Previous part of Blast from the past.
***
"Hey Brass." Warrick greeted the captain as he walked up to him.
"Warrick." Brass looked over at Nick who walked behind Warrick, looking up at the impressive mansion. "Nick."
"Hi Brass." Nick stepped up next to the two other men and looked into the house, not seeing anyone in the hall.
"Girl's room is upstairs." Brass explained. "Parents, brother and sister are in the living room, guards in the kitchen."
"You get their statements yet?" The Texan asked.
"The guards make their rounds every 30 minutes. They didn't see anything." Brass sighed. "I haven't gotten to the parents yet, but I'll get those while you do your thing." He said, walking back into the house.
"You want inside or outside?" Warrick asked.
"Doesn't matter to me." Nick replied.
"Hey guys." Greg walked up to them.
"Greg?" Nick turned around surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Gris sent me. He wants you…" He pointed at Nick. "To go process Burns' apartment."
"'Kay," Nick picked up his kit and turned back towards his car, "I'll see you guys later."
"Guess it's just you and me then." Greg said, looking expectantly at Warrick.
"Yeah." Warrick looked up at the house. "You take the outside and I'll take the girl's room."
"Sure." Greg picked up his kit and went to work.
"And Greg…" Warrick waited until Greg had turned around to look at him. "This isn't just a high profile case, it's also close to Sara - make sure everything you do is according to protocol."
"Yeah." Greg wasn't offended, he knew that he was still new and learning. He was just happy that he could help.
"And you just call if you need help with anything, better safe than sorry, alright?"
"Yeah, man." Greg turned and started walking towards the garden again. "I know where to find you."
"Good." Warrick smiled and went into the house. He knew that Greg was good, but he was still new to the job. He himself knew what it was like to have evidence thrown out of court because of some small technicality; he didn't want Greg to learn that the hard way. Definitely not on a case that involved Sara, who was unofficially in charge of the young man's training.
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Sara stayed where she was as Catherine left, waiting to hear the door close behind the blonde before she broke down crying. Dunne had gotten to Veronica and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She hadn't been able to protect Veronica from him and now she wasn't allowed to work the case.
She knew Catherine was right; that if she collected any of the evidence it was a great opportunity for a defence attorney to claim that the evidence had been tampered with. She knew that, but she still wanted - needed - to do something other than stay at home alone crying. She was happy that Catherine hadn't tried to comfort her; she couldn't deal with the physical contact right now. The only touch she was used to when crying was of one of her parents' fists. The fact that she had allowed Catherine to hold her at the prison was surprising to her, it had been a welcome surprise, but this time she couldn't allow to take up any of Catherine's time – she needed the blonde to work the case and solve it. Now she knew how Catherine had felt when she worked on Eddie's case - helpless, hopeless and weak.
As her crying subsided she sat down on the couch, staring into thin air. She tried hard to think of anything that could help to locate Dunne and his victims, but knew it was useless. She knew how much forensics helped in situations like these, but also how much luck played a part as well.
She looked at her watch. She had called Veronica at 8.30 and it was now 9.15 – they had been gone for about an hour. The first 48 hours were always critical in a kidnapping. She started her own countdown: 47 hours and counting. She began crying silently again. This kidnapping was different - the kidnapper had been obsessed with his victim for 12 years. The odds that Veronica was alive were good, the odds of her not being hurt were not, the odds of them finding her were… She stopped herself from finishing the thought. They would find them, they had to. They were the best lab in the country, if anyone could find them it would be her friends. She was shook out of her thoughts as her phone rang.
"Sidle." Her voice was raspy from the crying.
"It's me. How are you holding up?" Catherine asked worriedly.
"I'm ok." Sara answered flatly. She didn't want the other woman worrying about anything other than the case.
"Ok." She could tell that Catherine didn't buy it, and was happy when the blonde 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." What could she do at the lab other than sit in a corner not touching anything, not doing anything actually helpful regarding the case?
"You want me to come by your place?" She could tell by the tone of Catherine's voice that she was worried about her.
"You should work the case."
"I wish there was something I could do for you." Catherine said softly, almost making the brunette cry again.
"Get them back." She managed to get out.
"I'll do my best."
"I should let you get back to work." She needed to get of the phone.
"Sara…" Catherine started, but Sara cut her off.
"I'll talk to you later." She said, and hung up the phone.
She held her head in her hands, taking slow calming breaths to stop herself from crying again, when there was a knock on the door. Picking up her gun from the counter she looked though the peephole in the door and saw two uniformed cops she didn't recognise.
"Who is it?" She asked, not opening the door.
"Officer Chase and Jenkins." One of the police officers answered. "Captain Brass sent us."
"Just a sec." Sara told them, walking back to the couch and picking up her phone to dial Brass' number. "I need to check you guys are legit."
"Sure, Ma'am." The other officer answered, waiting patiently outside the door.
"Brass."
"Brass, it's Sara. Did you send two uniforms to my place?"
"Yeah," Brass confirmed. "Better safe than sorry."
"I guess." Sara said, opening the door and gesturing for the cops to come inside.
"I'd like you to go either to the lab or the precinct, just to make absolutely sure that you're ok." Brass told her.
"Why?" Sara asked dejectedly. "There's nothing I can do on this case."
"Look kid, you know Dunne better than any of us." Brass told her. "You can help prove or disprove our theories. Every little thing helps – you know that better than anyone."
"Ok." Sara glanced at the two officers as they looked around her apartment. "I'll see you at the lab then."
"Be careful." Brass told her sternly.
"I will." Sara hung up the phone and turned towards the cop who had stayed in the living room with her. "We're going to the crime lab." She informed him and started gathering her things.
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Walking into the lab, Catherine quickly delivered all her evidence to the appropriate technicians. After having done this she went to her office to get the files she needed for the meeting they were having as soon as the rest of the team returned to the lab. Just as she was ready to go, a police officer knocked on her door.
"Yes?" She looked up at her.
"CSI Brown had us check up on some people." The woman said. "I have the file here, but since he's not there they told me to give it to you."
"Yes, thank you." Catherine got up and took the folder the officer handed her. "Anything useful on Stanley Burns?"
"Just some background information, ma'am. Nothing that stands out." The female cop told her. "No parking or speeding tickets, no arrests – nothing like that."
"Ok." Catherine sighed. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." The cop left her alone.
The blonde went through the file but found nothing useful. The PD had checked Burns' apartment right after the escape to see if he and Dunne had gone there, but found nothing. There were no other addresses in his file, so they had nowhere else to check. All they could hope for was for the evidence they had collected to lead them somewhere and that Nick had found anything in the apartment that could lead them to the two and their victims. She left her office and went towards the conference room that they had made their main gathering place for this case. On the way there she ran into Brass.
"Brass." She called out to him.
"Catherine."
"Did you get anything from the Lavisham residence? Please tell me you got something." She asked, catching up with him.
"Nothing solid yet." Brass told her. "We're still canvassing both neighbourhoods hoping to find anyone who might have noticed strange cars or something like that around."
"Let's hope someone has. We need all the luck we can get right now." She went towards the conference room but realized the captain didn't follow her. "Aren't you coming for the meeting, Jim?"
"Yeah," He looked back at her. "I'll just go get Sara first."
"Sara?" Catherine stepped up next to him again. "Sara is here?"
"Yes." He nodded. "She agreed to come in when I asked her to."
"She did?" Catherine walked along with him. "She told me she probably wasn't going to stop by."
"I think she changed her mind when I sent over two uniforms to protect her." Brass said with a grin.
"She does like her privacy." Catherine mused. 'I just didn't think she'd want that from me anymore.' "Would you mind if I go get her?" She asked the man.
"No, be my guest." Brass turned and started walking back towards the conference room. "She should be in the break room."
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Driving down the highway towards the desert, Dunne turned towards his companion.
"Switching to this van was good planning, Stanley." He smiled and patted the other man on the shoulder.
"Thank you, Sir." Stanley replied with a wide smile, feeling very proud of himself.
"It has enough room for our entire family." Dunne looked back at Veronica, Bridget and Julie who were tied up on the floor in the back of the van. He laughed a little at Veronica's attempts at keeping Julie from falling around too much. "Good planning indeed, Stanley." He repeated as he turned forward again, looking out at the night sky.
***
"Knock, knock." Catherine said, knocking on the door to the break room.
"Catherine?" Sara looked up. "What are you doing here?"
"I work here." Catherine smiled.
"Right." Sara looked down at her folded hands. She knew that the blonde was trying to cheer her up a little, but she didn't have the energy to play along.
"Sorry." The other woman sat down beside Sara on the couch. "Bad joke."
"It's ok." Sara didn't look at her.
"No it's not." Catherine placed her hand in between the brunette's folded hands and looked up at her two bodyguards. "Could you leave us alone please?"
"We'll be right outside." Officer Jenkins informed them.
"I just wanted to make you feel a little better, Sara. I know how hard this is - I can see it on you."
"Catherine, you need to your focus to be entirely on this case." Sara said, looking down at their joined hands.
"No. I need to split my focus between the case, Lindsey and you." Catherine said. "I always have lots of balls in the air, that's just how I do things. That's how I work. That's how I deal with everything I see in this job. You're pulling away from me… Please don't pull away from me."
"What? You just love me so much all of a sudden?" Sara let go of the blonde's hand and got up.
"No," Catherine followed her. "But I would like the chance to find out if I could." She added softly.
"You don't understand." The brunette turned around facing her. "Veronica was taken on my watch!" She pointed at her own chest. "And I couldn't prevent her getting hurt this time, either! My watch, Catherine!"
"No. I'm the primary. He got her on my watch."
"Semantics."
"Sara, I care about you. I want to help yo…"
There was a knock on the door and Grissom looked in.
"Sara, can I talk to you for a second before the meeting?"
"Sure." The brunette looked at him questioningly.
"I'll wait outside for you." Catherine said and left the two alone.
"I know I'm not allowed to work this case." Sara started when she was alone with her supervisor.
"Good," Grissom smiled. "But that wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about."
"Then what?"
"I know this is hard for you and I want to help you. Maybe when this is over we can go to dinner and talk about it?"
"You're asking me out?"
"Yes."
"On a date?"
"Yes." The old man nodded with a smile.
"You're asking me on a date while my best friend in the world, her daughter and her sister are kidnapped?"
"Well," Grissom paused. "Yes."
"No." Sara shook her head.
"No?"
"Never gonna happen Grissom. How insensitive can you be? I'm hurting here, and you just…" She turned away from him. "Besides, I'm seeing someone else. Someone I've wanted to be with for so long, who pushes me to the limit but not beyond it. I could love her so easily if I just let myself."
"Her?" Grissom croaked.
"Yes." Sara nodded and looked out at Catherine who was talking to the two guards in the hall. "You were always the distraction, Grissom. It was so easy to pretend that you were the one and avoid facing my true feelings - knowing how she would challenge me like no one else could. How she could give me the kind of life that I have never had, but always believing that I would never stand a chance with her. But I do have a chance with her, and I'm not going to ruin that. I deserve happiness. I could never get that with you." She walked past him. "I have to go." She left the man alone and joined Catherine in the hall.
"You ok?" The blonde asked.
"I am now." Sara took a hold of the other woman's hand. "Let's go to that meeting."
They walked down the corridor hand in hand.
"You know people are going to know now, right?" Catherine asked, squeezing Sara's hand lightly. "Or at least suspect."
"That's the least of my worries right now." Sara told her. "I need your support right now." She added.
"You have it." Catherine squeezed her hand again, signalling that she was alright with people knowing as well. "So what did Grissom want?"
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"We'll leave you here for now." Dunne told the two women. "We all need to rest a little." He walked out holding Julie on one arm.
"Charles." Veronica spoke up and stopped him.
"What is it my sweet?"
