The Game Of Love (Michelle Branch & Santana)
It just takes a little bit of this
A little bit of that
It started with a kiss
Now we're up to bat
A little bit of laughs
A little bit of pain
I'm telling you, my babe
It's all in the game of love

Nick and Sara were having their break when District Attorney Jack McIntyre just walked in.

"I'm glad that I'm not in Grissom's shoes," Nick said to Sara.

"Me neither, I'll bet McIntyre is going to explode when he hears the news. But maybe Catherine can tell him," Sara said when McIntyre was already out of their sights.

"Why? Grissom is the supervisor. He can break the news to McIntyre, " Nick replied.

"Come on Nick, McIntyre has a crush on Catherine. He worked with Catherine on that triple homicide-case last year. You know, the one with all the publicity?"

"Yeah, I remember that."

"Well, since then he's always asking for her if he can't make heads or tails out of the evidence. And," Sara quickly added, "they also see each other outside of work!"

"Oh really. Who told you that?" Nick asked her.

"Sources, Nick.....sources. Let Catherine break the news to him. If they start a fight, they can always kiss and make up," Sara joked and she grinned mischievously.

Sara and Nick didn't know that Gil Grissom overheard their conversation and he didn't like it all. Grissom immediately felt this anger build up inside of him again. "What are they talking about?"

Gil was lost in thoughts for minutes about what Sara just said, but then he realized that McIntyre was already waiting for him in his office.

Jack McIntyre was a DA for quite some time now. In court Jack could be a real hard ass. And even his co-workers weren't always happy with Jack as their boss. He easily could have worked for a private law firm, but Jack considered himself as one of the good guys. He felt that only as a DA he could practice law and still live up to his morals. Of course there were cases where he had to compromise, but he would never promise anything he couldn't deliver. Some people called him arrogant, but that was probably his good looks and the self-confidence he showed when he was in court. To the people who really knew Jack, he was a very pleasant man to spend time with.

When Grissom called him this evening he was a bit pissed. "Can't this wait until tomorrow Mr. Grissom?" Jack asked him on the phone. But Grissom told him that it couldn't wait. Jack knew that Grissom wouldn't have called him if it wasn't urgent. Catherine told him a lot about her friend and supervisor. One of the things was that Mr. Grissom was a very serious man. Especially when it concernes his work. After the call, Jack left his house and was now waiting in Grissom's office.

"Mr. McIntyre," Grissom said.

"Good evening Mr. Grissom," Jack replied. "It's nice to finally meet you in person. I have heard a lot about you!" Jack walked up to Gil and shook his hand.

"Oh?"

"Don't worry Mr. Grissom, I've only heard the good things. You are a highly respected man in your line of work."

Gil was a bit surprised about the way Jack reacted towards him. He didn't expect him to be this friendly because Jack must have known that he didn't invite him in here for just a social talk.

"Yes, well.... Mr. McIntyre, we have a problem in the Kramer Case," Grissom said.

Jack didn't react immediately to Gil's statement.

"Mr. McIntyre, did you hear what I just said?"

"Yes, yes . . . I heard you. I'm not happy about it, but I heard you. So what's this problem you're talking about Mr. Grissom?"

The Kramer-case was Grissom's and Catherine's at the time. The evidence seemed to speak for it self, but that's why they both had a strange feeling about it. It all went so easy. Something wasn't right, but they never could lay a hand on it. So, they followed the evidence and every thing pointed in the direction of this 18-year old kid, Justin Kramer. He killed and raped a 25 year old female-student. After checking and double checking every single detail, Grissom and Catherine finally reported their conclusions and the police arrested Justin shortly after. Kramer never confessed and he didn't show any emotion or guilt during the investigation or the preliminary hearing. McIntyre was assigned to this case as the DA. For Gil and Catherine the case was already closed for months now. Until two days ago. New evidence was found after an anonymous phone call and the whole circus started again. They didn't have the time to check everything out yet, but from what they knew so far, they had to inform the District Attorney.

"Well the problem is, Mr. McIntrye, that we are looking for another suspect!"

Gil informed Jack about this new situation. He handed over the report and talked to Jack about it for almost two hours. Jack knew exactly where he stood when Gil stopped talking.

Jack sighed. He probably had to start all over again. Six months of work down the gutter. Splendid, like he didn't have enough work on his hands. His boss would probably assign a new DA if it ever came to a new trial.

Gil did expect that Jack would argue with him about why they followed the wrong evidence? It's always handy if you can blame someone else and Gil wouldn't walk away from his own responsibility. But despite what Gil and even Sara might have thought, Jack didn't explode. And he also didn't start to shout at Grissom. He remained very calm. One reason Jack was able to stay that calm, was that Jack would never shout at people who were doing their jobs the best as they could. The other reason was that Catherine had already informed him what was going on. He had to promise her that he wouldn't tell Grissom about their little conversation, because she was afraid that maybe Grissom would get upset if she got to Jack first. .

"Well, it's too early to throw our first conclusions out of the window, Mr. McIntyre," Grissom continued, "but I'm sure Kramer's attorney will soon find out about these new developments. Are you going to tell them?" Gil asked Jack.

