Chapter 10
Sunday June 13th, 2010
CSI Break Room
8:56 p.m.
"Sorry I'm late," Sara began as she breezed into the Break Room, and the mouths of half the room's occupants hit the floor. "I swear, next time Tony can send someone else to the mayor's dinner, Phi and I deserve a break from alternating."
She continued as she slipped into an empty seat before looking up and around the room. "What?" she asked seeing their looks. "Look I'm going to change as soon as the meeting is over," she pointed out while rolling her eyes. "Oh for the love of God, you've all seen me in a dress before."
"Yeah, but to quote that movie Raising Helen, they've never seen 'half a dress'," Sophia countered with a wink. "At least not on you."
"This is not 'half a dress'," Sara countered as she shifted in the chair and crossed her legs. "Can we get down to business instead of giving a care about what I'm wearing?" she continued as she tapped the toes of her apple red heel sandals on the ground impatiently. So what if she was wearing an apple red slip of a dress that had spaghetti straps and a three-tier hem that ended at her knees. They had seen her in dresses before.
"Sara's right," Warrick began as he gave her a small smile. "We were just discussing the notes found with the victims."
"Notes?" Sara asked glancing up as he slid a folder towards her. She then opened it to the five letters and passed them around the table so they could all take turns reading them aloud.
"'Tell me the words I never said,
Show me the tears you never shed.
Give me the touch,
That one you promised to be mine.'"
"'I want to hear
Who broke my faith in all these years'?"
"'I close my eyes,
And dream of you and I.
And then I realize
There's more to love than only bitterness and lies.'"
"'I need to see her face.
I need to understand
Why you and I came to an end.'"
"'Who lies with you at night?
When I'm here all alone?
Remembering when I was your own.'"
"Sounds like he's talking about a woman..." Sara mused as she looked up at the others.
"That was our theory as well. But we can't figure out what he's saying," Sophia shrugged.
"Weird thing is... I recognize these," Sara continued more to herself.
"You do?"
"Yeah," Sara shrugged as she looked up at Greg. "Some reason they sound familiar."
"Well, maybe you'll have better luck than we did," Sophia shrugged.
"So, anything else?" she asked as she was passed the pictures of the latest victim. Sara frowned when she saw the woman in the pictures, and nearly did a bit of a double take. The woman had long dirty blonde hair and brown eyes that were staring up at the sky for all eternity, or in this case, anyone who looked at her picture.
"We got a hit on the DNA from the last victim," He continued as Sophia slid a folder across the table to Sara and she closed the folder with the pictures in front of her before opening the other while watching Warrick, and then glanced down as he went on to explain that O'Riley was securing a warrant.
Then all thought stopped in Sara's head when she saw the name.
Thomas A. Gantry...
Quickly scanning the pages she saw a few notes that added credence to the fear growing in her stomach. "Umm... I have a question?" she asked interrupting the conversation and everyone looked at her. "Mia, what are the numbers on the match?"
"Why?" Catherine asked confused.
"Please, just...answer, then I'll explain." Sara sighed softly.
"High. If he isn't the guy, I'll let you pull Greg's molars out without Novocain."
"Hey!" Greg cried looking over at his fiancé in shock.
"See, something I don't want," Mia smiled over at him.
"Damn," Sara sighed
"What's going on?" Liz asked concerned.
"Warrick you're going to be solo supervisor on this case. I'm off of this one as of now," Sara spoke instead of answering as she closed the folder.
"What? Why?" Warrick asked confused, and concerned.
"I can't be on this case. I could cause evidence to be thrown out," Sara explained as she rose from her seat.
"What?" everyone asked completely lost.
"Sara...baby...what's going on?" Warrick asked as he rose to stop her from leaving.
"Your suspect spent fifteen years in Leavenworth, sentenced December 1992. Last page of the file," she answered as she slid the file over to him. "Conflict of interest, I can't work the case. But if you're going to catch him, you need to know everything about him. You need to contact Special Agent Gibbs..." Sara continued emotionless as Warrick opened the folder and found the information she was talking about before looking back up at her even more confused, just as she mentioned the special agent.
"Wait, we aren't bringing in the FBI," Catherine argued.
"He's not FBI, he's NCIS. If you want to find out about why he was in prison you need to contact Gibbs. His records were sealed, but Gibbs can get access to the aliens in Area 51 if they do exist," Sara answered as she pointed at the notepad in front of Liz. Liz passed it to her and Sara wrote down a series of numbers. "This is Gibbs' cell, call him," she added as she set the pen down.
