Previous part of Blast from the past.

***

"Ok..." Catherine paused and listened to the person on the other end of the line. "Yes, well thank you very much for your co-operation. Any chance we could get the visitor log without a warrant?" She listened again. "No, didn't think so, but it was worth a try. We'll get the warrant as soon as possible. Thank you. Bye." She hung up the phone again and looked at Sara.

"So, he's still in jail?" The brunette asked.

"Yes, he's still in jail." Catherine confirmed. "He's in the Nevada State Penitentiary."

"We already got that from the post stamps on the letters."

"Yes."

"So how did his hair end up outside the walls?" Sara wondered.

"His puppet put it there." Catherine stated. "We'll get a warrant for the visitor log and get our list of suspects from there."

"Yeah." Sara sighed. "This case won't be over any time soon, will it?"

"I'm afraid not." Catherine sighed and leaned back in her chair. "And it couldn't have happened at a worse time."

"It shouldn't have happened at all." Sara said before remembering. "Oh, Lindsey's birthday... You have to plan Lindsey's birthday."

"Yeah," Catherine ran a hand through her already ruffled hair, "I'm afraid I'll have to get Nancy to do most of that. This case is going to take up almost all of my time."

"Anything I can do to help?" Sara offered, the words out of her mouth before she knew she'd said them.

Catherine looked at her in surprise. The brunette had not spent much time with Lindsey and she was surprised that Sara would offer her help.

"I don't know. I haven't really gotten anything planned yet."

"You said she didn't want anything big?"

"Yeah, that's what she told me the other day." Catherine smiled. "She's growing up so fast."

"Not too fast I hope." Sara whispered to herself.

"What do you mean by that?" Catherine had heard what she had said.

"Nothing..." Sara looked intently at the seriously ugly ducks sitting on the desk between them, not wanting to meet Catherine's eyes.

"Sara?"

"I just think that kids should have time to be kids and not grow up too fast."

"I agree." Catherine told the brunette, who looked up in surprise. "Don't look so surprised. I grew up way too fast and look what happened to me." She added.

"Uhm..." Sara didn't know how to respond.

"You can say it," Catherine shrugged. "A stripper and an addict with a loser husband."

"Who was strong enough to turn her life around, get a different career, be damn good at what she does and raise a beautiful daughter." Sara added quietly.

"Thanks." Catherine felt the honesty in the compliment. "So what made you grow up too fast?" She asked softly.

"Oh," Sara let out a dry laugh. "I don't think we have the time or energy for that part of my life. Right now I need all my energy just to cope with my college years."

"But you'll tell me later?" Catherine asked.

"I don't know." Sara said honestly. "We're not exactly..."

"Friends... Yeah, so you keep telling me." Catherine sighed. "But that doesn't mean I don't care."

Sara looked back at the ducks, Nick's words running through her head - 'It's just, Catherine never stops surprising me, so you never know' - But she dismissed the thought as soon as it surfaced. Catherine couldn't possibly be interested in her.

"Are we absolutely sure that it is Dunne in that jail?" She asked, wanting to change the subject.

"What do you mean?" Catherine wasn't sure what she was getting at.

"Well, are we sure that he didn't pull a switch?"

"No." Catherine shook her head. "But that would be a little farfetched."

"You read those letters, Catherine. Dunne may be delusional but he is far from stupid. His IQ is up there with the best of them."

"Yeah, but a switch? He couldn't have pulled that off without inside help."

"I wouldn't rule that out as a possibility." Sara said seriously. "We need to go talk to him."

"We as in not you."

"I'm the only one who will know for sure that it's him."

"You are also a victim when it comes to him. You are not going! I'll take Nick with me."

"I am going, Catherine!" They were both getting louder.

"You are not going anywhere near that man, Sara!"

"I am! But you're not!"

"What!" Catherine asked, getting up from her chair and leaning over the desk towards Sara. "I am senior on this case and I call the shots!"

"I don't want you anywhere near that sick son of a bitch!" Sara argued, getting up from her own chair and leaning over the desk from the other side – their faces only inches apart.

"You don't have a say in that!"

"The minute you get in that room with him, the second you even hint that you know me, he will pick you as his next victim, and I don't want you to get hurt!"

"What!" The words registered with Catherine. "What?" She added in a much softer tone.

"Yeah, believe it or not I care about you too, Catherine. I don't want you to get hurt. You have a daughter to finish raising. I have nothing. Let me go in there with him."

"Sara..." Catherine breathed out, looking her softly in the eyes. "I..." She was at a loss for words.

They just stood there, getting lost in each other's eyes. Catherine leant closer to the brunette, her eyes leaving Sara's to look down at the younger woman's lips...

"Catherine, Sara. Is everything alright in here?" Grissom asked, poking his head in the door. "You were getting rather loud."

Cursing the man with every fibre of her being, Catherine quickly stood up straight.

"Yes, Gil. We're fine." She said shortly, watching Sara sit back down. "What are you doing here at this time of day?"

"I have an experiment."

Sara, who was sitting with her back to him, cringed at his words, remembering the pig experiment. Catherine smiled at the face the younger was sporting.

"How is your case going?" Grissom asked, not noticing Catherine's smile.

"It's going," Catherine told the supervisor. "But it's going slow. We don't have much to go on."

"Ok." He said absentmindedly. "If you need help you know where to find me."

"In a lab with your bug experiment." Catherine joked and earned a smirk from Grissom. "Thanks." She added more seriously.

"Good luck with it." He said, and disappeared down the hall.

"Look, Sara..." Catherine started as soon as Grissom was out of sight.

"We should get to the meeting." Sara interrupted her. "We have a case to solve." She got up from her chair again and walked out the door, leaving Catherine alone in the office with the ducks.

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

Joining the others in the conference room, Catherine got right down to business.

"Warrick, autopsy?"

"Same MO as in Veronica's case. COD was a stab wound to the stomach and a slit throat, both causing the victim to bleed out slowly. Definite signs of rape, possibly multiple times. No trace material found on the body other than what we got running a rape kit."

"Do we have the results on that?" Catherine asked.

"We found pubic hairs, but we haven't found a match so far." Warrick informed them.

"Ok. Sofia, do we have a timeline for the vic?"

"Yes. The victim was reported missing Saturday afternoon, but a screw up somewhere meant we didn't get the call until Saturday night, which was when she was found. The reason she wasn't reported missing sooner was because the parents thought she was at a friend's house for a sleepover from Thursday to Friday, and the friend thought she had forgotten about it and was home."

"That still leaves a day." Sara interjected.

"Yes, but apparently she wasn't good at telling her parents where she was at. They assumed she was still at the friend's house, until the friend called telling them that she wasn't."

"Have you found out when she went missing?" Catherine asked.

"As far as we can figure out," Sofia looked at her papers, "he took her late Thursday afternoon. The last person to see her was a janitor at her school, who saw her leave in her car at 4 pm. Apparently she was working on a paper and had to use books in the library."

"He got her as she was coming home from the library?" Sara asked even though she didn't really want to hear the answer.

"Yes." Kimberly spoke up. "She spent a lot of time at the library apparently. A real book worm."

"Ok," Catherine sighed. "We can't keep treating these like coincidences. We got the result back on the hair, and it belongs to Dunne. I checked up on him and he is still in jail." She looked up at them. "We have a copycat and we need to find him."

"We need to talk to Dunne." Sofia stated.

"Yes, but I think we need to call Brass in on this one." Catherine held up a hand stopping Sofia as she was about to interrupt. "It's not that I don't trust you to do the job. I've read the letters he has written, and I doubt he will talk to any woman..."

"Except Veronica." Kimberly finished.

"Except Veronica," Catherine agreed. "But she is not going anywhere near him and neither are you. You are too close to this to keep a level head."

"I know, and I don't want to be anywhere near him." Kimberly informed them.

"And you're not going either, Sofia." Catherine told the other blonde.

"But..."

"Sara thinks, and I agree, that any woman getting close to Dunne will be in danger of being the next victim. Just the indication that you are close to either Sara or Veronica may set him off." Catherine continued, not letting the detective interrupt. "I'm not going either."

"Ok. I'll call Brass and get him up to speed." Sofia said.

"Good, thank you." Catherine turned to the Texan. "Nick, I want you to go with Brass."

"Sure." Nick said.

"If you're not up to it..."

"No, I'll do it." Nick stopped her. "Not a problem as long as you don't ask me to be superglue again." He added with a grin, wanting to relieve the tension a little, and earning a small smile back from the blonde.

"Catherine..." Sara started.

"Sara, we'll talk about this alone later." Catherine brushed her off. "Sofia, you go call Brass. Kimberly, you go get a warrant for the visitor log concerning him. Nick, you call and set up the interview. Warrick, you go check up on the guards in the jail."

"The guards?" Warrick asked.

"Yes, we have to look at all possibilities and he could have help on the inside."

"And what should I do?" Sara asked sarcastically.

"You follow me to my office to finish the talk we started." Catherine answered coolly. "Ok, guys let's get on with it." She said, gathering all the folders they had given her.

The others left one by one to do as they had been told; soon only Sara and Catherine were left in the room.

"I still..." Sara started.

"Get to my office!" Catherine cut her off and left the room, leaving the brunette no other option but to follow her.

