A/N: Disclaimer in previous chapters

Catherine entered the locker room about two hours after leaving PD. She had spoken to Brass on the phone briefly about her case and then had set about wandering around the lab. She pretended she was working but in reality she was looking for Sara. She wasn't sure what it was that made her want to find the brunette so badly and she knew Sara probably wouldn't appreciate Catherine cornering her about her case, but her curiosity had kept her walking. Sitting on the bench in front of her locker, Catherine began unlacing her boots. She was done for the night and ready to go home.

She had been completely unsuccessful in her hunt for the elusive Sara. Sitting on the bench in sock feet she let out a sigh. Sitting alone began to bring back the memories of all the problems she was trying to keep away. The last week had been emotionally difficult to say the least. She looked down at her toes. Wiggling them slightly she sighed again and reached for her shoes. Shutting her locker she gave the room one more look before heading into the hall. She passed the DNA lab, spying Greg, brows furrowed, pipetting something into falcon tubes. She was sadly reminded that Greg still wasn't speaking to her. Her mind returned to his parting comment about taking her conflicts with Sara to the roof. The roof! Snapping back to the present she did a 180 and strode for the nearest staircase. In the time she had spent looking for Sara she hadn't once thought to check the roof.

Opening the hatch, Catherine stepped over the short ledge and out onto the roof. She blinked as the light from the rising sun temporarily blinded her. Once her eyes adjusted to the new light level she looked around. Mentally kicking herself for not checking the roof sooner she saw Sara standing in plain view leaning against the railing at the edge of the building. Sara shifted slightly as Catherine came to lean against the railing next to her, but gave no other acknowledgement. Unsure of what to say, Catherine kept quiet. Sara was staring out across the city squinting into the sun. The wind had blown her long hair around, and the light reflected the faint freckles scattered across her face. Catherine glanced over at her. She had never noticed the freckles before. Looking down she noticed the lit cigarette in the brunette's left hand. Sara shifted again and followed Catherine's gaze. She lifted an eyebrow slightly and then looked back out over the railing.

Catherine reached down and snatched the cigarette from Sara's hand. She heard Sara cluck in annoyance and turned back to her in time to see Sara roll her eyes and wait for Catherine to stamp out the butt. Instead, Catherine brought it to her own lips and inhaled deeply. Letting out a perfect stream of smoke over the railing, she looked back at Sara and handed her the cigarette. Sara took it and paused, letting a ghost of a smile cross her features. Giving a court nod she took one last drag and tossed the butt over the edge. They stood in silence a while longer before Sara gave a slight shiver. Turning away from the edge she wordlessly headed for the door. She turned to face Catherine one more time, waiting for her by the door. Catherine followed and the two women headed back into the lab. Alone in the hall again, Catherine felt a little better. Somehow she and Sara had wordlessly begun to make amends. With that in mind she forgot all about Sara's case.

Sara left the locker room a short while later car keys in hand. After finally deciding that she was effectively useless at the lab in her current state she was ready to leave. She was planning on stopping by the hospital to check in on Delia on her way home. Turning a corner, she almost bumped into Nick.

"Hey, Sara. You heading out?"

"Yeah, I figure it's probably better if I at least go home and shower"

Nick nodded. Giving Sara a smile he said, "Hey I thought you kept all that stuff here? Don't you have a week's worth of clothes stored in a locker or something?"

Sara gave Nick a look. "Uh, no actually I only keep three days of clothing with me, my shampoo is empty and my towel needs washing so if I want to shower I kind of have to leave".

"Ah, yeah probably for the best. I think the smell is starting to attract the bugs" Nick said, pointing to a fly that so happened to be buzzing past.

"Very funny Nick" Sara said darkly, folding her arms over her chest.

"You know I've got a spare towel and Catherine probably has some shampoo you could use if you wanted." Sara grimaced. At the look on Sara's face he added, "Sorry; you probably prefer your own stuff, and you should probably just go home, I'm sure you could use the rest."

"Yeah..." Sara trailed off. Noticing that she was staring into space Nick said "Well I'm going to go finish up and then I'm headed out too. You have a good day."

It took Sara a second to register that Nick was talking to her. "Yeah you too Nicky" she called after him since he was already part way down the hall. She had been thinking about Catherine's shampoo. It wasn't that she didn't like it; in fact she thought Catherine always smelled rather nice, it was more that Sara didn't want to smell that way herself. She wasn't too keen on flowery; and she didn't think her and Catherine had quite reached that comfort level yet. If they ever got there. Shaking her head slightly, she moved off towards the exit.

To be continued