Author's Notes: Hello! This story comes to me as a request from a reader, so she is to credit for this idea. I hope you enjoy it!
I haven't had a chance to get this betaed, so any mistakes are mine.
Readers of my other stories...I'm hoping to have an update soon, although I'm having a bit of trouble with writer's block.
I'm expecting two more parts to this fic, and considering I have it mapped out, it won't take nearly as long as my others to update.
As always, let me know what you think.
Jenny
Bittersweet:
Chapter One:
Sara awoke with a start, her pulse racing as she struggled to catch a breath. Shakily bringing her hand to her forehead, she tried to calm herself down. It had been weeks since she dreamt about that night, since she let the fear overcome her.
Knowing it would be pointless to try and go back to sleep, she tossed the covers off of her legs, setting her trembling feet on the floor as she reached for the pull-cord for her bedside lamp. It had been nearly four years since that horrible night, since she fled the life she had come to love, since she had shed the role of Sara Sidle: Wife and Mother, and became Sara Sidle: Bitter and Alone.
Wiping a few stray tears from her face, she made her way to the closet, pulling out a battered cardboard box. Sitting on the floor, she emptied the few items she had managed to take from her San Francisco house. She had gone through this routine many times before, when the dreams were bad enough to fog even her conscious mind, and tonight was no different from the others.
She reached for the faded pink baby book, her finger lightly tracing the glittery silver letters of the cover. Molly Ann Sawyer. Her baby girl. The one piece of her past she longed to have in her arms. The only name that had the power to break her.
She could recite the records in this book with more accuracy than she could any forensics journal or any case report. This book held the secrets of who she was, and who she used to be. It made her the stressed workaholic that she was today, a striking opposite of who she was in California. Those three little words are what made Sara Sidle, and just a few months later, what broke Sara Sidle.
Flipping open the hard cover, she was rewarded with the most beautiful blue eyed baby she had ever seen. Her beautiful blue eyed baby. The child that no longer existed. The reason that each day, another little piece of Sara Sidle slowly died.
Alex and Sara Sawyer welcomed Molly Ann Sawyer on June 24th. Molly weighed 6 pounds and 11 ounces, and was 19 inches long. This is the Sawyer's first child. Alex has been on the San Francisco Police Force for 3 years, and Sara has been working in the Criminalistics Bureau for 2. The newspaper clipping felt worn and fragile to Sara's rough skin, and she gently placed it back in the book, picking up the next clipping as a tear slid down her cheek. Missing: Molly Sawyer, age 3 months. Molly was last seen with her father Alexander Diego Sawyer (pictured above) on September 22, wearing a pink dress with a picture of a ballerina on the front. If you have any information on either of these individuals, please contact the San Francisco Police Department.
Sara sighed, shaking her head slightly as she wiped away the moisture from her cheeks. She was in love, she was happy, she had the perfect husband and child...and one day it all just vanished into thin air.
She let her hand rest on the shiny photo taped to the front page of the baby book. Molly was resting in Sara's weary arms, her eyes barely open, her arms nestled tightly in the blanket cocoon. She was less than half an hour old, and totally oblivious to the tears of joy glistening in her parents eyes. This had been the happiest day of Sara's life, she had no idea that it would all be over so soon.
Placing the book back in the box, she let her trembling hands rest on a small, white stuffed rabbit. She had Alex had bought many, many things when she was pregnant, but this rabbit was the first stuffed toy they had bought for Molly. Up until the day she disappeared, the rabbit could always be found within arms reach of the infant, who loved to hear the rattling sound it made when shook. Bringing the rabbit to her face, Sara could still smell a slight trace of baby powder in it's soft fur.
Her memories were interrupted by the phone, and sniffling loudly, Sara took a few deep breaths before answering the phone with a slightly shaky voice, "Sidle."
"Were you sleeping?"
"No," Sara sighed, "What do you need?"
"419 on Woodvale, I need you to meet me there." Grissom's voice rang over the phone, "Can you handle it? I know you just came off of a double--"
"I'll be there." Sara replied, hoping her voice wouldn't betray how weary and exhausted she actually was. Stifling a yawn, she hurriedly placed the box back into her closet, grabbing a pair of jeans and a black blouse. The sooner she was working, the sooner she'd be able to place her own demons on the back-burner and get her attention focused elsewhere.
