A/N: Hey guys! Here's the last chapter. I know it was a short story, but don't have much time to write at the moment.
Big THX to all you readers and reviewers!
Chapter 4
Catherine sighed and put down the receiver for the fifth time today. She just couldn't get in touch with Sara. All she wanted to do was to thank Sara and to apologize. She knew that she hadn't been fair to the brunette when she had brought Lindsey home. Her mother instincts had kicked in and the only things she could think about was the fact that her baby girl had been in danger and that Sara had let the bastards get away.
Warrick had tried to reassure her that she had reacted like any other mother would have but somehow she couldn't get rid off the mental images of Lindsey yelling at her and Sara more or less escaping from the house. She had screwed up that afternoon. And now she had to repair the damage.
The conversation Catherine had with Lindsey right after Sara left was a lot more constructive than she had expected. It required some work to convince her daughter to unlock the door to her room, but when she finally did they were able to talk. The first thing Catherine did was apologize. She tried to explain why she reacted the way she did – and to her it seemed like Lindsey kind of understood it.
She was even able to convince the girl that they had to call the police and press charges. After a long discussion Lindsey finally agreed that her 'friends' would not just leave her alone after what had happened. That was when she had called Brass and explained the situation to him. He promised he would take care of everything and that he would personally visit them later to take Lindsey's statement.
Catherine had first realized how shaken her daughter was by the events when they decided to watch a movie together. They hadn't done that in ages and they certainly hadn't cuddled in ages either, but that afternoon Lindsey didn't want to let go of her mother. Catherine's suggestion to take the night off and stay with her was also welcomed.
Brass and Greg who was the CSI on the case had dropped by later that day to take Lindsey's statement. Catherine had learned from them that Sara was fine. According to them they had dragged the brunette to the closest hospital to get her checked out by a doctor. She was lucky. Nothing broken. No concussion. But she had to take it easy for the next three days – and that meant no work. Catherine had no trouble imagining Sara's complaints about this. Brass told her he had threatened to cuff Sara to her bed if she wouldn't comply with the doctor's order. That seemed to have done the trick.
When Brass and Greg had left again and Lindsey had gone to bed Catherine contemplated calling Sara, but finally decided against it. The brunette was most likely asleep and the last thing she wanted to do was interrupt her well deserved rest. So she had postponed her much needed apology to tomorrow.
And here she was, trying to get Sara on the phone – with no luck so far. That could mean two things. Either Sara was resting like the doctor ordered or she was just not picking up when Catherine was calling. Well, at least no one could accuse her of not trying!
Despite not being able to reach Sara Catherine was in a good mood. Brass had called her earlier to tell her that all five teenagers were under arrest and had already given full confessions. That meant they would get what they deserved. She could only hope that there wouldn't be any more trouble for Lindsey in the future.
Catherine thought about dialling Sara's number again, but finally decided against it. Maybe Sara being Sara needed some time to herself before she would accept her apology. There really was no point in pressuring her. She knew it wouldn't get her anywhere with the brunette. She would talk to her when she was back at work. Like that Sara had two more days to herself – and at work she couldn't hide.
Satisfied with her plan she put the phone away and poured herself another cup of coffee.
########
It had been three days since Sara had saved Lindsey from those teenagers – three very boring days. After Brass and Greg had brought her to the hospital the lovely doctor had decided that she needed rest. Sara tried everything to convince him that she was fine – but in the end she wasn't allowed to work for three days. And for Sara three days were a small eternity.
To her own surprise she slept through most of the first day. Maybe the blow to her head was harder than the she had first expected. But day two and day three were nothing but boring. At least Greg had dropped by for a little while each day to keep her company and cheer her up.
Fortunately for her Catherine had stopped calling after day one. She really hadn't felt like talking to the blonde – she still didn't feel like it. But she knew that she probably couldn't avoid her tonight at work. Sara hoped that her older co-worker was still peaceful. After all, chances were good that she just wanted to thank her for saving Lindsey.
But then again she also made the mistake of giving Lindsey advice about her relationship with her mother – and that could get her into real trouble when Catherine found out. She could only hope that the girl would keep quiet about the origin of the letter idea. Or better yet, never write such a letter. The more Sara thought about the idea the less she liked it. She was not good at relationships of any kind so why did she have to give Lindsey advice in the first place? Unfortunately it was too late to change that. Sara really hoped that the things between Lindsey and Catherine would somehow work out and that she hadn't made it worse.
Sara glanced at her watch. Still five hours until the start of shift. Maybe she should go in early. It was not like she had anything else to do. She could grab a bite to eat on her way to work.
She was just about to change into her work clothes when she heard a knock on the door. Who the hell would visit her? At this time of the day her normal visitors – salesmen – weren't working anymore. Curiously she went to the door and looked through the peephole. Catherine …
Sara panicked. That couldn't be good. If the blonde had wanted to thank her she could have waited until they were both at work. It was more likely that her great letter plan backfired and now she would get her punishment for getting involved in Catherine's and Lindsey's lives. But there was really no way to escape the consequences, was there? Maybe it was better to get it over with. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down again and opened the door. "Hey Catherine, what brings you here?" She asked as casually as possible.
To Sara's surprise the blonde didn't look angry – she was actually smiling. "Hey Sara, can I come in?"
Sara opened the door further and stepped aside to let her enter. "Sure." When Catherine entered her apartment she noticed the bag she was carrying. The brunette closed the door and followed Catherine in the living room, curious about what her co-worker really wanted.
