An innocent game

By Dany

Summary: Grissom has a house guest and is in desperate need of some help.

Spoilers: Beginning of Season 3 before Eddie's death and the time Lindsey morphed into a demon child.

A/N: I'm so glad I finished this one because this idea is actually about six month old, but I couldn't find the right end. I hope I found it.

Disclaimer: CSI does not belong to me.

Part 1 of 2

xxxxx

"Gil, please!"

Catherine was sitting in front of his desk, pleading with him to help her.

"Why can't Warrick do it? They're getting along fine," Grissom almost pleaded, pushing his glasses back on his nose, a clear sign of him being uncomfortable.

"He has that seminar you wanted him to go to. And don't ask about Nick. He's not grown up enough that I would leave my daughter with him for that amount of time."

He sighed, knowing that he was defeated.

Catherine had to return to her hometown because her sister had been involved in an accident while visiting their mother. Her sister had survived, but her lungs were punctured, and therefore there was no telling what might happen.

Catherine didn't want to put Lindsey through that and have her miss school for at least a week. The only problem was, where should she stay? Eddie was being his usual irresponsible self and claimed he had gigs all over the country, and her sister was clearly out.

Grissom was a very good friend. She trusted him with her life and although he and Lindsey did not spend that much time together, they got along well. Her daughter was always impressed that she could ask Grissom anything, and he never failed to come up with an answer. Although the little girl was a bit afraid of everything moving in Grissom's home, she was also oddly fascinated by the stuff.

She had already arranged for sleeping arrangements, getting her babysitter to cover for three nights, when Grissom would be working, and the other two school nights Lindsey could sleep at a friend's house. But they could only take her for the nights.

When she had talked to Lindsey, her daughter had not hesitated to say yes. Now, here she was, trying to convince her friend to agree too, and that proved to be a lot harder. "Gil…"

"I guess her grandparents live too far away from school?" he sighed, and she knew she had won.

She would not need to worry about Lindsey now – well, not much anyway.

xxxxx

The first two days went by without any major disaster. Lindsey was on her best behavior. After school she did her homework and afterwards helped Grissom to put up an experiment.

They built an ant farm together, one that could change weather conditions. The temperature could be switched from Alaska to Hawaii, the light was adjustable in intensity, and they could even make it rain. Lindsey was a bit disappointed that they couldn't make it snow, but the rain water didn't get chilled enough because the way down to 'earth' was not long enough.

Grissom improvised and showed her how to make snow in the freezer. It was not perfect, but it made Lindsey giggle and try to stuff some of the 'snow' down Grissom's back.

Hours were spent on this project. It was the ideal way to spend time with the girl. Grissom had been planning this project for quite some time, but he had never gotten around to it. Doing it now made him comfortable, something he needed when dealing with a kid. Another plus was it kept Lindsey occupied. A bored Lindsey would have gone up the walls and driven him crazy. The project also kept her from missing her mother too much.

xxxxx

The third day, though, spun Grissom into panic mode.

Of all things, it was Lindsey's homework that threw him. An obviously very overeager teacher had given a bunch of fourth graders the philosophical task to describe the difference between 'male' and 'female' perception. What kind of task was that for a ten-year-old?

Lindsey had been clueless as to what she was supposed to do, so she had asked Grissom.

He had been speechless at first, but then tried to explain the physiological differences and empirical data on the subject.

He failed miserably.

Lindsey just stared at him with big eyes, not understanding anything.

Seeing that, he started to panic. What was he supposed to tell her when he didn't know what went on in the mind of a woman himself? He contemplated telling her to go to school without homework, but that would not be very responsible. And knowing Lindsey, she was like her mother, not satisfied with silence as an answer. So he did what anyone else would have done…

He called the child's mother to let her handle it.

Unfortunately for him, Catherine's mother told him that she was in the hospital and trying her cell phone, he realized that she had turned it off.

So that was out.

xxxxx

"Sidle," was her reply when she picked up the phone.

She was already awake and going through some forensic journals when the phone rang. Who could it be? No one ever called her during the day. Maybe it was Grissom with a new case, a welcome distraction.

"Hey, Sara!"

It was indeed Grissom, but not with work.

"Grissom, do we have a case?" her eagerness shone through her words.

"No, not really. I…uhm…have a favor to ask of you."

Hearing his uncertainty made her nervous. He was never insecure. Never…but…he only got unsure when she was looking at him thinking about where she would rather be with him. He seemed to sense that.

"What can I do for you?"

"Could you, could you come over?" he was stammering now, and she began to wonder if something was seriously wrong.

"Is everything alright?"

The following silence worried her. Was that the man of thousand words? And then she remembered he had company. "Grissom, is Lindsey alright?"

"Yes, she is fine," he hastened to reassure her. "But I need you…"

What?

"Your female insight."

She was supposed to give him 'female insight'. Wasn't that Catherine's job. She was the mommy. "What does Catherine say to your problem?"

"I can't reach her. I really need you."

Her heart stopped. He had said he needed her – again.

It was not so long ago that he had told her the first time. Ok, it didn't quite mean that she wanted it to mean, but at least he had said it.

"What's the matter?"

She was already up and searching for her shoes and keys.

"I have a problem with her homework," he admitted quietly.

Sara stopped dead in her tracks. Grissom not being able to do a fourth grader's homework? What could that possibly be?

"Oh…Okay. I'll be over in fifteen. Should I bring anything?"

She forced herself into motion again and picked up her shoes.

"No."

"Dinner?"

She paused at the door, wondering where that came from.

"Oh yes. That would be good."

He had probably not thought about that yet.

She smiled at that thought. "Pizza?" All kids loved pizza, right?

"Linds, pizza," he called. She didn't hear the girl's answer, but Grissom spoke again, "Sure. Lindsey wants plain cheese."

