Disclaimer: As always they really aren't mine, more's the pity.
Pairing: Sara/Catherine
Rating: PG
NB. There's something a little hinky about the ending, any suggestions would be welcome, cos I've fiddled till you you just can't bring yourself to do any more...should have faced the fact when I started the thing that I wasn't sure how it would end...sigh.
Catherine stood in the doorway of what was known as Sara's lab. She could see Sara, her head propped up on a hand, elbow resting on the table surface, apparently looking over some scene photo's, though if Catherine hadn't known better, she'd have thought she was falling asleep, but that was a statistical impossibility Catherine was sure. She glanced at her watch and did a minor calculation in her head, unless Sara had outdone her previous record and been here for two and a half, no, three shifts her mind recalculated, which was actually quite high up in the stakes of probability. Catherine shook her head slightly in wonder at Sara's ability to remain awake for that long, never mind focused. She took another glance, well maybe not awake on this occasion her mind amended.
She walked into the lab realising she'd been standing just watching Sara for a good ten minutes. She called Sara's name softly as she approached. Sara looked up, evidently not asleep, but quite close to what might pass as sleep for her.
"Hey Cath" she offered with a lift of her hand and a shy smile.
"Sara Sidle, when in hell did you last sleep?" Catherine asked, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Morning Sara" muttered Sara to herself wryly before looking puzzled for a moment then opening her mouth to answer her colleague's question, then shutting it again, seemingly having to do some additional calculation.
Catherine spoke up "If you can't remember, then it's far too long ago, go home, sleep, god knows this shift is going slow enough for it to not matter…plus you're probably approaching your overtime limit for the month...again"
Sara shook her head almost imperceptively, but Catherine caught it. "Yeah, you probably are, you want to get grounded to the lab?"
Sara smiled "Not what I shook my head at, I'm not going home Cath"
"Why not, you've got a home, might as well use it sometime, no?" replied Catherine a smile tugging at her lips at Sara's stubbornness.
"Don't wanna" muttered Sara embarrassedly "I uh…get nightmares" the words were almost none existent, followed by a small sigh.
Catherine looked at her in disbelief "So you what, stay awake?" she asked incredulously.
Sara nodded "Yeah, pretty much" a tiny smile graced Sara's features
"How do you function? She asked and then snapped her mouth shut "Never mind, you needn't answer" She concluded falling silent again.
Sara barked a laugh at Catherine's obvious inability to curb the question "It's okay Cath, I sleep…sometimes, just not for long and you know how I do it…more caffeine than is natural!"
Catherine contemplated the problem for a moment "Okay, come on" she finally said gesturing for Sara to follow her. She walked to her Tahoe and motioned for Sara to get in at the passenger side, whilst she went over to the drivers side.
They spent the drive in silence, Catherine wondering if she had done the right thing, and Sara being half petrified wondering what Catherine's intentions were.
Catherine parked the car at their destination and got out. Sara sat and looked out the window. "Your house?" she queried as she got out the car, her long legs stretching as she did so.
Once inside Catherine motioned for Sara to go into the living room and make herself comfortable. "I'll be back in a few," she said to her fellow CSI, before leaving the room.
Sara stood for what seemed like eternity, as she processed the events in her head, at a loss as to what had come over her colleague, the longer Catherine was out of the room the more nervous she became and started to pace slightly in an attempt to calm her fraying nerves. She was still pacing when her colleague returned, with some folders a book and a blanket.
She too one look at her pacing friend "Sara, would you relax, you look like a caged animal!" she said setting the blanket down on the couch and walking over to a recliner further into the room.
Sara came to a stand still, a perplexed look crossing her features, chocolate brown eyes focusing uncertainly on Catherine. "Why am I here?" she asked abruptly.
"To sleep" replied Catherine simply "You said you don't want to go home and be on your own, but you're obviously going to need to pass out at some point in the near future or the option won't be yours to make." She juggled the slipping folders as she spoke for a moment, before strong hands removed them from her and set them on the chair behind them with a questioning eyebrow.
"Okay" said Sara turning back to her colleague reluctantly.
"There's your bed and the blankets for your use too" Catherine said gesturing to the couch.
Sara followed her gaze "Um…what are you going to do?" she asked a smile quirking her lips at Catherine's mothering of her, though if she were honest, whilst feeling quite agitated about the fact, she was quite grateful that her friend had taken it into her own hands to sort out.
"Paperwork, read and keep you company…so to speak" said Catherine in response
Sara still looked a little edgy, her feet shuffling slightly as she rubbed her elbow reflectively.
Catherine realised she may have overstepped her bounds somewhat "Sar…you don't have to I just figured you might sleep better if you were in a different environment…I won't bite you know…well, not unless you ask really nicely" she added with a wink.
The shuffling paused in shock "I guess it can't hurt…for me to sleep, not for you to bite me" she amended her eyes twinkling slightly. She walked over to the couch and sat, her long legs stretching out in front of her as she reached down to methodically remove her work boots and placed them perpendicular to the sofa at the far end. She lay down on her side, curled slightly so she'd fit on the couch, her back to Catherine. She was startled out of her thoughts a moment later when gentle hands placed the blanket over her. "You'll get cold" was the murmured comment.
Catherine watched her settle before going over to where Sara had placed her files and sitting down to some paperwork. A couple of hours later, with several finished reports by her feet, she was reading her book; glad to have the free time. She glanced over at Sara who was starting to move around a little muttering as she did so. Catherine placed her book on the floor, prepared to go over if needed.
"No…no don't!" Sara whimpered. Catherine moved over to the couch and sitting on the edge placing a gentle hand on Sara's shoulder.
"Sar, honey, wake up" she whispered only to have Sara sit up so abruptly they banged heads. Sara stared wildly around, half asleep, trying to place her surroundings, and being unable to do so, started to scrabble out of the tangled blankets until hands she recognised the touch of stilled and calmed her. Gentle blue eyes meeting and locking with hers, arms uncertainly pulling her into a hug, she willingly accepted the gesture after resisting for only a moment. She relaxed into the arms, hands reflexively grasping at the sides of the shirt she was holding, head on her saviours shoulder, inhaling their scent. She gave a shuddering sigh and relaxed, eventually falling asleep once more, safe in the arms of her friend.
Catherine felt Sara go limp against her and let out the breath she'd unconsciously been holding. "What in hell was that about?" she wondered. She pondered her next move, trying to slip out of Sara's clasp proved ineffectual, so eventually she simply manoeuvred them until they were both lying on the couch and settled in for a nap. Closing her eyes proved to be her undoing and she was asleep in minutes.
Catherine awoke to her head throbbing from were Sara had crashed into her earlier. She groaned slightly as she tried to move then realised where she was, seemingly their positions had changed during their nap, as she was now sprawled out on top of Sara, who had flung protective arms around her torso. She heard a hitch in the breathing of the body beneath her, before a voice husky from sleep spoke up.
"I was wondering when you were going to wake, I hadn't managed to work out a suitable way to extricate myself without waking you yet" it said sheepishly.
Catherine groaned as Sara chuckled "Cat relax, don't worry about it, these things happen"
"Actually" said Catherine surprising them both "I was thinking that I was kind of comfy were I was" a blush instantly erupting out across her face to the roots of her strawberry blonde hair.
"Really" drawled Sara shifting slightly to look directly at her blushing sleep buddy "glad to be of service" she glanced at the clock incredulously "I've been out for six hours…that's unheard of, usually 2-4 tops" she let the words trail off quietly.