Hey everyone, here's the new chap. Thanks for the reivews!

Enjoy,

So ;)


Act 14: Catherine

I enter the break room quietly not to disturb Sara who has fallen asleep on the couch. "Cath, I don't know how you managed to get your hands on some of Greg's special blend but I'm ready to beg to have some," she mumbles sleepily without opening her eyes or moving an inch.

I snort. "Okay, I get the coffee, because I've seen you track a single cup over almost a hundred yards, which is kind of freaky by the way," I note. "But how could you possibly know it was me? I'm not wearing heels today," I ask genuinely intrigued

There's a pause like she had dozed off again. "Supervision," she mumbles eventually.

I roll my eyes and watch her head lolls on the side, sign that she's going back to sleep. I indulge myself, and stare at her a moment. She looks adorable; I've always thought there was something childish at the way she sleeps. Admittedly I'm fonder of that little fact since we've started seeing each other outside of work but no one needs to know that.

I shake my head and walk silently to her. I hover one of the mugs I'm holding not too far from her head. It takes a few seconds but the aroma of coffee fills her nostrils. I move the mug from left to right, and it's like an invisible thread was linking it to Sara's face because she's blindly following the movement, her eyes still closed as if she was refusing to fully wake up.

I bite my lips to stifle my laugh and move the mug away and Sara keeps following. I move it a little more away forcing Sara into a sitting position, eventually when she can't follow any further without actually getting up she lazily opens her eyes. She stares at the mug longingly then let her eyes roam along my hand and arm until she reaches my face.

"You're mean," she mumbles.

"Not when I brought you a full mug of Greg's coffee, I'm not."

"I amend my last statement, you're amazing."

"Much better," I chuckle and sit down next to her. "Pulling a double?"

"Yeah, and Griss is being a meanie."

"Aww poor thing."

"I swear it's like his tarantula has crawled up his butt, it sure is making my day bad. Anyway," she sighs. She takes a sip of coffee and it's like she had received a jolt of electricity, she's instantly alert and energy is slowly coming back to her. "Oh I needed that. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

"How are you?"

"I'm good, I have arson case with three burnt cars to dismantle," I mention casually.

There's a short silence and I can see her frown slightly from the corner of my eyes. "Why does this coffee suddenly taste like bribery?"

"Because it is?" I reply cheekily.

"Sneaky," she narrows her eyes at me.

"Hey, do you know how hard it is to talk Greg out of, not one, but two full mugs of his special blend these days? I mean, he's getting tough in negotiations," I argue.

"Fine, fine… you got me woman," she pouts. I stand up and offer her my hand to help her up as well. "But let it be said that it's the last time I'm letting black coffee mailed me into something."

I snort. "As if."

"I'm serious!" she protests.

"Yeah, yeah, move along grumpy," I push her forward. "Oh, before I forget, breakfast at mine after shift?"

"Sure," she replies immediately.

Six hours later I'm getting ready to leave, my mind is stuck on Sara – a normal setting lately, mind you – she has received several text messages during the shift. They were not work related, and whoever sent them made her smile and I must say that I didn't like the fact that her attention had shifted from me. Irrational, I know.

Speaking of Sara, I hope she didn't forget that we're having breakfast at my place. I walk in the corridors looking through the glass walls of the different labs looking for her but don't find her. My search is halted at the entrance of the lab. I see her dash out of the lab to the parking lot, by the time I catch up and look to see what had put her pants on fire, I see her holding a woman fiercely, kissing her cheek and bending her playfully. The woman laughs at Sara's antics and just holds her back just at tightly.

Sara pulls back and cups the woman's face, her own face radiating with joy and warmth. She says something and the woman responds with a broad grin. Beyond the obvious enthusiasm what struck me are the beauty and the youth of the other woman, her fire red hair, her twinkling green eyes and her dazzling smile; and the way Sara is so easily open to physical contact with her, in fact it looks like she doesn't want to let go. She grabs the woman's hand, entwining their fingers and reaches out in her pocket to retrieve her phone.

I jump when my phone comes to life and pick up immediately. "Willows."

