DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything or anyone from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
SPOILERS: Crow's Feet
Wrinkle in Time
By Esmerelda
Part One
"Hey, uh...do you have a problem with me, Doctor?" Nick asked Dr. Milaga.
I looked over at Nick knowing exactly what he was trying to get at. The entire conversation with Dr. Milaga had, so far, been completely directed at me. It was as if he was studying my face; trying to peel away the years around my eyes.
"Excuse me?" Dr. Milaga said in confusion.
"There are two of us here, and you're only addressing my colleague, so..." Nick clarified.
"Well, she's a very beautiful woman," Dr. Milaga stated, looking directly into my eyes.
For once in my life, I didn't know how to react. In my dancing days, many a man had been direct with me, but this was different. All those other men were after something physical from me. But Dr. Milaga seemed as though he was after something else.
"We'll be getting a court order for Miss Stern's records," I said quietly.
With a slight smile from the good Doctor, he stood and left me and Nick sitting there, completely shocked by his bluntness. I brushed a strand of hair from my eyes and looked over at Nick. He smiled, and I could see a bright twinkle in his eye. I waited in silence for him to say something.
"You are one lucky lady," Nick finally said.
"What do you mean?" I asked in all honesty.
I followed Nick with my eyes as he stood from the chair with a smile and started walking away towards the evidence Lab.
"You got every man on this earth wound around your finger," Nick said over his shoulder.
I smiled in pride knowing what Nick meant about every guy always trying to ask me out or "get to know me." As flattering as that was, I was getting extremely tired of the same, old routines and pick-up lines. I needed something more; something tangible.
I stood and walked down towards my office. I sighed into the quiet, little room and started to read over the case file hoping for something to jump out on the page. My eyes started to blur slightly as I noticed the sun pouring through the window of my office. It was already light out, and I hadn't gotten anything probative from the case yet. This was going to be a long shift. I focused my attention back to the file in front of me when I heard a tentative knock on my doorframe.
I lifted my head to see Sara standing awkwardly in my doorway with her head tilted to one side. I clasped my hands in front of me on the desk and gave her one of my so-called "famous" half smiles. Immediately, Sara relaxed and took a deep breath. I looked into her dark eyes waiting for her to speak.
"Hey Sara," I finally said.
"Hey, I heard your vic had laser burns?" she said more as a question than a statement.
"Yeah, forty two to be exact," I filled her in.
"You think we got another extra-terrestrial attack?" Sara joked about the Ed Thomas ("alien from Planet Seiko") case.
I chuckled lightly and looked down at my hands. I brought my head up again to meet her smiling eyes and smiled back at her.
"I don't think so. Doc Robbins said they were a result of a recent cosmetic procedure," I said to the brunette.
"Ah, so this one's right up your alley then," Sara joked through a full blown gap-toothed smile.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" I asked loudly trying to act offended.
Sara laughed and continued the conversation purposefully trying to avoid my question. I giggled inwardly at her loose demeanor. I really liked seeing Sara like this; able to have fun with her colleagues and friends.
"Greg and I have a residential DB," Sara said.
I smiled and waited for her to continue not knowing how to respond to the simple statement.
"I better get going. I don't want Greg to drive, he's nuts! Drives like a damn race car driver!" Sara exclaimed.
I laughed and looked back down at my file as Sara turned on her heels and walked out of my office. I sighed and decided to go visit Nick in the evidence Lab and see if he had come up with anything new.
As I walked down the dull colored hallways, I started to think again about Sara. I knew she had all of us here at the Crime Lab, but what about outside of work? I'd worked with this woman for over 4 years, and I still had very little knowledge about what she did on her own time.
Besides knowing she worked overtime at every chance and listened to her police scanner on a nightly basis, Sara Sidle was a mystery to me. Suddenly I felt an overwhelming urge to kick myself right in the butt as I realized the lack of compassion and interest I'd housed over the years.
