Two:

Catherine stepped out of the cab, shivering as she pulled her coat tightly around her, "How can it be so hot in vegas and so freezing here? How do people live like this?"

Sara handed Catherine her suitcase before grabbing her own, "This is nothing. My junior year at Harvard, we had this awful blizzard and the storm dumped like 5 feet of snow over a period of 24 hours. I was stuck in my apartment for three days with no electricity, the temperatures were in the negative digits, and it was just miserable. You could literally see your breath inside the apartment."

"Could you imagine what would happen if we had a blizzard in Vegas?"

"The entire city would shut down." Sara replied with a smile, paying the cab driver and hoisting her bag on her shoulder, "I could really go for a steaming cup of hot cocoa right now."

Catherine laughed, "That's funny, because I could really use a sauna right now."

"It's not that bad." Sara protested, "They're supposed to have a system move through tonight, then you'll really see some snow."

Catherine rubbed her gloved hands together, shivering slightly as they climbed the steps to their hotel, "No thank you, this is enough."

"Aren't you glad we don't have to process scenes in weather like this back home? I'd take 110 degree weather over this any day." Sara mused, shaking a bit of snow out of her hair once they entered the building, "Don't get me wrong, I love the cold weather...but I absolutely hate the snow."

"Amen to that." Catherine replied, putting down her heavy travel bag, "I'll go get us checked in, you stay here and keep an eye on our things. Snow storms...Grissom's going to catch hell about this when I get back."

Ten minutes later, they were walking down the second floor hallway to their two-bedroom suite, both still shivering slightly from the cold. As Catherine slid the magnetic card through the reader, she turned to look at Sara, "We're staying in 'murder central', you know."

"Oh, it's a good thing you're here to protect me." Sara replied with a smirk, "I've got dibs on the room farthest away from the door."

"Miss I'm-trained-in-weaponless-defense?" Catherine retorted, "Here I was thinking you'd keep me safe from all of the psychos."

With a sly smile, Sara responded, "I guess I am a bit stronger than you are, slightly quicker reflexes..."

"You'll pay for that, Sidle." Catherine laughed, claiming the first bedroom, "Wow, I didn't think the lab could afford to house us in a place this nice."

Sara dropped her duffel bag on the bed in the second bedroom, calling over her shoulder, "Just don't expect a raise this year."

"I wasn't really expecting one anyway." Catherine responded, walking into Sara's room, eyeing the brunette curiously as she lined the dresser drawers with towels she had apparently brought from home, "What are you doing?"

Sara blushed slightly, "Never know what was in these drawers before my clothes...better safe than sorry."

"That is the strangest thing I've ever heard."

"Never claimed to be normal." Sara shut the drawers and slid the duffel bag under her bed, "Being organized and neat is one of my pet peeves."

Catherine laughed, "You definitely don't have kids. You'd have a heart attack if you walked into my house after Lindsey was home for a weekend."

She watched as Sara opened the other bag she brought with her, only half joking as she asked, "Don't tell me you brought an ALS to check the sheets?"

"If I could have, I would have, but I settled for bringing an extra throw blanket, just so I don't have to directly touch the sheets...we've seen enough of what is left behind on hotel room sheets."

"OCD?" Catherine teased, "No wonder you're single."

Sara was quiet, and Catherine could sense she hit a nerve with the younger woman. Trying to keep their silent truce upheld, she tried to change the subject, "After you're done, want to go down to the bar with me and see if they've got anything decent?"

"I could use something to warm me up." Sara agreed, "Let me change and we can go."

"While you're changing, I'll see if I can get the fireplace started...it's chilly in here." Catherine turned towards the door while Sara searched for something fitting for the hotel bar. She decided on a pair of brown jeans and a dark green, navy, and beige striped sweater. Deciding to leave her hair down and curly, she ventured into the living room, where Catherine was still fumbling with the controls for the electric fireplace.

"You look beautiful." Catherine said softly, looking up at the brunette as she sensed her presence, "You ready to go?"

Sara blushed slightly, murmuring a quiet 'thank you' as she grabbed her purse. Catherine put her hand over Sara's, shaking her head, "Billed to the lab, courtesy of our room tab."

"Ah, I remember." Sara replied, leaving her purse on the counter as she slid a room key into her pocket. "Just a couple of drinks...we don't want to be hung over for our first lecture in the morning."

"Still being a little drunk may be a good way to survive this, though." Catherine joked, "You'll be happy to know that you've got a nice, warm room waiting for you when we get back, fireplace is on."

The hotel bar was empty except for a few travelers and a handful of locals, trying to get out of the impending storm. The dim lights and quiet jazz made for a relaxing atmosphere, and the two women sat at the far end of the bar, Catherine ordering a scotch and water while Sara ordered a jack and coke.

Their drinks hadn't even arrived before a man in his late 30s, jet black hair with ice blue eyes took a seat next to Sara, "What's a beautiful woman like you doing in a place like this?"

"Having a drink with my friend." Sara said cooly, "Not interested."

With a scowl and a degrading remark about women under his breath, the stranger retreated to a table on the other side of the bar, leaving Catherine awestruck, "Why did you do that?"

"We're in a strange new city, we don't know anyone, and we'll only be here for a few days. What good could come out of it?" Sara replied with a shrug, "Besides, I won't leave you out in the cold."

"Thanks." Catherine murmured as the bartender resurfaced with their drinks. She tugged on the bottom of her lavender sweater, trying to pull it down as a draft against her back sent a chill down her spine. She motioned to a poster on the wall, "Karaoke contest tonight. Winner brings home 200 bucks."

"Not a snowball's chance in hell." Sara retorted, seeing the thoughtful, yet mischievous look cross Catherine's face, "You can make a fool out of yourself if you want to, but leave me out of it."

