I'm not sure I'm happy with this chapter, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think

x x x x

"You should cook more often." Emma commented contentedly, sidling towards the sink. "You're not half bad – as long as it comes from a packet."

Cath swatted her lightly on the hip with a tea towel.

Ever since Lindsey's little stunt, things had been different between the three of them. It was as if everyone was being extra careful not to do anything that could be misconstrued; ultimately creating an atmosphere of apprehension and trepidation around the house.

Catherine couldn't say that she regretted taking her daughter's word over Emma's – she would always be on Lindsey's side, no matter what happened. But she did feel a little guilty for not at least giving Emma a chance to explain before threatening to shoot her.
On the other hand, if the situation were to arise again she couldn't say that she wouldn't react in the same way.

As soon as she'd found out Emma was coming round for dinner Lindsey had opted to go to bed early, leaving the adults alone together. It had been a pleasant evening, if a desperately quiet one. Neither wanted to broach the subject of the pink elephant in the room, so they'd filled the night with awkward conversation about the weather and the food.

Catherine, for her part, had attempted an apology; one which had been begrudgingly accepted.
But beneath the surface Emma was still fuming and they both knew what could happen when she was pushed over the edge.

Lindsey, too, had tried to make amends by being on her best behaviour whenever she had to be in the same room as Emma; but for the most part she had determined to stay out of the woman's way – something which the blonde was more than happy to go along with.
Everything else aside, it allowed her and Catherine more adult time together...

"Cath, come to bed." She pleaded, peppering kisses along the back of the older woman's neck, hindering her attempts to wash up.

"In a minute." She promised, squirming against the sensation. Emma flashed her a grin and grabbed her round the middle playfully.

"I'll be waiting."

However, she barely took two steps away before there was a hesitant knock at the front door.

The women exchanged a puzzled look, glancing in unison at the clock. Catherine had the night off so they'd eaten later than usual.

"Who the hell's that?" Emma voiced Cath's silent thoughts, rolling her eyes in irritation. "Don't they know what time it is?"

Catherine smiled at her girlfriend's frustration, wiping her hands on a nearby towel.

"I'll get rid of them." She assured her. "Why don't you go make yourself … comfortable?" She added teasingly. Emma smirked in understanding and practically skipped to the stairs.

Keeping the chain on, Catherine opened the door a crack and peered through the gap.

"Sara?!"

Emma stopped in her tracks halfway up the stairs, turning slowly to the door as Catherine frantically unhooked the chain and threw it wide open.

And sure enough the brunette was stood on the doorstep, her skin ghostly white under the dim porch light.

Already pissed off at her girlfriend's ex for her part in Lindsey's little games, Emma was not prepared to let her ruin a potential night of passion. She opened her mouth, preparing to tell her where to go, but as she stepped closer she realised why Catherine had reacted so earnestly.
Sara's clothes were torn on one side and she had a streak of stark red blood trickling down her face, sickeningly bright against her skin.

"I need a phone." Sara mumbled absently. "Mine got smashed."

Unable to form coherent words, Catherine reached out both hands and dragged her inside, where her glazed brown eyes winced at the sudden light.

"What's happened?" Emma inquired, her curiosity barely winning out over her irritation at their night being interrupted.

"Get her a blanket." Cath barked, blatantly ignoring the question as she guided Sara to the couch.

Emma rolled her eyes but did as requested and wandered to the pantry to get a clean blanket from the laundry. Craning her head, she could just about hear what was being said in the next room.

"What happened, honey?" Catherine pleaded, searching Sara's face. Her dark eyes were unfocussed and confused as she scanned the familiar surroundings.

"I came off my bike." She murmured absently. "My phone got smashed."

A dozen questions ran through Cat's head, but only one managed to find its way out.

"Where did this happen?"

She was touched that Sara had found her way here in her hour of need, but she couldn't believe that someone had let her just wander away from the accident without trying to help her.

