Healing
"Maybe God wants us to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so when we finally meet the person, we'll know how to be grateful."
-unknown
When Grissom walked into the layout room hours later, he didn't expect to see Catherine. That wasn't to say he wasn't happy to see her – he had wondered where she had gotten to – and he wasn't surprised to see what she was doing.
"Find anything?" he asked quietly, walking around and squeezing her shoulders. He almost winced at the numerous knots he found in the muscles. His thumbs moved to the base of her neck, working out the tension. Catherine closed her eyes and moaned in pleasure, dropping her head into her palms.
"God, Cath, you're tense," he murmured, moving to her shoulders and upper back.
"Got a lot on my mind," she mumbled in response. He hands moved down to her lower back and Catherine groaned loudly. Grissom's body temperature rose in response to her moans. He bent over, dropping butterfly kisses along her neck and shoulder. Grissom slipped his hands under her light blue blouse and Catherine's breathing shallowed.
"Gil," she breathed.
"Mmm?"
"We shouldn't be doing this here." Grissom grinned against her neck when she didn't make a move to stop him from moving his hands to her stomach.
"Any one could walk in and we both have work to do," she forced out through the haze Grissom had created in her confounded mind. Her hands went to her stomach and pull his hands to rest on top of her blouse and held them there with her own. She tilted her head and captured his lips in a sweet kiss. She moved carefully away, putting a little bit of distance between them, but not out of arms reach. She needed – more subconsciously – to have him there, for reassurance. Her timing couldn't have been better as Warrick entered, a stack of papers tucked under one arm and his phone to his ear.
"That's great! Of course… 2 weeks, that's fast…good point… okay, see ya, man." Catherine raised a questioning eyebrow as he hung up the phone.
"Nick. Says Sara gets out of the hospital but isn't allowed to do anything with her shoulder for a couple of weeks."
"Days, knowing Sara," Catherine interrupted. Warrick smiled, nodding.
"Even then, with her cast, I don't think she'll be on the field for 6 weeks."
"That'll kill her," Catherine said, the amusement in her voice not quite reaching her eyes.
"And here's the lab results from the scene. They seem pretty conclusive…" Catherine nodded, moving and taking the sheets and envelopes from the top of the pile. The she noticed Ellen Bizet's name scribbled across the next set.
"This stuff?" she asked, motioning to the leftovers.
"From the other cases and Sara's stuff. Not much there, like we thought." He smiled as he cast an eye over the evidence on the table.
"Thanks, Warrick, this is great." Catherine turned to Grissom with the results.
"I'm going to use your office. Less of a chance I'll be interrupted." Grissom nodded, at the same time indicated to Warrick to inspect, carefully, the evidence Catherine was going to leave behind.
"I'll come with you," he said to Catherine.
"Alright, but when I go to talk to Sara, I go alone." He reluctantly conceded. They relieved Greg of Lindsey on their way past the DNA lab and set her to playing with the toys she brought on the floor of Grissom's office. They sat together on the sofa, his arm wrapped loosely around her and his head resting lightly on her shoulder, as she perused the results.
"Mommy, are you and Uncle Grissom going to get married?" The question was innocent on Lindsey's part, but both Grissom and Catherine were taken by surprise. She looked to Grissom and shrugged.
"I don't know, honey," she responded honestly, opening her arms for her daughter to climb onto her lap. Grissom moved the papers and set them carefully just under the edge of the sofa. Lindsey scrunched up her nose.
"What about Daddy?" If the first question had Catherine thinking that Lindsey had noticed her relationship change with Grissom, this confirmed it. It also, however, threw her off guard. Had she ever discussed with Lindsey what would happen if another man came into her life? She looked to Grissom for help. His eyes conveyed his advice: talk her through it. He kissed her cheek lightly and squeezed her hip where his hand rested, before carefully withdrawing himself from her.
"I'm going to check with Warrick. Come and get me when you're done," he said softly and exited the room, closing the door behind him.
"Mommy?" Lindsey prompted when Catherine didn't start.
"Lindsey, I loved your father. There was a time where everything was perfect, but then things changed." She paused, wrapping her arms tighter around her daughter as tears sprang to her eyes.
"He started hurting you, didn't he?" She sounded like a 30-year-old trapped in the body of a little girl.
