Title: Undercover
By: reversedsam
Pairing: Cath/Sara
Fandom: CSI: Vegas
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimers: They're not mine, but I promise I'll have them back by midnight.
A/N: All mistakes and British spellings are mine.
Summary: What happens when the girls have to go undercover?

***

"Okay people, so we have no new evidence and no leads is that right?"

Ecklie sounds seriously pissed, not that I blame him, we've been concentrating on the same case for two weeks, there's a serial killer out there killing women and we have nothing, no new evidence, no new leads, nothing. The whole lab has been working on this case with everything else being put on hold till we catch the sick bastard.

"Everyone is doing their best Conrad, of that I can assure you."

"Well right now Grissom, that's just not good enough, we need to catch this bastard now."

Usually when he gets like this I want to kill the annoying son of a bitch but this time I agree with him. Three innocent women have lost these lives because we can't piece together the clues and that's just not good enough.

Grissom's phone goes, effectively saving us from whatever else Ecklie was about to say next.

"Okay, we're on our way." He says before snapping his phone shut. He shakes his head and a look of disbelief passes over his face as he gets to his feet. "We got another one. Nick, Warrick and Sofia you're with me, Catherine, Sara and Greg you stay here. I'll send any evidence back to you three while we finish at the scene. If you can, have the results by the time we get back; I don't need to tell you how important this one is." He walks out as soon as he's finished talking, his team following him.

"I'll go and do some damage control with the press." Ecklie declares, sounding even more pissed off than before.

Catherine, Greg and I are left in the break room trying to digest everything that's just happened.

"I can't believe this; we have to be missing something." Catherine says, although I think it was more to herself than anyone else.

"Hey, Catherine, we will catch him, sooner or later he'll make a mistake, and when he does, we'll be there to nail him."

"And in the meantime he continues murdering innocence women, remind me to tell the victims families that we're just waiting for a mistake, I'm sure they'll feel so much better." She practically yells at him.

You can see she regrets the words as soon as they leave her mouth. "I'm sorry Greg, I didn't mean to bite your head off, and I know you're trying to help, I'm just so frustrated."

"It's okay Cath; we all want to catch him." Greg takes a whole lot of shit around the lab for being immature, but looking at him now, I realize just how much he's grown up since becoming a CSI, but then this job will do that to you. It's one thing to sit in a lab and hear about the atrocities people commit against one another, it's another to be out in the field witnessing it first-hand.

"I have to agree with you Catherine. While we're waiting for Grissom to send anything new over why don't we take another look at what we've already got, different perspective and all that, you might see something I've missed, or vice versa." I offer, I'd pretty much stayed quiet since arriving at the meeting, but like Catherine I'm frustrated and sitting here talking about it isn't doing anyone any good.

"Good idea, let's go." She doesn't wait for us, just stands and walks out of the break room.

"Come on Greg, let's go."

An hour or so later David turns up to give us the evidence Grissom has found so far.

Again we're left with nothing much to go on, possible DNA from a hair sample and a partial fingerprint on a glass.

"Just got off the phone to Gil." Catherine says walking into the lay out room to join Greg and I. "Usual MO, vic is female, looks to be late twenties, early thirties, brunette this time. As always he picked her up at the club, somehow got her to follow him to the alley out back, COD is as usual multiple stab wounds, single gunshot wound; no ID on the vic yet..."

"Any witnesses? CCTV?" Greg asks

"Of course not, crowded club, hundreds of people and yet nobody saw him, few people remember the girl, but nobody can recall seeing her leave with anyone. Body was found by the DJ, he'd gone outside for fresh air during his break. As for CCTV the owner had cameras in his office and by the bar, pretty much anywhere there was cash, but not anywhere useful to us, obviously we'll check it anyway."

"They found a glass?" Asks Greg.

Catherine lifts an evidence bag holding a clear plastic glass and hands it to Greg. "The glass was found next to the body, it's one from the club so they must have taken them. The hair was found on the vic. Let's hope now is the time he makes that mistake."

I've been in the lay out room checking and rechecking the evidence we have for the past hour while Greg ran the glass and hair for DNA.

I'm interrupted by Warrick "Hey Sara, we just got back now, Ecklie sent me to find you, said he wants you in his office ASAP. I'll take over here till you get back."

"Thanks Warrick, wonder what I did now." God I hate Ecklie, I've never in my life met anyone so arrogant, and the power trip he's been on since taking over is just beyond ridiculous.

"Well whatever it is Cath and Griss did it to, they should be there by now."

I thank him again before leaving and heading towards Ecklie's office. I bump into Catherine on the way; she's just as clueless about what he wants. She left Nick with the print and Greg is checking the DNA against our vic.

Grissom is already in Ecklie's office when we arrive.

"Sara, Catherine. Close the door behind you and please have a seat."

Grissom doesn't sit; he stays standing in the back of the room. You can feel the tension in the air, he's not happy about something.

"I know you're both well aware of how serious our current case is and how imperative it is we catch whoever is doing this."

Why is he bringing this up again? Didn't we just go over this in the briefing?

"I'm sure you're also aware of the massive undercover operation beginning tomorrow. Undercover officers in as many clubs as physically possible."

"Yes, but what does this have to do with us?" I can tell by her tone of voice that Catherine knows exactly what he's getting at, but she won't make it easy for him.

"You understand there are only so many female officers in the department and while male officers are deployed as back up, there needs to be a female officer to have any chance of attracting our killer."

Oh I know he isn't going to ask us this.

"So what I'm asking is if either of you would consider helping out with this operation. Now obviously under normal circumstances you wouldn't be asked but right now we need to do all we can to catch whoever is doing this. And I suggest you think carefully before you answer, after failing to find anything at all so far, we need to look as though we're at least trying."

"In other words we have no choice, we have to say yes." God I can't believe this guy.

"Of course you do, but I'd strongly recommend you doing this, we need to do whatever we can to make the lab look good right now. We know you won't have to do anything, neither of you are trained, so it isn't like you'll be approaching anyone suspicious, just reporting them to your back up and keeping an eye on them."

"So basically we do nothing out there for however long this takes, leaving the lab short-handed when we need all hands on deck right now. What's the point to us being out there when it's clear we're not there for anything but appearances?" I ask him. Clearly the man is a total idiot. I've never heard anything so stupid.

He doesn't get to reply.

"What type of undercover?" Catherine asks. I hadn't even thought about that. I was to busy being pissed of at Ecklie's threat.

"Nothing dangerous, pretend to waitress in the club or something along those lines, just look busy while keeping you're eyes open. You'll have two officers as back up at all times."

"So you want us to waitress." I spit at him. I have no objection at all to helping out with the operation, or to waitressing I'm happy to be helping try to catch him. I do however take exception to being forced to do something by the likes of him.

"Well you'll be waitressing Sara, Catherine on the other hand will be..."

"Catherine will be what?" She asks him. It's obvious she's no happier with this than I am.

"Well there are clubs that don't have waitresses as such."

"You want me to dance? Tell me you're not serious."

Now I understand the tension I felt when I entered the office. There's no way he can actually be thinking she'll do this.

For the first time since we entered the room Grissom decides to speak. "I've told you Conrad, I won't allow her to do this."

"And I told you that it's not your decision any more, you're no longer her supervisor in case you forgot."

He turns his attention to Catherine before continuing, choosing to ignore the anger clearly written all over her face.

"You'll be perfectly safe, I'll even check-in personally to make sure you're okay." He rakes his eyes over Catherine's body as he speaks, practically leering at her. Check to make sure she's okay my ass. He grins at her then opens his mouth to continue but I don't give him the chance. What he's just done has made me feel physically sick, screw the consequences, I can't just sit here and say nothing.

"Bullshit, there's no fucking way she's doing that."

All eyes fall to me but I'm way too pissed of to care. "I can't believe you'd even suggest that. Why not me? Or Sofia?"

"Catherine knows more about the business." Oh I can't believe he's pulling that card, he's such an ass hole.

"She can train me." I refuse to let her do this; it's not just about his ridiculous request. The thought of putting her in danger like this turns my insides; I don't think I could cope with it if anything happened to her.

"The operation goes into effect tomorrow."

"I'm a quick learner."

"Look she doesn't have to dance, just fit in. Observe."

"Fit in and observe wearing hardly any clothes that is." It's quite possible I'm going to hit him.

"The fact is..."

"The fact is you want to watch her, I don't suppose you were intending to personally check-up on anyone else? Anyone fully clothed perhaps?"

For her part Catherine looks shocked, both at his suggestion and my outburst.

"That's a very serious accusation Sidle..."

I stand up, getting ready to really let Ecklie have it but I feel a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. I turn and see Grissom shaking his head at me.

"Leave it Sara; please let me deal with this. Catherine will you take her to get some coffee or something please."

It dawns on me how surreal this moment is, I bet I'm the last person they expected to react like this, but I couldn't help it. I'm outraged that he'd disrespect her like that. I'm still pissed but I know I'm about to cross the line and at least Ecklie will have to listen to Grissom.

