Disclaimer: I don't own them, in fact I don't own anything, pity me.

A/N: Ok, so I couldn't wait to put the next chapter up. It seems now I've started again, I can't stop. This chapter contains graphic references of violence so I'm changing the rating to M. There are also a few spoilers for 'Nesting Dolls'. Anyway, this chapter is quite dark, but I promise it gets lighter.

Chapter Two

As I approach the spot where we stood before, I begin to feel nervous.
What if she isn't there?
What if she's done something stupid?
I push these thoughts from my mind, and relief floods through me as I make out the familiar shape of her car parked on the side of the road.
I pull up beside it, and kill the engine, then jump out of the car.
I look out towards the lake and in a flash of lightning see Sara's figure standing dangerously close to the cliff edge.
A huge part of me wants to run over to her, drag her away from the edge and scream at her for doing something so stupid and dangerous, but the rational part of my brain takes over.
If I startle her, she could fall, so I'll have to be careful.
I approach her slowly and stand a little way behind her.
She doesn't react, although she must have heard my car pull up.

Eventually she turns to me, and what I see in her eyes terrifies me.
In fact, it's what I don't see that scares me the most.
Her eyes, usually so full of emotion are vacant, empty.
She's soaked to the skin, hair plastered to her head, but the cold isn't affecting her. If she's surprised that I'm here, she isn't letting on.
I remain silent, although there's so much I want to say.
This is her time to talk.
After what feels like hours, she finally speaks.

"It was a night just like this..."

Although I'm already dying with curiosity, knowing that she's finally about to open up to me, I remain silent.

"There was rain, even harder than this. You could barely hear yourself over the thunder. But not even the thunder was enough to block out the screams."

She looks away again, and all I want to do is grab her hand and pull her away from the edge. But I know that I can't. This is something she has to do. She has to pull herself away from that edge.

"The screams are engraved in my memory, just as strongly as the smell. You know what blood smells like. It was so strong, so heavy; it felt like it was pushing me to the ground. I remember the flash of the knife just as clearly. It flashed again and again and again. Blood all over him as he dropped to the floor, blood all over her as she screamed, blood all over me as I crouched in the corner and blood everywhere, just everywhere..."

She pauses again, and I feel tears begin to burn my eyes. The way she's saying these things frightens me, her voice devoid of emotion, and yet I can feel emotion radiating from her body, trapped inside, fighting to get out.

"You see, my mother had finally had enough. My father used to beat me, my brother and her, and as she couldn't fight back, she used to beat me and my brother too. But one day it got too much for her to bear. She grabbed the knife from the kitchen and stabbed my father, over and over again. The neighbours heard the screams and called the cops. When they got there, one of them had to leave the room to vomit. A social worker came and took my hand, and its odd, although I can't remember her name, she was my lifeline at that point, all I could focus on was her hand in mine, leading me away from that terrible scene, out into the rain."

My tears are flowing freely, but her eyes are still empty. I remain silent, no longer out of choice, but because I'm frozen to the spot. I knew something terrible had happened to her, but never anything like this. I'm pulled from my thoughts when she starts to talk again.

"Most of the time, I can repress it, keep it buried so deep within me that it only comes out when I work a case that reminds me of it. But this is the anniversary, the exact date of that night, and I can't keep it down. Every year on this day I relive it, over and over again, and I can't stop it. It won't stop."

My heart breaks at the emotion in her voice, although part of me is relieved that finally she's feeling something. As she turns to me, more tears spill from my eyes as I see unshed tears in her beautiful brown eyes.

"I'm sorry for the way I spoke to you tonight. It was uncalled for, and you didn't deserve it. I was hurting and I was angry, and I took it out on you. I'm so sorry Catherine, I'm so sorry."

I cry harder, hating myself because I made her think she had to apologise to me. I know there's nothing I can say to make this better, so I take a step back and hold out my hand to her, silently begging her to take it, to step away from the edge.
She looks at my hand, looks me in the eye, then reaches forward and takes my hand.
I pull her towards me and she falls into my arms, the rain pouring down on both of us, mixing with our tears.

We're both sobbing, holding on to each other so tightly, I'm surprised either of us can breathe. I'm filled with so much bottled up emotion too. The same emotion I felt when she handed me that candy bar at that grocery store robbery all those years ago. The same emotion I suppressed every time I picked a fight with her. The same emotion I felt when I looked at her as we stood in this exact spot all those months ago. I love her. I love her so much it hurts. I want to show her, but I'm afraid it'll be too much too soon. Instead I just continue to hold her, until her sobs lessen and she allows me to lead her over to my car. We're both soaked, so as soon as I've got her in the passenger seat, I switch on the engine and reach into the back of the car and grab the blanket I keep on the back seat and go to wrap it round her.