"Please leave Julie here with me." She pleaded.
"Why would I do such a thing?" He looked at the crying little girl.
"She's scared, Charles." Veronica hoped to convince him by using his name.
"I'm glad you remember I prefer the name Charles." He mused.
"Please, Charles." She begged again. "It would mean so much to me. Please, for me – leave her here."
"You have learned how to beg, I see." He said looking down at her. "It does suit you, and it will make my job so much easier." He turned around to leave again.
Veronica knew she couldn't let him walk away with her daughter - she knew how impatient the man was. With the little girl being as scared as she was, the chances of her stopping crying any time soon was low, and who knew what he would do when he got tired of listening to that. She thought fast and made one last attempt at persuading him.
"The Lord gave her to me to protect." She lied to him. "She is yours and mine, but if you take her now she will always be scared of you and you will have let down Our Father." She prayed with every fibre of her being that going to his level of insanity would help.
He hesitated in the doorway, seemingly debating internally whether or not to believe her. Finally he put Julie down on the floor and closed the door behind him. Veronica rushed over to the little girl, picking her up and holding her close.
"Don't even think about escaping, girls." He said through the door. "You have nowhere to go if you even get out of this room."
Neither of the girls answered him, they just looked at each other. Bridget hadn't said a word since she had woken up in the van and Veronica was worried about the young woman, but she couldn't help her until she had made sure that her daughter was ok.
----------------------------
"Grissom uhm…" Sara hesitated. "Grissom asked me out."
"He what?" Catherine stopped abruptly and turned towards the brunette. "Your best friend is missing and he asks you out?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes," Sara nodded. "That pretty much sums it up."
"And?" Catherine asked.
"And I said no… Of course." Sara looked at the blonde.
"Yeah?" Catherine looked relieved, but needed to make sure.
"Yeah." Sara nodded and squeezed the other woman's hand playfully. "I'm dating you now, right?" When Catherine nodded she continued. "Well, who in their right mind would date him when they have a chance with you?"
Catherine smiled brightly and gave the brunette a short hug, but when she pulled back Sara held on, keeping Catherine in the embrace. She settled back into the hug, nuzzling the nape of the other woman's neck with her fingers to comfort her.
"We'll find them, sweetie." She whispered. "I promise that we will all do everything we can to get them back safely."
"Safely, but not unharmed." Sara whispered against her neck.
"I…" Catherine knew the other woman was right. "I'm sorry." She caught movement out of the corner of her eyes and looked over to see who was coming down the corridor. She caught Grissom's eyes as he stopped at the sight of the two of them together. She watched as he put two and two together and realization hit him. She couldn't be bothered to feel sorry for him though, he had had his chance and blown it. She wouldn't be that stupid, she thought as she held on tighter to the other woman. "We need to get to that meeting." She whispered to the brunette and loosened her grip.
"I know." Sara let go as well and looked the shorter woman in the eyes. "Thanks again."
"Anytime." Catherine took her hand again and led her towards the conference room, leaving Grissom alone in the corridor.
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An hour later, Veronica finally felt her daughter calm down and fall asleep against her chest. Bridget was sitting next to them on a small bed looking into thin air. The doctor put the little girl down and tucked her under the covers and kneeled down in front of her little sister; the baby sister she hadn't seen since she was 4 years old.
"Bridget." She said, gently trying to get eye contact with her. The young woman was showing obvious signs of shock and didn't answer her. "Bridget." She said a little more forcefully, but still didn't get a response from her. "I'm sorry, but this is for your own good." She whispered and slapped her on the cheek, finally earning a response. She jumped to the side as the girl leaned forward and threw up. Holding her hair back with one hand and rubbing her back soothingly with the other, she gently spoke to her. "You've got to stay with me here, kid. I need all the help I can get. Come back to the land of the living, sweetheart."
"Mommy?" The distressed girl looked up at her.
"No, honey." Veronica sat down next to her putting an arm around her. "It's Veronica."
"Veronica." Bridget looked around the almost bare room confused. "Where are we?"
"I don't know." Veronica sighed.
"He got me, didn't he?" Bridget asked, crying silently. "The guy who killed Siobhan got me."
"Yes." Veronica nodded in confirmation. "And his partner got me and..." She looked at her sleeping daughter. "Julie."
"Oh God." Bridget started sobbing hysterically. Veronica tried her best to comfort her while trying desperately not to break down too. She had to stay strong for Julie. She couldn't let them hurt her child and she would do her very best to keep her sister protected as well.
"Bridget," She forced the girl to look at her. "Bridget, you have to stay strong for me. You have to pull yourself together. I promise I will do everything I can to protect you, but this is the worst situation we could possibly be in. We need to stick together to get out of this, do you understand me?"
"Yes." Bridget whispered, but she couldn't stop crying.
"Look at me." Veronica ordered as she looked down. It hurt the older woman to have to be so hard on her sister, but for them to have a chance to get away from the two men they had to be tough. "I need to ask you…" She paused dreading the question she had to ask. "Are you a virgin?"
***
"Ok." Catherine spoke up to start the meeting as Grissom entered the room as the last. "We have put a rush on all the samples we've collected tonight, but does anyone have anything solid we can go on for now?" She looked around the people gathered in the room and continued when none of them answered her. "Nick? Anything from Burns' apartment?"
"I found several blueprints there," Nick answered. "One of the prison – God only knows how he got a hold of that."
"He needed a backup plan in case they were recognized leaving the prison." Sara thought out loud.
"Yes, that's what I'm guessing too." Nick nodded. "He had blueprints of both Dr. Christiansen's and the Governor's houses, plus detailed descriptions of the surrounding areas. There was a fourth one as well, but I haven't had time to find out what house it is." He spread out the blueprint out on the table so they all could look at it. "There are no notes on that one."
"We need to call someone in with an expertise in this." Catherine said. "Nick, get on it."
"Now?" Nick looked at her for confirmation.
"Yes." She nodded, and the Texan left the room with the blueprint under his arm.
"What else do we have?" Catherine asked the room.
"We have prints." Warrick spoke up. "I only had time to run a couple of them, but they were a definite match to Dunne and Burns."
"Did we get anything from the jail?" Catherine continued, wanting all new information to be in the open.
"Dayshift covered the jail." Sofia informed them all, looking down at a folder in her hand. "They didn't find anything there except for Dunne's clothes. The guards didn't even notice them leave because Dunne was dressed as one of them, wearing shades and a hat. The 'shrine' on Dunne's wall was gone, so presumably he took it with him."
"What shrine?" Sara interrupted, looking at the blonde detective.
"The walls were full of paper clippings - articles about Dr. Christiansen, pictures cut from magazines, internet printouts; things like that." Sofia looked at her apologetically.
"How did he get access to all that?" Sara asked.
"He was allowed to read newspapers." Sofia told her. "Burns must have given him the rest of it."
"And no one thought of reporting that?" Sara asked, loosing her calm.
Sofia shook her head. "He was a model prisoner. He didn't give them any unnecessary trouble so they let it slide."
"Let it slide?" The brunette sat up straight in her chair. "They let it slide and now he has escaped and taken three people…" She stopped as she felt Catherine's hand covering her own and looked over at the blonde.
"I know." Catherine said, looking her in the eyes. "But there's nothing we can do about that now."
"The day shift did get the surveillance from the parking lot." Sofia continued when Sara seemed to have calmed down somewhat. "We have the licence plate for the car they used to escape in and put out an alert on it. There's nothing so far, but we have every person in law enforcement on the look for it. Everybody knows that they took a cop's wife and child - we will find that car."
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"Why?" Bridget asked, wanting to know the reason why her sister would ask that question.
"Because I need to know." Veronica didn't give anything away, thinking the truth would upset her younger sister too much.
"I'm…" Bridget paused.
"The truth, Bridge. I'm not going to tell mom and dad."
"No, I'm not a virgin. I had a steady boyfriend for two years and we…" She looked at her older sister. "You know… About six months ago. But we broke up three months ago."
"Ok." Veronica thought about their situation for a minute. She didn't know if her sister could handle hearing about what happened to her the first time she met Dunne - she hardly knew her and didn't know how she would react to the story. But wasn't it better to be prepared for what would possibly happen rather than being violated without any warning? She sighed deeply, tucking the blankets more securely around her daughter. She needed to tell her sister the truth and just hope that she wouldn't break down.
"Bridget…" She stopped to take the younger woman's hand in hers. "Bridget, eleven years ago I was assaulted, raped and almost killed by one of the men who kidnapped us." She continued to tell her story to her sister whilst keeping an eye on her daughter, making sure that she wouldn't wake up during her tale. She left out the darkest details, but made sure that Bridget knew how serious it had all been. "So, you see why this is not the best place in the world to be." She finished.
Bridget nodded slowly, trying to process the information she'd been given. She felt numb. She looked down at the sleeping form of the little girl on the bed.
"Will they…" She didn't finish the question, but looked so intently at the girl that Veronica got her meaning.
"Not as long as I'm still breathing." She swore. "No one will ever hurt my baby as long as I am alive."
"Are they going to kill us?"
Veronica sighed and looked at the young girl.
"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know." She put a comforting arm around the girl's shoulder. "But I'll do what ever I can to keep you two safe." She promised.
"No." Bridget turned and looked at her. "Don't let yourself be hurt because of me. We've already hurt you too much. I couldn't…"
"Shhh…" The doctor hugged her tightly to her. "You were never a part of that."
"But I never…"
"You were four." Veronica held her out at arms length and looked her in the eyes. "I never blamed you or Matthew or Anita. I've put it all behind me and once this is all over we will change things."
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"Are you sure we should be here?" Benjamin asked as Kimberly parked the car at the side of the street.
"We need to do something." Kimberly sat still looking out the front window. "My wife and child are gone and I need to do something to get them back."
"Yes, but here?" Benjamin looked out at the building. "What can you do here?"
"I'm not sure if I can do anything." She looked over at him. "But you might be able to get something done."
"I haven't talked to them for years, Kimberly." He sighed. "She wants me to forgive them, but…"
"A rapist has your sister and…" She stopped, forcing herself not to cry again. "And your niece."
"What do we need from them?"
"We need people out looking for them. We need all the guards he can spare. I don't know what the hell we can do, but we at least have to try something."
"I know." He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder squeezing lightly to comfort her. He looked over at her again. "Do you love her?"
"What?" She looked at him, not believing that he could even ask that question.
"She wanted me to forgive you as well, but I need to know first. Do you love her?"
"Yes." She looked him straight in the eye. "I would switch places with her in a heartbeat."
"She wouldn't let you." He looked out at the big mansion before looking back at her. "If you ever treat her like that again, you and I are going to have a big problem."
"I won't." She promised.
"If we get them…" He was stopped by a hand on his arm.
"We will get them back." She said vehemently. "Don't think in ifs. We will get them back." She opened the car door and jumped out of the car.
Benjamin sighed, but got out of the car as well, following her up the path to the door. He put a comforting arm around her shoulders as she rang the bell and looked up anxiously as the door was opened.
"Yes?" A young girl looked at them expectantly, as if it was completely normal to ring the bell in the middle of the night.
"I'm Benjamin Lavisham." Benjamin introduced himself. "I need to talk to my father."
"Please come in Mr. Lavisham." The girl opened the door so they could get in. "I'm so sorry about your sister."
"Thank you." Benjamin nodded. "This is her wife Kimberly."
"Her what?" The maid looked at him, obviously confused. "Miss Bridget is not married."
"Bridget?" Benjamin waited for the girl to continue, but before she had the chance to do so they were interrupted by a voice coming from the stairs.
"Benjamin?" A male voice asked.
"Matt?" The man looked up at his younger brother. "What is going on here?"
"Bridget has been kidnapped. Dad got Anita and I home right away to make sure that we won't be taken as well." The young man shrugged. "I don't think we will though. They seemed to be going straight for Bridge."
