The Life & Times of Sara Sidle
- Thread starter quoth_the_raven
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CHILI_PEPPERS
Pathologist
Love it!! its great !! well done!
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Thanks, guys! 
And I'm SO sorry it's taking me so long to update! I'm not going to stop writing this fic, just to let you guys know! It takes me a long time because I want to figure out what I'm going to put in the chapters before I write them and plan it out. This fic is special to me, it's like my little baby *sniffle* (okay, now I'm sounding weird :lol! I want to make sure that I write every chapter to the fullest of my abilities and I don't want to get stuck in the middle of a chapter and end up writing something that totally sucks!
And I'm SO sorry it's taking me so long to update! I'm not going to stop writing this fic, just to let you guys know! It takes me a long time because I want to figure out what I'm going to put in the chapters before I write them and plan it out. This fic is special to me, it's like my little baby *sniffle* (okay, now I'm sounding weird :lol
! I want to make sure that I write every chapter to the fullest of my abilities and I don't want to get stuck in the middle of a chapter and end up writing something that totally sucks!quoth_the_raven
Corpse
New chapter! (finally!) This chapter takes place in San Francisco!
March 31, 2000- 6:14 pm- Bubba’s Street Diner
“Why are we eating here?” Sara asked, looking around the building. It looked…relatively clean from what Sara could see, but…with a name like ‘Bubba’s Street Diner’, Sara Sidle had envisioned a dirty old diner ran by two married truck-drivers who greeted their customers with chewing tobacco in their mouths and grease and oil stains on the same shirt they had worn for three days straight.
“Why does she always do this?” Quentin asked.
“Because she’s nervous ‘cause shift’s gonna start in three hours,” Jackie answered.
“Jesus, Sara, you’ve got to take your mind off of work every once and a while,” Joe said, adding in his two cents.
“Hey!” Sara said. “Alright, first of all- I am not nervous about shift starting in three hours. Why would I be? Second of all- I do take my mind off of work; quite a bit actually.”
Quentin laughed. “Jackie, she’s right. She’s never nervous about work; she’s the best in her field.”
Jackie held her hands up in the air in surrender. “Got me beat.”
Joe looked over at Sara, small smile creeping around the corners of his mouth. “Aww, look, guys- we made Sara blush!”
“I am not blushing, Joe!” Sara said, playfully hitting him in the arm.
“She is! Look- she’s blushing, she really is!” Joe laughed.
“Joe, shut up, the waitress is here,” Jackie snapped.
“…What can I get you four?” the waitress asked. Sara could sense that the woman thought they were all a little crazy.
“Ah yes, I will have the BACH,” Joe said, handing her his menu.
“The hell is that!” Quentin asked.
“Big-Ass Cheeseburger,” Joe answered with a grin.
Sara just laughed. “Very creative,” she told Joe, handing the waitress her menu. “I’ll have just a cup of coffee, thanks.”
“You have to eat something, Sara!” Jackie insisted.
“I’m fine,” Sara assured her. “I’m going through these files, anyways,” she told her, motioning to the folders in front of her on the table. “Food would be too messy. I can always get something out of the machine or after shift.”
“Alright…” Jackie mumbled. “Then I’m getting the teriyaki chicken burger,” she told the waitress, also handing in her menu.
“And I will have the triple beef burger!” Quentin said, handing the woman his menu. She nodded and walked off.
“Man, that’s three slices of beef on two buns,” Joe told him.
“I’m well aware of that,” Quentin said.
“No wonder you’re getting fat!” Jackie laughed.
Quentin feigned a look of hurt. “Ouch, Jackie; Sara did you hear what she said to me?” he asked, looking over at Sara who was currently nose-deep in a file. When she didn’t respond, he asked again. “Sara?” he said a little bit louder. He rolled his eyes when she still wasn’t paying attention to him.
“She’s nose-deep in a forensic journal, she’s not coming back to Earth anytime soon,” Jackie said with a smile, sipping her drink.
“Huh?” Sara asked, finally looking up. Sara had become very good at zoning-out. After all, she had practice when she was younger, when she went to college and even when she was at home.
“So now she looks up!” Joe laughed.
“What? What’s going on?” Sara asked, blinking.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Quentin said.
“Alright,” Sara shrugged, looking back down at the file.
Sara loved her job. She had finally become a crime-scene investigator, which was what she wanted to become all along. Most kids wanted to become a fireman when they were young, or a movie star. Not Sara. She wanted to become a forensic scientist; she remembered telling her grandparents that word-for-word when she was just a toddler.
But Sara didn’t only love her job- she loved the people they worked with. Sure, they could drive her absolutely insane if she stayed in one room with them for too long, but they were always there for her. They were good friends, and they always kept her in a good mood (or when she wasn’t in a good mood, put her in a better one). That was good enough for her, considering Sara hadn’t always had a lot of friends.
After college, Sara traveled around a bit to find out exactly where she wanted to go. She eventually ended up back in California- home- and she decided San Francisco was a good place to start. She had always loved San Francisco, it had been one of her favorite places, ever since she was a little kid, and the thought of staying there and putting together the missing pieces of puzzles made her practically jump for joy.
After coming to San Francisco and getting her job, she had met up with her coworkers- Jackie Reesin, Joe Fice, and Quentin Flatts; three very different people from herself. Though they were playful by nature, none of their traits really rubbed off on Sara, though she did find herself becoming increasingly more relaxed with everyday she spent with the trio. Other than that, Sara was the same as ever- dedicated to her work, and damn good at it. Her coworkers knew where she stood among them all, though they knew she would deny every little bit of praise they gave her.
The first year of working in San Francisco was the hardest for Sara- that was for sure. To start the year off she threw up after her first autopsy (which surprised even Sara, she didn’t think she was all that squeamish). Cases were difficult, which was understandable, given she was still new at this job…but some were harder more-so than others. She still remembered her first rape case- oh, how it haunted her. Sara had always known that she would be around all these sorts of things all the time with the kind of job she had, even before she started the job, but…she wasn’t sure if her mind had fully registered that- until the day came where she finally had to.
February 16, 1995. That was the fateful day where she came into work and her supervisor informed her she had a four-nineteen; he never mentioned the part about the woman who had been sexually assaulted by the victim beforehand. So she had put away her things in her locker and gathered up her kit, walking out to her car and getting inside with thoughts of just another homicide. Boy was she wrong.
She still remembered the woman’s face- pale except for a mottle of black and purple under her right eye and around her mouth above her chin, terrified- horrified- blue eyes. The woman’s blonde hair was an absolute mess and she had been shaking like a Chihuahua when Sara had arrived at the scene and had seen her sitting in the back of an ambulance.
Sara had tried to process as best she could, but as she processed the scene and listened to the woman’s story that she had told the detective on the case, she found herself in the victim’s shoes; both victims. In this case it was obvious there was no motive- the guy was going to kill her if she didn’t kill him; purely self-defense. But that didn’t mean the case was over…at least for that poor woman it wasn’t, Sara knew. She was going to have to go to court and testify…be put on the stand and be looked at jurors like some sort of caged animal. She was going to have to describe the details of her rape in words.
And Sara knew what that was like.
But Sara knew that every CSI had to deal with cases like that, she knew she would probably have to deal with a lot more of them. But…why…did they have to bring up memories…? Bad memories…? Of him…?
Well, most people who go through things like she did probably didn’t go into law enforcement, where they knew they would see things like this everyday; where they knew they would see people everyday on the worst day of their lives, she figured.
But Sara wanted to help people; she wanted to help those who couldn’t speak for themselves. And another victim was never just another victim. They meant so much more. They could tell Sara what happened at a crime-scene. They could’ve been a hero; they could’ve saved someone else’s life. They had a name; they weren’t just Vic # 1 or Vic # 2.
