Author's Note: Trigger warning for canon compliant mentions of domestic abuse (no details). This is the last chapter that will be rated T, chapter 4 onwards will be M.
Catherine waited for a couple of days before taking the next step in both of her campaigns; all of the people involved were intelligent and she didn't want to risk someone guessing this early (unless it was Jim; she was pretty certain that he wouldn't spoil her fun). In the meantime she made sure to be a bit more tactile with Sara at work, gently squeezing Sara's shoulder or touching her arm whenever she passed her, and invited Sara over for dinner before work with Lindsey and her one evening. This turned out to be an excellent idea as Lindsey had algebra homework and what was a struggle for the two of them was easy for Sara and it turned out that Sara was an excellent teacher as well so Lindsey could not only do it but understood it by the time that Sara had finished. Delighted, Catherine asked Sara to make it a regular event and made sure to praise her in front of the rest of the CSI's which further reinforced the rumours spreading around the lab.
Catherine also wanted to make sure that Sara was comfortable with the glances and rumours that their actions were causing. Sara's reaction in the locker room had suggested that she had been the centre of unpleasant attention at some time in the past. It could have been the sort of nastiness that an extremely intelligent child could experience in high school just for being intelligent but Catherine didn't think so. Over the last few months Catherine had found out a few things about Sara which, added together, pointed to Sara's childhood being less than ideal (and probably the sort of thing that nightmares were made of).
A couple of days after they'd had the huge public argument that had led to Sara being suspended, Sara had called wanting to chat. They'd had breakfast together one morning and talked for over an hour, both apologising for the things that they had said. The talk had thrown up the wryly amusing fact that they were jealous of each other. Sara was jealous of Catherine's body confidence and people skills and Catherine was jealous of Sara's intelligence and how effortlessly she picked up new techniques. That admission had made it easier for them to talk about other things and they had talked honestly about how hard they both found domestic abuse cases and Catherine had shared some of the techniques that she used to channel her anger and fear and Sara had admitted that, for the first time ever, she was finding counselling helpful.
Over the next few months the two of them had become friends and Catherine had learnt a few other things, like Sara being in foster care for part of her childhood, Grissom being listed as her next of kin because she had no one else to put down and having to work all through college despite having a full scholarship because she had no one to give her any support at all.
All of which meant that as well as the affection that Catherine felt towards all of her friends, she felt deeply protective towards Sara so was determined not to make her uncomfortable even if it was for a good cause.
Fortunately, Sara was completely comfortable with everything so far and had started touching Catherine occasionally too, mirroring what Catherine was doing, so Catherine decided that it was time to increase the heat. Luckily, what she had in mind should advance both of her campaigns. Smirking, she sent Sara a text,
*You free after work tomorrow?*
*Yes. Why?*
*It's time to dance … 💃 😁😁😉😉😉*
After shift the next day Sara changed into her new dress and quickly applied a small amount of makeup. Slipping on her matching shoes she went into the break room to wait for Catherine who had done her makeup but was waiting for her to leave the locker room before changing. Catherine had been adamant that Sara could only see her once she was ready to go, saying,
'I want your reaction to be spontaneous.'
Sara had shrugged, saying,
'Okay.'
Sara wasn't sure what the big deal was but carefully prepared a couple of suitable compliments, being absolutely certain that 'You look nice' was not going to cut it.
Before Catherine came back, Sara was joined by Nick and Greg, who both complimented her on her appearance,
'Looking hot, Sar,' said Greg, 'Meeting up with someone special?'
'They must be really special to get you in a dress,' said Nick, 'You look great.'
'Thanks, guys. Cat and I are going dancing.'
'But you hate dancing,' said Greg.
'Cat persuaded me that dancing with her would be fun.'
'Well she is incredibly persuasive,' said Nick ruefully, remembering the large number of times that Catherine had got him to do things for her.
'And I promised to stop if she wasn't having fun,' said Catherine, sauntering slowly into the room, letting them get the full impact of her dress, knowing that she looked superb.
