DISCLAIMER: Not mine. I promise I'm only borrowing them and will return them to their rightful owners whenever they ask for them back. My imagination took a flight of fancy.....my bank account stayed empty. (Seriously, the cast of CSI belong to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer and Alliance Atlantis and I'm only borrowing them for some free daydreaming that I wrote down).
SPOILERS: None specifically, although good knowledge of what happens in general is required. There will be the occasional reference to a case seen on the show, with any eps up to the end of Season 3 regarded as fair game. It is from this point that the AU occurs, although back story from the show (such as Nesting Dolls in s5 most obviously) will be incorporated where relevant/appropriate.
SERIES/SEQUEL: This piece is a standalone piece in its own right, but there is a
companion piece of the same name in the L&O: SVU fandom (coming soon).
These two fics will combine to be a crossover......eventually
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Cold Feet, Cold Case, Warm Hearts
By ncruuk
Part Eight
"SIDLE!"
Sara had been in the Crime Lab building for literally two minutes when the corridors reverberated with her name being shouted by an irate Sheriff. The timing suggested that he'd left a message with reception to call him the minute she set foot in the department, whilst the tone suggested that her idea of coming in early as a gesture of goodwill had failed. Ignoring his shouts, she continued through the corridors, determined to get to her office where he could then come to her.
"SIDLE!"
By now, Sara was comfortably settled at her desk, reviewing the reports left for her on a variety of cases since the middle of her last shift. That the Sheriff was shouting for her was not something she classed as a distraction worth altering her pre-shift routine for. He would find her…..eventually
"SIDLE"
"Sheriff" acknowledged Sara calmly when he finally appeared in her office doorway, although she finished reading Mia's report on the usefulness of the new software they had just bought before looking up
"What is this?" questioned Mobley aggressively, still red faced from his storm through the labs
"A report" summarised Sara succinctly, eying the blue card folder in his hand
"A flimsy sheet of paper that you think passes as a REPORT!" disagreed Mobley, still angry and still standing in the doorway, his shouting making it much easier for the lab technicians to eavesdrop
"Have a seat Robert"
"I'll stand"
"Your prerogative. Which case are you so upset about?"
"Upset? I'm not upset, I'm seething"
"What about?"
"You know damn well what about Sidle. The biggest, highest profile case this lab's had for years, and for which I only get joke reports from an ineffective team!"
"Ah, so Sofia's still not found her missing millions then?"
"No" Mobley had answered Sara's innocuous question before realising what Sara had actually asked
"You do know that any other week graveyard shift would only be too happy to help, don't you Robert?" queried Sara politely, a slight smile gracing her face
"Now wait a minute!" Realising what Sara was interpreting his comments as, Mobley took a step forward, fully entering Sara's office as he tried to think how to save himself but in the mean time settling for attempted intimidation. Sara meanwhile, never one to use words unnecessarily, refrained from commenting, instead initialling her earlier report and moving it to her 'Out' pile.
"I wasn't talking about the day shift casino case"
"Of course not. That's not your concern since the Press don't know about it"
"Watch your tone Sidle" ground out Mobley between his teeth
"You're not concerned about the fact that now, 4 days after over $100 million was stolen from three of the largest casinos on the Strip, there is no information and no clues. That doesn't worry you because the casinos have decided to hush it all up and not make any comment or admission about it. What you are concerned about is my shift's crash because that's made the national news, giving you the opportunity for press conferences and your picture in the paper."
"Watch your tone" repeated Mobley, unable it seemed to be able to say anything else at the moment, as well as being unable to go any redder in the face
"Why? Because I'm telling you something that's not true? And what would you do anyway, fire me?" asked Sara calmly, leaning back in her chair to look at him properly.
"I could…" began Mobley, before trailing off
"She'll have to go"
"I'm sorry?" Grissom stopped and turned back to look at Mobley, oblivious now to the fact that they were standing in a busy and far from private hospital corridor
"You heard the doctors. She'll never walk again, much less squat or kneel or whatever it is you guys do"
"Often we crouch, occasionally we squat but we rarely kneel, there's too much risk of disturbing evidence that way" observed Grissom dispassionately, still stunned by Mobley's first statement
"Whatever. She can't do that now. She'll have to go"
"I'm not following"
"Sidle, she's going to have to go; she can't work CSI any more"
"Why?"
"She's crippled" Mobley was never known to be sympathetic
"And you're going to fire her?"
"Resign on disability"
"Against her will, that's firing Robert"
"She can't do the job, so she's got to go"
"I see. What is the job?"
"Gil, don't try to be smart"
"I'm not being Robert. I want to know, what is the job that Sara can't do?"
"Be a CSI"
"Really? I thought our job was to process the evidence and built a scientific case that supports the case that LVPD build"
"Exactly. She's got to go"
"Why? She's just done that for you now"
"She's screwed to a hospital bed"
"Yes, and just constructed the scientific case that supported the case that LVPD had built against Conrad Jackson and Felicity Andrews concerning the murder of Jessica Geoffrey in 1999" explained Grissom, referring to the 'cold case' that had just been reopened on account of new evidence and resulted in some high profile arrests, not to mention lots of press conferences and photographs for the Sheriff
"You did that. You can't protect her forever Gil. This time, she's out of the department"
"No, I didn't. If you fire Sara, I'll withdraw her contribution to the case. That would mean that there was no case Robert."
