Mini_Catherine
CSI Level One
Update. now.
The Kids Are Not Alright (Case-file, Sara-centric)
- Thread starter quoth_the_raven
- Start date
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Sorry for the wait guys! 
Here's a new chapter with a little angst between our two favorite ladies
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“Cath, what’s going on?” Sara repeated as she stormed out of the diner. Sara had to reach into her pockets and scramble for some cash before the owner of the place came after them with a broom in hand for not paying. After practically throwing the money at the man she ran out after her. “Cath, stop! I want to talk to you!”
Catherine didn’t respond, anxiously and nervously heading toward the car. “I have to call her,” she whispered to herself. Reaching into her pocket she took out her cell phone and hit Lindsey’s speed-dial number, praying that she would pick up. Don’t be mad at me now, god please pick up the phone, Linds—
“You know what to do, leave a message. If you’re Josh—“
“Damn it,” Catherine muttered. She thought she had gotten through to Lindsey about Josh!
“Cath, what is it?” Sara asked, approaching behind her. Putting a cautious hand on her shoulder, she waited to see if she would even allow her to do so.
“Do you have to know everything, Sara?” Catherine suddenly snapped, flipping around and shooting her a cold glare. She running too much on adrenaline and panic now to think too much of what she was saying. She was agitated and she was frustrated.
”Cath…” Sara whispered. She tried not to show the hurt in her eyes but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Just… get in the car,” Catherine whispered. Opening the door, she got in the passenger’s side and waited for Sara to go around to the driver’s side. It was Sara’s car, she knew, but she felt like she was losing control of her daughter… the only thing in life that mattered to her anymore. She had vowed after Eddie’s death that she was going to put tighter reigns on Lindsey, and that she was going to be around more often… and just like someone’s New Year’s Resolution it had failed.
Sara did as she told her and got in the car, closing the door behind her. She wasn’t sure what was going on but if she had learned one thing about Catherine in their six years of working together it was to not push the issue with Ms. Willows. She couldn’t blame her; Sara was the same way, perhaps the reason her PEAP counseling sessions were less than successful, but she wanted to know what was going on inside her head. It wasn’t like Catherine to be this way.
As they got on the road to head back to the lab, the inside of the car was silent. The radio wasn’t on and Sara dared not try and turn it on for fear that Catherine would snap at her. She wasn’t scared of Catherine’s temper but she didn’t want to set her off more than she already had. Why was she so angry, though? She mentally played through the events of the night and things she said in her head.
They had had some beers, a few laughs and some fun on the dance floor at Sara’s expense. Then that one song had came on and Catherine got agitated beyond belief.
That song… what was wrong with that song? Sara wondered. And then it hit her.
They had said it screamed teenager, and Sara now understood why it bothered Catherine so much. It screamed Lindsey. Sara had never spent a whole lot of time with Lindsey but whenever Catherine had brought her to the lab when she had to work because she couldn’t leave her with her mother or sister that night, Sara had taken some time off to grab a cup of coffee and sit in the break room and visit with the little girl. She could afford to not max out on overtime for one month.
Not much to her surprise, Lindsey was like a small clone of Catherine. It amazed her how much she looked like her mother; she had the same blue eyes, the same strawberry-blonde hair, her same smile- honestly Sara didn’t see one resemblance with her father. That was good though, she decided. Lindsey was such a talker, an energetic little girl with so much to say, and Sara had been more than willing to listen to her.
She hadn’t talked to Lindsey much since she started hitting her preteen years. Those were the worst years, Sara knew from experience. She was pretty sure everyone knew. But from what Catherine had mentioned in the lab to Warrick and Nick Lindsey was starting to become more rebellious, just like any other teenager. She had mentioned that Lindsey wasn’t talking to her anymore and was starting to get worse grades in school.
Sara knew Lindsey was a smart kid, so there had to be more to the story than that. When she was her age her mother wasn’t exactly the first person she went to in order to talk about teen angst either.
But that song! Now replaying the lyrics in her mind as the engulfed silence in the car gave her time to think, Sara realized what thoughts were probably going through Catherine’s mind. She wasn’t a mother herself, but she understood.
“Cath…” Sara started.
“I don’t want to talk, Sara,” Catherine said bluntly. She knew Sara was going to give her some condescending speech about how it was best to talk things out, and she wasn’t in the mood. Besides, how good was Sara at talking things out?
Sara grew silent as they arrived back at the lab. They both sat still in their seats for a minute before she broke the silence. “If you want, I can tell Grissom that you got sick and had to go home,” she told her.
“What?” Catherine asked, looking over at Sara wide-eyed. Why would she even say such a thing? She didn’t an idea what was going on!
“Catherine, I know what you’re thinking,” Sara told her, “And I’m just saying that maybe it would be better if you took some time off toni—“
“I am not having a problem here, Sara,” Catherine retorted, practically hissed at the younger woman. The more rational part of her brain knew she was being cruel but the other half of her brain was upset and worried and distressed. “I’m a professional and I can still do my job,” she told her. And without saying anything else, Catherine opened the passenger’s side door and got out of the car, closing it behind her as she walked off to the front of the lab, her high heels clicking behind her with each step she took.
Sara realized this evening wasn’t going to be the most pleasant either of them had ever seen.
As soon as Catherine got inside she walked off to the locker room, getting inside and walking around the lockers to the back where she could have some privacy. Reaching into her pocket she took her cell phone out and dialed Lindsey’s number again, praying she would pick up. “Come on Linds…” she whispered anxiously to herself. “Pick up…” She knew Lindsey probably had her phone with her and was just ignoring her out of spite, and that hurt even more.
Oh how had she come to have formed this sort of relationship with her daughter? Her one and only daughter, the… fruit of her loins? How had she ruined it? She remembered when Lindsey was so much younger… they had been so close, and then Eddie had died… and everything was torn apart. She had to start working more and more to support them, Lindsey was struggling in school because of the grief… it was too much. And deep down Catherine was struggling too, and she was struggling even more to balance the weight of work and family on her shoulders.
Part of her understood why Lindsey may hate her… and the other part of her was hoping and praying it wasn’t the truth.
After three attempts at reaching Lindsey, Catherine gave up and hit the end button on her phone, rubbing her forehead with her hand. Letting out a long defeated sigh, she looked down at the screen on her phone, only just then realizing what her wallpaper was. It was a picture of Lindsey and herself, she remembered when it had been taken. Lindsey was only seven-years-old in the picture and it was on Mother’s Day. They had gone to the lake that day, just the two of them, and had made a nice picnic they ate under one of the trees. She remembered Lindsey trying to catch tadpoles.
Her baby was growing up, she realized, and she couldn’t even reach out to her anymore because she had blown her chances of gaining her trust.
Thirty minutes later, after trying to compose herself unsuccessfully Catherine walked out of the locker room to the layout room where she saw Sara looking over evidence to their case. Taking a deep breath for extra confidence that she desperately needed she joined her inside, standing across from her. “What have you found so far?” she asked her.
Sara knew Catherine had been crying, she could see the streaks on her cheeks the tears had made and makeup was running, but she decided not to say anything about it. “I was just testing what we found in the girl’s locker room,” she told her, “The blood in the drains was a match to the victim,” she confirmed, handing Catherine the results from the DNA test. “And Ashley said she took a shower after cheerleading practice and went home.”
“So… somewhere in between she got her dead boyfriend’s blood on herself?” Catherine asked.
“It looks that way,” Sara said, “Unless someone else was in that shower. But I doubt it since I found some hairs in the drain,” she said, holding up the bindle containing the evidence, “Blonde hairs. And they look like they may have been color-treated, so I’m thinking… high-lights, low-lights?”
“Ashley had some brown highlights in her hair,” Catherine said, trying to remember, “It’s been a style lately, I’ve seen a lot of girls at Lindsey’s school wear it.”
Sara knew Lindsey was still on her mind, but again, decided not to say anything about it. “I sent some of the samples to Wendy and she’s running them now. But since we have nothing to compare them to…”
“Then we need to bring Ashley in,” Catherine said. “I’ll call Brass. Anything else?”
“Well, Doc Robbins just finished up the autopsy and he gave me these,” Sara told her, handing a few swabs over. “They’re penile swabs from the Vic- according to Doc Robbins Kevin had sex just before he died.”
“Which begs the question…” Catherine trailed off, “Who’d he get lucky with?”
“Or unlucky,” Sara said.
“Alright, I’ll call Brass and we’ll have him book her and bring her to the station,” Catherine said, already making a move to leave.
“That’s… where things get difficult, you see… Ashley never told me her last name,” Sara said.
Catherine stopped, turning around. “…She didn’t tell you her last name?” Sara shook her head. “Did you ask her?”
“Of course I asked her but she refused to tell me,” Sara told her, “She was terrified, Catherine. She only told me she couldn’t tell me because ‘they’ would know I talked to her. So I’m thinking it was either shock or there’s a deeper meaning to the story.”
“How could you just let her walk off without getting her name?” Catherine asked, incredulous. “Don’t you know the protocol for interviewing suspects?”
