The characters of the CSI universe are not mine. The characters that you don't recognize are all mine.
Thank you so much for the kind reviews. They are all special and greatly appreciated. It's what s keep me writing.

Thanks to cathandsaraforever55 for trying to make sense of my writing, any remaining mistakes are all mine.


Chapter 11

The first thing that Lindsey noted when she stepped into the brunette's apartment was all of the pictures. There were either pictures or paintings on every wall in every room.
Lindsey was even able to recognize some of the motives of the various painting that the CSI had decorated her home with. Sara had found a local artist and had purchased a custom ordered painting of the Strip by night. This was proudly displayed on a wall in the living room. The first thing you noticed when you entered the apartment.
The blonde girl didn't notice all the details of the apartment, but she saw a young girl in several of the pictures. Lindsey wasn't sure at first if it was the same girl, because the photos ranged from baby stage to a young girl only a couple of years younger than the blonde. What surprised Lindsey the most was the brightness of Sara's smile in the pictures the CSI was in.

The brunette had continued into the office masquerading as a guest room to put the girl's bag on the bed, when Sara noticed that Lindsey hadn't followed. The CSI found the young blonde in the living room slowly turning around taking it all in.

"I'll give you a tour of the place before we decide which film we want to watch."
"You look really happy in theses pictures. Who are the people with you?"
Lindsey turned to look at the brunette. Knowing that Sara wouldn't lie and the blonde wanted her curiosity satisfied. Anybody that could make the CSI light up like that was a good person in Lindsey's opinion.

"That's Sam and Emily." Sara pointed to the woman and child in the photo closest to the young girl.
"That's just their names. It doesn't say who they are." Lindsey giggled as she followed Sara into the hallway.
"You're a smart cookie. Sam is a good friend of mine and Emily is her daughter."
Sara knew that she was skating the truth and hadn't answered Lindsey's enquiries. The CSI wasn't quiet ready for Catherine knowing that she used to live with another woman.
That wasn't something you let a friend find out from their daughter. The CSI had planned on sharing her preference with the older woman, but the brunette had had trouble finding the perfect time. To tell the truth Sara was scared how the blonde would react and had therefore held back. It wouldn't be the first time that Sara's sexuality had cost the brunette a friendship when they found out.
Now Sara figured she didn't have much of a choice. There was no way the brunette would ask Lindsey to lie or keep secrets from Catherine. No, it would be better if Sara told the older woman and accepted the consequences.

The CSI showed Lindsey the guest room where the brunette had placed the girl's bag on the bed. This room was also decorated with photos, but much to the surprise of Lindsey the room was not only a guest room. It looked like it was mainly used as an office.
There was one room the blonde didn't get to see. Sara was of the belief that the only person allowed to show anybody that room was Emily. It had been an important rule in the brunette's life since she was moved from foster home to foster home as a teenager.

Lindsey had talked the older woman into doing the slumber party thing. Meaning that the both of them were wearing their pajamas, when they went to watch the film. Sara wasn't in her usual sleep wear, consisting of boxers and a tank top. The brunette had exchanged her boxers with long pajama bottoms. The CSI didn't want the blonde to see all the scars that would be on display if she was in her boxers.

Sara made the popcorn while the young girl tried to decide on which film to see. By the time that the brunette joined Lindsey on the couch the blonde had narrowed the choice down to three movies.
They finally decided on one of the many Disney movies in the brunette's collection. Snuggling under the blanket, the CSI kept on the back of the couch for such occasions. By the end of the movie Lindsey was fast asleep with her head placed in Sara's lap.
The brunette slowly shifted to get out from underneath the sleeping girl. When Sara could finally get up she carefully picked up Lindsey and proceeded to carry the blonde to bed.
Lindsey never woke up when the CSI tucked her into bed softly kissing her on the head.

Lindsey woke up in the middle of the night having to use the bathroom. Luckily Sara had been considerate enough to leave some light on in the hallway, because the young girl wasn't all that comfortable with the dark.

When the blonde was leaving the bathroom and was heading back to bed, she heard mumblings and shifting coming from the brunette's bedroom.
A little scared, but very curious Lindsey cautiously drew closer to the closed door. Stopping to listen before going in the blonde put her ear to the door. The mumblings were louder now and it sounded more frantic.

It sounded like the brunette was trying to fight somebody off, but Lindsey couldn't hear anyone but Sara. The sounds indicated that her friend was having a nightmare. Therefore no matter how scared Lindsey was she slowly opened the door. Peering in through the half open door before daring to enter; Lindsey looked around to make sure they were the only two people in the room.

The young girl made it all the way to the side of the bed, where the brunette was tossing and turning restlessly. Lindsey could understand some of the words but had trouble trying to put it together to get any meaning other than Sara was scared.
"Please… I'll be good… Laura… Please no…"
Sara's mumblings, or more accurately pleadings, continued but it was getting harder to distinguish the single words. The brunette's trashing was getting worse.

Lindsey was convinced that she needed to wake the CSI to stop the dream. The only problem was that the young girl wasn't quiet sure how to go about accomplishing that.
Inching forward while softly saying the brunette's name as not to startle the CSI.
"Sara, you have to wake up, you're having a bad dream."