"Honey, I don't want you to think of your father as a bad person because he hit me," Catherine said shakily, choosing her words carefully.
"I've known for a long time, Mommy. The night you told Daddy you were leaving wasn't the first time I watched." Catherine looked at Lindsey in shock.
"Daddy will always be my daddy and I will always love him for that, but there's also something that says 'Mommy needs to be happy too'. Uncle Grissom makes you happy, Mommy. Even I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice." Catherine couldn't believe this was coming out of her little girl's mouth. She sounded so much older, more mature.
"Would you like me to marry Uncle Grissom?"
"I want you to be happy. Its just a bonus that Uncle Grissom is the one that does that." Catherine hugged her daughter tightly as tears flowed down her cheeks. When her tears subsided, she wiped her eyes and smiled, looking down at the wet patch on Lindsey's pastel pink t-shirt.
"I packed another shirt if you want to change," she said. Lindsey nodded, jumping to the floor and pulling the purple one from her bag. They quickly changed the shirt.
"And you, me and Uncle Grissom are going to go out to dinner, right now. I need to get away from here." Lindsey smiled brightly and took her mother's hand as they went to find Grissom.
Grissom was antsy. He was waiting for Catherine and Lindsey to finish and couldn't seem to concentrate on the evidence in front of him. Warrick noticed.
"Griss, take a break. Go out to dinner with Catherine, talk anything but work." Catherine interrupted him. She poked her head into the room, Lindsey holding her other hand.
"Grissom, Lindsey and I are going to dinner," she said, knowing very well he would join them.
"One minute," he replied, sharing a glance with Warrick. Warrick shrugged slightly and Grissom set his evidence down. Resting a hand on Catherine's lower back, he quietly closed the door behind him.
"We'll take a Tahoe," he said, guiding them into his office. He picked up his overcoat and redirected them to the parking lot. He held open the door for Catherine , then helped Lindsey into the back. Catherine leaned her head back against the rest and clued her eyes, a small, genuine smile gracing her lips for the first time since this had all begun.
"What are you so happy about?" Grissom asked, amusement laced in him voice. Catherine waited until Grissom had turned on the car and pulled out of the CSI parking lot.
"Lindsey approves." Grissom glanced at her, confused. Catherine only smiled wider, gripping his hand, resting on his thigh, with her own. It clued him in and he looked at her in shocked happiness. He then met Lindsey's eyes in the rear-view mirror. Her face looked innocent but years in the child's life taught him better. He waited until Catherine redirected her attention to the scenery before mouthing a thank you. Lindsey grinned, her eyes sparkling.
Grissom pulled into their favourite restaurant off of the strip. Catherine grinned, enjoying the happiness.
"And we didn't even have to ask," she quipped, opening her door and moving to open Lindsey's. The tree were seated quickly, orders placed and food received in minutes.
"Being a regular has its advantages," Catherine had once said.
Catherine was firmly tucked against Grissom's side, Lindsey sitting across from them. He was eating with one hand. His other was busy making sure Catherine stayed close to his side. As if she was going to move any time soon! Then her cell phone rang.
"Catherine," she answered, wincing at the disappointment written all over her daughter's face. There was a pause on the other end.
"Hello?" Then an audible sigh.
"Cath, I need your help." Catherine placed Sara's voice immediately. Her internal alarms began to go haywire.
"What's wrong?" Sara sighed again.
"Amanda's got something to do with all these deaths. I asked her about the new DB…" there was a pause, "Lauren Bray. I didn't know her. Amanda did."
"And Amanda knew Emily and Ellen," Catherine affirmed. Everything was starting click in Catherine's head. She apologized to Sara for cutting their conversation short and promised to bring Grissom and Lindsey for a visit later. Grissom shot her a questioning glance when she hung up, but Catherine immediately began dialling Warrick's number.
"Warrick Brown."
"Catherine. I need you to do a background search on Amanda Bell."
"Sara's friend?"
"Sara thinks Amanda's the missing link. Look for medical records, a rap sheet, the works."
"Got it."
"I'll check in when I get back. Thanks." She hung up.
"Amanda?" Grissom asked stunned.
"No business during dinner," Catherine said firmly.