"I'm not firing her. She'll resign on disability"
"She won't" stated Grissom with certainty
"Yes she will, you'll make her"
"Robert, in the event that you ever ask me to make Sara resign or that you try to fire her, you will end up with the largest lawsuit on your hands as she sues the city for wrongful dismissal and discrimination. You've been in the papers three times in the last 4 weeks because of cold cases being solved, cases that Sara spotted the break in as she went through the old files, as you so eloquently put it, screwed to a hospital bed. A good CSI uses their eyes. A great CSI uses their brain. Sara was shot in the back whilst using both for this city, and has just helped 4 murderers be arrested using both. She isn't going to be forced to resign or fired. She may not be a CSI like she was, but she's still one of the best CSIs I have ever worked with and I guarantee you that the FBI or any other CSI lab in the country would take her at a moments notice, hospital bed and all. Fire her, or try to fire her, and you'll get lots of publicity Robert, the sort that gets you voted out of Office."
"That's blackmail Grissom" ground out Mobley, seething at the thought of having someone tell him what he could and couldn't do
"No Robert, just the truth, based on the evidence. You're at your most popular now, because of Sara Sidle. She can still do a tremendous job for this City as a CSI. You're the one with your picture in the paper because she doesn't want it. She's letting you be the hero because she's like that. Don't confuse that with the truth. The truth is that she's the hero." Happy that he'd said his piece, Grissom continued on his way, heading back to the lab to begin the night's work.
"You could sit down and read what that report tells you, rather than dismissing it because it's not 100 pages thick" suggested Sara in a tone that gave absolutely no room for debate. Chastised, Mobley sat down, but refused to open the report, instead levelling a challenging gaze on Sara who decided to let him win that little battle.
"As of now, Tuesday evening, we have identified the vehicles involved in the crash that happened on Friday evening and informed the affected parties. The Coroner's Office, in conjunction with CSI is piecing together the remains and completing the identification process using DNA tests, before then performing post mortem as would be expected following a road traffic accident. The bodies are being released to the families by the Coroner once both they and CSI are happy that there is nothing further required. Early indications at the scene suggested gradual steering failure was the cause of the accident, although the drivers of all vehicles are being examined by the Coroner for any evidence that driver error either deliberate or accidental was a contributing factor. The manufacturer of the suspect vehicle, the hydrogen tanker, has performed a vigorous study and inspection on its test fleet of similarly aged tankers under supervision from CSI: San Francisco, which has identified a combination of manufacturing weaknesses which, if all present, could case the steering failure that the preliminary evidence at the scene suggests. We received that report yesterday and are now examining our evidence to see if that was the case here." Sara decided to stop there and see what Mobley decided to say next
"And I have to come and find you to learn this!"
"I just read the report you're holding aloud Robert. It hasn't materially changed between 6am when I wrote it and now."
"Why not?"
"Because I went home to sleep and eat" explained Sara, returning her attention to her desk, deciding that, as far as she was concerned, this 'meeting' was over.
"This is a high profile case…" began Mobley, determined to have the last word
"Which is why it's important that we're alert and awake when hunting for millimetres of metal amongst three large burnt out vehicles, and why we went home to sleep and eat. The case is progressing fine Robert. Go hassle day shift about their missing millions."
"But…"
"Oh wait, you can't, as they've all gone home to sleep and eat and probably see a show or something" finished Sara, not letting Mobley make another pointless comment in his desire to have the last word.
Taking the hint, the Sheriff stood up, thinking that he'd leave with his dignity and, as he saw it, moral superiority intact
"You seem to have it under control then"
"Yes" Sara made no move to look up from her report
"Grissom blackmailed me into keeping you, and you're blackmailing me now. You'll trip up one day Sidle, and I'll be there to watch you fall" spluttered Mobley, in a desperate attempt to have the last word, an attempt that Sara saw through, in fact had seen through the very first time he used it
"Robert, for me to blackmail you, I would have to have a hold over you that was sinister or deceitful. I don't. The only hold I have over you is the same hold Grissom had. This is the best CSI lab in the country, and graveyard is the best shift in the lab. I supervise that shift. To fire me, you need grounds, which you don't have, and, no matter how much you might wish they were, you and I both know that you removed any hope you had of my wheelchair being a ground on which to fire me the day you had your photograph on the front page of the Sun under a headline proclaiming that you'd just caught Jessica Geoffrey's killers. No one's blackmailing you Robert, not on this shift." Glancing at the clock, Sara noticed that it was a good time to head to the break room for a cup of coffee, as Greg should have just brewed a pot of his special beans to fortify himself for shift. Coming out from behind her desk, Sara began heading for the door, hoping Mobley would get the hint.
