Author: Coolcatz

Disclaimer: oh no, not going there

A/N: Thanks to Allison and Rose for their help on this chapter.

From Crate and Burial:

GRISSOM: You any better?

CATHERINE: What are you talking about?

GRISSOM: Your little major-minor blowup about Lindsey not wanting a party.

CATHERINE: Oh, that. Yeah. I'm just afraid that I'm making her

weird, you know?

GRISSOM: No.

CATHERINE: I work 24/7. I have no time for my friends. My daughter rarely

sees me having any fun. And, all of a sudden, she doesn't want a party.

GRISSOM: And that's because of you?

CATHERINE: Yes. I'm her mother. She mimics me.

GRISSOM: Well, then she'll be fine. I mean, look at you.

Catherine finally arrived back at the lab, cherry roll for Gil in a small bag and a large cup of cold coffee in her hand. She worked her way through the hallways until she found Gil. He was still in Doc Robbins' new breakroom.

"Nice." She took in the new surrounds. Al was a great guy who knew how to work the system. She thought that maybe she should transfer to the morgue so she and her ducks would have their own space.

"Thanks. Come by tomorrow. My sofa is supposed to be delivered before shift." Doc grabbed a remote and turned on his sound system. "Bose."

"This is why I'm sharing an office with the Day Shift supervisor you know." Catherine glared playfully at Gil who opened his mouth to speak only to be cut off by Doc.

"You're welcome here anytime."

Catherine handed the cherry roll to Gil and sat down between the two men.

"I thought we were working on a case, not hiding in the morgue."

"Take a look. Gil handed her the photo with Lindsey' jeans and saw her face flush with fear before she could mask it.

"Damn it, those jeans cost $60. I told her not to screw them up." When in doubt anger covered fear very well. Gil leaned over and pointed at the broken brush.

"This is what I wanted you to look at." Catherine looked at the photo, then pulled out her glasses and looked again. She noticed the blood on the broken tip.

"Looks like someone had a disagreement over something." She continued to examine the picture. "Where's the rest of the brush?"

"I don't know. We're going to have to go through everything again and see if we can find it. Right now, we're waiting on Doc's report to be delivered so we can re-examine the bruising on the victim."

The three of them were comparing the picture of the broken brush with pictures of the bruising on the young boy's body.

"There." Gil held out one of the photos, pointing to a bruise near the base of the boy's skull. Both Catherine and Doc looked at the photograph.

"Well I'll be damned." Doc spoke. "That bruising was consistent with bruising from the pool."

"Evidence out of context till now." Gil explained.

"You mentioned you'd seen this in a case before but I don't remember anything like this." Doc knew the details of almost every case that had come through in the last 15 years but couldn't place the one Gil was talking about.

"I didn't say it was a case." Gil continued to compare the two photographs while sneaking a glance at Catherine who was looking at the floor. Doc, of course, noticed the whole exchange but kept silent.

"I know the brush wasn't what caused his death so why are you…"

"Because the owner of the brush obviously had a problem with him." Gil's voice was short and curt.

"You're assuming that the owner of the brush is responsible for that." Catherine's voice was low. She hated when he judged someone without reason.

"We find the owner and we have a lead." Gil saw this as logical.

"The boy drowned." Catherine saw this as logical. The brush wasn't relevant.

"At the same party Lindsey was at."

"What does that have to do with.." Catherine yelled at Gil. Their voices grew louder as each one tried to speak over the other.

"She's just as much a suspect as anyone else who was there."

"Hold it. Do you honestly think that my daughter…"

"She's Eddie's daughter too. Not to mention Sam's granddaughter so yes I do."

"She's thirteen Gil. She's not capable…"

"…of hurting someone? Catherine we see kids all the time who…"

"…oh get real. She snuck out. She had a few drinks. She didn't…"

"She didn't have a mother responsible enough to make sure she was home."

"Don't you dare. You know damned well I tried to transfer to days so I could be home with her."

"At least Eddie was always there for her."

They both froze. Doc sat silently to the side wishing that he could just disappear. He watched the wordless duel that played out between the two of them, each daring the other to make the next move. He was shocked when Catherine walked out without uttering another word, but not as shocked as he was when Gil finally spoke.

"Lindsey needs a real mother."

Catherine was standing outside of Doc's breakroom fighting back tears. She knew what Gil was referring to when he mentioned the brush. Her hairdresser reminded her of it every time she went in for a color.

C'mon babe." Eddie lay beside her, nuzzling her neck.

"I'm tired." As good as his body felt all Catherine could think about was getting some sleep. His hands drifted lower and she pushed them away. "I'm serious. I've had enough."

"No, you just need a little pick me up." He crawled out of the bed. She sighed with relief. Now maybe she would be able to get some rest.