***

'What happened at my office? I almost kissed her, that's what happened. If it hadn't been for the goddamn bad timing of Grissom, I would have kissed her. God Gil, I could just kill you right now! Maybe I could get Warrick to help me cover up. Who would suspect me anyway? Does she know that I almost kissed her? Did she feel it too? The moment felt so right, it felt like she wanted it too.' Catherine was lost in thought on the way to her office. 'I have got to talk her out of going to that interview. She'll get hurt no matter what she says and I don't want her to get hurt. God, this is more than a mere attraction, this is wanting more than just a one night stand. Can this week get any better? I catch the case from hell, I can't plan Lindsey's birthday properly and I realize that I have feelings for Sara Sidle.'

'I'm going to be at that prison no matter what she says. I need to know whether or not it is him. How could she ever understand how much I need to know for sure that the bastard is locked up? And I will not let her near him either, he cannot get his eyes on her. She deserves to have a problem free life and she'll never get that if he is ever let loose.' Sara stopped dead in her tracks as it hit her. 'She almost kissed me! She was about to kiss me when Grissom interrupted us! Maybe Nick will help me cover up if I kill him... Maybe Catherine would help me – she was about to kiss me after all... Wasn't she? I didn't make it up, did I? No... But why would she kiss me?'

Arriving at her office Catherine closed the door behind Sara. Opting against sitting behind the desk, she went for the couch instead.

"Sit down." She said, patting the spot next to her. "We have to talk this through."

"I'm going with Nick and Brass." Sara said, sitting down next to her.

"I don't want you to go." Catherine countered.

"What?"

"This guy attacked you and is obsessed with your friend."

"I know that, Catherine. I was there."

"So why would you want to be anywhere near him again? You'll end up hurt, Sara."

"I need to know that he can't hurt her or anyone else I care about again. I need to know that he is where he is supposed to be."

"You can have Nick tell you that."

"Nick won't know for sure that it's Dunne."

"He can take a picture, that way you'll know."

"I won't, Cath. I need this – I need to know for sure." Sara said, looking the blonde in the eyes. "I need to know that the people I care for are safe."

"Ok." Catherine didn't want to agree to what the younger woman was saying, but couldn't get herself to say no again. She thought about it for a moment. "But I get to be right next to you and..." She held up a hand to stop the oncoming protest. "And you will stay behind the two way mirror and not even think about getting into the room with him. Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand.

Sara thought about it. She didn't want Catherine within ten miles of Charles Dunne, but she doubted that the blonde would let her go without her.

"Deal." She shook the offered the hand.

"Good." Catherine couldn't help herself. She tugged at Sara's hand causing the brunette to fall lightly into her body. She put her arms around the surprised woman and hugged her tightly. "I don't want to see you hurt anymore, Sara."

Sara didn't answer but relaxed into the hug, enjoying the feeling of comfort Catherine was offering.

"Catherine?" She said, breaking the moment.

"Yes."

"When Grissom interrupted us before..." She stopped.

Catherine broke the hug and leaned back to look her in the eyes.

"Yes?"

"Were you... I mean, I could be completely wrong here, but I had this feeling that you were about to..." She stopped, suddenly loosing her nerve.

"About to what?" Catherine pushed, needing for Sara to actually say the words.

"No, never mind." Sara mumbled and looked down at her hands.

"About to what, Sara?" Catherine repeated gently, placing a hand under Sara's chin, forcing her to look at the older woman.

"About to... kiss me." Sara finally got out.

"I..." Catherine didn't get any further before Sara shot up from the couch and interrupted her.

"Look, never mind. It was a stupid question anyway. Just wishful thinking on my part." She started pacing the office.

"Sara..." Catherine tried again.

"Shit." Sara stopped as she realized what she had just said. "Look, Catherine." She turned towards the blonde. "I'm sorry. I just... Please don't have me fired for this, but I should probably tell you ... God, what am I doing?" She sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk and held her head in her hands.

"Sara, what..." Catherine was confused.

"These things always happen when she's around." Sara said.

"She?"

"Veronica. She always makes me do things I'd never do on my own." Sara was still hiding her face in her hands.

"Ok. I'm confused." Catherine admitted. "We were talking and now Veronica is in the middle of it all?"

"Yes. She said something and then Nick said something..."

"Nick? What's Nick..."

"Yes, at lunch he said something as well, and then Grissom interrupted and..." Sara looked up at the blonde knowing that it was now or never.

"Catherine, I have feelings for you."

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

"Do you need help checking out the guards?" Nick asked, walking into the lab where Warrick was working.

"Sure, but aren't you going to the prison?" Warrick asked.

"They can't have him ready until 4 o'clock, so I have a couple of hours to kill."

"Pull up a chair." Warrick nodded towards the chair next to him. "Here." He added, handing him a stack of papers.

"Did you get Catherine to go out for lunch?" Nick asked while working his way through the pile of papers Warrick had given him.

"Yeah, it was nice." Warrick said. "Got updated on all the gossip."

"Yeah?" Nick tried to sound casual. "Lindsey's doing ok?"

"Yeah, she's good. Looking forward to her birthday coming around."

"That's right, I gotta buy her something." Nick thought out loud. "So, is she seeing anyone?" He added casually, wanting to find out as much as possible for Sara.

"Who? Lindsey? No, I think she's still a little young for that." Warrick joked.

"No, jackass." Nick punched him on the arm. "Catherine."

"No, not really." Warrick was dying to tell Nick about what Catherine had told him, but he would never betray her confidence.

"Not really?" Nick asked not understanding.

"She has her eyes on someone, but I can't tell you who. She'd kill me."

"Gotcha." Nick nodded.

"How was lunch with Sara?" Warrick asked.

"It was good," Nick smiled. "Finally got some gossip."

"Yeah? What?"

"Can't really tell you, but it was nice to see her so relaxed for once."

"Yeah, the girl needs to relax more. Is she seeing anyone?"

"Not really." Nick answered with a smile.

"Not really?" Warrick said. "Well, we all know who she has her eye on."

"I doubt it." Nick smiled.

"Come on, man. Everybody knows she has a thing for Grissom." Warrick said, feeling a little sorry for Catherine.

"Not according to her." Nick told him.

"What? Well, who then?" Warrick was surprised, but happy that Sara had gotten over Grissom. Those two would never be right for each other.

"You know I can't tell you that, man."

"It was worth a try, though." Warrick chuckled.

"I forgot to call Catherine to tell her when we're leaving for the jail. I better do that." Nick said, pulling out his phone and dialling the number.

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

"Oh." Catherine felt her stomach doing summersaults. "Sara..." She was interrupted by her phone ringing. "Willows." She answered harder than necessary.

"Catherine, it's Nick."

"What do you want now, Nick?"

"Did I interrupt something? You sound a little pissed."

"Yes, you did. What did you want, Nick?"

"Just wanted to say that they'll be ready for us at the jail at 4."

"Ok, thank you, Nick. Sara and I will be joining you."

"I really don't think Sara should be there." Nick said worriedly.

"I don't either, but I can't convince her not to go." Catherine explained.

"Ok. I'll meet you guys by the car at 3 then. I'll let you get back to what you were doing."

"Yes. Bye Nick." Catherine hung up and turned back to Sara. "We leave for the prison at 3."

"Ok." Sara nodded. "Look, I should probably..."

"Sara." Catherine stopped her. "I..." She was interrupted once again by a phone ringing; only this time it was Sara's.

"Sidle." Sara answered the phone.

"Sass."

"Foxy, hey, what's up?" Sara got up. "I gotta take this." She said to Catherine and went into the corridor outside the office.

"I was thinking about what Catherine said. You know, that I could be wrong when I think this guy isn't coming for me."

"Yeah?" Sara went into the locker room to get some privacy.

"And if I'm wrong you'll be in danger as well, so I was hoping to convince you to have protection too."

"I don't think that will be necessary." Sara said calmly. "I don't think the guy who killed Siobhan is after either of us, either."

"Yeah, but still... Please think about it."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Good. What are you doing? Don't you need to get home and get some sleep soon?"

"Sleep? I doubt I'll get any sleep even if I had time to go home." Sara laughed.

"What do you mean?" Veronica sounded worried. "You still think about the attack? I could probably prescribe a couple of sleeping pills for you, but only as long as this case is going on."

"No, that won't be necessary. It's just..." Sara looked around in the locker room making sure that she was alone. "I told her."

"You told who what, hon? OH! You told Catherine? Way to go sweetie!"

"No! Not good, Foxy. You always make me do these stupid things!"

"What? Me? I haven't talked to you the last ten hours or so, and I didn't tell you to tell her anything before that."

"You hinted that she would be interested."

"Well, yeah but... What did she say?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Surely she would say something..." There was a pause. "Sara, did you give her a chance to say anything?"

"The phone interrupted us."

"I interrupted you?" Veronica asked, not believing that she of all people would be the one with such bad timing.

"Well, Nick interrupted us first, then you."

"Well, what the hell are you doing talking to me? Get back there and talk to her!"

"Foxy..."

"You haven't hung up yet? Get going you big idiot!"

"Foxy, I don't know what she's going to say."

"There's only one way to find out, hon. And I swear to God – if you don't hang up this instant and get back to her, I will come over there myself and make you talk to her."

"I love you, Veronica." Sara smiled.

"Wrong girl you're saying that to. Now go!"

"Bye." Sara hung up the phone. She hesitated a moment, before heading back to Catherine's office.

***

There was a knock on the door and she went to answer it, closely followed by two of the men assigned to protect her.

"Ben?"

"Ronnie," Ben looked up with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry." He wiped away the tears running down his cheeks with his sleeve. "I just..."

"It's ok." She stepped closer to him. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug. "Shhh... It's all going to be ok, Benji. It's all so long ago..."

