The Antics of Lindsey Willows

Chapter 9

The next evening, Catherine was ready for any distraction from the battle raging in her mind. She found it in the stressed face of Nick. It was apparent to her that he and Sara had had some sort of a blow-out. She took it upon herself to play peacemaker and get in the middle.

She went into the locker room just a moment after he did. He was sitting on the bench, looking upset with himself. She sat next to him.

"Hey, Nicky, how is everything?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Everything is fine." He smiled weakly.

"You must be terrible at poker. I could tell right away that you are lying. Why don't you tell me what the real problem is?"

"Cath, sorry, but I don't think you'd understand."

"Nick, Nick, I can tell that it is something between you and Sara. This means it's girl trouble for you. I'm a girl and I'm lending you my ears and my insight. Use them." She smiled sympathetically.

"Alright. I was sitting on the couch with Sara this afternoon. We were eating spaghetti and drinking beer," he said slowly.

"Uh oh," said Catherine at the mention of alcohol.

"'Uh oh' is right. I started talking about her and how Greg loves you and then I kissed her."

"We'll get to Greg later, but right now, I have to ask you what on earth you were thinking when you kissed her."

"I don't think I was thinking."

"That's a pretty safe bet. How did she react?" Catherine inquired.

"She got up and went to her room. We took separate cars here and I haven't spoken to her since."

"Okay, Nick, it's time to hit on the big thing. Are you sorry you kissed her?"

"Not exactly. I'm sorrier for how I did it. I really do like her."

"Well, good for you. You've got a lot in common, especially with the kid. Now, give her a little time to sort her own feelings out, but you've got to talk to her eventually. Make sure you're careful about office politics though. Grissom up your ass is the last thing you need."

"No kidding."

She rubbed his shoulder and got up to leave. She reached the doorway and held up a finger. "One second. What was the whole thing about Greg loving me?"

Catherine was chuckling as she exited the locker room, leaving Nick to think of ways to repair his slip up with Sara. She knew the two of them were going to have some issues, especially since Nick hadn't run away from the idea of being a father to Lexi.

She turned the corner to head to the lobby and ran into Warrick. He grabbed a hold of her arm to keep her from falling.

"Sorry, Cath, I didn't see you."

"That's okay; I was in too much of a hurry." She smiled uncomfortably and stared at the floor. She bit her lower lip and waited for him to walk around her.

"Catherine is something up?" he asked concernedly.

"Not really. I just wanted to say that I'm, well," she blew out a gust of air, "I'm sorry."

He wrinkled his face and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sorry for what?"

She looked him in the eye. "For ruining your marriage."

He leaned his head against the wall and bent his knee. "What makes you think you did that?"

She shoved her hands into her pockets. "You were at my house overnight and she thought you were cheating."

"I was there for Lindsey. You and I didn't do anything. That's not what broke up my marriage. Tina did cheat on me. It had nothing to do with you."

She sighed. "But I still feel so guilty."

"Why? You have no reason to be guilty."

"Because," she said walking away slowly, "I don't feel so sad about it."

Warrick stayed against the wall and felt as if another load of bricks had been dumped on his back. He rubbed a hand over his chin and felt the slight growth of stubble.

The days continued on. Warrick filed for divorce and was less disappointed than he thought he should be. Tina had moved out and his home was back to the classic bachelor pad. He sat on the floor of his attic digging through boxes he had put away when he had gotten married.

In a back corner he found one labeled "photos" and used a knife to pry the tape off. Tearing open the flaps, he smiled as soon as he saw the first frame. A six-year-old blonde sat on his lap in the lab. They were playing computer games. He knew right away that the girl was Lindsey. It was one of the many times she had come to the lab after being dropped off by her father. Eddie had always had a way of springing the girl on Catherine in the middle of an important case. Warrick was always happy to step in.

There were a couple of shots of lab shindigs and more photos of Lindsey. At the bottom of the box he found a little wooden chest. As his fingers traced the designs in the carvings he remembered what lay inside.

He lifted the lid and pulled out the stray pictures. All the snapshots were from the same day, almost nine years ago. Lindsey had come to the lab for her annual birthday party. She was turning five and the guys and Catherine had gotten her some special presents. The DNA tech before Greg had taken the pictures. Warrick, Catherine, and Lindsey sat at the break room table enjoying cake. Grissom and Nick stood off to the side arguing over who had bought the better gift. He grinned widely at the last picture. Catherine stood behind him mashing a piece of cake in his face. Lindsey was giggling hysterically.

He closed his eyes remembering his conversation with Catherine when he helped her to clean up.

"You were a big help tonight, you know," she said wiping a stray hair from her eyes.

"Anything for my favorite kid." He tossed his head back and laughed as he noticed Lindsey shoving a straw up her nose.

"She loves you a lot. I've lost count of all the times she's asked to see her Warrick. Of course, when she says it, it sounds more like Wawick, but you get the point."

"She's a good kid. Takes after her mother, of course." He patted her on the arm.

"Thanks. And not just for the comment. Thanks for everything. We'd be lost without you." As soon as she'd said it, Lindsey had gotten a cabinet open and spilled several boxes of food on the floor. Catherine rushed over to clean it up.

"Anytime," Warrick said to himself and watched the scene unfold.

The ringing of his cell-phone brought him back to the present. "Brown. Hey, Grissom. Yeah, I can come in. Alright, I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone and stared down at the photos in his lap. He placed the snapshots back into the chest. He selected a few frames displaying lab pictures and closed the box back up. With a final glance at the cardboard cube, he shut off the light and headed downstairs to get ready to go back to work.

A/N: The first bit of dialogue is taken directly from Headliner chapter 20. I'm going to be out of town for the next few days, but I'll be writing on the road, so I'll update as soon as I get back. Let me know what you thought. Thanks.