Author Note: A fem slash of Catherine and Sara is something I have not posted on this site in a long time…I hope you all enjoy the comedy/drama/adventure and maybe even steamy scenes of our two femme fatale's.

Please R&R and I will return the favour when I get the chance! Thank-you!

PS: I am working on this for Camp NaNoWriMo, so expect updates fairly shortly. Also, I am always open to suggestions for direction, character development etc.

B.

Lover's Quarrel

Chapter Two

Catherine slammed her locker do shut once again out of frustration. How could Gil pair her up with Sara, after it was quite evident in the break room that she had nothing to do with her or anyone else for that matter this evening. She grabbed her kit, quickly checking to make sure everything was stocked, seeing numerous evidence bags, and piles of rubber gloves. All her fingerprint powders were in order as she looked at the red one; red creeper was what Gil liked to call it, it was his own concoction, since he clearly had no social life. She tested her flashlight, checked the batteries on her camera before snapping the clamps shut and heading back out into the hall almost running straight into Greg who was on his way back to his lab.

"Hey what's the rush there Cat?" Greg asked with a smirk.

"Not now Greg." She snapped.

He gave puppy dog eyes, which looked out of place with his frosted tip, spiked hair and dimpled smile. Catherine knew the young DNA lab rat had a thing for her, he was trying to jump into her pants ever since he found out she used to be an exotic dancer at the French Palace before she turned in her stiletto's for cheek swabs. When it became common knowledge that Catherine batted for the other team it only fueled the fire and made him try his luck at living his college, high school and current fantasy of two women at once. No matter how often, or sweet he asked, it was never going to happen.

"Nice goose egg," Greg stated pointing to the swollen bump peeking out from behind her bangs.

"Drop dead."

"Meeoow! Kitties got claws today!" Greg said with a growl and slashing movement with his hands before continuing on his way towards his lab.

Catherine sighed as she turned, almost bumping into Sara who was standing in the middle of the hallway, field kit in hand and a sheepish smile on her lips. It sucked that she was so attractive, that all Catherine could think about right now was kissing those pouty, rose lips even if she was beyond furious with her.

"Uh, sorry, are you ready?" Sara muttered stepping aside as Catherine bounded past her silent and furious, "Well, I guess I will take that as a yes." She muttered under her breath and followed suit.

They remained silent, passing Judy once more to go out to the parking lot where their Tahoe's were parked and ready. Judy looked up from her computer screen to see the same scowl on Catherine's lips and same apologetic look on Sara's face as they had when they walked through those doors no more than an hour ago.

Catherine briskly took point towards her Tahoe, tossing her field kit in the trunk allowing Sara just enough time to add hers' in their as well before she slammed the metal door down, narrowly missing her fingers. She looked up at Sara and shrugged as if she were trying to apologize for the near miss before turning on her heel and heading to the driver's door. Sara just sighed, and quickly hoped in the passenger seat before Catherine took off without her, or worse, ran her over in the parking lot.

"Catherine, we need to talk." Sara prompted.

Catherine just ignored Sara as she turned on the engine and backed out of her parking spot, narrowly missing a nice swipe of metal on metal with Sara's parked Tahoe next to her. The gesture was not missed by Sara as she quickly did up her seat belt, unsure of what exactly her fiancée was capable of behind the wheel.

"What, is your plan to just keep giving me the silent treatment? How very mature of you."

They approached a red light at the intersection to Blue Diamond Road and Tropicana Blvd with ample amount of time to break cautiously. Instead, Catherine slammed hard on the break as Sara flew forward, her head bouncing off the dash in front of her with a smack. Catherine smirked, proud that Sara was now sporting her own goose egg.

"What the hell!" Sara yelled, rubbing her now throbbing temple.

"Sorry, touchy breaks I guess." Catherine chided as she continued on down the road.

Sara was steaming, now knowing that Catherine was not only pissed off but ready to get even, and if there was one thing she knew about her fiancée was that she always loved getting even. She bit her tongue, not wanting to instigate her any more while being locked up in a tin box with someone who has a personality that is close to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and turned to look out the window, watching the lights of the Strip fade away as they got further away from civilization and headed out on the dark, bleak highway heading towards Lake Mead. It was almost like living in a horror movie, where she was being lured into the woods by a murderer and will become the next case for her fellow CSI's to investigate.

