 | ShatterStorm Productions
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| ShatterStorm Productions
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Disclaimer: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Alliance Atlantis, and CBS Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," CBS, or any representatives of Jorja Fox or Marg Helgenberger.
Author's Notes: Timeline: after Living Doll, mild swearing, unbeta'd as usual and feedback welcome : )
Crime Lab 3:30 p.m.
Sara sat in the softly lit evidence room sorting through clothing from a murder suspect. She pulled out a q-tip shaped swab and carefully swiped a blood stain on the suspect's shirt. She then labeled the swab and set it aside to go to DNA later. She and Greg and Brass had been working on the case on overtime and she and Greg were both being sent home in a few hours to make up for it. Sara wondered if anyone had figured out yet that she and Grissom had split. She was a very private person and hated feeling like her personal life was on display. There had been more than a few times where she was walking in the hall and thought she saw people looking in her direction and whispering. Although Sara couldn't figure out if they were talking about her or the rumors circulating that Catherine had been suspended and not taken vacation as everyone else was told. It was the adult equivalent to high school and Sara didn't have the patience for it then and didn't have it now. The past week had been good for her in a lot of ways but strangely it felt like something was missing. She found her thoughts turning to a certain blonde detective and the postponed coffee meeting. Sofia had proved surprisingly elusive all week and Sara was sure that she hadn't seen her in the lab at all which was in itself unusual. She herself had been keeping a low profile and it made her wonder if Sofia was doing the same.
Her thoughts drifted back to the middle of the week where she had caved and called the detective only to lose her nerve when she got voice mail. Since when did it become uncomfortable or make her nervous to call Sofia? It had never been an issue before. Of course that was before they connected on a personal level. In the past, she had always been wary of Sofia. Sofia had such a strong presence and it had always sent Sara's hackles up. She had always been hyperaware of Sofia when she was around and had assumed that it was a product of irritation and competitiveness. Yet after being attacked by Natalie, she found herself re-evaluating her perceptions. Sofia had a calming effect on Sara that she really couldn't explain. It was like she felt she could tell Sofia anything and not be judged for it. Yet she didn't feel compelled to speak around her. Just being near her was enough. At the same time she found herself wanting to talk to the blonde more and get to know her better.
"Hey Sara, are you about done here? I thought we could walk out together." Greg plopped down in the chair next to Sara considerably less buoyant than his normal upbeat self. "Greg, have you seen Sofia?" Sara turned to look at her tired coworker and seeing the puzzled look on his face, stopped what she was doing and rewound their brief conversation in her head. Oh shit, I voiced that out loud. Greg didn't comment on the change in topic but she could see intrigue in his eyes.
"Actually I haven't seen her all week. I was going to drop by P.D. and see if she was in before I left. You wanna come with?" Sara shifted her eyes away from Greg and back on the blood-stained clothing. "Yeah, I mean I should be able to stop by for a minute." Sara tried to appear nonchalant and Greg being the good friend that he was let her get away with it. "Alright, I'll meet you in the locker room in ten."
Sofia walked out of Brass' office carrying a file in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She turned the corner to find her desk occupied. Greg was sitting on the corner of her desk and when he saw her made a show of wiggling his ass against the surface of the desk.
"Well, if it isn't the dynamic duo." Sofia smiled at Sara before sitting in her desk chair. She arched an eyebrow at the grinning Greg. "Get your ass off my desk, Sanders!" Sofia growled. "I'm going to need a hazmat team to clean off this desk after this." Greg playfully pouted as he hopped off the area in question. "We felt the need to send out a search party. You haven't returned any of my calls. I'm beginning to think you're cheating on me." Greg pretended to wipe fake tears from his cheeks as he turned to Sara and put his head on her shoulder as if needing to be consoled. Sara shook her head and grinned while patting Greg's back as he mock sobbed. Her eyes met Sofia's and there was a warm feeling of kinship at seeing the dark circles and the strain reflected back at her. So I'm not the only one having a rough time. "Can you help me out here, Curtis?"
