how about an update on this? Click. Click. Clickity click. A sound all the occupants of the building knew well. The sound belonged to one person. The sound itself revealed much about the owner. Soft and slow when she was relaxed. Scratchy when she was tired and her feet shuffled over the hard floor. Light and upbeat when she was happy and well rested. Loud and quick when she was angry. It was this pattern that those inside the building heard tonight. As the sound approached each of them they would withdrawn a little further into their own area, silently praying that she would pass them by. Hoping her anger was not directed at them, all of them except for the man in the large office towards the back of the building. He had heard the sound and he knew her anger was directed at him. He had called her back to the office an hour ago, sending someone else to finish processing her crime scene. Lucky for him this gave him time to prepare for her wrath. The door to his office flew open, reverberating off the wall several times from the force she used. She marched over to his desk slamming her hand down hard. “What the hell was so damn important that you had to pull me off my case?” The glare Catherine gave Gil would have destroyed any other person in the lab. He squirmed slightly in his chair. “Sit down.” He pointed to the sofa against the wall as he rose from his chair. “No.” She wasn’t budging until she had her answer. “Sit down. Please.” This time he took her by the elbow leading her to the sofa. When she still refused he sat down himself and tugged her down with him. He looked at her not saying a word. Catherine realized now that his reasons for calling her back might have to do with something other than her job. Her mind filled with dozens of scenarios, the majority involving her daughter. Gil saw the panic in her eyes and knew immediately where her thoughts had taken her. “She’s fine.” It was almost the truth. “How did you…?” “Shhh…I need to tell you about my case tonight.” This was unusual. Gil had never called her in from a scene to talk about one of his cases in the nearly twenty years they had been working together. “It was a 419 in Henderson, kid drowned in a pool at a party where the parents weren’t home. We were headed for the pool to begin processing when I was called into the house to talk with Vartan.” He paused not knowing exactly how to tell her about Lindsey. “When he arrived on the scene he found Lindsey…” “No, she’s at home with my mother.” Catherine was shaking her head. “…he found Lindsey and she was…she had…” He was trying to choose his words carefully but Catherine was impatient. “What? What happened to her? You told me she was fine.” Her mind once again filled with the images all mothers dread. “She is. Now.” His voice was calm. “Now?” Unfortunately, Catherine’s voice was not calm. “When he found her she had been drinking.” Catherine stood up headed for the door to Gil’s office, determined to find her daughter. “Where is she?” The anger in her voice felt by the bodies in the morgue. “Sit down” “Where is she?” She was going to kill her daughter once she was sure she was safe. “I’ll tell you when you’ve calmed down.” “Calm down? She’s thirteen, she snuck out of the house to go to a party and she was drinking and you are telling me to calm down?” Her face and neck were red with anger. She shoved Gil to the side and bolted for his door. He barely caught her arm, pulling her back into his office and shutting the door. “Yes I am. If you go talk to her now you’ll say things you’ll regret later. Five minutes.” He let go of her arm, watching her pace back and forth like a caged animal. His office was silent except for the sound of her heels on his floor. Time was frozen. Gil hated doing this to her but knew the damage that could be done between mother and daughter if she went to Lindsey at this time. Catherine continued her pacing for a good half hour, finally stopping to raid his stash of chocolate covered grasshoppers. She didn’t really want the grasshoppers but it was the only chocolate he had in his office. If she didn’t eat something she’d talk and if she talked right now she would tear Gil to pieces for keeping her away from her baby. She’d calmed down just enough to realize her daughter had been found at a crime scene. She was still angry but the need to make sure Lindsey was safe was greater than her anger. She flopped down in Gil’s chair, container of grasshoppers in hand and propped her feet up on his desk. He was still firmly planted in front of his office door. She knew he didn’t feel she was calm enough to talk to her daughter yet. As frustrating as it was she admitted to herself that he was probably right. He often was where Lindsey was concerned. He had been there since before Lindsey was born. He had helped her through morning sickness when they were at crime scenes. They wrapped Lindsey’s first birthday presents together in the break room. He was there when she got the call from Eddie that her daughter had spoken her first word (Daddy), taking her out for coffee in an effort to cheer her up because she felt like she was missing all the major events of her daughter’s life. When a little boy in preschool had chased Lindsey with spiders he was there to calm her down and show her how harmless a spider could be. When she turned five he bought her a small butterfly habitat and helped her set it up. After Catherine had finally decided to leave Eddie, he was there to talk with Lindsey to make sure that she knew her parents were not the only ones to ever divorce. After Eddie passed away he would show up unannounced, taking Lindsey out to just spend the day together. It wasn’t a regular thing but it did make her daughter feel as if she had