"God." Benjamin hid his head in his hands. "I can't believe this is happening."
"Anita is upstairs with mom." Matthew continued. "Dad's…" He made a helpless gesture with both hands.
"They took Veronica as well." Benjamin looked up at his younger brother who sat down on the stairs as the news hit him. The older man walked up to him and sat down, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And her little girl too."
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"Ok. Everybody get back to your evidence." Catherine was about to close the meeting. "If anyone gets something solid, you call me. Communication is the keyword in this kind of situation. All the techs know that this is absolutely top priority…" She stopped and looked up as Ecklie walked into the room. "Can I help you, Conrad?" She asked.
"I need an update. The Sheriff and I have a press conference in an hour and I need to know how the case is going."
"Rick, Sofia." Catherine looked at them. "Will you take care of that?"
"Sure." They both got up and walked out of the room leaving Ecklie behind.
"Conrad, that was a sign for you to follow them." Catherine told him.
"I would like the update from the senior CSI, not those two." He pointed after them.
"Take it or leave it, Conrad. I have other pressing matters to attend to." Catherine dismissed him.
He turned towards Grissom with a huff.
"Gil?"
"Conrad."
"Will you do something about this!"
"I am not lead on this, Conrad. There's nothing I can do except work the case."
Ecklie huffed again, but disappeared out the door in search of Sofia and Warrick. He would have to deal with this insubordination later.
"Brass?" Catherine looked at the captain. "Do you have anything else?"
"Not yet." Brass said. "But I will get out canvassing along with the uniforms. Chase and Jenkins will stay on Sara, and the Governor's house is covered as well. Sofia will stay here to sort the statements."
"I can help with that." Sara spoke up. When Catherine was about to say something she quickly cut her off. "It's not evidence. There is no way I could change statements from witnesses, not even the best defence attorney can get the case thrown because of that."
"I was going to say that it was a good idea." Catherine told her with a small smile. "Gives you something else to think about."
"Oh." Sara sat back a little in her seat. "Ok. Yeah, I'll help Sofia then."
"Good." Catherine started gathering the files in front of her. "Greg, you go start processing the evidence from the Governor's house. Warrick will come and help you when he's done with Ecklie. Grissom, you and I will start on the evidence from Dr. Christiansen's house." As both men nodded and got up and left the room Catherine turned towards Sara. "Will you tell Warrick to go on with the evidence from the Lavisham house when he gets back?"
"Sure." Sara smiled. "Thanks for…" She paused trying to find the right words. "Letting me do this." She settled on.
"You're one of the best, Sara. We couldn't do it without you."
"I mean…" The brunette got up and took a hold of the blonde's hands. "Thanks for letting me blow off steam and just continue like it didn't happen. Thanks for keeping me grounded during all this." She looked directly at the other woman. She took a deep breath to get the courage to utter her next words. "I don't think I could go through this without you."
***
Catherine walked down the corridor searching for Nick, having just left Sara to get started on the statements in the conference room. Despite their seriousness, the brunette's words had made her feel warm and tingly inside. She felt like the luckiest person alive to be the one that Sara had let in behind all of her defences. As she turned the corner she saw Nick in one of the labs talking to someone on the phone. She walked in without disturbing him, getting lost in thoughts waiting for him to finish.
Things had developed fast between her and Sara in the last couple of days, not that she minded really. She had always been the type to jump into things without thinking too much about the consequences. Sure, she'd had a scare with Adam Novak, but that had been different, she would never have considered a relationship with him – with Sara she would. Hell, she was already in a relationship with the other woman as far as she was concerned, despite the fact that they hadn't even been on a date or even had sex yet. Sex – she wasn't sure that it would be just that with the brunette, they would make love.
The blonde smiled as the thought crossed her mind. Nick, still on the phone, smiled back thinking she was smiling at him.
The feelings she had for Sara had to have been buried somewhere in her subconscious for a long time, Catherine reasoned. There was no way that she could feel this strongly for her after barely a week, and she did feel very strongly for her. She didn't want to use the L word yet, but things were heading in that direction and she just hoped that Sara felt the same about her. She thought she did because she had been very open about her feelings since the case started. She had allowed Catherine to see her cry; a necessary part of life to the blonde, but the biggest sign of weakness to the brunette. And she had told her that she couldn't go through this terrible time without her. That had to mean that things were going in the right direction, right?
"Catherine?" Nick interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Yes," Catherine blinked him into focus. "Are you getting anything on the blueprint?"
"Nothing so far," Nick sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Hey, didn't you date a guy with some expertise in this kind of thing once?"
"Oh yeah, you're right, I did," Catherine suddenly remembered. "Paul Newsome. Here, let me find his number for you." She looked through the numbers stored on her cell and gave it to him. "Just tell him that I'd appreciate all the help he can give us – and it probably wouldn't hurt to mention that the Governor would as well."
"Right," Nick smiled, "I'll call him right away."
"Great. Call me as soon as you get anything." Catherine said as she left the room, headed towards the lab where Grissom was working. She wasn't really sure if now was the time for them to have a talk about Sara, a talk she wasn't looking forward to.
----------------------------
"Dad?" Benjamin knocked on the half opened door to the Governor's office. When nobody answered he opened the door fully and entered the dark room. "Dad?" He asked a little louder.
"What?" The Governor turned from where he was stood looking out the window, his voice flat and detached.
Benjamin turned on the lights and took a closer look at his father, whom for years he had seen only in papers and on TV. The man seemed to have aged overnight; his face had a greyish glow to it and he looked older than his years. His eyes had lost their usual sparkle, the same sparkle Benjamin had always seen in his twin sister's eyes. The thought of her made him speak up again.
"They took Bridget?" It was a rhetorical question really, but he had to get the conversation started somewhere.
"Yes." His father sighed in the same defeated tone of voice.
"They took Veronica as well."
"Oh God." The older man sat down in the chair behind his desk and hid his head in his hands.
"And Julie." Benjamin added.
"Julie?" The Governor looked up at him, the tears evident in his eyes. "Who is Julie?"
----------------------------
Veronica sat back down with a sigh. She had been trying to find a way out of the room, but without any luck.
"What are we going to do?" Bridget asked.
"We are going to think things over." Veronica answered. "The only chance we have of ever escaping this nightmare is if I can outthink him."
"How do you outthink a psychopath?" The younger woman asked, but was answered only with a shrug – Veronica didn't know.
----------------------------
Kimberly sat on a chair in the Lavisham living room. Matthew was sitting on the couch opposite her, but she had no idea what to talk to him about.
"So…" Matthew started. "You married my sister?"
"Yes." Kimberly nodded.
"How long have you been married?"
"Almost four years."
"Right." Matthew looked at his hands, before looking back up at her. "Is she happy?" He asked quietly.
Kimberly felt the tears pressing but willed them not to fall.
"We were getting back to happy." She answered truthfully.
"What do you mean, getting back to happy?" A new voice asked.
The detective looked around and found the person belonging to the voice.
"That's my other sister Anita." Matthew introduced. "Nita this is Kimberly, Veronica's wife."
The two women nodded in acknowledgement of each other, both sizing the other up.
"Well, are you going to answer my question?" Anita demanded.
"It's really none of your business." Kim told her.
"She's my sister; that makes it my business."
"You haven't been her sister for more than ten years!" Kimberly stood up, prepared for a fight.
"How dare you come here and…"
"Anita." An authoritative voice stopped her. "She's right. None of us have been a family to Veronica for a long time – too long."
Kimberly looked at the woman talking and saw, again, how her wife would look twenty years from now. How she would look if she… She shook her head dismissing the thought; that was how Veronica would look twenty years from now.
"It's nice meeting you again, Kimberly." Helen Lavisham held out her hand and Kim shook it. "May I call you Kimberly?"
"Yes," Kimberly sat back down. "Nice to meet you again Mrs. Lavisham."
"I just wish it was under better circumstances." Helen smiled sadly. "And please call me Helen."
"Yes, so do I," Kimberly nodded. "I just want them back."
"Them?" The older woman looked at her. "Oh God, did they get Veronica as well?" Tears fell silently down her cheeks.
"And Julie." The detective told them.
"Julie?" Helen looked at her. "Who's Julie?"
-------------------------------
"Hi." Sofia sat down next to Sara with a sigh.
"How did it go with Ecklie?" Sara asked.
"He was being an ass as usual." Sofia responded, making a face. "Did you find anything here yet?"
"Not really," Sara said. "I'm just getting started myself."
"Look, Sara…" Sofia started as she was looking through a stack of papers. "If you need to talk about anything, I'm here to listen."
Sara looked up surprised.
"Really?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Really." Sofia looked up from the papers and met the brunette's eyes. "Maybe we started out not liking each other that much, but I'd like to think that's changed."
"It has." Sara stated. "And it's nothing personal, but I don't think I can open up to you just yet."
"That's ok." Sofia said with a smile. "Just promise me you won't keep it all bottled up inside. At least let Catherine comfort you a little."
"I am letting her…" Sara stopped abruptly and looked at the detective. "You knew?"
"It was obvious." Sofia said with a chuckle. "Now let's get on with this and catch those bastards." With that she started reading her papers again.
Sara looked at her once more before looking down at her own papers.
When had they been obvious?
----------------------------
"Julie's…" Benjamin sat down opposite his father. "Julie is Veronica's daughter."
"Oh God," The Governor started crying silently. "She has a daughter?"
"Yes." Benjamin nodded. "She's three and the most gorgeous little girl, and she has been kidnapped by psychopaths."
"My daughter has a daughter." The Governor mumbled to himself.
"Dad, we have to do something to get them back." Benjamin tried to get through the older man's grieving.
"But what can we do? Every police officer in town is out looking for them, what can we do?"
"You have men to protect you, you have money, you have influence. Don't tell me there's nothing you can do!"
----------------------------
The door opened slowly, revealing two dark shadows against the lights shining in though the doorway. They stood, silently watching the two women inside the room, ignoring the sleeping child.
"I think it is time for your first lesson, Stanley." One of the men said to the other as he stepped inside the room. "Go get your mate."
"Yes, Sir." The other man stepped into the room as well and walked towards a shaking Bridget.
"No!" Veronica stood up shielding her sister. "He can not take her, Charles."
"Now, now, Veronica. What kind of behaviour is that?" Dunne shook his head. "I thought you had learnt your lesson."
"He can't take her yet, Charles." Veronica stood firmly in place, not letting Stanley near Bridget.
"Move away from her now, Veronica, or I will have to move you myself. You cannot prevent her from seeing her true path."
"I'm not trying to do that, Charles. I'm trying to save you from making a mistake."
"Me making a mistake?" He looked at her laughing. "I never make mistakes."
"You are about to." Veronica challenged. "If you let him take her now, you will go against the word of the Lord."
"And how exactly will I do that?" He asked her, unbelievingly.
"They are not married." Veronica stated.
"That girl was made for Stanley by the good Lord." Dunne countered.
"They have not been lawfully wed in the house of God." Veronica hoped that she was convincing him. "They have not been blessed by a servant of God."
"They have been blessed by me!" Dunne shouted.
"Is that how you will defend this blasphemy when you face Him?" Veronica shouted back.
-------------------------------
"Julie is our daughter." Kimberly said quietly, not succeeding at keeping the tears at bay this time around. "She's three. She's my little angel and she's missing."
"Daughter?" Helen looked at the distraught woman. "I'm a grandmother?"
Kim could only nod.
"Do…" The older woman bit back a sob. "Do you have a picture of her?"
"Yes." Kimberly took out a photo from her purse. "This is the newest one I have of her. It was taken two months ago, at Christmas." She handed it to the woman.
Helen Lavisham looked intently at the photo.
"She looks just like Veronica." She smiled through tears. "Do you want to see pictures of her when she was a child?" She asked the detective.
