DISCLAIMER: I don't own CSI or any of it's characters, Jerry Bruckheimer, Alliance Atlantis and CBS have that priviledge.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A tiny spoiler for "Iced". Thanks go out to my cool beta Ez!
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Cinnamon Girl
By Maaike
Chapter 4
The receptionist had called her a cab, and now Emily was waiting for it to arrive. It had been a weird day. Emily had always dreamed of meeting her sister. She had idolized the woman as some hero who was absolutely perfect. The real life version of her sister wasn't much off, apart from that she was just as bad in dealing with feelings as she was herself. But her sister now had a face and a name. Sara Sidle; it sounded well. Sara Sidle from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Yep, really a hero; just like Emily had imagined.
Their first meeting had been odd though. It's not every day your own sister holds a gun to your face. But oh well, all beginnings are hard right? She must have left a very wrong first impression on Sara though. First with giving her partner, that Catherine woman, the evasive answers to a point that Sara had to burst in to try to get the answers for her partner. And then the great, idiotic Emily Sidle had to crack. Yep NOT a good first impression.
Emily was deep in thought when the receptionist told her a cab was waiting for her outside. It took a while to register in her brain, but when it did she got up, feeling even more stupid than before. As she opened the door to leave the Crime Lab, for good, someone called her back.
"Emily, wait!"
Emily turned around to see who could possibly want her to stay. It was Sara.
"Want to grab a coffee?" Sara asked the younger woman.
"No thanks," Emily replied. It almost sounded harsh.
"It wasn't a question." Sara said, taking Emily's arm and guiding her outside.
"Oh," was all Emily managed to get out.
Actually it wasn't a good time for Sara. But then again, when is it a good time to hear about having a sister you never knew about? And when is it a good time to kiss the co-worker you have had a crush on for ages? This was definitely the weirdest day she had had in a long time.
"Get in," Sara ordered.
As Emily closed the door, Sara drove off. She didn't know where they were going, and she didn't care. She had to talk to Emily; ask her how, why, who and what. And she wanted Emily to tell the truth about the death of her friend, even though she was most likely to be pulled off the case.
"Where are we going?" Emily asked. She looked over at Sara who seemed to be focused on the road.
"We are going for a drive. I drive, you talk. And I won't stop driving until you've told me everything I need to know," Sara said. She looked over at the girl next to her who her mind still refused to call sister.
"Well I hope you have a full tank of gas then because I'm not saying anything," Emily bit back. Two can play that game.
"Look Emily, I don't have time to play games. Unlike you, I never knew I had a sister. I didn't have time to prepare for this." Sara said, looking at Emily.
Sara understood Emily's position, and now she wanted Emily to understand hers. That would be a good first step into. But into what really?
"Of course, I planned a murder to meet my long lost sister!" Emily almost shouted. "It isn't my fault I was born, it isn't my fault mom doesn't care, it isn't my fault Dana is dead! Do you think I like being here?" Emily took a deep breath before continuing but was cut off by Sara.
"I know how it feels. I know you feel lonely. How do you think I feel Emily? Of all people you should understand," Sara told her.
It was as if Emily could feel Sara's pain, so it was the same for her. Emily looked up at Sara and caught her eye; yep the same pain.
"I'm sorry," Emily said. Suddenly she felt really guilty. She had been really harsh to Sara without thinking about how she would feel.
"It's ok. We are both shocked. That's why we need to talk."
"I like driving." Emily suddenly said, smiling.
"Me too, it clears my mind," Sara replied with the same smile. So it was going to be like this; she could live with that. Baby steps.
"I don't like talking about myself. I get a lump in my throat and everything stops working. Then I always end up being really annoying and frustrating the people around me. That's what happened in the interrogation room, and I'm sorry for frustrating you."
"I don't like talking about myself either," Sara replied simply. She didn't need to say much more because Emily would understand.
"Well, then let's not talk about us," Emily said with a sigh. "At least not right now."
Sara smiled and drove onto the highway.
"Let's see how far this car will take us," she said as smiled at Emily.
Emily just smiled back. Her sister was even cooler than she had imagined. She felt like a small child again, looking up to the big sister or big brother no matter what. They didn't talk, at least not today, and that made Emily feel much more comfortable.
