Previous part of Blast from the past.

***

The silence in the car was deafening. Both women were fuming, but neither wanted to have a full-blown fight in the car. Their reasons for not wanting this were different, but neither wanted to admit these to each other.

The silence was deafening…

Thankfully the ride was short, and soon they pulled into the parking lot at the lab. Catherine turned off the engine but stayed in place, struggling to get her thoughts in order. Sara was about to get out the car, but when she noticed Catherine staying put, she stopped.

"Look, Catherine." She started, "About before…"

"What?" Catherine breathed out dejectedly.

"I don't think this guy is going after Veronica."

Catherine's eyebrows shot up. 'Is this her idea of an apology?' She looked at the woman next to her, but found that she was looking determinedly out the front window.

"And what would make you think that?" She inquired.

"There is no way Dunne is out of jail, so I'm thinking that maybe he has someone doing his dirty work for him."

"Let's say you're right, why would he have this someone spare Veronica?"

"Because he is obsessed with her, and he would never allow a protégée to finish his work."

"Maybe you're right. You know more about this than I do." Cath replied, pointedly.

"I can't be the one to tell you, Catherine. I made a promise to Veronica."

"Yes, and I respect that, but we're working a case here, Sara. I need this information to solve it."

"You need it to solve it?" Sara looked at her, "I thought this was our case."

"You're taking words out of my mouth. But you're too close to this case, you can't be objective!" Catherine said forcefully.

"You're not taking me off this! I am too damn valuable in solving this case!" Sara got out of the car and slammed the door. "You're not taking me off this case!"

"Sara!" Catherine hurried after the brunette who was storming into the lab. "Damn it, Sara, will you wait up!"

Sara stormed into the building, furious. 'How dare she do this? Who the hell does she think she is? This is my past to deal with; she is the one who should be taken off the case…!'

"Sara?"

"What!" Sara said exasperated, as she turned towards to the woman talking.

"Are you ok?" Foxy asked concerned.

"Foxy?"

"Yeah," Veronica placed a hand on Sara's upper arm in comfort. "Are you ok?"

"I will be. I just need a little space right now." Sara sighed.

"Ok." Veronica paused, looking closer at the taller woman. "You met my dad." She stated.

"Yes, I did."

"And…"

"And I let Catherine do the talking."

"So you're not upset because of him. What happened?"

"Sara!" Catherine stormed in the building. "My office! Now!"

"No!" Sara snapped back.

"What?" Catherine was taken aback.

"Oh…" Veronica suddenly realized who had gotten to Sara.

"Veronica?" Catherine had been so determined to get to Sara that she hadn't seen the other woman. "Are you ready to talk?"

"I…" Veronica looked at her fuming friend. "I have the case file here." She handed a folder to Catherine. "You could read this first to get the forensic facts and then I'll tell you what happened. I really need a word with Sara right now, is that ok with you?"

"We need to get this case moving, we don't have time…"

"Catherine, is that ok with you?" Veronica asked forcefully, interrupting whatever Sara was about to say.

"I…" Catherine looked at the folder in her hand. 'Calming down right now would be best. I won't be able to control my temper around Sara much longer.' She looked back up. "Sure. We meet in the interrogation room in half an hour. I'll let everybody know."

"Thank you, Catherine." Veronica said gratefully.

"What? You can't just make these kinds of decisions without consulting me." Sara felt the anger rising again.

"I am the senior on this and any other case, Sidle. I call the shots. Half an hour, in the interrogation room."

With that, Catherine walked off towards her office to calm down.

"Who the hell does she think she is?" Sara said through clenched teeth.

"Your superior?" Veronica grabbed hold of Sara's arm and dragged her towards the exit. "Come on."

"Veronica, stop." Sara stopped. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you outside so you can calm down."

"I'm not the one who needs to calm down!"

"No, you're just the one about to make a scene in the lobby of your workplace." Veronica whispered rather loudly, "But fine, you wanna do this here, we can do this here."

For the first time, Sara looked around and noticed the people staring at them. Some of them whispered to each other and she knew what they were saying: Sara Sidle never acts like this; Sara Sidle never loses her cool; Sara Sidle is about to make a scene with someone other than Catherine Willows.

"Fine, let's go outside."

------

Catherine threw the file on her desk and sat down. She pinched the bridge of her nose trying to get back some sort of control over her emotions. Sara was driving her crazy, and she didn't know how to get the other woman to understand that she was just trying to help. Though, at least now she might finally understand why the other woman always reacted so strongly to rape cases. She herself reacted strongly to those cases, but there was just something in Sara that refused to let go until everything was solved. Catherine admired that dedication in her, but she also knew where that road would lead her… Burnout.

Sara was good at what she did, but she forgot to take care of herself. She did everything she possibly could for the victims and then some, but she did nothing to take care of Sara. And that broke Catherine's heart.

'Wait, what? Breaks my heart? I feel sorry for her, but it doesn't break my heart. Sara is a co-worker and that is it. It does not break my heart that she won't take care of herself.'

She sighed and picked up the file she'd thrown on the table earlier and started reading.

"So, what makes you tick, Sara Sidle?"

-------

"You want one?" Veronica held out a pack of cigarettes to Sara, "You look stressed out enough to need one."

They had sat down on a bench situated far enough from the entrance to the lab to provide them with some privacy.

Sara took the offered cigarette and lit it, but stayed quiet.

"It's funny." Veronica started after seeing that Sara was not going to make this easy on her. "Even after everything that's happened; I still love the night. It's so quiet; it gives you time to clear your head and just think." She looked at Sara wanting some kind of reaction from her. "Or maybe it's just because I don't sleep much since Kim left."

"Since Kim left?"

"Yeah, believe it or not I actually found someone who makes me feel safe."

"I'm happy for you."

"Thanks."

Sara grabbed another cigarette and lit it. The silence stretched between them.

"They walked out on me." Veronica offered.

"Who are 'they'?"

"Kimberly and Benjamin."

"They walked out on you?"

"Yeah, after I told them they walked out on me."

"Just like that?" Sara sounded calmer than she really was.

"Kim said something about needing air." Veronica sighed, defeated.

"And Benjamin?"

"Benjamin… Ben just looked at me, got up and left."

Sara put an arm around the younger woman. Veronica welcomed the gesture and leaned into the offered body; letting Sara give her comfort.

"Your dad was different from what I thought." Sara said, still holding onto the smaller woman.

"Yeah," Veronica sniffed. "He's a nice person."

"How can you say that?"

"Sooner or later in life you have to learn how to forgive, Sass. I forgave them a long time ago. I had to if I wanted to get on with my life. You can't live your life hating, we've both seen – felt – what happens when people hate. My parents made a mistake a long time ago, and someday they'll realize that."

"That doesn't mean you have to forgive them. I know… I know that you…"

"Sass, my situation is nothing like yours. My parents made a mistake; your parents… your parents should burn in Hell."

"I'm not talking about me here."

"Yes you are, hon. And it's ok if you never forgive your parents. I'll never forgive them. Hell, even Ghandi would smack them down."

They chuckled lightly at the attempt of humour.

"Man…" Sara sighed leaning back. "Remember when we used to have fun?"

"Yeah…" Veronica leaned back as well. "Let's get this shit behind us and then I promise to take you out. We'll even bring Catherine and have you…"

"You won't finish that sentence if you know what's good for you!"

"What? You know you want her!"

"And I know she doesn't want me, so let's let sleeping dogs lie."

"I would…"

"But?"

"One, I'm not too sure she doesn't want you. Two, I tried the dog thing with this mess, and now I'm alone and friendless."

"You've got me." Sara looked her square in the eye to show her how serious she was. "And I won't run away this time."

***

A little while later Sara and Veronica headed inside to a small conference room. Catherine had called Sara to tell her about the change of venue. There were six people connected to this case who needed to hear about Veronica, and the interrogation room was too small for all of them. They met up with Catherine outside the room.

"Are you ready for this?" Catherine asked Veronica.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Veronica sighed.

"I read the file." Catherine paused, contemplating her next words. "I don't know if it will mean anything to you, but what happened to you was wrong and I'm very sorry."

"Thanks." Veronica looked at the older woman. "It does mean a lot to me, but I don't want the pity."

"I can't say that I pity you as much as I'm outraged by what that monster did."

"Well, thanks." Veronica smiled slightly, but they could sense the nervousness rolling off her. "We better do this then."

"Yes, would you mind if I have a quick word with Sara before we get started?"

"No problem." Veronica opened the door to the room. "I'll just wait for you." She closed the door behind her as she entered the room.

------

Inside the room were the other four who would hear the story she was about to tell. She looked around and noticed that all their faces were familiar; she had seen them at the breakfast where she'd met Sara again. There was the black guy with the amazing eyes, the Texan with the charming smile, the beautiful blonde detective – and Kim. Veronica sat down at the end of the table with a strained smile plastered to her face.

"Hello, Doctor Christiansen." The Texan offered. "I'm Nick Stokes, in case you forgot."

"Hello Mr. Stokes. It's nice to see you again. And I guess since you're all about to hear my most private secrets, you might as well call me Veronica."

