Title: Violet and Blue

Chapter Title: The Beginning.

Summary: Catherine has a niece she didn't know about? One who's coming to live with her? How will she cope and who can help her? Cath/Sara. FEMSLASH!

Authors Notes: I'm sorry, I know I should be updating my other story but I was suffering some serious writers block on it, I hope I have more soon.

C+SLOVE

Ms. Willows,

I regret to inform you that your half-sister, Patricia Scott has passed away. In her will she left the care of her daughter to her father Mr. Sam Braun but after tracing his family, I was deeply saddened to find that he was dead. I then found something that interested me. You are Sam's daughter too. This puts you in a position where you can file for custody of your niece or let her be put into foster care where she will remain for the next three years. If you decline, she never need know she has family.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Page.

Catherine paused, staring at the piece of paper. I had another sister? She thought. How could Sam keep this from me? And a niece?

Catherine stared at the letter again.

"Cat? Are you okay?" Sara asked as she walked into the room.

Catherine nodded, not paying attention to what Sara asked. Sara slowly walked over and lightly resting her hand on Catherine's' shoulder, snapping Catherine out of it.

"Oh Sara, I didn't see you there."

"I figured, are you alright, Catherine?"

"I...I'm not sure."

"Well what have you got in your hand, Catherine?"

Catherine didn't respond just handed the letter she had received. Sara's mouth dropped open in shock. "Did you know about your sister?"

"No I didn't, Sara, or my niece."

"You can't let her go to foster care."

"Why not?"

"Cat, the foster care system...Well it's not as good as you'd like to believe." Sara commented quietly her hand still resting on Catherine's shoulder

Catherine looked like she was going to question why Sara new that but Sara spoke first. "Cat, I'll explain it another time, okay?"

Catherine nodded slightly, and suddenly she was off in her own world again.

C+SLOVE

"Hi, I'm looking for Catherine Willows." A young voice asked Judy the receptionist.

"Sure, let me just call her." The young woman nodded and sat down on one of the waiting chairs as she waited for Catherine to turn up.

At that moment Catherine walked into the foyer. "Catherine!" Judy called out, causing the girls head to shoot up.

Catherine told Nick, who she had walked in with to go on without her, she moved over to talk to Judy. "Hi Judy, was there something you wanted?"

"Hi Catherine, that girl over there wants to talk to you."

"Thanks Judy."

Catherine slowly walked over to the figure.

"Hello, I am Catherine Willows, you wanted to talk to me?"

The girl paused. "Yes, I'm Claire Scott...your' niece."

Catherine stared at the girl in front of her. She knew that she was in for an interesting ride with this girl; her obviously died black hair with violet and electric blue stripes, with her black band shirt, promoting some kind of punk rock band, tight black jeans and a leather jacket.

"I thought your plane wasn't due in for another 3 hours, otherwise I would have been there to pick you up."

Claire shrugged. "It's okay, I didn't know it would arrive early, the wind was blowing in our direction or something and I didn't know your number so I just called a cab. No big deal."

Catherine stared at the girl in front of her. "Actually it is a big deal because it's only 6 am, I don't want you wandering around Las Vegas at 6 am by yourself, or even with friends, do you understand me, Claire?"

Claire shrugged. "I guess, but I don't get why."

"Claire, I've lived in Las Vegas for 25 years, I've seen so many things can happen to you, and other young girls, as well as I investigate crimes for a living, I've seen too many things happen to young girls. Please just trust me."

"Ok. If that's what you want."

"Thank you, now shall I take you home?"

"Sure."

"Ok, well I need to run and grab some files from my desk and talk to my boss, so you can stay here, or you could come and possibly meet my co-workers." Catherine informed Claire.

"I'll go with you, as long as I'm not in your way."

"You won't be."

"Okay, let's go then."Claire responded getting up out of her chair.

Catherine led Claire into her office. Grabbing a couple of files of paperwork she threw them into her bag and threw it over her shoulder. Quickly she walked towards Grissom's office but was stopped mid way by Sara and Greg who were heading towards Catherine.

"Hey Cat," Sara said smiling as the older woman approached.

"Hello Sara," Catherine responded grinning, her eyes shining.