There wasn't much that I didn't know about the guys. And then there was Gil. I'd been to the man's house. I was there when he nervously called the florist to order flowers for Sara. As I rounded the corner to the evidence Lab, I made up my mind to try and get to know the enigma that is Sara Sidle a little better each day.
"What do Ozzy Osbourne, Iron Maiden, and our vic all have in common?" Nick asked as he sat at an evidence table.
"Heavy metal?" I asked figuring it was the only logical answer to the question.
"Arsenic in her system, poisoning was chronic," Nick said as he handed me the print-out.
Focusing my eyes on the small print, I looked over the document before I spoke again.
"Looks like it began approximately three months ago," I said.
"Techs collected the ingestibles found at her home. None were contaminated," Nick offered.
"Can tox confirm that arsenic poisoning was the cause of death?" I asked Nick hoping he had checked into it.
"Not yet," Nick started, "Until the quants come back, we won't know if the concentration was lethal."
"In poisoning cases, the killer's usually a relative," I speculated.
"Right," Nick agreed, "Someone with access to the victim."
My brow scrunched as I read over the file again. Noting that the next of kin was an only child, Kevin Stern, I thought the best thing for me and Nick to do would be to interview him.
"Next of kin is an only child, a son," I started, "Who has a vineyard in Pahrump."
Shortly after making a couple of calls, I walked down to the interrogation room. Nick was already there talking with Kevin Stern when I walked into the room. We talked with him for several minutes and left wondering if it was the pesticides Kevin used on his grapes that killed his mother.
The case was getting hot, and I was getting excited. There's nothing in the world like getting that constant string of adrenaline pumping through your veins until the case is closed. I think I described it once as feeling like "King Kong on cocaine."
After finding out that Kevin Stern's pesticides were not the cause of the arsenic poisoning in Julie Sterns's system, I headed back to my office to study the case until I got a call from Doc Robbins. He said he was in the middle of a routine autopsy and found something he thought I should see.
He told me that there were similarities between his new patient, Renita Loakes, and my victim, Julie Stern. The thing that caught his eye was the presence of mees lines on her fingernails. I understood now why Doc Robbins had called me to observe the woman.
There was literally nothing connecting the two women, so I set out in search of Nick to tell him my latest discovery. I found him looking over evidence and told him the new information.
"Where are we going?" Nick asked when I told him to meet me at my truck.
"We're going to visit Renita Loakes' apartment to see if there's anything that could connect the two victims," I explained.
Nick nodded in understanding and headed towards the locker room to get his things together. I walked down to my office and gathered my case files and papers together before I headed out to meet Nick.
My shoes clicked on the hard floor down the hallways as I walked towards the parking lot, and I saw Sara out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head and gave her a full smile. For some reason, it seemed as though my smile caught her off guard momentarily until she flashed an equally beautiful smile back at me.
As I drew closer to her, her eyes snapped to the floor. For a moment I wondered if she did this to try and avoid me or of she just felt uncomfortable staring at me. Either way, I stopped in front of her and tilted my head to one side as I talked.
"Any headway on yours and Greg's case?" I asked.
"Yeah, I think so. Brass just arrested Rory Kendell, the vic's neighbor, and Greg's looking into a mystery feather found at the scene," Sara informed.
"He should ask Nicky, he knows everything about birds," I said.
"He's running it through the Ornithological Database. Once a science geek, always a science geek," Sara said through a smile.
"You would know," I joked back.
Sara opened her mouth and let out something like a breathy laugh and smiled at me. I never noticed before how beautiful she really is. Her dark hair and dark eyes so complimented her pale skin. She was tall and strong, and at this very moment I could think of nothing other than what it would feel like to be wrapped in her arms.
I snapped back into reality when I saw Sara looking at me with a slightly confused look on her face. A smile graced my lips as I told her where I was headed.
"You up for a beer after shift?" I asked her.
Sara's brow automatically scrunched as she pondered my question. I couldn't help but feel a little guilty knowing that I had only asked her to do something outside of work once before, when she found out Hank was cheating. Finally Sara snapped out of her haze as if she had come to a decision and opened her mouth to speak.