”Catherine, I tried—“
”Obviously you didn’t try hard enough,” Catherine said, “And now she gets to go off scot-free for another day because we’ll only be able to identify her by going to the school tomorrow and looking for her.” Without saying another word she walked out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Sara alone in the layout room.
Sara let out a deep sigh, rubbing her right temple with her fingertips as she felt the beginning of what felt like one hell of a headache. A buzzing in her right front pocket caught her attention and she reached into her pocket and took out her cell phone, looking at the screen. She had a new text message:
“r u online?”
Sara needed a free computer, now. Rushing out of the layout room, she practically ran down the hallway to one of the empty work rooms, spotting an empty computer. After logging herself onto the network she opened up her messenger.
CSISidle says: Now I am. What’s up, Linds?
Sara and Lindsey had been talking by instant message for a while now, but it had been quite some time since Sara had last heard from her. Lindsey had asked one day if she could have her email address and Sara had given it to her. She wasn’t the best with kids and she definitely wasn’t a mother, but she thought it might be helpful to Lindsey if she had someone else to talk to other than Catherine. She didn’t want to replace Lindsey’s mother of course, but… sometimes it was easier to talk about certain things with other people.
xxOLindsOxx says: I want to talk to you about something…
CSISidle says: Go ahead, Lindsey. I’m always here to listen.
xxOLindsOxx says: Can you promise me something first?
Sara blinked, but responded.
CSISidle: Of course.
xxOLindsOxx says: Don’t tell my mom I talked to you about this, okay? I don’t want to upset her.
CSISidle says: Of course, Lindsey, but… why would you upset her?
xxOLindsOxx says: She’s tried to call me tonight and I haven’t been picking up my phone on purpose.
CSISidle says: Why have you been doing that?
xxOLindsOxx says: I don’t want to talk to her. I’m afraid she’s going to be mad at me.
Sara’s features softened.
CSISidle says: Why would she mad at you? She worries about you, you know.
xxOLindsOxx says: Because I went out with Josh tonight and she doesn’t like Josh. She thinks he’s a bad influence.
CSISidle: Is he cute?
Sara could almost hear Lindsey laugh on the other line.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah, he’s cute, but Mom doesn’t like him.
CSISidle says: Why doesn’t she like him?
xxOLindsOxx says: Because his dad’s in jail and his mom isn’t the best… but I can’t just abandon him. He needs a friend.
This was like déjà vu all over again for Sara.
CSISidle says: I can understand that. You have a good heart, Lindsey.
xxOLindsOxx says: Something happened tonight… and… I don’t want to tell Mom. I’m too scared.
CSISidle says: What happened?
xxOLindsOxx says: We went out and saw a movie and he offered to walk me home. I said ok and so we started walking home but he said he needed to do something first.
CSISidle says: I’m guessing you mean drugs.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. And he offered some to me but I told him no… I’ve seen Lindsay Lohan.
CSISidle says: Good move, Lindsey. Your mom would be really proud of you.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah… but… his friends were there and he kept pushing the issue. I told him I wasn’t going to do drugs, no matter what he said or how hard he pushed me. And then…
There was a silence there that worried Sara.
CSISidle says: And then what, Lindsey?
xxOLindsOxx says: Promise not to tell Mom, ok?
CSISidle says: If someone hurt you Lindsey, I think she’d want to know.
xxOLindsOxx says: No one hurt me though! You promised!
CSISidle says: Okay Lindsey, I won’t tell her. I promise.
Sara was hoping it wasn’t the worst-case scenario that was going through her mind. When Sara was about Lindsey’s age she remembered this guy in her math class- he was drop-dead gorgeous. All the girls in her class were falling all over themselves to try and get his attention. Sara was the shy one but one day he had come up to her and offered to take her to the Halloween dance at the school. She agreed and her mother had helped her make her dress which she tediously went over and over with, looking for any possible flaws.
That night, he raped her behind the football field.
xxOLindsOxx says: It was getting late and I was cold so I told Josh I was going to go home. The smoke was starting to bother me.
CSISidle says: And then what?
xxOLindsOxx says: He grabbed me… and he said for me to stay, but I didn’t want to. I was starting to get scared…
CSISidle says: What did he do, Lindsey?
She wasn’t her mother but if this kid had tried anything Sara was going to track him down herself.
xxOLindsOxx says: I… he just… can you come and see me?
CSISidle says: Where are you? Are you at your house?
xxOLindsOxx says: No… I’m in the computer lab at school. No one even knows I’m here. Can you come see me?
Sara could sense the urgency in her tone.
CSISidle says: I’ll be right there. Butterfield, right?
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. Don’t tell my mom, ok?
CSISidle says: Okay, Lindsey. I’ll be there in ten minutes.
CSISidle has signed out.
Grabbing her car keys and her wallet from her locker, Sara closed it behind herself and rushed down the hallway, putting on her black leather jacket (that she had forgotten she had) on as she did so. She went right past Catherine who followed her.
“What’s going on? Did you get a new lead?” Catherine asked her, having long-since calmed herself down.
Sara stopped, realizing exactly who it was that was talking to her. “No… I have to, um… go take care of something,” she told her, “I’ll be back soon. Call me if you get any updates,” Sara said, turning and running out of the lab with her keys, wallet and phone in hand.
Catherine stared at Sara as she left, dumbfounded. What was so important- or personal, she wondered- that she couldn’t tell her what it was?
Here's a new chapter with a little angst between our two favorite ladies ---
“Cath, what’s going on?” Sara repeated as she stormed out of the diner. Sara had to reach into her pockets and scramble for some cash before the owner of the place came after them with a broom in hand for not paying. After practically throwing the money at the man she ran out after her. “Cath, stop! I want to talk to you!”
Catherine didn’t respond, anxiously and nervously heading toward the car. “I have to call her,” she whispered to herself. Reaching into her pocket she took out her cell phone and hit Lindsey’s speed-dial number, praying that she would pick up. Don’t be mad at me now, god please pick up the phone, Linds—
“You know what to do, leave a message. If you’re Josh—“
“Damn it,” Catherine muttered. She thought she had gotten through to Lindsey about Josh!
“Cath, what is it?” Sara asked, approaching behind her. Putting a cautious hand on her shoulder, she waited to see if she would even allow her to do so.
“Do you have to know everything, Sara?” Catherine suddenly snapped, flipping around and shooting her a cold glare. She running too much on adrenaline and panic now to think too much of what she was saying. She was agitated and she was frustrated.
”Cath…” Sara whispered. She tried not to show the hurt in her eyes but she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
“Just… get in the car,” Catherine whispered. Opening the door, she got in the passenger’s side and waited for Sara to go around to the driver’s side. It was Sara’s car, she knew, but she felt like she was losing control of her daughter… the only thing in life that mattered to her anymore. She had vowed after Eddie’s death that she was going to put tighter reigns on Lindsey, and that she was going to be around more often… and just like someone’s New Year’s Resolution it had failed.
Sara did as she told her and got in the car, closing the door behind her. She wasn’t sure what was going on but if she had learned one thing about Catherine in their six years of working together it was to not push the issue with Ms. Willows. She couldn’t blame her; Sara was the same way, perhaps the reason her PEAP counseling sessions were less than successful, but she wanted to know what was going on inside her head. It wasn’t like Catherine to be this way.
As they got on the road to head back to the lab, the inside of the car was silent. The radio wasn’t on and Sara dared not try and turn it on for fear that Catherine would snap at her. She wasn’t scared of Catherine’s temper but she didn’t want to set her off more than she already had. Why was she so angry, though? She mentally played through the events of the night and things she said in her head.
They had had some beers, a few laughs and some fun on the dance floor at Sara’s expense. Then that one song had came on and Catherine got agitated beyond belief.
That song… what was wrong with that song? Sara wondered. And then it hit her.
They had said it screamed teenager, and Sara now understood why it bothered Catherine so much. It screamed Lindsey. Sara had never spent a whole lot of time with Lindsey but whenever Catherine had brought her to the lab when she had to work because she couldn’t leave her with her mother or sister that night, Sara had taken some time off to grab a cup of coffee and sit in the break room and visit with the little girl. She could afford to not max out on overtime for one month.
Not much to her surprise, Lindsey was like a small clone of Catherine. It amazed her how much she looked like her mother; she had the same blue eyes, the same strawberry-blonde hair, her same smile- honestly Sara didn’t see one resemblance with her father. That was good though, she decided. Lindsey was such a talker, an energetic little girl with so much to say, and Sara had been more than willing to listen to her.
She hadn’t talked to Lindsey much since she started hitting her preteen years. Those were the worst years, Sara knew from experience. She was pretty sure everyone knew. But from what Catherine had mentioned in the lab to Warrick and Nick Lindsey was starting to become more rebellious, just like any other teenager. She had mentioned that Lindsey wasn’t talking to her anymore and was starting to get worse grades in school.
Sara knew Lindsey was a smart kid, so there had to be more to the story than that. When she was her age her mother wasn’t exactly the first person she went to in order to talk about teen angst either.