"I just walked out on you." He sobbed into her shoulder. "Dad walked out on you back then and I walked out now..."

"It's ok. I understand. You had to process all this." She was holding on tight and stroking his hair trying to calm him down. "Shhh... Don't cry Benji. Don't cry. Come on in." She released the strong hold she had on him, but kept an arm around him leading him inside. "Guys, could you leave us alone please?" She asked Mr. Jones and the uniformed cop, who left the room to give them the needed privacy.

"God Veronica, I am so sorry. I don't know how to ever make this up to you again. The one time you need my support the most, I let you down."

"It's ok, Ben. I knew you'd come back eventually – you always do. You can't live without me." She said with a smile, trying to make him feel better.

"It's not ok, Ronnie. I did just what all the others did - I walked out on you. I swore to myself that I would never do that to you and I did." He looked down guiltily.

"Well," Veronica sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. "Look at it this way; you are the only one who has returned voluntarily. The one person I can always count on."

"Sara came back." He said, sitting down next to her.

"By accident."

"But she stayed."

"Yes, she did." Veronica smiled. "And she'll stick around this time, too."

"So, do we like her?" He asked, trying to revive an old game they used to play.

"No..." Veronica played along. "We love her."

"Love?" Benjamin looked at her. "Kim's not going to like that."

"Love as in platonic, as in a best friend kind of way. Kim is still... Kim."

"Ah, ok. Well, as long as she doesn't replace your little brother, I'm ok with her." He said, placing an arm around her shoulders and squeezing lightly.

"Never." She answered, leaning into him to accept the comfort he was offering. "Ben... There's something I have to tell you."

"Again?" He joked.

"Yes." She sat back up and looked at him. "The guy who killed Siobhan might have me targeted as his next victim. Most likely Bridget is the one he's after, but Anita or I could be in danger as well."

"What!" Benjamin got up and started pacing the floor. "What are the police doing about all this?"

"They are protecting us, and Dad sent Mr. Jones to keep an eye on Julie and me as well."

"Dad?" He stopped mid pace and turned towards her. "You are accepting anything he has to offer you?"

"Yes. I am. I need for Julie to be protected. I need to know that she is as safe as she can possibly be."

"She can be protected without Dad's help!" He was raising his voice. "The guy threw you out at 15, and then ignored you when you were raped and almost killed..."

"It's been over ten years, Ben!" Veronica got up and shouted back. "You have to forgive sooner or later!"

"Why? Why the hell should I forgive that bastard? Tell me that, Veronica. He fucking hurt you! He separated us!"

"Because it makes life so much easier, Benji. It makes it so much easier without all the hate and pain and..." She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat, trying to get their attention. They both turned towards the newcomer.

"Can I get some of that forgiveness too?" Kimberly asked.

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

On the way back to Catherine's office, Sara prepared herself for the worst-case scenario. After all, she had just told a female colleague that she had feelings for her. Ok, so the colleague was the most gorgeous woman on earth who would be used to people falling for her all the time, but she was still a senior CSI and if anyone would have to leave the lab it would be Sara. Maybe she could convince the blonde to not press sexual harassment charges against her and just let her transfer somewhere far away. Overnight if possible.

"Sara."

She looked up at the woman she had been thinking about.

"Catherine."

They fell silent, just staring at each other.

"Could we..." Catherine gestured back to her office. "Finish up in there?"

"Uhm..." Sara started.

"Ok, it wasn't really a question, Sara. Get into the office."

"Bossy." Sara muttered.

"You know you love it. Now get in there."

As soon as they were in the office Sara started talking, not letting Catherine get a word in.

"Look, Cath. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but is it possible that you could just forget all this and let me transfer somewhere else without pressing charges against me? I shouldn't have said anything at all, I don't know what got into me umph..." She was stopped effectively by Catherine's hand clamped over her mouth.

"Sara, would you let me get a word in?" She asked, looking the younger woman in the eyes.

Sara, whose mouth was still covered by Catherine's hand, nodded slowly.

"Sara..." Catherine removed her hand from the brunette's mouth. "I don't know what to say..." She didn't get further before they were once again interrupted by a knock on the door. She went to the door and opened it forcefully. "What?" She barked, without looking who was on the other side first.

"Miss Willows." The man on the other side greeted her.

"Governor Lavisham." She answered in a slightly gentler tone of voice. "How can I help you?"

"Miss Sidle." The Governor greeted Sara as he entered the office. "I know it hasn't been long since we last spoke, but I would like another update on the case. I am visiting the Rowans in a couple of hours and I would like to have some news for them."

"Sure." Catherine told him. "Sara." She said, stopping the other woman from leaving the office. "Just a second, Governor, I'll be right with you." She told him, rushing out after the brunette. "Sara!"

"You should update the Governor, Catherine." Sara said, feeling a little safer in the corridor.

"We are going to talk about this, Sara." Catherine informed her. "I'll get rid of the Governor and then you are going to give me the chance to get a word in." She turned to go back to her office. "Wait for me in the break room."

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

"Hey." Nick greeted the brunette as she walked up to the car.

"Hey." Sara smiled back.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Nick asked.

"No." Sara answered honestly, leaning against the car next to him. "But I have to. I need to know that that son of a bitch is still in jail."

"Ok." Nick looked at her. "But you're not getting in the room with him, right?"

"No." Sara smiled even though it was a serious conversation. "Catherine won't let me."

Nick smiled too at the thought of Sara Sidle willingly taking orders from Catherine Willows.

"You're whipped." He snickered.

"I'm..." She was stopped from retaliating as Catherine walked up to them.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. I couldn't get rid of the Governor." She said, looking Sara straight in the eyes, offering a silent apology.

"It's ok." Nick said getting into the car. "It's only a couple of minutes."

"Yeah, no worries." Sara said, getting in the back leaving the passenger side for Catherine.

In the car, Nick turned back to Sara.

"As I said, you're so whipped."

"I..." Once again she was stopped from answering back as Catherine opened the door and got into the car.

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

"So..." Nick started, wanting to break the uncomfortable silence they had been sitting in for the last 15 minutes of driving. "How do we play this? Good cop, bad CSI?"

"I don't think that will work on him, Nick." Sara answered. "He is highly intelligent and won't fall for any stupid little tricks."

"So Nick and Brass will have to outsmart him?" Catherine wanted to know.

"No offence, but I don't think that's going to happen either." Sara sighed. "I think you just have to ask him your questions and hope that he'll feel confident enough that you won't figure out his plan to answer them truthfully." She thought about it for a minute. "In fact if you could act a little stupider than you really are that might help... He loves feeling superior."

"I can't imagine Veronica letting him feel superior to her." Catherine remarked.

"No." Sara said with a sigh. "I think that's partly why he chose her – he wants to break her."

"That won't happen." Nick promised.

"No, not as long as we have anything to do with it." Catherine agreed.

"Ok, here we are." Nick said as they pulled up and parked next to Brass' car. As they got out, the Captain got out of his car as well.

"Hi guys." He said.

"Brass." Catherine greeted him.

"I didn't think you wanted any females here." Brass said questioningly.

"I couldn't stop her from coming here." Catherine offered as an explanation. "So I figured I'd tag along and keep an eye on her."

"Ok." Brass accepted the explanation and understood why Sara wanted to be there. "But neither of you are going to be in the room with him."

"No, Catherine already made me promise." Sara said with a smile as they walked up the path.

"Yeah, and you better not forget it." Catherine said, placing a hand on Sara's lower back guiding her up the steps to the entrance.

"I won't." Sara couldn't stop the big smile forming on her lips. If Catherine was touching her, she couldn't be as mad as Sara feared. Even if it was just a worried colleague offering her support, it was better than a pissed Catherine. "I don't ever want to talk to him ever again."

***

"Kimberly?" Veronica looked at her wife. "What are you talking about?"

"I want to come back home." Kimberly answered, looking her in the eyes.

"You have some nerve just walking in like this." Benjamin told her.

"How else should I do it?" Kimberly asked. "I love you, V. I want to come home."

"When it rains it pours," Veronica said sitting back down, feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. "Ben, could you..."

"Sure." Benjamin left the room saying: "You just call if you need me, I won't be far away."

"Thanks." Veronica threw distractedly at him. "So..." She looked at Kimberly. "I thought you'd still be working Siobhan's case."

"Yeah," Kimberly was still standing at the door. "Sofia told me to go home and get a little sleep."

"Oh." The doctor gestured to the couch. "You can sit down if you want."

"Thanks." The detective sat down next to the petite redhead. "I want to come home, Veronica."

"Why?" Veronica turned and looked at her.

"Why? I love you. I miss you... I miss us."

"You left me, Kim."

"I didn't leave you, I needed a break. It just got too much for me. I..."

"You needed a break from me. You needed a break from me even though you promised to be with me in good times and bad. If I say ok and let you come back now, how will I know you won't just leave me again?"

"I..."

"Can you promise that you'll never leave me again, Kim? Because people seem to leave me all the time, and I'm not sure if I can take much more of it. I need to be strong right now. I need to protect our daughter and I can't do that unless I know that you're one hundred percent sure that you want to come back. I can't live with that uncertainty."

"I'm sure." Kimberly held Veronica's hand. "I want us to be together. I was miserable without you, and this case gave me the push I needed to realize that I want you – I want all of you. I want you to let me be strong for you." She leaned in pressing their foreheads together. "Please let me be there for you. Please let me protect you. I'll take time off work and stay here protecting my girls. Please be my girl again. Please, please, please be my girl again."

