Lakota
Prologue
The crowd gathered quickly, a low bustle of excitement rang through the air as money was exchanged, arguments broken up. They didn't need the cops to find them before the fight had even started. The alleyway had been chosen well, it was narrow and hard to find from the road unless you knew what you were looking for. As always the appointed MC stepped forward to introduce the dogs and their trainers. They gave all the small details, breed, and sex but most importantly what they had eaten. Any old hand at this game knew what was the best thing to give the dog before the fight: Nothing. It made the dog more aggressive and eager for the blood that was bound to be spilt. The trainers and the dogs moved forward, the heavy chains around their necks not only kept them in control but it also made the dog work the neck muscles, made them stronger. Again money was exchanged as the people got their first glances at the dogs as they sized each other and the crowd up, the bigger one was whimpering trying to push herself away from the low hum of noise and the jaws of the other dog. The owner pushed the dog right into the middle of the ring taking off the heavy chain; the other owner did the same. The fight was on……
Chapter One - Repeats
Some days Sara didn't want to get out of bed. Most days were like this if she was truly honest with herself. Her counsellor had said that it was an avoidance tactic born out of a need to not deal with her emotions and thoughts. Sara didn't agree, she dealt with her emotions just fine and as for her thoughts they could easily be blocked. Regardless of what anyone said, Sara knew the reason for her lack of energy was Grissom. His mind games and fear exhausted her to the point where the only escape seemed sleep but then she was riddled with dreams over her father's demise. Either way, her body was starting to send her warning signs that it was close to shutting down. Her concentration left a little to be desired as did her temper. So after a week off she felt revived and relaxed and just about ready to face anything. Well, almost anything. Grissom and herself had reached an unspoken agreement of sorts. They would not have anything to do with each other if it could be helped. Sara had done so many shifts with Nick and Warrick that she had almost turned into a male and she was about ready to hang herself if she didn't have a conversation that did not involve the latest conquest. That was the only problem with being friends with males. They more often than not treated you as one of the boys. Her cell phone rang, snapping her out of her reverie and back to the present. She felt a small chill when she saw that it was Grissom calling. Time to put a week of rest on the line.
"Sidle."
"Hey Sara its Grissom. I need your help on a case."
Sara felt herself smile. She loved it when Grissom asked for her help. It made her feel valued. Stupid that she needed that from him but unfortunately true.
"What kind of case?"
She heard a car horn blaring down the line and realised that Grissom was driving and talking at the same time. Hardly a great combination with the man's concentration. She didn't think he was capable of doing two things at once.
"I'll explain soon. I'll be at your house in five minutes."
And with that, the phone line went dead and Sara looked around her apartment. At least it was tidy. A week was a long time and she had managed to keep herself busy. Every single surface that could sparkle was doing just that. It made Sara almost afraid to use the bench top and stove. With a sigh, Sara stood and gathered her gear together. Cell phone, keys and a backpack with a change of clothes. Just as she was flipping through a magazine, there was a loud knock on her door. Sara pulled the door open to Grissom before slipping out to stand beside him.
"Hi. So what's this case?"
Grissom set the pace back down the flight of stairs leading to her apartment, his car keys rattling between his fingers.
"Dog fight gone wrong. I know you dealt with a lot of those in San Francisco."
Sara nodded, casting her mind back. She had dealt with far too many for her liking.
"Who's meeting us there?"
Grissom opened the car door for her without thinking, without being aware of his actions she could tell because he didn't hesitate. When it came to her he always hesitated. He climbed behind the steering wheel.
"Nick and Greg. Catherine and Warrick have a B&E to deal with."
Sara nodded and let a semi-comfortable silence fall. She didn't have a problem working with Grissom, she admired him as much as someone could be admired but the physical closeness could be unnerving. There was extreme electricity between them. Sara knew that it wasn't just physical, though she was hugely attracted to him, it was everything else. The way he thought, the way he moved, right down to the smile that he hardly ever used. There was something compelling about him and it was this that Sara had a hard time shaking. She watched out of the window as they slowed down, her eyes catching the yellow crime scene tape. It was the same from her first glance as all the other dog fights she had seen. It was down a dark alley, one that was wide enough to hold at least twenty people, the walls high and the opening of the alley hard to see from the road unless you were looking for it. Sara got out of the truck once it was parked and grabbed her kit from the back before heading towards to tape, ducking under it almost crashing into Nick.
"Hey Nicky. What you got for me?"
Nick's latex gloves had small splotches of blood on them, proof that he had been trying to determine which was human and which was canine.