"Sara...what is going on?" Warrick asked as he grabbed her arm to stop her retreat. "Please."
Sara sighed before glancing away. "I used to know Gantry. Before he went to prison," She answered softly before looking back at him.
"You did?" Warrick asked concerned.
Before she had a chance to say anything in response, Jim appeared in the doorway. "Not to interrupt or anything, but who called the big shots without telling us?"
"What?" everyone asked.
"We got..." Jim began before being brushed past.
"Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," the tall, older gentleman spoke as he entered the room.
"Gibbs?" Sara asked shocked.
"Sidle?" Gibbs blinked. "Well, that works."
"How did you?" Sara began before glancing over at Mia. "Wait, how long ago did you put the DNA in CODIS?"
"This morning," Mia answered and Sara nodded once.
"CODIS hit."
"CODIS hit." Gibbs agreed.
"Wait, why did you have a watch on his DNA?" Sara asked confused as he moved further into the room, and the others in the room looked at her before looking back at him.
"No reason."
"No reason my ass Gibbs. You don't do anything without a reason," Sara snapped lightly and Jim raised an eyebrow as everyone from the team gathered around the table continued to look back and forth between the two like they were watching a tennis match.
"Sara..." Gibbs began.
"Don't Sara me Gibbs. What are you hiding?" Sara demanded as she turned to face him.
Gibbs sighed lightly. "We've been tracking his movement since he got out of Leavenworth."
"Why?"
"Do we need a reason?"
"Yes."
"You're not NCIS, Sidle, I don't have to tell you anything," Gibbs countered as she rolled her eyes.
"Bullshit."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. Bullshit. Now what the hell are you keeping from me?"
"No, Sara."
"Don't patronize me Gibbs. And don't go all noble and say you're protecting me." Sara growled. "Talk, I'll call Abby, Burley, or Ducky if I have to. You know they'll help me tie you down and drag the information out of you if we have to force-feed you the crap Navy guys call coffee."
"Oh, that's a good one, Sara," a new voice spoke and Sara glanced over at the door before smiling slightly.
"Hey Abbs," she spoke as the others took in the black-haired Goth standing there, hair in pigtails.
"Hey, and Ducky will help, you know that. But Burley left a while ago. Tony's too afraid of Gibbs to help any, but I'm sure we can drag Kate or McGee in to help."
"Tony? Kate? McGee?" Sara asked confused.
"Burley's replacement, ex SS to POTUS aboard AFO, and darling agent I married."
"I see," Sara nodded before looking back at Gibbs. "Okay, I have reinforcements now, spill."
"Sara." Gibbs began with a frown.
"No God damn it!" Sara yelled suddenly. "This is Thomas, and if anyone in the world deserves to know what the hell it is that you are keeping track of him for, it's me and the others. And since they aren't here..." she trailed of as she glared at him.
Gibbs glanced over at Jim. "Get my team in here; I'm assuming these are the people on the case."
"You assume right, surprisingly without finishing that saying," Jim answered as Abby moved into the room followed by a brown-haired woman and two men. One moved to stand next to Abby as the other stopped and just stared at Sara.
"Damn boss, if I knew CSIs were so cute in Vegas, I would have visited sooner," he spoke and Sara turned to look at him.
"Stuff it, plant it, and try to find someone else who gives a damn and would be swayed by whatever type of plant fertilizer you're selling, cause I don't give a damn right now," she growled at him and everyone stopped and stared at her in shock.
"Oh...sassy, I like," he grinned at her.
"Shut up, DiNozzo," Gibbs snapped before smacking his head. "She's engaged, and she'd kill you before thinking of dating you."
"And get away with it," Abby added with a smirk.
"Yes boss," DiNozzo answered before slumping against the counter.
"Now that the pre-teen has shut up," Sara began looking back at Gibbs. "Door's shut, they're all here. Talk."
Gibbs sighed before looking up at her. "Since he got out two years ago, Gantry's been crossing the nation leaving a tidal wave of deaths in his wake. Eight of his thirteen complainants from trial."
"What?" Sara whispered as she sunk into the chair she had vacated not long before. "How? He shouldn't have been able to find them..." she continued looking up at Gibbs.
"Sara...do you know where the Quinns and Studers are?" Gibbs asked as she started to look back down at her lap before her head snapped up to him.
"What? You mean you don't know where they are?" she asked shocked. "How can you not know where they are? Is this how he found them? You lost track of them and he found them?" she demanded as she glared at him.
