One more chapter to go!

x x x x

Against her best instincts, Catherine flicked her eyes up to the mirror. She looked tired; she had barely slept.

After Sara's little bombshell, she hadn't known what to say, so she hadn't said anything. She had kissed her. She'd hoped that maybe if she held onto Sara tight enough and kissed her with enough passion then maybe it would be enough to convince her to stay.

A futile wish, of course. Sara had responded to the embrace in kind at first, but then she had gently pushed Catherine away and wandered back onto the balcony.

Cath had wanted to follow her. To bring her back and kiss her again; to make love to her … to give her a reason to stay.

But she hadn't. She'd gathered her things and left with a whispered goodbye.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the tears that were stinging her eyes at the rush of memories, she quickly dried her hands on a paper towel and pushed her way out of the women's bathroom.

It was early, before shift change, so there weren't many people around.

Which made it easier to spot the woman heading down the hallway.

"Sara!" She called, jogging after her. The brunette turned, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I need to talk to you." Cath gripped her arm, practically frogmarching her towards the office. She purposefully ignored the question, as well as Hodges' inquisitive stare from across the hall.

"I actually have a meeting…" Sara gestured weakly down the corridor, but Catherine didn't listen as she shoved her roughly through the door and shut it behind her.

Inside, she abandoned the bemused woman in the middle of the office and moved around her desk to retrieve something.

"Here." She produced a newspaper, placing it in Sara's hands. The girl didn't understand at first, until her attention was diverted to the red circles adorning the page. All one and two bed flats within her price range, and all in Las Vegas.

Sara's heart heaved at the gesture. Placing the paper on the edge of the desk, she offered a sad smile at Catherine's hopeful expression.

"Cat, this is sweet but…"

"Just hear me out." The woman held her hands up, perching on the corner of her desk and taking hold of Sara loosely by the forearms. "The main reason you wanted to leave was because of Kirsty. She's gone now. She can't hurt you anymore." She pointed out, her pace picking up with urgency. "Things in the lab will settle down eventually, once people get used to the idea, and then you and I can actually be together, without Kirsty or court or anything getting in the way."

"It's not that simple." Sara attempted to shrug out of her grip. "It's not just about what other people will say – would we even be allowed to work together after this."

Without an answer to that question, Cath tugged her closer and wrapped her into a hug.

"We'll work it out. I promise." She mumbled, pulling back just far enough to place a kiss on Sara's lips. "Just … stay. Please?"

She could see the reluctance in Sara's eyes, although she didn't know if it was because she was debating whether to stay or to leave.

Before she could work it out, a tired voice drifted from the doorway.

"How did I know that I would find you in here?"

Sara turned, still in Catherine's arms, to smile sheepishly at Ecklie. She instinctively attempted to move away, but Cath held her firm.

"Conrad." The blonde cocked her head to the side, inadvertently leaning it against Sara's shoulder. "Hypothetically, if Sara and I were to pursue a relationship, would we have to split the team up?"

Wandering into the room, he placed his hands on his hips.

"The book states that two people on the same team cannot be in a relationship." He recited dutifully.

"What do you say?" She pressed, unconsciously tightening her hold on Sara.

"I say … that I'm going to have to think about it." He decided after intense deliberation. "Anyway, I thought this meeting was to discuss your leaving the lab?" He frowned at Sara in confusion.

She pursed her lips, casting a sly glance over her shoulder at Catherine.

The blonde was staring at her with wide, pleading eyes; it was an unusual look on the usually strong features, but one that Sara found damn near impossible to resist.

"Well, that depends on your answer to the last question." She said at last with a cocky smile.

He rolled his eyes, dropping his hands to his side.

"You know what, you guys need to get on the same page."

He turned to leave with a dismissive wave, coming face to face with Grissom in the doorway.

"Ecklie." The entomologist greeted coolly, quirking an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

"Apparently I'm being held to ransom." The lab executive huffed, throwing a glance back at the women. "Either I can lose a CSI or I can break the rules and have the Sherriff on my ass for the next month."