"I brought food." Catherine announced. "You didn't eat already, did you?"
Sara looked at her like she had grown a second head. What the hell was going on here? Where was the hidden camera? "What if I already ate?" She asked carefully.
Catherine let her eyes wander up and down Sara's body before settling on her face again. "Actually, I figured you would decide to go in early today because you were bored out of your mind and might just grab something to eat on your way."
Sara stared at her, mouth wide open. How the hell did she know that?
The blonde just smirked at her and shrugged her shoulders. "You are just a hopeless, predictable workaholic." Her tone was light, so Sara knew she was just teasing. "I brought vegetarian lasagna, so you better get plates out if you don't want the food to get cold."
Sara thought about telling her not to command her around in her own apartment, but figured it would be pointless anyway. Still curious – but less worried - about the visit she walked into the kitchen and got plates as well as two glasses and a bottle of water.
They made small talk during their meal and Sara really enjoyed it. But after they had both finished their meal she couldn't hold it any longer. "Catherine, why are you here?"
The older woman smiled. She knew Sara wouldn't just accept this as a friendly dinner. "I'm here to thank you."
Here we go, Sara thought. "For what?"
"For helping Lindsey."
Sara shrugged. "There's no need. You already did that when I brought her home." She really didn't want to have this conversation here. Somehow she felt vulnerable right now. She would have preferred to have this conversation in the lab.
Catherine raised an eyebrow at the answer. "No, Sara, I didn't. I actually yelled at you when you brought her home. You did practically run out of my house before I had a chance to get to the apologizing and thanking part of my little speech. I'm sure you haven't forgotten that." She still felt guilty for how she had treated the brunette.
Sara sighed. She certainly hadn't forgotten what had happened at Catherine's place but she thought that her co-worker had had a right to be mad back then. "You did what every caring mother would have done. It's fine, Catherine. Don't worry about it."
"But I do worry." Sara was about to protest, but Catherine held up a hand to stop her. "I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you. I was out of line and I really hope you will accept my apology."
Sara thought about telling her once more that an apology wasn't necessary but then she decided against it. If Catherine felt she needed to do this she would do her the favour. "Of course I accept." She gave the blonde a small smile.
Catherine returned the smile relieved. "Good. And then I want to thank you again. You saved Lindsey from whatever they would have done to her. I'll never forget that. I owe you." Her voice was filled with emotion. She wanted Sara to know that she meant what she had just said. That this was more than just empty words.
Sara looked down, slightly embarrassed. She hated it to be praised like that. "You're welcome." Came her mumbled reply.
Catherine smiled at Sara's behaviour. This was typical Sara. Shortly she thought about 'torturing' the brunette a little bit longer, but finally decided to give her a break and change the topic. "I'm glad this is settled. But there is something else I have to thank you for."
This caught Sara's attention and she looked back up. She looked expectantly at the blonde.
Catherine leaned back on the couch, smiling inwardly. Sara's reaction to what she was about to say would be interesting. "Well, Lindsey wrote me a ten page long letter about how she feels and what she wants to change in our relationship."
Sara winced. Didn't Lindsey promise to keep her out of this whole letter business? She really didn't want to get involved in this. Maybe she could talk her way out of it by just playing dumb. "And this is something good?"
The blonde nodded, smiling. "Yeah, because it helped me realize a lot of things."
"That's great, Catherine. So, we are here to celebrate that?"
Catherine couldn't help but chuckle. "No, we are not. As I said, I wanted to thank you. You know, I asked her what prompted her to write the letter and she said that the idea just popped into her mind and – sorry about that – but my daughter is an awful liar."
Sara agreed silently. The girl definitely was a bad liar.
"I know that she wouldn't come up with something like that on her own. Actually I think she would have been too angry herself, but since your little stunt she has changed. So I came to the conclusion that you might have talked to her. And considering that Lindsey lied to me about it, you probably asked her not to tell me. Maybe you were afraid that I wouldn't welcome you giving advice to my daughter about the way she should communicate with me."
Sara bit the inside of her cheek. Damn CSI!
"But you know what? If you were not the one who planted that idea in her head – which I really think is a great idea – then I just want to thank you for somehow making Lindsey realize … something … when you saved her from those gangsters."
Now Sara just smiled. "I think I stick with the latter."
Catherine rolled her eyes. "You are as stubborn as Lindsey."
Sara shrugged. "That's me."
"Actually I think there is more to you…" The blonde CSI said mysteriously.
"No, I'm just stubborn. Nothing more."
Catherine shook her head, pointing her index finger at Sara. "No, Sidle, don't even try to talk yourself out of this. There has to be more to you. After all you tamed my daughter. And you know what? I'm going to figure you out … starting today."
Sara raised an eyebrow. "What exactly does that mean?"
Catherine smirked. "That means that we now have a nice chat until we go to work and in the morning we continue over a nice breakfast, your treat."
Sara was about to protest, when the blonde looked at her with puppy dog eyes. When she saw Catherine pouting she couldn't help but break out into laughter. "Now I know where Linds has that look from."
Catherine joined in and they spent a nice evening together.
A/N: I know, there was room for a lot more drama in this story but somehow the words refused to come out. My first version was even shorter and Catherine didn't even get angry :-). You have to thank my beta Emily for that!!!!! I certainly have to thank her. I really don't know what I would do without you, Emily!
Maybe I get a last finaly review, dear reader???? ;-)
Take care and thank you for reading!
~Stormy
