Title: Under the Mistletoe

Fandom: CSI

Pairing/Characters: Catherine Willows, Nick Stokes

Rating: FR13

Disclaimer: CSI belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer and company.

Prompts: Written for iheartcathnick who wanted to see this pairing with the prompt of mistletoe.

Notes: Set roughly around Season Four.

Summary: Nick's bored at the staff Christmas party.

Word Count: 526

Nick's never been a big fan of the annual staff Christmas party that the county puts on for the Crime Lab. Instead he much prefers the intimate get-together that his team will have a week or so before Christmas. It's their regular breakfast at a diner at the end of another graveyard shift but this time they'll exchange gifts and cards. It's intimate, relaxed and it feels like family. The large Christmas party that the lab puts on is housed in one of the big hotels and its always formal dress making for a party that's stiff, formal and completely uncomfortable.

It doesn't help that his whole team isn't here either. This year half of them are manning the lab tonight and he barely knows anyone at the party. He sighs before taking another sip of his watered down cocktail and wonders how much longer of fake smiles, tired Christmas songs and meaningless conversation he'll have to endure before he can escape and head home.

The sight of Catherine in a crimson-coloured silk cocktail dress that hugs every curve of her body causes Nick to pause. She's with Grissom and Ecklie as the three of them make small talk with some politician. And Nick can't help but wonder if there's something more than just friendship between Catherine and Grissom. If there is, then he decides that Grissom is one lucky man.

Suddenly Catherine turns and breaks away from the group of men before she makes her way across the room towards him. For a brief moment, Nick wishes that things could be different for them and that they were much more than co-workers. He smiles at her as she walks over.

“Nick,” Catherine warmly greets him.
“Catherine,” Nick responds with a tilt of his head.
“Enjoying the evening?”

He gives her a rueful grin before shaking his head in the negative.

“Not really my style.”
“I know how you feel,” Catherine states, “But you should try to mingle.”
“I know, Grissom's already told me that.

She laughs and he feels like a child who's just been told what to do by one of his parents. Yet he still wants to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless. But he knows that the annual Christmas party is neither the time nor the place to do something like that.

“You do know that you're standing under the mistletoe?” Catherine asks her voice rich and seductive.

Before he can respond, she's leaning forward and placing a warm kiss on his lips. It's a simply a chaste brush of her lips against his own yet it fills him with desire. His hand lightly grips her wrist.

“Catherine…” His voice is husky and it trails off and he's not quite sure what to say to her.

She smiles reassuringly at him before her hand slips into his own and she gives his hand a gentle squeeze. Catherine mouths the word later at him before she slips off into the crowd leaving him alone again. This time it's different and he's excited about what the night will hold for him when they can escape this extremely formal and stiff party.

**END**

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