Eddie crawled back in bed, spooning her as he pulled the hair off the back of her neck gently placing kisses from the base of her skull to her mouth as he turned her to face him. She opened her mouth to protest only to hear him shush her as he placed some pills inside her mouth.

"Trust me babe. You'll be fine." He then kissed her deeply. "You know you want it as much as I do."

The truth was she did want it as much as Eddie but she had been working long hours on difficult cases. Then when she came home she still had an infant daughter who needed her, a husband who wanted her and a house to take care of. Something was obviously going to suffer and what suffered was her sex life with her husband. She looked into Eddie's eyes seeing the desire and longing he held for her, remembered the promise she made to herself when they reconciled and swallowed the pills.

"How long before this stuff kicks in" she said as she pulled him to her.

"Don't you worry about that."

"Lindsey's crying." Eddie stopped what he was doing.

"She's fine." Catherine pulled him back to her, her body aching for more. But Eddie pulled away again.

"No, babe, she sounds upset. You need to go check on her." He kissed her softly on the shoulder and tried to pull off again.

"What I need is for you to finish this." Whatever was in those pills had definitely kicked in. She was wide awake, alert and horny as hell.

"Catherine, I can't do this with her crying. You need to go check on her." He pulled off his wife and waited for her to go tend to their daughter.

"Why don't you go check on her? You're her father." Catherine's mood had gone from horny to hateful in a heartbeat. All she had wanted was sleep. Eddie wanted sex. He gave her the pills and now she wanted sex. Only she wasn't getting sex or sleep and he wanted her to deal with the crying baby. She rolled over and pulled the covers over her body.

"Catherine, Lindsey is hungry. She needs you." He pulled the covers off of her.

"Well I'm not going so I suggest you either make her some formula or find a way to lactate yourself. She's just going to get louder if you don't." She yanked the covers back towards her with enough force to pull Eddie with them. He crashed into her causing her to topple off of the bed. Catherine was now pissed.

She grabbed the phone off the nightstand and threw it at Eddie but he dodged it. He crawled off the bed, yanked her up by the arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Go feed her now!" He opened the door and pushed her through, hand still on her arm. Catherine slapped him with her free hand only to have him grab it also.

"Let me go" she spat at him.

"I don't think so." Eddie was now angry and horny.

He pushed her against the wall and bit into the soft skin below her neck. He could feel her struggling against him as his hands gripped her hips holding her to him. Catherine pulled at his hands but couldn't move them so she kicked him instead causing Eddie to back off just long enough for her to break free. Eddie grabbed her tee shirt ripping it as he pulled her around to face him. Catherine threw a right hook at him connecting at his jaw line.

"So that's how you want to play," Eddie snarled. Catherine came at him again, both hands grabbing for his face as she jumped him causing them both to fall to the floor. Eddie shoved her off but Catherine came right back at him, straddling him as she went to deck him again. Eddie grabbed her waist and flipped them, pinning her body below him. Catherine kicked him hard in the groin and he fell to the side. She crawled back on top of him fists flying into his chest. Eddie flipped them again, this time sitting on her legs to keep her from kicking. Catherine pulled up from the floor ready to take another swing at him. Eddie reached her arms to pin them down but Catherine shifted under him causing his hand to connect with her jaw. She felt her teeth slam together as her head jerked back hard against the floor. The room was spinning around her. Eddie backed off giving her time to regain her senses. Catherine scrambled upright, grabbed a brush from the dresser and threw it at him. Eddie dodged the brush and it hit the wall cracking in two from the impact. He grabbed one piece of the brush and threw it back at Catherine. She turned to dodge but wasn't quick enough as the brush crashed into the back of her head. She felt the blood dribble onto her neck and placed a hand on the wound to see how bad it was.

"You son of a bitch." She ran at Eddie but he grabbed her, holding her still.

"Catherine, stop!"

"Let me go." She screamed as she struggled against him but he held her even tighter.

"Catherine, you're bleeding." His voice had changed. It sounded almost like he was concerned.

"It's not the first time." Her voice was bitter. Their fights had been escalating for a few months.

"Catherine, you're really bleeding." She didn't care. She was pissed off because she was being denied the two things she wanted most right now and the reason why was screaming loudly from the next room.

She jerked away from him and walked out of their bedroom and into Lindsey's. She picked up her crying daughter, grabbed the diaper bag and walked out the front door with Eddie hot on her heels.

"That's right. Go back to your boyfriend." Eddie slammed the door and went to the kitchen. He opened the freezer, grabbed a handful of ice, wrapped it in a cloth and placed it on his jaw. Then he grabbed a beer from the fridge and went to watch a ballgame on ESPN.

Catherine slumped against the wall, her hand going to the place on her head where the brush hit her that night. A thousand memories were flooding her mind. Memories of Eddie, of Gil and of Lindsey. It was then that she heard Gil's words to Doc…"Lindsey needs a real mother."