Title: She's Leaving Home
Author: Jeanine (jeanine@iol.ie)
Rating: PG
Pairing: Sara/Warrick
Spoilers: Burden of Proof AU post-ep
Feedback: Makes my day
Disclaimer: If it was in the show, it's not mine.
Archive: At my site Checkmate () , Fanfiction.net; anywhere else, please ask.
Summary: Sara's leaving…
Notes: For the LiveJournal CSReports Virtual Rewind challenge, to the Beatles song title challenge. Inspired by the fact that I've been looking at a lot of old episodes of Fame lately, and during one (written by Carol Mendelsohn by the way!) I came across a few lines of dialogue which I thought were perfect…
***
"Sara!"
Sara turns in some surprise at the familiar voice calling her name, not quite able to believe her eyes when she sees Warrick ambling towards her. She lowers her suitcase, narrows her eyes suspiciously. "What are you doing here?" she demands.
He's taken aback but recovers quickly, casting not so subtle looks at her suitcase at her side, the ticket in her hands. "You're the one running away from home," he points out, and she bristles defensively.
"I'm going home," she corrects him. "To San Francisco."
"After Grissom made life hard over your leave of absence," he counters, and she swallows hard, remembering the plant she left sitting on the kitchen counter. "I never thought of you as a quitter."
Neither has she, and the words cut her to the quick. "I just… I need…" But that's all she can say.
She looks down at the ground, hears him sigh. "Look Sara, if you really think you need to go, then you need to go…" She raises her head then to see that he's lowered his, and he looks as if the words are sticking in his throat. "Just remember that you can always come back."
She tilts her head back, takes a deep breath, fighting back tears. "I don't know if I can," she whispers, because she really doesn't know if she can face Grissom day in, day out, not the way she feels about him.
"You can." Warrick's voice is gentle, but firm, and when she looks at him, conviction is burning in his eyes. He takes a step towards her, is clearly about to say something else, but a tinny voice over the loudspeaker stops him, and when they hear the words, both know their time is short.
"That's my flight," she says, and he sighs again, steps closer to her and taking her in his arms. To her own surprise, she holds him tightly too, burying her head in his shoulder. Another tinny blast from the loudspeaker separates them, and Sara forces a smile through her tears.
"Take care of yourself Sara," he says, his voice choked, turning to walk away.
He's only taken a few steps when he turns at her voice calling his name. "Why did you come here?" They move towards one another, meeting in the middle, and she shakes her head in genuine confusion. "I mean… it's not as if we were close…"
His eyes flare in surprise; he stifles it quickly, but not quickly enough. "I thought we were," he says. "Sometimes."
The calm truth of the words brings more tears to her eyes. "Yeah… well," she whispers, closing any space between them. "I lied."
Their hug this time is fierce, final, and it's Sara who walks away, tears spilling free, Warrick's eyes boring into her back. She can still feel them even as she sits on the plane that's taking her home, and she realises she might have left more behind than she thought.