"Well, Mr. Grissom, I definitely don't want to be accused for withholding any evidence," Jack replied. "I will inform them after I study your report." Jack told Grissom.

Suddenly a woman's voice filled Grissom's office.

"So you guys decided to start without me," Catherine said as she walked into Grissom's office.

Jack stood up and gave her a huge smile. Gil hardly looked at her.

"Hi Jack," Catherine said as she walked up to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Jack reached for both of her hands and looked at her. "Are you always looking this good at 2 o'clock in the morning?"

"I am on a different time-schedule than you are Jack, you should see me at two o'clock in the afternoon?" Catherine replied.

Jack laughed and kissed her back.

Gil looked at the way those two greeted each other. The scene in front of him filled him with jealousy and anger.

"Yes, we already started Catherine! You should have been here an hour and a half ago! Actually, we are already finished. So if you don't mind then I'll go back to work now. I suggest you do the same!" Gil almost shouted at her.

"Goodnight Mr. McIntyre, it was nice to meet you", Grissom tried to lower his voice but he didn't succeed.

"Yes, well thank you Mr. Grissom for your explanation. I'll get in touch with you tomorrow," Jack replied.

Gil walked away and gave Catherine a look which would drop her dead on the floor if looks could kill.

"What was that all about?" Jack asked her.

Catherine was stunned at Gil's reaction. What did she do to get this kind of treatment from him? The way he ignored her these last few months hurt her. She missed the 'old Gil'. She missed working with him and she missed their friendship. They always shared their thoughts and problems with each other. She could count on him when she needed him. Gil was always there for her and she tried to be there for him as well. They could rely on each other. But now, she hardly remembered the last time when they had a decent talk She tried a couple of times to talk to him, but he always found a way to walk away from her. For Catherine it became more and more obvious that Gil didn't want to be around her any more. So she tried to concentrate on her job and ignored his behavior, trying not to make things worse. But this was something she couldn't ignore anymore. The way he looked at her, like she was some kind of criminal.

"I don't know Jack, he's....I......I just don't know."

"Are you alright Catherine?" Jack was concerned now. From the look on her face he could see that she was fighting back the tears.

"No, I am not Jack! He's my best friend, the best I ever had and ever will have. But he doesn't want to have anything to do with me any more."

"Than he is a fool Cath!"

"I love him Jack, I love him so much. I just don't now why he is treating me like this," she said through her tears.

Jack walked towards Catherine and took her in his arms.

"It's okay Catherine, let it go." Jack said. "Just let it go".

Catherine buried herself into his arms and cried her heart out.

In the meantime Gil walked to the breakroom after he left McIntyre and Catherine alone in his office. He instantly regretted the way he treated Catherine. She didn't deserve that. For God's sake, he loves her. It was so easy to admit this to himself, but he didn't find the courage to tell her. And now he ruined everything. He saw the hurt and disbelief on her face when he looked at her in his office. "She'll think I hate her. She surely hates me right now. I must go back and talk to her before this getsout of hand," Grissom thought.

Gil returned to his office but when he saw Catherine in the arms of Jack McIntyre, his heart broke into a thousand pieces and he ran out of the building. He stepped in his Tahoe and drove off.

After a few minutes, Catherine slowly calmed down.

"Thanks Jack, for holding me. I really needed that."

"It's okay Catherine. Can I get you something? Coffee, water . . .

"A glass of water will do, thanks."

Jack got her a glass of water and stood beside her. "Are you going to be okay now Cath?"

"Yes , I'm going to be fine."

"You should go talk to the man, Catherine, if you want things to get better between the two of you."

"Don't you think that I've already tried Jack?" Catherine was getting angry now. "Because I did you know. I tried to talk to him several times, but this is Grissom we are talking about! He just walks away from me."

"Then make sure he doesn't walk away!" Jack replied.

"I don't know Jack, he hurt me so many times now, I don't feel it's up to me anymore."

"Sure Catherine, than leave things as they are. I wouldn't wait for him to take the initiative. But think about this, how can you work in such an environment if these emotions keep you two from having a normal relationship?"

Catherine kept silent after Jack said these words.

"I'll think about it Jack," Catherine finally said.

"You do that. And you can call me any time, you know that , don't you?"

"I know Jack. Thanks again."

She kissed him on his cheek and Jack walked away. On the doorstep he turned around.

"Hey Willows, you haven't forgot about our game of squash on Thursday?"

"Of course not. I'll kick your butt as usual Jack!" Catherine managed to produce a smile.

"Jack laughed. "In your dreams baby, in your dreams!"

Catherine cleaned herself up in the restroom, so nobody would notice that she had been crying. She went to the lab to meet Warrick. "Hey Warrick, how are these results coming?" Catherine said.

"Nothing yet Catherine. We have to wait until tomorrow!"

"Look Warrick, if it's fine by you, then I'll go home. If anything comes up, you can call me. Okay?"

"Sure Catherine."

Despite her clean up, Warrick knew that something was wrong. Her sudden desire to go home, wasn't like Catherine at all. But Catherine had changed lately. She wasn't that strong, bright woman that Warrick used to know. If he got a chance these next few days, he would try to talk to her.