Title: Felis Silvestris Catus
Author: chocomkr
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Cath/Sara
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 20,732
Summary: Sara has an admirer and the situation turns deadly

***

Sara had just finished working a double homicide with Warrick, who
had left a few minutes earlier. Walking to her Tahoe she noticed the
back door open with the seat laid down.

"Warrick must have been looking for something" she said to herself as
she placed her kit down. All the hairs stood up on her neck and
arms, sending an eerie chill down her spine. She felt eyes boring
into the back of her head and could almost feel the heat of someone
standing behind her. With one hand she continued to secure the kit,
with the other she released the clasp on her gun holster. In a fluid
movement, she drew her gun and spun around to see who was behind
her. Much to her surprise, there was no body there, or visible for a
block.

"Get it together Sidle" she said to herself as she re-holstered her
gun and climbed in the driver's side. As she started the engine, she
locked the doors and took a good look in all the mirrors trying to
push her uneasiness aside.

The drive back to the lab was quick. Sara found herself studying all
the cars in her rear view mirror as she pulled into her spot at the
lab. `Thank goodness I'm in the third spot closest to the door' Sara
thought. She stepped out of the Tahoe and headed quickly to the door.

"Whoa Sara, where's the fire?" Nick asked as he tried to steady
himself from falling as Sara flew into the building.

"Oh sorry Nick, I didn't see you there."

"That's obvious. Everything ok?"

"Yea, just tired." Sara headed into the break room for a cup of
coffee, hoping that would settle her nerves a little. She took a sip
with one hand while putting the pot back.

"Hey Sara, what took you so long to get back?" Warrick asked.

SMASH. The coffee pot fell to the floor, shattering in a million
little shards.

"Shit!" Sara yelled. "Don't sneak up on a person like that Warrick.
And next time you get something out of my truck, please be so kind as
so shut the door." Sara barked as she knelt down to clean up the
mess.

"I wasn't in your truck Sara."

Warrick's words hit hard as the chills hit her again.

"Sara? Earth to Sara. Hey, are you ok?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"Cause you look like you just saw a ghost. What's going on?"

"After I finished at the scene, I went to put my gear away and my
back door was open and the back seat was laid down. I thought you
had gotten something out."

"I wasn't in your truck Sara. Let's get this mess cleaned up and go
take a look at your truck. Maybe some kid was there or something."

Sara and Warrick cleaned up the mess and headed back out into the
dark night. As they inspected the truck, Catherine pulled in.

"Hey guys, what are you up to?"

"Nothing, just checking inventory." Sara tried to lie.

"Sara had someone in the back of her truck after she finished a scene
tonight. We're just going over it to see if we find anything."
Warrick said.

"Eerie. You ok Sara?" Catherine said as she placed her hand on
Sara's back.

Sara paused a moment to process the sensations Catherine's hand was
sending through her body before pulling away. "I wish everyone would
stop asking me that. Yes, I am fine. It was probably some kid
snooping around. I'm going back inside. Let me know if you find
anything interesting." Sara said as she headed back inside.

"This isn't good Cath." Warrick said. "I left that same call only
ten minutes before Sara left. I didn't notice the door open when I
pulled away."

"Did you look inside as you pulled past? With the seat down you
might not have seen anything anyway." Catherine said as she peered
into the truck. "We should do a full work up on everything in here
and see if he left anything behind."

"Sounds good. I'll do that. You go in and check on Sara."

Catherine finally found Sara in the locker room washing her
face. "Hey there."

"Hi. I'm sorry I bit your head off earlier. I was just a little
freaked out."

"Hey don't worry about it. If I had found my back door open at a
scene in the middle of the night I think I would be freaked out
too." Catherine said handing Sara a towel to dry her face.

"Thanks. Where's Warrick?"

"Uh, he's still out at your truck. Just checking things over, you
know?"

"Why is Warrick checking Sara's truck over?" Grissom said as he
entered the locker room.

Catherine and Sara looked at each other. Catherine got the look of
approval she was hoping for from Sara.

"It seems Sara had a visitor in her truck while she was on a scene
tonight. Warrick is just going over everything looking to see if the
guy left something behind."

"Sara?"

"I finished up with something at that double homicide and was on my
way back to my truck when I saw the back door open. I looked inside
and say the seat down and figured Warrick had gotten something out
and just forgot to shut the door. I was only a couple minutes behind
him."

"But he didn't?" Grissom asked.

"No he didn't."

A beeper went off, breaking the tension in the locker room.

"It's mine" Sara said. "Greg just paged me saying a delivery of
flowers just came for me."

"Who would be sending flowers this time of night?" Grissom asked.

"Better yet, who would be sending me flowers period." A perplexed
Sara responded.

The three of them walked together into the break room. Sara grabbed
a pair of gloves out of the cabinet and took the card from the
holder. Sara carefully opened the card, but a small metal circle
fell to the floor making a slight chinking sound. Sara bent down and
picked it up. Reading the card she nearly fell over. Catherine
reached out her arms to steady her and keep her from falling over.

"What is it?" Catherine asked.

Sara handed the card to Catherine. She and Grissom exchanged
looks. "What does this mean Sara?" she asked. "And what fell out of
the card? Sara?"

Sara was still leaning against Catherine. "It's what I said to
myself as I got into the truck, `Get it together Sidle.'"
Sara rubbed the small metallic piece between her fingers. Catherine
put her hands around Sara's and opened her fingers. "What is this
Sara?" Catherine asked in a whisper. "It's my cat's tag."

Warrick found the group in the break room. "Hey guys. I just
dropped off some samples with Greg. What's going on in here?"

"Sara just got some flowers from whomever it was that was in her
truck." Grissom said handing the card to Warrick.

"Warrick. I just go the results back on your samples." Greg said
poking his head in the break room.

"And?"

"I think you should come take a look at this."

The four of them returned to Greg's office. Warrick took the sheets
from the printer.

"Animal blood?"

"Yea. Felis Silvestris Catus."

"The domestic cat." Grissom said.

"Yes. The hairs found determined it was a tabby."

Sara ran out of the room heading again for the locker room.
Catherine immediately followed.

"What aren't you telling me Warrick?" Grissom asked.

"Under the UV light I found a message written in what we now know is
cat's blood. I took a digital picture of it." Warrick said as he
pulled the camera out and turned it on.

Grissom took the camera and horror struck his face as he read the
picture.
I know where you live and I've seen where you sleep. Maybe
next time you'll be home.
Chapter 2

"Holy shit." Was all Grissom was able to say.

"I called Brass as soon as I saw it. He's already over at Sara's."

"Good. You head on over and see what you can come up with. Sara's
been working for two and a half days straight now on this case. This
could have happened any time between then and tonight."

"I'm on it boss. What are you going to tell Sara?" Warrick asked.

"I'm not sure. She has the tag though, so she probably already knows
something bad has happened on top of the results from your samples.
I will send her and Catherine home now. I don't want Sara alone.
I'll call Brass and have him send a unit here to escort them to
Catherine's and search her place to make sure all is well, then have
him sit on them until morning."

Warrick hurried out the door. Grissom looked at Greg, trying to
compose himself for what lay ahead of him.

"I can go tell them if you like Gris." Greg offered.