The last time she was out to Lake Mead with Catherine was almost a year ago, when she figured that a nice picnic out by the lake would be a great surprise, a great way to unwind and escape the insanity of their work week at the time and it was, it was exactly what they both needed. The lake looked quite different in daylight as opposed to moonlight, with people on boats enjoying the day as waves rippled in the lake behind them. They found a nice, quiet and secluded place under a large fern tree, set out a plaid blanket and laid out plates, cutlery and two glasses paired with a beautiful red wine from California. It was romantic, giving them a great glimpse into their future as lovers.

It was also the point when Sara decided to take their relationship to the next level, to make it even more official than roses, chocolates and endless amounts of great sex. She pulled out a small ring box, grabbed Catherine's hands that were always so soft and smelt like lavender, it was intoxicating and always calmed Sara down as she caressed her skin and gave massages to work the kinks out of her shoulders after a long, hard shift. She poured her heart out, telling Catherine that their relationship was the best thing that had happened to her since she moved from San Francisco.

She could never forget the look on Catherine's face when she popped open the ring box and proposed to her, with the Nevada sun setting in the backdrop. It was beautiful, and the fact that she started to cry, her eyes glistening with tears as she nodded, not able to say any words but her kiss spoke volumes. It was amazing, fireworks exploded in her mind, mimicking that of a cheesy rom com moving plot between two horny teenagers, but she knew this was far from fake. Her love was real, her commitment was real, and the fact that she forgot all about that, about the exact reasons why she was in love with Catherine to begin with, what persevered her to become her wife, was something she will never, ever reverse.

"We're here." Catherine stated snapping Sara out of her trip down memory lane.

The familiar sight of red and blue emergency lights flickering across the windshield made the harsh reality of why they were out in the woods to begin with ring true once more. Catherine slowly approached the three police cruisers and Coroners van that was blocking the crime scene a few feet ahead. She parked the truck off to the side, knowing that they were the last to arrive and the last to leave.

"Cat, listen, before we go out there, can we please talk about what's been going on." Sara said, placing her hand on her shoulder to stop her from just avoiding the conversation.

Catherine looked down at Sara's hand on her shoulder, her look was that of a raging, starving wolf that would chew off her hand if she had fangs and bloodlust. "Let's just get this shift over with Sidle." Catherine snapped as she opened her door and shrugged Sara's hand off her shoulder.

Sara sighed again as she pushed open her door and stepped down feeling the ground mush under her dress shoes. She grabbed her flashlight and shined it down on the ground noticing she was almost ankle deep in caramel coloured mud. The whole truck was surrounded by it, deep and moist from the most recent rainfall out here that was less than twenty-four hours ago.

"Just perfect." She muttered as she rounded the Tahoe, grabbing her case out of the back.

Catherine looked down at Sara's feet and snickered before taking off towards the crime scene. Sara followed behind, in no rush to keep up with Catherine knowing that anything she does will not get Catherine to just take a few moments to talk like mature adults. It appears she has been taking some lessons from her ten year old daughter on argument tactics.

"Hey O'Riley, what do we got?" Catherine asked as the First Officer lifted the Crime Scene tape, allowing Catherine, closely followed by Sara.

The older, overweight Detective turned around, his forehead wet with sweat from all the overhead lights and the humidity in the air. He grabbed a handkerchief from his hand and padded his forehead as he nodded at both Catherine and Sara.

"Cat, Sara. We have a male DB about thirty years old and thirty feet down the hill." O'Riley stated as they walked towards the edge of the cliff they were standing on.

Catherine and Sara took a look down, seeing David the Coroners assistant hovering over the body that is flooded by large, emergency grade lights. There was a rope attached to the side of the cliff they would use to get down there and see what they had to work with. Grissom conveniently left out the part about this being a recovery mission. No one beyond the body and David were brave, or dumb, enough to make the trek down to the water's edge.

Sara whistled between her teeth, "Hell of a long way down, who called it in?" She asked.