Catherine had bought the tiny black dress a few months ago but had never worn it before. She adored it but it was what she thought of in her own mind as a fifth date dress; something you wear when you don't expect to get as far as leaving the house. It clung to her body like a second skin, just barely covering the essentials and had lots of small horizontal slits that gaped very slightly when Catherine moved, giving tiny glimpses of the creamy skin underneath. It was very sexy and highly provocative and Catherine would never have risked wearing it if she were going out on her own but it was ideal for today.
Nick and Greg both gaped at Catherine, temporarily at a loss for words but Sara looked her up and down admiringly, saying,
'Holy crap, Cat! You look amazing!'
Sara's words were completely genuine and Catherine smiled happily at her, delighted by the compliment,
'Thank you. You look amazing too.'
Catherine made sure to purr the words seductively and walked sensually towards Sara, taking her hand and saying,
'Ready to go?'
'Yes, let's go and have some fun.'
Smiling smugly at the still gaping men, Catherine led Sara out of the break room.
There was silence for a few seconds after they'd left then Greg said,
'That really just happened, right? I'm not dreaming?'
'Not unless I am too.'
Nick was shaking his head in disbelief, stunned by what he'd just seen; Catherine and Sara were both beautiful women but that had been incredible. Sara had looked lovely but Nick was fairly sure that he'd never forget Catherine in that dress, smirking and seductive and looking like sin made flesh. Greg dragged him out of his reverie, saying,
'Do you think it's true, the rumours going around the lab? Are Sara and Catherine a couple now?'
'Don't know, man. I didn't think either of them swung both ways but I've never asked.'
'No, me neither. They look really hot together…'
The two men stood in silence as they thought about it.
Catherine had intended to lead Sara past a few of the labs before going into Grissom's office but then she saw Ecklie leaving the Ballistics Lab and quickly pulled Sara in his direction, flashing Sara a wicked grin before saying,
'Hi Conrad, you're here early.'
Ecklie glanced up from the report in his hand, saying,
'I needed some…some…'
As the impact of Catherine's outfit hit him, Conrad stammered to a halt. Ignoring his unfinished sentence, Catherine said innocently,
'We're going dancing. The great thing about Vegas is there's always somewhere open.'
Shocked out of his silence, Ecklie said,
'You're not going out on the Strip wearing that, are you Catherine?'
'Seriously, Conrad? What are you? My grandmother?'
As Catherine spoke, Sara had a flash of inspiration and as soon as Catherine had finished speaking, Sara said,
'Don't worry, Conrad, I'll protect her. In fact, I'll even tuck her into bed later.'
Conrad blinked and open and shut his mouth as he tried to work out what to say but by the time he had collected himself Catherine and Sara had gone.
Controlling their laughter with difficulty, Catherine and Sara carried on towards Grissom's office, finding Grissom reluctantly doing paperwork. He looked up as Catherine knocked on the door frame, taking in her outfit and saying,
'You look nice.'
'Thanks, Gil. Sara and I are going dancing.'
As she spoke, Catherine moved into the office, bringing Sara into view. Catherine watched with amusement as Gil's eyes went immediately to Sara and stayed there, his gaze running up and down Sara's body. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Grissom swallowed and said,
'You look great, Sara.'
'Thanks, Griss,' said Sara, beaming.
Grissom's eyes stayed firmly fixed on Sara's body as Catherine said,
'I just came to remind you that Sara and I are both maxed out on overtime so you can't call us in unless it's all hands on deck.'
'Understood.'
'And Gil…'
'Yes?'
'If you call me up with a question about paperwork I swear they'll never find your body. Today I'm going to have some fun and then sleep until I have to get up for shift and anyone who gets in the way will seriously regret it.'
'I'll send a warning out,' said Gil drily, his mouth curling up into the beginning of a smile.
Catherine smirked as Gil continued looking at Sara even though he was talking to her, thinking that that confirmed what she had suspected; Gil was very attracted to Sara. Having grown up around deaf people, he would never normally look at one person while talking to another. Pleased to have received the confirmation she needed, Catherine said goodbye to Gil and led Sara out of his office.
