Hour 12: Las Vegas Hospital



Now that she looked back on what had happened to her in the last twelve hours of her life, Catherine Willows realized she had absolutely no idea who she was or what it was she wanted from her life. It was amazing to her now, that she had come into work as one person but would most certainly leave as another. Strong-willed, unwilling to yield to a challenge, that's who she was and she still knew that. What caused her to question everything, was one woman who challenged her so much, so deeply, she wasn't sure she wanted to meet it.

It had started at the beginning of her shift; a woman was waiting for her in her office. She was tall, dark skin, high cheek bones, mysterious brown eyes, professional appearance, beautiful. She had introduced herself as Erika Walsh and was in need of the CSI's expertise on a case she had been working for the last three years. Apparently, Catherine was being given a chance to work with the FBI and no one was supposed to know about it.

"Why choose me?" She had asked. "What makes me special?"

"You have a past," the woman had answered. "You have experiences that make you very qualified."

Erika had given her a chance to refuse. She had told her that the project would be dangerous and the experience scarring. Erika hadn't made any false promises of a higher reward or personal satisfaction. The only thing Erika had promised was a long night that would make her have a little less hope for humanity as a whole when it was over.

But Catherine didn't hear the warning she had been given. She couldn't hear it past the excitement of the challenge and the adventure into the unknown. Besides, she had seen a few things in her time and there wasn't much out there that could surprise her, right?

Wrong. She was so very wrong.



Hour 1: Small bar outside of Las Vegas Strip

"So why are we here?" Catherine asked as she unsnapped her seatbelt.

Erika turned off the car engine and leaned back in her seat. "This is a place very similar," she said softly. "Almost exactly like the place she took her first victim."

"She?"

"So far we know that she's been responsible for ten deaths all across the western United States. She picks them up at bars, quite similar to this one, then fucks them and kills them." Erika's voice was calm, clinical, cold. She talked like all people who have dealt with death too often talked. She talked with a soul that was just a little less innocent than was probably healthy.

"What do you need me for?" The FBI had more resources than the Las Vegas crime labs; Catherine knew that. They could have any specialist they wanted. Erika could have anyone.

"Do you remember a woman named Marisa Clays?"

It was hard for Catherine to forget a woman she had gotten high with so long ago, no matter how much she wanted to. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"She gets a real kick out of killing all of her former lovers. It has something to do with her wanting to purify the world of those who have tainted it."

Catherine turned her eyes away from Erika's beautiful face. "I still don't know how I'm involved." She had never been Marisa's lover. She had hardly even liked the woman. There was something about her that seemed just a little off.

"I caught her once," Erika admitted softly. "I saw her in a bar and just got this feeling that she was the woman I was after. I could feel it. I knew it was her, but I had to let her go because we didn't have the evidence. I bought her a drink and we had a really interesting conversation. She said her name was Catherine Willows." The agent reached out and laid her hand softly on Catherine's forcing Catherine to look at her. "Do you know why she would do that?"

Catherine shook her head. "Not really. No."

"After that night, after I had talked to her, another body was found along with a strand of your hair."

"Why didn't I know about this before?" Catherine tried to make her voice sound indignant, angry but only managed to sound lost, confused.

"I never understood it," Erika removed her hand from Catherine's and placed it on the steering wheel. "Why would she tell me your name and plant evidence against you? Why were you so damn important to her?"

Catherine knew this question was being asked of her, but she didn't have an answer. She didn't know Marisa that well. Any memories she had been able to hold onto were distorted because of the drugs and dulled because of the passage of time. "I don't know," she answered. "I don't remember her well enough to remember anything about her."

"Neither do I," Erika replied her voice just above a whisper. "But after figuring out everything about you and following her around for the last three years, I have an idea." Erika shifted in her seat so that she was facing the CSI who sat next to her. "We originally thought that she was killing all her former lovers, but then we realized she was killing yours. We can even implicate her, to a certain extent, in your ex-husband's death."

That's when the anger Catherine had been searching for all night finally made it to the surface. "Why am I just now finding this out?"

Erika ignored the outburst. "She wants to cleanse the world for you Ms. Willows, she wants to take away your past. And there's some part of her that hates you for making her do what she's doing. That's why she implicates you for her murders, but at the same time wishes for your recognition."

There were a hundred things that Catherine wanted to know and a hundred more she didn't. "So why did you bring me here?" She settled for just knowing that.

"Inside this establishment is a woman who is on Marisa's list, I suggest you go get her and bring her out here. She just happens to be our most qualified bait."

Catherine looked around her just now noticing the familiar SUVs that were in the parking lot. "I don't want to involve anyone else in this," she said her face turned toward the window.

"Either you go and involve her or I will," Erika's voice had dropped. "We both know that she will be more than willing to help."

The CSI crossed her arms in front of her, trying to be as defiant as possible in this closed space. "I won't do it."

Erika sighed. "Fine." Within moments she was out of the car and headed towards the entrance of the bar. Catherine sat and watched her for a brief moment then quickly jumped out of the car herself and ran after her.

"Agent Walsh," she called out. "Wait! Don't!" But her cries were too late. Erika had already found who she was looking for and they were both headed away from the crime scene. Catherine followed them to a dark corner in the small bar and was met with the burning gazes of two sets of brown eyes.

"Is she after Catherine?" Sara asked Erika but kept her gaze fixed on the blond in front of her.

"Well when she's done killing everyone and confronts Catherine and realizes that Catherine isn't thankful for what she's done, yeah she probably will kill her," Erika answered her voice monotone. "It will be a passion killing, very bloody, very messy, a lot of evidence left behind. The evidence won't matter though, because then she'll probably kill herself and it will all be over anyway." Erika looked at Catherine then Sara. Neither of them seemed to be appreciative of her complete honesty, but she didn't care. She cared about getting them both back in her car so that they could set up a trap for a woman she had been following around the country for the last three years of her life. "So you have five minutes, then I'll meet you both in the car." She walked away and didn't bother looking back at either of them. She was sure they would eventually follow.

"I don't want you to do this," was the first thing Catherine had said as soon as Erika was out of earshot.

"Catherine," the name didn't sound pleasant coming from Sara anymore, it sounded hard. "I can make my own choices."

"Not about this you can't," Catherine's voice was harsh, angry.

Sara shifted her stance obviously uncomfortable in her former lover's presence. "I may not like you, but I don't want you dead." Her head dropped, her eyes turned to the floor. "I don't want Lindsey to lose another parent."

It was just like Sara to aim directly for her weakest spots. She did know all of them. "I don't want you to do this," Catherine said again, but this time her voice was weak and her anger covered up with just a hint of actual concern.

"I'm going to do it." Sara spoke as if her words settled everything.

At this bar, at this time, Catherine knew that this wasn't an argument she was going to be able to win. With a slight nod of her head she turned around and walked out of the bar knowing that Sara would follow her.

They both met up with Erika moments later who did nothing but grin knowingly at them both. Once inside the car, Erika started up the engine and took them away from the bar. They didn't know where they were going, but did know what was about to happen wasn't going to be one that could be hung on a wall of good times.



2nd Hour: Motel Room

She took them to a run down motel room. They had expected a big office. They had expected some more agents. They had expected a lot more than a motel room that obviously had questionable sanitation standards.

She sat them down on the single bed in the room and threw a file folder at them then started talking. "A couple of weeks ago Marisa wrote me a letter telling me that if I stayed on her case then she'd kill her daughter Lindsey Willows." The name immediately got Sara's and Catherine's attention tearing it away from the folder they had been perusing. "It was signed Catherine Willows' like all her letters to me have been. That explains why I'm not taking you to the nearest FBI headquarters. She's probably watching the building to make sure we don't walk in with you. I do have a few agents who are on their way here and who will hopefully be able to tell us if Marisa is in town or not."

"Is my daughter in danger?" Catherine's eyes were all fire now. It was one thing putting her at risk or even Sara at risk to stop Marisa, but Catherine wasn't going to do that to her daughter.

"Your daughter was taken from school this morning, put on a plane and sent into protective custody in Arizona."

"You took my daughter," Catherine rose carefully from the bed, "and you didn't bother to consult me?"

Erika's brow rose and she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "If both of you had not agreed to cooperate we would have used the girl as leverage."

"Bitch," Catherine took a step closer to Erika. "You would use my own daughter against me?"

The agent held her ground sparing a quick glance at Sara who had thus far remained silent and still. "Yes, I would. I'm tired of seeing dead bodies laid out across the country. I'll use whatever tactics I deem fit to get Marisa into my custody. So I suggest you sit back down, Ms. Willows, accept that which you cannot change and read the folder I've given you to change the things you can."

Before Catherine could utter another argumentative sentence there was a knock on the door and Erika went to open it. Four more agents entered the room and took up residence against the wall across from Catherine and Sara.

"These are the other agents who have been working this case," Erika explained as she silently closed the door. "We'll answer all the questions you have after you read the file."

"I'm not going to do anything until you allow me to talk to my daughter," Catherine said defiantly.

Sara threw the file on the floor. "The same goes for me."

Erika reached into her pocket and pulled out a small tin box. She popped off the lid and took out something too small for either Catherine or Sara to identify, then popped it in her mouth. She stared at the two women for a moment more then started laughing. "Have it your way," she said through her laughter. "There are most definitely more important battles that need to be won." She reached into her pocket again but this time pulled out a cell phone. She flipped it open, dialed in a number then threw it to Catherine who fumbled with it before it landed solidly in her hands. "Ask for your daughter," Erika instructed.

There were exactly three rings before someone picked up. "Hello?" The voice on the other end sounded unsure.

"Lindsey?" Catherine pulled the phone closer to her ear and turned her back on all the agents.

"Mom?" Lindsey's voice was frightened. "What's going on?"

"Are you okay?" The CSI felt a presence come up behind her and instinctively knew that it was Sara.

"Yeah," the young girl was obviously frightened and nervous. "They told me that you were in trouble and that I had to leave. What's going on?"

"Everything's fine sweetheart. I just have a few work things that need to be taken care of. Don't worry about anything." Catherine was worried out of her mind and was sure that her assurances wouldn't make her daughter feel much better, but she at least had to try.

"When can I come home?"

"Very soon."

"I love you, Mom."

"Love you too, Lindsey."

It wasn't the type of phone call where conversation was abundant. There wasn't much either one of them could say. Lindsey was old enough and smart enough to know that things weren't necessarily going to be okay and Catherine knew her daughter well enough to know Lindsey couldn't be given too many false assurances before they unveiled the true need to be worrisome.

Catherine stayed on the line until she was sure Lindsey had hung up then slowly turned to Erika. "I hope to god that you know what you're doing." She looked at the small phone in her hand a moment then in her anger threw it back to Erika, aiming for the other woman's head.

Erika reached up and caught the phone before it hit her face. "Hate me later. Read the file now." To avoid another confrontation, one of the nameless agents standing against the wall took a step forward and picked up the file from the floor. He handed it to Catherine who accepted it silently. He gave her a boyishly handsome grin then took his place against the wall again.

Not wanting to sit back down, Catherine opened the file again and flipped through the contents. As she read she became more and more displeased with what she was reading. "What gives you the right?" she yelled as she closed the folder and shoved it at Sara. "This is my life."

Erika titled her head slightly and her eyes narrowed. "Bottom-line? I get my job done, which means I don't care about personal privacy or exposing hidden secrets. One doesn't go about solving every case that lands on their desk by being concerned with morals or ethics or whatever normally binds you locals into upholding the law."

Confused about the conversation, Sara opened the file and once again started reading the contents. She skipped the pages that were about Marisa and flipped to the back where every page was covered with every detail of Catherine's life. There was a copy of her birth certificate; pictures of her at work, at her house, at the grocery store, there were pictures of her with other people. There were pictures of them together, taken what seemed like forever ago.

"How is it that you've kept your job?" Sara asked as she closed the folder. "What you've done is illegal."

"You want to know a secret?" Erika reached out and took the folder from Sara. "I don't really work for the FBI. They do," she nodded her head to the agents against the wall. "I'm more of a civilian helper. There is no way I would ever be hired by the government. What can I say?" she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a girl with a past, and I hear our government frowns on hiring felons."

"What kind of past?" Catherine asked warily.

Erika smiled. "Well certainly not your kind. Not your kind either, Ms. Sidle. My past more involves psych wards and anti-psychotic medication."

"Is she serious?" Sara asked the agent who had handed Catherine the file.

"Yes ma'am," he responded with a nod of his head. "She's a special hire for cases that we have difficulty solving."

"You can follow all the evidence in the world," Erika looked from Sara to Catherine. "But you only catch people that are normally abnormal. You catch the textbook crazies. The real people who are insane-the kind that make insanity an art form instead of a punch-line-leave you breadcrumbs in the woods, not handwriting on the wall, and you only catch them when they want you to. You catch them when their masterpiece is complete and you've gotten so far inside their head you've forgotten what normal is anymore."