It was quiet in the car for a while. Both women spent their time thinking and trying to process what had happened today. After a while, Sara heard a steady breathing coming from the passenger's seat. Emily had fallen asleep. Sara then decided to drive back to the lab; she had to find out Emily's address and drop her off.
When Sara pulled over at the lab, shift was almost over. She had to talk to Grissom about Emily, and she had to find Catherine. Sara looked over at Emily who seemed to be fast asleep.
"Hey Emily, wake up," she softly said, gently shaking Emily's shoulder.
Slowly the younger woman woke up.
"I have to arrange a few things here, and then I will take you home okay?" Sara said, smiling at Emily.
"I don't want to go home." Emily softly mumbled.
Sara helped Emily out of the car and seated her near the reception desk.
"Stay here until I come back to pick you up," She said before walking off to find Catherine.
Emily looked up at her older sister, seeing her walk away with a confident pace. If Sara had looked back, she would have seen the terror in Emily's eyes.
Catherine was about to clock out when she saw Sara appear in the hallway. She smiled at the brunette and motioned her to come along with her.
Catherine led Sara to the locker room. When they entered she closed the door behind Sara and planted a kiss on the brunette's lips.
"How did it go?" she said while wrapping her arms around Sara.
Sara was taken by surprise but recovered quickly, and she smiled at Catherine.
"Emily is waiting for me at the reception desk. I will take her home after I talked to Grissom," Sara decided to get Catherine back and gently kissed her. She let her tongue run over Catherine's bottom lip before pulling back and continuing her report.
"Emily and I are quite alike. We didn't talk much, we just drove around. Emily fell asleep so I came back."
Catherine never lost her composure, ever. But Sara Sidle, the mysterious brunette from the Las Vegas Crime Lab, just proved otherwise. Catherine was totally blown away by the sudden boldness of the younger woman; she had just kissed her, teased her to no end and then just continued talking like nothing happened. Catherine wasn't planning on letting Sara notice that. She might get too smug.
"Do you want me to come with you to talk to Grissom?" Catherine said, pulling Sara closer to her.
"No, it's ok. I'll be fine. But you could check on Emily for me. She seemed panicked when I woke her up and told her I'd take her home," Sara answered.
"Maybe she doesn't want to go home Sara, I mean considering what happened today," Catherine replied, putting a strand of hair behind Sara's ear.
Sara's eyes grew wide when she understood what Catherine meant. Taking Emily home with her? No way. She wasn't ready for that at all.
"Oh no, I can't, that's just not¼" Sara started.
"She is your family Sara. She needs you," Catherine cut the younger woman off.
Catherine had always learned that your family is very important; she never thought much of it until Lindsey was born. Lindsey was her everything, and it made her realize what her mother had meant when she was a kid. Family is very important.
"I didn't even know I had a sister until a few hours ago, and now I'm supposed to be there for her like a sister? I can't do that Catherine, I just can't," Sara said.
Sara had to go; she had to leave the room, leave Catherine's gaze. Catherine made her weak, made her want to open up and tell everything. Right now it wasn't the right time for that.
"Go to her Sara. You don't have to do anything; you just have to be there. I'm going to see Gil to update him on the case. Wanna grab something to eat later, before shift?" Catherine hoped Sara would just listen to her, for once.
"Sure," Sara smiled.
"I'll pick you up ok? We need to talk," Catherine said before planting a gentle kiss on Sara's lips, "about this."
Sara smiled and cupped Catherine's cheek with her hand. She didn't know what to say, and even if she did, she probably wouldn't be able to form a sentence. This day had been so emotionally draining. She had kissed Catherine, well Catherine had kissed her, but the outcome was the same. Catherine liked her the way she liked Catherine. Good!
"Yeah..ok." Sara managed to say.
Catherine chuckled. "I'm glad you always know what to say," She said, playfully slapping Sara's shoulder before leaving the room, in search for Grissom.
Grissom was walking past the reception desk and saw a girl sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room. Her head had fallen to the side and she was breathing steadily, the girl was asleep. The girl seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't quite place her. He shrugged and continued walking towards his office, Catherine had wanted to see him and he wondered what it was about.
When he entered his office, Catherine was already waiting for him.
"We have a problem Gil," she stated simply.