"Hey. Not much really. Found a very small puddle of blood to the back of the alley way that is definitely human. And it's uncontaminated which could indicate that the bleeder might have sat away from the fighting. Maybe against the back wall. As for the rest, it's mostly canine and what human blood I could find has been contaminated. Greg's just around the corner, looking at the body."
Sara raised her eyebrows at Nick who shrugged and moved to talk to Grissom. Sara slipped on her gloves as she walked down the darkened alleyway towards the shuffling and low whistling that could only be Greg. Even though he had been on the field for awhile, he still did things that most of them had stopped within two weeks of starting their jobs. And that was what Greg used to cope. Pretending that is wasn't as bad as he thought it was helped him deal.
"Hey Greggo. Oh hell, they made a mess of him didn't they?"
Greg nodded and continued the evidence collecting around the paws and the mouth of the dog. It was torn and bloody, the throat cut open.
"What breed would you say he was?"
Greg cleared his throat as he carefully labelled an evidence bag before sitting on his heels and looking at the dog again.
"Pit bull. You can tell by the shape of the jaw and head. But that is just an educated guess so you- "
Greg stopped speaking as a low moan came from a pile of rubbish located right at the end of the curved alleyway. Sara glanced at Greg before approaching the rubbish pile, gun drawn, and heart pounding loudly in her ears. She used her leg to kick aside some rubbish, her foot making contact with something soft that gave a low growl of pain. With realization Sara re-holstered her gun, and carefully moved aside more rubbish. She finally found the other dog quivering quietly in the corner amongst discarded McDonald's containers. Frightened brown eyes locked with her own, the big dog shaking with fear.
"Hey girl. What you doing in here?"
Sara made sure her voice was low and even, making sure that her movements were slow and deliberate. The dog looked pretty banged up, raw open wounds still seeping blood onto the litter. She was large and muscular, a heavy thick chain still around her neck, weighing her head down.
"Greg have you got any food and water on you?"
"Yeah. Ham sandwich. Do you need a container with that water?"
Sara nodded her eyes still on the dog. She felt Greg leave her side, and she continued to talk to the dog, who had obviously decided it was safe because she had moved slowly from the rubbish pile, her wounds leaving a small blood trail, the heavy chain rattling and dragging between her legs, her tail wagging slightly. She heard Greg come pounding back up the alleyway and heard him halt before he came back around the corner. Sara was glad that he had enough sense not to coming running in. He gently laid an old ice cream container beside her filling it with cool water, before laying a sandwich near her hand.
"Here girl, I have something for you. You want some water, you must be thirsty."
Sara pushed the ice cream container forward a little more and sat back and waited. The dog eyed Greg over her shoulder before approaching the container and began to lap greedily.
"They must have dumped her after the fight. Why would they do that? I thought they kept the dogs that won?"
Sara sighed sadly.
"They usually do Greggo, but have you looked at her muzzle? That dog had its throat cut open, but she had no blood around her mouth. She had nothing to do with the dog's death. They sometimes do set up fights to make more money. She's much bigger then the other dog, so of course people would have bet that she would win. As for the other dog, I'll take an educated guess and say that someone, a human that is, killed him. He's not the normal breed for these things. Even she's not the average breed. She's a Mastiff, they tend to be nothing more then big softies, no matter how aggressive they may seem."
Sara waited until the dog had finished drinking before offering her the sandwich, a little bit at a time.
"Come here girl, I have some food for you."
Sara held her hand out, closer to herself so that the dog would have to move forward to get the food. Her large cold wet muzzle and whiskers tickled Sara's palm as she gently took the segment of ham sandwich in her mouth. Inch by inch she moved closer to Sara, until Sara was able to grab the chain that was around her neck. She gently stroked the dog on one of the only areas of her body that was not bleeding or cut, the small run of white on her head that fell between her eyes. Sara's heart melted as the big brown eyes continued to look into her own, the fear now gone, replaced by complete and utter trust.
"Come on girl, we have to get you fixed up."
Sara waited as the dog managed to find her feet and made a valiant attempt to walk beside Sara but collapsed after just a few steps.
"She exhausted. Greg wanna give me a hand to carry her to Grissom's truck?"
Sara took off the heavy chain from around the dog's neck. The last thing they needed was the added weight. Greg was at her side in a second, carefully arranging his arms around the lower end of the dog as Sara took the front.
"On the count of three. 1,2,3!"
With a bit of a grunt they managed to pick her up cleanly from the ground, the chain still in Sara's hand. They made their way towards Grissom's truck slowly, their muscles straining under the weight, ignoring the funny glance exchanged between the people they passed.
