8th Hour: Location Unknown
"I can't believe you let them walk out of the house," Marisa sat down slowly. Her head hurt and all her movements were slow. She was sure that Catherine's bitch had given her a concussion.
"I only promised you one thing," Erika threw an icepack in the other woman's lap. "And it wasn't to chase down your captives."
Gingerly Marisa picked the pack up and placed it on the back of her head. "They all think you're a part of this now. I don't think your promise means much."
"Doesn't matter," Erika took a seat next Marisa.
Marisa turned so that she was facing the woman next to her. "I'm going to kill all of them. Catherine just isn't who she used to be."
Erika chuckled darkly. "What did you expect of her? She wasn't going to remain the woman you once knew. She's too strong of a person for that."
Tortured eyes turned away from Erika's dark form. "She asked me for help."
"She was coming off of a long ride of cocaine and alcohol." Erika reached up and guided Marisa's face so that it was facing her once again. "She was asking for more drugs, Marisa, not a savior to purify her life."
"No!" Marisa pushed Erika away and jumped from her seat. "You're a liar. She wanted to be saved."
Marisa's push had caused Erika to fall back but not to the floor. She straightened back up and crossed her legs. "She wanted another fix. She was just waking up to reality and that's not something she was ready to face yet. She knew you were a user. Catherine wanted your drugs."
"How would you know?" Marisa advanced quickly on Erika and grabbed the other woman's collar. "You were never there."
Erika grabbed Marisa's hands and pried them from her shirt. "Because I'm smarter than you Marisa." She squeezed Marisa's wrist until a look of pain presented itself on the redhead's face. "You're the kind that gets caught." Erika shoved Marisa away from her and watched the woman stumble to the floor.
"They haven't caught me yet," Marisa yelled from the floor defensively.
"Which is surprising," Erika turned her back on the woman. She walked to the nearest window and put her hands against the glass. "I've given them everything they need. I've set everything up perfectly and they fail me."
Marisa had gotten off the floor and was now standing next to Erika. She put her hand on the taller woman's shoulder and leaned in close. "Maybe you're the failure."
"Don't goad me," Erika warned.
"Or you'll do what? Turn me in?" Marisa scoffed. "You made me one promise, don't you remember?"
Erika took a step away. She studied Marisa carefully then shook her head. She was done with the woman. It was only a matter of time until Marisa got caught. She had lost what logic had been left in her mind and had let her madness take over completely. The woman was going to mess up and soon.
Marisa was exactly like all the rest.
"Goodbye, Marisa." Erika turned away from the other woman and headed towards the only exit. "You really weren't that much of a challenge," she added disappointedly.
Erika walked out the door and Marisa let her go, the promise still fully intact.
Las Vegas: FBI office
"We don't know where she is," the agent admitted ashamedly to the women standing across from him. "We don't know where either of them is. When we got to the house, it was empty. We have agents canvassing the area, but so far they've come up with nothing."
"You've got to be kidding me," Catherine said. "They were right there. They had nowhere to run to."
The agent weakly shrugged. "We lost them."
"So how do you plan on finding them?" Catherine moved to take a step closer to the ashamed man, but Sara put a gentle hand on the shorter woman's shoulder and held her back.
"We think they'll probably try to find you."
"They've already gotten a hold of my daughter and Sara and you want to risk that again?" Catherine threw her hands up. "Unbelievable."
The agent looked like he was at a complete loss. "No matter what, they're going to come after you."
Catherine stared at the agent for a long moment. She didn't much like any of the agents she had met. They all seemed incompetent. "I'll do whatever you want me to, just make sure Sara and my daughter are safe."
"No!" The forcefulness in Sara's voice surprised everyone in the room including herself. "I'll do it."
Catherine turned to face Sara. "You've already been kidnapped and held hostage because of me. I don't want that happening again. You're staying someplace safe."
Before Sara could respond another agent stepped into the room. "Dr. Fisher's waiting to see you Ms. Sidle."
Sara opened her mouth to say something, but Catherine turned away from her. "She's been worried," the blond whispered. "You should go talk to her."
Sara reached out for Catherine, but quickly dropped her hands. She nodded then followed the agent out of the room.
Catherine cleared her throat and turned to the remaining agent. "So what do you want me to do?"
