Chapter 2

They had managed to fight through the breakfast and were now on their third mug of coffee – the conversation still going strong. Sara had already talked about work, cases and Vegas and listened as Jess had explained her job back in Texas – as emergency doctor and given Sara enough ammo to attack Nick with in the for of embarrassing childhood stories. Things had been going well – however the flow of the conversation was broken by Jess excusing herself, "Sorry, won't be a moment" Sara smiled and nodded her head, as the blond moved off towards the ladies room. She'd been gone for only a few moments when her cell phone ringing cut into the silence1. She moved to her waist and unclipped it, she looked at the name, and she answered "Sidle"

"Her Sara, it's Nick …"

"Hey… you're sisters safe and well" She offered.

"How is she? Was everything okay…her flight?"

"Yeah fine…we're just in the diner now. Are you going to come and join us?"

"Err…I was kind of hoping you could stop by the lab… I could do with your help on a case" Sara looked at her watch, it was coming up to eleven now – and she really needed sleep before shift tonight – but this case was killing them all so she agreed, "Yeah…sure…I'll be there in about twenty."

"Thanks Sar…I owe you" He sighed in relief.

"Yeah…you know I never get tired of hearing that…I'll see you soon"

"Take care of my sister"

"Will do"

With that the call came to an end, just in time for Jess to come back – "That was Nick… he wants me at the lab… fancy coming along. Then I'll force Nick to take you home! I promise" Sara offered.

"Sounds good to me… I'll get to see my brother at work." Jess replied.

"Good. And you can tell Greg some of them great stories…hell knows he could use something to have on Nick" Sara reached into her pocket; she took a hand full of bills.

"Oh. No Sara let me half this…"

"Hey" Sara placed the cash on the table, "Your first day in Vegas… no way I'm letting you pay. It's on me…" Sara smirked at the younger woman, "Plus, I get to say you owe me one!" she winked. With that they both stood up, Sara made sure she had everything before walking towards the exit. "Hey Bobby, the best yet…" She said referring to the food.

"Only the best for you Sara" He laughed.

Sara smiled, "Yeah well, the cash on the table – thought I'd let Rick off with this one but next time you see him…"

"I'll get my cash don't you worry" Bobby nodded. "Take care of yourself. Both of you"

"You to Bob…" Sara smiled before leaving. Jess followed.

---

"So, are you going to be staying with Nick?" Sara questioned as she pulled up to another red light, things just weren't on her side today. She looked across to Jess who was looking out at the Vegas streets – before pulling her own attention back to the road.

"Err…yeah…for the moment, till I get my own apartment sorted" She explained. "Nick said he'd help me out with that" Sara nodded her head, and in that moment she felt a little jealous and envious of what Nick and Jess had – a bond, something that she once had with her own brother but was ripped from her by the system. She pushed that thought away though and lowered her gaze to the road, trying to kill the battle of emotion within her.

"Make sure he doesn't set you up too close to the strip – it'll be a bitch to sleep with the casino bells ringing twenty four seven."

"You have a lot of tips for Vegas huh?"

"All of the CSI's on night shift do… we see hell…we've seen it for six years. You learn a thing or two. I still haven't made my mind up if that's a good thing or a bad thing" The brunette took the left turning and headed up towards the lab, still thinking about the brother that she lost many years ago.

"You must really love your job to do what you do" Jess stated.

Sara nodded, "Yeah, my jobs my life"

A few moments later Sara took the left, "Here we are LV crime lab!"

It took Sara a little longer to park as day shift was in her usual spot. But now she and Jess were walking through the lab reception. "Hey Gary this is Jess Stokes…" Sara introduced the two; Gary was security so must be informed when anyone was on site. "She's okay to come through right"

"Yeah, no problems…go on ahead" He nodded. He was an older man, ex- PD until he took a shot to the knee that ended his career. He was a good guy – Sara often ended up talking to him on a slow night over a coffee and he'd offered a lot of useful tips and guidance.

"Thanks" Sara smiled as she continued through the lab, "so, what you think?" She asked.

"Well, not what I expected" Jess smiled, "I was thinking dull grey walls with damp patches and creepy guys walking around in white lab coast"

"Well you haven't met the lab techs yet… Hodge's may very well fit that description." Sara laughed. When she looked back from Jess and up the corridor she was a little confused, for day's it was quieter than usual – she shrugged it off. "Well, I'll page Nick and get him down to the Break room"

She turned into the room where the day shifts sludge could be found when she saw Catherine sat at the table with Warrick. She arrived just in time to hear the last end of a conversation – Catherine's voice spoke words that Sara had dreaded hearing. "Well…. We'll see how Date number two goes. I'm taking her to that little Italian"

Warrick looked up in time to see Sara's face change; it looked as though she'd took a round to the chest, "Oh…hey girl…how's it going?" He was visibly agitated. Catherine swung around to see Sara stood there and instantly regretted what she'd said, she felt like such a jerk.

"Hey… err…" Sara got a little flustered as she locked eyes with Catherine, she looked away to Jess. "Jess…this is C…Catherine and Warrick…they work Nights with us…guys this is …Nick's sister. You're in good hands…" She informed Jess, "they'll look after you while I get Nicky." With that she left abruptly. Lately she was finding it increasingly hard to stay in the same room as Catherine – her heart aching and the flash backs of the many love filled nights hit hard. When she walked out Warrick looked knowingly at Catherine and shook his head, all he wanted was for them to work it out. If not to get the relationship back to what it was then to at least talk about it and put it behind them so they could carry on been friends.

----

Sara made it as far as the locker room before stopping fully and leaning against the wall taking deep breaths. She was thinking back to the words Catherine spoke 'that little Italian' she cringed. She remembered that little Italian all too well – it was the place where she'd finally built up the courage to tell Catherine how she'd felt – it was the place she'd finally said the three words that she feared so much – "I love you" and what hurt her even more was that fact, it was still true, still even now she loved Catherine. She moved further inside the locker room and took a seat on the bench in the middle. She wasn't crying – hell she'd cried too much for the blond. No, she was just sat here wondering, once again what it was that she'd done so wrong – what had she done to deserve Catherine to dump her.

'it just isn't…isn't working out…this…us!' that's what Catherine had said, that how she'd ended what they had. That how she'd crushed Sara's heart.

"Hey Girl…sorry about that…back there" Warrick's voice cut into the silence, Sara looked up trying to look like it hadn't bothered her. She failed.

"It's fine"

"No…it isn't… you really didn't need to hear that" Warrick moved forward and took a seat next to Sara, "I'm sorry"

"What are you sorry about?" Sara asked. "You're not the one who dumped me"

"I know how much you love her Sara…it can't be easy to see her…and hear her talking about another woman"

"No…it's … it's defiantly not" Sara nodded. What was the use in been strong, she just wanted to go home and drink but she knew that was off the cards because she was back here in less than twelve hours and the last thing she needed was to show up drunk. "I'll be okay" she said, though she didn't think she would.

"Sar… I think you should talk to her. She'd be able to explain a lot more than I can…"

"What needs to be explained? She ended it… that's it."

"She still cares for you Sara… I just don't want to see you two hating each other." He offered. And he didn't.

"I couldn't hate her" Sara explained, "I just have to deal with the fact she's going to be with other people and get past it. It's just not an easy thing to do"

Warrick nodded his head, "Well if…if you need a shoulder"

"Thanks" Sara was grateful. She turned to the man at her side, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure"

"Watch out for her…just…make sure no one hurts her" Sara's voice was pain filled. She couldn't believe that she was doing this… totally accepting that she no longer had any right to try and protect or love Catherine – the blond wasn't hers anymore.

tbc...