Natural Progressions

Disclaimer: Mine no! CBS, Anthony Zuiker et al Yes! Pity :o( "Come On Over" belongs to Shania Twain.
Author's Note: Blame Billy, Marg and Shania for these little pieces. They keep Acting these out in my head!
Dedication: To Aby as always and you certainly know why girl! To VividlyBlue for Reading all my crap no matter how bad or sick! LOL


Chapter 9: Come On Over

Grissom sat in the main room of his townhouse relaxing back on the couch. Things had not gone well with the latest case he had been working on and the perp had finally walked today. That always frustrated him, and when it happened he would start feeling guilty, sure there was something more he could have done or something he had missed. Some vital piece of evidence he had over looked. There never was of course, he was too much the consummate professional for that, and far too good at his job.

Every new case was a learning process for him, he had told his people that time and again. The lesson he'd learned from this one was the one he hated the most; that even the good guys don't always win.

This all led to Grissom being a very unpleasant person to be around, right now, so he hid away from everyone.

The phone rang and he just sat there staring at it. He'd set his answering machine to intercept his calls but also set it so he could hear who it was. If it was to do with work or something important he'd have to answer it, he knew, but for anyone else he was simply unavailable.

"Uncle Gil? Uncle Grissom?" It was Lindsey and she sounded concerned. "Mom says you've to pick up the phone and stop moping around." He heard a muffled voice in the background and then Lindsey screamed, "I can't say that, mom!"

Grissom smiled what were the two women in his life up to now?

Then Catherine's voice echoed in the room, "Gil Grissom, if you don't get your sorry ass over here within the next hour, you're going to have two very angry blondes storming through your front door about a half hour after that."

Grissom thought about that, did he really want to go head to head with two enraged females? Lindsey may not be big on the right words but she was very good at imitating her mother's actions.

Come on over -come on in
Pull up a seat -take a load off your feet
Come on over -come on in
You can unwind -take a load off your mind

On the drive over he thought about when Lindsey had christened him Uncle Grissom, it was their private joke. When Lindsey had been old enough to appreciate people had names he had been quite willing for her just to call him Gil, but Catherine objected and insisted on Uncle Gil. She maintained it was so that Lindsey would learn to respect him for who he was, and not just as another family friend.

Eddie typically had been livid. "You complain about my supposed whores and then turn around and get our child to call yours uncle?"

Catherine had ignored him and Gil had decided to follow her lead.

When Lindsey was about five she suddenly discovered that everyone had in fact two names at least, and this was when she had become confused and the Uncle Grissom period had started. Gil didn't mind he found it quite endearing. As she'd gotten older and sorted everything out, Lindsey still took to calling him Uncle Grissom on occasion, but it was usually as a sign of affection or to show that she was extremely worried about him. He didn't know which one it was today.

He sat outside Catherine's house in his car trying to talk himself into a better mood so as he would be decent company when he entered. He knew they would try and elevate his mood, but he didn't know if he was ready for that yet.

"Gonna sit there and feel sorry for yourself some more, Gil?" a voice asked from his side. He looked out of the window to see Catherine standing there hands on her hips and eyes flashing. "Or are you actually going to come inside?"

'Damn,' he thought trying to hide his surprise, 'how the hell did she manage that?'

Catherine opened the car door and pulling on his arm to make him move, started them both off towards the house. "Lindsey has made breakfast for us and has the whole day planned," she admonished him. "You're not going to disappoint her, are you?"

Grissom smiled stepping up onto the sidewalk and slipped his hand into her's. "I would never even dream of upsetting Lindsey," he assured her, and Catherine knew in her heart he spoke the truth.

Get a life -get a grip
Get away somewhere, take a trip
Take a break -take control
Take advice from someone you know

They were driving into the office, Catherine at the wheel, when she spoke up breaking the silence. "Well, was today so bad?"

Grissom was surprised by the tone in her voice; he thought he'd recovered from his funk as she called it. Surely Lindsey hadn't noticed anything wrong? "Today was great, why?" The confusion was clear in his voice.

"It clearly wasn't good enough to remove all your inner doubts. You still look morose," she told him, her eyes flashing angrily. "Maybe you need to get a way for a little while?" she pondered.

He shook his head. "That won't help any," he assured her, "I've tried it before, I'm better just trying to work through it." He could see he wasn't convincing her. "Honest, Catherine, as soon as I've worked this out of my system everything will be back to normal. You know how I am after one of these cases."

She did as well; she had seen these signs so often. He would beat himself up over the cases they lost but if anyone else did, he was there for them. Making them realise that each case was only as good as the evidence they could find to back up what had played out during the crime. She just wished that for once he would listen to his own damn lectures.

"Just remember, Gil," she reminded him, "as you told Sara, you need a life out side of CSI or you'll burn yourself out." She saw a rueful smile appear on his face. "Don't try to shut me out like that again!"

"I didn't," he replied adamantly.

"Yeah and sitting hiding in your townhouse wasn't trying to shut me out?" She asked him. He knew better than to argue when she used that tone of voice so he just left it.

Be a winner -be a star
Be happy to be who you are
Gotta be yourself -gotta make a plan
Gotta go for it while you can

When they arrived that night there were a large amount of messages for Grissom and when he saw who they were from he was loathed to read them.

"What's wrong?" Catherine asked him seeing his hesitation.

"They're from the Robertsons," he replied, taking out his glasses and putting them on, dreading to see what they had to say to him.

He shook his head in amazement, this couldn't be right?

Catherine took the top message from him and read it. She smiled. "It's like Lindsey said this afternoon," she reminded him, "you're a winner and a times you're even the star of our show."

Gil just stood there with a stunned look on his face. How could these people be thanking him for all he'd done? They'd failed; the murder had walked free.

"You just don't get it sometimes do you, Gil?" Catherine said softly her fingers tracing a delicate pattern down his cheek. "They know we did our best and at least now they know how their daughter died."

"But we never even got to court?" Grissom spluttered. "The sheriff blew us out of the water before we even got that far!"

Catherine smiled. "Honey, there is no statute of limitations on murder and you made sure the Robertsons knew that." She cupped his cheek. "They also know you don't give up, they'll have their day in court eventually, we'll make sure they do."

Grissom had to admit she was right. He never let go of an unsolved case and that was why he had his fish board, to remind him of them, so if they ever got any new piece of evidence the cases were always close to hand.

Suddenly his spirits lifted and he felt better. Yes the bastard might have beaten him for now, but there was always tomorrow. He should have known Catherine would have known what to say.