Hi guys, sorry for the delay in posting - its been a long couple of weeks! But, to make it up to you all, I've reworked things to give you the big reveal sooner than planned :) I hope you like this one, since you've been so patient in waiting for it.

She was furious. No, she was more than furious – she was incensed.

How dare the girl say that to her? How dare she say it, in the hallway, surrounded by people?

Sara had always had a fiery side to her; and if she were being honest, it was something Catherine admired about her - but she never imagined that the brunette would cross that line.

Luckily for her – and decidedly unluckily for Sara – Ecklie had been there when she had. Not that Catherine was naive enough to believe that that was a coincidence. He always managed to be around when someone screwed up and he had been trying to catch Sara in the act for years.

At least now she might finally face some consequences for her bad temper.

She opened the door with a heavy sigh and a half-hearted smile, suddenly remembering with dismay that she was still clutching a beer bottle in her hand.

"Well, if you're here it can't be good." She asserted glibly, moving aside to let Grissom shuffle passed her into the small apartment. "Here to see if I'm drunk?"

He turned to her with a sombre glare.

"We both know that's not your problem." He countered seriously and her expression faltered. "I spoke to Catherine."

Sara nodded slowly, pursing her lips.

"Ecklie?" She guessed.

"He wants me to fire you?"

Truth be told, she had been expecting that. A part of her had even been expecting a visit from Grissom. What she didn't expect was for him to be so determined to drag some answers out of her.

"It makes a difference to me." He pressed firmly when she danced around the subject of her erratic behaviour.

With a heavy sigh, she placed her beer bottle on the desk and rested her hands on the back of a chair – making sure to keep the whole room between the two of them.

"I have a problem with authority. I choose men who are emotionally unavailable. I'm self-destructive." She listed exasperatedly, not even bothering to hide the fact that she was referring to Grissom. "All of the above."

"Have you ever gone a week without a rationalization?" He asked, taking her by surprise. "It's from The Big Chill. One of the characters explaining a basic fact of life that rationalizations are more important to us than sex even."

"I am not rationalizing anything." She scoffed. "I crossed the line with Catherine, and I was ... insubordinate to Ecklie."

There was a beat of silence between them where she thought he was finally going to drop it. She was wrong.

"Why?" He asked quietly, in that infuriatingly non-judgemental way of his. Sara cast her eyes aside, unable to meet his compassionate stare any longer.

"Leave it alone." She hissed.

"No, Sara." He took a step towards her and she had to fight the urge to take a step back.

"What do you want from me?" She threw her hands out. Grissom took another step forward, and this time she knew that he was well aware of how uncomfortable he was making her. He didn't seem to care, as he continued slowly backing her into a corner.

"I want to know why you're so angry."

Finally accepting that she was not going to get out of answering his questions, even if he wasn't her supervisor any more, Sara moved reluctantly in front of the chair and sank into the cushions, shaking her head in a slow, considered movement.

"I'm not angry." She spoke softly, all her previous tension seeping out of her along with the stray tears sneaking down her cheeks. "I'm scared."

With one sentence, Grissom had managed to wipe away any trace of smugness from Ecklie's features. And when a soft voice interrupted their staring contest, it took both men by surprise.

"What action are you taking?" Catherine toyed nervously with a pen as she posed the question, feeling the heat from both pairs of eyes on her.

"I've taken it." Grissom answered, his irritation at her question clear in his voice. Evidently, Greg wasn't the only one who was holding her responsible for Sara's predicament.

Ecklie stood up and rolled his shoulders, attempting to exude an air of authority.

"I thought I was clear." He said calmly but firmly.

"You were; now let me be clear." Grissom said, mimicking his stance. "Sara's behaviour is a direct result of my management."

Ecklie bristled, knowing that he was trapped. He could hardly threaten to fire Gil – as much as it would give him great pleasure – and even if he did, the intolerable CSI would only call his bluff.

Unfortunately, firing Grissom was never on the cards. He was just too valuable to the lab.

"I warned you about her, Gil." He offered instead. "I warned you weeks ago and I warned you two days ago." When the entomologist's steely blue gaze didn't waver, Ecklie threw up his hands in exasperation. "You know what, she's a loose cannon with a gun and she's all yours."

A cold air fell over the room as he stalked out, leaving Grissom and Catherine to study each other in his wake.

Catherine narrowed her eyes,

"Why did he warn you about her?"

"It's nothing." Grissom glanced away, but she picked up on the tell-tale guilty look that flashed across his face. "Ecklie got the wrong end of the stick. And he's not the only one."

It was a direct shot at her, but she shrugged it off.

"Gil," she gripped his arm, refusing to let him leave without dignifying her question with a response. "Why did Ecklie warn you about Sara? What's going on?"

He shot her a dark look.

"It's none of your business, Catherine." He said coldly. "And to be honest I don't know why you care. I think you've made your feelings towards Sara perfectly clear today."

Tugging his arm free, he turned on his heel and stalked out – as much as he was able to stalk, in his flat-soled brown loafers – leaving her alone to contemplate his words.

It was understandable that Grissom would be defensive about Sara. He always had been, even when she didn't deserve it. But Ecklie's words suggested that there was something deeper than just Gil's unrequited attraction to the brunette going on; something that Grissom did not want her to know about.

She drummed her fingertips on the steering wheel, contemplating her next move.

Grissom was wrong. Alright, she may not have acted in the brunette's best interests today, but that didn't mean she didn't care about her. Catherine loved Sara, in her own complex sort of way.

She just didn't understand her right now.

Perhaps if Grissom had told her what was going on, she could have gained more of an insight into Sara's mindset and maybe even forgiven her for her outburst in the hallway. But he had remained tight-lipped, as had Ecklie when pressed for further details of his 'warning'.

So, she had made an executive decision that there was only one way she could find out what was really going on, and that's how she came to be sat in her car outside Sara's apartment building, with the rain hammering down on the metal roof.

Sucking in a deep breath, she hurled herself out of the vehicle and dashed across the parking lot, attempting in vain to shelter herself from the heavy raindrops soaking into her thin shirt.

Reaching the enclosed staircase, she set off up to Sara's flat. She had gained the address from her personnel file – yet another breach of the girl's privacy, but it would be worth it. Apparently, Sara lived on the fourth floor of a rather decrepit tower, with a balcony that overlooked a disused park frequented by drug dealers and hookers.

No wonder the poor girl was always depressed, coming home to this every day.

Hurried footsteps began to descend from above and Catherine pressed herself against the wall just in time for the figure to pass by without barrelling into her.

It was a woman, tall, with flame red curls spiralling out in all directions. Her jaw was set and her green eyes narrowed as they passed briefly over Catherine's face, pausing for the briefest of seconds, before she continued down the stairs.

Catherine watched her depart, her own blue orbs widening in slow realisation as it dawned on her where she had seen the woman before.

She had been in the bar with Sara, all those weeks ago. And she had been talking to Sara in the lab a few days ago, right after the boys left together to go drinking. But those weren't the only times Catherine had run into her. In fact, she finally recalled, it was a fairly regular occurrence.

She worked on the second floor of the lab, in the Human Resources department.

She was the PEAP counsellor.

Catherine lifted her eyes to the landing above her, where Sara was sat in her apartment; presumably stewing over whatever had just occurred with that woman. And, like a blindfold had been removed, it suddenly all made sense.

Ultimately, Catherine never made it to Sara's door. Not that it mattered; she had gotten the answers she came for.