Sara flinched involuntarily at the feather-light touch against her arm.

"Hey." Kirsty smiled, rounding the couch. "You look lost?"

Sara offered a meek smile, her shoulders tensing imperceptibly at their sudden close proximity.

"Yeah, sorry." She shrugged. "I was just … thinking."

"Yeah?" Kirsty queried, dropping onto the sofa beside her. "Well, me too actually."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at her curiously, shifting in order to better face her. The dark skinned woman licked her lips in thought, taking a moment to choose her words carefully as she absently placed a hand on Sara's thigh and began drawing circles through the tight jeans.

"I guess you could say I've done some soul searching." She laughed nervously at last. "I just wanted to say thank you, for sticking by me. I know it hasn't been easy."

Sara swallowed hard, nodding carefully but opting not to comment at this point.

"I know things have been difficult between us," she continued, reaching out to grip her girlfriend's hand. Sara resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the understatement; difficult was not quite the word she would use… "But I really think we can make it work now. You know, I'm getting help. And with your support - I really think I can change."

Sara sensed that she was expected to say something here, but she had very little to offer. Clearing her throat, she straightened up a little in her seat.

"Good. I'm glad, you know, that you're getting help."

It was true to say that Kirsty had reined her temper in a bit in recent weeks. She hadn't hit Sara since the incident in the shower room – something which still remained a dark secret between the two of them – but that didn't make Sara any more inclined to trust her. A part of her wondered if the only reason Kirsty was being so nice was due to her own concerted efforts to pretend everything was fine and dandy.

Kirsty smiled, squeezing her thigh tighter. It was a familiar smile, bright and warm; like she used to wear when things were still good between them.

"You know, you're the only person who understands me." She said softly. "You know what it's like to grow up in that kind of home."

Sara blanched at the turn in conversation and all she could offer was a small noise of agreement. She didn't like talking to Kirsty about her family.

She didn't really like talking to anyone about it.

"Once when I was ten, my mother took me to the hospital with a broken collar bone." The woman continued, her voice becoming distant and contemplative as her brow furrowed in transcendental thought. "Needless to say, it was my father. I remember begging her to tell the doctors the truth. But she wouldn't. She said I fell off my bike. She was actually laughing with the doctors about it – 'kids, eh. Always so careless'."

Seeing where this was going, Sara gripped her fingers and attempted to change the subject back.

"You know I'll stand by you, as long as you keep getting help." She assured her, though somewhat reluctantly.

Snapping back to the present, Kirsty nodded fervently, darting forward to steal a kiss.

"I can't believe how lucky I am to have you."

At the awkward silence that followed, she shook her thick hair out and cleared her throat, attempting to lighten the tone a little.

"How about I make you dinner? My way of saying thanks."

Sara nodded gratefully; watching as her partner practically flounced across the apartment and began rifling through the cupboards for something to make.

Her stomach had knotted uncomfortably and it remained that way long after the conversation ended. Initially she had convinced herself that she was doing the right thing; by standing by Kirsty, supporting her, she could make her a better person.
She couldn't in good conscience walk away from her now, not when she was just gleaming some sense of mental stability again.

However, she felt guilty at the same time. True to her somewhat-threatening promise, Kirsty had been the model girlfriend ever since that incident. But all Sara though about, day-in day-out, was how she was going to leave her. How, one day, she would walk away from this manipulative controlling relationship and never look back.

X x x

"Why did you warn her against Kirsty?"

The question, asked without preamble or warning, seemed to take both women by surprise. Catherine hadn't even realised her internal musings had voiced themselves until Sofia sent her a bemused look across the apartment they were currently searching.

"You said that you warned Sara about Kirsty. Why?" Cath put down her flashlight and walked slowly across the room towards her, deciding that she may as well get an answer now that she'd put the question out there.

Sofia abandoned the victim's mail she was rifling through and leant against the table.

"Because I knew, well I suspected that something was going on between them and I know what Kirsty's like."

"What do you mean?"

"Catherine," Sofia tilted her head back, sucking in a deep breath. "I've seen Kirsty at work. She's … violent. I mean, I've seen this woman take out grown men without a moment's hesitation." She paused, shaking her head sadly. "Sara's tough, but even she couldn't fight Kirsty Soames off."

Cath nodded slowly, diligently picking apart the detective's explanation in her mind.

"So, you already knew that Sara dates women?" She queried eventually, her brow furrowing further in confusion.

She had to admit that the thought of Sara choosing to confide in Sofia over her stung more than a little. Unless…

"Yeah," the detective licked her lips. "Sara and I sort of had a thing, a while ago."

"You … and Sara?" Catherine repeated, stunned.

"It was nothing really, just a fling." Sofia explained hurriedly, holding her hands up defensively. "It was when I was still on Days."

"Huh." Cath nodded, casting her gaze languidly across the small flat. "She never told me." The quiet confession came out more hurt than she'd intended, but she couldn't deny the small tingle of insult at being kept in the dark about this.

"Why should she?" Sofia shrugged, picking up on the other woman's mood. "It's not like we're still together. We barely even speak anymore."