"Thank you Greg for the offer, but I need to handle this."

Grissom made his way to the locker room and walked in to see Sara
sitting on the bench with her head in her hands and Catherine rubbing
her back.

"Ladies, I'm sending you both home. Go get some rest and I'll see
you both tomorrow night."

"What's going on Gil?" Catherine asked as she moved to stand next to
Grissom.

"I will fill you in later, privately. You need to take Sara to your
house tonight. Brass is sending over a unit to escort you to your
house. He will search through to make sure all is well, and then he
will sit out front until tomorrow."

"This isn't just a coincidence is it Gil?"

"No. No it's not. He has been to her house. I will call you in a
little bit and fill you in on the rest." Grissom walked over to
where Sara was sitting and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Sara,
you need to stay with Catherine tonight. This guy was at your house
sometime between when you came in two and a half days ago and
tonight. Brass and Warrick are there now going through everything."

"My cat has been missing for almost a week. I never let her out. I
just figured the lady who watches over her when I'm gone accidentally
let her out. She's dead isn't she?" Sara asked in an almost whisper.

"We're not sure yet honey. But what I am sure of is it is not safe
for you to be at your house. Catherine will take care of you, as
will the officers who are going to watch over her house."

Sara stood up and walked out the door, and Catherine soon followed.

"I will call you later Catherine. There is far too much to talk
about now. Keep an eye on her."

"I will Gil. Let me know what I can do to help."

"You're already doing it."

Catherine found Sara sitting on the sofa in the break room staring at
the floor. She eased down next to her. Placing her hand on Sara's,
she whispered, "Are you ready? Our escort is waiting out front."

Without saying a word, Sara stood up and headed for the door. This
whole thing came out of nowhere. She didn't have any enemies, had to
know people for that and the only people Sara knew were the ones she
worked with and her next door neighbor Ana who took care of her cat
when she was working overtime. And Tom. He was the delivery guy for
the Chinese place she ordered from a lot. He was nice enough.
Friendly without pushing. Before she realized she had zoned off into
her thoughts, they were pulling out of the parking lot. She didn't
even remember putting her seatbelt on.

The drive to Catherine's was slow. The officer in front drove all
over the city while the officer behind them watched for someone
following them. When the two were satisfied, they all arrived at
Sara's house. Brass was on the front porch waiting for them.

"Hey guys. I've already been inside and its all clear."

"How'd you get in?" Catherine asked.

"With the key each of you leaves in Grissom's office in case of
emergencies. Works out well doesn't it? Officer Sharp has taken
position in the alley way behind your house. Office Muntz will sit
here in front. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to
call."

"Thanks Jim." Catherine said as she stepped inside her house.

"Jim, what did my place look like?" Sara questioned.

"You couldn't tell anyone had been there Sara. Nothing was broken.
Have you given a key to anyone?"

"Just the one in Grissom's office and the one I gave Ana, my next
door neighbor. She took care of my cat when I was working overtime."

"Ok. That's good to know. You get some rest, understand? We'll take
care of everything else."

"Thanks Jim." Catherine was waiting in the doorway for Sara to
finish.

"Come on in. Make yourself at home." She said as she shut the
door. "Can I get you anything to drink or eat? You look like you
haven't eaten in days."

"Two and a half to be exact." Sara said.

"Two and a half what?"

"Two and a half days since I've eaten. I get busy with what I'm
working on and lose track of time. Then when I get hungry, something
always comes up."

"Wanna order a pizza?"

"No thank you, none for me. If you want some though, please go
ahead."

"Sara, you really need to eat." Catherine said sitting next to her
on the couch.

"I keep going through the events of the last month trying to figure
out when this could have started, who it could be, and I come up with
nothing. I'm always at work. If I'm not at work I'm at home
asleep. I don't know anyone in my complex other than Ana and Tom the
Chinese food delivery guy. I don't know who I could have pissed off
so much to make them want to do this."

"Has Tom or anybody asked you out and you turned them down?"

"Are you kidding me? Nobody has ever asked me out. Not that I can
blame them."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Who would ask a workaholic, boring no people skills person like me
out?"

"I would." Catherine whispered.

"What did you say? Did you just say you would ask me out? Yea right,
like you and I can get a long with each other maybe 20-30 minutes of
a shift and I'm supposed to believe you'd ask me out?"
Without saying a word, Catherine leaned into Sara and gently kissed
her soft lips. Pulling back only an inch from her mouth and in the
huskiest of voices said "Yes." Catherine fully expected Sara to
knock her about the head for pulling such a stunt. Instead, Sara
leaned into Catherine and kissed her back, gently.

"I never knew." Sara whispered.

"I never knew how you'd react." Catherine said as she took Sara's
head into her hands, holding her cheeks. "Now how about that
pizza?" Catherine said as she stood and walked into the kitchen.

"Sounds good." Sara replied.

Fsc chapter 3

The pizza came and the two curled up on the couch watching
television. It was still early by graveyard standards, but Catherine
noticed Sara's head keep bobbing as she fought sleep.

"You ready for bed?" Catherine asked.

"I'm ok." Sara said, only moments later for her head to bob again.
She woke to feel Catherine getting up off the couch and picking her
up.

"Let me put you to bed." Catherine whispered as she kissed Sara's
cheek.

"I can walk." Sara mumbled into the crook of Catherine's neck.

"I know baby." Catherine carried a sleeping Sara upstairs to her bed
and gently laid her down. Sara was out cold. Catherine undid her
jeans and slipped them off her long slender legs before covering her
up. Sara nuzzled deep into the covers and rolled onto her right
side. Catherine climbed in beside her and cuddled up to her,
wrapping her protective arms around Sara's waist. Sleep took control
of Catherine quickly.

After what seemed to Catherine to be only a few moments the phone
rang. She carefully separated herself from Sara and went into the
hallway to answer it.

"Willows."

"Hi Catherine, its Grissom. How's she doing?"

"I was able to get her to eat and now she's sleeping. What's going
on Gil?"

"The man who was in the back of her truck killed her cat. He used
its blood to write a message to Sara on the back seat. It said I
know where you live and I've seen where you sleep. Maybe next time
you'll be home."

A serious chill ran up Catherine's spine. "Oh God Gil. Any idea who
the guy is?"

"None. Sara's neighbor Ana said she never heard anyone breaking in
and there's no evidence that he broke it. For all intents and
purposes he may have had a key. Nothing in the house was broken or
out of place. The only evidence we have that he was there was in a
single drawer in the bedroom."

"Let me guess, her underwear drawer."

"Yes. It's all cleaned out. Everything else is intact. How are
things there? The officers still there?"

"Yes." Catherine said looking out the window.

"Listen, I'm giving you and Sara a couple of days off. Don't go out
for anything. Let's hope this guy doesn't know where she is. If you
need anything, call me or Brass or one of the guys, got it?"

"Sure. Keep us posted." Catherine said hanging up the phone. The
idea that someone had broken into Sara's house was troublesome
enough, let alone knowing about her dresser drawer. Catherine stood
in the doorway for a moment, watching Sara sleep. In sleep she
looked like an angel, no stress about a case, just quiet sleep.
Catherine returned to her spot in bed and took Sara into her arms
again and quickly fell back to sleep.

