I felt like Greg has been underused in this story, so here's a little Greggo for you all :)
x x x x
As soon as they were firmly behind closed doors, Catherine deflated onto the edge of her desk. Pulling Sara against her, she let her head fall heavily against the brunette's shoulder.
"So," Sara mumbled into her hair after an agonisingly long moment of silence. "Am I to take it from your little speech that we're not breaking up after all?"
Cath managed a dry laugh, if only to stop herself from bursting into tears.
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean for all that to come out in there, I was just ... I honestly don't know anymore."
Sara pulled out of the embrace and sat them both down, taking Cath's shaking hands between her own and holding her eye despite the crystal tears beginning to form in her own.
"You know that I'll do whatever's best for you and Lindsey." She promised. "And if that means the two of us splitting up, that's what we'll do."
The statement, muttered by Catherine over her dining table in a fit of sobs, had initially blindsided her; but she could certainly see where the older woman was coming from. Maybe it would be best for Lindsey if Cath wasn't so distracted right now.
"I don't want to." The supervisor moped despondently.
"I know." Sara agreed squeezing her fingers tighter. "Neither do I. But you said it yourself, our relationship is damaging Lindsey and it's complicating things at work."
"Yeah, well." Cath chuckled bitterly, tugging one hand free to quickly wipe the clear tracks off her cheeks. "I think that's a moot point now, don't you?"
Sara offered a half-smile, the most she could manage at the moment.
"It's up to you." She said gently at last. "Regardless of what you decide, I'll always be here for you, and Lindsey."
Cath nodded, dropping her gaze to the carpet.
"Thank you."
Sara had been hoping for something more explanatory than the non-answer, but in the event she decided that she'd rather not hear the words spoken out loud.
Maybe it would be easier if they just left if at thank you.
The heart-breaking moment was interrupted by Grissom's head appearing around the door, followed hesitantly by the rest of him.
"I think the three of us need to talk." He cleared his throat, gesticulating awkwardly between them. "About ... well, about this."
Never breaking her contact with Sara, Catherine took a deep breath and stood up.
"No, we don't." She stated, exuding some strength that she didn't know was inside of her. "There's nothing to talk about. Sara and I ... we're not together anymore."
"Oh." Grissom frowned. He'd come with a whole speech prepared, but it promptly dissolved into tatters at this unexpected news. "Because of this ...?"
Yes. No. Both.
"Because of everything." She summed up the conflicting thoughts with a helpless shrug, shaking her head to dissuade him from pressing the matter lest she lose whatever sliver of composure she was still clinging on to. "Where's Connolly?"
"He's talking to the fire service, trying to work out why the alarm went off." The boss explained, still glancing shiftily between the women. He knew them both well enough to know that they were struggling with whatever decision they had just come to.
Before he could challenge them further on the matter, or at least offer some kind of condolence, Sara was on her feet and striding past him towards the door.
"You know what, why don't I leave you two to it." She excused herself hurriedly, shooting Cath an apologetic smile at her sudden departure. "I've just remembered something I really need to do."
It was a terrible excuse and they all knew it, but nobody contested her urgency to leave. The pain on her face was explanation enough.
X x x
"Catherine and Sara." Warrick shook his head in wonderment. "Wow, I did not see that coming."
"Yeah, no kidding." Nick scoffed, ruffling his increasingly unruly hair. "No wonder Lindsey's been acting out lately."
Warrick lifted his head from staring at the table top, his forehead creased.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, come on Rick." Nick rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. "Her mother hooks up with another woman, wouldn't that mess you up?"
"Come off it." Warrick disregarded the veiled insult. "Lindsey's mature and open-minded enough to understand it."
"Really?" The Texan countered, placing his hands on his hips as the broad-shouldered man squared off against his mate. "I don't understand it, so how the hell can she?"
Warrick looked like he wanted to give his colleague a slap at the remark, but one well-timed glance across the hall made him think twice and he clenched his hand into a fist to fight the urge back down.
His sharp emerald eyes remained fixed on Connolly, who had already spotted them and was heading their way. However, he was still determined to have the last say on the matter and lowered his voice accordingly.
"Either way, it's no excuse for what Lindsey's been doing lately. She knows better - and so should you."
X x x
"Hey." Sara slipped into the lab, checking they were alone before letting the door click shut behind her. "Thank you."
Greg smiled, putting down his work and giving her his full attention.
"You're welcome." He shrugged bashfully. "I figured you guys could do with a few minutes to get your stories straight – or not so straight, apparently." He wiggled his eyebrows mischievously.
