heya new chapter...sorry there hasn;t been one for a while. next chapter will be up tommorrow. for def. It's half written. Thank you for reading and for any reviews

x


You were caught in the middle of an argument. You had learnt from an early age that your family knew exactly which buttons to press. For grandmother it was Grandfather, for Uncle J it was his drug habit and for Momma it was you. It was a question of how much blood you would shed to stay alive. No one ever won the arguments, just made each other hurt. You kept piping in, wanting your say but kept getting told to be quiet. They were discussing you, you wanted to be involved. You felt embarrassed. You made your way to the kitchen area; you wanted a glass of milk. You couldn't reach the top shelf where the glasses were kept. You gave up. You listened to them argue a little while longer. Your mother firmly said you were going back to San Francisco to which your Grandmother retaliated with something like 'She should be with her mother.' Momma glares at Grandmother. She had been drinking more and more since bail was granted for two of the men. The youngest one had confessed to his involvement. You couldn't stand it…again. No one had dared talked to you since your outburst. You had been asked if you wanted to talk to a "special teacher" about what had happened to you and your mother. When your mother picked you up from the first meeting, you told her it sucked and she laughed, told you she knew they did. She went on to tell you how proud she was of you that you had defended her to kids bigger and stronger than you. But you should never do it again. She had started singing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…"


Catherine, Warrick and Greg stood outside the courtroom doors. They were an hour early.

"You look good in purple." Catherine fiddled with Warrick's lilac tie and patted down softly and it dramatically contrasted with the amethyst shirt. She smiled sadly. It was a turning point for Warrick. That was it. Something he had never understood before. Her voice is full of love- that was the charm that rose and fell in her voice; it was the jingle of it, the cymbals' song of it. She was the golden girl in a high white palace.

"Thanks. You look good in…" He looked at her, properly, as if a soft mist that had been blocking the true vision of her was lifted.

"You just look good."

The soft moment passed as seven hard cruel bodies passed Catherine, Warrick and Nick, who had just exited the bathroom and the stared with hatred at them. They were part of a crowd of men walked, a mixture of Police officers and Lawyers. Seven men looked at them, the eighth was giving his statement via video link since he was the youngest and had already confessed. The beasts looked at them with shining, arrogant bead-eyes, and leaned aggressively forward in their stride. They couldn't hide the enormous power of their bodies. The last one to enter winked at Catherine and made a kiss face with his hard and sturdy mouth. Catherine's eyes widened and Warrick automatically hated his guts.

Greg soon arrived, followed by Grissom. They sat in silence, feeling the weight that they would be dealing with the people who violated Sara in front of her own child. Nick began talking, he was slightly furious with Sara. He thought they trusted each other.

"Grissom, what do think about Sara stashing a kid away for six…?"

Nick looked up to Warrick for confirmation. Warrick nodded.

"Six years and just not telling us? I mean, how does she cope?"

Gil paused, thinking about his answer.

"Like any parent I suppose. Sara has to balance an extraordinary life with single parenthood. She loves the child, obviously… unquestionably… but she also loved the life she had and I think that she finds it difficult to balance two as she excels in both her ability as CSI and as a parent, Nick."

Greg and Gil saw the defendants and neither of them could believe the difference from the mug shots. All were clean-shaven. They were neatly dressed in suits, shirts, neckties and polished shoes. They had had haircuts. The courtroom doors opened again and the CSI's turned to see Caroline Ellenson, a top feminist lawyer, Sara Sidle and Lorena Sidle. Sara was wearing a black outfit, something she often wore to court and a white silk blouse beneath. Her expression was dazed and vague and she stumped once or twice in her low-heeled shoes. Her lawyer caught her arm. Sara leaned in to her daughter and Lorena looked much, much older than Nick or Catherine could ever recall. Sara seemed to take no evident notice of the numerous men who were staring at her with undisguised hatred. She also took no notice of the middle-aged women and the young pretty girl who mouthed just audible words in Sara's direction: "Bitch! Liar! Whore!"

Bailiffs advanced upon the girl, threatening her with expulsion. The family members try to calm her, but angrily she shook off a restraining arm and cursed the bailiffs in a fierce tone and in the same moment she was helped to her feet and urged out in to the aisle. Another young woman followed her and shouted, "They didn't do it! You got the wrong guys! This a set-up! The Gestapo!"

Nick whispered, "Jesus, this isn't even a trial."