Platypus 27: Gas Crisis

“Good Springs?” Gil watched Catherine as she spoke into her phone. “Brass, are you serious?” Her face fell, and paled. “Jim, I swear to God, if you’re pulling my leg, I’ll—” She stopped talking, lips drawn tightly together. “Okay, we’ll get over there... Yes! He’d want to be on this case!” Catherine glanced up at him, before turning her back. He had trouble hearing what she was saying after that, but managed to make it out: “It’s not too personal—besides, he manages to control himself better than us... No, I know... let me tell him... Well,” she drew in a long breath and sighed. “I’m at his place right now, so it’d be easier. Okay. We’ll leave soon. Hold the police there.”

She hung up the phone and turned around. He thought he heart was going to stop when he saw her face. She looked devastated. He jumped up. “What is it, Catherine?”

“Ahhh,” she started and stopped twice before making a statement. “There’s been a suicide in Good Springs.”

Gil’s brow wrinkled, not seeing how he was too connected to this case. “Do we even have jurisdiction there?” She shook her head. He continued to ask questions: “Then why did Jim call you?”

“Let’s sit down,” she tried to suggest.

He stopped her. “Catherine, just tell me.”

“It was staged,” she admitted, finally. Things were starting to fit into place. “There was a bath tub, and the vic was a man.” She stopped talking. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the feeling of failure hitting him hard. Another person he couldn’t protect because he didn’t catch Paul Milander. He felt Catherine wrap her arms around his waist and he found himself leaning against her. “We’re going to get him this time. I promise.”

He nodded. She nuzzled him, sending a wave of shivers through him. He wanted nothing more than to seek comfort in her; losing himself in such warmth and comfort would help—but, he knew that catching Milander would give him a greater sense of comfort.

“Do you want me to drive?”

He shook his head. “No, I can do it.”

“You sure?” She asked, her voice low and soft, but inquisitive nevertheless.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Alright,” she consented. He felt her kiss his neck, and then moved so he could capture her lips. They kissed quietly for a few minutes. Then, they parted and looked at each other. He was calmer. He kissed her forehead and smiled. She smiled back. “Let’s get our coats, and catch ourselves a bad guy, okay?”

“Okay.”

He tried to let her optimism seep into his system, but it wasn’t working. They left the house, and got into his Tahoe. After he started the engine, she extended her hand for him to hold onto. Easily, the fingers on his free hand connected with hers, as his soul sought comfort in hers.

~*~

“So,” Gil asked. “Another victim, or an accomplice?”

Catherine looked at him, saw his professional facade and wondered what was going on inside his head beyond that. “Beats me. Not enough evidence yet.” She saw his expression cloud, before he could control it. She set her own professionalism aside and reached for him when she could. “Gil, are you okay? Should I call—”

He shook his head. “No, I’m fine, Catherine.”

“You don’t look fine,” she told him. Before he could open his mouth to refute her statement, she continued: “You can fool the detectives, you can fool the other kids on the team, but you can’t fool me.” He sighed and ducked his head. “I know you better than that, and don’t you ever think you can fool me. You can’t.”

Gil nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She gave him a small smile. “Don’t be sorry, just know who you’re talking to.” She almost laughed out loud, remembering the context she used those words in, months before this moment, but contained it. Different times, a different life. Instead, she smirked and suggested: “It’ll be a while before anything happens out here. How about we make out in the back of the Tahoe for a while?”

“We’re on the job, Cath.”

She raised her hands in protest. “I know, I know. I just thought it might help.”

He smiled at her. She felt her insides warm. “Maybe later.”

~*~

After Gil left the cell, he headed towards the exit of the courthouse. Before he could put his hand on the door, he was stopped by a voice calling out to him.

“Gil!” He turned and saw Catherine. Before he could react, she flung herself around him. He caught himself glancing around, and after he asked her what the hug was for, she pulled back and answered his question: “Be careful tonight. Please.”

“I will.”

She shook her head. “No, I want you to promise me. He’s... a sick man. If anything happens to you, I’ll—”

He pressed his lips to hers in an act that surprised them both. She gasped, and deepened the kiss, her arms tightening around him. When he pulled back, he smiled and ran a finger over her swollen lips. “Nothing’s going to happen. I will come home to you.”

“You better,” she managed a smile. He could see the worry in her eyes, and wished he could make it go away. “I know you, and you’ve got your blinders on.”