"No, the only people we lost track of are the Quinns and Studers. They haven't been at their homes since yesterday. And we have no record of their cell phone numbers," he answered evenly.
"Oh," Sara answered. "I have their numbers, they were fine when I talked to them two nights ago," she continued before frowning. "Wait a minute, you knew that Thomas was going after the complainants...and you didn't warn us? What, were you waiting for him to come after one of us and use us as bait?" she demanded as she rose from her chair. "That's what you were doing, wasn't it?"
"He disappeared before we could track him," DiNozzo spoke up.
"Shut up newbie," Sara snapped at him before turning her attention back to Gibbs while the members of Vegas just looked between her and Gibbs in complete utter confusion. "Well, is it? I know how you think Gibbs; I worked with you in Frisco. And I remember how you worked on his case...so tell me. Are our lives so meaningless to you that you would just let us live in ignorance until he shows up for us? You knew that the five of us were his greatest target. We were then, and he swore he'd get us for what we did. Yet you just sat back behind your desk in NCIS and waited for him to come after us. What did you think? The end was worth the means? Nice to know after all this time you actually give that much of a damn about us," she ranted at him, angry gestures punctuating her comments.
"That's enough Sararita," Gibbs spoke calmly, but with a tinge of something to his voice and she stopped dead silent and just glared at him.
"How do you know her birth name?" Warrick asked surprised. "She changed her name as a teenager..."
Gibbs glanced at him a moment before looking back at Sara. "It wasn't like that. Yes, we thought he might come after one of you, but I wasn't willing to risk your lives. I was up against the powers that be. I couldn't tell you and then have there be no place for you to go," he explained carefully and Sara closed her eyes before sinking back down to her chair.
"God damn it Gibbs, we still deserved to know," she whispered before opening her eyes to look at him. "You should have told us, place to go or not. The children are just as at stake, we should have known for their sakes."
"I'm sorry, Sara."
"Boss just apologized for something," DiNozzo asked in shock before the woman who had to be Kate hit him over the head.
"Shut up, Tony," she hissed.
"Sara," Gibbs began and she looked back up at him before reaching up with one hand to catch the cell phone he had thrown at her. "Call them, my line is secure. Have them get here. I'd rather protect all of you together than have to play a house of cards and wait for him to go after one end."
Sara nodded before opening the phone as she started to dial until she paused and looked up at the others. "What time is it?"
"Twenty-one-twenty-four. Why?" Abby asked.
"Screw calling them, they're planes landed at McCarran half-an-hour ago."
Gibbs' eyebrows shot up to his hairline before he turned to his team. "Kate, Abby, take Sara and get to the airport. Pick them up then call me. Tony, find a hotel for everyone. McGee, call Ducky and tell him to get his butt out here. Then we need to sit and compare notes with everyone. And you," he continued looking back at Sara. "We'll talk later about why they were coming."
"Yeah, sure...whatever," Sara agreed in a voice laced with defeat, as she rose and made her way around the table, dropping the phone in his hands. "I'm going to need to get some stuff from my place."
"Then get it. You aren't leaving the hotel without escort after you're there," Gibbs ordered.
"Hold on, back up," Warrick began stopping everyone from leaving. "This case aside, Sara is a part of our family. We need to know what's going on."
Sara looked up from where she stood next to the door. "He's right; I can't do to them what you did to us."
"Sara..."
"I know Gibbs," Sara began as she looked over at him. "Security Clearance denies them some knowledge, but the least we can do it tell them the truth about us. I've been lying to them all these years as it is..."
Gibbs watched her for a moment before nodding. "Fair enough, your story they can know, but other information..."
"I know," she nodded.
"After shift is over, we'll get breakfast and come by the hotel. I want to check on all of you as well," Gibbs gave as Sara nodded once more.
"I'll see you later," Sara spoke softly before leaving completely, followed by the two women.
"Alright, McGee, DiNozzo, you have your orders."
"But Boss."
"DiNozzo, go." Gibbs ordered.
"Yes, Boss," Tony answered before chasing after the three women.
"Have a seat Ladies and Gentlemen. We need to discuss what you know about Gantry, and about what we know," Gibbs continued to the room. Everyone looked at him before returning to their seats.
Monday June 14th, 2010
Tangiers Hotel and Casino
Executive Tower Suite
7:15 a.m.