Sara pointed vaguely in the direction of the street.

"I was going to the garage." She explained in a dazed voice. Catherine furrowed her brow in thought: the garage Sara frequented was in the Sunrise Manor district and the route she usually used took her past the end of Catherine's road. The accident couldn't have happened more than two blocks away.
That calmed her a little. At least she hadn't been walking aimlessly along the streets of Vegas in this state.

"Someone cut the corner, clipped my bike." Sara continued softly. "I just need to borrow a phone…"

"You need a hospital, love." Catherine countered softly, searching for any other visible injuries.

Finally, Emma returned with the blanket in her hands. However, when she held it out to Catherine, the CSI blinked at it in surprise.

To be honest, she'd forgotten Emma was even in the house.

"I'm taking her to Desert Palms." She announced, carefully helping Sara to her feet.

"I'm fine." Sara shrugged her off weakly. "I just need to get Steph to tow my bike back to the garage."

"Never mind that," Catherine insisted, wrapping an arm around her waist and marching her towards the door. Snatching her keys on the way, she cast a brief glance over her shoulder to where her girlfriend was staring at them from across the room. "Can you stay here with Lindsey?"

"Sure, I'll stay." Emma agreed, somewhat needlessly since Cath was already coaxing Sara down the front steps.

Emma leant against the doorframe, watching them together for a moment. Something about the tender way in which Catherine helped Sara into the car – fastening her seatbelt and brushing her hair aside – made her stomach turn.

Sara was her ex-girlfriend. No one should look at their ex like that.

X x x

"I'm sorry." Sara murmured weakly, having regained some of her awareness back along with a pounding headache. "I wouldn't have come if I'd known you had company."

"Don't worry about it." Cath insisted, forcing herself to keep her eyes on the road when what she desperately wanted to do was scrutinise her passenger. The last thing they needed right now was another accident.

She felt Sara involuntarily wince as they rounded the corner where the accident had happened. Her grazed bike was semi-propped against a wall, as far as Sara had managed to drag it. Catherine had already established that the other vehicle had kept going and it had briefly crossed her mind that they would need to inform the police, but right now her primary concern was the bruised girl sitting beside her.

"So, you took her back." Sara said at last, breaking the stifling silence.

"Sort of." Catherine replied enigmatically. "It isn't serious; we're kind of testing the waters."

"Why?" Sara never was one to mince her words, even when in great pain. Cath shrugged feebly.

"I just couldn't leave things as they were." She answered at last. Sara didn't particularly like the excuse, but the glare from the streetlights was making her head hurt and she was too weak to push the issue.

"Will Lindsey be alright alone with her?" She asked instead, turning in her seat and instantly regretting it as a shot of pain ran through her ribcage.

"Of course." Catherine assured her. "After what happened, Emma wouldn't lay a finger on her." She paused, sending her companion a sideways glance. "Besides, Lindsey's asleep. And who else is going to take care of you?"

X x x

"Okay, I'll tell Sofia." Nick said, waving a hand at an impatient Greg, who was hopping nervously from one foot to the other beside him. "Take good care of her, Cath."

"Well? Is Sara okay?" Greg asked as soon as the Texan hung up.

"She's fine, just a concussion and a few bruises." Nick assured them. "I need to call Sofia, get her to put a BOLO out on the car that hit her; Sara said it was a blue or black Volvo and she got a few letters of the licence plate."

"Of course she did." Warrick chuckled. "Upside down beneath a motorbike and she can still read the plates."

Nick laughed softly, dialling the blonde detective's number.

"That's our girl…" he paused, flicking his brown eyes up to Warrick's face. "Did you know that she had a bike?"

"Of course." Rick shrugged nonchalantly, taking a slurp of his coffee. "Didn't you?"

Nick shook his head, brushing it off for now as Sofia's voice filtered down the line.

And if he thought Greg's reaction was bad…

X x x

"That'll teach you to be such a daredevil." Cath mocked as Sara twisted pitifully away from the needle being shoved less-than-gently into her arm.