He blushed, knowing that she was implying that he could get very fixated on a case, and ignore ideas like caution. “I will be very careful.” He brushed his lips over hers again. “You should get that print back to the lab.”

She nodded. “I know.”

He slipped his hand into hers and they walked outside together. When they got to her car, she asked him if he needed a drive. He shook his head. “I’ll get an officer to drive me to the Judge’s house.” In another public act that surprised him, he reached up and cupped her cheek. She sighed. “I’m going to be okay.”

“Promise?”

“I already did, Cath.”

She huffed. “Say it again.”

“I promise,” he dipped his head and sealed the vow with a sweet kiss. When he pulled back, her eyes were half-closed and her cheeks were flushed. “I’ll be okay, and I’ll come home, and after we catch this guy, I’ll be ready to keep that look on your face all night.”

Catherine’s eyes lit up. “Goody.” She reached up and put her arms around him, whispering something in his ear he didn’t catch. When he didn’t respond immediately, she leaned back and repeated herself: “What would you prefer I be wearing when you get back?”

He grinned impishly. “Do you still have that liquid latex lying around?”

Her giggle was infectious. He felt his mood lighten immediately. She raised one eyebrow and smirked. “Maybe.”

“I’d really enjoy peeling that—” A strangled sigh escaped his lips. As much as they shared between them, he could still get embarrassed easily. She grinned up at him, urging him to continue. “Off of your body.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

He sighed again. “Cath...”

She put a hand soothingly to his chest. “I know, I know. You’re getting better.” She smiled up at him, making his insides melt. “Bet that if someone told you years ago that we’d be sitting here, talking about using liquid latex *again*, you’d never believe it.”

He nodded. “You’re right,” then, he felt his features move to match hers. “But, I’m happy.”

“Me, too.”

“I’ve got to go, Cath. I have a... date.”

Catherine smiled and nodded. “’Love you.”

He kissed her forehead. “I love you, too.”

~*~

Catherine hung up the phone before Jim Brass could even finish telling her what was going on. She had been busy painting her body in the latex that Gil had suggested she use, but when Brass called with the small, trace amount of news he had received, she stopped her artistic endeavors and slipped some comfortable clothes on over her work.

She was lucky that her sister had Lindsay. She was worried about Gil, and she knew she had her blinders on. When it came to that man, she didn’t see many other things around her. But, it was the same with Lindsay; when something important happened in her daughter’s life, the mothering blinders went up and it was the same sort of tunnel vision.

Before she knew it, she was on her way to Isabel Milander’s house, where the call said the body was found. She had no idea who the victim was, all the call said that it was a male, aged late forties or possibly early fifties.

Nearly in tears, she pulled into the driveway, behind a coroner’s van and a couple police cruisers. She hugged her sweater around her shivering form as she made her way under the tape after flashing one officer her identification card and muttering something about it being related to the case she had been working on.

When she saw the Good Springs’ coroner wheel a body bag out, she smothered a nervous sob with her hand. “Is that the victim?”

The dark-haired man nodded. “Yeah. A real shame. Just like the other one. The officers in charge are still inside.”

Catherine nodded grimly, and pushed herself into the house. When she looked around, and saw the scene in front of her, she felt her knees buckle.

Someone grabbed her from behind. “Cath?”

She jumped a foot up in the air, out of the arms that held her. “Gil?!”

As she broke down in tears, from the stress of the relief she was feeling, she heard Gil ask her what seemed like a million questions. She looked up into the eyes she loved so much, and started trying to explain herself. “I was so worried. Brass said that there was a dead male, and that’s all he had heard, and with your birthday, and Milander, and—” A sob escaped, making her shudder. “I was just... oh goodness, if that was you...”

“It’s not.”

“I know that now.”

He pressed his lips to her temple. “I’ll leave here in a minute, okay?”

“No,” she pouted, feeling a little embarrassed for breaking down like she had. She hated how she could get so focused on Gil, but she couldn’t help it. “Right now.”

Gil smiled down at her. “Just let me finish answering the detective’s questions.” He helped her into a standing position. “First, though, let me help you to the car.”

“You’re coming back, though, right?”

He brushed her hair out of her eyes, tucking it behind her ear. She sighed at the gesture. “How about I get the detective to come outside, and that way you don’t have to worry about me coming and going?”

She smiled, eyelids fluttering as she leaned into him. “Sounds perfect.”

