The bits in italic are flashbacks; hopefully it'll make sense as you're reading it.
x x x x
"You released her?" Catherine barked, dragging a hand through her long tresses. "How did that happen?"
"We don't have enough physical evidence to charge her with." Sofia shrugged helplessly. "Everything we have against her is circumstantial or hearsay. She's been smart."
"She's been lucky." Cath retorted with a disgruntled snort. "So, what happens now?"
"Well, that's actually what I came to tell you." The detective flexed her hands nervously. If Catherine was angry about Kirsty being released, she was going to flip when she heard the next bit.
Grissom picked up on her reluctance to answer and sat forward, folding his hands on the desk.
"Sofia." He said calmly. "What's going on?"
X x x
Sara took a deep breath, shuffling her feet nervously as she waited. She saw movement flickering behind the peephole for a second before the door was unlocked and swung open, sending a gush of warm air around her trembling legs.
The green eyes that stared back at her were cold and harsh, despite the dark circles surrounding them.
"Sara." Kirsty greeted coolly.
"Hey." She cleared her throat. "I heard that they'd released you." She paused, casting a nervous glance around her. "Can I come in?"
After an agonisingly long moment's hesitation, Kirsty stepped aside and let her slide past. Sara threw a final anxious look outside before the door was practically slammed shut behind her.
"Can I get you anything?" Kirsty asked tersely, startling Sara as she surveyed the small living room. Despite their lengthy relationship, she hadn't spent that much time here. Most of their time had been spent at Sara's flat. In the beginning of their relationship, Sara had even jokingly suggested that Kirsty was hiding another girlfriend in here.
"No, thank you." She cleared her throat, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets.
"Okay." Kirsty perched on the arm of the couch, folding her arms sullenly. "Well, you said on the phone that you wanted to talk. So, talk."
"You sure you want to do this?" Warrick asked, a concerned frown marring his forehead.
"I have to." She swallowed, nodding slowly. "It's the only way to put an end to these charges."
Sara took a deep breath. She'd scripted and rehearsed everything she wanted to say, but now the words were evading her.
"You've won." She managed to stutter out at last.
Kirsty's face belayed her confusion.
"I'm sorry." She cocked her head to the side. "I've won?"
"Yeah." Sara straightened up, taking a step closer. "I can't do it anymore. So," she paused, inhaling deeply. "I'll accept the charges."
"You what?" Kirsty stood up so suddenly that Sara had to resist the urge to take a step back. She wasn't going to run away this time.
"I'm going to accept the charges. I can't fight anymore." She continued.
Kirsty narrowed her eyes suspiciously, a sceptical look crossing her frosty features.
"Why?"
"You know that you don't have to do this, right?" Warrick continued, placing a reassuring hand on her arm. "We can find another way."
Sara lifted her sad gaze, shaking her head slowly. "There is no other way, Rick."
"I want this to be over, no matter what it takes."
"What about your career?" Kirsty pointed out. "And Catherine; what does she think of this?"
"She doesn't know." Sara dropped her gaze. That wasn't actually a lie; Cat didn't know she was here. Sara felt bad for not consulting her girlfriend first, but had she known, this would never have worked.
"Really?" Kirsty hummed, wandering over to the window, a pensive look in her eyes. She hadn't put that much stock in Sara's relationship with her supervisor, but she hadn't expected the cracks to start showing just yet either.
"I'm leaving Vegas." Sara continued, clearing her throat.
This new piece of information brought an abrupt stop to Kirsty's absent staring. She turned to Sara with a mix of surprise and fear in her eyes.
"Hey Sar," Warrick licked his lips carefully in thought. "What you said to Cath about leaving, you weren't serious were you?"
She took a deep breath, tipping her head back towards the ceiling. "I don't know."
"You know," The older woman hummed, pushing herself off the window ledge and wandering back across the small living room. "There is another way to make this all go away."
Sara cocked her head to the side, quirking an eyebrow in silent question.
"You could come back."
"Back … to you?" Sara repeated insolently. "You're kidding, right?"
"I know everything about you, Sara." She stated, coming to a stop a couple of feet away from the brunette. "I know about your twisted family tree, I know about your psychotic mother. I can make your life hell if I want to." She listed carefully. "Or, I can take it all back. I can make the charges go away. And you could keep your career, and your reputation intact."
"Just like that?" Sara asked quietly, trying to blink away the angry tears that had started to form in her eyes. "Why would you do that?"
"Because I want you back." Kirsty gushed, lunching forwards and gripping her arms tightly. "Leave Catherine, come back to me and I can make everything go away. It'll go back to how it was before."
'Like it was before' was hardly a tempting offer, but Sara didn't let that thought seep into her expression. Instead, she nodded carefully.
"Okay." She pursed her lips. "If I were to agree to that, how would you take it back?" She inquired. "You accused me of domestic abuse; do you really think people would believe that you could just let that go?"
