Hi! Thank you for your reviews so far. I'm not sure how much longer this fic is going to be. I began to map out the investigation which sort of ended up going in a totally different direction, so I'm writing blind. Please keep the review coming to let me know how I'm doing.

Also, the e-mail address to join my group was wrong. The correct one is CSI_Nick-Sara_Shippers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com


Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 7
By LissaMarie
Sept. 27-Oct. 7, 2002


"People suck," Catherine decided as she sat down gingerly on the bar stool watching Grissom tinker around in his kitchen. She took a small sip of her vodka and orange juice before elaborating. "I mean, think about it. They lie, they cheat, they kill. Why can't people just be honest with one another? Wouldn't that be a hell of a lot easier?"

Grissom put the carton of eggs back in the refrigerator. His eye drifted to her drink, and a half smile came to his lips. "Exactly how many of those have you had?"

"THAT is entirely beside the point. Wouldn't it be easier just to tell the truth? To me, secrets have always been a burden. Secrets suck. They have no point. They just RUIN your life," Catherine emphasized the last statement by placing her empty glass down on the table none too gently.

Gil checked on the omelets he was cooking and turned back to his friend. "Will you be coming to the point of this diatribe anytime soon?" Truth be told, the whole topic was making him uncomfortable.

"Now THAT is the point. YOU have secrets that you won't tell me. I'm probably your closest friend, and I didn't even know that you had a daughter until she got a job here. Don't your secrets bother you?" Catherine realized she was getting tipsy. Two drinks shouldn't have that strong of an effect on her, but the weight of work had kept her from her lunch.

"Everyone has secrets, Catherine," Gil explained diplomatically. He used the pancake turner to put their omelets on plates, and he placed his friend's dinner/breakfast/lunch down on the counter in front of her. He made a mental note to make sure she took a little time out of her work schedule to eat something. He noticed the glare she sent him before she took a bite.

"Yes, they do. Some have more than others. Some people don't share anything with anyone, which isn't healthy, by the way." Catherine got off her chair and went to the kitchen intending to make herself another drink.

Grissom spoke without bringing himself around to face her. "No more. You have to pick Lindsay in less than 3 hours, and that is just enough time to get those two out of you system." He turned and smiled slightly at her How the hell do you do that? stare. His eyes followed her movements as she poured a glass of plain, pulp-free orange juice. "Okay, Cath. I have to ask where this topic of yours is going?"

Catherine went to her seat and sighed as she plopped down. "Something's been on your mind lately, and I want to know what it is." Her response was simple and to the point, which were things she took satisfaction in being. Gil on the other hand, she knew, preferred to be cryptic to keep people out. She might not understand it most of the time, but she usually respected it. This time, though, she couldn't stand to be out in the dark while he was obviously hurting.

Grissom leaned up against the counter silently for a moment before walking around, plate in hand, to sit beside her. Should he tell her? How could he? Shouldn't Kaite be the first person he revealed this secret to? He started to eat the small meal he made while more questions came to his mind, and the quiet, everyday noises that most people wouldn't even notice began to fade away.

Catherine watched him knowing he hadn't ignored her. Satisfied that he was at least considering giving her an answer, she took a sip of her juice and finished eating her late brunch.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Kait sat at the counter in the DNA lab going over the preliminary reports from the autopsies she and Dr. Robbins had done so far. She had gone home to get a few hours of sleep, but still, the wear this case was bringing on her was evident. The reports from the examinations of the skeletons were not yet available, so she was working with only half of the information. She was looking over the results of the Greg's test on the samples she and Nick had collected from Annette's clothing, and she became very confused.

"Greg?"

"Yeah, Kait?" Greg spun around on his stool slightly surprised by the interruption of the quiet of the lab. Normally silence bothered him, but it felt wrong to intrude upon it with music or any of his usual methods of escape. This case was taking a toll on everyone.

"Are these the results for the clothing?" Kait questioned without looking up. A deep frown enveloped her usually serene face. She really wanted to believe that there had been some kind of mix up.

Greg leaned over to see the papers she was speaking of. "Yup."

"You're sure?" Kait asked craning her neck to see him behind her. He nodded. "Three different semen samples. Three different men. This poor little girl." Her eyes went over the paper again sadly, sighing before she stood up. "I'm going to go tell everyone about this new revelation. Could you continue going over these? We're going to need a lot of evidence to get all three convictions."

Greg shook his head. "I don't think you'll be getting any."

Kait turned around quickly, facing him. Her disbelief was evident on her face. "You have that little faith in our abilities?"

"No. That's not it." He fell silent for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "There was something abnormal about all three samples. I was able to make a karyotype of them, and this is what I found." He pulled three photograph-type papers from a file and handed them to her.

"You can't get a full karyotype from gametes," she reminded him.

"Blood in the sample," was his simple reponse.

Kait's frown deepened after a few seconds. "There's an extra chromosome present."

"Give the girl a star. The 47th chromosome is the result of the trisomy 21."

"Down syndrome?" Her question was obviously rhetorical since she was a doctor herself, but Greg nodded anyway. "Down syndrome patients aren't violent. There has to be more to it." She mumbled to herself as she left the lab and went toward the layout room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


"So we're looking for someone with a mental disorder?" Warrick questioned astonished.

"Three severally mentally disabled men who had possibly experienced abuse in their past," Kait confirmed.

Nick spoke up. "What makes you think that?" He made sure that it didn't sound as if he were questioning her judgment. He had gotten in trouble for that more than once. This time, only curiosity was present in his tone.

"Most of the Down Syndrome patients that I've had contact with were empathetic. Though they did seem to learn from what happened around them as most children do. If they are sexually abusing these children, there is a strong chance that they picked up the habit from someone. Either from having it done to them or in front of them." Kait stood in the corner of the room as she spoke, hating having everyone's eye's on her as she reported her grisly conclusions.

"There could be someone teaching mentally challenge individuals to molest little kids?" Sara asked the question Catherine would have, had she been there.

It was Grissom who replied. "People are capable of anything."

TO BE CONTINUED...

I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to get this part out. I'd like to thank everyone that has posted reviews and also those who haven't but are still reading this story. I used a few science terms in this part. The terms are real and used in the proper way, but I'm not completely sure if it would be possible to use them in the way I did in this part. If there is anything you'd like to correct, or if there's anything that you didn't understand, use the review function to let me know.

I don't know when the next part will be out. I'm supposed to be working on a paper for my AP Euro class right now, so...

I'll see what I can do. Please read and review.