some sort of father figure in her life. More recently, he had been there for Catherine as Lindsey had begun to rebel giving her advice and supporting her decisions when everyone else around her found fault with them. So even though she felt as if she could rip him apart right now she trusted him enough to just sit and wait till he felt she was calm. Of course she would still look at him with daggers in her eyes---no sense in letting him know his instincts were correct. This was mostly a wasted effort on her part because Gil had pulled Harry out of his case and had been playing with him for the past ten minutes (another good reason to stay put). He was completely oblivious to her glare. She reached for another grasshopper only to find she’d emptied the container. Pulling open his bottom right drawer she dug around until she found his secret stash of fortune cookies and pulled the bag out, only to find there was just one cookie left. Gil looked up when heard her pull the bag out. “Toss me a cookie.” He held up his free hand waiting for the cookie wrapper to make contact. “Sorry, last one.” She ripped open the plastic and took the cookie out. “Fine, we’ll split it.” He put Harry back in his case and walked over to his desk. Catherine broke the cookie in half and pulled out two fortunes that were twisted tightly together. She tossed them on the desk and handed him his half of the cookie. “Aren’t you going to read the fortune?” He couldn’t believe how easily she had tossed them aside. “Nope.” “Why not?” “I really don’t see how some mass produced “ancient Chinese secret” can predict the future or give me some profound insight into my past.” “C’mon Cath. It’s just for fun.” “No.” “Why? Did you have a traumatic experience with a fortune as a child?” He smiled as he said this. “I don’t believe in fortunes.” “Please.” He gave her his special Catherine grin, winking at her. “For me.” “Just give me the damned fortune” she said as she snatched them from his hand, untwisting them and throwing one back at him. One of these days she was going to wipe that smile off his face. Unrolling her fortune she read it out loud. “Your past is not as it seems.” She lifted her eyebrow, half smirking. “There’s a surprise.” Tossing her fortune aside she grabbed Gil’s from his hand. “Hey, that’s mine.” He cocked his head to the side in protest. “You took half my cookie. Only fair.” “I believe you mean you took half of my cookie” and Gil snatched his fortune back, reading it silently to himself. “Well?” “It says ‘the road not taken will cross your path once more’.” Catherine laughed. “At least yours is better than mine.” “What do you mean?” “I think finding out that Sam was my father was enough of my past not seeming what is was.” Fortunes could only bring bad news in her mind and she didn’t want to imagine what could be worse than Sam. “But you already know about that so it has to be something different.” “Great. Like I need another life altering secret in my past. So what about yours?” “Easy. A second chance.” “For?” “It’s a fortune cookie, Catherine, not Miss Cleo.” “Right. Just proves my point---they’re meaningless.” “But fun.” “Whatever.” She smiled, looking more relaxed than when she had stormed into his office. “Can I see my baby now?” Gil stood, taking her by the elbow and leading her out of his office. “You know I didn’t want to do that.” “I know.” She squeezed his hand to show she wasn’t angry with him. “So. Any questions before we go in there?” “No, I just want to make sure she’s ok. We’ll deal with the rest later.” They walked into the room and saw Lindsey curled up asleep on the couch. “You’d think all the coffee I gave her would have kept her awake.” “You gave her coffee?” She said a little more loudly than necessary. The noise woke Lindsey. She sat up slowly. Her head was still swimming from the alcohol. “Mom.” There was fear in her voice. Lindsey knew she had screwed up when she got caught. “Lindsey.” Catherine looked at her daughter and felt her heart breaking. “I…uh…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have.” “No. You shouldn’t.” Her daughter was safe. Catherine felt her blood pressure rising as her anger returned. She turned and left the room without saying another word to Lindsey. Gil’s eyes followed her down the corridor until she disappeared around the corner. “Gil.” Lindsey’s voice was small. He turned back to see the quiet tears streaming down her face. “What did you expect?” “She hates me.” Her sobs were coming harder now. The sight of her crying was tearing Gil apart but he stood his ground. “That’s not fair Lindsey and you know it.” His voice was low and calm. “You always take her side” she screamed. “She’s upset Lindsey. She just found you you’d snuck out of the house, had been drinking and found at a crime scene. I think you’ve gotten off easy so far.” “I’m not your daughter so I don’t care what you think. It’s none of your business anyway!” She stood up ready to run out of the room. “Sit down.” The words were soft and unwavering. “You’re not my boss.” “I said sit down.” This time his anger came through loud and clear surprising Lindsey enough that she obeyed immediately. “You are not to move from this spot unless your mother or I am with you. You will not go back to sleep. You will not play any games or look at any magazines. What you will do is sit there and think about your actions until I come back from my office. Then you are going to read through the case files your mother has worked where someone lost their daughter because she thought she was old enough to do what you did tonight.” “But…” Her protest fell on deaf ears. Gil left the room in the same manner as her mother had. She laid her head back on the table, tears falling uncontrollably.