He did. Striding out into the hall however, he couldn't help himself, shouting over his shoulder as he went, also having noticed he was late for cocktails with the Commissioner
"You haven't heard the last of this Sidle"
"Haven't heard the last of what?" asked Greg, coming up behind Sara as she turned towards the break room. Pausing to consider her response, she finally gave up, instead shrugging her shoulders and saying
"You know what? I honestly don't know."
"Ah, ok"
"You brewed any coffee yet Greg?"
"And here I was thinking you liked me for my looks and intellect" grumbled Greg good naturedly
"Nope, just your high quality imported beans!" teased Sara as she propelled herself towards the source of the rich luxurious aromas.
"Is there any of Greg's coffee left?" asked Catherine conversationally, coming into the break room an hour later.
"Depends"
"On what?"
"On whether you can cope with the fact that I've just poured it into my mug" answered Sara, raising her steaming mug in the direction of the empty coffee jug
"That your first cup?" asked Catherine suspiciously
"No"
"Has anyone other than Greg and you had any?"
"No"
"And he's busy working somewhere?"
"Layout room, looking over his other current cases to keep them fresh" explained Sara, impressed with his dedication and determination to be a good CSI
"In that case, yes, I want your coffee" stated Catherine, coming round the table to extract the steaming mug from Sara's grasp
"You're in early" offered Sara by way of conversation as she relinquished her hold on the cup of excellent coffee
"Only a few minutes" offered Catherine
"Really?" Sara reached for her watch which was sitting on the table, having been removed sometime earlier, only to then groan
"You lose track of time again?" teased Catherine
"A bit. I'd thought I had another hour or so until shift started"
"No, ten minutes"
"Good job you came to steal my coffee then" stated Sara, as she gathered up her files and put them in her lap, preparing to head back to her office to switch them for the current papers she needed for starting the shift
"You get all your work done?" Catherine asked her lover carefully. There was so much more to Sara's job beyond telling people which scene to go and process and counter-signing reports, having to spend time considering applications for increased expenditure on equipment, courses, leave requests and all manner of other things, requiring her to spend time working outside of the regular shift hours. The time she'd put into this big crash case as a field CSI, not to mention cutting her extra hours fine these last couple of days had to have an impact on the normally efficient Sara
"Nearly. A couple of hours after shift at home will get me back on schedule I think." CSI work was not something you could easily take home, although reports could, within reason, be read anywhere. At first, Catherine had protested at Sara taking work home to read during the early afternoon but, after seeing Sara struggling to occupy herself quietly when she could no longer sleep without disturbing the supposedly sleeping Catherine, the blonde CSI had relented, finally understanding that Sara needed the activity
"Mobley mad at you?"
"No more than usual"
"Still threatening to fire you?"
"Yes, and claiming I'm blackmailing him, which of course I'm not"
"He brought it on himself, with the Geoffrey's case"
"Yes, so I'm not that bothered"
"But he made you angry about something" it was a testament to how well Catherine had learnt to read her lover that allowed her to make that a statement and not a question.
"Day shift"
"Specifically?"
"Remember Friday, right before shift, I was called in really early, mid afternoon?"
"I thought that was to do with the crash" recalled Catherine, even as she spoke though, realising that the timing was wrong
"No, even earlier. I was called in when those casinos were hit"
"Oh, right. All three of Sam Braun's places had their vaults cleaned out. He's hushed it up." Summarised Catherine, remembering the case that, had it not been for their own big case, would have probably seen graveyard helping out.
"That's it. Nothing in the papers, no news reports, and no breaks on the case."
"Day Shift still have no suspect?"
"Day Shift still haven't worked out how it happened!" retorted Sara indignantly
"Bet Mobley's on Sofia like a rash" speculated Catherine
"Hardly, more like me" Sara came as near as she ever did to grumbling
"Why?"
"Because no one knows about Sofia's case, whereas everyone knows about the crash. Mobley was shouting at me because it's Tuesday night and we haven't solved Friday's crash yet!"
"That's incredible!" exclaimed Catherine in amazement at the audacity of the Sheriff, not to mention bigotry.
"What's incredible?" asked Nick, coming into the break room, heading for the empty coffee jug
"Mobley's attitude…" and, as Catherine began telling Nick the story, Sara headed back to her office to collect the papers she would need for the night's shift.
The silence of the layout room was broken by the ringing of Catherine's cell phone
"Willows?"
"Hello Doc"
"She's probably left it on vibrate in her lap again"
"I'll go and find her, and then we'll both come down."
"Thanks Doc, see you in a few minutes."
Ending the call, Catherine straightened and stretched, absently noting that it was past midnight, and dawn was imminent. Tuesday was long gone, as was half the shift and she was no closer to finding the magic missing piece in her puzzle. Deciding not to worry for the moment, she left the layout room and headed towards the CSI garage, where she had last seen Sara.
Sure enough, on entering the garages, Catherine saw the distinctive sight of Sara Sidle's long lanky legs extending out from under a vehicle. In an attempt to solve the cause of the crash all the more sooner, Sara had had another of the hydrogen tankers from the same firm brought into the garages for her to look at up close. Looking around the garage, Catherine quickly spotted the discarded wheelchair, with the cell and pager placed tidily in the seat.