So I turn and practically stomp out of his office, heading for the locker rooms. I've just punched the locker for the second time when Catherine walks in behind me.

"Hey, come on stop that. You'll hurt yourself" She says. I immediately stop what I'm doing to look at her, how can she not want to kill him.

"Aren't you angry with him?"

"Very much so, but you seemed to be conveying enough anger for us both." She smiles at me and my insides immediately start to calm.

"Sorry, I just can't believe the slimy bastard said that to you, actually suggested you do that, it's ridiculous. Then to have the cheek to pretend to be concerned about you and use it as an excuse to perv at you. I wanted to vomit, and then hit him. How dare he treat you like that?"

"Sara calm down Hun, it's no big deal, I'm used to that reaction when guys find out about my previous employment history. Yes it pisses me of sometimes, and I would have said something to him, but you beat me to it"

"Well you shouldn't have to be used to that, you deserve better, they're fools, and there's no way in hell you should have to put up with it here, or anywhere else for that matter." I know I should shut up, but I feel so much for her I can't help my reactions. I've been head over heels in love with her for months. I know there's no chance and I've come to terms with that, it's hard sometimes but what else can I do. Even so, I just can't sit and watch that bastard treat her like that.

"I'm touched that you care so much, but you know he's been looking for a reason to fire you for months, please don't give him one because of me."

"I wanted to punch him, he's the one who should be fired, he can't just ask you out like a normal person?" I can't remember the last time I was this angry.

"I guess not, I'm glad though, that would seriously freak me out." She laughs, trying to lighten the mood. I love that sound so much I can't help smile.

"That's better. Don't let him get to you so much. And as for his little threat, Gil will take care of it. And even if he can't I have no intentions of saying yes. I'll worry about the consequences later."

"Good."

"Hey, I just realized you said it was a ridiculous idea, I'll have you know Sidle that I've still got it." She jokes.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." How could I? She is beyond gorgeous.

"You think I'm too old?" She asks smiling at me.

"Shut up." I joke back. Before I tell you exactly what I think of how you look.

"Okay, I'll stop picking on you. Now come on, let's go get that coffee."

We've just sat down in the break room when Grissom walks in.

"Conrad and I came to an arrangement, if you are both agreeable you'll both be assigned to waitress the same club, I wasn't happy with either of you being alone out there. Sofia is assigned somewhere else, with a female officer. I only agreed to let any of you do this if you were in pairs. I know you'll have backup but I still didn't want..."

"Gil, you don't need to explain. We understand. Thank you for sorting this out." Catherine cuts him off. He's been so protective of us all since we got Nick back. It's clear he isn't happy about this, he doesn't want us out there, but he also knows that we have to do whatever we can to catch this guy.

"Thank you." He says. "Now if you'll both excuse me, I have work to do."

Once he's gone Catherine turns to me "Well this should be interesting, you ever work in a bar before?"

Catherine and I were given the rest of the night off; we had to be at the bar at one the next afternoon so we were told to go get some sleep.

I've never been a big sleeper so I sit in bed thinking while I wait for sleep to come. I remember when I realized I was in love with Catherine. It was when we were looking for Nick; we'd all been so scared. Doing everything we possibly could to get him back to us in one-piece. I knew I'd had feelings for her for a while but when I heard about what she did to get the ransom money I knew I'd fallen for her. I hadn't realized right then how much she cared for us all. Had it been me, I'm not sure I could have done that.

I doubt Warrick will ever be the same again, he still blames himself, thinks it should have been him. No matter how much Nick tries to convince him otherwise.

It's changed each of us in ways we haven't even yet begun to understand. But it's brought us all closer. Something it seems we're all grateful for, I know I am. Feeling like I belong somewhere is a new thing for me.

***

I'm a little anxious when Catherine and I arrive at the club the next afternoon. People and I don't mix exceptionally well; I'm not much of a people person.

Catherine on the other hand seems perfectly at ease, as usual.

The club is called Wire and it seems to be a pretty high-class place, it looks nice actually, not what I was expecting, it's very minimalist, all wooden floors and black chairs. I assumed it would be brighter.

We've been there about five minutes when the owner introduces himself.

"Hello ladies, I'm Daniel, the owner. If there's anything at all either of you need just let me know."

We introduce ourselves and Cath asks him if he minds showing us how things work.

"Our head waitress will be here shortly to show you around, I had wanted to myself but I have a meeting I can't get out of. Clearly you aren't here to work, so I think it's best if you both just look busy, take orders if you want then just pass them to whoever is behind the bar, or one of the other girls. Obviously I'm the only one who knows why you're actually here. I've told the staff you'll be starting training tonight, just to get the hang of things and I don't foresee any problems."

"Great, thank you Daniel, now are the staff required to wear a uniform? Is there a dress code?" Catherine asks.

I hadn't thought about that at all, I feel the nerves start kicking in, there's no way I'm wearing some skimpy outfit.

"Not really, don't get me wrong the clients like a bit of flesh on show but nothing over the top, and it's definitely not required, this isn't that kind of establishment. Whatever you're comfortable with is fine. As for a uniform, all I ask is you stick to black and white, Might sound a little strange but I like to keep things simple. Most of the girls wear black jeans and a white top or something similar."

Phew, thank god, I can handle that.

"Thank you Daniel, you've been very helpful." Catherine smiles at him.

He smiles and nods before continuing. "I have to go, Ali, our head waitress should be here soon, she'll show you the ropes. Help yourselves to anything behind the bar while you're waiting and I'll see you later."

We both offer our thanks and grab a seat at the bar to wait.

"I wish we didn't have to do this, I'd much rather be back in the lab." I can't help be a little frustrated at the situation not to mention slightly useless. I'll be here taking drink orders while there's actual work to be done at the lab.

"Me too, but if it helps catch whoever is doing this I'm all for it, besides, we get to work semi normal hours for a few nights, this place closes at three. But saying that, you'll go to the lab after you leave won't you?" She says grinning at me.

"I just feel a bit useless doing this, I know it needs to be done and obviously I'm want him caught so I'll do whatever I can, but it doesn't mean I don't think we're more useful in the lab."

Our conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the head waitress.

"Hey, I'm Ali; Daniel said you'd both be working here for a few days, so I offered to show you the ropes." She says smiling.

"That's very nice of you Ali, thank you. I'm Catherine and this is Sara."

"Nice to meet you both." She says to us.

So we spend pretty much the rest of the afternoon learning the ins and outs of the club. It seems simple enough but I'm still not looking forward to it.

Six hours later I'm on my way over to Catherine's to pick her up.

I settled on a pair of black jeans and a v-neck white top. The top is a little shorter that anything I would usually wear to work, so I'm showing a little skin, but then again this isn't my normal job and I need to fit in.

"Hey, come on in." Catherine offers when she opens her door to me. "I'll just be a second."

Her outfit is similar to mine but damn it looks so much better on her, then again I can't think of anything she doesn't look good in. I follow her into her living room and try not to stare at the strip of skin her top is revealing, I wonder momentarily if her back is as sensitive as mine and how I'd love to find out.

"Jesus, who did you get to paint them on for you?" She asks when as I walk into her living room. She's smirking at me and I may find it amusing if I knew what the hell she was on about.

"What?"

"Those jeans, your legs really don't wanna quit do they?" She says running her eyes over my legs. What the hell?

Yep, that would officially be me blushing.

"Err, thanks."

"Sorry, didn't mean to embarrass you." She offers looking more amused than apologetic.

"No, it's okay, I just wasn't expecting it." Not from her anyway. But then again why not? We're getting along these days so why wouldn't she pay me a compliment? She does it with everyone else.

"I'm just telling it like it is. I didn't mean anything by it. Come on let's go, we don't wanna be late on our first night now do we and we have to meet Jim beforehand."

She walks out leaving me slightly confused at to what the hell just happened here.

We meet up with Brass on our way over to Wire.

"Hey Catherine, Sara. How are you two doing?"

"Great thanks Jim, so what do we need to know?"

"I wanted to introduce you two your back up for tonight, this is officers Benjamin and Cross." He points towards the two men standing behind him. We exchange introductions before he continues.

"You'll more than likely be assigned new officers each night, save making it obvious that they are there for anything but a drink. Now all you need to do is keep your eyes open, you know his MO so anything you think is suspicions at all tell these guys then stay the hell away. I don't want anything happening to either of you."

"Don't worry, we're not about to do anything stupid." I offer, in an attempt to reassure him.

"I don't suppose I can talk you out of this? I'm just as fond of the idea as Gil. You girls shouldn't be out here in the first place; it's the department's problem if they don't have the staff. On top of that you're not trained for this. I can't stop Ecklie being a bastard and making you do this but as a friend I can ask you not to."

"We need to catch this guy Jim, so if this is what it takes, then this is what we'll do. We want to help." Catherine tells him. While I'm not ecstatic at doing this I do agree with her.

