Note: Something a little different to get me back into the writing game. I've been on leave this week, watching the tennis, and have been re-watching my beloved CSI from the very beginning…and reading a lot of GSR fanfic as well. I had a random thought that I don't think has been done before – what if it wasn't Warrick that had left Holly alone on that first night? I didn't really like Catherine at the very beginning as I felt she played on the 'single mother' aspect far too much, and thus this little fic was born…
"So, we go in and take a look at the place; dust for prints and then get anything that looks interesting back over to the lab…" Catherine Willows, level III crime scene investigator, muffled a curse under her breath as her cell chirped with a familiar tone. "Just a sec…" Turning slightly away from her rookie partner, Catherine lifted her cell to her ear and shifted a bit closer to the car window to grab a modicum of privacy. "Hey sis, what's up?"
"Any chance you can swing by on your break, Cath? Lindsay had another nightmare and is having trouble settling back down." Catherine correctly interpreted that statement as -Mike's threatening a meltdown as Lindsay's keeping everyone awake. Glancing sideways at the patrol car's lights flashing outside the house that she and the rookie – Holly- were due to process, and then over at the fledging CSI sitting next to her in the car, Catherine made a snap decision.
"I'll be there as soon as I can, yeah, see you soon." Catherine snapped her cell phone shut and shifted in the seat to face Holly. "Listen, Holly, I need to go take care of something real quick, you gonna be okay for a few until I get back?"
Holly bit back the immediate refusal that was on the tip of her tongue, "Um, sure, I guess…I'll start dusting for prints…and then you'll be back, right? Take me through whatever else needs to be processed?"
"Yeah, quick as a flash," Catherine promised, raising her crossed fingers in the air, "listen, I wouldn't leave you here, unless it was really important." Holly glanced across the street where an officer was talking on his radio and then at the house where a second officer was posted by the door. She straightened her shoulders and gave a confident nod, pulling her kit onto her lap before exiting the vehicle.
"Sweet…see you soon, rookie." Catherine called out of the open passenger window, and with that she peeled off down the street and Holly watched until the taillights disappeared before flashing her newly printed credentials at the officer on the door before heading into the dimly lit house.
Striding into the lab several hours later, Catherine ran her hands over the front of her suit jacket, straightening out the wrinkles after settling her daughter by curling up behind her and catching a quick nap on the bottom bunk. The whole place seemed strangely quiet, the two testing labs deserted and the evidence tables lacking signs of life. Catherine followed the quiet murmur of voices and found everyone working the Graveyard shift clustered in the break room, their faces turned toward night shift supervisor, Jim Brass and his second in command, Gil Grissom.
"That's all we know for now folks," Grissom finished speaking and held out his hands as multiple voices starting speaking at once, "I promise, as soon as we find out anything else we'll let you know." Brass caught sight of Catherine lounging in the doorway and nudged Grissom with his elbow.
"Ah, Catherine…a word, please?" Grissom flicked his eyes over to his office and Jim followed behind as Grissom led the way to the largest lab-cum-office at the rear of the floor. "Close the door behind you, please."
"Sure, Gil, what's up?" Catherine pushed the door behind her closed, and sauntered over to perch on the edge of one the chairs in front of Grissom's desk. Grissom sat down heavily behind his desk and unhooked his glasses from the front of his shirt, he pulled a standard looking beige folder toward him flipped through the pages until he found what he was looking for, he held it out towards Brass who gave it a quick read through before heaving out a disappointing sigh and looked at Catherine.
"At approximately 0130 hours you and CSI level 1, Holly Gribbs were called out to a 459 at an apartment complex on Warm Springs."
"Yeah, right in the middle of our dinner break too…" Catherine nodded, waggling a chastising finger at her supervisor, "don't think it made too good an impression on the rookie, Jim."
"Catherine…" Grissom's quiet chiding tone had Catherine sitting up straighter in her seat and looking directly at Brass.
