Hey there! It's me again, actually writing a note. I've actually already got the next chapter started (it was supposed to be part of this one, but it turned into a monster and I had to break it up). So, enjoy this one, and anticipate another update within the week (hopefully). But with my job, I'm swamped with either too much work or not enough sleep. Also, the end is nigh (I think I used that right). It'll probably be within the next five chapters, if I have anything to say about it. But I never do, so... okay, I'm gonna shut up now. Enjoy!
"Absolutely not," Catherine grated. "There is no way in hell I'm letting my daughter anywhere near this son of a bitch." She glanced at the door her daughter had disappeared through moments earlier. Her hand went up to silence both Warrick and Drake when they tried to speak. "Hell, no. You're not going to change my mind."
"You know she's going to want to be there, Cath," Warrick pressed, taking a hesitant step forward. "She has the same urge to protect you that you have to protect her."
Catherine knew he was right, but it was a moot point. She wouldn't knowingly put her daughter in danger if she could help it. "I know Lindsey's not going to make this easy." She sent a pointed look in Drake's direction. "Thankfully, we have someone else that she wants to protect."
"Who? Me?" Drake asked, throwing an uneasy glance to Warrick. A mild look of surprise danced over his face. "Oh, you didn-"
"Yeah. He told me what happened in the kitchen." She grinned despite herself. "I'm not angry. I'm actually kind of happy her taste in men doesn't suck anymore. It reminded me too much of myself when I was her age..." she trailed off, remembering all too well the bullets she dodged-like Mickey Dunn-and the ones she wasn't lucky enough to have her father around to take care of for her.
Suddenly, Warrick's cell phone rang. One look at the frown creasing his features and Catherine instantly knew who it was.
"Seems like he's more impatient than we thought," Drake noted.
Warrick answered the call with a clipped statement that was anything but a greeting. "Seems you're always a step behind, huh?" Warrick asked mockingly, a wicked grin on his face. Drake was on his phone and walking out the door. "What do you want, Gedda?" The grin vanished. "How about something that you at least have half a shot in hell of getting?" The question came out through firmly gritted teeth. "What makes you think any one of us is going to let him live long enough to talk?" Pause. "Point taken. We'll be there."
"Well?" Catherine asked as Warrick disconnected the call.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Warrick pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's not coming himself. He's sending Walsh. It sounds like he has the flu." Warrick turned to Drake as he walked back into the room. "Did they get a trace on the call?" he asked, lifting the cell phone in his hand to indicate the recent conversation.
"Not an exact location. The signal kept jumping from tower to tower. They were able to narrow it down to the Tonopah area before the signal cut out entirely."
"That's about three hours from here. He set up the meeting for nine." Warrick checked his watched. "Son of a bitch."
Catherine copied his action and cursed violently under her breath. Six thirty. "Well, that settles it. Drake, you're-"
"-going to stay with Lindsey?" Drake cut in, already opening the door to leave. "Under the circumstances, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm going to talk to the boys outside, make sure they expect an ambush. I'll call in a few reinforcements to accompany you two to the diner for that meeting. They'll be happy to make the arrest."
The door closed behind Drake and Catherine shook her head. She was amazed at the devotion Drake had to her daughter's safety. His statement about calling in more agents to go with Catherine and Warrick should have upset her, but the fact that Drake was keeping the more experienced agents with Lindsey made any anger Catherine may have felt disappear.
"Well, that was... unexpected," Warrick said as he moved to lock the door, his mouth remaining slightly agape after he finished speaking.
"You're surprised?" She gave him a stunned look. "You're the one who walked in on them."
He flinched, then groaned. "Don't remind me. I have a hard time imagining Lindsey all grown up and... acting it." Warrick looked at Catherine with a small smile. "But she is, isn't she? All grown up, I mean."
"Yeah. And it seems she's doing a good job of it," she replied, a proud smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Mm..." The gap between Catherine and Warrick closed to just inches. "You've done an amazing job with her."
Catherine put her hands on his shoulders, still a little dazed by her drastically changing reality. "I don't think I could have done it without the team. After you..." she cut herself off and backtracked. "When Grissom left and Ray joined the team, everything just got so different. Lindsey's acting out got worse. Riley and I investigated a night club, and Lindsey was there. She... I don't know what happened after I grounded her for the rest of her life, but she made a complete one-eighty. Her grades shot up, and she was in the running for valedictorian before I knew it. Harvard became her dream. A 2090 on the SATs cinched it."