Sara attempted a smile at the bad joke, but it didn't quite reach her glistening eyes. Greg picked up on his friend's flat mood and his cheeky grin quickly morphed into concern.
"What's wrong?"
Sara took a deep breath, sinking into his chair uninvited. She pursed her lips, pinning her hands between her knees in a desperate effort to keep them still.
"It's over."
"What?" Greg blinked, nearly knocking over a tray of samples in his shock.
"It's over." She repeated, her voice cracking as the first few tears escaped and started to creep down her face. Ripping off his latex gloves, Greg cleared the lab in two paces and wrapped her into a tight hug. He felt her bury into his stomach, muted sobs hiccupping out of her chest.
He squeezed her as tightly as he dare, staring over her head into the hallway; well aware that a certain someone was liable to wander past at any minute.
"Hey, I don't want to rush you or anything but, this might look a little suspicious if Connolly were to walk by."
Sara laughed meekly in embarrassment, sitting up straight and wiping at her eyes.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled shamefacedly.
"It's okay." He assured her, holding out a tissue and allowing her a minute to compose herself before he perched on the desk in front of her. "So, what happened?"
"Catherine, she ... we decided it would be best for Lindsey if we called things off."
"Oh." Greg frowned sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry. But, it doesn't have to be forever right? I mean, she might change her mind ... right?"
There was an innocent hopefulness to his voice that almost allowed Sara to believe it. Unfortunately, even Greggo's boyish features and deep brown puppy-dog eyes weren't enough to fool her heart this time around.
"I don't know." She exhaled, throwing her hands out. "Maybe. Although, with everything that's happened tonight, I doubt it."
"You mean with Agent Connolly?" Greg clarified, flicking his gaze briefly into the hall as if the detective might appear at the very mention of his name.
Sara nodded, sniffing.
"Hey," she looked up, suddenly remembering why she had come in here in the first place. "What about you? What are you going to do when they realise it was you that set off the fire alarm?"
"Ah, don't worry about me." He flashed her that irresistibly charming grin. "After all, the stress of the last few days could force anyone to sneak a cheeky smoke in the showers. And besides, who could stay made at this face?"
A soft laugh bubbled out of Sara at his cocky buoyancy, making Greg's features light up.
"Hey," he nudged her leg lightly with his sneakered foot. "Why don't I take you out after work?"
Sara smiled tightly at the tempting offer, but shook her head.
"I'm sorry Greg; I'm really not in the mood."
"Come on." He begged. "We could hit the Strip? Light it up on the dancefloor – I'll even let you beat me at pool?"
She could practically feel her arm being twisted and her resolute refusal started to wane. Greg knew the exact moment that she caved and he flashed his teeth in a knowing grin.
"I promise, I'll make you forget all about her." He beamed. "After all, I know your Achilles heel – 'Tequila Sunrise'."
This time she couldn't bite back the laugh at his use of her old college nickname – 'because when she hit the tequila, she didn't make it home until sunrise'.
Pushing herself out of the chair, she brushed herself down and strode to the door, purposefully bumping into his shoulder on the way.
"I told you that in confidence, Babyface."
X x x
With the boys still at loggerheads and the girls determinedly avoiding contact with each other, what remained of the peculiar shift went pretty quickly. Nick and Warrick left separately, with Catherine not far behind them.
She had resisted the urge to ask Sara out for coffee; knowing that, no matter how much they needed to talk, it would only be impossibly awkward.
However, as she left the building and sucked in a lungful of fresh morning air, she instantly regretted the decision.
Already halfway across the parking lot, Sara had slipped out ahead of her and was making her way towards her car, arm in arm with none other than Greg Sanders.
The logical part of her was sure that the lab rat was just taking her out for breakfast to cheer her up. However, the jealous, irrational part of her was already picturing her girlfriend hitting the sack with the attractive younger man.
Sorry, her ex-girlfriend.
Just the sight of them together turned her stomach and she clamped down on the urge to run after Sara and beg her to come home with her, to strip off her clothes and kiss every part of her body and tell her how much she loved her.
"You lost?" A sharp voice inquired, startling her out of her impassioned stare-off with the brunette's distant figure. Even from here, she could practically see the woman's strong muscles tensing and relaxing with every step beneath her skin-tight t-shirt.
"No." She cleared her throat, blinking away the built-up tears. "No, I was just ..."
Connolly continued to appraise her sceptically as she turned once again to watch the now-departing car.
"Was just...?" He pressed when she left the sentence hanging.
She sighed, her shoulders slumping with the simple effort of breathing.
"I was just going home."