DISCLAIMER: CSI belongs to CBS and Alliance-Atlantis Productions. No infringement intended.
SPOILERS: 8x12

SUMMARY: Based on new promo pics for 8x12. Catherine receives a big surprise when she visits Grissom's new apartment. GSR

FEEDBACK: Love it, but no flames please I'm fragile!!

AUTHORS' NOTES: I couldn't help myself. That promo pic of Grissom in his court suit just about blew a fuse in my brain!

As always huge thanks to Mingsmommy for the beta and suggestions. Without you this story wouldn't be anywhere near presentable. I am immensely thankful for yours and Mossley's support and friendship.

Full Of Surprises

Catherine looked down once more at the address on the sticky note in her hand, before lifting her eyes back to the gold numbers that adorned the apartment door.

To say that she was a little surprised to find that her long time friend actually lived here was an understatement. She certainly couldn't imagine that Gil Grissom would have the kind of taste for this quaint little apartment block.

Climbing out of her car, she cast an appreciative glance around the rest of the adjoining apartments. Each had their own little differences, but Grissom's seemed much more welcoming with its brightly coloured hanging baskets and green vegetation.

When she rapped her knuckles on the door she stepped back in surprise when she heard the distinctive sound of a dog barking from the inside. For a moment she thought she could possibly have the wrong apartment and looked from the number on the door to the Post It again.

The barks became louder when she heard the jingle of keys being turned in the lock and prepared herself to make an apology to whomever she'd disturbed from their sleep at this ungodly hour of the morning.

When the door swung open, any words that were forming on her lips suddenly died away. There before her stood a very disgruntled Gil Grissom, looking like something the cat had dragged in. His hair was in disarray and his eyes were red rimmed as he blinked away the sleep.

"Catherine?" he asked in confusion when she offered him a bright smile. "What are you—" his voice petered out when he released a very loud sneeze, followed by a low, miserable groan.

"Gil," she spoke softly, "I know you're sick…can I come in?"

Grissom stared at her as if she'd grown a second head until his fuzzy brain caught up with the rest of his body. Stepping back he shooed the dog away from the door and motioned for her to enter.

Catherine stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind her when he shuffled off further into the apartment, while the dog stayed close to her, fixing her with a wary gaze.

"Nice dog," she called as she held out a hand for the pooch to sniff. "What's his name?"

Grissom came back into view with a handkerchief pressed to his nose and a dog treat in his other hand.

"Hank," he told her, his voice muffled as he blew his nose.

Hearing his name, Hank sprang to his feet and trotted over towards his master and sat obediently at his feet, wagging his tail enthusiastically.

Catherine couldn't believe her eyes. Here was one of her closest friends showing her a side of him that she had very rarely seen before. His eyes, even though glazed over with fever, were sparkling with adoration at the dog sitting at his feet. He seemed to turn to mush in an instant, and she couldn't help but smile as she watched on incredulously.

"Don't tell your mom I'm giving this to you, okay?" Grissom told the dog in a gravelled voice. "You know we'll both be in the dog house if she finds out!"

Hank yapped and sat back to throw his front paws in the air until he was rewarded with the doggie treat in his master's hand. He gave a small grunt and chewed on the treat, crunching happily until it was all gone, then scampered over to the patio doors, whining until Grissom let him out into the yard.

"So," Catherine started when Grissom moved across to the kitchen to flick a switch on the coffee pot. "It's a nice place you've got here."

"Yeah, we like it," Grissom told her as he reached for some mugs from the cupboard. "It's a good neighbourhood."

She wasn't sure if he'd realized that he'd confessed in a round about way that he didn't live here alone. She was about to question him when she spotted something stuck to his refrigerator door. Curiosity piqued and she slowly made her way towards it until she was standing right in front of the photo that had caught her attention.

The photo was of Grissom and Sara in front of the Golden Gate Bridge looking perfectly happy. It was a pretty old photo by the looks of it and she found herself lifting it off to take a closer look.

Grissom sneezed again and shivered slightly when he moved away from her to call to the dog to come inside so that he could close the door. He hadn't noticed that she was already preoccupied until he turned around to see her holding the photo in her hand.

"When was this taken?" she asked him as she dragged her eyes away from the image to look at him.

For a moment he seemed resented by her intrusion, but it all quickly disappeared when he walked towards her and slowly took the photo from her hands to gaze down at it.

"My last night in San Francisco. I met her on the first day of my forensic seminar and she just wouldn't shut up," he smiled at the memory. "We went for coffee every night afterwards and talked for hours…"

"How long ago was that? You guys look so young."