Veronica brought up a hand, cupping the other woman's cheek.

"I've always been your girl, Kim." She smiled softly. "I'm just not sure you're mine."

"There's never been anyone else for me. Please let me protect you and Julie."

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

"Warden Matthews? I'm Catherine Willows with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. These are my colleagues Sara Sidle, Nick Stokes and Captain Brass with the LVPD." Catherine shook hands with the man who greeted them at the entrance to the prison.

"Hello, Miss Willows." Warden Matthews guided them inside. "You're here to see Oscar Charles Dunne?"

"Yes." Sara was the one to answer. "And we're going to need the visitors log as well."

"I would love to give it to you, but you need a warrant for that, I'm afraid." Warden Matthews said with an apologetic shrug.

"Like this one?" Brass asked, handing over the warrant.

"Yes, Sir," The warden smiled. "I'll get that ready for you while you visit with Mr. Dunne."

"Thank you," Catherine said, "Miss Sidle and I will not be in the room with Dunne, so I hope you have a room with a two way mirror."

"Yes, we have everything set up for you in here." He took them to a small interview room. "Is this alright for you?"

"Yes, this is fine." Brass told him. "Cath, Sara, why don't you two get into the other room? And you get Dunne in here with us, Matthews."

"Sure thing Brass. Sara..." Catherine took hold of Sara's hand in support, leading her into the observation room. Once alone in there, she turned towards the brunette. "Look, Sara, I'm sorry that we've been interrupted all day and I know that this isn't the best time, but..." She stepped into Sara's personal space and whispered: "I was about to kiss you when Grissom interrupted." She gave the surprised woman a short but sweet kiss and stepped back. "And I won't press charges if you don't."

"Ok..." Sara was utterly surprised and couldn't come up with a better answer.

"Good." Catherine smiled. "Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get back to work." And with that she moved to stand in front of the two way mirror.

"Ok..." Sara still hadn't moved since the kiss. 'She kissed me. Catherine kissed me. I just got kissed by Catherine Willows. She kissed me.'

"Sara." Catherine looked back at her. "You should probably get up here if you want a good look at him."

"What?" Sara shook her head, trying to get out of the trance she was in. "Right." She stepped closer to the mirror.

"I'll just get some sound on this." Catherine said, switching on the mike. She looked back and noticed the haunted look that had replaced the pleasantly surprised look on Sara's face. "Are you going to be ok doing this?" She asked, concerned.

"I don't know..." Sara stepped closer to the mirror, but kept her distance from Catherine. She looked into the room with Nick and Brass in it. "It's been so long since all this happened. I didn't think I'd ever have to..." She looked over at the blonde, "...deal with him again. I really thought that all this was behind me."

"I'm sorry." Catherine moved a little closer to Sara without pushing her. "I wish you didn't have to go through it."

Sara smiled in thanks and reached out for Catherine's hand. She needed to feel the strength that the other woman exuded. She took the last step closer to her, and watched as the door in the other room slowly opened.

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

"I need you to find the guy who did this to Siobhan." Veronica started. "We have enough protection here." She added as Kimberly was about to interrupt. "With Mr. Jones we have seven people looking after us - eight if you count Benjamin. We'll be safe." She kissed Kimberly lightly on the lips. "You need to get some sleep."

"Are you going to take me back?" Kimberly asked.

"For now, yes." Veronica nodded. "But we need to talk this through later – when all this is over we need to have a long talk."

"I know." Kimberly smiled happily. "Thank you. I'm so sorry that I ever hurt you. I'll make it up to you, I promise." She leaned in, placing a kiss soft kiss on the smaller woman's lips. When she started to deepen the kiss Veronica pulled back.

"You need to sleep." She told her. "Don't start something you can't finish."

"I can finish." Kimberly said with a pout. "I promise." She leaned in for another kiss.

"Right." Veronica said sarcastically, leaning back. "You need sleep." She repeated.

"Where's Julie?"

"Napping in my... our bedroom."

"Ok. Would you mind if I crash here?"

"No, I wouldn't mind."

"Want to join me?" Kimberly held out her hand.

Veronica looked at the offered hand for a second, thinking about the offer the other woman had made.

"To sleep," Kimberly clarified. "No hanky panky with Jules in the room."

"I know." Veronica said with a small smile. She took the offered hand. "Sure. Let's go sleep." If she was taking Kimberly back, she might as well do it fully.

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

The door seemed to take hours opening. Dunne entered the room; his hands in handcuffs and his feet chained together. Catherine couldn't suppress a gasp as she saw him.

"That's the one thing I'll never get used to in this job." She said. "He looks so normal."

"Yeah." Sara's voice sounded detached. "That's how he got away with stalking Veronica for months without her noticing. He looks so average."

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

Dunne was wearing the government issued orange jumpsuit with a white t-shirt underneath and black shoes. He had no visible tattoos or scars of any kind. His brown hair was neatly trimmed and he was clean shaven. Despite being in chains, he walked into the room as if he owned it.

"Oscar Dunne." Brass greeted him. "I'm Jim Brass with the LVPD and this is Nick Stokes with the crime lab. We have a couple of questions to ask you. Have a seat." He pulled out a chair for Dunne.

"I see," Dunne smiled pleasantly. "You found my business card, did you?"

The guard who had escorted Dunne to the room chained him to the table.

"Thank you, Stanley." Dunne said to him.

He kept quiet and stood by the door, keeping an eye on the prisoner.

"Well." Dunne seemed to have taken over the conversation. "What do you want to ask me?" He asked, looking directly towards the mirror on the wall.

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

"That's definitely Dunne." Sara took an involuntary step back, dragging Catherine with her. "He knows we're in here."

"There's no way he could know, Sara." Catherine tried to reassure her.

"I can see it in his eyes. He knows I'm here." Sara was sure that he knew. "Catherine, you need to get protection for Lindsey."

"What?"

"He will find out about you. He has someone on the outside who kills like him. He might have him spy on both Veronica and I, as well. Please, just get protection for her."

"Sara, Lindsey is hardly in any danger. We haven't even been on a date yet."

"If he has had months to study me, he will know how I feel about you..." Sara turned and looked Catherine in the eyes. "Please have Lindsey protected."

"Sara..." Catherine's protest was stopped by Sara's lips claiming hers. They were demanding, and Catherine felt the pure need from the other woman. As she felt a tongue caress her lips, she granted it entrance and tongues duelled until they both felt the need for air. As their lips parted Sara drew her into a tight hug, panting slightly.

"Please have her protected." She whispered in the blonde's ear. "I couldn't live with myself if anything should happen to either of you because of me."

Having felt the feeling the brunette had poured into the kiss, Catherine merely nodded against her shoulder holding on tightly.

"Thank you." Sara whispered and kissed her gently on the forehead. "Thank you."

***

"What do you mean we found your business card?" Brass asked the man sitting in front of him.

"I would think that even you could figure that one out." Dunne answered him.

"The hair."

"Very well done, Officer."

"Captain," Brass corrected him. "Now, do you know a Siobhan Rowan?"

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

Sara kept her eyes completely on Dunne during this exchange of words, while Catherine tried to observe the rest of the room as well.

"Did you see that?" She asked the brunette.

"What?" Sara looked shortly at the blonde before looking back at Dunne.

"The guard." Catherine explained. "He flinched when Brass mentioned Siobhan Rowan."

"He looks young. Maybe he's not used to hearing about the victims."

"Maybe." Catherine paused. "But I think we should look into his files when we get back to headquarters."

"Yeah." Sara replied, absentmindedly. Her focus was on Dunne, and only Dunne.

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

"Not personally, no." Dunne didn't give anything away.

"How do you know her then?" Brass inquired.

"Her father works for Governor Lavisham."

"And why would you know a thing like that?" Brass asked.

"I know all there is to know about my mate."

"Your... mate?" Brass asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"The woman the good Lord has made for me."

"I didn't know they allowed blow up dolls in here." Brass winked at Nick, who smiled in return.

Dunne kept his cool and didn't respond to the teasing.

"So, this mate of yours..." Brass started up again. "I heard you tried to kill her. The good Lord tell you to do that?"

"No, I am serving my penance now. The devil took possession of her and I panicked – I was young and inexperienced."

"And now?" Nick spoke up.

"Oh." Dunne turned his head and looked at him. "It speaks." He looked back at Brass. "Now I am older and wiser."

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

"He's playing with them." Sara said. "He won't tell them anything."

"Yeah." Catherine had dealt with enough criminals to know that Sara was right.

"We better hope that we will get something from the visitor log or we're close to having nothing."

"We will solve this, Sara." Catherine tried to convince herself as much as the other woman. "He went after one of us once and we won't let him have the last word."

"I hope you're right, Cath. I really hope you're right."

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

"My sweet Veronica has the devil present in her life – it is my job to help her. It is my job to rid the world of this devil and soon my job will be done." Dunne started preaching. "Lucifer takes on many disguises but I see through all of them. Through the hands of God I will be your saviour. I am his son and I will save you from the vile women that are the devil."

"Yeah, yeah. Amen." Brass said sarcastically. "What do you know about Siobhan Rowan's death?"

"Nothing I care to share with you, Captain."

"Well, you see this guy used the same MO as you, only he succeeded where you failed – he killed the one standing between him and his real target. This must be one smart guy. Much smarter than you since you are sitting in here because of Miss Sidle." Brass was trying to upset the man sitting in front of him.