But that song! Now replaying the lyrics in her mind as the engulfed silence in the car gave her time to think, Sara realized what thoughts were probably going through Catherine’s mind. She wasn’t a mother herself, but she understood.
“Cath…” Sara started.
“I don’t want to talk, Sara,” Catherine said bluntly. She knew Sara was going to give her some condescending speech about how it was best to talk things out, and she wasn’t in the mood. Besides, how good was Sara at talking things out?
Sara grew silent as they arrived back at the lab. They both sat still in their seats for a minute before she broke the silence. “If you want, I can tell Grissom that you got sick and had to go home,” she told her.
“What?” Catherine asked, looking over at Sara wide-eyed. Why would she even say such a thing? She didn’t an idea what was going on!
“Catherine, I know what you’re thinking,” Sara told her, “And I’m just saying that maybe it would be better if you took some time off toni—“
“I am not having a problem here, Sara,” Catherine retorted, practically hissed at the younger woman. The more rational part of her brain knew she was being cruel but the other half of her brain was upset and worried and distressed. “I’m a professional and I can still do my job,” she told her. And without saying anything else, Catherine opened the passenger’s side door and got out of the car, closing it behind her as she walked off to the front of the lab, her high heels clicking behind her with each step she took.
Sara realized this evening wasn’t going to be the most pleasant either of them had ever seen.
As soon as Catherine got inside she walked off to the locker room, getting inside and walking around the lockers to the back where she could have some privacy. Reaching into her pocket she took her cell phone out and dialed Lindsey’s number again, praying she would pick up. “Come on Linds…” she whispered anxiously to herself. “Pick up…” She knew Lindsey probably had her phone with her and was just ignoring her out of spite, and that hurt even more.
Oh how had she come to have formed this sort of relationship with her daughter? Her one and only daughter, the… fruit of her loins? How had she ruined it? She remembered when Lindsey was so much younger… they had been so close, and then Eddie had died… and everything was torn apart. She had to start working more and more to support them, Lindsey was struggling in school because of the grief… it was too much. And deep down Catherine was struggling too, and she was struggling even more to balance the weight of work and family on her shoulders.
Part of her understood why Lindsey may hate her… and the other part of her was hoping and praying it wasn’t the truth.
After three attempts at reaching Lindsey, Catherine gave up and hit the end button on her phone, rubbing her forehead with her hand. Letting out a long defeated sigh, she looked down at the screen on her phone, only just then realizing what her wallpaper was. It was a picture of Lindsey and herself, she remembered when it had been taken. Lindsey was only seven-years-old in the picture and it was on Mother’s Day. They had gone to the lake that day, just the two of them, and had made a nice picnic they ate under one of the trees. She remembered Lindsey trying to catch tadpoles.
Her baby was growing up, she realized, and she couldn’t even reach out to her anymore because she had blown her chances of gaining her trust.
Thirty minutes later, after trying to compose herself unsuccessfully Catherine walked out of the locker room to the layout room where she saw Sara looking over evidence to their case. Taking a deep breath for extra confidence that she desperately needed she joined her inside, standing across from her. “What have you found so far?” she asked her.
Sara knew Catherine had been crying, she could see the streaks on her cheeks the tears had made and makeup was running, but she decided not to say anything about it. “I was just testing what we found in the girl’s locker room,” she told her, “The blood in the drains was a match to the victim,” she confirmed, handing Catherine the results from the DNA test. “And Ashley said she took a shower after cheerleading practice and went home.”
“So… somewhere in between she got her dead boyfriend’s blood on herself?” Catherine asked.
“It looks that way,” Sara said, “Unless someone else was in that shower. But I doubt it since I found some hairs in the drain,” she said, holding up the bindle containing the evidence, “Blonde hairs. And they look like they may have been color-treated, so I’m thinking… high-lights, low-lights?”
“Ashley had some brown highlights in her hair,” Catherine said, trying to remember, “It’s been a style lately, I’ve seen a lot of girls at Lindsey’s school wear it.”
Sara knew Lindsey was still on her mind, but again, decided not to say anything about it. “I sent some of the samples to Wendy and she’s running them now. But since we have nothing to compare them to…”
“Then we need to bring Ashley in,” Catherine said. “I’ll call Brass. Anything else?”
“Well, Doc Robbins just finished up the autopsy and he gave me these,” Sara told her, handing a few swabs over. “They’re penile swabs from the Vic- according to Doc Robbins Kevin had sex just before he died.”
“Which begs the question…” Catherine trailed off, “Who’d he get lucky with?”
“Or unlucky,” Sara said.
“Alright, I’ll call Brass and we’ll have him book her and bring her to the station,” Catherine said, already making a move to leave.
“That’s… where things get difficult, you see… Ashley never told me her last name,” Sara said.
Catherine stopped, turning around. “…She didn’t tell you her last name?” Sara shook her head. “Did you ask her?”
“Of course I asked her but she refused to tell me,” Sara told her, “She was terrified, Catherine. She only told me she couldn’t tell me because ‘they’ would know I talked to her. So I’m thinking it was either shock or there’s a deeper meaning to the story.”
“How could you just let her walk off without getting her name?” Catherine asked, incredulous. “Don’t you know the protocol for interviewing suspects?”
”Catherine, I tried—“
”Obviously you didn’t try hard enough,” Catherine said, “And now she gets to go off scot-free for another day because we’ll only be able to identify her by going to the school tomorrow and looking for her.” Without saying another word she walked out of the room, leaving a dumbfounded Sara alone in the layout room.
Sara let out a deep sigh, rubbing her right temple with her fingertips as she felt the beginning of what felt like one hell of a headache. A buzzing in her right front pocket caught her attention and she reached into her pocket and took out her cell phone, looking at the screen. She had a new text message:
“r u online?”
Sara needed a free computer, now. Rushing out of the layout room, she practically ran down the hallway to one of the empty work rooms, spotting an empty computer. After logging herself onto the network she opened up her messenger.
CSISidle says: Now I am. What’s up, Linds?
Sara and Lindsey had been talking by instant message for a while now, but it had been quite some time since Sara had last heard from her. Lindsey had asked one day if she could have her email address and Sara had given it to her. She wasn’t the best with kids and she definitely wasn’t a mother, but she thought it might be helpful to Lindsey if she had someone else to talk to other than Catherine. She didn’t want to replace Lindsey’s mother of course, but… sometimes it was easier to talk about certain things with other people.
xxOLindsOxx says: I want to talk to you about something…
CSISidle says: Go ahead, Lindsey. I’m always here to listen.
xxOLindsOxx says: Can you promise me something first?
Sara blinked, but responded.
CSISidle: Of course.
xxOLindsOxx says: Don’t tell my mom I talked to you about this, okay? I don’t want to upset her.
CSISidle says: Of course, Lindsey, but… why would you upset her?
xxOLindsOxx says: She’s tried to call me tonight and I haven’t been picking up my phone on purpose.
CSISidle says: Why have you been doing that?
xxOLindsOxx says: I don’t want to talk to her. I’m afraid she’s going to be mad at me.
Sara’s features softened.
CSISidle says: Why would she mad at you? She worries about you, you know.
xxOLindsOxx says: Because I went out with Josh tonight and she doesn’t like Josh. She thinks he’s a bad influence.
CSISidle: Is he cute?
Sara could almost hear Lindsey laugh on the other line.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah, he’s cute, but Mom doesn’t like him.
CSISidle says: Why doesn’t she like him?
xxOLindsOxx says: Because his dad’s in jail and his mom isn’t the best… but I can’t just abandon him. He needs a friend.
This was like déjà vu all over again for Sara.
CSISidle says: I can understand that. You have a good heart, Lindsey.
xxOLindsOxx says: Something happened tonight… and… I don’t want to tell Mom. I’m too scared.
CSISidle says: What happened?
xxOLindsOxx says: We went out and saw a movie and he offered to walk me home. I said ok and so we started walking home but he said he needed to do something first.
CSISidle says: I’m guessing you mean drugs.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. And he offered some to me but I told him no… I’ve seen Lindsay Lohan.
CSISidle says: Good move, Lindsey. Your mom would be really proud of you.
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah… but… his friends were there and he kept pushing the issue. I told him I wasn’t going to do drugs, no matter what he said or how hard he pushed me. And then…
There was a silence there that worried Sara.
CSISidle says: And then what, Lindsey?
xxOLindsOxx says: Promise not to tell Mom, ok?
CSISidle says: If someone hurt you Lindsey, I think she’d want to know.
xxOLindsOxx says: No one hurt me though! You promised!
CSISidle says: Okay Lindsey, I won’t tell her. I promise.
Sara was hoping it wasn’t the worst-case scenario that was going through her mind. When Sara was about Lindsey’s age she remembered this guy in her math class- he was drop-dead gorgeous. All the girls in her class were falling all over themselves to try and get his attention. Sara was the shy one but one day he had come up to her and offered to take her to the Halloween dance at the school. She agreed and her mother had helped her make her dress which she tediously went over and over with, looking for any possible flaws.