"Jack, eleven," Sara spoke as Kate rose and opened the door to let Gibbs and his companions in. Once inside, everyone stopped and looked at the group gathered around the floor in surprise. Gibbs was smiling slightly, while the others just looked in completely confused by the sight in front of them.
Sara was now dressed in ducky pajama pants and a tank top, and laying on the floor in front of an odd looking board that had eleven sides. Marbles were in various positions on the sides, and a deck of cards was in the center of the board...or lack there of. The sides of the board were just pieces of wood, with the center of the odd shape open. Around the room on the floor were nine other people, Abby being across from Sara; on her stomach with her feet up in the air waving to the music on the stereo system...was that ABBA?
Around the rest of the board were two women and a teenage girl, and two men and three teenage boys. Everyone looked up at the group gathered there before one of the men looked back at the board and moved a clear marble eleven spaces.
"Nice to see some things never change," Gibbs mused. "Although when did you teach Kate and Abby to play?" he asked as he moved into the room to look down at the board "Sara's winning."
"We know," one of the boys answered as he looked up. He had shoulder length black hair and dark eyes. "He's upset about it," Sara smiled before giggling.
"We're all upset about it," one of the women countered, the one with black hair to the middle of her back and blue eyes, before Sara giggled again.
"Have you been drinking?" Gibbs asked with a frown as he looked around the circle on the floor.
"Just the adults," the other woman answered as she tucked her curly, shoulder-length auburn hair behind her ear.
"Hey! Speak for yourself. This is my fourth glass of water," Sara countered as she held up her glass.
"Yeah, after an eight ounce strawberry daiquiri and two twenty-four ounce strawberry daiquiri milkshakes," the first woman countered.
"Oh hush Wheezie," Sara ordered.
"Relax Gibbs, we're not drunk. Just have enough alcohol in our system to keep us from having panic attacks," the second woman continued.
"I see," Gibbs answered before shaking his head and looking over at Kate and Abby. "You let them order drinks?"
"Hey, I'd like to see you control them," Abby spoke up. "We were outnumbered you know, even the boys were joining their side. Although they only had soda," she added. "By the way, Tony got off lucky. Sara here suggested he contact the owner of this fine establishment. And the man bent over backwards when we arrived. We have free room service, anything we need, we just call. And if they give us any hassle we contact him directly."
"You've been having an affair with a hotel owner?" Gibbs asked as he looked over at Sara who sat up with her elbows and glared at him.
"No I have not, he just happens to like to be nice to me since I have custody of his granddaughter...oh shit," Sara whispered as she looked over at Warrick then Catherine, then back to Gibbs. "You need to get Lindsey. Get her here. This is Thomas; we don't know what he'll pull. But he might go after her to get to me...we both know he's got no qualms going after people I care about..."
"What?" Catherine yelled in shock.
"Breathe, Sara, same for you, Ms. Willows. Tony's already been to get her; they're picking up some stuff from your place," Gibbs answered as he walked over to the fridge. "So, we hadn't ordered anything for breakfast yet, weren't sure what the lot of you would want. If we have such a great deal with room service, why don't we just order through there then?" he continued as he pulled out a bottle of water.
"Works for us," one of the men on the floor answered, this one had dark brown hair to the middle of his back in a ponytail, and dark eyes like the boy who had mentioned Sara was winning.
"Alright, McGee, take orders and make the call. Oh, and we need some decent coffee in this place. Find a Starbucks."
"Starbucks?" the blonde girl asked as she sat up.
"No, Bree," Sara and the two women chorused as they started to play the game once more.
"Game should be over soon," the boy from earlier spoke. "Or not,"he sighed as one of the other two boys moved a marble and took over a spot from another marble, which they handed to him with a smirk.
"Actually..." Sara answered as she played a seven and moved one marble two spaces before moving her other clear one five spaces and laid her hand down. "Game."
"How the hell did you get yours over there without us knowing? How do you always get out of a shit stick?" both men asked shaking their heads.
"Because I'm the queen of this game, gentlemen, besides you were too busy making sure Aramis didn't win," Sara answered as she sat up and began gathering cards that she quickly separated into two decks by color as the others sat up and began dismantling the game.
"Give us the usual and talk away, we're going to play in our room," The girl spoke as she rose and the other three teenagers gathered the parts of the game and headed to the right door before disappearing.
"Okay, confused as hell," Nick spoke up as Sara and the others, besides Abby who had gone to help McGee get orders, stood and made their way over to the couch, sinking down with simultaneous sighs.