"Well, Veronica, I'm Warrick Brown."

"And I'm Sofia Curtis."

"Nice to see all of you again."

The room fell quiet. Veronica kept her eyes on Kimberly, but the other woman did not meet her gaze. The silence was getting to Sofia and she tried to start a conversation.

"It's been really hot out today, huh?" She asked no one in particular.

"Yeah, they say it's gonna be just as bad tomorrow." Nick offered.

"They said that you should remember to drink a lot of water." Warrick added, equally as uncomfortable in the silence.

"Water is important to stay hydrated." Sofia inwardly cringed at her attempt to keep the conversation going.

"Do you all know what I'm doing here?" Veronica interrupted, unable to stand the weather talk any longer.

"Yes they do. They're just trying to make you a little more comfortable." Kimberly answered.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I think about the only thing that would make me less uncomfortable right now would be you telling me where you have been the last hour and a half and what you are going to do about the thing I told you. But that's not going to happen, so…" She sighed deeply. "You really should drink a lot of water tomorrow if it gets really hot. I don't want to see you at the hospital because you forgot."

The silence returned and this time none of them broke it.

------------

"So, what do you want?" Sara asked quite rudely. "Wait, sorry," She held up both hands when she saw the look on Catherine's face. "Let me rephrase that. How can I help you, Catherine?"

"I'm not going to take you off this case, Sara." Catherine started.

"Thank you."

"I have every right to do so, but I'm going to keep you on because you know about the old case." Catherine looked Sara in the eyes. "And because you are an excellent investigator. But…"

"But…?"

"I will not tolerate you treating me like you just did. I have told you that I want us to get along. I will not fight you – not on this!"

"This is getting to me, Catherine." Sara said quietly.

"What?" To say that Catherine was surprised by this openness from her colleague was an understatement.

"You want us to be more open with each other, I'm being open. This is all very overwhelming for me."

"Do I need to take you off?" Catherine inquired in the same quiet voice Sara was using.

"No." Sara looked at her. "I can do this. I need to do this for Veronica – I need to do it for me."

"Ok." Catherine thought about it for a moment. "But if you…"

"If I can't handle it, I'll take myself off the case."

"Ok." Catherine offered a brilliant smile to Sara. "See, we can do this without the fighting – talking." She gestured between the two of them.

"Yeah, I guess we can." Sara smiled back weakly. "Just for the record, I'm sorry for the yelling and for almost loosing my temper at the house."

"Almost?"

"Yeah, almost. I could have been a lot worse." Sara smirked.

"Oh, that I know! And for the record, I'm sorry that I treated you like a rookie, but it was the fastest way for me to get you out of there."

"You know, if we aren't careful, people might think we like each other." Sara needed a little playful banter before having to go back to a part of her past she had tried to forget.

"Well, Sara, it might surprise you, but I do like you."

"Oh."

"Yeah, don't let it go to your head." Catherine pointed towards the door. "Shall we?"

"Huh?" 'She likes me? How the hell am I going to take that? Likes me how? God, when did I go back to being thirteen? She likes me! Happy mental smiley!' "Yeah, let's get this over with."

With that, they went into the conference room.

--------

The silence as they entered the room was palpable. Veronica was seated at one end of the table with the two chairs on her left and right vacant. The others in the room seemed uncomfortable and looking at anything but each other. Catherine raised an eyebrow in an unasked question to Warrick. He shook his head as to say that it had nothing to do with the case, and that it needn't be addressed.

Sara went straight to Veronica's left side and sat down beside her.

"Are you ok?" She asked her friend.

"Sure." Was the only reply she got.

Sara knew that Veronica was being evasive; after all, she herself was the master of evasions. But she knew how hard it had to be for her to tell this story to people – people she didn't know at that. But it had to be done, she had to tell her story for this bastard to be caught. She knew how important it was for her friend to keep the people she cared for safe. She herself had been one of those people ten years ago. She was still one of those people.

"Ok, let's get started." Catherine's voice broke through Sara's musings.

"Yeah." Veronica looked up at the people sitting around the table. "Do you have the file?"

"Yes, it's right here." Catherine held the file towards the young woman, but she didn't take it, she just shook her head.

"Would you pass the pictures around?" She asked.

"Sure." Catherine gave the photos to Nick who was sitting next to her.

"When I was 17 years old I was stalked by a man called Oscar Charles Dunne." Veronica started. "But I didn't know that he was stalking me until he attacked me in my dorm one night."

"Sorry to interrupt you, Veronica, but I need you to state your name, age and profession for the tape recorder." Catherine said gently.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Veronica shook her head slightly. "My name is Veronica Lavisham Christiansen, I'm 28 and I'm a doctor."

"Thanks." Catherine said. "Just take your time; I can imagine that this must be hard for you."

Veronica reached out and held Sara's hand, but kept her eyes on Kimberly.

"I've always been a smart kid. They called me a kid genius and told me that I have one of the highest IQs in the world. I… I always hated being put in a box, but I loved learning, so I finished high school early and went to college at 15. It was great, though I missed my brother so much. But on my first day I met a girl who became my best friend and she made it easier to be away from him. We ended up sharing a dorm room… I never knew that someone was following my every move. I never suspected anything. I was never careless when I was out alone. I never talked to strangers; I thought I was doing everything right. But one night when S… When my friend was…" She felt Sara squeezing her hand lightly.

"I was… am the friend." She interrupted.

Veronica nodded gratefully.

"One day when Sara was at the library…"

***

"One day when Sara was at the library…" She paused. "Someone knocked on the door. I answered and before I knew it, he was inside the room and I was knocked out. When I woke up, I was… I was strapped to one of the beds… naked." She paused not wanting to continue.

"It's ok," Sara soothed. "You can do this."

"I… He talked to me constantly while… while he… raped me. Told me how much he loved me. Told me how we would spend eternity together. How I was made for him and him alone; that God had created the perfect mate for him in me. He told me how he loved it when I wore red for him; how he knew that I had been thinking of him when I chose my outfits…How it was so nice of me to get rid of my roommate so we could spend time together alone. I kept pleading for him to let me go; for him to stop – after three hours I just prayed to God that it would be over one way or another. There was nothing I could do…"

"If it would make it easier for you, you could just tell us the facts. Keep it clinical." Catherine tried to make it easier on the younger woman.

"No!" She answered strongly. "Siobhan went through this as well. You need to know what kind of bastard you are dealing with here. This is not a run of the mill criminal… He torments and… he gets off on petrifying his victim. He hurts you until you wish that you were dead; leaves you alone for a while, and then he starts all over again."

"It's ok." Sara put her hand on her arm. "Just go on with the story. We need this to get him."

Veronica offered her a weak smile.

"You ok?" She asked the brunette.

"I'm here for you, that's all that matters right now." Sara rubbed the other woman's arm in a soothing gesture.

Veronica paused for a moment before continuing.

"I prayed to God to kill me as he raped me for the fourth time… I think it was the fourth time… I lost count… I thought that He must have heard my prayers because Dunne untied me, and I was stupid enough to think that it was over…

"It wasn't. He started beating me. He said that I had to be his for eternity and that he couldn't let anybody else touch me – that I had to get used to the loving feel of his hands. That he would be my first, and last… I managed to choke out that he was not my first, and he would never be my last, and I guess that really set him off. He pulled out a knife and stabbed me in the stomach. I don't think that was supposed to happen, because he looked so surprised when he saw the blood...

"He threw me back on the bed – on my stomach – and then he slid the knife slowly… so slowly over my throat. It wasn't a deep cut, but there was still so much blood - the smell of iron filling the air. I never thought I would remember so much of it. It felt like he had been there for days, but at the same time, it felt like time flew by; it was so surreal…

"I passed out from the blood loss. The last I heard was him telling me that now we would be together forever…ordering me to wait for him in the afterlife. The last thing I felt was his warm breath on my ear and a wet kiss on my cheek."

She looked up at all of them.

"I don't remember anything after that. I was in a coma for about a week, and when I woke up…"

She looked at Sara with a pained expression on her face.

"When I woke up he had been caught." She gestured to the pictures that Nick had lain out on the table for them all to see. "The crime scene pictures and… and the pictures of what he did to my body are there."

Silence.

"How…" Nick interrupted the silence. "How was he caught?"

"He attacked me one night when…" Sara started, but was interrupted by Veronica.

"I need some air right now," She said standing up abruptly. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Fox…" Sara started.

"Alone." She cut in as she left the room.

Sara and Kimberly got up from their seats at the same time.

"I'll go after her, Sara." Kimberly said.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Sara shot back.

"She's my wife."

"Yeah, and you've been doing so well in the married department lately."

"She's my wife." Kimberly repeated, and left the room after Veronica.

Sara made an attempt at following her, but Catherine stepped between her and the door.

"We need you here on this, Sara. Let them deal with this on their own." She said placing a comforting hand on her arm.

"But…"

"We need you here to tell the rest of the story. I need you on this."

"But…" Sara looked at the door and then at Catherine. "Ok." She sighed, defeated, and started to tell the story of what had happened when Dunne attacked her.