Once outside with Detective Bosworth, Catherine sat down in the driver’s seat, and Gil leaned against her while he answered the officer’s questions. She kept concentrating on her breathing, trying to keep a public face up, knowing that they did have to be professional, even if she didn’t want to. The fear was gone, but the memory of it shook her. Feeling Gil’s hand on her knee helped, but barely—she wanted skin on skin, no barriers, no holding back.

When the detective left them alone, she said nothing but: “Get in the car, we’re going home.”

He chuckled, but obeyed, getting into the passenger’s seat while she turned the key in the ignition. After they both shut their doors, they drove off.

They made it halfway home before the Tahoe started to die. Catherine barely had a chance to pull the vehicle over before it sputtered and shut down.

“Damn it!” Catherine cried out and slammed her hand onto the steering wheel. Next to her, she heard Gil shift, and then start to chuckle. She whirled around and looked at him. “What?!”

“Man, you’re wound tight.”

“I had a hard couple of hours, Gil. If you were in my shoes right now, you’d be acting the same—” she paused and switched directions. “Actually, no, you’d probably shut down and hide somewhere, but you’d still be feeling what I’m feeling right now, so you reeeeally shouldn’t laugh at me.” When he couldn’t stop laughing, she unbuckled her seat belt and glared at him. “What is so funny, Gil?”

He pointed a finger to one of the meters behind her steering wheel. She followed the gesture until her eyes read the gas meter. She sighed and fell back against her seat. “We ran out of gas.”

“On this very deserted road.” She cursed, realizing that they wouldn’t make it home in time to spend the not-so-quiet evening she had planned. The latex was starting to peel on its own, and the edges were bunching a little. When Gil tried to get her to calm down, she jumped and tossed her cell phone at him. “Call someone. We need gas.”

“Cath...”

She sighed, feeling back for snapping. “I’m sorry. I just want to get you home. I’ll feel better knowing that you’re safe.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head against the steering wheel. She felt his hand on her back, rubbing in gentle circles. Soon, she heard him talking on the phone: “Hi, Nick, Catherine and I are stuck between Las Vegas and Good Springs... Yes, she did... I know... It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you later. If you could get some gas to us, just so we can get to a service—” He paused and listened for a little while, before giving Nick directions. Then, he hung the phone up and slipped it onto the dashboard. He continued rubbing her back. “You were really upset,” he remarked.

Catherine lifted her head and nodded. “I thought you were dead. What was I supposed to do?”

“Process the scene and catch the guy?”

She knew he was teasing but it was such an awful joke topic. The thought of processing a scene like that was too much; consequently, she broke into tears again.

Before she knew it, Gil had somehow pulled her out of her seat and into his lap. “Shhh... I’m sorry. It was a really bad joke.”

“Yes, yes, it was, buddy,” she mumbled between gritted teeth. She let him rock her back and forth, until the tears slowed. “What if that were me?”

He shrugged. “I wouldn’t have been able to... do anything.”

The conversation was awful, but she felt better knowing his response. Gil lifted her face to meet his. “I’m sorry I made you worry, Cath.”

“Just don’t do it again,” she smirked. He nodded and kissed her cheek. She hummed. “You can do better than that.” One of his hands moved to cup her chin, while he adjusted his position so he could kiss her lips. She purred when he finally pulled away. “Much better.”

Catherine reclaimed his lips, this time her impatience and urgent worry driving the intensity of the embrace. They both gasped and chuckled when she found the lever that pushes the seat back, when the seat moved they weren’t expecting the immediate action, and Catherine nearly got knocked over in the commotion.

“Nicky’s coming, Cath,” Gil reminded her while she started to undo his pants. She pouted. “Cath, we really shouldn’t get caught like this.” Instead of defending her decision verbally, she pulled her sweater off, revealing the black latex corset she painstakingly painted onto her body. “What’s this?”

“This is what I was doing what I was home, waiting for you,” she answered. “I didn’t exactly have time to unpeel it when I was panicking about you.”

She saw his eyes darken. “So I get to unpeel it then?”

“Maybe a little bit of it,” she grinned. “Nicky’s coming, remember?”

His hands ran over her torso. She loved the feeling of his hands running over the latex. When he squeezed her left breast she moaned and fell forward a little.

She shivered as he started pulling a strip of it off, tearing it from her soft skin that she had spent hours carefully shaving, too. When he uncovered some of her breast, including her nipple, she sucked in a deep breath. His fingers skimmed over the uncovered skin, before his mouth did.