--
Sara arrived at the crime scene 15 minutes later, surprised to see she beat Grissom. Waving to Brass, she weaved through the onlookers and media to make her way towards the Detective.
"What do we have?"
"White male, unidentified, was shot multiple times. Neighbors heard 10-15 shots, and saw a figured dressed in black exiting through the living room. There are no signs of forced entry, and none of the big ticket items were stolen. The victim had just moved into the neighborhood, no one had spoken to him or knew anything about him. We're running the address to get a name. Grissom and Warrick are on their way. It's the fourth murder in this neighborhood over the last month."
"I remember." Sara said quietly, shifting her kit to her left hand, "House clear?"
"Of course."
Sara smiled grimly at the detective, taking the lead into the house, Brass close behind her. She tried not to flinch as the smell of gunpowder and blood assaulted her nostrils upon the threshold of the house. Placing her kit on the floor, she picked up her camera, snapping a few shots from the doorway.
"Living room is to the right, bedrooms are to the left, kitchen is straight ahead." Brass informed her as she began to snap pictures once more. "My guys were the first to arrive, we beat the paramedics here. Officer Morgan advised the paramedics to use the kitchen entry to check for vitals on the vic, we're waiting on the coroner to pronounce. Morgan assumed that since the front door was open, there could be some sort of evidence in the foyer...he's been watching those crime shows on TV or something. He claims he came through the entrance here and hugged the walls, moving right until he got to the entrance of the living room."
"You've got your responding officers trained pretty well." Sara commented with a light smile as she crept along the wall, squatting as she shone her flashlight on the carpet, "I've got a footprint."
Brass shrugged, "I used to be one of you guys, remember? Need something from your kit?"
"I don't know if I could get an impression without destroying the shoeprint." Sara groaned, tilting her head to the side, "Hand me a marker, I'll come back for it."
"Going to let Grissom or Warrick collect it, I presume?" Brass teased as Sara snapped a few pictures, "That way if it's destroyed in the process it doesn't fall back on you?"
Sara raised an eyebrow, "Cynical today, aren't we?" She lowered her camera, shining her light across the carpet once more, "Warrick's great with shoeprints, I wouldn't want to deny him a chance to shine...and it never hurts to cover your ass."
"That's the truth." Brass commented as they made their way into the living room.
Sara stood in the doorway, taking another series of pictures before entering. She instinctively edged towards the right, knowing that even though the body was to the left of the entrance, she first had to do a walk-through of the room.
She had gone through 27 evidence markers when she heard her supervisor's voice behind her, "It's almost like you don't need our assistance."
Sara looked up from her camera, a smile on her face, "It's about time you two showed up."
"It's like a media circus out there." Warrick commented, "Not to mention every resident within a mile of here is trying to get a glimpse of what went down."
Sara nodded, motioning towards the foyer, "I've got a shoe impression in the carpet, left it for you, Warrick."
"Oh, so there is something you haven't done yet?" Warrick joked, "I knew you were an overachiever, Sara, but you've nearly got this entire scene processed."
"Hardly." Sara snorted, "I haven't even made it to the body yet, still trying to take photos."
Grissom glanced towards the body, then towards Sara and Warrick, speaking quietly, "I'm going to speak with Brass and talk with the neighbors. Warrick, walk the perimeter and come in through the kitchen entrance...that's where the medics and backup officers entered, we'll need to exclude them. Sara, continue with your walk-through, but call me when you get to the body and we'll do that together."
Sara nodded, laying a yellow marker next to a piece of torn fabric. With a heavy sigh, she squatted beside it, taking pictures from a variety of angles before rising. Her body ached with fatigue as she slowly made her way towards their victim, her back protesting with every move. When she was through with this case, she'd definitely need to take a few personal days to recover from the long hours she had been putting in recently. She normally worked more hours than any of her coworkers, but for the last two weeks she had severely surpassed her normal quota of hours.
It took her nearly 20 minutes to catalogue her way to the body, and another 15 to work her first draft of the crime scene. Her eyes tired and her head swimming with numbers, she pulled out her walkie talkie to let Grissom know she was ready to process the body.
