No One Else On Earth

Disclaimer: Mine no! CBS, Anthony Zuiker et al Yes! Pity :o( "No One Else on Earth" is by Wynona Judd. Please don't sue cause I don't make any money from this and I don't have any money anyway This is purely for pleasure, mine if no one else's :o)
Spoilers: None so far
Dedication: To Aby as always and you certainly know why girl! To Vividlyblue for Being my inspiration and listening to all my worries about it. Also to Clara and Angie of Graveshift and Reese of the CatsMeow for finding The lyrics for me! And to Erin for hand holding in the wee small hours
Author's Note: This is a little different from my usual. I'm not quite sure I got where I intended to go when it started but blame that on the plot bunnies :o)


Chapter 3

Cath sat in the coffee shop near the door just as Warrick had asked her to. She found it really strange that he wanted to talk to her. It was even more peculiar since she'd found out that he'd put Nick and Sara off from joining them. What he wanted, she couldn't guess but it must be something important for him to want to keep it so quiet.

There was a commotion behind her and she turned around to see Warrick struggling at the doorway with a very reluctant Gil Grissom. What was going on?

"I told you I'd deal with this," she heard Gil almost growl at Warrick and wondered at the hatred she heard in his voice.

"I gave you two weeks, Gil," the green eyed man told him, "they're up, so now it's my turn. Now, get in there."

Catherine sat amazed as she watched Warrick physically drag Grissom into the coffee shop and force him into a seat. She heard a soft snick sound like metal connecting and then saw Grissom's face redden in anger. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled at the younger man.

Warrick stared him down easily, answering, "Making sure you stay here for the whole conversation, Gil," he informed the blue-eyed man, "this has to be settled, here and now."

An astonished look crossed Catherine's face as she realised Warrick had handcuffed Gil to the chair. Then what he had said penetrated. "What has to get settled? What's going on, Warrick?"

She looked at both men but Gil wouldn't meet her eye, what was wrong with him? Then she suddenly wondered if Warrick knew about their arrangement? That could prove awkward.

"Yes, Catherine, I know." He said, answering her unasked question, "But I have a few more facts to hand than you do."

This was getting more confusing by the minute. Warrick didn't seem bothered by the fact she and Gil were sleeping together but something was definitely upsetting him. She looked at Grissom again, seeking some hint of what the problem was, but he just sat there going from drawing daggers at Warrick to staring at his hands.

"Facts, what facts?" she asked.

"You really don't know, do you?" Warrick was surprised that someone as shrewd as Catherine had missed all the signs, they were evident enough.

"I don't like guessing games, Warrick, no matter what you may think," she snapped. She was getting a very bad feeling about all this.

"You've been playing this little game for months now and you never once thought it might get out of hand, did you?" Warrick said, glancing at Grissom and then turning back to face Catherine, "It never occurred to either of you that one of you could get hurt."

I shivered once
You broke into my soul
The damage is done now
I'm out of control
How did you get to me?

She sat staring at him, trying to see what he was getting at. He couldn't mean ... Oh my God did he mean?

"That's right, Catherine, your fuck buddy here is in love with you!" Warrick snapped, he had never felt so angry in his life before. How could she have been so dense, missed all the signs? She always seemed such a caring, loving individual but now he just wasn't so sure.

Catherine sat stunned, both at Warrick's vulgar language and at what she was telling her. It was like something out of a nightmare. But then what had she really expected. She'd always known there was a deep connection between Gil and her but she'd never thought of it as love.

Now, apparently, she was hurting her dearest, oldest friend and it had to stop. But would that solve anything either? How did she feel? Did she love him? Well, yes she did, but was she in love with him? That she couldn't answer.

"Is it true, Gil?" she asked, knowing by the look on his face what the answer was. "Why did you never say anything? Why let things go on like this?"

"I... I..." Grissom couldn't find any words, didn't know how to put in to speech what he was feeling or his reason for doing what he had done. All he could think of was that thanks to Warrick's interference he was losing Catherine, losing his reason for going on.

"I need to think about this." Catherine said rising to her feet, her coffee sitting untouched in front of her on the table. "I'll see you both tomorrow night." And with that she left.

Grissom sat watching her walk out the door, his fantasy coming crashing down around his ears as she did. He turned to Warrick, ready to rant and rave at him for what he had done, but he couldn't. Warrick looked devastated and that surprised the older man. His feelings must have shown.

"Do you think I wanted to do that?" Warrick asked him, "That I wanted to hurt two of my best friends?"

Gil guessed that was rather a redundant point but he realised now that Warrick had done this for all the right reasons. It didn't make the outcome any easier but that was for him to deal with.

"For what's it's worth," Grissom began in a quiet, rough voice, "you did the right thing."

Warrick looked at him in astonishment; this was the last thing he'd expected. But if Grissom believed that, why had he left it to him?

"I couldn't do it," Gil said, answering Warrick's unspoken question, "I know it needed done, we couldn't go on the way we were, but I couldn't cut the link myself, it was too painful."

Nodding, Warrick reached into his pocket and took out the key to the handcuffs. Unlocking them, they both rose and made for the door.

"It's going to be a very long forty eight hours," Grissom said to no one in particular. Sighing and nodding his farewell he headed out of the door and home. The ball was now firmly in Catherine's court.