Grissom looked around him to where Catherine and Sara were smiling innocently from the desk. They were still locked together, their eyes bright and hopeful. Flicking his gaze back to Ecklie, his lips twitched into a small grin.

"When you see the Sherriff, tell him I said hi."

With a heavy sigh, Ecklie stropped past him towards his own office.

"Hi." Catherine said, dropping her arms and finally releasing Sara.

He ignored her, his gaze fixed on Sara's face.

"Does this mean you're staying?" He asked, almost bashfully. She pursed her lips, gesturing in the direction Ecklie had gone.

"That depends. I don't want to break up the team."

"By leaving, you'll be breaking up the team anyway." Catherine pointed out earnestly, taking her hand firmly between both her own.

"She's right." Grissom nodded. "We need you here."

She dropped her eyes, feeling her cheeks heat up. She had never been good at accepting such sentiments.

"Let's see what Ecklie says." She mumbled at last.

"He'll want you to stay." Grissom insisted, to her obvious scepticism.

"How do you know?" She scoffed. "I'm hardly his favourite member of staff."

"I know Ecklie; he won't lose a perfectly competent CSI for the sake of following the rules." Gil insisted. "Besides, if he does then the lab will be short-staffed, he'll have to pay out more overtime and the Sherriff will still be on his ass."

The women shared a small smile at his dry humour.

Shifting their eyes back to the door, they were both surprised to see that Grissom had already slipped out.

Alone again, Sara straightened up and stepped away from the desk.

"I should …" she gestured vaguely in the direction of Ecklie's office, inching awkwardly towards the door.

However, before she could move further out of her reach, Catherine tightened her grip on the brunette's wrist.

"Can you come round today?" She asked hopefully. "There's something I want to show you."

X x x

"Do you think she'll really go?" Wendy asked despondently, stirring her coffee lazily with the handle of a teaspoon.

"I don't know." Mandy brooded, propping her head up on her hands. "I hope not."

"I saw them talking to Ecklie earlier." Hodges shared. "I bet he loves having to deal with all of this."

"You mean he hasn't confided in you about it over your man-dates?" Archie asked sardonically, earning him a distasteful glower.

"All I'm saying is that you can't just sweep this all under the rug. It's going to take more than that to fix everything that's happened."

"This isn't something you can 'fix'." Greg snapped, making his presence known for the first time.

Unabashed, despiet their previous altercation, Hodges turned to him with a curious look.

"You must know what's going on." He inquired.

"Even if I did," Greg pushed himself off the doorframe and wandered into the break room. "Why would I tell you?"

"We just want to know that's Sara's okay." Wendy jumped in before tempers could fray again. "No one wants her to leave."

Greg opened his mouth to answer her, but a firm hand on his shoulder startled him into turning around.

"Sara's dealing with a lot of things, in her own way." Nick said calmly, levelling them all with a pointed look. "The reason she didn't tell us what was going on was because she was worried about the rumours that would spread."

"We understand." Mandy straightened up. "We don't want to hurt her, Nick."

"I know." He nodded, pulling Greg towards him and holding the smaller man against his chest. "And whatever Sara decides, we're going to support her. Isn't that right?"

The statement, light-hearted in tone, was clearly intended as a warning and the lab rats all agreed earnestly.

"Good." The Texan nodded, releasing Greg and striding back out of the room.

The feelings of guilt were still there, tormenting him. Sara was like a little sister to him, and he'd failed to realise what was going on even when the signs were right in front of him.

He couldn't take back the last six months, and he couldn't heal all of Sara's wounds. But he could make sure no one ever hurt her again.

Even those people who meant well.

X x x

"Come in, sit." Cath coaxed cheerfully, ushering Sara into her lounge.

The brunette narrowed her eyes suspiciously, perching on the edge of the sofa.

