Platypus Fifty-Two: The Heat is On


"Oh, god," Catherine moaned as she shut the door and walked into the living room. She looked at Gil. "It's too early to be this hot!"

"I know," he said sympathetically. Then, he asked: "Lindsey get on the bus okay?"

She nodded. "Yep. She's not happy that she has to go to school today."

"At least her building has air conditioning," Gil pointed out. When Catherine flopped down next to him, she reached out and picked up the stereo's remote.

As a soft jazz song filtered through the air, she snuggled up to him and peeked at the newspaper he was reading. "Anything good?" she murmured.

"Same ol' stuff," he replied, before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"Oh."

Gil smiled and brushed his fingers through her hair. Catherine sighed happily and closed her eyes. The weekend together had been great; after the stress of the past couple of weeks, being a family had put them more in sync and erased any remaining tension between them.

"Would you like some coffee?" he asked.

Catherine shook her head. "Just you," she murmured.

Gil chuckled. "Okay, then."

Catherine heard a high-pitched noise on the speakers, and then a little crackling; she groaned and eased herself out of Gil's arms.

"What are you---"

He stopped talking when Catherine's cell phone started to ring. She smiled at him. "My stereo acts up when my cell phone's receiving a signal."

"Oh. Interesting."

She chuckled and answered her phone. "Willows."

"CSI Willows, this is LVPD's Dispatch Office, O'Rourke speaking," the male voice said in introduction.

Catherine sighed and responded, and as she listened, she jotted down the scene's location and description. She turned, and saw Gil was on the phone, too.

"So much for beating the heat," she said after they had ended their calls. "You on the parking lot, too?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Nick and Sara were called out on something else, so... we're on this." He tilted his head and said, "Are you going to be okay on the case?"

Catherine made a face. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's a dead baby."

She frowned. "It is?"

Gil nodded again. "Yes, it is. So, are you going to be okay?"

"You're going to be working with me," she said with a little shrug. "I'll be fine."

Gil studied her carefully; she smiled and went to the closet for her shoes. She heard him sigh, and then he got up, too.

&&&&


The chief deputy D.A., Jeffrey Sinclair, walked away. Catherine watched him, and quietly said to herself, "I always do." After a moment, she sighed, shook her head, and muttered, "Damn lawyers."

"Catherine?"

She turned and saw Gil standing behind her. "What's up?"

"The car's been towed to the lab," he said, putting his hand on her arm. "Shall we process?"

She smiled, and nodded. "Sure."

"What was that about?" he asked as they walked. "That was Sinclair, wasn't it?"

She sighed. "Yeah," she said, nodding again. "He just wants to nail this family. Make them a warning shot to other families in Vegas."

"Ah," Gil said quietly.

She shrugged and followed him into the garage, where the Winston's vehicle waited for them. They surveyed the car, and then Catherine looked into the back seat.

After removing the car seat, Gil noticed something on the floor. Catherine thought it was blood; she had to admit to herself that she was disappointed when the swab test was negative.

At Gil's sigh, she asked, "What are you thinking?"

He shook his head. "I don't get people."

Catherine nodded. "I know. They boggle my mind sometimes, too."

"I thought you were a people person."

She smiled a little. "Yeah, but even the oddest cases confuse me."

He tilted his head to one side. "Fair enough."

"Well, I'll send this swab in for processing..." she trailed off as she straightened up. "What are you up to?"

"Why?"

"Wanna have coffee together?"

He smiled. "It's not time for breaks yet."

"We'll make it a working cup," she responded. "Go over the evidence we've collected so far."

"You're so smart," he said, smiling and gently brushing his finger down her nose. She grinned at him.

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in chairs in his office, going over the case. After a few minutes, Gil's phone rang, so Catherine sat back and studied the information while he spoke.

"Grissom." After a pause, he said, "Oh. I wasn't aware of that... Yes, alright. I'll let my staff know. Will the garage be taking the vehicles in? Okay... Yes. Thank you, Director."

She looked up when he put the phone back in the cradle. "What's that?"

"Your beautiful new SUVs?" he replied with a tired smile. "Some of them are being recalled."

Catherine smiled and shrugged. "Oh, well. They'll get fixed, we'll get 'em back."

