Part Fourteen - Contrivance

(Precious Metals, Night at the Movies)

Sara checked her watch for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, crossing her arms across her chest and glancing down the street, wondering where the hell Nick was. Not that she'd expected him to be on time, after all, he'd said that he had some errands to run, and she knew well enough how easy it was to lose track of time. At the same time though, he'd been the one who invited her out. She'd have thought that he'd have enough old school Texas gentleman in him to not be late.

She passed the time by picking up one of the flyers that were on display outside the movie theatre, detailing the movies that were playing during the Hitchcock festival, mentally checking the times of some against her work schedule, wondering if she could book tickets for some. She was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a problem even if she did have to leave work to go to a showing; the times when she voluntarily left the lab were so legendarily few and far between that whenever she was practically pushed out the door when such an occasion arose.

Noting that "Dial M for Murder" was showing on Friday afternoon, she instantly decided that this was just such an occasion.

She made another mental note to herself to thank Nick for drawing her attention to the festival, because if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have even known it was on. She hadn't even remembered that he'd known of her fondness for Hitchcock films, and he'd reminded her of her once telling him that she hadn't slept the night before because she'd found "Psycho" showing on some channel or other, and she'd watched it before she went to bed. He'd laughed at the time, she remembered that now, reminding her that she functioned on little or no sleep anyway, not to mention the fact that a woman who worked with much scarier things on a day to day basis shouldn't be scared by a black and white film. Her only defence had been that "Psycho" had scared the hell out of her when her older brother had shown it to her as a kid, and childhood scares were still potent so many years later. It had been a week defence, she knew, but Nick had nodded, changing the subject to other films that she liked. She'd forgotten all about that until recently, when she'd heard about the case that Grissom and Catherine had been working on, because she loved "Strangers on a Train" too. Nick had even joked to her that Catherine and Grissom's movie case sounded far more up her alley than theirs, and when she'd questioned his remembrance of a conversation that had taken place over two years ago, he'd simply shrugged and given her that smile of his, telling her that it had been the first piece of personal information that she'd ever shared with him, the first time he'd ever realised that there really was more to Sara Sidle than just work. She'd been slightly taken aback by that, had just mumbled something about how she was sorry she'd missed the Hitchcock festival when it was on at the Art House before changing the subject.

She'd let it go at that, but Nick hadn't, and the next day he'd come up to her, asking her if she wanted to go to the movies with him. She'd given him a doubtful look in reply, asking "It's not Jackass is it?" because she'd seen more than enough of that looking at the McCallum murder tape. Nick had just laughed, telling her that he'd bought two tickets for "To Catch A Thief" and he thought she might like to go with him. He held up the tickets in front of her to illustrate his story, and she couldn't help remembering all the times in the least couple of years that he'd tried to drag her out of her lab, telling her that he and Warrick were going out to eat, or to a club, inviting her along. She'd turned them down more times than she cared to remember, though she knew now that he'd only done it because he cared about her, because he was worried about her. So she'd taken the ticket from him, agreeing to meet outside the movie theatre, covering her shame as best she could.

She was ashamed because he was her friend, looking out for her, and she'd been avoiding him where she could over the last couple of weeks, keeping him at arm's length, talking to him only about the case. She hadn't wanted to hear his concern about her in the aftermath of her break-up with Hank the previous month, hadn't wanted him to continue the conversation that he'd started over coffee in the lab. "Hey Sara," he'd begun, looking more than a little uncertain. "I don't want to cross any lines here, but, uh, I've got this buddy who's not going out with anybody..."

She'd known straight away where he was leading, and her response had been immediate and decisive. "No. No, no, forget it."

Catherine had interrupted them at that point, but Nick hadn't given up easily, insisting that his friend was a cool guy, that she didn't have to be nervous about anything, that he'd never set her up with a loser, that she really should hear him out. She'd stood her ground, refusing to be budged, and he'd eventually let the matter drop, though she was pretty sure that they were going to have this conversation a few more times before he finally got the message. She was equally as sure that she didn't want to start dating again, not yet anyway. Not that she was broken hearted over Hank, she'd never been that serious about him in the first place she reminded herself. However, she'd be lying if she said that she wasn't still a little raw, a little bitter from the whole experience, and she just wanted to lay low for a while, immerse herself in her work. She'd been fine with that before, she could be fine with it again.

