Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CSIs, unfortunately. I tried to buy off CBS with my savings, but I guess 5 cents wasn't enough. sigh

Author's note: Thank you childofartemis for reviewing, I LOVE YOU!!! Please read and review!!! Jill, if you're finally reading this after I don't know how many weeks, you are the biggest hypocrite and lying weasel I have ever met!

Lin: Yay Christmas!!! (Hyper and bouncing off the walls)

AngelLove6392: Lin, that's enough, you're supposed to be a mature 15-year-old now.

Lin: Just because I'm supposed to be doesn't mean I am. (Sticks tongue out and ignores me)

AngelLove6392: I won't give you any desserts if you don't get off the table.

Lin: You're not the one cooking, I am! Na na ne na na! (Dancing tauntingly)

AngelLove6392: (sigh) Why did I make you such a smart aleck. BTW, do NOT sass me.

Lin: And if I do? (gives me that infuriatingly innocent look)

AngelLove6392: I'll create an annoyingly persistent boy who'll keep on asking you out until I've decided I've tortured you enough and make you say yes.

Lin: You wouldn't dare!

AngelLove6392: You wanna bet? (Lin sullenly climbs down from table)

Christmas Eve

Danny and Flack were hooking up Lin's laptop and installing the web cam, Mac watching from the side and wandering around, studying Lin's apartment. The simply lit tree stood in the corner by the window, piles of wrapped gifts sitting underneath it. Lindsay and Stella were in the kitchen, helping Lin with the food. Hawkes was putting together an anatomy puzzle, brows furrowed in concentration. Lin came out of the kitchen bearing a plate of broiled chicken. Lindsay and Stella followed each respectively carrying a bowl of mashed potatoes and a tossed earth salad.

The delicious aroma filled the small apartment, enticing everyone to abandon his or her previous activities. Lin set the platter down and went back to the kitchen for the rest of the meal. The gang crowded around the table, slobbering. Lin came back out with a bowl of steaming gravy followed by a plate of freshly baked rolls and another bowl of hot pasta drenched in marinara sauce. Stella was almost drooling. Lindsay rolled up her sleeves, getting ready to dive in.

Lin strolled over to the laptop and opened the web cam that Danny and Flack had just set up before opening her Windows Messenger and logging in. Calleigh was already online. Lin opened a message window and sent a web cam invitation and a call to Calleigh's computer. Calleigh picked up and accepted the web cam invitation.

"Calleigh, Wolfe, Lieutenant Caine," Mac and the others greeted. Calleigh and Wolfe grinned happily, Horatio smiled.

'Where's Alexx and Delko?' Lin typed.

"Alexx is at the morgue finishing something up, she'll be here in a few minutes. Eric will probably show up when he's done primping in front the giant bathroom mirrors."

"Hey, I don't primp!" came Eric's indignant shout off screen. Calliegh and Wolfe smirked. Stella and Lindsay grinned at each other. Mac smiled while Flack grinned.

"Where's Messer and Hawkes?" Calleigh asked. Mac, Stella, Lindsay, and Flack looked around. Lin gestured behind her with a jerk of her thumb. Swiveling heads spun to two guilty-looking children caught with their hand in the cookie jar.

"Danny, Sheldon!" They shrugged helplessly, "But the food smells so good." Flack chuckled and affectionately ruffled Lin's soft, shiny hair, "Looks like we better go grab a plate before there's nothing left to eat, kiddo."

"You guys go ahead, I'll be there in a sec. There's still hot chocolate in the kitchen. If you want champagne Stella bought a bottle, I put it in the fridge, there should be glasses on the counter courtesy of Mac."

"You sure, Lin?" Lindsay asked, torn between wanting to hog the food from Danny and Sheldon and wanting Lin to join in as well. Lin nodded. The other four traipsed off to join their comrades in devouring the dinner table.

"How's Ms. Rothrah?"

"She's doing well, she got a job as a receptionist at a private business. Her kids are having fun with Wolfe and Calliegh."

"That's good."

