"What?"
The gruff voice from inside did not deter her and she sauntered into the office, plastering her most alluring smile on her face. When he didn't look up, she cleared her throat softly.
"Bob?"
"Catherine." He raised his eyes slowly to meets hers and offered a tight smile. "What can I do for you?"
Robert Cavallo had never been particularly fond of Grissom – or Brass, when he was running the night shift – but, being a good ol' Vegas boy himself, he had always had a soft spot for Catherine. Unfortunately, that had soured somewhat when she blew up his DNA lab. And given the fact that the Sam Braun murder case could fall through any day as a result of her misuse of that same DNA lab, now might not be the best time for her to be asking a favour of the surly Lab Director.
Still, Catherine was an optimist. And she had a plan. Cavallo might be annoyed at her right now, but he was always annoyed at Grissom – not in the least, when he failed to submit his paperwork on time...
"Well," she drawled, ambling towards his desk. "As you know, Grissom's taken some time off and I've been covering for him in the interim."
"You've been covering for him for longer than that." He quipped with a wry smile, which she gratefully returned. He may be grumpy, but he was still in the mood for a joke – that bode well for her.
"Well, I was sorting out some of his paperwork – you know what a mess his desk is – and I found something that I'm hoping you can help with." She paused, licking her lips. "As you know, staff evaluations were due in a couple of months ago and it seems that Grissom never submitted Sara Sidle's."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Bob rolled his eyes, which was exactly the reaction she was hoping for. "I'll chase it up with him when he gets back."
"Oh, there's no need." She produced the sheath of papers she was holding behind her back, neatly stapled together, and offered it out to him with a smile. "I took the liberty of finishing it for him."
"See, always covering for him." He huffed, accepting the papers and tossing them onto his already-overflowing in-tray. "I'll get it filed."
Having assumed that the conversation was over, he was surprised when the blonde continued to loiter in his office with one eyebrow raised in anticipation.
"What there something else?" He queried, impatience beginning to creep back into his voice.
"Yes, actually." She flexed her hands. "Sara's cost of living adjustment will have been delayed because of this."
Cavallo sucked in a frustrated breath and she bit her lip, hoping that he would play ball.
"You're right." He exhaled, and she also released the breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "I'll speak to Payroll and make sure it gets backdated."
Clamping down on her delight at her success, she offered a simple appreciative nod.
"Thank you, Bob." She said professionally, already backing out of the office. "I knew I could count on you."
"Hey," he called after her retreating form, "when Gil comes back, tell him I want to see him about this."
She turned in the threshold, throwing a casual smile over her shoulder.
"He'll be delighted."
Outside, she let her relief show and practically sashayed down the hall, satisfied with her good deed. Alright, so maybe she had thrown Gil under the bus, but hopefully it would be worth it.
x X x
Thankfully, she wasn't the only one working late this morning. She thought that Sara might have gone home already by the time she left Bob's office, but evidently luck was on her side today.
"Hey," She greeted upon finding her colleague in the locker room.
"Hey," Sara echoed, not even glancing up from lacing her boots. Catherine pushed herself off the doorframe and walked into the room. As she ambled behind the bench, she extended a hand and lazily dragged it across the back of Sara's shoulders, causing the brunette to still.
"Do me a favour," she began cryptically. "Check your paycheque this month."
Sara turned, following her movements through suspicious eyes.
"Why?"
"You were due a cost of living adjustment a couple of months back," Cath explained, completing a circle of the bench and coming to rest in front of her colleague, where she leant casually against the lockers. "But Grissom forgot to submit your evaluation, so you never got it."
"Oh, right." Sara frowned, straightening up. "I hadn't even realised."
"I've asked Cavallo to speak to Payroll and get it backdated for you." Catherine continued, keeping her voice as neutral as she could. "So you shouldn't lose out."
As she was speaking, she could see something clouding over Sara's face that she couldn't quite read but that she chose to believe was gratitude.
"Thank you." Sara said softly at last. Catherine shrugged, averting her gaze. It wasn't exactly in her nature to be bashful, but she suddenly felt an unexpected blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Grissom should have picked up on it sooner." She cleared her throat, squaring her shoulders. "If it isn't on your paycheque, let me know and I'll chase it up."
"Thanks, Catherine." Sara said again, her own cheeks turning a distinctive shade of pink. "I appreciate that."
