Hope y'all enjoying so far. Will try to make chapters a little longer in future. Let me know what you think :)

Chapter 4

Well, at least she had been right about one thing; she couldn't talk to Sara. Every time she tried the words eluded her and it came out as a strange mess of babble. So, as a compromise, she had opted to avoid her at all costs.

Which was not working out fantastically well. She felt so awkward around the brunette, but for some unknown reason Grissom kept pairing them together.

And tonight was no different. When they arrived at their scene Cath immediately put Sara on the perimeter, eliciting a confused scowl from the brunette. Granted, it was the third time this week she had given Sara the junior task, but it was also the only way to keep some distance between.

If she had actually spent any time with Sara she would probably have noticed the increasing agitation brewing within her young colleague.

But as a result of her distancing, she didn't notice, and pushed all the wrong buttons.

x x x x x

"Hey Cat," Sara called, catching up with her in the hallway. "Have you got a few minutes? I've been checking the phone records, but there seems to be some anomalies with the dates. I was wondering if you could help me, I can't get my head around it." She asked nervously.

"I'm busy." Cath answered bluntly. "Just keep working on it; you're smart, I'm sure you'll work it out." With that she walked off, leaving the girl stood alone.

Stalking into her office, she kicked the door shut behind her, but Sara's foot blocked its path.

"Have I done something wrong?" The younger CSI asked, lurking in the doorway.

"What?" Cath asked, surprised that the brunette had followed her.

"Well you've been off with me all week. I was just wondering what I'd done to offend you." Sara stepped closer.

"You haven't done anything." Cath insisted, stepping backwards instinctively. She knew if Sara got too close her body would go haywire and she couldn't handle that right now. Sara stopped moving, frowning.

"So what's wrong?" Concern was underlying her confusion this time.

"Nothing."

"Something." She retorted.

"It's nothing to do with you!" Catherine shouted, taking Sara by surprise.

"Then why are you taking it out on me?" She demanded. "Whenever I talk to you, you walk off or just ignore me altogether." She pointed out. "If we're going to work together you need to talk to me."

"Just leave it Sara!" Cath snapped, running a hand through her hair impatiently. Hurt flashed through Sara's eyes briefly but she covered it quickly. She considered arguing more, but reigned in her temper in time.

"Fine." She sighed, stalking back out.

Catherine breathed out heavily, gripping control of her emotions. With a groan she kicked her trashcan angrily.

x x x x x

"My life sucks." Cath grumbled miserably. After their fight, she had not seen Sara again all shift. But then again she had not been trying to: she had cleaned up the rubbish she had sprayed all over her floor by booting her bin over, and spent the rest of shift sulking in her office. It had dawned on her at one point just how hard it must have been for Sara to come to her and ask for help – Sara never asked for help – and she had thrown it back in her face without so much as drawing breath.

With that thought in mind, she had given up trying to sleep so was sat up watching crap and eating crap. She sighed and flicked the TV off. In the silence, she felt so alone. And she couldn't even go watch Lindsey sleep, because her daughter was at a slumber party. Her eyes flicked to her phone.

With a burst of courage, she picked it up and scrolled down to a certain name, hovering over it for a second, before her confidence waned.

Should she?

x x x x x

"Oh God!" She moaned, directing them to the bedroom. Hands fumbled with her shirt, eventually ripping it off and tossing it aside. She'd find it later.

She tumbled ungracefully onto the bed. Coarse hands roamed across her body, gripping her breasts roughly. He sucked her neck, biting hard on her pulse point.

In the end she had not called Sara; she bottled it. Instead, she had called Doug.

She knew it was wrong, and that she would regret it in a few hours, but right now she didn't care. She needed something to take her mind off of Sara.

Unfortunately it didn't seem to be working, because all she could think about was the elusive brunette.