Las Vegas: FBI Office
Sara didn't want to leave Catherine alone, not really, but she didn't know what else to do. She had made Megan a part of her life, even if it was a small part. She owed it to Megan to at least tell her what had been going on.
The agent led her to a bigger office where Lindsey and Megan had been taken. The young girl was sitting on the desk swinging her legs back and forth. She wasn't paying any attention to the woman who sat in a chair facing her.
When Sara entered the room Lindsey jumped off the desk and ran to Sara. She gave the woman a hug and asked about her mother. Sara told her Catherine was fine. Lindsey asked about her. Sara told her she was fine. Lindsey did everything to keep Sara's attention on her and away from the other woman in the room, but she ran out of things to ask about.
So eventually Megan did get Sara's attention. Lindsey reluctantly released Sara from her desperate hold, and Sara approached Megan. They hugged, but when Megan went in to kiss Sara's lips the CSI pulled away being very much aware of Lindsey's presence.
Megan pulled away hurt but nodded her head in acceptance. She wanted Sara to ask Lindsey to leave, but she didn't want to risk saying something that would seem harsh. She didn't know much about Lindsey, but she did know that the girl meant a lot to Sara because Lindsey was one of the few people Sara had talked about at all with a certain amount of pride. Sara, somehow, had failed to talk about Lindsey's mother though something Megan couldn't help but notice.
"So," Megan drew out the word. "What's been going on?"
"A serial killer's after Mom," Lindsey helpfully supplied. "And Sara tried to stop her."
"Lindsey," Sara's mom voice made an appearance again, but this time didn't have much of an effect.
"It's true," Lindsey shrugged.
Megan spared a quick glance at Lindsey but quickly turned back to Sara. "So why are you involved?" she whispered. "Don't they have trained agents who can take care of that?"
"She wanted to kill Sara first," Lindsey offered helpfully, again.
"Lindsey," Sara's voice was firmer this time, but still had no effect.
"It's true," Lindsey replied again.
"I just don't understand why you're doing this," Megan took a step away from Sara.
"Because she loves Mom," Lindsey said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Sara would do anything for her."
"That's it Lindsey," Sara placed her hands on her hips. "Get out."
Lindsey started crying. "It's true," she yelled. "You may not want it to be, but it's true." She turned and ran out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind her as hard as she possibly could.
"Damn," Sara said to the closed door.
"Go." Megan sat back down. "Talk to her."
Sara didn't even think about protesting. She was out of the office and running after Lindsey without even sparing Megan a single glance.
She just happened to find Lindsey in the strong embrace of her mother. Catherine looked up to Sara when she appeared, and Sara fully expected Catherine to start verbally attacking her for what happened but Catherine just motioned for her to come closer.
"Lindsey, honey," Catherine said to her daughter. "You need to talk to Sara."
"No," Lindsey burrowed deeper into her mother's arms.
Catherine gently pushed Lindsey away from her. "You need to talk to her."
"But she doesn't love us anymore," Lindsey said through her tears. "She loves Megan."
"That's not true," Catherine managed to say despite the lump in her throat. "She still loves you very much."
"I do." Sara finally found her voice. "I love you very, very much."
Lindsey turned to Sara. She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. "Do you still love Mom?"
Lindsey was throwing out a challenge. She was daring Sara to say she didn't love Catherine anymore. She was daring her to lie.
"It doesn't matter," Catherine wanted an answer just as much as Lindsey did, but she wasn't going to put Sara in this position. It wasn't fair to her. "It doesn't matter now."
"Yes it does," Lindsey yelled.
"Lindsey, please don't," Sara pleaded.
"Why not? I want to know. I want to know why the baby dying made you stop loving Mom." Lindsey lunged at Sara and started hitting her. "I want to know! Tell me! Tell me!"
"Lindsey!" Catherine pulled her daughter away. "Stop!"
Sara stepped up to Lindsey and grabbed hold of both the girl's shoulders. "I never stopped loving your Mom. I will never stop loving her or you. Never."
Lindsey immediately calmed down. "Then why did you leave?"
"I hurt her," Catherine admitted softly. "She left because I did something that hurt her very much. Lindsey, it wasn't her fault."
"That's not true," Sara was looking past Lindsey straight into Catherine's eyes. "It partly was my fault."
"Ms. Willows, we're ready for you now," An agent called from the doorway. "We've got to get you all set up."
Catherine wiped at the tears that had started to fall. "Okay."