Thanks for all the reviews, I love getting them!
As always the biggest thanks to Jess the Beta, you rock! And the ducks as well, we cannot forget the ducks.
Enjoy…
Chapter Ten
Tension
The silence in the car was deafening. Both women were fuming, but neither wanted to have a full-blown fight in the car. Their reasons for not wanting this were different, but neither wanted to admit these to each other.
The silence was deafening…
Thankfully the ride was short, and soon they pulled into the parking lot at the lab. Catherine turned off the engine but stayed in place, struggling to get her thoughts in order. Sara was about to get out the car, but when she noticed Catherine staying put, she stopped.
"Look, Catherine." She started, "About before…"
"What?" Catherine breathed out dejectedly.
"I don't think this guy is going after Veronica."
Catherine's eyebrows shot up. 'Is this her idea of an apology?' She looked at the woman next to her, but found that she was looking determinedly out the front window.
"And what would make you think that?" She inquired.
"There is no way Dunne is out of jail, so I'm thinking that maybe he has someone doing his dirty work for him."
"Let's say you're right, why would he have this someone spare Veronica?"
"Because he is obsessed with her, and he would never allow a protégée to finish his work."
"Maybe you're right. You know more about this than I do." Cath replied, pointedly.
"I can't be the one to tell you, Catherine. I made a promise to Veronica."
"Yes, and I respect that, but we're working a case here, Sara. I need this information to solve it."
"You need it to solve it?" Sara looked at her, "I thought this was our case."
"You're taking words out of my mouth. But you're too close to this case, you can't be objective!" Catherine said forcefully.
"You're not taking me off this! I am too damn valuable in solving this case!" Sara got out of the car and slammed the door. "You're not taking me off this case!"
"Sara!" Catherine hurried after the brunette who was storming into the lab. "Damn it, Sara, will you wait up!"
Sara stormed into the building, furious. 'How dare she do this? Who the hell does she think she is? This is my past to deal with; she is the one who should be taken off the case…!'
"Sara?"
"What!" Sara said exasperated, as she turned towards to the woman talking.
"Are you ok?" Foxy asked concerned.
"Foxy?"
"Yeah," Veronica placed a hand on Sara's upper arm in comfort. "Are you ok?"
"I will be. I just need a little space right now." Sara sighed.
"Ok." Veronica paused, looking closer at the taller woman. "You met my dad." She stated.
"Yes, I did."
"And…"
"And I let Catherine do the talking."
"So you're not upset because of him. What happened?"
"Sara!" Catherine stormed in the building. "My office! Now!"
"No!" Sara snapped back.
"What?" Catherine was taken aback.
"Oh…" Veronica suddenly realized who had gotten to Sara.
"Veronica?" Catherine had been so determined to get to Sara that she hadn't seen the other woman. "Are you ready to talk?"
"I…" Veronica looked at her fuming friend. "I have the case file here." She handed a folder to Catherine. "You could read this first to get the forensic facts and then I'll tell you what happened. I really need a word with Sara right now, is that ok with you?"
"We need to get this case moving, we don't have time…"
"Catherine, is that ok with you?" Veronica asked forcefully, interrupting whatever Sara was about to say.
"I…" Catherine looked at the folder in her hand. 'Calming down right now would be best. I won't be able to control my temper around Sara much longer.' She looked back up. "Sure. We meet in the interrogation room in half an hour. I'll let everybody know."
"Thank you, Catherine." Veronica said gratefully.
"What? You can't just make these kinds of decisions without consulting me." Sara felt the anger rising again.
"I am the senior on this and any other case, Sidle. I call the shots. Half an hour, in the interrogation room."
With that, Catherine walked off towards her office to calm down.
"Who the hell does she think she is?" Sara said through clenched teeth.
"Your superior?" Veronica grabbed hold of Sara's arm and dragged her towards the exit. "Come on."
"Veronica, stop." Sara stopped. "What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to get you outside so you can calm down."
"I'm not the one who needs to calm down!"