-------------------------------
"Curtis." Sofia answered her phone. She listened to what the caller had to say. "Yes, I'll be right there. Secure the premises and start canvassing the area." She ordered as she finished the call.
Sara looked at her for an explanation.
"We found the car." Sofia told her.
"Go tell Catherine." Sara said, feeling a small ray of hope. "I'll continue with this." She gestured to all the statements they still had to work through.
Sofia nodded and ran out the door but doubled back.
"We will get them back, Sara." She said before vanishing again.
"I hope you're right." Sara whispered to herself.
***
"Gil." Catherine entered the lab where Grissom was working.
"Catherine." He didn't look up at her.
"Are we going to talk about this?" She asked, putting on her latex gloves.
"About what?"
"About Sara." Catherine wasn't going to let him off the hook.
"What about Sara?" He asked, not wanting to talk about it.
"Gil." Catherine sighed.
He looked up from what he was doing and looked at her questioningly.
"Sara and I are going to be a couple," she told him. "She's… she's become very important to me."
"I assume neither of you will let it interfere with your work, so I don't see what that has to do with me." Grissom continued with the evidence he was processing.
"For God's sake, Gil," Catherine threw up her hands. "One, you asked Sara on a date and she said no. Two, you and I are friends, and three, competing over the same woman isn't good for a friendship."
Grissom sighed and took off his glasses. "Catherine," he looked at her, "Sara has made it very clear to me that there's only one person for her and that person isn't me. There will be no competing."
"And our friendship?" Catherine inquired.
"Will stay the same." Grissom was already processing the evidence again.
Catherine looked at him disappointingly before starting to process evidence herself, and they continued to work in silence.
----------------------------------
"How dare you raise your voice to me?" Dunne slapped Veronica across the face.
"Mommy?"
Veronica held up her hand to her face and looked back at her little girl.
"It's ok, Baby." She said to her. "Bridget, pick her up and comfort her please."
Bridget did as she was told.
"Charles," Veronica turned towards her capturer again, "you cannot defend this to the Lord when it's your time to face him." She said quietly, not wanting her daughter see her get slapped again.
"You know nothing of the ways of the Lord. You are a mere woman, put on this earth only to please me, just as Bridget has been created to please Stanley."
"Says who? Did Stanley tell you or did you decide for him?" Veronica countered.
----------------------------
"Catherine," Sofia came in and interrupted the silence between the blonde and old man.
"Sofia," Catherine looked up. "Did you get anything?"
"A patrol car found Burns' car," Sofia told her, "I'm heading out now, we'll need CSI." She handed Catherine a slip with the address and left them again.
Catherine looked at the slip and then at Grissom. "I'll go to the car," She decided. "I'll bring Greg." She paused. "And Sara."
"Sara?" Grissom looked at her. "Catherine, you can't let your personal feelings…"
"I know, Gil," the blonde interrupted him, "but she needs this. It will be eyes only for her."
"I'm advising you against this."
"Thank you, but Sara is going." Catherine told him. "Will you keep things going here and call me if you get anything new?"
He nodded and she left the room in search of Sara.
----------------------------
"I will start making calls." The Governor straightened up in his chair. Two of his children and his… his granddaughter – he had a granddaughter. And they were all in danger. His son was right, he was a man of great influence, he could at least try doing something.
"Good," Benjamin nodded. "I'll go see how Kim is holding up." He got up and started leaving.
"Son," the older man spoke up.
Benjamin looked back at him.
"I'm sorry." He offered sincerely.
Benjamin nodded slowly and left the room. He had not forgiven his parents for what they had put his sister through, but he would try.
As he came into the living room he saw his mother sitting with Kimberly on one side and Anita and Matthew on the other side, looking through a photo album.
"Julie does look exactly like Veronica," Kimberly said, "I never realized just how much."
"She was such a beautiful child." Helen smiled. "She was so kind and sweet; always protecting the ones who couldn't protect themselves."
"She is still beautiful." Kimberly said softly. "And she still protects everybody, she always wants to save people. And now I can't do either for her."
"You already did." Benjamin spoke up. "She told me right before she…" He stopped.
The four on the couch looked over at him.
"She said that you were the only person who had ever made her feel completely safe. Not Dad, not Sara, not me – you."
"But I…"
"No!" Benjamin stopped her. "You make her feel safe. She will come back, because she has you to come back to. She's too damn stubborn to give up when her life was finally getting back to… when she had finally found you again."
Kimberly kept looking at him and finally she let the tears flow, finally she let herself break down. Her wife and child were missing and there was nothing she could do about it.
----------------------------------
"Sara."
The brunette looked up and saw Catherine standing in the doorway.
"Catherine."
They looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Catherine seemed to seek something in Sara's gaze. Finally she found what she was looking for, CSI Sidle had taken over, Sara had been pushed aside for now.
"We got the car." She told her.
"Yes, I know. I was here when Sofia got the call."
"Eyes only." Catherine told her as she turned to leave.
"What?" Sara looked at her backside, confused.
"You're coming," Catherine threw over her shoulder. "But eyes only. If I see you so much as think about touching a piece of evidence you're back to being a CSI level 1. Understood?"
Getting up and jogging up to the blonde, Sara nodded.
"Yes, Dear." She smiled. Finally it felt like they were getting somewhere.
Catherine chuckled, relieved. If Sara could joke a little then things were looking up.
"What about the statements?" Sara asked more seriously.
"I have arranged to have a couple of officers go through them." Catherine told her. "Chase and Jenkins will still be right behind you."
"Great," Sara sighed. "Why do I need them when I'm at a crime scene filled with cops and you?"
"Just because." Catherine replied, looking for Greg.
"That's not an answer, Catherine."
-------------------------------
"You cannot save her." Dunne backhanded her and she fell to the floor.
"You will not save yourself from eternal damnation if you let him take her now." Veronica didn't want to give up.
"Get her up!" Dunne ordered Stanley.
He took her roughly by the arm and dragged her to her feet.
"I will teach you not to disobey me," Charles said to her, his face only inches from hers. "You will learn where your place in life is." He kissed her roughly.
As he ended the kiss, she spat on the floor in disgust. "I will never succumb to you." She hissed.
"We will see about that." He smiled evilly and turned to Bridget. "You better keep that brat quiet if you know what is good for you." He said, pointing to a crying Julie.
"You want me to take care of it, sir?" Stanley asked.
"No!" Veronica stood in front of her sister and daughter. "You will not get near her as long as I am alive."
"Bring Veronica to my room. I will have to teach her a lesson." Dunne ordered and left the room.
"Yes, sir." Stanley grabbed her by the arm and forced her to follow Dunne.
"I love you, Julie. Mommy will be back soon. You stay with Bridget, ok?" Veronica tried her best not to sound as terrified as she was. Her worst nightmare was about to come true, again.
-------------------------------
Sara, Catherine and Greg arrived at the scene in record time. Walking towards the car Sara looked around at the neighbourhood, not really recognizing anything.
"Did you get anything from the canvass, Sofia?" Catherine asked the detective as they walked up to them.
"Nothing yet." She shook her head. "But we will get something. This is a residential area, someone has to have seen something. I'll get onto it now that you're here."
"Good." Catherine was already putting on her gloves. "Contact me as soon as you get anything."
"I will." The detective left them.
"Greg," Catherine looked up to see if she had his attention, "you do the perimeter. Anything looking the least bit out of place you bag and tag, got it?"
"Yes." Greg almost saluted her, but stopped himself just in time. "I'll get right on it."
"Greg." Sara stopped him.
"Yes?"
"Keep a good look out for tire tracks. Most likely they switched to another car here or somewhere near here."
"Got it." Greg started his investigations.
Sara walked closer to the car.
"Sara…" Catherine said warningly.
"I know, I know." Sara held up both hands in the air. "Eyes only."
"Good." The blonde put a hand on her arm a second in support, before starting to process the car.
----------------------------
"Are you absolutely sure?" Nick asked.
"Yes, Mr. Stokes." The man answered. "I showed that building to a man, a Mr. Prick if I remember correctly, about two months ago. He bought it, paid in cash."
"He paid in cash?" Nick asked disbelievingly. "And that didn't raise a red flag, Mr. Newsome?"
"This is Las Vegas, Mr. Stokes." The man answered in a tone that indicated that it was answer enough.
"And the address?" Nick asked. "Could you just write that down for me?"
"Absolutely." Paul wrote down the address.
"Thank you so much for your help." Nick was almost out of the door wanting to find Catherine as soon as possible.
"Mr. Stokes?" Nick turned back to the man. "Will you tell Catherine to give me a call sometime? I would love to see her again, if you know what I mean." Newsome smiled.
"I sure will." Nick smiled a fake smile. "When hell freezes over." He mumbled low enough that the other man didn't hear him, and left the room.
----------------------------
"This is for your own good, you know that." Dunne preached as he tied up a naked Veronica to the bed. "You will learn to obey me!" He finished tying the ropes and started removing his own clothes. "I will erase the memory of the devil from your mind."
Tears fell silently down her cheeks as he forced himself into her. She knew that the beating would soon start as well. She only prayed that her daughter would be safe.
***
"Willows." Catherine answered her phone. She was about halfway done processing the car and having so far gotten nothing, was getting frustrated. Normal procedure was to have the car towed to the lab, but this case was too important to waste the time a tow would take.
"Catherine, it's Nick."
"Nick, can you hold on just a sec?" Catherine asked as she noticed Sofia approaching. "Did you get anything?" She asked the blonde detective.
"Yes." Sofia nodded. "The kid over there," she pointed at a boy outside the police tape, "collects license plate numbers. He noticed a van parked across the street and took the number."
"Does it belong to our guys?" Catherine asked.
"He saw two men getting into the van yesterday afternoon, so my guess would be yes, it is them." Sofia smiled.
"Have you tracked the number yet?" Sara asked, having heard the end of the conversation.
"They're doing it as we speak." Sofia told her.
"Great." Catherine picked up her phone again. "Great news, Nick , we have a license plate number."
"I have even better news," Nick smiled, "I have an address for a building a Mr. Prick bought from Paul Newsome."
"Please tell me that's an alias for Burns."
"I showed him a picture and he made a positive I.D."
"Nick, I could kiss you right now!" She exclaimed.
Sara looked up. If Nick had news that would lead to Veronica, Bridget and Julie she would be ok with Catherine kissing him, as long as it was a very short, very small peck on the cheek. Hell, she might even give him one as well. She waited impatiently for Catherine to finish the call.
"Let me have the address." Catherine gestured for a pen and paper and Sofia quickly gave it to her. Writing down the address, she continued talking to Nick. "Sofia is here with me, I'll let her know and we will meet you there." She nodded to Sofia and handed her the address, and the blonde hurried off to order the officers and the SWAT team to the location.
"What about Sara?"
"She is here with me as well, I'll give her the good news."
"Ok, Catherine," Nick smiled. "I'll meet you at the address."
"Yes." Catherine nodded. "And Nick?"
"Yeah?"
"Good work."
"Thank you." He hung up with a smile.
"Do we have them?" Sara asked to make sure.
"We do." Catherine nodded, smiling widely.
The brunette stood still for a moment taking in the news - the fantastic news - and then picked up the blonde and swung her around once before setting her back down. Looking her deeply in the eyes, she whispered, "Thank you."
"Don't thank me, thank Nick, he got the address." Catherine smiled.
"I will." Sara smiled back. "Just not like this." And then she kissed the woman in front of her.
The kiss was short but sweet. If she hadn't been on a scene with reporters around her, Catherine would have thought that it ended all too quickly. She gave Sara a short hug to show that she was alright with the kiss.
"We need to get to that address." She told her.
"I know." Sara turned around to go to the car, but Catherine stopped her.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to go there?"