"I'd downplay it." She shrugged, running her hands up and down Sara's arms. The actions made the girl's stomach turn, but she clamped down on the urge to bat her away. Right now, she had Kirsty right where she wanted her. "Make it sound like I'd been out for revenge and exaggerated them."
Sara scoffed, shaking her head.
"Come on, Sara." Kirsty begged, tightening her grip. "We can put this all behind us; we can make it work again. Like it was before."
Staring into those mesmerising, persuasive green eyes, it was almost a believable promise.
"Alright." Sara swallowed, reciting her practiced lines in her head one last time. "On one condition."
"Yeah, anything." Kirsty nodded eagerly, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"I want you to admit what you did to me."
"What?" She scrunched her nose up.
"Just to me. Here, now." Sara stepped back slightly, straightening up to her full height and stiffening her shoulders. "I want you to admit that you made up those charges against me."
Kirsty frowned, not understanding the request.
"Why?" She asked suspiciously, the cop in her finally coming out to play.
Luckily, Sara had been expecting that and already had an answer prepared.
"If you want to start again then we have to address the issue head on." Sara stated, sounding much more self-assured than she really was. "I need to hear you admit what you did before I can move past it."
For a heart-wrenching moment she thought it hadn't worked, when Kirsty's features finally relaxed a little.
"Alright." She licked her lips. "I made them up. You weren't the abusive one. I was. I hurt you. I followed you – I wanted to know everything about you, so I traced your history." She dropped her gaze, actually managing to look pained at the words she was saying. "I hit you." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."
The apology, like the rest of the tirade, had sounded authentic. But Sara couldn't feel sympathy for her, not now.
Instead, the brunette smiled.
Stepping far out of reach – to Kirsty's utmost bemusement – she began carefully un-doing the buttons on her black shirt. As each inch of milky white skin came into view, Kirsty's eyes tracked her movements with growing concern. Finally, letting the garment fall completely open, Sara revealed the true reason for her request, in the form of a small recorder taped to her chest.
"Thank you." She said, the first genuine words she had uttered since entering the house.
Before Kirsty could begin to work out what was going on, her front door was kicked open and Jim Brass stalked in, followed closely by Warrick and a troupe of uniformed officers. Colleagues, to add insult to injury.
Kirsty's face had paled and her red-rimmed eyes were impossibly wide as it dawned on her that she'd been played.
"You bitch!" She launched herself forward, her fist swinging out and narrowly missing Sara's face before two officers rugby-tackled her to the floor.
"Kirsty Soames." Brass snarled, standing over her writhing body. "You're under arrest for domestic violence, assault, arson and for being a lying manipulative piece of crap." He hissed, nodding at the officer currently pinning her down. "Get her out of here."
During the commotion, Warrick had appeared at Sara's side and wrapped a strong arm around her waist, tugging her firmly against his chest.
"You did good, girl." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. She, currently unable to form words, just nodded, tears stinging at her eyes as she watched Kirsty being hauled out.
"Sara!" The offender wailed, desperately attempting to fight her way out of the officers' grip. "You can't do this to me!"
"It's over Kirsty." Sara cleared her throat, stepping out of Warrick's embrace and straightening up. "You see, you might know a lot about me. You certainly did your research." She conceded with a dry laugh. "But I know you, too. I know how you think."
"You used me." Kirsty almost whispered, hurt emanating from her pitiful expression.
"You're done, Kirsty." Sara repeated, her gaze unwavering.
She felt a firm hand on her arm and turned towards the source. Jim was staring after their suspect, but when he spoke he was addressing Sara.
"Go home, get some rest." He stated calmly. "Like you said, it's over."
"Alright, you're good to go." Warrick nodded, stepping back to admire his work. Sara buttoned up her shirt, ensuring the recorder was suitably covered, and nodded appreciatively at him.
Just on time, Brass wandered in and cast a glance over her body. You'd never even know she was wearing a wire.
"You ready?"
"Yeah," she breathed. "Let's get this over with."
"We'll be right outside." Warrick assured her with a gentle squeeze of her shoulder.
"Remember our deal." Brass interjected sternly. "If she raises a hand to you, you get out of there."
Sara turned to him, a steely look in her hazel eyes.
"I'm not scared of her anymore."
X x x
"Jim!"
He had been expecting this, but his heart still sank at the distinctive sound of heels clicking speedily down the hall towards him. Receiving a sympathetic shrug from Nick, who promptly disappeared in the other direction, Brass turned around to face the oncoming wrath of Catherine Willows.
"Where is she?" The blonde growled, finally reaching him.
Sofia, trailing behind the irate CSI, threw her hands out to the side helplessly.
"I'm sorry." She offered meekly. "I had to tell them."
Brass sent her an understanding look, before turning his attention back to Catherine; who was tapping her foot impatiently.
"Sara's fine, Warrick's taken her back to the hotel." He started, hoping it might appease her slightly.
