed off as his eyes caught on the strawberry blond beside Warrick, and at the swollen gash on her forehead. "At." He furrowed his brow, compassion laced in his tone. "Cath?"

She forced a smile. "Yeah, hi." Then, ducking her eyes away from his, she brushed past the two men, muttering a brief, "Excuse me," before heading out the door.

Grissom watched her leave, confusion written all over his face, while Warrick sighed. "Thanks for coming." He gestured to the body. "I need you to check out this wou--"

Grissom closed his eyes and held up a hand, shaking his head at the young CSI. "I'll get to that in a minute." He pointed to the door. "What the hell happened to Catherine?"

"Oh, the suspect was still at the scene, apparently, and attacked her while she was dusting for fingerprints. The first officer screwed up a little."

"A little?!" he yelled, outraged. "I coulda lost my best CSI! He screwed up a LOT!" He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, an angry scowl fixed on his features. "What's this officer's name? I'm calling the Sheriff."

Warrick put a hand on his wrist to stop him. "The officer's already been reprimanded," he told him, adding quickly, "By a lot of people. There's no need to make that call."

This information having seemingly calmed him down considerably, Grissom's voice grew soft. "How is she?" he asked next, tossing a glance at her path of retreat.

Warrick shrugged. "Says she's fine, but you know Cath. She won't talk when something's really bugging her."

"Yeah, well... she'll talk to me," he muttered softly, then turned on his heel and exited, leaving the two doors to the morgue swinging in his wake.

Warrick sighed and leaned on the autopsy table, shaking his head, before pulling off his latex gloves and following Grissom out the door.

*****

Grissom's eyes moved in every direction as he searched for the cherished strawberry blond, spotting her baby blue lab coat and wavy hair in the breakroom. He leaned inside. "Cath?"

She spun to meet his eyes. "Hi," she replied, a bit awkwardly, he noted.

"I heard about what happened," he began, making his way inside. He sat halfway on top of the table, one foot planted firmly on the ground while his left leg dangled over the edge of the table. He narrowed his eyes slightly, studying her. "You okay?"

"Yep!" she answered immediately, her heightened pitch giving away her lie. "I'm just fine."

Grissom sighed, then reached out with one hand and pushed on the edge of the door, watching as it swung shut, concealing them from prying ears. He then turned his attention back to her, finding her staring at him. He attempted an encouraging smile. "It's me, you know..." he told her. "You don't have to pretend with me."

She sighed. "Gil, I told you. I'm fine."

"No you're not, Catherine. We've known each other for seventeen years. You know I can see right through you. So... don't hide your feelings from me."

She chuckled grimly. "Oh, you wanna talk about hiding from your feelings, Gruesome Grissom?" She gestured to him. "You do it all the time! So unless you plan on stopping anytime soon, don't lecture me about hiding my feelings."

"Okay, then here's me stopping," he replied, his tone challenging her defiant one. "I care for you deeply and I wanna know how you're TRUTHFULLY doing."

She huffed and spun away, pausing when she felt his hand grasp hers. She slowly turned to meet his eyes, watching as the blue hues sparkled back at her... begging with her. A slight crinkle appeared between his eyebrows as they furrowed in compassion. "Please?"

She exhaled forcefully, having been broken down by a simple gesture of affection from a normally closed-off man. "Okay... I'll tell you."

*****

Warrick stood outside the breakroom, watching through the glass walls as Grissom and Catherine interacted. He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes in concentration, not even noticing the brunette stepping up behind him until her voice startled him. "What are you lookin' at?"

He jumped, turning to glare at her facetiously while she briefly grinned at him. He then nodded toward the breakroom. "Grissom and Catherine."

"I was actually looking for Grissom," she replied. "We need to head back to talk to those little people."

His brow furrowed in confusion as his eyes remained on the pair inside the breakroom. "Little people?"

Sara nodded in response, her own eyes trained on the two senior CSIs. "A dwarf was found murdered at a convention."

"Oh. Well, Grissom's kinda busy right now, so it'll have to wait for a second."

She rolled her eyes. "He's always busy with Catherine." She couldn't help but let the jealousy show through in her tone. The woman had him wrapped completely around her little finger, in ways that Sara would never understand. She only knew that whenever Catherine would say 'jump,' Grissom would say, 'how high?'

"This time it's important," Warrick argued.

"Isn't everything important when it comes to Catherine?"

He turned to glance at her. "You're acting like a little kid, y'know that?" he quipped. "Catherine was assaulted tonight."