"A patrol boat that was making the rounds on the lake spotted him about two hours ago, they never went any further than two feet from shore. At first they thought he was a drunk kid passed out after a night of partying down by the lake but, when they saw him all, contorted, they knew something horrible had happened and called us." O'Riley explained, looking cautiously over the cliff side, his cheeks were going pale and he seemed to be sweating profusely once more.

"You okay there?"

"Just don't like heights Cat. Knock yourselves out, and be careful heading down, don't make this a triple." He joked as he walked away from the CSI's.

Sara looked down once more, studying the position of the body. His left leg was bent, almost behind his body as his right one had the ankle bone breaking the skin. His left arm was up over his head as if he was waving Hello to them from down below. His skull, or what was left of it, was bashed so bad it looked almost caved in and he was on his back, looking up at the night sky with wide open, dead eyes. It was clear he had taken a tumble from up above and there would be evidence of him up here, and all along this cliff side down to his final resting place. The biggest question was, was this an accident or a murder.

Catherine looked over at Sara and suddenly feeling less angry at the brunette. She looked beautiful, even if the wind was whipping her hair around in all directions and her feet were caked in mud. She shook her head, trying to not fall into the trap of just forgiving Sara for the horrible, unforgivable mistake she pulled two nights ago and extended her arm out to the rope ladder.

"After you," She chided with a smirk.

Sara pushed back her hair, getting irritated with it blowing in front of her eyes every second she was standing on the cliff, her wind breaker with the large, white, reflective letters "CSI" billowing, making her look like she had a large hunchback. She looked down, straight down this time and felt a bit light headed. Heights were not her strong suit but for Catherine, they were out of the question. Once when she had booked a dinner at the Stratosphere tower they had to cut it short because Catherine was hyperventilating at how high up she was. At the time Sara did not know of her lover's perpetual fear of heights and she thought she could be tough and make it through dinner especially since they were in an enclosed, spacious area. It was actually quite amazing that at this moment, Catherine was standing as close as she was to the edge.

As much as Sara did not want to go down there, someone had to go work the scene from below with David and it would be a lot less bitching and whining if she just did it.

"No problem, and hey, I'm proud of you." Sara said as she stepped out cautiously, grabbing the rope with her free hand and using her heavy Crime Scene Kit as a counter weight in the other.

"Proud?" Catherine said questionably.

"Yeah, for facing your fear of heights. I'll radio you when I find something."

With that Sara turned and smiled, knowing that she was finally seeing the frosty exterior of Catherine thaw as she began her descent down the cliff side. She kept a tight grip on the rope, so tight she was afraid that the rope was going to burn her skin, taking each step lightly. She kept her eyes focused on the group, looking out for roots, stumps, rocks, anything that could send her tumbling head first down there and joining their DB at the bottom. After a few feet she stopped, taking a breath as she noticed something flickering a couple inches to her left. Curiosity was getting the better of her as she took out her flashlight and shone it in that general direction catching the plastic case of a cellphone. There was a good chance that belonged to their victim.

Sara put her Crime Scene kit down on a ledge jutting out from the side, extracting a pair of gloves, an evidence bag and her camera she slung on over her neck. Keeping the flashlight in her left hand she let go of the rope that was her security blanket and focused on the beam from her flashlight, stepping on solid group and avoiding any all obstacles in her path. When she reached the location of the phone she was also pleasantly surprised to see a man's brown leather wallet beside it and a set of car keys. It looked like whatever was in their DB's pockets had spilled out during his tumble.

"Looks like I found an ID!" She called up as she shone the light on the picture on the driver's license. He was attractive, if she was into guys that was, "Ryan Mercer, age 35, a local. He only lives ten minutes from here."

"I'll have one of my guys check it out." O'Riley called from above as he jotted down his notes.

She photographed the evidence, bagged it and made her way back towards her kit and the rope following the exact same path she used to get there. After packing it up once more she continued on down the hillside, confident in her choice and knowing that Catherine was shitting bricks up at the top watching this whole scene unfold. Even if she was made at her, there was no denying the fact that butterflies still fluttered and her heart pounded when someone she cared about was risking their lives.