"Hey, Cath, it's Sara. I know we had planned to go back to yours for breakfast but something came up and I can't make it, rain check?"

A golf ball seemed to have lodged itself in my throat, making it impossible for any words to get anywhere near my lips. Sara frown and I reflexively step away from the entrance door in case she looks in this direction. "Cath?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah," I stammer. "No problem. Everything's okay?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'll see you tomorrow then. Have a good day," even though I can't see her at the moment I can guess her smile.

I don't have time to reply before she hangs up. I step back near the door and watch as she raises hand she has still linked with the woman's and pass her arm over the woman's shoulders never breaking the contact. She leans in and kisses the woman's temple then they walk to her car, within the five next minutes they are gone.

I'm suddenly aware of the acute pain in my hand, when I look down I realize that I'm clutching the strap of my backpack so hard that my knuckles have turned white. I'm overcome with the desire to punch something really hard but just content myself with walking to my car.

What was supposed to be a pleasant morning turned sour to say the least.

Needless to say I barely get any sleep, my mind working overtime with the idea of Sara and the other woman, wondering what they might be doing.

When a very pleased and giddy Sara plops down beside me on the break room couch the next night, my mood doesn't improve at all.

"Hey there, how was your day?" she asks enthusiastically.

"Uneventful," I reply with a flat tone, barely glancing at her before returning my attention to the file in my hands. "How was yours?"

"Excellent, didn't get much sleep out of it, but it was worth it."

Oh yeah, just what I needed to hear.

"Sounds like you had fun," I force a grin on my lips when I realize that the words might have come out too harshly.

"I did," she confirms. "I'm sorry I cancelled our breakfast at the last minute though. As a matter of fact I want to take you to breakfast today to make it up," she offers warmly.

"Yeah I can't, I promised Nancy I'd help her with something," I reply automatically. "Sorry," I stand up. "I have to go see Doc at the morgue. Have a nice shift," I end our conversation and walk out not giving her the chance to answer.

The next four days go back slowly, with me barely talking to her, using my meetings and paperwork as reasons to explain why our interactions always turn short. I know she has noticed the distance and my odd behaviour but she doesn't say anything about it, doesn't push the issue.

I'm ridiculous, I know it.

I'm jealous and I don't have any right to be. It's not like Sara and I have laid out ground rules or anything. I mean we haven't even kissed for crying out loud. We haven't promised each other anything, so she's free to see whoever she wants and do whatever she wants with them.

I'm just angry, because for a moment there I thought we had something, something special. It was some good old fashioned courtship and I enjoyed that. It made me realize that too many times I went for what I wanted immediately without even taking time to truly appreciate the other person. With Sara it's different, it's slow but it's tender, and it's delicate, and it's great, and it's beautiful, and it means something. It means something to me but maybe it doesn't mean the same to her.

I'm angrier for thinking those things, for thinking that Sara doesn't value what we have. I've come to know more and more about her, and she's not like that. She's not one to act or pretend and I hate myself for thinking that she did act and pretend around me even for a mere seconds.

I know it's my insecurities talking, just like I know that all I have to do is ask her who the redhead is. I know they've been seeing each other every day since the redhead appeared out of thin air, and I know they also have pet names for one another – it was sickening to eavesdrop that particular phone call of Sara. I should ask Sara, but I can't. I won't, because I'm afraid of her answer. I'm afraid that she'll tell me that it's an ex flame of hers and that she'd rather be with her than with me doing some high school version of dating.

I'm taken out of my reverie by the very person who's been monopolizing my thoughts. "Why did you give me a cupcake?" I ask with an intrigued frown.

"Not just any cupcake, it's a 'feel good' cupcake," she specifies with a grin.

"Have you been inhaling fumes again?"

"Taste it, smarty pants."

I do as told, and the sweet taste invading my mouth does make me feel a bit better, albeit for a few seconds. "Aha, you're grinning, it is working."

"It's alright," I shrug.

"You're so generous with adverbs grumpy."

"Thanks," I say with a shy smile then return to my reading.

"You look tired," she states after a minute.

"I don't sleep a lot lately," I admit. I leave out the part where I'm staying awake thinking about her with the redhead.

