Not too many chapters to go :) Already planning my next story!

Thanks for the reviews so far guys!

x x x x

Greg was the first to read the message and he was already halfway out of his apartment, half-dressed, when he answered Nick's call.

"Sofia text you?" The Texan inquired, forgoing all preamble. It was clear from his muffled voice that he was calling from his car phone so this was likely to be a short call.

Sofia's message, evidently sent to everyone, was equally short and concise.

'Sara's awake. No sign of K yet'

"Yeah, I'm just on my way." Greg agreed, clambering into his own car. "Is Catherine still there?"

"I imagine so." Nick shrugged, even though his mate couldn't see him. "Warrick was already on his way back to the hospital so he'll probably beat us there."

"I'll call Doc Robbins." Greg added quickly. "He wanted me to keep him updated."

"Yeah, good idea." Nick agreed. "I'll give you a call when I get there."

Hanging up, the older CSI knocked the car up a gear and turned into the fast lane.

Nick's priority, of course, was seeing for himself that Sara was alright. However, once he was satisfied that she was still in one piece, he had a few questions for his old friend.

X x x

"I know that she's got a temper, but I can't imagine her doing something like this." Sara frowned.

She was still weak and the prospect of doing a formal interview was more than she could bear right now, but she had agreed to talk to one person in particular.

"Well, either way I'd like to bring her in for questioning." Jim continued.

He didn't want to cause Sara further upset by losing his cool in front of her, so he had opted to steer clear of the abuse issue for now and focus on the fire.

He would grill her on details of the relationship later, when she was feeling stronger.

"If she's not at her flat I don't know what to tell you." Sara shrugged half-heartedly. "She didn't really go out anywhere."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to have an officer stationed outside your room – and your house," he nodded pointedly at Catherine. "Until further notice. Just in case."

"I don't think she'd come after us now."

"I don't know." Catherine countered, pursing her lips. "She trashed your apartment because you walked out of an argument. Imagine how unhinged she might have become if she'd seen me at your flat. It's entirely possible that she did start that fire."

"I suppose." Sara mumbled sadly, her mind naturally wandering back to her beloved guitar.

Not that it really mattered now, she pondered idly. It would have probably been destroyed in the fire anyway.

Though he had suddenly found himself somewhat out of the loop here, Jim noted the atmosphere that had fallen and decided to call an end to his questioning. He stood up and stretched his legs stiffly.

"Well, if you think of anything, you let me know." He stroked her cheek tenderly with the back of his hand, raising a meaningful eyebrow at her. "And hey, next time someone hurts you like this, you come to me first."

"There won't be a next time." Catherine assured him bluntly.

He glanced up, catching her eye, and nodded slowly in understanding. No words had been spoken between them yet about her relationship with Sara, but the look that passed between them said enough.

The detective started to leave, but only got as far as the foot of the bed when Sara's puzzled voice spoke up again.

"Gipsy." She stated with a soft scowl.

He turned, sending her a bemused look; and the expression Catherine was wearing suggested she was no more the wiser than him.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's a nightclub." Sara cleared her throat, shuffling uncomfortably under the covers. "It's where Kirsty and I met outside work for the first time. It's a long-shot, but …"

"I'll check it out." Jim nodded, patting her leg. "Get some rest."

Once outside the room, he reached for his cell phone to make a call; but paused as he caught sight of the women again through the small window in the door.

In the time it had taken him to vacate the room, Catherine had already made herself comfortable on the edge of the bed with one hand resting on Sara's side. The brunette was toying idly with the hem of Cath's shirt as they talked. They looked … comfortable. Simply content in each other's company.

At least he was safe in the knowledge that Catherine would never hurt Sara like Kirsty had.
But that thought didn't make him feel any better about what had happened. Kirsty had hurt Sara, and possibly nearly killed them both.

With that thought in mind, he turned away from the door and lifted his phone again, only to nearly walk into Warrick.

"Hey," the CSI greeted, narrowly dodging around the smaller man. "She alright?"

Brass stepped aside with a tight smile.

"See for yourself."

Warrick leant around him to peer through the glass. He emitted a soft chuckle at the sight before him, shaking his head at the girls. Even from here, he could see that Sara was smiling brightly up at Catherine.

"Damn." He sighed, turning back to the detective. "You believe this?"

"I know." Jim hummed. "You know, I knew something was going on with Sara lately but I just couldn't put my finger on what it was."

"Yeah, well Cath knew." Warrick noted. "I can't believe she didn't tell us though. I mean, what did she think we were going to do?"

"I don't know." Brass shrugged, peering inside again. "But I know one thing, if Catherine had've told me then Kirsty wouldn't be out there now."

"Damn straight." Warrick growled, his fists clenching at his sides at the mere mention of that name.

Thankfully, before he could take his anger out on a nearby wall, their conversation was stunted by the well-timed arrival of Nick and Greg.

"Hey, how is she?" Nick asked breathlessly, jogging towards them.

"I don't know, I just got here." Warrick answered.

"Well, what are you standing out here for?" Greg demanded, pushing past the men and into the room without a moment's hesitation.

X x x

"Hey Greg." Sara smiled across the room at the ungainly entrance and Cath reluctantly climbed off the bed to allow the man to give his friend a tight hug.

"Hey, don't scare me like that." He squeezed her as much as he dared without causing further injury to her.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled against his shoulder, holding onto him a moment longer before releasing him and sinking back into the cushions.

As he moved back, Nick and Warrick wandered into her line of sight.

"Hi." She smiled shyly at them where they stood in the middle of the room. She had already been informed in detail of their reaction to finding out about Kirsty; so, as much as she wanted to see them, she wasn't exactly looking forward to hearing what they had to say on the matter.