That night, he raped her behind the football field.
xxOLindsOxx says: It was getting late and I was cold so I told Josh I was going to go home. The smoke was starting to bother me.
CSISidle says: And then what?
xxOLindsOxx says: He grabbed me… and he said for me to stay, but I didn’t want to. I was starting to get scared…
CSISidle says: What did he do, Lindsey?
She wasn’t her mother but if this kid had tried anything Sara was going to track him down herself.
xxOLindsOxx says: I… he just… can you come and see me?
CSISidle says: Where are you? Are you at your house?
xxOLindsOxx says: No… I’m in the computer lab at school. No one even knows I’m here. Can you come see me?
Sara could sense the urgency in her tone.
CSISidle says: I’ll be right there. Butterfield, right?
xxOLindsOxx says: Yeah. Don’t tell my mom, ok?
CSISidle says: Okay, Lindsey. I’ll be there in ten minutes.
CSISidle has signed out.
Grabbing her car keys and her wallet from her locker, Sara closed it behind herself and rushed down the hallway, putting on her black leather jacket (that she had forgotten she had) on as she did so. She went right past Catherine who followed her.
“What’s going on? Did you get a new lead?” Catherine asked her, having long-since calmed herself down.
Sara stopped, realizing exactly who it was that was talking to her. “No… I have to, um… go take care of something,” she told her, “I’ll be back soon. Call me if you get any updates,” Sara said, turning and running out of the lab with her keys, wallet and phone in hand.
Catherine stared at Sara as she left, dumbfounded. What was so important- or personal, she wondered- that she couldn’t tell her what it was?
saraXsullivan
CSI Level Two
*GASP*
I'm loving it! Very interesting twist!
Hopefully you'll update soon.
=)
I'm loving it! Very interesting twist!
Hopefully you'll update soon.
=)
MacsGirlMel
Mac's Personal Assistant
ack more soon! Don't make us wait so long this time
Mini_Catherine
CSI Level One
ANNN. UPDATE AGAIN SOOON.
You're such an amazing writer. What did the SOB do to her? Grrrr.
Update.
Please.
You're such an amazing writer. What did the SOB do to her? Grrrr.
Update.
Please.
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Thanks so much guys Here's a new chapter:
After making up a lame excuse to Catherine Sara had all but ran out of the lab to her Denali outside. She mentally patted herself on the back for parking close to the building today as she dashed over to the car and opened the door, throwing herself inside and turning it on. After the car was turned on she backed out of the parking lot and started off toward Lindsey’s school.
She didn’t really even know how she knew where her school was located, but that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that she got there and was there for the little girl. She continued to hope and pray to God as she gripped the steering wheel with two white-knuckled fists that what she was suspecting had happened was not the reality. Lindsey didn’t need that. She was a good kid. She was innocent.
Running through every yellow light she saw on the streets Sara practically glared at the road as she was determined to be there for Lindsey. If that Josh guy had tried anything Sara didn’t know what she’d do. She had seen so many similarities between Lindsey and herself as a kid…personality-wise, anyways. Lindsey had the best mom you could ever hope for. Laura Sidle definitely did not stand a chance against Catherine Willows on the totem pole of motherhood.
As she practically screeched to a halt in front of Lindsey’s school Sara almost forgot to turn the car off as she threw her car door open. As she got out of the car and walked into the cold night air a shiver ran down her spine and she wasn’t so sure if it was because of the cold breeze outside or the worry that was still stirring inside of her, making her nerves bounce off the walls.
With her car keys clenched tightly in her hand Sara began to walk down the sidewalk, looking around for any sign of Lindsey. The place looked almost like a military academy, Sara thought. The grass was perfectly cut, a lush green color, the walls of the buildings were painted in even tones of cream white and the windows were slick and bland, empty of color or humanism. The building itself was enough to intimidate a 15 year old teenage girl; even Sara felt a little on-edge. It was robotic, and with the combined atmosphere of the Vegas night sky with glares from the lights off the Strip and the full moon out that night, it was haunting.
“Lindsey?” Sara called out, looking around for her. Since Sara didn’t exactly know where the computer lab was Lindsey had sent her another text message telling her she was going to wait outside for her, but Sara didn’t see her. “Lindsey? Are you there?” she tried again.
The silence that followed her question was starting to frighten her. Surely Lindsey wasn’t far…
Venturing a little closer to the building, as close as she dared, Sara felt a wave of relief swarm her as well as a new feeling of worry as she spotted Lindsey sitting against the front administration building on the ground waiting patiently. She could have sworn she saw her small frame shaking. “Lindsey,” Sara softly said her name.
The girl’s head immediately perked up at the sound of her voice and she scrambled to her feet, stumbling blindly in the night light until she buried herself in Sara’s arms. “Sara!” Lindsey wailed.
Sara dropped her car keys in surprise but immediately returned the embrace. “I’m here now, Lindsey,” she told her, “It’s okay…” She had never seen or heard Lindsey this scared or desperate before. “Lindsey, you’re freezing,” Sara told her when she felt her pale arms against her sweaty palms. “Here, take my jacket,” she offered, already slipping it off her shoulders and wrapping it around the small girl in her arms.
“Thank you,” Lindsey barely whispered in response. When Sara began to slowly loosen her hold on her that only made Lindsey hold onto her tighter in fear she was going to leave.
“Its okay, Lindsey,” Sara told her, “I won’t leave… but its cold, how about we go back to my car and talk?” When Lindsey nodded Sara began to lead her back to her waiting Denali in front of the school, tentatively rubbing at her arms and shoulders with her hands to try and warm her up.
“Thank you for coming, Sara,” Lindsey told her as they arrived at her car and Sara opened the door for her.
“It’s no trouble, honey,” Sara assured her, closing the passenger door once Lindsey was inside. Jogging around to the driver’s side, she got inside and closed the door. For a moment there was silence; Sara wanted to give Lindsey some time to warm up and calm down before asking her anything.
“Does Mom know where I am?” Lindsey whispered.
“I didn’t tell her where I was going,” Sara answered, “She really does worry about you though, Lindsey… maybe you should tell her what’s going on. You’re her whole world.”
To her surprise Lindsey was nodding her head slowly in agreement. “I know,” she whispered, “But she’s going to be so mad at me, she told me to stop hanging out with Josh and now—“
“Lindsey,” Sara started. She didn’t exactly know how to word what she was going to say so she was going to trust her gut and not be a criminalist right now. She was going to be human. “If Josh or any of his friends did anything to hurt you, you have to understand that it wasn’t your fault.”
She watched as more tears spilled over the girl’s- Catherine’s- blue eyes. “They didn’t hurt me, though,” she whispered.
“Lindsey…” When Sara was her age she learned very quickly that were many different types of hurt. She couldn’t see any apparent injuries on the girl so she just hoped and prayed that what she was suspecting had happened wasn’t the reality. For Sara it had started out as a nice safe date at the dance, some flirting here and there and then she started to feel uncomfortable. He had told her he was going to take her home but he wanted to show her something first and she had woefully agreed. It was almost the same story; Josh had told Lindsey he would walk her home but said he had to stop to do something first.
“Lindsey,” Sara started again, “There’s something I want to tell you, okay?”
Lindsey nodded slowly, turning her head to look at Sara as she wiped at her eyes. She was expecting another ‘You should talk to your mother’ remark but was completely thrown off-guard at what came out of Sara’s mouth:
“I was raped.”
The blonde’s eyes widened as she looked at Sara in astonishment. “What…?” she managed to get out.
Sara simply nodded in response. “I was only about two years older than you. His name was Kevin; prom date.”
“How… how did it happen…?” Lindsey whispered.
Sara opened her mouth to speak but began protesting against it- did she really want Lindsey to know? Then again if she talked about her experience it might help Lindsey feel more comfortable. “Well… he had the car- my parents didn’t really trust me with a car, well not really with much of anything…”
“Mom won’t even let me be on the computer for more than 45 minutes,” Lindsey rolled her eyes.
Sara laughed a little. “Well the plan was after the dance he was going to drive me home. But… he had other plans. He told me there was something in the football shed he wanted to show me. And… I believed him, and followed him inside, and... My parents yelled at me later that night for getting in so late,” Sara offered a small smile.
Lindsey had more tears forming in her eyes that she struggled to fight back but it was becoming too much and she started to cry again.
“Hey,” Sara whispered, leaning over the center console and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her, “It’s okay honey, I’m still alive…”
“Those bastards, I want every one of them to get their dicks cut off,” Lindsey angrily cried.
There was the Catherine side showing again, Sara thought with a small grin. “Well I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so,” she told her. And then, “Lindsey, what happened with Josh tonight?”
Lindsey started crying even harder as she leaned into Sara for comfort. “We saw the movie, and when it was over Josh told me he would walk me home,” she whispered, “I don’t like being babied, but I remembered Mom telling me the theater wasn’t in the best part of town…”
“Well that was smart,” Sara whispered.
