She dragged the curler through her hair, attempting to make herself look more alive than she actually felt.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?"
Sara stilled, seeking out Catherine's reflection in the mirror. The blonde was lounging across her bed, toying distractedly with the tasselled edges of a blanket.
"What do you mean?" She asked, switching the device off and putting it back down. Cath shuffled further upright into a seated position and reached out a lazy hand to drag her fingertips through Sara's ringlets.
"I mean, are you sure you're ready to go back to work?" She asked earnestly.
Despite staring at her through the glass, Sara still managed to send her a disdainful look.
"I'm fine."
Cath's lips spread into a tight smile at the typically-Sara answer.
"Come on Kitten, don't play that game with me." She teased. "Your body's been through a shock, you need to let yourself recover."
Sara turned around on her stool, so they were face to face, and smiled warmly at her friend.
"I know that you're worried and I appreciate it, I really do. But I promise, I'm okay."
They held each other's gaze for a long moment, before Catherine leant off the bed and wrapped Sara into a tight hug.
"I just don't want to see you get hurt. Again." She mumbled against her neck.
"I know." Sara shifted her position so she was better supporting Catherine's weight. "And I love you for that. But right now, I'm more worried about you."
Cath pulled back from the embrace, sliding back down onto her stomach on the bed.
"Me?" She enquired. "Why would you need to worry about me?"
"Because," Sara draped her arms across the bed, so they were both resting their heads close together on the mattress, "you've still got IAB to worry about, not to mention Ecklie..."
"Yeah, yeah I know." Cath rolled onto her back and threw an arm across her eyes. "I just ... I can't think about that right now."
"Well I'm afraid it's probably not going away anytime soon." Sara mused sadly.
Catherine turned her head, a scowl settling on her face at the line of conversation.
"Can we go back to worrying about you, please?"
x X x
"Well?" Nick demanded without preamble, stalking into the lab.
Greg turned in the swivel chair to face the door, his expression as tense as the rest of his body. It had taken all his charm to convince Wendy to give up her lab to him for a few hours, and the remorse at lying to her had settled in not long after.
"You know, I want it on record that I only did this under duress." He stated with a frown.
"Did what?" Warrick asked, breezing past Nick into the lab.
The two younger men tried and failed to hide their guilty looks and he rolled his eyes at their pitiable efforts.
"Alright, come on." He drawled, sinking into a chair. "Spill."
After a painfully awkward moment, Nick exhaled.
"Alright, you know we found that evidence number in Catherine's office?"
"I know that I told you to put it back." Warrick agreed sternly.
"Yeah, well, we didn't." Nick confessed blithely. "We went to central evidence, we found the box and Greg ran the DNA evidence."
"Oh, man." He chuckled dryly, shaking his head. "Does my advice not mean anything anymore?"
"Hey, now just wait a minute." Nick interjected. "Greg got a hit on the DNA – now we have an opportunity to get this guy off the streets. We can call Brass and have him put away, not just for what he did to Sara but for all the other women he might have done this to as well."
Despite his best efforts, Warrick appeared to consider this for a moment. However, it was short-lived, as Greg quickly interjected.
"Well, it's not that simple." He said. "First of all, the sample wasn't linked to any other cases, solved or otherwise."
"So, that doesn't mean he hasn't done it before." Nick frowned, unperturbed. "It just means he wasn't caught. Maybe he wore a condom."
"Then why wouldn't he wear one when he raped Sara?" Warrick pointed out, but his argument went largely ignored by his mate, who waved a disinterested hand towards him and nodded at Greg to continue.
"That's not the only thing." The former-tech cleared his throat. "I ran the DNA through CODIS, didn't get any hits. So I widened the field and checked all the other systems just to be thorough – I got a hit on one."
He handed them the results, watching Nick's expression closely. The Texan's dark eyes slowly widened with the realisation of what he was seeing.
"You got a hit off the police systems?" He asked, shocked.
"What?" Warrick matched the look on his face. "Sara was raped by a cop?"
"No, not a cop." Greg pursed his lips tightly. "The head of the San Francisco Crime Lab."
Nick and Warrick locked eyes, but it was Warrick who found his voice first.
"She was raped by her old boss."
"Yeah." Nick licked his lips, putting the pieces together in his head. "Which means that Catherine lied to us, again."
x X x
Catherine was so busy chattering to herself, it took her a moment to realise that Sara was no longer beside her. She stalled halfway up the steps to the lab and turned back towards the parking lot, where the brunette appeared to be having an ill-timed change of heart about returning to work.
Jogging back towards her, Catherine caught her by the arms, breaking the trance she seemed to have fallen into.
"Sara, babe?" She queried softly.
"I'm okay." Sara shook her head to clear whatever thoughts had suddenly begun to plague her.
"No, you're not." Cath countered gently, tugging her towards a low wall nearby. "Come here, just sit with me for a minute."
"I don't know what's wrong." She confessed in a shaky voice. "I just feel ... anxious."
"Last time you were here, you were hauled out in an ambulance." Catherine pointed out. "I think it's normal to be a bit apprehensive."
"Yeah, maybe." Sara attempted a weak smile. "I guess you were right."
"Of course." Cath shot a cheeky grin back at her. "Aren't I always?"
x X x
"Hey, hold up!" Warrick jogged down the hall after Nick. Catching his arm, he dragged him to a halt and moved them to a quieter corner where they were less likely to be overheard by passing lab rats. "You don't know that Catherine lied about this."
"She told us that it was some guy in a bar." Nick hissed. "So either Sara lied to her, or she's lying to us. And if they're such good friends like she claims, why wouldn't Sara tell her the truth about this?"
"I don't know," Warrick conceded. "But Sara obviously didn't want us to know about it."
"Yeah?" Nick cocked an eyebrow. "Well that's just too bad."
"Come on Nicky," Warrick warned. "Don't do anything stupid."
"He was her boss, Warrick." The Texan spat. "How do we know that this was the first time? What if he did this while she was working in San Francisco too?"
"Now you're just getting carried away."
"No, no I'm not." Nick insisted. "And one way or another, I'm going to find out what really happened that night."
"Even if it's not what Sara wants?"
The two held each other's stare for a long moment. Finally, in a defiant act of stubbornness, Nick jutted his jaw out and pushed his shoulders back.
"I'm going to run with this. I have to."
Warrick nodded sadly in acceptance of the fact that he wasn't going to change his friend's mind.
"Fine. But you're running with it on your own." He took a step back and held his hands up. "I hope you know what you're risking here."