"What have you found out?"

"It's a small world." Horatio could hear the dry humor in those black-inked words

"Indeed it is," Horatio waited patiently.

"Dr. Rothrah Senior was a very famous surgeon before he retired. He was the doctor that ruined Alexx's career before she started working for Miami-Dade's Coroner Office."

"It really is a small world isn't it?"

"No kidding."

"What else did you find?"

"I checked out the hospital records for the Rothrah kids, let's just say that Dr. Rothrah isn't going to be a happy camper once I'm through with him. He'll be a miserable, sniveling, terrified old man when I get my hands on him."

"You're resorting to violence, it must have been bad."

"3 ER visits in 2 weeks, you tell me."

"But Helen said she left because he broke the deal."

"This was between the time the husband disappeared and when the New York law enforcements declared him dead. It only took a month." Horatio didn't need to hear Lin's soft soprano to detect the fury underlying her matter-of-fact explanation. He also didn't need to ask Lin to know that whoever was in charge of the investigation was going to get hell from her too. He certainly didn't want to be in their shoes when that time came.

"I'm not going to ask what you're going to do next."

"Smart choice, assuming I told you in the first place."

"The Lin I know can't lie to save her life."

"The Lin you know also doesn't like to answer questions."

"Very true," Horatio acknowledged, wisely choosing to keep quiet about the fact that even if she answered a question, it was doubtful that the vague answer would make any sense. He of course didn't need to say anything; she already knew. A nearly imperceptible twitch of her nose told Horatio that his charge was trying to decide whether to be annoyed or amused.

She chose the latter.

"Lin, you better hurry or you'll be washing the dishes," Stella shouted from the table.

"Not like I don't already," she typed to Horatio, a smirk tugging at her lips. Horatio smiled, but the smile faded when he looked into Lin's serious eyes, he sighed, "There haven't been any mass murders of the same M.O., we think he skipped and left Miami." She thought about the neighbor, and then shook her head, frowning.

"I better go eat now; it's going to be all scraps left. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Take care, Lin," Horatio signed off after Alexx waved goodbye to her. Lin shut her computer down. Stella and Mac had put a plate together for her – a big plate at that.

"Are you insane?! I can't finish that!" Lin wrote.

"You're a beanpole, you need to eat more, besides it's Christmas Eve, now eat," Stella ordered easily. Lin turned to Mac for an ally; he shrugged with a small smile. Lin smirked and scooped some of her food onto Danny's nearly empty plate and sat down to eat; Stella only said that she had to finish the plate, she never said how much. Stella realized her mistake and palmed her forehead.

Dinner was a joyful affair, laughter and playful banters hurled across the table (as well as a couple pieces of mashed potatoes). Even Mac's usually stern demeanor seemed to have lightened up a few notches, although Lin suspected it had more to do with a caramel-eyed, Greek-speaking CSI. She almost chuckled; Mac was always watching Stella when he thought nobody noticed. It was kind of sweet how oblivious the senior female CSI was, especially when she was such a successful matchmaker in regards to Danny and Lindsay.

Lin glided over to the window of her apartment: snowflakes swirled beautifully outside in the wind. The snow drifted peacefully to the ground like a white blanket. Nursing her cup of hot chocolate she thought about the time when she'd lived in Colorado, her mom always played with her in the snow regardless of how tired she was when she came home from work.

Flashback

Lin heard the door slam as she curled up in the window seat, ignoring her freezing toes and the cold seeping through the window and her flannel pajamas, and into her bones. Her mom came into the living room where 6-year-old Lin was staring out at the swirling snow in fascination. Her mother's hair was dotted with white snowflakes that hadn't melted yet; that made Lin grin. She could see the small bump of her mom's belly where her sibling rested in a sac of water.

She hopped off happily and scampered after her smiling mother into the kitchen where she helped her mom make two steaming mugs of hot chocolate. Lin carefully sipped at the cup and sucked a marshmallow in. Her mother took off her coat and put on her slippers and slipped Lin's cold feet into her warm, wool socks. Petting Lin's smooth, ebony locks as she stood.