"Sure," she simply stated.
"Ok," I started, "I'll meet up with you sometime before shift ends."
"Ok," was all she said before she smiled and walked past me.
I stood for a moment in the hallway and watched her retreating form. Of their own accord, my eyes traveled the length of her body coming to rest on her toned ass. Feeling the blush creep up my cheeks, I snapped my head back to its normal position and walked out to the parking lot.
The next couple of hours seemed to fly by. The case was coming to a close as Sara and I drove to meet Dr. Milaga to tell him the bad news. Sara and I had run into each other in the Lab, and she had decided to tag along since she and Greg had closed their case and shift was technically over.
"All procedures carry a risk," Dr. Milaga tried to argue for the sake of saving his ass from jail time.
"Is that what you tell yourself? And when you screw up again, what happens?" I asked harshly.
"His malpractice premiums go up," Dr. Milaga's attorney stated.
"Oh, I'll be notifying the victim's families. You can count on a civil suit," I said and turned quickly to leave his office.
I walked down the hallway of the Spa and towards an extremely over-sized mirror hanging on the wall. Slowly ambling up to the mirror, I stared back at my reflection. One thing I was always confident in was my looks. My skin was flawless, even at my age. I sighed lightly as I thought about everything all these women were doing to better their looks. Do I need that too?
"Catherine," Sara's voice snapped my mind out of my trance and my head to the side.
I looked questioningly at Sara as she stood only a couple feet from me. Her entire face was laden with sincerity, and I could see deep and genuine compassion in her dark, chocolate eyes. My heart flipped in my chest as I studied the look on her face, not knowing what she was going to say next.
"You're beautiful," Sara finally said no louder than a whisper.
My head spun as I tried to make out what she had just said. That was definitely not what I was expecting. I think I blinked a couple of times before I closed our distance slightly. I smiled half-heartedly at her and lightly touched her arm.
Part Two
Sara smiled back and we headed out to the truck. We chatted lightly about the case during the drive to the bar until the truck finally pulled into a parking spot. Sitting at the long bar, we each ordered our drinks and started chatting again about anything but work.
I was leaning my elbows on the bar and tapping my foot on the barstool to the beat of the music. Sara was sipping her beer in regular intervals and looking around the bar like she was surveying a crime scene. Smiling brightly I moved my face closer to hers so that she could hear my voice above the loud music.
"How did you find out about this place?" I asked.
Sara turned to meet my gaze, and she smiled brightly. It seemed like she was happy for once that I was asking her questions that didn't pertain to work. I smiled back and waited for her to answer.
"I know the owner," she simply stated.
My eyebrows raised in surprise as I thought about what she had just told me. From first hand experience, it pays to know someone in high places. Sam Braun was just about one of the richest men in all of Nevada, and he had definitely come through for me whenever I was in a pinch for money.
"Don't act so shocked, Cat. I do have a life you know," Sara teased.
"I know, Sara," I said in a motherly tone.
Sara smiled and took another sip of her beer. She cringed as the song changed to a loud, pounding beat which made my head snap up. My ears perked up at the familiar song, and I looked wantonly over at the brunette. Sara turned her head with the beer bottle still connected to her lips as she looked into my eyes.
It was as if she knew exactly what I was about to ask her because she started shaking her head behind the bottle still touching her lips before it was lowered to the bar. I was smiling and nodding my head up and down while she swallowed her last gulp of the yeasty liquid.
"No, no..." Sara started.
"Yes," I retaliated behind a giant smile.
"No, Catherine..." she started but was cut off.
"Sara, c'mon!" I pleaded as I tugged on her arm.
I was standing beside her barstool with my hand still firmly planted on her forearm. Sara was sitting tightly on her stool shaking her head. I pulled her arm which made her barstool swivel around to face me.
"Catherine..." she protested.
"I used to dance to this song all the time!" I said through a giant smile.