"Is that how you were caught?" Sara took an unconscious step closer to Catherine.

Erika shook her head. "I never was caught, because I never did anything. I had a daughter to be sane for."

"Had?" The usage of the past tense wasn't about to escape the grasp of either CSI.

"She was murdered by one of my fellow psychopaths." Erika turned away from the women questioning her. "I helped catch him and became a special helper for the government."

"Was that medication you were taking before?" Catherine's voice was soft, it even held a not of compassion.

Erika chuckled. "No. It was a breath mint." She turned back around and walked so that she was standing directly in front of Catherine. "I'm not on medication. They tend to dampen the insanity, and then I'm no use to anyone."

"You're serious," Catherine took a step away from the taller woman. She was surprised that she hadn't felt there was anything strange about this woman. She always had a certain amount of pride in her gut instinct, which seemed to have failed her completely on this occasion. When she had seen Erika in her office, she just saw a beautiful, charismatic, stoic woman who needed some information. She had all the proper identification and all the right words.

"Yeah, so how does it feel being attracted to a psychopath?" Erika smiled broadly. She had a beautiful smile.

"I wasn't," Catherine began to say but was quickly interrupted by Erika. "You were. One of the things I was actually counting on was that you would be attracted to me so that getting you to join the case would be easier. Sex appeal does have its advantages, doesn't it? I understand that's certainly something you know a lot about Ms. Willows. You're not completely unattractive yourself."

"This is unbelievable," Catherine pushed past Erika and walked to the door. "This is crazy; I'm not going to put my life or Sara's life in the hands of a psychopath."

Sara followed Catherine to the door, reached out and grabbed a hold of Catherine's arm. "Marisa still wants me dead." The words stopped Catherine in her tracks.

"It took me forever to talk Marisa into coming after Ms. Sidle, Ms. Willows. It took me forever to convince her that you had found the love of your life and would never be satisfied with what Marisa was doing for you, unless Sara was out of the way first."

"You set me up?" Sara released Catherine and turned back to Erika.

Erika seemed confused by the question. "Of course. Why would I wait for her to just come to Sara's name on her relatively long list?"

"You set her up, knowing we're not together anymore. You put her life at risk." Catherine moved past Sara. She stood in front of Erika and with calculated movements raised her hand and swung it at Erika's face. Erika grabbed Catherine's wrist, stopping the attack mid-swing.

"No matter what now, Marisa is after Sara. So like I said, hate me later."

Catherine yanked her wrist out of Erika's grasp. "So what happens now?"



3rd Hour: Restaurant

"Our goal here is to actually make Marisa believe that you two are desperately in love," Erika's intense brown eyes looked from Catherine to Sara. "If she senses any kind of setup then she's going to run and we may never catch her. So I don't care if you two absolutely despise each other right now. I'm hoping that you can both be adult enough to realize that as much as this involves your lives and the people in your lives, this is about what Marisa thinks and what Marisa wants. This is about her world, not yours."

"Run the plan by me one more time," Sara mumbled from the back seat of the car.

"Just let Marisa see you both. Don't, under any circumstance, be looking around for her. Remember, you only exist for each other. Sit down, have a nice meal paid for by Uncle Sam, then get in the car provided for you and ride pleasantly to Catherine's house. I'll be there waiting for you."

"What if she approaches us?" Catherine asked trying to fix the strap on the dress the FBI had helpfully provided for her.

"She won't. She's looking for evidence that you two are 'the great love story of all time'. She has to be convinced that Sara is a threat, because deep down she doesn't believe you can possibly love anyone as much as you love her. You have to prove her wrong."

"Are you as delusional as she is?" Catherine couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"No." Erika responded flatly. "I'm not delusional. It'd be best if you both refrained from comparing Marisa to me. We're not the same." She smiled at the two women sitting behind her. "So have a nice night and get out of my car."

Both CSIs had enough experience to recognize the truth in Erika's response. The admission worried them both, but it was just another worry to stack upon the others that had piled up during the night. So they did as Erika said and exited the car and stood on the sidewalk opposite the restaurant Erika had chosen for them. Erika waved as she drove off in the black limousine that had been rented especially for the occasion. She had told them that it was part of an early celebration for successfully apprehending Marisa.

"I don't trust her," Catherine admitted as they watched the limousine turn a corner and disappear into the night. It wasn't a surprising confession, but it seemed to be the least confrontational thing she thought of to say to her ex-lover.

"I don't either," Sara was just happy they agreed on something for once.

"Look," Catherine sighed and turned to face Sara after they stood in silence for a moment. "I don't want to talk about anything that happened between us in the past. I don't want to get into another argument of who hurt who worse; I just want to make sure that Marisa is stopped and no one else dies."

Thoughtful brown eyes bore into her. "Fine."

Catherine reached out to take Sara's hand, but the other woman shied away from her touch. "Look I know that you're still angry with me, I'm still angry with you too, but we're never going to pull this off if you don't even let me touch you." She turned her head to the ground and ran her hand through her hair. "We're just going to have to pretend for one night that the past didn't happen, Sara."

"Ever since it happened, I've tried to forget." Sara took Catherine's hand in her own, her grip firm. "I haven't been able to yet."

Catherine stepped closer to Sara. "You act like you're the only one that was hurt."

Instead of holding hands, Sara decided that putting her arm around Catherine's waist would look more intimate, and the action also had the benefit of allowing her to avoid contact with Catherine's skin. "I wasn't the one that slept with someone else," she said through gritted teeth as she pulled Catherine closer to her body.

"No you didn't," Catherine took Sara's lead and wrapped her arm around the taller woman. "You just pulled completely away from me emotionally. You avoided me like the plague and wouldn't give me the time of day. You never explained yourself or tried talking to me; you disappeared. We lived in the same house and you came home, helped care for Lindsey, but you were like a ghost. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't touch you. I couldn't reach you."

The women were preparing to cross the street now. They were only a few steps away from the restaurant's double doors. "You know I have a hard time opening up," Sara defended herself.

"Yes I do, but I also know that I was tired of trying to figure out what I did to make something that was so perfect end up so broken, and tired trying of figure out what it was this time that made you go away. I couldn't continue to try to give you my support when you didn't want it. It was pointless for me to try and continue to be there for you when you obviously didn't want me."

Sara opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it. None of this mattered anymore. What was done was done and she didn't have the energy to try and change it. "I'm with someone else now."

The confession didn't even make Catherine lose her stride. "Good. So am I." It was a lie, but she couldn't very well confess that she was alone and afraid to try to have an intimate relationship with someone else when she still felt so broken.

With fake smiles, they stepped up to the door and thanked a man for holding it open for them. They stepped through them into a romantic restaurant neither of them had been to before. They were given seats in the middle of the restaurant in clear view for all to see. It wouldn't have made sense for Erika to make reservations for a dark corner. They were supposed to be putting on a show for a deranged fan.

"The champagne you requested, Ladies," the waiter who had introduced himself as Tad held up the bottle, winked, and lifted Sara's glass to begin pouring in the bubbling liquid. Sara was going to protest but Catherine squeezed her hand and Sara kept her silence.

Erika had pre-ordered the entire meal. She couldn't be there personally, but she was going to do what she could to make sure the night looked as real as possible. She didn't want to leave anything more than necessary in the hands of the two CSIs. If she could have pulled off dressing up as one of them, she would have.

The waiter, finished with filling Sara's cup, picked up Catherine's and filled it as well. He gave the finely dressed women another wide smile then scurried off to care for his other patrons. "You know I don't drink alcohol anymore," Sara said as soon as the waiter left.

Catherine lifted her glass and took a sip. She swallowed then placed her glass gently on the table. "So does Erika. It's sparkling cider. The bottle just says champagne."

Cautiously, Sara picked up her glass, sniffed it then took a small sip. Catherine was right; it was cider. "I wonder how much she knows about me," Sara wondered. "How much she found out."

Catherine released Sara's hand and leaned back in her chair. "I'm going to assume that Erika knows everything." She pointed to the suit Sara was wearing. "She knew exactly what size to get you for the suit. She even has it cut exactly the way you like. She's thorough."

Catherine was right. Sara's suit fitted very comfortably. There were no bunching or length problems that she normally had because of her long legs. Every detail was absolutely perfect. The atmosphere was perfect, the placement of their table could have been a little better, but all signs indicated that the night would be a perfect one. At least it would have been a perfect one if she and Catherine were actually still in love, and some maniac wasn't out to kill her.

"So tell me about your new special someone?" Catherine asked with a smile. The way she looked saying it almost made her look like she was flirting, but that was far from the truth. If being on the stage taking her clothes off taught her nothing else, it taught Catherine how to become a brilliant actress and smile for the crowd despite how she felt inside.

Sara didn't have that particular advantage. "I don't think that's something we should talk about." Her face was sour.

"Why not?" Catherine kept the sultry smile on her face. "Shouldn't I know about someone who will be hanging around my daughter?"

"Speaking of Lindsey," Sara leaned her elbows on the table trying her best to not be bested by Catherine again. "You could have let me talk to her earlier."

Catherine's left brow rose. "She didn't ask if you were around."

"That's because she's uncomfortable talking to you about me," Sara tried her best at a flirtatious grin.

"I've told her plenty of times that she shouldn't be worried about that," Catherine leaned forward and stroked Sara's right arm. "She knows I fully support you both still having a relationship. I'm not going to punish Lindsey for your actions."

Shock clearly covered Sara's features. "Punish her for my actions?" her voice rose just below an actual yell.

"That's what I said," the blond CSI took her other hand and ran her index finger enticingly across her lips.

Sara wanted so desperately to pull away from the woman who sat across from her, but found in herself some bit of fortitude that she didn't know even existed before. "I love Lindsey, Catherine."

The admission was an effective one. Catherine pulled away from Sara, slowly and still flirtatiously, but pulled away nonetheless. "I know," she looked down at the tablecloth. "That's the only reason I let her still see you. I may have lost you, but I don't want Lindsey to suffer the same."

Sara wanted to say that Catherine hadn't lost her, but it would have been a terrible lie. Catherine had lost her. She wasn't even working on the same CSI team anymore. Catherine had requested a promotion and a move to day shift. She hadn't gotten all she wanted, but she sure did get away from having to deal with Sara.

They weren't friends by any stretch of the imagination. They weren't even work associates anymore, at least not really. Sara couldn't even remember the last time she had spoken to Catherine about anything that didn't involve picking up Lindsey or work.

The entire shift in their relationship had been a quick one. They both ran away as fast and as far as they could go while still staying in the same jobs and living in the same city. The distance was for the best, because when they were around each other they only managed to fight and hurt each other more.

"Her name's Megan," Sara spoke softly, kind of hoping that the hum of the other restaurant patrons would drown out her voice. "She's a veterinarian."

Catherine ran her index finger over the rim of her champagne flute. "Has Lindsey met her yet?"

Sara shook her head. "No. I wasn't sure that would be okay for you."

"As much as Lindsey likes to think she's all grown up now, I'm sure she'd still get a kick out of pestering a pet doctor. She certainly has stopped pestering me about getting a dog." It almost physically hurt Catherine to get the words out. This being the bigger person thing was really difficult when it came right down to it.

They sat in silence, both accepting the new situation they were in, this next step in their evolving relationship. They were the divorced parents' of a pre-teen now. They were no longer friends, they were no longer lovers, and they weren't even working partners. They were the broken home.

"Do you think we should at least make an effort to dance?" Sara motioned to the decent sized dance floor a few tables away from theirs. "I'm sure Erika said something about dancing." She stood up and offered her hand to Catherine.

Catherine's blue eyes looked Sara carefully up and down. This was torture to her, and now she hated the name Megan. "Dancing would be perfect."

Sara led the older woman to the dance floor. They put their arms around each other with practiced ease. The song playing was slow and beautiful. The lighting was perfect enough for them to see each other but just dark enough that they weren't seeing anyone else.

Catherine fell into Sara's strong arms and rested her head on Sara's shoulder. They moved in time with the music, and maybe for a moment while the perfect song was playing, the perfect lighting shone upon them, and the perfect person was in their arms, they could forget the pain of the past. They could forget that their relationship was different, and they could even forget that someone was out to kill them.



4th Hour: Willows' House.

When they walked through Catherine's front door, they saw Erika sitting comfortably in the darkness of the living room. The agent who had dropped them off told them that Erika would be waiting, but failed to answer Catherine's questions on how exactly Erika had gained admittance into the house.

"How did you get in here?" Catherine asked angrily, already overly tired of Erika's presence.

"I was worried about you two pulling everything off tonight," Erika ran her hand through her dark hair. She had no intention of answering Catherine's question since she figured the answer should be an obvious one. Houses were easy things to get into. "I didn't exactly trust you two to behave yourselves. Of course, I'm generally not a very trusting person so my mistrust wasn't entirely personal. Lucky for you both, the way a carefully placed agent named Tad told it, you two actually looked like a couple worth being jealous of."