Nick was the first to approach her, a tentative expression on his face. For a moment she didn't know whether he was going to hug her or berate her.

Finally he leant down, pressing a firm kiss to her forehead.

"Hey sunshine." He mumbled against her skin. "What you been playing at? Keeping secrets like this from us."

"Nick." Catherine warned in a low voice, but Sara reached out blindly to lay a hand on her arm.

"It's okay." She assured the older woman. "He's right. I should have told you guys."

"Yeah," Nick agreed, straightening up. "So, why didn't you?"

"Hey, leave it out for now." Warrick frowned, moving around the bed to perch beside her. "How you feeling girl?"

"I'm alright." She mumbled, reaching up to touch the bandage peeping out from under his shirt. "I'd ask you the same question, but I've been warned not to mention it."

He chuckled softly, flicking his eyes knowingly to Catherine.

"I'm fine, don't you worry about me." He took hold of her outstretched hand, holding it against his chest. "I think it's our turn to worry about you from now on."

X x x

"Gipsy." Sofia repeated, tearing her eyes briefly from the road to frown at her partner.

"That's what Sara said." Brass scowled down at the notes in his hand again. "Why, you know it?"

She pursed her lips.

"Yeah, I know it." She nodded carefully, swinging the car in the direction of the nightclub.

X x x

"Oh."

It wasn't much of a reaction, but it was enough to bring a smirk to Sofia's lips all the same.

It clearly hadn't even occurred to Jim on the way over that they were heading to a gay bar.

Of course, the police chief realised as they made their way inside, it made sense. Sara and Kirsty were a gay couple, why wouldn't they come here for dates.

As they picked their way through the masses of gyrating women and young men with elaborate hairstyles, attempting not to get knocked about too much, Brass felt a firm smack on his ass.

The culprit, a younger spiky-haired male with a nose-ring, didn't seem at all put off by the irate face that turned to glower at him.

"I do love a man in uniform." The young man flashed a grin, sidling closer to the detective.

Jim caught sight of Sofia smirking at him and straightened up.

"You couldn't handle me." His sharp tongue retorted quickly. Sofia snorted, sending the youth what was meant to be a sympathetic smile as Brass stalked past her towards the bar, where there was a distinctive lack of flirtatious men.

"I see you've made a friend." She said cockily, striding up to join him. He sent her a dark look, saying nothing.

"What can I get you?" A warm voice asked from behind the bar and they looked up into the eyes of a tall woman with shoulder-length auburn hair and a pleasant smile.

"Hi," Sofia greeted, producing a photograph and sliding it across the bar. "We're looking for this woman. Have you seen her in here lately?"

The barmaid narrowed her eyes at it briefly, before looking up and pointing across the nightclub.

In the darkest corner of the room, moping into her fourth or fifth beer, was a familiar face.

Jim stalked towards her without so much as a glance back at the bar. Sofia, maintaining her politeness, offered a grateful smile.

"Thanks." She took her photo back.

"Anytime honey." The barmaid winked, shooting the detective a sexy grin.

Any other day, she might consider it. But today wasn't any other day.

Nodding bashfully in acknowledgement of the comment, she gathered up her folder and hurried to catch her boss up.

X x x

Her vision was starting to blur and her head felt like she was underwater. She should stop drinking, but what was the point? She had nowhere else to go.

She had learnt enough from working the odd arson case to know that the dumbest thing you can do is stick around at the scene. So instead she'd driven far enough away to still be able to see the building without being seen herself, and she'd watched.

She'd watched the smoke rising, thin and pale at first. She'd watched the first few flames licking at the blackness. She'd watched the eery orange glow spreading across the sky, intermittently masked by thick plumes of smoke.

The weight of her actions had yet to hit her, which was probably due to the incomprehensible amount of alcohol she had consumed since arriving at the bar.

Sara had to be dead. Catherine too, probably.

There was no way they could have gotten out in time; the carbon monoxide alone would have killed them.

She lifted the bottle to her mouth, intent on drowning the horrible thoughts that were starting to creep back in, when a shadow fell over her.

She lifted her head, squinting pathetically in an attempt to focus her vision.

"Kirsty Soames." A familiarly gruff voice snapped. "We've been looking for you."

Returning her drink to the table, she stood up on shaky legs.

"Well, now you found me." She slurred, throwing her hands out to the side – an act that caused her to sway violently.

"Kirsty." Now that voice she definitely recognised.

"Ah, detective Curtis." Kirsty sneered. "Have you come to arrest me, detective?"

The words were meant to sound sarcastic, argumentative even, but in her current state they came out more curious than anything.

"Actually, I've come to arrest you." Jim jumped in. "She just wanted to watch."

"Alright." She held her hands up, nearly losing her balance again. "Alright, you got me. I killed them."

Jim and Sofia exchanged a perplexed look. It must be the alcohol talking, they realised.

"I killed them." She repeated, lurching closer to add in a hushed voice. "I killed them … because they deserved it."

"That's almost a confession and it's good enough for me." Brass snapped, producing a pair of handcuffs. "Kirsty Soames, you're under arrest for arson and attempted murder. You do not have to say anything, anything you do say may be taken down in evidence and used against you in a court of law; and God help me you will end up in a court of law!"

Kirsty didn't even appear to have heard him as she was forcibly turned around and wrenched into the Sofia's surprise, she actually smiled. It was the wide, lopsided smile of a drunk, but under the circumstances it was deeply unnerving. As Jim began to march her through the growing crowd of inebriated spectators, Sofia remained where she was, her head cocked to the side in thought with a puzzled frown on her face.