"Okay, Jim, what'd the kid screw up, chain of custody?" Catherine let out another frustrated sigh, and her face twisted into its usual put-upon expression. "Jeez, I know I told her I'd be back as soon as possible, but you know what Lindsay's like when she gets started…"
"Catherine…" this time it's was Jim's firm tone that warned Catherine that she was perhaps a little too lax in taking the additional time off.
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Catherine rose up from the chair and patted the pocket that held the keys to the Denali. "I'll head straight over there now and pick the kid up, get the place re-dusted and we'll be good to go…"
"Catherine…" Brass rose to his feet and held out his hand, palm up. "I'm gonna need your badge and your weapon."
"Jim…? Gil…?" Catherine glanced from Jim to Grissom in confusion, as her hands automatically reached to unclip her badge and ID.
"The gun, too…" Brass requested, flicking his fingers in the direction of the service weapon holstered at her waist.
"I don't understand…?" Catherine unclipped the holster and passed the gun over to Brass, who immediately ejected the clip and the round from the chamber. He then leant across and quickly scribbled his signature across the bottom of the form before Grissom pulled another sheet from the folder and slid it across the desk.
"Catherine Willows you are placed on suspension, for a period of no less than two weeks, without pay, whilst you undergo a formal investigation into your whereabouts between the hours of 0130 and 0400 in the morning of October 6th 2000…"
"Jim…. Grissom! You know exactly where I was!" Catherine began to stutter out, but Brass slammed his hand down on Grissom's desk and shouted back.
"Yes, we do! And that's exactly the damned problem! So, I suggest you shut your mouth and don't say anything else until we start the official investigation!"
"Would someone mind telling me what the hell I'm supposed to have done?" Catherine shouted back, raking a hand through her hair and pacing angrily in front of Grissom's desk. "You both know I can't afford to be down on my pay check, I barely make enough to pay the damned mortgage as it is, let alone miss two weeks pay."
"Well, you should have thought about that before you left a level 1 CSI alone at a robbery, on the first night of her job!" Grissom seethed out quietly, Grissom wasn't a man to lose his temper very often, but rather let his anger slowly simmer until it boiled over, "there's a very good reason why we insist that our rookie's shadow for the first three months, Catherine, she wasn't the first responder to that call, you were!"
"So, she messed up the evidence chain on her first night out or smudged the prints. Heck, Grissom, we've all done that a time or two, that's no call for a damned suspension!"
"Holly didn't mess up the chain of evidence, or smudge a few prints, Catherine…" Grissom replied quietly, his initial surge of anger now replaced with a heartfelt pang of sorrow, "that's pretty hard to do when you're bleeding out on the floor…"
"What…?" Catherine's face paled and she started to sway a little before snapping herself upright.
"The perp must have come back…Holly was shot at point blank range and isn't expected to survive surgery." Jim stated blunted, "As a result, you're on suspension, I've been booted over to homicide and Gil's now the acting night supervisor. One of the last things I was able to push through is for this to bypass IA, I've put in a request for an outside CSI to come in to investigate. San Fran came through and they've pulled off three potential investigators. Gil?"
"Sara Sidle…" Grissom immediately requested, having seen the list and felt an immediate thrill at seeing the familiar name. "We go way back, she's a good investigator and will get this thing done good and fast."
"I'll get her on the first plane out," Jim promised, chuckling at the smug grin on his friend's face, "come on, Catherine, I'll walk you out." Jim gestured toward the door, shrugging off Catherine's angry huff as she muttered that she knew the way. "Yeah, yeah, you know the rules…" Jim pulled open the door and gave a nod to one of the security guards that was standing just outside. "Gus, please escort Ms. Willows to the locker room, wait outside until she's gathered what she needs and then make sure she has a ride home, please?" Jim waited until a sullen looking Catherine was halfway down the corridor before he turned to his friend. "I guess I know why you were so eager to attend all those West Coast conferences now, huh Grissom?"
"A gentleman never tells," Grissom stated, holding his hand over his heart but dropped one eye down in a slight wink before the pair of them chuckled before heading over in the direction of Jim's office, where he was about to give Grissom the highs and lows, but mainly lows of running the Graveyard shift.