A/N: Spoilers for Lady Heather's Box (3x 17 I think).

The next day, Catherine strolled into the break room, puzzling over whether or not to question Sara about the contact with Lindsey. Did she mind that they were talking? No. She definitely minded that it had been a secret. She quickly greeted the guys before sticking her lunch in the fridge, when Warrick sauntered in, waving an envelope.

"Whooo!! Check it out, new club next to the Bellagio… Thursday's grand opening… tight."

"How did you swing that?" Nick whistled, impressed.

"Hey, I have connections. I've been looking forward to tomorrow all shift, man."

"Not that the tickets aren't impressive, but even more puzzling… how did you get the time off on such short notice?" Catherine questioned.

"Actually, Sara asked me to switch days off… normally, I'd never let go of a Friday off, but it seemed really important to her. Something about a San Francisco colleague in town. Plus, now she owes me one and it gave me the chance to get a hold of these babies," he grinned, tucking the tickets back into his shirt pocket.

Catherine quickly forced a smile, "That's great Rick… have fun."

OK, so now the workaholic is not only taking her days off but coordinating days and it's 'really important to her'? Definitely need to talk to her. Mind made up, Catherine strode off to find Sara.

Sara was in the layout room, organizing the shots from her scene. Catherine walked in and leaned over the opposite edge of the table.

"B&E?" Catherine asked.

"Yep, sent the hairs to DNA and now I'm just taking a look at these… it's a mess," Sara sighed.

Catherine smiled sympathetically.

"So Sara, Warrick said you switched days off?" Catherine asked.

"Mhmm," Sara said.

"Hot date?" Catherine pressed.

Sara snorted.

"You sure? Maybe with a blonde? Who's a really great dancer?"

Sara froze and slowly looked up to face Catherine.

"Catherine…?"

"I know, Sara. I know you've been talking with Lindsey. She left an e-mail open on her desktop."

Sara stood, holding her hands in front of her, "Catherine, I am so, so, so sorry if I overstepped. I asked her to tell you, and she said that she would and I don't want to undermine…"

"Sara!" Catherine cut her off, Sara's mouth clamped shut.

"I don't have a problem with it."

Sara stopped, "Yeah?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah. Well. I don't know… how long have you two been… talking?"

"I gave her my card about six months after Eddie died… we talked a little. When she got her new computer, I got a gmail account so we could e-mail… figured out instant messaging." Catherine paused to process the information.

"How often?"

"It depends on her schedule, Cat. At least once every two weeks."

Catherine sat on a chair in the corner, hands in her lap. Sara moved her chair over to sit in front of Catherine, staying a cautious distance away from her.

"Catherine…" Sara started carefully.

"Thank you," Catherine interrupted.

"What?" Sara said.

"Thank you for being such a good friend to her," Catherine looked Sara in the eye.

"Of course, Catherine," Sara said, "She's wonderful. You're a great mom." Sara smiled.

"I think you're wonderful. I love that you would do that for my daughter. Sara, I want you to know that I've always respected you, ever when we didn't see eye to eye. My daughter made a good choice in looking for a female role model."

Both women were silent for several moments before Sara whispered, "Thank you."

Catherine took a deep breath, "Listen, I'm going to tell Lindsey that I know about your friendship, but I don't want her to lose you. I just need to know what's going on in my daughter's life, OK?"

"Of course, Cat. Thank you for letting me be a part of her life. And I'm sorry again for not telling you."

"S'OK," Catherine sighed, "The truth is, it's a moment where I'm realizing just how grown up my daughter is… oh my god I have a fifteen year old."

Sara gave a tight smile, "Let me know how your conversation with Linds goes, OK?"

"OK."

Catherine stood up to leave.

"And Catherine," she paused in the doorway at Sara's voice, "I'm not going to be a spy for you, but you know that I would have told you if Lindsey was in trouble or doing anything dangerous."

Catherine smiled, "I know."

Catherine managed to take off quickly enough after shift to catch Lindsey having breakfast.

"Lindsey, cookies aren't breakfast," Catherine laughed as she entered the kitchen.

The sleepy teenager leaned against the counter and muttered something unintelligible through a mouthful of Oreos. Catherine grinned.

"How about I make you some toast or something?"

"Corn Flakes with Strawberries?" Lindsey asked.

