Much longer chapter this time :) Thank you for the reviews and alerts, I'll try to keep updates quick. x

Chapter 2

"A woman? Like a female?"

"No I'm pretty sure she's of the male variety." Cath stated dryly. "Of course she's female!"

"But...but...but who?" Nancy stuttered, shaking her head.

"Not telling." Cath murmured.

"Oh Come on. You've told me this much, who is it?" She gasped, "Ooh, Is it someone I know?"

"No." Catherine insisted sullenly.

"It is isn't it? Oh my God, who is it? Oh my God, is it Rose? No, no, too prissy for you. Oh, is it Maggie?" Nancy rattled off excitedly until Catherine put a stop to her speculations.

"Stop that! It's no one you know. It happens to be someone from work." She instantly regretted the words as soon as they left her lips. The smug grin on her sister's face confirmed her fears.

"Sara."

"Damn it." Cath groaned quietly.

x x x x x

"Sara! Oh my God! Sara!" Nancy rambled excitedly, which was not helping Catherine, who currently had her face buried in her hands. "Sara ... what was her surname again?"

"Sidle." Catherine mumbled.

"That's it. Sara Sidle." Nancy grinned triumphantly. "My god, how many times have you and her fought like cats, and all this time it was just sexual tension." She chuckled.

"We don't fight, we have ... disagreements. And besides, it's only recently that I've... you know." She dropped her head onto her folded arms on the table miserably. Nancy was still smiling manically, greatly enjoying her sister's dilemma.

"Isn't she like ten years younger than you?"

"Nine and a half." Catherine corrected indignantly.

"Much better."

"Not helping Nance." She grumbled. The younger woman laughed gleefully. "Oh well I'm glad you're getting a kick out of this." Cath snapped, taking her coffee and wandering out onto the deck.

"Oh Cathy come back." With a pang of guilt Nancy followed her and sat on the steps next to her. They were silent for a moment. "Does she swing that way?" she asked eventually.

"No."

"Are you sure? Maybe she keeps it quiet. Has she ever dated a woman before?"

"How the hell should I know? That's not exactly the sort of thing you ask a colleague over a coffee break." She sighed, running a tired hand through her hair.

"Maybe you should." Nancy suggested, but regretted it when she saw the look on Cath's face.

"Oh sure, I can see how that would go: 'hey Sar, random question, have you ever slept with a woman before?' she'd think I'd gone mad."

"Okay, point taken." Nancy conceded. "Well, does she even know you like her?" Cath chewed on the inside of her cheek again.

"Maybe."

x x x x x

"Y'all up for breakfast?" Nick asked, buttoning up a clean shirt.

"Am if you're buying." Warrick answered in his smooth voice.

"Count me in." Sara added, pulling her T-shirt off, purposefully keeping her back to the guys. Catherine said nothing. Her eyes were fixed on the newly exposed skin of the brunette. Where she was sat on the bench she could see most of Sara's body, including part of what appeared to be a rather large tattoo curling up her right side. She was so lost in her thoughts that she had not even realised she was staring straight at Sara's chest. "Catherine?" The blonde snapped her eyes up, latching them onto suspicious brown ones. "You okay?" Sara asked with concern, feeling ever so slightly self-conscious.

"Yeah, am good." The blonde croaked, her throat peculiarly dry.

"Breakfast?" Nick repeated slowly, eyeing her strangely.

"What? Oh, no, I've got to pick Lindsey up. Later guys." She said hurriedly. She left in such a hurry that she nearly forget her bag, lying on the bench, and swung around with suck force to grab it that she nearly knocked Sara over. Out in the coolness of the corridor she leant her back against one of the glass walls and took a deep breath. What was wrong with her?

x x x x x

"You were checking her out?" Nancy asked in disbelief, scrunching her nose up. Catherine had resumed her position with her head buried in her arms, which were resting on her knees this time. "You were staring straight at her chest while she was getting changed and you don't think she knows?"

"It gets worse." Cath continued in a muffled voice.

x x x x x

"Any luck?" Cath asked, sauntering into the AV lab where Sara's eyes were fixed on the computer screen.

"I think so." Sara said, not looking up. Cath placed one hand on the back of Sara's chair, subconsciously resting the other one Sara's shoulder. Sara glanced briefly at the stray hand before turning back to the screen. "I've watched all of the CCTV footage from the penthouse. There's nothing particularly incriminating, but I did find something interesting." The brunette tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "You remember that voicemail message on the vic's phone? I cleared it up and timed it with the video. Check it out:" She said, pressing a couple of keys and hitting play. The video showed a girl pulling her phone out of her bag, dialling, and a moment later she starts talking in time with the voicemail message from the victim's phone, the party noise now clearly audible in the background. Catherine leant forward to get a better look, and found that she could smell Sara's hair.

"She lied." The blonde murmured, putting thoughts of Sara's shampoo aside for a moment. Sara sent her a puzzled look.

"What?"

"I spoke to that girl, she said she didn't know the vic. She lied. She phoned her less than an hour before she was killed." Cath elaborated.

"Well I can tell you that about five minutes after that phone call she leaves the room and doesn't come back." A wide smile grew across Catherine's face and without a second thought she planted a kiss on Sara's cheek.

"You're a star!" She beamed, before bounding out of the room, leaving behind a startled and very confused brunette, who could only mumble:

"You're welcome."

Catherine got half way down the corridor and stopped dead in her tracks as it dawned on her what she had just done.

x x x x x

"You kissed her?" Nancy asked, incredulous.

"On the cheek, I kissed her on the cheek." Cath clarified.

"And you still think she has no idea."

"She hasn't said anything." Catherine shrugged hopefully but the facade faded fast. "I don't know Nance; this is all a big mess." She groaned. Nancy patted her sister's arm.

"No, maybe not. I mean, it's just a crush right? You're not in love with her or anything." Cath shrugged helplessly and Nancy's face fell. "Are you?"

"No. I don't know." At her little sister's expression Cath decided to settle for no.

"Right, it's just a crush. So you just need to take your mind off her, maybe find something else to focus on ... Or someone else."

"No!" Catherine said immediately.

"What?" Nancy asked innocently, her eyes going saucer-wide, which was a sure sign of guilt.

"No set-ups."

"Come on Cathy, I know some good people. Doctors."

"No." The strawberry blonde was adamant. "No blind dates."

"Look, you need to forget this girl. Just leave it to me." The lighter-blonde said, kissing her sister's temple and standing up.

"Nancy!" Cath growled, but to no avail.

"Ah hah, just trust me." She sang, patting Cath's head, and left despite Cath's protests. Alone, Cath growled again.

"Uh, I hate my life." She huffed to the empty garden.