Some time later, Sara bolted up in bed, waking Catherine.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Shh. I hear something outside." Sara crawled out of bed and walked
to the window. She saw the officer in front of the house. She moved
to the back bedroom and look in the back yard. The officer was
sitting in the cruiser surveying the backyard with his spotlight on
the side of his car. Sara heard the noise again. It seemed to be
coming from downstairs. She ran back to Catherine's bedroom and
grabbed her jeans from the foot of the bed. Catherine was dressed by
this point and followed her downstairs. Sara unholstered her gun and
walked to the back patio door. She saw movement in the back right
corner of Catherine's yard. Quietly she opened the door and stepped
out onto the patio with Catherine close behind.

Sara took the flashlight from Catherine's hand and shone it in the
direction of the noise. She locked eyes with the intruder, gun
pointed.

Fsc chapter 4

Sara dropped to her knees and leaned forward placing her hot forehead
on the cool patio. Catherine knelt beside her, taking her gun from
her hand. The events of the last 12 hours had Sara more uptight than
usual. Even Catherine was edgy. Catherine stroked Sara's back,
giving her a few moments to collect herself.

"Mrs. Petersen's dog. I have asked her over and over to make sure
he's in his kennel at night. That damn dog has caused me more
sleepless night than I care to count." Catherine said quietly, still
stroking Sara's back. "Want some hot tea?"

"I'm sorry Catherine. I just kept hearing this noise outside,
wondering why the officer just sat in his car not doing anything.
Now I know it's because he knew it was a dog."

"It's ok sweetie. Let's go back inside." Catherine stood, helping
Sara up they both went back inside.

"Catherine, how did I get upstairs with my pants off?"

"You fell asleep on the couch so I carried you to bed. I figured
you'd be more comfortable without your jeans so I took them off. Not
to worry, I didn't take advantage of you while you were sleeping."

"Oh. I hope I didn't hurt your back. I'm sure I weigh a fair bit
more than you."

"Stop that right now." Catherine said as she walked around the
island to get to Sara. "That's twice since you've been in my house
that you've put yourself down. You did not hurt my back. I wish you
could see you the way other see you. I wish you could see you the
way I see you. Every time I look at you I see a woman who is
confident in her abilities to get a case solved. I see a woman who
is driven to work two and a half days straight without eating or
sleeping because she knows she's on the fringe of putting the pieces
of the evidence together to tell the story. I see a woman with such
beautiful chocolate eyes I melt inside every time I have the pleasure
of seeing them." Catherine moves in closer to Sara, only a few
inches away from those wonderful lips she kissed last. " I see a
woman who every time I see her smile I feel it down here." Catherine
whispered as she placed her hand between Sara's legs, feeling her
heat. The touch took Sara's breath away, and when it returned it was
ragged. Catherine leaned in and took Sara's neck in her mouth,
kissing it gently, placing her hand on Sara's neck to bring her
closer. Sara wrapped her arms around Catherine's waist and picked
her up, placing Catherine's hot center against her belly. She
carried her over to the couch where she gently lay her down.

"You are truly amazing Catherine Willows. You make me feel a way
that I haven't felt for a very, very long time." Sara laid her head
on Catherine's stomach and listened to her heart beat and felt the
rise and fall of her breathing. Catherine's hands were pulling hair
back from her face, holding her close. Sara broke the contact and
stood next to Catherine.

"Ok, it's my turn to carry you to bed." In one movement she picked
Catherine up and carried her upstairs.

Fsc chapter 5

Once upstairs, Sara gently laid Catherine on the bed and did just as
she had done the night before. Her hands trembled as she unzipped
Catherine's jeans. Once undone, Sara slowly slid the tight fitting
jeans down Catherine's unbelievably long tone legs. Sara crawled in
bed beside Cath and took her in her arms.

"Your hair smells wonderful. Like the ocean on a cool breezy day."

"Thank you." Catherine mumbled into Sara's neck.

"It's so soft. I can never get mine to be this soft." Sara
whispered as she twirled strands of Catherine's hair around her
fingers.

"I have a little secret for that. I'll be right back." Catherine
said as she kissed Sara's collar bone. She was gone for only a
moment, but Sara immediately missed the contact from Catherine's soft
skin. She returned with a small white bottle and a brush. Sitting
back on the bed with her back against the head board, she pulled Sara
towards her.

"Lean back against me. I want to brush your hair."

Sara did as she was told. She had never had someone brush her hair
before. Catherine sprayed a few mists on Sara's long chocolate hair
and began to slowly brush, never pulling. A wide smile made its way
across her face as she heard a soft moan escape Sara's throat.

"Am I hurting you?" Catherine asked already knowing the answer.

"Hmmm?" Sara said in an almost sleepy haze. "Not at all. My mother
used to yank and pull and pull and yank when she brushed my hair.
Lindsay must love it when you brush hers."

"Yes she does. When she's had a bad day, she'll bring the bottle and
brush to me and ask me to brush it. Sometimes we spend an hour just
brushing and talking. Lean forward a bit."

Sara leaned forward, placing her head on the pillow in front of her.
Catherine continued her slow, careful brushing, and sensed all the
tension leave Sara's body. She witnessed her shoulders relax, her
neck and back. It made her feel good to know she was able to help.
She stopped and put the brush and spray on her night side table.
Sara lay motionless, asleep once again. Catherine slid down into the
bed a little and pulled Sara's sleeping form to rest against her
front. She sat there for a while, just holding Sara, slightly
rocking her and kissing her head until sleep once again claimed her,
too.

Fsc chapter 6

Sara woke before Catherine. She found herself really enjoying the
presence of this woman. From that first day four years ago when she
saw Catherine working over evidence she dreamed of the time when she
would wake up in her arms. Moving slowly so as not to disturb her,
Sara rolled over onto her stomach, placing her head on Catherine's
low rising chest, her breasts against Catherine's very tone stomach.
She lay there quietly, listening to the heartbeat once again.
Memories of only one other woman she had been this comfortable with,
this in love with. As those memories flooded her mind, a lone tear
fell onto Catherine's chest.

"What's wrong baby?" Catherine whispered.

"Nothing, I'm sorry I woke you. Please go back to sleep."

"It's ok; I've been awake for a while now. Why the tear?"

"I'll tell you about it sometime, just not now. Can I make you some
coffee?" Sara asked already to the door.

"Sure. I'll be down in a minute, I'm just going to call Gil and
check in."

Sara headed downstairs and Cath called Gil.

"Grissom."

"Hey Gil its Catherine. Any news?"

"Not really. We're just going over everything again. Brass and
Warrick interviewed Ana, Sara's neighbor. She heard nothing the last
few days while Sara was gone. She was out of town two nights ago.
She said Aidan looked in on her place for her. He said nothing was
out of the ordinary. So now we have three people that we know of who
knows where Sara lives, Ana, her son, and the Chinese delivery boy.
Two of those have access to a key to Sara's door."

"Did Aidan seem peculiar when you spoke to him? How old is he?"

"He is 17. He seemed very cooperative, no indications of him hiding
anything or being afraid he was getting caught. We'll just have to
wait this out until our mystery man makes another move. How's Sara
doing?"

