DISCLAIMER: CSI and its characters are the property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.
SERIES: Eighth part of the 'Sara & Catherine: The Unfinished Story' series.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Sara & Catherine: The Unfinished Story
By MBInc
Chapter 8: Inside Man –Part One
While Catherine and Sara left for home, Brass walked towards Grissom's office. He was ready to give that man a piece of his mind. He knew that he was close to losing his temper, and Grissom was the one to blame.
The Captain never had suspected that Grissom would react the way he did. And since Brass felt so strongly for Sara and her well-being he decided he would take on the fatherly role and point out to Grissom that his behavior was way out of line.
The door to Grissom's office stood ajar, and as Brass was about to enter he noticed the broken appearance of the graveyard shift supervisor. Seeing this he knew Grissom was already hurting from the inside.
So, he decided not to jeopardize his job, and turned to leave. He knew that if he had talked to Grissom he might not be able to restrain himself.
Sitting in Sara's car, Catherine intently observed the brunette as she was driving towards her apartment. She noticed the clenched jaw, the white knuckles –revealing the death-grip she had on the wheel.
Trying to get Sara to ease up a little, Catherine placed her hand on the younger woman's thigh and started stroking with her thumb –a gesture that had the desired effect, because the minute her hand touched Sara, she noticed who the brunette relaxed.
Sara's mind kept replaying what had happened in Grissom's office…she hadn't expected him to react the way he did, and unconsciously she was wondering what he had actually wanted to say to her about Catherine.
Stopping for a traffic light, Sara turned to face the strawberry blonde. Meeting the two blue pools that were watching her, and feeling the strawberry blonde's touch soon all thoughts about their boss were lost and the only thing she craved for were those delicate lips in front of her.
Leaning over, she placed her hand in Catherine's hair, tugging her closer before engaging their lips in a crushing kiss. She hoped Catherine would understand she didn't want to talk about what had happened in Grissom's office…And Catherine did.
Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of Catherine's house. After Sara had kissed the strawberry blonde while waiting at the traffic light, both of the women felt the need for more. More touching, more kissing. So, when they finally entered the house they immediately grabbed hold of each other –as if their very lives depended on it.
Just as they were inside Sara's cell phone rang. Entangling one of her arms from Catherine's hair, Sara grabbed the phone and let out a sigh of frustration before answering.
"Sidle."
"Sara, it's Jim. I'm sorry to disturb you, but something has happened at the LVU dorm."
A concerned look came onto her face, and a bad feeling settled in her stomach. "Sophie?! Is she ok?" she asked.
"The bastard came back to finish things, but he failed. She's at the hospital at the moment. She…"
But before Brass could finish he was interrupted by Sara "I'm on my way." Not waiting for the Captain's response Sara ended the call.
"Catherine," Sara said, "Could you please go to the hospital for me?"
"Hospital? Why?" Catherine asked, not knowing what was going on.
"The case I'm working on, at the LVU dorm?"
Catherine nodded, urging the brunette to continue.
"Well Brass just called, apparently the perp came back for Sophie, the girlfriend of the first victim. I need you to go to her, make sure she's ok, I need to process her room…again." Sara sighed before adding that last part.
"Sure, no problem." Catherine replied as she watched Sara grabbing all her stuff and headed for the door. Just before the brunette walked out Catherine spoke up
"You know I love you, right?"
This statement stopped Sara who turned around, a big smile on her face. "Of course," she started as she took a step back towards the strawberry blonde "And I love you." she added before claiming Catherine's lips once more.
"We'll finish this later." she added, a sneaky smile on her face as she looked at the breathless woman in her arms, then she walked off.
Arriving at the LVU dorm, again, Sara grabbed her kit, and dreaded what she was going to be met with when she would enter the room.
Walking through the hall she saw Brass standing outside the door, talking to an officer. As he noticed Sara coming his way he walked over.
"How's Sophie?" was the first thing the brunette asked the detective.
"She's one tough lady." Brass said "She put up one hell of a fight, that's what saved her. This time it was the perp that got hit on the head with a candlestick. Paramedics said she has broken her arm, and that she possibly has a mild concussion."