With a small smile and a nod, Catherine made to leave. Although she didn't quite know what made her do it, she reached out again and let her hand graze the younger woman's arm for a second time in as many minutes.
x X x
When Catherine had finally arrived home to find not only her daughter and mother making a mess of her kitchen, but her sister sat drinking her special coffee, she had been mildly irritated.
When Lily and Nancy blithely invited themselves to stick around for brunch, her irritation had turned into downright annoyance.
"Don't you have homes of your own to go to?" She asked with a disgruntled huff.
"I'm sorry." Lily said without a hint of apology in her voice. "I didn't realise it was a crime to want to spend time with my granddaughter."
Lindsey beamed up at her around a mouthful of pancake, which was hardly helping Catherine's case.
"You've been babysitting all night." She pointed out, lazily extending a hand and attempting to run it through Lindsey's hair. The child leant away from her mothering touch with a sullen scowl, before shovelling another forkful of food into her mouth.
Dropping her hand back onto the table in resignation, Cath turned to Nancy instead.
"What's your excuse?"
"I figured out where you keep your good coffee." Nancy smirked playfully, taking a swig from her mug. Catherine rolled her eyes. She was tired and she had been looking forward to a quiet Saturday at home with her daughter. Only her daughter.
"So," Nancy continued when Catherine didn't rise to her joke. "How goes Operation Sara?"
Shooting her sister a derisive look, Cath swung out a leg under the table and landed it squarely against her shin.
"Ow." Nancy yelped with a dark scowl.
"What's this about Sara?" Lily asked, placing a plate on table and taking a seat between her two daughters.
"It's nothing, mom." Catherine said tightly, silently warning her sister to keep her mouth shut.
"Catherine accidentally found out that Sara's in therapy." The younger sister explained, blatantly ignoring the rebuke. "And she's trying to get her to 'fess up about it so she can help her without admitting what she did."
"Thanks Nancy." Catherine drawled sarcastically, resting an elbow on the table and using it to prop her head up.
"Why, what did you do?" Lily pressed, taking a bite of her food.
"Nothing." She repeated sulkily.
"She stole her counselling file."
"Nancy!"
"What?" The younger sister shrugged, swinging her legs around to the side of her chair lest she get kicked again. "I told you that you're playing with fire."
"Catherine, you didn't really do that, did you?" Lily asked, putting her fork down and fixing her eldest child with a shocked expression.
"I ..." she stopped and sighed, casting her eyes sadly over Lindsey, who was watching this conversation bounce around the table like it was a game that she didn't quite understand the rules of. She'd really rather her child didn't hear this; but it was clearly too late for that. "I didn't steal it. I came across it during an investigation involving her counsellor and ..."
"And you read it." Nancy finished for her when she trailed off. "All of it."
"Yes, thank you Nancy." Catherine spat. "I think you've said enough."
"If you get caught, you're going to be in serious trouble – and God knows you don't need any more of that right now."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" The CSI snapped back, feeling her heckles rising.
"You blew up the lab, injured two of your colleagues in the process – including Sara – and then you used your DNA lab to prove your own paternity. I'd say intentionally breaching a colleague's privacy is a third strike."
"Nancy's right, Catherine." Lily picked up the lecture where Nancy left off. "If Sara finds out what you've done, she'd have every right to make a formal complaint."
"Well thank you both for your expertise." Catherine rolled her eyes. "It was never my intention to hurt Sara – I want to help her. Maybe I haven't gone about it in quite the right way, but I'm trying to fix that."
"I told you, stay out of it." Nancy reminded her.
"I can't do that." Catherine took a deep breath. "Not now that I know what she's going through. I need to do something."
"So, what are you doing?" Lily pressed, resuming eating her brunch. "How are you going to 'fix it'?"
Catherine pursed her lips, resting her head morosely in her hands.
"I'm still working on that."
"Why don't you make her a card?" Lindsey piped up at last, drawing all eyes to her.
"What?" Catherine asked.
"If you've hurt Sara, why don't you make her a card to say sorry?" Lindsey repeated, as if it were that simple. Catherine smiled, reaching out and stroking her hair softly. Sometimes, in spite of everything that had happened in Lindsey's life in the last few months, she could still see a little sparkle of innocence in her baby blue eyes.
"Oh, honey. I don't think it's that easy." She explained sadly.
"No." Nancy agreed calmly, taking another long sip of her coffee. "Because you're not sorry, are you?"