"Anything decent?" She looked up with a start when she heard a familiar voice beside her, just not the one she was expecting.

"Cyrus, hi," she said, smiling at the sight of her friend. "Decent? Yeah, I'm just wondering can I be off work Friday afternoon to catch 'Dial M for Murder'." He nodded, a flicker of appreciation showing on his face, and she looked him up and down, surprised to see him there, just hoping that she was doing a good job of hiding it. At least she thought she was until she heard "You're a Hitchcock fan?" coming from her lips, the words laced with surprise, out of her mouth before she could stop them.

If he was taken aback at her phrasing though, he didn't show it, just nodding again. "From way back," he said. "I'd heard about this, saw a poster for it a few weeks ago, but I forgot all about it until Stokes mentioned it."

The mention of Nick's name stilled Sara's tongue, and a vague suspicion took root in her mind. "Nick… told you about this?"

Cyrus nodded, his gaze moving to behind her, then turned his head to look in the other direction. "I'm supposed to be meeting him here actually…someone gave him tickets for 'To Catch a Thief.'" The last thing she saw before she closed her eyes was him glancing at his watch. "He's running late though, he was supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago…" His voice trailed off and she felt rather than saw him step closer to her. "Hey, are you ok?"

Opening her eyes, she gave him a weak smile, torn between whether she should die of mortification on the spot, or vow bloody vengeance on Nick. "I don't think he's coming," she said, and when Cyrus frowned in confusion, she reached into the back pocket of her jeans, pulling out a ticket. She held it up to him, saw him squint to read it before his hand went to his wallet, pulling out a ticket that was the match of hers. The only difference was the seat number, one was H15, the other H16, and the sight made her grit her teeth. "I'm going to kill him."

Understanding was slowly dawning on Cyrus's face. "You're kidding me," he managed, and she shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Nick's been telling me about this guy he wants to fix me up with," Sara told him, rubbing the bridge of her nose with two fingers, hoping that the pressure would keep the homicidal urges at bay. "I've been telling him no, but it looks as if he didn't listen to me." She blinked, a thought occurring to her. "I take it you're not seeing anyone either?"

Cyrus was staring at her, his jaw slack, but there was something in his eyes, some spark of something that took Sara aback momentarily. She blinked, but in that instant, it was gone, and she wondered if she was imagining things, especially when Cyrus echoed her earlier words. "I'm going to kill him."

"Stand in line," she commanded, a thought striking her. "Though maybe we should team up."

"We should?" He looked at her askance, and she gave him a jaunty shrug.

"Hey, you're a homicide detective, I'm a CSI. We both know how to work a scene, how to get rid of the evidence…we could get away with murder."

He smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Or…"

That was as much as he said, and she tilted her head in question. "Or?" she prompted.

He looked at his watch, then down at the ticket in his hand again. "Or, since we're both here, we could go look at the film." She arched one eyebrow, and he hastily added, "Look, we both know what Stokes had in mind. But we're here, and I don't know about you, but I do love this film. Besides, he had to work hard to get the tickets, get us both here…" The idea wasn't without appeal, she had to admit that. Cyrus was good company, she knew that, and it was a great movie. "Look, we don't have to run to the nearest wedding chapel," Cyrus continued, and she laughed. "Let's just see the film."

His joke made up her mind. "Sounds like a plan to me," she said, still smiling, and he grinned at her, stepping back and extending a hand, indicating that she should walk ahead of him. She took a couple of steps, then stopped, looking up at him curiously. "Just so I'm clear… we're still going to kill Nick, right?"

He didn't hesitate. "Oh totally."

She nodded. "That's ok then."

***

Cyrus was smiling to himself as the lights went up, feeling more relaxed than he had when he'd first entered the movie theatre. Seeing Sara outside had been an unexpected treat he'd thought, though he'd quickly revised his opinion when she'd told him what Nick had evidently done, especially when Sara had asked him if he was seeing anyone, told him exactly what Nick had said. Nick had joked about it to him, sure, but he'd been doing that for months, ever since he'd found out that Cyrus was interested in Sara, and Cyrus had been telling him every time to mind his own business, not to get involved. He'd never expected Nick to take matters into his own hands, hadn't believed it until Sara had put her ticket side by side with his own, seeing the adjacent numbers there.

