Catherine pulled the Denali into her driveway, stopping just shy of the garage door, where she knew her mother’s car would be parked. She glanced at the clock, sighing, before turning off the engine. ‘Two hours.’ She thought. After working a double last night, she was forced to stay over to have a meeting with Ecklie. Gil wanted his team back and Ecklie was actually going to give Gil something he wanted, as long as Catherine was agreeable.

She stepped out of the car and headed into her house, hoping her mother would be napping and she could sneak into her bedroom without being disturbed. Walking up to the door, she forced a smile on her face as the door swung open and her mother stepped into view.

“Where have you been? I was worried sick.”

“I had a meeting for work.”

“You should have called me.”

“I’m sorry mom, I didn’t think about it.” Catherine said, sliding past her mother and stepping into the house. She put her keys on the hook next to the door and headed for her bedroom.

“You missed Lindsey again. Are you ever going to make time for her?”

She turned around, forcing her tired eyes open. “Can we please talk about this later. I have to be back at work in two hours, which means if I’m lucky I might get to sleep for an hour before having to get ready.”

“You can’t keep pushing off this conversation, Catherine. I thought you took this promotion to see your daughter, not spend every moment away from her.”

Stepping into her bedroom, she shut the door on her mother’s ramblings, trying to block out the sound as she stripped away her clothes. Exhaustion settling in, she crawled into bed, flipping the switch on her alarm.

The unsettled slumber was interrupted by the blaring alarm and Catherine’s arm shot out to silence the offending noise. Rolling to her side, she closed her eyes again trying to force the repeating words from her mother out of her mind and catch a few more minutes of sleep.

The alarm sounded again, causing Catherine to groan as she forced herself out of bed. With eyes half closed, she made her way into the master bathroom, blindly turning on the shower and stepping inside. Her eyes shot open as the effect of the ice cold water hit her body. She quickly turned the hot water faucet on and jumped away from the icy water. Grabbing the shampoo, she lathered her hair, reaching her hand out to test the water before leaning back and rinsing the lather. She hurried through the rest of her shower, working through the motions as her mind wandered over the words her mother said just an hour earlier.

‘I thought you took this promotion to see your daughter, not spend every moment away from her.’

Catherine shook her thoughts from her mind, turning off the water and reaching for the towel. She wrung the excess water from her hair, wrapping the towel around her body and stepping out of the shower. Walking into her room, she moved to her closet, picking out her clothing for the evening. She quickly stepped into the clothes, getting dressed and ready in record time. Glancing at the clock, she moved to the door, ready to start round two with her mother.

“Catherine.”

“I’m running late, mom.”

“Are you coming home tonight?”

“You know I can’t answer that. I’m not on call, but if a case comes up I’m not going to be able to leave.”

“When’s the last time you saw Lindsey? When’s the last time you talked to her? At least try and make the time for a phone call tonight.”

Catherine nodded, the guilt her mother was issuing seeping into her system. “I’ll call.” She reached the doorway and took her keys off the hook.

“Catherine.”

Leaning her head on the door, she sighed before turning back to face her mother.

“Come here.”

“I don’t have time…”

“I am not letting you leave without eating something. When is the last time you ate a meal? You’re losing weight. And don’t try and argue with me. I’m your mother, I notice these things.” She walked across the living room, handing Catherine a travel cup of coffee and a blueberry muffin. “Call Lindsey tonight, she misses you.”

Catherine nodded taking a long sip from the mug before smiling at her mother. “I will. Thanks. And I’ll try and get home early tonight.”

Lily nodded, watching as she walked out the door.

*~*~*~*~*

Catherine stepped into her office, shutting the door behind her and settling behind her desk. She pushed aside the pile of paperwork left over from the night before and picked up the memos the secretary handed her as she had walked to her office.

Seeing Ecklie’s familiar scrawl, she opened the folded paper on the top and glanced at the note. ‘I need your decision by tomorrow morning.’

“Short and to the point.” Catherine murmured, setting the memo aside. Quickly sorting through the rest of the memos, she made notes of what was important then glanced at the clock. Picking up the two files, she moved to the break room, where she knew Nick and Warrick would be waiting for her. “Hey guys.” She said, stepping into the break room and shutting the door. “Before I give you the case assignments, there’s something I need to tell you. Ecklie, um, he’s moving you back to nightshift. Back to working with Gil.”

“What!” The two men both exclaimed at once.

“Next week, you start back on nights.”

“What about you?” Nick asked.

“Don’t worry about me.”

“Cath…” Warrick started before being interrupted.

