Disclaimer: Don't own CSI or To Live and Die in L.A. Ok, I take that back, I do own them on DVDs. Does that count?
Pairing: Grissom/Sara.
Rating: T (mostly language).
Spoilers: If it's on TV, it's game.
Summary: GSR. Every fable has a beginning and an ever after. This is the pre-beginning. Written for geekfiction 80's Ficathon. Prompt: movies.
A/N: Enjoy and feedbacks are always welcome. Peace…
To Fight and Survive in S.F.
Author: litbuff
"Hey Sara!"
Sixteen-year-old Sara Sidle poked her head out the door of her shared bedroom at the loud calling of her name.
"Are you coming or not?" The impatient male voice boomed again.
"Yeah! Give me a sec!" Sara answered and quickly disappeared back into her bedroom to grab her jacket. While putting it on, she ran swiftly out of her room, down a flight of stairs and out of the house that she had called home for the last year and joined three other boys in an old Chrysler Plymouth for the night at the movies.
Frank Jones, the oldest in the group, had generously offered to take them along as he went out on a date with his girlfriend, Samantha. At seventeen, this was his last year at the Wilson's foster home and he had stated that he couldn't wait to move out on his own. The other two boys, twins Jake and Jason Wilcox, were of the same age as Sara and had been with the Wilsons the longest.
Together, the four of them, damaged one way or another, made up the top echelon of foster children in the Wilson household. Frank, with his unknown father and a drug addict mother, had arrived at the group home two years before Sara with multiple wrist scars. His emotions changed with the weather and everyone knew to avoid him when his moods plummeted.
The twins, Jake and Jason, had lived with the Wilsons since they were seven years old after being found abandoned at a homeless shelter. Except for the random outbursts of violence (which over the course of many years and lots of therapy later, had diminished to just spitting profanities at others), they could be the sweetest people to have around.
Sara with her notoriety, came to the Wilson's home the previous year where her fame had preceded her, sort of hard to play it down when her mother's face was plastered all over the news for killing her father in a drunken rage. The younger kids had warned themselves to steer clear of her. And she had preferred it that way.
Sara sat quietly in the back seat of Frank's car, staring out the window as the sun disappeared into the horizon and counting the mile markers down the coastal highway from their house to the drive-in theater. Her mental spacing out was occasionally disrupted by the kissing sound from Frank's girlfriend, Samantha, and the twins' conversation about the movie they were going to watch tonight, something called To Live and Die in L.A. She didn't really care which movie she was going to watch just as long as she got a night out, away from the other twelve kids that were living under the same roof.
The car's sudden stop interrupted her thoughts.
"Alright, everyone in the trunk." Frank pulled the car to the side of the road and ordered Sara and the boys into hiding.
The last two-minute ride to the gate of the drive-in theater felt like an eternity as her body bounced up and down while being squished by the other two sixteen-year-old boys.
Frank's car again stopped abruptly, signaling to the trunk occupants that they had arrived at the gate of the outdoor theater. Suddenly Sara heard a loud thump on top of the trunk and muffled scuffling. The unseen exchange then resulted in the trunk door being opened, exposing the three hidden interlopers.
"Everyone, out of the trunk!" The ticket boy, probably Frank's age, ordered the three of them in what he had hoped an authoritative voice.
The twins climbed out of the trunk first then Sara. Standing in the middle of the night with several cars lined up behind them, witnessing their humiliation, had added a whole new dimension to embarrassment.
Sara then heard the driver's door of the car behind them opened and she had to hold up her palm to shade her eyes from the glares of the headlights that were beaming at her in order to make out a silhouette stepping out of the car and approached them.
"What's going on here?" The man asked Ticket Boy.
"This guy here tries to sneak these kids in without paying!" Ticket Boy snickered at Frank while pointing his index finger at Sara and the twins. "I'm calling the cops on you!"
"Hey, I told you dude, I had no idea they were back there!" Frank denied adamantly. "Man, would I take these losers with me when I'm out on a date? Get real!"
