Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own CSI or any of the characters.
The high-pitched ringing of the phone roused Sara from her deep sleep. Stifling a yawn and pushing her messy hair out of her eyes, she picked up the recieve and held it to her ear.
"Hello?" Her voice was quiet, barely audible.
"Sara? It's Catherine. Grissom needs us to work a case, and he chickened out of calling you. Meet me in the lab in half an hour?"
"Sure..." Sara still wasn't fully awake. The line went dead, so she replaced the phone in the holder and sat up, bracing herself against the night chill as she pushed the duvet away.
She pulled on a pair of frayed jeans and a black top and, after slight consideration, a black jacket. She slipped into her shoes as she dragged a comb through her tangled hair. She groaned when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. Grabbing a hair band, she hastily threw her hair up into a messy ponytail, and headed for the door, picking her keys up on the way out.
The street was silent, except for the icy breeze rustling the leaves on the trees. Pulling her jacket closer around her, Sara unlocked her car and slipped inside. Warm air control. She still had 20 minutes before she had to be at the lab. Besides, it probably wouldn't be safe for her to drive whilst she was shivering so much.
After about five minutes, Sara revved up the engine. The headlights immediately reflected off the white garage, a blindingly bright light piercing the darkness. After taking a few seconds to adjust, she pulled out of the driveway and drove off in the direction of the lab.
"Where's Gil?" It was the first thing Sara noticed as she walked into the room.
"Seminar in California. Ecklie rang him and he rang me." Catherine glanced at Sara, who was sipping decaff from a paper cup. "I'm not sure we have time for coffee..."
"Catherine, it's three o'clock in the morning. I'm tired. I need the coffee!" Sara retorted, feeling slightly jealous. Catherine looked wide-awake, and she'd actually done her hair and make-up.
"Okay, chill, I'll drive then." Catherine answered, glancing at Sara as she passed.
"I'm already chilled." Sara muttered under her breath, but just loud enough for Catherine to hear her.
Catherine took her own coat out of her locker and handed it to her colleague, who was still shivering slightly, before heading out of the door, leaving Sara to stare after her.
"Um.. Catherine? You really don't need to.." Sara started, almost running after Catherine in a futile attempt to keep up, and also trying not to spill her coffee.
"You're shivering, Sidle. Now get in the car." Catherine retorted. Sara obeyed. Catherine was in about as good a mood as she was. Clearly it would be a bad idea to cross her.
"Hello?" Catherine's voice echoed in the hallway of the house. It was a typical, deserted house that automatically brought murder and torture to mind. Pushing the door slightly further open, she stepped into the gloom, and almost onto the scene-officer. Onto.
His body lay limp on the floor, and there was blood staining his regulation shirt. There was a tear in it, almost certainly made by a bullet. His face was pale, colourless. And there was an expression in the glazed eyes that Catherine could unmistakenly read as pure fear. Judging by the location and time the scene was called in, he couldn't have been dead long.
"Sara..." Catherine addressed the younger CSI behind her without turning around. "Get out. Slowly. Call for backup." Catherine had her gun out, scanning the scene for any kind of movement.
Sara backed out of the hallway, turning and almost running to the car, and the radio. "
"CSI Sidle, we have another dead body, scene-officer. We need back-up."
"On their way." The voice crackled at the other end of the line.
Sara debated whether to go back into the house. She didn't want to leave Catherine on her own... But she was scared. Sure, she'd risked her life in the line of duty before; tried to wrestle a suspect to the ground when the scene hadn't been cleared properly, acted as live bait for a serial killer, but this seemed different. It was a more deserted location, away from anywhere on the map. Noone would hear them if they screamed...
Suddenly, Sara heard something that made her blood run cold.
A bang, as if a gun had been shot, and a high-pitched, feminine scream.
Catherine.
First CSI fic, I will continue it :) Please review, I'm a lot more likely to update quickly if I have reviews ;)