I do not own CSI. Thanks for the reviews and ideas.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Warrick asked Catherine as she slipped on her jacket and grabbed her bag.
"I'm sure." She replied, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. "At least for now." She added laughing a bit.
They walked to his car, Warrick opening the door for her and heading to their destination.
Catherine sighed heavily causing Warrick to second guess her certainty.
"Your..."
"I'm sure! I'm just nervous is all......."
"You...? The great Catherine Willows is nervous? Since when have you been nervous around Grissom?"
"Since I suddenly disappeared without a word for over a week......." She replied.
"True.......but just stick to your semi-true story and you'll be fine. Besides...this is Grissom we're talking about. You're his right and left hands half the time....he CAN'T fire you."
"Why shouldn't I fire you?!" Grissom yelled angrier than Catherine had ever seen him.
"Because you need me." She replied trying to stay calm.
"But you disappeared for over a week with no explanation.....what makes you think I can just trust you again after that?" He shot back.
"Because it was a one-time thing and I was so upset about what was going on that I honestly forgot all about work." She said.
"And just what was that Catherine? Because the way I remember it is that YOU weren't answering your phone, you acted weird when I sent you out to process a scene at a 419 and the next thing I know Wendy is telling me that the only DNA on the vic's neck is YOUR DNA and then you just disappear!" He yelled elevating his voice even more.
Both Catherine and Grissom stood in silence each taking deep breaths and trying to figure out the next thing they should say.
"Grissom......I......I can't explain that. I would if I could, believe me......but.....I just can't. You are going to have to trust me."
"Catherine! I can maybe just maybe let the weird behavior and disappearance slide with a documented 'slap on the wrist' but your DNA linking you to a murder? What do you want me to do about that?"
"I....know how it looks and I know I'd demand an explanation too, but, Gil...I......I....."
"Catherine. I need the truth...........or I have no choice but to hand you over to PD for murder."
Catherine knew she couldn't go to jail. She couldn't survive in there......they'd force her out into the sun or put her in solitary confinement and she'd starve. She could take Lindsey and go, never looking back........but she didn't want to. Vegas was her home, the people at the lab part of her family, so she would tell him the truth. Or at least most of it. At least the rational sounding part.....if killing someone could indeed ever be called rational.
Warrick was pacing back and forth in the break room while Nick sat on the couch. They were pretty sure that Grissom wouldn't fire Catherine, but neither of them were positive. They had "taken care" of the DNA evidence linking her to the murders she'd commited and luckily, Grissom and the lab only knew about the one. Either way, without the evidence, there was nothing tying her to anything. There was still her "mysterious" disappearance to get past though. Fortunately, Warrick didn't have to wait long as he heard Catherine's tell-tale click click of her high heels coming down the hall.
"Well?" He asked slowly.
"Well....I"m suspended for a while without pay for a while and he's angrier than I've ever seen him, but I'm not fired."
"What did he say about the DNA Wendy confirmed as being yours?"
"He confronted me about it and so I told him the truth......partly. I just told him that I was walking when he came up to me and tried to rape me, which is the truth. I also told him that I blacked out and woke up in my car later with his blood on me....also the truth. What I fudged is that I had "no idea" what had happened to him and that he'd forced me to kiss him.........hence my saliva on his neck." She finished taking a deep breath.
"Wow...I'm impressed..." Nick said. "He still wanted to turn you in though didn't he?"
"Not turn me in....but investigate yes. He went to pull out the files on it.....and they weren't there. So then he called Wendy to get her records....and hers were mysteriously missing also." She eyed both men across from her. "I'm assuming that I have one or the both of you to thank for that??"
"Nick took care of it." Warrick admitted.
"The other night while Warrick was taking care of you at his place, I went ahead and took care of the evidence."
Catherine walked over to him and gave him a huge hug. "Nicky, I can't thank you enough..."
He pulled his neck and head away from her own and laughed, "Just don't bite me and we'll call it even......."
She laughed back, "You've got yourself a deal slayer....." She said and sat down on the couch.
"So how'd things go over with you saying that the reason you left was personal and you couldn't devulge anymore than that?" Warrick asked.
"Well....it pissed him off, but not much he could say really....I think he was more concerned about my involvement in a murder and then when the evidence was obviously gone, there's not much anyone can do or say about it...so......"
"So he let you off easy with a non-pay suspension....." Nick said.
"Right.....starting in two days. Apparently we're swamped tonight and it's all hands on deck."
A few hours later and Catherine sat with Brass in an interrogation room with a rape/murder suspect. Grissom had refused to let her out in the field due to her suspension and kept her at the lab and PD to help out as needed. They had been interviewing for a while and weren't getting anywhere when Grissom showed up to check in on things. He watched behind the glass as Brass's hard-hitting questions were seemingly going straight over the suspect's head. If he did answer anything it was to say he didn't do anything.
Grissom noticed Catherine was being awfully quiet, which was unusual for her in an interrogation. She had her head cocked to one side and was staring intently at the suspect, almost as if she was trying to read him and what was going on in that head of his.
"So let me get this straight..." Brass began again. "You never saw the girl before, even though we found your t-shirt in her apartment? What...? She just stole it from you one night because she was so lovesick over you? I think...that you were the one lovesick over her......and you couldn't have her.....because she was much too good for you....."
"Man....she was a WHORE! Men came and went out of that apartment but she never gave me as much as a second glance..!" The suspect yelled.
Catherine slammed her hands down on the table, stood up and leaned across. "That is enough!" She yelled. "Maybe you did use a condom and maybe we don't have enough evidence to link you to her rape and murder..." She lowered her voice to a whisper now and got closer to him, "But I know what you did to her without a doubt, so you better PRAY that we find evidence to put you away in prison for a very long time......." She then whispered even softer to where Grissom and Brass were unable to hear at all. "....because prison is the only place where you'll be safe from me..." She finished sending chills up the suspect's spine. Just as she pulled away from him and sat down, Grissom unmistakingly saw her eyes go from their normal blue to a weird, bright, almost glowing green. It was just for a second, and they were back to normal, but he knew he'd seen it.....especially when the suspect flinched at the same time.
"Alright...alright...I did it. I confess.........just.....please........just........get me away from her..." He cried pointing at Catherine who was still staring at him intently.
The guard handcuffed the suspect and led him out of the room past Grissom. "Man...I dont' know what kind of people you've got working here...but that lady is crazy weird man......she's not normal....her eyes.....did you see them? She said I better hope I ended up in prison because it was the only way I'd be safe from her...! Man.....freaky eyes...man..." He continued to ramble as the guard hauled him away, just shaking his head as if he was crazy.
He wasn't though and Grissom knew it.
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