Sofia stood up and started pulling Greg off of Sara. "Greg, didn't anyone ever tell you to save the drama for your mama?" Sofia was met with two stunned faces staring back at her. "What?," she asked. Sara and Greg burst into laughter at the odd phrase coming from the normally composed detective. Sofia shook her head and started laughing with them. They were all red-faced and had tears coming out of their eyes after a few minutes. "Ow, stop!," Sara complained, clutching her stomach. The laughter died down and Greg stared at Sofia expectantly. "Where the hell did you hear that, Sofia?" Sofia smirked. "I'm hurt that you think I'm not down with the lingo." Sara and Greg continued to stare at her expectantly. "Not buying it huh? Alright I was questioning these two witnesses and one of them said it to the other. It took everything I had not to laugh right there." Both C.S.I.s just shook their heads and grinned at the explanation.
"So Sofia, can I interest you in some fine Vegas cuisine at the Golden Szechuan? Sara already bailed on me and I tried to tell her she doesn't know what she's missing but once that Sidle mind decides something, it's hard to convince her otherwise."
Sara glared at Greg trying to keep her face to appear serious but knew she had failed when Sofia had a small grin pointed in her direction. "Greg, only you would think that Chinese is fine Vegas cuisine.," Sofia teased. She plopped back down into her chair and rubbed her face tiredly. "Can I get a raincheck? "I've had a hell of a long day and I should probably go home and pass out." Greg nodded and fished his car keys out of his pocket. "Okay but I'm going to hold both of you to that." He pointedly looked at both Sofia and Sara before turning around to walk to the parking lot.
Sara was left standing a little awkwardly alone with Sofia. "Well, I guess I'll see you around." Sara turned to hobble away. "Sara?," Sofia had said her name so softly Sara wasn't sure she had heard it. She turned to look at the detective. "Do you want a ride?" Sara had been hobbling around without the crutch now that she had a different boot on but she still couldn't drive and it made her crazy that she couldn't walk around at her preferred pace. Sara debated how to answer the question. She had grown tired of relying on her coworkers to drive her and was going to call a cab but the kind smile from the blonde drew her in. She found herself saying yes before she had made a conscious decision.
"Just give me five minutes.," Sofia pointed to the chair across from her desk. Sara sat down and watched Sofia making some notes to attach to a file on her desk. Sara took the opportunity to unguardedly stare at the woman across from her. Sofia was wearing charcoal gray pants that had faint red stripes interwoven in the fabric. The red dress shirt that she wore with them brought the stripes out in certain lighting. Sofia had her hair tied back in a ponytail and Sara found herself wanting to pull the soft looking hair from its binding to see it fall down the detective's back. She had always thought Sofia had beautiful hair.
Sofia was also subtly watching Sara while she took notes. She was sure the brunette was not aware of her scrutiny because Sara made no move to get out of the chair. Sara was wearing form fitting tan slacks and a white button down shirt. It gave her a carefree appearance as well as a professional one. When Sara's attention was drawn to two arguing detectives behind her, Sofia took the opportunity to view Sara's face. The scar on her forehead had turned a faint pink color and there were no signs of the other scratches that had adorned her face a few weeks ago. Sara looked tired and worn out. Sofia wondered if she was still having trouble sleeping. She made the finishing touches to her notes and tucked the file away in her desk.
Sofia pulled her car keys out of her pocket and stood up. The jingling of the keys alerted Sara to Sofia's proximity. She looked up to find Sofia standing right next to her offering her hand to help Sara stand. "Ready to get out of here?"
Sara took the offered hand and rose from the chair. "Don't think I could be more ready.," Sara replied. Both women headed for the exit. Sara noticed that Sofia had slowed her pace down so that Sara wouldn't feel like she was lagging behind. In any other person, that might have annoyed the hell out of her but Sofia made it seem natural as if she walked at this pace all the time. Sara smirked as she knew that was not the case. She had walked down the hallways with Sofia before and both usually liked a fairly brisk pace. Sofia if her hands weren't otherwise occupied, usually had a tendency to put her hands in her pockets sometimes when she walked and Sara glanced over to see that Sofia had her left hand in her pocket and she had tucked her right thumb into the other pocket while the rest of her fingers held her car keys.