"I didn't think so. Look we both know you two are only here so Ecklie can keep up appearances, kiss some more ass, that's all, not that I'm saying you aren't capable...look just promise me you'll be careful. I worry you know." He's clearly exasperated by this situation and worried about us. I can't hide my smile at that. It's nice to know people care about you.

Two hours after the club has opened it's pretty busy. The clientele looks to be mostly business types unwinding after work, so while it's busy it's not excessively noisy.

I'm still uneasy about it, I know it needs to be done but I also know where I'd rather be.

The work itself is easy, repetitive but easy. You take somebody's drink order, go get the drink and take it back, simple. It also gives you a chance to get a closer look, see if anyone is acting strangely.

Catherine seems to have taken to it like a natural. Laughing and joking with people, I've caught myself just watching her a few times, her smile momentarily mesmerising me.

We pay special attention to anyone who comes in alone, so far nothing seems out of the ordinary, but then I doubt he'll be advertising the fact that he's here to find a victim.

I'm halfway through taking an order when I hear a commotion the other side of the club, I look up and see Catherine pushing some oversized ape away. I immediately stop what I'm doing start running over to help. I can feel the blind panic start churning in the pit of my stomach. I know it's not him, it's too public, he's far to smart for this but I can't seem to stop the panic, that and who in the hell does this guy think he is.

I feel like it's taking hours just to get to the other side of the club; everyone seems to be standing in my way.

I'm almost there when three huge guys seem to appear from nowhere, I recognize them as security, I was so focused on Catherine I didn't notice them approaching. Two of them grab the guy trying it on with Cath and the third guy places himself in front of her, stopping any more attempts he might make to grab her.

The guy is being hauled out as I reach Catherine. I know it was all over in seconds, but it felt like hours to me.

"You okay?" I ask her, panic evident in my voice. I swear if there's a mark on her I'll kill him.

"I'm fine Sara, calm down; it was just a drunken idiot." I can tell she's confused about why I'm acting like this.

Daniel has made his way over from the bar and he asks if she's okay, he apologizes saying it shouldn't have happened, damn right it shouldn't. She brushes it off and then asks him if it's okay to use his office for a second, then the next thing I know she's pulling me by the hand into Daniel's office.

I'm still freaking out a little, not because of the drunken idiot, but because I didn't get to her.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Sara, I'm fine honestly, security had it under control, besides as I said, it was just some drunken idiot. I know this situation is making us a little jumpy but you can't over react like that, it's dangerous."

I agree with her and I know if I were her I'd wonder why in the hell I was acting like this. "I think we should go back to the lab." I'm over reacting, she's right, security had it sorted in seconds but my stomach is still in knots.

"Don't you think you're over doing it a bit?" I thought she'd be angry with me for suggesting it but she doesn't sound it.

I sit myself on the edge of the desk and try to get myself thinking clearly again. A few deep breaths later I continue.

"I know I'm over reacting, security sorted it in seconds. I think I just panicked. Okay?"

She walks over to stand in front of me. "I've seen you go through things a hell of a lot more dangerous and not react like this. Why are you so worried? I don't understand."

"Can't we just drop it?" I don't want to get into this; I'm barely keeping my emotions in check as it is.

She brings her hands up to my hips, making sure she has eye contact. "Sara I want to understand, just talk to me. We can stay here all night if that's what it takes."

I want to drop this but I know her, she won't drop this now, I know she'll get me to tell her eventually so I may as well get it over with.

"If it had been me, I would have acted just as you are. I panicked because it was you and because I didn't get there in time to help you, what if it had been serious? Great deal of help I was. What if security hadn't been there? And where the hell was our alleged back up?" Okay Sara shut it now, stop rambling like a fool.

I feel myself momentarily stiffen as her hands move from my hips to encircle my waist and she leans in for a hug, resting her head on my shoulder. My arms move of their own accord, wrapping themselves around her to return her hug.

"I'm fine Sara; it was nothing to get upset about. Had it been serious I have no doubt you would have got to me. If the officers watching us had moved to stop some drunk the whole thing would have been blown."

I tighten my grip on her just revelling in her closeness. I know I should let go but it feels too good to be close to her right now.

"So stop worrying okay?" She says as she starts running her hands up and down my back trying to reassure me.

I feel myself immediately start to relax under her touch and the knots in my stomach start to unravel.

"I know I acted like an idiot but I'm so in love with you Catherine. If anything happened to you I don't think I could cope."

Oh fuck, shit, shit, shit did I just say that out loud? By the way she's stiffened I'd say yes. Shit.

I stand stock-still as she slowly pulls back from me, she turns her head to look at me and I immediately turn away from her.

Moving sideways I back away from her towards the door, cursing my own stupidity.

I watch as she turns to look at me, her face is full of shock, understandably.

I think I mumble something that may have been an apology had I actually said it loud enough, then turn and move towards the door as fast as I can.

***

"Sara! Wait." I hear just as I'm about to reach the door. It stops me in my tracks but I don't turn to look at her.

A second later she moves so she's standing between me and the door.

"Oh I don't think so; you don't just say something like that to me then walk away." She starts taking steps forward as she speaks and I walk backwards with each step she takes until I feel myself hit the desk again.

I still haven't looked at her, I know I'll have to soon, so I take a deep breath and resign myself to hearing the 'thanks but no thanks' talk, or worse.

Finally I lift my eyes to meet hers, she looks angry, just as I'd expected.

"I can't believe you were going to just walk away, you were going to tell me you're in love with me then walk away." She sounds incredulous and I can't say I blame her.

"Look Catherine I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I never intended for you to find out, especially not like that. I know you're not interested so we don't need to have this conversation."

"How do you know I'm not interested? Did you ask me? Were you going to wait around for my reaction? No you just assumed you knew and ran."

Okay so she's angry that I didn't wait around, I understand that. "I didn't mean to say it, and what would be the point in sticking around? I told you I know you're not interested so I didn't fancy sticking around for the humiliation." I make a move to her side again but she stops me.

"Again, how do you know I'm not interested?"

What the hell is she playing at here? Can she not just put me out of misery?

"Because it's me, because until recently we didn't even get along, because you could have your pick of pretty much anyone you want." I practically shout in total exasperation. Screw it all, she's not going to be talking to me soon anyway, so we may as well have it out now. "Because you've never even shown the slightest interest in me, because you deserve better and most importantly why the hell would you be interested in me?"

I'm about to let rip with another tirade when she lunges forward, crushing her lips to mine. I don't respond, I'm far to shocked. She pulls back just a few seconds later.

"Now I have your attention, do you think you could let me speak for a second?"

I'm still in shock so I just nod at her.

"Good, now firstly, don't ever presume to know who I am and who I'm not interested in and don't ever let me hear you say that somebody deserves better that you again, because that's bull shit, okay?"

I nod again. It seems my mouth doesn't want to work just now.

Once again her hands move to my hips and her voice softens as she continues.

"I've never shown the slightest interest? No? Are you sure about that? Or was it that you just haven't seen the hints? Maybe you didn't want to see them, I don't know. But they were there."

My mind suddenly goes into overdrive trying to think of what she could be on about. Hints? There were hints?

"The fact is I didn't say anything because I was scared of your reaction, so I flirted a little, dropped the occasional hint and waited to see if I got any reaction, I'd almost given up." She grins.

Oh good god, she has to be kidding here.

"Are you serious?" I ask. The total disbelief evident in my voice.

"Of course I am. I'd never joke about something like this."

I don't believe this; she's interested in me? After everything that's happened between us in the past, after me making a total idiot of myself not ten minutes ago, although I don't seem to be regretting that anywhere near as much as I was just a second ago.

I tentatively bring my shaking hands up and put them on her waist. I'm still in total disbelief that this is happening, that in the space of five minutes everything has changed.

Her hands move from my hips and she places them around my neck stepping in closer to me.

"So I can have my pick of anyone hey? I hope that includes you." She smirks as she finishes talking.

I can't help shake my head, this is too good to be true, things like this don't happen to me.

"I can't believe this is happening, seriously. You really want me?"

She starts running her fingernails up and down the back of my neck and my pulse immediately jumps.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" She laughs.

"Because I thought you'd give me the usual 'I'm flattered but..." Conversation. I just never thought you'd consider a relationship with me." My brain is slowly starting to work through the metaphorical cotton wool that seemed to be filling it a few minutes ago and is actually starting to take in her words, filling me with both elation and awe. She wants me.

"Well you were wrong, now aren't you glad you didn't run off before?" She says laughing.

She's still running her fingernails across the back of my neck and the touch is slowly making coherent thought very difficult.

"Oh yeah." I answer, closing my eyes to enjoy the sensation her touch is creating.

"You like that?" She asks, although it's more of a statement than a question.

I don't even open my eyes to reply, I just nod yet again. If I look at her I know I'll have to kiss her and I don't want to rush her into anything.

"Sara." I hear her say my name, her voice has dropped an octave and I grip her tighter as it washes over me.

"Can I kiss you?" I feel a shiver run down my spine at her request and I slowly open my eyes to look at her, her eyes are flicking to my mouth every few seconds and I have to kiss her now.