---------

Veronica had reached the lobby when Kimberly caught up with her.

"V, wait up please." She said and reached out and touched her arm.

Veronica was about to say something when she froze in place. There was a group of people going through the lobby towards them, and among them were Governor and Mrs. Lavisham.

"This way..." Kimberly tugged Veronica's arm in an attempt to get her to follow her into a nearby room.

"No," Veronica said wearily. "No, if I have to face the demons of my past, I might as well take them all on at once." She stayed where she was looking straight at her parents.

A tall man rushed past them to greet the Governor.

"Governor Lavisham, sir, I'm Conrad Ecklie, I'm in charge of this lab." He shook the other man's hand. "I assure you that we are doing everything we can to solve this case. I have my best people on it."

"I was looking for Miss Willows. I was hoping she could give me an upda…" He trailed off as he caught a pair of blue eyes, matching those of his wife, staring back at him. He paled visibly…

"An update? Yes, certainly. I will personally go get CSI Willows for you. If you would like to come this way, I will find a room where you can sit down." If there was one thing Ecklie was good at, it was politics.

"Excuse me? Oh, no we will be just fine waiting here for her." He felt his wife's arm stiffen slightly under his, and knew that she had seen their daughter as well.

"Ok, sir, I'll just get Willows." Ecklie scurried off.

"You don't have to do this now." Kimberly grabbed hold of her wife's hand in support.

"Yeah, I do." Veronica squeezed the offered hand, as her eyes locked with her father's. "I can't keep running from my past. After all, I was a daddy's girl once; I would like the chance to be that again." She broke eye contact with her father and looked back at Kim. "You've got my back?"

"Always." She kissed the smaller woman lightly on the cheek.

"Let's get you introduced to the parents then." Veronica squeezed Kim's hand once more, and led her towards the group gathered in the middle of the lobby.

--------

"He was sentenced to 25 to life." Sara was just about to finish the last of what she knew about the case, when Ecklie barged into the room slightly out of breath.

"Catherine, the Governor is waiting for you in the lobby." He informed the blonde.

"The Gov… What?" Sara jumped up from her seat and moved swiftly towards the door and disappeared before Catherine had a chance to react.

"Sara!" The blonde followed her outside. "Sara, don't do anything you'll regret!" She ran after the brunette.

"Catherine?" Conrad followed the two of them. "What is going on here?"

***

Coming around the corner, Catherine cursed both her high heels and Sara's longer legs. The pursuit was cut short when she collided with someone; she reached out for the hips on the body in front of her to steady herself, before looking up and realizing that it was Sara she had run into.

"Sara," She said slightly out of breath. "What's going on?" She peeked around the taller woman and saw Veronica and Kimberly walking towards the Governor and his wife.

"She's going to talk to them." Sara stated.

"Maybe it's for the best, Sara," Catherine said gently. "We all need our parents in some way, no matter how old we get."

"Not everybody, Catherine. Not everybody." Sara said quietly. "I'll be right back. I just need to make sure that she's going to be ok - that they're not going to reject her again."

"They won't. He asked for protection for her."

"Well, it's a long way from not wanting her brutally murdered to wanting her in their lives again."

"Sometimes you just have to hope for the best, hon."

"That's a feeling reserved for those who've had good things happen to them in life." Sara said evenly.

Catherine was at a loss for words. Sara sounded so detached, but at the same time so vulnerable, and the blonde didn't know how to address that. She tried to formulate an appropriate sentence, but was interrupted.

"What the hell is going on here?" Conrad Ecklie hissed, coming up to them. "Have you both completely lost your minds? We have the Governor of Nevada in the building and you act like this?"

"Conrad, it's ok. We have everything under control." Catherine tried to reassure the man.

"Under control? Under control! I've said it once and I'll say it again - she's a loose cannon with a gun!" He pointed at Sara. "And I want her off this case!"

Sara looked at both of them hearing those words. She started to say something, but Catherine held up a hand silencing her.

"Sara stays on this case." She told Ecklie assertively. "She has information to solve it, and I take full responsibility."

"I don't care how much responsibility you take, Catherine. This is possibly the biggest case of the year, and I want her off it. That's an order."

"Look, Cath…" Sara started.

"No." Catherine placed her hand on the taller woman's shoulder, silencing her yet again. "Conrad, see that woman over there with the Governor?" She asked, gesturing towards Veronica with her free hand.

"Catherine, no…" Sara started, thinking that Catherine would tell him about Veronica's history.

Catherine squeezed the shoulder her hand was on in reassurance, and continued when Ecklie looked towards the group gathered in the lobby.

"That woman is Veronica Lavisham. She's the oldest daughter of Governor Lavisham and she just happens to be best friends with …" She took the liberty of an artistic dramatic pause, "… our very own Sara Sidle. So, Conrad, do you want to tell the Governor why the friend his daughter speaks so highly of isn't working the case?" She asked.

"That's…why…" Conrad stammered.

"Now, do you still think it's a good idea to take Sara off this case?" Catherine asked sarcastically.

"That's blackmail." Ecklie spluttered, his face getting redder by the minute.

"You've got to work with what you've got, Conrad."

Huffing something unintelligible, Ecklie turned around and stormed off to his office. Catherine watched him disappear before slowly turning towards Sara.

"Now let's get back to work, Sidle."

"Catherine…" Sara started. "You just pissed off the boss – for me." The surprise was evident in her voice.

"Well, he had it coming," Catherine answered casually. "Besides, I don't like people telling me how to run my cases. Come on; let's get back to the guys and Sofia." She turned and started walking back to the conference room.

"But…" Sara started, and looked at Veronica.

"She's a big girl now, Sara. If she needs you, she knows where to find you. The best way for you to help her right now, is to solve this case."

"I guess you're right." She mumbled, not wanting the other woman to hear her actually admit it.

"What was that?" Catherine asked, amused.

"Nothing." Sara followed the other woman down the hall.

-------------

"Veronica." The Governor and his wife had met them halfway through the lobby.

Mrs. Lavisham hesitated for a second before pulling a surprised Veronica into a hug.

"Mom."

When her mother let her go, the Governor took over and gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Daddy…"

"Oh, thank God," He looked briefly at Kimberly. "I see Miss Willows made sure you are protected."

"What?" Veronica didn't understand.

"I expected uniformed officers to do the job, but a detective will do just fine."

"What?" Veronica asked again. "Kim is not protecting me…"

"She's not? Well, who is then?" Turning to Kimberly, he continued. "I insist that my daughter is protected. I told Miss Willows and now I'm telling you – make sure that it happens!"

"Whoa there! Stop and rewind, please." Veronica had expected to have some sort of control over the situation, but she had no idea what was going on.

"Well Detective, what are you waiting for?" He demanded.

"I'm…" Kimberly started, but was interrupted by a slightly pissed off Veronica.

"She is waiting for me!" She started. "You do not give her any orders concerning me. You lost the right to have any say in my life years ago!" She took a deep breath before continuing. "Furthermore she is not here as a detective right now, she is here as my wife, supporting me. And I wanted to do this civilly, but you just had to let that temper loose again, didn't you!"

"Wife?" Mrs. Lavisham breathed out.

"Yes, Mom, this is my wife, Kimberly Shaw." She turned towards the slightly taller woman behind her, "Kim, these are my parents, Helen and George Lavisham."

Kimberly held out her hand and waited for someone to shake it.

-----------

"Ok guys, what've we got so far?" Catherine asked, walking back into the conference room with Sara in tow.

"Are you done talking to the Governor already?" Warrick asked.

"No, I haven't talked to him yet. He's meeting with his daughter and we thought we should give them a little privacy. What did Doc Robbins say about the body?"

"He's not done with the autopsy yet, but the prelim suggests that the vic died from blood loss from the stab wound to the stomach and the slit throat. There were also evident signs of rape. I did the kit and it's being processed as we speak. Doc said he'd personally deliver the report when he's finished with the autopsy."

"Thanks, Rick." Catherine digested the information he'd given them. "Nick, how did you do?"

"I processed the clothes and found a few fibres and a single hair. I handed the hair over to Wendy in DNA and the fibres are in trace. The shirt wasn't ripped though, so that means…"

"That she was dressed after she was killed." Sara finished his sentence.

"Exactly. We need establish a time line from the time when she went missing, to when she was found in the desert. Maybe we'll find some more witnesses." He suggested.

"Yes, that's a good idea, Nick. Sofia…" Catherine turned towards the Detective.

"I'm on it. I'll be back in a little while." She left the room to give the orders to bring the few witnesses they had in for questioning.

"This all points to a copycat," Catherine concluded. "But we need to cover all our bases. Warrick and Nick, I need you two to cover any other angle to this. Start with Mr. Rowan; see if anyone has a grudge against him big enough to do something like this. If you don't find anything on him, then you move up from there."

"Up?" Nick asked.

"To the Governor," Catherine sighed. "Apparently she was his Goddaughter and also his youngest daughter's best friend. You never know how these sickoes think." She turned to Sara who was leaning against the wall next to the door. "Sara…"

"I'll start reading the diary we found at the house and put the prints through AFIS."

"Yes, thank you."