Sara got the sense of de ja vu as they walked outside to the parking lot although this time the weather was much warmer than it had been the other day. They both approached the Mazda 6 and Sara was surprised to see that Sofia had opened her door again. She didn't have her crutch anymore so why would Sofia still hold the door open? Sofia's expression was unreadable behind the aviator sunglasses. Sara lowered herself into the seat and then they were on their way.
"How is physical therapy going?," Sofia asked, nodding towards Sara's ankle. Sara let out a frustrated breath. "It's not going fast enough." Sofia smirked. Somehow it did not surprise her that Sara was anxious to recover quicker.
Sara tapped her hands against her thighs distractedly as she tried to think of how to ask Sofia where she had been all week without being too nosy.
"So Curtis, where ya been all week? Get a hot date?," Sara had meant to tease Sofia so she could actually get an answer instead of a brush off. Sofia stopped at a red light and looked over at the inquisitive brunette.
"Well, let's see," she began to tick points off on her fingers, "given the fact that I'm still a smart ass and according to some still intimidating, that would be a no." Sara smirked in reply but then almost bit her tongue at the blonde's next remark.
"But it's nice to know that I was missed." Sofia took her eyes off of Sara and continued the drive through rush hour traffic. The comment had flustered Sara to the point where she almost didn't notice that Sofia had not answered her question.
"You didn't answer my question.," Sara said, shaking her head as if trying to clear it. Sofia kept her eyes on the road and her face had that stoic appearance. "It's just been a long week.," she finally replied. Sara knew she should leave the woman be but it was irking her. Sofia had been there for her when she needed someone and she wanted to give that back to the other woman. She looked at Sofia again. "It's just that," Sara paused trying to find the words, "when I hide out, which I do frequently, it's because I have something going on that I don't want to talk about." Sofia remained silent, not knowing what to say.
"Look Sofia, I just want you to know that you can talk to me if you want to. I'll listen." Sara finally saw a reaction as Sofia took her hand off of the gearshift and placed it on Sara's thigh. She briefly squeezed it before retracting her hand. "Thanks Sara, that means a lot." Sara could only nod dumbly as she stared at the spot Sofia's hand had just been. It felt like that hand had seared right through her pants to her skin.
Sara was no stranger to being attracted to women. She had several relationships with women in the past but not since she had moved to Vegas eight years ago. There really wasn't any particular reason why there hadn't been another woman. She just hadn't met one that had caught her eye. However, she definitely had no experience in being attracted to a beautiful, blonde, detective. One that was most likely straight and another damn coworker. Sara was not anxious to repeat that last one.
"Hey Sara, are you alright?" Sara looked at Sofia in puzzlement. "Huh?" She looked around and realized they were in her apartment complex and Sofia had parked the car. Sofia had an amused look on her face. "Musta been some daydream."
"Do you want to come in for that coffee?," Sara asked, trying to change the subject. "I don't know, Sara..." Sofia wanted to come in but she also felt tired and vulnerable. She was afraid she might unintentionally let something slip to her newly acquired friend.
Sara unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door. "Come on Curtis, I don't bite.," she couldn't keep the grin off her face as she saw the other woman arch an eyebrow. "That's not what I heard.." Sofia's delivery was so deadpan that Sara had to clamp down on her laughter. She settled for sarcasm. "That's right Detective, I invite helpless victims to my lair only to ambush them once they cross the threshold." Sofia had a full grin on her face and took her sunglasses off. "Well, when you put it that way."
Sofia unbuckled her belt and got out of the car to follow the brunette up the stairs to her apartment.
|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10 || Part 11 || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 ||
