Disclaimer: I do not own CSI.
It was raining again.
Sara smiled halfheartedly when she felt the first raindrop hit her cheek, but she didn't look up from the ground. She wasn't in the mood to enjoy the weather.
She wondered, briefly, what had possessed her to leave the coroner's office. There, no one had thought her crazy for liking the rain. Here… Sara had yet to meet a criminalist who didn't curse the rain for washing away evidence.
Admittedly, she was close to doing the same at the moment.
Lindsey's dad had died a few days ago. It had been raining then, too. Maybe if it hadn't been, she would've found more to work with. As it was, Lindsey might never know who killed her dad.
It was easier to think about Eddie that way. Sara had overheard too many of Catherine's rants to believe that he was anything even approaching a good husband. Thinking of him that way made it difficult to feel sympathetic.
Lindsey, though… she never said anything against her dad. She had even defended him against Catherine during the interview. She loved her dad.
Sara closed her eyes and sighed softly. She knew what that was like. At least Lindsey had known what it was like to be loved back. That was a luxury that had filled her dreams when she was little.
When Sara opened her eyes again, she wasn't surprised to find herself looking at bloody mud instead of quickly darkening dirt. It had been years since she had been able to see the blood slipping through her fingers so clearly. She felt like a scared kid all over again.
"You're going to catch a cold."
Sara jerked her head up at the familiar voice and the warm hand that squeezed her shoulder.
Catherine.
The last person she expected to come anywhere near her was sitting next to her on a bench in the pouring rain. Warding off the confusion, Sara shrugged.
"I like the rain."
Catherine nodded blankly and stared out at the mostly empty parking lot in front of them. Why someone had positioned the bench so that it looked out on the parking lot, Sara would never know.
"Lindsey did, too. She liked jumping in puddles." Catherine's voice was soft, something that worried Sara a little. She almost sounded… defeated. Catherine Willows was not supposed to sound that way. Ever.
Sara understood it, though. Lindsey had probably grown up a lot waiting for her mother to rescue her from the sinking car. Catherine would go through her own issues with that. The thought of her little girl not seeing rain the same lighthearted way she had for years seemed to be the first of those issues.
Sara wished they were on better terms. She wanted to wrap her arms around Catherine and never let go, but the action probably wouldn't be welcome. Even holding her hand was a bit of a risk. Sara took it.
They sat still in the rain for a few minutes before Catherine disentangled their hands and stood up. She didn't move too far away, though. She was looking at something up in the sky.
Catherine caught Sara's watching eyes and smiled grimly. She pointed up at the sky. "That's the only part I still like." She walked off, probably heading to her car to warm up.
Sara looked up at the rainbow and watched it die as the sun hid back behind the clouds. She wasn't used to noticing that part. It was pretty.
Then the colors faded, and the black clouds were back in all their horrible glory. Sara rubbed her hand absentmindedly, remembering how it had felt in Catherine's.
For just a second, she could see the rainbow again.
It really was beautiful.