Getting closer the blonde carefully put her hand on the brunette's shoulder. When Lindsey's hand touched Sara's shoulder the CSI's struggles increased. The brunette's pleading intensified to the point where the young girl could only distinguish two of the words.

"No please… please, no… no…"

This time Lindsey put a more firm grip in her hold on the brunette's shoulder, while at the same time spoke more firmly.
"Sara, please wake up."
The hand on the brunette's shoulder started squishing tighter and shaking the CSI more firmly. As soon as this occurred, Sara bolted upright scrambling to get away from the hand that had shaken her.

Frantically looking around the CSI didn't see her own bedroom or Lindsey. Sara saw her childhood home and Laura. This left the brunette covering in the corner of the bed furthest from the young girl.
When Sara had bolted, Lindsey jumped backwards in shock, scarring the brunette even more.

The blonde didn't know what to do and she stood frozen to the spot calling Sara's name. Hoping this would snap the CSI out of what ever place the brunette was stuck in.
That didn't help and when Lindsey caught the words that Sara was mumbling, the girl started to panic.

"No, please not this time…"

"SARA. It's me, Lindsey. Please you're scaring me." The young girl was yelling at this point.
That seemed to shake the brunette out of her stupor. Sara slowly blinked and shook her head trying to focus on the young girl shaking in the middle of the room. That sight was enough to jump start Sara.

"Lindsey. Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry I scared you."

With all the tossing and turning the brunette had done in her sleep, her top and pant legs had ridden up. Though Sara had gotten up and was standing in front of the young girl, the brunette was showing a fair amount of skin.
The skin showing caught Lindsey's attention and the girl couldn't help the gasp that escaped her as she saw some of the scars that covered the CSI's body. Drawing Sara attention to the place the blonde's eyes were focused. This caused the CSI to quickly pull her top down and shift her legs to make sure they were covered again.
The brunette gathered Lindsey in her arms, trying to calm the both of them.
Sara might have been the one with the nightmare, but Lindsey was shaking with what the CSI thought might be shock.

Again you let the past ruin everything. Do you really think that Catherine will ever let Lindsey be alone with you when she hears about what happened?

How would Sara explain this to the young girl, let alone to Catherine? Because this wasn't something that the brunette could keep quite.
Before the woman even contemplated trying to explain her reaction, Sara had to comfort the young girl. As it was the blonde was still shaking and holding on to the CSI as hard as Lindsey could.

They both needed sleep, especially Lindsey if the girl was to make sense of what she had seen and heard. Sara knew it wasn't likely that she would get any sleep that night. But that didn't stop the brunette from giving the young girl the clearly needed comfort.
After everything that had happened it didn't take long before Lindsey was asleep. The young girl had soon after she fell asleep curled up to and on the brunette with her head placed solidly on the CSI's shoulder. This left Sara pinned to the mattress with no way of getting out from underneath the girl without waking her.
The brunette found that Lindsey didn't move in her sleep, not at all like Emily. Leaving the CSI to quietly lie still, while the young girl slept.

The brunette, as expected didn't get to sleep. Needing to stay still had, however, forced the woman to work through her nervous energy, left over from the nightmare, in a different way than normal. Usually Sara used the gym in the building or cleaned the apartment top to bottom. The best method in the past had always been to get so physically tired that the CSI could forget about what her parents had done. This time though the brunette couldn't count on tiring herself until she dropped. Sara was made to watch the memories as they replayed over and over in her mind.

It had not been easy, but Sara had finally been able to block out her childhood memories. Just in time to watch the sunrise. The brunette had grabbed the book on the nightstand and when Lindsey started to stir the CSI had almost finished the book. It took the young girl longer to actually wake up than the woman had anticipated. Lindsey kept shifting but basically stayed in the same place, refusing to open her eyes.

"Morning sweetie." Sara grinned at the young girl's antics.
Lindsey blinked a few times before she fully opened her eyes. Smiling up at the brunette the young girl snuggled close to Sara, not wanting to leave the safe place she had found. Lindsey only ever felt like this in her mother's arms. And lately they hadn't been getting along all that well. That had meant the amount of hugs had rapidly declined. It wasn't until the blonde slept in the CSI's arms that Lindsey had noticed how much she had missed those hugs. So the young girl was going to take full advantage of the comfort Sara was so freely offering.

"Do we have to get up right now?" Turning on the full Willows charm and puppy dog eyes to get the brunette to let her stay.
This caused the CSI to laugh. "We don't have plans. So the only reason we would 'have' to get up is when we want something to eat."
"I'm actually a little hungry, but I want to stay here."
"We're not in a hurry, so if you're not starving I don't see any reason we can't stay here." Sara was grinning at the sleepy blonde. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"

Lindsey went quiet at this, and the brunette wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Sara tented to lean toward it being a bad sign. It always was.
The blonde was trying to figure out what to say. The young girl knew from experience what it was like to be jolted awake from nightmares. Lindsey hated talking about them afterwards and wasn't about to ask that of the CSI. The blonde would like to know about the scars she seen, but you didn't need to be a doctor to know how uncomfortable this subject was to the brunette.
It took some time, in which the brunette became increasingly nervous, but Lindsey finally came to the decision that if Sara wanted her to know the woman would tell.