“I’m fine. I’ve got your assignments. Slow day today, you get a bit of a break. Nick, missing person over in Henderson. And Warrick, missing painting… also in Henderson. I’ll give you a call if anything else comes in, and maybe when you get back you can get some of your delinquent paper work finished, I need to get the case reviews turned in by the end of the week.” She turned and left the room, heading to her office before either could stop her. Stepping into her office, she shut the door, leaning back as she stared at her surroundings. She flipped the lock behind her, shutting the blinds and turning off the glaring overhead lights. Carefully moving towards her desk, she turned the knob on the tiffany style lamp, softly illuminating the clear space on her desk. Taking the top folder off the pile, she leaned back in her chair, stretching her legs as she prepared for the long night ahead.

*~*~*~*~*

“Hi Judy.” Gil said, picking up his messages as he passed the desk. “Busy night?”

“Surprisingly not.” She answered as he continued his trek towards his office.

Gil nodded, glancing through the notes in his hand. Reaching his office, he pulled out his key, glancing down the hallway before opening his door. With the key in the lock, he shifted his focus, once again looking down the hallway towards the closed office at the end of the hall. The curiosity getting the better of him, he pulled the key out of the door. Taking a few steps closer, he smiled as he saw the faint light peeking out from under the door. Continuing the short distance, he knocked on the door and turned the knob, the smile fading when the door remained closed. “Cath?” He called knocking once again.

*~*~*~*~*

Catherine looked up at the sound of the knock, hearing the door knob turn. Sighing as she realized she forgot to unlock the door, she stood, glancing at the clock when she heard the familiar voice.

“Cath?”

She quickened her pace, unlocking the door and pulling it open just as Gil’s hand was rising once again. “Isn’t it a little early for you?”

“Does my earliness surprise you?” Gil countered.

Catherine stepped out of the way, allowing him to enter before shutting the door behind him. She moved to walk back to her desk when Gil reached for her hand, guiding her to one of the chairs in front of the desk.

“How are you doing?”

She looked at him, studying his face before sitting sideways in one of the chairs, watching as he did the same. “I’m…” The look on his face stopped her and she glanced down, noticing how perfectly their legs fit around each other, his legs comfortably placed outside of hers, slightly touching. She glanced back up, swallowing as she looked in his eyes. “I don’t know.” She admitted. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t help feeling that somehow I…”

“Stop right there. None of this has anything to do with you. Don’t even think that.”

“But if I had…”

“Cath,” He said, once again reaching for her hand, running his thumb over the back. “This was all my fault. Ecklie and I have never gotten along. As soon as he got that promotion… I should have warned all of you that he was going to try something.”

“You think we didn’t know? Gil… even when he was a supervisor he was after you. We all knew to watch our backs around him.”

“Have you made your decision yet?”

Catherine shook her head, tightening her grip on his hand. “I told Nick and Warrick they are back to nightshift next week.”

“What about you?”

“If Ecklie had just moved me to days….” Catherine trailed off. “These hours are killing me. I never get to see Lindsey anymore. I’ve left for work before she comes back from school and by the time I get home, she’s in bed. On the days when I don’t work a double I can see her in the morning for about an hour while she’s getting ready to go to school. And my mom. She can still pull that guilt trip on me. She was yelling at me today about not seeing Lindsey. I haven’t even seen Linds since last weekend and I’m scheduled for this weekend. I’d love to see her more, you know that. At least when I worked nights I could see her for a few hours before I came to work.”

Gil nodded, knowing the sacrifice Catherine was making. “How is she doing?”

“Good. I think… I called her earlier. She sounded good. I just… I miss her. I’m missing her life, and I don’t think she understands that I’m doing this for her, and I know my mother doesn’t get it.” Catherine said. “How do you do it?”

“Not as well as you. I don’t have a personal life to try and balance. No children, no wife. No one at home. Neither does the days supervisor. It’s not the same situation and you shouldn’t try to compare. No one is going to think any different of you if you do come back to nights.”

“Ecklie is.”

“You already know what I think of Ecklie. You asked for days. You applied for days. If Ecklie had just… He’s an ass, Catherine. You know that. You need to focus on what’s best for you, not what everyone else thinks.”

“I need to focus on what’s best for Lindsey.”

“Sounds like you’ve made up your mind.” Gil said, a bit of hope in his voice.

“Maybe I have.” Catherine said, watching Gil for another moment. “You better get moving. You’ve got a shift to prepare for and I have some paperwork to finish up.”

*~*~*~*~*

Catherine stepped under the crime scene tape, walking up the sidewalk and taking a deep breath of the night air before entering the house. She stepped into the living room and took in the scene before her, turning her head to the left at the sound of a throat clearing.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” She returned, watching as Gil took a few steps towards her.

A slight smile came upon his face as he watched her. “Thanks for coming back.”

~finis~