And There Are Secrets.
By Rose Williams.
Spoilers: None. Written before I saw season three.
Pairing: Sara/ Grissom. Hints of something Warrick/ Catherine.
Rating: R.
Feedback: Majethrim@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: CSI was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and belongs to CBS Broadcasting and Alliance Atlantis Productions. No infringement of any rights is intended, and I am not profiting from this story. This covers every chapter.
The idea for Grissom and Catherine's burglary case come from the Emily Rodda Teen Power Inc. book, War of the Work Demons.
The Shakespeare quote comes from Much Ado About Nothing.
Authors Notes: I'm editing it and reposting it without the on going author's notes. Michelle is my own character. I like her, although she is sometimes quite strange.
I have never lived in Las Vegas, or even America. Please excuse my making up street names, etc.
This was my first extended fic. The working title was CSI fic Argh!!!! The title comes from a Tiddas song.
"And there are secrets, in honour we must keep. And the there are secrets that keep me from sleep. And there are secrets, I can tell with compassion."
* * * * *
It was dark. She could feel his hands, but she couldn't see his face. He was wearing too much perfume. Sara struggled as best she could but he had tied her down. Her most prominent thought was that she wouldn't be able to describe anything about him, the bastard.
The smell itself began to turn her stomach. She tried again to scream and this time she woke up. She almost, no she did, scream into the darkness of her bedroom. The sound of her own fear pushed its way into her mind and she was able to focus on the fact that she was alone.
Sara was still breathing heavily even after she had picked up the phone by her bed and dialled Nick's number. He woke up as soon as the phone began to ring. It took him about a minute to pick it up.
"Hello," he asked, weariness waring with anger in his voice.
"Nick?"
He recognised Sara's voice and the anger disappeared.
"Sara, are you okay?"
"Listen, you don't have anyone there, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Nick asked.
"Girlfriend, boyfriend, parents," Sara explained.
Nick would have realised as she asked if the answer was yes, so she climbed out of bed with the phone and began throwing together the clothes she would need for the next shift.
"No," Nick answered her question.
"I'm coming over to your place," Sara told him.
"I'll come get you," he immediately offered.
"No. I need to get out of the house, it was bad tonight," she said.
"I'll see you in a bit, then," Nick sighed.
"Thanks, Nick."
Sara drove to Nick's house with intense concentration. Anyone else would have been a danger on the road in Sara's condition, she put all her energy and anger into concentrating on driving.
Nick was ready when she arrived not too much later. He open the door for her and stood back as she walked through his lounge area to the spare room he had. Both the single beds were made up. Nick didn't follow her, but went back into his kitchen to light the gas beneath the saucepan of milk he'd put there when she'd called.
Sarah hadn't really changed out of her pyjamas even to drive. She came into the kitchen area to claim her glass of warm milk. Nick smiled reassuringly at her. She looked as if she'd just fallen out of bed. It was so unlike her normal appearance that he couldn't help but be a little amused. He leant against the bench next to the stove and away from her. The first time she'd had to visit she'd also had to explain the rules of being allowed to help her. The second time she'd had to remind him of the space, and the glass of warm milk.
She accepted her drink with a grateful smile.
"Thanks so much, Nicky," she said.
He shrugged, "It's not a problem."
He picked up his own warm milk and offered Sara a toast. They clinked glasses and she downed the rest of her drink. Nick continued to sip his slowly, watching her. Sara seem unaware of where she was. She stood in a daze in his kitchen while he watched her carefully and drank. He took her glass from her hands gently and placed it in the sink. He ushered her just as tentatively to his spare room.
Sara came to herself with a quiet shake.
"I am sorry, Nick. I got you up. I would have been fine, surely…" she mumbled. "I apologise for being so silly," she said.
Nick gripped her arm gently, reassuringly.
"I'm fine, Sara."
He leant closer and kissed her gently on the lips.
"Go to sleep."
Nick turned off the light and gently nudged Sara towards the spare room.
"Thanks, Nick," she mumbled as she climbed into one of the beds.
She pulled a small stuffed toy, a pig, from her bag and curled up around it. Nick waited until she was settled before climbing into the other bed.
It was ten pm when Nick's phone rang. He woke up instantly and with more than his usual grace answered it. Sara barely stirred, which he took as a good sign. He was not awake enough to answer with more than a grunt.
"Nick?" Grissom's voice came through.
"Griss, you need me?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry, Nicky, but we really have more than we can handle."
"No, no, that's fine," Nick assured him. He swallowed, "Sara'll be coming in, too."
"Sara? It's her day off," Grissom said.
"Yes, but she's here," Nick explained carefully, "and she won't like waking up alone."
"She's a big girl, Nick, I'm sure she can look after herself."
Grissom's tone added nothing to Nick's understanding of his comment.
"She's coming in, too," he repeated, "even if she just does paper work."
"Okay, 401A opposite the park, join Warrick there, the victim was beaten before she was hit."
Grissom hung up. Nick was left with the unenviable job of waking Sara up. He got back to the room and sat down on his bed. He decided to try what his mother had always done for him.
"Sara, you really need to wake up now," he began in a slightly lecturing tone. "It was Grissom just on the phone, and he wants us, well, me, to go into work. I thought you would rather come than wake up here with me gone. We have to meet Warrick at the site, so if you get up you can have a shower while I make coffee and…"
"Mmm, coffee," Sara murmured.
"Yes, coffee. Wake up now," Nick ordered.
Sara rolled over to face him, "I get the first shower?"
"Yes, go," Nick told her.
He put the kettle on and spooned the coffee into the plunger carefully. He didn't know much of what Sara's nightmares were. She'd taken him out one night. He remembered that she had been extremely nervous, and absolutely determined.
"I have nightmares," she'd said, eventually, "They're really bad. I can't really get back to sleep if I have one."
"General nightmares," he had asked her, "Or a specific event."
She'd nodded, and he'd held her hand.
Sara came into the kitchen interrupting Nick reminiscence. He poured the coffee.
"You got ready quickly," he said.
Sara looked at him suspiciously, trying to see what he was implying. "I hate cold coffee," she said slowly.
Nick took a couple of sips of his. It was really too hot to drink straight away. He took it with him on his way to the shower. Sara lent against the bench and drank her coffee.
She remembered that he hadn't asked what the specific event was. He'd held her hand and asked her what he could do to help. He'd thanked her for trusting him.