It was after that comment that the hesitation evaporated. Sara's eyes darkened a shade or two, hard to tell under the dim lighting in the bar, and she slid off her barstool. I pulled her hand into mine, and she obliged by slipping her fingers in between mine. Interesting.
Sara followed me onto the packed dance floor never letting her fingers unwind from mine. I smiled as I spun around to look into her eyes before we started moving to the music. Sara was looking sideways up at the ceiling, not enthused one bit. I rolled my eyes and pulled us close enough so that when my body moved, her body moved with it.
Sara stared into my eyes as if she was trying to understand why I had done this, but nevertheless she slowly began to move to the music on her own accord and actually enjoy it. My body took on a mind of its own, a thing that happened many a time before when I used to dance on stage. Sara smiled and let her hands wander over my body slowly and appreciatively.
I spun around and molded my back into her front. Wondering how far I should go to allow her to witness how I had made my money in earlier days, I was hesitant to produce too much friction between us. When Sara's hands came to rest low on my hips, effectively pulling us even closer together, I made up my mind.
I smiled to myself and started to grind my ass hard into her crotch in perfect time with the pounding music. I could hear Sara's increased breath in my ear and feel it sweep over my hot skin where it left behind a trail of goose bumps.
I raised my arms behind me and snaked them around Sara's neck which, in turn, brought her face in line with mine. I tipped my face toward hers and continued my slow torture. Sara was breathing heavily by now, and I could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. Interesting.
Sara's hands moved from their earlier position on my hips and gently and slowly inched up my stomach. My breath hitched in my chest and I closed my eyes as I let these new sensations sweep over my senses and carry me away.
I could almost feel Sara smiling as she lightly stroked along the little bumps of my ribs. My arms were still snaked around her neck which gave her a prime position for accessing my entire body with her hands and eyes alike. A wave of pride washed over me as I thought about Sara peeking down into the dark valley between my breasts and low cut shirt.
When Sara's fingers bumped into the hard underwire of my bra, my legs just about gave out. Sara sensed this but didn't stop her movements. Instead, she pushed her crotch even harder into my ass which made me gasp.
What is going on here? I could almost reach out and touch the sexual tension that was building between us. My little resolution of getting to know Sara better was absolutely blown out of the water now. We were holding each other, moving with each other, touching each other like we had never had any human contact before in our lives. And I hadn't; not like this.
Sara's breathing had almost completely ceased by this point which I didn't think was a good thing. I shifted against her until I was facing her again, and my heart all but stopped beating. Sara was staring at me with the darkest shade of chocolate brown eyes I had ever seen her sport, and might I add that it was the sexiest she had ever looked.
Sara's hands came to rest on my swaying hips, and I kept my arms around her neck. It was the perfect position to give myself leverage so that I could push myself up to her height. And I did just that. Right as I raised up onto my tiptoes, Sara's hands went to either side of my waist and gently lifted stretching my body to her height.
We both let out a breath neither of us realized we were holding before our lips entwined. We stayed there, our lips connected and unmoving, for several seconds, as we tried to register exactly what was happening.
I was kissing Sara. Wow, that was easier than I thought. I inched my tongue forward and let it glide across the soft bottom lip I had captured between mine. Sara let out another sigh that was right at the border of turning into a moan.
We had stopped moving to the music by now and were simply trying to take in every sense and every emotion that was being presented to us at this moment. Our lips slowly parted with the ever familiar sounding "kiss pop" as we looked into each other's darkened eyes.
Only for a moment were we apart before our lips came crashing together again. Our mouths opened simultaneously and immediately this time which spurred a flash of wetness between my legs. I felt my hand cup Sara's cheek as we kissed slowly and passionately. Sara's grip around my rib cage tightened so much it was almost tickling me.
The scene we were playing out, however, was much too pleasurable to stop and giggle. A low moan vibrated against my lips which, in turn, made me moan. I was so lost in our kiss that I had completely forgotten where we were. It wasn't until another dancing couple unintentionally bumped into us that we ripped our lips apart from each other.
