When Sara walked in the next day, she noticed that everyone looked at her as if she had three heads. That is, except for Catherine. When Sara walked into the breakroom, they were having a content conversation. Then they saw her, and everything turned cold. They all looked at her as if she had murdered someone, and Catherine wouldn't look at her. When Sara said, "Hi Catherine" Catherine just huffed and looked the other way. Sara didn't understand what she had done to make her receive this cold shoulder treatment. Sara could only ponder it for a few moments before Grissom entered the breakroom. He glanced at her, said a brusque, "Why, glad you showed up today Sara," that he immediately wished he hadn't said, and started handing out assignments.
"Nick, Warrick, and Greg. You have a suspected arson downtown. High publicity, so watch out. Sara, Catherine, we're together. We have a dB in front of the Bellagio. Lets go." And with that he left, leaving Sara and Catherine in an uncomfortable silence until Catherine stood up, not even acknowledging Sara, and leaving the breakroom. And then Sara was left there, all alone, hoping that there was some way that she could explain everything to Catherine, so that maybe, just maybe, she would be forgiven and their friendship could once again try to be made.
The ride to the crime scene was quiet and uncomfortable. The air was so silent that Grissom was worried. He wasn't nearly as socially inept as people made him out to be. He knew when people were upset, and when people were angry. He knew that both those emotions where the only things going through the airwaves right then, and if that wasn't enough, he could swear he saw what looked like contusions (bruises) on Sara's face. But he changed his train of thought to punishing himself for even looking at her face, for he knew that she was not only the start of great pleasure for him, but also a source of great pain.
When they reached the crime scene, Grissom assigned Catherine to interviewing, and Sara to perimeter. As they walked in opposite directions, Grissom could swear he could see a cut on the back of Sara's neck where her ponytail started. But Grissom shook his head and started worrying about the case.
After several hours, Grissom's pager went off. Another one. He knew exactly what it meant.
"Catherine," Grissom called out, gaining the attention of the blond that was talking to a very energetic witness.
"What?" she called as she started walking towards him.
"We have another one. Come on. We can leave Sara with this."
At the mention of Sara's name Catherine shuddered, and Sara perked her head up.
"What?"
"Catherine and I have been working linked cases for the past few weeks. We have another victim. Would you mind if we left you with this one?"
"Of course not. Go ahead."
And with that Grissom and Catherine drove to the next crime scene. The silence in the car was stifling.