disclaimer: other than the usual...the song belongs to dolly parton Gil found Catherine in the morgue looking at the body of the boy from the party. “What happened?” Her eyes never left the boy’s body. “Unsupervised party in Henderson. The PD rolled on a noise complaint. Found him floating in the pool after they got things under control.” He stood beside her, his hand on her back for support. “She was in the pool.” It wasn’t a question. “At some point.” “That’s why she’s wearing a jumpsuit?” Catherine had noticed the jumpsuit the second she saw her daughter. It was not something Lindsey would willingly wear. “No. When I got there she wasn’t wearing any pants. I thought it would be better for her to wear the jumpsuit than run around the lab in her shirt and panties.” “Thanks. I appreciate it.” She had not moved from her place over the boy’s body. “Have his parents been contacted?” “Yes. Nick took care of it.” “I want to talk with them.” “Catherine, you really shouldn’t be in here.” She continued staring at the body, the grief and fear she felt overwhelming her. Emotionally she was a wreck. Anger, fear, joy, pain and grief were all fighting for dominance. “Lindsey. This could have been Lindsey.” She brushed back an errant lock of hair from the boy’s face. “But it isn’t. She’s fine except for a hangover.” Catherine’s body started to shake. Gil knew she was crying. He wanted to reach out to her to comfort her but her held back. He always held back. The door to the morgue opened and Al Robbins entered the room. “I need to start my autopsy.” He looked at Gil apologetically as he walked towards the table. “Al, give us five minutes.” Robbins nodded in agreement as he walked out of the room. Catherine still had not moved. “We need to leave.” He tried to turn her towards him. “No. His parents will be…” Catherine couldn’t bring herself to leave the boy. He was so young. “Nick will be with them.” “Nick doesn’t understand what…” “Catherine, we’re leaving.” “No.” It was a repeat of Lindsey in the break room as she began to sob uncontrollably. Before he realized what he was doing he had pulled her into his arms and stroking the back of her head. “She’s fine. She’s in the break room. Shh, everything is going to be fine.” Her arms griped tightly around him. “Shh, I’ve got you. It’s going to be OK.” He was still stroking her head as her sobbing continued. He pulled her with him towards the door, locking it before pulling them both to Al’s desk. He sat down holding her in his lap all the while speaking soothing words and stroking her head. His mind flashed back to the last time he had seen her this upset. Lindsey was barely three years old. Catherine was late coming in and no one had heard from her. Brass had paged her. Gil had tried calling her at home but there was no answer. Gil asked Brass to pair the two of the up so that he could swing by her house to check on her. He pulled up in her driveway and cut his engine. The moment he opened his door he heard them. Eddie and Catherine were both screaming at the top of their lungs. He hurried to the door, knocking loudly. Either they didn’t hear him or just chose to ignore him because no one came to the door and the yelling continued. Gil turned the knob to find it was unlocked so he walked on in. “Is that the only thing you can yell about?” It was Eddie. “The only thing? Eddie she was in our bed.” Catherine was up in his face. “Because you weren’t.” Eddie went to walk away but Catherine grab him with her arm “Don’t try and blame this on me.” “Oh I forgot. You are the injured party here. Never mind the fact hat you neglect your husband and your daughter.” He shoved her arm off of him. “That’s bull Eddie and you know it.” “You’re never home.” “Because I’m working. One of us has to and we both know that you won’t.” “Work my ass. No one works that much overtime.” It was at that point Eddie noticed Gil was in his house. “You think I’m stupid?” I know you two are screwing each other.” He pointed in Gil’s direction causing Catherine to turn around only momentarily.” “Eddie that’s bull and you know it.” “Turn about is fair play, Catherine.” “Screw you!” “You wouldn’t let me, remember. That’s what started this.” He was right in her face again. “What started this was your slut in our bed.” Gil saw Lindsey standing in the hallway holding her teddy bear. While Ed and Catherine continued to yell he walked over to the girl, picking her up and carrying her back to her bedroom. “Hey butterfly. Did all that noise wake you?” Lindsey shook her head yes. “What do you say we put you back in bed?” “No.” She pulled her bear in close to her. “How about I hold you and sing you a song?” Lindsey crawled into his lap dragging her bear behind her. She put her hands on his face and kissed him, then snuggled back into his arms. When he didn’t start singing she reached her arm up to his mouth. He nibbled her fingers and she smiled. “There’s that beautiful smile I love.” He tickled her belly and she giggled. “Butterfly!” “You want me to sing the butterfly song?” “Yes!” Gil hummed softly for a few beats and then started singing while the yelling continued in the other room. “Love is like a butterfly/As soft and gentle as a sigh/The multicolored moods of love are like its satin wings/Love makes your heart feel strange inside/It flutters like soft wings in flight/Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing …” Lindsey began to fall asleep in his arms. He continued to hum for a good ten minutes after she fell asleep, only stopping when he saw Catherine standing in the door. “Let’s go.” She turned and walked away without saying another word. He stood slowly so as not to wake Lindsey. He laid her in her