"Yes." I whisper although I'm already leaning forward to kiss her.

'Oh yes' my brain screams as our lips touch, I know she kissed me before but I was in far too much shock to enjoy it let alone return it. This time however is very different. I flick her top lip with my tongue till she opens her mouth to me. As our tongues play against each other she gasps into our kiss and my whole body shudders in response.

My hands move up her back to pull her closer still as hers slip into my hair, pulling my mouth down to hers. Deepening the kiss. I groan in sheer delight as she latches on to my bottom lip and starts lightly sucking.

"Hey is everything okay in...Wow, erm sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

Catherine tears her mouth away from mine, much to my displeasure and we both turn to see Daniel looking rather red at his office door.

We don't attempt to move, there's no way I'm letting go of her just yet. I do however have the good grace to blush.

"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I didn't mean to erm just..."

"It's okay, thank you for your concern, we'll be out in just a second." Catherine tells him, I can hear the amusement in her voice.

He just nods and closes the door behind himself as he goes. I feel her start giggling and I can't help join in.

"The look on his face was priceless." She declares.

"We should get back out there." I tell her and while I know it's true, it would require moving and I'm loathed to do that right now.

"Yeah, we should. I'd much rather stay here with you though." She says moving her hands from me and taking a step back. I'm glad she did because I'm not sure I'd have let her go.

We head towards the door to get back to work and she stops just as she's about to open it. "Although, I'm not happy he interrupted our first kiss. I fully expect you to remedy that situation once we leave here." She says smirking.

"Oh, that will not be a problem." I reply as we walk back into the club.

I can't believe how many emotions I've gone through in the past twenty minutes, blind panic, to worry. Then relief. Then fear and anger at my own stupid confession, then a few minutes later I'm ecstatic. I didn't think it possible to feel so many things in such a short time.

I feel a little drained, but seriously happy as I take a few deep breaths and refocus my mind to the job at hand. Everything else will have to wait till later, and while my energy may be focused on this for the time being. I can't wait till we can get out of here.

***

The rest of the night goes by smoothly. Nothing seems out of the ordinary and nobody draws our attention. I try to keep my eyes from wondering to Catherine while I work but it's useless, I find myself glancing at her every few minutes and I catch her doing the same. I can't help smile every time I catch her watching me. I watch her interacting with people, laughing and joking, all the while keeping an eye out for anything unusual. I keep thinking about our talk before, I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that she's interested in me.

The club shuts and I head right for the staffroom to grab our jackets.

"Just spoke to Gil." I hear from behind me. I turn to find Catherine shutting the door behind herself. My stomach does a summersault at the sight of her.

"Anything new?" I ask.

"No, nothing new. Greg pulled male DNA from the hair, no hits though and nothing to compare it with as yet, the partial on the glass belonged to the vic, so back to square one."

"Damn." This is so frustrating.

She walks forward till she's a few feet in front of me. "Since there's no new evidence I was hoping I could convince you to spend some time with me instead of going to the lab."

"Consider me officially convinced." As much as I want to go to the lab, it just doesn't compete with the offer of spending time with her.

"And don't forget, we have a kiss to finish." She says. Giving me a seriously sexy smirk, making my stomach flip again.

As if I could forget that. "Then we should get out of here now." If she doesn't stop looking at me like that I'll kiss her right here and now and screw anyone who interrupts.

We grab our stuff and head for my car. She calls Brass once we're on our way, letting him know everything is okay. He says he'll keep us up-to-date, let us know if they find anything, and that different officers will be assigned to us tomorrow.

"So where are we headed?" I ask as soon as Catherine gets of the phone.

"I was hoping we could go to my place, we still have some talking to do."

"Okay." I feel the nerves kick off in my stomach again. I'm unsure why, she's made it clear this is something she wants but I can't help my own insecurities.

"Hey, don't look so worried. I just think it would be a good idea to get everything out in the open; we didn't exactly have time before. Whatever this is between us, we both need to know where we stand."

We arrive at Catherine's twenty minutes later and I have managed to calm my nerves a little.

"Where's Linds?"

"At my sisters. She's usually there while I'm at work if my mom doesn't stay over here. I'll pick her up in the morning so I get to see her before school."

"Do you wish you worked normal hours? So you could see her more?"

"I have the routine down pretty well, barring having to work overtime I usually get to see her for breakfast, take her to school, sleep while she's at school then I pick her up from school. She's usually going to bed when I leave for work and I try to make sure I have Saturdays off."

"That's good, so you're not missing out."

"Besides when we have a big case and we pull doubles. Anyway we're not here to talk about that. Go sit down and I'll grab some coffee."

So much for stalling. I sit on her sofa and wait for her. Thankfully my nerves have started to settle. She returns a few minutes late and sits next to me, putting the coffee on the table in front of us.

"Firstly..." She says leaning in to capture my lips, I take a second to respond, I wasn't expecting this, I thought we'd talk first.

But as soon as my brain catches up I return her kiss. She's swiping her tongue across my bottom lip and nipping it gently and I gasp as a wave of arousal washes over me. Her tongue wastes no time, pushing its way into my mouth, dominating our kiss. Her hands have found their way to my hair pulling me as close as she can and I bring my hands up to her neck, running my fingertips over the silky skin.

I feel my body start heating up, demanding more so I pull back with a groan. Undeterred, she leans back in, placing tiny kisses on my mouth that I just have to return.

"Now that's better." She says when I finally pull back a minute later.

"Yeah." Came my very eloquent reply.

How she's expecting me to talk now is beyond me, not when all I can focus on is her mouth and how good it feels on mine.

"Definitely worth the wait." She adds giving me the same sexy smirk that made my stomach flip before; it has the same effect now.

My eyes are still focused on her mouth; I want to kiss her again. I hear her say something but my brain doesn't register it. It's to busy preparing itself for the kiss I'm about to initiate.

Leaning back in I recapture her lips with mine.

She pulls back this time, her breath ragged. I still want to kiss her so I sit back from her a little, knowing there will be no talking if I don't put some distance between us.

"I've wanted to do that for months." I tell her, in an attempt to distract myself from the need to kiss her. "You wanted us to talk?"

"Yes." She nods. "But now the kissing seems so much more appealing." There's that smirk again and my stomach flips yet again in response.

"God that smirk is so sexy." I barely think it before my mouth takes on a life of its own. What's with me doing that tonight?

"Thank you." She replies, smirking yet again.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Time for a subject change Sara.

"Us." She smiles. "That sounds fantastic, there's actually an us, as in me and you together. Well at least I hope there's as us, that's why I wanted to talk, we need..."

"There's an us." I cut her off, not that her mini ramble wasn't adorable. "And you're right, it sounds fantastic."

"How long have you wanted us to be more than friends?"

I feel like I've wanted her forever. "A long while, at first it was just physical, but the more time we spent together the deeper my feelings ran."

"So what happened tonight?" I feel the blush starting at the memory of me making a total ass of myself earlier tonight.

"I had no intention of telling you, not tonight, not ever, I was convinced you wouldn't be interested. I have to admit I have no idea what happened, I was distracted, I didn't even realise what I was saying until I had said it."

"Why weren't you going to tell me?"

"I was scared, scared you would react badly, we were just becoming friends, as opposed to just colleagues and I had to go and fall for you." I watch her smile and my words. "I didn't want to ruin it, that and I didn't think you liked women."

"I can't believe I didn't notice. I have to say though, you hid it well. Although now I think about it, it makes sense of a few things. The way you reacted to Ecklie for one, I thought it was a little strange for you to blow up like that over me, not that I wasn't grateful, saved me doing it."

I feel the anger flash through me again as she reminds me of that conversation.

"I can't believe he even suggested it, I was so pissed that he'd disrespect you like that and all so he could perv at you, god I wanted to punch him so hard. There's no way in hell I'm ever going to just stand by and watch someone treat you like that."

"Thank you." She says, leaning it for a quick kiss. "He was out of line, but anyway, he's had enough air time, back to us. You know. It was getting so hard to hide my feelings for you, you're a serious distraction you know that? All tall, dark and intense, and not to mention seriously gorgeous as well."

Me? I'm a distraction? I'm gorgeous? Compared to her I just don't think so. Although my ego does very much appreciate hearing that from her.

"Right, clearly you haven't been past a mirror in a while. So your utter sexiness may have escaped your notice." I watch her smile at my confession and feel amazed at being able to vocalize the thoughts I have about her like this, not have to hide them any more. It's exhilarating.

"You know I thought I was so obvious sometimes."

"I didn't notice. But I think if I had noticed I'd have probably just put it down to wishful thinking. So what about you? How long?" Even when she point-blank told me she was interested I had a hard time believing it.

"That day we went for a drink, after the whole thing with Hank. I wanted so badly to stop you hurting, to do whatever I could to take away the pain. That's when I realised it was more then physical. Before that I'd put it down to lust and tried to ignore it."

She's wanted me for that long? Wow. I'd ask her why she didn't tell me but I truly don't care right now. She's here, with me, that's all I need right now. I'll ask her those questions later.