"You're on. Sit," Catherine said.

After assembling Lindsey's breakfast, Catherine handed her to sugar bowl and set the bowl in front of her and sat across from her.

"It's nice to see you in the morning, Mom. But what's up?" Lindsey asked, munching on a mouthful of cereal.

"I like seeing you in the morning too, baby. I'm going to try to do this more, alright? But there actually is something I want to talk to you about."

Lindsey threw her spoon back into the bowl, "I knew it! Cereal with a catch!"

"No! It's nothing bad Lindsey… I just want to talk."

Lindsey cautiously sat back down. Catherine noted with amusement the same tension that Sara had adopted during their conversation.

"Lindsey, I was picking up some stuff in your room the other day… it was really clean by the way, nice job… and I noticed that you had an e-mail from Sara," Lindsey began to rise out of the chair, "DON'T! Lindsey, don't… I would never go through your e-mails… it was on the desktop. If you want, you can yell in a minute… but just hear me out," Catherine's pleading tone convinced Lindsey and she settled back slowly into her chair.

"I don't have a problem with you and Sara being friends. She's a great woman, Lindsey… you're right to trust her. What scares me is not knowing where you are, Linds. Geographically and in life, OK? I'm your mother and I need to know who you're associating with, OK?"

Lindsey nodded slowly. Catherine sucked in a deep breath.

"Why didn't you ask me to take you to your father's grave?" She asked gently.

Lindsey looked at her lap. Catherine waited patiently.

"We used to go, Mom. But last year you didn't say anything about it and I didn't want… I didn't want you to hurt again if you had gotten past it. I know how badly that hurt you and I didn't want you to have to go through it again for me." Lindsey muttered.

Catherine could feel tears welling up.

"Baby, I didn't bring it up because I didn't know if you were still thinking about it. I know, that's stupid… isn't it? I did love your father, Lindsey… and he was your father so even after we stopped… there was always… I don't know. This isn't something that you just 'get past', ever. I will never, ever, ever forget getting the phone call from you. I broke you out of a half-submerged car that night… it was…" Catherine was crying now, "It was the scariest thing I ever went through. I will never, NEVER, forget that night. Lindsey, if you need to go mourn your father, then you should and I want to be there with you, if that's OK. You need to let me in, Lindsey…. I want to be there for you. I know what it's like to almost lose you… and I'm not strong enough to do that again." Catherine finished with a sob.

Lindsey was crying now too and she fell forward into her mother's arms, stroking her hair like she had the night she discovered her mom crying in bed.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you," Catherine whispered back, stroking Lindsey's back.

"I'm sorry I upset you before school," Catherine joked.

Lindsey laughed, "O.K. I have a question, do you want to go to the cemetery with me on Friday?"

Catherine smiled, wiping away Lindsey's tears, "Of course, do you want me to tell Sara while you're at school?"

"Yeah, I'll e-mail her later," Lindsey said.

"OK, in the car… I'm taking you to school," Catherine smiled, pulling Lindsey to her feet.

When Catherine got home, she immediately flipped open her phone and dialled Sara.

"Sidle."

"Hey Sara, it's Cat," Catherine started, "Did I wake you?"

"Nope, reading. What's up? Did you talk to Linds?"

"Yes I did. Actually, I think that I owe you another thank you. I think that Lindsey and I really needed to have a conversation about her father's death… we took a good step today. I think I'm going to take her to the cemetery Friday, is that alright?"

"You don't need to ask me, Cat. I'm happy that you two are getting where you need to be."

"I'm sorry that you owe Warrick the favour now."

"Ahh… probably means I get the next decomp, that's all. Just don't make fun of the smell," Sara joked.

Catherine laughed, "I'll let you go get some sleep, thanks again Sara."

"Hey listen, Catherine," Sara started, "I don't just want to be there for Lindsey… if you need anything, if you two want to do something after… ummm, call me?"

"I will Sara, thanks," Catherine replied, trying to sound reassuring.

"Bye Cat."

"Bye Sar."

Catherine shut the phone and immediately dialled Grissom to wrangle the day off for herself. Sensing it was important, Grissom caved with very little effort. Finally, Catherine fell into bed to ponder her relationship with her daughter and their new relationship with Sara Sidle.