"Who's this?" Greg asked.

"Oh!" Catherine exclaimed blushing slightly, "this is Claire, my niece, she's going to live with me."

Sara's smile widened. "Hi Claire, I'm Sara Sidle."

"Hi." Claire responded, not really paying attention to Sara or Greg, rather focusing on a woman she could see standing in her lab. It was the blonde who had caught her eye.

"Catherine, can I go and see the lab quickly, please?" Laughing at the open staring at Sofia, by Catherine's niece, Greg told Catherine he'd take her and show her around.

On the way into the room Greg spoke to Claire. "You take after your aunty, hey?"

"What do you mean?" Claire asked.

"What you didn't notice the way your aunty was staring at Sara?"

"Well no, I was...distracted."

"Yeah, by Sofia."

"Is Sofia her name? It suits her perfectly." Claire said sighing, making Greg laugh.

"Shall we go and introduce you?"

Claire nodded enthusiastically. This made Greg laugh again.

C+SLOVE

"Sofia," Greg spoke as he entered the room.

Sofia looked up and smiled softly at them. "Hi Greg. Who have you got with you there?"

"I'm Claire, ma'am, I'm Catherine's niece, I'm going to live with Catherine from now on."

Sofia grinned at Claire. "You can call me Sofia, none of this ma'am stuff." Sofia responded, her hand resting on Claire's shoulder for just a moment, causing Claire to blush.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me, Greg?"

"No, I was just introducing Claire to everyone."

"Ok, well I need to get back to work, but it was wonderful to meet you, Claire." Sofia said smiling, making Claire blush again.

"Ok, see yah Sofia, I better take Claire back to her aunt."

Sofia just nodded in response.

Greg and Claire walked out of the lab just as Sara and Catherine came walking down the hallway together.

"Are you ready to leave Claire?"

"Sure Catherine, I'm good to go when you are."

"Okay, let's go then."

C+SLOVE

"Lindsey! Mom!" Catherine called up the stairs, waiting for them to respond, Claire at her side.

Catherine's mother walked down the stairs and smiled at her daughter. "Hello Catherine."

"Mother. Thank you for taking care of Lindsey."

"It's okay Cathy."

Catherine paused for a moment. "Mom, this is Claire, my niece."

"Hello." Claire commented as politely as she could manage, but mostly failing after being on a airplane all night.

Lily just raised an eyebrow clearly unimpressed by Claire.

"See you later, Catherine." Lily said as she left the house, lightly placing a kiss on Catherine's cheek before leaving the house.

"I...erm...I'm sorry about that Claire, that's my mom, and well she's pretty much in love with Sam, so I think she doesn't like the fact you're another woman's granddaughter. I'm sure she'll like you eventually."

"Don't worry about it Catherine, I'm not worried about what people think of me. I've been disliked by people for too long for it to affect me anymore."

Catherine hesitated. "Do you want to explain that comment to me?"

"Not really, no."

"Okay, well you have a couple of options, I could show you to your room and you could sleep, or you could unpack and then sleep or you could have something to eat, or you and I could discuss some basic rules I have."

"How about you show me my room and we unpack while we discuss some rules."

"Sounds good to me." Catherine responded grabbing two of Claire's bags and carrying them up the stairs.

Claire followed closely behind with one suitcase and a back pack.

"Do you want help unpacking? Or shall I just talk?" Catherine asked.

"Whatever. I don't care."

"I'll help unpack then." Catherine said as she opened a suitcase.

"So what are these rules?" Claire asked as she pulled out some sheets to make her bed.

"Well, I thought about these and I guess they're open for discussion and negotiation, but you have to keep your room fairly clean, I don't care if it's not perfect I just need to be able to walk in here. You can't be out later than nine thirty unless I know your friends parents. Now about boys..." Catherine started making Claire laugh.

"What's so funny?" Catherine demanded.

"Trust me you don't have to worry about boys," Claire said smirking.

"I'm sure you'll be interested in getting a boyfriend soon, so I'm laying the ground rules out now."

"You misunderstood me, Catherine; I'm not interested in boys, at all. I think you are more likely to need to worry about girls."