The sound of Sara’s pager going off interrupted her thoughts. Looking up from her file, she looked around to see that everyone else at the table was finished with their food and was on their third or fourth soda.
Picking up her pager- the tiny black mechanical beeping box of which its beeping noise could be both a blessing and curse on several different occasions- a small smile formed on her lips as she read what it said.
“What’s up?” Jackie asked.
“Four-nineteen,” Sara said with a small smile.
“Why is she always so excited?” Joe asked with a small laugh.
“Because she likes her job,” Quentin answered.
Sara smiled, not really even listening to them as she slid out of the booth they were sitting at. “Would anyone like to join me?”
“Ah, I guess…” Joe said. “I’ve got nothing else to do.”
“Alright, I’m in,” Jackie said.
“Then me, too,” Quentin said. “Looks like shift started a little early tonight, eh Sara?” he asked.
Sara just nodded, putting some money on the table and walking off. For Sara at this moment the beeping of her pager had been very much indeed a gift from God. It wasn’t that Sara liked crime; she liked helping people and catching bad guys. The file she was reading was actually becoming rather dull- and Jackie, Joe, and Quentin’s antics could only be considered funny for so long before she lost her mind.
She felt like merrily skipping to her car, but she thought that might’ve been going a bit overboard.
Maybe just a bit.
Sara got in her car and beat everyone else to the crime-scene; she must’ve been going 10-20 miles above the speed limit in her haste. The second she arrived at the crime-scene she had her kit in-hand, ready to go (the detective thought she actually might jump out of the moving vehicle, she looked so anxious). After parking and walking rather quickly up to the scene, ducking under the tape, she looked over at the detective with a smile on her face.
“You look happy, Sidle,” the detective commented.
“A new case always gets the adrenaline pumping, Detective Silkwood,” she said with a small smile. “I like catching bad guys.”
“Alright, well…body’s over there,” he said, pointing ahead of him. “Some guy passing by on his bike called it in.”
“Have the coroners come yet?” Sara asked.
“Not yet, they’re on their way,” he answered.
Sara nodded and walked over to the body, kneeling down beside it. It was limp, but yet again, what dead corpse weren’t these days? The victim looked to be a young woman of about 20, from what Sara could see, and this person was laying face-down on the pavement. Something looked a bit strange, though- there was no puddle of blood, no tire treads, no shell casings…
Sara put her kit down and walked around to the other side of the body. Careful not to touch it, she must’ve looked like a tiger about to pounce on its prey, crawling around on all fours with her upper body practically lying on the ground to get a better look. Sara crawled over to the body and looked at the face. For a second her mind didn’t fully register what she was looking at it, but when it did she just started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Hugh, a member from the county coroner’s office asked as he walked over to Sara with his equipment in his arms.
“Don’t bother checking for liver temp, Hugh,” Sara said, trying not to start laughing again.
“Oh? Why is that?” Hugh asked.
“This isn’t a real body,” Sara answered with a grin, looking down at the figure lying on the ground.
Hugh looked at her strange. “Don’t fool with me, Sara. If it’s not a real body than what is it?”
Sara rolled her eyes and tipped it over with her foot. The second Hugh saw it he dropped his kit on the ground. Sara just started to laugh even harder.
“Oh my god!” came Jackie’s voice as she sprinted over. “What’s going on? Sara never laughs at crime-scenes, so she’s on drugs, I’ve died and gone to Heaven, or this is something really, genuinely funny!”
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Joe and Quentin both asked, not quite in unison. But close.
“Is…that what I think it is?” Hugh asked, motioning toward the figure on the ground and looking up at Sara.
Sara laughed. “Yes, I believe it is.”
“Whoa!” Joe said, screeching to a halt once he got a glimpse of it. “I never thought I’d have to see one of those again!”
Everyone looked at Joe.
“I got one for my cousin as a joke, y’know? He’s always joking about that kinda stuff, I thought it’d be funny,” Joe shrugged.”
Quentin raised a brow. “What exactly is it…?”
“It’s one of those blow-up dolls, you know…” Jackie said, nudging him with her elbow. “It’s called PlayTime Sally.”
Sara just started laughing harder. “Obviously someone had had enough playtime with Sally.”
After everyone laughed, Jackie looked over at Joe. “Which cousin is this…? Because I know your cousins…”
“He lives in Arizona, you’ve never met this one before,” Joe told her.
“Oh really?” Jackie asked with a grin.
“Yes!” Joe said.
Quentin just laughed. “Come on man, she’s just giving you a hard time.”
“No I’m not!” Jackie said. “Come on, tell me! I need a name!”
Sara was about to join in on the conversation when her cell phone rang. Thinking it was her supervisor, she answered with her automatic phone greet; it was almost robotic. “Sidle.”
“Hey Sara.”
Sara froze when she recognized whose voice this was.
“…Grissom?” she asked.
March 31, 2000- 6:14 pm- Bubba’s Street Diner
“Why are we eating here?” Sara asked, looking around the building. It looked…relatively clean from what Sara could see, but…with a name like ‘Bubba’s Street Diner’, Sara Sidle had envisioned a dirty old diner ran by two married truck-drivers who greeted their customers with chewing tobacco in their mouths and grease and oil stains on the same shirt they had worn for three days straight.
“Why does she always do this?” Quentin asked.
“Because she’s nervous ‘cause shift’s gonna start in three hours,” Jackie answered.
“Jesus, Sara, you’ve got to take your mind off of work every once and a while,” Joe said, adding in his two cents.
“Hey!” Sara said. “Alright, first of all- I am not nervous about shift starting in three hours. Why would I be? Second of all- I do take my mind off of work; quite a bit actually.”
Quentin laughed. “Jackie, she’s right. She’s never nervous about work; she’s the best in her field.”
Jackie held her hands up in the air in surrender. “Got me beat.”
Joe looked over at Sara, small smile creeping around the corners of his mouth. “Aww, look, guys- we made Sara blush!”
“I am not blushing, Joe!” Sara said, playfully hitting him in the arm.
“She is! Look- she’s blushing, she really is!” Joe laughed.
“Joe, shut up, the waitress is here,” Jackie snapped.
“…What can I get you four?” the waitress asked. Sara could sense that the woman thought they were all a little crazy.
“Ah yes, I will have the BACH,” Joe said, handing her his menu.
“The hell is that!” Quentin asked.
“Big-Ass Cheeseburger,” Joe answered with a grin.
Sara just laughed. “Very creative,” she told Joe, handing the waitress her menu. “I’ll have just a cup of coffee, thanks.”
“You have to eat something, Sara!” Jackie insisted.
“I’m fine,” Sara assured her. “I’m going through these files, anyways,” she told her, motioning to the folders in front of her on the table. “Food would be too messy. I can always get something out of the machine or after shift.”
“Alright…” Jackie mumbled. “Then I’m getting the teriyaki chicken burger,” she told the waitress, also handing in her menu.
“And I will have the triple beef burger!” Quentin said, handing the woman his menu. She nodded and walked off.
“Man, that’s three slices of beef on two buns,” Joe told him.
“I’m well aware of that,” Quentin said.
“No wonder you’re getting fat!” Jackie laughed.
Quentin feigned a look of hurt. “Ouch, Jackie; Sara did you hear what she said to me?” he asked, looking over at Sara who was currently nose-deep in a file. When she didn’t respond, he asked again. “Sara?” he said a little bit louder. He rolled his eyes when she still wasn’t paying attention to him.
“She’s nose-deep in a forensic journal, she’s not coming back to Earth anytime soon,” Jackie said with a smile, sipping her drink.
“Huh?” Sara asked, finally looking up. Sara had become very good at zoning-out. After all, she had practice when she was younger, when she went to college and even when she was at home.