"I'm going Catherine." Sara started walking towards the car again.
The blonde sighed. "You stay outside with the rest of us, Sara." She called out after her. The brunette only held up a hand signalling that she had heard her.
----------------------------------------
Kimberly fumbled for her phone as it started ringing, she was still crying but she didn't care. She looked at the display showing Sofia Curtis as the caller. Looking at Ben, she answered it.
"Shaw."
"Kim, we have an address." Sofia told her.
"Where?"
"Kim…"
"Where?" She cut her off, making it clear that not answering was not an option.
Sofia gave her the address and directions on how to get there.
"I'll be there in fifteen minutes." She said before hanging up. "I have to go." She told the others as she got up from the couch.
"Did they find them?" Matthew got up as well. "I'm coming with you."
"Me too." Anita got up as well.
"Me too." Benjamin said right after.
"No." Kim held up her hand. "I'll go alone. I'm a cop, they won't let any of you get near the place."
"But…" Benjamin wanted to convince her to let him come along.
"No, Benjamin." She left the room heading out for her car.
"Where's your car, Matt?" Ben asked.
"My keys are on the table by the door, the car in the driveway." Their mother answered before Matthew had a chance. "Go! I'll tell your father."
"Thanks, mom." Benjamin ran out of the room followed by his siblings.
"Please dear God, let them find them safe and unharmed." Helen Lavisham whispered the little prayer before going to her husband's office to tell him the news.
-------------------------------------
Dunne finished his business quickly and Veronica was very grateful for that.
"I will keep teaching you until you have learned your lesson, Veronica." He said as he put his pants on. "This is for your own good."
He untied her and she got up trying to get to her clothes.
"I didn't tell you that you could get up!" He hit her across the face, making her fall back onto the bed.
"I will die before obeying you." She said forcefully between sobs. She had survived being attacked by this man once and she would be damned if she would let him break her this time.
"You will learn to obey." He said slowly with an evil glint in his eyes. "You will learn."
Veronica closed her eyes expecting the fist flying towards her face.
----------------------------------
Catherine, Sara and Greg were driving behind the flashing lights of the police cars. Once they reached the city limits they cut off the sirens so they wouldn't alert Dunne and Burns, and when they got closer to their destination they shut off the lights as well. They drove in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Sara was worried that they were too late, she had dealt with Dunne before and knew what he was capable of. She couldn't help but think that Dunne had already hurt one or more of his hostages, she just hoped that Julie wasn't one of them – no child should experience that kind of pain in their life. No one should.
Both Catherine and Greg were worried about Sara coming along with them, but neither of them expressed their doubts. They both knew that when Sara had decided on coming no one could keep her away. Catherine looked over at the brunette sitting in the passenger's seat. Sara was sitting there stoic as ever with the usual blank expression on her face. She was impossible to read. Catherine gave up trying and just reached out to hold her hand.
Sara felt Catherine look at her as she drove towards the warehouse, but did her best to keep her face neutral. She was worried sick about her friend and her family, but she couldn't show that to Catherine, not yet. She was sure about her feelings for the other woman, but she still had doubts about the blonde's feelings for her. How could she be sure if this was a relationship that was going to last? How could she be sure that she wasn't just this month's toy for Catherine? She was ashamed to have these thoughts, but maybe her father had been right when he had said that she wasn't worth loving and never would be. She was happy with the silence in the car, then she didn't have to waste her energy making mindless small talk. As she felt Catherine take her hand she couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her face. Maybe she had really finally found the person who she could fight all her demons with. Maybe she had finally found the one who thought that Sara would be worth it, even if Sara didn't think so herself.
As they approached the warehouse all cars turned their lights off so not to alert Dunne and Burns that they were coming. Parking half a mile away from the warehouse they got out of the car and saw Nick's car driving up behind them and Warrick and Nick got out and joined them. They all stood together in silence and Catherine was the only one to notice that Grissom was not among them. As they stood there side by side, Catherine still holding onto Sara's hand, watching the police officers and SWAT team preparing to go into the building, they saw a car driving up to the scene followed closely by another. Kimberly parked the car carelessly and got out of the car, so did Ben and his siblings who had been in the other car.
Catherine squeezed Sara's hand a little harder as she saw Kimberly drawing her gun and walking towards the warehouse.
***
Sara let go of Catherine's hand and ran after Kimberly. Getting in her way she held up both hands trying to stop her.
"You can't go in there, Kimberly."
"Watch me!" The detective said through clenched teeth, trying to get past Sara.
"Kimberly, stop!" Sara grabbed her by the shoulders but Kim shrugged her off.
"Sara, get out of my way!" Kimberly stopped and looked her straight in the eyes and Sara recognized the anger and hate in them all too well.
"I can't." Sara tried to get through to her. "She would kill me if I let you in there without backup."
"Get your gun then." Kimberly tried to get past her once again and succeeded this time.
"He will kill them if he sees you coming." Sara said forcefully to get through to her.
Kimberly stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at Sara. "I have to do something, Sara. I couldn't protect my own family, the least I can do is get them back."
"Not like this." Sara walked up to her placing a hand on her shoulder. "You will go to jail if you kill him, and then what good will you be to her?"
Kimberly hung her head trying not to cry.
"Let the SWAT team do their job and wait for her here. That's when she'll need you the most. That's when Julie will need you the most." Sara had kept her hand on the detective's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back to the others and wait." She noticed the tears running down the other woman's cheeks and felt helpless. She wasn't used to comforting other people. She looked helplessly at Catherine as they almost reached the others. This was her field of expertise; she was the one who was good with people. Silently she pleaded for her to come help her to comfort the distraught woman.
Catherine saw and recognized the look in Sara's eyes immediately and rushed to the two women. She drew Kimberly into a strong hug as if trying to share some of her own strength with the woman. She held on for a while before guiding her back to the other CSIs who had gotten the radio out so they could listen to what was happening with the operation. "It's going to be alright, honey." Catherine tried to reassure the detective with words as she squeezed her shoulder in support as well. "These guys do this all the time, they will get them out."
Sara moved to stand beside Catherine again placing a tentative hand on her waist. Benjamin moved to Kimberly's other side to support her as well, but also needing support from her. Nick moved to stand next to Sara, making sure to not stand too close, but close enough to be there for her should she need it. They were all quiet, ready to listen to the sounds coming from the radio.
"Alpha leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."
"Red Raven this is Alpha leader, we are getting in position, over."
"Romeo leader this is Red Raven, what is your position?"
"Ready to rock and roll, Red Raven, over."
"Foxtrot leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."
"Foxtrot is ready, over."
Kimberly let go of Catherine and sought the arms of Benjamin who was the closest she could get to Veronica outside the warehouse. She had been to a lot of these SWAT actions, but the stakes had never been higher than right now.
As Kimberly let go of her, Catherine automatically turned towards Sara, holding on tighter to her. The brunette was holding on to her with one arm, but that was the only thing that indicated that she was worried. She was standing tall, her face masked with her usual stoic expression turned towards the darkened warehouse. The blonde pressed her body flush against her side in silent support and was happy when Sara tightened her grip around her waist.
"Remember we have three civilians in this place, one child and two women. One is a cop's wife, so let's get them all out safe."
There was a pause on the radio.
"All teams wait for my command."
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Bridget was trying very hard not to get hysterical as time went by and her sister didn't come back to the room. She kept little Julie close to her all the time, and did her best to keep the little girl quiet. She didn't want them to come and get them as well. She was scared for her sister, it had been hours since their captors had taken her out of the room. What had happened to her? Why wasn't she back with them yet? Was she still alive?
She looked down at the little girl in her arms, Veronica would have to stay alive for the little girl. Julie looked up at her with tears in her eyes.
"Mommy?" She asked.
"She'll be back soon, honey." Bridget answered with a strained smile.
"Julie want mommy." The little girl started sobbing quietly.
"Shhh, honey. It's going to be alright. Mommy will be back real soon." Bridget shifted her slightly and started rocking her gently back and forth. "Everything will be just fine."
She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince herself or the little girl.
----------------------------------
"Team leaders, do you have a visual?"
"Alpha, negative."
"Romeo, negative."
"Foxtrot has a room with two bodies through night vision googles – both alive."
Sara looked back and met Kimberly's eyes. They both knew that Veronica would not be one of the two people in the room, she would sacrifice herself before letting anything happen to her daughter or sister. Kimberly let go of Benjamin, she needed Veronica and even though he was her twin, he would never be her. Sara pulled Catherine closer, but didn't voice her concerns that Veronica was dead.
"Snipers?"
"Nothing, boss."
"Nothing here."
"No one by the windows, boss."
"All teams await my orders."
"Why don't they get in there already?" Matthew asked angrily.
"They have to make sure that they won't have enough time to kill Veronica, Bridget and Julie." Kim answered in a detached tone of voice looking towards the warehouse.
"But they know where they are, why can't they go in there?" Anita started as well.
"They don't have a fix on…" Kimberly turned and looked at the three siblings. "Veronica is not in that room with them."
"But…" Matthew started again, but didn't get further as Kimberly advanced on him pushing him roughly against the nearest car.
"Shut the fuck up!" She pushed him once more. "Let them do their fucking job and shut the fuck up!"
"Whoa!" Warrick and Greg pulled her away from him.
"Let go of me!" She shrugged them off and walked away from the group. "Just leave me alone right now!" She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly hanging her head breathing in and out heavily. She needed for all of this to be over. She needed for both her girls to be safely home with her.
"Shaw?"
Sara took the radio to her.
"Yes."
"Curtis here. Brass and I will go with the second wave. How are you holding up?"
"Just get them out of there and soon. I'll worry about me later."
"Will do. It won't be long now."
"Thank you." Kimberly gave back the radio to Sara. The brunette squeezed her shoulder again before walking back to stand beside Catherine.
Catherine looked up at her. "Are you alright?"
"Not really." Sara shook her head. "I have a bad feeling about this."
"About them going in or about Veronica?" Catherine moved to stand in front of the other woman so she could look her in the eyes.
"I don't think she will be… unharmed." Sara whispered so low that Catherine barely heard her.
Catherine had nothing to say to reassure the brunette, so she did what she thought best; she pulled Sara close to her and hugged her comfortingly. Sara didn't relax in the embrace, but she didn't pull away either, so the blonde figured that she had made the right choice.
----------------------------------
Veronica had felt and heard her arm break when she had used it to stop him from kicking her in the head. She cradled it carefully against her torso, trying to prepare herself from his next attack. She felt her body wanting to give up and just drift away into nothingness, but she willed herself to stay awake, trying to keep her hopes of rescue up. She couldn't leave her daughter alone with these men, who knew what they would do to her if Veronica wasn't there to protect her. She instinctively knew that Bridget would do everything in her power to protect the little girl, but she was just a girl herself and she couldn't do much against two grown men. She had led a sheltered life not knowing of the darker sides of life, she wouldn't know how to protect herself, let alone a little girl.
"It is my destiny to teach you. It is your destiny to serve me. You will learn." Dunne chanted the words over and over while beating her as if they were a magical cure.
Veronica coughed, and felt more than saw the blood dripping from her mouth. She figured that he had broken one or more of her ribs and one of them had punctured a lung. She would need medical attention soon or she would die.
----------------------------------------
"Team leaders this is Red Raven, let's get them out of there. On my mark, over."
"10-4 Red Raven."
"Ready, Boss."
"Let's get in there."
Kimberly moved closer to the rest of the group, her eyes shifting between the radio and the warehouse in the distance.
Sara held on tighter to Catherine, her eyes were fixed on the warehouse as if she could see what was going on over there. Catherine did what she could to support the brunette, so she held on to her just as tightly. She knew it wasn't much, but it was all she could do for now. Later she would do more, but for now she just held the other woman.
"Go!"
