Story Title: Round Table Discussion II
Author: Esynnaj
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Pairing: Gil/Warrick
Rating: FRM
Email: vebesahchalarc@sbcglobal.net
Warnings: Language
Summary: Sometimes, the corner Gil works himself into isn't the one he really wants.
Disclaimer: CSI and all characters from it belong to CBS Productions, Touchstone Television, Alliance Atlantis Communications and Jerry Bruckheimer Films.

ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION II

The mood, as Nick, Gil, Catherine and Warrick had breakfast after shift had been already been rather down and was not improved when Sara sat down with a cup of coffee and peremptorily demanded of Warrick, "Are you getting married because of me and Gil?"

Warrick glanced at her wearily and said, "Sara, please gimme a break. No matter what you may think, the universe doesn't revolve around you and the Big Bang Theory had nothing to do with you. Neither does me getting married."

"Well, the timing makes me believe otherwise."

With an edge to his voice, Warrick said, "You can believe whatever the fuck you want. It's still got nothing to do with you."

"Yes, it does, if it's upsetting my household and it is. Every since we got your wedding invitation, Gil's been having anxiety attacks and I need to know why. If you think you can..."

"Sara," Gil interrupted, "I told you I can handle this myself and I wish you'd..."

"Sure, that's what you told me, but you haven't done anything about it and if what we talked about that other time we got together has any truth at all, which I still doubt, I want to bring everything out into the open and discuss it. You've always protected Warrick, Gil, let him get away with shit you wouldn't think about letting any of the rest us get away with. He was always, always your favorite. Time and time again you've just about admitted to me over and over that he was. So I want to know why!!! I've got the right!! You don't belong to him!! You belong to me now!!"

Warrick was suddenly on his feet, green eyes flashing. But Catherine grabbed his arm and pulled hard enough to make him sit back down as she said quietly, "Calm down and let it go, Warrick. Don't let her get under your skin. Don't let her draw you into an unnecessary argument."

Gil agreed, saying as he reached over the table to make tender contact with Warrick's tight fist, an act not missed by Sara's sharp eyes. "Catherine's right. Please don't get upset about this, Ricky. Let's just keep trying to talk it out."

Warrick snatched his hand away as if Grissom's touch had burnt him. "I'm tired of talking it out, Gris. I'm done with that. We've been down that road too many times and I'm not going down it any more. You did what you had to do for your mother. I'm doing what I gotta do for a friend."

As Warrick and Gil stared at each other, Nick said in a whisper, the intensity of which got everyone's attention, "Ah, Warrick, this wouldn't be your... friend, would it?"

They all turned as one of the loveliest creatures any of them had ever seen floated to their table, the type of woman who would turn heads on any company. There was also more than just a touch of the shimmering supernatural about her as well, if as she had reached a step up on the evolutionary scale. Café au lait in complexion with masses of gold tinted auburn hair and large, limpid, liquid blue sparkled eyes, she was built slim and strong, carrying herself with tranquil confidence and she had a charming, lopsided smile on her face. She was airily and colorfully dressed in attire that had a tropical feel to it, was additionally very female, very feminine but not delicate in any sense of the word.

She laid a gentle hand on Warrick's shoulder that had a clear sense of ownership without seeming at all possessive as she said softly with friendly, lust inspiring, husky intonations, "I went to your office and they told me I'd likely find you here. Your co-workers? They're very nice down there. I had a very difficult time getting away. Once I told them I was your fiancée, they almost talked me to death. I think I will like them very much."

They were all openly staring at her, enthralled by her towering beauty and the sound of the lightly accented tones of her deep, melodious voice. Then they were mesmerized by the sweetest scent that wafted to them from her when she elegantly leaned over to affectionately place a kiss on Warrick's cheek. Afterward, she slid a hand inside his shirt while murmuring, "I hope you don't mind that I've tracked you down. It was very necessary. I missed your warmth upon awakening this morning. My bed is cold and unkind whenever you're not in it."

His mood greatly improved, Warrick slid from the table with a grin to stand next to her, revealing that she was no less than a couple of inches or so shorter than he was. He said, obviously proud, "This is Christina Montoya, the lady I'm gonna marry. Tina, meet three friends of mine, Nick Stokes, Catherine Willows and Gil Grissom and Gil's wife, Sara Sidle."

Catherine stood up to shake Tina's hand, "I'm glad to finally meet you, Tina. Warrick's been telling us so much about you. He said you were very beautiful, but that certainly does not do you justice. You are... extremely beautiful. The two of you are going to make a beautiful couple."

