Catherine shifted in her chair again before sighing loudly and leaning forward on the desk. "So why'd you do it?"

Grissom smiled, putting down his pen. Catherine had been especially fidgety tonight but he stayed silent, waiting for her to bring up whatever it was that was on her mind. "Why did I do what?"

"The semi-Die Hard move you pulled at the crime scene yesterday."

"Semi-Die Hard move?"

"I know you've watched Die Hard. At least the first one. So don't give me that 'I don't know what you're talking about' look." She said warningly, pointing a finger at him.

"But I really don't know what you're talking about, Catherine." He answered helplessly, frowning.

"When the shots rang out." She paused, as if that would be enough to make him understand what she meant. When he gave no reaction, she continued, "You covered me."

"Actually, I pushed you towards a car."

"And you covered me."

"So?"

"Why'd you do it?"

"Shots rang out, no one knew where they were coming from..." He explained and then ended with a shrug. "I didn't think about it."

"So your first instinct was to cover me?"

"I'm still not sensing where the problem is..."

"Your first instinct was to shield me from flying bullets. Not to save your own ass or to save anyone else. You saved me."

"I didn't save you, Catherine. In all honesty, you weren't in any danger and therefore didn't require saving. Plus, who else am I gonna shield? The Sheriff?" He said with a slight smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Catherine paused, letting the image form in her mind, and then laughed. "I can just picture it now...you throwing your body on top of the Sheriff's, shielding him from a possibly wild gunman."

"You have too much of an imagination." Grissom answered with his eyebrow still raised.

"Hey, don't try changing the subject."

"I'm not." He shook his head. "I don't understand your point. Are you angry that I shielded you?"

"Of course not."

"Then what's the problem?"

Shrugging, she leaned back in her chair. "I'm...surprised."

"That my first instinct was to shield you?"

"Yeah."

"How long have I known you?"

"In days, months, or years?" Catherine replied lightly.

He remembered how he had spoken the exact same line just a few months ago, when she was just beginning to figure out the situation with his hearing. Grissom smiled, "We've worked together for 16 years but I've known you for 17."

"Mmhmm."

"And in these 17 years that I've known you, I have grown..." He trailed off, then finished with a nonchalant shrug, "accustomed to you."

"Accustomed? You're bringing tears to my eyes." She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean." When she nodded her head, he continued, "I would never want anything to happen to you. So when those shots went off, I didn't think about it...I didn't have to think about it. I just...covered you."

"That's very chivalrous of you."

"I didn't do it because I wanted to play hero." He said seriously.

She wanted desperately to ask him why he did it. She wanted to hear the deeper reason she sensed was somehwere within him but decided to let him off the hook tonight. "I know." Catherine smiled tiredly and got up from her seat. "Thanks for covering me."

"Anytime." Grissom leaned back in his chair and watched her leave his room. He knew she had wanted to continue talking and a part of him wished she had stayed but he smiled anyway. Sometimes things are really best left unsaid.

*THE END*