AN: First of all, I just want to say WOW - you guys have absolutely blown me away with your response to the last chapter. I have really enjoyed reading all of your thoughts/comments. I hope you continue to share them with me. And yes, I'm sorry that I apparently like to rip out people's emotions and step on them for awhile...hmmm...;)

A lot of you have expressed concern about whether Sara will be revealed to be a cheater or not...all I have to say to you is stay tuned, all the way through. This journey will indeed be long, and I think there may be a good deal of twists and turns throughout. Some answers may really just be questions in disguise.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Take care and enjoy.


CHAPTER 9


NANCY POV

Finally answering my phone after the fourth call, I step outside onto my front lawn.

"What?"

"Nancy…thank God…what the hell is going on…is Catherine alright?" I can hear the fear in Sara's voice, and I almost feel bad.

Almost.

"No, Sara, she's not alright. She's asleep right now at my house."

I can hear Sara exhale, her breath shaky.

"Nancy, please, she won't answer my calls," she gets out. "Please tell me what the hell is going on."

I have never heard Sara express this much emotion. I would rejoice in the idea of Sara not censoring herself for once, but I don't think I will find myself rejoicing about anything related to Sara Sidle any time soon.

"I think it's best if I meet you somewhere to talk about this, Sara."

I can literally hear the thoughts making their way through Sara's head as she takes in my response.

"You don't want me at your house. Near her."

Taking a breath, I answer truthfully, "No, I don't."

"Okay," she gives in without further comment. "Where do we meet?"

"The park on Wellshire. Meet me in the back lot near the trail head."

I'm sure it's obvious to Sara that I have picked one of the most secluded spots in the entire city. A spot no one will be within miles of at this hour of the night.

"See you there," she states simply and promptly hangs up.


My lights cut across the isolated lot as I turn haphazardly into an empty space, not caring in the least if my car is centered between the lines.

Looking out my window, I take a breath as I realize Sara has beaten me here. She is standing aside the hood of her car, hands tensely fidgeting with her keys.

Stepping out into the night, I make my way towards her Tahoe, stopping a couple yards away.

Sara takes a few steps forward as well, stopping at a distance that is adequate to have a conversation but no closer than is necessary.

I can't help but feel like I'm acting in some Vegas version of West Side Story.

Sara's expression is hard to read, but the worry there is clear as day.

Deciding that there is no point in dragging this out longer than necessary, I hand her the envelope that single handedly destroyed my sister only hours before.

Opening it without a word, Sara angles it towards the moonlight in order to make out the images in the photos.

Narrowing her eyes confusedly, I can see the moment that the subject matter becomes clear to her.

"What is this…?" she trails off, looking at me as if I have just told her the Earth is flat.

"Nancy, what the hell is this?" she demands again when I remain silent.

"I think you should be the one telling me what the fuck that is," my voice is cold, and I'm sure my expression matches.

Shaking her head, Sara studies the pictures as if this is her first time encountering the scene. Which is ironic, since she is clearly one of its leading stars.

"I don't get it…" she mutters.

"You don't get it?" I yell, no longer able to hold back. "You're fucking another woman, Sara! In case you needed someone to spell it out for you!"

Looking up at me, her eyes flash at my words.

Then, she looks back down, trying to comprehend the scenes depicted before her, sifting through the photos, her eyes narrowed in confusion as she flips from one to another to another and then back again.

"I don't…" she trails off, her jaw clenching tightly, her head shaking slowly.

Seeing her confused expression, I shake my own head.

"What, are you going to deny it?" I scoff, appalled. "Are you going to try to tell me those pictures are faked? That the person there with your tattoo and your scars is someone else?"

She doesn't respond, her body rigid as her eyes stare down at the pictures in her hands.

"Fine," I state with a cold shrug. "Tell me you never slept with that woman," I demand, my eyes boring into her until she looks up at me.

The moments that follow are painfully tense, no one speaking, no one even breathing.

Finally, Sara's fiery gaze drops from mine.

As soon as it does, I snort in disgust.

"That's what I thought," I mutter darkly. "You…God, I don't even know where to start…"

Sara remains silent, now holding the photos like they are radioactive and she wants nothing more than to be rid of them.

"How long has it been going on?" I demand.

Looking up at me, she shakes her head.

"How long?"

When she remains silent, I step forward, clearly placing myself in her personal space, ripping the photos from her hand.

Fixing her with a look, I don't back down as I watch her gaze slowly turn away.

"I don't know," she finally responds, her tone empty.

"Answer the fucking question, Sara. I think you owe me at least that much."

Her jaw tightens.

"I said I don't know."

Finally losing my flimsy grip on my temper, I step forward so that I have her backed up against her car.

"Sara…how long?" I seethe.

Sara places her hands behind her on the car, and I swear she is doing it to resist the urge to physically push me away.

"I don't know, Nancy," she repeats yet again, this time her tone holding its own edge.

