Title- Blowout

Summary- Post Ep. to A Thousand Days on Earth. When Leo comes to deliver a gift, Catherine must watch someone she loves fight for their life. Meanwhile the death of another child and a major error on Hodges' part brings the trace tech to his breaking point.

Rating- T for some violence, graphic descriptions and language

Comments- Ok, so if you check out the CBS comment boards, you will see that lots of people really hated how this episode ended. I may be able to give you the change in Catherine some want to see. Oh, and I know I've been neglecting Mask and Face and Third Time's a Charm. I'm sorry. I'll try to work on those as soon as I can but this I just had to start now.

No girlfriend. No home. No job. No life. No future. Leo Finley probably couldn't even get a library card. And whose fault was that? Was it the drugs that caused his mind to falter the day regretted with every bone in his body? Was it the Egyptian sun god Ra? Or was it his own fault? No. The one who stole his girlfriend, home, job, life, and future was CSI Catherine Willows. With the yellow pages and a stolen 9mm in the glove box of his barely-running car, Leo set off to teach that "blond Nazi bitch" that she couldn't just strut her cocky ass around Las Vegas like she owned the damn place fucking up people's lives.

He was a little drunk, a little high, and a lot pissed off when he arrived in a neighborhood that reminded him of Leave it to-Fucking-Beaver in the sunny peacefulness of the afternoon. It made him want to gag and laugh at the same time. He chuckled a little as he habitually flipped on his turn signal and turned on to Catherine's street. He parked about a block away and walked through people's yards to get to his goal. He looked at the address on the two-story Barbie house and again at the address scribbled on the corner of a newspaper that he held in his shaking had. He wasn't shaking in fear, but in anger, anticipation and…yes, it was almost excitement.

Leo stood for a moment in the yard looking through the window whose curtains were pulled back and blinds partly opened. It was enough to see someone spinning around in the living room. What was she doing? It didn't look like Catherine. Was that woman seriously being allowed to raise children? His face twisted sickly and for a moment he almost wanted to shoot the spinning figure he saw, but that wouldn't do him any good. What would do him some good was to get this all over and done with. Right here. Right now.

He turned to the side; he wanted whoever looked out the window of that house to be able to see the inside of his scull. Although he had thought of making her look him in the eyes, he knew that she had already seen his face. He had seen hers, and it had looked so fucking pitiful it was hilarious. He was sure that she would never forget his face. What he wanted her to see was blood, brain, and tiny little bits of his head. He wanted her to se that. He wanted her daughter to see that. He wanted them to remember that the next time they thought about targeting an innocent person. He brought the gun to his temple. He paused. A scream rang out from inside the house. The last thing he thought about was the look of fear on Catherine's face. The last thing he said, hoping to be heard by whoever screamed, was his response to that fear he pictured.

"HA!"

And that short laugh was almost as loud as the gunshot that followed.

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Catherine was doing some spring cleaning in the kitchen when she heard someone come in the front door. She could hear the muffled iPod from there and rolled her eyes at the too-loud dance pop.

"How was school, Lindsay?" She called into the living room.

The distracted high school senior poked her head in and removed an earphone from her right ear only.

"Say what, mom?"

Catherine sighed and smiled. "How was school?"

"Meh," she shrugged and returned to the living room. "I have a number to practice, you mind?" Catherine could already hear her daughter opening the CD player and inserting God knows what kind of music.

"Go on, but just keep the music-" before Catherine could finish the sentence, the blast of the music to which her daughter would be dancing cut her off. She sighed and rolled her eyes once more. "Down," she mumbled to herself.

Catherine was almost finished cleaning when the phone rang.

"Lindsay!" she yelled in her loudest nice voice, "Turn it down!"

She heard the music go down to almost off and replied "Thank you, Lindsay."

She picked up the phone and answered politely, "Willows residence."

"Sorry, wrong number."

Catherine chuckled. "Hay, Nicky."

"Hey, Cat. What are you up to today."

"Oh, not a lot. Just thought I'd get the kitchen cleaned up. I've been working mucho overtime lately and I'm pretty sure my counter had grown something behind the microwave."

"Yuck. Cat, why don't you rest up a while. Make Lindsay clean the kitchen."

"Ha! Are you kidding me, Nick. I can't even get that girl to clean her own room."

Nick sighed. "Well, just make sure to get some rest later, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try, but I think-" the sentence was cut off by a scream from the living room, followed not a second later by a gunshot and shattering glass.

Catherine dropped the phone and ran into the living room screaming, "Lindsay! Oh my God Lindsay!"

She covered her mouth and screamed when she got to the living room and saw her daughter laying on the floor, blood trickling from her head, and a gift: the body of Leo Finley in her front lawn.

Ok, so what just happened? Leo shot himself and the bullet went through his head and into the living room, hitting Lindsay. Watch for more if you want to know if she lives or dies. No coins this time, I promise. lol