"Hey, who you're calling losers? Loser!" The twins spoke up in unison.
"Oh shut the hell up and let me handle this!" Frank spat back at them.
"They are not getting in without paying!" Ticket Boy sneered in Sara's direction.
"Ok guys," Frank finally gave up, "hit the road. I'll see you guys at home."
"What?!" Jake stared incredulously at Frank while Jason looked as if he was about to slip into one of his profanity tantrums.
Sara had been quietly watching the scene unfolded and when realizing that she wasn't going to watch a movie tonight, she silently turned away and headed down the road toward home. She was into her thirtieth step when she heard her name.
"Sara! Get your ass back here!" Frank was always the gentleman.
She just stopped in her track and swung her head in Frank's direction.
"We all going in!"
Just as quietly, she retraced her steps back to Frank's car. As she approached the group, she wondered how Frank was able to pull this one off when Jason blurted out the answer to her unvoiced question.
"That guy paid for our tickets!" Jason said excitedly while pointing at the man whose car was being held up because of them.
Sara eyed him for a minute before muttering her thanks for his generosity. He nodded his head in acknowledgment before heading back to his own car.
OoOoOoOoO
Frank drove into a wide expanse with rows upon rows of what looked like parking meters but at close inspection, they were actually speakers resting on three-foot high poles. Frank was able to find a good spot in the middle of the lot right in front of the outdoor screen. Once he put his car in park, he lifted the speaker from its holder, clamped it onto of his window and rolled it up to hold the speaker in place.
They were all pretty excited as the movie opened with the scene of Secret Service Agent Rick Chance going after a terrorist on the rooftop of a building and ended in a spectacular explosion of that said terrorist. Movie night was coming along quite nicely until Samantha's tongue started to make a move on Frank's earlobes, then it was all downhill from there.
"Ok guys." Frank turned to face Sara and the twins, "Get out!"
Sara and the boys moaned in protest but eventually climbed out of Frank's '77 ugly mint green Chrysler Plymouth.
Jake and Jason decided to walk around to see if they could find any familiar car that belonged to their friends from school, leaving Sara to fend for herself. She eyed the twins hoping they would include her in their search but gave up when they just marched off without another word. She strolled slowly toward the concession stand at the back of the drive-in as she remembered on their way in that there was a flagpole standing on top of a slab of concrete.
Her destination was hidden in semi-darkness and provided her with some privacy for her to sit and watch the movie in peace. Except for having to put up with people walking in front of her on their way to reach the concession stand and restrooms, her movie night was back on track.
"Hello there."
Sara looked up to find the guy that had paid for her movie ticket smiling down at her. "Hi." She returned the greeting.
"Why are you sitting here by yourself?" His face actually showed genuine concern.
"Major make out session in progress."
"Oh."
Like you don't know. She smirked internally at him.
"Are you planning on sitting here all night?" Now the concern had seeped into his voice.
Sara shrugged. Like she had a place to go.
"May I?" He asked, indicating the place beside her.
She shrugged again. It was none of her business that he preferred the cold concrete slab over the comfort of his car.
"I think I'm getting old but…" He chuckled as he pointed to her artificially ripped jeans. "I just don't understand the fashion."
Sara looked down at the three-inch slits that exposed both of her kneecaps. What this stranger had thought of as the latest fashion was in fact Goodwill jeans that had way too much mileage. The fabric sections on her knees and rear ends had become threadbare and had threatened to unravel into unsightly holes. She just took the necessary steps with a pair of scissors and turned it into a piece of fashion, though she stopped short of exposing her hind cheeks.
His words made her consciously pulled her jacket closer as she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.
Sensing she didn't want to engage in the subject at hand, he gestured at the people walking back and forth in front of them. "Can you actually watch this movie with all of these visual interruptions?"
You are my visual interruption. Of course she didn't say it out loud but instead replied, "Better this than nothing."
"How can you watch this movie without any sound?" He asked as she piqued his curiosity.