Following Sara's accident, when it became apparent that she was going to be returning to the lab, a number of her friends, fellow CSIs and technicians pooled their intellectual and technical resources together to come up with an assortment of gadgets and gizmos to help her continue to process as much evidence as possible. One such 'toy' had been an adapted dolly to allow Sara to continue to get under motor vehicles and as a result, 'play' with some of the power tools the lab had. With supports for her now dormant legs and a little motor system with joystick control by her left hand, not to mention retrofitted bumper bars to ensure that no damage was done when Sara 'drove' into stuff, Sara was once more able to inspect the undersides of vehicles, as she was doing now.
"Hello?" queried Catherine softly, walking around the cab area of the tanker hoping that her footfalls would alert Sara without startling her
"Cat?" The echoes of the garage, combined with the muffling that the tanker's body provided gave Sara's voice an interesting, slightly hollow quality
"You finding anything interesting?"
"I think so, although we really need you to find something interesting too"
"Not yet, but my pile of potential bits is getting ever smaller, so I must be getting nearer" joked Catherine, before squatting down next to Sara's legs and placing a hand on the nearby shin. It always amazed Catherine at how warm her lover's legs felt. Intellectually, Catherine was very aware that only the sensation was 'dead', that otherwise, Sara's legs were very alive, with the blood pumping strongly and the muscles maintaining their tone as a result of the regime of exercises Sara followed, but somehow, given how unresponsive the limbs were, Catherine couldn't stop her sub-conscious expectation that that unresponsiveness implied a coldness. It was something she had never mentioned to Sara, and hoped never to have to discuss with her, feeling rather stupid for still getting caught by that misconception, even after all this time.
"Did you want me for something special?" asked Sara, audibly snapping her flashlight off, obviously getting ready to emerge again, prompting Catherine to stand up and step away slightly so as to avoid being driven into. It was a long running joke that Sara needed mirrors and some sort of infra red detection system, having a tendency to hurtle into things at speed. All of the CSIs had had bruised ankles at one time or another and, whilst Sara's manipulation and control of the motorised dolly was much better than when she'd first been given it, it was still prudent to give her plenty of space!
"Not me, Doc Robbins. He paged you but when you didn't reply called me. He's got the autopsy reports for the drivers."
"Ok. Give me a hand?" By now, Sara had emerged from the underside of the truck and was moving to sit up. Kneeling down next to her lover, Catherine helped Sara remove the CSI coveralls before then bringing the wheelchair across and helping Sara get settled in the chair. To one side, by where the wheelchair had been, there was a wall mounted frame that Sara could use to transfer herself between her chair and dolly, but with Catherine there, she didn't need to be so independent. It had been a long battle but gradually, through a combination of dogged determination and love, Catherine had helped the once famously independent and stoical Sara Sidle to understand that accepting help when it was offered was not a sign of weakness. Together, they then left the garage, both curious as to what the autopsy reports would bring.
"Hey Doc?" called out Catherine as they entered the seemingly deserted morgue
"Catherine?" The sound of the Coroner's voice echoed around the still, stark room, making it hard to locate, but Sara was already heading to the furthest corner, having pinpointed the location perfectly
"Black, no sugar thanks Doc" said Sara conversationally
"Don't sneak up on an old Coroner like that thank you" countered Robbins surprisingly primly
"Sorry, I'll stamp my feet next time"
"You do that and I'll tap dance for you. Here's your coffee" The seemingly morbid humour that the two shared always caught the others slightly off guard, Catherine especially. Rarely did anyone on the graveyard shift mention either Sara's paraplegia or Doc Robbins's amputated legs, not only out of politeness, but also because they were no longer noticed as being anything out of the ordinary, being as much part now of the landscape of the shift as, say, the endless cups of coffee and fingerprint powder. The exception to this though, was the two individuals themselves, often having a joke at either their own or each other's expense about their physical condition, finding some parity and kinship from their situations. Catherine had never yet had the courage to ask Sara or the Doc to explain, instead just accepting that, in the same way that she had unique and special histories with Warrick and Jim Brass, so too did her lover and the Coroner.
"You got some new beans?" queried Sara, enjoying the aroma of the luxurious blend
"Yes, Jamaican Blue Mountain. Old friend from med school sent me them when he heard about my coffee maker. Makes a good cup" Together, they both took a sip, seemingly oblivious to Catherine
"Hmm, that's good" agreed Sara, before passing the cup to Catherine so that her hands were free to manoeuvre around the morgue once more. This also allowed Catherine to sneak some of Sara's coffee. For some reason, the Doc's private machine was only offered to Sara, and Grissom before her, a sort of Supervisor's privilege, although Sara didn't seem to mind sharing her mug if ever they were down there together. In fact, as Sara had idly noted one day, she was only offered coffee when either visiting the morgue on her own or with Catherine, suggesting an expectation of sharing, something Catherine claimed was more a resignation to sharing, since she was never offered coffee outright.
