Ah the angst! Let me know what y'all think x

Chapter 14

As Warrick and Greg chattered amicably in the break room, Sara and Catherine opted for sending each other sultry smiles across the table. Catherine was pretending to read a magazine, but anyone watching would notice that she hadn't turned a page since she picked it up. She was too busy studying Sara's face from under her eyelashes. Her jaw line, her lips, her eyes...

"Alright gang, quiet night." Grissom declared, wandering in. "Boys, you've ... where's Nick?"

"Bathroom." Warrick answered.

"Oh. Well you've got a hit and run. Greg back to your lab. Girls, you get paperwork duty." They both tried to hide the smiles creeping onto their faces. Normally that would have been something to make the heart sink. But the thought of being alone, together, in Catherine's office all night ... well, it made paperwork sound a lot more fun.

"I don't know Gil, I wouldn't leave those two together unattended." Ecklie's smarmy voice drifted in from the threshold.

"What do you mean?" Grissom frowned.

"Well, I'm just saying, you leave them alone and ... things could happen." Their bald boss said as he ambled his way in, that Cheshire cat grin on his face. Sara frowned, while a slightly panicked expression appeared on Catherine's face. They exchanged a worried glance – he couldn't know...could he?

Grissom, completely misunderstanding, just scoffed.

"I think they can manage paperwork without falling out." He said with amusement. Sara and Cath did not fall out that often, but that was pretty much the only time Ecklie saw them.

"That's not what worries me." He smirked, locking eyes with Catherine who looked like she was trying to melt into the chair. "If what I saw this morning is anything to go by, I wouldn't expect the paperwork to be done anytime soon." Cath looked at Sara with wide eyes. Sara shook her head softly, trying silently to calm the blonde. He must be bluffing.

"What are you talking about?" Warrick asked, frowning. Without warning Ecklie pulled out a packet of photos, seemingly from nowhere, and dropped it on the table.

Catherine's face drained of all colour. Not bluffing then.

"What the hell?" Rick muttered, his green eyes settling on the top one. It was dark, but you could clearly see two people making out in the grass by Lake Mead. And despite the distance and the darkness, there was no doubt who those two people were.

"Catherine?" Grissom asked in a voice a little too high.

"It's not us." She blurted out immediately. She could feel Sara's questioning eyes on her, but was resolutely avoiding her gaze. Ecklie's smirk seemed to grow. "It's not me!" She repeated insistently, her voice wavering. They boys frowned, letting their eyes drift back to the photos. Grissom flicked his eyes from the photos between the two girls.

"Sara?" He asked slowly. Cath locked eyes with the brunette and shook her head imperceptibly, a silent message to back her up. "Is this you?" Without taking her eyes off Catherine, she shook her head.

"No." She answered quietly.

Catherine closed her eyes and swallowed. This was so not right. This could not be happening!

"I saw them with my own eyes." Ecklie butted in. "You guys do know that sex in public is an offence, right?" He simpered gleefully. As he said this Greg had just picked up a photo showing them both wearing significantly fewer items of clothing.

"Wow." He croaked. Sara opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Catherine snatched the photo back, purely out of instinct, and held it close to her chest.

"See, I told you." Ecklie said, pointing at her as if she were some fairground animal. Sara could see Catherine shaking from across the table and had had enough. She stood up and, without a word, took Cath's hand and led her outside.

"Get out of here Conrad. This isn't a playground. Go play your games elsewhere." Gil snapped, tossing the photos back at him. With a frown Ecklie collected his photographs and left, pausing in the doorway only long enough to say;

"Sleeping together behind your back. And they can't even admit it when the evidence is placed before them. Some team Gil."

The boys exchanged confused glances. The photos were convincing, but the girls' behaviour was undeniable. But...Cath and Sara?

"Alright Boss," Nicky's cheerful voice broke the silence. "What ya got for me?"

x x x x x

In the locker room Catherine stared at the floor. She could feel the brunette watching her but couldn't meet her eyes.

"Are you really that ashamed of us?" Sara asked quietly after a while.

"There is no us." Catherine snapped tiredly.

"Could have fooled me." Sara implored. "Cath, is it really so bad if they know?" Suddenly her back was slammed against the lockers and Catherine's face was an inch from hers. For one deluded second she thought Cath was going to kiss her.

"There's nothing to know, Sara. It never happened." The blonde growled. Sara nodded numbly, too shocked to speak. Cath released her as quickly as she had grabbed her, and walked away, leaving Sara shaken and crying in her wake.

x x x x x

"My life's a mess." Sara mumbled miserably. She was sat in her car with her head resting on her folded arms on the steering wheel, listening to the Vegas rain beating down on the windshield. Through the fog in her head she heard the car door open and close. There was silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry." Catherine whispered. She waited for an answer that never came, so continued. "I was caught off guard. I wasn't ready for everyone to find out, especially not like that." She sighed.

"It's fine. Forget it." Sara's detached voice upset her even more than her words.

"I'm not ashamed of you Sar." She insisted, draping an arm around Sara's shoulders. She felt the brunette flinch in pain and withdrew her arm. She was about to ask what was wrong, when the scene in the locker room flashed before her eyes. "Did I do that?" she asked, not really sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"It's nothing." Sara mumbled, sitting up. Not accepting that answer, Cath undid the buttons on Sara's shirt and slipped the garment down her arms. Surprisingly, Sara didn't resist. There, dark and bold against her pale skin, were two bruises; one on either arm, and another spreading across her back where it had hit the lockers.

"I'm sorry," Cath choked, letting her fingertips caress the marks.

"It's ok." Sara replied, softer this time.

"No, it's not. I hurt you." Tears continued to spill from Catherine's crystal blue eyes. She leant forward and captured Sara's lips. "Let me make it up to you, please." She mumbled into the kiss, letting her hands begin to caress Sara's bare skin. Suddenly the brunette's hands gripped her wrists, halting their motions. She pulled back and fixed Catherine with a hurt glare.

"No. Sex is not going to fix this." She said in a wounded voice. "You won't let me anywhere near you in public; you won't let me take you out. You can't even admit how you feel about me to our friends."

"Sara, I..."

"Last night you said you love me. And today you say there's nothing between us. Which is it Catherine?" The blonde tried to answer but couldn't find the words. And apparently that was enough for Sara. "Until you decide what's more important; your reputation or me, I don't want to see you." Catherine's eyes widened at Sara's words. She wanted to say something, anything, but her voice was lost. And even when Sara got out of the car and started walking she still could not say a word. All she could do was sit and watch the love of her life disappear into the rain.