"Ok I guess. She got some sleep. We had a little scare last night
but it turned out to be the neighbor's dog."

"Ok. Do you need anything? I can have one of the guys drop off some
groceries or whatever on their way out."
"I think we're ok for now. Keep me posted."

Catherine hung up the phone and headed downstairs. Sara had picked
up the morning paper and invited the two officers in for a refill on
coffee for their thermoses. She hated stake outs. She assisted on
several in San Francisco and hated every minute of them. Catherine
stood against the wall in the hallway, just watching how she moved,
seeing an air about her that she wasn't accustomed to seeing-
relaxation.

"Hey there. Here you go. I'm going to get the paper." Sara said as
she handed a cup of steaming coffee to Cath.

Sara walked back in with the paper and sat at the table to read just
as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Catherine said placing her cup of coffee on the table.

"We've got company." She said returning to the kitchen with Brass
behind her.

"Hey Jim."

"Hi Sara. I picked up a few things for you last night at your
place. I didn't know how long you were going to be here and figured
you'd need a few changes of clothes." Brass said placing a duffle
bag on the floor.

"That was very thoughtful, thank you. I'll return your duffle bag
when this is all over."

"I thought it was your duffle bag. It was in your bedroom on the
chair."

"It's not mine. I don't own anything like that."

"Ok then. I'll take it back to the lab and see if Greg can pull
anything off of it, although I'm sure I've ruined any trace." Jim
said heading for the door.

"Hang on a second. I have seen this bag before somewhere. I
remember thinking how neat the emblem on the side was."

"Do you remember where you've seen it?" Brass asked.

"Um, actually yes. My neighbor's son Aidan has one just like it.
He's 17. He got home late from a basketball game once and I saw him
with it. I wonder why it was in my apartment."

"We spoke with Aidan last night. It seems Ana was out of town two
nights ago and Aidan checked in on your place. Must have just left
it there on accident."

Sara took the bag from Jim. She opened it and smiled. "This is
Aidan's bag. Ana always makes him write his name on the inside of
all his bags. See?" She said handing the bag to Brass.

"Ok then. I'll pay him a little visit and see if he remembers
leaving it behind. You comfortable taking your clothes out or do you
want Greg to check for trace."

"Nah, I'm sure its fine. I'll just take it upstairs and empty it
out." Sara disappeared from the kitchen leaving Catherine and Brass.

"She seems like she's doing pretty well."

"Better than I'm afraid I'd be. She got some decent sleep last night
which was really good for her.

Just then, a loud thud came from upstairs. Brass and Catherine raced
upstairs to find Sara sitting on the floor next to the bed.

"What is it Sara?" Catherine asked ask she knelt down beside her.

"Brass, was this bag ever out of your site?" Sara asked in a hoarse
voice.

"Yes. I stored it in Gil's office until after shift. Why?"

"Because this photo was between my jeans and shirt." She said
handing the photo to Brass. "Why didn't somebody tell me that was in
my truck?"

"We didn't want to worry you Sara."

"It's a little too late for that now isn't it? Why would somebody
write that?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out Sara. That's why you are
here with Catherine. The bigger problem here is that since this bag
was in Gil's office, this whole situation is starting to point to
someone on our shift."

Fsc chapter 7

"So what do we do now?" Sara asked.

"I'll start by checking the people who had the night off. We'll play
that against who had access to Grissom's office."

"There's something else we need to consider here Jim, and that is if
it truly is someone from night shift, they all know she's staying
with me." Catherine commented. "Do a check for who has time off
from now until Monday night."

"No, the thing for me to do is go back to work. He may have no idea
we know it's someone from grave yard. If we go back to things as
usual, we will have a better chance of getting him to slip up." Sara
said flatly.

"Gil gave specific directions that you and I were to stay put. They
are working things from there."

"Yes, but that was before we knew about the bag. I saw we go in
tonight and act like nothing's going on. Who knows, maybe he'll be
stupid enough to try something. I'll stay on desk duty if that makes
you feel any better."

"I'll fill Gil in. We'll see you both tonight then. Get some rest
will ya? We're all going to need it until this is over with."

Jim left and Catherine sat quietly on the couch. Sara joined
her. "What's wrong Cath?"

"I'm just worried about you. It bothers me that this is happening to
you. It bothers me that it took this situation for me to realize how
I feel about you. It more than bothers me knowing that this guy was
in your house and took-"Catherine knew she had said too much. There
were some details Sara was better off not knowing about and she just
spilled the beans on one of them.

"Took what Catherine? What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing Sara. Really."

"Tell me now Catherine or I'm leaving and going to my place to find
out for myself." Sara said as she headed for the door.

Catherine got there just in time to shut the door before Sara left.
Catherine took Sara's face in her hands. "Honey, I just got you. I
don't want to ever lose you. The guy was in your house. He was in
your bedroom. The only thing he touched he took. Do you understand
what I'm saying?"

"No, no I don't."
"Sara, he took personal things. Very personal things. He took all
of them. From your top drawer."

The realization of what Catherine was trying to tell her hit like a
ton of bricks. She nearly fell over as thoughts of this man going
through her personal items flooded her mind. Catherine took her in
her arms and held her tight. "We're going to get through this.
Together."

Sara looked into Catherine's eyes and saw sincerity. "I think I'm
going to go lay down." She said as she leaned in to kiss Catherine.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all."

"Ok. Let me pick up down here and I'll be up."

Sara turned at retreated upstairs as Catherine picked up the
kitchen. She checked all the locks on the doors before heading up to
join her new love.

Fsc chapter 8

It had begun to thunder, a rare thunderstorm was moving in on Vegas.
Sara was sitting on the bed with her back to the door looking out
through the open window when Catherine came in. Moving in behind
her, Catherine pulled Sara into her. "It's all going to be ok.
We're not going to let anything happen to you."

"I know. I'm not thinking about that."

"What are you thinking about?" Cath said as she began to brush
Sara's hair again.

"I'm thinking about a time long ago. The rain always makes me think
of it. It was a sad time so the rain is fitting."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm afraid to to be quite honest. I'm afraid to open that wound
again. More afraid of how it will affect you, me, us."

"I'm not going anywhere Sara. It took far too long for me to realize
how wonderful you are and how much I want to be with you, now and
forever." Catherine noticed Sara's shoulders shaking.

"Oh baby, please tell me. It hurts me to see you so sad." Catherine
said pulling Sara into her.

"I was 15. My parents were worried because I didn't like boys. I
thought they were too complicated, too hard to understand, read and
make happy. I had a really close friend. Her name was Elizabeth.
She lived next door to me and we were inseparable. We started
kindergarten together, had all the same teachers. She was the nicest
person I had ever known. She was tall, had the most beautiful blue
eyes I had ever seen. We had a sleep over every weekend. One week
it was my house, the next hers. We both knew there was a connection
between us that delved so much deeper than simple friendship. One
night she was sleeping over. It was thunder storming something
fierce. We neither one liked the storms. We curled up together in
my bed comforting each other. Then we kissed. It was the most
natural thing in the world for us, like we were meant to be
together. Things kept going and my parents walked in on us right in
the middle of it. My mother took her downstairs and walked her
home. She stayed there for the longest time, talking to her
parents. My father on the other hand stayed in my room. He yelled
and screamed, threw things. He kept asking my why I did it. Finally
I told him it was because I loved her and she loved me, that we
wanted to be together forever. That sent him off the edge. He said
the most mean and hurtful things. When I wouldn't promise him that I
would never see Elizabeth again he got violent. When it was all
over, I had three broken ribs, a broken arm, a serious concussion and
a hairline fracture on my jaw. My father convinced the doctors I was
in a car accident."