"Nick! Put a sheet or something on the back seat of Grissom's truck will you?"
Nick moved quickly to comply; laying a clean white sheet from the coroners van onto the seat before helping them put the wounded dog into the truck.
"Well, what do we have here?"
Grissom had moved to the side of the trio, eyeing the dog that now sat in the back of the truck.
"We found her in the alleyway under a whole pile of rubbish. I don't think the cuts are too deep though, they are already starting to dry over. I need to get to the vet just to make sure that she really is fine"
Grissom shook his head, pointing at Nick.
"I need your help here Sara. Nick can take the dog"
Nick nodded approaching the dog again, hand out. The dog let out a low growl, her teeth flashing. Nick pulled his hand back quickly, shaking his head at Grissom.
"Looks like Sara is the lady for the job Grissom."
Nick moved away back into the crime scene, followed by Greg.
"She's not in urgent need of attention so I can stay a little longer."
Grissom nodded before offering her another pair of latex gloves.
"You have blood all over your clothes as well."
Sara looked down at herself, somewhat relived that she had not worn her good clothes. Her dark jeans were now smudged with blood around the thighs and knees, her green t-shirt was now covered in small spots of blood, and her arms were streaked with it.
"I have some water in the truck if you want to wash off your arms. You also have a bit of blood on your face."
Sara tried to find the spot with her un-gloved hand, knowing she had only managed to smudge it when Grissom smiled ever so slightly.
"I'll get the water."
Sara followed him to the back of the track and watched as her proceeded to dampen a cloth with the cool water before handing it to Sara, who quickly wiped her arms before having another go at her face.
"It's more on your forehead, no to the left a little."
Sara was just about to give up and check in the car mirror when Grissom gently extracted the cloth from her hand, wetting it again before gently wiping Sara's head. Sara closed her eyes and leaned towards Grissom a little more. When he had stopped she opened her eyes and found herself locked in Grissom's baby blues. It had been so long since she had been able to look at him face to face, that it felt almost foreign to her, uncharted territory. She had missed him in all those months apart, missed being able to exchange flirtatious remarks and sarcastic comments without fear of being taken seriously. Now that was gone and the awkward new ground they were treading was like walking on egg shells. She didn't know what quite to do with herself and her feelings anymore. The attraction was still there; she could read it in his eyes and was certain he could read it in hers, see how desperately she wanted to be with him. Even if she would have to settle for friendship, it was better then not having him in her life at all.
"We should finish getting the scene sorted so you can take that dog to the vet's."
Sara nodded and made a movement away from the truck, Grissom catching her elbow before she could move away completely, his hand hot on her bare skin. She turned back to Grissom, opening her mouth to question him, her mouth closing suddenly as Grissom grazed the cloth across the exposed skin in the open 'v' of her t-shirt. She almost gasped as he pulled the cold cloth from one side of her chest to the other. He withdrew the cloth with a small smile.
"You had a bit more blood."
Sara nodded and then moved a little unsteadily back to the crime scene, her mind most defiantly not on her work.
Sara finally managed to get away two hours later only to discover that the local vet was closed for redecorating purposes. So after a brief think over she called Doc Robbins on her cell phone.
"Hey Doc are you busy?"
"Not really why?"
Sara crossed her fingers and hoped he could help her.
"I need to borrow one of your slabs fora patient that is very alive. A dog actually. Is that ok?"
If the coroner was confused by the strange request he didn't sound it.
"I'll warm one of the tables up."
"Thanks."
Sara hung up the phone and headed towards the lab and was very happy when she pulled into the lab parking lot to find that Warrick and Catherine were just arriving back from their B&E.
"Hey Warrick I need your help. Can you help me carry my patient into Doc?"
Warrick exchanged a glance with Catherine before approaching Grissom's truck.
"Yeah sure. What is it?"
Sara pulled open the back door, allowing the big dog to be exposed.
"I figure is should be easier between the two of us if we used the sheet as a sling. You might be safer at the back end; she doesn't seem to like men."
Warrick said nothing, just nodded and pushed up his sleeves. They manoeuvred the large dog out of the car with limited effort, Catherine opening all the doors leading to Doc's sanctuary. With a sigh of relief they lowered the big dog gently onto the slab where Doc had placed several old blankets beneath another white sheet.
"Thanks Warrick. Oh Doc you might not want to-"
Her warning was cut short as the dog gave a short whimper, allowing Doc to pat her gently on her head, her nose snuffling against his sleeve.
"It's ok Sara. I have three dogs at home; she can sense that I'm not a threat. So where did you find her?"
