"Mandy." Sara greeted, her voice void of any inclination. "You wanted me?"

"Oh. Hi, Sara. Yeah. Um, I know you guys have a busy night, so I'll make this quick. Sara, what the heck?" Mandy replied.

Sara looked up, down at her nails, back up and then straight into Mandy's eyes.

"Mands, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. What's up?" Sara said, almost completely baffled.

"You. Catherine. What's up with that. I know her. I sort of know you, not for lack of trying by the way, and this is weird."

Sara smiled, a gap-toothed grin, then smirked at the side of her mouth. "Is that why you called me, Mands? For gossip? Catherine and I are friends. I know it seems strange, but it works! I never thought it would, either, but it does."

Mandy shook her head, reaching up to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she did so. "No, I don't think so. This seems more… Flirty. I'm getting a vibe."

"Mandy, not every female law enforcement character is a closet lesbian, you know." Sara leaned in to the other woman's ear. "Even if you are" she whispered.

As Sara drew back, grinning again, Mandy brought her hands up to her chest almost defensively. "Sara! I thought we agreed never to talk about this in the lab. Or ever again! You promised." She whispered, raising it almost to a panicked hiss as she ended her sentence.

Sara laughed. "Calm down, Mands. I'm not exactly shouting it from the rooftops. I believe I said 'Until you get annoying' when I made that promise anyways."

Mandy turned away, pretended to look at some paperwork. "Alright." She looked sidelong at Sara. "If you're sure you're just friends, you can go"

Mandy turned back to the paperwork and Sara began to leave.

"Oh, and Sara?" Mandy turned, lounging against the desk, a concerned look on her face. "Be careful, okay? Friendship, relationship, I don't care. Just don't get hurt, will you?"

Sara smiled, slightly sadly. "I won't Mands. See you around, yeah?"

"Sure thing." Mandy smiled back.

…

When Sara got to the car, Catherine was lounging against the door, smiling. "Sara." she said, "How nice of you to grace us with your presence." As Sara drew closer, she held out one arm, dangling the keys from her hand. "You can drive."

The drive out to Summerlin was uneventful, aside from one moment when Sara glanced at Catherine. It had appeared that the other woman had been staring at her, with the expression of trying to memorise something, but Sara just smiled and absorbed it. Their friendship was fresh out of the oven, after all, and sometimes it was strange for both of them.

As the women pulled up, Catherine pointed at a young police officer throwing up off the sidewalk.

"What's going on with him?" She asked, knowing all too well the answer. Sara looked over and grimaced.

"I think we better prepare ourselves for a tough scene."

…

Unexpectedly, the scene was easy to process, owed much to the lack of evidence. Catherine took the perimeter, while Sara processed the interior. After about half an hour, Sara came to the front door.

"Um, Cath? I think you'd better take a look at this."

Catherine took a look at Sara's wide eyes and pale skin and followed her inside.

"There's no blood anywhere" Sara started. "Except for-"

She opened the little girl's door.

"-Here."

Above the little girl's bed, the word 'Gretel' was painted on the pink wall.

In blood.

Catherine took a deep breath.

"If this is Gretel" She started, slowly. "Then, where is Hansel?"