She could arrange that. "Okay then, see you in half an hour!"

xxxxx

"Linds, dinner's here."

While he opened the door, the girl rushed out of her room.

On the first day they had redecorated his guest bedroom, Lindsey having insisted on making it more colorful. They had driven to a furniture store and bought some red and yellow pillows along with an art print of a ladybug on a yellow blossom.

Those weren't big changes, but Lindsey's smile made the room brighter anyway.

It was odd that he didn't mind sharing his sanctuary with the girl, and he knew that wouldn't be the case with anyone else. Well, maybe there was one possible exception…

"Hey, Grissom. Lindsey, how are you?"

Kids still seemed to make her nervous, but not as much as before.

"Good," Lindsey smiled at her, a bit shy because they had met only twice before.

"I brought pizza. You hungry?" Sara asked, not knowing what else to say.

They had moved away from the door into the kitchen area where Sara put the pizza boxes on the counter.

"Should we eat first?" she turned to ask Grissom, not knowing how to proceed.

"I think so. What do you say Lindsay? Dinner first, homework later?" he asked grinning, already knowing what the answer would be.

The girl nodded, and Grissom moved through the kitchen, pulling out plates and glasses, handing them to Lindsey who set them on the counter.

Once everything was set, they each took a place to sit down. Grissom sat across from the two females, Lindsey having chosen a seat beside Sara.

She tried to make conversation with Catherine's daughter, asking her what she had been doing with Grissom and listened when the girl described every little detail of the ant farm.

Grissom only watched, choosing to remain silent and observe. After the initial hesitation they seemed to have hit off right.

He looked around his house and suddenly realized how cold it had been before. It was not only the new guest room that made the change in the air.

Catherine had been right. He needed more life in his home.

Having Lindsey, and now Sara here made him realize that something out there was worth it.

xxxxx

Lindsey was lying on the floor laughing. True to their nature, Grissom and Sara had conducted an experiment that had gotten slightly off track.

To show Lindsey the difference between female and male perception, they offered to be guinea pigs.

After they had again explained to her that woman used different parts of their brains differently, they proceeded to show her how that worked in practice.

At first they had used a book that Grissom had found in the bottom of a box in which he had stored the books that hadn't found a place anywhere else in the house. There were some training exercises that fit their purpose. They were to explain travel paths and follow a little figure through the book by instructions.

Afterwards they improvised on tests. They had looked at objects and wrote down their responses. Grissom's showcases had been part of the study, using 'beautiful' butterflies and 'ugly' bugs. Then they had progressed to his books and his music collection.

But what had Lindsay rolling on the floor with laughter was the last part of the experiment.

With some coaxing from the girl, they had agreed to do a taste/smell test. While one got blindfolded, the other made sure Lindsey didn't pick something weird. Just like the other tests, this one was not about the usual associations like bitter, sweet, hot or sour. They got some funny responses; spices were categorized from 'warm and fuzzy' to 'I never want to taste that again'.

Lindsey had fun, and even though the adults wouldn't admit it, they enjoyed themselves too.

What they didn't count on was that the girl still had an ace up her sleeve. When it was Sara's turn again, instead of undoing the makeshift blindfold from Grissom, she pulled Sara's scarf from around her neck and began to tie it over the woman's eyes.

"Lindsey?"

Grissom moved his hands to untie the blindfold when the girl stopped him. "One last try, please."

He sighed and nodded.

"Okay," she continued when the scarf was secure in its place, "Sara, can you lean forward a little bit?"

When Sara moved accordingly, Lindsey pushed Grissom to the right and turned him slightly on the couch. She smiled, wondering if her plan would work.

"Okay, now…can you move your heads just a little bit forward?" Her aim was excellent.

The scientists' heads moved into one direction until…their lips touched and both of them froze.

Lindsey watched with interest. She didn't know herself if this was part of the experiment, but she had once heard her mother say, "I wish they would just get over with it and do something. A kiss would be a good start." She had been talking about Grissom and the young woman she worked with, that much Lindsey had understood.

And her teacher had also said that different perceptions were most prominent in relationships. All of these things had given her some ideas.

Suddenly, Sara pulled away and ripped the blindfold off. She stared at Grissom, eyes wide, mouth open and breathing hard.

Upon the loss of contact, Grissom did the same.

The looks on their faces reminded Lindsey of the bulging eyes of comic characters, and they made her sink to the floor, laughing.

xxxxx

Lindsey was in her room, trying to put everything to paper, while Grissom was sitting in the living room, staring at the tv screen but not really seeing what was playing.

Sara had practically fled the scene after they had gotten over the shock moment, stating that she had 'things' to do before work. Of course he knew that was a cop out, but what was he supposed to do?

Force her to stay and talk? That would have been a disaster since he didn't know what to say himself.

The moment their lips touched, his brain stopped working, and it had yet to function again.

Once they had started with Lindsey's homework, he had actually been able to let go a bit and have fun, although Sara had been there.

He should have been uncomfortable about voicing his feelings, but in this scientific context, it was so much easier. He had shared a part of himself with Lindsey and Sara.

Sara…what did she think?

She had looked as shocked as he had felt. What really bothered him was that she hadn't been able to look at him. Her eyes had been either downcast or on Lindsey. She wouldn't talk to him either.

And when she said she had to go, it was directed more at Lindsey than at him. Had their relationship just been broken beyond repair?

When he looked at the clock, he realized how much time had passed. Lindsey needed to be at the sitters in 20 minutes.

He pushed himself off of the couch to get the girl ready. They were able to make good time and he was at work at his usual time – one hour early.

But when he walked through the corridors, he wished he was not here. He didn't want to face anyone.

TBC