Catherine was confused for a moment before she clicked. "Oh, ok then. That's totally fine with me, then I don't want your door closed if you have a girlfriend over. And preferably no friends over without an adult at home, or at least check with me first, ok?"

"Sure."

"On weekdays I expect you to unload the dishwasher, and re-stack it, but I think that's about it, actually also, no swearing in my presence, ok? If you swear with your friends, fine. But not around me, ok?"

"Fine. Can I sleep now?"

"Of course, I'll try and keep Lindsey as quiet as possible before she leaves for school."

"Thanks," Claire said sleepily.

Catherine nodded, unsure of what to do next. Claire solved her problem by walking around and kissing Catherine on the cheek, "Good night Catherine."

"Good night Claire." Catherine said as she left.

C+SLOVE

"Are you sure you want to start school today, Claire? I mean you've only been here a week, you could wait another week." Catherine spoke quickly as she drove the short distance between Lindsey's school and Claire's.

"That's the point Catherine, I've already been here a week and I need to go and meet some people I can actually hang out with, as much as I love your daughter and yourself, I need someone my own age."

"Ok, I guess I'm just nervous, it's kind of like Lindsey starting school all over again."

"I promise I'll be alright." Claire said as they pulled up a block away from the school. "I'll see you tonight, okay? I'll walk to Lindsey's school and you can pick us up together. Thanks for driving me, Catherine." Claire finished, kissing Catherine on the cheek.

"You're welcome, have a good day."

Claire nodded and walked out her backpack casually slung over one shoulder. Using the class schedule she had received Claire navigated her way through the school. Finally she reached her home room classroom, just as the bell rang.

She slipped into a seat in the back row.

"Hello class," A woman about 35 said as she entered the classroom. "We have a new student today, Claire Scott, Claire will you come out the front please?"

Claire sighed, why must all high schools make the new student introduce themselves? She thought to herself.

Claire slowly stood and walked to the front of the classroom.

"So why don't you tell the class why you moved her, Claire?"

"Well my grandfather was Sam Braun, and he slept with this show girl who had my mother, who had me, and then my mother died and I found out that Sam Braun actually slept with another woman who had Catherine, so when my mother died I got sent here to live with her." Claire told the class sounding barely interested.

"Well what an interesting story. Now I'm going to assign someone to be your...buddy" The teacher began but Claire interrupted.

"There is no need for that, I will be okay."

"School policy says that's what I should do...so how about you Michelle?"

"Umm, I'm not showing that dyke around miss." A blonde girl in the middle of the classroom snapped.

"Michelle! How dare y..." The teacher sharply responded but was once again interrupted by Claire.

"So because I wear black clothes, like punk rock and I have streaks throughout my hair, I'm a dyke?"

"Pretty much." The blonde girl responded making the class giggle.

"Well then, you're absolutely one hundred percent right, I am gay, and I do like girls more than I like guys, but don't worry, I wouldn't ever fall for a bitch like you, who judges people on their appearance."

The class sat there, their mouths agape staring at Claire.

The teacher coughed. "Everyone, you're dismissed, go to whatever you have next, and can I talk to you for a moment please Claire."

Claire remained behind as the other students left.

"Hello Claire, my name is Miss. Williams and I'm your homeroom and I believe your chemistry teacher for the rest of the year."

Claire glanced down at her timetable. "Apparently so."

"I'm sorry about Michelle, Claire, she shouldn't have judged you or made that assumption."

"It's alright, I've been judged so many times I'm over it, I don't care what other people think of me." Claire responded as she glanced at her watch. "Do you think everyone knows I'm gay yet?"

The teacher laughed. "Probably, just don't let them get to you, ok?"

"Sure. I'm not worried either way. I don't care."

"Ok. What have you got next?"

"Chemistry."

The teacher smiled. "Good I'll show you how to get there."

"Ok."

Together the two women exited the classroom and headed down the hallway.

"So is all that stuff you said in home room true?" Elizabeth Williams asked.

"Yeah it is, Miss Williams."

C+SLOVE

By the time it was Claire's lunch period, her whole year level knew she was gay.

