"Is it time yet?"

"No."

"NOW is it time?"

"No!"

"Mmkay.... how 'bout now?"

"NO!" Five exclamations flew toward Greg Sanders in an instant, followed by quintuplet glares.

He raised his eyebrows, holding his hands up in resignation. "Fine... sheesh. You don't have to act like I'm ANNOYING you guys."

Sara, glaring sharply, raised a fist and advanced toward the spikey-haired lab tech, only to be held back by Nick and Warrick, each grabbing a hold of one of her arms.

Catherine Willows, from her vantage-point on one of the lawn chairs they'd dragged up from Greg's car, smirked at the exchange between the younger CSIs... and she turned to her supervisor, finding his eyes on the night sky. "Gil..."

Her soft voice diverted his star-gazing, and he turned to meet her glowing azure eyes, finding himself both soothed by the sight of them and excited. Scolding himself for getting lost in the sea of her eyes, he managed a weak, "Hmm?"

She smiled, jerking her head toward their younger colleagues. "Was it really necessary we invite them up here to watch the fireworks with us?"

He leaned past her slightly, his eyes catching sight of the scuffle breaking out between Greg and Sara... both of them slapping at each other like two teenage girls in a catfight... while Warrick and Nick tried only half-heartedly to break up the fight, both looking as if they were combatting laughter.

Turning back to his strawberry-blonde companion, Gil rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "Apparently not."

"Grissom, can we PLEASE go inside?" Nick whined, wearing a pained expression

Catherine furrowed her perfectly shaped brows. "Nicky, we just got up here, like, twenty minutes ago."

"I know. And the fireworks were supposed to START twenty minutes ago. I'm getting bored."

She gestured to Sara and Greg. "Watching them bitch-slap each other isn't entertaining enough for you?"

Nick turned, watching Greg shove Sara lightly, resulting in an even harder shove from the fiery-eyed brunette... this move effectively knocking the lab tech to the round. "Seriously, Gris," Warrick chimed in, still eyeing the fighting pair. "Can we go in? I'm not really into the whole fireworks thing anyway."

Gil pointed to Catherine. "Ask Catherine... it was her idea we all come up here."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, go! If you're all gonna be babies about it, then just go!"

The anger in her tone, audible only to Gil, turned his attention fully to her, watching her with a concerned air. "Cath?"

Ignoring him, she continued to glare sharply at the younger CSIs, inciting them all to back into the building slowly before she pounced. "Okay..." Nick murmured, at the head of the group as they began to make their way into the stairwell. "Sorry, Cath." He shrugged. "We just weren't cut-out for that whole Fourth of July thing."

She shook her head. "Fine."

They all continued eyeing her warily, continuing to back into the building slowly... halting when a thud sounded, and another outburst emanated from Sara. "Dammit Greg, that was my foot!"

"So? It's not my fault they're so big!"

With that, Greg tore off down the stairs, back down to CSI with Sara in hot pursuit, Nick and Warrick following close behind, closing the door hastily behind them... effectively surrounding Catherine and Gil in silence.

While Catherine sighed and shook her head at the younger CSIs' immaturity, Gil's eyes remained trained on her... logging, gauging, and deciphering her actions and expressions. After a long moment had passed, he spoke. "Cath?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

She turned and met his cobalt eyes, the uncharacteristic sound of concern in his tenor voice catching her attention. After staring into his eyes for an extended moment, she sighed resolutely. "I'm fine, it's just..." She shrugged, dropping to the lawn chair once more, hip-to-hip with Gil. "I've always liked the Fourth of July... seeing the fireworks. I guess I just wanted to share that with the kids."

He smiled warmly. "You can share them with me."

She chuckled, returning the friendly and affectionate gaze. "That was my original plan, but for some reason, some little voice in my head told me to invite the others, too."

He smirked. "Well Cath, it's not a good idea to listen to the voices in your head anyway."

"Or the leprachaun that tells you to burn things," she quipped, plump lips curling in a smirk of her own.

When he eyed her in confusion, she rolled her eyes... momentarily forgetting that any references to pop culture were lost on him. "Ralph."

He raised an eyebrow. "Lauren? Kramden? Nader?"