“No it wasn’t,” Lindsey cried, “Because then he went and starting smoking weed with his friends, and I should have just turned and ran, but I didn’t…”
“What did they do, Lindsey?” Sara asked her maternal instincts on overload. She wasn’t a mother and had no experience with motherhood but Lindsey was almost like a daughter to her and she felt an overwhelming protectiveness over the little girl.
“He told me to stay, and he tried to get me to smoke some but I didn’t want to…” Lindsey said, “And… and I don’t know if it was the drugs, or what, but…” she whispered, “He got really, really angry, and he started coming at me…”
Sara immediately tightened her hold on Lindsey’s arms.
“And… his friends were laughing,” She whispered, “And he pushed me against the wall, and he told me he wanted to have sex… and I said no, and he started trying to take my skirt off!”
This kid was dead-meat.
“Lindsey…” Sara whispered, “Was he able to…?”
“No,” Lindsey whispered, shaking her head, “He pulled out a condom, and I hit him and just started running,” she admitted, “And I felt stupid, but I just kept running, and the only place I could think of going was the school. I couldn’t go home because Mom wouldn’t understand,” she whispered.
Sara shot Lindsey a sympathetic look, putting a gentle hand on her back. “I can understand that, Lindsey,” she whispered. “But your mom would’ve understood. She cares about you so much, and she worries because you don’t talk to her.”
“But she’s always working,” Lindsey whispered, looking up at Sara with glistening blue eyes, now red and puffy from crying. “How could she care?”
“Lindsey, there’s not one day that I don’t walk into the lab and your mom talks about you,” Sara whispered, “It’s the truth. She brags about you, she’s always talking about how proud of you she is… do you trust me?”
Lindsey nodded, sniffling as she wiped up more tears.
Sara smiled, patting her back gently. “Okay. Then what I want you to do is go home and take a bath. Warm; not hot,” she advised her, “And then I want you to talk to your—“
“Lindsey?”
Catherine’s voice outside the car startled them both as they turned and saw her standing at Sara’s window, peering inside through the glass now fogged up by her rapid breathing. “Lindsey, what are you doing here?” she asked. She had followed Sara from the lab when she got suspicious and what does she find? Sara going to her daughter’s school, talking to her daughter who was now crying.
“Oh my god…” Lindsey bellowed.
“Lindsey, get out of the car,” Catherine ordered, staring at Sara in astonishment. “What the hell are you doing?” she addressed the younger woman now. “Making friends with my daughter, talking about how horrible of a mother I am?”
“Cath, you know that’s not what I’m doing,” Sara calmly said, opening her car door and stepping outside.
“How do I know it’s not?” Catherine asked, looking from Sara to the car with wide eyes. “Lindsey, get out! I’m taking you home.”
When Lindsey refused to move, Sara stepped in, “She’s cold, Cath,” she told her, “So just let her stay in there while we talk.”
“She can stay in her real mother’s car!” Catherine told her. “Since when do you know about mothering a child, Sara?”
“I’m not trying to replace you, Cath,” Sara told her, “She’s scared. Don’t make this worse for her.”
“Making things worse? This is my daughter Sara; go meddle in someone else’s life!”
No one quite knew what happened next. It seemed like time skipped. Catherine only knew that she was agitated and upset and worried beyond belief, and that she felt a stinging sensation in the palm of her hand before the sound of skin connecting with skin filled her ears. The next she was standing in front of Sara, wide-eyed with her hand at her side, the skin on Sara’s left cheek was bright red.
“MOM!” Lindsey immediately screamed, stumbling out of Sara’s SUV to between the two women. “Mom, what did you do!” she screamed, looking over at Sara.
“We’re going home now, Lindsey,” Catherine told her, staring at Sara, mortified at what she had just done but the adrenaline still pumping. “Right now, get in the car.”
“No! I want to stay here with Sara!” Lindsey protested, turning around and putting her hand up on Sara’s cheek, “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m okay, Lindsey,” Sara whispered, shooting her a small smile.
Catherine felt moisture running down her cheeks and then realized that she was crying-crying out of pity, crying out of sorrow, crying out of desperation and jealousy. Sara Sidle, the female Gil Grissom had a better relationship with her daughter than she did. Sara wasn’t her mother and now she was making Catherine look like the bad guy. She knew how much she worked; there was only so much a single working mom could do in one day.
“Lindsey, get in the car, now,” Catherine repeated firmly but her voice wavered on tears.
“Why can’t you ever just listen, Mom?” Lindsey asked, turning around and looking at her mother with the same tear-stained set of blue eyes. “All you ever think about is yourself! Do you even remember what my birthday is? You’re never home! I called Sara myself because at least she cares about me!”
Catherine felt her heart rip in two. “June 5,” she managed to get out, “That’s your birthday, June 5.”
“It doesn’t even matter, Mom!” Lindsey told her, “Sara was there for me! I can trust Sara; I don’t even know how anyone could ever trust you.” With that, Lindsey turned and stomped off toward Catherine’s Denali.
Sara looked over at Catherine worriedly. Oh this was not how this was supposed to go. Lindsey was supposed to have a calm conversation with her mother in the warm environment of their own home, not in the middle of the street in front of her school at midnight. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. These were the conversations Sara used to have with her mother before she realized she wasn’t listening. The only difference was that Catherine actually listened and she wasn’t Laura Sidle.
“Cath, look—“ Sara started but Catherine cut her off.
“Sara, I don’t even want to hear it,” Catherine told her, putting a hand up to silence her as she fought back more tears. She knew she was being irrational but she felt out of control and she felt like she was finally losing Lindsey for good, and that was her worst nightmare. “I’m sorry for hitting you but I don’t ever want to see around my daughter again,” she whispered, trying to shoot Sara a stern look but failing miserably.
“You’ve gotta slow down, Cath,” Sara finally told her, her tone soft and calm. How could she be so calm, Catherine thought? She was ruining her relationship with her daughter! “You’ve gotta slow down, or you’re going to lose Lindsey entirely.” She wasn’t going to tell her what Lindsey had said, she had promised the girl that, so she was going to her tell Catherine in her own time.
Catherine left in her car with Lindsey without saying a word.
Here's a new chapter:After making up a lame excuse to Catherine Sara had all but ran out of the lab to her Denali outside. She mentally patted herself on the back for parking close to the building today as she dashed over to the car and opened the door, throwing herself inside and turning it on. After the car was turned on she backed out of the parking lot and started off toward Lindsey’s school.
She didn’t really even know how she knew where her school was located, but that didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that she got there and was there for the little girl. She continued to hope and pray to God as she gripped the steering wheel with two white-knuckled fists that what she was suspecting had happened was not the reality. Lindsey didn’t need that. She was a good kid. She was innocent.
Running through every yellow light she saw on the streets Sara practically glared at the road as she was determined to be there for Lindsey. If that Josh guy had tried anything Sara didn’t know what she’d do. She had seen so many similarities between Lindsey and herself as a kid…personality-wise, anyways. Lindsey had the best mom you could ever hope for. Laura Sidle definitely did not stand a chance against Catherine Willows on the totem pole of motherhood.
As she practically screeched to a halt in front of Lindsey’s school Sara almost forgot to turn the car off as she threw her car door open. As she got out of the car and walked into the cold night air a shiver ran down her spine and she wasn’t so sure if it was because of the cold breeze outside or the worry that was still stirring inside of her, making her nerves bounce off the walls.
With her car keys clenched tightly in her hand Sara began to walk down the sidewalk, looking around for any sign of Lindsey. The place looked almost like a military academy, Sara thought. The grass was perfectly cut, a lush green color, the walls of the buildings were painted in even tones of cream white and the windows were slick and bland, empty of color or humanism. The building itself was enough to intimidate a 15 year old teenage girl; even Sara felt a little on-edge. It was robotic, and with the combined atmosphere of the Vegas night sky with glares from the lights off the Strip and the full moon out that night, it was haunting.
“Lindsey?” Sara called out, looking around for her. Since Sara didn’t exactly know where the computer lab was Lindsey had sent her another text message telling her she was going to wait outside for her, but Sara didn’t see her. “Lindsey? Are you there?” she tried again.
The silence that followed her question was starting to frighten her. Surely Lindsey wasn’t far…
Venturing a little closer to the building, as close as she dared, Sara felt a wave of relief swarm her as well as a new feeling of worry as she spotted Lindsey sitting against the front administration building on the ground waiting patiently. She could have sworn she saw her small frame shaking. “Lindsey,” Sara softly said her name.
The girl’s head immediately perked up at the sound of her voice and she scrambled to her feet, stumbling blindly in the night light until she buried herself in Sara’s arms. “Sara!” Lindsey wailed.
Sara dropped her car keys in surprise but immediately returned the embrace. “I’m here now, Lindsey,” she told her, “It’s okay…” She had never seen or heard Lindsey this scared or desperate before. “Lindsey, you’re freezing,” Sara told her when she felt her pale arms against her sweaty palms. “Here, take my jacket,” she offered, already slipping it off her shoulders and wrapping it around the small girl in her arms.
“Thank you,” Lindsey barely whispered in response. When Sara began to slowly loosen her hold on her that only made Lindsey hold onto her tighter in fear she was going to leave.