He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh before he continued. "Before she was able to knock the perp, he banged her against the closet. After that he started beating her with some kind of bat."
Seeing Sara's eyes fill with sadness and anger, Brass knew Sara's investigative mind was already working on solving this case. "Sara, will you be able to handle this?" He asked, knowing how certain cases could get to the brunette.
"Yes Jim. I need to do this." She answered, her mind set on nailing the bastard who did this.
She had to, especially after what happened to Sophie already –losing her girlfriend. So she was determined that nothing or no one could get her off this case. She would bring justice for Chris and Sophie.
"Alright then." Brass said as he switched back from his fatherly protectiveness to the professionalism his job required. "Signs of forced entry, room's a mess."
Sara nodded as she inspected the tool marks near the lock of the door. Taking photographs of the marks she noticed something embedded in one of the scratches.
Taking tweezers out of her kit, she carefully picked the fiber that was stuck in the deep groove. It was dark blue, and apparently it was transferred from the tool into the groove.
After sealing the fiber in an envelope, and placing it in her kit, Sara continued with processing the door.
The tool marks itself seemed to match those of a screwdriver. When she had made a mould of one of the marks, she checked the door handle, and the area around it, for fingerprints.
Finding about a dozen prints she let out a sigh. These were probably going to be of no help…but you could never know what might turn up once they were pulled through AFIS.
Now entering the room she saw all the signs of the struggle that had taken place. Apparently Sophie had been slammed pretty hard against the closet as there was blood smudged against one side of it.
On the ground lay a candlestick –similar to the one used to kill Christine with. But this time the blood on it wasn't from the victim. No, this time it was the perp who got a taste of his own medicine.
An hour later, Sara had photographed and collected all the evidence, and headed –together with Brass- for the hospital.
The ride to the hospital was silent and Sara felt the urge to say something to Brass. To thank him for being so supportive about her relationship with Catherine. So when she stopped at a traffic light she turned to face the Captain, who she was seeing as being her father more and more these days.
"We really appreciate your support, Jim. Thank you a lot."
"No thanks needed, why wouldn't I be supportive. Even an old man like me can see you two are happy together." he said as a small smile came onto his face.
"Yeah, well not everybody is as open-minded as you." Sara said, sarcasm noticeable in her voice.
Brass instantly knew who Sara was talking about. "As soon as he starts to bug you, you tell me and I'll make sure he'll never bother you two again."
"Whoa easy Jim. That almost sounded like a threat."
"Well, he shouldn't act like such a prick. Besides, you know you're like a daughter to me…so it's what dads do…watch out for their little ones."
Sara was touched by Brass' words and was completely in awe about the sincerity she heard in his voice.
"Well then," she started as she moved over to hug him "thanks pops."
"No problem kiddo."
Ten minutes later they arrived at Desert Palms Hospital. Making their way through the busy halls of the hospital, they were discussing the things that needed to be done.
"…right before the paramedics took her along she said she had seen the perp, had seen his face. She told me she recognized the face." Brass said.
"Then I guess we should try to get a sketch artist to work with her. If it was someone she recognized, it could be someone from the LVU…student…teacher…anyone on or near campus."
Reaching the door to the room where Sophie was in, Sara stopped just outside –looking in through the window she saw the girl lying on the bed. She was awake, and they were just finished with putting a cast around her left arm.
Next to the bed sat a woman Sara hadn't seen before, but seeing the similarities in their features, that woman had to be Sophie's mother. Worry was written all over the woman's face, as she watched the doctors working on her daughter's arm.
"I'll go talk to her first," Brass started "To see if she's able to make a statement."
Sara nodded, her eyes still fixed on the Sophie. "Brass?" she called after him just before he entered. He turned around, his brows raised expectantly.
"Her mother doesn't know about…about her and Christine."
"I'll keep that in mind." he nodded.
As Brass entered the room, Sara felt a hand on her shoulder.
To Be Continued in 'Inside Man –Part Two'