“So now she looks up!” Joe laughed.
“What? What’s going on?” Sara asked, blinking.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it,” Quentin said.
“Alright,” Sara shrugged, looking back down at the file.
Sara loved her job. She had finally become a crime-scene investigator, which was what she wanted to become all along. Most kids wanted to become a fireman when they were young, or a movie star. Not Sara. She wanted to become a forensic scientist; she remembered telling her grandparents that word-for-word when she was just a toddler.
But Sara didn’t only love her job- she loved the people they worked with. Sure, they could drive her absolutely insane if she stayed in one room with them for too long, but they were always there for her. They were good friends, and they always kept her in a good mood (or when she wasn’t in a good mood, put her in a better one). That was good enough for her, considering Sara hadn’t always had a lot of friends.
After college, Sara traveled around a bit to find out exactly where she wanted to go. She eventually ended up back in California- home- and she decided San Francisco was a good place to start. She had always loved San Francisco, it had been one of her favorite places, ever since she was a little kid, and the thought of staying there and putting together the missing pieces of puzzles made her practically jump for joy.
After coming to San Francisco and getting her job, she had met up with her coworkers- Jackie Reesin, Joe Fice, and Quentin Flatts; three very different people from herself. Though they were playful by nature, none of their traits really rubbed off on Sara, though she did find herself becoming increasingly more relaxed with everyday she spent with the trio. Other than that, Sara was the same as ever- dedicated to her work, and damn good at it. Her coworkers knew where she stood among them all, though they knew she would deny every little bit of praise they gave her.
The first year of working in San Francisco was the hardest for Sara- that was for sure. To start the year off she threw up after her first autopsy (which surprised even Sara, she didn’t think she was all that squeamish). Cases were difficult, which was understandable, given she was still new at this job…but some were harder more-so than others. She still remembered her first rape case- oh, how it haunted her. Sara had always known that she would be around all these sorts of things all the time with the kind of job she had, even before she started the job, but…she wasn’t sure if her mind had fully registered that- until the day came where she finally had to.
February 16, 1995. That was the fateful day where she came into work and her supervisor informed her she had a four-nineteen; he never mentioned the part about the woman who had been sexually assaulted by the victim beforehand. So she had put away her things in her locker and gathered up her kit, walking out to her car and getting inside with thoughts of just another homicide. Boy was she wrong.
She still remembered the woman’s face- pale except for a mottle of black and purple under her right eye and around her mouth above her chin, terrified- horrified- blue eyes. The woman’s blonde hair was an absolute mess and she had been shaking like a Chihuahua when Sara had arrived at the scene and had seen her sitting in the back of an ambulance.
Sara had tried to process as best she could, but as she processed the scene and listened to the woman’s story that she had told the detective on the case, she found herself in the victim’s shoes; both victims. In this case it was obvious there was no motive- the guy was going to kill her if she didn’t kill him; purely self-defense. But that didn’t mean the case was over…at least for that poor woman it wasn’t, Sara knew. She was going to have to go to court and testify…be put on the stand and be looked at jurors like some sort of caged animal. She was going to have to describe the details of her rape in words.
And Sara knew what that was like.
But Sara knew that every CSI had to deal with cases like that, she knew she would probably have to deal with a lot more of them. But…why…did they have to bring up memories…? Bad memories…? Of him…?
Well, most people who go through things like she did probably didn’t go into law enforcement, where they knew they would see things like this everyday; where they knew they would see people everyday on the worst day of their lives, she figured.
But Sara wanted to help people; she wanted to help those who couldn’t speak for themselves. And another victim was never just another victim. They meant so much more. They could tell Sara what happened at a crime-scene. They could’ve been a hero; they could’ve saved someone else’s life. They had a name; they weren’t just Vic # 1 or Vic # 2.
The sound of Sara’s pager going off interrupted her thoughts. Looking up from her file, she looked around to see that everyone else at the table was finished with their food and was on their third or fourth soda.
Picking up her pager- the tiny black mechanical beeping box of which its beeping noise could be both a blessing and curse on several different occasions- a small smile formed on her lips as she read what it said.
“What’s up?” Jackie asked.
“Four-nineteen,” Sara said with a small smile.
“Why is she always so excited?” Joe asked with a small laugh.
“Because she likes her job,” Quentin answered.
Sara smiled, not really even listening to them as she slid out of the booth they were sitting at. “Would anyone like to join me?”
“Ah, I guess…” Joe said. “I’ve got nothing else to do.”
“Alright, I’m in,” Jackie said.
“Then me, too,” Quentin said. “Looks like shift started a little early tonight, eh Sara?” he asked.
Sara just nodded, putting some money on the table and walking off. For Sara at this moment the beeping of her pager had been very much indeed a gift from God. It wasn’t that Sara liked crime; she liked helping people and catching bad guys. The file she was reading was actually becoming rather dull- and Jackie, Joe, and Quentin’s antics could only be considered funny for so long before she lost her mind.
She felt like merrily skipping to her car, but she thought that might’ve been going a bit overboard.
Maybe just a bit.
Sara got in her car and beat everyone else to the crime-scene; she must’ve been going 10-20 miles above the speed limit in her haste. The second she arrived at the crime-scene she had her kit in-hand, ready to go (the detective thought she actually might jump out of the moving vehicle, she looked so anxious). After parking and walking rather quickly up to the scene, ducking under the tape, she looked over at the detective with a smile on her face.
“You look happy, Sidle,” the detective commented.
“A new case always gets the adrenaline pumping, Detective Silkwood,” she said with a small smile. “I like catching bad guys.”
“Alright, well…body’s over there,” he said, pointing ahead of him. “Some guy passing by on his bike called it in.”
“Have the coroners come yet?” Sara asked.
“Not yet, they’re on their way,” he answered.
Sara nodded and walked over to the body, kneeling down beside it. It was limp, but yet again, what dead corpse weren’t these days? The victim looked to be a young woman of about 20, from what Sara could see, and this person was laying face-down on the pavement. Something looked a bit strange, though- there was no puddle of blood, no tire treads, no shell casings…
Sara put her kit down and walked around to the other side of the body. Careful not to touch it, she must’ve looked like a tiger about to pounce on its prey, crawling around on all fours with her upper body practically lying on the ground to get a better look. Sara crawled over to the body and looked at the face. For a second her mind didn’t fully register what she was looking at it, but when it did she just started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Hugh, a member from the county coroner’s office asked as he walked over to Sara with his equipment in his arms.
“Don’t bother checking for liver temp, Hugh,” Sara said, trying not to start laughing again.
“Oh? Why is that?” Hugh asked.
“This isn’t a real body,” Sara answered with a grin, looking down at the figure lying on the ground.
Hugh looked at her strange. “Don’t fool with me, Sara. If it’s not a real body than what is it?”
Sara rolled her eyes and tipped it over with her foot. The second Hugh saw it he dropped his kit on the ground. Sara just started to laugh even harder.
“Oh my god!” came Jackie’s voice as she sprinted over. “What’s going on? Sara never laughs at crime-scenes, so she’s on drugs, I’ve died and gone to Heaven, or this is something really, genuinely funny!”
“Yeah, what’s going on?” Joe and Quentin both asked, not quite in unison. But close.
“Is…that what I think it is?” Hugh asked, motioning toward the figure on the ground and looking up at Sara.
Sara laughed. “Yes, I believe it is.”
“Whoa!” Joe said, screeching to a halt once he got a glimpse of it. “I never thought I’d have to see one of those again!”
Everyone looked at Joe.
“I got one for my cousin as a joke, y’know? He’s always joking about that kinda stuff, I thought it’d be funny,” Joe shrugged.”
Quentin raised a brow. “What exactly is it…?”