"But you--" Lindsey started.
"Gave the work to some one else. I could have done that research for myself, but I asked Warrick," Catherine finished.
"Because Warrick didn't have enough work to do already," Grissom quipped. Catherine hot him a reproachful look.
"I have been through all of that evidence 8 times – I counted – and I didn't find a single new thing. There is no way he's going to.
"You're sure?" Grissom sounded disbelieving.
"He can take a break," Catherine retorted, smiling brightly. Grissom shook his head, squeezing her to his body.
"You can be brutal, Cath. Exchanging work for more work. That wasn't nice." Catherine shrugged, then turned to Lindsey.
"So, sweetie, how have you been?" Grissom chuckled at Catherine's lame change of subject and Catherine elbowed him – none too gently – in the ribs.
"We've been together for the last 2…"
"I know Linds, but I haven't talked to my daughter for a while." Lindsey shot her a confused look.
"I've talked to the 30 year old residing in my daughter's body and I've been so busy I just haven't been able to talk to my daughter." That seemed to placate Lindsey and she launched into her previous school days.
"We have a talent show coming up and my teacher wants all of the students to participate in the class skit or do something on their own."
"So what are you going to do?" Grissom asked, taking the words right out of Catherine's mouth. Lindsey shrugged.
"I haven't really thought about it yet," she answered. "I don't even have an idea."
"I've heard you sing before," Grissom suggested. Catherine was surprised. She'd never known Lindsey to sing in front of any one but her. Lindsey seemed to consider this carefully. Catherine's phone rang again.
"Catherine."
"We've got a hit. I found Amanda's medical records. Nice long list over the last couple of years. You're going to want to take a look," Warrick's voice came over the phone.
"Okay," she replied, glancing at the empty plates, cups and the bill sitting on the edge of the table. "We'll be 15 minutes."
Grissom dropped a couple of bills on the receipt and stood, helping Lindsey with her light jacket. Once in the car, Grissom turned to business.
"Amanda, Sara's best friend, is our link? We all thought it was Sara."
"Before Lauren Bray got killed. I guess Amanda found out and told Sara," Catherine added.
"What did Warrick find?" Grissom asked, navigating through the early night traffic.
"Med records. Apparently, Ms. Bell has a long medical history," Catherine answered.
"Of what?"
"That's what I'm going to find out."
"And you're going to visit and help Sara and you're going to take care of Lindsey… are you sure you're not taking too much on at once?" Catherine smiled at his concern.
"I'll tell you if it all gets too overwhelming," she promised as he pulled into the lab parking lot.
"I'm… can I go play on Warrick's computer?" Lindsey asked from the back, opening the door and literally jumping down from the truck.
"We'll see if he's up to it," Catherine responded, taking her daughter's hand. Warrick met them at the door.
"Sara called and said Amanda was coming to visit. I want to nip this all in the bud so I'm going to see if Amanda will come in on her own," Warrick said, all in one breath. He handed the folder of medical records to Catherine and moved out the door.
"Warrick?" Lindsey called stopping him in his tracks. "Can I go too? I want to visit Sara."
Catherine shrugged – her form of an affirmative – and Warrick took Lindsey's hand. Catherine turned back to the file.
"Long medical history is an understatement," she said glancing at the files. "Extensive bruising, broken bones, shock. She was once brought in unconscious." Grissom took the folder from her and scanned the list.
"I'd know those signs anywhere."
"You would? I didn't have to look past the second line. Domestic abuse, left right and centre."
"So we know why Amanda was in the hospital. The question is, who put her in there?" They began to walk towards the layout room.
"And is there a relationship between the abuser and the two other victims?" Catherine added.
"We're about to find out."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I know, not so depressing as the rest of the story's been. I was kinda sick of writing the depressing stuff so I thought, one happy chapter won't kill me. Anyway, its not fair… and as much as I wanted to write it, I couldn't make Catherine pull away from Lindsey not to mention that Lindsey was trying to get through to her mother. She found an interesting way to do that, didn't she!
Coming soon…
A scientific break through brings the graveyard shift closer to catching the real killer
Amanda tells of an identical past
Catherine worries about Sara's testimony over assault
As Catherine tries to build her shell, the team slowly breaks it down
~Kavi Leighanna