"I'm taking you out for a 'feel good' breakfast," she declares firmly.

I sigh ready to decline. "I…" my words die on my lips when I look at her again. She's looking at me with sad eyes and a pout. "Oh come on Sar…"

"Can you honestly say no to that face?" she accentuates her pout. "Pppllllllease," she snivels in an imitation of Roger Rabbit.

She's not playing fair. I can't resist her when she's looking so… cute.

"Alright fine…"

"Promise?"

Damn, now I can't even fake a last minute emergency. "Promise," I cave in. "Just please, enough with the puppy face."

She beams. "Perfect, I'll wait for you in the parking lot," she announces before leaving me alone.

After shift when we are sitting at a table in one of the diners we like to go to, we are not really talking. She asks about my shift, I ask about hers but for the first time the conversation seems to have gone dry. Part of it is because I don't want to talk, the other part is due to the fact that Sara is not giving me her full attention. She keeps looking alternatively at her watch and at the door behind me.

"Do you have a plane to catch or something?" I ask, slightly annoyed.

She looks at me a bit embarrassed. "No, sorry. I'm just waiting for someone."

I mustn't have heard her correctly. Did she say that she was waiting for someone?

She's never done this before, never let anyone intrude in our exclusive time together. I'm peeved.

Scratch that, I'm angry. "Should I go?" I ask bluntly not wanting to stay another minute.

"What? No, no, no," she says hastily. She winces and guilt appears on her face. "Alright, I have something to confess," she scratches the back of her neck. "I had ulterior motives to invite you to breakfast today."

Oh this keeps getting better and better.

"Why am I here?" I barely manage to keep anger out of my voice, but she understands at once that I'm irritated.

"There's someone I really want you to meet," she goes on. "It's really important to me," she says with pleading eyes.

I use all my will to stay in my seat even though every fibre of my being is screaming at me to bolt out of here. "Oh, there she is," Sara's face lit up as she's looking over my shoulder.

I don't turn around but start praying.

Please don't let it be the redhead, please don't let it be the redhead…

"Hey, Pumpkin over here," Sara stands up.

Come the fuck on…

I briefly close my eyes in defeat, when I open them again Sara is hugging the redhead before kissing her on the cheek. "Hazy, I want you to me Catherine Willows. Catherine, this is Hazel my…"

"Your little sister…" I finish for her in a breath.

What the…?

"Exactly," Sara beams.

I'm staring at Sara and Hazel, mouth agape trying to work out if this is a joke or not.

"Cath?" Sara calls me expectantly.

I shake myself out of my stupor and stand up. "Sorry, I'm being rude. Pleased to meet you," I extend my hand to Hazel which she takes gladly with a soft smile.

"The pleasure's all mine."

"I'm sorry about that," I apologize. "It's just… shocking to think of the two of you like sisters."

They both chortle, Sara sits down and scoot over the wall to make a place for Hazy on her side of the booth. "Yeah, we get that every time. She got her looks from Mom, and I unfortunately took after our father."

"I got the looks, she got the brains," Hazel points her thumb at Sara.

"Hey! I'm no ugly duckling either!" Sara whines.

"And here I was expecting you to say that I was not stupid… but I'm glad your ego is fine," Hazel rolls her eyes.

And I chuckle at their banter.

"Hazy, has been away for a year, and she surprised me at work the other day, that's why I cancelled our plans," Sara explains. "I thought she wasn't coming back for another month. God, I'm so glad you're here," she says with affection before putting her arm around Hazel's neck and kissing her on her temple.

"I'm glad too, I missed your ugly face when I was away."

"Hey, watch it!" Sara pokes her in the rib.

The rest of the breakfast goes smoothly, with a good mood and a lot of laughter. I focus myself entirely on getting to know Hazel, just so I won't have to think about the fact that I've been an idiot for the past four days.

Fatigue takes its toll on me rather quickly, so after only an hour I go back home, not without inviting the both of them to dinner for next week before Hazel goes back to their home in California.

I would have thought that being able to put a name on the face of the woman who's been haunting my thought and making me question everything I have with Sara would have made me feel a certain relief so that I could sleep now. But instead of that more questions are eating at me. Did I ruin everything with Sara? Should I have the 'labelling conversation' with her? Do I want to label things between us? Is there still something between us?

