Well, this has been an annoying chapter for me to write, but it's here now and I guess that's what matters. I hope you guys like it.

-Jess… Thank you, thank you, thank you… (The usual ramblings… and I'll even throw in a quack..). Couldn't have gotten though this chapter without your suggestions and editing. You're the best.

Getting down to business

"So…" Catherine said when they when they were on the way to their crime scene. "Do you wanna talk about it?" She glanced at Sara, who was gazing absently out the window. 'What happened between me dropping her off this morning and now? It's like she's a completely different person.'

"Talk about what?" Sara answered. 'I can't let Foxy in, I can't let Catherine in. Protect yourself first, worry about others later.'

She was determined not to be friendly with Catherine. It was safer to stick with being barely tolerable.

"Oh I don't know, the weather maybe…" Catherine said sarcastically. 'Stop it Catherine, we're trying to get her to talk here.' "Or how about why you're in such a bad mood today." She added in a more serious tone of voice.

"Let's just stick with working the case." Sara answered, continuing to stare out of the window.

"Okay…" Catherine drew out the word. The ride continued in silence. 'This is not going well. Maybe I should just give up. I can avoid her at work, it's not like we work that many cases together anyway. And we hardly ever see each other out of work.'

'It's for the best this way. I won't get hurt, and I won't hurt her. We'll just go back to the way it was before, that'll make everything so much easier.' Sara thought, as she watched the scenery fly by outside the car window. 'Besides, she is not even interested in me, why would she be anyway? I am too screwed up to be with someone like her. I shouldn't be allowed anywhere near her or her kid ever; they've had enough to deal with.'

Since Sara didn't seem to want to talk, Catherine started fiddling with the radio. She stopped when she heard Eva Cassidy singing Fields of Gold.

"I just love this song." She said, and glanced shortly at Sara who was still looking lost and far away.

'When was the last time you gave up because of a little bump in the road, Catherine Willows? If this was anyone else, you wouldn't take no for an answer, what makes this one different? She's not male, is that it? You need female friends as well, you know. We'll try again, here goes nothing.'

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm not really in a talkative mood, Catherine. Can we just forget about it." 'Does this woman ever quit? Sara, you know you don't really want her to.'

It wasn't really a question as much as a request and Catherine didn't argue.

She knew that Sara was a very private person, close to being a ghost really. Were it not for her job, no one would even know that she was alive. Catherine had always respected this. Well, if she was being completely honest, it was rather that she hadn't been interested in getting to know her younger colleague. Sara was a woman who was absolutely clueless as to how beautiful she really was, something that was unbelievable to Catherine. She had spent her younger days earning a living on her looks, and she knew how to use it to her advantage. When Sara had joined the team - beautiful, talented, and the most intelligent woman she'd ever met - Catherine had been jealous of her, fearing that she would take over from her. Worried that the boys would like Sara better. That was the reason she had treated the younger woman badly and she regretted that now. After having spent just one day not fighting with her, she had found that she actually wanted to get to know the enigma that was Sara Sidle. She felt bad for how she'd treated her. Now all she could do was to try to make up for it.

They had gotten out of the city by now and were halfway to the scene. All Sara wanted to do was throw herself into solving this case; to keep her mind from going anywhere else. Suddenly she felt the car come to a halt. She looked around and, not seeing any yellow tape, she turned and looked questioningly at Catherine.

"Why are we stopping?" She asked.

"Look, Sara." Catherine turned in her seat so she was facing Sara. "We don't have the best relationship in the world…"

"I know that. You know that. Let's just leave it there, and get on with the case." Sara interrupted. 'Why is she trying so hard? I can't let her get to me. Just don't look at her and everything will be ok.' She averted her eyes from the form of Catherine and looked back out the window. 'Why don't you at least try to explain to her? Why not let her help? What is the worst that could happen?' The voice of Sara's conscience could not be drowned out. It sounded a bit like the young Foxy Sara remembered.

"No, let's not." Catherine had to concentrate hard not to snap at the other woman. "I liked us being civil this morning, and I would like for that to continue." 'God, woman! You're driving me crazy! I'm running out of ideas here!'

"Yeah? Well, I don't. Now can we get on with this?" Sara said, firmly but calmly. She didn't want to fight with Catherine, but she didn't want to do as the little voice in her head told her to either. 'Keep yourself protected. No one else will protect you. They say they will, but they will get hurt in the process. I don't want anyone else to get hurt.' Her thoughts were irrational, but it was what she knew and she stuck with that.

"Well, tough!" Catherine snapped. "I will not fight with you on this! I have been a bitch in the past, and I'm sorry about that…" Catherine paused. "Mostly I'm sorry for the way I behaved during Eddie's case. I should not have challenged your capabilities as a CSI, because you are one of the most intelligent and capable people I know." She tried unsuccessfully to get eye contact with Sara, so instead she took her hand.

'She's touching my hand! Why is she touching my hand? Wait, she is holding my hand! I can't even look at her. Don't break your resolve, don't let her get to you. Just let got of her hand and that's it. She has such soft hands, the softest hands I've ever held. How can she have such soft hands with a job like this? Wait, did she just say that she think that I'm one of the most intelligent and capable people she knows? Is she trying to build up my confidence, so she can tear it down again? Why is she doing this? I can't let her get to me – I can't let her in. I need to protect the both of us.' Sara's head was spinning.

"I don't want us to fight like we've been doing. I would like for us to be friends, or at the very least for us to act civil around each other." Catherine sighed, frustrated. She doubted that she had gotten through to the other woman, but she meant every word she had said - she really did want to have some kind of positive relationship with Sara.

"Fine." Sara sighed. "We'll act civil around each other." 'That means I can still keep my distance. Civil means not having to spend any more time with her than absolutely necessary.' "Can we go to the scene now?"

Catherine sighed, but started driving again. She knew that she still hadn't gotten through to Sara, but decided to just keep trying, no matter how the brunette felt about that.

"I'm not convinced that you want to improve our relationship." She said to the unmoving form next to her. "But I'll keep trying. I know when I've done something wrong, and I know when I need to fix it. I should have figured this out sooner, but it's too late to do something about that now. I can't promise we won't fight, but I do promise to apologize if and when it happens." She pulled the Tahoe to a stop once again. They had arrived at their crime scene.