Pants on Fire
By Sarga
Written March 14, 2010
Summary: Death waits for no woman. Written for the LJ Community "Fanfic Bake-off" prompt: Tangle
Blood. The air was thick with the stench of it. No matter how many times she breathed it, it was always that same cloying scent of death and violence. Memories of childhood.
Sara Sidle stepped through the crime scene gingerly, snapping photographs of the previously marked details.
"Murder-suicide, from the looks of things." Nick Stokes called from the doorway, his lips curled in disgust. "Gotta sift through the evidence, of course, but turns out that Mr. Payne over here had a restraining order on him," Nick pointed to the second body as Sara photographed it. "By his wife."
Sara gritted her teeth in frustration, looking for something, anything to prove that this wasn't just another marital dispute gone wrong. Any trace of evidence to show that this wasn't just another tangle of lies compounding with fear, envy, jealousy.... hate.
"Why do people even bother to get married?" Sara spat out as she snapped a shot of the wife's brain spattered on the wall. "With the rate of domestic violence resulting in death, there's a better chance of dying by the hands of someone you love, than there is of finding perfect happiness." Sara ran a hand through her hair. "Why a person would bet against those odds is beyond me..."
Two shots rang out and Sara dove for the floor...
...and sat bolt-upright as her heart-beat raced out of control. The sound of a car with a broken muffler faded into the distance and the former CSI finally lay back down. Next to her husband. Who she was perfectly happy with.
"You okay, Sara?" Gil muttered, rubbing Sara's back to soothe his new wife.
"Yeah," Sara settled back into his arms, tangling up her legs in his. "Just a bad dream."