"And in the meantime, I get to deal with the complaints from the annoyed CSI's."

"Well, you won't get any complaints from me," she told him, smiling. She looked at his empty cup, and then at hers. "Want a refill?"

"Sure."

She smiled again and pushed herself up out of the chair. "I'll be right back." Her phone rang as she reached for the empty mugs. She groaned. "Hold that thought."

She put the phone to her ear. "Willows."

"Mommy?"

"Hey, Lindsey," she murmured. "What's up? And, why aren't you in bed yet?"

"Can't sleep," her daughter said quietly.

Catherine started to pace as she spoke. "Did you have a bad dream?"

"Little one."

"Well, why don't you tell me about it," she said. "I'm taking a little break, so, let's talk it out."

She continued pacing as Lindsey told her about the bad dream. She wasn't ignoring Gil, but she wasn't really paying attention to him---until he grabbed her arm, and tugged her back two feet.

And then she heard the noise she heard in her living room that morning.

Eyes wide, she turned and started at Gil. He tilted his head and looked down at the shelf they were standing in front of. She followed his gaze, and made noncommittal replies to Lindsey's rant about her bad dream.

Gil crouched down, studied the bottom shelves, and came up empty. Catherine kicked a box over to the bottom of the structure, and stood upon it.

When she saw the tape recorder, she blinked and felt her jaw drop.

"Mommy? Are you listening to me?"

"Of course I am," she murmured as she stepped off of the box and motioned to Gil to check out what she saw. "You know that what you dreamed about isn't going to happen. I'm not going anywhere, Linds."

"Promise?"

"Of course. You know I love our pancake and pajamas Sundays more than anything else in the world," Catherine murmured. "I live for them. I love you, baby girl."

Lindsey sighed softly. "Thanks for listening, Mom."

"Baby, I'm always here for you. You can talk to me about anything," Catherine said quietly. She looked up and saw an expression of utter belief plastered to Gil's face. "Do you think you'll sleep now?"

"Maybe... I'll try."

"Good," Catherine murmured. "Call if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay. Night, Mom."

"Night, Linds."

She hadn't had the phone closed for two seconds, before Gil grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the office.

&&&&


"What is this?" Gil exclaimed once they were outside on the steps of the building. "The CIA?"

Catherine started to laugh, but she stopped when she saw the stricken look on Gil's face.

"Well, when you thought he'd ALS your office, you weren't too far off the map," she conceded.

"Does he have me tailed every night?" Gil asked, eyes wide. "Honestly! What will he stoop to?"

She sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, Gil. I mean... you know how petty he is. How much he wants to beat you at something. He can't do it scientifically, so he's aiming for ethically, I guess."

"Pretty underhanded," Gil grunted.

"Yeah," Catherine agreed. She sighed again. "He wants the next big promotion. He lives for that stuff. He greases everyone up, and slides right in."

Gil sighed. "What do we do?"

She shrugged. "Well, we can't get rid of it. He'll know and then just try harder."

"We didn't say anything in there, did we?"

Catherine thought for a minute, and then shook her head. "Nope. We had the door open... and we were just talking about the case. Safe. He's got nothing."

"If it was placed there---"

"While we took the weekend off. Because if you were off, I'd use your office. It's the only opportunity he had to do it."

Gil sighed and nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right."

"This is really insane."

He nodded again. "I agree."

She smiled at him. "Well, we'll just have to remember it's there, and play it safe. He clearly doesn't completely buy the breakup. Or else he wouldn't be looking for extra proof."

"This sucks," Gil said with a boyish pout.

"I know," she murmured. "I'll cheer you up later."

"Promise?" he asked, his expression brightening.

"I do," she answered, smiling more.

He smiled. "I will look forward to it."

&&&&


At the end of her shift, she walked out to her vehicle. She got inside, and shut the door. It was inhumanely hot. She reached up to check the temperature gauge, and frowned when it was one hundred and thirty-five.


She sighed as the temperature rose. It was a long day, and the heat wasn't helping her cope with it. She waited until she couldn't stand the heat, and then she turned the key into the ignition and turned the air conditioning on.

After a few minutes, she pulled out of the parking lot.