"Was Marisa there?" Sara shifted awkwardly in her stance. She hadn't decided how exactly she wanted to feel about the dinner she had with Catherine. The reality of what had happened hadn't settled with her yet, and she found focusing her critical thinking skills on Marisa was a much easier task.

"Of course she was," Erika leaned forward and rested her elbows on her thighs. "She didn't much like the evening's entertainment either. Now we just have to give her the opportunity to kidnap you while she's angry. If we give her a chance to calm down then she probably will gain what little sanity she has left back again, and that's not something I want to happen."

"Kidnap?" Catherine hoped she had heard wrong, but already knew Erika to be the type to actually have that be part of her big plan.

"Yes," there was a grin planted on Erika's face. "If everything works out perfectly, then we'll nab her before she nabs Sara."

"Wait," Sara held up her hand. "If you guys saw her at the restaurant why didn't you arrest her then?"

"That's a good question," Erika began rubbing her chin. "If we had the perfect opportunity to arrest a serial killer why didn't we just take it?"

"We could do without the sarcasm," Catherine commented.

Erika shrugged. "Okay then I'll just tell you the obvious truth. Marisa is like a phantom. She appears and disappears very quickly. She knows we're after her. She'll only step out long enough to be seen, but the moment anyone blinks she's gone. We haven't been able to keep her in a place long enough to put cuffs on her. The agents did try to arrest her at the restaurant and they failed. Now we must pursue another avenue for her capture."

"If she's so quick then why are you letting her come after Sara? You've failed before, what makes you think you won't fail again?"

Erika jumped up from her seat and concentrated her attention solely on Catherine's eyes. "I did not fail. It would be best you remember that, Ms. Willows. The agents failed, not me. They understand their mistake and understand the consequences of a future failure."

"Let's say I do it," Sara held her hand up to stop any protest that was going to come from the blond standing next to her. "How do we get me out of this house without it looking suspicious?"

"You walk the dog."

"I don't have," Catherine began to say, but was interrupted by a furry German Shepherd barking as it barreled down the stairs. "What the hell is that?" she asked pointing to the huge animal.

"It's a dog, Ms. Willows." Erika replied with a straight face. "His name is Romeo."

"You've got to be kidding me," the dog went straight to Catherine and started sniffing her feet.

"It's really hard to go out and walk a dog without the actual dog," Erika called out to Romeo and the dog immediately went to her. "He is fully trained and will be Sara's best friend out there if the incompetence of the FBI continues."

Sara took a long look at the dog then sighed heavily. "Okay so when do we do this?"

Erika's eyes twinkled. "How's now?"

"This is crazy," Catherine turned quickly to Erika and started to approach the taller woman, but Romeo growled at her sudden movement and she stopped her forward momentum. "This is crazy," she said more calmly. "I don't think any part of it is the least bit safe."

"I thought you hated each other," Erika stated bluntly as she petted Romeo on the head.

"No we don't," Both women responded simultaneously then looked at each other, then quickly back to Erika.

"Well it really doesn't matter to me," Erika stood up. "I could care less how you define your relationship. I just want a serial killer off the streets." She walked away from the women and to the front door. "Romeo leash," she called to the dog who ran away and came back moments later with a red leash in his mouth.

"Smart dog," Catherine found herself saying.

"I'm glad you like him," Erika hooked the leash to Romeo's collar. "After we're done, he's going to be your dog. I'm sure your daughter will love him; he's a sweetheart."

The entire conversation seemed so out of place to Catherine. Then again, it seemed just about as out of place as the whole night had been. She turned to Sara and decided to take a risk by gently grabbing the other woman's hand. "Please don't get yourself killed."

Sara opened her mouth to say something reassuring but decided against it. She gave a slight nod of her head and squeezed Catherine's hand gently. She didn't have any words for a moment like this. She didn't know what she could say that would make things better or different.

"Lovebirds," Erika called out to them forcing them to break eye contact. "You can gaze longingly into each other's eyes another time. Now it's time to pretend Sara walks a German Shepherd named Romeo." She held up the leash and waved it in the air for emphasis.

Sara took the leash from Erika. "So what's the plan?" she asked softly.

"Go out and walk the dog. When you reach the corner of the block at that house that's for sale, stop and smoke a cigarette. I'm hoping she'll try to grab you from there," Erika quickly explained. "If she doesn't, then continue walking until you reach the other side of the block. There's a dark part of the street where the streetlamp has been broken. When you reach it let Romeo off the leash. We want him to be free to protect you. If she doesn't grab you there then she's not going to do it."

"So what do I do when I see her?"

"Fight back," Erika answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If she stabs you with a needle then she's drugged you and you're absolutely useless to everyone. The point of this is for you to actually not be kidnapped."

"Easily said," Catherine said under her breath.

"Not easily done," Sara added.

Erika looked at them then shook her head, wiping away whatever thought had crossed it. "Go walk the dog." She opened the door for Sara and shut it as soon as Sara had exited. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out the phone Catherine had thrown at her a couple of hours earlier. She dialed a number, spat out some orders then hung up.

"Aren't you going to follow her?" Catherine asked, unafraid to invade Erika's personal space now that the dog was no longer present.

"Marisa can't see me," Erika replied. "I don't want her to think I've set her up. She wouldn't chance taking Sara then. She might shoot her, but she won't stop to kidnap her."

"And you're positive that you know what she's going to do?"

"Pretty much," Erika moved so that she was standing directly in front of Catherine. "She's got a method to her madness, just like you were taught in those fancy classes you cop affiliated people take over offenders and victims."

"Some of those classes actually have come in handy," Catherine wasn't quite sure why she felt the need to defend the classes she was forced to take, she hadn't enjoyed them very much, but it was at least better than worrying about Sara.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I actually teach those classes?" Erika took a step closer to Catherine.

"I find a lot of what you say questionable," Catherine realized her voice sounded husky and tried to clear her throat.

"I go by the textbooks, just like everyone else. I teach the theories they have and all the while I'm laughing hysterically in my head. No one understands." Erika's hand reached out slowly for the strap of Catherine's dress.

The strap had slid down Catherine's shoulder and Erika pulled it back up in place. "I should have gotten you a better fit. You do wonders for the dress but I'm not sure if it does wonders for you."

Catherine's breath was quickening and her heart seemed to be beating just a little bit faster. She had trouble admitting to herself that her reactions stemmed from her fear. She didn't want to be afraid of Erika, she didn't want to give the woman that sort of power over her. "I think it fits fine," she managed to say.

Erika moved her hand away from Catherine's shoulder and ran it down the curves of Catherine's body. "I think you make it fit marvelously." She whispered into Catherine's ear.

Without the consent of her brain, Catherine's eyes closed and she released a slight gasp. There was something about the woman standing in front of her, that made her want to run away and hold on at the same time.

"I bet," Erika maneuvered herself so that she was standing behind Catherine, both her hands placed firmly on the blonde's hips. "You want Sara doing this to you right now. You want her hands on you, rubbing against your skin, claiming you as her very own. You want her to hold your pleasure in her hands again. You want everything from her, but get the psychopath instead while she's moved on to someone else."

"Yeah," Catherine found herself saying before she realized just what Erika had said. She pulled away from the intoxicating woman. Her face flushed in her anger, fear and lust. "What the hell are you doing?"

Erika chuckled. "Don't mistake me for Cupid, but I'd say you're not quite over your feelings for the woman who's currently risking her life to save yours. It would seem obvious that you want to hate her so much because you can't deal with how much you love her."

Catherine would have replied, but was saved from yelling out her anger by the ringing of Erika's phone.

"You're calling to tell me you've done it correctly, right?" Erika barked into the phone.

Catherine waited silently hoping that this was the call that would make everything okay again. Her hope went away soon after she heard Erika cursing at the person on the other end in a few different languages.

Erika slammed her phone shut then threw it against the nearest wall where it shattered on impact. She popped her neck then rolled her shoulders. Catherine could see the woman take a few deep breaths then turned back to face her.

"What happened?" She asked knowing she didn't want to know the answer.

"Marisa got her," Erika said softly.

"No!" Catherine yelled. "You were supposed to protect her!" she advanced quickly on Erika and this time her slap connected. Erika didn't even flinch. "No!" Her arms swung wildly at Erika's body and Erika did nothing to fend off the attacks. She let Catherine hit her until the woman didn't have the energy to do so anymore.

When the CSI was fully exhausted Erika supported her weight so she wouldn't collapse to the ground. She picked the smaller woman up and put her down on the couch.

"I placed a tracking device in Sara's belt buckle," she told Catherine. "I'm going to personally track her down and I'll bring her back to you alive."

"You better," Catherine responded coldly.

Erika bowed her head. "Romeo was shot," they're taking him to the vet. I'm going to drop you off with them."

"You want me to baby-sit the dog?" Catherine asked incredulously.

Erika shrugged and a pout covered her face. "Dogs need love too."

Catherine couldn't help herself. She laughed.

"I know you rather be out there looking for the person you claim to hate most in the world, but it's not safe for you. You should give Romeo a chance."

Erika had meant what she said. Romeo needed some people in his corner too. He had offered his life for Sara and that certainly was enough to earn him a visit, but what she didn't say was that she didn't want Catherine with her, and it wasn't because she cared one iota about Catherine's well-being.



5th Hour: Veterinary Hospital.

If anyone had asked her what she would do if Sara had ever been kidnapped, Catherine certainly wouldn't have responded that she would be watching over the progress of an injured canine. But since she was doing that which she thought would never happen, she could reluctantly admit to herself that standing at Romeo's bed-side had an oddly soothing effect on her. He was resting comfortably his breathing, slow and rhythmic, and all his injuries had been healed. He was strong. He was a fighter.

Romeo was a representation of the strength that Catherine felt slowly slipping from her own body. As she looked down at the anesthetized dog, she began to realize that she had been in no condition to run off with a mysterious FBI representative to go save the world, or at least a very small fraction of it. Catherine had hardly even been in good enough condition to do her own work as a CSI anymore. She was worn out, both from trying to keep up with her own life and keeping her emotions together so that she could pretend everything in her world was fine.

"Ms. Willows," a woman stepped up to Catherine, startling the CSI back into the reality of the current situation. "I was told that you were Romeo's owner."

"Yeah," Catherine replied, "I guess I am."

"Well I'm Dr. Megan Fisher," the veterinarian held out her hand.

Catherine chuckled at the absolute hell fest that had become her night. She wondered at the chances that she would end up staring into the eyes of her ex's new girlfriend in one of the many 24 hour emergency veterinary hospitals in Las Vegas. Then she remembered that Erika was crazy and suddenly the 'chance' meeting seemed to make perfect sense.

"Are you okay Ms. Willows," Dr. Fisher asked carefully, unsure of the reasons for the other woman's silence. "Do you need anything?"

Catherine ran both her hands through her hair and released a long breath. "I need a rewind button," the CSI said seriously.

Dr. Fisher gave her a forced smile. "I assure you that Romeo is going to be just fine."

"I know," Catherine's voice was soft. "He's an amazing dog."

"Do you mind me asking how it was he got shot?" Dr. Fisher braved to ask. "I know that you didn't bring him in. It was some other men."

This moment was one of those universal tests, even if it had been somehow concocted by a psychopath, and Catherine knew it. This was one of the moments in her life where she could make a decision about what kind of person she wanted to be. This was an opportunity to prove, with no one watching, that she was the bigger person. She could prove to herself that she could move on with her life without Sara, because if Erika did bring Sara back she wouldn't be finding comfort in Catherine's arms. That privilege would be defaulted onto Megan, the pet doctor.

Catherine hated being an adult.

"Do you know a woman named Sara Sidle?"

"Yes," the woman answered slowly.

"Do you know where she works?"

"The Las Vegas crime labs."

Erika had a sense of humor and it was a cruel one.

"Well while Sara was working tonight she was kidnapped by a person suspected of several murders," that's it. All Catherine had to do was put on her professional face. She slipped into the role so easily nowadays.

"We're doing everything we can to find her at the moment. We have a special agent on the case." Catherine didn't feel the need to mention that their special agent was less than an ideal candidate for complete sanity.

Dr. Fisher began to shake as Catherine's words started to sink in. "And who are you exactly?"

"I'm Catherine Willows. I work with Sara." It was the simple truth, these days.

"Oh."

She couldn't believe she was about to say these next words about Sara but, "We're doing everything we can to find her and bring her back safely."

"How did you know about me?" Dr. Fisher asked her curiosity sinking in with her worry.

"Sara mentioned you once? or twice. We aren't very close but uh? do you know who I am?" Catherine couldn't keep up the façade anymore. She wanted to know if Sara had mentioned her at all. Did she tell this Megan about Lindsey? Did she tell Megan that she still worked with her ex? Did Sara say anything at all that would indicate that she thought about what they had had together at all?

Dr. Fisher seemed taken aback by the question. "No," she answered carefully. "Should I?"