This information caused her eyes to widen. "What? By who?"

"The suspect in our murder case. First officer didn't completely clear the scene, and the guy jumped Catherine while she was dusting for fingerprints."

Sara's eyes once more traveled to the blond CSI in the other room, pain searing her heart as he watched her draw closer to Grissom. "Is she alright?" she asked, almost mechanically... her indifference as to Catherine's condition leaking through in her tone.

"She's got this ugly bump and gash on her forehead, nothing serious," he replied. "I can't get her to talk about it, though." He nodded to them. "That's what Grissom's in there doing right now."

*****

"I'm scared, Gil..." she whimpered, tears filling her eyes. "And that alone... knowing that I have that fear... creates a new fear that it'll be like this EVERY time I go to process a scene from now on. I'm gonna be looking over my shoulder at every scene for the rest of my life!" She burst into tears.

"Hey, hey..." Without thinking, without realizing they were in an open space and that someone might actually spot him showing emotion, he pulled her close, standing to hold her in his arms.

She automatically sunk against him, sobbing into his shirt while her arms wrapped around his waist. He swung her back and forth, attempting to comfort her, one hand rubbing her back while the other went to her hair. He kissed the top of her head discreetly, barely a touch, as he murmured, "It'll be alright, Cath. I know it sounds like a cliche, but it WILL be alright. Not every officer is as dense as that one was, and very few suspects return to a scene." His voice dropped to a whisper. "I just thank God I didn't lose you."

"Like Holly..." she whispered back.

He pulled away. "No, not like Holly!" he replied strongly, grasping her shoulders. "Catherine, this would be nothing like what happened with Holly! Not for me."

"Why?"

He gestured to her. "Because, you..." He froze, struggling with his words. "Because you and I are...." He sighed, hanging his head. He was slowly giving up on ever being able to get the words out. "Because, I..."

Her hand on his chin drew his gaze back up to hers. "I know, Gil..." she murmured, and her statement was confirmed by the look in her eyes. She offered a gentle smile, a hint of tears still visible in her eyes. "I do, too."

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm."

He smiled, and drew her back into his arms once more, stroking her hair. "I mean it, Cath. You'll be alright. You're the strongest woman I know," he told her, "So I know you'll come out of this on top. Everything will be fine." He chuckled slightly. "In more ways than one, now."

She pulled back and smiled into his eyes, leaning forward to kiss him, but stopping only inches away. "M-maybe we shouldn't do this here, out in the open," she chuckled, inciting a grin from Grissom.

He kissed her forehead and reached for her hands, clasping them in his own. "I think you're right."

"Will you come home with me after shift?" she asked, smiling impishly as she swung their clasped hands.

He reached up to brush a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. "Of course," he murmured, "But... you don't have to be scared anymore."

A smouldering look took over her angelic features, and she leaned her body against his teasingly, glancing up at him through her lashes. "I don't recall mentioning anything about needing you because I was *scared*," she whispered seductively, and grinned as he groaned in response.

*****

"I knew Grissom could get her to talk," Warrick mumbled, he and Sara both standing with their arms folded across their chests, leaning against the wall as they watched their supervisor and lead CSI. "He always can."

"What are you talking about?"

"Grissom and Catherine are very unique people. When one of them is really upset about something, they shut down. They don't talk about it."

Sara snorted lightly. "Grissom doesn't talk much about stuff as it is."

"Right..." he murmured. "Only to Catherine. Each of them have this strange lock over their heart and their inner workings... and the other is only one with the key."

Sara frowned, considering this momentarily, before shrugging. "I don't necessarily think that's true."

Warrick smirked at her. "It is true... you just don't wanna see it, because that would mean your little flirtations with Grissom have gone unnoticed."

"Nuh-uh!" she shot back childishly.

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, whatever you say." He chuckled. "It's just astonishing to me that a CSI of your alleged calibur can't see the evidence that's right there in front of her."

"Whatever," she sighed, and turned her eyes back to the happenings in the other room.

When she saw Catherine and Grissom start leaning together for a kiss, her eyes grew wide. She caught Warrick smiling in her peripheral vision, and resolved not to meet his knowing gaze. "Think it's true now?" he taunted.

Instead of childishly denying everything again, her voice came out soft. "Has it always been this way?" she asked, still watching the pair in the breakroom smile lovingly at one another.

Warrick grinned, shoving his hands in his pockets as he headed down the hall, calling over his shoulder, "Always, Sara... always."

~FINIS~