"Hey!" She brazenly interrupted the conversation, poking her head into the lab. "Either of you two seen Sara?"
Nick and Warrick exchanged a brief look, before shaking their heads.
"No, sorry." Nick replied. "Are you..."
Before he could finish the question, she had already disappeared with a disgruntled huff.
The elusive Californian had pulled a fair few disappearing acts in her time, but she was usually located holed up in a quiet lab somewhere within the building. So far, Catherine had searched every single one of her known hiding places, with no gain.
It was like she had scampered from the locker room straight into a black hole, causing Cath's stress levels to increase with every passing minute that she couldn't find her.
By all accounts, at least, Sara had appeared equally as surprised as her by what she had just done. Right before she mumbled something akin to an apology and fled the room, at least.
Checking with the boys had been the last resort. Wherever Sara was, she clearly had no intention of being found.
"Dammit." She muttered to herself, dragging a hand through her hair. "When I find you, I swear, I'm going to install a tracking device!"
"Catherine?" Greg questioned, startling her. She spun around to find him appraising her with a raised eyebrow. "Who are you talking to?"
x X x
"Oh!" Helen glanced up from her desk and blinked in surprise. "Catherine, hi."
The blonde flinched, not realising she had been caught. She had been dithering outside the door for almost five minutes, debating whether or not she was making a terrible mistake.
When she didn't speak, Helen sat forward with a tight smile and folded her hands on the desk.
"What can I do for you?" She asked pointedly, essentially taking the decision out of Catherine's hands and enticing her to shuffle into the office, nudging the door shut behind her.
"I have a problem." She stated bluntly.
"Okay." Helen hummed, having already figured as much by her anxious fidgeting.
"It's ... it's about Sara." Cath admitted, earning her a concerned frown from the PEAP counsellor.
"Is she alright?"
"Honestly, I have no idea." Catherine exhaled, accepting the silent offer to have a seat by deflating into the chair in front of her. "We were talking and she was upset ... there's something that's been going on lately that I've been helping her with."
"Okay." Helen nodded, fighting down on her curiosity. As a counsellor, she knew to let her clients tell her what they wanted in their own time and the tone of the CSI's voice indicating that she wasn't prepared to discuss this in detail. Yet.
"She was upset." Catherine repeated, twisting her hands nervously in her lap. "I was trying to comfort her and she ... she kissed me."
To her relief, Helen didn't look shocked by this. In fact, she almost appeared to have been expecting it.
"Oh." She mused, nodding to herself.
"You don't seem particularly surprised." Cath noted suspiciously, drawing a small laugh from Helen.
"Sara did admit something during our sessions that made me concerned that this might happen." She confessed. "Sara ... she can be bad at reading relationships. In the past, when people have shown her any kind of affection, she has taken it as something more. This won't be the first time that it's come back to bite her."
"I'm not angry with her." Catherine quickly asserted. "I'm just worried – she took off before I had a chance to talk to her about it. And to be honest, I'm not even sure I know what to say."
"You need to initiate some clear boundaries." Helen explained. "Make sure she knows exactly how you feel about her. Be blunt."
Cath sank her gaze into her lap sadly.
"She's been so open with me lately. I don't want to lose that."
Helen leant forward, folding her arms on the desk.
"Catherine," she licked his lips slowly. "If you care about Sara, this is the best thing you can do for her right now. It might hurt her, but it's in her best interests."
x X x
"Sneakers?"
"Yeah."
"Jacket?"
"Yes."
"Homework?"
"..."
Catherine rolled her eyes, nodding pointedly towards the bedrooms.
"Go get it."
Lindsey sighed, traipsing back towards her room, leaving the women alone again for a few minutes.
"Thanks for taking her, Nance." Cath repeated her earlier sentiments.
"It's fine." The nurse shrugged, double-checking Lindsey's bag to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything other than her homework. "Although I hope her mood is going to improve."
"I wouldn't bet on that." Catherine joked dryly, causing Nancy to narrow her eyes suspiciously.
"Speaking of moods, what's up with you?"
"Oh, that's too long a story to go into now." Catherine shook her head, waving a hand to dismiss the conversation. However, her sister wasn't prepared to let it go that easy and crossed her arms.
"So give me the cliff notes version." She bargained.
Cath chewed on her lower lip, deliberating this offer for a moment. Casting a quick glance down the hall, where there was no sign of Lindsey reappearing anytime soon, she sighed in resignation.
"Sara kissed me yesterday."
"Come again?" Nancy blinked.
"She was upset and ... she kissed me. Then she took off, and I haven't been able to get hold of her since. Happy now?"
"Wow." The nurse nodded slowly. "What are you going to do about it?"
"I have no idea." Cath groaned sadly, clawing her hands through her hair as she sank onto the couch. "I spoke to the PEAP counsellor, to try and get some advice. She said that I need to set some firm boundaries – to make it clear to Sara how I feel about her."
"Well, that sounds sensible enough. So, what's the problem?" Nancy asked.
Catherine shifted her weight uncomfortably, offering a half-hearted shrug. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the younger sibling hummed knowingly in realisation of Catherine's real problem.
"Ah, you don't actually know how you feel, do you?"
"I..."
"Okay, can we go now?" Lindsey announced, stomping back into the room and waving her school workbook in the air as proof.