"Apparently not," Catherine's voice was harsher than she had intended, but the fact that Sara hadn't even mentioned her hurt a lot more than she wanted it to.

"Is there someone I can talk to about Sara?" Dr. Fisher asked hesitantly. "Someone with more information?"

"Not really," Catherine answered shortly.

"What about her superior?"

"He doesn't know what's going on," Catherine replied truthfully. "The only people involved are either out in your waiting room or working on getting Sara back."

"I thought she just processed evidence," Dr. Fisher was confused. "I didn't think she actually got involved with the actual police work."

"Tonight's been different. Complicated." Catherine chuckled at a joke that wasn't made but was certainly very funny to her at the moment.

Dr. Fisher's composure was weakening and her eyes looked strained. "I don't know what to do."

Certainly if Megan was looking to Catherine for guidance or comfort she was looking at the wrong person, and it wasn't just because Catherine wasn't sure how much longer she could stay in the same room as Megan. Catherine really didn't know what to do either. Erika said she would get Sara back, and pathetically that's all Catherine had. She had to put her faith in the promise of a psychopath.

What the hell was she thinking?

"Excuse me," Catherine turned away from Dr. Fisher and walked to the waiting room where two agents were seated. They both looked up at her when she entered the room, and even sat up a little straighter in their chairs. "Take me to Erika," she ordered.

A tall middle-aged man stood up and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Ms. Willows, but we can't do that. She really doesn't want you to be involved with this. It's too personal for you ma'am. I can assure you that she and the other agents are doing everything in their power to get Ms. Sidle out of Marisa Clays's hands."

"You do realize that we've left Sara's life in the hand of two psychopaths?" Catherine waved her hand wildly in the air. Whatever ease had come upon her while she was overlooking Romeo was now gone.

"I know it seems unorthodox," the man kept his voice calm, "but Erika is very good at this kind of thing. If for one minute any of us thought that Erika was involved in this or even tempted to be involved, we would pull her off the case."

"Well that sounds just a little too simple, don't you think?"

"If it will make you feel any better, I'll radio the other agents and get an update on their progress." The agent offered.

"I think you should do that, now."

The man nodded then took a step outside to make his call. Catherine watched him go then dropped her face in her hands as soon as the door closed behind him.

"What did you say about a psychopath?" Dr. Fisher's voice asked from behind her.

The situation was too much. Catherine couldn't be the bigger person anymore. "Sara was taken by a woman who's been leaving dead bodies across the country because they might have known me once. She took Sara because she thinks Sara is the love of my life. We had to pretend that we were madly in love so that some psychopath's plan could work. But you know the truth is, we are the love of each other's life but we're too insecure and hurt to admit it. So I really think that you shouldn't be talking to me right now, because I'm not completely neutral when it comes to you at the moment."

Before Catherine could run through in her mind what exactly it was she had admitted to, and before Dr. Fisher had a chance to reply, the agent walked back into the room looking less than reassuring.

"I think we have a problem," he said lowly.

"What kind of problem?" Catherine enunciated her words very carefully.

"Agent Stevens and Agent Collins were shot. They're alive and said that Marisa saw them coming. She took shots at the car and ended up dragging Erika out. They saw her stick Erika with a needle then Erika passed out. I'm sorry, Ms. Willow, but they don't know anymore than that." His voice was professional, just like Catherine's had been when talking to Dr. Fisher earlier. It was distant, clinical. It was the most maddening voice Catherine had ever heard.

Now wasn't the time for calm descriptions and professional observance. Now was the time to start yelling and raving and to show some emotion. Catherine wanted the agents to show that they actually cared that things had gotten worse.

"What happens now?" Catherine's body was shaking. She felt cold and was sure the beating of her heart could be heard by everyone in the room.

"We do our best to find them both."

That wasn't good enough. It was nowhere close to being enough, but that was all she was going to get.

"The tracking device is still in Sara's belt buckle right?"

"Yes, ma'am," the agent nodded his head. "And it's still sending out a signal. As long as we have that we know where they are."

"Then I really think we should go find them now, don't you? Marisa isn't a very stable person. Neither is Erika, if you think about it." She was able to keep her voice controlled. She was able to be a professional along with all the other professionals in the room. She wanted to yell. She wanted to be as emotional as her heart told her to be, and when she finally met up with Marisa face to face she would be.



6th Hour: Victorian Style House

Sara could hear voices around her. She couldn't make out what was being said, but her cognitive abilities were too fuzzy to make sense of much. Her head hurt and her mouth was dry. She tried to focus on gaining back full consciousness, but the task was proving to be too difficult.

The last thing she remembered was standing under the broken lamppost, like Erika had instructed. She could remember a struggle, and she remembered looking down and seeing a needle sticking out of her thigh. She didn't quite remember passing out, but obviously it had to have happened.

"Sleeping Beauty is waking up," A voice said from above her. "I wonder if she even remembers her own name."

"That depends on how much drug you pumped into her," A muffled voice called from a further distance away.

"I gave her as much as necessary," the first voice said defensively. "I didn't want her waking up on her way here. She's stronger than she looks."

Sara tried to stay awake. She desperately wanted to, but she couldn't manage it. She fell back asleep before she could hear the response of the second voice.

When she awoke a second time, she wasn't sure how long she had been sleeping, but she did recognize the woman who was leaning down above her.

"Get me out of here," Sara managed to say.

The woman above her smiled. "Why would I want to do that?"

"Fuck," It was the only thing Sara could think of to say in response to her current situation. Somehow, things had gotten a lot worse than she had expected they could.

Erika laughed at Sara's apt assessment. "You never trusted me, right?"

If Sara had the strength to lift her arms and break through whatever she had been chained to, she would have made a sincere effort to strangle the woman above her, but as it was she didn't have the strength to lift her arms. She hardly even had the strength to keep her eyes open. All she could do was stare up into Erika's smiling face and hope that the woman didn't have any plans to kill her.

"You shouldn't be surprised by this, Ms. Sidle. Deep down I know you understood how this situation was going to end up." Erika said, her smile failing to falter. "You should, however, be surprised by that." Erika pointed to the other side of the room where Lindsey was gagged and cuffed to the post of the bed she was laying on.

"Lindsey," Sara's weak voice called out.

Erika placed her index finger softly over Sara's lips. "Shh. Lindsey is resting. She's had a really long day."

"If you hurt her?"

"You'll do what?" Erika looked amused. "Are you going to kill me?"

Sara gritted her teeth, unwilling to give Erika the satisfaction of seeing her lose what self-control she was able to hold onto.

"You should stop playing with the bait," A tall redhead said from the doorway. "You'll ruin her and the main course won't want her anymore."

Erika turned her attention away from Sara and to the other woman. "Marisa, I thought I already made it clear to you how much I dislike you interrupting my private conversations."

Marisa pulled a gun from the waistband of her jeans and pointed it at Erika's head. "I may have allowed you in on my fun, but that doesn't mean you can start telling me what to do. You're not my boss."

Erika stood to her full height and approached Marisa slowly. "Nor would I want to be. I wouldn't want to take the credit for all of your mistakes." She pushed past the redhead and walked out of the room.

Marisa watched her go with narrowed eyes. "Bitch," she muttered under her breath then left the room closing and locking the door behind her.

Sara pulled weakly against her restraints, but didn't expect them to miraculously break. She just didn't know what else to do. Even though, realistically, her body was too weak to put up any kind of fight, she still felt the need to do something.

She looked over to the bed and saw Lindsey's steady breathing. She wanted to wake the girl up, but thought it would actually be better for Lindsey to sleep through as much of this nightmare as possible. Besides, Sara didn't know what she could say that would reassure the young girl. She was chained to a bar on the wall and she was sure she'd didn't look her best at the moment. Lindsey would take one look at her and would probably start crying in desperation and Sara would be able to do nothing to dry the child's tears.

Sara pulled against her restraints again, and again they didn't break. This wasn't looking good at all. If Erika had been in charge of this whole Marisa thing, then there was no way the FBI was going to burst through that locked door any time soon with guns raised and ready. They probably didn't even know Lindsey was missing. They might not even know that she was missing, either.

Sara took a quick glance around the room and for the first time realized she was in the bedroom of a very dilapidated home. The paint on the walls was peeling off and there was a hole in the roof at the corner opposite the bed. The room had one window, but it was barred. The only furnishing in the entire room was an out of place extravagantly decorated bed, an armoire, and the metal bar Sara had been strapped to.

Although she was able to stay up longer this time, her body was still fighting the effects of the drugs and she fell asleep again. Like before she tried to fight it, but didn't end up having a lot of success and before she fell asleep she thought perhaps it was best she slept through this ordeal too.

When she woke up, she saw Erika on the bed with Lindsey deep in conversation. Without thinking, she tried to get up and shove Erika away from the girl but was quickly reminded that she was strapped to the wall. She let out a grunt that caught the attention of the other occupants of the room.

"She really did give you a lot of that stuff, didn't she?" Erika didn't seem amused this time. She was only making an impartial observation. "You're lucky she didn't kill you."

"Get away from her," Sara's voice cracked.

"Lindsey and I are friends," Erika pulled Lindsey closer to her and turned her head to the girl. "Aren't we?"

Lindsey looked up at Erika, and to Sara's surprise the girl wasn't afraid. She also happened to notice that Lindsey's cuffs had been taken off and that she was no longer gagged.

"I was telling my friend why you are chained to the wall." Erika told Sara.

"She said Marisa would kill me if you got loose," Lindsey's voice said shakily.

"Yes, Marisa has given very strict instructions for you to behave. I wouldn't disobey her." Erika's warning tone was almost enough to cover up the threat implied in her words.

Erika released Lindsey from her hold and moved off the bed. "Lindsey will remain unrestrained. The door will be locked so she won't be going anywhere. Please do us all a favor and behave yourself, Ms. Sidle." Erika's face remained serious. She checked Sara's restraints to make sure they weren't too tight, then walked out of the room and locked the door behind her.

Immediately, Lindsey ran over to Sara and dove into the woman's body. "What's happening?" she asked through tears. "Erika wouldn't tell me anything."

"It's okay," Sara tried to sound as normal as possible. "We're going to be fine. Your mom's probably going to break through that door at any moment."

"Marisa wants mom to come, Sara." Lindsey pulled back. "She wants to kill her. She told me that. You have to stop mom from coming," the girl practically shouted.

"I can't," That may have been the hardest thing Sara had ever been forced into admitting.

"Erika will stop her, right?" Lindsey asked hopefully. "She'll help mom?"

Sara tried to sit up as much as she could. "Lindsey, do you know Erika?"

"Yes," Lindsey answered hesitantly. "I met her after daddy died. She was the school counselor's assistant. She still talks to me sometimes. She was the only one that understood what was going on with me. She was the only one there when you and mom were fighting so much."

So Erika had been around for years. She had been watching them.

"Why didn't you ever tell us about her?"

Lindsey shrugged. "I don't know."

"Lindsey." It was Sara's mom' voice. She had finally begun to perfect it.

Lindsey bowed her head and closed her eyes. "I didn't want to. I just wanted to have a friend that I could talk to and that you and mom wouldn't fight about."

"Why would we fight?"

"You fight a lot about me. You fight about my grades, my friends, even my hair. After daddy died and after everything else, that's all you did. That's all you do."

The sound of the lock being undone resonated through the sparse room. Erika came in with a bottle of water and handed it to Sara. "I thought you might need that." Her eyes roamed over Sara's body and to Lindsey's. She didn't say anything.

Within moments Lindsey and Sara were left alone in the locked room once again. Sara started drinking the water that had been handed to her and emptied the bottle quickly. The cold liquid had soothed her dry throat and even made her feel just a tad bit better, at least physically better.

Mentally, she felt like shit. What Lindsey had just confessed didn't exactly fill her heart with joy. When they got out of here, Catherine and she would have a lot to talk about. Somehow they would have to figure out a way they could stop hurting Lindsey in their constant arguments over things Sara wasn't even sure mattered anymore. Perhaps, Sara thought, it was time for her and Catherine to stop arguing and to start talking about everything that had happened between them.

To do that, though, they each had to survive.

Sara pulled one more time on the chain holding her. It didn't give.



7th Hour: The Desert

There were three cars following them that were full of agents with guns who were more than ready to shoot at anything that moved in front of them that appeared even mildly threatening. No one was going to risk Marisa getting the upper hand again. One of the agents who had been shot earlier had died en route to the hospital, and everyone was ready to stake out their revenge in the almighty name of justice.

They had been driving deeper into the middle of nowhere for the last hour. Catherine was starting to get antsy. She could feel that something about their current situation seemed almost pre-planned somehow. It wasn't destiny that pushed her further into the desert, but something else much more sadistic. Her mind was running through all that had happened to her. She was trying to remember everything she had said, Sara had said, but more importantly everything Erika had said. She was running the dialogue through her mind and kept on thinking why'. Why hadn't she asked Erika more questions? Why hadn't she questioned Erika's motive? Why hadn't she done anything that she had been trained to do what seemed like forever ago?