His primary emotion had been shock, with an undercurrent of something that was very much like hope. For a fleeting instant, he'd seen that recognition play across her mortified face, and he'd schooled his features into an impassive mask, muttering threats of murder against Nick. That had brought her back to herself, as she'd begun planning how the two of them were two of the best people to literally get away with murder, and as she'd spoken, he'd realised something.

For all he was attracted to her, for all he really did want to get to know her better, she was still the same Sara Sidle that he'd been working with, talking to, for all these months. She wasn't just some random woman that he'd been fixed up with, she was his friend.

Friends could go to a movie together, right? No matter how they got there.

So he'd suggested that they see the film together. She'd lifted an eyebrow, and he'd pointed out that it was a great film, that they both liked it, that they didn't have to elope. It was just a film he was telling her, just between friends.

He was telling her that and he'd nearly sold it to himself, right up until she smiled.

She really did have a killer smile.

He hadn't let her see that, had just let her walk ahead of him into the movie theatre, and they'd found their seats just in time, the lights going down almost the second that they'd sat. The movie was as good as ever, and Sara seemed to know it just as well as he did, if the amount of times that they'd leaned into one another to point something out was anything to go by. All in all, he'd had a thoroughly pleasant time, and judging from the relaxed smile that she threw over her shoulder at him as she moved up the stairs, she had too.

No doubt about it Cyrus thought, he was going to owe Stokes for this.

Right after he killed him of course.

They were walking past the box office when Sara paused, her hands jammed in her jacket pockets, turning to him slowly. He blinked once, tilting his head in silent question, and she jerked her chin in the direction of the counter. "I was checking out the program before you came," she told him, her eyes uncertain. "'Dial M for Murder' is showing Friday afternoon."

He nodded, though he wasn't sure why; it wasn't as if he'd forgotten their conversation of just a couple of hours ago. "That's a good movie," he said slowly, weighing his options carefully. He wasn't sure if she was just making conversation, or if she was saying that she wanted to go. And if she did want to go, there was no reason to think that she would want him to go with her. He knew that the right thing to do would be to nod again, to keep his mouth shut, let her go over there and buy her ticket and not think any more about it.

He was all set to do that, until she nodded, this time with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. It made her look even more uncertain than she had a couple of seconds ago, though it was also undeniably cute. "Yeah," she said, and he literally saw the decision flash in her eyes. "You want to see it too?" The words could have been said more firmly, in fact, he was reasonably sure that that was the effect she'd been aiming for. The delivery though, was more hesitant, more unsure, and he fought the urge to grin at her, either in reassurance or delight, or a mixture of both.

"Depends," he said slowly, keeping his face blank, and her eyes widened slightly in what looked very like panic. "If I say yes am I going to see Stokes and not you?"

The moment he said Nick's name, she realised what he was doing, and she laughed out loud, in amusement or relief, Cyrus couldn't quite tell. "With a ticket for 'Dial M' on the big screen?" she asked, heading for the ticket booth as she spoke. "Not a chance."

"Sounds good to me," he murmured, more to himself than to her, but he changed his tune scant seconds later when she got to the booth and asked for two tickets, fishing the money out of her wallet and sliding it under the Plexiglas window. "How much do I owe you?" he asked her, craning his neck to see the price list for the Hitchcock Festival, but Sara waved her hand dismissively as she turned back to him, handing him his ticket.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I've got these."

"Oh no." Cyrus's response was instant, automatic, and she looked up at him in surprise, opening her mouth, obviously preparing an objection, not that Cyrus was going to let her start one off. He knew that she was going to fight him on this, and he didn't much care, because it was something that had happened to him before, usually amid accusations of macho piggery. Because while Cyrus was well aware that this was a new millennium, that women were equal to men and were able to, and expected to, pay their way, Cyrus had been brought up by a very old fashioned mother who had drilled it in to her only son from his teenage years that it was the chivalrous thing to do for a gentleman to pay for a lady on a date. To this day, it was all Cyrus could do to agree to split the bill when the time came; to actually have a woman pay for the whole thing was anathema to him.

