Lindsey sat watching South Park on Sara's couch. She was waiting for Sara to finish checking over her homework so that they could study a little more for her finals. She wasn't really worried about passing any of the tests, but she and Sara had agreed that she should still take a little time to glance over all of her notes.
Lindsey turned to look at Sara when the TV cut off, "Hey! I was watching that."
Sara rolled her eyes, "Do you want to study or not? I can just take you home. Your tests are tomorrow. If you don't want to study, it's up to you. I'm not going to make you."
Lindsey rolled off the couch to join Sara at the table, "I want to study. Sort of. I mean I don't want to study, but I know I should."
Sara laughed, "I know what you mean. We'll start with your easiest subject and work or way to the harder stuff ok?"
Lindsey nodded and they pulled out Lindsey's English notes.
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"Hey, Sara?"
Sara looked up from the paper she was reading, "Yeah?"
Lindsey paused, unsure if she should ask what was on her mind.
Sara sensed the hesitation and encouraged the girl to speak, "What is it, kiddo?"
"I was wondering… Does my mom know that you're in love with her?"
Sara felt the blood drain from her face, "Wha… wha… what are you talking about?"
Lindsey rolled her eyes, "I'll take that as a no. relax Sara. I won't tell her. I was just wondering if she knew."
Trying to calm down, Sara took several deep breaths until she felt the blood return to her face, "How did you know?"
Lindsey rolled her eyes, "Come on, Sara. I'm not stupid. I had suspected it for years, but I knew for sure when you agreed to be my tutor. You don't like kids and yet, you agreed to spend an extraordinary amount of time with me. Honestly, if she wasn't my mother, would you still have done it?"
Sara looked embarrassed, "Probably not. Don't get me wrong, kiddo. I enjoy the time I spend with you. Hell, you're probably the closest thing I have to a friend here in Vegas, but you were right. If it hadn't been for Catherine, I most likely wouldn't have done this."
"I don't mind. I enjoy the time we spend together too. And my grades have made a huge improvement. I think you should tell her though."
"Why? Your mom barely tolerates me at work. We don't interact outside the lab and we argue all the time. Not to mention, your mom scares the hell out of me. I would be too terrified to tell her that."
Lindsey rolled her eyes again, "You just admitted it to me."
Sara laughed somewhat bitterly, "Yeah, but it is easy to be brave from a distance."
"Don't worry about it. I don't think it would be that bad. You might be surprised at her reaction."
Sara looked at Lindsey intently, "What does that mean?"
Lindsey shrugged and said mysteriously, "Just that she might not react the way you'd think."
"You really think I should tell her?"
Lindsey nodded enthusiastically. Sara sighed, "I'll think about it. Now, let's finish studying."
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"Mom! Mom! Mom!"
The team could hear Lindsey shouting excitedly down the hall from the break room. Catherine jumped to her feet just as Lindsey burst into the room.
Lindsey practically tackled her mom, "I did it. I did it."
Catherine pulled Lindsey back enough to look her over for injuries. Finding none she asked, "You did what, Linds?"
Lindsey was bouncing in her excitement, "I got an A on all of my finals."
Congratulations echoed through the room as the entire team got up to hug Lindsey in celebration of her achievement. Warrick and Nick lifted Lindsey onto their shoulders and Greg suggested they all go out to eat to commemorate her good grades. Sara was designated to tell Grissom they were all leaving an hour before shift ended.
When she returned they laughed at their boss's lack of social skills when Sara told them he had been so involved with the centipede he was studying, he had told her to do what she thought was best on her case. They took that as approval and left the lab.
Outside the building, Sara slung her arm over Lindsey's shoulder, "I told you it was a good idea for us to look over your notes again before the tests."
She was looking straight ahead so she missed the look of horror that covered Lindsey's face and the look of confusion on Catherine's.
"What do you mean 'we'?"
Sara and the others were too caught up in joking around to notice the edge Catherine's voice had taken on. They came to a stop by Nick's SUV. Sara turned to look at Catherine, "We went over all of her notes form all of her classes before the finals."
Lindsey dropped her head when her mom rounded on her, "Sara was your tutor?"
Lindsey nodded hesitantly. The others all watched in confusion when Catherine seemed to become enraged, "Lindsey go to the car. Now!"
They watched Lindsey walk to her mom's car with slumped shoulders.
Greg was the one to gather his courage and ask, "What gives, Catherine? I thought you'd be happy she had studied so hard. Especially since she made all A's."