“It’s one of those blow-up dolls, you know…” Jackie said, nudging him with her elbow. “It’s called PlayTime Sally.”
Sara just started laughing harder. “Obviously someone had had enough playtime with Sally.”
After everyone laughed, Jackie looked over at Joe. “Which cousin is this…? Because I know your cousins…”
“He lives in Arizona, you’ve never met this one before,” Joe told her.
“Oh really?” Jackie asked with a grin.
“Yes!” Joe said.
Quentin just laughed. “Come on man, she’s just giving you a hard time.”
“No I’m not!” Jackie said. “Come on, tell me! I need a name!”
Sara was about to join in on the conversation when her cell phone rang. Thinking it was her supervisor, she answered with her automatic phone greet; it was almost robotic. “Sidle.”
“Hey Sara.”
Sara froze when she recognized whose voice this was.
“…Grissom?” she asked.
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
You know what, Sabrina? I knew someone was going to say that, and I'm not surprised it was you :lol:
Thanks, Janet! Always so understanding..
Thanks, Janet! Always so understanding..
quoth_the_raven
Corpse
Finally a new chapter! Whew! Sorry again for the wait guys, stupid writer's block Thanks for the comments
March 31, 2000 – 9:34 pm - Bay Area Apartment Complex
“It’s almost ten o’clock!” Jackie pointed out, watching Sara load her suitcases into the back of her car. “He can’t possibly expect you to take a plane that doesn’t leave until 10:30 and be in Vegas by tomorrow!”
“It’s urgent, Jackie,” Sara told her, throwing a suitcase into the trunk. Jackie was referring to the call Grissom gave Sara- it wasn’t just a regular ‘how are you’ or ‘how are the crickets chirping?’(Being the entomologist he was). “He wouldn’t have asked me to do this if it wasn’t something urgent.”
Quentin leaned over and whispered something into Joe’s ear whose face immediately lit up. While Sara was busy putting clothes in the back seat of her car Joe shared their little secret with Jackie who burst out laughing the second she heard it.
“What’s so funny…?” Sara asked. That got her attention. “Talking about me?” she asked with a grin.
“Sara’s got a crush on…” Jackie stopped in mid-song. “What’s the guy’s name…?”
“Wasn’t it…Grissle or something like that?” Quentin asked, squinting as he tried to remember.
“Grissom,” Sara corrected, slamming the trunk. “And I do not have a crush on him, thank you very much Jackie Reesin,” she told the other woman, folding her arms across her chest. “He held a seminar when I was in college and we became friends. We’ve kept in touch ever since.”
Jackie held her hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine; you win.”
Sara just grinned, satisfied that she had won the argument, and she turned around to continue loading her things into the car.
“Do you really have to go?” Joe asked. “All kidding aside…we’re really going to miss driving you crazy.”
“And switching your lunches with ours,” Quentin added.
“And dragging you around town to clubs,” Jackie finished.
Sara frowned, turning around to look at each of her friends. For the first time since Sara had come to Vegas she began to sense emotion from each of her friends. “Guys…I’m going to miss you; all of you,” she said, looking back and forth between the three. “You guys…” she laughed a little, “Even though I fear I’ll go insane if I spend a certain amount of time with you all alone in a room…I really am going to miss all of you. You’re some of the only friends I’ve ever had…and…thank you,” she finished with a smile.
Joe sniffled, dabbing at his eyes.
“Are you crying, Joe?” Jackie asked.
“I’m not crying!” Joe retorted. “I just have something in my eye’s all!”
“Just go hug her, man…” Quentin told him, nudging him in the arm with his elbow.
Joe wiped his eyes with his sleeve, walking over to Sara hesitantly. Looking up at her, and then looking at the ground, he suddenly pointed to some random thing in the air. “What’s that?” he quickly asked. Sara immediately looked away to see what he was pointing to and as she did so he wrapped his arms around her tightly, starting to cry.
“Aww…” Jackie said, walking over to the two. “Alright, Joe… you told her…”
“I’m really gonna miss you, Kid,” Joe said. Being a man already in his forties, Joe had lost his daughter in a car accident years ago, and seeing someone as young and lively as Sara was had made him think of his daughter.
“I’m going to miss you too, Joe,” Sara told him, lightly patting him on the back. Finally Joe let go and Quentin and Jackie both hugged Sara at the same time, forming a massive bear hug. “I’m going to miss you guys, too,” Sara smiled.
“Call us sometime,” Jackie said. “Don’t get too caught-up with the boyfriend.”
“That’s right, you better call us or I’ll send you an angry email or two,” Quentin grinned.
Sara just laughed. “I promise I’ll call you all…and I’ll email you all.”
Jackie laughed. “I bet you Joe will send greeting cards that have to do with fart jokes.”
“Hey!” Joe said, not able to hide the smile on his face. “Alright, yes I will!”
Sara just laughed. “I’ll look forward to those, Joe…”
“Well…” Quentin said, looking down at his watch. “You better go if you want to make the plane. It’s already after ten.”
“Okay…” Sara said, nodding a little. “Goodbye, guys,” she told them all, hugging them once more before getting in her car and closing the door. Adjusting the rear-view mirror, Sara pressed her foot on the gas pedal and looked back at the three as she drove off, laughing as they were already back to their regular antics, joking and arguing with one another like little kids.
As much as Sara liked her job in San Francisco, she was absolutely ecstatic about going to Vegas. She knew she shouldn’t be this excited… she was going in to handle the internal investigation of the shooting of one of the state’s own forensic scientists, but… Grissom had specifically called her. He could’ve called anyone, including someone from the Vegas area, even, to handle this case. But he chose her, and that made her feel good. It made her feel… important…needed.
She was going to get to do what she loved to do in the number two crime lab in the country- that alone was reason enough to be excited, wasn’t it? That, and… she was going to get to see Grissom…
But they were just friends…acquaintances.
Right…?
Yes, they were just good friends, Sara told herself. That’s why she packed everything in less than thirty minutes, that’s why she kept looking at herself in the mirror as if to make sure she looked good for a date. That’s why she had butterflies in her stomach and that dopey tone to her voice on the phone.
Back to business, Sara, back to business, Sara tried to tell herself.
But what if she did have feelings for Grissom…? Did it really even matter? Grissom…was really the first man she ever really trusted away from home. He was one of the first men who hadn’t tried to take advantage of her the second they were alone in a room together. They had so much in common… including their lack of experience in the social world.
No, Sara didn’t have feelings for him; she couldn’t. She was just tired, and…anxious, she tried to reason. That’s why these thoughts were running through her mind.
Caught up in her thoughts, Sara failed to notice she had already made it to the airport and had parked in front of the doors in a no-parking zone. She practically screamed when a security guard knocked on her window. “Ma’am?” the guard asked. “Ma’am, I’m afraid you can’t park here…”
Sara blinked, staring at the guard like they were crazy before the words registered in her brain and she remembered what she was doing and where exactly she was. “Oh! Right, I’m sorry, I… I apologize,” Sara said, putting the car back in drive. “I’ll go park somewhere else.”
The guard just nodded and walked off and Sara pulled the car away from the curb, sighing to herself. She was just tired, was all.
Finally getting a parking space, Sara got out of her car and grabbed the papers Grissom had faxed to her from off the passenger’s seat. Holding them between her teeth as she grabbed her suitcases from the trunk, Sara closed and locked up the car and started off toward the actual airport, lugging at least twenty-five pounds. Alright…you’re tired, but you’ve got to get to work tomorrow so you’re going to go over these papers tonight regarding the case and have some coffee. As soon as you get to Nevada you can sleep, she told herself, walking through the double-doors of the airport. Looking around, she saw the right sign she was looking for and she walked off.
