Author's Notes: Well hey there, all! Thank you to those who have favorited the story and/or set up alerts for updates! I hope that you are enjoying it so far. I wasn't expecting to be back so soon with an update, but sometimes those things happen! Things are moving a bit slowly in the story right now, but I hope that you all still enjoy this new chapter. Feedback is greatly appreciated!

When Catherine woke up, it took her a few minutes to realize that she wasn't lying in her own bed, or, for that matter, her own home.

The memories of the evening suddenly came roaring back. She sat up abruptly, glancing around the bare room. The sight of the photograph of the Golden Gate Bridge on the opposite wall made her remember where she was, and she let out a sigh as she recalled how she had left things with Sara. Sara, the person who had come to her rescue and was allowing her to stay with her. The same woman she'd thrown herself at and then unintentionally insulted before the evening was officially over.

She seemed to have an incredibly knack for sticking her foot in her mouth around Sara.

She remembered the look of hurt on the brunette's face, and she softly groaned as she rubbed at her tired eyes. She had no idea how she was going to make this situation better, but there was no way it was going to happen by her sitting in Sara's bed all day, even if the few hours of sleep she'd managed had been the best she'd had in weeks.

Throwing her legs over the side of the mattress, Catherine got to her feet, stretching her arms above her head. As she did so, she winced a bit as she felt the results of last night's confrontation with Eddie. She pushed the sleeve of her t-shirt up over her bicep. The bruises had come to the surface now, and while they certainly looked much harsher now than they had in the parking lot, she knew it could have been so, so much worse.

After a quick glance at her cell phone to check the time, Catherine nodded in relief when she realized she still had a few hours before shift was scheduled to start. That would give her enough time to get herself cleaned up, and then somehow she needed to try and make things right with Sara.

Speaking of Sara, she figured the younger woman was already up and moving around, which meant that she would have to face her sooner rather than later. With a sigh, Catherine made sure she was presentable before pushing the bedroom door open and stepping into the hallway of Sara's empty apartment. She took a few steps into the living area, her eyes immediately falling on the couch, which was now empty. The pillows and blanket Sara had brought in last night were now neatly folded and propped against the couch cushions, but the brunette was nowhere to be found.

"Alright," Catherine mumbled to herself. Sara had probably gone for a walk or something. As mad as Sara probably was at her, she knew that Catherine didn't have a car, and the blonde was fairly certain that Sara wasn't the type to be so petty as to leave her with no ride in to work.

Catherine decided to use the opportunity to take a shower and wash the remnants of the rough night she'd had from her body. She returned to Sara's bedroom and made the bed before retrieving a few toiletries from one of the smaller suitcases she'd packed. Moments later she was stepping under the hot spray of the shower, a sigh escaping from her lips as she let the warm water melt away some of her stress from the previous evening.

As she was working the lather of her shampoo into her hair, she couldn't help but think about how strangely intimate it was that she was showering in Sara's apartment. She felt a blush creeping up her neck at the sudden realization, and her thoughts inevitably returned to how she had technically thrown herself at Sara just hours before. Now, she was standing naked in the middle of her apartment.

Shit. Just what the hell had she been thinking? She had meant what she'd said to Sara – or, at least, what she'd tried to say that hadn't come out anywhere near how she'd intended – that she normally didn't do that type of thing. The Catherine from ten or fifteen years ago… that was a different story, and sure, it wasn't as if she was shy now where her sexuality was concerned, not in the least. She had no real reservations about things moving fairly quickly, but since Lindsey came into the picture, she'd tried, as her sister Nancy put it, to cool her jets.

"You're jumping from fling to fling like you're running out of time," Nancy had harshly – but correctly – chastised her a few years back. "Put it on ice for a bit, Cath."