"Mommy, is Daddy coming?"

"I'm sorry sweetie, but your daddy's girlfriend doesn't want him flying over from New York to visit his ex-wife so close to Christmas, but don't tell your daddy I said that, he won't get it. He called to talk to you that night, but he forgot about the time difference, you were already in bed."

"You're divorced though, Daddy's girlfriend knows that doesn't she?"

"Yes, but you're still too young to understand." Lin accepted that for the time being and sipped at her drink. The snow drifted slowly now, only a light sprinkle. Her mother tugged her into her room and helped Lin into her ski pants and winter coat. Hiding her ears in her cap, Lin let her mom put their snow boots on. They pulled on their gloves and jumped outside into the foot of snow.

Lin giggled and her mother laughed delightfully as they splashed the fluffy snow at each other. The two of them collapsed onto a pile and swooshed their limbs around, making snow angels. Lin clambered to her feet and gave her mother a hand up. They stayed outside for a little while more, making a snowman, complete with a carrot nose, black button eyes, and coal for buttons. Lin found some long twigs buried under the white fluff by the trees which made perfect arms. Her mother found a tall black hat in their closet to complete the look.

End Flashback

"Lin?" Lin spun away to face Don and Sheldon. She slightly smiled brightly to dispense the concerned looks on their faces. They grinned back at her, "Stella's about to attack the apple pie in the oven, you should probably go rescue the poor dessert." Lin smirked and brushed past them into the kitchen where Stella was indeed attempting to get the apple pie out.

Lin took over; grabbing the oven mitt from Stella, she stuck her hand in easily and brought the pie out, a faint cinnamon smell filling their nostrils. She brought out the tiramisu she'd made from scratch and set it next to the pie on the tray. She pulled out the batch of scones she'd baked with the pie and piled them onto a plate, scooping out the homemade cream into a bowl and adding spoons to the tray. The team pounced as soon as she set the tray down. She chuckled once, so soft that nobody heard. She squeezed into the fray to help Lindsay cut the pie and tiramisu.

A great deal of laughs emitted from the small apartment, lights twinkling brightly. The CSI team and one detective played and when bedtime came, they sprawled out on the couch and floor.

Lin swept one last glance around the snoring men and turned off the lights, joining the two women in her room and hearing them playfully fighting over the bathroom. Lin took a deep breath and pushed away the longing she knew would be there all day tomorrow. The 15-year-old CSI climbed under her covers, a blank mien descending over her face, concealing any sorrow. The only sign of emotion from her was the softening around her eyes as she thought about the times she and her mother had done the same as Lindsay and Stella were doing.

'That fool, shouldn't have gotten in my way.'

'What were you doing?! That wasn't part of the plan! What about that bitch and those poor kids getting spoiled and the bastard that laughed and played with them. The kids are going to get it when they go home, did you forget? It would be easier if you put them out of their misery, then the bastard wouldn't break their little hearts and bodies.'

'Shut up! I wasn't talking to you!'

'I am you, you dolt!'

'Shut up and go away!'

'You can't run and you can't hide!' The junkies and homeless watched the disheveled man pace back and forth anxiously and mutter incoherently under his breath, ice-blue eyes glinting with madness and hysteria. They couldn't see his face, or else they'd have seen pale skin and sweat.

He tugged at the wisps of hair on his head, hands shaking uncontrollably. The man suddenly straightened, eyes cold and hands steady. An body lay, slumped in front of the alleyway. His army boots came down on an unconscious junkie's throat, crushing her windpipe immediately. A knife blade suddenly flashed in the flickering streets. A stream of blood spattered onto the snow-covered sidewalk, red against stark white, sin against purity.

Lin woke to the beeping of her pager. She glanced at the clock, the glowing read numbers told her it was 3 in the morning. She went to shake Stella and Lindsay awake, popping her head into the living room to see the guys shaking the haze of sleep from their minds. They dressed and left her apartment.