Disclaimer: CSI is not mine. Never has been, and probably never will be, at least, not until I'm famous.
A/N: Second chapter of "The Fabulous Life Of Catherine Willows". This is a new story, so please R&R.
Edited by the fantastic Awesomepossum.
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Aeryn's card lay on Catherine's kitchen table. Catherine had gone to bed, but Lindsey, as usual, sat in the family room and watched a bit of TV before school. "Man, mom usually watches with me for a bit, I wonder why she went straight to bed today," Lindsey thought to herself. She realised that her mom had gone to bed without making breakfast, and now she was hungry.
Lindsey entered the kitchen and pulled out some bread, moving a card out of the way in the process. She looked at it briefly before returning to her work. She put the bread in the toaster and waited. While she listened for the "pop," she picked up the card and looked at it. "Why would anyone give mom a card? It's not her birthday, or even any other special day..." She opened it and read the message written in a youth's handwriting inside. Lindsey didn't understand what it meant, but she knew better than to wake her mom before school. She made her toast, then took the card with her and went back to watching her program.
Catherine awoke to the sound of her alarm. Eight fifteen a.m. meant it was time to get dressed and take Linds to school. She got up and put on dark jeans and a red blouse, and went out to get Lindsey. She found her on the couch, watching TV, ready to go. Lindsey got up from the couch and walked over to her mother.
"Good morning mom, how did you sleep?"
Catherine smiled. "Hey baby, I slept well, thanks for not waking me."
"Um… Mom? What's this card for? Who's Aeryn MacWilliams?" Lindsey asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
Catherine was aghast; she thought she had left that card in her purse. "Linds, honey, Aeryn was a victim in one of my cases, she gave me that card to thank me for solving it."
Lindsey was suspicious, but she let it drop. "Alright mom, we'll talk more in the car, but I'm late, let's go."
Once they were in the car, Lindsey brought up the card again. "Mom, what did she mean that she was sorry they didn't catch 'your guy'? What kind of case was this? Answer me, mom!"
Catherine bent her head a bit; she knew she had to tell the truth. "It…it was a rape case, Lindsey."
Lindsey stared at her mother, shocked. "But mom, you never… No… you weren't…"
Catherine looked up, "We're here. You better go inside Linds, you're late."
Lindsey couldn't think of anything else all day, her mom had never told her anything about a rape. Maybe she had thought that Lindsey couldn't handle it, or maybe this Aeryn girl had it messed up. There was only one thing she could think to do; she had to talk to her mom's friends. Maybe they could tell her the truth, since her mom was obviously in no shape to do so.
When her school let out that day, Lindsey took the bus home as usual. When she arrived at home, her mother was sleeping again. Lindsey went in and woke her up, shaking her gently.
"Mom? Sorry to wake you, but I was wondering – how are you feeling? How long have you been sleeping?"
Catherine gave a feeble smile. "I'm feeling better honey, thanks. I've been sleeping all day, I was really tired. But I think I can get up now."
Lindsey decided she needed to ask, after all it was a Friday night and she didn't have school the next day. "Mom? Can I go to work with you? I haven't seen Sara, Nick, Warrick, Grissom, or Greg in ages! I don't have school tomorrow, so can I, please?"
Catherine sighed. "Alright Linds, but you have to promise to behave, okay? Fridays are always busy, so you might be spending most of your time in the break room, bring a few books."
Lindsey smiled and hugged her mother. "Thanks, Mom!"
That night, Catherine and Lindsey drove to the lab. Once they arrived, Catherine went to get her assignment for the evening and Lindsey waited for her. How was she going to go about this without her mom finding out? When she knew that Catherine had gone off to work a possible suicide at the Bellagio, Lindsey went to find Grissom. He was continuing work on a case from the week before, and so he would be in the lab all night. She knocked on the door of his office. He didn't answer, so she knocked louder.
"Come in!" Grissom called from the other side of the door.
Lindsey tentatively entered the office. "Mr. Grissom? I need to speak to you…"
Grissom looked up. "Oh! Hey Lindsey, haven't seen you for ages, you're getting bigger every day! What do you need to talk about?"
Lindsey looked at him, nervously. "Can I sit?"
"Of course," Grissom smiled, as he gestured to the seat in front of his desk. Lindsey sat down in the proffered chair.
"Well, it's really important, so you have to promise to tell me the truth, okay?" Lindsey asked, fidgeting.
Grissom smiled down at her, reassuringly. "Okay Linds, I promise."
Lindsey smiled back, but quickly changed her expression to one of total seriousness. "It's about my mom. What do you know about her? Like, before she worked here."
Grissom looked at her quizzically. "Well, Lindsey," he said, "you know that your mother used to be a dancer, but besides that I don't know all that much about her."
"No!" Lindsey cried. "Did you ever hear about anything that may have happened to her? Think hard!"
Grissom thought for a minute, his brow furrowed. He sighed and glanced at Lindsey again. "Look, Linds, I have no idea what you're talking about, she's never mentioned anything. What's this about?"
Lindsey looked down at her shoes. "Mr. Grissom, I think that she may have been raped."
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A/N: Well, that's chapter two done, I thought I'd do something more interesting then having someone ask Cath, so I figured I'd have Lindsey find out somehow. Please R&R, your reviews will determine how much more I write.