Tina inclined her head with such infinite poise, the motion was almost otherworldly graceful and murmured, responding easily, as if compliment was no more than what someone who looked as she did and had the charisma she did was due, "I thank you." Then she smiled and said in return. "He's also told me much about you." Caressing Catherine's hand lightly, she said, "May I say, you are also just as he said you would be. You are a rose and radiant with sensuous rhythms of life. I regret I was not there to have seen you during your time as an exotic dancer. You must have been a breathtaking vision of loveliness. Indeed, you still are and always shall be."

"Oh my," Catherine mumbled, blushing bright red as she withdrew her hand and sat down, barely able to tear her gaze from Tina's hypnotic cerulean eyes. "Oh my."

Smiling down on Nick, Tine knelt next to him and ran the back of her hand down the side of his face, which made him shiver. "Your sensitivity and constant good humor are traits surpassing your handsomeness, which I find most appealing in any man. Most of all, you've been a very good friend to my man," she told him softly. "I love Warrick above all things. Anyone who is good to him has my heart and you have been good to and for him. For that, I am and always will be most appreciative. For that, you have my friendship as well and that is a very good thing to have. Please remember this. I have extraordinary gifts that, simply for the asking, are at your disposal whenever you have need of them."

Easily, she rose to lay a piercing gaze on Grissom as it darkened into cobalt blue. "I might've said the same to you, but your thoughtlessness, lack of forethought and cruelty to the one I love most has forfeited any right to my kindness and good will or to any place in his life. All I can say to you now is, I am grateful you have disappointed him repeatedly and therefore released him so he has finally turned to me as I had wished for longer than any of you could imagine."

She linked arms with Warrick to say softly as she left with him, both moving so smoothly, it was as if they were drifting on a cloud slightly above the floor, "Come, my love. Let me prove there is happiness available to you. In your mind, your second best I may be for now. However, mystically, magically, naturally and sexually speaking, I shall not remain as such much longer..."

Struggling to his feet, convinced he was suffocating because all the oxygen had been somehow been sucked from the air, Grissom stared after them wildly, then headed in the opposite direction. Sara got up and rushed after him. Nick and Catherine looked at each other a moment before Nick asked of Catherine, "What in the HELL was all of that about?"

Catherine shrugged. "How the fuck should I know? Warrick said she comes from Belize, this tiny country in Latin America, and was into the paranormal. Before, I was taking it with a grain of salt and just figuring they were simply marrying so she could stay in the United States or something. But now... She really seems to be into him. So, hey, I don't know. I just don't know..."

"Neither do I." Nick was silent for a moment. Then he leaned over the table toward Catherine. "Let me ask you this though. Did you notice how tall she is and how heavy her voice was?"

"Sure. Her voice was gorgeous, like dark honey or something."

"Yeah, but did you also notice it looked like she might have an Adam's Apple?"

Catherine grinned. "What're you saying, Nicky, that Tina might be a man?"

"Well, you know all the shit that's supposed to have been going on with maybe how Gris and Warrick might've had something going on before Gris and Sara got together? That might make it possible she's a he, right?"

"Possible but not probable. If she's a he, they can't legitimately get married and I don't think that type of playtime's on Warrick's mind."

"Yeah, but wouldn't it make it possible if it was a man he was really in love with? Suppose he's just doin' this to get back at Grissom for marrying Sara."

"Maybe he is, but I just can't see that. While Warrick getting married came up quick, you gotta admit, if Tina is a woman, she's one helluva woman. If I swung that way, I'd marry her myself."

That remark made Nick pause. Frowning, he studied the air for a pensive moment. Then he said, "Yeah. You're right about that. You're sure right about that."

Before they could continue their conversation, Sara came storming from the rear of the restaurant where she and Grissom had vanished, stomped to the front, slammed out the door and was gone. Right after that, Grissom reappeared and dropped into a seat at the table, looking exhausted and drained. After a moment, he whispered, "I've made a terrible mistake, the worst of my life, and have no idea how to fix it."

"Well, if what you're talking about is what I think you're talking about, you'd better think of something and think of it fast," Catherine advised. "Cause that woman he left here with is about to open Warrick's nose up for life. Once she does that, you are never gonna get him back."

He gave her a ragged glance. "I know."

Nick, looking stunned, said to Grissom, "Then, it was for real? Are you telling me you and Warrick really did have something going on?"

"We did," Grissom admitted tiredly. "It was the best something I'd ever had and I ruined it under the misapprehension I could make my mother happy by giving Warrick up and marrying Sara. All I've done is make all of us unhappy."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Catherine pointed out. "From what I saw today, Tina just might be the best thing for Warrick. She sure seems to love him." When Gil glared at her, she added, "You saw that too, didn't you? You saw how good she might be for him, didn't you? That's what's got you all hot and bothered, isn't it?"

Feeling defeated, he closed his eyes and slumped back. "Yes," he sighed. "He and I belong together. I've got to find a way to work this out. I've got to. Someway, somehow, I've just got to..."