"No problem."

"And I'll check up on Oscar Charles Dunne. After that I'll sit in with Sofia and Kim on the interviews." She looked at the others. "Well, let's get on with it then."

Just as they were about to break up the meeting, the door opened again, revealing Veronica and Kimberly.

"Foxy," Sara put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Are you ok?"

"Well, I just had a chat with my parents, so…" She didn't finish.

"Yeah, that was really something." Kimberly offered with a smile. "I knew that V has a temper, now I know where she got it from."

"We're not finished," Veronica stated when she noticed everybody ready to leave. "I have the letters."

"I'll call Sofia." Catherine said, getting out her phone and sitting back down.

***

"So, what do we do next?" Kimberly asked as they waited for Sofia to return.

"We'll discuss that later." Catherine answered, looking pointedly at Veronica.

"Right." Kimberly got the message.

"What?" Veronica looked up and met Catherine's eyes. "Oh, right, I'm the witness. You can't discuss this around me. It's been a while since I've been a witness – beats being the victim, though…" She stopped herself before the ramble got out of hand.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence again.

"Would you like me to wait outside for Detective Curtis?" She asked to no one in particular after a minute. "You can fill in Kim and I can… I can wait…" She got up while still talking and headed for the door.

"You don't have to do that." Sara said, getting up to stop her. As she reached out Veronica held up a hand, stopping her mid-motion. "You don't have to do that, Veronica." Sara told her again, letting her arm fall back to her side.

"I know, I just need…."

"Yeah." Sara went to the door and held it open for her. "Need company?"

"Not right now, no." Veronica smiled and caressed Sara's cheek gently. "Thanks." She whispered before slipping out the door.

Closing the door behind her, Sara turned to face the room again.

"Sara?" Catherine said carefully, needing to make sure that Sara was ok working the case.

"Yeah." Sara locked eyes with the blonde, hoping to convey that although she wasn't fine, she would be more than able to work the case.

Catherine got the message and she was relieved. Not only because she needed Sara on this case, but also because she cared about the younger woman. 'Care? Yeah, sure I care. She's a co-worker, and I care about all my co-workers. Yeah, that's it.' She glanced over at Sara. 'Oh, who am I kidding? I care because it's Sara. Sara with the nice hands; Sara with the soulful brown eyes; Sara with the impossibly long legs. Face it Catherine, you're attracted to Sara. Of all the people in the world, you're attracted to Sara Sidle.' Shaking her head slightly to rid her thoughts of Sara, she started filling Kimberly in on her plan of action.

------------

Approaching the conference room, Sofia noticed Veronica leaning against the wall. She slowed her pace, trying to figure out why the other woman was standing outside the room alone.

"Hi…" She said as she got into earshot.

"Huh?" Veronica glanced at her with a faraway look. "Sofia, hi…" Her eyes returned to normal. "I was just waiting for you."

"Waiting for me? Are you ok?" Sofia was feeling a little worried. She didn't know the other woman, and didn't know if this was normal behaviour for her.

"I'm ok, I guess. I'm not used to talking about my past, so it just gets a little busy up here." She pointed at her head. "I just needed a little privacy, so I came out here to wait for you while the others fill in Kim on the things she missed when she was with me."

"You picked an interesting place for privacy." Sofia smiled and gestured to the people passing them. "This can be a pretty busy corridor."

"Yeah," Veronica looked around and chuckled a little. "Only place to be sure to catch you, though."

"So, any idea why we're here again? Catherine just told me to get back."

"I have letters from Dunne."

"How romantic…" Sofia wanted to ease off a little of the tension in the other woman, and hoped that she could find a little humour in the statement.

"Yeah, I always want to go straight when I read them." Veronica shot back with a smile.

Sofia smiled back.

"We should get in." She said, opening the door. Veronica nodded and followed her inside.

-----------

"I'm not sure how far back you need to go with these letters." Veronica began. "I mean, in the beginning it's all about me betraying him, me breaking one of God's commandments…" She shuffled through the letters in her hand. "Like this one… he likes to use quotes from various places… I'll just read this part of it for you, ok?" She looked at Catherine for confirmation.

"Sure, you can give us the short version now, but we will need all the letters as evidence." Catherine informed her.

"I know. You can have them – I only kept them in case he should ever get a parole hearing. With these letters, no sane panel would let him out. I'm just sorry that I had to get them out for this."

"You've read all of them?" Sara asked. When Veronica nodded yes, she continued. "Why would you read anything from that son of a bitch? Why not just throw them out?"

"Morbid fascination?" Veronica offered.

"Don't bullshit me, Veronica!"

"I don't know, Sara, I don't know! I need to know… I need to know how the hell he thinks. I need to know how to protect my daughter if he is ever let out again! I need to be able to figure out how he thinks, so I can…"

"Enough!" Catherine raised her voice slightly. "This is not for this meeting. This is between you and Veronica, Sara. I need your focus on this case right now. The victim needs you to focus on this case." She turned her attention to Veronica. "What do the letters say?"

"Sorry, Catherine." Sara murmured.

"Yeah, sorry." Veronica added sheepishly. "Ok, I'll just read the first one, one in the middle and a couple of the last ones. That way you'll get a brief overview." She looked up at Catherine again and when the blonde nodded, she started reading a part of the first letter.

"'What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate '

You have defied the words of our Lord. He led me to you, and you refused Him. I am the saviour He sent to save your soul from the eternal flames of Hell. Never should we be separated, but fear not – I will come for you again and you will be lonely no more. The devil has touched you and separated us in the form of a lowly, foul woman. Why are you so weak? Why can you not resist Satan? You are weak! The Devil has you in her grasp! The Devil must be removed from your life!"

Veronica couldn't meet Sara's eyes, so instead she focused on Catherine.

"It goes on and on like this. The quote is from the Bible - Mark 10:9." She informed them. "I have no idea why he thinks that we have been joined together by God, but apparently Sara is the Devil incarnated." She took a chance and looked at Sara who had a smile on her face.

"I've been called worse." The brunette quipped.

"Yeah, probably by me." Veronica smiled back. "This next one is written a couple of years later, and it seems that he has had time to change his mind about me. Sara is still not in his good books."

She looked at Sara briefly before starting to read the next letter.

"'Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.'

I have failed you. I should have been your strength. I should have protected you against the vile creature that is the Devil. Of course the Devil is a woman – strutting around filling your head with impure thoughts. Giving in to her temptations is wrong, my love. Lean on me and I will be your strength – draw it from me. All that is mine is yours, just as all that is you is mine. You are mine. You were made for me. The good Lord made me in His picture and then created you from one of my ribs. You are here for me and me alone."

She looked back up from the letter.

"From then on it, uh… Well, it rather graphically describes how he will rescue me when we meet again." She moved uncomfortably in her chair. "And believe me when I say that my first encounter with him was a walk in the park compared to what he has planned."

"He thinks I was the one who was a bad influence on you?" Sara asked, laughing a little. "Who is he quoting there?"

"The quote is by Francois de La Rochefoucauld, who is… was a classical French author. Basically Dunne is saying that his love for me has grown stronger in the time he has spent in prison, or the time he has been away from me." Veronica looked at her friend. "And are you saying that you didn't enjoy my influence?"

"No, I just don't want to be blamed for it." Sara shot back.

"Why does he use these quotations?" Warrick interrupted.

"I'm not sure." Veronica started. "But my best guess is that it's either because he wants to challenge me somehow, or because they express his feelings for me."

"Challenge you?" Warrick didn't quite understand.

"Yes, he didn't just choose me for my good looks." Veronica stated dryly. "Apparently my intellect turns him on."

"Right." Warrick didn't know how to respond. "It could be a mix of both." He offered.

"Yes." The young woman smiled at him. "It most probably is."

"What does the rest of the letters have to say?" Nick interjected.

"Well…the last couple of letters have been a bit different."

"Different how?" Sofia asked.

"Well, he seems to be more… coherent, I guess." She looked up at them again seeing the frowns on their faces. "Why don't I just read a little more?"

"He came to me in a dream. He recognized me as His loyal servant. Jesus came to me and said: 'This is my commandment, that ye love one another.' In His strong light your face stood out. He showed me that we belong together. He was sent by our Father to show us that we are indeed right for each other…."

"You call this more coherent?" Catherine didn't see it.

"No, not this one in particular, but it does mention a friend."

"A friend?" Sara asked, wanting Veronica to elaborate.

"Yes. In the last paragraph, he writes - 'My body may be trapped, but my work will continue. As long as he is with me, my work will continue.'"

"He? Couldn't he just be talking about God again?" Catherine asked.

"I don't think so. In the other letters, he's always uses a capital 'h' when referring to God. In this instance he doesn't. And whilst Jesus may have spoken to him in a dream, what he actually wrote was a quote from the Bible - John 15:12."

"So, you think he has someone doing his dirty work, because he didn't spell 'he' correctly?" Catherine inquired.

"Well, him making a mistake like that is like Sara being late for work, not drinking coffee, and stopping in the middle of a case just to eat dinner, all in the same day." Veronica clarified.

