DISCLAIMER: CSI is the property of CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have just spent a very enjoyable 4 days writing a
Sara/Sofia story. Like you I enjoyed L's first four takes on this
convoluted tale and we shared a few emails around our different
styles of writing. She challenged me to write *her* story in my
style. So, here it is: the plot is L's, the story is L's, the style is mine
(ours), the part is ours.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
So Sure We Were On To Something:
Take Five
Series By L.
Story By Debbie
1.
"We need to talk. I'm sorry for you know, I should never…"
"Yeah, but I wanted you to. You on the other hand…"
"I wanted it too"
"Yeah, it's that…"
"Yeah"
"Whatever… this is not about us, right? This is not our story."
"No, it's not… this is about me and Sofia."
2.
Sofia came in search of Sara. As more often than not she found her hard at work. Sara was nothing if not intent on her work. She cleared her throat to alert Sara to her presence.
"Hey Sara, want to get a beer."
"Um, I'm working, this old woman's lost her most treasured possession and I must find it for her."
"Tomorrow, huh?"
Sara glanced at her watch, seeing it was well past shift end. She grinned at Sofia.
"You paying?"
"There's a Miller Light with your name on at Al's."
"Wow! Last of the big spenders, huh? Give me a second to mark these in order and I'll be there."
Sitting at the bar, dragging deeply at her beer, Sofia took a moment to look at Sara. Their relationship had followed the most convoluted up and down path from enemies to friends to attempted lovers to enemies to friends and where? Where were they now?
Sara glanced upwards; she could feel Sofia's eyes glaring an imprint on her face.
"What?"
"You care for Catherine?"
"Huh? No!"
Her immediate denial was met by a stony silence from her companion. Somehow Sara knew this was going to be one of her tests in this journey she had going with the detective. If she wanted to move forward she had to be honest.
"Um, she absolutely drives me up the wall and me her… yet, there's something draws me to her. You know the theory better than me sometimes, opposites attract. Usually, we use our antagonism to solve crimes; sometimes we use it to do something stupid."
Sofia continued to stare into Sara's eyes.
"I've been suspended, she's been suspended. I went off with a two- timing buffoon; she's had more boy toys than I've had hot dinners. We've nearly come to blows and we've… well you know that one." A sheepish embarrassed look crossed Sara's face but she soldiered on.
"But never have I wanted to share stupid films, my culinary skills and bottled beer with her. Never."
Sara reached for Sofia's hand, "Sofia, I can't take back what I did, I can't take back the hurt I caused you but I can apologise and I can promise it will never happen again. I don't do the same mistake twice. Never."
Sofia could see the truth of that statement in Sara's eyes. She smiled.
"In that case, can we start again? Please?"
Daring to believe this time it might be right, Sara nodded.
"Yeah, I think we can but this time we take it slow, ok?"
Sofia grinned.
3.
Catherine was just finishing up for the day. She was already running late but when a child victim needed special treatment she was always willing to give a hand. The fact Brass had asked so nicely, saying that Nick thought she would be the expert, boosting her fragile ego had made her, she glanced at her watch, four hours late leaving.
The phone in her pocket began to vibrate. Sighing, she looked at the caller display, saw 'Sofia Curtis', and almost put the phone back in her pocket. It was too soon after her 'talk' with Sara to be facing that woman. Yet, somehow, curiosity got the better of her.
"Catherine Willows."
"Hey! Will you do me a favour?"
Catherine was incredulous, "Me? Do you a favour?"
"Yeah, I know, I don't know who else to ask. It's just… um…"
Suddenly Sofia had second thoughts about what she was going to ask but if she didn't do this now she didn't know what else to do.
"Come on, Sofia, I have some boy toy or other waiting to be corrupted."
The sarcasm crackled over the telephone line. Today, Sofia was in no mood for a contest. She sighed.
"Catherine."
The emptiness of that reply stopped Catherine in her tracks.
"Ok, ok, go on." Then, loud enough that Sofia heard, she muttered, "I just know I'm going to regret this."
"It's Sara, she's still there." Catherine glanced at her watch. "Will you ask… no, wait, will you tell her to come home."
Sofia could almost see Catherine's raised eyebrow.
"You trust me to tell her?"
"No, not at all, but hell I don't know who else to trust. I certainly don't trust Sara."
"You don't trust her. How the hell do you expect her…"
Sofia cut Catherine's flow with an angry retort.
"Don't, don't go there. Just tell her to get the fuck home or…"
"Or what? What are…"
"Catherine, please."
