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It had been a very rough night for the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Three children had been found brutally tortured, raped, and murdered. Each CSI had left the lab looking for a way to soothe their broken hearts from the sights they had seen this night.
Catherine had gone home and hugged Lindsey for a long while...at least as long as Lindsey was willing to be hugged. Catherine missed her little girl who loved to be held in the mornings. Now, she was left with a teenage daughter who barely tolerated her mother's need for human contact.
After a long while, Catherine had gone into a fitful sleep. Images of the children's bodies haunted her. And then there were the images of Lindsey her subconscious had superimposed on the children. After trying to sleep for a while, she finally got up and took a long hot shower...trying anything to rid herself of the images of the children.
As night drew near, Catherine found herself driving into the desert where the children's bodies had been found. She walked by the light of the full moon to the crime scene and stood, silently staring at the sand.
She had been so deep in her own thoughts that she failed to hear the other vehicle parking near hers. She never noticed the footsteps nearing her. In fact, she only knew someone else was nearby when he finally spoke.
"I had a feeling I'd find you here," Gil spoke as he stepped beside her.
"I couldn't sleep at all. I just kept seeing Lindsey."
"Catherine, Lindsey's fine. It wasn't her out here."
"No, but it could have been. These kids had no idea what the dangers of the world are, and no matter how much I try to tell Lindsey about it, she never seems to open her eyes and see it."
Gil placed his hand on her arm, "Cath, you can't keep doing this to yourself."
"You're not a parent, Gil. You don't understand," She shook her head and started to turn away from him.
Gil pulled her towards him and met her eyes, "Cath, I worry about Lindsey, too. I've watched her grow up and into this beautiful young woman who has a good head on her shoulders," He paused, "Sometimes misguided, but a good head nonetheless," He paused again as he looked deeply into Catherine's eyes, "She reminds me a lot of you."
"God, Gil, as if it weren't bad enough that I worry about her, you have to compare her to me?" She groaned.
Gil placed his forefinger beneath her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his again, "I compare her to you because you are a highly intelligent woman with a good head on your shoulders. You follow your heart, and sometimes that gets you into trouble. But you always come out on top, you always see when danger lurks around the corner, and you know how to get out of a sticky situation. Those are all very admirable traits."
"I just don't want her to end up like...," Catherine paused as she closed her eyes, "I don't want her to end up like me."
"Why not? You made a few mistakes when you were younger, but you figured out what you needed to do in order to put your life back together. You did that, Cath. That takes a lot of strength. And you've become as fine a woman as anyone could possibly want," Gil smiled slightly, "I think if Lindsey ends up like you, she's going to be perfectly all right."
Catherine shook her head as a smile crept over her features, "Sometimes you do know what to say to a girl."
"I try," He smiled at her, "What do you say we go back to town and I buy you dinner?"
"You buying? Well, how could I turn that down?" She teased before going back to her vehicle.
They drove their vehicles back to town and met at the crime lab parking lot. Gil drove them to the restaurant where they were quickly seated and ordered. After their drinks arrived, Gil raised his glass in a toast.
"Here's to putting the past firmly in the past," Gil urged her.
Catherine raised her glass, "And for living in the present."
"That's my girl," He smiled before taking a sip of his wine.
"What made you come out there tonight?" She asked before sipping her wine.
"You," He spoke seriously, "I know how these cases affect you. When I tried you at home and you weren't at the lab," He shrugged, "I just knew where you'd be."
"I hate being predictable," She sighed as she sank back in her chair.
"Not everyone can predict you, Cath, but I know you."
"Do you really?" She asked with a slight grin, "Been studying me, Dr. Grissom?"
Gil grinned slightly, "I'll never tell."
"Gil," Catherine's grin grew, "I think you're blushing."
"It's just the wine, Cath. Don't get too excited," He spoke through a grin while refusing to meet her eyes.
"Yeah right," She chuckled softly, "Well, well, you do have some interesting past times."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You've been watching me," She leaned onto the table, "What? Do you have a crush on me?"
"I wouldn't call it a crush, no," He spoke as he finally met her eyes, "I wouldn't classify it as something as frivolous as that at all."
Catherine felt a shiver travel down her spine as she saw the desire deep within Gil's eyes. They'd always had a relationship that no one else could understand, but this...this was more than she'd hoped and beyond what she'd dreamed.