"So it would seem we've been wasting a whole lot of time." She says.

"Oh yeah." I nod in agreement.

She moves so she's sitting impossibly close to me again and my body responds immediately.

"Time we could have been spending doing things like this." She says as she leans in for another kiss. Talking is overrated anyway.

She pushes me back so she's partially on top of me as her tongue makes its way into my mouth. Her slow exploration makes me whimper. I bring my hands to her hips and pull, bringing her closer still, wanting to feel more of her weight on top of me. Her hands have found their way under my top and she's lightly stroking the skin of my stomach.

Long minutes later, she pulls her mouth away from mine. Her eyes open slowly and the heat I see when she finally focuses them on me makes me shudder. I want her already.

She keeps her eyes locked with mine as she speaks. "I've spent hours thinking about your mouth you know." She moves one hand from under my top, up to my face and runs her thumb over my bottom lip. "Fantasizing about it, wondering what it would feel like against mine, I have to say reality is so much better."

She leans in as she finishes talking and places gentle kisses along my jaw line until she reaches my ear, biting the lobe lightly. "I can't wait to feel your mouth on my body." Her voice is low and lustful as she speaks and I groan hard as her words send a wave of pure arousal running through me. "And your hands, the thought of what those hands will make me feel."

"Catherine." I manage to whimper out. If she continues I know I won't be able to control myself.

She stops her movement at the sound of my voice and pulls her head back to look at me.

"We should stop shouldn't we?" She asks.

I take a deep breath and try to get my raging hormones under control; as much as my body disagrees I do think we should stop.

"I'm loathed to say this but yes, I was thinking you should at least take me on a date first." I joke. "Wouldn't want to get myself a reputation."

"Well of course not. I could try to convince you otherwise though." Her hand starts moving again as she speaks, mischievous smile firmly in place.

I cover her hand with mine. "I doubt I'd take much convincing and you're evil for suggesting it."

She giggles before moving her hand and placing her head on my shoulder, snuggling into me.

"Yes I am. Subject change, before I decide to go through with that threat, you want to get some food or something?"

"Actually, I think I should go, I don't want to but I should sleep, I want to go to the lab for a bit tomorrow."

She lifts her head again. "Will you stay here? You can borrow something to sleep in. I don't have to take Lindsey to school in the morning, I asked my sister to take her, I wasn't sure if I'd be in the lab."

"You sure you want me to stay?" I can think of nothing I'd like more than holding her.

"Very much so, I think if you're not here when I wake up, I'll convince myself this was a dream."

I think I would too, I've dreamt about it so often. "In that case I'd love to."

"Good." She smiles. "Now I believe there was talk of a date?"

An hour later and I'm changed and making my way to Catherine's bedroom.

I suddenly feel nervous as I walk into the room, she's just climbing into bed and she smiles when she sees me.

I make my way over and she throws the covers back for me. I climb into her bed and as soon as I lie down she snuggles into my side. Her head momentarily settles on my shoulder before she lifts it to look at me.

"Are you okay? You seem nervous."

"I am, and overwhelmed. I'm in your bed, with you. Actually I think I'm more amazed than anything else, I never in a million years thought this would happen."

"I've wanted you here for so long, and I don't mean just in my bed." As she finishes talking she rolls off me on to her back and opens her arms to me. I roll over, throwing my arm around her waist and putting my head on her shoulder. I sigh in contentment as she starts running her fingers through my hair. "Right here, this is where I've wanted you for so long, in my arms."

I can do nothing but relax. I pull her as close to me as I can and let sleep overtake me.

***

I have no idea how long I've been asleep and it takes me a moment to realise where I am when I wake up.

I feel a weight on my left side and an arm draped across my stomach and smile as I remember what happened last night.

"Morning beautiful. Sleep well?" Her voice is still thick with sleep and it's utterly adorable. She doesn't move as she talks, just mumbles into my neck.

"Very well, I thought you were still asleep."

"Been awake a while, far too comfy to move."

"I'll second that." I say kissing the top of her head. "Do we have to move? Can't we just stay like this forever?"

This time she lifts her head as she speaks and looks at me smiling. "From you, miss workaholic, I take that as a huge compliment."

"I'm not that bad, well okay I am." I laugh; I know I'm a workaholic. "But, if given the choice of spending time there, or here, with you all to myself, there isn't a chance work would win." I don't think she quite grasps how much it means to me to be here with her.

"Well good. We do have to move though. I'm hungry."

"You want me to make breakfast?"

"Nope, I want you to go shower, get dressed and relax while I make food."

She untangles herself from me and climbs out of bed. Since she's not there any more I follow. Heading towards the bathroom as she heads to the kitchen. I grab her hips from behind as I follow her down the hall and pull her back into me.

"You know, you could join me in the shower." I husk into her ear.

Her breath hitches. "Water conservation is a good thing." I add. Not anywhere near as good as the thought of her wet and naked though.

She turns in my arms and pushes me back into the wall. She has the same look in her eyes as she did last night and my body responds to it immediately. She hasn't even touched me and I want her already. I know I won't have the self-control to stop this again.

She closes the space between us and presses her body into mine. She doesn't talk, just looks at me as her hand slides under my top, over my stomach and up. I gasp as she cups my breast and I can't stop my body arching into her.

Her lips find my neck and she gently nips my pulse point then works her way up to my ear. Her thumb passes over my nipple and I moan low in my throat, god that feels good.

"I want to feel you so badly, to hear you moan and watch your body arch and buck under my touch."

Her words make me moan once more and I know there is no way this isn't happening now.

"But I can't take my time doing that in the shower so I'm afraid I'll have to decline your offer."

Then she's gone. I hear her laughing as she makes her way down the stairs.

My body is still on overload and I'd move but my legs are far to busy doing a jelly impersonation for me to walk.

"You're just wrong." I shout after her earning myself more laughter.

"I'm not talking to you." I declare as I walk in to Catherine's kitchen. She looks up from the counter and smiles at me.

"I can do waffles, pancakes, toast or cereal. I didn't know what you wanted, figured I'd just wait and ask."

"How about I take you out for breakfast? I just have to go home and grab fresh clothes first though."

"Okay, just let me grab a shower. Coffee's in the pot." She leans over for a quick kiss on her way past. "I'd ask you to shower with me, but what would be the point? You're not talking to me." She smiles then leaves me sitting in the kitchen.

She's going to kill me; if she keeps this up I'm sure I'll explode.

When she reappears twenty minutes later I'm finishing my coffee. Having sat here trying to think of anything but her upstairs in the shower.

"So where do you fancy going for breakfast?"

"I'm still not talking to you." I joke.

She laughs and grabs my hand, pulling me up and dragging me towards the door. "Okay, don't talk, just buy me food."

We arrive at my apartment and I leave her to look around while I go change.

I walk back into the living room and lean against the door watching her look around, she runs the back of her finger over some of the books. I always wondered why people did that.

"Want the tour?"

"Maybe next time." She says walking towards me, wrapping her hands around my waist.

I wrap my arms around her, just content to hold her; I'm still in awe of this whole thing, me and her together.

A few minutes later I unwrap my arms from around her and cup her face in my hands, bringing our lips together.

Her lips are so soft beneath mine. She teases my lips with her tongue until I grant her access to my mouth, welcoming her tongue with mine, shivering at the contact. God I could do this all day.

Her hands slide down to my backside, ghosting over it before moving up again, grabbing my hips and pushing me up against the wall. Her kiss changes from lazy and languid as she presses herself into me and bites my bottom lip before plundering my mouth, making me submit. My hands have found their way into her hair and I hold on for dear life as I'm kissed senseless.

I pull back with a whimper as she nips my bottom lip again and her mouth goes directly to my neck. My head hits the wall behind me to grant her better access as she kisses her way across my neck.

Her hands move under my top to gently stroke my sides as I move my hands from her hair and slide them down her back, needing to feel more of her.

"Sara, bedroom." She says between kisses.

I'm about to protest, ask her if she's sure, if this isn't too soon but instead I moan again as her hands find my breasts and I know I can't wait any more.

I slide my hands down over her ass to the back of her thighs and once I have enough leverage I pick her up. Her legs lock around my waist and I moan again. This feels amazing.

This position allows me access to her neck as I walk us into the bedroom and I waste no time latching on to her pulse point, sucking hard, I know it will leave a mark.

Once we reach the bedroom I turn and lower myself on to the bed so she's on top of me, my mouth never losing contact with her skin.

I reach for her top and quickly dispose of it, needing to feel her skin. I reach around to undo her bra but she stops me.

"Off." She demands while pulling at my top. I'm loathed to move but I want to feel her skin on mine so I sit up, taking her with me and raise my arms as she removes my top.

I capture her lips once more; I think I'm addicted to kissing her. I feel her hands divesting me of my clothes but I can't bring myself to stop the kisses, that is until she cups my breasts and I tear my mouth away from hers to moan loudly.

Some tiny part of my brain is functioning enough to tell me she's still wearing clothes, I need to do something about that.

