Alright, so her last meeting with her subordinates had not gone so well, but this time Catherine had a plan.

After some consideration, it had dawned on her that she was trying to employ one system for them both, when that was never going to work. They were simply too different.

Now, Nick was going to have to be pinned down. She had convened a list of simple questions, to which he could answer yes or no and from there she would be able to assess his current state for herself without him having to give long, wordy answers.

Sleeping well? Eating right? Hitting the gym? Any women in his life?

Sara, on the other hand, needed to be handled more delicately. Direct questions tended to cause her to clam up.

But the main thing that had struck her with Sara in their last meeting was the way that she constantly seemed to be checking around herself, as if the walls were closing in on her. Granted, Catherine's office was small and could feel claustrophobic at times – something she had complained to Grissom about on more than one occasion – but Sara seemed unusually uncomfortable in the little closet-room.

And the solution to that was easy. She would take her out of the office. Outside, where there was less pressure and Sara could breathe. Then, they could just talk. No desk, no notepads. Just friends, talking.

And if that didn't work, she'd take her to a bar.

x X x

Ever the polite guest, Sara rapped gently on the open door before stepping into the office with a bashful smile.

However, before she had a chance to sit down, Catherine had turned her around and walked her back into the hallway.

"Where are we going?" Sara frowned, wriggling out of her grip.

"Outside." Catherine explained bluntly, as if that was enough.

Sara followed her silently, bemusedly through the corridor and reception area. As they exited the building, Cath tipped her head towards the sky for a moment, before taking Sara lightly by the arm and leading her down the stone steps into the parking lot.

The brunette still wasn't sure quite what was going on, but she didn't argue as they mooched around the side of the building to where it was quiet.

"Why are we out here?" She asked at last, glancing nervously around, as if she was expecting something to lurch out of the shadows at her.

"To talk." Catherine shrugged at her with a small smile. "I got the feeling last time that you were uncomfortable in the office; I thought out here might be a bit easier."

"Oh." Sara frowned softly, casting her gaze across the deserted patch of land leading away from the modern laboratory building. On a clear night, you could get a pretty good view of the strip from here.

"So," Catherine drawled when it became evident that she was still going to have to do most of the work. "How are things?"

"Fine." Sara answered, ambling towards the edge of the path and peering over the edge, where the sandy ground dropped towards the road below. The ledge was weathered from years of desert storms, causing it to curve inwards.

Catherine followed her, studying her demeanour carefully. She definitely appeared more relaxed out here, even if she wasn't saying much more.

"Any news from your mother?"

"No. Which means everything's fine."

Cath frowned at the clipped response. Sara had insinuated last time that she only had any dealings with her mother when the care home contacted her and that appeared to corroborate the idea.

"You don't see her, do you?" She probed.

"No." Sara answered bluntly, keeping her gaze fixed ahead on the horizon. The sun had gone down a couple of hours ago, but in Vegas the sky never got dark.

Catherine pursed her lips, taking a cautious step closer, without wanting to crowd her.

"But you still pay her care home fees?"

Sara exhaled, although Cath couldn't tell whether it was through exasperation or resignation at this point.

"Yeah, I do."

While the supervisor was analysing the abrupt response, trying to find a way to salvage a meaningful conversation from it, she heard a soft sniffle and caught sight of Sara surreptitiously attempting to wipe away a tear.

"Hey, you alright?" She asked, not even hesitating to encroach on Sara's person space this time.

"I'm fine." The younger woman said, immediately moving out of her reach and keeping her head bowed.

"No you're not, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Well, it's obviously not nothing." Catherine countered gently. "So, why don't you tell me and maybe I can help?"

Instead of answering, Sara wandered over to a low wall and sat down. Catherine followed suit, sinking down beside her onto the cold stone.

"You do remember why we're doing this, right?" She asked. "It's so that we can help you with whatever's bothering you."

"I know." Sara mumbled, dragging the toe of her boot through the dust, causing a tiny little sandstorm to rise and dance across the ground.

"So?"

"So, nothing's bothering me, per se." She shrugged awkwardly.

"Well, there's obviously something that you want to say to me." Cath noted, nudging her.

"You'll think I'm pathetic."

"No I won't." Catherine breathed, taken aback by the insinuation. "Tell me."

Sara swallowed hard around the lump in her throat, struggling to put her thoughts into coherent sentences.

