Hope y'all are enjoying it so far. This one might be a little slow but be patient, I'm building to something. Keep reviewing guys and gals x

x x x x

Catherine awoke early the next morning, after a difficult night's sleep. She had gotten up no less than three times to check on Sara, who thankfully slept relatively peacefully. The rest of the night had been spent figuring out how to talk to Sara about her problems, and trying to get her head around the strange moment last night. And the conclusion she had come to ... need more time.

Climbing out of bed, she shuffled down the hall, checking on Lindsey who was sound asleep, and creeping downstairs quietly so as not to wake Sara. However, apparently she didn't need to worry about that, because there was the object of her concern sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee.

"Hey." She said in surprise. Sara jumped and turned in her seat, offering a small smile. "What are you doing up?" Cath asked, repeating the now familiar act of checking Sara's temperature, and found it about the same as yesterday. And she still looked pale. Slightly disappointed, she sat down opposite her friend. Sara shrugged.

"Couldn't sleep." She answered bluntly. She started to raise her mug to her lips when Catherine took it from her hands and walked over to the sink with it. Sara watched her pour the contents down the drain in dismay. A glass of orange juice was placed in front of her in replacement and Cath returned to her seat opposite, without uttering a word.

"Well, actually I wanted to talk to you about that." The blonde started, but she was cut off by a sleepy voice.

"Mommy?" Lindsey questioned rubbing her eyes tiredly. Cath stood up and lifted her daughter up onto her hip.

"What's wrong baby?"

"Whys everyone up?" She asked, reaching a tiny hand down to Sara, who took it uncertainly.

"Sara and I just wanted to have a chat." Cath said, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair behind the little girl's ear. You hungry?" Lindsey nodded so Cath placed her down in a chair and started making breakfast. Sara and Lindsey chatted amiably until Catherine placed the plates in front of them and sat down to join them. Sara was stunned watching Lindsey, who had stopped talking and was wolfing her breakfast down like a ... a wolf. Catherine, however, was completely oblivious. She was too busy staring at Sara, lost in her own thoughts.

Sara was beautiful, that much was obvious, but there was something else, something that Catherine had never noticed before. It was difficult to put a name to it though, since it was more the little things than one major thing. It was the way her hair shimmered, and the way she could run her hand through it a million times and it would still fall back into curls around her face. It's that stubborn strand that will forever hang in her eyes, no matter how many times she tucks it behind her ear. It's the way her legs go on for days and her skin, so soft, just screams at you to touch it. It's the way she gets this shy look, and her cheeks turn ever so slightly pink when she's embarrassed, and the look she gets when she's concentrating, so passionate. It's that little smile she gets. But mostly it's her eyes. The mystery behind them, like a swirling mist, and the way they dance when she laughs. The way they change colours; sometimes a light haze in the light, sometimes green when she gets this playful glint in them. And sometimes a deep chocolate brown, almost black ... like they were last night when she...

"Cath?" Sara's voice snapped her back, and she blushed when she realised that she had been staring at her friend for several minutes. No, not staring. Ogling.

Sara had noticed Catherine watching her and begun to feel very uncomfortable under her scrutiny. Cath cleared her throat and turned to Lindsey, who was watching the adults with a puzzled expression.

"Come on baby, let's get you dressed." She said, slightly flustered at being caught out, and took her little girl by the hand to lead her upstairs, leaving behind a very confused brunette.

X x x

After Lindsey was dressed and dropped off at school, Catherine returned briefly, just to check that Sara was okay, before leaving to run some errands. It was nothing important really; dry cleaning, grocery shopping, that sort of thing, nothing that couldn't wait. It was not so much a necessity as an excuse to get out of the house for a while. Yes, she felt guilty for leaving Sara alone, especially after she swore that she wasn't going to let her out of her sight, but she also needed some time to figure out what had happened last night. And she couldn't do that sitting next to the brunette. She had spent many hours with Sara at work, seen her at her best and worst, had seen her getting undressed for Christ's sake. And yet she had never had feelings for her before. In that moment, something had changed. She had seen Sara differently, almost like she had seen something else in her, something she couldn't put a name to.

Whilst aimlessly wandering the aisles of the grocery store, she let these thoughts run rampant her mind, trying desperately to find an explanation. Eventually, after exhausting the shop and still managing to forget the bread, she came to the conclusion that it meant nothing.