Once again the mood silently being expressed got to Catherine. She sighed in exasperation.
"Ok, ok."
The CSI cut the connection and started down the corridor, glancing in every lab but knowing instinctively where to find her colleague.
Sure enough the brunette was deep in concentration over the lay-out table. Catherine could never understand Sara's obsession with pouring over crime-scene photographs, yet she had to admit the times she had shared that method with Sara had resulted in some of their more successful deductions.
She popped her head around the door and cleared her throat.
Sara looked up, surprised to see Catherine; she raised her eyebrow in question.
"Sofia just called; you've to get the fuck home."
Sara sighed and looked at her photographs, avoiding eye contact with Catherine.
"I can't do this, Catherine, not now."
"Me neither, Sara, me neither. Just go home, huh?"
4.
Sara and Sofia leaned solidly against each others shoulders, containers of Chinese take-out sitting half empty on the nearby coffee table. The two women were leaning comfortably against Sofia's sturdy two-seater.
It had been a slow laborious process but the friendship aspect was beginning to flow once more. Sara had heard Sofia's words of before and deliberately kept herself as relaxed as was possible for her.
There had been no heavy conversations and no movies with hidden messages and, Sara had to agree, it had worked. They were comfortable.
Tonight was a perfect example of their closeness; feeding each other the different dishes while chatting amicably about work, their fitness regimes, their colleagues; everything. Almost everything, there were still a couple of taboo subjects; the obvious one and Sara's past.
Now, it was time to sit back and enjoy the movie, and maybe move forward to slightly more than a hug.
"So, what're we watching tonight, Sara?"
"Fried Green Tomatoes."
Sofia smiled to herself; she remembered going to see this movie with her first girlfriend, they'd argued for hours about the merits of Mary Stuart versus Mary-Louise, this would be interesting.
They enjoyed the film in quiet contemplation, Sara occasionally enthusing about the idyllic feeling being portrayed, Sofia occasionally enthusing about Mary Stuart Masterson. Every time she did this Sara got an odd look on her face which Sofia prayed was jealousy but wasn't sure.
"So, Sara, why this movie tonight?"
"Um, well, I think it's you and me."
Sofia's eyebrows started up towards her hairline, "Huh?"
"Yeah, best friends, almost family, if you want."
The blonde watched her companion carefully, surprised to see earnest seriousness in the eyes staring right back at her. Afraid to spoil this wonderful evening by pointing out the painfully obvious to Sara, she gave a mental shrug and toned down her response.
"Are you sure about that, Sara?"
"What, that they're best friends? Oh yeah, look how Idgie and Ruth bring up Stump together and how they work in perfect harmony at the café. Look how Ninny and Evelyn share such deep conversations that Evelyn turns her life around. Definitely family. You don't think so?"
"Well yeah, sure, but don't you think Idgie and Ruth are a little more than best friends?"
"No. What do you mean?"
"It's not unusual that they share a house, share a business, share a son…?"
"You mean because Idgie's so much younger?"
"Well no, not really. Look, look at this food-fight, isn't that different?"
"There's nothing wrong with a food fight between friends, is there?"
Sara threw a Wonton at Sofia, chuckling when she blinked in outraged surprise.
"No, I guess you're right, accept a cracker."
The movie was forgotten as both women worked out the stresses of their day in the very childish abandonment of a food fight. Eventually Sofia called things to a halt. Grabbing Sara's hand to pull her into standing, she surveyed her living room.
"Best friends, huh? Well best friends help clean away the mess of their friendship, so get your ass in gear and help me tidy this lot away. Once it's sided we can go to bed."
"Sofia?"
"To sleep, hon, we've got a busy shift ahead and you're not driving home after drinking. What sort of police officer do you think I am?"
Everything in the dishwater or on the side till later, Sara hung back unsure of where she would be sleeping. Sofia guided her towards her bedroom, pushing a pair of boxers and a tank into her hands.
"Bathroom's through there, but you know that already, bed's in there, I'm on the left as usual." Then seeing Sara's incredulous look, she winked and added in a low voice, "Until I move anyway."
After what felt like a safe amount of time Sara entered the bedroom, saw that Sofia was already on her side, apparently dozing, and climbed in beside her.
"Goodnight, Sofia."
"Night Sara."
Sofia switched off the bedside light and sunk down with a heavy sigh.
Sara was just sinking into a light sleep when she heard some words that made her smile.
"You really ought to read Fannie Flagg's book, you know. Best friends indeed."
5.