Catherine whipped around and ignoring Greg, ripped into Sara, "What the fuck is the matter with you? Are you really so pathetic you can't make friends your own age and have to spend time with my teenage daughter? I work my ass off for her and I find out that I don't see her as often as I could because she's off being corrupted by you. I fucking hate you."
Warrick stepped in between the two women, "Whoa. Catherine, hang on. We all thought you knew she was tutoring Linds. Don't say something you'll regret."
Catherine shoved him aside, "Regret? The only thing I regret is that this incompetent nothing came anywhere near my child."
With her piece said, Catherine stormed away and slammed into her car. They watched her go with a squeal of tires. Once she was gone, the boys turned to look at Sara. She hadn't made a sound since Catherine had started to yell at her, but there were silent tears running down her face.
Greg placed a hand on Sara's arm, "Come on. Let's get you home."
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It had been two months since the confrontation in the parking lot. Sara had always been reserved to some extent, but recently she had withdrawn even further into herself. She wouldn't go out with the team anymore, and she had taken up her old habit of working herself to exhaustion. And the most troubling of all was that she no longer fought with Catherine. When Catherine started to yell at her, she would become very quiet and agree with everything Catherine said.
Sara was seated at the break room table with Warrick. He was staring attentively at her. She was doing everything she could to ignore him and continue to read the magazine in front of her. He cleared his throat trying to gain her attention. She ignored him. Finally he got tired of being delicate and slammed his hand on the table, causing her head to shoot up, "What?!"
"Are you ok?"
She sighed, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? The guys and I are worried about you. You haven't been yourself lately."
She stood wearily, "I'm sorry that you were concerned, but I'm fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to Grissom." She stood and left the room.
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Warrick walked into the break room and took stock of those present, "Hey, guys? Where's Sara?"
The team indicated they didn't know. Nick and Catherine shrugged and Greg thought she might be late or sick. Grissom walked into the room and gave out assignments and was on his way out the door when Nick stopped him, "Gris, where's Sara?"
As if he had just remembered she wasn't there he replied, "Oh, she took the next week off. Wanted to spend a little time alone with her dad's old friend Colt, whoever that is."
The others looked around at Greg when he gasped loudly and jerked to his feet.
"What is it?" Nick asked his shocked coworker.
"Sara's dad left her an old Colt 45. When I asked her about it, she said her dad used to say one day he would let her meet his old friend Colt. She told me that even as a kid she knew that if she meet her dad's old pal Colt, it would mean her death. He left it to her as a sick joke." By the end of his explanation, his voice was shaking in fear, "We have to go get her."
Warrick, Nick, and Greg ran from the room, leaving Grissom and Catherine to watch over the lab for the rest of the shift.
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The boys jumped out of the SUV in front of Sara's apartment. They were filled with a sick dread as they saw the yellow tape and cops surrounding the area. Nick ran to the nearest cop and jerked him around by the arm, "What's going on?"
The cop wrenched his arm away and tried to push Nick back, "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the area."
Nick drew himself up to his full height, "I'm Nick Stokes of the Las Vegas Crime Lab and I demand you tell me what has happened here."
The cop looked at the identification Nick presented, "Oh, sorry man. Seems a woman called in, reporting a gunshot. When we arrived on scene the Feds were already here. All they told us was that we were to guard the perimeter and that they would give us more information later."
Nick was doing everything he could to remain calm, "Did they say who the vic was and how they died?"
The cop nodded, "Yeah. A self-inflicted gunshot to a woman named Sara Sidle."
Nick nodded and numbly turned back to the others waiting by the SUV. They looked at him questioningly. He could only shake his head.
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The ride back to the lab was taken in silence. They didn't know what to say.
They walked into the break room where Grissom and Catherine had been joined by most of the lab personnel. They all looked at the boys hopefully. Warrick stepped forward and said in subdued voice, "Self-inflicted gunshot wound. DOS."
The room became silent for a second before sobbing and crying broke out.
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Lindsey walked up the driveway surprised to see that her mom's car was there. She walked into the house, calling for her mom. She found her in the living room, sitting on the couch. The lights were off and there was a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels in the coffee table.
Lindsey sat next to Catherine on the couch noticing her red eyes and tearstained eyes, "Mom? Are you ok?"
Catherine launched herself into Lindsey's arms, "She's dead, Linds. Sara's dead."
