Brass had seen the argument. He kept his distance from both of them for the rest of the night. Predictably it was Catherine who tracked him down in the break room. She said she was frustrated with her case but each unfinished sentence ended with "and he..." or "him..."

Brass smiled when he thought she wasn't looking. The 2 brightest people he knew often appeared brain dead when it came to what was really important.

"Don't laugh at me," she caught his amused look despite his best efforts.

"Sorry."

"Why am I talking to you anyway, it's all his..." she stopped.

"You need to go talk to him." he urged his friend to make peace. Normally Grissom spending all night in his office was not a cause for concern. But Grissom had spent the entire shift in his office brooding. He’d brighten up at each knock on his door, only to grow darker when it wasn't who he wanted it to be.

"Why should I? He's the one who needs to talk."

"You know he doesn't operate like that. He's reactive. You're proactive. That's why you two..." he stumbled over his choice of words. He felt her stare and skipped an extra beat making sure he said the right thing, "...work so well together."

"Work, work, work, you sound like him."

"What else would he talk about? You stick to what you know when you're trying to..."

"Go ahead," Catherine's interest was peaked.

"No, I'm not getting involved"

She stood up and stepped directly in front of him, her arms folded, foot tapping.

"You're involved. Spill it." Brass knew her no nonsense tone. He made a quick decision.

"Grissom is his work. He recruited you to work with him... how many years ago?" he reconsidered asking Catherine to think about how many years had past. Not a great idea when talking to an already angry woman. "Anyways. He seems to have gone out of his way to include you in his world. He's been in there all day." Brass pointed into Gil's office.

The supervisor sat with slumped shoulders hunched over his desk. His glasses were about to fall off his face because of the severe angle his head hung at.

She looked Gil's way for the first time since they had argued. Her foot stopped. She uncrossed her arms. She looked back at Brass and opened her mouth to speak. She started to point at him but turned back to look across the hallway. Brass heard her exhale loudly through her nose as she moved towards the door.

He watched, trying not to be too obvious. He hoped that his other friend would not manage to screw it up this time.

Catherine knocked on the door frame. No response. She knocked again. Gil pushed off his glasses and stood up in one sudden motion. He said her name. She moved just inside the room. Gil approached her. Perhaps not the wisest of moves. The pointing finger Brass had narrowly avoided just seconds ago struck him above the heart several times while she said her peace. Gil looked down at her finger as it hit him the first time and then stared directly at her while she continued the assault.

When she was done, he said her name again. He reached for her cheek. He said something else as he closed the distance between the 2 of them. Brass couldn't make out all of the words but he was pretty sure that the last one was "jerk".

Catherine disappeared from his sight when Gil turned his back to Brass. His head bent down. Catherine's hand and then arm reappeared as it reached around and up his back. Her other hand landed on his shoulder. It slowly trailed up his neck. Her fingers spread themselves out in his hair. He leaned into her embrace. They remained locked together, motionless for a minute.

Catherine's arms disappeared again. Gil turned 180 degrees away from her. He stepped forward to take the cord that controlled the blinds in his office window. Brass saw Catherine again but missed whatever she said. Gil looked up, right at Brass. His face was flushed red. He said a silent "Thank you" through the glass and the blinds fell shut.