"Ok, so the guy doesn't misspell anything." Catherine concluded. "But how are you so sure that he has a little helper?"

"Hey!" Sara tried to sound offended.

"Listen to this…" Veronica got another letter out of the stack in front of her.

"'And I'll still stay, to have thee still forget,

Forgetting any other home but this.'

The Devil takes on many disguises. First she was a brunette, now she has changed. Blonde does not suit the Devil. The blonde Devil stopped you wearing red for me. The blonde Devil made you cut your lovely hair – be not her slave! Do not let her lure you into her web! Let her not lead you from the path the good Lord has created for us. Do as He ordered and follow me! You are mine! The Devil cannot have you! I will let him follow my words and he will make you understand. Through him you will see the error of you ways. Through him you will come to me again."

"So the Devil has left Sara and come back as Kimberly? What the hell is this guy thinking?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, apparently I can't have any women in my life unless the Devil has sent them."

"But this definitely suggests that he has a friend on the outside." Nick continued.

"Yes, just wait till you hear the latest one." Veronica took out the last paper in the stack.

"'With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out:

And what love can do, that dares love attempt;

Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me.'

Through him I see you. Through him I hear you. Through him I smell you. I will always be near you. I will never give up on you. The devil has come close to you yet again. She has taken the form of two, do not let her near you! You bore the Devil's spawn. It is vile and must be destroyed. I will take care of the Devil and her followers, but he will rid the others. It is his call as you are mine. She belongs to him, as you belong to me. The Devil will soon be out of her life!"

"Devils' spawn?" Sofia started. "Julie?"

"Yes." Veronica nodded.

"I've sent uniforms to my parents' place." Kimberly informed them all.

"Good." Sara sighed, relieved.

"The quotes are…?" Catherine asked.

"Shakespeare," Sara answered. "Romeo and Juliet – the balcony scene."

"The first one is fairly simple; he wants me to forget anyone other than him. The second one is a little harder to figure out." Veronica read the passage again. "Either he is saying that he still loves me, and that Kim and Sara are no threat to him because he can do anything as long as he has love. Or that he is planning to escape from prison, and the guards will be no match to him as long as he has love."

"I think it's the first one." Sara offered. "All the others are about his love for you, why would he change that after all this time?"

"I think so too, Sass. And he wouldn't need another person to keep an eye on me if he could do it himself."

"Right." Catherine said. "You're getting protection."

"I don't think this new guy will do anything to me." Veronica protested.

"You're getting protection." Catherine didn't take no for an answer. "You could be wrong."

"But…" Veronica tried but was interrupted.

"You're getting protection!" Both Sara and Kimberly said at the same time.

"Ok, I guess I'll get protection then." Veronica mumbled, and set the letters down the table.

"Hey, guys." Warrick spoke up, with a slight grin on his face. "Any of you noticed that the guy's initials are OCD?"

***

"Sofia," Catherine took command. "You get hold of some uniforms to protect Veronica."

"But…" Kimberly tried to get a word in.

"Sofia, get on it! And give me a call when the witnesses get here."

"Sure." Sofia got up and left the room.

"Guys," Catherine turned to Nick and Warrick. "You go ahead as planned. Report back to me when you find something."

"Sure thing, boss." Warrick said, as they both walked out the door.

"Kimberly, you get Veronica home and make sure the uniforms are in place. Then get back here, and join Sofia in the interview room."

"I…" Kimberly was about to protest, but catching Catherine's glare she thought better of it. "Sure. V…" She motioned for the smaller woman to join her.

"I do know the way to my own house, you know." Veronica told the older blonde.

"Feel free to do the driving, but you're getting an escort." Catherine stated firmly.

"Miss Willows, I'm fully capable of getting home on my own. I've done it for the last four months now, and I will do the same tonight."

"Ok. Shaw, you follow Dr Christiansen home and make sure the uniforms are in place."

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Veronica raised her voice slightly, not believing what she was hearing.

Kimberly and Sara shared a quick glance and decided to intervene, knowing all too well that both women had flaring tempers.

"Look, Catherine…" Sara started, placing a hand on the other woman's shoulder to calm her down.

"V, hon…" Kimberly began with Veronica.

"Hon! Hon? You've got some nerve!" Veronica turned towards the detective and let loose.

"Look…"

"No! You think this makes everything a-ok? You left! You left me, Kimberly! You left me four months ago, and you left me tonight when I had to tell you about the hardest fucking time in my life! When I needed your support the most, you were a fucking coward! So until you get your act together, don't even think about calling me hon!" With that Veronica stormed out of the room, throwing one last remark Kimberly's way. "And don't even consider following me home!"

The three women left behind stood still – shocked. They looked at each other, not knowing what to say.

"That's the temper, I mentioned earlier." Kimberly offered with a weak smile.

"Someone should go after her." Catherine stated, looking towards the door.

"I'll go." Sara answered.

"No, I think I should go." Kimberly countered.

"I'm going." Sara stated, moving towards the door. "I don't want you anywhere near her right now."

"Sara," Catherine stopped the brunette. "I'll go."

"What?" Sara looked at the blonde. "You don't even know her! I should go."

"No, I don't know her – I have no personal relationship with her, and that is exactly why I should go talk to her." Catherine went towards the door. "Shaw, go find Sofia and find a time line for the vic's whereabouts yesterday. Sara, please start on the letters and the diary. We need to get this case moving. I'll join you when I have talked to Veronica. Just focus on the case."

With that, she left the two alone.

---------

Walking down the corridor, Catherine caught sight of Veronica ahead of her and she picked up her pace. Rounding the corner she saw the doctor heading straight towards the Governor and she heard her saying:

"Daddy, Miss Willows seems to think that I need an escort home, can you spare a driver?"

"Sure." The Governor immediately gestured to a man in a suit behind him. "Jones, can you get my daughter home, and stay there to protect her."

The man nodded in confirmation and moved closer to Veronica.

"Dr. Christiansen, Governor Lavisham." Catherine joined them.

"Miss Willows." Veronica turned towards her. "Look, I'm sorry about…"

"Don't worry about it, it's forgotten as far as I'm concerned." Catherine smiled. "Could I talk to you for a minute, though?"

"Sure." She looked at the man her father had ordered to protect her. "Excuse me, Mr. Jones; I'll be right with you."

"Governor Lavisham, I'll be right back to brief you on the case." Catherine told the Governor. "This way, doctor." She said, and led Veronica to a nearby vacant room. Closing the door behind her, Catherine paused for a second before speaking again.

"Look, Dr. Christiansen."

"Veronica."

"Veronica…" Catherine offered one of her trademark smiles. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, but this is a case and I need my people to be at their best…"

"And they're not if I act like I just did." Veronica finished for her.

"Right." Catherine looked the younger woman in the eyes. "I understand how hard it must have been for you to tell us all about your case, but now I need you to step away from it again. Sofia and Kimberly are a team, and if we loose one, we loose the other. We don't have the time to start from scratch on this, so I need for you to take it easy on Kimberly – I don't want her mind to be on you when it should be on the case."

"That's understandable." Veronica answered evenly.

"And Sara… Sara is one of the best investigators in the country. I would like you to let her know that you are ok."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I need for her to stay focused."

"Don't you mean the victim needs her to stay focused?"

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind." Veronica went to the door.

"No, if you have something to say, say it. Let's have this out now."

"Ok." Veronica turned back slowly, thinking. "I don't know what your relationship with Sara is, or even what you want it to be. But don't hurt her in the process of finding out."

"Excuse me? You don't know me…"

"You're right. But I've seen you look at her a couple of times, and I've seen you fight. You two fight like Kimberly and I… Look, Sara is my friend and… I made her a promise once. I broke it the last time I saw her – this time I'll do whatever it takes to keep it."

"So, what are you saying here?" Catherine looked at her daringly. "Give it to me straight."

"If you hurt her, I'll hurt you."

------------

"I guess I'll go find Sofia, then." Kimberly said, and walked towards the door.

"You need to stop hurting her." Sara said calmly while shuffling through a file in front of her.

"Look, Sara, I know you two were friends once, but…"

"We never stopped being friends. And you need to make up your mind. Either you are with her or you leave her."

"This is none of your business, Sidle."

"When you're hurting my friend, you make it my business. Someone needs to set you straight, and since no one seems to have yet, I guess I'm the one to do just that."

"I just need a break to think."

"A four month break? What the hell is wrong with you? You have one of the kindest, most loving…"

"Most scarred…"

"What?"

"Veronica is not the easiest person to live with, Sara."

"I know that. But I also know that she's worth it!"

"Yeah? Where have you been for the last 12 years, then?"

"I…"

"Yeah, looks like I wasn't the only one running."

With that, Kimberly left to find Sofia, leaving Sara alone with her thoughts.

---------

"Are you telling me that Sara would be interested if I wanted something?" Catherine asked.

"I have no idea." Veronica stated. "I just don't want to see her get hurt."

"Ok." Catherine held out her hand. "Deal. I'll be gentle."

Veronica looked at the outstretched hand and then in Catherine's eyes, trying to judge if she was being serious. Seeing nothing but honesty in the other woman's eyes, she shook the offered hand.