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

"I think you might be right, Catherine." Sara said. "The guard looks really uncomfortable in there. He's sweating more than you usually would during an interview like this."

"We need to look into him a.s.a.p." Catherine concurred. "We'll call Warrick as soon as we leave here."

"Smart? No. Good at taking directions? Yes." Dunne smiled behind the mirror. "As I said, I am older and wiser now." He looked back at the mirror. "Not to mention stronger."

"He is going to try to escape." Sara gasped.

"What?" Catherine looked at the scared woman beside her.

"That was a threat." Sara told the blonde. "He looked right at me. He knows how close he was to killing me, and now he's telling us he's stronger and will succeed this time around."

"Sara, we don't know this for sure." Catherine squeezed the hand that hadn't let go of hers during the entire interview.

"Please trust me on this one. He will try to escape soon."

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

After interviewing Dunne for another half an hour without getting anything useful from him, Brass and Nick joined Sara and Catherine in the other room.

"He's up to something." Brass said as he entered the room, looking through the mirror at the guard leading Dunne out.

"Miss Sidle." Dunne stopped just short of the door and looked towards the window. "Give my love to my sweet Veronica and tell her I'll see her soon."

"That's it!" Sara made a move for the door.

Catherine had seen this coming as soon as Dunne had started talking and threw her body in front of the brunette, effectively stopping her. She placed her hands on the other woman's upper arms - holding her still, looking her in the eyes.

"Don't do this. You're playing right into his hands; this is what he wants you to do. Just calm down and ignore him."

"He is threatening my best friend, Cath!" Sara struggled to get out of the firm grasp the blonde had on her.

"Veronica is safe!"

"She won't be forever! He is going to get out of here and..."

"This is a maximum security prison; he won't get out of here!" Catherine tried to get through to Sara.

"He has had ten years to plan his escape and what he will do to her! He will get out! Let me go! I need to get out there!" She struggled harder.

Catherine kept holding onto her, determined to not let her anywhere near Dunne. Sara relaxed a little preparing to get loose, but didn't have a chance as Catherine took advantage of it. She pushed the brunette against the nearest wall, putting her body flush against her.

"I can't let you go out there, Sara." She said as they stood there face to face. "Nick, Brass... Make sure that he is gone and then come get us."

"You got it, Boss." Nick said trying not to smile too much at Catherine's way of stopping Sara. It looked like Sara had a chance with the blonde after all.

"Sure." Brass followed Nick out the door. "We'll make sure to knock before coming back in." He threw over his shoulder with a smirk.

"Catherine, please let me go." Sara told the blonde.

"I can't do that, Sara." Catherine said quietly.

"Please, Cath..." Sara didn't want to give up.

The older woman changed her hold on Sara and pulled her into a hug, but still held on tight.

"I need you to clear your head, honey. Siobhan Rowan needs you on this case. Veronica needs you on this case. I need you on this case."

She felt the tension fall from Sara's body as she leant heavier against her. Tears formed in the blonde's eyes as she felt the brunette's body shake with silent sobs. She held on tighter, offering all the support she possibly could.

"It's ok, Sara. Just let it out. It's ok." She kept whispering comforting words in her ear; stroking her hair gently as if she were comforting a child.

There was a knock on the door and Nick poked his head in.

"Guys?"

Catherine looked back at him shortly.

"Give us a minute, Nick." She told him.

Nick nodded and closed the door again. Sara had gotten a hold of herself and stepped out of Catherine's embrace, moving to stand in front of the two way mirror with her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, bringing a hand up to wipe away tears.

"Sara..." Catherine stepped up behind her and placed her hands on her shoulder blades. "Never apologize for crying. Just the fact that you've stayed strong for this long is impressive."

"Thanks." Sara sniffed, trying to hold back another burst of tears. She had always been taught that crying was showing weakness, and weakness would be punished.

"You're the strongest person I know, Sara." Catherine placed her arms around Sara's waist, resting her cheek on the strong shoulders in front of her. She wanted to comfort the other woman as much as possible. She felt Sara stiffen. "You want me to not do this?" She asked, and released her hold a little.

"No." Sara relaxed a little in the embrace, placing her hands over Catherine's, holding her in place. "It's just I'm... I'm not used to people caring."

"Get used to it, honey. You have a lot of people who care about you." Catherine smiled. "And I don't know about the others, but I plan on sticking around for a long time."

***

"She what?" Veronica sat up in bed and looked down at Kimberly.

"She went with the guys to the jail." Kimberly repeated.

"To see him?" Veronica asked, not quite believing what she was hearing. "Why the hell would she willingly go see him? And why didn't anyone stop her?"

"I don't know," Kimberly sat up as well. "I wasn't there when they left, but I think Catherine went with her." She paused. "Which is a little weird because those two really don't get along too well."

"Neither did we when we first met, Kim." Veronica tried to clue her in.

"You think they...?" She looked at her wife. "No... Really?"

Veronica neither confirmed nor denied, but just looked back at her wife.

"How did I not see that one coming?" Kimberly shook her head. "Really?" She asked again, just to make sure.

"She went to the jail to see Dunne?" Veronica shook her head reaching for her cell phone on the nightstand. "I better call her and make sure she's ok." She leaned over and kissed Kimberly. "Get some sleep will ya? You need all your strength for this case."

"Yes dear." Kimberly smiled, and lay back down.

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

"We have to get back to the lab." Catherine said, after enjoying the closeness for a couple of minutes. "We need to get moving on this again."

"I know." Sara sighed. "We need to get Warrick to check up on the guard." She kept her hold on Catherine's hands though, and didn't move.

"We have to move to do that, you know." Catherine smiled.

"Five more minutes?" Sara joked, but reluctantly let go of the blonde's hands and stepped away from her.

They smiled at each other, Sara trying somehow to express to the other woman how grateful she was. Trying to show how much it meant that the other woman had been there to catch her when she fell. To show that she appreciated how Catherine had stopped her from doing something stupid like facing Dunne.

"Thanks." Was all she could put into words. It didn't sound like much, but it was sincere and heartfelt, and Catherine understood.

"Any time, Sara." She grabbed a hold of the other woman's hand. "Now let's get out of here. I don't know if the boys think that we're killing each other or we're... well, naked on the desk having fun." She dragged a blushing Sara out of the room to meet up with the two men.

"Are you ok?" Nick placed a hand on Sara's shoulder in support. He had been worried about his friend.

"I just really want to get out of here." Sara answered him with a strained smile. "Being here gives me the creeps."

"Ok, let's get going then." The Texan noticed the two women holding hands, and he looked at Sara with a big smile.

"Nick, will you come with me to get the visitor log from Warden Matthews? Brass, you and Sara wait outside?" Catherine squeezed Sara's hand lightly before letting go and walking down the hall with Nick.

"Remember to get the name of the guard." Sara told her.

"Yes." Catherine looked back with a smile. CSI Sidle was back in the game.

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

Once outside, Sara leaned against their car and took a few deep breaths of fresh air, trying to clear her head.

"You ok there?" Brass asked, moving to stand next to her.

"I will be." Sara answered truthfully.

They stood in silence for a while, taking in the surroundings. Sara was the one to break it.

"Brass." She looked over at the Captain. "I need you to get a couple of uniforms to protect Lindsey."

"Lindsey?"

"Lindsey Willows."

"Catherine's daughter?" Brass asked. "Why?"

"Because she might be in danger on this case." Sara didn't elaborate.

"How?" Brass pushed, needing to know the details.

"She's connected to me."

"If that's all you have to base this on, I can't defend using two officers to do that to the Sheriff." Brass told her apologetically. "Then we'd have to put guards on your neighbours, dry cleaner or pizza delivery guy as well. They're as connected to you as a colleague's daughter."

"Catherine is... Catherine is more than just a colleague to me, Jim." Sara looked down at her shoes. "And if this guy has had months to study me, he'll know that."

"Ok." Brass nodded. "I'll get a couple of people on it."

"Thanks."

"No problem." He looked over at her. "Does Catherine know this?"

"Yes." Sara smiled.

"All of it?"

"Yes." Her smile grew bigger.

"That explains how she could keep you against that wall." Brass chuckled. "I was already trying to figure out how I was going to explain how one or both of you got injured in a closed room with just the two of you in it."

"Yeah, she did say that you guys would be thinking something along those lines." Sara laughed with him, deliberately leaving out the naked fun on the table part Catherine had been talking about.

That did sound great, though.

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

"Catherine?" Nick started when the other two had left.

"Yes, Nick?" Catherine turned her head to look at him but kept walking.

"You know, this case is really getting to Sara."

"I know."

"And you two have been very... civil towards each other lately."

"We have."

"I just don't want to see Sara hurt, so I hope it's not just because of this case that you're not at each other's throats."

"Nick." Catherine stopped and turned towards him. "If you've got something to say to me, just say it."

"I'm just looking out for her is all." Nick told the blonde.

"So am I, Nick." Catherine started walking again. "Now can we just get that log and get out of here?"

"Yeah." Nick smiled and followed her.

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

"Brown." Warrick answered the phone.

"Hey Rick. It's Catherine."

"Hey, how are things going with Dunne?"

"We're on our way back now. We didn't get much from him. How are things on your end?"

"Nothing suspicious so far with the guards. Sofia and Kimberly went home to get a couple of hours of sleep."

"That's good. There's nothing they can do right now anyway. It's better to have them fresh tonight. Look, I need you to take a look at a guard called Stanley Burns. He was acting suspicious during the interview."