She giggled. "Wiggum." After receiving another look of adorable, utter confusion, she giggled once more. "It's the Simpsons, Gil. Perhaps you should watch other channels besides Discovery."

His eyes twitched briefly into a facetious glare before he dissolved in a grin, nudging her lightly before turning his eyes back up to the sky. "So..."

She raised a finger sternly, cutting him off. "If you ask me when they're gonna start, I swear to God I'll slap you."

He chuckled, raising his hands in surrender. "I promise, that's not what I was gonna ask." His eyes remained on her as she sighed in relief, looking to the ground, and he bravely wrapped an arm around her, rubbing up and down on her back. "Just calm down."

She smiled, daring to lean against him slightly. "Alright, alright, so what were you gonna ask?"

"When did this little obsession with the fireworks start?"

She sighed, shivering a bit despite the warmth outside when his hand continued to rub small circles around her back, and she inched a little closer, her eyes watching the star-filled sky. "When I was a little kid," she murmured after a moment. "It was when I still lived in Montana. Nancy and I would take a couple blankets out to the stable, and climb up on the roof... and just lay up there and watch." She shrugged. "And, since it was Montana and there wasn't much pollution, you could see every single star in the night sky... and the fireworks were crystal clear, and so big." She giggled. "Sometimes the really big ones would look like they were coming down on us, so we'd shriek and giggle until the next one came."

Gil now wore a grin, amused and warmed by her childhood anecdote, especially since most of her stories about her past involved the mutual dislike between herself and her mother... and her subsequently running away from home. "Sounds nice," he murmured, and rubbed up and down on her arm.

She smiled, butterflies going wild in her tummy and heart thudding at Gil's touch, and she took a chance... leaning her head on his shoulder. When she felt him lean his head on hers, she sighed happily. The couple stayed silent for a long moment, both enjoying the warm evening and each other's company... their minds racing over possibilities. Gil's rich tenor cut through the comfortable, yet tense, silence, vibrating against the top of her head. "Remember the last time we watched the stars together?"

She felt the smile in his voice, and her own widened without her conscious consent as she nodded against him. "Mount Charleston," she replied. "A few years ago when we had that case with that skeleton scattered all over."

"Mm-hmm."

Another moment of silence passed between the pair, both of their eyes still scanning the stars and constellations above them, before Catherine spoke once more, her voice a soft murmur. "I never realized before how romantic watching the stars can be."

Then, both tensed simultaneously... Catherine realizing her slip while the words registered in Gil's brain... and she moved to sit up. "I mean--"

His strong hand on her arm kept her from getting very far, and he pulled her back against him, his heart still racing at her words. He masked it with a smile. "No, you're right." His voice grew soft... so soft Catherine had to strain to hear it. "This is very romantic."

She stiffened in his arms as the meaning of his words hit her, and slowly straightened, her eyes diving into his. She parted her lips to respond, but found she couldn't; no words formed in her mind as she continued to replay what he'd said. When she felt his hand lower to her hip, pulling her closer, she exhaled forcefully... her eyes moving to his lips, then back up to his cerulean depths, almost gasping when she saw the look in them. After a long moment, she finally found her voice. "Uh, G-Gil. The fireworks are probably about to start," she managed to whisper... watching as his face drew nearer and nearer.

"Okay," he whispered back, allowing his own eyes to feast on her lips before meeting hers once more.

"W-we should probably keep our eyes on the sky..."

He paused, just inches from her face, and smiled into her eyes, reaching up with his left hand to cup her cheek while his right continued to pull her closer. "I've already got my eyes as high in the sky as they can be, Catherine," he murmured, keeping his eyes on hers. "I'm staring into heaven right now."

"Gil..." she breathed, and her hand flew up to his neck, her thumb grazing along his jawline as he began to close the distance.

Lips parted, eyes open, they met in a feather light touch and paused... each taking a breath before their eyes snapped shut... bringing their lips fully together as the first firework exploded overhead. His hands grasped at her waist, shifting his position to pull her closer while her arms wound around his neck, sighing as another firework exploded... flashing red behind their closed eyes.