"Nine years, three months and two days," he told her with a smile, never once taking his eyes off of the photo. "Some old couple spotted us walking along the beach and offered to take our picture…I was ready to turn around and politely decline but Sara just threw her arms around me and smiled…"

"And you melted?" Catherine grinned. "Were you two—"

"No," he told her quickly as he looked up to meet her gaze. "Not back then."

"But you wanted to?"

Instead of answering her, Grissom moved past her and placed the photo back on the refrigerator and returned to the coffee pot. "So, what are you doing here?"

She was slightly taken aback by his sudden change from tender to officious, but she knew that to get any kind of personal information from him was a milestone and she wasn't going to push any further. "Ecklie needs you to go in. He's been trying to reach you for hours."

"I'm taking some time off," he told her haughtily. "I'm sick."

"He knows that and that's why I'm here instead of him…I think he feels that I'd be more welcome." Holding out her hand she took the offered coffee from him and moved to sit down in a nearby chair. "And, besides I wanted to come and see your new place."

Hank suddenly caught her attention when he left his place at the door and began barking and wagging his tail. His whole body quivered when he spun around in delight at something Catherine couldn't see. She was about to ask Grissom if his dog was slightly weird when she was stripped of speech for the second time that morning.

"Hey, baby," a woman's voice hummed to the delighted dog that was beside himself with excitement. Patting his back she bent down to kiss his furry head. "Good morning to you, too."

Catherine watched in awe when the smile on Grissom's face told her more than any explanation ever could. It was as if his eyes had suddenly come alive. He was positively glowing. His look of elation made him look ten years younger when the woman emerged to slip her arms around his waist.

"Honey," she purred tenderly as she placed a soft kiss onto his bearded cheek. "Why are you still out here? Come back to bed."

"Sara?" Catherine beamed as she placed the mug of coffee on the counter before getting to her feet. Sara was wearing a pink silk bathrobe and her hair was tussled from sleep, but she looked absolutely beautiful. "My god, you look amazing."

Sara gasped as she looked from Grissom to Catherine, a wide smile emerging on her face. "Catherine…what—"

Before she could finish, Grissom burst into a coughing fit and turned away from her with a hand over his mouth. She moved to him instantly, smoothing a warm hand across his back until the coughs had subsided. "Baby, you should still be in bed. You're never going to get better if you refuse to rest."

"I'm afraid that's my fault," Catherine admitted as she watched her two friends in a show of intimacy that she'd never witnessed before. "Ecklie wanted me to—"

"Oh no," Sara shook her head defiantly. "He's not going in. He's sick."

"I know…I—"

"Honey," Grissom sighed as he rubbed a tired hand across his eyes. "It must be important if he sent Catherine here."

"And getting you better is just as important," Sara told him firmly when she lifted her hands to his head, cupping his face between her fingers. "You're burning up."

"Maybe I should call him," he offered cautiously. "If it's not important I'll tell him to find someone else."

"Well he better have a good explanation," Sara scowled. "If he hasn't then I'll tell him to--"

"Honey," Grissom cut her off before she could finish, knowing full well that she would tell her former boss where to stick a certain part of his own anatomy. "You're not helping."

Catherine couldn't help the chuckle that slipped from her lips as she watched the two people before her bantering in a way that only old married couples did. "You two are cute," she told them with a smile.

"Funny," Sara grinned, placing a soft kiss on Grissom's cheek before picking up her coffee mug to walk over towards the other woman, finding herself drawn immediately into a warm embrace.

"How have you been?" Catherine asked in a delighted tone when she joined Sara on the couch. "When did you get back?"

"I got back two days ago," Sara told her as her eyes followed Grissom until he left for the bedroom with his phone in his hand. "Gil was coughing so much on the phone when I called him, so I got on the first flight I could back to Vegas."

"He didn't say that you were back," Catherine told her as she picked up her coffee mug to take a long sip of the burning liquid. "You are back aren't you?"

"Yeah," Sara told her, bringing her own mug to her lips. "I needed to get away for a while to clear my head.

"Well, it's done you good," Catherine smiled when she leaned into her friends shoulder. "You look really well."

"I feel it too," Sara agreed with a smile. "How is everyone?"

"Oh, you know, same old," Catherine grinned. "Greg misses you."

"I figured he would, I missed him too." Sara sighed sadly. "And Nick…Warrick…are they doing okay?"

"Nicky's fine, got himself a girlfriend."

