"Okay Catherine, we're about ready to go."
"Thanks David," she nodded, watching the coroner's assistant and his lackey begin moving the body out. As they ducked under the tent entrance, they passed Brass coming in and exchanged a polite greeting with the detective.
"Alright, I've taken statements from all the staff. None of them saw anyone suspicious in the area or heard a gunshot." Jim declared, stalking into the middle of the scene.
"So they say." Cath nodded disbelievingly, stripping off her gloves and tossing them into an evidence bag. "Hey, have you seen Sara anywhere?"
"Yeah, she's talking to the conservationist." He nodded in the direction of the parking lot. "It seems she's tracked down some charity that's willing to take the animals."
"Of course she has." Catherine smiled. Standing up and dusting off her jeans, she headed outside herself in search of her elusive colleague.
Rounding the corner into the parking lot, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight before her.
Sara was stood talking to an animated young man, with a small monkey casually perched on her shoulder. As they talked, she periodically handed pieces of fruit up to the animal, who took each one in its tiny hands and sniffed it before eating it.
When the conversation appeared to come to an end, Catherine wandered over, shaking her head in amusement.
"I hope you've had all your shots." She teased playfully. Sara smiled, electing not to answer. She clicked her tongue, encouraging the monkey down onto a perch, where Catherine reached out tentatively to stroke his head with the tip of her finger. It was clear from the look in her eyes that Sara was quite enamoured with the little critter, who completely ignored Cath in favour of gripping the brunette's hand, searching for more snacks.
"You really love animals, don't you?" Catherine noted with a fond smile.
"Yes, I do." Sara agreed easily, tickling the primate behind his oversized ears. "They're beautiful. And they don't judge you; they don't expect anything from you except respect for their right to exist."
Catherine had always known that Sara was an animal lover; that was no great secret. But seeing her now as she fawned over the little monkey, she noticed something that she had never had the opportunity to see before.
Sara – defensive, protective, private Sara Sidle – was completely unguarded. Cath had seen brief flickers of this, moments where Sara let her walls down for a few seconds; long enough to get a tiny glimpse of her soul. But right now, as she focused her whole energy on the animal, those walls were nowhere in sight. With animals, Sara was a completely open book.
Apparently, what it took for Sara to truly open up, was the unbiased and honest love and respect that only an animal can offer.
Suddenly, Catherine didn't feel so bad for having struggled to reach her for all these years. It wasn't just hard work, it was virtually impossible.
Yet right now she was stood here, staring at a completely unguarded Sara and she suddenly felt incredibly privileged. How few people had ever seen this much of the cagey young woman?
If only she could figure out how to capture this moment in a bottle, she'd hold on to it forever.
x X x
"I'll log the evidence in the vault." Sara said, peeling off from Catherine in the direction of the storage room, while the blonde veered towards Grissom's office to update him.
Nick, emerging from the break room, quickly dodged between the two women.
"Hey, have you checked her kit?" He pointed at Sara mischievously, although the comment was aimed at Catherine. "Make sure she hasn't smuggled any exotic animals back with her?"
"Oh, don't tempt me." Sara shot back with a grin.
Nick and Catherine exchanged a laugh, before Catherine continued on her path into Grissom's office. She was still chuckling to herself in amusement when she entered the room and almost walked straight into the back of someone.
"Oh." She blinked, catching herself in time. "Conrad."
He cast a brief glance over his shoulder, nodding curtly at her in agreement.
"Ecklie needs to talk to us about the current supervisory situation on Grave." Grissom explained. He was stood behind his desk, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in a blatant show of nerves.
"Alright." Catherine shuffled around the boss to lean against Grissom's desk, an apprehensive feeling beginning to settle in her stomach. "What's going on?"
"The Undersheriff and I have reviewed the current situation and the improvements that have been made to the personnel files for Grave." Ecklie explained tensely. He appeared visibly uncomfortable, as if he was unhappy about the decision that had been reached. "Since the files now appear to be in order, the Undersheriff feels that the issues have been suitably rectified and the team can be reunited under Grissom's supervision – assuming you both agree?"
"Well, that's good news." Grissom declared, instantly relaxing.
However, Catherine's expression must have belayed her feelings on the matter, as Ecklie shifted his gaze to hers and a sly smirk spread across his lips.
"Catherine?" He queried, faux concern lacing his voice. "Do you have any issues with that?"
She could feel Gil's eyes burning into the back of her head and suddenly felt herself warped back to the day Ecklie had first split up the team. Grissom had been staring at her then too, horror and betrayal written on his features at her willingness to go along with the plan.
She told him at the time that she only agreed because she didn't want to see the whole team torn apart. And now it was going to be put back together again ... so what objection could she possibly have now?
"No." She cleared her throat at last and straightened up, feeling the bitter taste of her own lies on her tongue. "No, I have no problem with that."