"And I'll go find her and tell her that I'm fine."

"Thank you." Catherine opened the door. "I'll go deal with you father."

"He can come on a bit strong… Just let him and then carry on like nothing happened – that's the best way to handle him." Veronica offered.

"That'll make it easier to tell him that I can't tell him anything."

Leaving Veronica behind, Catherine started walking towards the lobby to meet the Governor. She liked the doctor and the way she stood up for Sara, that was the reason she had been so open with her. Catherine didn't know what kind of relationship she wanted with Sara, she just knew that she wanted it to be better than it had been so far. She was attracted to Sara, yes, but would she act on that? She didn't know. Was it more than just attraction? She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

Never doubt, never look back.

That was the way she lived her life. But this time it was different - things would change forever if she pursued a romantic relationship with Sara. This wasn't someone she could just date and unceremoniously dump, this was a co-worker who she would have to work with even if things ended. This was a woman. Hell, she didn't even know if Sara would be interested in such a relationship with her.

Never doubt, never look back.

"Miss Willows."

Catherine shook the Governor's hand.

"Governor Lavisham. I'm sorry that I've kept you waiting. Let's go to my office and talk."

--------

"Sara?" Veronica asked cautiously, knocking on the open door.

"Foxy," Sara looked up from the diary she was reading. "How are you?"

"I'm… I'll be ok." Veronica smiled to her old friend. "I think I just needed to vent. Kimberly was closest."

"Yeah, and the one who had it coming." Sara added.

"Sass…" Veronica sat down next to her friend. "I need you to find this guy."

"I know – and I will." Sara tried to reassure the younger woman.

"What I'm trying to say is, don't worry about me, I'll be fine. When all this is over we'll talk - figure things out."

"Okay…" Sara sounded doubtful.

"I just want this guy behind bars, so please wait with the worrying until he is."

"Ok." Sara smiled. "I'll stop the worrying right this minute."

"Good. I better get going; I have a driver waiting for me."

"A driver?" Sara asked puzzled. "I thought you refused Kimberly taking you home?"

"I may have a temper, but I'm not stupid. If three people in law enforcement tell me that I need protection, I'll get protection. I asked my father for help."

"Your father?" Sara sighed. "Well I guess it's about time he started helping you."

Veronica got up, kissed Sara on the top of the head, and moved towards the door. Just before leaving, she paused and turned back towards Sara, a slight smile on her face.

"Oh, and I can see why you want Catherine – you know, apart from her being hot, blonde and drop dead gorgeous."

With that, Sara was left alone with her thoughts once again.

***

The night turned to morning without the team noticing. All of them were busy working the different angles of the case. Nick and Warrick had checked out every aspect of Mr. Rowan's past and found nothing. Sofia and Kimberly had interviewed all the people who had seen and talked to the victim on the day of her disappearance, and were still busy trying to create a timeline of the whereabouts of Siobhan Rowan the day she died. Catherine and Sara had read through twelve years of letters from Oscar Charles Dunne to Veronica Christiansen, and Siobhan's diary, but found nothing more than they already knew. The diary had no information other than the normal teenage dreaming and drama, so the Dunne theory still fitted. After all, his MO had been to stalk Veronica without her knowing before making his move.

"This guy is completely insane!" Catherine exclaimed, and threw the letter she was holding onto the table.

"I know." Sara chuckled a little.

"Right." Catherine realized who she was talking to. "Sorry about that…"

"No, it's ok." Sara looked up and met Catherine's eyes. "It was a long time ago. And I didn't know about these." She gestured to the letters. "I didn't know that it was this bad."

"You couldn't have known, Sara." Catherine said soothingly.

"I could have if I'd been around for her." Sara answered, the guilt evident in her voice.

Catherine got up from her chair and went over to stand in front of the brunette. She leaned forward and gave a surprised Sara a warm hug.

"We all do what we have to do to survive, Sara." She whispered. "The past is the past. We just have to make do with the present and work hard to make the future better than the past."

"Yeah?" Sara whispered back. "And how do you do that?"

"I'm not sure." Catherine smiled. "But I do know one thing, you never stop trying." She stood back up and straightened her clothes. "We'd better get back to work."

"Yeah," Sara looked up at her. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna go check up on the boys," Catherine said with a smile. "See if they've found anything."

"I'll just finish these." Sara gestured to the few letters that she hadn't read yet and reached out for one of them.

-----------

"Nick!" Catherine spotted Nick in a lab across from the conference room.

"Catherine," Nick looked up from the papers he was reading. "Got anything new?"

"Unfortunately, no." She answered, sitting down in a chair beside him. "I was hoping for good news from you guys." She looked around. "Where's Warrick?"

"He went to get coffee. Sofia and Kimberly have gone out to grab something to eat, but they're close to getting the timeline together." He gestured to the papers in front of him. "The Rowans are squeaky clean. We haven't gone through the information on the Governor yet, but if he's anything like his Chief of Staff, we won't have much luck there either."

"Have we gotten anything on the hair from the vic's clothes yet?" Catherine inquired.

"I just talked to Wendy and she said that it would be a couple of hours before the results are ready."

"Ok." Catherine pushed back her chair and got up. "You go get something to eat too, Nick. I hadn't realized it had gotten so late." She looked down at her watch, which read 11 am. Looking back up, she caught a glimpse of Sara still reading in the conference room.

"How long since she's eaten, you think?" She asked Nick, while tilting her head towards Sara.

"Don't know." Nick answered. "How long since she clocked in?"

"Why don't you take her with you and make sure she gets something to eat?" Catherine suggested.

"Sure." Nick gathered the papers in front of him and placed them in a folder. "This is the information on Mr. and Mrs. Rowan." He explained and gave her the folder. "I'll just grab Sara and my jacket and we'll be back in an hour or so."

"I'll just go and tell Warrick to take an early lunch as well." Catherine went out the door while saying: "We'll meet back in the conference room again at one o'clock. That should be enough time for you to get the report on the hair, and for Rick to read the autopsy."

-------------

"Sara?" Nick poked his head into the room to get her attention.

"Mmmm?" Sara answered, without looking up from the letter she was reading.

"Let's go get some lunch."

"I'm not quite done here. I'll just grab an apple later."

"Come on, Catherine practically ordered us to go get something to eat now, and an apple won't do it. Besides we have a meeting at one, and we all need to be ready for that."

"But…" Sara gestured to the letters.

"We all know what's in those letters. And they'll still be here when we get back."

Sara sighed, but got up anyway.

"You're not gonna give up until I go, are you?" She asked trying to sound defeated, though the truth was that she needed a break - those letters were making her skin crawl.

"Nope." Nick smiled, holding the door open for her. "So where do you want to go?"

"I don't care, as long as they serve vegetarian dishes."

"I knew that."

--------------

Catherine met up with Warrick in the break room.

"Hey Cath." He greeted her.

"Hey Rick."

"Any news?"

"No, not much." She sat down opposite him. "I just sent Nick and Sara to grab a bite, you should do the same."

"Ok." He looked at her. "Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah," She sighed. "Just got a lot going on right now."

"Biggest case of the year and Lindsey's birthday coming up," He smiled. "That would make anyone stressed."

"If only that was all of it." Catherine muttered under her breath. Out loud she said, "You better go, maybe you can catch Tina and have lunch with her."

"Actually, Tina has plans with her mother today." Warrick replied, getting up and throwing his empty cup in the garbage. "So you're in luck – I'm free to have lunch with you." He joked.

"I'll just get something from the vending machine. I still have a couple of calls to make." Catherine answered, brushing him off.

"If we leave to eat – you leave to eat." He put his arm around her and dragged her with him. "So where do you want to go?"

"Rick, I really have to make those calls." Catherine tried to protest.

"You can make your calls in the car on the way to the restaurant. Go get your purse and I'll meet you by the car." He said and pushed her gently towards the locker room. "Besides, it's been ages since we had lunch. We have some catching up to do."

***

"Aren't you glad that you're out of the lab now?" Nick asked with a grin, pointing at Sara's coffee cup. "That's gotta be better than the slush we have back there."

"I guess it isn't all that bad." Sara smiled.

"So… you wanna talk about it?" He asked gently when she didn't say anything more.

"Talk about what?"

"It must have been hard for you back then. How old were you?"

"It… Look, I'm not really that comfortable talking about it."

"Ok, I respect that." Nick paused for a moment. "But… Have you ever talked to anyone about it?"

"I've talked to Veronica."

"And you haven't seen her in over ten years." Nick reached out and squeezed her hand. "It's not healthy to keep everything bottled up, Sara. If you ever want to talk about it – about anything – you know where to find me. I can keep a secret."

"Thanks Nick." Sara smiled, staring intently into her coffee cup.

--------------

"So, what's new with you?" Warrick asked after they had placed their orders. "Got a new guy?"

"Hah." Catherine almost choked on the water she was drinking. "No… No, you can't really say that I do."

"So what other than the case and Lindsey's birthday has you stressed out?" He asked with a smile.

"You heard that, huh?" Catherine stalled.

"Yeah, I heard that." Warrick grinned.