"Oh baby, shhhh." Catherine said as she rocked a weeping Sara. The
torture this woman went through for the sake of love, Catherine
understood why it was so hard for her to give it to anyone.

"By the time I had gotten out of the hospital, Elizabeth had been
sent to her grandparent's house in Arizona. She tried to run away
twice. After the second time her grandfather put a lock on the
outside of her door and bars on her window. A month later she
committed suicide. I decided then that love was too painful to allow
to happen again. Ever since then, I haven't let anyone close. Then
I met you and all those walls started to crumble. I fell for you the
moment I saw you. I felt a connection to you, far beyond just co-
worker. My soul was drawn to you."

"I'm so sorry that you had to go through that Sara." Catherine said
lifting Sara's chin so she could see in her eyes. "But I swear to
you, neither heaven nor earth nor any other power could pull me away
from you." She leaned down and kissed Sara's quivering lips, gently
at first then more passionately. She needed Sara to know how much
she wanted her, how much she loved her and how she would never let
her go. Catherine rocked Sara long after she had fallen asleep. She
cried silently for the innocence that was taken from Sara.

Fsc chapter 9

The phone rang, pulling both Catherine and Sara from a deep slumber.
The rain was still coming down with an occasional flash of lightning.

"Willows."

"Hi Catherine its Gil. I just got off the phone with Brass.
Whatever it takes, you have to keep Sara there. Under no
circumstances are you to allow her to leave. This whole situation
has great potential for serious badness."

"I'll do my best Gil. She's awake. Do you want to talk to her?"

Catherine handed Sara the phone and stepped out to give them some
privacy. When she returned Sara had stepped into the shower. She
knocked on the door. "Sara? You ok?"

"Yea I'm fine, just taking a shower. Wanna join me?"

Catherine wasn't sure if she heard her correctly. "You want me to
join you in the shower?"

"Only if you want me to."

Before Sara knew it, Catherine was standing in the shower behind
her. "I was hoping you'd ask me in." Catherine said as she kissed
Sara's neck, just below the earlobe. She moved her hands to Sara's
stomach and paused there to make sure Sara was ok with it. Sara took
her Catherine's hands and pulled them up higher, granting her the
permission she was looking for. Catherine pulled her back into her,
and began lathering Sara's body with soap. She starting with her
stomach, rubbing it gently, them moved to her breasts. Even over the
noise of the shower, Catherine could hear Sara's breathe catch in her
throat as she succumbed to the sensations coursing through her body.
Sara reaches her hands back into Catherine's hair, massaging her
head. Catherine then kissed Sara's neck, letting her hand find its
way down Sara's thigh. While Catherine traced invisible circles on
her inner thigh, Sara whispered, "Please Catherine, don't stop."
Catherine kept up the gentle caresses, moving closer to her
destination each time. When her fingers found the soft flesh below,
Sara's ragged attempts at breathing encouraged Catherine all the
more. She pulled her hands away long enough to spin Sara around so
they were facing each other. Sara buried her head in Catherine's
neck as Catherine's fingers found the spot once again. Sara arched
her breasts into Catherine's as Catherine's fingers entered her.
Catherine used her free hand to pull Sara's leg up around her waist,
allowing her easier access. Sara wrapped her arms around Catherine's
neck and used it for leverage as she pulled herself deeper onto
Catherine's agile fingers. Catherine sensed she was close so she
leaned in and kissed Sara passionately, their tongues dueled
fiercely. She swallowed Sara's moans and cries as she climaxed and
held her tight until she stopped. Sara opened her eyes and stared
deeply into the electric blue orbs before her. She watched as the
blue turned almost steel colored with desire.
Sara pushed Catherine up against the shower wall, pinning her there
breast against breast, her thigh in between Catherine's legs, gently
raising her off of the floor. Sara took a breast in her mouth, the
other with her hand and began nibbling and kneading, her free hand
wandering down her smooth tight stomach. When Sara's fingers reached
their destination, Catherine let out an almost animalistic groan.
With that, Sara picked Catherine up off the floor and wrapped her
legs around her stomach. The heat from Catherine's core immediately
seared through Sara's skin, driving her deeper into the moment. With
Catherine's back against the wall for support, Sara let go with one
hand, placing it between Catherine's legs, quickly entering her.
Catherine arched hard as she rode Sara's fingers, and moaned louder
when she inserted another. It had been far too long waiting for
Catherine to last long, but she rode the wave to the end. After she
had finished, Sara placed her back on the floor and pulled her into a
tight embrace. "I love you Catherine. I'm not going anywhere
either. I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have now."

"Does that mean you're not going in tonight?" Catherine whispered in
her ear.

"Not going into the lab tonight. I did have plans to go in somewhere
else though." Sara stepped out of the shower and looked back over
her shoulder tossing a devilish grin Catherine's way.

Fsc chapter 10

Catherine and Sara spent the remainder of the day curled up on the
couch watching movies. It was almost time for shift when the
doorbell rang. Catherine looked through the peep hole then back at
Sara.

"It's Hodges." She whispered.

"Catherine opened the door. "Hi there. What brought you by?"

"Grissom said you two could use a few things and since I live out
this way I told him I'd drop it off on my way in tonight. I brought
you stuff to make stir fry with since you like it so well. I had to
go to three different stores to find the tofu you like Sara."

"Uh, thanks Hodges. You really shouldn't have." Sara said trying to
keep the concern out of her voice.

"No problem really, like I said Catherine's is on my way anyway."
Hodges said as he walked to the kitchen to put the groceries
down. "Listen, Sara, if you need any help putting up flyers for
Sylvester I'd be more than happy to put some up in my neighborhood.
We're not that far apart. You never know when some kid picked him up
and took him home."

"Sure, that would be great. I can use all the help I can get." Sara
was on the verge of crying, but didn't want to let on that something
was wrong.

"Alright then, I'm running a bit late. Let me know if there's
anything else I can do." Hodges said as he leaned in and kissed Sara
on the cheek.

Catherine let Hodges out and re-locked the door, watching him walk
back to his car through the peephole in the door. She turned back to
Sara who had gone completely white.

"What is it Sara?"

"Lots of things. For example, nobody knows the kind of tofu I like
because I have to special order it. It comes from an organic shop in
San Francisco. I can only get it once every couple of weeks or so.
The only way he could have known what kind it was was if he had
looked in my fridge. The other thing that's bothering me is that
nobody knew the name of my cat. None of you saw the tag after it
fell from the envelope on the flowers. I have only had him two
weeks."

"He has access to Gil's office, we all do. We need to call Gil and
find out if he had last night off." Catherine said as she dialed the
phone.