Stifling a yawn, she stretched towards the ceiling, taking a deep breath. The memories of her daughter still lingered fresh in her mind, giving her head the right amount of ammunition it needed to start painfully throbbing. She reached into her kit, fumbling to open the bottle of aspirin with her tired hands. She slid the bottle back into her kit, swallowing the pills dry, as Grissom walked into the room.
"You ready?"
"Of course." Sara replied, sliding on her latex gloves as she motioned towards the body, "Where's David?"
"He's getting the van set up, he'll be here in just a few seconds. Did you get that blood spatter on the wall?" Grissom motioned towards the wall behind Sara, "Whoever shot our vic really wanted him dead."
Sara glanced over her shoulder to the bullet holes and blood spatter coating the wall, a slight grimace on her face, "I wanted to wait until the body was moved, so I could have a bit more room to work. In the wall alone, I could 13 shots."
"Accurate with the witness statements." Grissom commented as he used his tweezers to pull a fiber off of their victim's shirt, "Pink? It doesn't belong to our vic, maybe we're looking for a woman."
"Definitely a crime of passion." Sara commented, holding the paper bindle open for Grissom to deposit his findings, "Otherwise one shot would have been enough."
Sara stood over the body, taking a few photographs of the head before moving down towards the ankles. The bullets had made a visual identification nearly impossible, even if they did manage to find his wallet on the scene. It would be left up to fingerprints and DNA to make a match on this case.
A soft whimper made Sara stop photographing and turn to Grissom, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Grissom asked nervously, his mind flashing to his latest meeting with his ENT, "I didn't hear anything."
Sara paused, straining to listen for any more noises, then motioned triumphantly towards the entertainment center as she heard another quiet whimper, "You didn't hear that?"
Sara started to move towards the noise when Grissom grabbed her arm, "Let me get an officer."
"It's not the suspect, it's something else." Sara insisted, moving towards the entertainment center once more. She opened the bottom cabinet, her heart racing with anticipation. Her heart froze the moment she came eye to eye with a young girl, wearing blood-soaked pink pajamas.
"Hi sweetie, my name's Sara." Sara spoke softly, moving so the child couldn't see the bloody mess in the opposite corner, "What's your name?"
The child stared blankly at her, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she tried to shrink back into the cabinet. After a few moments, she spoke in a quiet, tearful voice, "My Daddy's hurt."
"I work with the police." Sara offered gently, "We're going to find out who hurt your Daddy. Do you like cookies?"
The child nodded, and Sara held out her hand, "Why don't you come with me outside, and I'll get you some cookies to eat. I think I have some chocolate chip cookies in my car."
The girl's eyes brightened slightly, and she accepted Sara's hand. Sara took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. The quick stop for coffee and a snack on the way over had seemed like a bad idea at the time, but now she was relieved to have something to coax the child out with. Sara stood, still trying to block the child from the horrific scene, although by the blood on her clothing, it was obvious she had seen enough.
"Are you hurt?" Sara asked, inspecting the child for any cuts or wounds, "Do you know what happened?"
"The mean guy hurt my Daddy." the girl whispered, tears pooling in her eyes, "He's going to come back."
Sara lifted the child into her arms, the girl's wavering, frightened tone causing Sara to forget about evidence preservation. She embraced the girl tightly, whispering softly, "We'll find out who hurt your Daddy, no one's going to hurt you. I promise."
Grissom looked up from the body, giving Sara a disapproving glare as she inched towards the doorway, the young girl's head on her shoulder. Sara shot him an equally dirty look as she gently stroke the child's back. She had made it halfway to the doorway when Brass walked in, a printout in his hand, "We've got an ID on the victim." Brass looked from Grissom to Sara, double-taking slightly as he noticed the child in her arms. Noticing the tension building between the two CSI's in the room, he hurriedly added, "The house was registered to an Alexander Sawyer, I have a copy of his license, but it won't do us much good."
Both Brass and Grissom watched Sara's face rapidly pale, but Brass was the quickest as he rushed to her side, steadying her while trying to pry the child from her grasp, in fear she'd drop her. Sara struggled against Brass, pulling the child away from her chest as she asked urgently, "What is your name?"
The girl was silent, tears filling her eyes as she looked between Sara and Brass, suddenly terrified. Sara asked louder, resisting the urge to scream as the room remained silent, "What is your name!"
"M...Molly." the child replied in a shaky voice, tears falling onto her pale cheeks.
TBC