Natural Progressions

Disclaimer: Mine no! CBS, Anthony Zuiker et al Yes! Pity :o( "The Woman In Me (Needs The Man In You)" belongs to Shania Twain.
Author's Note: Still not exactly sure where this series is going but here's another one.
Dedication: To Aby as always and you certainly know why girl! To VividlyBlue for Reading all my crap no matter how bad or sick! LOL


Chapter 7: The Woman In Me (Needs The Man In You)

Gil Grissom stood in his bedroom clad only in his boxers contemplating going to bed. He was really tired having just worked fifty-six hours straight cracking a very hard case. But then the rest of his team had pulled the same hours so he shouldn't really complain. The one thing keeping him from settling was Catherine Willows.

She had been exhausted, but then they all had. It was the fact that, like him, crimes against kids really upset her. When a little girl was hurt or caught up in the aftermath, she couldn't help picturing what it would have been like if it had been her daughter, Lindsey. It didn't help that the murdered twelve-year-old had looked remarkably like the little girl. They'd all found it unsettling.

His musings were interrupted by a knock at his front door. Stumbling to answer it, he didn't even think to throw on a robe; exhaustion was clouding his mind. Grabbing the door handle he opened it to reveal the tear-stained face of Catherine.

"I'm sorry, Gil, I should have known you'd be sleeping," she said, her voice shaking with emotion. "It's just that after I got Lindsey off to school I tried to get some sleep but I just..."

"Ssh," he calmed her, wrapping his arms around her and guiding her into the house, "it's all right, I was just thinking about calling you anyway."

She smiled up at him. He always knew when she was hurting, even when she tried to hide it, but this case had just been too close for comfort and no amount of acting could change that.

I'm not always strong
And sometimes I'm even wrong
But I win when I choose
And I can't stand to lose.
But I can't always be
The rock that you see
When the nights get too long
And I just can't go on.

"Why don't we continue this talk in the bedroom?" Grissom asked, hoping his choice of words would startle a more positive reaction out of her.

It did. She giggled and looked up into his eyes. "Why, Mr Grissom, are you trying to seduce me?"

He shook his head ruefully and smiled at her. How had he gotten so lucky as to have a woman like Catherine Willows fall in love with him? The relationship was still new enough that he had occasional pangs of doubt, fearing that she couldn't really want to be with him. He was learning to think beyond that, and fast, because she got really uptight and angry when she realised he was doing it.

"Well," he replied a twinkle in his eye, "we might leave that until after we've had some sleep." He had to stifle a yawn and saw Catherine do the same moments after him. "I don't think either of us has the stamina for anything else right now."

Catherine nodded, he was right. Maybe after some sleep she could be the one to seduce him. It'd been along time since she'd been in a man's bed. Slipping in between the sheets with him, she thought that it was even better that it was Gil's bed she was in. A warm glow suffused her body at the mere thought.

The woman in me
Needs you to be
The man in my arms
To hold tenderly
'Cause I'm a woman in love
And it's you I run to
Yeah the woman in me
Needs the man in you.

She fell a sleep in his arms and he lay silently watching her. She looked so beautiful and sexy even when she slept. Looking closely a cold shiver caught at his heart as he noticed tears trickling down her cheeks and then heard her give a sob. She began shaking convulsively.

"Cath?" he said anxiously, shaking her gently. "Cath, honey, wake up it's all right."

Surging up right on the bed, Catherine gulped in air between her sobs. "Oh God, Gil," she whimpered. Her eyes were dark and glistening with fear and pain. "How could that bastard have done that?"

Gil rocked her gently trying to still her inner turmoil. The bastard in question had raped, tortured and killed his twelve-year-old stepdaughter and hidden her body. It was only when the mother had reported the child missing the next day that a full-scale search had been conducted. She was found three miles from her home clad only in her panties. Grissom had been with the group who had found her and had kept the rest of the team back, but Catherine had been with Dr Al Robbins in the coroner's office when the body had been brought in.

He wished he could have assigned Catherine to one of the other cases that had come in later that night, but the attempt had been futile. No one could dissuade her from taking on a case concerning children, and Grissom hadn't really tried that hard anyway, knowing what the outcome would be. He didn't want them arguing about it or she wouldn't have come to him, when she was this upset, but would have stayed home and hidden it.

"Ssh, honey," he said, trying to console her. He wished he were better with people, though thanks to Catherine his people skills were improving, but even now being here with her he still felt deficient. "It's all right now, Catherine, we got him." He reassured her, reminding her of the fact. "He'll never hurt another child again. I promise you."

He felt safe making that promise; he knew only too well from past reputation what happened to child abusers and killers in the joint. The man would be lucky to make it through his sentence alive, the other prisoners would make sure of that.

When the world wants too much
And it feels cold and out of touch
It's a beautiful place
When you kiss my face.

Catherine looked up at Gil seeing his concern and love for her written on his face and in his eyes. "Kiss me, Gil," she said, "let's make all this go away and find some happiness for us."

Not sure the timing was right, Gil leaned forward and kissed her anyway. He didn't need an excuse to do so, not anymore, he took every chance he could get. It was something the younger members of the team were struggling to get used to from the man who always hid his feelings and emotions. Grissom had decided that would all change as soon as Catherine had told him she loved him.

Their passion rose as they kissed and they let it consume them. Drifting along on the tide they shut the rest of the world out for now.

Tonight would be time enough to work in the seedy underworld of crime and death; they could escape it for now...together.