Once Sara made it to the right desk she got her ticket and was left to go find a place to sit in the waiting rooms. Being a bit late to the party (because she was caught up in her thoughts because of being ‘tired’), there were only a few seats left in the room that was already much too small to accommodate so many people. Already have dropped off her suitcases at the front desk, Sara was able to sit without being directly crowded up against another person, so she chose a seat in the third row of seats in the waiting room and sat down.
Looking down at the papers Sara was going to read over for the case, she skimmed through the first page with her eyes. Victim’s name’s Holly Gribbs… poor kid. She just graduated... she wasn’t ready, Sara frowned to herself. Gunshot wound sustained to the gut…massive bleeding, possible hemorrhaging. She was…sent to print the place, Sara sighed to herself. Simple print-job-gone-wrong…and it could cost this young girl her life.
“Hey Miss?”
Sara blinked, hearing someone speak for what seemed like the first time since she had sat down. Looking up, she saw a plump man with bright red cheeks and red hair smiling at her. “Can I help you, Sir…?” she asked, not really knowing what else to say.
“Are you going to Nevada?” he asked her.
“Oh, uh…yeah,” Sara said, offering a polite smile.
“They’re boarding us now,” he told her, motioning toward the long line of people already getting on the plane.
“Oh!” Sara said, immediately getting to her feet. “Thanks,” she told him, folding the papers up and putting them in her pocket as she searched around for her passport. Getting in line behind the man, she noticed him looking down at her passport and ticket.
“45C?” he asked her, looking at where her seat was. “That’s funny, my seat is 44C.”
Sara shot the man a small smile, wishing desperately for the line to move faster. The man seemed nice, she just… didn’t like socializing that much. “Really? Well then I guess we’ll be sitting together, Sir,” she smiled, mentally cursing to herself. She really wanted to sit by herself… she didn’t like sitting so close to people she didn’t really know for extended periods of time. Besides, she wanted to read over the case files…and she couldn’t do that if this man was going to sit and talk to her all night.
“Name’s Bill,” the red-haired man said, handing the woman at the desk his ticket and passport as the line moved up and it was their turn. “Meet you in the plane,” he told her with a smile, walking off.
Sara shot him a weak smile, just nodding as she handed the woman her own passport and ticket. She didn’t want to be rude, even though she really wasn’t in the mood for talking. She couldn’t just tell the man to shut his trap because she was going over important information about a shooting.
“45C,” the woman told Sara with a bright smile, handing her back her passport.
Thanks for reminding me, Sara thought. “Thanks,” she told her, putting her passport back in her pocket as she walked into the small tunnel leading to the plane. Focus, Sara, focus, she told herself. Wait until he falls asleep to go over the files, and then you’ll be able to have some peace, she thought, nodding to herself as she finally arrived at the plane.
“Welcome, Ma’am,” one of the flight attendants greeted her. “Can I get you something? A blanket, a pillow, perhaps?”
“No thanks, I’m okay,” Sara told her, walking down the aisle of the plane. Already she was feeling a bit claustrophobic; there were too many people in here, in a tight space, and once you were up in the air you were stuck…
“Hey!” came Bill’s voice from at least six more rows of seats up. Sara looked up to see him waving at her and pointing to her seat. Great, she had the window seat, so that meant he was blocking her in having the aisle seat.
“Hi…” Sara said, the effort of smiling growing harder and harder which each second she was on the plane.
“Saved your seat, not that anyone’s going to take it anyways,” Bill said with a laugh, moving out of the way to let her sit down. Great, the man thought his jokes were funny, too.
Sara weakly laughed as she moved around Bill and sat down in her seat by the window, buckling herself in. Bill slid into the row and sat down next to her, his plump arms and legs taking up almost the entire row by themselves. Buckling himself in, he looked over at Sara who had tried to bury herself in one of the files she held in her hands while he was preoccupied. This did not faze him.
“Is this your first time flying?” he asked her.
Sara inwardly cringed; the sound of his voice was becoming one of the most painful sounds she had ever heard in her life and she actually compared the sound to a gerbil on helium. Instead of making a remark, Sara composed herself and prepared for a long night of non-stop chatter.
After about an hour or so into the flight, Sara caught a break. Bill had taken some pills he told her he had to take every day that he said made him drowsy. Slowly he slumped further and further into his seat until finally he grew limp except for the rise and fall of his chest.
Sara sighed in relief, silently thanking god that he was finally asleep and had stopped talking. Reaching in front of her, Sara took down her tray table and set out the papers Grissom had given her in neat stacks. She still had about another hour or two before they arrived in Nevada, so that gave her more than enough time to go over the files and get herself acquainted with the case.
CSI Warrick Brown was to take CSI Gribbs to the location and remain at the scene with her as she collected evidence. About thirty minutes after CSI arrived at the scene dispatch was informed of a shooting taking place there. When uniforms arrived CSI Brown was MIA and CSI Gribbs was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
CSI Brown claims he told her he was going to run an errand.
So… from what Sara read this…Warrick guy… left a rookie all by herself at a crime scene to go run a personal errand. Already Sara didn’t really like this Warrick guy… He was an experienced CSI, heck he had been in Vegas for a few years already. Holly Gribbs was a rookie, it was her first time out in the field and he left her there unsupervised. He should’ve known better, and his carelessness could cost this girl her life.
Sara went through a list of the crime-scene photos- documented were photos of the blood pool, some bullet slugs and shell casings… the blood pool was near where the girl had been dusting for prints. That told Sara that the suspect probably entered through the door of the room and surprised her, then pulled a gun out and fired. Judging by the amount of shell casings found at the scene that meant either the suspect missed a couple of times or she got off some shots of her own.
Sara’s train of thought was interrupted by a loud, squeaky sound emitting from somewhere inside the plane. For a moment Sara was panicked; what if one of the tanks on the plane got punctured? Could it possibly damage the plane? Sara hoped not, because if the plane was damaged, then…
Before Sara could work herself into a frenzy, she realized that the squeak she heard was very much not a cause of a gas on the plane being punctured, however it was a gas. Bill, still fast asleep in the seat next to her, had passed gas. No wonder he had to take those pills he told her about; he had a flatulent problem.
Sara cringed, holding her breath. She knew this wouldn’t spare her from the horrid smell as she had to breathe sometime, but…
Finally she had to breathe and it was just in time for him to release another wave of agonizing stench. Sara thought this must’ve been like what people in concentration camps had to go through; she could barely breathe and she probably looked like she was suffocating to the other people in the plane.
Looking down at the files in her hands, Sara found a good use for them at the moment and used them to fan the smell away from her. Doing so, however, made Bill stir, and she immediately stopped for fear of waking the man up. This is ridiculous! Sara thought, finally unbuckling herself and getting up out of her seat. Before anyone could say or do anything to stop her, Sara had leapt out of her seat and made her way into the aisle. In a matter of moments she was heading down the aisles to find an empty seat.
Luckily for Sara there were a fair number of people who didn’t show up at the airport, so she had a rather wide choice of seats to choose from. Choosing the first seat she saw, the aisle seat next to an old man who was sleeping, she sat down and re-buckled herself, taking a deep breath as she began reading over the files again.
She didn’t get far, however, because she felt a small pressure on her shoulder before even getting through another paragraph. Looking over, she cringed as she discovered the old man leaning his head against her shoulder, his eyes closed and mouth wide open. His breath was bad enough, but to add to her discomfort the man was starting to drool. Sara looked around quickly, trying to find a flight attendant. “Ma’am!” Sara said, seeing one down the aisle. “Can I have a tissue, please?” she asked, sounding rather desperate.
Unfortunately the flight attendant did not hear Sara, so she had to fend for herself. Picking the papers up, she picked one she had already read through and held it to the man’s mouth, watching as he drooled on the paper instead of her shoulder. Sara wanted to gag; saliva was one of the few things that could make her feel squeamish.