As the signal was given Kimberly started running towards the warehouse ignoring Warrick and Greg shouting for her to stop. Sara let go of Catherine and ran after the detective – not to stop her this time, but to join her. Catherine hesitated for a second looking back at her friends and colleagues.
"Make sure they stay here." She told them pointing at the Lavisham siblings, before running after the other two women.
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Bridget heard the sound of a door splintering and a few muffled shouts, before the silence suddenly returned. She held Julie closer keeping her eyes fixed on the door – what was happening? Then the door suddenly opened and strong flashlights shone on them. Screaming she turned and protected Julie with her own body. When she felt a hand placed on her shoulder she started kicking and screaming at whoever was touching her.
"Leave us alone! Give us back Veronica! What did you do to her, you sick bastards?"
"Bridget." A female voice yelled over her screaming. "Bridget, we're the police. We're here to get you out of here."
Bridget stopped suddenly and looked up at the woman speaking with tears running down her cheeks. "Police?" She asked though sobs.
"Yes." The woman nodded and held out a hand to her. "Come on, let's get you out of here."
"Where's Veronica?" Bridget asked as she got up, still holding Julie closely to her. "Where's my sister?"
The woman put an arm around her, but didn't look at her. "Come on, let's get you out of here." She said as she led the crying woman through the door.
-------------------------------------
As the three women got closer to the warehouse they saw black dressed officers leading a cuffed Burns out through the doors, placing him facedown on the ground. Kimberly changed her direction and barged directly towards him. She had just reached him and was about to attack him when she heard a voice calling out for her.
"Mama!"
She looked around and saw a young woman carrying her daughter coming out the door escorted by other black dressed police officers.
"Julie!" She ran towards them with her arms stretched out to the little girl. As she reached them she took the little girl from the other woman's arms and hugged her tightly. She held her out, checking her over for any injuries. "Are you ok, sweetie? Did anyone hurt you?"
"Where's mommy?" The little girl cried. "I want my mommy."
Kimberly locked eyes with Bridget who shook her head slowly; she didn't know where Veronica was.
-------------------------------------
Veronica lifted her head up slightly when she heard it, was it for real or was she dreaming? She had heard a faint noise of something moving outside the room. She put her head down again as Dunne kicked her in the stomach. He moved away from her and for a second she thought her time was over, that he had heard the noise as well. But he didn't go to the door. Instead he went to an old dresser, pulling something out from a drawer. Turning slowly towards her, he revealed the new object in his hands – a large shining knife. He caressed it reverently and walked slowly towards her.
"Do you recognize this, my sweet?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the knife. "I tried before, but this time I will succeed in cutting the devil out of you."
Veronica started trembling. If he started cutting her she was dead for sure. Silently she started praying to every God she had ever heard of.
He kneeled down beside her letting the knife caress her cheek, but not cutting her yet. He looked up startled when the door flew open and black dressed people came running in. He raised the knife and Veronica clearly saw the madness shining in his eyes. If he couldn't have her, no one could.
-------------------------------------
As they heard the shot being fired they stood frozen in place, looking at each other for what seemed like hours but was merely seconds. Kimberly woke first from the shock and quickly handed Julie over to Catherine. She got out her gun and ran inside the warehouse. She heard the SWAT team members shouting after her, but ignored them – she needed to get to Veronica right away.
Sara followed right behind Kimberly, praying that Veronica was still alive. She pulled out her gun as they reached a door that had clearly been ripped off its hinges. Breathing in deeply she raised her gun and followed the detective through the door.
"We need paramedics in here!" A man shouted out from inside the room.
Please dear God, don't let it be Veronica! Please don't let it be her! Please let her be alive!
***
Sara moved carefully into the room, afraid of what she would see in there. She saw Kimberly being held back by police officers as she was trying to get to somebody lying on the floor. She felt as if time was moving in slow motion and hardly recognized her own voice when she started speaking.
"It's ok, guys. She's a LVPD detective. It's her wife." She showed her CSI badge to the nearest of them and he signalled to the others to let Kimberly go.
"Veronica!" Kimberly threw herself down beside the beaten woman. "V can you hear me?" She touched the petite woman's face softly, careful not to cause her any more pain. "We need paramedics in here now!" She shouted out, before turning back to the bleeding woman. "V, hon, please stay with me. It's all over now, he's dead. He can't hurt you anymore."
Sara moved slowly to the other side of Veronica. This was all too familiar, yet unbelievable. The last time Veronica had been lying on the bed, this time she was lying next to it. The last time Sara had been alone when finding her and Dunne was long gone, this time a force of police officers and CSIs had found her and Dunne was dead on the floor. She knelt down next to her friend, careful not to touch or move her in any way and looked over her injuries. She was bleeding from the mouth, which could indicate the she had either bitten her tongue quite badly or she had internal bleeding, most likely from a punctured lung. Her left arm was angled in a wrong way, but as far as Sara could judge it was a clean fracture. Other than that she had been beaten very badly and, judging by the lack of clothes, she had been sexually molested as well.
Sara grabbed a blanket from the bed next to her, even though she knew it would be destroying evidence, and gently covered up Veronica's body with it. Locking eyes with Kimberly she got back up. "I'll go see what's keeping the paramedics." She told her, before leaving the room in a hurry.
Kimberly nodded absentmindedly and kept caressing the cheek of the injured woman gently while speaking softly to her.
"God V, I love you so much. I can't live without you. Please make it through this. I need you. We need you. Julie and I need you and love you so much. Please don't give up, hon. Please don't give up!"
After a minute or two Sara came rushing back in, bringing the paramedics who roughly pushed Kimberly aside and started working on Veronica. Kimberly stumbled to her feet and clung to Sara for support.
"God Sara, she looks so…" She whispered.
"She's been through this before, Kim. She's strong, she'll make it this time as well." Sara held on to the other woman, trying to keep her hopes up as well as her own. "She has so much more to live for this time."
"Out of the way, please." One of the paramedics yelled.
They realized that they were standing between the gurney and the door and quickly moved to the side so they could rush Veronica past them. They followed them outside and up to the ambulance. Sara looked around and found Catherine standing off to the side comforting Julie and hiding the sight of her mother on the gurney from her.
"Go!" She told Kimberly who was already halfway inside the ambulance. "I'll get Julie and meet you at the hospital." She closed the doors once Kimberly had nodded and hit it twice signalling for the driver to get going.
She stood for a minute, watching the ambulance disappearing down the road before turning towards Catherine. She walked up to her and the little girl and embraced both of them.
"How is she?" Catherine asked.
"She'll pull through." Sara said, determinedly. "I should go inform their brothers and sister."
"Are you sure you're up for that?" The blonde asked worriedly, placing her free hand on Sara's shoulder.
"No," Sara said with a small smile, "but I have to do it."
"I could…" Catherine started.
"It's ok." The brunette started walking towards the Lavisham siblings. "Please just keep Julie here while I talk to them."
-------------------------------
Everything after that happened in a blur. The Lavishams had been both happy that Bridget was safe and unharmed, but distraught that Veronica was badly injured. They had rushed to the hospital bringing both Sara and Julie and were now sat in the waiting room, waiting for news on Veronica.
Sara looked around at the others. Bridget was sat between Matthew and Anita looking lost. They were trying to comfort her to the best of their abilities, but nothing seemed to be working. Sara felt sorry for the girl, she had been through a nightmare and would probably need therapy for years to come.
Her eyes moved to Benjamin. He was sitting on his own, his body slumped over and hiding his head in his hands. He seemed lost in space and he looked like hell to be honest. But nothing else could be expected when his twin sister and probably best friend was in surgery fighting for her life.
Finally her gaze fell on Kimberly. She was cuddling Julie close to her, whispering words to her, trying to get her to fall asleep. All the while Sara could tell that she was trying to hold back her own tears and the brunette's heart was breaking for the both of them. She hoped and prayed that they would have their wife and mother safely home with them again soon.
Sara was sitting by her self as well. Catherine had wanted to come with her, but she had to stay on the scene and have it processed. They needed to clear the shooter, a young member of the SWAT team that Sara didn't know, but would be eternally indebted to. On top of that they had to get all the evidence from the warehouse so they could build a solid case against Burns so that a thing like this wouldn't happen to these people again. Deep down she was very sorry that Burns hadn't been shot as well, but at least the worst of them was gone.
Governor Lavisham and his wife arrived a little later, taking over caring for Bridget. They both looked older and more tired than they had just a couple of days before. They had both tried to support Kimberly but neither of them knew how to, so they settled on staying close to Bridget.
----------------------------------
They had been sitting and waiting for hours when Catherine and another blonde joined them. Catherine stopped and crouched next to Kimberly checking on her before heading straight for Sara. She sat down next to her and pulled her into an embrace.
"Are you ok?" She whispered.
"I'm tired of waiting, what is taking them so long?" She whispered back.
"I don't know, sweetie." The blonde hugged her a little tighter before easing out of the embrace. Sara leaned in against her shoulder and she held one of the brunette's hands in her own.
"Who's the blonde?" Sara asked, nodding towards the blonde who had entered with Catherine earlier. She was sitting next to Benjamin, trying to comfort him a little.
"That's my sister Nancy." Catherine informed her with a smile.
"Oh." Sara sat up straight and let go of the blonde's hand.
"Sara." Catherine took her hand again. "I have told Nancy about you."
"Oh." Sara relaxed a little but still kept her distance.
"And although she's a bit apprehensive about us because of our earlier relationship, she's supportive."
"Oh." Sara allowed herself to relax against Catherine again, but shot straight back up as the doctor entered the room.
They all looked up at him expectantly.
"Kimberly Shaw?" He asked looking at them.
"That's me." Kimberly gently handed the now sleeping Julie to Catherine. Sara and Benjamin had both gotten up and now stood on either side of Kimberly. "How is Veronica?" The detective asked.
"I'm Doctor Follows and I operated on Dr Christiansen. She had severe internal injuries – a punctured lung along with a ruptured spleen." The doctor started. "It was touch and go for a long while, but as we all know Veronica is a fighter and she will fight her way through this as well. She's in recovery right now and will have to spend some time in ICU, but she should make a full recovery." He finished with a smile.
"Thank you!" Kimberly burst into tears. "Thank you so much!" She shook the doctor's hand. "When can I see her?"
"You can come in and see her now, but only for a short time and only two of you at a time."
"You two go." Sara told Benjamin and Kimberly. "We'll look after Julie while you're gone."
"No." Benjamin looked over at his youngest sister. "Bridget you go with Kimberly and I'll wait here and go in with Sara when you get back."
"Ok, right this way." The doctor showed them out the door.
They returned ten minutes later, telling Benjamin and Sara that they could go visit her.
-------------------------------------
As they entered the hospital room Benjamin started crying silently. "God, she looks so fragile lying there." He whispered. "I never realized how tiny she really is. She's always been larger than life to me." He kissed her softly on the forehead and held her hand gently.
"I know." Sara was whispering as well. "She's probably fighting hard at waking up just so she can yell at you for calling her fragile." She smiled to Benjamin as she held Veronica's other hand.
"We love you, big sis. We all want you to wake up soon."
"Yeah, we do." Sara agreed. "Besides, I need some advise on the whole Catherine situation. You know how much I don't want to mess this up, and you also know that I probably will without a little help from my Foxy." For a moment she didn't care that Benjamin was listening to what she was saying, she just wanted to tell her friend that she loved her in her own way.
The nurse came in to tell them that they had to leave and they both placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you." Sara whispered before she left her side.
----------------------------------
Outside the room, Catherine and Nancy were waiting for them.
"You ok?" Catherine asked as she took Sara's hand.
"She looks like shit." Sara told them. "All the bruising and cuts and…" She stopped talking so she could keep herself from crying.
"But she's alive." Benjamin took over and put his arm around Nancy's shoulder.