Nancy shot a look at Catherine, who shook her head silently to indicate that their conversation could wait until another time. This certainly wasn't a predicament that she needed her pre-teen knowing anything about.
"Alright," She stood up and reached out her arms, dragging Lindsey into a reluctant hug. "Be good! I'll be back in three days."
"Yeah, whatever." Lindsey mumbled, hurling her book into her bag and slinging it onto her shoulder, before turning to her aunt with an optimistic smile. "Can we get takeout for dinner?"
Catherine exhaled, throwing a sarcastically sweet smile at her sister.
"Good luck."
x X x
It was an unusually cool morning when Grissom pulled the minibus to a stop in front of the row of despondent CSI's lined up in the parking lot.
"Okay, load up the bags." He declared, hopping out of the vehicle. "We're setting off in ten, so if you need the bathroom, go now."
Forgoing the offer and opening the back door, Nick climbed up while Warrick began passing the bags up to him.
Leaving the boys to load it up, Catherine grabbed Sara's arm and dragged her to one side. Since arriving at the lab, the brunette had been very careful to remain close to one of the guys at all times, but with them suitably distracted, she suddenly found herself unguarded.
"Hey," Cath kept her voice low, so that they couldn't be overheard. "I've been calling you, why didn't you answer?"
"Cat, I'm sorry." Sara held her hands up, taking a small step back. "What happened yesterday ... I didn't mean it. Can we just forget that it happened, please?"
"No, Sara..." Catherine reached out, grabbing her wrist before she could escape, but Ecklie's untimely arrival caused them to break apart just as quickly.
"Alright gang." He grinned. "I've checked with the hotel, they are expecting you and Grissom has the itinerary ... where is Grissom?"
"I'm here." The entomologist announced, strolling down the steps with the keys in his hand. "Are we all ready?"
The groan of agreement was hardly a show of excitement, but the team piled into the 8-seater van all the same.
With Grissom in the driver's seat, Warrick and Nick quickly claimed the two seats together behind him. Sara appeared to move towards the single seat behind them, but before she could sit down Greg barrelled up behind her and ushered her into the window-side of the two seats at the back. It wasn't where she was aiming for, but with Greg instantly taking the seat beside her, it meant Catherine could claim her as a travelling buddy, and that was good enough.
Deciding that she didn't fancy riding up front with Grissom all the way to Carson City, Cath took the single seat that Sara had been going for, behind the guys. It wouldn't give her chance to speak to the girl, but at least she could see her.
"Okay guys," Ecklie called from the door. "Buckle up! Gil, call me when you get there. And make sure you stop for a break somewhere – it's a long drive."
"Of course, Conrad." The boss smiled patronisingly. "Anything else?"
Sensing the sarcasm, Ecklie resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"Have a safe trip guys." He offered instead, slamming the door shut.
x X x
Less than two hours into the drive and Catherine's persistent foot-tapping was starting to irritate Warrick.
"Hey," he turned around in his seat to face her. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." She snapped, although her clenched jaw suggested otherwise.
Casting yet another glance across the gap, she noted Greg and Nick attempting to play cards at an awkward angle.
Since Sara appeared too engrossed in her book to notice his absence and Nick was starting to get a crick in his neck from twisting round in his seat, Greg finally took off his seatbelt and moved to the vacant, single seat in front of him, putting him alongside the boys.
"Greg!" Grissom called, glaring into the rear-view mirror. "No changing seats when the vehicle is in motion."
Greg raised a hand in apology, sinking down and immediately resuming his game.
And leaving the seat beside Sara free.
Seizing her moment, Cath immediately stood up to claim it.
"Catherine!" Grissom scolded, but she waved a dismissive hand in his direction, dropping heavily into Greg's vacated seat and almost causing Sara to drop her book in surprise.
"Hey," She breathed. "Can we talk now, please?"
"Cat, I..."
"Seatbelt Catherine!" Grissom called, cutting off whatever Sara was about to say.
She rolled her eyes, but dutifully clipped herself in anyway.
"I talked to Helen yesterday." She began, causing Sara's eyes to widen even further. "I know why you did what you did. And I promise I'm not upset with you, I just want us to talk about it."
"Look, I don't know what she told you." Sara said, keeping one eye on the rest of the team to ensure they weren't eavesdropping. "But it was just a stupid mistake. I was upset and ... it didn't mean anything. So, can we drop it please?"
Catherine had expected that. Or at least, she hadn't expected Sara to just come out and admit what Helen was alluding to; not straight away. So, she already had a pre-prepared answer ready to offer in response to Sara's hopeful plea.
Unfortunately, she never got to give it.
The minivan suddenly pulled to the right, before swerving hard to the left as Grissom overcorrected, swinging across the carriageway.
The front wheel beneath Gil bounced off the rock-lined edge of the forest road, causing it to lose traction and skid, spinning one-hundred-eighty degrees in the road until they found themselves sliding backwards into a ditch.
Despite Grissom's furious braking, the van hit the ditch sideways at speed, two wheels slamming into the edge and causing the vehicle to flip onto its side. Grissom, Greg and Sara – closest to the windows – instinctively braced themselves for the impact as the dusty embankment rushed towards them.
There was a deafening crack as the side of the van hit the ground and skittered over the rocks, before the momentum carried it onto its roof, rolling it twice down the hill before finally sliding to an ungraceful stop at the bottom.