Kate decided to wake up early anyway and go with Megan to drop Lacey off at school.
"Did you bring me anything cool?" Lacey smiled widely, leaning into the front seat from her place in the back.
"Pittsburgh doesn't exactly have the most exciting souvenirs," Kate responded. "How about I just take us all out for dinner tonight? Your pick."
That seemed to pacify the young girl, who gave both of them a kiss on the cheek before exiting the car.
Back at the office, the two went their separate ways, Megan heading into the lab and Kate returning to the stacks of paperwork and mail she needed to peruse in order to get caught up. Half way through the day, however, an irate and disheveled woman stormed off the elevator screaming demands.
"Where's my son!" she yelled. "I wanna see my son!"
Kate immediately hurried into the lobby to try to contain her.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait until…"
Before she knew it, the woman tensed up and swung her heavy purse, clocking Kate across the cheek. Kate stumbled a bit and caught herself against the front desk. Megan entered just in time to catch all of it.
"Hey!" she shouted at the security guards. "Think you can do your job?"
The men grabbed the woman by both arms and hurled her back into the elevator, bringing her down to the police car waiting at the curb.
Megan stepped close to Kate, pushing her bangs behind her ear so she could get a better look at her cheek.
"I'm fine," Kate argued. "Everyone, back to work."
"You're not fine," Megan whispered. "We need to get some ice on this before it swells."
Kate rolled her eyes, but she could tell by the throbbing that Megan was right. She followed her into the break room and leaned against the counter while Megan went to the freezer, removed an ice pack and wrapped it in a towel, returning to her side as quickly as she could. She lifted the pack to Kate's cheek and gently pressed it against her.
"I've got it, thanks," Kate sighed. She never liked to draw more attention than necessary, even though everyone knew they were together. Still, she couldn't help but reach out and grab Megan's hand. Megan smoothed her thumb against Kate's other cheek and leaned a little closer.
"Look's like you'll have a nice shiner by the time your parents get here," she said sadly.
"Great," Kate replied as she applied the ice more firmly.
"What the hell was that?" Ethan charged in. "Who the hell was that?"
"Our male victim's mother, Carla Vicenti," Megan confirmed. "One of our prime suspects."
"I thought it was a murder-suicide?" Curtis came in seconds later.
"Alleged murder-suicide," Megan reminded. "I had a feeling there was more to it than that. And now, with this woman's obvious penchant for violence…"
"Was she drunk?" Ethan asked. "She was kind of slurring."
"I could smell it on her breath," Kate noted.
"Bud and Sam must be having a lot of fun right now," Megan tried to lighten things up, considering.
"You're okay though, right?" Ethan asked. "I mean…besides the obvious…you know…"
"I'll live, Ethan. Thank you," Kate smiled softly.
"All the woman needs is some TLC," Curtis added. "Don't have to look very far for that."
Kate blushed, glancing down at Megan's hand clasping her own. Megan smiled at the two men, then glared a little, letting them know she could take it from there.
Kate took a deep breath as she continued to lean against the counter.
"My parents already hate my job," she sighed. "Now I'm gonna have to explain this on top of it."
"I hate to break it to you," Megan began hesitantly. "But I think this might be the least difficult of the things you're going to have to explain."
Kate shifted, knowing it was true. She had done her best to avoid the nerves leading up to her parents visit while she was in Pittsburgh, but now they were flooding back full force.
"Hey," Megan whispered again, burying her hand in Kate's hair and pulling her closer while nobody was watching. "It'll be okay, alright? No matter what, we're a team."
"I know," Kate whispered back, stealing a tiny kiss. Megan closed her eyes and kissed her again, twice on the lips and once on the cheek, before they left the break room and went back to work.