Title: Break Down
Author: cjacsifan
Pairing: Catherine/Riley
Rating PG
Disclaimer: CSI is owned by CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer
Summary: Catherine helps Riley deal with her being taken hostage.
Spoilers: No Way Out
A/N: I wish to thank CBS for last night's episode because as I watched it and the story just came to me like the proverbial light bulb.

Riley was quiet on the ride back to the lab, even after being offered by
Catherine a chance to talk about it she still didn't want to; this
worried Catherine a little because she had heard that victims of a
trauma such as this were bound to keep it bottled up inside, but she
also knew that sooner or later Riley would come to her and talk about
what happend.

Riley worked through the evidence even though the 14 year old boy
admitted to killing the man in the trunk of his brother's car, the lab
needed to go through it just to make sure that some slick defense
attorney wouldn't or couldn't, do or say anything that the investigation
was tainted by the lab just because they wanted to get his client in
jail for taking Riley and Ray hostage.

Catherine kept a sharp eye on Riley throughout the rest of the shift and
the next night's shift for signs that told Catherine Riley was breaking
down, but to Catherine's surprise even through the questioning by Brass
and the mandatory talk with department's shrink Riley was as cool as
cool as a cucumber.

She could remember times that her good friend and former colleague Sara
Sidle would go through something traumatic and she kept it inside her
until she finally lost it and either blew up at a suspect, one of the
people in the lab or worst thing she remembered the heavy drinking that
Sara did when she had a bad time on a case, but she knew that Riley
wasn't Sara and she had wished that Sara would have opened up to her or
anyone and wouldn't have burned out and still be at the lab, but those
were thoughts for another time and her mind came back to the subject of
Riley, who was getting her things out of her locker to head for home.

"So you ready to go Lee?"

""Yeah Cat, I'm ready...God I'm tired."

"I know how about when we get home, I cook breakfast and we can have
breakfast in bed."

"Sounds like a plan, I'll meet you at your car."

Twenty minutes later Catherine and Riley pulled into the driveway of the
house they shared as of one month ago, "God it's good to be home."

"I know after the past couple of days..." Catherine didn't finish her
thought but kept looking at Riley who was walking to the door, she
noticed that the usual vigor that Riley had was gone and hoped that
Riley wasn't trying to hold anything from her concerning what had
happend to her a day earlier.

"I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

"Okay sweetheart, I'll be up with breakfast in a little while."

Ten minutes passed and Catherine noticed the water from the shower
wasn't running and she knew Riley liked showers of at least fifteen
minutes so she went upstairs to see what was going on. As Catherine
walked up the stairs and into the hall she didn't hear water what she
heard was sobbing coming from the bedroom she and Riley shared.

"Riley are you okay baby," Catherine asked but when no response came she
quietly crept in and what she saw broke her heart; Riley lying in the
fetal position sobbing uncontrollably, immediately she ran over to the
bed and began comforting her girlfriend.

"Riley baby....go ahead let it out....it's okay....I'm here no one's
going to hurt you again."

"He..he could have killed me Cat...I was so scared....I thought I was
going to die."

"I know baby I was worried sick about you and Ray, as were the
others...shh baby it's all right I'm here."

"You want to know the worst part?"

"What was that honey?"

"The thought of never seeing you or Lindsey ever again...God I never
want to lose you."

"Oh baby you aren't going to lose us we love you, because we aren't
leaving you ever, now come on let's get you into bed and I'll be back
with breakfast soon."

"Okay....and Cat..."

"What honey."

"I love you."

"I love you too."