"Stanley Burns?" Warrick jotted the name down on a piece of paper. "Sure, I'll get right on that. How'd Sara handle seeing Dunne?"

"Better than I would have." Catherine answered him. "I'll see you when we get back to the lab. We should be there in about half an hour."

"Sure. I'll check up on Mr. Burns then." Warrick said.

"Great. Bye."

"Bye." Warrick hung up the phone and put Stanley's information in the computer, and waited for the results to present themselves.

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

"Hi Rick." Catherine, Sara and Nick walked into the lab where Warrick was working.

"What do we have on the guard?" Sara asked.

"You ok?" Warrick asked her before answering the question.

"Yeah." Sara was a bit surprised at the question, but pleasantly so. "It was a little hard, but I had help." She smiled at Catherine.

"Now what about the guard?" Catherine asked him.

"Stanley Octavian Burns." Warrick started.

"Octavian?" Nick asked. "Wow, his parents really didn't like him much, did they?"

"Yeah," Warrick chuckled. "And if his initials are anything to go by, he did it."

"Stanley Oct..." Catherine thought out loud. "SOB – very funny."

"Born November 21st 1976. Originally from New York, but has moved around a lot. He graduated from Yale with a master's degree in mathematics..."

"And now he's a prison guard?" Sara asked not believing it.

"You have a bachelor's degree in physics and you're a CSI." Nick countered.

"I'm still a scientist." Sara defended herself. "Nothing wrong with being a prison guard, but with a master's in mathematics? I just don't buy it."

"It does show us that he's smart." Catherine stated.

"And there's no way Dunne would work with someone with a low or even average IQ." Nick said.

"When did he become a guard?" Sara asked.

Warrick looked at his notes.

"2003." He told them.

"That would have given him time to find out about the case and get in contact with Dunne." Catherine thought out loud. "Did he start out in Vegas?"

"Yes, Las Vegas was the only place he applied for." Warrick answered.

"And Dunne was transferred in 2000 – same time as Veronica moved here." Sara said.

"Ok, we have a lot of coincidences here." Catherine said. "But we need to look at the evidence as well."

"What evidence?" Sara asked. "This is all we have to go on."

"We need to talk to Bridget Rowan." Catherine said. "She was the best friend of the vic, and if anyone knows anything, it would be her."

"I'll get the PD run a more thorough background on Burns and the people who have visited Dunne." He took the visitor log that Catherine handed him.

"Good. When you've done that, you go home and get some sleep." Catherine told him. "We meet back here tonight."

"Ok, see you tonight." Warrick left the room.

"Nick, you might as well get home and get some sleep as well." Catherine told the Texan.

"Yeah. See you guys tonight then." Nick said, patting Sara on the back before leaving the two of them alone.

"What do we do?" Sara asked once the guys had gone.

"You up for a meeting with the Governor?" Catherine asked.

***

"The Governor?" Sara asked. "Did you forget that I promised not to go near him?"

"Well, we're going to have to go through him to talk to Bridget Lavisham." Catherine told her. "You know how Dunne did this. You know which questions to ask."

"You've worked stalker cases before, Cath - you know which questions to ask, too." Sara countered.

"So you don't want to come?"

"No, I do."

"Then why are we discussing this?" The blonde asked with a smile.

"I don't know. Force of habit?" Sara smiled back.

"Let's go then."

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

"You took her back, huh?" Benjamin asked as he entered the living room.

"What are you still doing here?" Veronica hung up the phone. "Don't you have a girlfriend to get home to?"

"She knows I'm gonna stay here for a while." He sat down next to her. "Did you take her back?"

"Yes, I did." Veronica nodded.

Benjamin kept quiet, but gave her a telling look.

"I know how you feel about that, Ben. You think I'm letting her off the hook too easily."

"I didn't say that."

"You thought it." She looked over at him. "I love her."

"I know you do."

"She makes me feel safe. I... For years after the attack I never felt safe – then I met Kim and..."

"She made you feel safe and protected and loved."

"Yeah."

"I get that." Benjamin nodded. "But that doesn't mean that I have to like how she's treated you for the last four months."

"Maybe you can practice some forgiveness on her, then work your way up to mom and dad."

"I can try." He smiled at her. "For you."

"Don't do it for me – do it for you. It will make your life so much easier."

"Did you forgive the guy who..?"

"No. Some people don't deserve forgiveness." She said strongly. "And he's one of them."

"Good." Was the only response Benjamin could give.

"I need to try Sara again." Veronica said, picking up the phone. "I've been trying to reach her for the last two hours and she's not answering."

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

"Hello Governor Lavisham." Catherine greeted.

"Hello Miss Willows, Miss Sidle." The Governor led them into a large, expensively furnished living room.

"This is my wife Helen and my daughter Bridget." He continued, introducing the two women sitting on the couch.

"I'm Catherine Willows and this is my colleague Sara Sidle. We're with the crime lab. We need to talk to Bridget about Miss Rowan's death."

Sara sat down opposite Bridget and smiled to the girl. "You look like your sister."

Bridget looked up at her and shook her head.

"I don't, Miss Sidle. Anita takes after dad and I look like my mom."

"I meant your other sister." Sara took out a notebook from her bag. "I knew her when she was your age."

"Oh." Bridget looked down. "I don't know her at all. What's she like?"

Catherine sat down next to Sara, letting her take charge of the conversation.

"Veronica is... a really good person. She takes care of the people she loves." Sara glanced at the Governor. "No matter who or what you are."

"I was only four when she left." Bridget looked over at the brunette. "I don't really remember her."

"Bridget, you were Siobhan's best friend, right?" Catherine spoke up, taking over the conversation.

"Yeah." Bridget answered, struggling to hold back tears.

"Did you ever see anyone suspicious hanging around when you two were together?" The blonde asked.

"No." Bridget let the tears fall silently. "I've been trying to think of something, but..." She paused.

"Everything just seemed normal." Sara finished for her.

"Yeah." Bridget looked over to her. "Your phone is blinking."

"What?" Sara looked down at her hip. "I forgot it was on silent." She told Catherine as she answered the phone. "Sidle."

"What the hell were you thinking, Sidle?"

"Veronica."

"I've been trying to reach you for hours, Sara. Why the hell did you go to see Dunne?"

"This is really not a good time for this."

"No shit! Sara, that man... God!"

"Ve..."

"Don't you Veronica me. Hasn't he hurt you enough? You have to go see him now? What, you enjoy feeling like hell?"

"I..." Sara made her way to a corner of the room to get a little privacy. "Excuse me Governor." She said politely.

"Excuse me, who?" Veronica asked.

"Veronica, this is a really bad time for this. No, I don't enjoy feeling like hell, but I had to make sure that it really was Dunne in that cell. You and I both know that if anyone was smart enough to pull a switch, it's him."

"You should have sent me instead."

"Yes, that would have been a really great idea," Sara hissed. "Send in the girl who he's fanatically obsessed with, that would have gone well."

"I..."

"Veronica, I'm fine. But you need to be extra careful, he is up to something. He sent a message."

"What message?"

"He told me to tell you that he'll see you soon."

"I'll be careful." Veronica agreed.

"I need to get back to work."

"Yeah." Veronica paused. "Sorry I yelled at you. I just worry when you do these stupid things."

"I've been taking care of myself all my life, Foxy."

"Because you think no one cares about you. But you have that now, Sara, so you have to be more careful."

Sara looked back at the blonde sitting with the Lavishams.

"I know." She smiled. "I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye." Sara hung up and joined the others again. "I'm sorry about that."

Catherine hadn't gotten any new information from Bridget while Sara had been on the phone, but she continued with her line of questioning.

"Do you have any new teachers or janitors or anything like that at school, or any of the other places you hang out?" She asked the girl.

"I don't think so." Bridget thought about it. "Not that I remember. Everything has been like usual... Until she went missing."

"Do you know a man called Oscar Dunne?" Sara asked.

"No." Bridget looked at her. "Why? Did he kill Siobhan?"

"No." Sara turned towards Bridget's parents. "What about you Governor and Mrs. Lavisham?"

Mrs. Lavisham shook her head. "I don't know him. Who is he?" The woman asked.

"Governor?" Sara asked.

"No, I don't recall ever meeting an Oscar Dunne." He told them.

"Who is he?" Mrs. Lavisham repeated her question.

"Dunne was sentenced 25 to life about ten years ago." Catherine answered the question. "He raped and almost killed a young girl, and then tried to kill the girl who saved her life. She stopped him and was responsible for putting him behind bars."

"What does that have to do with Siobhan?" The Governor wanted to know.

"The MO in this case is similar to the one of Dunne." Catherine answered, avoiding going in depth with her answer.

"And we think he has been training someone to be like him." Sara continued.

"But no one saved Siobhan." Bridget whispered.

"No." Sara looked at the girl. "We think he did things the other way around this time - he started with the friend and will go after his real target now."

"And who is the real target?" Helen Lavisham asked, fearing the worst.

"We think it's Bridget." Catherine said delicately, trying to soften the blow.

"Siobhan got killed because of me?" Bridget asked between sobs.

"No." Sara said strongly. "This is not your fault. The only person to blame is the guy who killed her."

"Why Bridget?" The Governor asked, trying unsuccessfully to stop his hands from shaking.

"Because..." Sara started, but was stopped by Catherine's hand on her arm.

"Oscar Dunne is still obsessed with his first victim." She looked at the Governor. "Her best friend saved her life." She looked at Bridget. "Siobhan was your best friend, so it's natural to believe that you're the target."

