Another Time, A Different Place

Chapter 2

Sorry it took so long folks...computer problems mostly fixed, and now I'm updating...yay! On with the fic!!

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Catherine had been surprised, to say the least. This trip to San Francisco had been to just get information for Las Vegas regarding a murderer who was now crossing the lines and boundaries, everywhere.

But she hadn't been expecting to have to investigate an old collegue.

Sara, still gritting her teeth, had motioned for Catherine to come in and sit down, and that's when the pictures were spotted.

"Oh, wow..." Catherine said, picking one up that had been taken the month before. In it, Sara was sitting with Alex to her right, while Eli was to her left and Tess was poking her little head right above Sara's. You knew they were related...hell, you knew that those were her daughters, right off...no doubt about it.

But the longer Catherine stared at it, she noticed something about it. Questioning Sara about why she left had been on her mind when she first noticed her here, today. But now...she already knew the answer.

"Grissom's the father?" Catherine asked, softly.

Sara sighed, sitting back in her semi-comfortable chair. She took a moment before finally nodding her head towards Catherine.

"He doesn't know...and I couldn't stay in Las Vegas, and I couldn't get rid of them...nor would I want to," Sara replied softly, smiling as she looked at one of the pictures, herself.

Finally, they just decided to meet later and get down to business. The person who was to be caught was mostly murdering older couples for their money and drugs...not a surprise to either one of them, but they knew he had to be caught. They decided to meet up later.

Around 5:30, after getting the girls and taking them home, Sara was trying to get dinner started when a knock sounded on the door. Sara, knowing who it was, called out to the girls, "Girls, will one of you get it?"

"Yeah!" all three shouted, racing their way down the stairs and to the front door, all pushing to get it open. Finally, Alex backed away and allowed for Eli and Tess to fight it out. Eventually, it was Tess who got it open, seeing a tall woman with strawberry blond hair standing before her.

"Hi," Catherine said, seeing all three girls and smiling, though her smile hid something distinctly wrong behind it. Another reason of why she'd come to California and not Sara...and now they had a major problem on their hands.

"Hi," Tess said, allowing the woman in and closing the door behind her. "You're Catherine, right? Mom's old friend?"

Catherine chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't say old, but..."

"Sorry," Tess said, giggling.

"Not a problem," Catherine replied, than smiled at the little one. "So, are you...Tess?" she asked, taking a guess.

"How'd you know?" Tess asked, her eyes bugged out and jaw dropping almost to the ground.

"I can just see the mischief in your eyes...you're definitely a Tess," Catherine said, bending down and smiling at the little one.

"Well, I am a rotten one, as my mother says," Tess said, still smiling.

Eli stepped up. "Who am I?"

Catherine looked at her for a moment, then took another guess, since she was obviously taller than the other. "Eli...and that makes this shy one, Alex."

Eli and Alex, who had been standing in the background, nodded.

"You're cool!" Alex said, finally speaking up.

Catherine giggled. "Well, thanks...I think."

The girls were finally satisfied with their curiosity about this new/old friend of their mom's, and went off to play while Catherine went to see Sara.

"Hey," Catherine said, trying to hide the big problem for the evening, not wanting to bring it up just yet.

But Sara already knew, by her tone, that something was wrong.

"What is it?" Sara asked, sighing as she cooked the dinner for the evening.

Catherine rubbed her temples, letting out a long breath...she should've known that she couldn't hide the problem from Sara.

"While I was on my way back to the police department, after you had already left work, I got a call from someone in distress...anxious..."

Sara looked at her, stopping what she was doing, afraid of what she was going to say next.

"Sara, it was Grissom...he called your office...Tina didn't know, and let it slip that you went to pick up your seven-year-old daughters."

Sara's eyes almost bugged out of her head at that...

She knew this day would come, but not like this...

And that's when her world went black...

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Hehe...gotta love cliffy's...tune in for more! And sorry it was short and kinda weird...had to continue it, and lost the original document.

~*CSISaraSidle72*~