"Yeah, she's alive," Sara smiled sadly, "but she looks…" She stopped herself before saying that Veronica looked worse than the first time Dunne had gotten to her, that was not something her family needed to know.
"I made Kimberly get Julie home to her parents," Catherine changed the subject, "and we're here to get you two home to get some sleep." She smiled. "Oh and Sara, this is my sister Nancy, Nancy this is Sara."
"Hi." Nancy held out her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, I just wish it was under better circumstances." She smiled, and Sara noticed how much she looked like Catherine.
"Nice to meet you too." Sara smiled a little and shook her hand before turning her attention back to Catherine. "But I should really stay here and…"
"The doctor told us that it would take a few hours before she wakes up and even longer before she will know what's happening around her." Catherine countered. "You have time to get home to get a couple of hours of sleep and then you can come back."
"But…" Sara started again.
"Get your butt home in bed, Sidle, that's an order."
"Is she always this bossy?" Sara asked Nancy, who just chuckled.
"You don't know that by now?" She asked the brunette.
"Oh, she knows it and she's loving every minute of it." Catherine told them. before ushering Sara towards the elevators. "We'll talk to you guys later."
----------------------------------------
In the elevator Catherine pushed the button for the lobby.
"You do know that I'm not actually enjoying it, right?" Sara asked her, as the elevator started moving.
"Right…" Catherine drew out the word.
"Ok, maybe I'm enjoying it a little bit once in a while, but not all the time."
"Sure." Catherine smiled smugly.
They stepped out of the elevator as they reached the lobby and walked towards the parking lot. Sara suddenly stopped abruptly and Catherine looked back at her questioningly.
"I don't have my car here."
"I know, I'm driving you home."
"But how am I going to get to the lab tomorrow?" Sara had tears in her eyes.
Catherine stepped closer, knowing that it was a late reaction to the night's events.
"It's ok, sweetie. I'll come by and pick you up tomorrow night." She said soothingly. "Come on, let's get you home in bed."
"Ok." Sara willed herself once again to not let the tears fall. She just really wanted to get to work on time tomorrow night.
The ride was quiet because both women were tired from the long shifts they had had in the last days, and finally Catherine parked in front of Sara's building. She turned the key in the ignition and got out of the car. Sara looked at her confused, as she went around the car and opened her door for her.
"Let's go." She took the brunette's hand and guided her out of the car.
"What are you doing, Catherine?" Sara asked.
"I'm making sure that you get into bed." Catherine said matter-of-factly.
"You don't have to do that."
"I know, but I want to." Catherine let her up the stairs. "Where are you keys?" She asked as they reached Sara's door.
"Here." Sara fished the keys out of her pocket and handed them over.
"Now where's your bedroom?" Catherine asked as they got inside. Sara pointed towards the bedroom door, but stayed where she was when Catherine walked towards the room.
"Sara, you need to sleep." Catherine turned towards her and held out her hand.
"I don't think I can." Sara admitted.
"Why?"
Sara was silent a moment, considering if she should tell Catherine the real reason or make up a believable excuse. "Because…" She hesitated looking over at the blonde. "Because I get nightmares when I'm as upset as I am right now." She finally admitted, looking down, ashamed of herself.
"Oh." Catherine stepped closer to her. "I'm sorry, sweetie." She paused, thinking. "Do you…"
"Could you stay?" Sara spoke quickly interrupting her. "I won't… It's just… Could you just stay with me for a while, please?"
Catherine smiled. "Of course." She held out her hand once more. "Come on."
Sara took her hand and they walked to the bedroom. She found something for Catherine to wear to bed, before going to the bathroom to change and brush her teeth. She found a fresh toothbrush for Catherine to use and sat down on the bed waiting for the blonde to change.
When Catherine returned from the bathroom, she gently tucked Sara in and kissed her chastely on the lips before lying down next to her. She felt Sara shifting and placing an arm around her and she shifted into a more comfortable position where she had her head placed on the brunette's shoulder and an arm thrown possessively and protectively around her stomach.
"Goodnight." Sara said out in the darkened room.
"Goodnight." Catherine couldn't help but chuckle.
"What?" Sara asked looking down at her.
"Well," Catherine turned her head and smiled into her neck. "It's just that this wasn't how I imagined us in bed together for the first time."
"Oh." Sara shifted a little, but stopped as Catherine tightened her grip on her torso and threw a leg over her for good measure.
"It's ok." She told her. "It's more than ok actually. It's a nice change. I've never just slept with someone I'm involved with the first time I was in bed with them. I kinda like it."
"Me too." Sara smiled. The silence stretched between them, and just as Catherine thought Sara had fallen asleep, she started speaking again. "So, you've imagined us in bed together, huh?"
"Smartass." Catherine laughed, snuggling closer to her.
"You know you love it." Sara laughed as well.
They both chuckled and silence fell over them again.
"Thank you, Catherine." Sara whispered, just before she fell asleep.
Catherine's only reaction was to hold on tighter to the brunette, before snuggling closer to her and falling asleep as well.
***
Sara woke up with a start, the turmoil of feelings about almost loosing Veronica had finally caught up with her. She had been dreaming, but it hadn't been one of her usual nightmares.
She spotted Veronica and ran after her to stop her from being hurt, but the faster she ran towards her, the further Veronica was from her. From somewhere above her she heard Catherine's voice booming:
"You'll never get to her! You are weak and pathetic, what makes you think you can reach her? What makes you think I would ever consider being with you?"
And it kept shouting louder and louder as Veronica moved further and further away from her. She kept running through it all and passed by people from her past who were all pointing at her laughing. The last person she ran past was her father standing tall over her, blood oozing from the stab wounds in his chest. He joined in Catherine's mocking words.
"You still think you're special, Sara? Give up and face the truth; you're a worthless piece of shit, who should have never been brought into this world! You think you have friends? People who care? You don't! You never will!"
He started laughing loudly and it just kept getting louder and louder until it finally drowned out everything else, including the beating of her own heart.
That was when she had woken up. She felt the tears pressing and quietly slid out from Catherine's protective embrace. She cared deeply for the blonde, but she couldn't wake her up for this. Right now she needed her privacy. Catherine had already seen her crying once, if it happened again maybe she would give up on her, maybe she would decide that Sara wasn't worth the happily ever after ending she so desperately wanted.
She slipped quietly into the bathroom and locked the door behind her. At least, she thought, she had gotten three or four hours of sleep before the nightmare had woken her up. At the memory of the nightmare, the tears started falling and she was unable to stop them. She had almost lost her best friend; the one person who had almost made her believe that she wasn't bad, who had made her believe for a while that she was worth loving. Sitting down on the cold, hard tiles and leaning against the wall, she started sobbing quietly. She reached for a towel and buried her head in it, stifling the sounds so she wouldn't wake up Catherine in the other room. Maybe the dream had had a good point; what was she thinking? Why would Catherine be with someone like her? Why was she even considering involving Catherine in her crazy messed-up life? If she loved her, why would she put her through that?
She didn't know how long she had been crying before a knock on the door startled her.
"Sara? You in there?" Catherine asked through the door.
"Yeah." Sara cleared her voice, hoping Catherine couldn't hear that she had been crying.
"Are you ok?" Catherine sounded worried.
"Yeah." She took a deep breath willing herself to get her voice under control. "I was just going to take a shower." She told the blonde.
"Ok, I'll make some coffee and wait for you."
"Sure." Sara turned on the shower and shed her clothes.
Stepping under the warm spray she let the tears fall until there were no more left. She knew she needed to stop crying before facing Catherine again or she would start all over again. Finally, after a good fifteen minutes, she turned the water into cold hoping it would wash away the traces of her tears.
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Catherine was reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee, still wearing the clothes she had slept in, when Sara made it to the kitchen. She stood still in the doorway for a minute, taking in the vision that was Catherine Willows.
"Morning." She said, stepping into the room when she had the image etched in her mind.
"Good morning." Catherine looked over at her with a smile. "Hope you don't mind." She gestured to the newspaper. "It was outside the door and I figured…"
"No, it's fine." Sara smiled as she made her way to the kitchen, getting a cup of coffee for herself.
"I need my glasses though." Catherine smiled. "I'm getting too old to read properly without them."
Sara returned to the living room and sat down opposite her. "I love those glasses." She murmured, looking into her mug.
"Yeah?" Catherine couldn't help the smug grin forming on her lips.
"Oh yeah." Sara finally looked up at her. "I really do."
"That would make me feel less old." She said whilst making a mental note to wear those glasses more often. "I should probably go take a shower too." She added, getting up and walking in the direction of the bathroom.
"Hey Catherine?"
Sara's voice stopped her and she turned with a questioningly look. "Yes?"
"You're not old." She said honestly.
Catherine walked back to her and kissed her shortly in the lips. "You are very good at making a woman feel good." She whispered into her lips, before kissing her again, this time deepening it. She licked the brunette's lower lip seeking entrance and would, had she not been occupied, have jumped up and down in victory, when it was granted. As they parted she couldn't help but smile. "Morning." She whispered.
"Morning." Sara smiled too. "Did you sleep ok?"
"I had a very nice pillow." Catherine nodded. "How did you sleep?"
"Better than I have in a long time." Sara admitted shyly.
"I'm glad." Catherine straightened. "I better go take that shower now. I need to pick Lindsay up from my mom's soon."
"I put clean towels on the sink for you."
"Thanks." Catherine went to the bathroom, throwing one last smile Sara's way.
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Driving towards the hospital, Catherine looked over at Sara apologetically.
"I'm sorry, I would really want to be there for you, but…"
"You have to see Lindsay." Sara stated clearly. "I understand that, Catherine, you don't ever have to feel sorry for having to be with your daughter."
"I know, I'm just…"
"I'll be ok, Catherine." Sara stopped her from saying sorry again. "And Lindsay probably needs to see you just as much as you need to see her."
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Catherine asked just as they were pulling up in to the hospital.
"I'm sure." Sara looked over at her. "But thanks… for everything." She put her hand over Catherine's and squeezed lightly.
"Anytime." Catherine's smile turned into a frown when Sara proceeded to get out of the car. "Sara?" She stopped her.
"Yeah?" Sara looked back.
"I know we haven't been on a date yet, but…" She paused.
Sara looked at her not getting what she was trying to say.
"Yes?"
"But don't I even get a kiss goodbye or something?" Catherine pretended to pout.
"Oh." Sara smiled widely and jumped back into the car. "Right." She kissed her and added a short hug. "Thanks for the ride."
"You're welcome." Catherine started up the engine again. "I'll be back to pick you up in an hour or two depending on traffic."
"Catherine, you need to spend time with Lindsay." Sara said again.
"Lindsay has school today, Sara." Catherine informed her with a smile.
"Oh." Sara got out of the car again. "Ok then, I'll see you later." She closed the door.
Catherine nodded and waved at her as she drove off to pick up Lindsay.
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"Hey you." Veronica whispered as Sara walked in the door. She made a shush noise and pointed to Kimberly sleeping in a chair next to the bed.
Sara moved closer and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "How are you feeling?" She whispered, sitting down on another chair and holding Veronica's hand.
"Like I've been hit by a train." Veronica whispered.
"Did he…?" Sara didn't finish the question before Veronica just nodded. "Are you…?"
"I'll live." Veronica looked over at the sleeping Kimberly. "I'm more worried about her." She looked back over at Sara. "Is he… Did they…?"
"He's dead, Veronica." Sara blinked away tears. "He'll never be able to hurt you again."
"Did… She didn't… It wasn't her, was it?" Her eyes moved back to Kimberly.
"No," Sara shook her head. "It was a guy from the SWAT team."
"Good." Veronica relaxed against her pillows and closed her eyes and they fell into silence.