Bridget nodded, seeing the logic.

"So you need to be very careful when you go out." Catherine continued.

"Even when you're at home." Sara took over. "The first victim was attacked in her dorm room, so don't let in any strangers or people you hardly know. Don't answer the door unless you are absolutely sure who is on the other side. Don't try to lose the guards protecting you just because you think it's annoying to have them follow you around."

"We'll make sure she is protected." The Governor assured them.

"Ok." Catherine got up. "We need to get back to the lab." She shook hands with the two Lavisham women and waited as Sara did the same.

"I'll walk you out." The Governor said, gesturing towards the exit.

"If you remember anything unusual, just call this number." Sara told Bridget, handing her a card before following behind the Governor and Catherine.

As they reached the door Governor Lavisham started talking again.

"I'll make sure that Bridget isn't left alone at any point until you have this guy." He told them again. "She'll be protected."

"Sure you will," Sara muttered as she passed him. "She's the straight one."

"Excuse me?" The Governor stopped her.

"Sara, don't." Catherine tried to stop the brunette.

"You sit in there pretending you've never heard about Oscar Dunne." Sara looked at the man. "That was a very nice little performance!"

"Excuse me?" The man repeated. "I don't know an Oscar Dunne. Do you really expect me to know a monster like the man you described to me?"

"I expect you to remember the name of the man who almost killed your daughter!"

"What?" The Governor looked as if someone had slapped him in the face. "What?" He whispered again.

"Yeah. How long did it take for you to forget?" Sara asked.

"Veronica was the first victim?" He asked as if he could hardly believe he was asking the question.

Catherine nodded quietly.

"I didn't know." He looked at them. "I didn't know."

"I was the friend." Sara told him. "The hospital called you. You knew, but you didn't even bother to make sure that she was ok." She grabbed a hold of Catherine's arm and guided her to the car.

"I didn't know!" Governor Lavisham shouted after them. "I didn't know." He whispered to himself. "Oh Veronica, I'm sorry." He leant against the doorframe crying. "I didn't know."

***

"Thanks for the ride." Sara looked over at the blonde. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Sara." Catherine stopped her before she got out of the car.

"Yeah?"

"When all this is over..." Catherine unbuckled her seatbelt and turned her upper body towards the brunette. "We should go on a date."

"I'd like that." Sara smiled.

"We don't have the time for it now." Catherine continued, as if Sara hadn't spoken. "I have to get home and spend what little time I have with Lindsey."

"Yeah, of course you do." Sara answered, not quite seeing where the blonde was going with this.

"The thing is..." Catherine looked her in the eyes, "I don't usually do this." She smiled.

"Do what?" Sara asked, still clueless as to what was going on.

"Ask for a goodnight kiss without the date."

"Oh..." Sara smiled back at her. "Well, I don't usually give out goodnight kisses without the date." She looked at her watch. "And technically it's not night – it's 4 pm..."

"Sara?"

"Yeah?" She looked back up.

"Shut up and kiss me."

"Ok..."

They both leaned in at the same time and lips met in a hungry kiss. Catherine tangled her hands in the soft hair of the other woman, pressing gently on the back of her head to deepen the kiss. Tongue met tongue battling for control – neither winning, both enjoying the match. Sara brought her hand up to the blonde's shoulder and began tracing a path down her torso - grazing the outline of her breasts and moving lower to end on the hips, holding on tightly. Pulling apart, their breathing heavy, they looked into each other's eyes with wide smiles on their faces.

"Now I'm really looking forward to that date." Catherine smiled, looking at the brunette through half lidded eyes.

"Goodnight." Sara whispered, placing one last chaste kiss on Catherine's lips.

"Goodnight." Catherine put her seatbelt back on.

Sara got out of the car and watched with a smile as Catherine drove away.

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

Two men dressed in prison guard uniforms walked casually out of the main building of the jail. Another guard passed them and they nodded their hellos. They reached a car and got in. The older of the men removed the sunglasses and took off his hat as they drove away, turning back to salute the building with a wolfish smile.

"Now Stanley," He said and turned back. "For the rest of the plan."

"Yes, Mr. Dunne." Stanley replied, smiling back at his mentor.

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

"Julie, baby. It's 8 o'clock. You have to go to bed now." Veronica picked up her daughter. "Look, it's all dark outside."

Mr. Jones put down his fork and got up.

"I'll just..." He started, but was stopped by Veronica holding up a hand.

"You've secured this house ten times already." She said to him, smiling down at her daughter. "I think we can manage getting this little one into bed without your help. You just finish your dinner."

"Ok." He looked at her. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"Yeah," Veronica smiled. "I think I can handle it."

The doctor left the room and carried her daughter upstairs to the bedroom. The girl had her own room, but Veronica preferred to have her close by as long as this case was open. She walked into the darkened room, reaching for the light switch as she closed the door behind her.

"It's been too long, Veronica."

The voice from her nightmares greeted her. She was so surprised to see Dunne sitting in a chair in the middle of her bedroom that she didn't have time to scream before a hand was held over her mouth, silencing her effectively.

She watched horrified as Dunne slowly got up, shaking her head viciously as he took the baby from her arms. She struggled desperately, trying as hard as she could to escape of the grip the other person in the room to get to her daughter and keep him from hurting her.

"She looks just like you, my sweet Veronica." Dunne mused, looking down at the child in his arms. He nodded to the person behind her. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head before the darkness swept over her.

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

"Bridget?" The Governor knocked on his daughter's door. "It's 8.15, dinnertime."

He waited, knocking again when she didn't answer.

"Bridget?" He knocked harder. "Are you sleeping? Please open the door." He tried to open the door but found that it was locked. "Bridget! Open the door." He shouted.

Two guards came running up to the distressed man. "What's going on, Governor?"

"She's not answering me."

"Stand back, Sir." One of them said. "We'll take it down."

He stepped back and gave them room to work. They pulled out their weapons ready for action and kicked in the door. Rushing in with guns held high, they searched the room but found it empty.

"No one here, Sir."

"Oh, God." The Governor walked into the room carefully and noticed the open window. "He's got her."

He turned and hurried down the stairs to the phone, dialling 9-1-1.

"This is Governor Lavisham. My daughter has been kidnapped."

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

"When are you going into work again, mom?" Lindsey asked as she curled up next to her mother on the couch.

"In a couple of hours." Catherine looked at her watch. She enjoyed the closeness she was sharing with her daughter and was sad it would have to end so soon. "Are you absolutely sure that you only want a small party for your birthday?" She asked.

"You've asked me that like ten times already, mom." Lindsey said with a dramatic sigh. "I'm sure."

"Who do you want to invite then? We could make the invitations now."

"Claire, Valerie and Beth from school." Lindsey told her. "And Grandma, Sam, Aunt Nancy and Cousin Jeremy, of course. Oh, and Benjamin too cause he's Aunt Nancy's boyfriend."

"Since when do you call Jeremy Cousin Jeremy?" Catherine asked, amused.

"Since I watched The Addams Family." Lindsey answered with a grin. "You know, like Cousin It."

"Lindsey Willows, that's just mean." Catherine said, but couldn't help laughing.

"I only call him that when he's not around to hear it." Lindsey defended herself.

"Ok." Catherine looked down at her daughter. "I don't think it's a good idea to keep calling him that though."

"Ok mom." Lindsey gave in without a fight. She was enjoying the time spent alone with her mother too much to ruin it with a silly argument.

"Anyone else you want to invite?" Catherine asked, relieved that they weren't going to have a dispute over the issue.

"Grissom, Nick, Warrick, Greg and Sara."

"The guys from work?"

"Yeah," Lindsey looked down at her hands. "I just figured... they're your friends. And then when I have fun with my friends, you can have fun with your friends."

"That's a really nice thought, Linds." Catherine drew her in for a hug. "But it's your birthday, it's all about you."

"I still want to invite them." Lindsey said honestly.

"Ok." Catherine held the girl a little longer before sitting back to look at her. "Linds, we need to talk about something else too."

"What?"

"Well..." Catherine paused, not quite knowing how to start this conversation. "I've met someone."

"You've got another boyfriend?" Lindsey asked, drawing back from her mother.

"No... Not exactly..." Catherine reached out holding onto one of the girl's hands.

"Then why are you telling me that you've met someone?" Lindsey's voice was getting angrier.

"It's someone we both know. I really like this person, and I really want you to be ok with me dating them." Catherine tried to explain.

"Why are you talking like that?" Lindsey asked a little quieter. "Someone? This person? Them?"

"Because it's Sara." Catherine looked at her daughter, wanting her reaction to the news.

"Sara?" Lindsey looked back at her mother with her mouth hanging open.

"Yes. You'll be 13 soon and I think you're old enough to hear about this..." Catherine started but was interrupted by Lindsey.

"Sara you work with?" She asked.

"Yes." Catherine kept eye contact with the girl. "What do you think of all this?"

"She is kinda..." Lindsey paused, trying to find the right word, "...pretty, I guess." She settled on, looking at her mother.

"She is." Catherine smiled at the answer. "But are you ok with me dating her?"

"I guess." Lindsey looked at their joined hands. "But will that mean that we don't have time for this anymore?"

"I'll always have time for you, honey. No matter who I date." She held Lindsey close as relief washed over her. "I have the best daughter in the world." She said, kissing the head pressed to her chest.

"Good thing I wanted to invite her then, huh?" Lindsey smiled.