"You weren't supposed to hear that."

"I know… but I did, so spill."

"I uhm… I have been realizing lately that uh… Well, I'm attracted to someone."

"That doesn't usually stress you out. What's the problem?"

"Well… I'm not sure that I'm comfortable talking about it."

"Come on! What… It's someone younger than you?" He asked, trying to figure out the problem.

"Well, yeah…" Catherine said laughing. "But that's not really the main problem… But now you mention it, that might be a problem." She finished with a frown.

"Ok… Well, some young stud will keep you on your toes. I don't see the big deal."

Catherine laughed at his words. She could just imagine the scowl on Sara's face if she was called a 'young stud'. She looked over at Warrick, who was clueless as to what she was laughing about.

"Ok, look…" She leaned forward slightly and Warrick mirrored the pose. "This does not get further than here, got it?"

"Of course."

"I must have gone completely crazy." Catherine whispered shaking her head. "Promise you won't laugh."

"I promise… Just tell me already." Warrick whispered back.

-----------------

After sitting in silence for about five minutes, Sara started talking.

"I was 21 when it happened."

"That's pretty young."

"Yeah… But not as young as Veronica. And he didn't hurt me nearly as bad." She said, still staring into her coffee.

"You shouldn't compare the two of you." Nick started. "What happened to her was very traumatic. But what happened to you was as well. It doesn't matter that you know that someone has had it worse than you, you still hurt the same. Believe me, I know."

"Yeah, that's what Foxy used to say. Are you talking to anyone about what happened to you?"

"Yes, I have a therapist. But let's talk about me next time we have breakfast together, and just deal with you on this one. What do you say?" He offered with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm not so good at that." Sara said and looked up, meeting his eyes for the first time. "Talking about me, I mean."

"It's not that hard once you get started really. I had a little trouble talking to my therapist at first too."

"But you're not my therapist…" Sara started.

"No, I'm a friend who cares about you."

"Ok." Sara took a deep breath and started talking while looking around the diner. "The injuries weren't that bad really - a concussion, a broken arm and a couple of fractured ribs. The thing that really hurt was the fact that he had been able to find me so easily. That I never noticed him following me."

"How do you know that he was following you?"

"He must have… Veronica was… It happened in the room we shared, so they had moved me to a new room. I didn't really talk to a lot of people other than Foxy, so he couldn't have gotten the address from any friends."

"It must have scared you, though."

"Yes, it did. But I've gotten past that. You can get used to a lot of things."

"What do you mean, you can get used to a lot of things?"

"I don't think we've got enough time for that story now." Sara said with a small smile. "But I got over this attack."

"So you're perfectly ok with everything now?" Nick asked, sounding doubtful.

"No, of course I'm not. I'm still mad as hell, but I don't let it eat me up anymore. This was done to me by a guy who is absolutely sick, and now he's in jail. There's nothing more that can be done. I only blame myself for loosing the best friend I have ever had."

"Veronica?"

"Yes. I ran away from her as fast as I could. I couldn't handle seeing her so defeated - so lost and closed off. She was the most open person I'd ever met, and all that was lost in what seemed like a second."

"But Veronica seems to have forgiven you. Maybe you haven't lost her. Maybe you just went your separate ways for a while and now you're meeting back up."

"Maybe." She answered. "But how can she forgive me, when I can't even forgive myself."

"Well, that's what friends do, Sara. They forgive each other."

Their food arrived and they started eating in silence until Nick interrupted it.

"So, you didn't have many friends in college?" He asked, wanting to know more about her.

"No, I didn't. I still don't."

"You do. You just don't realize it." Nick told her honestly.

--------------------

"Ok, it's someone we work with." Catherine told him.

"What?" Warrick nearly shouted.

"Shhh…" Catherine shushed him. "Keep it down."

"Sorry." Warrick lowered his voice. "Someone younger that we work with…" He thought out loud. "Well, it's not Nick, because he would have told me something. Grissom is older, so are Brass and Doc Robbins. Greg would never be able to keep his mouth shut if it was him…"

Catherine smiled over the rim of her glass, thinking that he would never guess who it was.

"That leaves…" Warrick frowned. "Hodges?" He asked disbelievingly.

Catherine spat out the sip of water she had just taken and started coughing violently. Warrick dried his face and went over beside her to make sure that she was alright.

"God, Rick." Catherine managed to get out between coughs. "Trying to kill me here?"

"Sorry, it was the only one who fitted the description." Warrick tried to defend himself when Catherine had gotten herself under control, and he went back to his own seat. "Unless," He added. "It's Bobby?"

"No, not Bobby," Catherine shook her head. "And definitely not Hodges!" She said forcefully.

"Well, I can't really think of anyone else. I mean, I'm relieved that it's not Hodges." He said with a grin. "The only thing that would surprise me more would be if it was Sara." He laughed. "But you're not…."

He stopped mid sentence when he looked over at Catherine, who was looking intently at the table and fiddling with her napkin. He leaned back in over the table and whispered:

"It's Sara?"

Catherine looked up and met his eyes – the surprise clearly written in them.

"Yes, it's Sara." She whispered back.

"Wow." Warrick leaned back and looked at her. "Wow…"

"You already said that." Catherine stated.

"And it's such a small word for that kind of news." Warrick wasn't even sure that he had heard her right. "You mean, you… Wow." He shook his head and started laughing.

"Rick, you promised not to laugh." Catherine tried to sound mad, but she couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.

"Here's your food." The waitress sat their plates down in front of them. "Enjoy."

-----------------

"What do you mean, I don't realize it?" Sara asked curiously.

"Well, I'm your friend, but you didn't seem to know that. Hell, the entire nightshift are your friends – or they would be if you let them."

"The entire nightshift? Yeah, right…" Sara didn't believe him.

"Yeah right." Nick said seriously. "Well, maybe Greg wants to be a little more than friends, but we all care a lot about you."

"I'm sorry for Greg, but that's never gonna happen." Sara informed him, ignoring his second statement.

"Really?" Nick asked playfully. "Have someone else in mind?"

"That, Nick, is none of your business." Sara shot back smiling. She liked this talking thing more than she'd thought.

"Oh come on, Sara. It's not like I don't already know who you have in mind; I just want you to actually say it."

Sara froze.

How could he know? She thought that she had hidden her feelings for Catherine so well.

"What do you mean you already know?"

"The entire office knows, Sara."

"The entire office?" Sara squeaked. "How can the entire office know? I haven't been that obvious, have I?"

"Just a little. But as a friend I have to tell you - I think you should just give up on him. Nothing is going to happen there." He offered sympathetically.

Sara leaned back in her chair defeated. She already knew that nothing was going to happen, but it was different when someone else told her out loud. Suddenly she straightened up as a word from Nick's sentence registered with her.

"Him?"

"Yeah, Grissom. I think he cares for you, but he'll never allow anything to happen between the two of you. You'd save yourself a lot of heartache if you just try to give up on him."

Sara leaned back in the chair again laughing. She was relieved that people still thought she had a thing for Grissom. At least that was better than everybody knowing that she had feelings for Catherine.

"What's so funny?" Nick wanted to know.

"Oh… That's hard to explain."

"Try. You've got me all curious."

"It's just that it isn't Grissom. It was for a short while, but then I came to my senses. That's all."

"Ok… Good for you." Nick paused thinking before adding: "Then why were you so worried that the entire office know who you have your eyes on?"

"Uh..." Sara struggled, internally cursing the fact that she was eating with an investigator. "I like my privacy?" She tried uncertainly.

"I know you do, but why would you care about what people at the lab think, unless…" Nick's face lit up. "…it's someone else at the lab?"

Sara felt the warm spread on her face and knew that she was blushing - busted! There was no way she'd get out of this one without telling Nick.

"It's someone at the lab!" Nick felt almost giddy. "Spill! Who is it?"

"Uh…" Sara was feeling very eloquent.

"Wait, let me guess… You've said that it's not Greg or Grissom. That leaves Warrick, Brass, Doc, Bobby and uh… Hodges." He looked at her worriedly. "Please tell me it's not Hodges." He said with a frown.

"It's definitely not Hodges." Sara laughed.

"Good!" Nick sighed. "Ok, that leaves four. Doc's married, so we'll drop that theory as well. Brass is… well, Brass. Bobby? I'm not feeling it. Is it Warrick? I mean, he's married as well, but it's still my best bet."

"I hope you haven't put money on that." Sara said. "It's not Warrick… Or Brass, or Bobby, or Doc Robbins either."

"Who is it then? I can't think of others." Nick asked confused, he had been sure that he had guessed correct.

"You're my friend?" Sara asked.

"Yes." Nick said strongly.

"And you can keep a secret?"

"Definitely."

"Good, because you really can't tell anyone about this."

"I promise. Just tell me already."

"It's…" Sara paused, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into. "It's Catherine."

-----------------------

"Wow." Warrick stated again.

"Ok, I think we have established that you're surprised now." Catherine answered in response.

"Well, yeah!" Warrick chuckled. "I never in a million years saw that one coming. But it's a good surprised, I just never…"

"… Saw that one coming." Catherine finished for him. "You said that."