She was home within the hour, and she and Lindsey curled up in the living room and watched a movie. She was glad for her daughter; she was a bright light at the end of sad cases or bad days.

When the door opened, she knew it would be Gil; she was still pleasantly surprised to see him, though.

He took his shoes off and smiled at both Catherine and Lindsey, holding up a shopping bag.

"Whatcha got?" Lindsey asked, her curiousity piqued.

"Ice cream," Gil replied, still smiling. "I thought you two could use something to cool off."

"We've got air conditioning, remember?"

"You don't want it?" Gil asked the girl.

Lindsey's eyes widened quickly. "No, no, I want some."

Catherine laughed and got up. "I'll get some bowls."

Gil followed her into the kitchen, where they worked together to serve up some ice cream into three bowls. Lindsey was sitting, very alert, and waiting for her snack when the adults walked back into the living room.

"Here you go," Gil said, handing her a bowl and spoon.

"Thank you," she chirped.

Catherine smiled and sat down next to Gil, who was next to her daughter; he put one arm around her shoulders after setting his ice cream bowl in his lap. Catherine snuggled up against him.

"What are you two watching?"

"Centerstage," Catherine replied, laughing at the blank look on Gil's face. "It's a ballet movie."

"Explains the guys wearing tights," he remarked.

"Yeah," she agreed, chuckling a little.

"Is this another chick flick?" he asked.

"It's one of Lindsey's favourite movies," Catherine corrected. "So eat your ice cream, and let us finish watching."

"Okay," he murmured, before pressing a kiss to her temple. Catherine turned and smiled. Then, she kissed his lips briefly.

Lindsey looked at them and grimaced. "Ew. Do you hafta do that in front of me?"

"Yes," Catherine replied, looking at her daughter.

The little blonde girl sighed and returned to eating her ice cream. "Gross," she muttered under her breath.

&&&&


"Lindsey's in bed, we're done for the day... now what?" Catherine asked, as she put the bowls in the dishwasher. "Bed?"

"I had something more recreational in mind."

She smiled. "Of course you did."

Gil smiled a little in response. Then, he said, "I'm sorry I left you to work on Warrick's case."

She shrugged. "Don't worry about it."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "Yep. It was fine. Sad, but fine."

"Okay," he said quietly. "If you're sure..."

Catherine closed the dishwasher door and then she leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Very sure."

"Good."

"Yeah."

He smiled and put his hands on her hips to pull her closer. She grinned and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her fingers toy with the hair at the back of his neck. When Gil closed his eyes and sighed softly, she leaned up and kissed him.

"That's nice," Gil whispered.

"You'd think it was too hot for that," she teased quietly.

"You have air conditioning."

She grinned again. "So I do," she agreed. "Worth every penny in this weather."

"Oh, definitely," he said, before scooping her up in his arms and turning to leave the room.

&&&&


Catherine giggled breathlessly as Gil kissed his way up her body. His beard tickled her in all the right ways, and his lips left her wanting so much more.

When he reached her lips, she reached up and threaded her fingers through his short hair, tugging him closer so she could deepen the kiss.

"Perfect way to unwind," Catherine whispered, nuzzling him.

"Are you satisfied?"

"Nuh uh," she murmured. "Want more. You. More."

Gil chuckled and kissed her again. Catherine sighed against his mouth and felt her body tighten as he took advantage of the parting of her lips.

As they kissed, she moved her legs so they were on either side of him. Then, she slid her hands down his stomach; Gil bucked into her when she wrapped one hand around his growing erection and cupped its underside with her other hand.

She chuckled. "Ready to go?"

"A-almost," he croaked, dropping his head to her shoulder.

She grinned and pressed her lips to his temple as she massaged him with her hands. She used Gil's quiet noises as a guide, until he brought his own hand down upon hers; then, she let him set the pace until he couldn't take it anymore.

With her hands removed, Gil positioned himself between her legs, and then he pushed himself inside of her.

He groaned; she whimpered.

Then, they started moving together. Catherine wriggled, moving her legs up enough so that she could rest them against his hips comfortably, and then she slid her hands down his back. She pressed her nails into his skin, and then slowly slid her hands upwards.