"Gil," She spoke with an ever so slight tremble in her voice that Gil instantly picked up on, "I had no idea..."
"That was kind of the point," He said simply, "I didn't want to alarm you."
"Alarm me?" She repeated, "Are you crazy? You just sent a shiver down my spine, and you were worried about alarming me?" She grinned, "You are something else, you know that?"
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked with a soft smile.
"Oh it's very good," She spoke as she flagged their waiter over, "Make ours to go," She said as she met Gil's eyes, "We have somewhere to be."
As the waiter left the table, Gil leaned forward, "And where would that be?"
"You'll see...if you trust me."
"I trust you," He nodded.
"Good, I'll be right back," Catherine smiled as she walked away from the table, dialing her cell phone.
Gil watched Catherine walk away and wondered how the night had turned out like this. He had only gone into the desert to console Catherine. He had known she would be upset after the case involving children. He had only wanted to offer her a shoulder. Somehow along the way, he'd ended up declaring his love for her...even if it was in a round about sort of way.
He now had an ominous feeling about the evening. It wasn't that he didn't love Catherine. He did. Hell, he'd been in love with her for years, but he'd kept a tight check on his feelings lest he upset the delicate balance of their friendship. But tonight...something had come over him, and he hadn't been able to keep those reins on his emotions.
Catherine returned just as their food arrived. Gil paid for their meals before they left the restaurant. Once in the parking lot, Catherine held out her hand for the keys, "Let me surprise you."
"Okay," He agreed without question as he handed over the keys.
After a few swerves in and out of traffic, Gil realized where they were going, "The Rampart?"
"Trust me, Gil. Just trust me," Catherine urged as she pulled into the valet parking and passed off the keys to an attendant. She escorted Gil through the casino and hotel lobby. She stopped long enough to pick up a keycard from the front desk and then continued to the elevators.
"Do I even get a hint?" Gil questioned as he stepped into the elevator with her.
"You will, soon enough," She winked at him before using the keycard to access the penthouse.
"The penthouse? I suppose that phone call you made was to Sam," He spoke as he pieced together the evidence.
"It was. I figured it was time he did something for me that I actually wanted," Catherine shrugged, "If he wants to be a father to me now, why shouldn't I get what I want out of it?"
Gil grinned slightly, "Now that's the Catherine I know and love."
She smiled and nudged him slightly, "You betcha."
They stepped out into the penthouse suite, and Catherine moved to a bottle of champagne, "Just put the food down. I'm not very hungry at the moment."
"Neither am I," He admitted as he watched her open the bottle of champagne.
She poured them each a glass and took his hand. She led him onto the penthouse balcony and raised her glass in a toast, "Here's to never looking back. In fact, here's to our future, Gil Grissom."
"Our future?" He questioned with a slight smile.
"If you think I'm going to let you slip through my fingers after finding out that you feel the same way I do," She shrugged, "Then you're crazier than I thought you were."
Gil grinned, "Here's to our future, and here's to loving you, Catherine Willows."
"Here's to us," She agreed before they drank their champagne. She took his glass, and placed it along with hers on the balcony railing. She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, "Dance with me."
He wrapped his arms around her and placed his forehead against hers, "Do you know what this feels like?"
"Paradise?" She questioned, "Yeah, I'm feeling the same thing."
As they danced on the balcony, they gazed into each other's eyes. A promise of happiness lived within each of them, reflected by the light of the full moon above them.
Gil lightly brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek, causing her to close her eyes to enjoy the sensation. He slid his fingers into her hair and drew her lips to his.
Catherine purred against his mouth as he worked magic with his lips and tongue. He weaved a beautiful spell full of temptation, exploration, and adoration. She sank her fingers into his hair as she clung to him, aching for more of his masterful kiss.
Gil fought the need for breath, desperate not to end his feast of the deliciousness that was Catherine's mouth.
When their lips parted, Catherine grinned like a Cheshire cat, "That was worth waiting twenty years for."
"And that's just the beginning," Gil promised as he took her lips once again.
Catherine couldn't imagine any first kiss being quite as powerful as the one she'd just experienced with Gil. But something about tonight, something about the air, the stars, and mostly the moonlight had brought her a host of opportunities that she wasn't about to miss out on.