I looked over at the other couple who were lost in their own little world too and then back at Sara. She was staring deeply into my eyes as if she was waiting for me to say something. My eyes darted around the bar a couple times before I looked back at the tall brunette.
"Let's go," I said.
Sara nodded and allowed me to slip my fingers in between hers this time as I led her out of the bar and towards my truck. The drive to my house was extremely quiet, and I could think of nothing else but the feeling of Sara's thumb gently running over mine as our hands clasped together.
We pulled up into the driveway and both popped out of the truck like a jolt of energy. Literally running towards the front door, we bumped into each other right at the threshold. I looked over at Sara who was grinning from ear to ear, and I all but pounced on her.
Sara willingly accepted me into her arms and attached her lips to mine. She reached for my house keys and took them into her own hands. Fortunately my arms were wrapped around her neck because when she sucked my bottom lip into her mouth, my legs just about gave out. Sara smiled into the kiss and stooped down slightly only to wrap her hands around my thighs.
I squealed in delight when Sara lifted me onto her hips, and, in return, I wrapped my legs around her strong waist. Sara fumbled for a few more seconds with the keys and the lock until I felt my hair swoosh to the side as my heavy front door was opened.
The clang of the keys being dropped on the floor was almost completely lost beneath the moans and sighs coming from me and Sara alike. By the time we were in the entry way of my house, Sara's shirt was already stripped off, and I was violently kicking my shoes from my feet.
My eyes flicked open for a few seconds, and I saw that Sara was heading towards my bedroom. As we walked down the hallway, I felt my back connect with the walls a couple of times as we lost our balance in the heat of the moment.
Sara's legs bumped the edge of the bed, and she toppled us onto the bed. Our lips ripped away from each other's as Sara lifted my shirt up and over my head, tossing it somewhere onto the bedroom floor. A new rush of wetness was spurred when Sara's predatory growl bubbled past her lips as her eyes snapped to my heaving chest.
My hands were on their own journey around Sara's back, and they snapped her bra in one, swift movement. My fingers hooked into the waistband of her pants while Sara's fingers reached around my back to the strap on my bra.
The thin, lacy material was ripped away from my overheated skin and was replaced by Sara's wandering hands. My back arched into her touch and moaned into the big room as Sara's lips wrapped around my nipple. I was so completely lost in the sensation of Sara's lips and tongue against my nipples that I didn't even notice her trying to ease my pants down my thighs.
Sara had to take her lips from my nipple to get my attention long enough for me to understand her troubles. My hips lifted from the bed, and Sara ripped my pants all the way down my legs and past my ankles. My whole body shuddered when I felt Sara's hot lips kissing up my legs and hovering around my belly button.
I screamed out at the ceiling when Sara finally tasted me for the first time. My hips bucked off the bed desperately trying to push her harder into me. My climb was nearing my release quickly, and I felt my fingers bury into her hair. When Sara's lips finally closed around my aching nub, and I felt it being sucked repetitively into her mouth, my orgasm hit hard and shook my body until every muscle in my body was sore.
I think I felt Sara kissing her way back up my body and snuggle into the crook of my neck. We quickly fell into a deep and relaxing sleep for several hours until our alarms broke us out of our dreamland.
Part Three
I awoke to the feeling of a warm body pressed tightly against mine. Smiling into the cool afternoon air, I hugged Sara tightly and was lost within the feeling of her hot breath sweeping across my chest. I never in a million years thought something could be as good as this. Eddie was a great guy, when he wanted to be. But there was something else about Sara; something special. Every time I thought about her becoming a part of mine and Lindsey's life I couldn't help but smile.
"You're smiling," came Sara's groggy voice.
My thoughts had completely distracted me from everything that was going on around me. Sara was now slightly propped up on her elbow and looking deeply into my eyes with her million dollar smile gracing her lips.