After glancing at the tables she could tell who was in the 'popular' crowd and who wasn't. Deciding to stir things up a bit she walked over and sat in the chair next to the guy who she would guess was the 'head jock'.

All eyes followed her as she walked over to the table.

As she sat down at took out her fork a voice from behind her spoke "Move, dyke, you're in my seat." Michelle Peterson from her home room snapped.

Claire glanced up from her sitting position. "Umm let me think for a moment, no."

"Trust me you fag, you should get out of my seat right this instance."

"Oh wow your power of insults amazes me, can you leave me alone now?"

"You can't sit on this table, you're a dyke."

"You realise that I could sue you or even get you sent to jail for excluding me simply because I'm gay?"

"Listen, you FREAK! Get out of my seat I will not have some FUCKING DYKE in my chair!" Michelle screamed, as unfortunately for her the assistant principal.

"Michelle Petersen!" Her powerful voice called out across the cafeteria, making it go silent. "Get to my office now, you too, umm...the girl with the purple and blue hair."

Michelle stalked off and Claire turned to face the table. She grinned and winked at one of the cheerleaders. "Pleasure doing business with you." She sauntered off towards the exit of the cafeteria.

"What is your name?" The assistant principal snapped once the three of them were in her office.

"Claire Scott, ma'am, I'm in Ms. Williams home room, I just transferred here from a school in San Francisco."

"Thank you. Now Michelle I want to hear what you think happened at lunch."

"Well I had been sitting down and went to go and get another salad from the order line and when I come back, Claire was sitting at my seat flirting with my boyfriend." Michelle responded passively her face a picture of innocence, which caused Claire to snort.

"Is there something you find amusing Miss Scott?" The assistant principal snapped.

"Well, for one thing she hadn't been sitting there yet, and the second I wasn't flirting with her boyfriend."

"Oh?"

"Well as anyone in my year level and particularly my home room could tell you, is I'm gay. Completely. So there is no way I was flirting with her boyfriend."

"Thank you for sharing that Claire, would you mind leaving us now, I will talk to you once I've finished talking to Michelle."

"Okay ma'am." Claire responded as she left the office. Outside she could hear shouting and couldn't help but giggle. 15 minutes later Michelle stalked out glaring at the assistant principal.

"I've told you more than once Michelle, I will not tolerate discrimination."

Michelle ignored the teacher and left.

The teacher turned and smiled warmly at Claire. "Come in Claire."

Claire walked in behind the teacher and shut the door.

"Well, you've caused an uproar in the school hierarchy today, and your first day too, that's quite impressive teacher spoke calmly.

Claire laughed. "I do what I can ma'am."

"My name is Lisa Matthews, when you're in trouble it's Ms. Matthews, when you're not or we're in class, it's Lisa."

"Umm, so right now?" Claire questioned.

"Lisa."

"Good." Sighed Claire. "I didn't think Catherine would be very impressed if I got in trouble on my first day.

"Catherine?" Lisa asked. Seeing Claire's hesitance to respond Lisa spoke again. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked."

"Catherine's my mom's half sister. I'm living with her, at least until I finish high school."

"Ok. Listen, Claire, if anyone s discriminatory against you because you're gay, tell me straight away, please? I want to know as soon as possible so I can do something about it."

"It doesn't matter, I don't care, and don't worry I don't let anyone pick on me."

"It does matter because some students are not as confident or as sure of themselves as you are, we need to stop it before it spreads to younger students."

"I don't see why it matters to you so much." Claire snapped.

Lisa stalked over to her book shelf and pulled down the photo. In the photo was a picture of a woman, probably around Lisa's age, with a small brunette child, probably three or four years old. Claire just raised an eyebrow when it was handed to her.

"Yes?" She asked.

"That's my partner, Clarissa, and her daughter Anastasia, or Stacey, my daughter too, but she wasn't originally. Anyway, this photo is almost 10 years old, and Stacey will be coming here next year, I will not tolerate her being bullied because people have prejudices."

"She'll be alright, the school will be different by then, don't worry."

"In two months?" Lisa asked dubiously.

"Absolutely."

C+SLOVE

"How was school, Claire? Anything interesting happen?" Asked Catherine,

"No."