"Welcome to the club," Sara began as she glanced at them. "Grab seats, this is going to take a while."
"What's going to take a while?" Lindsey's voice carried from behind the small crowd.
"Explanation of what's going on, Lindsey girl," Sara answered as Lindsey moved into the room.
"Okay, sure, so where do I stick my stuff?"
Sara glanced at the other two women before nodding. "Step back out in the lobby thingie, next door over is Bree's and my suite. You'll have to share a room with Bree though..."
"No problem," Lindsey shrugged before disappearing and reappearing a moment later. "Left it on the couch for now," she continued as she paused behind McGee and Abby. "Waffles with strawberries and cream, orange juice, and a Soy, easy choc, double whip Raspberry White Choc Mocha Frap, Venti," she added before moving past them and McGee just stared at her.
"Here, let me have that," Abby smiled as she took the pad and wrote down what Lindsey had just ordered. "Okay, before we get started with the discussions that are coming," Abby began as she walked to the middle of the room. "I want the last of the orders and I want them now."
"Steak and Eggs, rare, scrambled, and regular coffee," Tony answered automatically.
"Gibbs? Usual?" Abby asked as she wrote. Getting no verbal answer she looked up and raised an eyebrow, and in response Gibbs countered the expression. She shrugged before going back to writing. "Sara?"
"Vegetarian Frittata, no peppers with cheddar. Orange Juice, and a tall, slim, Cinnamon Spice Mocha, with whip," Sara rattled off as Abby wrote before she moved on to the next person. Five minutes later she was calling room service and McGee was dragging Tony down to get all the coffees.
"Alright, food is ordered, all that fun. We're here...please explain," Liz asked as everyone found seats around the room, the majority on the floor.
Sara nodded and glanced at the four flanking her, a woman on each side, and a man on either of their sides, perched on the chair arms. "We should probably start with introductions..." she began softly. "Well, they already know all of you from me..." she continued with a half smile. "Anyway, this," she began turning towards the blackhaired woman, "is Gillian Peters and next to her is her husband Bill," she continued about the man perched on the arm of the couch. Bill was tall, over six feet, and had green eyes with red shoulder-length wavy hair and a full beard and mustache. "Or Sasquatch as he is known," Sara smirked as he just rolled his eyes.
"And this is Jillian Rice," she continued as she turned towards the woman with auburn hair, "and her husband Billy." The man with long hair grinned.
"Bill and Gillian and Billy and Jillian?" Greg asked with a smile. "Doesn't that get confusing when talking about people?"
"Immensely," Gillian and Jillian chorused with a grin.
"Which is why we all call Gilly, Wheezie." Jillian continued
"Jill-e? Greg pronounced before shrugging. "Interesting way of shortening the name Gillian."
"It fits," Billy laughed.
"Bite me, Billy," Gillian growled as she looked over at him.
"So, who are the teens?" Mia asked curious.
"Aramis, well his first name is Vincent, is Billy and Jill's. They're older son is Bertie, the one with curly dirty blonde hair," Sara began. "Nathaniel and Bree are Bill and Gilly's kids."
"Okay," Greg nodded as McGee and DiNozzo came back with coffees. "Okay, introductions are out of the way then..." Greg continued once the coffees were distributed.
"First, did Gibbs show you the file on Thomas?" Sara asked looking over at him.
"I did," Gibbs answered.
"There was someone named Sararita in it..." Warrick began softly as he looked at her. You didn't change your name as a teenager did you?"
"Who's Sararita?" Nick asked before she could answer.
"A few years ago, we found out that Sara was Jewish as you know, and her birthname was Sararita Tzipora Sidle," Liz explained. "Although it now looks like that wasn't exactly true..."
"Wait, we met in '92. The trial took place after we met but the list of complainants didn't include a Sara Sidle..." Grissom pointed out and Sara smiled slightly as she ducked her head down.
"My birth name was Sararita Tzipora Tzeitel Jacobs. When we met, I didn't want you to know me as the person I was, so I gave you the name Sara Tzeitel... never corrected you when you thought you had heard Sidle," she explained softly
"Oh," Grissom nodded.
"Your grandmother's name was Jacobs..." Warrick began with a frown. "I just assumed she was your mother's mother."
"No, she was my paternal grandmother," Sara sighed.
"So how did you end up Sara Sidle?" Liz asked. "I mean I'm guessing it's a new identity... but why that one? This one..." she corrected.