"Sorry I didn't reply to your page, I was under a tanker at the time"
"No problem. You finding anything much?"
"Yes. There is a report from the manufacturer, with burn tests supervised by CSI San Francisco showing how the tanker's steering could have failed due to mechanical failure caused by defects. If we can find evidence of the same two faults, we have a reasonable case for defective manufacture" explained Sara, summarising the CSI work that had been going on whilst the Coroner's Office worked with the labs to identify and release the remains
"And what would be evidence?" asked the Coroner, settling comfortably against his desk
"I've just found that the other truck bought at the same time and so apparently made with exactly the same batch of parts, has one of the two faults found by the manufacturer. If Catherine finds the evidence collected matches the controlled burns by the manufacturer, and I can find the second fault in the second tanker, we have a case for mechanical failure."
"You found the fault?" asked Catherine, not having known why Sara had called for the second tanker to be brought in
"Yes, just now, before you got me."
"So there could be a civil case brought against the manufacturer?"
"That depends on what you can tell me Doc"
"Absolutely nothing"
"Excuse me?"
"Having performed as much of a post on each of the drivers as I can, given the extensive temperatures the bodies were exposed to in the explosion and resulting infernos, I can find no evidence of anything except slight presence of a medication used to control angina in the driver of the school bus. Otherwise, there is nothing to suggest that any of these drivers shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a vehicle."
"Does the angina give any probable cause?" queried Sara, accepting the summaries the Coroner offered her
"No. The dosage found is in line with what the driver's medical records show and would not have affected driving ability."
"And the hydrogen tanker driver was fully fit?"
"For a tanker driver, I would say incredibly so. As far as I can tell, from both autopsy and medical records, he was physically fit and healthy, with a good diet and plenty of exercise. I can find no medical reason that would contribute to the crash."
"Thank you Doc"
"Would you like to see the bodies Sara?"
"Is there anything remarkable?"
"Not unless you want a refresher in 3rd degree burns and amputation by explosion" replied the coroner matter-of-factly
"Ok. How are the others coming?"
"Quite well, we should be finished, by this time tomorrow. Most of the DNA matches are back, so I just have to do the posts. There is one that is causing some problems though"
"Oh?" Catherine was keeping quiet, understanding that her presence here was accidental and due entirely to being needed to find Sara, so instead she just listened, enjoying her second cup of Sara's coffee for the shift.
"Yes. It's two brothers."
"Marty and Toby Jackson?" queried Sara immediately
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Identical twins. DNA matches didn't differentiate between the brothers. I noticed it when we were running the samples upstairs."
"Quite. I've got David working on it now. About an hour ago he finally found something we could use"
"What?"
"Marty had had a tooth extracted"
"So their dental records were different"
"Yes, but more than that. He had been on antibiotics, giving different blood work between the two brothers, so we can determine beyond a doubt as to who was who."
"Good, I'm glad" stated Sara with feeling, genuinely pleased that they had found a way to distinguish between the two forwards, the brothers unsurprisingly being identical, not only genetically, but also in basketball ability and position.
"It's all in the reports you'll get tomorrow, along with why I've banned Hodges from ever stepping foot in here again"
"Hodges?"
"He brought the results about the antibiotics down from Trace"
"And you banned him?"
"I had good reason"
"I'm sure, what was it?" asked Sara gently, hardly surprised that the punctilious but aggravating lab technician had offended the coroner
"He made some comment about it not mattering if we got the brothers right, that as long as we got the right number of limbs in each box no one would know."
"I see"
"I don't know what it's like upstairs, but I can only imagine that the Trace Lab with their Petri dishes and scrapings seems rather isolated from real people, but down here, it's different."
"I agree Doc. I'm sorry you had to deal with that"
"He's not coming in here again" repeated the Coroner, surprisingly vehemently for the normally mild mannered Doctor
"Agreed. Believe me Al, if I had my way, he wouldn't come into these labs again either."
"I know Sara, I just thought I'd tell you before he said something"
"Thanks for the heads up Doc, and I'm sorry you had to suffer him at all"
"Don't worry about it, it's not like the Jackson family heard him. Did you enjoy the coffee Catherine?" asked the Doc pointedly, signalling that topic was closed
"Yes thank you, it was delicious"
"You drank all my coffee?" asked Sara indignantly
"I didn't want to insult the Doc's high quality brew by letting it go cold"
"Good girl. Sara, you'll get another cup sometime. Catherine, a pleasure as always"
"Thanks for the update Doc, you need anymore CSI help on this one?"
"No, I think we're done with you now. I'll send the reports up when they're finished, probably mid morning Thursday."
"Thanks"
"See you around ladies" countered the Coroner politely, before heading back towards where David was quietly working in a corner, the morgue's only 'patients' at present.
Replacing the mug on the desk, Catherine and Sara retraced their steps back to the labs, both deep in thought about the case and the universally least popular lab technician.
