AN: Hope everyone is well. Thank you for your continued support - means the world.

Take care and enjoy.

CHAPTER 8

"And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."

Mark 13:37

CATHERINE POV

"Sara?"

Glancing over, Sara stands, putting out her cigarette.

"Hey," she offers, voice quiet.

"You alright?"

After the latest package discovered in our Tahoe, we've spent hours combing over every inch of her car, the package, the latest victim. Working ourselves ragged to find just one clue, one slip up, one piece of evidence to go off of.

"Yeah," she says, giving me a small smile. "Just needed a breather."

I nod, moving up closer. "Still confused as to how you can keep comparing your smoking to 'getting fresh air' and taking a 'breather,' but I get your point."

"You okay?" she asks me, turning the conversation away from her as I sit next to her on the bench outside the lab.

"I guess," I state honestly. "Still a bit numb, really."

She's quiet, her expression understanding.

"Oh, hey," I suddenly remember. "Before I forget, my mother wants to do dinner. Something about thinking it's 'deplorable' that I'm 'wasting' my chances to see her while I'm here."

Sara smiles slightly, "Sounds like your mother."

Then, she takes in a deep breath. "That's fine, we can tell Brass to move the guys from my place to yours until you get back."

I shake my head, "No, Sar, she wants to have dinner with both of us."

Sara's eyes widen, then narrow. "No, she doesn't."

I pull out my phone. "You want to call and ask her?"

She stares at the device, apparently considering calling me on what she thinks is a bluff.

"Trust me," I state with a laugh. "I was as shocked as you are, but she was adamant."

"It's your time with your mother," Sara says. "You two should spend it together. Alone."

"Look," I tell her. "It's been a hellish day, a hellish week, and I understand if the last place you want to be is at a dinner with my mother. Really. But, she really does want you there."

Sara's quiet, her fingers tapping along the edge of her lighter.

"Do you want me there?"

"Yes."

No hesitation, no thought.

Sara takes in a deep breath and nods.

"Then I'll be there."

"You forget something?"

I glance down at my arms, the bottle of wine and the keys they hold.

"No…"

My mother doesn't step aside, leaving me standing in the doorway. She looks pointedly behind me.

I look around, finally realizing what she's hinting at.

"Sara's on her way, she had to finish up a couple things at the lab."

My mother raises a speculative brow before finally moving out of my way.

"Hello to you too, mother," I shake my head as I place the wine on the counter.

Helping her set out the dishes, the doorbell rings.

"I got it," I jump over towards the door before my mother can.

Opening the door, I let Sara in, smiling at the bottle of wine in her own hands.

"Thanks," I tell her. Leaning in, I think I surprise us both when I lean in and kiss her on the cheek. "And thanks for coming," I offer quietly near her ear.

"Sure," she clears her throat, taking a slight step away.

"Sara!" my mother calls excitedly behind me. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Me too," Sara answers, putting a smile on her face. "This is for you."

Accepting the wine, my mother nods her approval. "Good choice."

We settle in for dinner, and the meal goes surprisingly better than I had anticipated. My mother, for the most part, behaved herself, only asking Sara a couple of truly uncomfortable questions.

Sara, for her part, handled the whole thing with her characteristic calm, tolerating both my mother and her questions with grace.

The brunette even offered to do the dishes, leaving my mother and I to put out the coffee and dessert.

"So," my mother states quietly, placing out the coffee mugs. "How long?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, actually I don't…"

"You and Sara."

"What about me and Sara?"

"How long have the two of you been together?"

I drop the mug I'm holding, sending it thunking to the table.

"What?!" I demand in a stern whisper so the brunette in the kitchen doesn't hear me. "What in the hell are you talking about?!"

"Come on, Cathy," my mother rolls her eyes. "I'm not blind. That girl is a walking embodiment of your type."

"You're crazy," I shake my head. "I don't even have a type."

"Please," my mom laughs. "I can tell you exactly who your type is…"

She ticks off each word on her hand. "Tall, gorgeous, dark, broody, mysterious…"

She points towards the kitchen. "And that girl in there is everything you go for."

I point towards the kitchen as well. "Except that she's a girl!"

My mother snorts. "Come on, Cathy. You and I both know that's never been a limiting factor for you."

My eyes are so huge they must be about ready to fall out of my face.

"Look," my mother gets serious. "She's everything you go for. But you need to be careful."

"Careful? What are you…"

"Sara seems like a nice person," my mother continues. "But I know what inner darkness looks like, and that girl has it in spades."

"Inner…what are-"

"I'm serious, Cathy," my mother cuts me off again. "I saw what you went through with those jerks you were always going with. People like that are no good to you."

"Sara's nothing like those people."

"You want to tell me those scrapes on her knuckles aren't from punching someone or something?" my mother challenges. "Not to mention whatever is under the bandage across her hand…"

"She cut herself slicing an apple…"

"On her knuckles, too?"

I look away, and my mother has her answer.

"All I'm saying-"

"All I'm saying," this time I cut my mother off. "Is that this conversation is irrelevant."

I send her a pointed look. "We're not together. Sara and I…" I trail off. "We barely even speak," I eventually finish, letting out a breath. "There's nothing like what you're insinuating between the two of us."

"Just be careful. I'm telling you now, that girl is trouble. And I think deep down you know it, too," my mother warns, then straightens up as we hear the kitchen water shut off.

The remainder of the night goes pretty quickly, and Sara and I are soon saying our goodbyes to my mother.

After thanking her for dinner, Sara steps out onto the porch.

"Goodnight mom," I offer, giving her a kiss.

"Goodnight," she kisses me back. "Remember what I said."

She gives me a stern look before she glances behind me.

"Now go get Sara in the car before she gets taken up by the wind."

I shake my head, knowing only my mother could end a nice dinner with a comment about someone's weight.

"How long are we going to keep doing this?"

I hear a slight shuffling, and can practically see Sara turning her head towards me in the darkness.

"Huh?"

"Laying here, pretending we're asleep…"

I hear Sara sigh.

"I'm sorry," she offers, voice a whisper in the darkness. "I thought you may have actually been asleep."

"I wish," I tell her. "I just can't stop thinking."

She's quiet, and I know she's likely assuming I'm thinking about this case. But, in reality, I'm thinking about her. About what my mother said.

It's not that I've never noticed how beautiful is. How she not only physically fits my type, but that her personality does as well. She's steady, calm, selfless, loyal.

Everything I've never had in a lover.

But, she's always been Sara. The one person with whom my conversations could turn into epic fights. The one person who I can't for the life of me get to let me in. The person who all but flinches at my touch.

The one person who couldn't be more contradictory to me.

I've never allowed my thoughts to travel down that road with Sara before, and I refuse to now. We're not a good match, plain and simple. And, right now the timing couldn't be worse for a number of reasons.

We don't need any distractions, and I vow to make this the first and last night I lose sleep over this topic.

"You know Brass has like six guys out there, right?"

Sara doesn't respond for awhile.

"He had guys out last night, too," she finally states.

The silence stretches between us, the clock ticking silently on the wall.

AN: Thanks for reading.