Summary: As per my usual, it's a Garret/Renee fic ;) and it reveals things about Renee's past.
A/N: For anyone who's read any of the fics I've taken down, anything said about her past in them will be changed.
A/N2: GAH! I hate the changes to FF! I HAD asterisks where the sections split, but...nooooo. It deleted them. So now you get horozontal lines. :)
Chapter 1
This chapter is dedicated to the person who said, and I quote, "lily-cavanaugh has more talent in her than 10 of you could have"
I was in the medical examiners office taking to Garret about a case when I thought I saw something though his window that looked familiar. I was about to excuse myself when there was a knock on the doorframe.
"Excuse me? Dr. Macy? Auntie Renee's office told Mom she could find her he –"
She cut herself off when she saw me, throwing herself into my arms. I had to fight to keep myself from smiling.
"Hi Ashlee. Where's your mom?"
Her face took on a look of deep concentration. "She's...somewhere...?" Ash looked at me innocently.
I looked up at Garret with a soft sigh. "I'll be right back."
I held her hand with a soft smile when she worked her small hand into mine and took her to go find her mom, Leah. I had no idea what they were doing back in Boston but I wasn't going to ask. I knew Lee would tell me when she was ready. In the meantime, I was willing to listen to whatever they had to say. Besides, I was happy to see them, being as I hadn't in about two years.
She nearly ran me over as she came around the corner, before she even registered that I was standing there.
I shook my head slightly. "Missing something?"
I could hear the relief in her voice as she thanked me. "I'm sorry Rini. She took off. She wanted to see you."
"Leah, I can't talk that much right now, but I'll be done here in about an hour...meet me back at my office? We can talk then."
I could see her eyes narrow slightly as she looked me over, before exclaiming, quite a bit more loudly than necessary, "Oh...My...God! You got laid!"
I could see a few heads pop up when she said that and took a deep breath. "Lee. Get. Gone. Now."
I don't know what it was, maybe the look in my eyes but she started backing up. "I'll see you in an hour."
I just shook my head as I walked back to Garrets office. "Sorry about that. Where were we?"
"Quick question first...'Auntie Renee?' Was that your niece?"
"Not technically. Her mom's my best friend." I sighed and spoke softly, my shoulders slumping slightly. "Can we just get back to the file? I don't want to talk about it."
"Yeah. Like I was saying. I don't get it. The DNA matches but her alibi is completely solid."
I watched his brows furrow and frowned slightly.
"Are you sure about TOD?"
"I've done everything I can to narrow it down, but the closest I can get is between one and two am."
"Okay. Well, I'll see what she says after a night in lock-up."
"You wanna come over tonight?"
I just raised an eyebrow. Talk about changing the subject. "I don't know. Leah doesn't usually show up unless... I don't know."
I'm not sure what he saw when he looked at me but he wrapped his arms lightly around my back and just held me, just for a second before I snapped out of it and pulled away abruptly. "Garret..."
"What? You can't show a little bit of affection even once in a while?" He frowned slightly.
"Not in public while we're working." I shook my head. "I gotta go. I'm a little worried what'll happen if Ashlee takes off again."
Garret just sighed and shook his head. "Okay, okay fine."
I bit my lip for a moment before closing his door and turning back to look at him again.
"C'mere." His arms slipped around me again and I sighed, relaxing into him slightly.
"Come over tonight... you feel so tense." He smiled. "I'll give you a back rub?"
Pulling away slightly, I gazed into his eyes. "Sounds tempting. But like I said, I don't know why Lee's here...but I know it's not good. And I'm just..." I shook my head. "Honestly, I'm drained. I think I'm just going home and crashing."
His fingers slid slowly up and down my spine as I shuddered slightly. "Garret..."
He raised his eyebrows. "You say that a lot."
Raising an eyebrow as I rolled my eyes, I pulled away. "I have to go. I'll call you about tonight.'
I kissed him softly before picking up the file, opening the door and leaving.
Slamming the door of my office behind me I turned and stared at Leah. "What the hell are you doing here? You only come back when you're in trouble and I'm always the one who gets sucked in. Not this time. I'm not helping you with whatever it is. I'm done putting my ass on the line." I finished my rant by dropping my files on the desk.
"Rini, calm down before you give yourself a heart attack."
"Would you stop calling me that? You know I hate it."
"Since when?"
"Ever since I turned thirty."
"And you're how old now?"
I just looked at her. "What do you want?"
"I'm moving back to Boston and was wondering if I could stay with you until I find a place."
"What about Brett?"
"I kicked him out over a year ago. Would have stayed in San Fran but my entire family is in Boston. It's where I belong."
I sighed, "And Ashlee?"
"I have custody. Brett's abusive."
"To who? You or her?"
"Me." She sighed and looked at the floor for a minute before continuing. "He always was. I miscarried because of him."
Sitting on my desk I looked at her. "Oh my god...when?"
"Couple months ago. I was about ten weeks along."
"Oh Lee, I'm sorry. Yeah, you guys can stay with me till you find a place, but you know I'm not around that much...right?"
"Relationship?"
"Yeah...sort of." I pulled my apartment and car keys off the ring on my desk and handed it to her. "Don't lose them?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah." She stood up from the plush chair and hugged me. "Thank you...so much Renee. I owe you."
Rubbing her back out of habit I shook my head. "Just don't do anything stupid. Or expect me to baby-sit."
"Hot date?"
Fire in my eyes, and murder in my mind, I looked at her and smiled. "What's it to you?"
"It's nice to see you happy. Haven't seen it since before you got divorced."
Smiling wryly I nodded. "Yup. Four years of a great marriage, then two years of hell." I sighed, "And three months of divorce court."
"We should go for drinks tomorrow. Catch up?"
I nodded. "I know a great Irish Pub...?"
"'kay." She smiled softly, "I'll see you later."
I nodded and closed the door behind her as she left.
I locked my office and turned around, nearly jumping out of my skin.
"Holy hell! Don't do that," I was gasping for air after the shock.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you. But you did call me for a ride."
I kissed him softly after taking a quick look around. "Thanks."
Garret made an attempt to take my bag from me, but I quickly pulled it out of reach. "I'm not an invalid Garret. I can carry my own bag."
He backed up, hands in the air. "Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to be nice."
"Well, don't."
He looked at me for a moment before shaking his head. "You know you're insane, right?"
I locked my frosty blue eyes to his darker ones for a moment. "Sure I am Garret. That makes you what? Normal? I don't think so."
Laughing softly, he opened the door for me as we walked out.
I know it's short. It's basically just an introduction for Leah and Ashlee.
Those of you who have read my past fics know how I work with sporadic updating, so I don't want any more reviews stating I'll get my head bashed with a shovel if I don't update soon.
If you want to be emailed when I update, leave your address in a review.
Flames and good reviews will both be appreciated.
Butterbuns