I'm nowhere near sleep when someone rings at my door. I frown when I notice the time, wondering who could come at my door that early in the morning.

Sara, as it turns out.

"Hey?" I greet her with a frown.

"Did I wake you?"

"No," I shake my head.

"Okay, cool," she sighs in relief. I stare at her expectantly and she shakes her head. "Right, sorry. You've been distant lately and you seemed rather preoccupied."

I think now is a good time as any to panic.

"You don't have to tell me anything and I'm not going to push, but I wanted you to know that if you want talk, at any time of the day or night, I'm here," she says with a soft caring smile.

Or maybe not.

"Thanks," I nod, genuinely touched that she came all the way to tell me this.

"Cool," she grins. "I'll let you go back to sleep then," she adds and gets ready to leave.

"Sara," I call her back.

I'm going to regret this…

Everything is fine, I really don't need to do this…

But I want her to know… no, I just want to be honest even though I'm not sure I want to hear what she might say after. We've managed to be so opened with one another ever since we've started… whatever this is and not telling her would feel too much like putting a wall between us and I don't want that.

"Yeah?"

I can still back down.

I should.

I sigh.

Emotional vulnerability might kill me, but dishonesty will corrode everything. If I'm going to blow myself up I might as well aim high.

"I was just being silly," I go on. "My… insecurities made me act silly," I confess.

She looks at me curiously, clearly not getting it, but then again I didn't give her enough pieces of the puzzle.

"I saw you on the parking lot…" I'm not really sure how to turn this. "When she came to surprise you, I saw you and from what I saw I assumed…" I clear my throat. "I made assumptions and those made me act silly."

Right, be more cryptic, why don't you.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I was… jealous."

There, it's out.

"… of Hazy?" she tries cautiously.

"Evidently that was before knowing who she was… I mean… she's young, she's beautiful and you two don't look anything alike… although once we know you are related the resemblance does show a bit… but at the time I thought… I assumed she was a flame or whatever… and even then it shouldn't have mattered because it's not like you and I…" I trail off.

Oh look, I think my shovel has hit China, a sure sign that I can stop digging.

"Like I said it was just me being stupid… I was jealous and I shouldn't have been… I have no right to be…" oh for goodness sake stop talking!

"You're right, you shouldn't have," she says firmly.

My heart drops into my stomach, I hang my head, biting my bottom lip to keep my tears in check, looking at my feet because at this moment they look fantastically interesting.

It occurs to me that this whole honesty thing was probably not my most luminous idea. My stomach ties itself into a knot, I've said too much, I've ruined it all. If my behaviour of the past four days wasn't enough I have now showed her how neurotic I am, as if she needed more reasons to run away from me.

Brilliant Cath, just freaking brilliant.

"It figures that you wouldn't know how incredibly powerful your spell is," she says softly. I look up and stare at her in confusion, not really getting what she's saying. She's not looking at me with anger or exasperation, but with warmth and affection. "I'll tell you one thing about it though, it makes the idea of looking past you hardly conceivable," she grins. "Not that I'm complaining."

I gasp when she gently put a strand of hair behind my ear before resting her hand on my cheek watching her thumb moving delicately against my skin. She leans in slowly and let her lips linger on my cheek, her other hand finds mine and she slips her fingers in between mine, giving a gently squeeze. A soft moan escapes my mouth in a whisper; she caresses my nose with hers before resting her forehead against mine; her eyes are closed when she lets out a deep sigh.

"Sweet dreams," her whisper comes to tickle my lips and my knees buckle a bit.

My head is still spinning when she pulls back with an affectionate smile and before I know it she's gone.

I get back inside and lean against my door, my mind still trying to make sense of what she said, though her kiss makes it hard to use higher brain functions at the moment.

My spell… what…?

Oh.

Oooh…

I think she said that she liked me, and that she wasn't interested in anybody else.

My heartbeat doubles once her words take their full meaning. I go back to bed, grinning like an idiot at my ceiling.

It's official, then. We're on the same wavelength.

Damn.


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