"Grissom."
"Gil its Catherine. Sara and I know who is behind this situation.
Hodges just stopped by here saying you asked him to drop some
groceries off. He brought stuff to make stir fry, commenting that he
had to go to three stores to find the tofu that Sara likes, but she
has to special order it. Gil, he was in her apartment. He took her
key from your office."

"Ok hold it, slow down. I will check the list to see who was off and
when. My guess is he won't be in tonight. You two make sure to lock
all the doors and windows and stay put. I'll call Brass and get an
officer over there. In the meantime, be careful."

"Why would Hodges be doing this? He's never asked me out, never hit
on me, nothing."

"Delusional people never need a reason Sara. That's what makes them
so dangerous. Grissom is calling Brass to send an officer over.
Let's check all the windows and doors and set the alarm. I'm sure he
looked the place over real well when he was here.

Fsc chapter 11

"So now what?" Sara asked.

"Let's try and keep ourselves occupied. If we sit around doing
nothing we'll go nuts. Wanna watch another move?"

"Ok, but it's your pick."

Catherine headed over to the entertainment center and picked up a
DVD. Just as she was about to pop it, Sara took it from her hand and
took Catherine's hand in hers. "But let's watch it upstairs." Sara
said with eyes that spoke the real truth of what she wanted to do.

Catherine followed Sara upstairs to the bedroom. As Catherine
started the movie, Sara drew the shades, lit a few candles and turned
off the lights. They both crawled in bed and Catherine took Sara in
her arms. They nuzzled into each other, a perfect fit.

"So what'd you pick?" Sara asked.

"Murder by numbers. Have you ever seen it?"

"Yes. I love that movie." Sara said as she began drawing circles on
Catherine's stomach.

"Keep that up and there won't be much movie watching."

"Would that be all bad?"

"Not at all, but I have to return the movie tonight."

"Oh. Ok. Sara laid her head back on Catherine's chest as Catherine
started to play with her hair.

"You know, I never was much of a hair person, but for some reason
lately I've really come to enjoy it." Sara said.

"I'm glad. Just like with Lindsay I can tell that it helps you
relax. That and I am a hair person."

The two lay together watching the movie, enjoying the quietness
together. The sun had started to set and coupled with the dark
window shades, the candle's glow filled the bedroom with soft,
flickering light. At the end of the movie, Sara looked up at
Catherine who had fallen asleep. Her face had a soft halo around it
from the candles on the bedside tables. Sara had not given herself
into love like this for many, many years. As she lay there watching
her angel sleep, she felt all the pain from the past drain from her
body. She wiped the stray hair from Catherine's face, pausing only a
moment to touch her soft lips before the phone began ringing. Sara
quickly picked it up so as not to disturb Catherine.

"Willows residence."

"Hi Sara. How'd you like the tofu? I hope you appreciate the effort
it took to find it." A male voice said.

"Thank you. I do appreciate it. I can only get it every three of
four weeks. How did you know it was my favorite?"

"I know a lot of things about you Sara. I know that you've only had
Sylvester for two weeks. I know that your neighbor Ana watches over
your place when you're working overtime. I know that you love
candles in your bedroom and bathroom. I can only imagine how angelic
you look taking a bubble bath in a room filled with the dancing
candle light. I know that Tom is your delivery guy for PF Changs
delivery. I know that you are in love with the woman you're staying
with right now. I had hoped the other night to have shown you I
could make you happier than she can, but you weren't home."

Sara began to shake with fear. Catherine left the room with cell
phone in hand and called Grissom.

"Grissom."

"Hodges is on the phone right now with Sara. He called here and she
answered.

"Hodges is in the lab. I'll walk around and see if he's still on the
phone." Grissom walked past and saw Hodges peering into the
microscope. "Is Sara still on the phone?"

"Yes."

"Then it's not Hodges. He's working evidence under the microscope."

"What? That can't be. I'll call you back Gil." Catherine said as
she hung up her phone and went back to the bedroom. Sara was sitting
frozen on the bed, her face showing the terror she was feeling.

"Ok, you know all about me, what do I know about you?" Sara asked.

"You'll know more soon Sara. All will be revealed to you soon. I
will show you that you are worthy of me and me of you. We will be
together forever soon Sara."

The line went dead.

Catherine sat next to Sara, taking the phone from her hand.

"He knows everything about me Cath. He knows who my take out
delivery guy is, he knows about Ana watching my house. He knows
about how I feel for you."

"Sara, I just called Grissom. Hodges is in the lab."

"He's got a lot of nerve calling me from the lab. Anyone could over
hear what he was saying.

"Sara." Catherine said taking her shaking angel's face in her
hands. "Gil walked past the lab. Hodges was working something under
the microscope. Whoever you were talking to, it's not Hodges."

The doorbell rang sending waves of fear throughout Sara's body.

Catherine looked out the window and saw a delivery guy out front.

"Did you order out while I was asleep?"

"No, why?"

"There's a delivery guy outside. The two walked downstairs and as
Catherine headed for the door Sara took the safety off of her gun.

"Hi Ma'am. I have a delivery here for a Sara Sidle?"

"We didn't order anything."

"All I know Ma'am is that an order was placed for delivery to this
address and was paid for with a credit card."

Sara peered around the corner. She recognized the young boy and
secured her gun and walked around the corner.

"Aidan. I didn't know you worked for Chang's."

"Hi Sara. Just started there last week. A kid's gotta have money for
the girls, ya know?"

"I'm sure that's the case. Who placed the order?"

"No clue, I just deliver it." He said handing the bag to
Sara. "It's your favorite, Buddha's feast and the vegetarian lettuce
wraps. I think there's a piece of the chocolate cake in there too.
I had them put a couple of extra tubs of the fudge sauce in for
your. Figured that way you would have enough to share with your
friend here."

"Thank you Aidan" Sara said taking the bag from him. Then something
clicked and it all began to make sense. "Here you go. Thanks for
dropping it by." Sara said as she handed him a tip.

"You're more than welcome Sara. I hope you enjoy it." Aidan said as
he headed for the door.

Fsc chapter 12a

Catherine had the door just about shut when it slammed back inward
smacking her on the face. The force was so great behind it, it
knocked her out cold. Sara stood paralyzed at the scene that was
playing out before her. In two steps Aidan was back inside and
standing before her.

"You know something Sara? She's not good enough for you. You deserve
someone who worships the ground you walk on, someone who will move
mountains for you."

"What the hell did you just do Aidan?" Sara said trying to move past
him to get to Catherine.

"No no no." Aidan said grabbing Sara's arm. "She's fine. She's not
going anywhere. Let's just take advantage of the time we have before
she comes to."

"Aidan, let go of me now." Sara yelled, pulling hard to free her arm.

Aidan was getting really pissed off. Grabbing hold of Sara's arm
harder, he threw her up against the wall, knocking the wind out of
her. "Listen to me, bitch. You have led me on for far too long. I
think its time you and I take our relationship one step further."

Still doubled over trying to catch her breath, Sara whispered, "Lead
you on? You're only 17. I have never done anything to lead you on,
Aidan. We have no relationship. We never have and never will."

Aidan drew his hand back and brought it down full fisted against
Sara's cheek. "How can you say that? You had me in your home just
last week. You had ordered pizza and we ate together. I don't know
where you're from, but where I come from that's considered a date."