"Should probably start from the beginning," Sara sighed softly before rising and walking over to the window. "A few facts we managed to leave the same, my birthday for example. My parents weren't hippies though, in fact we were a nice normal Jewish family living in the Richmond district of San Fran..." she started as she leaned against the window frame and looked out. "My older brother Abraham was seven-years older than me, Abe for short. Our parents enjoyed naming us, Abraham Moshe Ariel and Sararita Tzipora Tzeitel. Our names play off each other, Sara and Abraham were married, Tzipora and Moses...Ariel was a family name while Tzeitel is the Yiddish pet name for Sara..." she paused with a smile. "My father used to say my name meant Lady Bird Princess when you combined the meanings together."
"It's beautiful," Warrick whispered and she glanced over at him before offering a sad smile then looking back at the window.
"What I told you about my family...that I never lied about," she continued softly. "I was twelve when my mother killed my father," she kept going, there were many in the room that didn't know about her past. "Abe was God only knew where then, he'd left three-years earlier...I couldn't blame him for his choice to escape when he was sixteen. Considering all the trips to the hospital growing up, we were legendary in our community, but no one would stand up against my father or my mother..." she paused to shrug. "Luckily I was placed with a foster family that was Jewish, and was able to continue going to my synagogue. I didn't lose everything...but it was never easy. I was known as the girl who's mother killed her father...didn't make it easy to make friends or date...any of those normal things a teenager does. So I devoted all my time to my passion, and as soon as I could, I went to college."
"Did you ever hear from your brother again?" Lindsey asked.
"No, there's no record of him after I turned nineteen. I've checked." Sara answered softly.
"What happened at college?" Warrick asked gently.
"Studies show victims of abuse date abusers..." she began as she reached up to trace the window glass. "My freshman year, my roommate convinced me to go with her to a party on base, Hanscom Air Force Base. Her brother was enlisted. Anyway, Rachel dragged me there, saying I needed to get out more. And there I met Thomas," she paused with a slight frown. "Thomas was twenty-five, I was eighteen. He was a lieutenant in the Navy, a Cryptologist based at MIT's Lincoln Lab there at Hanscom. He had that whole Harman Rabb on JAG thing going, black hair, deep eyes, although his were always blue, tall...when he asked me out, I was floored and said yes. He was a great guy at first you know...our first year he was a complete angel, and during winter break of my sophomore year I moved in with him off-base. After we started dating, Thomas introduced me to Bill Quinn, who he'd met on base. Bill was Air Force, and in turn, I met Bill's girlfriend Kathy, with a K, and Bill's best friend Billy and his wife Cathy, with a C. Kathy with a K was a med lab assistant at the base clinic, Billy was a make-up artist with the Wilbur Theater, and Cathy with a C was a teacher. It wasn't until after we were living together that Thomas started hitting me..." Sara trailed off as she stopped tracing for a moment. "He was smart about it though, made sure the bruises stayed under my regular clothing. June of '91 saw Bill and Kathy getting married, and Christmas was Thomas' and my second anniversary. Kathy and Cath knew something wasn't right, but I couldn't tell them...so I stayed quiet. And I was beyond adept at hiding bruises by the time Thomas became abusive..." she shrugged slightly before starting to trace once more.
"January of 1992, Thomas was sent to the Middle East for a six-month tour aboard ship, and I threw myself back into my studies completely. In March I attended a seminar, and one of the speakers was Dr. Gil Grissom. God he was so kind...it was something I hadn't had happen in a while. But I was at the point where it was easier to give people another name and have another identity to be able to live with the life I was living, so instead of telling him my name was Rita Jacobs, I told him it was Sara Tzeitel. Who knew, thanks to him I'd have the identity to fall back on when everything went to hell. We became friends, and he treated me like a real person. And I finally realized from the way Grissom treated me that I didn't deserve how Thomas treated me...add to that the fact I found myself falling for Gil, something that quite honestly both terrified me and at the same time gave me hope for the future, hope that I wasn't the ruined piece of life that Thomas always told me I was..." Sara shrugged once more.