You’re drooling on my crime-scene notes! Sara thought, watching the man. Finally she had enough and she lightly nudged the man away from her with her elbow. Her efforts were graciously rewarded when the man snorted and moved his head away from her, resting it against the window near his seat. Sara looked down at her semi-soaked paper and threw it away as the flight attendant came by with a trash can.
Finally after an agonizing few hours in the plane, Sara arrived in Nevada. Eager to get out of the plane and get some fresh air away from the Bills and old-drooling men of the world, she almost knocked a few people down in her haste for freedom. Regardless of being in the back rows, Sara was one of the first people to exit the plane.
“Thank god,” Sara sighed to herself once she was at the baggage claim. As soon as her suitcases made the round on the conveyor belt she grabbed them and was already out the door with her cell phone to her ear to call for a cab. The fresh night air of the Nevada hills was a refreshing greeting for Sara as she waited for the cab to arrive. Being stuck in that plane for three hours with a man with an unfortunate flatulent problem and a man who drooled all over her case files was not exactly pleasant.
Soon the cab had arrived and the driver got out helping Sara load her things into the car. Utterly exhausted from running around all night Sara collapsed in the back seat of the car, letting the driver load everything in by himself. Sara couldn’t wait to get to the hotel… even though she didn’t like hotels. All Sara wanted to do was sleep right now. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
As soon as the driver finished loading the car up he got in the driver’s seat and turned around. “Where to, Miss?”
It was then Sara realized she hadn’t booked a room in a hotel for the night. “…I’m sorry- it’s my first time in Nevada…” Sara started. “Do you know of a hotel anywhere near the Las Vegas Crime Lab?” she asked him.
“As a matter of fact I do,” he told her. “I’ll take you there,” he said, putting the car in drive as they started off.
“Thanks,” Sara sighed, resting her head against the window on her door. She hadn’t realized they were so close to Vegas for in moments they were driving down the Strip, the amount of flashing lights and people standing around on the sidewalks and curbs all foreign to her. Sure, Sara had seen pictures of Vegas, and she had seen ads on TV, but… she never imagined what it would look like in person.
In about twenty minutes they were at a Days Inn and the cab had stopped, the driver parking it right in front of the lobby office. “Thanks,” Sara told him, handing him a twenty-dollar bill and going around the back of the car to get her things. The driver helped her lift her more-heavy suitcases.
“Honey, let me tell you somethin’,” the driver started, setting one of her suitcases on the ground. “Now, Vegas is a big city,” he told her, “Lots of things happen, both good and bad. You don’t go wanderin’ ‘round late at night alone, you hear me?” he asked her, completely serious.
Sara shot him a warm smile, though she was still taken aback at the sternness of his tone. She was absolutely exhausted, why… why did he have to bring this up now? She just wanted to sleep… she didn’t want to worry about things right now. She had been through enough in her life to know what to and not to do in a big city she had never been in before. “Thank you, Sir, but I’m actually with law enforcement, so I don’t think my safety is going to be a problem,” she told him, flashing her badge.
“Well, cop or no cop, Missy, I want you to be takin’ good card of yerself,” he told her, walking around to the driver’s side of the cab after closing the trunk. “Have a good night, Miss,” he finished, tipping his brown hat on his head and getting in the car.
“Thank you, Sir… you too,” Sara said, nodding as he drove off. Despite Sara’s exhaustion, she was able to lug every suitcase she had to the lobby in order to get a room; maybe it was the fact that she wanted to curl up in a nice warm bed so badly.
Almost immediately after walking into the lobby Sara got a room; she figured the receptionist must’ve noticed how exhausted she looked lugging around all her suitcases. Luckily she was put on the first floor so she wouldn’t have to carry her things up any flights of stairs.
Sara took her room key from the woman- actually it was more like she snatched the key from the woman- greedily and almost ran to her hotel room, opening the door and throwing her legs into the room. After closing the door, Sara made sure all of her blinds and curtains were closed (you could never be too careful and what the cab driver said was starting to make her feel paranoid) before quickly changing into her pajamas.
But now came the tough part. Sara had her trusty bottle of Nonoxonyl 9 with her, and she never traveled without or laid a finger on a hotel bed without first using it, but… she really was exhausted.
Finally Sara decided it was better to be safe than sorry. After disinfecting the sheets of any spermicides, Sara crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
Sara Sidle’s first night in Sin City.
Thanks for the comments March 31, 2000 – 9:34 pm - Bay Area Apartment Complex
“It’s almost ten o’clock!” Jackie pointed out, watching Sara load her suitcases into the back of her car. “He can’t possibly expect you to take a plane that doesn’t leave until 10:30 and be in Vegas by tomorrow!”
“It’s urgent, Jackie,” Sara told her, throwing a suitcase into the trunk. Jackie was referring to the call Grissom gave Sara- it wasn’t just a regular ‘how are you’ or ‘how are the crickets chirping?’(Being the entomologist he was). “He wouldn’t have asked me to do this if it wasn’t something urgent.”
Quentin leaned over and whispered something into Joe’s ear whose face immediately lit up. While Sara was busy putting clothes in the back seat of her car Joe shared their little secret with Jackie who burst out laughing the second she heard it.
“What’s so funny…?” Sara asked. That got her attention. “Talking about me?” she asked with a grin.
“Sara’s got a crush on…” Jackie stopped in mid-song. “What’s the guy’s name…?”
“Wasn’t it…Grissle or something like that?” Quentin asked, squinting as he tried to remember.
“Grissom,” Sara corrected, slamming the trunk. “And I do not have a crush on him, thank you very much Jackie Reesin,” she told the other woman, folding her arms across her chest. “He held a seminar when I was in college and we became friends. We’ve kept in touch ever since.”
Jackie held her hands up in surrender. “Fine, fine; you win.”
Sara just grinned, satisfied that she had won the argument, and she turned around to continue loading her things into the car.
“Do you really have to go?” Joe asked. “All kidding aside…we’re really going to miss driving you crazy.”
“And switching your lunches with ours,” Quentin added.
“And dragging you around town to clubs,” Jackie finished.
Sara frowned, turning around to look at each of her friends. For the first time since Sara had come to Vegas she began to sense emotion from each of her friends. “Guys…I’m going to miss you; all of you,” she said, looking back and forth between the three. “You guys…” she laughed a little, “Even though I fear I’ll go insane if I spend a certain amount of time with you all alone in a room…I really am going to miss all of you. You’re some of the only friends I’ve ever had…and…thank you,” she finished with a smile.
Joe sniffled, dabbing at his eyes.
“Are you crying, Joe?” Jackie asked.
“I’m not crying!” Joe retorted. “I just have something in my eye’s all!”
“Just go hug her, man…” Quentin told him, nudging him in the arm with his elbow.
Joe wiped his eyes with his sleeve, walking over to Sara hesitantly. Looking up at her, and then looking at the ground, he suddenly pointed to some random thing in the air. “What’s that?” he quickly asked. Sara immediately looked away to see what he was pointing to and as she did so he wrapped his arms around her tightly, starting to cry.
“Aww…” Jackie said, walking over to the two. “Alright, Joe… you told her…”
“I’m really gonna miss you, Kid,” Joe said. Being a man already in his forties, Joe had lost his daughter in a car accident years ago, and seeing someone as young and lively as Sara was had made him think of his daughter.
“I’m going to miss you too, Joe,” Sara told him, lightly patting him on the back. Finally Joe let go and Quentin and Jackie both hugged Sara at the same time, forming a massive bear hug. “I’m going to miss you guys, too,” Sara smiled.
“Call us sometime,” Jackie said. “Don’t get too caught-up with the boyfriend.”