"Dancing, not singing, is my forte. But I've heard you sing a few times in the lab, it wasn't that bad." Catherine protested, "I know you aren't scared to get up there."

"Not scared...shy." Sara protested quietly, "I don't attract attention to myself in public."

"You don't even know these people."

"Doesn't matter, I'm not doing it."

Catherine brought her glass to her lips, smiling at Sara over the rim, "Spoilsport."

Eight drinks later, Sara tiredly ran her fingers through her dark brown curls, stifling a yawn, "I've got to get some sleep."

"Ready to go upstairs?" Catherine asked, finishing her own drink before signaling the bartender to close their tab, "It's going to be an early morning tomorrow, we both need to get some sleep."

In the doorway of the bar stood the man who had been shamelessly flirting with Sara since they arrived. Letting his hand brush against her, he smiled, "You look cold...I've got something that can keep you warm."

"So do we." Sara said with a smirk, "We've got a fireplace in our room."

He held up his hands, taking a step back, "Last chance, baby, to get some of this."

"I'll pass." She replied cooly, pushing past him and walking towards the elevators, Catherine on her heels.

Catherine nudged her as they stepped into the elevator, "He was really into you."

"Cheesy pickup lines, picking up strangers in bars...not my type."

"What is your type?" Catherine asked, her hands grasping the rails of the elevator as they started to move and she lost her balance, "I've only seen you with Hank. Oh, and we all know you've got a thing for Grissom."

Sara shook her head, "Had a thing, past tense. I like a person who is intelligent, witty, caring...a good kisser..."

"Has to be a good kisser." Catherine replied, laughing a bit too loudly in her intoxicated state. "What about looks?"

Sara shrugged, "Doesn't hurt if they're beautiful." She opened their door, following Catherine in and sitting down on the couch as Catherine sat in an oversized chair opposite her. "What about you?"

"Oh, I don't know...I don't have a list of qualities, because if you fall in love with someone, they're bound to change over time. I just want someone who loves me and will at least attempt to treat me right." Catherine responded, kicking off her shoes, "How can it still be cold in here, even with the fireplace on?"

Sara watched as Catherine walked over to the fireplace once more, tugging on some of the dials, "He hurt you bad, didn't he?"

"Who?" Catherine asked, her voice betraying the tears that came to her eyes every time she thought of her ex-husband."

Sara remained silent, staring at the ceiling as she rested her head on the back of the sofa. Eddie was not one of their safe topics. All of the headway they made on their friendship over the last few hours was probably about to be destroyed beyond belief.

Both women remained silent for a few minutes, before Catherine spoke softly, "The first guy you ever went out with...were you in love?"

"I guess I thought I was, for a bit." Sara said slowly, "But no, I don't think it was love."

Catherine turned to face Sara, her tears evaporated, "Have you ever been in love?"

"Yes." The answer came out so quickly that Sara had trouble believing she had just admitted that to Catherine. Alcohol always helped her tongue loosen up...she'd have to monitor what she was saying before she revealed any skeletons from her large closet full. "It was a long time ago, though."

Catherine returned to her chair, drawing her knees to her chest, "Eddie was the first person I was ever in love with. He was a jerk, a monumental jerk, and I would have liked to have killed him with my bare hands many a time, but you never really stop loving that first love. Have you stopped loving yours?" There was a pause, followed by Catherine's dry addition, "If you say it's Grissom, you're sleeping outside in the snow."

Sara shook her head, "My first love...Erin Broussard. Erin taught me about British comedy, turned me into a huge Monty Python fan for my entire college career. Erin was also a physics major. She was the first person in my entire life to actually care about me. She," Sara cleared her throat, unsure of whether to divulge the rest of her information on Erin. The alcohol decided to do the talking for her, and she finished, "She was murdered in our dorm room during the time I was attending Grissom's forensics seminar. It's one of the reasons I got into forensics once I graduated."

"Oh my God, I had no idea. I'm so sorry." Catherine gushed, reaching out and brushing her hand against Sara's. She stopped, her eyes widening, "Did you say 'she'? Erin was a girl?"

Sara shrugged, refusing to meet Catherine's gaze, "I guess I should have mentioned that I was bi-sexual."

Catherine squeezed Sara's hand reassuringly, "It was none of our business. I guess that explains a lot...never having any boyfriends, even though you are totally beautiful." She laughed, "The guy from the bar, earlier."

"You aren't uncomfortable with this?" Sara asked, finally looking up into Catherine's sympathetic gaze, "Are you serious?"

Catherine smiled, looking down at her hand, which was covering Sara's, "Please, I was a young dancer in Vegas, I've had my experiments with women. It's nothing to be ashamed of." She shrugged, "To be honest, sometimes being with a women is better than a man. Men suck."

A smile broke out across Sara's face as she flushed a crimson red, "Well, you've got that right. And as much 'fun' as this has been, I really need to go to bed now."

"Of course." Catherine replied, "Goodnight."

Sara murmured "Goodnight" and retreated to her room, shocked that she had felt comfortable enough to tell Catherine that she liked girls, something she rarely admitted to even her closest friends. She sat down on her bed, shaking her head with amusement, hoping that Catherine was so drunk that she wouldn't remember that conversation in the morning. The last thing she needed was the entire lab knowing she batted for both teams. Although, if Catherine did spill the beans, she'd at least be able to do the same in return. Besides, it was sort of a relief to let the cat out of the bag, so to speak.

She stripped down to her bra and underwear, climbing into the bed and bundling herself up in the covers, a smile on her face and her body warm as she thought of the day she had just spent with Catherine, suddenly looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

TBC