Next came white, exploding above as she laid back on the lawn chair, pulling him atop her... blue when she had all his buttons undone. Tiny twinkling fireworks saw the removal of his shirt and the removal of her tanktop... the glittering sparks seemingly showering down around them. A red firework in the shape of a giant heart burst across the sky when their eyes met, a mutual understanding between them... and the heart began to glitter and fall when he whispered, "I love you."

She smiled brightly at his confession as white exploded above them, streaks falling from the firework reflected in her eyes when she whispered the words back... and red and blue combined, blurring together when their lips met once again.

The next firework loomed above in the shape of a giant American flag as the pair moved to divest each other of their remaining articles of clothing... another tiny series of fireworks bursting one after the other as their clothes were tossed aside. When hands moved to caress and fondle, a green and purple explosion came in three parts, each one louder and bigger than the last... finally showering down around the oblivious lovers.

A pink star was the next to appear as Gil whispered his love once more into Catherine's ear... and, as he entered inside his love, the grand finale of the fireworks show began. Catherine moaned and sighed, her arms gathering him close... firework upon firework bursting one after the other in a quick pace that mimicked their passionate rhythm.

A series of twinkling fireworks burst behind Catherine's eyelids as they slipped shut, feeling her release approaching. She held Gil close to her as she whispered to him, warning him of her impending climax as several more fireworks sputtered, burst, and exploded. He whispered back that he was right there with her, and... as two red, comet-shaped fireworks streaked across the sky, the lovers came together... their bodies sinking back against the lawn chair as the night sky grew smoky... and fell silent.

Gil and Catherine laid twined together in silence, their labored breathing and thudding hearts the only audible sounds. As their pulses began to slow to normal, their still-tingling bodies beginning to calm, he leaned down, dusting kisses across her sweaty collarbone. "Wow, Gil..." she whispered.

He chuckled. "You can definitely say that again."

"Wow, Gil."

He grinned, pulling away from their embrace to brush his lips to hers tenderly... romantically. "Catherine..." he murmured. "About what I said..." He shook his head. "That wasn't just in the heat of the moment. I really do love you."

She smiled, grasping his hands when he pulled her up... reluctantly disentangling their bodies in order to do so. "I love you back," she whispered.

Just as he was about to lean in for another kiss, they heard voices... one level below them, in the stairwell leading up to the roof. The lovers stared at each other wide-eyed, and in a flurry of movement they grabbed for their clothes, pulling them on as quickly as possible. As they pulled their clothes on, they recognized the voices of the rest of their team, and their favorite lab tech... slowly approaching the door.

As Gil hurriedly buttoned up his shirt, and Catherine went to pull her tanktop over her head, the door burst open... "Hey Grissom, Catherine, did you see--" and Sara, Nick, Warrick and Greg stopped dead in their tracks, their mouths dropping open in unison as they witnessed the senior CSIs finishing pulling their clothes on.

Catherine turned away as a blush colored her cheeks, pulling her tanktop down to cover the bit of her back and stomach that was still exposed, and Gil averted his eyes to the sky as he finished buttoning his last few buttons. When he was finished, they simultaneously turned to the kids, plastering on bright, innocent smiles. "Hi, guys!" Catherine greeted in a happy chirp. "Did you see the fireworks?"

Nick raised an eyebrow at the strawberry-blonde. "Did *you*?"

"Of course we did," Gil chuckled nervously. "How couldn't we?"

"Well..." Sara mimicked Nick's expression, raising an eyebrow as she took in her supervisor's rumpled, sex-drenched appearance. "You guys look like you were a little... preoccupied."

"Oh no..." Greg breathed, stepping forward, eyeing where Catherine was sitting on the chair. He narrowed his eyes questioningly at the two senior CSI's, sounding a mix of disgusted, bewildered, and incredulous... his voice soft. "You guys did it on my lawn chair?"

The pair met each other's eyes, neither making a move to confirm or deny the lab rat's accusation... before Catherine turned back to him. "We'll buy you a new one!" she offered.

Gil just smiled, an almost mischievous twinkle in his eye. "Yeah. This one's been good to us, anyway."

Four various exclamations of disgust sounded from the others, before they all turned-tail and ran back downstairs... leaving Catherine and Gil on the roof, sharing a smug smile.