“That’s right, you better call us or I’ll send you an angry email or two,” Quentin grinned.
Sara just laughed. “I promise I’ll call you all…and I’ll email you all.”
Jackie laughed. “I bet you Joe will send greeting cards that have to do with fart jokes.”
“Hey!” Joe said, not able to hide the smile on his face. “Alright, yes I will!”
Sara just laughed. “I’ll look forward to those, Joe…”
“Well…” Quentin said, looking down at his watch. “You better go if you want to make the plane. It’s already after ten.”
“Okay…” Sara said, nodding a little. “Goodbye, guys,” she told them all, hugging them once more before getting in her car and closing the door. Adjusting the rear-view mirror, Sara pressed her foot on the gas pedal and looked back at the three as she drove off, laughing as they were already back to their regular antics, joking and arguing with one another like little kids.
As much as Sara liked her job in San Francisco, she was absolutely ecstatic about going to Vegas. She knew she shouldn’t be this excited… she was going in to handle the internal investigation of the shooting of one of the state’s own forensic scientists, but… Grissom had specifically called her. He could’ve called anyone, including someone from the Vegas area, even, to handle this case. But he chose her, and that made her feel good. It made her feel… important…needed.
She was going to get to do what she loved to do in the number two crime lab in the country- that alone was reason enough to be excited, wasn’t it? That, and… she was going to get to see Grissom…
But they were just friends…acquaintances.
Right…?
Yes, they were just good friends, Sara told herself. That’s why she packed everything in less than thirty minutes, that’s why she kept looking at herself in the mirror as if to make sure she looked good for a date. That’s why she had butterflies in her stomach and that dopey tone to her voice on the phone.
Back to business, Sara, back to business, Sara tried to tell herself.
But what if she did have feelings for Grissom…? Did it really even matter? Grissom…was really the first man she ever really trusted away from home. He was one of the first men who hadn’t tried to take advantage of her the second they were alone in a room together. They had so much in common… including their lack of experience in the social world.
No, Sara didn’t have feelings for him; she couldn’t. She was just tired, and…anxious, she tried to reason. That’s why these thoughts were running through her mind.
Caught up in her thoughts, Sara failed to notice she had already made it to the airport and had parked in front of the doors in a no-parking zone. She practically screamed when a security guard knocked on her window. “Ma’am?” the guard asked. “Ma’am, I’m afraid you can’t park here…”
Sara blinked, staring at the guard like they were crazy before the words registered in her brain and she remembered what she was doing and where exactly she was. “Oh! Right, I’m sorry, I… I apologize,” Sara said, putting the car back in drive. “I’ll go park somewhere else.”
The guard just nodded and walked off and Sara pulled the car away from the curb, sighing to herself. She was just tired, was all.
Finally getting a parking space, Sara got out of her car and grabbed the papers Grissom had faxed to her from off the passenger’s seat. Holding them between her teeth as she grabbed her suitcases from the trunk, Sara closed and locked up the car and started off toward the actual airport, lugging at least twenty-five pounds. Alright…you’re tired, but you’ve got to get to work tomorrow so you’re going to go over these papers tonight regarding the case and have some coffee. As soon as you get to Nevada you can sleep, she told herself, walking through the double-doors of the airport. Looking around, she saw the right sign she was looking for and she walked off.
Once Sara made it to the right desk she got her ticket and was left to go find a place to sit in the waiting rooms. Being a bit late to the party (because she was caught up in her thoughts because of being ‘tired’), there were only a few seats left in the room that was already much too small to accommodate so many people. Already have dropped off her suitcases at the front desk, Sara was able to sit without being directly crowded up against another person, so she chose a seat in the third row of seats in the waiting room and sat down.
Looking down at the papers Sara was going to read over for the case, she skimmed through the first page with her eyes. Victim’s name’s Holly Gribbs… poor kid. She just graduated... she wasn’t ready, Sara frowned to herself. Gunshot wound sustained to the gut…massive bleeding, possible hemorrhaging. She was…sent to print the place, Sara sighed to herself. Simple print-job-gone-wrong…and it could cost this young girl her life.
“Hey Miss?”
Sara blinked, hearing someone speak for what seemed like the first time since she had sat down. Looking up, she saw a plump man with bright red cheeks and red hair smiling at her. “Can I help you, Sir…?” she asked, not really knowing what else to say.
“Are you going to Nevada?” he asked her.
“Oh, uh…yeah,” Sara said, offering a polite smile.
“They’re boarding us now,” he told her, motioning toward the long line of people already getting on the plane.
“Oh!” Sara said, immediately getting to her feet. “Thanks,” she told him, folding the papers up and putting them in her pocket as she searched around for her passport. Getting in line behind the man, she noticed him looking down at her passport and ticket.
“45C?” he asked her, looking at where her seat was. “That’s funny, my seat is 44C.”
Sara shot the man a small smile, wishing desperately for the line to move faster. The man seemed nice, she just… didn’t like socializing that much. “Really? Well then I guess we’ll be sitting together, Sir,” she smiled, mentally cursing to herself. She really wanted to sit by herself… she didn’t like sitting so close to people she didn’t really know for extended periods of time. Besides, she wanted to read over the case files…and she couldn’t do that if this man was going to sit and talk to her all night.
“Name’s Bill,” the red-haired man said, handing the woman at the desk his ticket and passport as the line moved up and it was their turn. “Meet you in the plane,” he told her with a smile, walking off.
Sara shot him a weak smile, just nodding as she handed the woman her own passport and ticket. She didn’t want to be rude, even though she really wasn’t in the mood for talking. She couldn’t just tell the man to shut his trap because she was going over important information about a shooting.
“45C,” the woman told Sara with a bright smile, handing her back her passport.
Thanks for reminding me, Sara thought. “Thanks,” she told her, putting her passport back in her pocket as she walked into the small tunnel leading to the plane. Focus, Sara, focus, she told herself. Wait until he falls asleep to go over the files, and then you’ll be able to have some peace, she thought, nodding to herself as she finally arrived at the plane.
“Welcome, Ma’am,” one of the flight attendants greeted her. “Can I get you something? A blanket, a pillow, perhaps?”
“No thanks, I’m okay,” Sara told her, walking down the aisle of the plane. Already she was feeling a bit claustrophobic; there were too many people in here, in a tight space, and once you were up in the air you were stuck…
“Hey!” came Bill’s voice from at least six more rows of seats up. Sara looked up to see him waving at her and pointing to her seat. Great, she had the window seat, so that meant he was blocking her in having the aisle seat.
“Hi…” Sara said, the effort of smiling growing harder and harder which each second she was on the plane.
“Saved your seat, not that anyone’s going to take it anyways,” Bill said with a laugh, moving out of the way to let her sit down. Great, the man thought his jokes were funny, too.
Sara weakly laughed as she moved around Bill and sat down in her seat by the window, buckling herself in. Bill slid into the row and sat down next to her, his plump arms and legs taking up almost the entire row by themselves. Buckling himself in, he looked over at Sara who had tried to bury herself in one of the files she held in her hands while he was preoccupied. This did not faze him.
“Is this your first time flying?” he asked her.
Sara inwardly cringed; the sound of his voice was becoming one of the most painful sounds she had ever heard in her life and she actually compared the sound to a gerbil on helium. Instead of making a remark, Sara composed herself and prepared for a long night of non-stop chatter.
After about an hour or so into the flight, Sara caught a break. Bill had taken some pills he told her he had to take every day that he said made him drowsy. Slowly he slumped further and further into his seat until finally he grew limp except for the rise and fall of his chest.
Sara sighed in relief, silently thanking god that he was finally asleep and had stopped talking. Reaching in front of her, Sara took down her tray table and set out the papers Grissom had given her in neat stacks. She still had about another hour or two before they arrived in Nevada, so that gave her more than enough time to go over the files and get herself acquainted with the case.