"I can read their lips if they're full frontal." She answered simply as she watched Agent Rick Chance silently chased the bad guys across the wide outdoor screen.
"You can read lips?"
Sara turned to find a perked up face. "I don't want to be rude but what's with the twenty questions?" For an old guy, he seemed rather cute. Come to think of it, he rather looked like that lead actor in the movie they were watching. She wondered if he was the same age as her physics teacher, Mr. O'Malley, who was in his late twenties. Now, Mr. Thomas O'Malley defined cute. She could definitely take all seven periods of physics had they allowed her, as long as Mr. O'Malley was teaching the class of course.
The man in front of her raised a brow before answering, "You fascinate me."
She huffed at him. "You made me sound like a sociology experiment."
"Are you offended?"
"Me?" Her own right brow lifted in reply. "Don't worry. I'm very thick skinned. Takes a lot to offend me."
"So how did you learn to read lips?" She had to admire his relentlessness.
She just shrugged and said, "Too many years watching TV with muting on." She could see the next question forming on his face but she turned away quickly. How could she explain to him the life and death situation between having the sound of the TV on or off? Would he understand that loud noise, or any noise for that matter, could lead a drunken abuser into a violent state, one that determined where the next injury would be on her body? She instinctively lifted her eyes higher and clamped her jaw tight, helpful mechanisms in keeping unshed tears at bay.
She could feel his gaze on her and she finally spoke up, "You're creeping me out."
"Sorry." He sounded apologetic. "Just a relapse into my work mode."
That had caught her attention. "What do you do for a living?"
"I am a criminalist." He voice lightened, clearly a subject he enjoyed.
"So you basically stare the bad guys into confession?"
He smiled at her sarcastic tone. "Yeah, you can say that."
"Wow, sounds like fun." A light bulb suddenly lit up. Two could play this game. "Are you from around here?"
"Nope." He answered shortly. "Are you?"
"Yeah." Then she added, "Why are you here then? You look like you can afford the indoor theater."
He chuckled at her observation. "You sound like a natural born CSI."
Sara gave him a perplexed look. "What's a CSI?"
His face perked up again. Now, it was her turn to be fascinated as she listened to his animated voice. "Crime Scene Investigator. When a crime took place, it's the job of the CSI to collect the evidence that were left behind and put the pieces back together like a puzzle to find out who'd done it."
"Like Sherlock Holmes."
"Yeah."
"Cool. Are you a CSI?"
"Yeah."
"So back to my original question - Why are you here then? You can definitely afford the indoor theater."
He shook his head with a grin and confessed, "I am here in town on vacation with my girlfriend and here at this drive-in theater for nostalgic reasons."
"Oh." Sara nodded her head in satisfaction at his answers and returned her attention to the movie.
"C'mon, I'll buy you some popcorn and we can watch the movie from my car." He suddenly offered, surprising her.
She just stared at him in disbelief. This was the second time tonight that he had been nice to her. She couldn't believe that there were people like him out there in the world. "You're not some pervert trying to kidnap me, are you?"
He looked at her in shock then bursted out laughing. "You are one very wise girl. No, I am not some pervert trying to kidnap you but if I really wanted to, I could have done it easily with you sitting here by yourself."
"Just so you know, I have a black belt in karate." Of course she didn't but she could deliver a mean kick in the balls like the one she gave Tony Phillips in the eighth grade after he had teased her about having murder genes.
He smiled at her and said, "I am sure you do. I'll try not to upset you in any way." And she was beginning to like his smile. "And besides, my girlfriend is also in the car so you won't have to worry."
"How do I know if your girlfriend isn't in it with you?"
"Not very trusting, are you?"
She wanted to laugh at him. Trust? She found out very early in life that the only person who she could trust was herself. Self-reliance was the key to her survival.
Sensing she did not want to answer him, he stood up and said farewell, "It's up to you. You know where to find us if you decide to change your mind."
"I'll take the popcorn."