As Catherine's footsteps echoed through the deserted corridors, Sara rarely and unusually for her, suddenly felt the need to break their silence. If that wasn't strange enough, she wanted to not talk about work either….
"Linds' parents evening's coming up soon, right?"
"Hmm?" Catherine was slightly startled from her thoughts by Sara's small talk
"Linds, she has a parents evening soon, this week?"
"Friday, 8pm. It shouldn't take more than an hour, unless she's done something disastrous"
"I'll make sure you're on call then, and not called" offered Sara conversationally, expecting Catherine to agree like she always did
"You're not coming?"
"Was I supposed to?" asked Sara gently, turning into her office and waiting to close the door behind Catherine. The moments when she lost her focus at the labs were few, but when they did occur, she much preferred that they happened in the privacy of her office and that the company was limited to Catherine
"I don't know…" confessed Catherine, sinking into the relatively comfortable chair that Sara kept in her office
"Has Linds said anything?" asked Sara, guiding her chair around her sparsely furnished office so that she was strategically placed to give Catherine a neck rub as they talked
"She asked me the other day if you were working on Friday."
"Ah" Once Sara became established full time as the graveyard supervisor, a delicate juggling act had begun in order that Lindsey would have full time parents, visible full time parents, with both Sara and Catherine being equally responsible as far as the school was concerned. Daytime events were easy to accommodate, with sleep generally being the only thing sacrificed by Sara and Catherine in order to attend the various events and occasions. Evening events took more careful planning.
"I told her that we both were, but that I would definitely be at her evening, although she understands I may have to have my stuff with me, just in case."
"But you know you'd never need it?" queried Sara, her tone adamant
"Yes sweetheart, I know that you would move heaven, earth and the San Andreas Fault before calling me in if I'm on call but with Lindsey. She was ok with me being there….but it sounds like she wants you too"
"Oh. Is she ok?"
"I think so – she hasn't said anything. Maybe she's just done extra well this year and wants us both to find out, together?" asked Catherine, trying to keep a positive light on the situation
"Maybe"
"She hasn't said anything about wanting you there, it was just, well, an impression I got" admitted Catherine carefully, knowing how sensitive Sara could be when they were talking about Lindsey's general welfare and happiness.
"I'll be there" decided Sara firmly after a moment's thought. Catherine recognised the tone. It was the tone that suggested that Sara had her mind firmly made up, and that nothing Catherine would say or do would change her mind.
"I know it's not expected, and I'm sure it will be appreciated" said Catherine simply, resigning herself to the fact that, lovely as it was to sit in a chair and have Sara give her a neck rub, they both had evidence to worry about. Reaching up, she rested her hands on Sara's, holding them still on her shoulders, a silent affirmation of love and appreciation. A moment later, Sara eased her hands out from Catherine's gentle grasp, their intimate communication needing neither sight nor sound, only touch. Smiling, Catherine let her own hands drop as she eased up out of the chair
"You're heading back to the garage?"
"In a minute, I have some new papers it seems" commented Sara, noticing the arrival of two new folders on her desk
"Stop by on your way down there? I think I might have found something by then, and I'd like to see what you're finding in the garage?" Their moment was gone, replaced by their collected professionalism
"Sure, you think you'll have something?"
"I'd better. I'm down to four potential bits. I'd just sent the tests to trace when Robbins rang me. Hopefully, the results should be back and I will have the piece of the jigsaw we need."
"Great!" Smiling a radiant smile, Sara let her true feelings show, bathing Catherine in a warm glow of love. Smiling in return, Catherine turned on her heel and headed back to work. Her lover may at times be the stereotypical 'strong and silent' type, but her smiles….they were magical, and worth more words than Catherine could ever offer.
"Sara?"
"Come in Warrick" offered Sara, not looking up from her report until she'd finished the section she'd been reading, something that all her colleagues had long been used to. Untroubled, Warrick came into the office and settled in the chair which had, minutes earlier, been occupied by Catherine
"So?" asked Sara as she shifted her focus from her report to her colleague
"So, I've found the evidence on the axel to support the manufacturer's theory" stated Warrick without preamble
"The grooves were still clear after the explosion?"
"Perfectly clear" confirmed Warrick, opening his folder and placing some photographs on Sara's desk for her to look at
"Good, thank you"
"How's Catherine doing?" Whilst Nick and Greg had ended up taking fresh cases, Warrick had moved from the morgue to the garages, processing the larger pieces of evidence collected from the scene, like the axels and chassis, as Catherine worked under the microscopes looking for the melted plastic residues.
"Good. She's just waiting on the results from her four best probable pieces"
"And then it's the manufacturer's fault?" asked Warrick
"And then it's not a criminal case" amended Sara slightly
"Ok. You need my report in a rush?"
"Robbins isn't sending his until next shift. You can do yours for then too, unless you fancy more overtime?" asked Sara, teasing slightly
"Not really. I quite like the idea of some good music, a cold beer and a warm bed after this"
"Sounds like a great dream"
"I heard the Sheriff shouted before shift started" offered Warrick conversationally, correctly reading Sara's mood as being amendable to a short gossip
"I think everyone heard the Sheriff shouting"
"About us not solving this in a single shift?"