Grissom had always said follow the evidence,' but Catherine didn't see any. She saw Erika: a woman she knew practically nothing about. She saw Marisa: a woman she hardly even remembered because every memory of her had been diluted by the drugs. Then there was Sara: a woman she thought she once knew and loved. A woman she deeply regretted ever involving herself with now that Marisa had made her a target.

When she mixed them all together .the only thing she knew they all had in common was Catherine. She started to convince herself that everything had become about her and panic slowly began to seep in. Catherine began to believe that she was to blame for the death of the innocent FBI agent and that she was to blame for Sara being kidnapped and for Marisa somehow turning into the serial killer she now was. It was all her fault.

But as the anxiety began to fully envelope her senses and the adrenaline filled her veins, somehow she managed to remember her training and experience as a CSI. She remembered that none of this was about her. It couldn't be. This was about Marisa, and the only person who had been in direct contact with woman had been Erika. Catherine remembered that Erika had said she'd been following Marisa around the country for three years.

That was a long time to follow someone around. That was a long time to just decide to drop everything in one's life and pursue someone for that long, because certainly there were other cases that Erika had been offered to work on. The FBI wouldn't have wasted a resource like Erika on one serial killer who had a hard on for killing people that were somehow related to a CSI in Las Vegas.

It didn't take expert detective work to figure out that Marisa would eventually end up in Las Vegas and on Catherine's doorstep. That could only mean that Erika stuck around for a reason. She had to have some attachment to Marisa, but Catherine had no idea what that might be.

"Erika talked to Marisa," Catherine said under her breath. "Erika knows Marisa so what does Erika want? She set everything up. She even put the tracking device on Sara's buckle."

"Excuse me, ma'am?" The agent who sat next to her asked. "I didn't hear you."

The voice snapped Catherine from her thoughts and she turned her full attention to the man sitting next to her. "What do you know about Erika?"

"Not much," the man sighed. "She comes when we call her and leaves when she's done."

The answer was right in front of her. She could sense it, but she couldn't grasp on to it.

"We've crossed the state border," the driver yelled to the backseat. "We're in Arizona now."

"Arizona?" Wasn't Lindsey supposed to be safe in Arizona?

"Yes, Ms. Willows. We're about twenty miles from the signal's location." The driver responded.

"They have Lindsey," she whispered.

"Who?" Both agents asked.

"My daughter," Catherine snapped. "They have my daughter."

"Ma'am we made sure that your daughter was safe," the driver offered. "Marisa doesn't know where your daughter is."

"Who made the arrangements for Lindsey?" Catherine asked calmly.

The two agents looked at each other quickly, and then the driver turned his complete attention to driving knowing that his answer would only point out, yet again, their failure to control the situation.

"We're going to get them all back safely," the man sitting next to her replied.

Catherine closed her eyes. "Who made the arrangements for Lindsey?" she enunciated carefully.

The agent cleared his throat. "Erika."

Catherine slammed her hand against the passenger's side seat in front of her, "Fuck!"

***

At the House Sara was holding Lindsey in her arms. At least she was holding her as much as possible while being chained to the wall. She was looking around the room trying to come up with some way to get them out of this situation alive, or get Lindsey out of it alive.

So far she had come up with nothing.

The lock to the door turned and Marisa stepped inside. She walked over to the two figures on the ground and laughed.

"Catherine's on her way," she said gleefully. "That means we only need to keep one of you alive. She'll do anything we say as long as we tell her we've got one of you. Although," Marisa leaned down and ran her hand across Sara's face. "I would really like her to watch me kill you."

Sara felt Lindsey's body tense up. Whatever Lindsey was about to do, Sara knew it would be too much of a risk.. "Don't," she said carefully.

"You don't want me to let her watch?" Marisa reached behind her, but before she could grab hold of the gun she was seeking Lindsey's body sprang from its resting position and knocked Marisa's unsteady form over.

"Lindsey!" Sara started pulling against her chains again, willing her body the strength to pull herself from the wall.

Marisa threw Lindsey from her body and reached behind her again for the gun. It wasn't there. She looked frantically around the darkened room for it and soon spotted it next to the bed. She crawled to it and picked it up.

"I think the brat should die first," she said mostly to herself.

Lindsey turned to the redhead with wide eyes. She started backing up from Marisa but had soon backed into the corner.

Marisa raised the gun and was about to fire when she heard a crashing sound come from behind her. She turned around and quickly realized Sara had managed to tear the bar she was chained to out of the wall. She quickly raised her gun at the brunette, but was too late.

Sara hit Marisa across the face with the bar she was still chained to, knocking the redhead out immediately.

Sara grabbed the gun on the floor. "We have to get out of here. Erika's going to be coming."

"She won't hurt us," Lindsey protested.

"Yes she will," Sara said shortly. "Trust me."

Sara walked to the door and put the side of her head against the smooth service. She didn't hear anything.

"Stay close to me," she ordered.

Carefully she opened the door and took a quick look around. There was no sign of Erika. She waved for Lindsey to come up next to her. "No matter what, I want you to get out of this house. If something happens to me, don't stop." Lindsey nodded.

As quietly as humanly possible, Sara led Lindsey through the house until they had reached the back door. They hadn't seen Erika at all, and that made Sara very suspicious, but she wasn't going to seek the other woman out while she had Lindsey with her.

Sara opened the door and shoved Lindsey out ahead of her. She looked around and had no clue where they were. There was nothing outside, but darkness. Instinctively she chose a direction and hoped it would get them somewhere with a phone.

They had been walking for less than ten minutes when a car pulled up in front of them. Sara raised the gun in her hand, but quickly lowered it when she realized it was Catherine who was jumping out of the car.

"Mom!" Lindsey yelled as soon as she recognized the woman running towards her.

Catherine opened her arms up and grabbed hold of her daughter with all her strength. "Are you okay?" she pulled her daughter away from her so she could get a good look at Lindsey's entire body. "They didn't hurt you did they?" Catherine ran her hands over Lindsey checking for anything that seemed abnormal.

"No." Lindsey replied. "Erika took good care of me."

The name made Catherine and Sara cringe. Catherine turned her attention from Lindsey to Sara. She didn't know what to say, so instead she put her arms around Sara and hugged her just as tightly as she had her daughter.

They stayed holding each other for longer than was necessary of two friends. When they did pull apart, Catherine held up Sara's wrists and looked carefully at the marks. "You do realize you have a metal bar chained to your wrists, right?" she asked softly.

Sara shrugged. "I couldn't get rid of it."

Catherine nodded once then realized how badly her hands were shaking and dropped Sara's hands. "We should get out of here." She took a quick look around and could feel something out in the darkness watching them. "I don't think we're safe."

Sara's eyes followed Catherine's. She didn't see anything, but she did feel something. It was a feeling that she hadn't been able to escape no matter how far from the house they had gotten.

They walked back to the car, and instead of asking the driver to take them to the house, where Marisa and Erika were supposed to be apprehended, they asked to go home. They needed to be as far away from the two women as possible.



8th Hour: Location Unknown "I can't believe you let them walk out of the house," Marisa sat down slowly. Her head hurt and all her movements were slow. She was sure that Catherine's bitch had given her a concussion.

"I only promised you one thing," Erika threw an icepack in the other woman's lap. "And it wasn't to chase down your captives."

Gingerly Marisa picked the pack up and placed it on the back of her head. "They all think you're a part of this now. I don't think your promise means much."

"Doesn't matter," Erika took a seat next Marisa.

Marisa turned so that she was facing the woman next to her. "I'm going to kill all of them. Catherine just isn't who she used to be."

Erika chuckled darkly. "What did you expect of her? She wasn't going to remain the woman you once knew. She's too strong of a person for that."

Tortured eyes turned away from Erika's dark form. "She asked me for help."

"She was coming off of a long ride of cocaine and alcohol." Erika reached up and guided Marisa's face so that it was facing her once again. "She was asking for more drugs, Marisa, not a savior to purify her life."

"No!" Marisa pushed Erika away and jumped from her seat. "You're a liar. She wanted to be saved."

Marisa's push had caused Erika to fall back but not to the floor. She straightened back up and crossed her legs. "She wanted another fix. She was just waking up to reality and that's not something she was ready to face yet. She knew you were a user. Catherine wanted your drugs."

"How would you know?" Marisa advanced quickly on Erika and grabbed the other woman's collar. "You were never there."

Erika grabbed Marisa's hands and pried them from her shirt. "Because I'm smarter than you Marisa." She squeezed Marisa's wrist until a look of pain presented itself on the redhead's face. "You're the kind that gets caught." Erika shoved Marisa away from her and watched the woman stumble to the floor.

"They haven't caught me yet," Marisa yelled from the floor defensively.

"Which is surprising," Erika turned her back on the woman. She walked to the nearest window and put her hands against the glass. "I've given them everything they need. I've set everything up perfectly and they fail me."

Marisa had gotten off the floor and was now standing next to Erika. She put her hand on the taller woman's shoulder and leaned in close. "Maybe you're the failure."

"Don't goad me," Erika warned.

"Or you'll do what? Turn me in?" Marisa scoffed. "You made me one promise, don't you remember?"

Erika took a step away. She studied Marisa carefully then shook her head. She was done with the woman. It was only a matter of time until Marisa got caught. She had lost what logic had been left in her mind and had let her madness take over completely. The woman was going to mess up and soon.

Marisa was exactly like all the rest.

"Goodbye, Marisa." Erika turned away from the other woman and headed towards the only exit. "You really weren't that much of a challenge," she added disappointedly.

Erika walked out the door and Marisa let her go, the promise still fully intact.

***

Las Vegas: FBI office

"We don't know where she is," the agent admitted ashamedly to the women standing across from him. "We don't know where either of them is. When we got to the house, it was empty. We have agents canvassing the area, but so far they've come up with nothing."

"You've got to be kidding me," Catherine said. "They were right there. They had nowhere to run to."

The agent weakly shrugged. "We lost them."

"So how do you plan on finding them?" Catherine moved to take a step closer to the ashamed man, but Sara put a gentle hand on the shorter woman's shoulder and held her back.

"We think they'll probably try to find you."

"They've already gotten a hold of my daughter and Sara and you want to risk that again?" Catherine threw her hands up. "Unbelievable."

The agent looked like he was at a complete loss. "No matter what, they're going to come after you."

Catherine stared at the agent for a long moment. She didn't much like any of the agents she had met. They all seemed incompetent. "I'll do whatever you want me to, just make sure Sara and my daughter are safe."

"No!" The forcefulness in Sara's voice surprised everyone in the room including herself. "I'll do it."

Catherine turned to face Sara. "You've already been kidnapped and held hostage because of me. I don't want that happening again. You're staying someplace safe."

Before Sara could respond another agent stepped into the room. "Dr. Fisher's waiting to see you Ms. Sidle."

Sara opened her mouth to say something, but Catherine turned away from her. "She's been worried," the blond whispered. "You should go talk to her."

Sara reached out for Catherine, but quickly dropped her hands. She nodded then followed the agent out of the room.

Catherine cleared her throat and turned to the remaining agent. "So what do you want me to do?"

***

Las Vegas: FBI Office

Sara didn't want to leave Catherine alone, not really, but she didn't know what else to do. She had made Megan a part of her life, even if it was a small part. She owed it to Megan to at least tell her what had been going on.

The agent led her to a bigger office where Lindsey and Megan had been taken. The young girl was sitting on the desk swinging her legs back and forth. She wasn't paying any attention to the woman who sat in a chair facing her.

When Sara entered the room Lindsey jumped off the desk and ran to Sara. She gave the woman a hug and asked about her mother. Sara told her Catherine was fine. Lindsey asked about her. Sara told her she was fine. Lindsey did everything to keep Sara's attention on her and away from the other woman in the room, but she ran out of things to ask about.

So eventually Megan did get Sara's attention. Lindsey reluctantly released Sara from her desperate hold, and Sara approached Megan. They hugged, but when Megan went in to kiss Sara's lips the CSI pulled away being very much aware of Lindsey's presence.

Megan pulled away hurt but nodded her head in acceptance. She wanted Sara to ask Lindsey to leave, but she didn't want to risk saying something that would seem harsh. She didn't know much about Lindsey, but she did know that the girl meant a lot to Sara because Lindsey was one of the few people Sara had talked about at all with a certain amount of pride. Sara, somehow, had failed to talk about Lindsey's mother though something Megan couldn't help but notice.

"So," Megan drew out the word. "What's been going on?"

"A serial killer's after Mom," Lindsey helpfully supplied. "And Sara tried to stop her."

"Lindsey," Sara's mom voice made an appearance again, but this time didn't have much of an effect.

"It's true," Lindsey shrugged.

Megan spared a quick glance at Lindsey but quickly turned back to Sara. "So why are you involved?" she whispered. "Don't they have trained agents who can take care of that?"

