Little shorter than usual but hopefully worth it ;) x

x x x x

Catherine didn't know whether to eat, sleep or go kill Grissom for ever bringing this damn file into her life.

She had only planned on skim reading it in case something jumped out at her, but against her every will she got dragged into it; both absorbed and paralysed by the details. By the time she turned to the last page tears were streaming unnoticed down her pale face. She could practically feel what Sara had felt; what she must feel every day.

But it was that last page, about a third of the way down, that made her heart stop.

X x x

In the end she did not eat or sleep, and she didn't kill Grissom. Yet. She paced. And while she paced, she muttered.

"What's going on?" A sleepy voice mumbled, interrupting her semi-mental rant. Catherine froze. She turned slowly towards the bed. She was beginning to think that she had imagined it: Sara had not moved and her breathing remained even. However her eyes fluttered open and fixed Cath with a curious look.

"Nothing." She said softly, stepping back to the head of the bed. Sara rolled over, arching her back off the mattress as she did. Cath sat back in the seat, resting her elbows on the bed and fixing the brunette with an uncertain smile. Sara's brown eyes flicked across her face, landing almost automatically on the bedside table. There, they stopped. "You said I should read it." Cath shrugged awkwardly, biting her lip. Even in the darkness she felt Sara's eyes jump back to hers, searching her face. To Cath's surprise, Sara nodded.

"You understand now?" She asked softly, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. Catherine but was about to speak but caught herself in time. She needed to make sure her and Sara were on the same page before she brought up that topic.

"Yeah." She nodded eventually.

"So you know why I don't want them." Okay, she knew what they were talking about now.

"Yes I do." Catherine agreed, knowing for definite what they were talking about now. "And I understand you're fear, I do. But..." Sara turned her head away, obviously not interested in hearing the rest, but Catherine persisted, placing a hand on her arm. "Hey, I get it honey, I do." She said, gripping her hand. "You're scared. You don't trust drugs, of any kind, in case it's not what it should be."

Sara was looking at her again, her gaze both attentive and cautious.

"But I am not your mother." Cath pointed out. "And I am not going to give you anything to hurt you."

"I know." Sara said softly, her voice weak.

"Okay." Catherine nodded encouragingly. "Okay, so then..." She picked up the pot of pills, sitting untouched behind the file on the bedside table. Sara watched her movements carefully. "...will you trust me?"

X x x

"Just take it." Cath said softly, enclosing Sara's fingers around the tub. "Look, you saw me open these earlier. They weren't tampered with, and they have been sat here ever since. What is in that tub is what is on the label." Sara automatically read the label, her eyes scanning over the list of small typed writing. "See, there's nothing that's going to hurt you." Catherine assured her. She took them back and shook one small white tablet into her hand. She held it out to Sara, who took it cautiously with shaking fingers. "It's okay." Catherine promised, smiling encouragingly. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sara placed it on her tongue and swallowed hard. Catherine's smile widened, her fingers tightening around Sara's.

"Good girl." She lunged forward and kissed her forehead tenderly. "I'm proud of you." Sara's eyes flicked to hers, watery and scared, but grateful.

Catherine remained silent for a moment, giving Sara a chance to come to terms with what she had just done. Finally, she spoke again, soft and low.

"I wish you'd have told me about your feelings for me." Sara's eyes flashed to hers, wide with undisguised shock; a look that Catherine couldn't help but smile at. "Yes, I read that too." She saw Sara's gaze flick to the file and back to hers. Her mouth opened and closed but no words were uttered. Cath leant closer, gripping her hand gently with both of hers. "Sara, honey, why didn't you say anything?" she pressed, keeping her voice light.

"Like what?" She finally managed to stumble out. "Hey, I know you're straight and completely uninterested and I know this will make work intolerably uncomfortable but I thought you should know that I can't stop thinking about you?" The blonde couldn't help but smirk during Sara's sarcastic little rant. Even in the dim light she could see the young woman's cheeks turning a pretty shade of pink. She chuckled softly, stroking the back of Sara's hand with the pad of her thumb.

"Oh Sara, darling." She sighed. "Did you really think it would be a problem?" Sara shrugged, avoiding eye contact. "Hon, do you think that, in all these years, I have never had a crush on a colleague?" She laughed again at the thoughtful expression that crossed the brunette's face. She pushed herself up off the chair and pressed a kiss into Sara's hair. "Get dressed, I'll make you something to eat." She started to leave, pausing in the doorway only to send the bemused CSI one final, baffling comment.

"Hey Sar," She waited until she had the girl's full attention, "who said I was straight?" with a smile and a wink, she was gone.