Catherine’s phone rang as she left Grissom’s office, a smile still playing on her lips at their brief exchange, the way he’d looked in the suit and the way he’d smiled at her arrival. As she turned the corner en route to the breakroom, her phone began to vibrate, and her smile grew wide at the sight of the name printed clearly on the caller ID.

"Willows."

"Didn’t change the name yet, sweetheart?" The smooth tones of her long-distance love were smooth and sexy, sending shivers of warmth cascading to her stomach. She loved to hear him speak, and the distance did little to dilute the feeling.

"We stepped off the plane less than an hour ago, Horatio." She chuckled, turning on her heels to head in the direction of the locker room, as approaching voices alerted her to the presence of Sara and Warrick nearby. "I’m on top of it, as soon as I’ve had a minute. I promise."

"And you’re heading home after that?"

"Mm-hmm."

"I love you, Catherine."

"I know." It was abrupt, the sentiment, and she felt her cheeks warming. He’d wasted no time while she was in Miami, and he could find her whenever they needed a moment. And now that she’d returned home...the feeling was so strong, so painful and tightening in her chest...she wondered if it was possible to express the same to him in the way she’d wanted to.

The marriage had been impulsive, more sudden than her marriage to Eddie. And the ‘honeymoon’ much more pleasant, with the gently crackling fire in Horatio’s living room warming their skin, rather than a ragged blanket in a roach-infested motel room on highway nineteen. He was a lover like so many she’d dreamt of, sweeping her into his arms and kissing her with the passion of a man who’d loved her for his entire lifetime- although they’d known each other for little more than a week. Vegas had quicker weddings- but Miami-Dade country had a notary next door to the police department.

"Have you put in your transfer?"

"Not yet. If I put it in now, Grissom’s going to lose it underneath his mail-order tarantula. I’ve got it on my desk- I’ll put it in first thing tomorrow morning." She’d worked on it during their trip home, Vegas having faxed it to the Miami-Dade HQ before their flight, which allowed her to stare hesitantly at the offical document for the majority of the flight. Several hours, a few drinks and dinner, and all she’d managed was to scribble her name in the blank. Not exactly the progress she knew he’d been hoping for, and it certainly wasn’t what she’d planned on accomplishing. "I love you."

"I know." It was his turn to sound surprised...and somewhat relieved, she thought, to hear her say what she had only once before. "Catherine- I have to go. Calleigh’s waving...we’ve got a 419 at the edge of town."

"So go, then." She rubbed her finger idly over the edge of the phone, leaning against the nearest wall and sighing. "I’ll call tomorrow, after everything’s started. Don’t worry."

"Later, then." The click, and the dial-tone resounded in her ear, and she snapped the compact cell shut, tucking it back into her pocket. The halls were thankfully quiet on this end of the building, and she took a moment to close her eyes before resuming her new path toward the locker rooms. If she could head home as soon as possible, she’d have a chance to prepare before Eddie brought their daughter home and she’d have to break the news to the both of them...with the repercussions likely to follow immediately.

The squeak of a pair of footsteps sounded soon after her own had cleared the hallway, and Gil Grissom stepped out from the nearby restroom, straighening his tie as his eyes lingered in the direction his co-worker had gone.

It seemed that Catherine’s return wasn’t quite as celebratory as he would have liked.

She started her next shift with a headache.

Eddie had dropped Lindsey off on schedule, and she’d invited him in for pancakes and cocoa puffs, sitting on the kitchen counter while Lindsey got ready for school and telling him why she wasn’t happy anymore. It felt a bit like the end of their marriage, and a little like the beginning, as he grew angry and she grew frustrated, hiding the sparkling ring on her left hand and wondering how in the hell it had all gone from bad to worse in under ten minutes.

When she got to the breakroom, she was greeted with the enthusiasm she’d not received at home, although from the second she stepped in, she wished only for the excitement to die. Her eyes darted to Warrick and narrowed as the lanky young man settled back into a chair, stirring a cup of poisonous-looking brew and shaking his head in the negative.

"Don’t look at me, Cath- I just got in. Didn’t say anything."

"Impulsive, Catherine- nice." Sara’s approval was never anything she purposefully sought out, and the younger woman received no recognition for the comment, as Catherine crossed the room and poured herself a styrofoam cup of the greasy ‘morning’ coffee.

"Yeah, congrats, Cath." At Nick’s offering, she managed a smile, the innocence in his own smile putting her at ease. "So, what is it we’re calling you, now? Catherine Willows-Caine? Or just ‘Caine’?"

"Nothing new yet, Nicky." The mirror of Horatio’s question hung in the air, and she tried to ignore it. She had enough to deal with now. "I’ll hyphenate, I think. Willows-Caine."

"Better get that paperwork in, then." Sara offered her opinion again, the knowledgeable air about her mingling with the stench of the lukewarm blueberry muffin she cradled in one hand. "You know how Grissom hates procrastination."

There was an awkward pause as Catherine’s eyes once again met those of her latest travel companion- the only other person who knew what was going on, and what she was doing about it.

"There’s no need- I’m transferring to Miami-Dade...pending Grissom’s approval."

"What needs my approval?" The sound of their boss entering caused the gathered CSI’s to turn their heads, as he too approached the coffee station with the toned-down enthusiasm of one who knew what he was going to get, and wasn’t the least bit suprised.

"My transfer request- it’ll be on your desk in the morning." The exit of their fellow compatriots went unnoticed as Catherine shifted in her chair, folding her hands and trying to force the words past her lips. She hadn’t felt any shame in taking the easy way out- would have rather signed the paper and left a note than have to tell Gil Grissom in person why she was choosing to leave. "I’ve got a few more things to fill out."

"Transfer request." He didn’t react as she’d expected him to. In fact, he hardly reacted at all, lifting the crossword puzzle from the cluttered table and passing by, pencil already gripped within an eager hand. "Put it on the top of the in-box. I’ll make sure I get to it as soon as I can."

"All right..." Grissom was gone as she lifted her head to look at him, to see if the lack of response was really as obvious in his face as it was in his tone. The crossword puzzle was missing from the clutter on the table, and the last apple from the bowl among the mess. It was rare for him to abandon an unfinished crossword, and Catherine just stared wordlessly at the folded newsprint before rising to head for her own tasks at hand.

Coining a phrase, she would have said she saw a ‘bad moon rising’...if she could have borne to see the horizon at all.

But she had her eyes set on Miami.

~TBC