"It's just ... what you did, before ... about my mother..."

She reached up to swipe at another tear attempting to escape, her cheeks turning pink with embarrassment at being seen in such a vulnerable state. Catherine tentatively placed a hand on her back and felt the girl's body twitch beneath her fingertips.

Taking a deep breath, Sara tried again.

"I've just never had someone go to bat for me like that before. You didn't have to do it."

Catherine smiled at the sheepish confession and slid her hand further round Sara's back to rest on her hip.

"That's my job, honey."

"Yeah, well, I'm not used to accepting help from people." Sara continued nervously, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "This is all foreign to me."

"It's okay." Catherine shrugged, attempting to keep her voice light. "You don't have to force it. Just know that I'm here, if you do need anything."

Sara nodded, sinking her gaze to the ground. Catherine scrutinised her for a moment.

"That's not all that's on your mind, is it?" She asked eventually.

Sara looked up and sighed, causing her breath to mist in the cooling air.

"It's nothing really." She stated. "It's just, what you were talking about before got me thinking and ... I guess I've been missing home more lately."

"Home?" Catherine enquired. "You mean, San Francisco?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." She hummed with an undeniable touch of sadness to her voice. "After all these years, you still don't consider Vegas to be 'home'?"

Sara shrugged awkwardly.

"I don't know, I guess I just felt more comfortable in San Francisco. It's more my kind of city."

She didn't elaborate, and Catherine didn't ask, but the blonde raised a knowing eyebrow at the cryptic comment. She suspected that she knew why Sara felt more comfortable in a place like San Francisco, but she wasn't about to go down that road now.

"So, why don't you go back?" She suggested. "For a visit, I mean! Don't go quitting on us!"

Sara smiled at her sudden correction.

"I'd like to. I had planned to a while ago, but then we got a big case and Grissom asked me to stay and help out."

"He asked you to cancel a vacation?" Catherine scowled. "I didn't know that, when was this?"

"It was a one-off, it's not important." Sara interjected hurriedly, not wanting to cause further strife between the warring supervisors. Despite her assurances, Catherine shook her head bitterly.

"He can't do that, you know." She insisted sullenly. "You're entitled to your vacations, irrespective of our workload."

When Sara elected not to answer, Catherine dismissed her concerns about Grissom for a moment and returned her attention to the subject at hand.

"Why don't you take a few days now?" She suggested. "You've got more than enough time accrued and it might do you some good to get away from work for a while."

Sara tipped her head back towards the sky and Catherine braced herself for the excuses she thought were about to come. To her surprise, when Sara spoke, it wasn't to decline the offer.

"I would quite like to see a surfboard again."

It was said softly, but with that same touch of fondness that she had heard whenever Sara mentioned the city by the bay.

"You surf?" She asked, mildly impressed.

"I used to." Sara hummed sadly. "It's been a long time since I had the chance."

"So..." Catherine pressed. "You've got the chance now..."

Sara shot her a sideways glance and Catherine couldn't help but notice the smile attempting to tug at her lips.

"I'd have to ask Grissom." She pointed out.

"No, you don't." Cath countered. "He's not in charge of your leave requests anymore. That's under my purview now."

This time, the smile she received actually reached Sara's warm hazel eyes.

"Alright." The brunette drawled at last. "I'll get the request in to you once I've checked the flights."

Catherine stood up.

"Consider it approved." She grinned, offering out a hand to Sara to tug her up to her feet too. "And I want to see a tan when you get back."

x X x

He jumped, looking from the piece of paper that had just been slammed down in front of him to the person responsible for it.

"Catherine." He greeted coolly, raising an eyebrow at her pissed-off scowl.

"Sara's leave request." She stated without preamble, pushing the paper closer to him.

He cleared his throat, nudging the document back towards her without so much as sparing it a glance.

"That's not my responsibility anymore." He pointed out as sweetly as he could.

"I know. I've already approved it." She straightened up. "I'm just telling you as a courtesy, since you're still responsible for her assignments."

She turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway. When she turned around, he was surveying the document and glanced up at her expectantly.

"By the way, what in the hell gives you the right to ask a staff member to cancel their vacation because of a case?"

He opened his mouth and was attempting to find some words with which to answer the question, when Catherine flicked her wrist at him dismissively and stalked out of the room before he could say anything.

Evidently, he realised too late, that was a rhetorical question.