DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like
playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: Teen
SPOILERS: Post Ep of S10XE22 - Doctor
Who
PAIRINGS: Catherine/Vartann
SUMMARY: Catherine finishes up with some red tape and heads home
at the end of a long day.
A/N: I just re-watched all of Season 10 and I really felt a need
for some more Cartann Fic.
This is the result
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work
or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a
little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
AT THE END OF THE DAY
It
was another long day, made worse by the miles of red tape she had to go through
in order to get Nate Haskell in for questioning. And when the red tape began to
block out the sun, she started calling in favors. She hated having to get her
hands dirty like that, but apparently making deals and persuading the rich and
powerful to see things her way was hereditary. Unfortunately, all of that took
time, and as she checked the in-dash clock, Catherine realized she was late,
again.
She
activated the Bluetooth and made the call. When the phone picked up Catherine prepared
to do battle. “Hey, Mom. Sorry, I can’t talk long.
Justine and I are going in to this lecture at WLVU for extra credit on my lit
final, what did you need?”
“Oh,
um, I was going to see what you wanted me to bring home for dinner, but I guess
you don’t-”
Lindsey
quickly cut her off. “No worries, Mom. Okay, I gotta
go, so I can find a seat. Have a good one and don’t wait up.”
She
barely had enough time to breathe in the conversation before it was over.
“Bye…” Shaking her head, Catherine closed the connection and headed home.
Lindsey
was rapidly pulling away from her as the last of the school year was winding
down. She had at least managed to convince the girl that going to college was
in her best interest, but Catherine was not ready for that college to be USC.
Her baby was getting ready to move away, and Catherine was beginning to feel
the first stirrings of the dreaded empty nest syndrome.
Catherine
found it hard to imagine her life without Lindsey, or without her mother, or
without her sister. Janie had moved away the year before when her husband was
forced to look for work, and Lily was busy being a career woman with little
time to sit around and shoot the breeze with her anymore. And now Lindsey was
preparing to go off on her own adventures, leaving Catherine to fend for
herself for the first time in her adult life.
But
there was no point dwelling on all of that right now. Catherine just wanted to
go home, eat a crappy frozen pizza, take a nice hot shower and pour her tired
body into bed before another long busy day. However, the second she walked into
the house Catherine’s plans for a microwaved French
bread pizza and a shower were completely destroyed. The house was filled with
the scent of olive oil, fresh garlic and cucumbers, and her stomach immediately
informed her brain that she was starving.
“Oh my God! What is that
smell?” Catherine walked into the kitchen, tossing her keys onto the counter
and zeroed in on the source of the aromas.
Tony
turned away from the oven with an aluminum tray in his gloved hands. “Spanakopita … Leftover from my niece’s wedding.” He pointed
at the kitchen table with his nose and said, “The tzatziki
and souvlaki is already on the table. And I made a
little salad to go with it. Go sit down and I’ll be right there.”
She
was in total shock at all of his preparations. “But how’d you kn-”
“I
ran into Sara at the market on her way home. She said you were probably running
late, and you’d been drowning in red tape all day. And since my sister pretty
much threatened me with bodily harm if I didn’t take some of the leftover food
home, I figured this was putting it to good use.” He grabbed two plates from
the cabinet above the dishwasher and proceeded to dish out servings of the
savory Greek pastry. “Lindsey and Justine already killed the dolmades and the bouréki before they left for some lecture at WLVU, so I
hope this is enough.” When he arrived at the table with two heaping portions of
spanakopita, Catherine was staring at the enormous
collection of food and Tony laughed. “Too much?”
Catherine
snorted, “A little.”
He
shrugged and sat down at the table. “Oh well, I’ll finish what you don’t.” He
set one of the plates down in front of her and dropped to his seat.
Putting
her hand on his arm, Catherine smiled and said, “Thank you.” When he returned
the smile, she added, “You were right… It’s much better to have someone to come
home to.”