bed, tucking her in tightly before kissing her softly on the forehead. “Goodnight Butterfly. Sweet dreams.” He walked through the living room to see Ed glaring at him, drink in hand. Nothing was said between the two men as he left the house. Catherine was waiting in his car. “Shut up and drive.” She didn’t look at him, instead looking out the passenger window. Gil drove them to their assignment. Brass was waiting for them when they arrived. Catherine barely acknowledged him, choosing instead to start processing evidence. “What happened?” Brass’ eyes trailed behind her. “Ed was being his normal self.” Gil didn’t feel the need to go into details. It was Catherine’s business. If she wanted Brass to know Eddie was cheating she’d tell him herself. The processed the scene quickly then headed back to the lab. She had not said a word to him since they left her house. “Wanna grab something to eat?” Gil’s stomach growled to emphasize his question. She didn’t answer. “OK. Well, I’m starving. Hope you’re in the mood for Chinese.” He pulled into the parking lot of China Palace. He was half way across the parking lot when he realized she hadn’t left the vehicle. Gil walked back to his car, opening the door for her. Catherine made no attempt to move other than to turn her head away from him. He reached in with his right hand and turned her head to face him. Her eyes were red and puffy from the silent tears falling down her face. She slapped his hand away. “Why?” The word was barely a whisper. “I don’t know Catherine. Because he’s Eddie.” “Why didn’t you tell me?” Gil knew what she meant. “It wasn’t my place.” “You catch my husband cheating on me, you don’t tell me. Instead I find him in our bed with another woman and all you can say is “it wasn’t my place?”” She sat rigidly in her spot looking through the windshield at nothing in particular. “What would you have done if I’d told you?” “I would have confronted him.” “Bull.” “What?” “Bull. You wouldn’t have believed me.” “It wasn’t your decision to make.” Her voice was loud enough that the people at the restaurant turned in their direction. “This isn’t about me and you know it.” “I thought you were hungry.” It wasn’t concern but annoyance in her voice. She wanted to be alone. “I am.” He didn’t budge. “Nobody’s stopping you.” “I know.” “Damn it Grissom.” She grabbed her purse and slammed the door behind her, storming to the restaurant by herself. They sat in silence. Gil eating while Catherine was digging trenches in her rice with her fork. After what seemed like an eternity she spoke. “Thank you.” This was not what he was expecting her to say. “Huh?” “Lindsey. Putting her back to bed.” “It was nothing.” Her tears started falling again surprising Gil because Catherine wasn’t the kind of person to cry in front of a group of people. “C’mon.” He quickly laid $30 on the table and escorted Catherine back to the car. They stood outside the passenger door, Catherine leaning face first into the car while she cried. Gil stood closely by but didn’t reach to comfort her. “I’m a horrible mother.” She spoke into the car. “I let my daughter see me fighting with my husband who I can’t keep at home. I don’t even go to comfort her. My partner does. I just left.” “Catherine.” “I swore I’d never do her the way my mother did me. She and Dad would fight all the time. Sam would come and hold me till I calmed down and went back to sleep.” “Sam?” “Sam Braun. One of my mother’s friends.” “The Sam Braun? The one who owns the Tangiers?” “Yeah. Treated me like I was his daughter, more so than Dad ever did. I used to fantasize Sam and my Mom would get married. She was happy when he was around. All she and Dad ever did was fight. I was so glad when they divorced.” “I didn’t know.” “I don’t want to put Lindsey through that. But I don’t want to give up on my marriage either.” She turned to look at Gil. Her face was red and puffy but the tears had stopped, replaced by a hollowness in her eyes. Gil’s arm moved towards her to comfort her but he realized what he was doing and grabbed the door handle instead. “We need to get back to the lab.” “The lab. Right.” Her voice was laced with resentment as she got in, slamming the door behind her. Those were the last non-work related words she said to him for two weeks. Gil’s thoughts returned to the present. He wouldn’t let her deal with this by herself this time. Even if she didn’t want his support she was going to have it. He held her tightly to him as her sobbing became heavier and heavier. The door to the morgue turned but he didn’t move. If it were Al he would know they needed more time. If it was anyone else he really didn’t care. Whoever it was finally got the hint and left. “Hey you.” He placed his hand on her chin and pulled her head towards him. He gently wiped the tears from her face. “Listen to me. You are a good mother. You are one of the best mothers I’ve ever known. Whatever happened to that kid is not your fault.” He nodded his head in the direction of the body on the table. “Lindsey. Well, Lindsey is like you --- stubborn and strong willed. Even if you had been home she would have found a way to go out if her mind was set on it.” It was the truth and they both knew it. “She was doing so good. A new school. Better grades. New Friends.” The guilt of this somehow being her fault was eating at Catherine. “I know.” He pushed a stray hair from her cheek. “I know.” “She was acting so much like the old Lindsey. Smiling, laughing. I thought we were past this.” “I know.” “I just don’t know what to do.” “We’ll figure it out together.” He pulled her head to his chest and held her. Catherine wasn’t sure what he meant. Right now, his arms around her comforting her was enough.