"She wanted to kill Sara first," Lindsey offered helpfully, again.

"Lindsey," Sara's voice was firmer this time, but still had no effect.

"It's true," Lindsey replied again.

"I just don't understand why you're doing this," Megan took a step away from Sara.

"Because she loves Mom," Lindsey said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Sara would do anything for her."

"That's it Lindsey," Sara placed her hands on her hips. "Get out."

Lindsey started crying. "It's true," she yelled. "You may not want it to be, but it's true." She turned and ran out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind her as hard as she possibly could.

"Damn," Sara said to the closed door.

"Go." Megan sat back down. "Talk to her."

Sara didn't even think about protesting. She was out of the office and running after Lindsey without even sparing Megan a single glance.

She just happened to find Lindsey in the strong embrace of her mother. Catherine looked up to Sara when she appeared, and Sara fully expected Catherine to start verbally attacking her for what happened but Catherine just motioned for her to come closer.

"Lindsey, honey," Catherine said to her daughter. "You need to talk to Sara."

"No," Lindsey burrowed deeper into her mother's arms.

Catherine gently pushed Lindsey away from her. "You need to talk to her."

"But she doesn't love us anymore," Lindsey said through her tears. "She loves Megan."

"That's not true," Catherine managed to say despite the lump in her throat. "She still loves you very much."

"I do." Sara finally found her voice. "I love you very, very much."

Lindsey turned to Sara. She wiped away her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. "Do you still love Mom?"

Lindsey was throwing out a challenge. She was daring Sara to say she didn't love Catherine anymore. She was daring her to lie.

"It doesn't matter," Catherine wanted an answer just as much as Lindsey did, but she wasn't going to put Sara in this position. It wasn't fair to her. "It doesn't matter now."

"Yes it does," Lindsey yelled.

"Lindsey, please don't," Sara pleaded.

"Why not? I want to know. I want to know why the baby dying made you stop loving Mom." Lindsey lunged at Sara and started hitting her. "I want to know! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Lindsey!" Catherine pulled her daughter away. "Stop!"

Sara stepped up to Lindsey and grabbed hold of both the girl's shoulders. "I never stopped loving your Mom. I will never stop loving her or you. Never."

Lindsey immediately calmed down. "Then why did you leave?"

"I hurt her," Catherine admitted softly. "She left because I did something that hurt her very much. Lindsey, it wasn't her fault."

"That's not true," Sara was looking past Lindsey straight into Catherine's eyes. "It partly was my fault."

"Ms. Willows, we're ready for you now," An agent called from the doorway. "We've got to get you all set up."

Catherine wiped at the tears that had started to fall. "Okay."



9th Hour: FBI Office "Okay our theory here is that Marisa's going to be looking for you, so we need to put you right out in plain sight." A man who introduced himself as Agent Leroy James explained. "We've got to let her see you."

"So where do you plan on putting me?" Catherine was leaning back in her chair, her arms crossed in front of her.

"Well we were thinking of someplace you frequent, maybe a park near your home."

Catherine laughed. "That's ridiculous. Do you really think I would go for a walk in the park after my daughter and lover had just been kidnapped? Do you think Marisa would believe it?"

"I suppose not," Agent James rubbed his chin. "Where's a place you would go?"

"I think I actually felt safer when Erika was in charge," Catherine muttered.

"Me too," an agent sitting next to her mumbled quietly.

"Sanchez," James warned.

"I'm sorry, sir," Sanchez took a deep breath. "But sir even you have to admit that having Erika with us is a lot better than having her against us."

"Well we can't control that, now can we?"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Erika strolled carelessly into the room.

Agent James stood up, along with everyone else in the room. "How did you get in here?"

Erika shrugged. "I walked."

"You've got some nerve," Sanchez said.

"Marisa and I had an understanding," Erika walked further into the room. "It's the same understanding I have with all of the killers I help capture."

"And what understanding is that?" Catherine asked bitingly.

"I don't directly interfere. I give up all the information the FBI needs to capture them, but I don't personally involve myself. Mr. James knows all about it. So does every other agent important enough to be told, which I guess wouldn't mean you, Sanchez."

Catherine moved away from her chair. "So you would have watched Marisa murder my family and done nothing?"

"Yes," Erika anticipated Catherine's slap and caught the blonde's hand. She seemed to bring out Catherine's violent tendencies.

Catherine struggled to remove herself from Erika's hold, but Erika held to her firmly. "Why?"

"It's a game to me, Catherine. It's all just a game. When I first saw Marisa's work, I was impressed. She was good. She was one of the best I've ever seen. She challenged me, made me think more about the workings of her mind than anyone else has before." Erika dropped Catherine's hand; a look of disgust covered her face. "But ultimately she's a vast disappointment. She's as textbook as they come."

"So everything you said about your daughter being murdered?"

"It was the truth. The man who killed her wasn't a very big challenge. He was as simple minded as they come."

For the first time since she had met Erika, Catherine was afraid of her. The woman's only motive was to have fun. She didn't care about who was being killed or what the killer did. Erika only cared about the challenge.

"You look frightened, Catherine," Erika was amused.

"Leave her alone," Agent James ordered as confidently as he could. To be honest, the woman scared the hell out of him too.

"Shut up, Leroy," Erika replied, her eyes still focused on Catherine's. "So what scares you more, Catherine? Is that I could have been your best friend and murdered your family one by one by one, and you would have never known it was me? Or is it that now you realize exactly how crazy I am, you still can't help but want to trust me?"

"You should be shot and removed from our misery," Catherine didn't have an answer for Erika. A part of her actually still wanted to believe that Erika couldn't be as evil as she obviously was. Her mind didn't want to believe that a person like Erika could exist and not even give a single clue as to her true nature.

Erika could be anyone she wanted to be. She was smart, terribly, frighteningly smart. She was confident, not overly confident just truthfully confident. She was beautiful, supermodel type beautiful. Erika was the type of evil that no one really wanted to admit existed in the human species. The thought of someone who was so normal, was actually so abnormal was scary.

"If it makes you feel better at all, I've never run into a psychopath who can actually beat me. That means I'm the only one that your textbooks can't explain."

"I don't think that helps anyone at all," Sanchez spoke from her place behind Catherine. "We still know you exist."

"You know that I don't kill."

"But we also know you don't stop those who do," James sounded defeated. He felt defeated, just like everyone in the room, besides Erika, felt. They needed Erika to exist so that she could help them. It wasn't a very pleasant realization.

"So how do we stop Marisa?" Catherine walked back to her seat and fell into it.

"Marisa won't be satisfied to just kill Catherine," Erika took a seat across from Catherine. "She wants everyone dead now, because she's realized that the woman she's been killing for isn't the actual person she was killing for. She's angry with Catherine for that, so she wants Catherine to suffer. That means she's going to try and kill Lindsey and Sara first."

"So what does that mean?" Agent James had retaken his seat and was watching Erika intently.

"It means we give her what she wants. We put them all together under one roof, and let her try and have her revenge."

"It's too dangerous. I'm not going to put them through anything like that again," James responded stiffly.

"She'll do it now or she'll find a way to do it later." Erika met Catherine's eyes. "Would you rather it happened in a controlled environment or would you rather it happen at Lindsey's next birthday party, or would you rather Marisa take Lindsey when she's at school and wait until you get home, call Sara over to the house and have you watch her be shot when she walks through the door?"

Catherine's head dropped. "I want it to end now," her voice was strained. "I want this night to be over."

"Okay," Erika sighed. "That means we take them back to Catherine's house. It would make sense for you to have a car outside protecting them, but any more than that and Marisa will walk away. The agents outside will be a threat, so she'll most definitely be looking to kill them. You need to find agents that don't mind being shot."

"Are you suggesting I let two of my guys get killed?" James asked incredulously. Erika raised a brow at him and he let out a derisive snort. "Of course you are."

"They don't have to die," Erika offered. "They just have to be willing to be shot at. If they can spot Marisa before she shoots them and end up shooting her, then all the better."

"Then what?" Catherine hadn't lifted her eyes yet. She still wasn't ready to face the woman across from her.

"Well once the agents are taken care of, Marisa's going to go for Lindsey first. She's young and easy to drag around. She'll take her to your bedroom, where she's hoping to wake you and Sara up."

"Hoping?" Sanchez asked.

"You and Sara will be under the covers fully armed. I suggest when she comes in the room you shoot her until she's dead."

"Wouldn't it be better if we stashed some agents in the closet and bathroom, and have them come out when Marisa comes into the room?" James offered sarcastically. "We aren't exactly allowed to shoot suspects in cold blood."

Erika shrugged. "Have it your way. I believe Marisa should die, though."

Catherine agreed with her, but she was sure they had vastly different reasons for wanting Marisa dead.

"Is that all?" James asked.

"Just don't fuck up again," Erika told him darkly. "I'm tired of you making me look stupid. Do your job and do it right this time or I will be very tempted to kill you." She held James's blue eyes for a long moment then started to laugh. "Gotcha." She got up from her seat and walked out the door laughing all the while.

This was the woman they were trusting with their lives. It was an insane concept, they all thought they were crazy for doing it, but they didn't know what else to do. Erika could be leading them right into a trap, but?

Erika had given them a lot of opportunities to catch Marisa, Sanchez and James realized. She had given them everything they needed to know, long before Marisa had her sights on Sara or Lindsey or even Catherine herself. Erika had done everything but deliver Marisa bound and gagged to their front door step. They had always been the ones unable to follow through.

"We'll leave in fifteen minutes," James said absently.

Catherine nodded and was running through her head exactly how she was going to tell Sara that Erika was back, and they were putting their lives in her hands again. For some reason, she didn't think Sara would be that receptive.



10th Hour: FBI Office

They had moved them to an office with a small couch against the wall. It was the best amenities that could be found in the small government building. Catherine entered the room quietly, unsure of how to approach the conversation she was about to have.

When she saw Sara sitting alone in the room, she decided to stall. "Where's Lindsey?"

"I sent her on a quest to get herself something to drink," Sara's voice was tired and strained. She didn't look up to a conversation about anything that didn't involve sleep.

Catherine closed the door behind her and made her way over to the couch. She sat down the furthest away from Sara as she could possibly get. "Where's Megan?"

Sara sighed. "I sent her home."

Catherine examined the pattern of the couch. "Why?"

Sara closed her eyes and leaned her head back. "I didn't feel like fighting."

"Fighting?"

"She has a lot of questions."

"I thought you didn't want to fight?"

"The questions would lead to one."

"Oh."

Catherine moved a little closer to the other woman, but still kept her attention on the couch's surface. "So do you think we should ground her?"

Sara lifted her head and opened her eyes. "Megan?" she asked confused.

"Lindsey," Catherine immediately explained.

"Oh." Sara leaned her head back again, but this time kept her eyes open. "No."

"She attacked you," Catherine moved just a little closer to Sara. "I don't know if she should get away with that."

"She's had a really rough night, Catherine. I think its been punishment enough."

"Yeah." Catherine decided to take a risk. She reached out and took Sara's hand in hers. Sara didn't pull away. "I'm sorry she did that to you."

"I think she's wanted to do it for a while now." Sara raised her head and looked into Catherine's sad blue eyes. "I think we've been really unfair to her."

Catherine wanted to protest, but she didn't feel like avoiding the truth at the moment. "We have been."

"So how do we fix it?"

Catherine moved so that her body was fully next to Sara's. "I don't know."

***

Hallway

"Well if it isn't the bravest girl I know," the voice got Lindsey's attention. She stopped walking and turned around.

"Erika?"

"Yep," Erika walked up to Lindsey and bent down in front of her. "Someone looks like they've been crying."

"I have been," Lindsey dropped her head. "I didn't mean to. I was just angry."

"You didn't mean to cry?"

Lindsey shook her head. "No. I didn't mean to get so angry with Sara." She started wringing her hands together. "I hit her."

Erika stood up and took Lindsey's hand in her own. She led the young girl to some chairs against the wall and sat her down. "Tell me what happened," she said gently.

"I met Megan," Lindsey explained miserably.

"And Megan is?"

"Sara's new girlfriend."

"Oh," Erika leaned in closer to Lindsey. "That still doesn't explain why you hit your mother."

"Sara's not my mother," Lindsey replied quickly.

"Does she pick you up from school?" Erika asked.

"Sometimes."

"Does she take care of you when you're sick?"

"Kinda."

"Does she help you with your homework?"

"When she can."

"Does she love you a whole, whole lot?"

"I think."

"Well," Erika let out a long breath. "She certainly sounds like your mother to me."

Lindsey kept silent.

"So why did you hit your mom?" Erika asked after a moment.

"I'm angry that she left us and that she found someone to replace Mom." Lindsey confessed quickly.

"Did hitting her make you feel any better?"

"No," Lindsey whispered. "I think I actually feel worse."

"You should apologize to her," Erika suggested. "Or at least talk to her about why you did what you did."