I realise that it won't do much good if she's still wearing her wet clothes, but there's nothing else for her to wear, so I wait for the car to heat up before speaking again.

"Sara?"

She turns to look at me, and although she still looks incredibly sad, she gives me a faint smile which I return.

"I know you're feeling vulnerable sweetie, but if we're going to warm you up, we need to get you out of those wet clothes, except there's no clothes for you to change into. You can wrap yourself up in the blanket, and if you don't want to, it's fine, but-"

Her voice, cracked and hoarse, stops me.

"But what about you? There's nothing to wrap you up in."

I want to cry again at how amazingly selfless she is. She's been through hell and back, yet she's still worrying about me being cold.

"Honey, you've been outside a lot longer than me. You need this much more than I do."
"What about my car?"
"We'll send a tow truck to get it in the morning."

This seems to satisfy her, and then she looks at me, then looks down at her sodden shirt. Realising she needs as much privacy as she can get at the moment, I look away, gazing out of the window into the pouring rain, watching the flashes of lightning reflected on the lake.
But a few seconds later her plea pulls me out of my daze.

"Cath…"

I turn round, and my heart breaks all over again.
Her hands are shaking too much for her to undo the buttons on her shirt.

I meet her eyes for a second, to make sure it's ok, then I reach over and begin to unbutton the shirt. My hands shake a little as I do, but not just from the cold, and I curse myself for feeling even the slightest bit of lust at a moment where she's feeling so exposed. Her eyes are closed as I undo the last button and she automatically leans forward so I can slip the shirt off her shoulders.

I can't help but admire how beautiful she is, but her shivering pulls me from my reverie and I turn my attention to her jeans. I gently cup her chin and she opens her eyes.

I motion to her jeans and she shakes her head, indicating she can do it herself. I turn away again, and this time, there's no plea. A light touch on my shoulder tells me its ok to turn round, and she gives me a soft smile, already looking like she's warming up, smothered by the blanket. This reminds me of just how cold I am, despite the warmth of the car, and I realise it's time we were heading back. I don't care what she says, she's coming home with me. I won't let her be alone tonight.

When we pull up in my driveway, I'm still freezing cold. I silently thank my sister for having Lindsay tonight. I grab my purse, and Sara's clothes, then lead her, still wearing just the blanket, to the front door. Despite my hands shaking, I manage to quickly open it and get us both inside.
It's warm inside and that only reminds me more of how wet and cold I am.
Sara's standing behind me, looking shy, and yet again I'm struck with how much she means to me. How much I love her. I begin to walk upstairs and motion for her to follow. She does without protest and when I get into the bedroom she even seems more at ease.

I give her an oversized t-shirt.

"I'll change in the bathroom so we can both have some privacy, ok?"

I know I'm talking to her like she's a child, but it seems to soothe her. I quickly change; revelling in the feeling of wearing warm, dry clothes, then return to my bedroom. Sara is sat on the edge of the bed waiting for me and I'm surprised when she gives me a full, gap toothed grin.

I can't help but smile back.
"Feeling better?"
She's asking me?!
"A lot now I'm warm and dry. How about you?"
She sighs, and I expect her to push me away again, but instead, she takes my hand.
"Better than you'd expect. I was so shocked when you showed up tonight. I'm so used to dealing with things alone. But you made me feel so safe, so cared for, so…"

She trails off and looks away from me.

"Sara?"
"No, it's stupid."
"Nothing you have to say is stupid."
"You…you made me feel loved, ok?"

She tries to pull her hand away, but I hold it tight, and tug gently till she looks at me again.

"Sara, that's because you are loved. I've loved you for such a long time, but stupidly I've tried to hide it, to deny it. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but I just need you to know that I really care for you, and I want to protect you. I don't expect anything, I just want to be there for you."

To my surprise, her smile appears again.

"Well that makes two of us."

Then her lips are on mine, insistent, demanding, but I pull away.
I see the flash of hurt, but I wrap my arms around her before she tries to pull away.

"It's not that I don't want to honey, it's just that you've been through so much tonight, you're feeling so vulnerable, and I don't want it to be too much too soon. There'll be plenty of time for that in the future, but right now I just want to hold you, and fall asleep with you."

I'm scared she's still hurt, that she doesn't understand, but she presses a kiss against my forehead and slips under the covers, moving over so there's space for me beside her. I click off the light and climb into bed, and she pulls me closer till we're pressed against each other. I wrap my arm around her waist and snuggle up to her until my head's tucked underneath her chin.
I'm drifting off to sleep when I hear her whisper something; something my heart has longed to hear for such a long time. She told me she felt the same but I wasn't prepared for how it would feel to actually hear her say the words.

"I love you Catherine."
I kiss her neck gently.
"I love you too."

I hope this wasn't too long, and I hope people enjoyed it. More soon, I promise