Catherine turned her eyes back to the cop, scrutinising her closely.

It was no secret that Sofia Curtis was not her favourite person to work with and that was probably the main reason Cath had never really taken the time to read her properly.

She could see it now, the vulnerability behind her steely blue gaze. The secret lurking behind every smart-ass answer balanced on the tip of her tongue.

There was more to this woman than initially met the eye.

"It didn't end well, did it?" She asked, softening her voice.

Sofia paled ever so slightly at the question and shook her head, pursing her lips tightly.

"It doesn't matter." She said, a little too harshly. "What happened between Sara and I is done."

Sensing that she'd hit a nerve, Catherine swiftly dropped the subject. For now, at least.

"So, what's your plan to help Sara?" She breathed. "Since you obviously think mine isn't working."

"It's not up to us to do anything." Sofia turned her back, returning to her previous task of sifting through the victim's backed-up collection of junk mail and bills. "Nothing we could do will make her end things with Kirsty any faster."

Cath frowned, shaking her head in disagreement.

"You don't know that."

"I know Sara." The detective exhaled impatiently. "And I know that the more you push her the more she'll pull away."

"Yeah." Catherine rolled her eyes. That was a given about the stubborn brunette, but it still wasn't the answer she was looking for. "So you're suggesting that we leave her to get beaten?"

"I never said that." Sofia countered calmly. "All I said was that you were too close and that you needed to back off."

Catherine, fed up of not getting a straight answer, released a frustrated sigh and stropped closer.

"Well maybe you don't know Sara as well as you think, because until a few weeks ago she was all set to end things."

This new piece of information seemed to catch the younger woman's attention and she turned, a softer look on her face this time.

"Why, what happened?"

"I don't know." Cath dropped despondently into a chair, running a hand through her long locks. "She told me that she'd had enough and she was going to end it. But then she never did, and when I asked why she couldn't tell me. Or wouldn't tell me."

"What did she tell you?" Sofia pressed, joining her in the living area of the small room. Technically they weren't meant to sit on the furniture at crime scenes in case they contaminated evidence, but what the hell; they weren't likely to be fibre taping the chairs anyway.

"Nothing." She threw her hands out helplessly, briefly catching Sofia's eye before averting her gaze back to her fidgeting hands folded in her lap. "Just that she couldn't explain it."

Sofia sat back, considering this. She had noticed the unexpected closeness that had developed between Catherine and her ex, seemingly overnight, and she didn't like it. She'd even tried to ask Sara about it, to no avail.

And, having cornered Cath in her office and finally gotten to the bottom of the matter, she was even more unsettled by it. Sara was in a dangerous enough situation, without throwing a third person into the already-complicated relationship.

But perhaps Catherine was the key to getting through the Sara after all.

"She wanted to talk to me." Cath suddenly remembered, snapping Sofia back to the conversation.

"What?" She questioned, not following the CSI's train of thought.

"The night she fell in the shower, she called me and asked if we could talk. She wanted my help with something."

"Did she say what?" Sofia sat forward with interest, resting her elbows on her knees.

"No." Cath shook her head glumly. "Just that it was important and she couldn't do it without me."

"Maybe she was going to end it." She theorised, attempted to suppress the feelings of jealously that were stirring in the pit of her stomach again.

"Yeah, maybe." Cath breathed, furrowing her brow. "So, why didn't she?"

X x x

"Hmm."

Sara glanced down at the contented hum, scowling softly.

"What?"

Kirsty, leaning heavily against her shoulder, lifted her head and smiled.

"Nothing." She pressed a kiss to Sara's cheek. "I was just thinking about how much I adore you."

Sara shifted, attempting a smile and instead offering what could only be described as a grimace. She hated when Kirsty did this. It made her sick to utter the same words of affection back, knowing that they were lies, and it was getting harder and harder to change the subject.

Thankfully, Kirsty took the situation out of her hands this time as she stood up and stretched, revealing her strong stomach muscles underneath her thin t-shirt.

"I'll be right back." She kissed Sara again and moved towards the bathroom.

However, as she passed by the phone it started to ring.

Sara's heart leapt to her throat, as it had taken to doing the past couple of weeks.

Kirsty glanced at the small flashing screen, her face contorting into an expression of confusion.

"It's … Hank?"

Sara swallowed.

"Oh, it's work." She lied, springing to her feet to snatch the handset up before Kirsty could answer on her behalf.

"Well, tell them that you can't come in tonight." Kirsty winked, dragging a hand lovingly through Sara's hair. "Tonight, you're mine."

Sara faked a smile again, waiting until the bathroom door was firmly shut before she lifted the phone to her ear.

"I told you to stop calling me." She hissed, not giving him a chance to speak.

"Sara, I know something's going on. I just want to talk to you." The paramedic insisted. "Please, can I come over?"

"No!"

"Alright, then can we meet somewhere? I really need to see you."

She forcefully swallowed back the tears threatening to fall, but her voice still came out desperate and pleading as she slid down against the kitchen counter, her gaze seeking out the closed bathroom door.

"Please Hank; if you care about me at all, just leave me alone."

x x x x

Hope you're all still enjoying it. Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! x