And Sara was a colleague, someone she worked with and saw every day, for God's sake! That had always been a line Catherine had refused to let herself cross. She'd never tried fishing off the company pier, knowing that she was only asking for trouble, drama, and complications in an area where she needed absolutely none of the above tacked on to her already hectic schedule. She hadn't just crossed the line, she'd sprinted across it last night, and there was no going back now.

Catherine held her head under the shower spray to rinse her hair as she pondered just how she was going to fix this wonderful mess she'd created for herself. But instead of coming up with the words she would say to Sara and starting to formulate her apology, she found herself thinking about how soft the brunette's lips had been, how firm and strong her body had felt when she'd pulled them flush, how she could've sworn that the younger woman had bit back a moan before calling the whole thing off.

"Fuck," Catherine muttered, finally turning the faucets off. This obviously wasn't helping. She'd try to get her shit together while she got dressed and waited for Sara to come back.

She wrung out the excess water from her hair and grabbed the towel she'd laid out for herself. After drying her body, she wrapped herself in the towel and stepped out of the bathroom, shivering as the cooler temperature of the apartment hit her warm skin. Her hand was on the doorknob to the bedroom when she gazed down the hallway and realized that Sara was standing at the kitchenette, sorting through mail. Catherine froze as she met the brunette's gaze.

"Uh… hey," Catherine tried to greet her as if she hadn't kissed her just hours before.

Sara's face was hard to read. She didn't look particularly mad, but she didn't look thrilled to see her, either. Above all, she looked tired, and she was still dressed in her outfit from the previous night. No doubt she hadn't wanted to disturb Catherine by walking into the bedroom to grab a change of clothes. "Hey," Sara finally returned the greeting.

They continued to stare at one another for a few moments, until Catherine realized that she was standing half-naked in the hallway, covered only in a towel. Clearing her throat, she motioned to the bedroom. "Uh, sorry, I'll get dressed. See you in a minute."

She pushed herself into the bedroom, closing the door behind her, and Catherine cringed at how awkward the whole exchange had just been. Something about Sara made her feel like a teenager again, the way she had with her first crush. No, I don't have a crush on Sara. Do I? Shit.

Catherine dressed herself in record time, selecting the first work outfit she spotted near the top of her suitcase, which thankfully happened to match. The outfit consisted of a dark purple long-sleeved t-shirt, the neckline dipping just short of being inappropriate, and a pair of black slacks that gave her the illusion of having much longer legs than she really had. She pulled on some low-heeled shoes and tied her wet hair up behind her head, and she went to look at herself in the mirror until she realized that Sara's bedroom didn't have one. She decided to forego make-up, at least for now, until after she spoke with Sara.

Emerging from the bedroom, Catherine hesitantly walked into the living area of the apartment, smoothing down the sides of her shirt. Sara glanced up at her, sipping at a cup of coffee in a to-go cup, and she nodded toward a second one sitting on the edge of the countertop. "I got you a coffee if you want."

Catherine's eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly closed the distance between herself and the cup containing her salvation. Without even checking to see how hot it was, the blonde lifted the cup to her lips and took a long sip, savoring the sweetness of the smooth brew. "My god. You're amazing. Thank you."

"Sure," Sara responded, the slightest hint of a blush creeping up her neck as she took another sip from her own cup. "Did you sleep okay?"

"I did," Catherine replied, taking a seat at one of the barstools lining the countertop. "Thanks again for letting me take your room."

"Sure," Sara again responded. The one-word response seemed to be her go-to when she wasn't sure what else to say. "I'm afraid I don't really have much in the way of food around here, but I can drop you somewhere close to the lab if you want to grab some breakfast before shift."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I don't usually—"

"Let's grab something. On me, as thanks for the coffee, letting me crash here, and coming to my rescue… not necessarily in that order."

Some of the tension Catherine was holding in her shoulders lessened a bit as she saw just the slightest hint of a smile on Sara's face. "Alright. Sure. Just let me get changed."