“Its okay, Lindsey,” Sara told her, “I won’t leave… but its cold, how about we go back to my car and talk?” When Lindsey nodded Sara began to lead her back to her waiting Denali in front of the school, tentatively rubbing at her arms and shoulders with her hands to try and warm her up.
“Thank you for coming, Sara,” Lindsey told her as they arrived at her car and Sara opened the door for her.
“It’s no trouble, honey,” Sara assured her, closing the passenger door once Lindsey was inside. Jogging around to the driver’s side, she got inside and closed the door. For a moment there was silence; Sara wanted to give Lindsey some time to warm up and calm down before asking her anything.
“Does Mom know where I am?” Lindsey whispered.
“I didn’t tell her where I was going,” Sara answered, “She really does worry about you though, Lindsey… maybe you should tell her what’s going on. You’re her whole world.”
To her surprise Lindsey was nodding her head slowly in agreement. “I know,” she whispered, “But she’s going to be so mad at me, she told me to stop hanging out with Josh and now—“
“Lindsey,” Sara started. She didn’t exactly know how to word what she was going to say so she was going to trust her gut and not be a criminalist right now. She was going to be human. “If Josh or any of his friends did anything to hurt you, you have to understand that it wasn’t your fault.”
She watched as more tears spilled over the girl’s- Catherine’s- blue eyes. “They didn’t hurt me, though,” she whispered.
“Lindsey…” When Sara was her age she learned very quickly that were many different types of hurt. She couldn’t see any apparent injuries on the girl so she just hoped and prayed that what she was suspecting had happened wasn’t the reality. For Sara it had started out as a nice safe date at the dance, some flirting here and there and then she started to feel uncomfortable. He had told her he was going to take her home but he wanted to show her something first and she had woefully agreed. It was almost the same story; Josh had told Lindsey he would walk her home but said he had to stop to do something first.
“Lindsey,” Sara started again, “There’s something I want to tell you, okay?”
Lindsey nodded slowly, turning her head to look at Sara as she wiped at her eyes. She was expecting another ‘You should talk to your mother’ remark but was completely thrown off-guard at what came out of Sara’s mouth:
“I was raped.”
The blonde’s eyes widened as she looked at Sara in astonishment. “What…?” she managed to get out.
Sara simply nodded in response. “I was only about two years older than you. His name was Kevin; prom date.”
“How… how did it happen…?” Lindsey whispered.
Sara opened her mouth to speak but began protesting against it- did she really want Lindsey to know? Then again if she talked about her experience it might help Lindsey feel more comfortable. “Well… he had the car- my parents didn’t really trust me with a car, well not really with much of anything…”
“Mom won’t even let me be on the computer for more than 45 minutes,” Lindsey rolled her eyes.
Sara laughed a little. “Well the plan was after the dance he was going to drive me home. But… he had other plans. He told me there was something in the football shed he wanted to show me. And… I believed him, and followed him inside, and... My parents yelled at me later that night for getting in so late,” Sara offered a small smile.
Lindsey had more tears forming in her eyes that she struggled to fight back but it was becoming too much and she started to cry again.
“Hey,” Sara whispered, leaning over the center console and wrapping an arm around her shoulders to try and comfort her, “It’s okay honey, I’m still alive…”
“Those bastards, I want every one of them to get their dicks cut off,” Lindsey angrily cried.
There was the Catherine side showing again, Sara thought with a small grin. “Well I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought so,” she told her. And then, “Lindsey, what happened with Josh tonight?”
Lindsey started crying even harder as she leaned into Sara for comfort. “We saw the movie, and when it was over Josh told me he would walk me home,” she whispered, “I don’t like being babied, but I remembered Mom telling me the theater wasn’t in the best part of town…”
“Well that was smart,” Sara whispered.
“No it wasn’t,” Lindsey cried, “Because then he went and starting smoking weed with his friends, and I should have just turned and ran, but I didn’t…”
“What did they do, Lindsey?” Sara asked her maternal instincts on overload. She wasn’t a mother and had no experience with motherhood but Lindsey was almost like a daughter to her and she felt an overwhelming protectiveness over the little girl.
“He told me to stay, and he tried to get me to smoke some but I didn’t want to…” Lindsey said, “And… and I don’t know if it was the drugs, or what, but…” she whispered, “He got really, really angry, and he started coming at me…”
Sara immediately tightened her hold on Lindsey’s arms.
“And… his friends were laughing,” She whispered, “And he pushed me against the wall, and he told me he wanted to have sex… and I said no, and he started trying to take my skirt off!”
This kid was dead-meat.
“Lindsey…” Sara whispered, “Was he able to…?”
“No,” Lindsey whispered, shaking her head, “He pulled out a condom, and I hit him and just started running,” she admitted, “And I felt stupid, but I just kept running, and the only place I could think of going was the school. I couldn’t go home because Mom wouldn’t understand,” she whispered.
Sara shot Lindsey a sympathetic look, putting a gentle hand on her back. “I can understand that, Lindsey,” she whispered. “But your mom would’ve understood. She cares about you so much, and she worries because you don’t talk to her.”
“But she’s always working,” Lindsey whispered, looking up at Sara with glistening blue eyes, now red and puffy from crying. “How could she care?”
“Lindsey, there’s not one day that I don’t walk into the lab and your mom talks about you,” Sara whispered, “It’s the truth. She brags about you, she’s always talking about how proud of you she is… do you trust me?”
Lindsey nodded, sniffling as she wiped up more tears.
Sara smiled, patting her back gently. “Okay. Then what I want you to do is go home and take a bath. Warm; not hot,” she advised her, “And then I want you to talk to your—“
“Lindsey?”
Catherine’s voice outside the car startled them both as they turned and saw her standing at Sara’s window, peering inside through the glass now fogged up by her rapid breathing. “Lindsey, what are you doing here?” she asked. She had followed Sara from the lab when she got suspicious and what does she find? Sara going to her daughter’s school, talking to her daughter who was now crying.
“Oh my god…” Lindsey bellowed.
“Lindsey, get out of the car,” Catherine ordered, staring at Sara in astonishment. “What the hell are you doing?” she addressed the younger woman now. “Making friends with my daughter, talking about how horrible of a mother I am?”
“Cath, you know that’s not what I’m doing,” Sara calmly said, opening her car door and stepping outside.
“How do I know it’s not?” Catherine asked, looking from Sara to the car with wide eyes. “Lindsey, get out! I’m taking you home.”
When Lindsey refused to move, Sara stepped in, “She’s cold, Cath,” she told her, “So just let her stay in there while we talk.”
“She can stay in her real mother’s car!” Catherine told her. “Since when do you know about mothering a child, Sara?”
“I’m not trying to replace you, Cath,” Sara told her, “She’s scared. Don’t make this worse for her.”
“Making things worse? This is my daughter Sara; go meddle in someone else’s life!”
No one quite knew what happened next. It seemed like time skipped. Catherine only knew that she was agitated and upset and worried beyond belief, and that she felt a stinging sensation in the palm of her hand before the sound of skin connecting with skin filled her ears. The next she was standing in front of Sara, wide-eyed with her hand at her side, the skin on Sara’s left cheek was bright red.
“MOM!” Lindsey immediately screamed, stumbling out of Sara’s SUV to between the two women. “Mom, what did you do!” she screamed, looking over at Sara.
“We’re going home now, Lindsey,” Catherine told her, staring at Sara, mortified at what she had just done but the adrenaline still pumping. “Right now, get in the car.”
“No! I want to stay here with Sara!” Lindsey protested, turning around and putting her hand up on Sara’s cheek, “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m okay, Lindsey,” Sara whispered, shooting her a small smile.
Catherine felt moisture running down her cheeks and then realized that she was crying-crying out of pity, crying out of sorrow, crying out of desperation and jealousy. Sara Sidle, the female Gil Grissom had a better relationship with her daughter than she did. Sara wasn’t her mother and now she was making Catherine look like the bad guy. She knew how much she worked; there was only so much a single working mom could do in one day.
“Lindsey, get in the car, now,” Catherine repeated firmly but her voice wavered on tears.
“Why can’t you ever just listen, Mom?” Lindsey asked, turning around and looking at her mother with the same tear-stained set of blue eyes. “All you ever think about is yourself! Do you even remember what my birthday is? You’re never home! I called Sara myself because at least she cares about me!”
Catherine felt her heart rip in two. “June 5,” she managed to get out, “That’s your birthday, June 5.”
“It doesn’t even matter, Mom!” Lindsey told her, “Sara was there for me! I can trust Sara; I don’t even know how anyone could ever trust you.” With that, Lindsey turned and stomped off toward Catherine’s Denali.
Sara looked over at Catherine worriedly. Oh this was not how this was supposed to go. Lindsey was supposed to have a calm conversation with her mother in the warm environment of their own home, not in the middle of the street in front of her school at midnight. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. These were the conversations Sara used to have with her mother before she realized she wasn’t listening. The only difference was that Catherine actually listened and she wasn’t Laura Sidle.