CSI Warrick Brown was to take CSI Gribbs to the location and remain at the scene with her as she collected evidence. About thirty minutes after CSI arrived at the scene dispatch was informed of a shooting taking place there. When uniforms arrived CSI Brown was MIA and CSI Gribbs was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
CSI Brown claims he told her he was going to run an errand.
So… from what Sara read this…Warrick guy… left a rookie all by herself at a crime scene to go run a personal errand. Already Sara didn’t really like this Warrick guy… He was an experienced CSI, heck he had been in Vegas for a few years already. Holly Gribbs was a rookie, it was her first time out in the field and he left her there unsupervised. He should’ve known better, and his carelessness could cost this girl her life.
Sara went through a list of the crime-scene photos- documented were photos of the blood pool, some bullet slugs and shell casings… the blood pool was near where the girl had been dusting for prints. That told Sara that the suspect probably entered through the door of the room and surprised her, then pulled a gun out and fired. Judging by the amount of shell casings found at the scene that meant either the suspect missed a couple of times or she got off some shots of her own.
Sara’s train of thought was interrupted by a loud, squeaky sound emitting from somewhere inside the plane. For a moment Sara was panicked; what if one of the tanks on the plane got punctured? Could it possibly damage the plane? Sara hoped not, because if the plane was damaged, then…
Before Sara could work herself into a frenzy, she realized that the squeak she heard was very much not a cause of a gas on the plane being punctured, however it was a gas. Bill, still fast asleep in the seat next to her, had passed gas. No wonder he had to take those pills he told her about; he had a flatulent problem.
Sara cringed, holding her breath. She knew this wouldn’t spare her from the horrid smell as she had to breathe sometime, but…
Finally she had to breathe and it was just in time for him to release another wave of agonizing stench. Sara thought this must’ve been like what people in concentration camps had to go through; she could barely breathe and she probably looked like she was suffocating to the other people in the plane.
Looking down at the files in her hands, Sara found a good use for them at the moment and used them to fan the smell away from her. Doing so, however, made Bill stir, and she immediately stopped for fear of waking the man up. This is ridiculous! Sara thought, finally unbuckling herself and getting up out of her seat. Before anyone could say or do anything to stop her, Sara had leapt out of her seat and made her way into the aisle. In a matter of moments she was heading down the aisles to find an empty seat.
Luckily for Sara there were a fair number of people who didn’t show up at the airport, so she had a rather wide choice of seats to choose from. Choosing the first seat she saw, the aisle seat next to an old man who was sleeping, she sat down and re-buckled herself, taking a deep breath as she began reading over the files again.
She didn’t get far, however, because she felt a small pressure on her shoulder before even getting through another paragraph. Looking over, she cringed as she discovered the old man leaning his head against her shoulder, his eyes closed and mouth wide open. His breath was bad enough, but to add to her discomfort the man was starting to drool. Sara looked around quickly, trying to find a flight attendant. “Ma’am!” Sara said, seeing one down the aisle. “Can I have a tissue, please?” she asked, sounding rather desperate.
Unfortunately the flight attendant did not hear Sara, so she had to fend for herself. Picking the papers up, she picked one she had already read through and held it to the man’s mouth, watching as he drooled on the paper instead of her shoulder. Sara wanted to gag; saliva was one of the few things that could make her feel squeamish.
You’re drooling on my crime-scene notes! Sara thought, watching the man. Finally she had enough and she lightly nudged the man away from her with her elbow. Her efforts were graciously rewarded when the man snorted and moved his head away from her, resting it against the window near his seat. Sara looked down at her semi-soaked paper and threw it away as the flight attendant came by with a trash can.
Finally after an agonizing few hours in the plane, Sara arrived in Nevada. Eager to get out of the plane and get some fresh air away from the Bills and old-drooling men of the world, she almost knocked a few people down in her haste for freedom. Regardless of being in the back rows, Sara was one of the first people to exit the plane.
“Thank god,” Sara sighed to herself once she was at the baggage claim. As soon as her suitcases made the round on the conveyor belt she grabbed them and was already out the door with her cell phone to her ear to call for a cab. The fresh night air of the Nevada hills was a refreshing greeting for Sara as she waited for the cab to arrive. Being stuck in that plane for three hours with a man with an unfortunate flatulent problem and a man who drooled all over her case files was not exactly pleasant.
Soon the cab had arrived and the driver got out helping Sara load her things into the car. Utterly exhausted from running around all night Sara collapsed in the back seat of the car, letting the driver load everything in by himself. Sara couldn’t wait to get to the hotel… even though she didn’t like hotels. All Sara wanted to do was sleep right now. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
As soon as the driver finished loading the car up he got in the driver’s seat and turned around. “Where to, Miss?”
It was then Sara realized she hadn’t booked a room in a hotel for the night. “…I’m sorry- it’s my first time in Nevada…” Sara started. “Do you know of a hotel anywhere near the Las Vegas Crime Lab?” she asked him.
“As a matter of fact I do,” he told her. “I’ll take you there,” he said, putting the car in drive as they started off.
“Thanks,” Sara sighed, resting her head against the window on her door. She hadn’t realized they were so close to Vegas for in moments they were driving down the Strip, the amount of flashing lights and people standing around on the sidewalks and curbs all foreign to her. Sure, Sara had seen pictures of Vegas, and she had seen ads on TV, but… she never imagined what it would look like in person.
In about twenty minutes they were at a Days Inn and the cab had stopped, the driver parking it right in front of the lobby office. “Thanks,” Sara told him, handing him a twenty-dollar bill and going around the back of the car to get her things. The driver helped her lift her more-heavy suitcases.
“Honey, let me tell you somethin’,” the driver started, setting one of her suitcases on the ground. “Now, Vegas is a big city,” he told her, “Lots of things happen, both good and bad. You don’t go wanderin’ ‘round late at night alone, you hear me?” he asked her, completely serious.
Sara shot him a warm smile, though she was still taken aback at the sternness of his tone. She was absolutely exhausted, why… why did he have to bring this up now? She just wanted to sleep… she didn’t want to worry about things right now. She had been through enough in her life to know what to and not to do in a big city she had never been in before. “Thank you, Sir, but I’m actually with law enforcement, so I don’t think my safety is going to be a problem,” she told him, flashing her badge.
“Well, cop or no cop, Missy, I want you to be takin’ good card of yerself,” he told her, walking around to the driver’s side of the cab after closing the trunk. “Have a good night, Miss,” he finished, tipping his brown hat on his head and getting in the car.
“Thank you, Sir… you too,” Sara said, nodding as he drove off. Despite Sara’s exhaustion, she was able to lug every suitcase she had to the lobby in order to get a room; maybe it was the fact that she wanted to curl up in a nice warm bed so badly.
Almost immediately after walking into the lobby Sara got a room; she figured the receptionist must’ve noticed how exhausted she looked lugging around all her suitcases. Luckily she was put on the first floor so she wouldn’t have to carry her things up any flights of stairs.
Sara took her room key from the woman- actually it was more like she snatched the key from the woman- greedily and almost ran to her hotel room, opening the door and throwing her legs into the room. After closing the door, Sara made sure all of her blinds and curtains were closed (you could never be too careful and what the cab driver said was starting to make her feel paranoid) before quickly changing into her pajamas.
But now came the tough part. Sara had her trusty bottle of Nonoxonyl 9 with her, and she never traveled without or laid a finger on a hotel bed without first using it, but… she really was exhausted.
Finally Sara decided it was better to be safe than sorry. After disinfecting the sheets of any spermicides, Sara crawled into bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
Sara Sidle’s first night in Sin City.