"Damn," Warrick breathed. "Are you sure this is our Lindsey you're talking about?" Eyes wide, Catherine locked her gaze on Warrick, who had an almost paternal look of wonder in his eyes. Our Lindsey? she asked herself. When his eyes met hers, Catherine noticed his cheeks darken almost imperceptibly. It was always difficult to tell with him, but somehow she just knew when he was blushing. "I mean... well, you know ho-"
As he stumbled over his words, Catherine cut him off with a soft, lingering kiss. A wide grin pulled her lips into tight lines over her teeth, a radiant smile that seemed to only make an appearance when Warrick was near. It faltered a bit at the memory of the situation they were in, but she brushed it off for the moment. "I love you," she murmured, kissing him again lightly.
Warrick leaned back, his eyes boring into hers. "I love you, too."
A deep kiss followed, erasing all worries of the moment and the lingering threat of the events that would take place in mere hours. Catherine-still only in the T-shirt and shorts that Warrick had put her in to keep her comfortable when she'd passed out-stepped gracefully backward until the backs of her knees met the bed. Though she stopped, Warrick's final step forward set her off balance, and Catherine tumbled back on the bed, laughing quietly all the while.
Warrick undressed swiftly, and Catherine-though the desire to do so was strong-resisted her instinct to appraise him. It was easier than she thought it would be once his hands lifted the hem of her white T-shirt up to unbutton her shorts, his fingers grazing the sensitive flesh of her stomach ever-so-lightly, sending blazing hot shockwaves throughout her body. Funny how such a light touch from anyone else would have felt like a tickle, but she nearly seized when it was Warrick.
Before she recovered fully, she was completely stripped, and Warrick was hovering over her, a look of love and admiration turning his eyes a shade she'd never really seen before-a deep emerald with flecks of...was that blue?
Catherine choked back a surprised gasp as he entered her, starting at a pace that drove her wild and yet soothed her all at once. Warrick kissed her deeply, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as the rhythm picked up, from waltz to quickstep. Her heart hammered violently against her chest, and it took everything in her to keep from crying out as she reached her limit, instead opting to crash her lips against his.
As he was ready to collapse, Warrick struggled to hold himself up to stare into Catherine's eyes-the effort showed plainly in the straining muscles of his arms. He angled himself down just enough to plant a firm kiss on her lips, and her hands tangled into the rough hair at the nape of his neck.
Warrick rolled over to the side, pulling Catherine against him gently in a warm embrace. She played with the hair on his chest, smiling briefly at something she had said so long ago on a case she's worked with Grissom, it felt like a dream. Something about hairy chests and weasels. She let out a quiet chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Warrick asked dazedly, his voice drifting between consciousness and sleep.
"Just thinking of an old case. No big deal."
When Warrick's breathing started to slow down and even out into the rhythm that indicated sleep, Catherine pinched him. "Ow! What was that for?"
"This isn't the best time to fall asleep, y'know?" Catherine reminded him, her post-coital high quickly evaporating. She desperately latched on to the last bit that remained, and it slowly submitted. She contented herself to snuggling up against Warrick for just a few moments, knowing this could be their last chance.
"Hey, give me some credit," Warrick said out of the blue. She craned her neck to look him in the eyes. "After three years, there is no way in hell I'm going to let anything keep us apart again. You know that."
Catherine smiled broadly, resting her head against his chest once more. "Of course I do. But after everything that happened in the past-Eddie, Nick, Sara, you-I've learned to expect the unexpected. And to prepare myself for the worst."
She felt Warrick stiffen at the memory of their colleagues' brushes with death, and-what she was sure was at the forefront of his mind-his own. "I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for how much I hurt everyone," Warrick murmured, his voice rough with pain. "Especially you."
"Well, that may be true," she mused, her thoughts twirling. "But what you need to know-and I'm sure you've noticed-is that everyone has, to some extent, forgiven you. They're just relieved to know you're okay, despite everything else. Everyone had just come to grips with your 'death', found solace in each other, and then it all turned out to be a lie. But we're all reasonable, and we understood you had to do it." She lifted her head again to kiss him fervently, bringing her point home. "We love you, no matter what. And we'll do anything to help you come back to us for good." She noticed the glossy shimmer of tears welling up in his eyes, lightening the emerald to more of a jade. She put her head back down on his chest before she said, "Besides, we all pretty much want to rid the world of every last trace of Gedda, and this is a means to an end. A very, very desirable end."
Warrick choked out a laugh, clearly having been overwhelmed by the tears momentarily. "Yes," he said in a throaty voice, kissing the top of her head. "We should probably get ready." Catherine heard a light thud-Warrick placing his cell phone back on the night stand, she was sure-and then sat up, holding the Egyptian cotton sheets to her chest.
Catherine gestured to the small master bath that she hardly ever used, due to the lack of an actual bathtub. "Want to clean up first?"
"That depends," he started with a sly grin. "Will you be joining me?"
A catlike grin crept onto her face. "I wouldn't have it any other way."