"Yes"
"How's Day Shift doing?"
"Read the report!" said Sara, tossing a folder across her desk to Warrick, who intrigued at her unusual behaviour, opened the file intrigued
"It's empty!"
"Correct"
"They know nothing?"
"No"
"Not even how it happened?"
"They have no evidence, no ideas, no leads or clues, and crucially, as far as Mobley is concerned, no press"
"That's what Greg said"
"How does Greg…oh, lab rat grapevine?"
"Archie was telling him. Most of the techs feel that it's getting a bit of a joke…"
"A joke?"
"Oceans Eleven?" Warrick sat back in his chair and waited to see what response he got. Sara, like Grissom before her, was at times a little hit and miss on her contemporary cultural references
"Sinatra, bunch of other guys, the perfect Las Vegas scam?"
"The original yeah. You never seen the remake?"
"Julia Roberts isn't her type" came the droll remark from the doorway
"What, redheads?" asked Warrick, turning with some bemusement towards Catherine, who had now joined them in the office
"She hasn't seen it Warrick, but I have. What's the relevance?"
"Day Shift's case?" Warrick waited for the proverbial light bulb to come on
"Oh my God!" exclaimed Catherine
"What?" asked Sara, frustrated to be out of the loop
"The remake of Oceans Eleven. The plot was the perfect casino robbery, stealing $160 million dollars from the single vault that serviced the three big strip casinos owned by the same guy…." Explained Warrick, only to be interrupted by Sara
"Day Shift's case appears to be the perfect crime, hitting three vaults, all owned by Sam Braun"
"Do Day Shift appreciate irony?" asked Catherine
"Clara certainly can't" muttered Sara, still faintly irritated that she had been caught by that idiotic CSI on Saturday
"The techs certainly have" offered Warrick nonchalantly
"Do I want to know?" asked Sara suspiciously, although her eyes sparkled at the idea of a practical joke in the offing
"Probably not. Nick and I are handling it"
"Handling it?"
"Making sure they wear gloves" he explained cryptically, a grin on his face, before changing the subject
"Your probable 4 turned into a perfect one Catherine?"
"Home run. Results match to the report from CSI San Francisco – I have proof of mechanical failure"
"As do I" stated Warrick proudly
"And the Doc hasn't any cause to disagree."
"We've done it?" asked Catherine in disbelief
"Yes, we've done it" confirmed Sara
"That's it?" asked Warrick, sounding a little bemused at the lack of fanfare or 'bang'. For such a big case, it certainly ended on a whimper
"Once you've written your reports it is" confirmed Sara, understanding Warrick's feeling
"Report, yeah"
"Anticlimatic, isn't it?" asked Sara, understanding how sometimes the feeling of closing of their case came with the snapping of cuffs on a guilty suspect, rather than the signing off on reports
"Yeah, it just feels…." Warrick failed to find the word he wanted, only for it to be supplied by Catherine
"A relief"
"Yeah. There are some things you just don't want to think of as crimes. I'm not glad the crash was caused by something as unnecessary as the steering failing…." Began Warrick carefully, choosing his words as he tried to express what he was feeling, his gaze rooted firmly on the single photograph that graced Sara's shelves, the photograph of her, Catherine and Lindsey, out in the park
"….but am really glad that that driver's family know he was trying to stop. It would take a particular person to deliberately do this, a sick person……I'm just glad …" Warrick really didn't know how to finish his thought. Running his hand through his hair, he looked away from the image of the two women to look at them, his close friends. They weren't looking at him or the photograph, but were looking instead at each other, listening to him but also he knew, to each other. Standing quietly, Warrick decided to leave….it didn't matter that he hadn't found all the words he wanted, hadn't finished his thought. His friends knew what he was trying to say. There were times when they didn't need to say anything, and often, those were the best times, the times when the evidence said it for them.
"You sure Sofia's got a sense of humour?"
"You're the guy who's worked with her" responded Nick pragmatically, reaching for the thumb tacks
"Don't worry Archie, we'll be fine" reassured Bobby, as he set up the DVD player that they'd 'borrowed' from the AV lab
"You're sure?" asked Archie, his nerves not stopping him from helping Bobby get the connections right between TV and player
"Sure. Anyways, it takes two supervisors to fire you, and there's no way Sara would do that to us"
"Yeah, Sara's cool" Archie relaxed
"We just got posters?" asked Nick, straightening up and stepping back to survey his handwork
"And the DVD loop that Archie's made" confirmed Greg from the other side of the break room
"Oh?"
"Yeah, it's a looped playback that plays the bits where they talk about the casinos and money"
"And they can't stop it?"
"Not easily, no" agreed Archie, quietly proud of his handiwork
"Unless they pull the plug" observed Bobby, waving the power feed at his fellow lab tech
"Yeah, there is that" conceded Archie, frowning
"Don't worry Arch, it'll be fine. Unlike ballistic Bobby here, they won't think so fatalistic for at least twenty minutes" reassured Nick, pinning up another poster
"Yeah, and even if it's only for 5 minutes, it will be enough to get their faces" stated Greg gleefully, as he carefully positioned the web-cam where Archie had told him would be best, on top of the TV screen, obscured slightly by a haphazard heap of remote controls and games system controllers.
