ArtemisFire: Aw, you noticed that :) I've been planning that with the titles since the beginning, so I'm glad someone picked up on it :)
Shell: Can't help you there I'm afraid, because angst is pretty much all I write.
Admittedly not my best work; kind of a filler chapter to tie in events from chapter one.
x x x x
"I'll kill her." Jim snarled, pacing like a caged animal behind his desk.
"You can't do anything rash." Sofia pointed out. "She's made a formal complaint against Sara and it'll have to be submitted."
"Come on," the police captain scoffed. "Like anyone would believe that about Sara."
"That's beside the point." She sighed, sliding into the seat she had been leaning against. "Either way, her personal life is going to get dragged out for all to see unless we get this dealt with quickly and quietly." She flicked her long blonde hair over her shoulder, sitting forwards and resting her clasped hands on the desk. "That's why I need your help."
He scrutinised her for a long moment. He'd long suspected that there was a history between Sara and the female detective, although he was unclear on the details. He'd never pressed the issue, however, despite feeling somewhat paternal towards the fiery brunette; because he didn't believe Sofia would hurt the girl.
But someone was hurting his girl and that was not something that should be kept from him.
"You should have told me this sooner." He brandished a finger at her accusingly, dropping back into his leather chair.
"I know." She dropped her gaze remorsefully. "But I'm telling you now."
With a reluctant sigh of agreement, he rested his elbows on the desk and fixed her with a cynical look.
"Alright, so what's your idea?"
Before she could offer any solutions to the situation – not that she had many – a young officer poked his head inside the office.
"Sorry to interrupt Captain." He mumbled sheepishly. "There's a major fire in a downtown apartment block, it's all hands on deck."
"What's the address?" Sofia piped up, visions of her own apartment briefly flashing into her mind. It was a natural instinct in this job to instantly think the worst in any situation.
The guy glanced down at the slip of paper in his hand, scanning over the details.
"Cambridge Park." He nodded at them again before slipping out.
"Oh God," Sofia turned to Jim with a horror-stuck expression. "Cambridge Park … that's Sara's building."
X x x
Sara gripped the counter, blinking against the fog swimming in front of her eyes. It didn't clear.
She turned, swaying slightly as she scanned the small apartment.
Smoke was beginning to seep through the crack under the door; yet the smoke alarm was deathly silent.
Maintaining her hold on the counter for balance, she tried to make her way back to Catherine. Even in her disorientated state, she understood the need to get out. But she wasn't leaving without her friend.
X x x
"Then what is it Greg?" Nick pressed forcefully when the younger man didn't speak again.
"Guys." Grissom interrupted, poking his head around the door utterly oblivious to the tension he had just walked into. "Potential 402A in progress at a high-rise apartment building Downtown."
"Arson." Warrick shifted naturally into professionalism mode, raising an eyebrow. Beside him, Nick and Greg straightened up too; their conversation on hold for the time being. "What's the address?" Grissom narrowed his eyes at the note in his hand.
"Cambridge Park Towers. Vartann is meeting us there."
"Wait, hold up." Nick jumped in swiftly before the boss could disappear back into the hallway. "Cambridge Park?"
"Yeah." Grissom cocked an eyebrow. "Do you know it?"
The Texan swallowed hard, sharing a knowing look with the equally-panicked Greg. "That's Sara's building."
X x x
She coughed and spluttered against the smoke that was now spreading rapidly through her flat.
As her vision got impossibly distorted and her head swam, she sank to her knees, gasping desperately for breath.
"Catherine!" She managed to call out, struggling desperately against her fading strength. "Cat! Please ... wake up!"
The heat seemed to be all around her now, consuming every inch of air in the apartment.
She was suffocating.
X x x
It was difficult to tell precisely where the inferno had started, what with pieces of the building falling from the sky and spreading the fire both down and up.
Grissom glanced down at his phone again, willing Catherine to call him back. He didn't know exactly what had been going on with the women on his team, but he wasn't so dense that he hadn't noticed their odd behaviour of late.
Either way, if Sara's life was at risk she should be here right now.
Looking up, he cast a glance at Greg and saw that he was doing the same thing; trying desperately to reach Sara, in the hopes that she had gone out or managed to get herself somewhere safe.
It was a feeble hope, but it was all they had to hold on to right now.
X x x
Warrick coughed, attempting to make his tall body as small as possible as he felt his way down the hall.
With Nick's vague description of where Sara's flat was, he managed to find the door he was looking for and kicked it in without a second thought.
At some point in the coming hours, it would cross his mind that he never checked for a backdraft. Had he caused a flashover, the entire apartment would have gone up and no one would have made it out alive.
Thankfully, he couldn't see any flames in the flat. There was, however, a copious amount of smoke.
He felt his way across the dusty furniture, blindly locating the bed in the middle of the room.
There was a distinctly female form unmoving beneath the covers. Throwing them back, he scooped the limp body up and held her tightly against him in an attempt to shield her from the smothering heat.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, it registered that the woman in his arms was not Sara. Strawberry-blonde hair spilled against his shoulder where her head lay heavily against it.
Catherine.
Retracing his steps, he barely reached the apartment door when Hank materialised in the threshold.
X x x
"Where the hell is he?" Nick snarled, pacing circles around the remaining members of his team.
Brass, Vartann and the newly arrived Sofia were stood in a line behind the CSIs, silently sharing their concern. Sofia leant close to Brass, just close enough that Vartann could catch a few words of what she muttered in his ear before stalking off into the crowd.
Once she departed, Vartann turned to his boss.
"Who's Kirsty?" He queried.
X x x
Drawing some of his basic fire training to memory, Hank placed one hand on the wall to find his way through the winding corridor.
He knew the way around Sara's building; he'd been here enough times when they were dating, but the smoke was disorientating and if he were to lose his connection with the wall he would be astray in a maze of fractured halls.
He just about made it to the apartment door when a figure walked out of the smoke towards him.
The paramedic looked from Warrick to the woman in his arms and promptly pushed past him into the flat.
He would work out what was going on later. Right now, he had limited oxygen which meant limited time. But Sara must be in here somewhere.
Dropping to his knees, he took a couple of gulps of the cleaner air and felt his vision clearing ever so slightly.
In the lighter smoke at the bottom of the room, he caught sight of a figure in the kitchen.
Curled into a ball, dark hair splayed across the floor, it was definitely Sara … and she was very still.