I would like to apologise in advance for this chapter; I'm not feeling well so I know this is not my best work. Still, I hope you like it

x x x x

He managed to catch the tail end of Kirsty's statement as he nudged the door open and crept inside.

"…deserved everything she got for what she did to me." The woman spat callously.

"What she did to you?" Catherine repeated, her jaw set and her hands clenched on the table in a failed attempt to hold her cool. "What she did was protect your dark little secret for months, because she was scared of what you might do if she told anyone – with good reason, clearly."

Kirsty barely heard the blonde's tirade, too occupied was she in eyeing up Greg with curiosity. She shifted her gaze lazily back to the women, a cocky smirk twitching on her lips.

"You can twist your girlfriend's words all you want, Ms Willows, but only Sara and I actually know what happened between us." She sat forward, her green eyes dancing with delight as she held all the cards in her handcuffed hands. "So, I guess what it comes down to is who the jury will believe." She smarmed. "And we all know what sort of temper Sara has … how many suspects has she lost it with over the years?"

"She's not the only one with a temper." Sofia jumped in pointedly.

Sensing an argument brewing, Greg quickly cleared his throat to make his presence known to his colleagues.

"You're right." He addressed Kirsty, striding up to the table. "We don't know exactly what went on between you and Sara. And we can't prove who the abuser was and who the victim was." He continued calmly, subtly placing his folder on the table in front of Cath and Sara so they could see what he was doing. "But that doesn't matter, because no jury is going to hear that case anyway."

Sharing a sideways glance with Catherine, Sofia turned the file around so Kirsty could read it for herself.

As she scanned the document, her brow knitted in bemusement, her face slowly paled.

"The domestic violence charge will only get a slap on the wrist, and we can't charge you with arson. But it doesn't matter." Greg stated, placing his hands on his hips. Despite the coolness to his voice, there was a burning anger behind his dark chocolate eyes and his jaw was firmly set as he hammered the final nail in the coffin. "You're going to be far away from Sara. That's all we care about."

"This can't be right." Kirsty mumbled, shaking her head in loss. "You can't do this."

"Actually, we can." Greg countered, gathering his notes together again and moving towards the door.

Sofia gestured to the police officer by the door to remove Kirsty back to her cell and followed Greg's lead to leave. Catherine, however, wasn't ready to end this conversation quite yet.

"You know something, it doesn't matter what we charge you with. It doesn't really matter what you did, because we all know who the real victim in all of this is and it's not you." She hissed.

"You bitch!" Kirsty snarled, attempting to pull free of the firm grip on her forearms. "This is all your fault! Sara and I were doing just fine until you came along! You took everything from me!"

"Yeah, I hope so." Cath leant across the table, lowering her voice to a seductive drawl. "But don't worry about Sara, I'll take good care of her."

Kirsty's face contorted into an expression of rage and, emitting a pained roar, she attempted to wrench herself free from the restraining hold on her.
The officer hauled her backwards, slamming her against the far wall. She twisted and writhed, turning her head towards Catherine.

Letting any ounce of professionalism she still had fade away for the time being, the CSI sent her a dark smile and a wink as she sashayed out of the interrogation room.

X x x

"So, it's over." Grissom said at last, quelling Jim's concern that the man hadn't heard him. He remained very still, his gaze fixed on the far wall.

Brass continued to watch him carefully for a further couple or minutes, feeling uncomfortable in the odd silence that had surrounded them. After what felt like an age, Grissom began to nod slowly.

"Good."

Brass raised an eyebrow at him expectantly.

"That's it?" He questioned when it became evident that that was as much of a reaction he was going to get.

Grissom looked up, his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Yeah." He shrugged, putting on his glasses and turning his attention to the stack of work cluttering his desk. He'd been ignoring it for the last few days, in light of recent circumstances, but if he let it mount up any longer it would take over his office.

Brass rolled his eyes at the man's lack of ability to share even the tiniest of emotions, even in such a personal case.

"You know, just because Kirsty's being charged; Sara is still going to need your support. Catherine too. They're still your team." The detective pointed out, subtly gesturing to the files Gil was pretending to read. "Maybe that could wait until later, hmm?"

Watching him leave with a perplexed frown, Grissom removed his glasses and stared blankly down at the folder again.

X x x

Perjury." Warrick repeated with a whistle. "Wow, that came out of left field."

"Yeah, well. I guess it doesn't really matter what they charge her with, as long as they throw the book at her." Nick mumbled, poking at his microwave meal disinterestedly with a fork.

"They will." Greg nodded, tipping his seat back and stretching his arms high above his head. "Brass said she'll get the maximum: four years and $5000 fine."