Sara woke from a deep sleep. Glancing around the unfamiliar bedroom she began to panic, then settled immediately when she smelt the unmistakable scent that was Sofia. She opened her eyes to take in the sight of the beautiful blonde and allowed herself the luxury of a stolen caress as she swept Sofia's hair behind her ear.
Closing her eyes again, she smiled at the comfortable feeling of being beside someone who cared and who was cared for. Relaxing into the moment she started to panic and abruptly swung her legs around, ready to flee.
A quiet voice and a warm hand stopped her.
"Don't go, Sara, it's cosy, the two of us."
Sofia wrapped her free arm around Sara, the one that wasn't stopping her from bolting, and pulled her body in close.
Sara allowed herself to sink into the warmth for a few blissful moments but soon felt Sofia's hold change. It was almost imperceptible but Sara felt Sofia's body stiffen in rejection. This time she allowed the panic win.
Jumping out of bed like a scalded kitten, she dressed, and headed to the kitchen to make coffee. As Sofia showered she sipped thoughtfully on her drink until the other woman came slowly into the room.
Sara stood, indicated the brew waiting for Sofia, kissed her on the cheek, and mumbled, "Thank you."
Sofia quietly watched the brunette leave.
6.
Catherine walked towards the lay-out room, surprised to see Sara once more hunched over the table looking at photographs.
Walking on by she suddenly came to a stop. Life was too short to bear grudges and she knew that she and Sara were the best damn CSI's in the building. Well that was her theory; she was sure the guys would and should disagree. Maybe she could help Sara get finished whatever she was doing, maybe help her get home on time.
Popping her head around the doorframe she asked, "Hey Sara, do you need another pair of eyes?"
"Naw, it's ok, I've got it."
"Come on, Sara, let me look, you might be able to get home a little earlier."
"I'm good, Cath, got nothing better to do, I'd rather be here than sitting at home on my own."
Catherine grimaced, she'd thought that Sofia was back in Sara's life, maybe she'd been wrong.
"I thought she was back on the scene."
"Um, yeah, she is, we're friends. Friends don't have to spend every minute of the day in each others pockets."
"Friends my ass, *lovers* have to spend time together, outside of this place, to get to know each other, to learn each others secrets. You, my dear Sara, have plenty of those."
"Leave it, Catherine. Look at these photographs with me if you must but just leave Sofia out of it."
"Sara, if I didn't know you better, I'd say you were scared. What's up? Is she cleverer than you, can she recite all 100 sonnets of Neruda's… without stopping, does she know Newton's law of thermodynamics in more detail than you, does she…?"
"Stop it. Don't go there again."
Catherine looked hard at Sara. Sara stared at the table, refusing to look at Catherine. Her body posture was rigid and the fingers clasping the magnifier were knuckle white.
"Oh come on, Sara, we've had this out. We are not going down that road again but you and her, you two should be at the flaming intersection by now, not stuck in the fucking car-park. Tell me, what is it?"
"Leave it. There's nothing wrong. Sofia's fine, I'm fine, we're fine."
"No. You're not. This is the fifth day straight you've been here, when do you share those damn secrets, huh?" Suddenly, the realization hit Catherine. "Wait… the other day, when you said, `I can't do this' you didn't mean this," she gestured between herself and Sara, "did you?"
Sara's reply was so quiet Catherine struggled to hear it. "No."
7.
"Catherine. Sara. Grissom says you're with me on this one."
Sofia handed the slip to the two colleagues. She looked between them; this was going to be unusual to say the least, this would be the first time all three had worked together since that incident.
"His wife walked right in, confessed to murder and told us where to find the body. Uniforms are on their way now; she's in the interview room. How shall we play this?"
"Um, we just need to confirm her story, shouldn't take long. Sofia, you go get the women's story in detail, we'll go collect the evidence. Sara can you tell David to meet us out there. I need to make a phone call."
The two younger women looked at each other, Sofia rolling her eyes. They chuckled.
"What?"
"Oh nothing, Cath, take charge much, huh?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, well, Sofia would you mind awfully taking…"
"I get it Catherine, catch you both later, yes?"
"He was always going off for boy's weekends, a few weekends ago he said he was going to a Gladiator's match, I checked the fixture list and…"
"They didn't have a game."
"Yeah, so I followed him, he didn't suspect a thing. It was so easy. He was cheating. Do you know what that feels like Detective Curtis?"
"Go on."
"Yesterday morning he said he was going to practice his rock climbing alone. He usually went with Jeff Brown but he wasn't available. I know he's careful about his kit so I followed him, waited till he'd checked the D-ring, then rung him on his mobile asking him to please call his mother, she was driving me crazy with questions about her coming birthday weekend. I knew he'd call, he's scared of her still. While he was on the phone, I sawed through the D-ring, then left."