"Nah, no need. You had a nightmare and I startled you when you woke you up."

Lindsey shrugged at the brunette's expression. Sara was confused. The brunette knew that the young girl had seen her scars. And if the blonde was anything like Catherine, not knowing would be eating her alive. So why wasn't Lindsey asking about the origin of said scars?

"Are you sure you don't want to ask?" Sara wasn't volunteering information, but if the blonde asked the CSI wouldn't lie.

"I only want to know if you want to tell me."

The puzzled expression on the brunette's face had Lindsey laughing. "Come on Sara, let's go make breakfast." The blonde got up and headed for the kitchen still chuckling.

To Sara's surprise Lindsey not once brought up the scars. The young girl had talked non-stop all day. Though, the direction of the conversation had changed several times, not only to the vegetables that the brunette exposed the girl to at lunch.

Later that month at the lab, Catherine thought she might as well put her down time to good use. The blonde was heading to the DNA lab. Hoping to find Greg alone. That way the CSI might get the spiky haired tech to talk about Sara.

"Hey Greg." Catherine smiled brightly at the young guy when she entered the DNA lab where he was bent over the table running tests.
Greg looked up as he heard the CSI enter the room. "Sorry, but your results aren't ready yet. I do have to work on the other's cases too, you know."

"I wasn't planning on hassling you for quicker results just yet. I came in here to talk."

Greg looked at her like he was hearing things, and in no way did he believe that the blonde was there to just talk to him. There was always a reason when someone like Catherine was nice to a guy like him.
"Whatever it was I didn't do it." He might as well cover himself, because the CSI could be vicious and ruthless when she wanted to, and you really didn't want to get in her way.

Catherine was shaking her head before saying. "I'm not accusing you of something besides not sharing your coffee with me enough." She tried to get Greg to laugh if not at least smile at her joke, before she gave away what she really wanted. "I wanted to ask you some questions about Sara."

Greg's head shot up, when he heard Catherine mention Sara, from once again being engrossed in his tests.
"No." Short and to the point he thought, but apparently that wasn't enough for the blonde. He should have realized that it wouldn't be.

"What do you mean NO? I haven't asked you anything yet."

The conversation had his full attention. There was no way that the blonde was going to catch him in a slip and make him reveal any private information about his friend. And for that he needed to be focused and alert, because he had seen Catherine interrogate a suspect and it wasn't pretty.
"I mean no, if you want to know something about Sara ask her."

He was quite pleased with his answer, there was no way that that could come back to haunt him when the brunette found out, and Sara always somehow knew when he wasn't telling her everything.
Catherine's expression wiped away any happiness he had about that answer. By only looking at her he could tell that she wouldn't drop the topic just on his say so.

"Come on Greg, you're her friend and I'm not asking you to tell me her deep dark secrets just enough for me to understand her."

Greg was looking more and more uncomfortable as Catherine continued to try and convince him to spill on his friend. If that happened, he knew there was no way that Sara would ever talk to him outside the mere necessary interaction at work. That was not something he wanted to happen.
The lab had become a much better place to be after Sara had joined the team. She never did mind his quirks, though she had the rest of the team thinking so. Never once would the brunette be too busy to show him how to process some of the things that she encountered during a case.
When he was having a slow night and was able to leave the lab without having Grissom on his case the brunette was always willing to show him how she did things or let him in on her thought process.
The supervisor had agreed to let him train, but that didn't automatically mean that the lab tech was given a great many opportunities to go out in the field. That hadn't stopped Sara from using her spare time by recommending procedures that he needed to know and by just plain out offering her time.
There was no way that would continue if he gave in to the force that was Catherine Willows, queen of the lab. If that happened he would be lucky if he could walk away from there, and even more so if Sara didn't just pack up and leave Las Vegas.
That was after all what she did if the situation where too much for her to handle. Not that he believed that Sara was a weak person, quite the contrary, but it was how she had come to be in Las Vegas after all.
He didn't know how or why she had become that way. He suspected that he would never get the full story no matter how long he knew the brunette. But he did know that it was connected to why she had spent time in foster care and why Carolyn meant so much to her.

He had met the older woman when Carolyn had been in town to visit Sara, and he had seen for himself why the CSI talked so fondly about the older woman. He had also seen how the older woman had fussed over the eating and sleeping habits of the brunette. Witnessing them laugh together so hard that Sara had tears rolling down her cheeks, he had been amazed, because never had he seen her this carefree.
When he had first met Carolyn he thought that she was Sara's mother because he had never heard the CSI talk about foster care or about her family for that matter. So he was surprised to say the least, when Carolyn had showed up at the lab to surprise Sara and he had witnessed the greeting between the two brunettes.

Catherine had tried for a good 10 more minutes to get the spiky haired blonde to spill the beans on Sara without success before she left him alone.


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