A/N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks for all your reviews. And special thanks to Ace47 for beta-ing. Enjoy the chapter - and don't hesitate to tell me what you think! I'm happy about every review!!!! Chapter 29
Catherine and Sara ranted a bit more about Albert - and even Alex declared her disgust for the psychologist. Alex gave them her promise that she would make sure that he would pay for what he did. She also said that she would try to think of an idea to get back at Ecklie too. After all, they didn't have any evidence against the assistant lab director. It was their word against his and Albert's. And both CSIs knew that this wasn't worth much.
Afterwards Catherine told Alex some stories about their jobs as CSIs. They soon fell into an easy conversation. Even Sara joined them every now and then.
Alex smiled to herself. Sara looked more relaxed than before. It seemed that the brunette had slowly opened up and accepted her as a friend, not an enemy. Hopefully she could convince Sara to stay the rest of the week. Sooner or later they had to talk about that, but right now a little break seemed like a good idea.
As if on cue Sara's stomach growled. Alex and Catherine turned to her, smirking. Sara started to blush and looked away. "Sorry."
Alex smiled and put her notebook down. "How about we grab something for lunch? I'm totally with Sara's stomach. And during lunch I'll tell you about our plans for the rest of the day. How does that sound?"
The two CSIs immediately agreed and the women left for the restaurant.
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They were having lunch on the patio of the restaurant because Alex insisted that they should enjoy the good weather as long as possible. The menu wasn't big, but to Sara's delight there was also a vegetarian meal on it.
Sara was hungry – something she didn't realize before. She hadn't really eaten since the flight if you don't count the slice of toast Catherine forced her to eat this morning. Of course this wasn't that uncommon for her. If she was busy or under a lot of stress she often forgot to eat without even noticing it. And 'a lot of stress' was the right description for her current situation – at least until now. Sara had to admit that it seemed like Alex was good at what she was doing, because she felt a lot calmer than this morning and obviously her appetite was back.
The three women kept talking throughout their lunch, but Alex made sure that the topics stayed light. She didn't need anyone to choke on their food. Therefore they weren't talking about yesterday or the relationship between the two CSIs. Instead they discussed sports and vegetarians. When they had finished eating and were enjoying the warm sun and cool iced coffee, Alex decided that it was time to tell them about her plans for the rest of the day.
"I know that this seminar is about teamwork, but considering the circumstances I'd like to talk to each one of you alone. Maybe it's easier for you to address certain issues without the other one present."
Sara swallowed nervously at that.
"Look, I won't force anyone of you to talk about something special. I just want to give you a chance to get a few things off your mind, things you don't feel comfortable talking about right now. It doesn't have to do with yesterday. Maybe there are general things you'd like to talk about."
Catherine and Sara looked at each other. Was that a good idea or would it create more tension? They both had things they wanted to talk about – preferably without the other one present. But would it lead to further mistrust between them? Both CSIs were thinking along the same lines. After a good minute of weighing the pros and cons, they finally agreed to Alex suggestion.
"Great. Who wants to start?" To say Alex was relieved was an understatement. She hadn't expected them to hesitate that long in the first place.
Sara and Catherine looked at each other again. The blonde spoke up first. "You wanna go first?"
Sara thought about it, but finally shook her head. "No, go ahead. I think I … have to figure out first what I want to talk about."
Alex nodded. "That's fair enough." Then she turned to Catherine. "It's lunch time, so I think almost everyone will take a break and the park will be busy. Maybe we should talk inside this time. If that's okay with you …" When the older CSI nodded, Alex continued. "Your room is on the front side of the mansion, isn't it?" Again Catherine confirmed. "If you don't mind, I suggest we talk there. It should be cooler there than in the room they assigned to me." Then she turned to Sara. "Well, if you want to take a nap, we can also go somewhere else of course."
Sara shook her head vehemently. The last thing on her mind after her latest nightmare was sleep. "No way. No. No. I mean … thanks, but I don't want to sleep. I'm not tired."
Alex raised an eyebrow at Sara's behavior. She seemed to be … afraid to sleep. The psychologist made a mental note to bring this topic up later.
Sara rose from her seat. "Don't worry, take the room. I'll go for a walk.
That caused Catherine's head to snap in her direction, panic written all over the blondes face. "Sara …" She remembered very well what happened the last time her co-worker went for a walk.
Sara raised her left hand to cut Catherine off. "Don't worry, Catherine. I just want some space to think and this place is a nice change from Vegas."
When her older co-worker still looked anything but convinced, she sighed. "Does it help if I say that I won't do anything self-destructive this time?"
That caused Catherine to smile. "It would help if you would promise it."
Sara smirked. Then she sighed over dramatically. "Fine." She laid her left hand on her heart and added. "I promise." That earned her a smile from the blonde. Returning the smile, Sara turned to Alex. "When do you want me back?"
The psychologist looked at her watch? "It's 1 pm now. How about you come back around 2:30. I don't want to stretch that talk unnecessarily. If one of you decides that she has some other things to talk about, we can always talk again later. Our schedule is pretty much up to us."
Sara nodded. "Sounds fine to me. I see you then." Even if she was sure that she wouldn't take Alex up on her offer, because she didn't want to spend more time than necessary talking about herself. Talking about her relationship with Catherine sounded somewhat manageable, but talking about herself didn't hold any charm. Maybe she would come up with a good topic to talk about with Alex during her walk. First of all she had to get her thoughts in order.
The brunette wanted to put her chair back under the table, unconsciously grabbing it with both hands. Pain shot immediately through her whole arm. "Shit!" Sara gritted her teeth and tried to hold her hand as still as possible, hoping that the throbbing pain would stop again.
Alex and Catherine looked at her concerned. It was the psychologist who spoke up. "You know, we have a medical doctor here, too – for emergencies. You should let him check out your hand. It looks really serious. The next hospital is just about 30 minutes away, so it wouldn't be a problem to get you there."
Sara shook her head. A hospital was the last place she wanted to be in right now. Ever since she was a child she hated hospitals – and the doctors working in them. So she definitely wasn't going there, at least not voluntarily. "Don't worry. It's okay. It was just a bad movement. My hand is fine." The brunette put on her best smile to hide her pain.
Catherine switched immediately into mother-mode. "Sara, you should really let that doctor examine your hand. Maybe you did some serious damage. I mean, it really didn't look good this morning."
That comment caused Sara to smirk. "Hey, don't insult my hand. It's a pretty hand."
The older CSI rolled her eyes. Typical Sara!
The brunette continued. "And by the way, you were the one who bandaged it. So I'm sure I'll be okay." And before anyone could further object she was gone, leaving behind a head shaking Catherine and a smiling Alex.
"She's quite an interesting woman, isn't she?" The psychologist looked after Sara's retreating form then turned back to the other CSI.
Catherine couldn't help but smile back at Alex. "Yeah, that she is." But the smile was soon replaced by worry again.
Alex reached across the table and put her hand on Catherine's. "Hey, don't worry. Sara looked calm and collected. She'll be back." Of course she was following the conversation of the two women minutes before. The self-destructive-comment really made her curious. She figured it had something to do with Sara's hand. After all, Catherine was pretty nervous when Jennifer asked her about the bandaged hand last night – an indication that her answer might had not be true. Alex had a gut feeling that she would learn very soon what really happened to Sara. "Shall we?"
The blonde nodded and the two women headed for the room.
