Disclaimer: I don't own 'em…
Sara stood frozen and unable to move. It wasn't until she began to cough that she finally pulled herself from her daze and stepped into the hallway outside her room. Smoke was beginning to fill the upstairs. She heard the sound of glass crashing and walked back into her room to grab her gun.
Gun in hand, she moved quickly to the banister and looked down into the first floor. Flames were quickly spreading in every direction and when she heard glass break again, a whoosh of fire spread outward from the kitchen.
She ran back into her room and slipped into her shoes before sprinting across the hall toward Catherine's door. She turned the knob and pushed. It was locked. Banging got her no response so she took a step back and kicked the door in. The room was empty but even over the crackling of the downstairs fire that was engulfing the house, Sara could hear the water from Catherine's shower.
Without knocking to announce her presence, she swung the door open and jerked the shower door open.
"What the fu.."
"The house is on fire. Get out. Get dressed," Sara barked at as she reached past her and shut off the water.
The older woman stood there in shocked silence staring wide-eyed at the former FBI agent in front her.
"Now Catherine! This isn't a fucking game," she shouted as she left the room.
When Catherine came out, Sara had already opened a window and had taken the sheet from Catherine's bed and had it hanging out of the window.
"Hurry it up. We don't have much time," Sara encouraged.
Obviously indifferent to the hazard posed by a house burning down with her still inside it, Catherine asked, "Do you mind? A little privacy here?"
Smoke was starting to leak in around the door and upon seeing it, Catherine quickly pulled on her clothes and shoes and stood beside Sara at the open window.
"Crawl out the window and hold onto the sheet. I'm going to lower you to the ground and then I'll come down, too. Okay?"
Fear started to paint edginess to Catherine's features that Sara had seen before—sheer panic. "You expect me to climb out the window—from the second story?"
"It's either that or you can walk out the front door. Of course, you need to be able to walk through fucking fire to do that!" Sara said as she grabbed the woman and pushed her toward the window. "I'll have you. You'll have to jump down a foot or two, but you'll be fine, okay?" Her voice was much softer and soothing now since she was trying to get Catherine to trust her enough for the two of them to escape with their lives.
The blonde stuck her head out the window and looked down before pulling back inside the window and shaking her head, "No, I can't do it. I can't. It's too far."
"You have two choices. One, you stay up here and burn to death. Or two, you let me lower you out the window. Oh, and if you choose one, you'll do it alone because I'm going out the window—with our without you."
Her mind made up for her, Catherine hung one leg out the window and grabbed the sheet with her hands, gripping it tightly in her hands. Sara was holding the other end of the sheet as Catherine slung her other leg out the window and Sara began to lower her.
"Keep your eyes on me," Sara said evenly. "Don't look down."
Catherine was just below the point of being able to reach the seal of the window she had just climbed out of when the wood beside her exploded as a bullet pierced the house inches from her. Sara let go of the sheet and pulled her gun, firing into the distance.
She called out, "Catherine, are you okay?"
"Yeah," the older woman shouted back to her.
The brunette draped a leg out of the window and quickly pulled it back in as a bullet ripped into the siding of the house once more. It was only then that she remembered her laptop with the video footage that might help identify whoever had set the house on fire. She darted out of Catherine's room and into hers and grabbed the computer before dashing back across the hall. Flames were already beginning to lick their way up the stairs and into the hallway of the second floor.
"Catherine, I'm gonna toss the computer down to you. Try to catch it. We're going to need it, okay?"
Without waiting for a reply, Sara dropped the laptop out of the window and prayed that Catherine would catch it or at least prevent it from being shattered into a million pieces when it hit the ground.
"Move off to the side, Catherine. I'm gonna come down in just a moment," the brunette warned.
Sara took two deep breaths, kneeled in front of the window and looked out across the property to where low, thick shrubs ran along the fenceline.. She caught the glint of light being mirrored back at her. She knew someone was out there with a gun and a scope. Luckily for both Catherine and herself, they weren't a very good shot.
She fired four quick shots directly at the glinting light and quickly heaved herself over the ledge of the window and dropped to the ground in a crouching position to absorb most of the shock from such a jump.
For a fleeting moment she recalled the heated discussion with Catherine about the need to remove the shrubbery from around her house to prevent someone from hiding in it. This was one argument she was glad to have lost.
She reached back and took Catherine's hand in hers and asked, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I had to drop you. It was either that or let them shoot you."
"It's okay," the blonde target joked, "my ass broke my fall."
"Let's go," Sara said as she pulled the woman along behind her. "Stay low, behind the shrubs. Let's get around front and get in the car and get out of here."
XXXX
As they were pulling out of the driveway, fire trucks were beginning to arrive. Sara pulled over just outside the gate to Catherine's property, certain the police would arrive soon.
"You saw someone, didn't you?" Catherine asked as she clutched the computer tightly in her hands. "Before the last shots you fired, you saw someone."
"I didn't see anyone. I saw the reflection on a scope. Whoever is after you either isn't a pro or has some pretty incompetent people working for him."
When the third fire truck pulled into the driveway and a police cruiser still hadn't arrived, Sara put the car in drive and they sped off.
Catherine has tears running down her soot stained face. "Everything I had was in there. Everything," she began to shake as the tears flowed freely down her face. "Pictures, heirlooms, irreplaceable things OH MY GOD my shoes!"
On pure instinct, Sara reached out and placed her hand between Catherine's shoulders and began to gently rub small circles.
"I know it was. Some of those things can't be replaced either, I know that. But you're alive, that's gotta count for something, right?"
Sara pulled her hand back and took out her cell phone and dialed a number by heart.
"What happened out there, Sidle?" the older man asked harshly. Anger and fear were both evident in his tone.
"Someone set the house on fire."
"What about Muggs? Is she okay? She didn't get hurt, did she?" However Catherine chose to characterize the relationship with her father, the man obviously cared a great deal about her.
"She's okay. A few scratches and bruises and she's upset about her house, but other than that she'll live."
"Good, good. Glad to hear it."
"We're going to have to find somewhere to stay though. Do you have…" He interrupted her mid-sentence.
"What about my house?" he offered.
"Your house?" Sara said as she turned to look at Catherine, wanting her to decide if that was a step she was comfortable taking.
Based on the frantic headshaking coming from Catherine and the words hell fucking no that were being mouthed at her, Sara knew they couldn't stay there.
"Yeah, I've been to your place before, Mr. Braun. I can't secure a place like that. How about a suite at one of your casinos?"
She hadn't yet taken her eyes off the blonde beside her and saw her nod her head yes in agreement with that proposal.
"Yes, that one will be fine. We're on our way now. Oh, and Mr. Braun...We're going to need to do some shopping."
Sara snapped her phone shut and turned her attention back to the road. She was cautious, constantly checking her mirrors and suspiciously eyeing any vehicle that drifted too close in the lane beside her, passed her or drove too closely behind her.
They pulled to a stop in front of the casino and before the valet could open Catherine's door, she turned to Sara and emotionlessly said, "This is all your fucking fault."