Title: A Dog of the Female Persuasion
By sexyspork
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Language, bad wolf analogies, and Sara friendly.
Pairing: Nick/David, Grissom/Sara
Summary: She was the one who found him, and together they helped create the pack. And remember, the pack is everything.
Because I'm probably one of the few on the lj community dhodges that actually likes Sara… Please don't kill me! runs away
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The first time she walked out into the Crime Lab's parking lot and caught the assholes in the act, she lost it. Sara Sidle could not stand the thought of someone beating another who was weaker, someone who had a less of a chance at defending themselves. It was one of the things that made her already short temper explode.
And so when she saw three men beating David Hodges black and blue, she threw herself into the fight without a second thought. And that's not to say he was just lying down and taking it, but three to one wasn't exactly the best of odds (especially if they were all bigger than he was), so evening it out to three to two made things a bit better. And when it was all over, David turned to her, guarded and wary, and Sara smirked at him and said he looked like shit. He, of course, said she should look in a mirror.
At that moment, a beautiful friendship formed.
It wasn't a conventional friendship, because to others they were still bitchy and snarky to each other. But when they both entered the lab the next morning, covered with bruises that her friends (because he didn't have any) exclaimed over, David met her eye and said doors were a mean thing to mess with. Sara grinned back, and didn't say a word when her evidence went to the top of his pile for over a month.
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The second time she hadn't been there, and that was something she blamed herself for a long time coming. Because when he walked into the break room with his head bowed and angled to keep the worst of bruising out of sight, Sara felt both furious and broken; angry at the bastards who did this, angry at herself for not being there to help, and angry at him for not trusting others enough to ask for help. So after work, she dragged him to the gym used by off-duty officers, and at that time in the morning it was thankfully empty.
And David turned out to be quite good at ducking and weaving ("A lifetime of practice," he said wryly), and it didn't take her long to show him the fundamentals of throwing a good punch. So whenever they got the chance after work, they would meet at the gym, and she would train David in the basics of self-defense, because as she had been so brutally shown, Sara could not always be there to help him.
And one morning during a god-awful storm, a sweat-soaked David tensed in front of her, and Sara spun around with a feral smile in place. Only she was just as shocked as the trace technician when Warrick Brown, poker face unreadable, and Nick Stokes, sheepish albeit concerned, stopped in front of them.
Silence stretched until Warrick gave Sara a small grin. "He can't learn to fight off 'doors' from a girl."
David and Sara exchanged glances, and identical smirks spread across their features. "Oh, it's on."
And the pack of two became a pack of four.
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The third time had been an ambush, as the assailants were growing bolder as it had been before shift instead of after. Sara had just gotten out of her car when she heard the shout, and she was off like a rocket, protecting the pup that she considered hers.
This time, however, they underestimated David and Sara only got in a shot or two before they had to flee like the mutts they were. Baring her teeth in an animalistic grin, she watched them go with triumph in her eyes. Turning around to meet David, thankfully devoid of bruises, he met her grin with one of his own.
The slap of feet against concrete roused them from their stupor, as a furious Warrick and Nick ran up to them. Being the concerned friends that they were, they checked Sara and David over for injuries (until David slapped Nick's hand away from his face and told him he was fine), and the trace technician couldn't stop the smug look from crossing his face.
"I broke the door's nose." He said with a cheeky little grin, and Sara laughed and the four of them caught a celebratory breakfast after work.
Months passed, and if the four were surprised when Greg and Catherine showed up at the gym one morning, they didn't show it. And as Greg bounced between opponents with a cheerful laugh as Warrick went at Nick with the focus many people envied, Sara stood by the sidelines and smiled as Grissom came to stand next to her.
Grissom watched Nick with the same look she used to watch David, and the two alphas were exceptionally pleased with how their pups had turned out, and the alpha-bitch turned to her mate and grinned.
"Mine's stronger."
"In some ways." Grissom conceded and the pack was complete.
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The fourth time was the last time. The CSI had been at various crime scenes when Grissom received a call from Brass. The message was painfully short, and simply stated that Hodges was fine and the three assailants were in custody. Grissom caught Sara's eye and said, oh so casually, that those pieces of trace were needed back at the lab ASAP.
And Sara was reminded, once again, why she loved that man.
Grabbing Nicky on the way hadn't been hard to do, seeing as the Texan was chomping at the bit and ready to tear something apart. If she wasn't so concerned, Sara most definitely would have teased him from amusement.
Walking through the lab with laser focused determination, Sara breathed a quiet sigh of relief when she spotted David walking around his sanctuary with minimal damage. And as if he was psychic, he looked up to meet her gaze through the glass and smiled. Sara stopped dead because David was smiling, actually honest-to-God smiling, and both Sara and Nick were blown away. It wasn't exactly a bright, happy smile, but it showed contentment mixed with relief, and Sara felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.
Nick went through the door without her, as her feet were glued to the ground in shock. Standing close to David (too close to be considered "just friends"), and he looked him over with a practiced eye. Nick, tension slowly being released from his frame, brushed gentle fingers of the small cut on David's temple. A knot developed in Sara's throat for a totally different reason, and she quickly turned around to give the two as much privacy as she could in a building made with glass walls.
Later, just as the sun was coming up in the east, Sara walked slowly through the parking lot towards her car, and was met with a sight that made a slow grin cross her face. Nick was facing David, their heads bowed together in a quiet, serious conversation. David was scowling slightly, which Sara recognized as his "You're right, but like the hell I'm going to let you know that" face. Nick was a bit harder to see, but she could see a soft grin, and the "Come on, now you're just being difficult" was easy to read even from Sara's vantage point.
David opened his mouth, and if it was to argue, insult, or just a plain scoff, the world would never know, because Nick darted in and kissed him full on the mouth. Time froze and Sara wanted to shout for joy when the trace technician responded, and Nick wrapped his arms around the other man eagerly.
Calloused fingers curled around her own, and Sara turned to meet warm blue eyes. She leaned into Grissom gratefully, gap-toothed smile bright with happiness. The entomologist glanced over at the oblivious couple for a moment, and then looked down at the woman before him and grinned.
"We did well."
"Of course we did, they're ours, aren't they?"
Well, not so much anymore, because the pups were growing faster than Sara could ever have imagined, but she was glad that they were theirs. Because they were part of the pack, and the pack was everything.
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Don't ask where this came from, because I don't have a fricking clue.