"No, you're just the one about to make a scene in the lobby of your workplace." Veronica whispered rather loudly, "But fine, you wanna do this here, we can do this here."
For the first time, Sara looked around and noticed the people staring at them. Some of them whispered to each other and she knew what they were saying: Sara Sidle never acts like this; Sara Sidle never loses her cool; Sara Sidle is about to make a scene with someone other than Catherine Willows.
"Fine, let's go outside."
------
Catherine threw the file on her desk and sat down. She pinched the bridge of her nose trying to get back some sort of control over her emotions. Sara was driving her crazy, and she didn't know how to get the other woman to understand that she was just trying to help. Though, at least now she might finally understand why the other woman always reacted so strongly to rape cases. She herself reacted strongly to those cases, but there was just something in Sara that refused to let go until everything was solved. Catherine admired that dedication in her, but she also knew where that road would lead her… Burnout.
Sara was good at what she did, but she forgot to take care of herself. She did everything she possibly could for the victims and then some, but she did nothing to take care of Sara. And that broke Catherine's heart.
'Wait, what? Breaks my heart? I feel sorry for her, but it doesn't break my heart. Sara is a co-worker and that is it. It does not break my heart that she won't take care of herself.'
She sighed and picked up the file she'd thrown on the table earlier and started reading.
"So, what makes you tick, Sara Sidle?"
-------
"You want one?" Veronica held out a pack of cigarettes to Sara, "You look stressed out enough to need one."
They had sat down on a bench situated far enough from the entrance to the lab to provide them with some privacy.
Sara took the offered cigarette and lit it, but stayed quiet.
"It's funny." Veronica started after seeing that Sara was not going to make this easy on her. "Even after everything that's happened; I still love the night. It's so quiet; it gives you time to clear your head and just think." She looked at Sara wanting some kind of reaction from her. "Or maybe it's just because I don't sleep much since Kim left."
"Since Kim left?"
"Yeah, believe it or not I actually found someone who makes me feel safe."
"I'm happy for you."
"Thanks."
Sara grabbed another cigarette and lit it. The silence stretched between them.
"They walked out on me." Veronica offered.
"Who are 'they'?"
"Kimberly and Benjamin."
"They walked out on you?"
"Yeah, after I told them they walked out on me."
"Just like that?" Sara sounded calmer than she really was.
"Kim said something about needing air." Veronica sighed, defeated.
"And Benjamin?"
"Benjamin… Ben just looked at me, got up and left."
Sara put an arm around the younger woman. Veronica welcomed the gesture and leaned into the offered body; letting Sara give her comfort.
"Your dad was different from what I thought." Sara said, still holding onto the smaller woman.
"Yeah," Veronica sniffed. "He's a nice person."
"How can you say that?"
"Sooner or later in life you have to learn how to forgive, Sass. I forgave them a long time ago. I had to if I wanted to get on with my life. You can't live your life hating, we've both seen – felt – what happens when people hate. My parents made a mistake a long time ago, and someday they'll realize that."
"That doesn't mean you have to forgive them. I know… I know that you…"
"Sass, my situation is nothing like yours. My parents made a mistake; your parents… your parents should burn in Hell."
"I'm not talking about me here."
"Yes you are, hon. And it's ok if you never forgive your parents. I'll never forgive them. Hell, even Ghandi would smack them down."
They chuckled lightly at the attempt of humour.
"Man…" Sara sighed leaning back. "Remember when we used to have fun?"
"Yeah…" Veronica leaned back as well. "Let's get this shit behind us and then I promise to take you out. We'll even bring Catherine and have you…"
"You won't finish that sentence if you know what's good for you!"
"What? You know you want her!"
"And I know she doesn't want me, so let's let sleeping dogs lie."
"I would…"
"But?"
"One, I'm not too sure she doesn't want you. Two, I tried the dog thing with this mess, and now I'm alone and friendless."
"You've got me." Sara looked her square in the eye to show her how serious she was. "And I won't run away this time."