"Off, now." I force out between moans as I grab at her remaining clothes.

She chuckles before helping me with their removal. Once they're gone she pushes me on to my back and covers my body with her own. Good god she feels exquisite pressed against me like this.

"You're so beautiful you know that? I feel so much for you." She states.

I open my eyes and look at her. I want to reply, to tell her how much I feel for her but she doesn't wait for me to do so. Just lowers her lips to mine as her hands start wondering across my skin and I quickly lose the ability to think.

***

The next few weeks pass in a blissful haze. I don't care that I'm not in the lab actually doing my job, or that I'm serving people drinks. I'm far too busy being happy for that.

Catherine and I spend as much time together as we can, between the club, frequent trips to the lab, meetings with Brass and just life in general it is hard, but god is it worth it. Lindsey seems to like me, which is excellent, I know I wasn't a stranger but there's a big difference between seeing someone occasionally to them being in a relationship with your mother. Not that she knows we're together yet. But I definitely want her to be comfortable with me. So we hang out, play computer games and stuff. She's even started staying with me on my nights off, which I love. Catherine says she loves that I'm 'making the effort'. I told her I'm not, I love spending time with Linds, and it's an effort free thing.

It's hard to concentrate on anything but Catherine though. I have to force myself to remain focused when we're at work, or else I'd drag her into the nearest empty room every five minutes.

She teases me constantly as well, never at the club though, she knows how important it is for us to be focused there. But as soon as we're at the lab, or pretty much anywhere else I can't do anything about it; she's merciless. If ever we're in the locker room together I find myself pinned to the locker and kissed senseless. I'll be working in the lay out room or the lab and she'll whisper in my ear how much she wants me. She's plain evil sometimes, and I love every second.

And good god the sex is incredible. We've spent hours slowly learning each other's bodies, learning how to please each other and I have to say, it's never been so good. Whether it has anything to do with the fact that I wanted her for months before we got together, I don't know. Maybe. Whatever it is, I don't care. And I'm sure as hell not complaining.

"Good news ladies." Jim announces as we turn up for a daily briefing.

We still don't have any solid leads. We have a male DNA sample from the hair found on the last vic, but with no hits on it and nothing to compare it to; it's a dead end there for now. Thankfully there have been no more bodies found. But we're still no closer catching him.

"We caught him?" Catherine asks hopefully.

"Not that good unfortunately. Good news for you both though. Tomorrow will be your last night at Wire. Another club has been shut down so I requested that you both be relieved so you can get back to the lab."

"Excellent. Thank god for that. I felt so useless there." I tell him.

I am so thankful to be heading back to work.

"So keep it up for tonight and tomorrow then you can get back to the lab."

"Thank god for that. Don't get me wrong, I know how important this operation is but I will be more than happy to get back to the lab especially since we're not actually doing anything." Catherine tells him.

We meet our back up for the evening, Brass fills us in on what's happening at the other clubs, any suspects they have, anyone they've ruled out.

Pretty soon we're on out way to Wire.

"Thank God for that. We can finally make ourselves useful." Catherine says as we get into the car.

"You don't need to tell me."

I've been driving for less than two minutes when I feel her hand on my thigh. Oh god.

She moves as close to me as the seating situation will allow and captures my ear lobe with her lips.

"Christ Catherine I'm trying to drive here." I try to reason with her.

"Mmm. I know and if you didn't look so damn sexy while you did so, I might be able to keep my hands off you."

I feel her hand slide higher and my breath catches. "That seems to be your reasoning every time you jump me." I joke. Not that I'm complaining.

Her lips move to my neck, and her hand finds its way under my top. Okay, time to pull over. "That's because you're sexy all the time."

I pull over a few seconds later and she somehow gets herself from her seat to my lap, to straddle me. She can't be comfortable, the steering wheel must be pressing into her back but she shows no signs of caring as her lips blaze a trail across my neck.

She kisses her way up to my mouth pulling back to look at me.

"I can't get enough of you. I feel like I need to touch you all the time." She whispers before capturing my lips with hers.

Good god the feeling is definitely mutual.

We get to Wire just in time to start shift, giggling like school girls. God I love this woman.

"Okay, time to concentrate." I tell her as we're putting our stuff away in the staff room.

"Be careful tonight. I have plans for you later." She smirks.

"Not helping with the concentration, Hun."

"Yeah I know. Fun though." She giggles.

"Right, work." I give her a quick kiss and head out the locker room to start work.

We've been working for a few hours when Catherine draws my attention to a guy sitting alone at his table. He's been trying to get a few of the girls to sit with him; he's not having any luck and seems to be getting a little agitated.

"Obviously it could be just some lonely guy but it's better to be safe than sorry. You tell the guys to keep an eye on him." She reasons.

"I agree. I'll go let them know. I imagine they've picked up on him already."

"Okay, I'm going to go check in with Gil, see if anything has happened. God the sooner we get back to work the better." She says, barely disguising her irritation.

A quick conversation later and I find out they did indeed have their eye on him. And I've been instructed to just stay away from him and tell Cat to do the same. It's probably nothing but they'll have to check him out anyway.

I look around for Catherine then remember she's on the phone so I wait at the bar for her.

Twenty minutes later and she's still not back. I hope this means Grissom has something.

I wait another ten minutes then decide to go looking for her.

"Hey Ali. You see where Cat went?" I ask as the head waitress walks past.

"Said she was going to Dan's office Hun, he went to talk to her a while back so they're probably still there."

"Thanks, I'll go see what's keeping them."

I head off to Daniel's office but find nobody there, strange. I check the staff room and find that empty as well. I feel the panic start to set in a little and force myself to calm down and stop being stupid.

I head to the toilet but there's no sign of her there either and I'm quickly running out of places to look.

I head back out into the club and search for her there to no avail. I ask Ali again if she's seen them but she hasn't and I'm pretty sure I've looked everywhere. I look out the front of the club and come up empty. I know the only place left to look is out back but I can't think of a valid reason they would be there.

So I make my way to the clubs back-door, checking Daniel's office again on my way. I try to convince myself everything is okay but I can't shake the uneasy feeling that's settled in the pit of my stomach.

Once there I realise I should have told somebody where I was going but I was in to much of a hurry. I think about going back before checking outside, but the need to make sure there's nothing going on out there over rides my rational thinking. Brass would kill me if he knew what I was doing.

I open the door slowly and the sight before me makes my heart jump to my throat. I fight the urge to vomit as I see Daniel kneeling over an unconscious Catherine holding a knife. I notice he has a gun in his back pocket as well. Shit, shit, shit.

Instinct takes over as I move towards him, the only thought I have is of getting to her, and making sure she's all right. I have no care for what happens to me.

Once I reach him I grab him and push as hard as I can, wanting to get him as far away from Catherine as possible. Why the fuck didn't I call for back up.

He lands a few feet away on the ground and I place myself between him and Catherine. Once he gets his bearings back he turns and looks at me for a second before a smile crosses his face.

I want to kill him. I swear if he so much as comes anywhere near Catherine I will. I hear a noise behind me and pray to God he doesn't have a friend in this with him. I move to try to catch a look over my shoulder but Daniel lunges at me before I get the chance. Why the fuck haven't I got my gun.

I move forward as quickly as I can needing to stop him before he gets to Catherine. The noise is getting louder behind me and I out of instinct I turn my head, needing to see Catherine's okay.

In the nanosecond it takes me to attempt a glance over my shoulder Daniel grabs me. I push him hard again and feel a sharp burning pain in my side, my eyes drop and I see blood starting to seep through my top. Shit, next thing I know is my heads bouncing of the concrete floor, the bastard must have punched me. I fight hard against the dizziness that's overtaking me; I'll never forgive my own stupidity if anything happens to Catherine. The last thing I hear before I'm enveloped by darkness is a gunshot.

***

I wake with a dull thumping in my head and try to open my eyes. I assume I'm going to be in the alley behind Wire, maybe I was knocked out for a few minutes. Panic starts to rise again as I realise I need to get to Catherine.

I open my eyes and realise I'm not in the alley any more. The bright florescent lights above my head let me know I'm in a hospital. Shit, I sit up as fast as my dizziness will allow and look around the room in hopes of seeing Catherine in another bed, but she's not. Oh god please let her be okay. Just as I swing my legs off the bed in an attempt to stand up Grissom enters my room and rushes over.

"Sara, you need to lie back down." What? I need it to find Catherine.

I pretty much ignore him and try to find my balance, the room is spinning and my side is hurting like hell but don't care.

Grissom places his hands gently on my shoulders trying to steady me as he tells me to lie down again.

I can feel the tears start to well up in my eyes, I don't think I've ever felt this helpless, I need to get to her and I can't even stand up straight.

"Catherine?" I say to Grissom, hoping he understands my question.

"Sara, please just lie down."

I know I'm crying now, why won't he answer me. Screw this, I make one last effort to get myself up, I need to either find her, or find someone who will tell me what happened.

"Sara, Catherine is fine."

