A/N: Have I told you lately that I love you? Well, not all of you. Just some of you. More like a couple. Okay, one of you, really…hmm…where was I going with this? Oh, yeah! Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews!! Though they may not win my undying love, they really do make my day and move you high up on my cool-person-o-meter. So, without further inconvenience, I give you…CHAPTER…3!!!! Enjoy!

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Catherine rubbed her eyes tiredly before focusing once again on the mess of engine parts before her.

Nick was at the crash site with two day shifters supervising the cadets on evidence collection. Grissom had taken it upon himself to recreate the cabin with a few others, volunteer police officers and detectives. Greg was acting as liaison between the techs and their counterparts in the field, ferrying evidence and keeping everyone updated. If it weren't for the fact that two of his close friends were currently MIA, he would have been overjoyed to feel so included. As it was, a dark cloud hung over all of LVPD that night. It was getting on towards midnight and no one had taken a break.

After being on the tarmac for over an hour and sorting through the wreckage, worrying that at any moment she would come across Sara's lifeless form, Ecklie finally sent Catherine back to the lab to do something that was a little more hands-off. So here she was trying to piece the engine back together to see which came first, the chicken or the egg. Did the engine blow sending the plane to the ground? Or did something else go wrong and then the engine blew?

Truthfully, Catherine didn't care. What did it matter? There was no justice here. She wished Sara were here. If it were the two of them here covered in ash and oil, they would be putting it together like a puzzle and every time they figured out something she would get to see that golden smile. Or they would stop for coffee and walk through the lab in their coveralls, and when they got to the break room, Sara would try to wipe a smudge off her cheek. But her hands would be dirty and she would only make it worse. And at the end of shift they could go home and shower together and make love.

But that wasn't going to happen. Sara wasn't coming home. Catherine fought back tears for the umpteenth time that night. Sara wasn't coming home. They had spoken on the phone less than twelve hours ago. She smiled weakly as she thought of their last words to each other.

"Hello?"

"Hey, hon.…it's me." Catherine smirked at the other woman's hesitance.

"I kind of figured. What's up, sweetie? You're still coming back today, right?"

"Yeah, I am. That's actually why I'm calling."

"Oh?" Catherine's smile widened; Sara was so cute when she was nervous.

"Yeah, I…uh, I wanted to tell you to get a babysitter for Linds."

"Really?"

"Yep." Catherine could hear the grin in the other woman's voice. "I'm taking my honey out on the town tonight!"

Catherine giggled, "Really? What should I wear?"

"Something gorgeous and on you that would mean…anything."

"The only thing that looks gorgeous on me is you."

Sara laughed, "Yes, well, where we're going I think we'd get kicked out for that. Where a dress. A short one. A short, sleeveless, backless, turquoise one that hugs you like a second skin, has a plunging neckline, and a slit up one side."

"I only have one of those, baby."

"Okay," Sara chuckled, "so, wear that one. It's my favorite."

Catherine laughed.

"What? You asked!"

"Hmm." Catherine hummed huskily, "So I did. And I suppose you want my hair down, falling over my shoulders. And really, with such a small dress, any panties at all would leave lines, don't you think?"

The brunette coughed, "Uh…yeah…underwear…complete waste of time, definitely…"

"Alright, baby, so I'll get a babysitter and I'll see you in a few hours right?"

"Definitely. Oh, and Cath?" Sara sounded nervous again.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

The redhead smiled. Not that she had to think about her answer, "I love you too, Sara. So much."

There was a sigh of relief audible on the other end. "I'll see you soon?"

"I'll be waiting."

Catherine was brought back to reality by the sound of her cell phone going off. "Uh, Willows."

"Catherine. Nick. Meet me in the break room in ten minutes. Find Greg if you can."

"Grissom?"

"Still at the scene. Ten minutes."

Still at the scene. The scene. That's how she had to keep thinking of it. Just another scene. As she hung up, Catherine put her forehead against the cool of the glass wall. She just had to keep going.

"So, what do you got?" she asked, walking into the break room with Greg on her heels.

"I…" Nick looked apologetically at Catherine. "I've got the passenger manifest. There's good news and bad news." He hesitated.

"Just give it to me, Nick."

"Okay. The bad news is that according to this, Warrick and Sara were on the flight."

Greg frowned. "What's the good news?"

"This," Nick held up the paper, "is not the official manifest. This is just who was on the flight as of yesterday night. The list of who actually got on the plane is stuck somewhere in the airline's computer system. They're still trying to locate it. So, you know, maybe there's a chance…"

Catherine shook her head. "She would have called," she muttered to herself.

"What?"

"I said, they would have called. They would have heard about the crash and they would have called." She sighed. "They were on the plane. Let's just get back to work." Miserable, but determined, Catherine turned away.

Maybe they didn't get on the plane. A small voice said in her mind. But then why hasn't she called? She had to be sure. She checked her phone again. No messages. Wearily, she began punching in the familiar numbers. One ring. Two. Voicemail. She sighed. What had she expected? Had she really expected to hear Sara's voice on the other end? That phone was probably scattered in a million pieces on the McCarran tarmac. She checked her watch. Just a few more hours until this day was over and she could go home and curl up with her daughter.