“Gil...” She sighed again, this time over his name. He started to shift, playing with her jogging pants; she adjusted her position so she could slip out of them, and her underwear. She kissed his neck, while he managed to get his pants down past his knees. “I need you.”

“Works out well,” he said, nipping at her wrist while her hand caressed his cheek. “I need you, too.”

With both of them more than ready, Catherine let her knees bend so she could lower herself down, taking him inside her. He bit his lip, biting back a lusty moan, but she replaced his teeth with her own, nibbling on his lower lip until he started to move against her.

She felt him tugging at the latex, and she found herself moving to accommodate him; she wanted skin on skin, and the black substance was in the way.

While he played, her hands were sliding under his shirt, scratching gently in long lines. Their lips found themselves again, and Catherine knew she wouldn’t last long. She dipped her head into his neck, inhaling his scent, until she was brought up to meet his eyes.

“I’m...” He arched his back into another thrust. “Not going anywhere,” he confirmed it for her, making her feel better, more secure.

She nodded, kissing his forehead before the desire inside her grew to be too much. She rocked back against him and cried out, as the internal quake took over.

Gil finished soon after, his brow wrinkling with concentration, and then smoothing out completely as his explosion pulled him apart. She watched the emotions dance in his eyes. He stared back, a silly grin on his face.

“Feel better?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” he pointed to a car in the distance. It was far away, but it wouldn’t be much longer. “That could be Nicky.”

Catherine shot off of him, her fear of getting caught taking hold of her. Gil laughed softly while he readied himself. She glanced over at him while putting her sweater back on. “We will get to cuddle later, right?”

“It’s my favorite part,” he assured her. “I can’t wait.”

She saw his features cloud briefly. “What?”

“You will let me eat though, first, right?”

Catherine laughed, grinning at him. “Of course.” She straightened her hair out, and put her seat belt back on. Gil did the same.

Sure enough, it had been Nick. Warrick was with him, too. They each had a canister of gasoline. Warrick put his in first, and Nick walked to Catherine’s window, which she rolled down. “Thanks, Nicky,” she beamed at him. “This place was beginning to give me the creeps.”

He chuckled. “Next time, check your gas tank before you drive out of town, okay, Cath?”

She nodded. “I promise.”

He chuckled again and met Warrick in front of the car. They were talking for a couple minutes, and then Nick moved to the gas tank.

“Hey guys,” Warrick approached them from Gil’s window. “How are you?”

“Good,” Gil replied. “Now that the gas crisis has been averted.”

Wordlessly, Warrick’s hand snaked through the window, where he picked up a piece of the dark rubbery substance that Catherine was still wearing some of. “Might wanna keep this stuff hidden.”

Catherine blushed. “Did Nick—”

“No,” he smiled, tossing the material at the strawberry-blonde, who giggled and slapped it out of her face, so it landed on Gil. Calmly, he picked it off, and set it in the door pocket. His expression sobered. “Was it that Milander guy?”

Gil nodded. “It was. It’s all over now.”

“Good,” he seemed genuinely thrilled. “Now, would you take her home and keep her from worrying about you?” He winked. “She makes us look bad.”

Gil smirked. “But, she looks so good doing it.”

The darker male wagged a finger at both of them, before walking towards Nick, and then into their Tahoe. Both men waved at the couple before speeding off.

Catherine sighed. “You think Nick knows?”

Gil shrugged. “Who knows. Does it matter?”

She shrugged, mimicking his behavior. “Don’t think so.”

“Good,” he smiled. “Let’s go fill this tank up, and go home.”

~*~

“Gil?”

He looked down at her. She had twisted a little from their sleeping position, and was staring up at him with a confused look on her face. “Yes, Cath?”

“Were you sleeping?”

“What?”

“I was talking... you weren’t answering.”

The truth was that he didn’t hear her, he realized. He had known that while they were working at the lab, he had missed most of the discussion on the case, but he had thought that he had just zoned out in thought. Apparently this wasn’t the case, as he noticed that he had been wide awake, not thinking, and couldn’t hear anything.

He frowned, but controlled it before she noticed it. “I... I was just thinking.”

“About?”

He kissed her head. “About you. How happy I am. That sort of thing.”

She turned and pushed him gently onto his back, rewarding him with a kiss. “Good answer. Are you sleepy?”

“No, not quite yet.”

Catherine’s smile stretched into a sensual grin. His stomach tightened, as desire flooded his system.

“Another good answer.”

The End!

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