They settled on a diner just a few blocks up the street from the lab. The drive over was silent, which filled Catherine with anxiety again as she considered how she was going to bring up the events of last night with Sara. The two women had a lot to talk about, and not all of it involved the spontaneous kiss in the bedroom and the exchanged words that followed. As she began replaying all of the events of the evening, Catherine found herself feeling a bit overwhelmed at how quickly everything had suddenly changed.

She had filed formal charges against her ex-husband for assault and paperwork was now in process for a restraining order against him. If he didn't already, Eddie would soon have a warrant out for his arrest. Until he was officially picked up, it wasn't safe for her to return home with Lindsey.

And now Sara Sidle was in the mix.

The humming of the Tahoe's engine stopped as Sara keyed the ignition off. Catherine blinked a few times, realizing they were already at the diner, and unfastened her seatbelt to follow the brunette into the restaurant.

Sara walked ahead of her, pushing the entrance door open. The smell of coffee and bacon made Catherine's stomach rumble, and she suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before. As she walked with Sara to an empty booth, she glanced around the restaurant, just to reassure herself that Eddie wasn't hiding in a corner somewhere.

Both women ordered coffee. Catherine stared at Sara as the younger woman ordered oatmeal with fruit and a toasted English muffin. Catherine ordered a short stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and a side of toast.

As Sara stirred some sugar into her coffee, she quirked an eyebrow and met Catherine's gaze. "What?"

"Oatmeal and an English muffin?"

"Yes?"

"I'm picking up the tab and you only order oatmeal and an English muffin."

"I'm not that hungry."

"Or you're actually an octogenarian with a really amazing complexion."

Sara snorted back a sarcastic laugh. "I'm glad that last night's lapse of judgment didn't negatively impact your ability to formulate a comeback."

"Shit," Catherine sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, Sara. That was… that was uncalled for."

The brunette offered a passive shrug. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Sara," Catherine straightened up in the booth, and reached one of her hands across the table toward the other woman. "Listen. I… I really am sorry. I… I don't know why I needle you the way I do. You've done nothing to warrant it, and you don't deserve it."

Sara met her eyes, and once again, Catherine noticed how intensely she was flexing her jaw. Whatever thoughts were running through her mind, she seemed to be keeping them to herself, though judging at how hard her jaw was working, it wasn't from a lack of trying.

"…When you first showed up, I was in a really bad place, both mentally and emotionally. I felt guilty for what happened to Holly, because I was the one who talked her into staying when she wanted to walk away." There was still a heaviness in her chest over this that she wasn't sure would ever go away. "I knew things looked bad, that she probably wasn't going to pull through. Then Gil says he's bringing in a stranger to oversee the internal investigation, and I felt threatened. I thought you were coming in to pull me off the case. And then… and then I saw you."

Catherine's breath caught in her throat, and she lifted her gaze from her untouched cup of coffee to Sara's face, who was now looking at her intently. "I… I saw you, and how young you are. And it was like looking at Holly again, and I panicked, and because I panicked, I lashed out at you to keep you at a distance. And then you stayed and took Holly's place, and all I could think about was how the past could replay itself." Catherine took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. She hadn't verbalized any of this before, and now the words had spilled out faster than she could process them.

"Catherine…"

Sara's soft voice broke Catherine of her reverie. The two women held each other's gaze, and then their waitress returned with their plates of food. Once plates were arranged on the table and coffee cups were refilled, the table lapsed into more silence until Sara's voice once again broke it.

"Catherine," Sara repeated, "I can't imagine how difficult it was to lose one of your colleagues. But… I'm not Holly. I'm not a rookie on her first case."

"I know," Catherine responded with a nod.

"I promise you, I can handle myself. You don't have to worry about me or try to protect me."

"Sara, of course I do. You might not be a rookie, but you're still a CSI level two and I'm technically your superior. You, like every member of the team, are my responsibility, whether you can handle yourself physically or not. As strong of an indication to that effect as last night was, the fact that my coworker is a total badass doesn't preclude her from my concern."