"I'm still angry with her."

"Then talk to her."

Lindsey nodded. "Erika?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want my Mom dead?"

***

Office

"You shouldn't have taken the blame for me leaving," Sara said kind of out of the blue.

They were fully leaned against each other now. They looked and felt more comfortable than they had in a long time. "It was the truth."

"Only partially."

"You left because I told you I slept with someone else."

"Not really," Sara ran her thumb over Catherine's hand. "I think I just used it as an excuse to leave."

"What do you mean?" Catherine remembered that night very well. Sara had left the house so quickly after she had told her. It was like Sara had already had a bag packed and waiting.

"I was tired of seeing you everyday and being reminded of? everything."

Catherine swallowed the lump in her throat. "I saw it in your eyes when you looked at me. I could tell you weren't seeing me anymore."

"I didn't see you," Sara didn't try to hold back her tears. "I just saw my pain? and my failure."

"His umbilical cord wrapped around his throat, honey, that wasn't your fault." Catherine reached up with her free hand and wiped away Sara's tears. "You didn't fail. We just lost him. There was nothing we could have?" Catherine took a quick breath. "We just lost him."

They were both crying now. This was something they hadn't quite gotten over. It was something they never would get over.

"I'm so sorry," Sara sniffed. "I'm so sorry that I ignored everything you were going through. I'm sorry I pushed you so far away that you felt you needed to? with someone else, and I'm really sorry I acted like you didn't lose a son too."

Catherine pulled Sara into her arms. She didn't know what else she could say.

***

Hallway

"So Erika do you want my Mom dead?" Lindsey asked again when her friend hadn't answered immediately.

"No," Erika shook her head. "I don't."

"Then why is everyone saying that you're like Marisa?"

"They're saying that?" Erika smiled.

Lindsey nodded.

"Well," Erika drew out the word. "I'm not like Marisa, not really. Marisa has lost the ability to think beyond her obsessions."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that she's so focused on coloring in one part of the picture that she forgets the rest exists."

"Oh."

Erika padded Lindsey's thigh. "It's okay if you still don't understand. It's very complicated. I don't think your parents even understand it completely."

"Speaking of them," Lindsey stood from her chair. "I should be getting back. Sara's probably getting worried."

"Then you should most definitely return to her, and you should talk to her. You may be surprised by how much better you'll feel when you're done."

"I'll think about it." Lindsey gave Erika a quick hug then started to walk off. "Bye Erika," she waved and soon disappeared around a corner.

Erika watched the girl disappear then shook her head. "Kids."

***

Office

Catherine had been holding Sara a while before she remembered the reason she had sought out the woman in the first place. Agent James was probably looking for them now and she still hadn't told Sara Erika was even in the building.

"I have to tell you something," Catherine stumbled over her words.

Sara pulled away from Catherine's comfortable embrace and studied the other woman's face carefully. "What?"

Catherine took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Erika came back. She's telling us how to catch Marisa."

"Are you joking?" Sara asked slowly. "Please say you are."

"I wish. She says she has this deal with Marisa and she's a lot scarier than I originally thought, but I think we need to listen to her."

"She should at least be put in custody until we arrest Marisa." Sara didn't sound happy, but seemed as resigned about the situation as everyone else had been.

"I think that's a really good idea."

"Let's hope it'll make a difference."

Catherine nodded and let the silence linger through the room. It was kind of a peaceful silence. It was certainly the calm before another storm hit them.

Sara watched Catherine intently. Her blue eyes were tired, and red from crying. Her hair was actually in a state of disarray, and in general her body just seemed exhausted. Without really thinking about it, Sara cupped Catherine's face in her hand. Catherine leaned into the touch, and before Sara could think about that she found herself kissing Catherine.

When they pulled apart they looked at each other seeking something that would be able to guide their words and their emotions.

It was Sara who spoke first. "I never stopped loving you. I can't stop."

Catherine opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Lindsey burst into the room with Agent Sanchez close on her heels. It was time for them to go.

They stood from the couch and walked to the door. Before Sara could walk through the threshold, Catherine held her back and quickly whispered into her ear, "I can't stop either."



11th Hour: Jail Cell

Although it seemed like a questionable idea, Sara decided to talk to Erika before they left. She didn't know what she was going to say to the woman. She wanted to threaten her and tell her to stay away from her family, but Sara knew that Erika would probably laugh at her. Erika would laugh and she would be right in doing so because she was well aware that it was Sara who needed Erika, and not the other way around.

Even putting Erika in a cell didn't threaten her. She had gone willingly and smiled all the while. She thought herself to be untouchable, and maybe at the moment she was. Somehow it seemed that Erika had the ability to be dealt the best hand all the time.

"What do you want to know?" Erika said with a smile as soon as she saw her visitor. "What do you want me to tell you that will make everything better?"

Sara walked right up to the cell bars, unwilling to show her fear in the other woman's presence. "You being dead would make me feel a lot better."

Erika's eyes grew darker but she still kept her smile planted firmly on her face. "Do you want to hear a story?"

Sara took a good long look at the woman across from her. Erika didn't seem any less threatening in a cage. "No."

"Okay then," Erika's smile faded, "but let me tell you something very important." She took a step closer to Sara. "I could have made it all go away."

Sara gripped the bars in her hands. "What does that mean?"

Erika shrugged and turned her back on Sara.

"What do you mean?" Sara's grip tightened on the bars. Erika wasn't going to give an answer. Sara knew that. She probably should have listened to the story. It was too late now. "Stay away from Lindsey or I'll kill you."

Sara turned to walk away but Erika's voice stopped her. "She told you about our conversation earlier?"

No, Lindsey hadn't told her. "Yes." Lindsey hadn't even been given a chance to tell her.

Erika turned around. "Liar," she said softly. "It must be so frustrating to you that I can reach Lindsey so easily."

"Stay away from her," Sara's voice was even and firm, but her eyes were hard and threatening.

"I can never be ignored."

***

A Car

"So how did talking with Erika go?" Sara had been silent ever since she had come back from seeing Erika. She looked angry and Catherine was becoming increasingly concerned.

Sara took a quick look to the back seat where Lindsey was. The girl seemed as interested in the answer to Catherine's question as Catherine did. "Why didn't you tell us that Erika talked to you?" She asked Lindsey.

"She talked to you?" Catherine turned around to face her daughter.

"I wasn't ready to talk yet," Lindsey admitted quietly, choosing to ignore her mother's question. "It's not really that big of a deal."

Catherine's eyes went wide. "Wasn't a big deal? Lindsey Erika is a very dangerous person."

"Mom, she's my friend," Lindsey defended.

"Friend?" Catherine was completely lost. Since when was her daughter friends with a psychopath.

Sara hadn't told her anything about Lindsey's previous encounters with the psychopath. It wasn't an intentional oversight, just a result from exhaustion.

"She told me to talk to Sara about what happened," Lindsey explained quickly. "She wants what's best for me. She doesn't want you dead."

Catherine began rubbing her forehead and released a long breath. "You knew about this?" she asked Sara.

Sara gripped the steering wheel tighter and nodded; preparing herself for the attack Catherine would most certainly give.

"When did you find out?" Exhaustion colored Catherine's tone. There was no anger.

Sara kept her eyes focused on the road ahead of her. "At the house."

Catherine nodded. "I think this is something we should talk about later."

"But Mom," Lindsey tried to explain. "Erika doesn't want you hurt."

"Later Lindsey," Catherine's voice wasn't strong anymore. "Please, later."

Sara removed her right hand from the steering wheel and placed it on Catherine's thigh. Catherine covered Sara's hand with her own for a moment but then quickly removed it. Sara accepted the rejection without any show of hurt. She hadn't really expected their one moment of complete honesty and communication to change everything.

Somehow, they were really good at laying down a foundation for a bridge but always fell apart before it was built. Sara couldn't even count the number of times they had talked or shared something that would make her think that everything was okay or that they may actually be able to move on from the pain, but then something would come up and everything would just fall apart again.

They never were quite strong enough to hold everything together.

***

Jail Cell

Erika was resting on the bed in the cell. Her back was even with the wall. Her left leg was off the bed and her foot resting on the floor. "So how did you get guard duty Sanchez?" She asked the Hispanic woman who was outside of her cage reading a newspaper.

"James wanted someone he trusts watching over you," Agent Sanchez answered without taking her eyes from the paper.

"I'm a psychopath not a super villain," Erika shifted her position on the bed so that she was looking at Sanchez through the split between her legs. "I can't break through bars."

"I suppose you'd need a key for that," Sanchez lowered her reading material. "I don't have one."

"They didn't give you a key?"

Sanchez shook her head. "They wanted it to be as far away from you as possible."

Erika tilted her head to the side. "What if there's a fire. Without a key, I'll burn to death."

"I don't think they care." Sanchez raised the paper again and started reading.

Erika smiled. "Do you want to hear a story?"

"Not really," the other woman answered from behind the paper.

"It's a really good story," Erika said slowly. "If you don't like it, I promise to kill myself."

Sanchez chuckled and lowered her paper. "That's an offer I can't refuse. So talk."

***

Willows' Residence

Sara pulled into the driveway and watched the two cars that had followed them from the FBI's office move past the house. The plan was for them to spread out and wait for Marisa's appearance.

The plan was for them to spot Marisa and stop her before she even got into the house. They didn't want anyone put at risk, and there was no way they were going to follow Erika's plan. Her plans always involved too much of a chance that Marisa could actually succeed.

Catherine got out of the car and softly shut the door. She walked to the other side of the car and pulled Lindsey into her arms as soon as the girl had exited the vehicle. Lindsey hugged her back, not quite sure why her mom was doing what she was, but wasn't going to question her.

Sara stood staring at them awkwardly feeling a little left out. She couldn't do what Catherine was doing because? she just couldn't. Catherine would probably push her away.

"Let's get this over with," Catherine said as she released her daughter. She took Lindsey's hand and motioned for Sara to lead the way.

Sara had the keys in her hand and opened the front door. The FBI had promised them that the house was safe.

Sara opened the door and stepped into the dark room. Catherine and Lindsey followed her shutting and locking the door behind them.

Sara reached over and turned on the nearest light.

"Welcome home," Marisa stepped from the shadows a gun raised and pointing directly at Sara. "I was hoping you'd all show up."

***

Jail Cell

"Once upon a time," Erika began but was interrupted by Sanchez.

"Are you serious?"

"All good stories start with once upon a time'," Erika replied.

Sanchez shrugged. "Go ahead."

Erika nodded. "Once upon a time there lived a beautiful girl named Marisa Clays. She lived in a wonderfully normal home with a terribly normal family. No one understood her there. They never listened to her when she told them she had unusual feelings and thoughts. They didn't want to think that Marisa could be different.

"So Marisa grew up to be a beautiful woman, except she didn't grow up to be normal. She took drugs to calm her urges and mostly kept to herself. Somehow, unfortunately, she ended up dancing on a stage for adult entertainment. She liked that job, something about it called to her."

"What's the point of this story?" Sanchez asked impatiently. "You're not telling me anything I don't already know."

"Fine," Erika swung both her feet to the floor and stood up. "I'll skip to the ending." She walked up to the bars and leaned into them. "The brilliant psychopath for hire did end up getting directly involved. She said something that changed the rules. She told Marisa the truth."

"What does that mean?" Sanchez asked slowly.

"It means that Marisa is looking for revenge. It means her motive has changed."

Sanchez stood. "Why didn't you say any of this before?"

Erika sighed. "I didn't think about it before. She called me a failure. I got a little emotional"

"What does that matter?"

"It means everything," Erika narrowed her eyes. "Don't you understand? I don't fail."

"So what is Marisa going to do now?" Sanchez stepped away from the bars, afraid Erika might grab for her.

"She's going to kill them all. It means she's waiting for them. It means that while all of you brilliant agents were searching for us in Arizona we had already escaped and came back and let ourselves into Ms. Willow's house."

"You knew this when Ms. Sidle came and talked to you, why didn't you tell her then?"

Erika smiled. "She didn't want to hear my story."



12th Hour: Willow's Residence "I really didn't expect you to come," Marisa sounded a lot different than she had before. Her voice spoke of a certain measure of clarity that could only come from her complete insanity. "I thought Sara might go to her own apartment and that you might go to your sister's, Catherine. I thought I'd have to kill you all separately."

Catherine pushed Lindsey behind her. "You don't have to kill anyone at all."

"I have a question for you, Catherine." Marisa moved her arm so that the gun was pointing at Sara's leg. "If you lie to me, I'll shoot the Ex."

"What do you want to know?" Catherine's voice was a lot stronger than she actually felt.

"When you asked for my help did you want drugs from me?"

Catherine tried to remember everything about psychology she had ever learned. Erika said that Marisa was a textbook case, so if she could just remember what she could say that would leave everyone unharmed then everything would be fine. Eventually the FBI would do something right for a change and get Marisa, somehow.