"And you walked into headquarters at 10.00pm to tell us this. Why the wait?
"I had to make sure my little boys were safe. They're with their Grandmother now.
"She just killed him?"
Sofia was incredulous at Sara's question, "He was cheating on her, what do you expect?"
"Yeah, but to kill him, just like that."
"If I found out my partner was cheating on me, I'd want to do more than kill her."
"You wouldn't though."
"No, I'd make life hell for both of them" Sofia looked pointedly at Catherine, getting herself a coffee.
The blonde could feel the sudden chill in the air and looked up to see Sofia staring at her with daggers.
"What? What did I miss now?"
Sara replied, "Nothing Cath, just Sofia being an ass." She pulled her tongue out at the detective, effectively breaking the hostile atmosphere.
Catherine rolled her eyes and got down to business.
"So, the body was found by the uniforms at 10.45pm, out at Lake Mead's Climbing Centre. Dave Forrest had booked the wall all day, and the attendants hadn't bothered to check in after seeing him alive and well at 2.45pm."
Sara took up the tale, "COD was fractured C1/2, consistent with a fall from a height. Cath checked the D-ring and it had been sawed through, and I checked the phone records."
"And?"
"Sue Forrest called him at 2.55pm, he called his mother at 3pm…"
Sofia smirked.
"… he called an unknown number at 3.30pm lasting 30 minutes, then nothing since."
"TOD. David estimates it to be somewhere between 3pm and 5pm. Again consistent with the facts."
"So, you two think Sue's confession is true. Ergo, case closed."
"Ergo, case closed. No, I don't think so."
Catherine's eyes flashed to Sara, "What do you mean, Sar? It feels kinda closed to me. Don't you think a shy retiring Church going zealot like Sue could feel such hurt at her husband cheating on her? Hell, I bet those fingerprints are all Sue's. Jackie said she'd have the results in another hour, so… come on, tell us, don't you think she could it?"
"Yes Cath I'm sure *she* could but something feels wrong."
Sofia smirked again, ignoring Catherine's warning gaze she began to tease.
"Wow! Sara Sidle, play it by the book CSI, is using her gut feeling. You've been spending too much time with Cat here."
Sara jumped and immediately looked to Catherine. Sure enough she was bristling.
"My name is Catherine. Don't ever call me anything else, you got that? I'm going to see Jackie."
Sara looked at Sofia and sighed.
"Don't worry about her, she'll be as normal in a few minutes, up and down, that's Catherine."
"You call her other things."
"Yeah."
A pregnant pause hung in the air.
"Look at this, Sue called Dave Forrest at 2.55pm and he rung his mom at 3pm, meaning she sawed through the D-ring around 3pm, fits with her story so far, yes? Yet she picked her boys up from school at 3.15pm in Henderson. Sofia, there is no way in hell she drove from Lake Mead to Henderson in 15 minutes, something's wrong."
Sofia shrugged her shoulders in acknowledgement and went to sit on the sofa. Sara offered her a coffee and they settled in to wait for Catherine to return.
"So, I read Fannie's book."
"You did?"
"Yeah and I think you were winding me up, as much as I was winding you up, woman."
"Yeah, well, best friends indeed, those women were fucking lovers."
Sara chuckled and murmured, "In all sense of that word, huh?"
Sofia joined in the laughter and that was how Catherine found them as she waltzed in from visiting the fingerprint tech; both giggling like two schoolgirls. Catherine sighed loudly. Two heads spun in unison and seeing the redhead's look began to laugh even harder.
Catherine gritted her teeth and threw down her findings.
"Sofia, I think we need to talk to Sue again. The fingerprints show nothing really; it was wiped clean other than Dave's fingerprints probably as he climbed. I heard Sara's theory about the timeline and I agree."
This time it was Sara's eyebrows that lifted, Catherine had listened and Catherine agreed. Wow!
"I followed him to a house in Laughlin, his car never moved for two days. Eventually I saw Dave come down the steps with *him*. You know, I'd kinda hoped it was another woman. I confronted him, he seemed relieved. I told him he had to make a choice."
"Why didn't you tell us that?"
"I didn't want to embarrass our friends, hell I didn't want to embarrass myself. Anyway, I painted this little picture of how the Church didn't like gays, pushed the whole religious crap down his throat. How disappointed his family would be. You see, his family are true believers, he's the reason I attend Church so much, it was Dave's life. I guess I knew if I pushed hard enough he'd know how to kill himself. When he said he was going climbing alone, he never did that, too safety conscious, I knew I was right."