Sara lay on the floor, trying to get the spinning in her head to
stop. She looked over to Catherine and that image was enough to
give her the adrenaline needed. She stood up, throwing herself into
Aidan's stomach, sending him flying backwards onto the kitchen
table. Sara raced for her gun on the counter, but Aidan was too
fast. He grabbed the gun and brought it down on Sara's head,
knocking her out cold.

When she came to, Catherine was tied to the couch, awake and fighting
the ropes that bound her. Sara was having difficult time breathing.
As things came into focus more, she was able to see Aidan straddling
her chest, her arms pinned to her side between his legs. Her feet
were bound with the same rope that bound Catherine.

"Aidan. You need to get off of me. I can't breathe." Sara's voice
said in a low whisper. Aidan leaned forward a bit more, applying
more pressure to Sara's ribs.

"I don't need to do anything Sara. You're going to pay for leading
me on. You can't honestly say you don't remember our date can you?"

"Aidan, your mom was late getting home from work. You forgot your
key. I let you stay until she got home. I fed you left over pizza.
That's not a date."

"You're wrong bitch." Aidan said as his fist connected with the side
of Sara's already bleeding head. Sara was trying hard to focus, to
stay awake. She had seen Aidan's eyes turn black and full of hate.
She knew she was in a lot of trouble. She tried to lift her head
back to see Catherine, but Aidan grabbed her neck with his strong
hands. "I think the three of us are going to have a little fun." He
said as he leaned over and licked the blood dripping down Sara's
face. "And I think I'm going to start with your friend over there,
and you're going to watch. Maybe if you're really good, I'll be
gentle with her."

As Aidan stood up off of Sara, she took the opportunity to push him
off balance. She rolled over, trying to get to her feet. Aidan
steadied himself and kicked her in the ribs. Searing pain shot
through Sara's body as she landed with a thud. Doubled up in a fetal
position trying to protect herself from further attack she caught
Catherine's eyes. They were full of pain and fear and anger. Sara
tried to focus on Catherine, hoping to find the strength to fight.
Aidan was on her before she could formulate a plan. He tied her
hands behind her back and propped her up against the couch. He
grabbed Catherine by the hair and threw her on the floor. Straddling
her as he had Sara, he began to rip off the buttons on Catherine's
shirt. One by one, Sara could hear the threads give way and the
button hitting the floor. Catherine struggled against Aidan's
strength, but it was useless. He leaned in and kissed her roughly,
squeezing her throat. A small yelp escaped Catherine's mouth.

Catherine's cry fueled Sara's anger. She found the strength to stand
and went running full force into Aidan, sending them both flying off
of Catherine. Aidan hit the floor head first. Sara's momentum
carried her over Aidan's body crashing into the hardwood floor
shoulder first. The sound of bone breaking cut through the room.
Sara lay motionless on the floor. Aidan turned to see Catherine had
disappeared. He turned his attention back to the unconscious Sara on
the floor. He rolled her over and straddled her again, this time
pinning her legs down. "You will live long enough to regret that
move Sara." He said in a voice full of hate and determination. "And
believe me; once I'm finished with you, I will do the same if not
worse to your little friend."

Sara came to and seeing the hatred in Aidan's eyes she knew she was
about to die. Thoughts of her and Catherine and the love they made
earlier that day flooded her mind. Surprisingly, she was at peace
with what was about to happen. She had managed to convince Catherine
that she loved her. More so, Catherine had returned that love. Sara
lay there, anticipating what was about to happen.

Aidan reached in his back pocket and pulled out a large pocket
knife. Opening it, he ran the blade down Sara's neck. "You are
about to know what real pain is Sara. I will teach you what happens
when you lead a guy on." Aidan cut Sara's shirt from her body, and
sliced through her bra exposing her breasts. He leaned down and took
a breast in his mouth, biting hard. A gasp of pain slipped from
Sara's throat. "That's nothing Sara. Wait till you feel this."
With that, Aidan tipped the knife on its tip, slowly drawing it down
Sara's neck, creating a thin line of blood. He continued pulling it
down to her stomach. Tears began to fall down Sara's face landing in
a puddle on the floor beside her head. She gasped as she felt the
knife between her breasts, penetrating skin. Without emotion, Aidan
slowly pushed the blade of the knife into Sara's chest, sinking the
blade in deep. Sara tried to scream, but no sound left her mouth.
As the room was starting to go dark, she heard a single shot ring out
and Aidan fell to her side. Catherine pushed his lifeless body off
of Sara and dialed the cell phone with the other.

"Central. I need backup and paramedics to 11220 Falesco Avenue.
Officer down. Repeat officer down." Catherine hung up the phone and
concentrated on Sara. Taking her face in her hands, Catherine tried
to keep her awake.

"Come on baby, stay awake. Help is on its way. You have to stay
with me Sara. Stay awake." Tears started rolling down her cheeks,
joining the tears on Sara's face. Sara raised her uninjured hand to
Catherine's face.

"Don't cry baby. Shhh. Always remember that I love you." Sara
whispered.

"I love you too Sara and that's why I'm not going to lose you.
You're going to be just fine. Just stay awake a little bit longer.
Open your eyes Sara let me see those beautiful chocolate eyes."

Sara was drifting in and out of consciousness, having serious
difficulty breathing. Moments later the paramedics walked through
the door, pushing Catherine aside. As they prepared her for the ride
to the hospital, Sara opened her eyes and looked deep into
Catherine's soulful eyes.

"Don't leave me."

"I won't baby. I'll be right beside you the whole time."

The paramedics loaded Sara into the ambulance and Catherine crawled
in and sat holding Sara's feet.

Fsc chapter 12 b

This chapter takes place back at the lab while things are
simultaneously going on at Sara's.

"Gil, I think we should just pull him in for a chat. He knows far
too many personal details about Sara and he had the opportunity to
grab her key. Let's just go see what he says." Brass said.

"But when Catherine called, Hodges was working on something under the
microscope, not on the phone with Sara."

"Ok you know what? I'm pulling him into interrogation 1. If you
care to join me we'll be there in ten minutes. If I don't see you
then I'll assume you had something better to do." Brass said to
Grissom in his best `get your head out of your ass' voice.

Just as Brass said, ten minutes later and Bras was walking Hodges
into interrogation room 1 and Grissom was there waiting.

"Glad you could join us Gil." Brass said with a look of victory
spread across his face.

"Alright Hodges, I've got a few questions for you."

"What's going on?"

"That's what we'd like to know. Where were you on your night off?"

"With my son why?"

"What was the timeframe you were with him?"

"His mother has it set up so I can see him every weekend and one
night during the week. He just started this new job last week it was
hard to hook up with him. We went to Gordon Bierches downtown, and
then went to the NASCAR museum. He loves roller coasters so we
always take one in on our nights together. I pick him up at 5pm and
drop him off at 10."

"Were you in the vicinity of Towne Center Drive and Far Hills that
night around 11:30?"

"Uh, yes I was actually. I had taken my son home and his mom was
called in early to work so she had made arrangements for him to spend
the night at a friend's house. I drove him there around 11:15."

"What was this friend's address?"
"1414 Far Hills Dr. It's not too far from the hospital."