Sara kept her hand on the dog's large paw, stroking it gently with her thumb.
"Rubbish pile. She was at a potential crime scene. Didn't find anything apart from a lot of canine blood and a little pool of human blood. There is nothing else to go on at the moment. The vet was closed for renovations so I had to bring her here. Do you think you could give me a hand dressing her wounds?"
Doc nodded and began to fill his tray with antiseptic, iodine, cottonwool and bandages.
"OK, we'll start by getting her cleaned up. I'll take this side, you take the other. Basic first aid really, just clean it out with antiseptic and then see how deep the grazes are. The deeper ones will have to be butterfly stitched until she gets to a vet."
Sara nodded, snapping on latex gloves and getting to work. For all the pain that she was certain the dog was going through, she didn't move or even whimper. She just sat stock still and let them do their work, standing up a little unsteadily but still allowing them to examine the wounds on her stomach and side properly. When they were done Sara was relieved to see that none of the wounds where very deep at all and just really required some bandaging. Sara pulled off her gloves and gave the dog another stroke before heading to the door, talking to Doc over her shoulder.
"Doc, can you look after her for a little while? I need to get back to Grissom"
"Sure. I'll get the wife to drop by and bring some food for her, she must be starving."
Sara gave him another smile before she headed to Grissom's office, wondering if he was back from the scene yet. Dressing the dog's wounds had taken longer then she had expected it to. He was sitting at his desk, pictures gathered around him, his face low.
"Hey Grissom. Is the scene all cleared?"
"Yes. We have another call out though, I was just about to page you."
'What is it?"
"A mugging. Did you want to change your clothes first?"
Sara looked down at herself before looking back up and giving Grissom a slight smile.
"Good idea. I'll meet you at the truck."
Sara ran off, and Grissom slowly made his way to the truck, his mind on what had happened earlier that day. He had stepped out of line again with Sara. He seemed to go into sensory overload when she was around; the only thing he could focus on was her. He had to use everything in his power to tear himself away from her and back to that crime scene, even though he basically had his eyes glued on her the whole time, realising just how much her had missed her while she had been on holiday and even before she went away she wasn't there as often thanks to the self imposed denial he had set himself.
"Ok so where are we going again?"
Grissom jumped slightly as Sara came up behind him, waiting for him to move so she could get into the truck. She had changed into another pair of jeans, sneakers and a simple white singlet. Grissom gathered his bearing and moved aside, pulling the door open for her before slipping onto the other side of the truck and hopping in beside her. He turned the engine and parked out of the parking lot before speaking.
"Some bloke was robbed just outside of the Tanjers. No witnesses apparently. According to Jim he was pushed from behind and smacked his head on the ground and when he came to, his wallet was gone."
Sara nodded as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
"Poor guy. Here's hoping he didn't win anything."
Grissom shrugged and stopped the car near the other police vehicles. Sara hopped out of the truck, her case in hand and waited for Grissom before the pair moved towards Brass and the crime scene tape. Sara gave a quick greeting to Brass before popping her head around the corner of the door to talk to the victim. When her eyes locked with those all too familiar greens, her heart started racing, she could feel a tidal wave of heat hit her cheeks and she felt an almost shy smile start on her mouth.
"Chase. What are you doing here?"
Chase gave a small smile, his split lip restricting his movements. He had grazes on his forehead, hands and a blood nose and Sara could see the beginnings of a nice bump near his temple. He offered his better looking hand to Sara, helping her climb into the ambulance where he was sitting.
"Sara Sidle. I was hoping to see you, under better circumstances granted but still it's good to see you. You're looking well."
Smiling, Sara gave a little laugh.
"I would say the same but you look really bad. What happened?"
Chase shrugged and indicated to Brass.
"He took all the stuff down. I had my back turned when they knocked me out. That's all I can tell you."
Sara nodded and glanced over to where Grissom was standing; looking over what Sara presumed was a pool of Chase's blood, a camera clicking almost politely in his hand. He spotted something and moved to another area. Sara turned her attention back to Chase.
"Where you staying?"
"Cowboy Motel, just up the way. Tonight though, I get to stay the night at the hospital just in case. Stupid, I'm fine really."
Sara handed him her card and a smile.
"Call me when you get out of the hospital ok? We can catch up."
