Title: Unexpected Chances
Author: DarkDreamer56
Archive: If you want it, ask please!
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: N/S (what else would I write?)
Disclaimer: If I owned them, I wouldn't be a poor college student writing fan-fiction…
Spoilers: None that I can think of

A/N: I decided to write this after reading a bunch of "Sara and Nick sleep together, she ends up pregnant…" stories. I wondered what would happen if circumstances changed a little bit, and this is what resulted. I started this a longgggg time ago, and have just gotten to the point where I want to post it, so consider it AU (post Season 4). There has been no shiftsplit, so Sara and Cath haven't gotten into it (mostly b/c this is one of the first stories I ever started...). Enjoy, and let me know what you think in a review!

Catherine couldn't help but notice the sounds coming from the stall on the far side of the women's bathroom. She had entered, wanting nothing more than to splash some cold water on her face in an attempt to wake up before she started the second half of a double shift, only to discover someone alternately throwing up and crying in the very last stall. Sighing, she walked over to the stall and knocked lightly on the door.

"Are you okay?" she asked, hoping some bug wasn't going around the lab. All she needed was to take that home and get Lindsey sick.

"I'll be okay," the woman replied, in a voice that sounded very much like Sara's. But Catherine couldn't remember Sara ever being sick, and she sure as hell had never seen her cry. Her motherly instincts kicked in as she began to worry.

"Sara, open the door, you are not okay."

Catherine was surprised that Sara didn't even put up a fight. She heard the toilet flush, and then the stall door swung open, revealing a very pale and tearful co-worker. Sara walked unsteadily to the sinks, turning on the faucet to rinse out her mouth and splash her face. Catherine followed silently, handing her a wad of paper towels and then waited until Sara shut off the water and leaned against the sink before speaking.

"Sara, what's going on?"

Her eyes filled with tears again. "I did something really stupid Cath…I don't know what to do."

"What happened, Sara?" Catherine couldn't hide the concerned look on her face.

"I…I think I'm pregnant."

Catherine felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. That had been the last thing she had been expecting to hear from Sara Sidle. A million questions ran through her mind, but she knew she had to tread very lightly for the next few minutes to get the answers.

"Why do you think you're pregnant?" Receiving a glare from Sara, she clarified. "Okay, well besides opportunity, how do you feel?"

"I've felt pretty run down lately, and I'm always nauseous. At first I thought I just picked up some bug, but then I realized that I'm late," she whispered the last part, refusing to look Catherine in the eye.

"How late?" Catherine asked, praying that maybe Sara was just overreacting.

"Umm…well, I've never been what you would call regular, so when I skipped one month, I didn't really think anything of it. But when it didn't come this month either, I started piecing things together. God, Cath, what am I going to do?" Sara's eyes were shining with unshed tears as she looked up at Catherine, begging her for guidance. Catherine had never seen Sara like this and instinctively reached out to hug her.

"First, you're going to take a pregnancy test; we'll go from there, okay?" Catherine used her mother voice, as she would if it were Lindsey crying in her arms. "Don't worry Sara. You'll get through this. Now there's no point in waiting, I'm going to run down and get one of the kits that Al uses. You stay here, I'll be right back."

Sara started to protest, but Catherine shushed her. "Don't worry; I'll be discrete about it." Though in her head, she knew that inevitably it wouldn't matter. If her suspicions were correct, everyone would find out in a matter of weeks anyways.

Catherine returned a few minutes later with the pregnancy test that she had filched from the coroner's stash in the basement. Sara paced the floor nervously, grabbing the box from Catherine's hand as soon as she was within reach, and rushed into the nearest stall.

Five very anxious minutes later, Sara and Catherine hovered over one of the sinks. Catherine checked her watch every few seconds, while Sara stood with a death grip on the edge of the sink.

"God, how long does this take," Sara groaned.

"Okay, time's up," Catherine called. Sara's face paled again as she looked at Catherine. Catherine squeezed her hand gently in understanding.

"I'll check."

Looking down, Catherine allowed a small smile to play on her lips. Sara had been thrown quite a curveball, but Catherine suspected that she would get through it just fine.

"I'm here to help you through this, Sara."

Sara nodded silently in understanding. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, but Catherine detected something else, bordering between fear and happiness.

"Cath, what am I going to do?" she whispered. "I…I'm not good with kids; how can I be a mother?"

"You won't go through this alone Sara. I'll help you, and I'm sure that the rest of the team will too…Sara?" Catherine paused, unsure of how to phrase the next question. "Who? I mean…"

"No Cath, it's not Grissom's, or anyone else's in this department…he…he's not around anymore. I don't expect him to be a part of this. Oh God, how am I going to tell them?"

Catherine's attempt at reassurance was interrupted by the bathroom door swinging open. Sara hastily wiped away her tears as Catherine shoved the test back into the box and tried to crumple it in her hand. She pasted on a smile and turned to greet the intruder, Sophia Curtis from days.

"Is everything alright?" Sophia inquired.

"Yeah, just tired as hell," Catherine covered. "We're pulling a double, just thought we'd freshen up a little. Come on Sara, the rest of the team should be ready for the briefing by now." Catherine grabbed Sara, who was trying her best to control her emotions, and discretely dropped the box into the trashcan before exiting the bathroom.

"Take a walk, pull yourself together, okay? I'll meet you in the break room in five minutes." Catherine whispered, giving Sara's arm a gentle squeeze before heading towards the briefing.

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