"Were you aware that Sara Sidle was on a scene just a few houses down
from where you say you dropped your son off?"

"No I had no idea."

"Well it seems somebody decided to take a load off their feet in the
back of her truck. They put the seat down and then wrote her a
little message. You wouldn't know anything about that now would you?"

"I already told you I don't know anything about it."

"See Hodges, you know too many details about certain private things
regarding Sara, like the type of tofu she likes and the name of the
cat she's only had for 2 weeks. Someone broke into her house last
night and stole all of her personal clothing. This someone had a
key. Everyone in the lab knows that Gil's CSI's give him a key to
their house in case of emergencies. You had access to Gil's office."

"Yea and so did about 50 other people. What's going on here?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. Things get a little worse
here before they get better. You see, I brought a bag of Sara's
things to take to her after shift while I was at her place after
someone had gone through it. I put that bag in Gil's office. When I
delivered the bag, it contained a picture of the crime scene that was
in the back of her truck." Brass continued.

"Not to mention the flowers she got here at work with her cat's tag
in the envelope then your offer to help put up lost posters for her
Sylvester. She swears nobody knew the cat's name, but you somehow
knew. Then we go back to the tofu. Sara said that particular brand
she has to special order and she can only get it once every three to
four weeks. But you made a point of telling her you searched three
different stores to find her favorite. She says the only way to know
that specific brand was her favorite was if you looked in her
refrigerator."

"When would I have done that?"

"The night you were in her apartment that you were allegedly with
your son."

"I WAS with my son. I dropped him off at his friend's house then
came straight to work. Check my time card. I dropped him off at
11:15 and was at work by 11:30. It's a 15 minute drive from
Summerlin to the lab."

"We'll be checking that out. Just so you know Hodges, you're our
number one suspect on this case. There are a few things we have to
work out yet, but I guarantee you that when those things are taken
care we'll nail you to the wall."
"May I go now?"

"Yea sure. Get out of here."

As Hodges left the interrogation room, Gil and Brass turned to walk
back to Brass's office.

"See I told you it was too early to pull him in Brass. Now all we've
done is alerted him to the fact that we're on him."

"I think we did what we needed to do. Now he knows we're watching
him. Maybe he'll make a mistake and we'll be able to nail him down."

Brass's cell phone rang, breaking the tension in his office.

"Brass."

"Hi Jim, this is Sally in control? I just wanted to let you know a
call just came in from a Catherine Willows requesting back up and
paramedics, officer down."

"Holy shit! Thanks Sally, we're on our way."

"What's going on?" Grissom asked.

"Catherine just called for back up and paramedics. Grab Warrick and
let's roll."

Grissom ran back to the lab to grab Warrick.

"Warrick come with me, now."

"What's up boss?"

"Catherine just called in for back up and paramedics."

"The three drive lights and sirens all the way, breaking every speed
limit there was. They pulled up just as the paramedics did.

"Hang tight guys, let me clear the scene."

Brass ran inside, Grissom and Warrick right behind him. As they
entered the house, the site before them set al their nerves on edge.
Catherine was bent over Sara's very still form, some kid was lying on
the floor next to Sara and Catherine had blood on her face. Brass
motioned for the paramedics to come in.

"Catherine I need you to focus. Tell me what happened." Grissom
said.

"I don't know really. This kid Aidan delivered Chinese food. He and
Sara chatted for a while then he headed out the door. Just as I'm
shutting it he slams it back in knocking me in the head. I wake up
to find him and Sara scuffling. He hit her really hard. I remember
him kicking her in the ribs. Next thing I know she's tied up and
he's got me on the floor. I cry out and Sara leaps up off the floor
with her hands tied behind her back and charges the kid. She sends
him flying off of me and I hear her land hard on the floor just
beyond where he did. I distinctly heard her bones breaking as she
hit the floor. I get up and run upstairs for my gun. I came back
downstairs to see him driving his knife into her chest. Then I shot
him once in the chest." Catherine continued to brush Sara's hair
back from her face.

"Don't leave me Catherine." Sara whispered.

"Never baby, I'll be right here the entire time."

Fsc chapter 13

"Catherine, before you go, who is this boy?"

"He's Sara's next door neighbor Aidan Garrison."

Grissom watched in silence as Sara was being wheeled to the
ambulance. A woman came running through the crowd toward the
stretcher.

"Brass get to Sara!" Grissom yelled at the top of his lungs.

Brass saw the woman running after Sara and was in immediate pursuit.
Reaching Sara moments before the woman did, he grabbed the woman by
the arm.

"Sara Sara, are you ok?" The woman cried.

"Ma'am, I'm captain Brass and you're going to have to back away."
Brass said sternly

"I'm Ana, her next door neighbor. Is she going to be ok?" The woman
cried.

"We're not sure yet Ana. She's been hurt pretty bad. How did you
get here? Sara lives a few miles away."

"I was on my way to work. I work at Summerlin Medical Center. I
heard the call on my walkie talkie and decided to see if I could
help."

"You carry a walkie talkie?"

"Yes. I'm a trauma surgeon. I carry one with me whenever I'm in
route to and from work. You never know when you'll be needed."

"Ok. Would you mind answering some questions for me over here?"
Brass motioned.

"No not at all."

"Do you remember anything unusual going on in the neighborhood? Any
talk of stalkers, break ins etc?"

"Not at all. We live in a very good neighborhood, or so I thought.
I take care of Sara's place when she's working overtime. You know, I
take in the papers and her mail, water the flowers, those kinds of
things so when people walk through the halls they don't see stuff
stacking up and think she's gone."

"That's very nice of you Ana. Now, think back to two nights ago.
Sara was working over. What time did you check her house?"

"I had to go in early that night. My son was with his father. I
left a note telling him to take Aidan to a friend's house. I left
Sara's key on the table and asked Aidan to check on her house. Why?"

"Sara was staying with a fellow CSI because someone had broken into
her truck while she was at a scene leaving a threatening message.
Earlier that night someone let themselves into her house going
through everything, but leaving behind a duffle bag. Sara identified
that duffle bag as belonging to Aidan. Tonight Aidan delivered
Chinese food to this fellow CSI's house. He attacked both CSI's,
critically injuring Sara."

"What are you trying to say Captain Brass?"

"What I'm trying to say is your son drove a knife through Sara
Sidle's chest. Catherine Willows, the person Sara was staying with,
shot and killed Aidan."

"What? This can't be. Aidan looked up to Sara, always talking about
how nice she was. I was late getting home one night and Sara let
Aidan stay at her place and eat pizza because he forgot his key.
That's just how Sara is, always looking out for everyone. I can't
believe Aidan did this. Where is he? Can I see him?"

"Not right now. There are officers in the house collecting
evidence. Feel free to sit in my car until the coroner arrives."
Brass said walking her to his car.

"Um, I have to call Aidan's father." Ana said between sobs.

"Why don't you give me his name and number and I'll call him." Brass
offered.

"He works at the crime lab. Hodges. Do you know him?"

The pieces all started to fall into place. "Yes Ma'am I know him.
I'll contact him immediately."

"Thank you Captain Brass."

Brass went back inside Catherine's house to find Grissom.

"I know why Hodges knew all those things about Sara." Brass said
quietly.

"How's that?"

***