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They both needed each other that morning, each for their own and collective reasons. He, because it had been a particularly taxing and arduous shift, and she because of the happenings of the shift. The main scene was a multiple homicide in which two adults and three children had been senselessly butchered in their own beds; there were no survivors. To Sara, the stabbings of the parents reminded her, however slightly, of the manner in which her father had lost his life. To Jim, it was all just a waste of human life. He could tell by the shelves in the children's rooms that they were good kids, made good grades, excelled at sports and were really and truly loved unconditionally by their parents. The children were all between the ages of ten and fifteen..."such a loss, he thought to himself as he tried not to vomit from all the blood on the floors, walls, furniture and even on the ceilings.
When shift was over and everyone's energy drained, Sara sat in the locker room on the bench, her head in her hands, slumped forward as if crying. She wasn't though, she was trying to rid her mind of the horrific things she'd seen that night.
Walking slowly down the hall, heading out of the lab, Jim happened to notice her seated there. He approached her slowly, placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed, sitting beside her and nearly mimicking her posture. His hand still on her shoulder, he tried his best to smile but didn't quite succeed. Turning to her, he spoke softly.
"It never ceases to amaze me, the horrible things that we, as a species, are capable of."
Thinking his comment a bit profound and very truthful, Sara just gave a sort of huff and turned to look at him in the eyes.
"But I guess you've seen a lot of cruelty in your life; a lot of senseless waste of life"
"Yeah, but not like this." he replied
Both standing up at the same time, Jim stood by as she removed her belongings from her locker and shouldered her pack. Heading out of the locker room and down the hall, Jim placed his right hand at the base of Sara's neck and began to rub with his thumb and middle finger, trying to work the knots and stress from her aching neck. She let out a small, low groan and he smiled.
"Come on, let's get something to eat; I'll cook."
A hum of "Umm, hmm." was her only response.
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Over at Jim's place, Sara had showered and changed into some sweats that she kept in a medium sized duffel bag that she kept on the floor of Jim's bedroom closet. When she emerged from the bedroom, she took over the cooking as Jim showered himself. By the time he'd finished and dressed in comfy clothes of his own the meal had been prepared and was sitting on the dining room table. It was a lovely presentation of pancakes, eggs, fruit salad, coffee and orange juice, with sausage for Jim and Fakin' Bacon for Sara.
Afterwards, while Jim relaxed on the couch, Sara cleaned up and then joined him. They snuggled closely on the couch, his arm around her left shoulder and her head resting on his chest. In their own separate minds they each thought back on the events of the previous shift. This close contact between Jim and Sara was nothing new, as they'd been seeing each other for the past few months. It was a hard secret to keep, especially from a lab full of talent varied detectives, but they'd done it and done it well. Today, however, had been the only day that they'd been seen leaving the lab together. Granted, they left in their own cars, but the small kiss as they parted ways before getting into their cars would have been a dead give away had anyone been watching; but someone had, and from behind a row of cars, they smiled and gave a little laugh, saying "Its about time".
They both stayed on the couch for what seemed forever, until almost as if they could read each other's minds, they both got up simultaneously and headed for the bedroom; not for sex, mind you, but for sleep and comfort that could only be given by the arms of friendship, love and complete understanding of the other's feelings, emotions and situation. Of all these elements and aspects, they were both keenly aware. They knew each other like no other in the LVPD or LVCL did. To a degree, Jim and Sara's "meld", if you will, was leaps and bounds stronger than that of hers and Grissom's had been way back when.
No longer did Sara pine over Grissom, the lost cause. She'd moved on with her life and began a new one with the least likely of men; Jim. They'd always been friendly and on good terms. They'd never argued or fought like she and Grissom had, they were always laughing and joking about something. Truth be told, Sara and Jim never really had anything even remotely resembling a fight or heated discussion. Sure, they'd had their disagreements and had always decided to agree to disagree. They never let things fester, either. They always talked things out, never going to bed angry, so to speak.
For his part, Jim had finally opened his heart and was pleasantly surprised when it was Sara that had noticed. In all honesty, he had opened it for her, deciding that if she was interested, which he thought she was, she'd see it; and after a short while, she did. They started out small, meals, cases, phone calls, etc. After about a month or so they'd become closer and closer to where they were now, right at this moment. At this moment Jim was happy and felt as heartwarmingly loved as he had in a long, long time. For years he'd been single by choice and now he seemed to have everything he'd ever wanted. He had a nice house, a good job, a woman he loved and who loved him...the only thing he was missing was family. He had Ellie, true enough, but in his eyes she was a lost cause, but he wanted more, and he finally felt he was ready for it. Question was, would Sara be on board?
They'd known each other for years and shortly after they started dating Jim brought up the subject of family. In the beginning she wasn't so sure she was ready for kids and other family type stuff. But the longer they discussed the matter the more she seemed to warm up to the thought of having a family of her own. Jim wanted a son, someone he could play baseball with and go camping and such. Sara was now of the mind that any baby was a good baby, so long as they were healthy and happy. Sure, there were the concerns about developmental issues, given hers and Jim's ages. The only thing now was that Jim, being kind of the old fashioned type, wanted a REAL family. He wanted a wife and kids. Given their relationship and subsequent discussions, Sara wasn't totally opposed to the idea of marriage. She'd known Jim long enough that she knew his moods, his melancholy and his elations, and he the same about her. As was the same with the discussions about children, Sara was beginning to warm up to the idea of becoming Mrs. Jim Brass, Sidle-Brass or would she keep her own name? The trick of it was would they do it in secret? Would there be a small service or a big one. Sara, being the private person that she was suggested they keep things on the down low, maybe just taking advantage of one of the numerous little chapels in Las Vegas. They both agreed that rings would attract too much attention, but Jim had an idea. They could have their rings and wear them around their necks, on a chain or something of that nature. This way they'd be the only ones that would know and their vows held in the bands of gold that would constantly be close to their hearts, them being the only ones that would know about them.
As they lay in bed, in each other's arms, Jim turned his head to Sara, who lay with her head on his chest and smiled as she ran her fingers through his chest hair. Kissing the top of her head, he took a deep breath and whispered.
"Are you sure you're ready for this? We can always wait a little longer, till you're more comfortable with all of this."
Looking up at him, she smiled that beautiful gap-toothed smile that he loved so much.
"There's nothing more I'd love in life. The question is, are YOU ready?"