Sara was astounded. "So, why did you give us all this rubbish about killing him? The truth would have meant you were free to live your life, to live your boy's life."
Sue Forrest looked at Sara with strength in her eyes. "Yes, but my way would have meant my boys never finding out that their father cheated on us all for 5 goddamn years with a man. How are my boys going to live with that?
8.
Sofia found Sara in her usual place, hunched over a pile of photographs. This time she was carefully laying out a panoramic view of the Bellagio Hotel. She was determined to find out where the felon had hidden in plain sight for the first 30 minutes of the police investigation; that was the only answer her results were coming up with and prove it she would.
Feeling a gentle caress on her lower back Sara lifted her head to see Sofia's clear blue eyes coming into view next to her.
Sofia had invaded Sara's personal space, leaning her weight across Sara's back and tucking her chin onto Sara's shoulder. Sara had to fight hard to not squirm away; she liked the sensation way too much.
Sofia rubbed her head closer against Sara's and was pleasantly surprised when Sara turned her head and gave her a warm, chaste kiss, to the lips. Then resisting the pleasure it gave her, as if her duty was over, Sara pulled right away.
The CSI glanced around the lab nervously and Sofia noticed.
"It's ok, Sar, we're the only ones here."
"It's Sara not Sar. What can I do for you?"
Struggling to comprehend the sudden shift in Sara's mood from chaste kiss to indignant retort, Sofia couldn't hide the grimace that crossed her face at the hardness she heard in Sara's tone.
"Huh? I didn't realize I had to ask your permission, surely I can call you whatever I like." Unable to hold back the hurt that was flooding her body; she couldn't stop herself adding in a sharp voice, "She calls you Sar."
"Yeah, well that's different." Sara stood tall, putting her hands in her front pockets, her posture totally defensive.
Sofia slammed the photograph she was nervously playing with down hard onto the table. "Oh, for fucks sake. We decided we were going to try again, that we were going to go slow but hell Sara, there's no forward motion involved here. Slow? We're fucking moving backwards."
The blonde detective felt a perverse sense of pleasure at Sara's flinch but couldn't stay around to continue the argument. With a degree of dignity she turned on her heel.
At the door the detective turned, seeing Sara ostensibly looking over the photographs once more, she murmured, "Later then."
Her voice was quiet but strong; she refused to let Sara hear the tears that were starting to sting her eyes.
9.
Catherine wandered into the locker room. Already running late, she was surprised to see Sofia at the washbasins; as far as Catherine knew Sofia preferred to leave her stuff in the police locker rooms. She cleared her throat reluctant to fall back into the hiding from Sofia mode; she had no reason to hide from her junior detective colleague.
Sofia looked up and nodded in acknowledgement before dropping her eyes once again to the basin.
Her look gave Catherine enough time to notice the barely concealed tear streaks Sofia was trying to wash away. The older woman sighed inwardly: damn Sara.
A few minutes of uncomfortable silence followed as Catherine dressed in her home jacket and Sofia washed her face. Grabbing her purse from the locker Catherine turned to see Sofia staring at her. She offered what she hoped was an understanding smile; hell she'd been there often enough, in more ways than one.
"Catherine, strange as this may seem, I wondered if you'd like to grab a beer."
Catherine stared, Sofia wanted her company; things must be bad. Tempted as she was to find out just what Sara had done this time, Catherine really did know that this was something she had to stay out of, her thoughts might not be truly unbiased. Besides…
"Please believe me when I say, I would really like to join you but Linds hasn't seen me for five days straight and I promised her breakfast."
"Oh, no worries."
Catherine watched as Sofia's eyes expressed her regret. "That is unless you want to… um, no, maybe not."
Sofia gave a wry chuckle and smiled at Catherine. "No, you're right. Later." With those words she left.
Catherine followed her out, instinctively turning away from the exit towards the lay-out lab. Sure enough there was Sara deep in concentration. The redhead strode towards her, gently placing her hand on the brunette's lumbar spine.
Sara spun around with a grunt of surprise. When she saw the interloper was Catherine she smiled weakly.
"Hey Cat!"
"Hey! I'm off, got a hot date with Lindsey."
"Ok. Say hi from me."
Catherine nodded and turned. "Later, huh?"
"Yeah." Sara watched Catherine leave, all the time expecting her to return with one of her lectures; this time she just continued walking without a backward glance.
Sara sighed.
The End