Grissom smirked to himself as he stared into the small container that housed a silphid beetle, the biggest eyewitness from his last case. Glancing down briefly at the paper plate in front of him, he stabbed his fork into his eggs, dropping a bit into the container before taking a bite for himself. A voice from the doorway diverted his attention... "Hey!"

He glanced up to see Catherine standing there, leaning against the doorframe, a half smile on her face. "Hi," he replied, smiling genuinely at her. As tough and as frustrating as his last case had been, seeing Catherine's face washed it all away like a bad dream.

She nodded toward the plate in front of him. "You're eating."

He cocked his head slightly, eyebrow quirking upwards. "You're very astute, Catherine."

She rolled her eyes. "What about breakfast?"

"We're still having breakfast, don't worry," he assured her with a grin. He pointed to the container with his fork. "I'm just making sure that Paul is fed."

Her eyebrows raised. "Paul?"

"Yeah, I figured that name fit." He shrugged. "He is a beetle, after all."

"Well, when you're through amusing yourself, just meet me out at the Tahoe, okay?"

He chuckled, rising to his feet. Still holding the container in one hand, he deposited his plate in the garbage can and approached Catherine, resting his hand against the small of her back as he led her down the hallway. "Just let me drop him off in my office, then we'll go."

"Oh good," she sighed. "I was afraid you were gonna try bringing him to the diner."

"Hey Grissom, did you--" Sara stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing the two senior CSIs' stances. Catherine stood confidently, leaning slightly against Grissom, while his hand was somewhere behind her back... most likely on the small of her back. Sara huffed inaudibly. Grissom had an annoying habit of constantly touching Catherine there, along with taking her arm to pull her around the lab.

Grissom stared expectantly at the tall brunette. "Did I what, Sara?"

"I am." He gestured to Catherine. "I believe you've met my friend, Catherine Willows."

Sara chuckled grimly, meeting Catherine's eyes. She watched as an almost smug smile twitched at the corners of the strawberry blond's lips. She clenched her teeth together, fighting to keep from decking her. "Of course," she hissed. She shook her head. "Nevermind then... I was gonna ask if you wanted us to bring you back anything from the diner."

He smiled slightly, catching the look that passed between the two women, and wanted to chuckle aloud. He wasn't used to having women fight over him. Although, he mused, there wasn't much of a fight. Catherine had won before the starting bell even sounded. "I'll be fine, Sara, but thank you," he replied. He nodded toward his companion, his fingers tickling the base of her spine. "Catherine will take good care of me."

Sara nodded, narrowing her eyes at the still-smirking strawberry blond. "I'm sure she will," she muttered, then spun on her heel and headed back the way she came.

The pair watched the young CSI make her exit briefly before exchanging a look, both sets of eyebrows quirking upward ever so slightly. Grissom then shook his head and tore his gaze from Catherine, reluctantly removing his hand from her back to unlock his office door. Her voice, right next to his ear, startled him slightly... and his heart jumped as her hands settled on his waist. "She's got a crush on you, y'know..." she whispered.

He turned slightly over his shoulder to smile ruefully at her. "I know."

With the door finally open, he moved away from Catherine's tempting touch and set his beetle down on his desk, turning to see her once again leaning against the doorframe. She eyed the container briefly before trailing her eyes up to meet his. "Are you gonna do anything about it?"

He shrugged, furrowing his brow. "No... why would I?"

She shrugged in return. "Just curious."

"Why seek fulfillment in something meaningless when I'm already fulfilled?"

A slow smile spread across her glossy lips. "Well-said."

He bowed his head briefly, making his way back over to her. "Why, thank you." Placing his hand once more to that cherished spot at the base of her spine, he guided her toward the parking lot. "Now, how about that breakfast?"

*****

"She touched your face?!"

He nodded slowly. "Mm-hmm... after asking me to take a walk around the block with her."

"Oh my God..." Catherine rolled her eyes, forcefully stabbing another bite of pancake and placing the fork between her lips, letting it slide from between her teeth. Her voice came out muffled from the pancake, her arms flying up in the air in an over-exaggerated shrug, "Be a little more OBVIOUS, why don't you!"

Grissom made a face, eyes narrowing and brow furrowing as he stared at the little bits of pancake left on the table after Catherine's outburst. Drawing in a breath, he reached for a napkin, giving Catherine a knowing look as he wiped up her mess. "You shouldn't talk with your mouth full, my dear... it's unflattering."

She glared facetiously at him, then reached for her orange juice. "Man, what was she gonna do next?" she muttered, "Pretend like her touching your face was just to wipe dirt off or something?"

He smirked. "She actually did."

"No... except it wasn't dirt. Her explanation was 'chalk', from knocking down the walls."

She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, throwing her head back slightly. "Lord..." Glancing back down at her companion, she remembered the original reason for them having breakfast together. "So it was a tough case, huh?" she asked, voice softening as she leaned across the table just slightly.

He nodded. "Yeah... unbelievably frustrating. I mean, this guy knew EXACTLY where that body was, but instead of saving everybody the time and aggravation, he instead played coy and made us hunt for it." He shook his head, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth. "I coulda wrung his neck."

Catherine smiled, placing her hand over his clenched fist, marveling at the way that it immediately fell open, her hand gliding effortlessly into his. "Maybe that walk woulda done you some good," she mused.

He shook his head adamantly. "No... not with Sara. She would've wanted to talk it to death, when all I needed was somebody to listen." His deep blue irises met hers. "Only walks with you can calm me down."

She chuckled and cast her eyes to the table, touched by his comment. "Wanna take one now?" she asked.

He cocked his head to the side. "I already got everything out that I needed to. There's nothing more to talk about."

"I know," she replied. She gave him a dazzling smile. "But that's the beauty of us... the simplicity of us. We don't always need to talk to say the things we need to say."

For the first time in a long time, he felt himself smiling... really, truly smiling... and he placed a twenty on the table as he rose from his seat, taking Catherine's hand to help her to her feet. "You're right," he replied in a low voice. "Let's go."

They left the diner holding hands, fingers lacing tightly together once they were outside. As they headed for the nearest park, Grissom smiled to himself, realizing how simple things really were between him and Catherine... hoping they'd always stay that way.