Catherine's words seemed to throw Sara off-guard, because the younger woman wasn't sure how to respond. Rather than say anything, she reached for the small bowl of fruit that accompanied her oatmeal and dumped it on top of the warm cereal, using her spoon to mix everything together.

When Sara spoke, it was Catherine's turn to be thrown off-guard. "Does concern include sticking your tongue down my throat?"

Ungracefully, Catherine cleared her throat, suddenly unable to meet her eyes, instead choosing to pour far too much maple syrup over her pancakes. "That… that's not related."

"Then what the hell was it?"

"Sara, I know we obviously need to talk about what happened last night, but that's not what we're talking about right now. I'm trying to apologize for how I've been treating you."

"And I'm supposed to just forget that you straddled me last night in my bedroom?"

"Jesus Christ, Sara!" The volume of her voice rose to the point where a few of the other diners in the restaurant turned to shoot Catherine dirty looks. She tore her eyes away from their judgmental looks with a heavy sigh. "I'm really trying here, alright? But you're not making this very easy."

"You don't get to just do something like that and then act like it never happened, and then try to get me to forgive you for everything because you feel some sort of… professional responsibility for me." Sara held her gaze, despite how badly she wanted to look away. "You don't get to have it both ways, Catherine."

Catherine opened her mouth to say something in response, but no words came out. She knew Sara was right, and honestly, she wasn't sure what she was expecting. Sara didn't owe her anything, while she definitely owed Sara a better explanation for her actions.

Sara stared her down for a few moments, until she'd had enough and pushed herself to her feet, sliding out from the booth. "Alright, fine. If you're not going to talk to me…"

"Damn it," Catherine heavily sighed. "Please sit down, Sara. I… you're right. And I'm sorry. You deserve an explanation, not my avoidance."

Once the brunette was seated across from her again, Catherine finally took a sip from her now-cold cup of coffee. With a grimace, she waved the waitress back to the table for a fresh cup, and she spent a few moments pouring cream and sugar into it.

She could feel Sara's eyes watching her, and Catherine motioned to her as-of-yet still untouched bowl of oatmeal. "You going to actually eat something while we sit here or was ordering food just for show?"

"Quit avoiding the elephant in the booth."

"Cold oatmeal gets all gluey and gross, you know."

"Catherine? Not making me want to stick around."

"Fine," Catherine muttered, taking a sip from her fresh cup of coffee. Much better. "Alright… last night. Last night was… I meant what I said. It was a mistake." Sara's flinch didn't go unnoticed, but before the brunette could speak, Catherine continued. "It was a mistake because I should never have put you in that position, and that mistake just became even bigger when I repeatedly shoved my foot in my mouth with what I said to you afterwards. You have every right to be confused and pissed at me."

Sara was no longer meeting her gaze, instead finally spooning some of her food into her mouth.

"What I was attempting to say last night, was that I don't normally do things like jump on a coworker the moment we're alone in her home. I promise, Sara, it had nothing to do with that person being you, and I'm so sorry if I made you think otherwise."

She watched Sara ponder her words, the muscles in her neck flexing as she continued to work her jaw. "Alright," she relented, "and I suppose I could've given you a better chance to explain. But that doesn't tell me why, Catherine."

A sigh escaped her lips, and Catherine knew that there was no other way forward than through it at this point. Her relationship with Sara had been rocky from the beginning, and it was probably about to become a lot more complicated, but what other option did she have?

"Because I find you attractive, Sara. It's one of the other reasons I've tried to push you away. I… I make it a rule not to get involved with anyone I work with. Trust me, I made that mistake in the past, a long time ago, and it only invites trouble. I guess I thought that if I pushed you away, I could just… ignore how you made me feel."