Gil's breath came out sounding very strangled. Catherine would have laughed and teased him, but he dropped his lips to her neck and started nibbling and sucking. She whimpered again and dug her nails into the skin above his shoulder blades.

His thrusts increased in force and speed when he felt the bite of her nails.

"More," she whispered.

"Yes, ma'am," he groaned.

She stretched her arms up over her head, choosing to hold onto the head board instead of Gil's shoulders.

Gil took advantage of her movement and grabbed her wrists in one hand, pinning her to the mattress. Catherine arched against him and tried to move with him. His thrusts increased in force again; she whimpered more loudly and let the intensity of sensations wash over her.

"Love the way you get so flushed," he whispered in a ragged breath.

Catherine opened her eyes and looked up at him. He held her gaze as they kept moving; she smiled a little and leaned up to kiss him. He smirked and deliberately let his lips hover over hers, teasing her by withholding his kiss.

"Fuck," she hissed. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" he inquired.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Nuh uh."

"Bite me."

Gil knew she meant it as a witty retort, but he chose to take it as an invitation. He brought his lips down onto the upper curve of her breast and bit down lightly. Catherine hissed and arched.

Taking that as a positive response, Gil moved to the other breast. Biting into her a second time elicited a low moan and a few hidden muscle contractions.

"G-Gil... please," Catherine whimpered.

He rewarded her with a kiss, and then he pulled back enough so he could maintain eye contact with her. Catherine's cheeks were flushed and her pupils were enlarged so much that Gil could barely make out the blue of her eyes.

"So... so... clo..."

Gil smirked a little and released her wrists. He reached down and lifted one of her legs up even higher.

"Fuck," she panted, at the change in depth and angle.

She reached down and held onto his shoulders, needing something to anchor her to him. She looked up into his eyes and saw that he was just as lost as she was; she wondered how long he'd be able to last.

His hand left her thigh and traveled inwards. Catherine felt her body tremble under his fingers; he stopped thrusting to play her body against her.

She came with a quiet, but sharp, cry; he came a few minutes later, after a few more thrusts, with a grunt and a heavy sigh.

They stayed together for a little while, their body positions moving into a comfortable position for holding. Catherine smiled at him, and then leaned in to kiss his shoulder. He smiled and placed a kiss upon her forehead.

"You okay?" she asked quietly.

He smiled lazily. "Very. Why?"

She shrugged. "Just wondering."

"Oh."

"I know you well, but sometimes, you're hard to read."

Gil smiled. "Catherine, when we're lying like this, it's safe to say I'm feeling very fine."

She grinned. "Okay."

He kissed her, and then he slowly slid out of her and rolled onto his back. Catherine turned onto her side and draped on of her legs over his and she brought a hand down onto his chest. He smiled and put one of his hands over hers.

Gil closed his eyes and sighed. "Y'know," he said quietly. "I still can't believe Ecklie."

Catherine chuckled. "If I wasn't still processing it myself, I'd punish you for mentioning his name in bed."

"I wouldn't say anything about him in this bed, if I weren't still processing it," he told her. "Don't worry."

She kissed his shoulder. "Good to know."

"I mean... wasn't our fight convincing enough?"

"Back to this, are we?"

He sighed. "He is such a... a..."

"Petty man?"

"Worse than that," Gil expelled on a sigh.

Catherine rubbed his chest. "We're on it. Don't worry."

"I do worry," he mumbled. "I mean, I don't care about my career so much, as I do about yours."

She smiled. "I love you," she murmured, before kissing him.

"Catherine, seriously."

"We'll deal with it later," she said, hoping to soothe him. "Right now, just hold me, okay?"

He nodded. First, he moved so he could get the blankets up and over them; then, he wrapped his arms around her. Catherine smiled and hugged him back.

"That's better," she whispered. "Think you'll get any sleep?"

"I'm too steamed to sleep."

Catherine chuckled and gently brushed her fingers over his temple and jaw. "Sure you are," she whispered. She knew the signs of sleepiness on his face almost as well as on her daughter's face; he was, at the most, twenty minutes from sleep.

"Am, too."

"Okay," she whispered.

She laughed softly, ten minutes later---his eyes were closed and his breathing was deep.