"That's hooked up to your laptop?" asked Nick, gesturing at the small camera
"Yes. It's transmitting to my laptop, which, once I've turned it on, will record video. I can then edit the video, make stills, anything really….." Archie trailed off, not quite sure what else to add
"Nothing more than stills Archie; we're playing with them, not kicking them" came the decisive statement from Warrick as he too joined in the conversation, having entered the break room part way through Archie's comment
"You talk to Sara?"
"Yeah"
"And?" Nick was eager to hear the outcome
"And Julia Robert's not her type" came the cryptic response
"Huh?" Greg was confused
"She's not seen the remake. Catherine and I filled her in. She knows, in a not knowing kind of way" explained Warrick, casting his eye over the newly decorated break room, with every available surface covered in Ocean's Eleven (the remake with George Clooney) posters and screen captures, all showing elements of the film whose premise was the perfect Las Vegas casino robbery, of not one casino, but three.
"She say anything?"
"Only that Clara wouldn't get the irony"
"How true" agreed Nick, snapping off his latex gloves, an indication that he thought they were done.
"Are they really nowhere near breaking their case?" asked Greg, also removing his gloves and joining Warrick and Nick in the doorway. After all, there was no point leaving any evidence of their participation in the prank.
"Apparently, the file's blank. They've got no clue, no evidence, no money, nothing"
"And no press, so no Mobley shouting at them" reasoned Nick, recalling what he'd heard about the Sheriff's behaviour to Sara at the start of their shift.
"Not that he's got much to shout about now"
"Oh?" Nick turned to Warrick, expecting an elaboration
"Yeah, once Sara's got all the reports from us, she's closing the case. Steering failure due to faulty manufacture"
"It's closed?" asked Archie, now satisfied his computer-wizardry would work
"Yeah, it's closed" confirmed Warrick, understanding the looks of disbelief on his colleagues' faces
"That's it?" asked Greg, verbalising the shock they all felt
"Yeah, that's it"
"What happens now?" asked Bobby, trying not to recall the endless bags of evidence he'd watch leave the scene, or the smell of burning that had hung heavy in the air, hours after the flames had long been extinguished.
Sensing his mood and the need for distraction, Nick, being the first to gather his wits, slapped Bobby on the back and began to head out of the break room, encouraging the group with him
"We head out to breakfast. Shift's over, and we've got comedy to watch!"
Laughing and joking, the five men left the decorated break room, already arguing about where they were going to go. That they were taking Archie's laptop so that they could watch the fun as Day Shift arrived in the break room was a given. That they were leaving shift an hour early was also understood. These last few days had seen nights off cancelled and overtime worked, not only by the CSIs but also the techs. Any cases now could wait the twenty minutes or so until Day Shift started arriving; graveyard was done. They'd cracked their case: time to start again on new ones…. next shift.
"You ready to go home?" asked Catherine quietly, silhouetted in the doorway of Sara's office.
"Hmm?" Sara seemed to jump slightly as she swung her head round towards the door, evidently lost in thought.
"You ok?" asked Catherine, concerned. She came further into the office, closing the door behind her.
"I'm fine" stated Sara, her voice drawling slightly, a sure clue for her lover that she was anything but.
"You wanna talk about it?" asked Catherine quietly, coming around the desk so that she could lean against it, right next to Sara's chair.
Wearily, Sara smiled sadly. Reaching out for one of Catherine's hands, she said
"How did you know?"
"Love" came the simple reply, prompting Sara to look up at Catherine. The warm glow from the desk light, the only soft yellow light in an otherwise harshly lit building bathed Sara's face, softening her features, mellowing the dark shadows under her eyes, accentuating the tenderness of her small smile. Smiling back at her, Catherine cupped Sara's face with her free hand, before leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Sara's lips.
"Come on, you need some sleep"
"I just need to…" as Sara tried to protest her sleepiness, about to claim she just needed to read one more file, she was interrupted by a huge yawn.
"You just need to sleep Sara" suggested Catherine tenderly, stroking Sara's cheek, watching as the soothing motion was enough to start to make her lover's eyes droop. Placing kiss on Sara's forehead, Catherine leant down and released the brakes on Sara's chair, before moving around so that she could push it.
"Let's go home" repeated Catherine, waiting for some signal from Sara that she was in agreement. Long ago, Catherine had sworn that she would never take advantage of Sara's wheelchair in any way, and that included the fact that she could push Sara around, literally.
Reaching forwards, Sara turned off the desk light, plunging the sparsely furnished office into darkness, before asking tiredly
"Take me home?"
Running her hand through the long dark tresses in a soothing gesture, Catherine didn't need to be asked twice, immediately pulling the chair back from the desk and steering her lover out of the office, heading for home.
And SVU Part 1