"Griss went back to Vegas at the end of June when his final seminar was over, and just in time for the Fourth, Thomas came home. I told him that it was over, that I was moving out. I'd already started before he got home...he wasn't happy to say the least...I don't really remember much about that night, I blacked out after a point, woke up days later in the hospital. Kathy and Cath had come by with the intention of moving some more stuff hours later and found me. They took me to the hospital on base, and NCIS was brought in. By the time I woke up, Gibbs was there. After I was released from the hospital, Billy, Cath, Bill, and Kathy had me come live with the four of them. They'd gotten a place together off base forever and a day before..." she paused to smile at the good memories. "Thomas was being investigated, so we thought we were safe. But then the phone calls started. Thomas knew I was there...and he was furious. He threatened them, detailed threats. Poor fool never thought about the answering machine we had installed after they started. At the same time, along with my charge of rape, eight other women came forward after hearing about it in the newspapers. He'd raped them all on various occasions since he came to Boston, but intimidation was something he was a master at. By the time things went to trial, all of us were glad to see him getting what he deserved. He was sentenced in December, fifteen to twenty in Leavenworth."
Turning around she looked at the room as she leaned against the window, folding her arms over her chest. "Because of all the threats Thomas had made, and the connections it was believed he had, Gibbs arranged for all of us to get new identities. The eight other women went...God only knows where. The five of us though, we insisted on being together. We basically told Gibbs that you tell us now, or we'll find a way to find each other in the future, security risks be damned. Luckily he was willing to listen to us," she smiled as she looked over at him and he just rolled his eyes.
"Each of us had a new identity, new appearance for the most part. Bill and Kathy became Bill and Gillian Quinn, while Billy and Cathy became Billy and Jillian Studer. Billy and Jill went to Kentucky, where Bertie was born only a few months later, while Bill and Gilly ended up in Hawaii, where Nathaniel was born two days after Bertie, as he finished off his service with a new name and record. Ironically, both boys were named after Jill's father, Nathaniel." Sara paused to smile slightly. "And I became Sara Sidle, daughter of hippies from Tamales Bay. When I finished Harvard and transferred to Berkley, I would spend as much time as possible up at Tamales Bay, getting to know the area. Spring Breaks and other vacations I'd head up and stay at Dillon's Beach. Whenever possible all of us would get together and spend the time together at Dillon's. Over time, Aramis was born, and Bree...I finished Berkley and was working with, first the S.F. Coroner's Office, then CSI...
"My last case before I came to Vegas...NCIS was brought in. Shock of shocks when of all the people to come I was stuck with Gibbs again, but it was fun. Met his new lab girl, Abbs and I were horrible to him on occasion."
"That's the truth," Abby laughed. "I still remember his face when you switched his coffee with my Caff-Pow!"
"That's what that was?" Gibbs asked looking between the two. "Okay, no more supplying you with that crap. I don't care how ticked you get at me."
"Oh come on Gibbs, you know I work better with my Caff-Pow!"
"You do realize that stuff has been linked to heart attacks in tests right?" Sara smiled.
"They were mice; they don't have the body mass to process a Caff-Pow!" Abby countered.
"You're a scary woman there Mrs. McGee," Nick laughed.
"Thank you, I try so," Abby grinned.
"She really does," Sara smiled.
"That reminds me, did you ever give sleeping in a coffin a go?" Abby asked, and suddenly you could hear a pin drop in the room as everyone looked between Abby and Sara.
"Um... no," Sara answered after a moment. "That's...that's your thing there, Abbs," she continued shaking her head.
"It's not that bad really," McGee spoke before realizing what he said.
"Way too much information there Probie," DiNozzo shuddered.
"Oh, we scared the man stuck in the mentality of a teenager," Kate frowned before laughing.
"You know... he is nothing like Stan," Sara mused.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn't meant as one," Sara countered.
"Who's Stan?" Liz asked.
"Stan was the agent working for Gibbs when they came to Frisco...interesting fellow. He ate his bagels with bacon, sausage, eggs, onions, cream cheese, and jalapenos..." she paused to shudder. "Even before I swore off meat that was just a combination I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole."
"Actually not half bad," DiNozzo spoke up and Kate turned to look at him in disgust.
"God, he gets worse as he gets older," she groaned.
"I think I'm suddenly glad I didn't work with him then," Sara mused. "Whatever happened to Stan?"
"He was working on ship for a while. He's in Hawaii now," Gibbs explained and Sara nodded.
"Anyway, after we wrapped the case up, I got the call from Griss about coming to Vegas, so I came. And as the say...the rest is history," she shrugged once more.
Before anyone really had a chance to react to everything they'd just found out, besides sit in shock that all this had happened to the woman they knew, the woman who didn't take crap from anyone...breakfast arrived. Throughout the meal, everyone pretty much remained silent. NCIS and the members of those gathered working the case couldn't discuss it, and still no one really knew what to say, so time passed rather slowly. And as soon as the meal was over, Sara gave a half smile before rising and saying she was going to go lay down, she didn't know about anyone else, but she was exhausted.