Old-fashioned? He'd been told that he was positively prehistoric, but he'd been living with that for the last twenty years, and couldn't see himself changing any time soon.

Even if this wasn't a date.

He didn't think Sara would be interested in the long story, so he kept it simple, repeating himself. "How much do I owe you?"

He was becoming very familiar with the Sara Sidle smirk and raised brow; this time, the arms crossed across her chest, hip thrust out slightly, her entire pose indicating amusement. "Are you under the impression that I'm unable to afford two movie tickets?" she demanded, her tone light. She was about an inch away from tapping her foot he figured, but he wasn't backing down.

"I'm sure you can," he told her, reaching for his wallet. "I'm equally sure that I can afford to pay for one." He was holding his wallet with one hand, checking the price on the ticket with the other when she literally took matters into her own hands, plucking the ticket from his grasp.

"Now Cyrus," she said, and he was vaguely and ridiculously reminded of his grandmother's reproving glare when, as a small boy, he'd chased his little sister around the garden with slugs. "If you don't want it, I'm sure Nick would be only too pleased to come with me…" She let her voice trail off, challenging him, daring him to call her bluff, and he had to admit that he could respect that. He knew from her stance, and from what he knew of her personality, that there was no way she was going to back down from this, that they could probably stand here in a stand-off until it was time to go into the theatre on Friday. The only problem was, he didn't exactly want to back down in front of her himself.

Which was when he remembered something else that his mother had taught him - the better part of valour is discretion. In other words she'd told her young son, there are times when it's all right to back down, just as long as you're doing it for the right reasons. When he'd grown older, he realised that Shakespeare might have had trouble with Mom's interpretation of Falstaff's wisdom, but right now, it seemed like pretty sound advice.

"I'm not gonna talk you round am I?" he asked, just to make sure, and she grinned, shaking her head from side to side with a happy smile. She looked pleased to have got her way, didn't seem to be looking beyond that. So he was faintly amused by the look of mild surprise on her face when he said, "Then will you at least let me buy you coffee?"

"Coffee?" she echoed, and it was his turn to flash her a quick half smile, combined with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Since you won't let me pay for my ticket-" He took the ticket from her, holding it up between them for emphasis. "-How about we go get some coffee?"

"Now?"

She seemed to be having some trouble with the idea, but more in an "I'm not sure what's going on here and I didn't see it coming but I'm kinda ok with it" kind of way, as opposed to a "This guy is creeping me out" kind of way, which at least gave Cyrus some hope. "Now would be good," he joked, giving her a wider smile this time, hoping to coax the same out of her. "Or we can leave it till Friday if you prefer."

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they were more than a little curious. "What do you think Nick would make of that?" she asked, and his heart came to a shuddering stop before painfully lurching to life again. He could feel her pulling away from him, putting distance between them, and he wasn't sure he knew how to stop it. So he did the only thing he could to stall for time.

"We can invite him along if you like."

He was only partly joking, and the smile she gave him was weak in the extreme. "Why do I get the feeling that there's something you're not telling me?" she asked. "It's been in the back of my mind ever since you got here…"

There was only one option left - honesty. "I didn't know that Nick was gonna do this, if that's what you think," he told her, holding his hands up as if to ward off anything she might say or do in the next few minutes. After a pause, long enough for her to say anything she wanted, he continued. "But I'm not gonna pretend I'm sorry that he did." He paused again, looked down at the golden diamonds patterning the crimson carpet of the theatre lobby. When he looked up at her again, her lower lip was once more caught between her teeth, her face doubtful. "I know you were dating someone…and I know you mightn't want to start anything up right now. But bottom line, I like you. I'd like to get to know you better. If it leads to somewhere, that's great. But if it doesn't, if we just stay friends, I'm fine with that too. But right now? I just want to get a cup of coffee with you."

His eyes had been locked with hers for much of the last statement, but he still couldn't figure out what she was going to do, what she was going to say. His heart sank when she looked down at the carpet, her shoulders rising and falling as she sucked in a deep breath. In the suddenly still lobby, her exhalation of breath was like a hurricane wind, and it seemed a long time before she lifted her head to look at him.

Then she smiled.