"What?" Sara asked incredulously. "When did this happen?"

"About a week ago now," Catherine grinned. "He came to work practically floating!"

"Wow…and I missed it," Sara laughed. "How about Warrick?"

"He's better," Catherine told her carefully. "He had a few problems after you left."

"Yeah, a few days before I left he dropped a bottle of pills on the floor. Said he had trouble sleeping…so, he's okay?"

"He's doing better," Catherine nodded. "For a while there I thought he was on his way to losing everything, but he turned himself around."

"That's good…Gil didn't tell me much, but from what I could gather he was forced to put Warrick on suspension."

"Yeah, for his own good."

"Well, I'm sure Gil had a good reason. He doesn't usually lose it where Warrick's concerned—" seeing Catherine's smile she looked at her questioningly. "What?"

"It's you," the older woman smiled. "I've never even heard you call him anything other than Grissom…it's just—"

"Weird?" Sara offered.

"Cute."

"Don't let him know you said that!"

"Said what?" Grissom's voice came from the bedroom as he made his way towards them now dressed in his court suit with his collar up and tie undone.

Sara placed her mug onto the coffee table and stood up with a sigh. "You have to go to work."

"Yeah. Court." he groused. "Sorry, honey, I can't get out of it."

"That's okay," she told him as she moved towards him and proceeded to fix his tie. "Court's, court."

"I know," he moved his head to the side so that she could adjust his collar before she fixed his tie in place. "I'd much prefer to be home with you, though."

Catherine watched their interaction feeling instantly like an intruder. The couple had completely forgotten that she was even in the room and she watched with fascination how comfortable they were with each other.

She watched as Sara smoothed her hands over the dark lapels of his suit jacket and fastened the buttons one by one until she reached the last one. Catherine thought that Sara had finished preparing the man before her until she saw her walk around him to the freshly folded laundry in the basket on the chair and take something out.

"After this, you're taking some time off," she told him when she walked back towards him and folded a clean, crisp handkerchief, placing it in his breast pocket. "Mom keeps asking me when we're going to visit next."

"She's only just seen you," he smirked as he grasped hold of her hands, wrapping his fingers around hers.

"I think she kinda got used to having me around," Sara grinned. "She said she needed her daughter there for a little while longer."

"Hmm," he mumbled his voice becoming hoarse. "Well, she's had you for long enough. I need my wife home with me."

A loud gasp came from across the room and they both turned to see an open mouthed Catherine staring at them, blinking rapidly.

"You're married?" she squeaked.

"Ooops," Sara chuckled as a rosy blush formed over her cheeks. She smiled up at her husband adoringly, "Sorry, honey."

"They had to know sometime," he told her with a doting smile before he turned his head suddenly and let out a loud sneeze.

"Have you taken your medication?" Sara asked worriedly when her eyes were already seeking out the medicine on the kitchen counter.

"Yes, just like you told me," he told her with an amused smiled.

"And your vitamins?" She smirked, unable to keep the hint of a grin from her lips.

"Yes, dear!"

"Will you two stop?" Catherine growled, fixing them both with a firm stare. "You guys are so going to have some explaining to do when this case is over."

"When Gil's feeling better," Sara agreed. "We'll have everyone over and we'll explain everything."

Catherine thought about what she'd said for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "Okay, I'll hold you to that."

"I have to go," Grissom sighed as he pulled Sara into his arms and held her against him before releasing her to plant a soft kiss onto her forehead. "I'll call you later."

"Okay," she kept her voice low when she reached up to frame his bearded face in her hands. "I'll see you when you get back."

"I'll wait in the car," Catherine told them when she made her way towards the door, feeling slightly jealous of the devotion they so obviously shared. "Sara, I'll see you soon."

"Yep, you will," Sara grinned as she pulled her hands away from Grissom's face. "Oh and Cath…"

The older woman turned around to look at her questioningly. "Don't tell the guys I'm home, okay?"

"Not a word."

"Thank you," Sara watched as she left the apartment before turning to walk her husband to the door.

"I'll see you later," he whispered when she reached up to place a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you," she told him with a soft smile, knowing those words always brought tears to his eyes.

"Love you too, honey," he whispered back to her before turning away to head out towards Catherine's waiting car.

Sara stood in the doorway with Hank sitting beside her leg as they watched the car slowly drive away. When they had gone, Sara smiled down at her beloved dog and pushed the door closed again.

"Come on, baby," she patted his head. "Lets go back to bed until daddy comes home."

END