I look at him to make sure I wasn't hearing things. "She's fine." He repeats.

I crumple back to the bed, the sheer relief of knowing she's okay knocking the wind from me.

"Take me to her." I demand once I have my breath back.

"She'll be here any minute. She went home to let Lindsey know she was okay and to get some rest."

I nod at him and sit back on the bed letting his words sink in. She's okay; I don't even care what happened to me, as long as she's okay.

I feel my body start to lodge its protests at me sitting up, I look at my side and see blood seeping through the stupid hospital gown they have me wearing.

"You've torn your stitches." Grissom tells me. Stitches? I have stitches?

"I'll get the nurse." He says standing up.

"Don't bother, I'm leaving. I need to find Catherine." I won't settle till I see her.

"I told you she's okay."

"I need to see her. I need to be sure." I can tell he's confused, wondering why I'm so bothered, he doesn't know about our relationship. Right now though, I don't care what he or anyone else thinks. I just need to see Catherine.

"Just get your stitches looked at, then we'll go and find her." I know he's trying to appease me but it only serves to piss me off. I'm not a child.

"No, now get the hell out of here and leave me. I need to get dressed."

"What you need to do I get into bed and get those stitches fixed up." I hear from the doorway.

Oh thank god, my brain screams as Catherine walks into the room. She grabs my shoulders and gently guides me back on to the bed. I simply follow her lead and allow myself to be sat back on the bed.

"You're okay." I ask her. I need to hear it from her.

Once I'm sat back down she wraps her arms around me and I grab her tight, as if my life depended on it. I'm never letting her go again.

"I'm fine Sara, thanks to you. Now please lie down." She says directly into my ear.

I do as she asks but I pull her with me. I think she senses that I'm not about to let her go so thankfully she follows me and moves herself to my good side.

"I was so scared. I thought he'd killed you." I tell her, the tears running freely down my cheeks.

"Shh baby it's okay." She says as she wipes the tears from my face. "I'm here, everything is okay. Now will you please let them see to you?"

I nod at her. "Stay with me though."

"Of course." She replies. I watch her lift her head and nod for the nurse to come over. She moves my gown out of the way but I don't take any notice of what she's doing. I can't take my eyes of Catherine.

Not long after the nurse has finished I feel my eye's start to droop again. I fight it, not wanting to let go of her.

"Sleep Sara." She tells me.

"Will you stay with me? Please be here when I wake up." I won't sleep otherwise.

"You couldn't drag me away. Now get some rest." I hold her to me as tight as I can and close my eyes, letting sleep overtake me.

When I wake again my headache seems to have eased off some and the room isn't spinning any more.

Catherine is still lying in the bed with me, and I feel the relief once again over take me.

"Hey you." She says propping her head on her hand to look down at me.

"Hey. Thank you for staying."

"Like I said. You couldn't drag me away. How you feeling now?"

"Better." I tell her honestly. "What happened?"

"You saved my life is what happened." She beams.

Clearly she's crazy. "I did everything wrong, I didn't follow any training, didn't call for back up or anything. I'm so sorry. I could have got you killed."

"Nonsense, okay so you did things the hard way, as usual." She smirks. "But had you not arrived when you did, I probably would have been dead now. Benjamin saw you heading out and realised he hadn't seen me for a while so he followed you to make sure everything was fine. Obviously it wasn't. Daniel was about to shoot you but Benjamin got there first, shot him in the leg, he'll be okay, and then he'll be in prison for a very long time. So you see, if you hadn't have done everything wrong, as you say, I don't think either of us would be here. Also, we got a match to our serial killers DNA. Turns out Daniel was the guy all the long."

"Daniel?" I let her words sink in. I must admit to a bit of disbelief.

"Yeah, we got a confession last night as well. He was very pleased with himself, said all women deserved it. He said he thought it was Christmas when we turned up; because he knew he'd get to kill us. Apparently he's always wanted to kill a cop."

"Christ. We never even suspected."

"I know. I'm not even sure how he got me outside, must have hit me as I picked the phone up."

"But you're okay?" God I want to kill that bastard for touching her.

"Yes, I'm fine; I came to before the ambulance arrived for you."

"What exactly did he do to me?" I ask, having totally forgotten about my own injuries.

"Thankfully, nothing to bad, that's more of a gash on your side, not a stab wound. It'll heal in a few weeks; the doc said it probably won't even scar. You'll just be stiff for a few weeks. And you have a nasty concussion, hence the acrobatics I'm sure the room was doing when you last were awake."

I feel the stress slowly leaving my body. Right now, I don't care if I followed protocol or not, I don't care that I broke the rules. I'll deal with the consequences later. All I care about is that she's fine. The rest can wait.

"So when do I get to go home?"

I always did hate hospitals.

I finally get to go back to work today. I've been out of the hospital for a month but Grissom put me on forced leave. I tried to talk him out of it but he said he didn't want to see me till at least two weeks after my stitches we're removed. He wanted to make sure I was at 100% before allowing me back.

I tried to get Catherine to convince him otherwise but I think it would have been easier to get the Dali lama to punch me.

But thankfully tonight I get to go back to work.

I practically bounce into the break room when I arrive. Everyone gives me a hug and asks how I am when Grissom brings our assignments in.

"Glad to have you back Sara."

"Very glad to be back." I beam at him.

"I have orders to put you on light duty for the next few days."

"Orders from whom?" I demand.

"From me." Catherine says as she walks into the room behind him. Well damn. She knows I won't argue with her.

"So we have a simple break and enter. We already have the suspect; you just need to collect evidence."

Well, at least it's something.

"I'll take it with her." Catherine tells him. See this night is getting better and better.

I think Grissom was about to tell her she has another case, two of us on a B and E is stupid, but the look on her face changes his mind. He just nods and lets us leave.

I walk into the locker room behind her and find myself pinned to the door as it shuts. She wastes no time attaching her lips to mine, nipping my bottom lip till I grant her access then moaning as our tongues meet.

She pulls back a few minutes later to catch her breath. "I can't wait to get you home. I've missed your touch so much." She tells me.

"Not my fault baby. You wouldn't let me." I pout. She insisted we wait until I was healthy, and I'll be damned if she hasn't got some serious will-power. After I got my stitches out I did pretty much everything I could think of to make her give in, but she didn't, just insisted she wanted to wait till I got the okay from the doc.

"I want you healthy. So it's a good job we have an easy case today. You'll need your energy for when we get home."

Her lips attack my neck and I'm moaning already. A whole month without her touch has driven me crazy.

"So let's get this out of the way. Shall we. And baby, when we get home. Don't hold back." She says before giving me one last kiss then walking away from me. Leaving me to watch her perfect hips sway as she walks.

Oh god. I don't think she has any idea what she's just let herself in for. I have enough sexual frustration for about ten people pumping through my veins right now. She told me before this whole thing happened that she knew I was holding back with her. I know she's right, but I've never felt how she makes me feel before, I've never wanted to leave somebody boneless before, make them so weak with desire they'll go crazy without my touch. It scares me a little.

A plan starts to formulate in my mind as I follow her into the locker room to grab my stuff. She really should be careful what she wishes for and when we get home; she'll find out why.

***

I've been sitting in my apartment waiting for Catherine for forty-five minutes. She left me at the lab to go get Lindsey and take her to school so I told her to come over to my place afterwards.

I came home, ate, grabbed a shower and slipped into my black silk bra and panty set, the one she's told me is her favourite. I dried my hair, put on a robe and now I'm sitting impatiently awaiting her arrival.

I hope she likes what I have planned for her. Hell I hope I have enough self-control to pull it off.

I'll freely admit that I've been so frustrated not being with her like that but it has proven to me that this is more than physical for her and as many times as she tells me that, I have insecurities. It's not that I think she's telling lies; I just have a hard time believing someone like her wants to be with me.

I'm pulled from my introspection by the sound of a key in my door, so I quickly head to the bedroom to wait for her there.

Oh this is going to be so much fun.

"Sara?" She shouts when she realises I'm not anywhere to be seen.

"In here." I shout back.

I hear footsteps as she makes her way to the bedroom and my whole body starts to tingle with anticipation. God I want this woman.

"Hey baby." She says as she opens the door. Her jacket and shoes are already gone, she must have taken them off in the living room, that's good, makes this a little easier.

I get up from my resting place and greet her with a kiss, slowly and gently pushing her up against the bedroom door.

"Hey gorgeous." I say as I pull back.

I have my hands on her hips to keep her in place; I don't want her to move just yet.

"I hope you're naked under this." She teases as her hands go to the tie of my robe and she slowly starts to loosen it. She doesn't open it right away, instead she glides her hands up to my neck and starts to pull it open from there, sliding it off my shoulders. I watch with pride as her eyes darken with desire as the robe hits the floor.

"God, even better, you know how much I love taking these off you." Her voice is breathy already and her hands are darting over any available skin she can reach, they move to my back and slide upwards to unclasp my bra. I think it's about time I let her in on my little plan.