“Cath, look—“ Sara started but Catherine cut her off.
“Sara, I don’t even want to hear it,” Catherine told her, putting a hand up to silence her as she fought back more tears. She knew she was being irrational but she felt out of control and she felt like she was finally losing Lindsey for good, and that was her worst nightmare. “I’m sorry for hitting you but I don’t ever want to see around my daughter again,” she whispered, trying to shoot Sara a stern look but failing miserably.
“You’ve gotta slow down, Cath,” Sara finally told her, her tone soft and calm. How could she be so calm, Catherine thought? She was ruining her relationship with her daughter! “You’ve gotta slow down, or you’re going to lose Lindsey entirely.” She wasn’t going to tell her what Lindsey had said, she had promised the girl that, so she was going to her tell Catherine in her own time.
Catherine left in her car with Lindsey without saying a word.
Mini_Catherine
CSI Level One
WHAWHAWHA! oh my. My heart is beating at like, 10x it's normal rate. What are you trying to do, gimmie a heart attack? That was amazing! I'm just afraid Catherine's going to be so angry when she get's home Lindsey won't be able to tell her what happened. "“You’ve gotta slow down, Cath,” Sara finally told her, her tone soft and calm. How could she be so calm, Catherine thought? She was ruining her relationship with her daughter! “You’ve gotta slow down, or you’re going to lose Lindsey entirely.”" That's my favorite part. Good chapter.
MacsGirlMel
Mac's Personal Assistant
ack more soon! *gets pitchfork*
saraXsullivan
CSI Level Two
I... I... I...
I can't speak.
I'm speechless.
My mouth is wide open.
I can't talk.
UPDATE. NOW.
I can't speak.
I'm speechless.
My mouth is wide open.
I can't talk.
UPDATE. NOW.
sarahSidle1981
Lab Technician
I love it, you need to post a new part, I want to see what happen next.
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Thank you very much guys! I've been meaning to update this but I've had horrible writer's block :lol: I'll try and update soon, I promise!
saraXsullivan
CSI Level Two
I had this under my favourites so I could keep track of when you updates. Then I saw that someone posted so I got all excited and was like 'YAYYY!'
Then I came here and was like .. oh.
So update soon cause I loved the idea you started out with : )
Then I came here and was like .. oh.
So update soon cause I loved the idea you started out with : )
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
I'm so sorry for not updating sooner guys RL has been so hectic, and my grandmother was just diagnosed with blood cancer so a lot has been going on. Here's a new chapter!
---
“Who are you protecting?”
“I’m not protecting anyone!”
“You’re obviously hiding something.”
“I told you I don’t know anything!”
“Listen,” Catherine whispered to the wide-eyed Ashley sitting across from her in the interrogation room. She rested her elbows on the table as she leaned forward to let the girl know exactly how serious and close she was to losing it right then and there. “You obviously know something, or you wouldn’t be trying to hide anything. You wouldn’t even tell us your last name, so quit protecting the son of a bitch that killed your boyfriend!”
That was enough. Sara, who had been observing through the observation room opened the door connecting with the interrogation room and cleared her throat, making both an infuriated Catherine Willows and red-and-puffy eyed Ashley glance her way. “Catherine, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“I’m a little busy right now, Sara,” Catherine harshly replied. She had had about twelve hours now to cool down after the scene at the school but she was still fighting to keep it all together. When she had taken Lindsey home, she had stomped up the stairs and headed straight to her room. She remembered hearing a deafening slam as her daughter shut her out once again for the entire night.
“Cath, I really need to see you outside,” Sara told her, holding her ground. Sara had long-since gotten used to the wrath of Catherine Willows. She wasn’t really angry at Ashley—Sara knew that. She was upset and on the verge of tears. She knew it was a high possibility that Catherine hadn’t gotten any sleep; her eyes were circled with black and she came into work that morning wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before.
Catherine stared at Sara for a long moment, hoping that for once Sara would just back off but alas she never did. With a defeated sigh the blonde turned around to look over at Ashley who was still sitting in her chair from before, now wiping at her eyes and further smearing her mascara. “You’re free to go.” With that she turned around and headed out of the room.
Sara inwardly sighed as she turned and followed Catherine out of the room. When they made it to the locker room Catherine kept her back toward the brunette the entire time as she opened her locker up and started rummaging around for some unknown item. It was just another excuse to not make eye contact.
“Cath, look,” Sara started, folding her arms across her chest. “I know you’re mad at me. That’s no mystery. You can be mad at me; I’m not trying to get you to apologize to me. I just want to make things right.”
Catherine let out a dry laugh, turning to look over at Sara with her signature ‘yeah right’ grin. “Good luck with that, Sara. You know what happened last night?” she asked, finally turning her entire body around to face her. “Lindsey didn’t say a word to me. Not one word. We get home and she walks up to her room and slams the door. I didn’t get any sleep last night, Sara.”
“I could tell,” Sara admitted.
“This isn’t time for your sarcastic crap, alright?” Catherine snapped, shoving her locker door shut with her elbow. The noise echoed throughout the small room. “You had absolutely no right to do what you did last night! That’s my job! If Lindsey needed someone, you should’ve told me, not gone and tried to be her surrogate mother!”
“Catherine!” Sara exclaimed, scoffing in disbelief. She was still hung up about it. She wanted to not get into another argument—she tried damn hard not to—but she was beyond peeved. Catherine was acting like it was her fault. “Will you please just listen to me? You’re not getting it! You’re blaming me when you should be—“
“I think I’ve listened to you enough, Sara,” Catherine interrupted. “Actually, I think Lindsey has done enough listening for both of us. What did you tell her? Did you tell her not to talk to me last night?”
“For god’s sake Cath you’re sounding ridiculous!” Sara cried, throwing her arms up in the air as Catherine took a step toward her. “What am I, the Catherine Willows Nazi? She asked me to go to her, Catherine, what was I supposed to say? I sure as hell wasn’t going to say no!”
“You could’ve told me, Sara!” Catherine angrily growled.
“She asked me not to, Cath!” Sara pointed out, “She didn’t want you to know what had happened, because she thought you would be mad at her!”
That stopped Catherine for a moment and her features softened some. “…What?”
“Don’t you see, Cath?” Sara whispered, taking a few small steps toward the older woman. “She asked me not to tell you. She was scared, she didn’t know what was going on, I doubt she even remembered where she was. She was a scared little girl, and she didn’t know what to do.”
Catherine’s eyes slowly widened as she envisioned her baby in the picture Sara had painted on the canvas of her mind. Just imagining her daughter that scared brought tears streaming to her eyes. “She didn’t feel… like she could ask me?”
“She thought you would be upset with her, Cath,” Sara whispered. “She went out last night and she thought you would be angry with her. I wasn’t trying to replace you- I never was. I don’t know how any other mother could ever compete with you. I’ve been talking with Lindsey now for a while over the internet…”
Catherine quickly wiped at her eyes before Sara could see that she was crying. But Sara had already seen, it was no use trying to hide it. “What…” she cleared her throat to compose herself. “What has she been saying?”
“She talks about you a lot,” Sara informed her, “All the time, actually. She’s afraid that you’re going to be disappointed in her.”
“Why would she ever think something like that?” Catherine whispered. She couldn’t put into words how proud of Lindsey she was. Lindsey was her whole world.
“She just wants you to be home with her more, Cath,” Sara whispered. “She thinks you avoid her and that’s why you work so much. She’s just a teenager. She just wants that support from her mother. You’re her role model, you have no idea how much she thinks of you.”
That did it and before either of them knew what was going on Catherine had given up and let the tears that were forming in her eyes fall down her face as she choked on a guttural sob in her throat. Sara took a hesitant step forward, not sure if she should try to comfort her or not. If there was one thing Sara knew she had never done before it was trying to comfort someone. She couldn’t even comfort herself.
“Cath…” Sara whispered, reaching a tentative hand out to touch her shoulder. “I—“ before she knew what was happening Catherine had thrown herself into her arms as she began to sob. So Sara did the only thing she thought to do—she wrapped her arms around Catherine’s back and tried her hardest to console her.
“Why am I such a horrible mother?” Catherine asked Sara. She didn’t know what the hell she was doing—she was breaking down in front of one of her friends. Sara, nonetheless, who knew absolutely nothing about comforting someone let alone how she was feeling at the moment. But for some reason she didn’t care right now; Sara’s embrace was warm and welcoming and that was all she needed.
“You’re not a horrible mother, Cath,” Sara whispered. “You give up having a social life so that you can work to support yourself and your daughter. When you have time off, you always go home to spend it with Lindsey. You’re one of the least selfish people I know. But you have been maxing out on overtime a lot the past few months,” she whispered. “Are you trying to compete with me? That’s my job.”
Sara was rewarded with a small laugh from the strawberry blonde who wiped at her eyes one more time as she shot the younger woman an appreciative smile. “Thanks, Sara. I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it, Cath,” Sara smiled back. “I don’t like seeing you upset.” After a few moments of silence and Catherine taking a few breaths and letting them out shakily to compose herself, Sara continued, “Come on. Let’s get out of here- I think there’s a little girl at your house waiting for you.”