He smiled at her again. This time she thought he had the most beautiful smile, one that reached all the way to the corners of his intense blue eyes. Fixing his gaze on her, he cocked his head in the direction of the concession stand, inviting her to come with him. She got up and followed him. He ordered two large buckets of popcorn with sodas and turned to ask her if she wanted anything else.
She started to shake her head then added as an afterthought, "Extra butter on that popcorn please." When he handed her the popcorn and Coke and was about to leave her for his waiting car, Sara decided to take the risk and followed him. "You know, either you don't really like your girlfriend too much or you are totally clueless."
He quirked a brow at her, "What make you say that?"
"Well, first off, women don't like to share."
"Would you care to enlighten me with your wisdom?"
"Fine, make fun of me but if I was in your girlfriend's shoes, I'd be pissed if my boyfriend invited another girl to join us on our date."
He gave another good laugh before replying to her comment. "First of all, you are no threat to her. Secondly, she's very nice and I'm sure she won't mind you joining us, that is, you are joining us?"
"How can I resist? Snacks, movie with sound and comfy cushion for my butt, I'd be crazy to turn it down." She murmured as she tried to keep up with him, "Can't wait to meet this wonderfully understanding girlfriend of yours."
OoOoOoOoO
Said girlfriend was not as understanding as her benefactor had made her out to be.
With a highly developed keen sense to know when she was not being wanted, Sara could feel the heated glare coming from the beautiful brunette sitting in the waiting car.
"Gil, I was hoping for a night alone with you." Dangerous honey was dripping from his girlfriend's tongue.
"Honey, I couldn't leave her out there alone by herself." He answered in a hushed voice, though Sara couldn't understand why he bothered. Hard to miss when she was sitting in the back seat of his car, munching popcorn and trying to watch the damn movie in truncated moments.
"Gil, you have to understand that you can't save every single mutt out there."
Ouch! Since when was she a mutt? Sara wondered indignantly.
"Charlene… please…"
"I need you to do something about this…" Heated glare shot her way again.
Ok, it was time for full stealth mode. One thing Sara had learned while growing up was the instinct to will herself invisible, and that included stop talking, eating, drinking, and if possible, breathing. The popcorn almost reached her mouth when she automatically dropped it back into the bucket. She then grounded her butt into the seat to keep herself from fidgeting.
When the man did not respond to Charlene, she turned to look accusingly at Sara and opened her door, "I'm going to the ladies' room."
After Charlene slammed the car door shut and walked away, Sara just wanted to completely disappear.
"You're alright?" Her newfound buddy, who was so in the doghouse tonight, asked her simply.
"Yeah and I'm really sorry." She replied and meant it.
"What for?" He gave her a confused look.
"Screwing up you date." She said, lowering her gaze at the bucket of buttery popcorn.
He sighed then turned to peer out the passenger window. "It's not your fault."
"Yes, it is." Of course it was her fault. Everything bad that ever happened was always her fault. "I shouldn't have come tonight and get caught sneaking in and tag along like a third wheel on everyone's date."
"You always blame yourself for everything?"
She looked up at him in surprise. He was staring at her like he was piercing straight into her nightmarish of a soul. She quickly dipped her eyes back into that bucket of popcorn, trying to drown herself in it before letting him know her deep, dark secrets.
He heaved another sigh and remained quiet, probably trying to think of what to do with the sixteen-year-old girl in his car.
Sara's eyes lifted slowly and scanned his face, "Um… I think I should go find my friends."
He nodded his head. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea."
She grabbed her soda and popcorn and said before exiting the car, "Thanks for everything. I just want you to know that I think your girlfriend is one lucky girl. I hope someday I'd meet someone as nice and kind as you."
OoOoOoOoO
Ten years later…
Sara's heart nearly stopped when she entered the lecture hall and stared into the deepest pair of blue eyes she had ever seen.
His face initially registered confusion, then slowly transformed into that of recognition.
Recovering from her shock, she smiled shyly as she approached the podium, "I have a feeling we've met before."
He grinned back at her, "I think so too…"
FIN