"You're a smartass too, you know that?" Catherine said, poking her in the side, ready to start a tickle match when her cell phone rang. She reached for it with a sigh. "Willows."

"It's Sofia. Dunne escaped from jail."

"Shit! I'll be right there. Call the guys and meet me in the conference room."

"Sure. Bye."

"Wait." Catherine stopped the detective from hanging up. "I'll tell Sara."

"Ok."

"Bye." Catherine hung up and looked back at her daughter. "I have to go." She told the little blonde.

"Ok." Lindsey tried to hide her disappointment.

"I'm sorry, sweetie." Catherine hugged her quickly. "Get your stuff and I'll drive you to Grandma's."

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

Sara checked through the peephole to see who was knocking at her door before answering.

"Catherine, I didn't expect to see you until later." She said with a big smile. "Come on in." She opened the door wider.

"Sara." Catherine stepped closer and placed a hand on the brunette's arm. "Dunne has escaped from jail."

"What?" Sara went white. She stared at Catherine for a second before running back into the apartment for her phone. Dialling a number, she held the phone to her ear.

"Hello." A woman answered.

"Veronica?" Sara almost shouted.

"She's gone, Sara." Kimberly cried into the phone. "Veronica and Julie are gone." She sobbed into the receiver. "Hello?" A male voice asked, having taken the phone from the distraught detective.

"Who are you?" Sara asked, falling to her knees.

"Mr. Jones." The voice answered. "We need CSI over here a.s.a.p."

"Yes." Sara whispered. "We're on our way."

She hung up the phone and looked at Catherine who was still standing in the doorway.

"He has her." Was all she could say before breaking down crying.

***

"Oh sweetie." Catherine stepped closer to Sara, wanting to provide some sort of comfort.

The brunette held up a hand stopping her. She took a few deep cleansing breaths.

"He's got her, Catherine." She repeated after getting her breathing under control. She wiped the tears from her eyes, willing herself to stop crying and keep a distance from the information she had just been given.

"We'll find..." Catherine was interrupted by her phone ringing. "Willows."

"Catherine, it's Brass. Bridget Lavisham is gone. I'm at the house, we need CSI assistance right now."

"He's got Veronica Lavisham too." Catherine informed the captain. "I'll have to get Grissom in on this."

"Just send people over here," Brass told her, "I'll get Sofia to the other scene."

"I'll send Nick and Warrick over." Catherine told him, hanging up the phone.

"He got Bridget too?" Sara asked, having gotten a hold of herself and seeming completely calm.

"Yes."

"I'll go there with Nick."

"Sara..."

"I have to help with this, Catherine."

"You touch any of the evidence over there it will be contaminated and consequently thrown out of court." Catherine looked at her sympathetically. "You're too close to this now."

"I can't just sit here!" Sara argued, loosing the cool she was trying so hard to maintain.

"Even if I say ok to this, Grissom will have you removed the second he's up to date." Catherine stepped closer, holding out her hand.

Sara turned away from the blonde. "I have to do something, I can't just..."

"It's ok to cry, Sara." Catherine tried to get through to the brunette. "Your best friend has been kidnapped."

"I'll be alright here, Catherine." Sara said to her with her back still turned. "Go do your job. Go solve this."

"Sara..."

"Just go!" Sara took a deep breath. "Get her back. Get all three of them back safely... Please."

"Ok." Catherine stepped back. "I'll call and keep you updated."

"I'll probably go to the lab and wait there." Sara told her without turning around.

"Right." Catherine dialled a number on her phone. "I'll see you later then."

"Sure."

Catherine hit the call button as she walked out of the apartment. She turned around to take one last look at Sara who was now hiding her head in her hands, sobbing. Her heart was breaking for the brunette, but the only thing she could do to help her right now was to work the case. She instinctively knew that Sara wouldn't accept physical comfort at the moment; that she needed to be alone with her grief.

"Warrick? I need you and Nick to go to Governor Lavisham's residence. His daughter has been kidnapped."

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

"Hi Grissom." Catherine walked up to the man standing outside Veronica's house. "Wow, this is a very impressive house." She stated, looking up at the large building.

"Yes." Grissom agreed.

"A place like this should have the best alarm systems around."

"It does." Grissom looked at her. "I checked."

"There were three guards on the daughter, four on Veronica and a top security system on top of that. How the hell did they even get to her, let alone get her out of the house without anyone noticing anything?" Catherine asked incredulously.

"That's what we're here to find out." Grissom answered, walking up to the door. "Hello, Sofia."

"Grissom." Sofia nodded at Catherine. "Catherine."

"Sofia." Catherine walked up to the two of them. "How could this happen? They got not one but both of the girls we were supposed to be protecting."

"I don't know." Sofia sighed, looking back inside the house. "She disappeared from her bedroom."

"Who discovered that she was gone?" Catherine asked.

"A Walter Jones." Detective Curtis told them. "Apparently Shaw called at 8.11 to talk to Veronica, but she was putting their daughter to bed. Jones went upstairs to get her, but found the bedroom empty."

"The child sleeps in her bedroom?" Grissom asked.

"Just as long as this case is going on." A dishevelled looking Kimberly said, appearing behind Sofia. "She wanted Jules close by for as long as there was a threat against her. Veronica worries a lot, and keeping the baby in the bedroom saved her from getting up to check on her every half hour."

"I'll take the bedroom." Grissom said, stepping past the two women at the door.

"Yeah." Catherine stopped next to Shaw and placed a comforting hand on her arm. "I'll just hear what Kimberly has to say and then I'll do the perimeter."

"Good." Grissom turned on his flashlight and pointed it up the stairs. "Up there?"

"I'll show you." Sofia said, and went up ahead of him.

"I'm so sorry, Kim." Catherine told the detective when the two had left.

"It's not your fault." Kim answered, and walked back into the house.

The blonde followed her into a large living room where two other people were waiting. Kimberly sat down on the couch next to Benjamin and Catherine sat down beside her.

"I need to know what happened." She said gently.

"I don't know what happened." Kimberly started crying again. "I wasn't here."

"She told you to go to work." Benjamin placed an arm around her, trying to comfort her.

"Were you here?" Catherine asked the man.

"No, I was here this afternoon, but she made me go back to Nancy to spend some time with her and Jeremy. She said she felt like she'd taken up enough of my time the last couple of days." The tears started running silently down his cheeks.

"I was here with two of the uniforms." The other man in the room spoke up. "Dr. Lavisham..."

"Christiansen!" Kimberly corrected him angrily. "Dr. Christiansen."

"Dr. Christiansen had made dinner and told us to stay down here and finish it. I offered to go with her but she told me to just relax and finish my meal. We had checked the premises fifteen minutes earlier and everything was normal."

"So you stayed down here and finished dinner." Catherine stated. "When was this?"

"A few minutes to 8."

"And when did Detective Shaw call?"

"8.10."

"And then what happened?"

"I went upstairs to the bedroom to get Dr. La... Christiansen, but the door was locked. I proceeded to call out for her and when she didn't answer I called the officers downstairs for backup and kicked in the door."

"And then what?" Catherine asked.

"We secured the premises and found that both Dr. Christiansen and her daughter were gone."

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

"Grissom." Catherine looked at the broken door as she walked into the bedroom.

"The door has been broken down." He stated the obvious.

"Yeah. Our Mr. Jones did that." Catherine told him. "Are you getting anything in here?"

"This was not your fault, Catherine." Grissom stood up from his crouched position and walked over to her.

"It was my case." Catherine told him. "I should have done more."

"You can't solve a crime that hasn't been committed." Grissom told her.

"I could have solved the one that had." Catherine countered.

"Did you follow every piece of evidence?"

"Of course I did."

"And did you get anything probative from that?"

"Nothing but speculations." Catherine sighed.

"Then this wasn't your fault." Grissom said with a smile, walking back to his kit. "And this is still your case." He added.

"Yeah?" Catherine asked.

"Yes." Grissom confirmed.

"I'll go have a look outside then." She turned and went outside.

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

"Did you find anything?" Catherine walked up to Grissom who was stood looking up at the house.

"Yes." He answered. "I've got hairs, fibres, prints. It looks like they're not afraid to leave anything behind anymore."

"Yeah," Catherine agreed. "I found a ladder and foot prints under the window." She pointed at a wall in the back of the garden that separated the house from the neighbour's house. "It looks like they got in down there and left the same way."

"Clever." Grissom noted. "Break into a one garden to get into the garden you really want to get into."

"We should get this stuff back to the lab." Catherine took one last look around the garden before turning around. "I'll meet you back there."

"Yes." Grissom turned around as well and walked behind her out of the garden and towards the cars.

In the car, Catherine pulled out her phone and dialled a familiar number. Waiting for it to be picked up she tapped her nails on the dashboard.

"Sidle." A croaky voice answered.

"It's me. How are you holding up?"

"I'm ok." Sara answered flatly.

"Ok." Catherine didn't buy that, but let it slide. "I'm on my way back from Veronica's. Where are you?"

"I'm still at home."

"Are you coming by the lab?"

"I don't know."

"You want me to come by your place?"

"You should work the case."

"I wish there was something I could do for you." Catherine said softly.

"Get them back."

"I'll do my best."

"I should let you get back to work."

"Sara..." Catherine couldn't finish her sentence before Sara interrupted her.

"I'll talk to you later." She said and hung up the phone.

"Damn." Catherine punched the steering wheel and leaned back in the seat. Sara had sounded so detached. Taking a deep calming breath she turned the key in the ignition and drove towards the lab.

***

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