"Ah ah." I tell her as I move her hands and pin them to the door either side of her head. I watch a tiny flicker of shock cross her face, to be replaced by a sexy smirk moments later.

"You don't get to do that yet. In fact, you don't get to do anything until I say. Understand?" I tell her, watching the realisation dawn on her.

"Your hands stay there." I instruct as I move my hands to the front of her shirt, slowly opening the buttons.

"Or what." She challenges with a smirk. She knows full well she could turn this around in seconds. Okay Sara get it under control, don't let her.

"Or else I stop." I tell her.

Her eyebrow raises and she chuckles a little. Oh I can't have that. Let's turn up the heat a little.

"Do you think you could? I know how much you want me." She intones.

And she's right. I finally undo the last button on her shirt and waste no time sliding my hands up her stomach to cup her breasts, massaging them slowly. I know she loves this and I'm rewarded with a hitch in her breath as her head falls back to the door and she arches into my hands.

I lean in and swirl my tongue around the hollow of her throat before running it from there up to her chin then gently biting along her jaw line to her ear.

"I've been wanting you for weeks. Now I think it's your turn to want." I whisper. "So be a good girl and I promise to make you come so hard."

"Uh." Is all she manages.

"Very eloquent love." I say with a giggle.

I watch as her hands move from their resting place on the door to my hips and I stop my ministrations immediately then take a small step back from her.

"Sara?" She asks, opening her eyes. They're almost black with desire and it's all I can do not to take her right now.

I lean in to husk in her ear. "I told you, you don't get to touch. I want you to know exactly how I've felt these past few weeks. I want to hear you beg for my touch. I want to watch your perfect body tremble with need for me." I say, somehow holding my own desire in check, then pull back to gauge her reaction.

She's never seen this side of me before, truth be told I've never been with anyone who turns me on as much as she does. But if the need filled look on her face is anything to go by, she's enjoying this very much.

"Hands." I tell her then watch with a smile as she returns them to the door.

I close the distance between us again and place my hands on the outside of her thighs. She has a skirt on today. I always love when she wears a skirt. I lean in for a quick kiss but pull back as she tries to deepen it. This is all about making her wait and want.

"You know I love you in a skirt don't you?" I try to keep my voice as level as possible as I slide my hands down her thighs until I reach the bottom of her skirt then slowly move my hands back up, bringing it with me.

"Open your eyes." I tell her. "Look at me."

The heat in her eyes threatens to be my undoing and my own breath catches in response to it.

"I want to do this in work, take you on your desk just like this." As I finish talking I slip a leg between hers and start rocking her against me. Her skirt is bunched around the top of her thighs and her shirt is open showing her tantalizing skin. I don't think I've ever seen anything sexier.

"This right here is what I want to do every time I see you in a skirt." I pull her harder against my thigh and revel in the moan she releases.

I can feel how ready she is every time I press my thigh into her. I've hardly touched her and I sure as hell am nowhere near finished with her yet.

"Sara, please." She begs.

"Patience." I say as I slowly move my leg away from her and she moans in disappointment.

"Turn around." I order her.

She turns immediately and I bite my lip to hold back the moan at her acquiescence.

I slide my hands up her back and over her shoulders to remove her shirt. Placing kisses across her shoulders as the shirt hits the floor.

The skirt just has to go to. I continue kissing her shoulders as I slide the zip down then push the skirt over her hips. She's wearing French panties, they make her ass look so fantastic and I moan at the sight. God she's sexy.

I can't resist running my hands over her perfect ass while I trail kisses across the back of her neck. Pushing myself into her I bring my mouth level with her ear while my hands make quick work of her bra.

"Do you have any idea how much I've wanted you? How badly I've wanted to touch you?" My hands find their way back to her perfect breasts and we both moan at the sensation.

"Do you know what I did yesterday?" I question. She doesn't speak, just shakes her head.

I turn her once more so she's facing me and immediately start massaging her breasts again, focusing on her rock hard nipples. I lock my eyes with hers as I speak.

"I wanted you so badly I had to touch myself. It felt so good, thinking of you, imagining it was your fingers inside me." She whimpers in response to my admittance. "Pity you were at work, you could have watched."

"Oh fuck, Sara." She growls.

Oh god, she sounds so sexy, I don't think I'll be able to hold back much longer.

I lower my mouth to her left nipple, teasing it with my tongue, flicking it over and over again before moving to the other one, giving it the same treatment.

She's moaning with every flick and it's seriously starting to affect me.

I slowly start kissing my way down her stomach till I'm on my knees in front of her placing kisses on her thighs. Once there I hook a finger in the top of her panties and pull them down as slowly as my raging hormones will allow.

I groan low in my throat at the sight of her naked; she has the most perfect body I've ever seen.

"God baby you're perfect. You want me to stay right here? Throw one of your legs over my shoulder and make you come in my mouth?" I ask, my own voice breaking halfway through my sentence. Oh Jesus fucking Christ, I'm so not going to last.

Her guttural moan is all the answer I need so I take her left leg and place it over my shoulder, letting her think I'm about to give in. Kissing the inside of her thigh till I reach her centre. I dip my tongue inside her, groaning at the taste, and the moan she releases, I run my tongue along her length till I reach her clit then swirl my tongue around it a few times before pulling back.

"Sara, god baby please don't stop." She begs and thrusts her hips towards me. I'm seriously tempted to give in and take her but I hold myself in check, even if it's just for a few more minutes.

It takes every single ounce of will-power I possess to kiss my way back up her trembling body until I'm standing again.

Once on my feet I run my hands down the back of her thighs until I have enough leverage to lift her up, pinning her between the door and my body. I capture her lips and thrust my tongue into her mouth, dominating our kiss. Her hips start rocking as she grinds herself against my stomach.

I pull back with a low moan. God she feels good.

I somehow manage to carry her to the bed, climbing on top of her, revelling in the feel of her beneath me.

She grabs my hand with one of her own as soon as I'm settled against her and slides it between our bodies into her heat, groaning in sheer delight at the contact.

"Please baby, I need you to touch me. Feel how ready I am for you." She pants.

Fuck. This is so against the rules but right now, I want her far too badly to care.

I can't help moving my fingers through her heat. "Move your hand." I tell her. She'd kept her hand covering mine and I want this at my pace.

"What do you want Catherine?" I ask her while I circle a finger around her clit. "Do you want me to slowly take you? Or do you want me to fuck you so hard?"

She whimpers as I finish talking, I know exactly what she wants, she wants hard and fast, but I'm not about to make it easy for her.

I lower my head to her breasts, lavishing attention on her straining nipples as I oh so slowly slide two fingers into her. "Tell me Catherine." I say as I switch my attention to her other breast. "Beg me for it."

I still my slowly thrusting fingers and lift my mouth from her breast, waiting for her answer.

It takes her desire idled mind a second to realise I won't continue until she asks.

"Sara, God, please." Her voice is practically trembling with need and I know I'll have to have her soon.

"Please what baby?" I ask again.

"Fuck me."

Oh god, a huge wave of pure arousal crashes over my body at her breathy plea and I'm tempted to wait just so she'll say it again but I truly can't hold back any more. I thrust my fingers into her hard and fast and latch my mouth onto her breasts, nipping, sucking and licking.

She whimpers with every thrust I make and her hips thrust up to match the rhythm I've set.

It doesn't take long until I feel her tighten around my fingers and her body starts to shake. She comes with a low groan.

I still my fingers for a second while I kiss my way down her body, capturing the little bundle of nerves in my mouth as soon as I reach her centre, and then starting my fingers up again.

Her hands find their way into my hair to hold me in place and I revel in the feeling.

"God baby you taste so good. I want you to come for me again."

She groans at my words and uses her grip in my hair to push my mouth back to her flesh. Not that I needed persuading.

My tongue is working overtime flicking her clit and my fingers curl with each thrust. She's close again and I'm not stopping.

"Feels so...ugh..." She manages to groan as she comes again.

I don't stop until she comes twice more and only then because she's limp under my touch. So I kiss my way back up her sweat soaked body and snuggle into her side.

Just as I think she's fallen asleep she opens her eyes.

I beam at her, proud of myself for putting her in this state. Her smile is lazy and her eyes are barely focused. Oh yeah, I'm good.

"You okay?" I ask her.

"Fucked senseless is more accurate. Okay doesn't do it justice."

I giggle and prop my head up on my hand to look down at her.

"Good. So you're not ready to go again?" I joke.

Her answering groan makes me laugh again. "Maybe in a day or two, when I can move again." She lazily replies.

I run my fingers across her cheek, moving her hair as I go.

"I love you Catherine, you know that?" I've told her every day since I woke up in hospital. I don't ever want her to doubt it.

"I know baby. I love you too. Hold me?"

"Of course." I reply, gathering her still boneless body in my arms and pulling her on top of me. "Always."

She places a kiss on my collarbone as she snuggles in.

I lie here holding her as she drifts off into a satisfied sleep. I truly can't recall a time when being with someone has made me this happy. I told her that day in the hospital and I meant it with all my heart, Every time I hold her, I never want to let her go.

***

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