Catherine couldn’t keep the smile from crossing her face. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
Just as they were about to turn and walk out of the locker room, Catherine heard a voice booming from the hallways. A voice she recognized.
“Where is Catherine? I have to talk to her right now!”
“Miss, please calm down, I’m sure she’ll be returning from the interrogation shortly—“ Judy was interrupted by the distraught and frantic voice of Catherine’s mother once again.
“This can’t wait! I have to see Catherine now!”
Sara and Catherine both exchanged looks with each other before they walked out of the locker room down the hallway. “Mom?” Catherine asked, confused. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?” she asked. “And where’s Lindsey? She was supposed to be with you!”
“Oh, Catherine thank God,” Lilly panted, dashing toward her daughter. “I tried to call you but you weren’t picking up, and—“
“Ms. Willows, calm down,” Sara spoke up, holding up a hand to stop her. “Try and calm down and tell us what’s going on, alright?”
Lilly looked from Sara to Catherine with wide eyes. “It’s Lindsey, Catherine. I don’t know where she is!”
TBC
RL has been so hectic, and my grandmother was just diagnosed with blood cancer so a lot has been going on. Here's a new chapter!---
“Who are you protecting?”
“I’m not protecting anyone!”
“You’re obviously hiding something.”
“I told you I don’t know anything!”
“Listen,” Catherine whispered to the wide-eyed Ashley sitting across from her in the interrogation room. She rested her elbows on the table as she leaned forward to let the girl know exactly how serious and close she was to losing it right then and there. “You obviously know something, or you wouldn’t be trying to hide anything. You wouldn’t even tell us your last name, so quit protecting the son of a bitch that killed your boyfriend!”
That was enough. Sara, who had been observing through the observation room opened the door connecting with the interrogation room and cleared her throat, making both an infuriated Catherine Willows and red-and-puffy eyed Ashley glance her way. “Catherine, can I talk to you for a minute?” she asked.
“I’m a little busy right now, Sara,” Catherine harshly replied. She had had about twelve hours now to cool down after the scene at the school but she was still fighting to keep it all together. When she had taken Lindsey home, she had stomped up the stairs and headed straight to her room. She remembered hearing a deafening slam as her daughter shut her out once again for the entire night.
“Cath, I really need to see you outside,” Sara told her, holding her ground. Sara had long-since gotten used to the wrath of Catherine Willows. She wasn’t really angry at Ashley—Sara knew that. She was upset and on the verge of tears. She knew it was a high possibility that Catherine hadn’t gotten any sleep; her eyes were circled with black and she came into work that morning wearing the same clothes she had worn the night before.
Catherine stared at Sara for a long moment, hoping that for once Sara would just back off but alas she never did. With a defeated sigh the blonde turned around to look over at Ashley who was still sitting in her chair from before, now wiping at her eyes and further smearing her mascara. “You’re free to go.” With that she turned around and headed out of the room.
Sara inwardly sighed as she turned and followed Catherine out of the room. When they made it to the locker room Catherine kept her back toward the brunette the entire time as she opened her locker up and started rummaging around for some unknown item. It was just another excuse to not make eye contact.
“Cath, look,” Sara started, folding her arms across her chest. “I know you’re mad at me. That’s no mystery. You can be mad at me; I’m not trying to get you to apologize to me. I just want to make things right.”
Catherine let out a dry laugh, turning to look over at Sara with her signature ‘yeah right’ grin. “Good luck with that, Sara. You know what happened last night?” she asked, finally turning her entire body around to face her. “Lindsey didn’t say a word to me. Not one word. We get home and she walks up to her room and slams the door. I didn’t get any sleep last night, Sara.”
“I could tell,” Sara admitted.
“This isn’t time for your sarcastic crap, alright?” Catherine snapped, shoving her locker door shut with her elbow. The noise echoed throughout the small room. “You had absolutely no right to do what you did last night! That’s my job! If Lindsey needed someone, you should’ve told me, not gone and tried to be her surrogate mother!”
“Catherine!” Sara exclaimed, scoffing in disbelief. She was still hung up about it. She wanted to not get into another argument—she tried damn hard not to—but she was beyond peeved. Catherine was acting like it was her fault. “Will you please just listen to me? You’re not getting it! You’re blaming me when you should be—“
“I think I’ve listened to you enough, Sara,” Catherine interrupted. “Actually, I think Lindsey has done enough listening for both of us. What did you tell her? Did you tell her not to talk to me last night?”
“For god’s sake Cath you’re sounding ridiculous!” Sara cried, throwing her arms up in the air as Catherine took a step toward her. “What am I, the Catherine Willows Nazi? She asked me to go to her, Catherine, what was I supposed to say? I sure as hell wasn’t going to say no!”
“You could’ve told me, Sara!” Catherine angrily growled.
“She asked me not to, Cath!” Sara pointed out, “She didn’t want you to know what had happened, because she thought you would be mad at her!”
That stopped Catherine for a moment and her features softened some. “…What?”
“Don’t you see, Cath?” Sara whispered, taking a few small steps toward the older woman. “She asked me not to tell you. She was scared, she didn’t know what was going on, I doubt she even remembered where she was. She was a scared little girl, and she didn’t know what to do.”
Catherine’s eyes slowly widened as she envisioned her baby in the picture Sara had painted on the canvas of her mind. Just imagining her daughter that scared brought tears streaming to her eyes. “She didn’t feel… like she could ask me?”
“She thought you would be upset with her, Cath,” Sara whispered. “She went out last night and she thought you would be angry with her. I wasn’t trying to replace you- I never was. I don’t know how any other mother could ever compete with you. I’ve been talking with Lindsey now for a while over the internet…”
Catherine quickly wiped at her eyes before Sara could see that she was crying. But Sara had already seen, it was no use trying to hide it. “What…” she cleared her throat to compose herself. “What has she been saying?”
“She talks about you a lot,” Sara informed her, “All the time, actually. She’s afraid that you’re going to be disappointed in her.”
“Why would she ever think something like that?” Catherine whispered. She couldn’t put into words how proud of Lindsey she was. Lindsey was her whole world.
“She just wants you to be home with her more, Cath,” Sara whispered. “She thinks you avoid her and that’s why you work so much. She’s just a teenager. She just wants that support from her mother. You’re her role model, you have no idea how much she thinks of you.”
That did it and before either of them knew what was going on Catherine had given up and let the tears that were forming in her eyes fall down her face as she choked on a guttural sob in her throat. Sara took a hesitant step forward, not sure if she should try to comfort her or not. If there was one thing Sara knew she had never done before it was trying to comfort someone. She couldn’t even comfort herself.
“Cath…” Sara whispered, reaching a tentative hand out to touch her shoulder. “I—“ before she knew what was happening Catherine had thrown herself into her arms as she began to sob. So Sara did the only thing she thought to do—she wrapped her arms around Catherine’s back and tried her hardest to console her.
“Why am I such a horrible mother?” Catherine asked Sara. She didn’t know what the hell she was doing—she was breaking down in front of one of her friends. Sara, nonetheless, who knew absolutely nothing about comforting someone let alone how she was feeling at the moment. But for some reason she didn’t care right now; Sara’s embrace was warm and welcoming and that was all she needed.
“You’re not a horrible mother, Cath,” Sara whispered. “You give up having a social life so that you can work to support yourself and your daughter. When you have time off, you always go home to spend it with Lindsey. You’re one of the least selfish people I know. But you have been maxing out on overtime a lot the past few months,” she whispered. “Are you trying to compete with me? That’s my job.”
Sara was rewarded with a small laugh from the strawberry blonde who wiped at her eyes one more time as she shot the younger woman an appreciative smile. “Thanks, Sara. I owe you one.”
“Don’t mention it, Cath,” Sara smiled back. “I don’t like seeing you upset.” After a few moments of silence and Catherine taking a few breaths and letting them out shakily to compose herself, Sara continued, “Come on. Let’s get out of here- I think there’s a little girl at your house waiting for you.”
Catherine couldn’t keep the smile from crossing her face. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
Just as they were about to turn and walk out of the locker room, Catherine heard a voice booming from the hallways. A voice she recognized.
“Where is Catherine? I have to talk to her right now!”
“Miss, please calm down, I’m sure she’ll be returning from the interrogation shortly—“ Judy was interrupted by the distraught and frantic voice of Catherine’s mother once again.
“This can’t wait! I have to see Catherine now!”
Sara and Catherine both exchanged looks with each other before they walked out of the locker room down the hallway. “Mom?” Catherine asked, confused. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?” she asked. “And where’s Lindsey? She was supposed to be with you!”
“Oh, Catherine thank God,” Lilly panted, dashing toward her daughter. “I tried to call you but you weren’t picking up, and—“
“Ms. Willows, calm down,” Sara spoke up, holding up a hand to stop her. “Try and calm down and tell us what’s going on, alright?”
Lilly looked from Sara to Catherine with wide eyes. “It’s Lindsey, Catherine. I don’t know where she is!”
TBC