Seizing the chance, everyone else went their ways soon after, although sleep didn't seem like a realistic option for anyone. Lindsey met Bree, and the two made their way to their room to talk and get to know one another, as the boys stayed in their room, and when Warrick followed the girls to their suite, he wasn't exactly surprised to find Sara sitting on the couch watching the door as he stepped inside.
"Hi," Sara whispered as he shut the door.
"Hi," He countered softly before they heard giggling echo through the slightly open door leading to what was now Lindsey and Bree's room.
"Umm..." she frowned as she glanced towards the door. "Would you like to..." she continued pointing over her shoulder towards the other door. "Then there's no chance of anyone overhearing..." she trailed off.
"Sure," he nodded watching as she uncurled her legs and rose from the couch, bringing the afghan with her. He smiled when he saw the afghan; it had been his grandmother's, whenever she was having a hard day she'd curl up on the couch with that blanket. Shaking his head he followed after her, and shut the door behind himself when he entered 'her' bedroom. She kept walking as she moved over to stand by the window, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders before she looked over at him.
"I'm sorry," she began, so softly had he not had years of practice at picking up her voice in the nosiest of places, he wouldn't have heard her. "I can't say I would have done things differently given the chance again, or even that I wanted to tell you the truth all along. I'd be lying if I said that..." she paused as she glanced down. "The truth is, the longer I didn't think about my past, the more I could believe I really was Sara Sidle, daughter of weird slightly psychotic hippies, who had a hell of a past but was able to overcome it and be a better person."
"You are a better person," he argued softly and she looked up at him. Seeing her chewing on her bottom lip nearly killed him, she only did that when she was quite literally a complete wreak. She hadn't done that since they pulled her back from the edge five-years-earlier. "Sara..." he began before sighing as he leaned against the back of the door. "I won't say it didn't hurt to find out there is so much about you I didn't know, but you couldn't tell me, I get that. You had this whole identity that you had to assume, that couldn't have been easy..."
"No, it wasn't," Sara agreed softly.
"Sar... baby..." he began with another sigh. "Look, we both know this isn't going to just disappear. But regardless of what your birth name was, or the fact you grew up in San Francisco, and not in Tamales Bay, who you are hasn't changed. A few more pieces have fallen into place, but it's all a part of the Sararita Tzipora Sidle as I know you..."
"How can you be so damn understanding?" she demanded before sinking to the floor as she began to sob.
"Because I love you," he whispered in her ear as he pulled her into his arms, letting her cry. "Nothing can change that."
Monday June 14th, 2010
Tangiers Hotel and Casino
Executive Tower Suite
9:45 a.m.
"Perfect timing huh Ladybird?" Billy asked as he sunk onto the couch next to Sara in what had been deemed the Studer Suite. Across the 'lobby' from what had been deemed the Quinn Suite, with the Girl's Suite in between, a.k.a. Sara, Lindsey and Bree's suite.
"Really."
"Have you rescheduled?" Gilly asked as she handed Sara another daiquiri.
"Not yet," Sara sighed softly. "We need to figure out what the best course of action is...And I need to tell Rick."
"He's still sleeping?"
"Like a baby," Sara smiled as she looked up at Jill. "So are the girls."
"The boys are playing Kingdom Hearts 2...or is it 3...one of the two," Bill spoke as he joined them.
"None of us are going to get any sleep are we?" Jill mused.
"Probably not."
"Game?" Billy suggested. "We can pop Jack in."
Sara laughed before nodding. "That would be nice. Something fun and good memories while we deal with serious matters."
"Exactly the plan," Billy agreed as Bill went for the boards and supplies while Jill grabbed the DVD of The Nightmare Before Christmas from their stuff.
"So..." Gilly began as they set up the game. "What options are we looking at?"
Sara sighed. "They usual. Possible combination."
"Lovely. You know, our lives...when it rains, it damn well pours," Billy mused.
"No kidding," Sara agreed.
"Yeah, and we haven't even told them about..." Jill began with a frown.
"Yeah, I know." Sara sighed once more. "Come on, happy thoughts. I am going to wipe your butts across the floor in Jokers tonight."
"That's our girl," Bill grinned. "But I'm so not going to let that happen."
"Sure you aren't," Sara smirked as she glanced at him. "Deal, and start the movie."
"Here, here," Jill and Gilly agreed.