She and Sara were friends, nothing more. The silence, and the darkness had created a mood that had gotten to them both, and they had been caught up in the moment. Taking care of Sara and worrying about her had stirred many maternal feelings for the brunette that had gotten mixed up with some other feelings of friendship and ...what? Lust, maybe. After all, it was a long time since Cath had shared a bed with anyone; her libido was running wild right now. That explains it, it was merely a case of bad timing, and mixed feelings getting confused. That was all.

Right?

X x x

Returning home slightly more certain of herself than she had been that morning, Catherine found Sara curled up on the couch with a book.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Cath asked, dropping her bags in the kitchen and sitting next to Sara, but not too close. Sara shrugged, never taking her eyes off the page. Cath gave her a once over; her pale skin had a little more colour to it now, and she looked less drowsy than she had. She was evidently on the mend. Saying that, Cath knew there were still a few things that need discussing. She debated doing it now, but decided it could wait a little longer. Instead, there was something else she needed to discuss. Gently prising the book out of Sara's hands, Cath got her full attention. "Listen, I was thinking, if you're feeling better, I could go back to work tonight, just for a few hours? Only if you're feeling okay though, if you're not I'll stay home." Sara shook her head.

"I'll be fine. I could probably ..."

"No." Catherine cut her off. Sara raised an eyebrow.

"You don't know what I was going to say." She pointed out.

"You are not going home and you're not going to work." Cath insisted. Sara's eyes widened briefly when she realised Cath did know what she was going to say, but the surprise passed and she sat forward.

"I'm fine Cat, I feel much better."

"I don't care. You are not leaving here until I know you are better and you are certainly not going back to work. In case you've forgotten Miss Sidle, it was only two nights ago that you had a seizure in the ER. You have at least one week off and you are going to use it." Sara picked up on the tone of Cath's voice, the one which meant it was pointless attempting to argue, so she changed tack.

"So, you're going back tonight? Have you spoken to Grissom, since you slammed the phone down on him?" Cath chuckled softly.

"Yeah, he called yesterday afternoon, right after Nancy dropped Lindsey off. He said I've got off as much time as I need to take care of you, so if you want me to stay it's not a problem."

"It's fine, I'll be fine." Catherine gave her a dubious look so Sara raised her hand in a sort of salute. "Scouts honour." She promised, which made Cath laugh.

"You don't have the discipline to be a scout, missy."

X x x

Eventually Sara persuaded Catherine to go to work, after she had given her Nancy's number and made her swear to call if she needed anything at all.

Alone, Sara and Lindsey found themselves sitting in the lounge. Sara was not familiar with taking care of a seven year old, and this was something she had not anticipated when shooing Cath out of the door. They remained in disjointed conversation for few minutes, and Sara felt like she couldn't be more uncomfortable than she was right now. However, apparently she was wrong.

"When are you going home?" Lindsey asked, scowling up at Sara. The brunette shook her head.

"I don't know. Soon, I promise." To Sara's surprise Lindsey looked down sadly.

"You don't have to go." Evidently she had misunderstood that question then. Sara smiled softy.

"I can't stay here forever; I have to go home sometime." She explained. Lindsey looked at her, a familiar glint in her sparkling blue eyes.

"Mommy wants you to stay." She said. Sara's eyes widened.

"She does?" She asked instinctively.

"Yep. She said so."

"What did she say exactly?" Sara asked slowly, her curiosity peaked.

X x x

Last night:

Catherine carried Lindsey upstairs and tucked her in, before sitting on the edge of her daughter's bed.

"My God, what's wrong with me?" She muttered to herself. "This can't be happening, I cannot be..." she let the sentence hang, running a hand through her tresses. "Oh Sara Sidle what do you do to me? Don't leave me like this?" She groaned. After a few minutes she stood up, kissed the 'sleeping' Lindsey goodnight and slipped out quietly.

X x x

"She...she said that?" Sara asked. A million thoughts ran through her head.

"You're really pretty." Lindsey announced, interrupting her musings. Lindsey had crawled along the couch until she was practically sitting on Sara's lap. The brunette smiled shyly, unsure of what to say. "Do you wear make up?" The little girl asked.

"Sometimes." Sara replied with a small smile. She had a feeling she knew where this was going.

And sure enough a matter of minutes later she was sat on the living room floor with some of Catherine's make up – the cheap stuff that she let Lindsey play with – pampering the child. Lindsey clearly loved the attention and, surprising even herself, Sara found that she was enjoying it too. Conversation came naturally between them, as Sara answered the girl's questions and told her stories of various music bands and old movies.