Catherine didn't even know what Marisa was talking about, but she had to take a chance. "No. I was really asking for your help."

Marisa smiled. "That's what I thought. That's what I always thought, but Erika told me that you wanted drugs. She told me you were coming off of a high."

"She was wrong," Catherine offered. "She doesn't know the truth."

Marisa looked to the ground but then quickly back to Catherine. "I told her that. I told her she was wrong and she told me she was smarter than me."

"Erika didn't know you would do this," Sara reasoned. "How smart can she be?"

"I wasn't talking to you," Marisa turned her attention to Sara. "You mean nothing to me."

"Erika isn't smarter than you," Catherine took Marisa's attention.

"You know I didn't think she was," Marisa's body sagged, "but then I thought about it. Y'know, she is smarter than me." Marisa straightened her arm out and steadied the gun in her hand. "So I think you lied to me." She squeezed the trigger and shot Sara in the thigh.

***

A Vehicle

"I knew you were lying about having a key," Erika said from the passenger's seat. "I knew James would want me to be able to get out, just in case something really bad was going to happen."

"This wouldn't be happening if you had said something earlier," Sanchez was speeding towards Catherine's house praying that they wouldn't arrive too late. She had already spoken to Agent James and told him they were now dealing with a hostage situation. They had screwed up again.

"This also wouldn't be happening, if you people weren't complete failures." Erika snapped back. "How many times have you let Marisa slip through your fingers?"

"And how many times were you personally able to stop her and didn't?" Sanchez swerved nearly missing another vehicle.

"Why would I stop her?" Erika asked so softly Sanchez hardly heard her. "She deserves as much as a chance as anyone else."

"You're crazy."

Erika laughed. "I know."

***

Willow's Residence

Lindsey was screaming from behind Catherine and Sara fell to the floor, crying out in pain. Catherine moved to go to Sara but Marisa yelled at her to stop.

"I don't want you helping her." Marisa said. "Make Lindsey do it. A little blood doesn't hurt that much. It's the multiple killings that will really get to a girl."

"You've got to be joking," Catherine's voice was strained.

"I'm not." Marisa replied simply. "I still have questions for you."

Catherine bit her bottom lip then shook her head. She turned to her daughter and did her best to calm the frantic girl. "Lindsey, listen to me," Catherine placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders and held her steady. "Sara needs your help. I want you to take off your jacket and wrap it around Sara's thigh and tie it really tight, okay?"

Lindsey showed no signs of understanding a word Catherine had said. "Lindsey," Catherine shook Lindsey by the shoulders, "do you understand me?"

Lindsey's eyes went to Sara and then quickly away. "I can't."

"Lindsey you have to," Catherine replied forcefully.

"I'm getting impatient," Marisa said through a sigh.

"Lindsey, please just do as I ask." Catherine pleaded. "Please."

Lindsey took off her jacket and walked over to Sara. Sara tried greeting the girl with a smile, but wasn't at all successful. The pain was too much and she felt like she was going to pass out, and she knew that was a bad thing.

"Are you ready for the next question?" Marisa re-aimed the gun, except this time she pointed at Lindsey's head.

Of course Catherine wasn't ready for the next question. The last question had gotten Sara shot. "What do you want to know?"

"Would you murder for someone you love?" Marisa directed her gaze at Sara and Lindsey. "Would you murder for them?"

Catherine followed Marisa's gaze. "I don't know."

"I think we should find out," Marisa suggested darkly. "I think you should murder the first person who steps into this house to help you. I think you should murder them to keep Sara alive. I think you should murder for someone who doesn't love you!" Marisa stepped closer to Catherine. "Don't you think that's a good idea?"

Catherine met Marisa's gaze head on. "No. I think it's an awful idea."

Marisa laughed weakly. "Honesty. You learn from your mistakes. Good. But even though you think it's a bad idea, I'm still going to see if you can do it. Then we can see how it makes you feel."

***

Willow's Residence: Outside

Sanchez and Erika pulled up to the front of Catherine's house after being met with a squadron of police officers and FBI agents blocking off the streets and surrounding the perimeter of the house. Erika jumped out of the car and walked right over to the agent in charge. Agent James actually looked slightly relieved to see her.

"What's going on inside?" Erika immediately asked.

"We don't know," Agent James ran his hand through his thinning hair. "We can't see inside. We haven't heard anything yet from anyone either."

"Marisa's not going to make any demands," Erika laughed. "She wants to kill them. She doesn't care if she dies in the process."

"Do you think we should go in the house?" James asked uncertainly.

"I'm going to go inside," Erika replied. "I'll tell you what's going on from there."

"There's no way in hell you're going in there alone," Sanchez had finally made her way over to the two of them. "Forgive me for not trusting you."

Erika raised her brow. "You're completely forgiven."

"What makes you so sure Marisa will let you in?" James asked as he ran his hand through his hair once more.

"We have a deal."

James snorted. "A deal?"

"She won't shoot me. Believe that."

James looked at Erika for a long moment, but knew he couldn't decide to trust her words just by looking at her. She was an excellent liar, but the worst thing that could happen was that she got shot and he couldn't find himself caring about that. "Fine. Go in, but take Sanchez with you."

"Of course," Erika turned away and started walking to the house. "Sanchez be a dear and fetch a ladder. It's impossible to make a grand entrance using the front door. We're going to take a window."

***

Willow's Residence: Inside

Marisa pulled out another gun and offered it to Catherine. "This gun only has one bullet in it. You could try and aim it at me, but I swear I'll kill them both before you even fire."

Catherine took a deep breath then reached out for the gun. The metal was cold to the touch and it felt impossibly heavy. Catherine wasn't feeling entirely confident in her ability to do anything worthwhile at the moment. Trying to shoot Marisa even seemed too much of a risk.

Marisa walked over to Sara, who was just barely conscious, kicked Lindsey out of the way and pointed her gun at the brunette's head. "Someone will come," she told Catherine. "There will be someone to save you and you'll murder them. You'll see how it feels."

As if on cue there was the sound of glass breaking above them followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Shoot the gun when you see them," Marisa ordered coldly. "If you don't I'm putting a bullet through Sara's head, then for fun I'll kill Lindsey too."

***

Willow's Residence: Upstairs

"Follow me," Erika ordered Sanchez. "Try not to sound like stampeding elephants, okay?"

"You don't have a gun," Sanchez pointed out. "Shouldn't you be following me?"

Erika shrugged. "Have it your way." She moved behind Agent Sanchez and let the other woman lead her down the stairs.

***

Willow's Residence: First Floor "I hear them coming," Marisa said softly, gleefully.

Catherine took a deep breath and raised the gun, pointing it directly at the staircase. She tightened her grip on the metal causing the gun to shake in her grip. She released the safety and looked deeply into the darkness, waiting for a form to appear in front of her silently hoping that they'll see her first and dive out of the way.

***

Willow's Residence: Staircase "Are we there yet?" Erika whispered happily.

"Be quiet," Sanchez ordered. She focused her attention on the darkness in front of her. She bent down, hoping to get a better view of the floor beneath them, but she couldn't see anything. She took another step down and paused again, looking once more for a sign of life below. Again, she saw nothing. She took another step and saw a shadow of a figure. She bent down and saw the gun. Her vision was followed by the soft sound of a gun with a silencer firing. She dove out to the side and flew down the rest of the staircase clear of the path of the bullet.

When Sanchez looked back she saw Erika grabbing her side and falling down the stairs. She raised her head and sought out the shadow, quickly realizing it was Catherine who had taken the shot.

"You did it," she heard a jovial voice proclaim maniacally. "You actually did it."

Sanchez turned her attention to the voice and for the first time noticed Marisa. The woman was bouncing happily on the balls of her feet. She looked like she had just won an unimaginable prize.

"See!" Marisa yelled to no one in particular. "I am better than Erika. I knew she would come. I get everything I want." Her voice turned dark and she looked finally to Catherine. "I even get to kill you."

Sanchez looked frantically around for her gun, but soon realized she had dropped it when she dove off the stairs. She was powerless to do anything.

"Please," Sara pleaded from the floor, barely really knowing what was happening. "Let her live. You've won."

"Won?" Marisa turned her attention to Sara. "I've won?" She asked incredulously. "I murdered for her. I did everything for her, and I find out it was all a mistake - a fucking misunderstanding!"

Before anyone in the room could respond there was a shot fired, hitting Marisa directly in the heart. "I don't fail," Erika's voice could be heard saying weakly.

The gun she had used was Sanchez's. She had fallen on it when she rolled down the stairs. Luck wasn't a strong enough word for the chance of that happening.

Marisa looked down at her chest then her eyes sought out Erika. She gave a resigned smile then fell to the floor. Catherine ran over to Sara. Lindsey did the same. And Sanchez took her chances at approaching Erika.

The gunfire had inspired Agent James to make a decision of his own, and with a good number of agents he burst into the front door of the house, finally taking an action that should have happened a long time before.

Ambulances were called and Marisa's body eventually covered up, along with Erika's.

Catherine ended up, somehow, at the nearest hospital waiting with her daughter for word on Sara's condition. She had to have surgery, but the doctor had actually been quite positive about the odds.

So Catherine was actually sitting in the hospital trying to decide what future direction she wanted to take her life in. The last twelve hours had exhausted her and she could only say she had learned what she was truly capable of, but she still didn't quite know if she was capable of risking being in love with Sara again. She wasn't sure if she could handle their lives falling apart because of each other again.

"Mom," Lindsey reached out and took her mother's hand. "I really think you should do it."

Catherine turned to her daughter confused. "Do what, sweetie?"

"I think you should risk being happy."

Well? from the mouths of babes.

"Ms. Willows," Sara's surgeon stepped into the waiting room.

Catherine stood up, Lindsey's hand still in her own. "Yes?"

"Ms. Sidle is going to be fine. She's in recovery now." The doctor said with a smile. He always liked delivering good news.

"Can we go see her?" Lindsey eagerly asked.

"Why don't you wait until she's in her own room," the doctor replied. "That way you can both be there when she wakes up."

The doctor looked them both over once more then walked out of the room leaving the Willows women alone. They hugged each other in relief. Sara was fine.



Epilogue

Lindsey was in the backyard running around with Romeo. Ever since Catherine had allowed him to stay, he had become permanently attached to the pre-teen. Catherine was actually happy to see Lindsey so happy with the dog. He was a good protector, and she knew Lindsey was safe with the German Sheperd.

Lindsey picked up the ball Romeo had just fetched for her. She threw it again and watched the dog run off to find the plastic neon orange toy. She saw Romeo disappear behind the corner of the house, and waited patiently for him to return. When he took longer than normal, Lindsey decided to seek him out.

When she found him he was being happily petted by a tall, dark skinned, high cheek boned, mysterious brown eyed, professional appearance, beautiful woman.

"Erika?" Lindsey called out confused. "I thought you were dead."

"Hi, Lindsey," Erika greeted the girl with a smile. "I bet you didn't expect to see me."

"I thought you were dead." Lindsey was glued to her spot in the grass.

"I thought it would be better for your parents if they thought I was dead," Erika easily explained.

"Why?" Lindsey had been told everything about Erika. Catherine and Sara had been brutally honest. They didn't want Lindsey making a friend like that ever again.

"Because I think it would make them happier." Erika stopped petting the dog and slowly stood to her full height.

"You want them to be happy?" Lindsey was confused. She was under the impression that evil people didn't like happiness.

Erika chuckled softly. "I've got nothing against it."

"So why are you here now?"

Erika smiled kindly. "I wanted to let you know that I'm not dead. I didn't want you to think you lost someone else in your life."

"They told me you were dangerous. They said you were evil." Lindsey accused.

"Well," Erika sighed. "They were kind of right about that."

Lindsey didn't know what to do. Erika didn't look particularly evil at the moment.

"So how are your parents doing?" Erika asked genuinely curious about their life post hoc.

Lindsey shrugged. "Sara moved back into the house, but they're not in the same room. They say they're taking things slowly this time."

"Oh." Erika nodded approvingly. "I think they've got the right idea."

"Lindsey?" Sara's voice called out. "It's time for you to get inside and eat. You've been outside with Romeo all day."

"I'm on my way!" Lindsey yelled back not taking her attention from Erika. "What are you going to do?" she asked.

"The FBI, believe it or not, still wants my help."

"Lindsey!" Sara called out again. "Come on!"

Lindsey nodded and turned to walk away but stopped. "You're not going to hurt us, are you?"

Erika smiled. "I don't plan on it."

Lindsey nodded again then ran off with Romeo close on her heels to the back door of the house where Sara was waiting patiently.

"What were you doing out there?" Sara asked as Lindsey approached.

"Nothing really," Lindsey answered. "Romeo thought he found something interesting."

"Did he?" Sara held the door open for her daughter and the dog.

Lindsey shrugged. "He likes dirt."

Sara laughed and followed them into the house, closing the door firmly behind them.

The End