Chase nodded, his hair falling into his eyes, Sara resisting the urge to push it away. He had always had the effect on her, him and that damn hair of his. It had a boyish way of falling in front of his eyes. An irritatingly sexy way of doing it of course. She gave herself a quick mental shake, gave Chase another smile and watched as the ambulance pulled away. Sara moved over to where Grissom was crouched, his body folded over the pool of blood as he examined it closely, him movements deliberate and smooth as he scraped a small section of blood into a sample disk, delivering it into the safety of the evidence case without moving his eyes away from the pool of blood. His eyes shifted slightly at the sound of her sneakers treading almost silently on the ground as she knelt beside him. He kept his eyes trained to the ground as he spoke.
"This footprint is pointing away from the pool of blood. So unless he got some mysteries assistance, then we may have the attacker's shoe. Could you please see if it fades out as it goes further along? I'll keep taking scraping; see if I can find anything else to help us."
Sara cast a questioning glance at Grissom which was of course lost on him his head was back down at the ground as he searched for more clues to their attacker. Sara took her case and followed the ever fading bloody footprints for a good two meters up the road before the blood was completely faded out. She took pictures and even more samples even though she knew that it would show nothing new. After making sure that she had everything she needed she moved back to where Grissom was standing talking to Brass. She watched as Grissom cut Brass off from whatever he was trying to say, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. It was so rare for Grissom to show so much aggression to anyone, not even Ecklie could provoke such an obvious physical reaction. As Sara eased her way closer she could see the faint flush of Grissom's cheeks and heard the force in his voice.
"What right does he have here? He has no right to butt in on my case and disturb my team."
Brass put a hand on Grissom's shoulder and said something about Ecklie granting permission.
"What the hell for? Its one incident. And what happens when it turns out to be an isolated one? Do I have to have him there until his time here is up? Or does he piss off again when he gets bathed in the credit of a solved case?"
Brass just shrugged and raised an eyebrow as Sara got close enough now to be standing beside Grissom, the anger coming off of him in waves.
"I got everything. We ready to go back to the lab?"
Grissom nodded and silently handed Sara the keys, and slipped quietly into the passenger seat as Sara said her goodbyes to Brass. Sara kept throwing worried glances at Grissom as she drove back to the lab, her curiosity perked thanks to that little outbreak at the crime scene.
"Grissom?"
He said nothing just looked at her, waited for her question.
"Why were you so mad?"
Grissom looked back out of the window and Sara focused back on the road in front of her, slipping in between cars with practised skill. They were almost back at the office before Grissom spoke again.
"That friend of yours Chase, well he wants to sit in on the dog fight case. I want to know why he wants to sit in on a dead case. We don't have anything on it aside from the animal hanging out with Doc. And she's a dog, what's she going to do, tell us what happened?"
Grissom hopped out of the truck as soon and it stopped and walked briskly into the building, to his office Sara presumed as she unloaded the truck of the evidence and headed to see Greg. She hoped that whatever was going on with Chase could be sorted out. She didn't have the energy to deal with both of them in the same room.
A few hours later, having seen that Lakota was ok and that all the paper work was settled and it was just a matter of waiting for Greg, Sara went to see Grissom in his office. He was sitting behind his desk as expected, struggling to open his migraine tablet bottle.
"Why is it they give adults tablets with childproof seals?"
Sara held out her hand, the small bottle landing in her hand quietly. She popped the top easily, offering Grissom a small smile.
"You loosened it."
Grissom said nothing, just dropped a couple of pills into the palm of his hand and knocked them back followed closely by a drink of water. He put the pills back in his top draw and then proceeded to massage his temples with his fingertips. Sara settled herself in the chair across from Grissom before speaking again.
"So why is it such a bad thing? Chase Conaway being here I mean?"
Grissom shook his head slowly, as if he was trying to move the question away from him.
"Personal issue. Not something you really need to concern yourself with "
Sara shook her head in return.
"I will decide what concerns me. That and the fact that you have a personal issue is alone a worry. So tell me"
Grissom studied her for a second, taking in her determined expression before answering with a condemned man's sigh.
"I don't like working with Chase. He runs on instinct rather then fact. Something I can neither condone nor agree with."
Sara let the news pass over her, trying to remind herself to respect Grissom's opinion. Chase was not everyone's cup of tea and she had seen how he had rubbed people up the wrong way. But then again Grissom did the same.
"So how long is he here for?"
"Two weeks. Fourteen long days"
Sara sighed as she saw just how much he didn't want Chase here.
"I know that you don't like this Grissom but we need him. There is always a follow up fight."
Grissom nodded as he pressed his fingers harder into the skin around his face.
"Remind me of that fact if I come close to killing him, ok?"
Sara nodded and headed back out the door, wanting to go and check the dog but she caught the last part of Grissom;s comment and it made her smile.
"Young so-called experts...always think they know what they are doing"