Chapter Eleven;

Mind Games

Dani opened her eyes and let them wander out the window. She watched other cars pass by them. She sat up and stretched, hoping that she had fallen asleep for most of the trip to San Francisco. Dani looked over at Sara, who was sitting in the passenger seat. Sara looked very tired, and like she was about to fall asleep. Dani could tell that she didn't want to though, it was the slight annoyed look in her face, and she didn't want to sleep.

"Are we there yet?" Dani asked. It seemed to startle both Sara and Grissom. Sara turned to look at Dani.

"Almost, about another half hour," Sara answered with a little smile. Dani knew that if Sara could have avoided the trip here, she would have.

It wasn't that Sara didn't want to go. It was that she was unsure of going. There was a nervous feeling in her stomach, and she didn't like it.

About forty-five minutes went by, and they stopped at a hotel for the night. Dani didn't sleep. The hotel bed was very comfortable, but she was worried, excited, and anxious about tomorrow. She didn't know what to expect, so her mind traveled and different scenarios went through her mind. She wondered what her mother would look like now.

The sun started to poke through the curtains that hung from the window. Dani rolled over and lifted her head to read the clock sitting on the little table in between the bed she was sleeping in and Grissom and Sara's. She sat up, and looked over at Grissom and Sara. From what she could see, they were both sleeping. She didn't notice that Grissom was awake.

Grissom was worried over what might happen at their visit to Laura Sidle. He worried about the two women in his life that he loved.

--

During the car ride to San Francisco State Penitentiary, Dani was shaking. She was too nervous to speak. She had been excited to see her mother again since Sara had told her that they could take a few days to make a trip to go see her, but now she was scared.

"Sara… you knew her… well, b-better… I mean, she was actually a m-mother… you…" Dani started, trying to get her thoughts out of her head. There was a question she wanted to ask Sara in there somewhere, it was just jumbled up between all her thoughts.

Sara turned around and just smiled at her little sister. She understood that Dani was nervous, after all, Sara felt the same way. She did feel a bit better today, because of the conversation her and Gil had the night before about the situation. Gil hadn't said much on the matter when Sara decided that they could go to San Francisco, and she was eager to hear his opinion. Sara learned, during the talk with Grissom, that his point of view was; if Dani felt she was ready to see her mother, then they should let her.

Over the time that Grissom knew Dani, he had learned a few things about her. He had analyzed her quite thoroughly, actually. He knew that if they had deprived Dani of the experience of seeing her mother again, she would be forever wondering what it would have been like. She would probably be able to be consumed for hours by simply going over what could have happened in her mind, she probably had already done so.

Dani sat down in a secure room, beside Sara. She looked around, noticing that she was already inside the jail. In between was a complete blank. A woman with long, brown hair draped in her face was lead into the room. She was sat in a chair across from Dani and Sara. There was a long silence.

Dani looked from Sara to her mother.

Sara looked from her mother to Dani.

Laura just kept her head down.

And no one spoke.

"Mom?" Dani asked ever so quietly. It was barely audible, and her voice was shaking. Laura looked up, long pieces of hair in her face, it looked like she had been crying. Her eyes traced over Dani, she hadn't expected her to be a teenager already. Her eyes then wandered to Sara, but they stayed fixated on her eyes.

Sara smiled lightly, "Hi mom." Then her smile faded. She didn't like seeing her mother like this.

"I'm a horrible mother," Laura stated, finally speaking.

Dani didn't say anything.

"It wasn't your fault," Sara said. "You did… what you had to."

"That is not an excuse for tearing our family apart," Laura said, beginning to sob.

"Mom…" Sara started, but she didn't know what she wanted to say. Laura turned her attention to Dani.

"You must think I'm a horrible person," Laura said in between sobs.

Dani shook her head quickly, "N-no, I-I don't think that." Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You have no idea how much I've thought about what I did, and how much I want to take it back," Laura said.

"Would you rather things to continue the way the had been?" Sara asked her mother. Laura's eyes shifted to her older daughter.

"There were other ways to handle the situation," Laura retorted coldly. She turned back to Dani. "Not all families end up like this, Dani, ours is just a little different," she said with tears in her eyes.

"Why are you trying so hard to protect her?" Sara butted in.

Laura's eyes again shifted to her older daughter. "Because I haven't done anything all these years, and she needs to be protected."

"What about Sara?" Dani asked, she seemed confident, and her voice was strong.

"Sara is fine, she has learned to fend for herself. She had to deal with everything from her childhood…" she stopped herself before revealing anything else, "and she's still here." Laura's eyes were fixed upon Sara.

"I've had enough," Sara said finally, as she got up from her seat.

"Dani, wake up. Dani, Open your eyes."

"What?"

"Dani, wake up."

"No…"

"Dani, you have to open your eyes."