Sara could see David clearly hovering over the body sticking what looked to be a large meat thermometer into his gut where his liver was. He was trying to get an accurate liver temperature to calculate how long their mystery man had been down here. Instead of focusing on her feet like she had been for the last twenty feet down Sara was concentrating on David when she miss stepped, tripping over a root that was above the ground. Her legs gave out on her as she fell on her ass, sliding down the slick embankment, her hand searing from a rope burn as she let go hoping to brace herself with her feet on a rock just up ahead. It was only a few feet she slid, and thankfully not head first, before coming to an abrupt stop as her feet pushed against a large bolder jutting up out of the ground.

She must have screamed because David was looking at her, his eyes large and complexion ashen wondering if his colleague and friend was going to be next on his metal slab. After a moment to catch her breath Sara slowly stood up, inspecting her field kit seeing everything was still secured which she was grateful for. Another thing she was grateful for was wearing dark pants, that hid the wet, mud stain she could feel clinging to the fabric of her pants and she knew the back of her wind breaker would have a nice, caramel stain on it just like her shoes.

"Sara! Are you okay!" Catherine's panic voice filled the cliff side as she just watched her finance slide down a hillside.

Sara turned around now that she was no longer on a steep incline and wiped her face, feeling mud streak her cheek. She looked up at Catherine who was flushed and panicked and waved. "I'm alright!" She called back and smiled to reassure Catherine that everything was fine.

When she saw the relief wash over Catherine she then heard her tempered voice fill the radio she had clipped to her waist, "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" as Sara couldn't help but giggle.

"Have a nice trip Sidle?" David's voice came from behind as Sara turned acknowledging the young ME.

He had just joined the Las Vegas Department a week or so after Sara, and at first, he was trying to pick her up just like all other men. When she stated her distaste in him it was in how he approached her not what he said, and if she was into guys, she would have gone for him if he just tweaked his approach.

"What have you got so far David?" She asked, ignoring the young man's jab at her not so graceful entrance to the Crime Scene.

She thought Ryan Mercer looked bad from afar yet, up close and personal he was a wreck. His face was basically that of raw hamburger meat, his nose was skinned off and jaw broken. His face was caved in to look like a deflated football with tuffs of blonde hair missing from his scalp as he bounced his way off of rocks and roots. He had a rib on his left side jutting out from impact, cloths ripped and bloodied. He had tan lines on his ring finger and left wrist where a watch would have been. Possibly he was robbed before taking a tumble.

"His liver temp was 85.7 degrees, which means he has been dead for approx. 6 hours. He's dressed in beach wear, maybe he was enjoying a day at Lake Mead before he was murdered."

"Murdered?" Sara asked as she stopped snapping pictures of the body.

David raised up what remained of Ryan's t-shirt and pointed a large in sized wound on his abdomen that was at least 2 inches wide. "He was stabbed by something sharp, maybe a Swiss Army knife."

Sara snapped a few photographs, "You're certain this was not caused by the fall?"

"Fairly certain, I will know more back at autopsy but, on first blush it looks like our DB was stabbed and then possibly pushed or stumbled off the cliff and landed down here like this."

"Well, if that's the case, Catherine will hopefully find the murder weapon topside." She unclipped her radio and pressed the button, "Hey, David thinks we are looking for a murder weapon, more specifically a knife." She stated.

"Well Super Dave might be onto something here, I found a bloody Swiss Army knife up here about three feet from the cliff side with a mess of shoe prints, signaling a struggle." Catherine's voice crackled over the radio.

Sara looked at Ryan's feet noticing one shoe was still on and the other was probably somewhere on the cliff side that would be like looking for a needle in a hay stack at night. "Are any of the prints smooth, like from a worn out beach sandal?"

"Yeah actually, look to be about a men's size eight. The other is for sure a running shoe of some sort, again looks men's size eight. I'm going to cast an impression, the sand looks like it gave me great detail to work with."

"Our DB could very well be that sandal, he's looks to be about a size eight." Sara looked up at David and smiled, seeing him blush as he was jotting down notes on his pad, "Looks like David might be onto something."

T.B.C