"…I don't understand," Sara slowly shook her head. There were many things she didn't understand, least of which was the concept that someone like Catherine Willows could possibly find her in any way attractive. Despite her confusion, she wasn't entirely convinced. She refused to be jerked around. "If that's true, then why did you invite me out for a drink last night?"

"Because I was lonely. I promise, there were no ulterior motives involved. I just… I just didn't want to go back to an empty house at that moment. I wanted some company."

When Catherine met Sara's eyes, she saw some of the irritation and anxiety in those brown orbs start to ebb. In fact, it looked to be slowly replaced with something akin to understanding.

"And then your ex showed up," Sara softly said.

Catherine's mouth suddenly felt a bit dry, and she took a sip of coffee. "Yeah. And then… and then you stepped in and protected me."

The blonde let out a shaky breath, and she reached a hand across the table, hesitantly placing her fingertips over the younger woman's knuckles on her right hand. The skin was still a bit red and swollen from the punch she'd thrown. "Sara… what you did for me… and when we were alone, I just—"

"Don't." Sara suddenly jerked her hand away, as if she'd been burned, and she could no longer meet Catherine's gaze.

"Sara—"

"No. Catherine, please don't do this. Don't turn this into you feeling like you owe me something just because I did what anyone else in that situation would have done. Is that—" Sara swallowed hard to keep her voice from shaking with sudden emotion. "Is that why you kissed me?"

Catherine felt tears springing to her eyes as she watched Sara physically avoid her gaze, her walls going back up. Her heart hurt as she watched her, wondering who, or what, could have possibly hurt the other woman so deeply during her young life that her mind would be going to a place like this. She desperately wanted to reach out to her, but Sara had made it pretty clear that she wasn't welcoming physical interaction right now.

"Sara, honey, please look at me."

Pained brown eyes met blue again.

"I didn't kiss you because I felt like I owed you anything. I promise. I kissed you because I wanted to, and honestly, I still want to." Catherine hadn't meant to actually admit that last part, and she cleared her throat as red began to creep up her neck. "But I'm grateful to you for calling it off last night. You were right. It wasn't the right circumstances."

She watched Sara for a few moments, waiting for her response with bated breath. She'd just spewed several minutes of very personal word vomit, and she was honestly nervous how Sara was going to react.

Eventually, the ghost of a smirk appeared on Sara's lips. "You made it extremely difficult."

A chuckle squeezed itself from Catherine's throat, and her body instantly felt warmth with relief. "And what exactly does that mean, Sidle?"

"I think you know what it means," Sara replied, tearing off a piece of her cold English muffin for her to nibble on.

"Humor me. I'm slow this morning."

Sara cleared her throat, and Catherine noticed a matching shade of red beginning to creep up the other woman's neck. "I mean, I didn't exactly want to call it off. You're extremely attractive, and to have you kissing me and sitting on top of me? Yeah, not exactly the easiest thing to say no to. But after everything you'd gone through last night…"

Sara's words caused Catherine's face to flush. She was no stranger to being told that someone thought she was attractive, but to hear it from Sara Sidle? Holy shit. Sara also sure had a hell of a lot more self-restraint than she ever did.

"Wow." Catherine followed Sara's cue and picked up a piece of bacon that she began to chew on. "I… don't really know what to say."

"Yeah," Sara kept her gaze fixed on the bowl of oatmeal in front of her, unable to believe she'd just let all of that slip out. "You said to spell it out for you, so…"

"Yeah, I know," Catherine bit her lip in amusement, tentatively holding her hand out toward Sara's again. This time, the brunette didn't pull away when she gently touched her arm. "So I apparently owe you additional thanks, not just for defending my honor, but also for safeguarding my virtue."

This time Sara was the first to chuckle, and Catherine joined in, the brunette's laughter too infectious not to. Her face lit up when she laughed, the dark circles under her eyes nearly disappearing, and Catherine suddenly realized just how long it had been since she'd really seen Sara smile like this.

In fact, she wasn't sure she ever really had.

TO BE CONTINUED