"Huh?" I said as my hand made its way to Sara's face and lightly pushed a stray piece of hair from her eyes.
"Why are you smiling? Whatcha thinking about?" Sara asked through a smile of her own.
"You," came my automatic reply, "and Lindsey."
"Oh yeah? Good things about me I hope," Sara said.
"Oh yes, very good things," I smiled.
Sara smiled even wider and let out a little giggle. After placing a chaste kiss on my lips, Sara pulled only inches from my lips and spoke.
"What kind of good things?" she asked.
"I was thinking that I would love to see you and Lindsey spend more time together," I told her.
"Really? I would really like that too. Are you sure you wouldn't mind though?" Sara wondered nervously.
"Sara," I started to protest, "I would love nothing more. I trust you with her."
"That means a lot Cat," Sara said quietly. "So any other good things?"
Something tells me that she didn't only want to hear my good thoughts about Lindsey anymore. I smiled at Sara watching me intently as I decided how to respond.
"Well..." I started out slowly, "I was thinking that no one had ever made me feel the way you did last night."
Sara's eyes darkened a shade as she understood what I was telling her. Yes, I have to say that although Eddie was pretty damn good in bed, Sara was the best lover I had ever been with. It wasn't just about sex with her. She looked at me when she made love to me. She did things to me only someone who was in love would do.
"Oh really?" Sara finally replied.
"Oh really," I confirmed.
"So what was your favorite part?" Sara asked as she shifted her body slightly.
What was she up to?
"All parts," I finally replied with a voice husky with desire.
"More specific," Sara demanded as she lowered her voice.
My heart was absolutely pounding inside my chest at this point. The throbbing between my legs was increasing by the second as I locked eyes with the sexy brunette. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my thoughts enough to form some sort of sentence.
"The kisses," I said.
Sara smiled and lowered her lips to mine. Teasing and playing, our lips brushed together for several brief kisses before Sara latched onto my bottom lip. She took into her mouth where she swiped her tongue along the length of it. I moaned into her mouth, and Sara took this opportunity to invade my mouth. Our tongues moved with one another until Sara finally pulled herself away.
"What else?" Sara whispered.
"The way you said my name," I replied.
Sara smiled seductively before my name was whispered past her lips. My finger traced the length of her lower lip while I spoke.
"The caressing," I whispered through a smile.
Sara lowered her gaze from my eyes to my neck, my chest, and finally to my stomach. Her fingers then followed the same pathway. My whole body was melting under her tiny and gentle caresses. Sara finally withdrew her hands from my body, and I realized that I hadn't said anything for the better part of a minute.
"Anything else?" Sara teased.
At this point, all I could do was nod. This elicited a little giggle from her and she brought her hands towards my body again.
"What about the touching?" Sara asked in a voice so low, I could barely understand her.
"Yeah," I quickly responded, "the touching was good."
The soft bed sheets were slowly being drawn down, exposing more and more of the soft skin on my torso. Sara ran her finger between the toned line on my stomach and dipped it into my belly button. Gasping at the touch, I looked down at her hand still teasing my stomach. Even though I was watching them, I hardly noticed that Sara's fingers were making their way back up to my chest.
"What about...licking?" Sara seductively asked.
I was about to say something in response, but all intelligent thought was lost when I felt the tip of Sara's hot tongue touch the tip of my nipple lightly. My body instinctively arched into her touch which earned me a slight gasp from Sara. She took my nipple into her mouth, swirling it with her tongue. I moaned loudly towards the ceiling as my head sunk back into the pillow.
My hands found the dark locks, and my fingers buried deeply into them. As I held Sara's head to my breasts, I couldn't help but let out another moan of pleasure. God, even I like that sound coming from me. Sara switched to my other nipple and stopped her assault as pensively as she had started it.
"Anything else?" Sara asked again.
Her voice was low, and I could tell she was trying everything in her power to tease the hell out of me. I smiled just time to be drug under the bed sheets while our morning started looking a lot like our night last night.
The End