"Still not enough if you ask me." Warrick scoffed, the images on Catherine's phone burned into his memory forever. "After everything she did."

"Well, they're also forcing her to attend anger management sessions to 'learn how to control her temper'." The young man added. "And that's what Sara actually wanted in the first place."

"I bet Sara's just going to be happy that she's finally out of the way." Nick mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Although, I still wish she'd told us sooner."

"No point dwelling on that now." Greg settled back into his seat. "It's over, that's what matters. So, I guess that just leaves one thing."

The other men raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for elaboration.

"Who gets to tell her?" He explained as if it were obvious.

Warrick and Nick shared a look and chuckled softly at their friend's naivety.

"Didn't you notice how Catherine shot out of here as soon as she got a chance?" Warrick asked, gesturing towards the main doors.

"Yeah man, they're probably sat in the hotel bar celebrating as we speak!" Nick added jovially.

"Well, they'll be celebrating." Warrick agreed with a hearty laugh. "But I doubt they're doing it on the bar."

X x x

Catherine slid the glass doors open and wandered outside, feeling the cool air instantly penetrate her thin clothing. Sara was leaning against the balcony, her breath misting in the early morning chill, where she had been for the last half hour.

Catherine moved quietly up to the railing, wrapping her arms around Sara's waist from behind. She felt the brunette stiffen for a second before relaxing into her embrace.

"You okay?" She asked, pressing her lips against the younger woman's shoulder.

"Yeah." Sara breathed, tipping her head back. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"Where I'm going to live."

The corners of Catherine's mouth turned up to a small smile.

"Well, you know my place is still on offer." She pointed out slyly, pressing her full weight against Sara's body in an attempt to share as much body heat as possible.

Exhaling slowly, the girl turned in her arms and leant her back against the glass barrier.

"I know, and that's sweet." She nodded carefully. "But I meant on a more permanent basis."

"Oh. Well the fire investigation unit have said that you'll be able to go back to your flat in a few weeks. You'll have to deal with the smoke damage of course, but …"

"I'm not going back." Sara cut her off calmly, turning to look out over the city again. "I don't want to go back there."

Catherine nodded slowly, a concerned look creeping onto her face.

"Well, you've got time. There's no need to rush into anything." She assured her. When Sara didn't speak again, Cath took her by the hand and tugged her gently back into the room. "Come on."

Inside, they dropped onto the bed and stared straight ahead in silence. Both had things on their mind, but neither knew quite how to broach the subject.

"I called Hank today." Sara stated randomly after a long silence.

"And?" Catherine quirked an eyebrow. She'd been informed by Grissom how Hank had played hero and carried Sara out of the building but she hadn't decided how she felt about this yet. In all honesty, the paramedic had been the furthest thing from her mind lately.

"He's doing okay." She shrugged. "They let him out this morning. He's got a few weeks off work to fully recover."

"Maybe he'll go to Tahiti." Cath quipped dryly.

"He did save my life." Sara pointed out with a small smile.

"I know." Cath leant over to peck her lips,. "And I'm eternally grateful. But it doesn't mean I have to like him."

"No, I guess not." Sara laughed softly, falling back into a deep, thoughtful silence.

Catherine was the first to breach it, although her voice was so soft that Sara barely noticed.

"I still don't know where we are." She mumbled. "I don't want to pressure you, I know you've got a lot going on, but ... could we talk about it at least?"

Sara didn't so much as blink in response to the quietly-posed question, her watery hazel eyes still searching the small room.

"Should I take that silence as a no?"

"Hmm?" The brunette finally snapped back to the conversation, turning to Cat with a raised eyebrow. "Sorry?"

Cath smiled, brushing it aside. She still wanted an answer, but now was obviously not the right time.

"What's up?" She asked instead.

"I don't know." Sara sighed. "I want this," she licked her lips, squeezing Cath's hand where it lay beside her on the mattress. "I just don't know whether I can stay here anymore."

"Here?" Cath frowned, her voice taking on a small tremor despite her best attempts to remain calm. "You mean at CSI?"

"I mean in Nevada." Sara countered quietly, tipping her head towards the ceiling.

For a whole minute Catherine didn't react. Finally, her eyes went wide and her bottom lip began to shake.

"No … you can't be serious." She swallowed. "You can't leave."

"I haven't decided yet." The younger woman mumbled, furiously blinking back tears. "And before you say it, I know you can't uproot Lindsey. I wouldn't expect you to."

"Okay." Catherine cleared her throat, nodding carefully. "So, if you go, where does that leave us?"

Sara shook her head sadly, but she didn't say a word.

In truth, she didn't need to.