It didn't.
"What the hell were you thinking, sending her in there?" She barked.
"It was her idea Catherine." Sofia interjected. "She wanted to do it."
"She's all over the place right now! She doesn't know what she wants!"
"She did good Cath." Brass moved to place his hands on the woman's shoulders, but thought better of it when she sent him a dark glare.
"Don't ever let her do something like this again without telling me first." She warned, brandishing a finger at him.
Since it was clear that she wasn't in a reasoning kind of mood, the police captain opted not to say anything. Instead, he moved aside and let her brush past him into the observation room.
"She wants to sit in on the interview." Sofia pointed out, somewhat needlessly.
X x x
She had been livid when they'd eventually prised it from Sofia what was going on, especially when she'd discovered that Sara had gone to Warrick for help and not her. But by the time she had found out about this operation, it had been too late to stop it.
"You can go in." Brass stated calmly, appearing by her side. "But be careful. We're only going to get this one chance with her. Don't overstep the mark, Catherine."
Even as he was talking he could see the words going in one ear and out of the other. Her piercing blue eyes were fixed through the glass, staring out her opponent. In the unflattering orange jumpsuit, with her wild hair tied back, she looked much less threatening than ever before.
Sofia had already gone in and was busy reciting Miranda, not that Kirsty really needed it reading to her.
With a deep intake of breath, Catherine tore her gaze from the window and walked with determined, measured steps to the door.
X x x
Sofia had already made herself comfortable at the table when Catherine finally followed her in. She wasn't surprised to see the blonde CSI had won out against Brass, it was inevitable really.
Kirsty, however, was visibly shocked to see her in the room.
"Catherine." She blinked, quickly hiding her surprise behind a smirk. "I see you made it out alive."
"Yeah." She cleared her throat sliding into a seat beside Sofia. "No thanks to you."
Kirsty pursed her lips, attempting to disguise the cocky smile spreading on her lips.
Joining Sofia, Catherine held the suspect's gaze unwaveringly as she placed a recorder on the table and hit play.
"You weren't the abusive one. I was. I hurt you. I followed you – I wanted to know everything about you, so I traced your history… I hit you."
Kirsty's face fell as her own voice crackled and echoed around the small room.
"I told you the truth would out." Catherine said coolly. "Did you really think anyone would believe that Sara was an abuser?"
"Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The cop smarmed, shuffling in her seat.
On the other side of the table, both women stiffened. Sofia heard Catherine gulp, her long nails digging into the table top.
"Don't you dare." Cath warned in a low voice. "Don't even try to bring her past into this."
Kirsty smirked, glad to have elicited a reaction. With a dismissive wave, she quickly disregarded the tape recording.
"That tape doesn't prove anything. I was trying to get Sara back; I'd have said anything she wanted me to." She paused, sending a sly look at Sofia. "She's manipulative like that."
"Well that's funny because Catherine and I have both known Sara for a long time and she hasn't manipulated either of us." The detective pointed out. Unlike the edgy criminalist beside her, she was much better at hiding the disgust bubbling in her stomach right now. Under the guise of being bored by the whole thing, she was pretending to examine her fingernails. It was a common police technique, one which Kirsty was no doubt aware of, but it seemed to be having the desired effect – Kirsty was scowling at her in annoyance over the lack of a reaction. "In fact, the only person manipulating evidence here is you."
"Maybe." Kirsty conceaded, straightening up and placing her handcuffed hands onto the table. The chains rattled, scraping against the scarred wood as she stretched towards them, flexing each finger in turn until each knuckle cracked. "Maybe not. But can you prove it?"
X x x
Greg's stomach knotted instinctively at the harsh voice filtering into the observation room as he crept inside.
Jim was staring intently through the large window, his brow furrowed in anger. Whatever was being said, it clearly wasn't going in their favour.
"Is it really a good idea to have those three in a room together?" The younger man cleared his throat, sidling up beside the cop.
"What do you mean?" Jim asked, his blue eyes never moving from their target.
"Well, you've got two of Sara's ex-girlfriend's and her current girlfriend, together. In one room."
Brass blinked at him. In truth, it was about the only time Greg had ever seen the aging detective look genuinely startled.
"What?" He repeated. "Sara and Sofia …"
"Oh yeah." Greg nodded. "It was a long time ago, but still."
"Huh." Jim nodded, turning back to the window. "No kidding." He had known there was some history between the women, but he didn't know exactly what it was. Although that could explain the animosity between them all these years.
Shaking his head, he brushed the thought aside and dropped his shoulders heavily.
"She still denies abusing Sara, and she hasn't given up anything about the fire." He sighed. "Without a confession, or more evidence, the DA won't charge her with either."
"Well, maybe I can help with that." Greg produced a folder, offering it to the captain with a tight smile. "I was going over the case file – I think I found a loophole that might solve all our problems. And Kirsty's already provided all the evidence we need."