Sara looked her friend over once more, she really did look bad. Every patch of skin visible was bruised, her arm was in a cast and Sara knew that there were new scars under her pyjamas. Her eyes were glazed over from the pain meds, but somewhere behind it all Sara had seen the glimpse of the old Veronica, and that made her feel more at ease than she had in a long time. Veronica would beat this, she would make it through and she would be stronger than ever – more importantly she would be safe from Oscar Charles Dunne.
"Tell me about you and Catherine." Veronica whispered.
Sara looked up at her. Her eyes were still closed and she had thought that she had fallen asleep.
"You should rest." Sara whispered.
"I'd like to hear about you and Catherine." Veronica smiled a little. "Come on Sass, I want all the dirty little details."
"What makes you think there are any dirty details?"
"Just hoping, plus I've seen you two fight." Veronica whispered. "Come on, Sass. Cheer me up a little."
"Ok, ok. Well…" Sara leaned back and told Foxy what had happened so far with Catherine in hushed tones. When she had finished Veronica stayed quiet and Sara thought that she had fallen asleep. After sitting in silence for ten minutes or so, Veronica broke the silence.
"I'm happy for you, Sara. You deserve someone good in your life and Catherine sounds like she fits that mould. And I'm sorry."
"Sorry?"
"Sorry for not being more careful." The tears started running down her cheeks. "Sorry for having you go through this again. Sorry for not being able to stop him. Just sorry all round really."
"Foxy." Sara leaned in, using her fingers to wipe away the tears running down her cheeks. "None of this is your fault." She whispered softly. "It was never your fault."
Sara got up from her chair and placed their foreheads against each other, which was the only way she could get close to hugging the other woman without hurting her. She caressed her cheek gently while just letting her cry. As she felt the tears dry on the doctor's cheek she leaned back up looking her in the eyes. "We all love you, honey." She whispered softly.
"Thanks." Veronica looked up at her, smiling just a little to comfort the brunette.
"You should get some rest." Sara sat back down. "I'll stay for a little while longer."
"Yeah, until Catherine picks you up. Don't think I don't know you, Sass." Veronica closed her eyes again.
"Well, I do need the ride, my car is at the lab." Sara smiled. "The fact that Catherine is the one picking me up is just an added bonus."
"Night, Sass."
"Night, Foxy." Sara leaned back in her chair keeping a silent watch over the two sleeping forms, hoping that they would make it through this phase together.
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"How was she?" Catherine asked as Sara got in the car.
"She was surprisingly talkative." Sara said.
"Ok." Catherine waited for her to elaborate as she pulled out into the street.
"She was beaten up and bruised pretty badly, but I think she'll make it through everything. Maybe not alright, but she won't let him have control of her anymore."
"That's good." Catherine looked over at her shortly before turning her eyes back to the road.
"I know it's going to take time." Sara sighed. "But we'll all be there to help her. She has so much to live for."
"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while. "I thought I'd drive you to the lab now, that way you can go in early tonight like I know you want to." Catherine broke the silence.
"Thanks." Sara smiled. "You're right on that one."
"Could you just promise me to get something to eat and maybe sleep a little before going in?" She asked pleadingly.
"I'll promise to try." Sara answered.
"Is that the best answer I'm going to get from you?" Catherine asked.
"Yes." Sara nodded.
"You know that's not going to work in the long run, right?"
"Yes." Sara nodded again.
"So about that date…" Catherine changed the subject.
"Are you sure you want to venture into all…" She gestured to herself, back towards the general direction of the hospital and everything else, "…this?"
"Are you saying you don't want this?" Catherine countered.
"No, I do. I'm saying I'm messed up."
"We all are, honey. I say it's about finding the right person to be messed up with." Catherine smiled over to her. "But about that date…"
They planned the date and got to the lab where they went their separate ways, Sara remembering this time to kiss Catherine goodbye.
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For some mysterious reason Sara was feeling nervous ringing Catherine's doorbell. This was just a simple date and with someone she knew even, plus there was going to be other people around as well, so there was no pressure at all. She rang the doorbell, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. She looked down and hoped that her somewhat casual attire was good enough and that the present she had brought wouldn't make her seem too geeky. Catherine opened the door looking stunning in a pair of tight dark pants and a low cut black top.
"Hi."
"Hi yourself." Catherine smiled at her looking her over. "Lindsay! Sara's here!" She yelled over her shoulder. "Come on in." She ushered her inside.
"Sara, hi." Lindsay appeared behind her mother.
"Hi Lindsay." Sara smiled at her holding out the present. "Happy birthday."
"Thanks!" Lindsay took the present looking it over and shaking it. "Come on into the living room, everyone else is in there." She walked away from them.
"We'll be right there, Linds." Catherine took Sara's jacket from her and hung it up.
"You look great." Sara said, feeling her nervousness returning.
"So do you." Catherine looked her over again before moving into her personal space. "Nervous?" She asked, putting her arms around Sara's neck.
"Yeah." Sara nodded, holding onto Catherin's hips.
"No need. It's just dinner, no pressure." She looked her in the eyes.
Sara smiled at Catherine wording her earlier thoughts.
"No pressure, just your entire family."
"That's right." Catherine laughed a little before kissing the lips in front of her shortly. "They'll love you, come on." She took one of Sara's hands and led her into the living room, where she introduced her to everyone.
"Oh my God, you're so lucky!" The girl Catherine had told her was Claire exclaimed as Lindsay unwrapped Sara's present. "I've been begging my mom for those for like forever!"
"And you got the DVD too!" Beth screamed.
"Wow!" Lindsay looked up at the brunette. "Thank you, Sara. This is so cool!" She got up and hugged her shortly before looking at the present again.
"You're welcome." Sara smiled, slightly uncertain about what to do when the girl hugged her.
"What did you get, Linds?" Catherine asked, smiling.
"The Narnia books and the DVD." Lindsay smiled too. "Can we watch it?" She asked hopefully.
"After dinner, honey." Catherine promised. She squeezed Sara's hand before heading to the kitchen to check on the food.
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Sara had stayed back as all the guests started breaking up for the night. Greg, Nick, Grissom and Warrick had left first to go to work and the rest of the guests had left not soon after that. So now she was sitting in the living room sipping a glass of wine waiting for Catherine, who was tucking in Lindsay, to come back down.
"Well, according to Lindsay this was the best birthday ever." Catherine let her presence be known as she walked down the last stairs.
Sara turned on the couch and watched her with a smile. "That's good."
"She loved the present you got her." Catherine sat down next to her still smiling and reaching for her glass of wine. "When did you get time to buy it?"
"After you dropped me off at the lab yesterday. I'm glad she liked it."
"We're taking the weird road with this aren't we?" Catherine asked, shifting closer to Sara.
"What do you mean?" Sara asked, absentmindedly holding the hand closest to her.
"Well, we have our first kiss before the first date and it happened in a prison of all places. Then we end up in bed together before the first date. Ok, so we didn't do anything except sleep and cuddle, but still we were in bed together." She smiled.
"Yeah." Sara laughed a little.
"And now we finally have our first date, and it's on my daughter's birthday." Catherine laughed along with Sara.
"I guess you could categorise it as weird." Sara laughed. "But I kinda like weird, though."
"Yeah, me too." Catherine placed her head on Sara's shoulder and shifted into a more comfortable position. "Me too." She repeated with a contented sigh.
They fell silent, enjoying each others presence and time went by much too quickly for both of them.
"I better get going." Sara said regretfully. "It's getting late and I have to get to work."
"What?" Catherine got up from her comfortable place curled up against Sara, so that she could look at her properly. "I thought you had the night off?"
"Actually I just took a couple of hours off so I didn't have to eat and run." Sara said with a slight blush.
"Oh." Catherine smiled again. "That's…" She stopped and moved to straddle the brunette's legs. "That was a very nice thing to do, Sara." She said hugging her.
"It was nothing really." Sara dismissed it, enjoying the hug. Especially the fact that in their position she couldn't help that one of her hands we're placed extremely close to Catherine's perfect butt.
"It was." Catherine leaned back from the hug and looked her in the eyes. "Lindsay would have been so disappointed if you had to leave early." She kissed her lightly on the lips. "And when Lindsay is happy, Lindsay's mother is happy."
"Yeah?" Sara was afraid that her smile would be permanently glued to her face.
"Mmhmm." Catherine nodded looking down at Sara's lips.
"How happy?" Sara asked caressing the blonde's cheek with her hand. "Happy enough for a second date?"
"Happier than that, hon." Catherine shifted her body slightly so they were pressed more closely together.
"Oh." Sara felt the heat rush to her stomach and further south. The feeling of Catherine's body pressed against her own was better than any dream she had ever had about the blonde. She rested her hands lightly on her hips vaguely remembering that she had to get to work.
"It's ok to touch me, you know." Catherine purred into her ear before kissing her way along her jawbone towards her mouth. "I won't break."
Sara tightened her grip a little, concentrating on breathing. Catherine reached down, covering Sara's hand with her own and moving them backwards until they were resting on her ass.
"Oh God." Sara whispered, drawing Catherine impossibly closer to her.
"I thought you should have a treat to go to work on." Catherine smiled into her neck, before placing small butterfly kisses there. "Don't tell me you haven't wanted to do that for a while now."
"Mmmm." Sara, feeling very well spoken, rolled her head to the side to give Catherine better access.
Catherine seemingly had had enough of the teasing and took Sara's face in her hands moving in for the kill. She kissed her, lips slightly open mouthed, wanting to taste her, feel her, claim a part of her. She snuck her tongue out licking the other woman's lips trying to get access. Sara seemingly having woken up from her stupor kept one hand on the delicious butt and moved the other to the back of Catherine's head pressing them closer together, while opening up her mouth welcoming the blonde's tongue with her own. The kiss was heated and extremely emotional and something both women seemed to need more than anything. Slightly panting they parted keeping their foreheads together.
"God, I…" Sara stopped herself. "That was amazing." She smiled.
"Yeah it was." Catherine leaned in for another kiss, but Sara stopped her reluctantly.
"I'll never get any work done if we continue this." She said regretfully.
"I don't think Gil actually expects you to do much work after everything you've been through lately." Catherine smiled, slipping her hands down the brunette's torso and under her shirt.
"Catherine." Sara grabbed hold of her wrists stopping them from moving further up. "Please, at least right now I can pretend to be working."
"Ok." Catherine straightened up. "Sure I can't tempt you?" She smiled seductively.
"God, Catherine." Sara's hands had somehow gotten a life of their own and had found their way onto Catherine's thighs moving back and forth in a not so gentle caress. "I would really, really love to stay right now, but I think I should get to work, before Grissom calls wanting to know what's holding me up."
"Ok, I'll let you go." Catherine got up and held out a hand for Sara to take and led her to the front door. "But I'm expecting that second date as soon as possible."
"You and me both, believe me." Sara said, putting on her jacket.
"Good." Catherine moved in and kissed her again as soon as the jacket was on. "Have fun at work." She smiled when they parted.
"Thanks." Sara said with sarcasm evident in her voice.
"What?" Catherine feigned innocence. "You love work."
"Yeah, but I have never been sent off to work like this before." She moved in and kissed Catherine again, pushing her against the wall. The kiss was insistent and heated and left Catherine panting. "Sleep well." Sara opened the door hating to leave.
"I will." Catherine purred. "I have stuff for great dreams now."
"Ok, I guess I won't even be able to pretend to be working now." Sara groaned looking back at the blonde. "I really need to get going."
"I know." Catherine got a little more serious. "Drive safely." She walked to the door to watch Sara walk to her car.
"I'll call you tomorrow." Sara said before getting into the car.
"Can't wait." Catherine smiled and waved as Sara back out of the driveway and drove down the street. She closed the door behind her with a smile.
Life was finally getting good again.
- The End For Now -
***
Next story in series - The Loss of Innocence.
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