"So, it's over." Grissom exhaled, turning away from the observation window to face his colleague, who was still scowling through the glass. "Do you want to call Sara?"

"No, I'll tell her later." She hummed. "She'll be asleep now, and it really doesn't make any difference anyway. It's not like he's going anywhere."

"No, I guess not." Gil agreed sadly. "Has she said much about it?"

"No." Cath pursed her lips, shooting him a narrow-eyed glance. "I was kind of hoping you could fill in some of the blanks."

"Honestly, I don't know exactly what happened." He admitted. "By the time we realised what was going on, he'd already got away."

"I still don't understand how it happened at all." She shook her head in frustration. "What were you thinking leaving her alone in that place, even for a second?"

"I ... I wasn't." He conceded meekly.

Catherine turned her back to the window, where the offender was being removed back to his holding cell, before eventually being returned to the hospital, and crossed her arms defiantly.

"It was a psychiatric hospital for the most violent and sadistic criminals in the state." She reiterated. "Sara should never have even been on that case in the first place – she was a target from the minute she set foot in the building."

"I didn't mean for it to happen, Catherine." Grissom insisted, his voice cracking with regret.

"No, you never do." She chuckled coldly. "And somehow she's always the one that suffers for it."

Having said her piece, she started to leave. However, contrite as he was about his failings towards Sara on that case, he wasn't prepared to let Catherine get off scot free either.

"What about you?" He called after her, stalling her in the doorway. "You've known about what was going on between Sara and Belinda for months, but you didn't say anything."

"Sara didn't want me to." She frowned defensively.

"Surely that's the problem though." He licked his lips thoughtfully, walking towards her. "Sara wasn't in a position to understand the severity of what Belinda did. That's how grooming works – it forces the victim to minimise the behaviour, so they don't see it as wrong. You, as a person with responsibility for Sara's welfare, had an obligation to report it. But you didn't."

She felt her cheeks flame and sucked in a deep, shuddering breath at the accusation.

"The relationship was already over when I found out about it." She explained, attempting to appear unfazed. "And if I'd told you about it then, Sara would have shut down on me. I handled it the best way I could think."

Gil nodded slowly, though it was clear that he didn't believe a word of it.

"I wonder if the rest of the team will see it that way." He mused aloud, brushing past her into the hallway.

She watched him go, rattled. It was the same accusation that Nancy had thrown at her, right before everything went to hell.

She should have reported Belinda at the first opportunity. Nancy told her to at the time. Her instinct told her to. All the guidelines told her to. But she hadn't.

And no matter what kind of spin she put on it, she was going to have to atone for that now.

x X x

She closed the door quietly behind her, conscious of the early hour.

It had been a long and tiresome shift, not in the least because the guys still didn't know what was going on between Sara and Belinda.

Thankfully, solving Sara's rape case had kept them sufficiently occupied that she hadn't actually seen that much of them tonight.

She thought about heading straight to bed, but after her conversation with Gil, she was still a little too wired to sleep. So, instead, she headed towards the kitchen, where she was surprised to see the light on.

"Hey," she greeted, walking in. "You're up early?"

Sara didn't turn around upon her entering, remaining at the kitchen table with her back to the door.

"I couldn't sleep." She replied, taking a mouthful of coffee.

Catherine hummed in understanding, pouring herself a mug and turning to face her friend.

Sara was staring intently at the table, her demeanour calm yet oddly on edge. Cath frowned, taking a concerned step towards her, when she realised exactly what it was that had the brunette's attention so captivated. She stilled, swallowing hard.

"Sara..."

The younger woman lifted her gaze slowly, one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"How did you get this?" She asked, a slight tremble to her voice, as if she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"It's not what you're thinking." Cath assured her, sliding into the chair opposite. "When I went to your apartment to pick up some of your things, Belinda was there. She must have had a key cut for your place. We argued and she left – she dropped that on her way out."

Sara was watching her closely, her expression giving no clues as to whether she believed the account.

"And I'm just finding out about this now, because...?"

Cath reached across the table, attempting to take hold of her hands, but Sara pulled them back into her lap.

"Honey, I'm sorry. Everything just got a little crazy and I didn't find the right time to tell you. Belinda was reported, then Greg was attacked and ..."

"Did you report her?"

"No." She insisted, biting her lower lip. "I wanted to, believe me. But I didn't."

"So, it's a coincidence that she got reported the same day you had an argument with her. The day you found my mother's ring?"

Catherine flinched at her accusatory tone.

"Sara, you don't really think I took this, do you?"

The palpable hurt in her voice caused Sara's expression to soften somewhat, but not entirely.

"Honestly, Cat, I don't know what to think anymore." She confessed sadly.

"Honey, I would never do that to you."Cath pleaded earnestly, shuffling round into the seat beside her and taking hold of her arm despite Sara's attempts to stay out of her reach. "I know that what Belinda did has knocked your confidence in other people, but I promise you that I would never do something like that to you."

Sara's expression remained sceptical, her eyes cold, causing Cath to sigh.

"I didn't take the ring. And I didn't report Belinda." She promised. "And I'm truly sorry that this is hurting you so much. But I'm not sorry that she's been suspended and I'm not going to shed any tears for her when she gets arrested."

x X x

The front doors to the police station were thrown open and Mitch strode inside, leading the way, with Belinda being forcibly marched behind him by two uniforms.

Brass was stood at the end of the hallway, his hands on his hips.

"Belinda Bell!" He hollered harshly, causing her to flinch.

"Found her hanging out in a bar off the strip." Mitch explained, eyeing the woman suspiciously. "She hasn't said much yet."

Jim was scowling intensely at her, his lips turning up into a threatening snarl.

"She will."