"What are you going to do about it?" He asked curiously.

"I don't know." She sighed.

"You don't know? That's new."

"Not when it comes to Sara Sidle."

"You're right on that one." He started chuckling again. "I can't believe this."

"I am never telling you anything again." Catherine mock threatened.

"I say go for it." Warrick shot back.

"Warrick, this is a female colleague we're talking about me making a move on here. I think that needs a little consideration, don't you?"

"I don't know… What's the worst that could happen? The two of you go back to biting each others heads off?"

"I think a sexual harassment suit would qualify as the worst that could happen."

"Sara would never do that."

"And how exactly do you know that, Rick?" Catherine asked playfully.

"She just doesn't seem the type to… Oh no! No, no, no, I don't know because I… I never…." Warrick suddenly realized what she was suggesting.

"Oh relax, I know you've never had a thing for Sara." Catherine laughed.

"Good. So are you going to go for it?"

"I'll think about it." Catherine answered as she finished the last bite of her food.

------------------

"Catherine?" Nick asked not quite sure that he had heard her correctly. "Catherine Willows?"

"Yes, the one and only." Sara answered, looking down at her now empty coffee mug.

"So, you're gay?" He asked for clarification.

"Not really."

"Bi?"

"Yes."

"Ok." Nick smiled, finally he was getting to know Sara. "So, does Catherine know about this?"

"Are you crazy?" Sara exclaimed. "She'd slap me with a harassment suit faster than you can say 'Sara you're fired'."

"Nah, Catherine wouldn't do that." Nick defended the blonde.

"You're ok with this?" Sara asked to make sure.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"I just told you about my crush on our female colleague."

"Well, she is a hot female colleague…" Nick stopped when Sara slapped his arm. "Ok, sorry! But what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"Why not? I say go for it… Wait." He held up a hand when he saw Sara was about to interrupt him. "It's just, Catherine never stops surprising me, so you never know. At least think about it?"

Sara sighed.

"You are so wrong, Nick. Even if she hypothetically would be interested in a woman, there's no way she'd be interested in me."

"Not interested in a gorgeous, smart, intelligent woman with a big heart hidden underneath those walls she's built up? Why wouldn't she be interested in that?"

Sara blushed for the second time in an hour.

"Ok, I'll think about it." She muttered.

***

Arriving back at the lab, Nick and Sara went their separate ways - Nick to see Wendy about the DNA results, and Sara to read through the rest of the letters.

"Gotta say, Sara, I never knew you had such great taste." Nick said with a wink as he dashed off, leaving Sara staring at his back with a big smile on her face.

"Great taste in what?"

The smile was soon replaced with a deer caught in the headlights look as she heard Catherine asking the question. 'I'm gonna kill him! And I would get away with it too!'

"Uh… food." She answered as she turned towards the older woman.

"Food?" Catherine asked, confused.

"Yeah, we've been out for lunch." Sara told her. "Nick told me that you practically ordered him to take me out to eat."

"Yes, yes I did." Catherine answered with a smile. "You need a little meat on your bones." She added, patting Sara gently on the stomach.

Sara looked down at the hand, then back up at a smiling Catherine.

"Uh…" The brunette was at a loss for words.

Catherine sensed the confusion in Sara's voice and suddenly realized where she had placed her hand. 'Shit! Dammit Warrick, getting ideas in my head." She tried to casually remove it while saying:

"I better go phone Lindsey. I promised her that I would call to hear how her test went yesterday."

"Yeah," Sara was still confused. "I'll just finish those letters."

"Good." Catherine looked at her once more. "We have a meeting at 1."

"Nick told me." The conversation was getting awkward and neither knew what else to say.

"Ladies." Warrick interrupted the growing silence between them with his greeting.

"Warrick." With the relief evident in her voice, Catherine turned towards him.

"Got the autopsy report from Doc," Warrick informed them. "Haven't read it through yet, I was just going to go to the conference room to do that." He looked at the two women and saw the awkwardness between them. "What are you doing?" He asked with a smile.

"We were just…" Sara started.

"… Updating each other." Catherine finished.

"So, I'll just go finish those letters." Sara said, turning to go towards the conference room.

"And I have that Lindsey call to make." Catherine turned towards her office. "And we'll just meet up at 1." She threw over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor.

"Yeah." Sara answered, looking back at her to catch one last glimpse of the perfect sized round… Door! She really needed to stop almost walking into doors while checking out Catherine's butt.

"Did you have a nice lunch with Nick?" Warrick asked as he followed her into the conference room.

"Yes." Sara answered shortly, picking up a letter and getting back into work mode – they had a case to solve after all. She would have to think about Catherine later.

"We did too." Warrick told her as he sat down opening the folder in his hand. "You and Catherine seem to be getting along better." He added casually.

"Yeah," Sara looked up at him. "We do. Not really sure how that happened."

"Me neither." He said, thinking that mentioning the bet he sort of made with Catherine during their breakfast at Foxy wouldn't be a good idea. "But it's good though, right?" He pushed, fishing for any sort of indication that Catherine's feelings were reciprocated.

"Beats biting each other's heads off." Sara answered with a deliberate noncommittal shrug.

"Yeah." Warrick looked closely at her, trying to read her body language but with no success. "Well, we'd better get on with it."

"Yeah." Sara mumbled, already reading the letter she was holding.

------------------

After having spent the last ten minutes talking to Lindsey about plans for her birthday, Catherine prepared herself for the call she really didn't want to make. She knew that she should have made it sooner, but now that she knew what had happened to Sara, she didn't want to be the one who would possibly have to tell the brunette that her attacker had escaped from prison. Just as she reached out for the phone a voice interrupted her.

"Catherine," Nick knocked on the open door. "Am I disturbing you?"

"No, Nick." Catherine sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "What's up?"

"I thought you might want to hear this before the meeting."

"Hear what, Nick?" She asked, wanting him to get to the point so she could get the call over with.

"Wendy just finished processing the hair from the vic." Nick said, and handed her a piece of paper.

She looked at the report before looking back up at him.

"This is not good, Nick." She said as she got up from her chair and went for the door. "Where's Sara?" She asked urgently.

"Conference room, I think." He said and followed her as she went towards the room.

"You have your gun with you?"

"Yes."

"Good." She stopped across from the conference room. "You get in there, and you stick to her like glue."

"Sure." Nick said, but apparently not forcefully enough for the blonde.

"I mean it, Nick. Even if you have to follow her into the bathroom, you do it. You got me? If this guy is on the loose there's no way of telling where the hell he could be, and we know he has it in for Sara. Like glue Nick!"

"My new name is 'Nick Superglue Stokes'," Nick said, and walked into the conference room.

Catherine looked at the piece of paper in her hand again, as if the information on it might have changed in the two minutes it had been since she'd last looked at it. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair again. This was the worst possible news she could have gotten. She cast one last glance towards the conference room and went to see Wendy about a DNA result.

"Wendy."

"Catherine." Wendy looked up from the paper she was looking at.

"Are you absolutely sure about this result?" Catherine asked the lab tech, and showed her the report.

"Yes. I just finished going over all the steps I took, and it's definitely a match to Mr. O.C.D." Wendy confirmed.

"Crap." Catherine sighed. "Ok, thanks Wendy." She said and walked back to her office.

---------------

"What the hell are you doing in here, Nick?" Sara shouted when she realized that Nick had followed her into the bathroom. "This is the women's bathroom! Get out!"

"Sorry, Sara." Nick was just as embarrassed as Sara was. "I promise I won't look or listen or anything, but I promised to stay close to you."

"What the hell are you talking about? Get out!"

"No." Nick stayed firmly where he was - arms crossed over his chest and determined not to move an inch.

"Nick!"

"Nope, sorry." He shook his head.

"Who did you promise to stay close to me?" Sara demanded to know.

"I can't…"

"Oh, yes you can. Tell me right now, Stokes!"

"Sara, please…" Nick tried.

"Now!"

"Catherine." Nick told her.

"Catherine?" Sara asked. "Why the hell would she tell you to follow me into the bathroom?"

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you that. Just go do your business and we can get on with this." He said waving his hand towards the stalls.

"I am not doing anything with you standing in here." Sara said, storming out the door with Nick hot on her heels.

------------------

Just as Catherine was about to reach for the phone again, Sara came rushing into the office with Nick following right behind her.

"Why on earth would you tell Nick to follow me into the bathroom?" Sara demanded to know.

"We got the DNA results." Catherine told her.

"What?" Sara didn't see the connection between her question and Catherine's answer.

"Nick, go get a cup of coffee or something." Catherine told the Texan, who left them alone.

"Why did you tell him to…"

"Wendy found a match on the hair." Catherine interrupted. "It's Dunne's hair."

"Oh." Sara's anger deflated and she sat down in the chair in front of Catherine's desk. "Positive match?"

"Yes." Catherine nodded. "Just got back from checking with Wendy."

"So, he's on the loose?"

"I was just about to call and find out."

"Ok." Sara looked up at her. "You mind if I stay here for that?"

"No." Catherine sighed, and reached for the phone.

***

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