"That's not why I ride." She contested weakly. "Anyway, it was his fault."

"I don't care. If you'd been in a car…"

"…He'd had hit me head on." Sara finished. "And then what would have happened?"

"You'd have been wearing a seatbelt." Catherine pointed out, perching on the edge of the bed and taking the patient's hand between her own. "With an airbag."

Since Sara had no suitable counter-argument, she settled for sticking her tongue out playfully at her supervisor.

"Sar!"

The panicked voice startled them both and they turned to find a blonde biker-chick clad entirely in black leather dashing towards them. Without a second's hesitation she wrapped Sara into a hug and planted a firm kiss on her lips.

To Catherine's surprise, and utmost disappointment, Sara did not pull back from the embrace.

She recognised the woman as Steph, Sara's mechanic and close friend. They had met a couple of times when she and Sara had been dating.

"What are you doing here?" Sara inquired once Steph released her.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing here'?" She asked incredulously. "I was worried about you."

"I'm fine." Sara insisted, although there was no disguising the hint of joy in her voice at the woman's concern for her. "Just a few grazes."

Sensing that she was intruding on a private moment, Catherine retracted her hands and hopped off the bed, taking a deliberate step away. She knew that Sara and Steph were close, but she also recognised more than friendship when she saw it.

Not that she could blame Sara for moving on. To be honest, she was surprised it had taken this long for someone to snatch her up. Still, it hurt to see it in the flesh.

"Maybe I should get going." She said awkwardly, gesturing to the door. Sara finally managed to tear her gaze from Steph's face to furrow her brow at her.

"You don't have to." She said, hope and confusion seeping into her voice. Catherine fidgeted uncomfortably in the threshold.

"It's okay. I can see you're in good hands." She offered weakly. "I'll call you tomorrow."

She disappeared into the hall as fast as her legs would carry her, taking in several gulping breaths.

She had the sudden urge to go for a very long drive.

X x x

Emma skulked around the house for a while, her mood growing increasingly more sour with each passing minute and no phone call.

Not that she particularly cared how Sara was, but it would be nice to know when her girlfriend was coming home.

As she moved to the window and peered outside into the dark street, her eye began to twitch anxiously.

What if Catherine was staying with her for the night? She was no doctor, but even she could tell Sara was concussed. And people with a concussion need someone to stay with them…

She swallowed hard at the idea of her girlfriend spending the night in her ex's flat … her bed…

She snatched the phone from the cradle and started to dial but stopped, letting her fingers hover over the numbers.

No, if Catherine saw fit to spend the evening playing nursemaid to her ex-girlfriend then that was just fine. But she wasn't going to sit here and be played for a fool.

She was tempted to just leave and let Cath stew over her actions for a while, but a lazy glance across the room reminded her why she couldn't. Lindsey.

She wandered over to the photo, glowering at it from beneath her lashes. It showed a younger Catherine with shorter hair holding a small Lindsey around the waist. It symbolised everything she hated about her girlfriend's history – the fact that she had a history at all. Lindsey was a living reminder of a life that Emma could never be a part of.

And the worst thing was, the little brat knew it.

Narrowing her eyes in thought, she put the picture back on the shelf and made her way up the stairs as quietly as she could.

Lindsey's door was open a crack, but she was sound asleep; the covers balled tightly in her tiny fists.

Emma scanned the room lazily, her gaze settling on an ornate music box. It had been given to Lindsey by Eddie right after the divorce – a reminder that no matter what happened, she would always have two parents who loved her.

Yet another part of Catherine's life that she would never share.

An evil smirk spreading across her lips, she picked the box up and turned it, letting the soft sound of 'Waltz of the Flowers' drift around them. Creeping to the bed, she held the box high over the child's head.

"Oh Lindsey." She sang, waiting for the sleepy blue eyes to blink open.