Looking at her in bewilderment, I shake my head.

"Catherine told me about the guy at the bar who has seen you two there together," I warn. "This wasn't a onetime fling, Sara! Don't you dare lie to me!"

"I'm not lying, Nancy," she replies, her voice low and so very tightly controlled.

Something about her tone, her continued refusal to give me the answers that I more than deserve, that my sister more than deserves, makes me snap.

Grabbing her by the shirt, I push her shoulders flush against her car door, feeling some morbid sense of satisfaction when her head connects solidly with the driver side window.

"You made her believe that you loved her, and you made me believe that you were my friend. How dare you?" I spit through clenched teeth.

She doesn't respond, her head angled away from me as her jaw clenches tightly, her body absolutely rigid under my fingers.

Neither one of us moves, speaks, our breathing the only sound interrupting the still night.

"Fine," I grind out with one final shove, no longer able to take the silence. "Keep your fucking secrets, Sara."

Taking my hands off her, I fix a firm gaze on her instead, my body still within mere inches of her own.

"Keep your goddamn secrets because, quite frankly, I don't ever want to see you again," I state slowly and clearly into the cold night, continuing to watch her as my words hang in the tense air around us.

With one final disgusted shake of my head, I turn to make my way to my car.

Ripping the driver door open, I hesitate for just a moment as I pull my key from my pocket.

Hand hovering near the frame, I don't turn around to say this last part to her.

I don't have to. I know she's there, I know she's listening.

"And, trust me when I say this, Sara, you better stay the hell away from my sister."


CATHERINE POV

Pulling into work the next morning, I turn off my engine, staring numbly at the cement blockade in front of the hood.

Despite an entire sleepless night to think about it, dwell on it, I still can't believe what has happened. I can't believe what now faces me in the building that used to feel like my second home.

What faces me is no longer a job that I love with a woman that I love. It's a building that instead holds the one person who had the power to destroy me, and the one person who unfortunately decided to make use of that power.

Shaking my head, I grab my bag from the passenger seat, knowing that I cannot spend the entire shift in my car, much as I would like to.

Opening my door, I step out into the darkness and chill of the early morning, taking a deep breath and straightening my blouse.

Hardening myself for what lies ahead, I nearly drop my bag when I see the exact person I was praying I would have the fortune to avoid.

Standing near the wall across from me is Sara, hands shoved deep in her pockets against the cold as she watches me from aside her own car. It's clear that she has been waiting for me to arrive.

Stepping slowly forward, she looks around to make sure that we are alone.

Seeing that we have the privacy that this encounter deserves, she comes to a stop about fifteen feet away from me.

Neither one of us says anything, both not sure of our first move.

Finally, Sara shakes her head, forcing her eyes not to look away from mine.

"I'm sorry," she says into the space between us, the genuine pain in her voice evident. "I am so sorry."

She says nothing more, and she is met with only silence in return.

Standing this way for another minute or so, Sara takes a deep breath and nods her head, taking the hint that I don't want or have anything to say anything to her.

Turning to leave me in peace, I watch her take a couple steps before calling her back.

When she turns around to face me, I look at her.

I really look at her.

I look at the woman that I had entrusted my heart to, the woman who I had loved so deeply.

The woman who I had thought loved me back.

Looking in her eyes, all I can see now are those pictures.

Those pictures of her with that other woman's hands all over her.

Her hands all over that woman.

I know, no matter what, I will never be able to look at her again without seeing those images.

Clenching my fists, I shake my head darkly.

"I don't want your apologies," I warn her. "You don't get to apologize to me as if that somehow makes it better. Nothing in this world could ever make this better."

Sara only continues to stand there, her eyes coloring with pain but her mouth remaining silent.

"You've destroyed me," I somehow get out. "You've destroyed everything that was good in my life."

Averting my eyes briefly, I try to keep my emotions from consuming me.

"This is the last time you will ever bring up what happened with us," I tell her sternly, fixing my gaze back on hers. "There is no us anymore. It's over. We're over."

I readjust my bag on my shoulder, shoving my car keys into my pocket.

"I want you to stay out of my life," I tell her firmly. "I'm asking you, as one human being to another, not to talk to me, not to even look at me, unless it's about a case."

I meet her gaze sharply with my own. "I mean it."

Sara remains quiet, watching me with eyes brimming with words I will not let her speak, with emotions she will not let herself express.

Nodding silently, she starts to turn towards the lab.

"I wish I never met you," I whisper into the thick silence between our two bodies, the words echoing through the empty lot around us.

"Help me God, Sara Sidle, I wish I never met you."

Pausing with her back to me, Sara remains completely still, her head bowed under the weight of my words.

Then, taking in a breath, she turns her head to look at me over her shoulder. Forcing her eyes to meet with mine, she slowly nods, her eyes heavy with pain.

Turning back around without a word, she steps further into the darkness to make her way into the lab.


AN: Thanks for reading.