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Sara's stomach churned as they hit the millionth rut in the road. Weren't there regulations about the upkeep of interstate highways? "I hate buses," she muttered, her head pressed against the seat in front of her.

"Let's take your mind off it," Warrick suggested.

Sara turned her neck to raise an eyebrow at the man beside her. "How?"

"You could tell me who it is you've been trying to phone all night…"

"Forget it."

"Come on, Sar. You've borrowed six phones to try and get service, its obviously someone really important to you."

"What's you're point?" She looked out the window, did she want to share this with anyone? Truth be told, she had wanted to tell their friends for ages now. But she and Catherine had agreed that it would complicate something that was already complicated enough.

"That if someone is that important to you, then they are important to me too."

Sara sighed and sat up, "Its Catherine."

Warrick nodded dumbly for a moment before he did a double take, his eyes wide. "Catherine?"

"Yep."

He cleared his throat. "And I'm guessing you weren't just calling to talk about work…"

"That would be correct."

"So you and her…" he raised an eyebrow.

"Yep."

He blinked, staring straight ahead. "Wow. I did not see that coming. Catherine? Really?"

"Is that so hard to believe?"

"No, no, not at all," he said hurriedly. And then, after a moment, "Well, yeah…yeah, it kind of is. I mean, I know you guys don't catfight like you used to, but…wow."

Sara snorted. "Wow? That's articulate."

"How long?"

"About two months."

"Two months? And you never told us?"

Sara flushed guiltily. "We were going to, but we wanted to make sure we had a future together before we made an announcement."

"And do you?"

Sara grinned to herself and Warrick chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Sara nodded and then, unable to it keep to herself any longer, she reached into her bag and pulled out the box, offering it to the man beside her.

Warrick took it, his eyes widening when he saw its contents before he put a hand to his chest dramatically, "Sara, this is so unexpected. I always dreamed it would happen! I accept!"

Sara snatched the box back and gave him a mock glare.

He laughed, "That is a gorgeous ring, Sar. Is that where you disappeared to two days ago? When I tried to get you to go to that computer digitizing thing?"

Sara nodded, grinning."

Warrick clapped his hands together once, jumping up in his seat. "This is just great! And nobody else knows?"

Sara shook her head, "Just Lindsey and Cath's mom and sister."

"But I'm the first to know at work?"

"Yep."

He beamed. "Oh, this is going to kill Nick! He'll just hate that I knew first. And I can't wait to see Greg's face- hell, I can't wait to see Grissom's face, ha! This is just fantastic!" He looked over at Sara, "I'm really happy for you, both of you. The more I think about it, the more I see how perfect you are for each other."

"So you're not surprised about either of us being with another woman?" Sara seemed skeptical. Could it really be as simple as that?

Warrick waved a hand, "Nah. I knew Cath had been with women before, she told me years ago. Not really a big surprise."

"And me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?"

Sara frowned, confused.

"Girl," he drawled, "It really isn't all that hard to figured out." He tried to put it gingerly.

"Why?"

He sighed, "Sara, you look gay."

She bristled. "I do not. You can't 'look' gay."

"You can and you do. Its not a bad thing, but it is a true thing."

Sara looked down, "Is it my clothes?"

"Its not really any one thing in particular its kind of like the combination of everything topped with this attitude you give off."

Sara furrowed her brow. This was something to think about.

"So how are you going to ask her?"

"Well, we had reservations at her favorite restaurant for tonight, but obviously that's been blown out of the water. I had it all planned out- I had a private room set up, birds of paradise- her favorite flower, all over the place. Music. Special menu. This whole speech about how much I love her and Lindsey. Now I have no idea."

Warrick looked thoughtful. "You know what? You should just ask her."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think you need to dress it up so much. I mean, the big gesture is sweet, but there's something nice about seizing the moment."

"You think?
Warrick nodded.

"So I should just ask her?"

"I think that ring speaks for itself."

Sara smiled, "I think that's actually a better idea. I was so stressed out about making that speech."

"Yeah, and this way you can just say whatever is in your heart."

Sara nodded her agreement.

They fell silent for a moment before Warrick sat up straight, "Oh my god, you need to call her!"

Sara rolled her eyes, "You think? What do you think I've been trying to do the last three hours? I've tried, we're in the middle of the desert- there's no service."

Warrick settled back in his chair, "Guess we'll have to wait until we get closer to civilization. So how did you guys hook up?"

Sara sat back as well, resigning herself to a long, bumpy ride. "Well…"

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What do you think? Any guesses as to how its going to end? I'll tell you. See secretly, Catherine and Sara are international super assassins, and they have been hired to kill Ecklie and they will do it using only peanut butter, a pickle, and some dental floss! No seriously, tell me what you think and how you think it should end, and do it by method of, you guessed it, REVIEW!