Coolcatz, that was spine tingling, edge of the chair good. I have a lump in my throat and need to whip out the kleenex. The descriptions were incredible and you brought me right into the scene with them. So true to the characters as well. I can't wait until the next update.
I love protective Gil! I love the way you tied into this all the baggage they have between them. Good job, coolc. The characterisation is of course spot on. Now, bring on the next bit!
wow what a great story i really injoy it ... almost reminds me of my parents marriage and one of my moms friends was always occupying me while they fought.... i really love this story keep up the good work
r u gonna continue the story cause now that i read it i am a little addicted and like check every chance i get to see if you have updated .... you know i like ur story or fic when i do that one
*taps foot impatiently* yeah.. when are you going to continue the story? :lol: no, Im not pressuring you, I just want to read the next chapter tomorrow. :lol: j/k! Just dropped by here to say that I am hooked with this fic and I can't wait to read the next chapters.
Hey! wow! realy good! must..have..more *goes into a coma* *fetel positon* *rocks back and forth, even though in coma*
ok, new chapter, very short, but another coming very soon. Lindsey sat at the table in the break room. Her mouth was dry. Her head was pounding. She felt nauseous. She was certain she was catching the flu. Not that it mattered anyway. No one cared about her but Barry and she was certain she’d never see him again. She looked at the stack of case files in front of her and shoved them away. Who did Gil think he was anyway? Reluctantly she opened one the files, more out of boredom than obedience, and began to read the review on the top page. Then she flipped through the photos in the file. When she was done she opened the next file and repeated the same thing, eventually working her way through all of the files Gil had left her. Some of the words made no sense to her but she got the idea. Greg walked into the break room and saw her as she looked through the last of the files. “You must be that hot new intern I’ve heard so much about.” Greg winked at her as he said this. Lindsey was like a little sister to him. “Hi Greg.” She went back to her file. “So did you have a good time at the party?” He sat down beside her but she ignored him. “What? You aren’t going to talk to your favorite CSI?” He playfully punched her arm. “Gil said I’m not supposed to talk to anyone until he gets back.” Her voice was flippant and her attitude typical teen. “I see. Well I don’t want to get you in trouble so how about I talk to you instead?” Lindsey smiled back at him. Greg grabbed a file from her stack and looked inside. “You’re mom worked this one. The girl’s body was found out by the railroad tracks. Her mother’s boyfriend had killed her.” Lindsey just looked at him, preparing for yet another lecture. “After she found out she drove everyone in the lab crazy making sure there was no hole in the evidence that would allow that jerk to get off. Once she was certain we had enough evidence her mind went straight to you. All she wanted was to get out of here and get home to you.” He closed the folder and placed it on top of the pile. Lindsey started to cry again. “Don’t cry.” Greg wasn’t sure what to do. If Lindsey were older he’d take her in his arms and make his move. Well, if she were older and not Catherine’s daughter. But she was still a child and Greg wasn’t sure how to deal with her. So he just treated her like he did his brother’s kids and gave her a big bear hug. “I just want to go home. But when I get there mom’s going to lay into me like you wouldn’t believe. I’ll never get to do anything ever. I just wish I could disappear.” She wasn’t whining. In fact, she was nearly screaming in a voice full of hatred. “She doesn’t give a damn about me. All she does is work. She’s never home. I never see her. At least Dad wanted to spend time with me.” Her body was so full of anger and frustration that she had to do something so she pushed all the files onto the floor and ran from the room.