"Are you okay?" She queried, biting back a smile. "You seem nervous."

Catherine bit her lower lip anxiously, flexing her hands.

"I have something for you." She said at last. "But I don't know if you're going to like it."

"Okay." Sara nodded cautiously. "What is it?"

To her utter bemusement, Cath disappeared into a closet.

"Cat?" Sara squeaked, leaning around to see what she was doing.

When she returned, a shy smile dancing on her lips, she was carrying a large black canvas bag that Sara instantly recognised.

She should. It had come from her apartment.

"I know it won't have the same sentimental value." Catherine mumbled, watching with baited breath as Sara timidly unzipped the guitar case. "But it was the best I could do."

"Catherine, this…" Sara murmured, carefully extracting the instrument and running her hand over the sanded wood. "It's the same make." She noted, tenderly stroking the delicate hummingbird engraved into the body. "How did you remember?"

Cath pursed her lips, sitting on the coffee table in front of her girlfriend and placing one hand on her knee.

"I might have had some help with that." She conceded. "I asked Sofia."

"Sofia?" Sara frowned, finally tearing her eyes from the guitar. "I'm surprised she even remembered. She must have only seen it a handful of times."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Sara examined the light wood, taking a mental image of each and every feature. Catherine watched each tiny movement her hazel eyes made, watched her falling in love with each new piece she saw.

"You know, you never told me what actually happened between the two of you." She cleared her throat at last, breaking the peaceful quiet. It had been a subject she had wanted to broach for a while, but there never seemed a right time.

Photographing the bruises inflicted by Kirsty was hardly a good moment to ask about a previous failed relationship.

Sara looked up, hesitation briefly flashing across her face. For a moment Catherine didn't think she was going to answer.

"It seems so stupid now, after everything that's happened since." Sara mumbled eventually, leaning the guitar against the arm of the couch and pinning her hands nervously between her knees. "Sofia was getting frustrated with me, because I kept putting off sleeping with her."

Catherine moved silently to sit beside her, one hand making its way around the brunette's back.

"I wasn't trying to lead her on. I wasn't … I just…"

"It's okay." Cath reassured softly, reaching up to wipe away the crystal tears starting to trek down her friend's face.

"I was scared what she might say when she saw the scars." Sara continued quietly. "A bit of a moot point now, I guess."

"So, you and her never…"

"Only once." Sara sniffed. "She wanted to. So did I, I just … We kept getting so far and then I would stop her. One night, we'd had a bit to drink and she … everything happened before I could stop it. Afterwards, I panicked and pushed her away."

Beside her, Catherine swallowed hard, fighting the urge to hit something. Her and Sofia had come to an armistice of sorts in light of recent events, but that didn't mean Cath liked her any more now than she ever had.

"She got so freaked out and left. After that … we just didn't see each other again. Not until the teams were changed round."

"That was it? You just broke up, because of one night?"

"She couldn't understand it. I think she thought I was accusing her of … I wasn't." She swallowed hard, neglecting to finish the sentence. "It wasn't her fault. I never told her to stop – I didn't want her to. It was afterwards, in the light, that I panicked. It was my fault."

"No." Cath shook her head. "No it wasn't, baby. You couldn't help that."

"I wish I'd explained things to her. I guess I was ashamed."

"You don't have to be."

Sara flicked her eyes up, her tongue subconsciously darting out to lick her lips. Catherine caught sight of the movement and leant forwards. When Sara didn't move, she closed the gap.

However, the tender moment was interrupted by the untimely trilling of a phone. Her mouth barely touching Sara's, Cath emitted a frustrated sigh and snatched her cell phone from the table.

"Ecklie." She noted, peering at the name flashing on the little screen. The women locked eyes and she flipped the phone open, hitting speaker.

"Hello."

"There would have to be strict rules." He stated without preamble. "There would be no messing about at work. No domestics. No relationship stuff. Professionalism or nothing at all."