Sara stood barefoot on the beach, the sun was just coming up in the horizon and she squinted to look at it's brightness and the change it created in the morning sky. Hearing the squishing of the sand behind her, she turned around to see Joshua walking up to her. She looked back at the sky as Joshua finally stood next to her. He remained still, like her, as he watched the sun rise. "Do you like watching the sun rise or set?"
Joshua looked up into her face and smiled. "I love to when I can. I didn't get to do that at the Centre. But of course you know that."
"Tell me, Joshua. What were you trained in at the Centre? Sims or offensive strategy?" Sara asked with interest. In her mind, she ran a simulation about him and figured he would have been treated just like Jarod.
Joshua squinted up at her as the sun was now growing stronger and they began walking up toward the end of the beach where the lounge was located. "Sims, of course. They wanted me to be just like Jarod -to think like him."
Sara nodded in understanding. She looked down and saw a seashell. He saw it also and reached down for it then held it to his ear. He smiled then handed it to her. Sara took it from him and also heard the ocean sound. Smiling, she handed it back to him. "Joshua, were you trained any in the art of defense, like martial arts or anything similar?"
Joshua stopped after she asked the question. He stared out at the ocean and spoke quietly, "No, I haven't been. The Centre didn't want me to be able to fight back like Jarod did and Jarod doesn't want me to learn. He says he just wants me to be a "normal" kid."
Sara was stunned. She stared at Joshua and wondered what Jarod was thinking. Joshua was a liability to everyone if he couldn't defend himself. Before she could ask him more, he turned around and asked, "Sara, I was wondering, well, since Jarod and Miss Parker are so, umm, busy if maybe you would train me. You know, to defend myself. I don't want the Centre to get me again."
Instead of answering right away, she continued walking on the beach and he jogged to catch up with her. He waited patiently until she spoke. "Joshua, it isn't something you can learn in just a few days. I don't know where I stand anymore. If I plan to go back to Vegas or stay here or maybe even go somewhere else. If I decide to train you, I would want you to be with me and I don't know if Jarod would be comfortable with that."
"Well, we could at least ask him. Or don't you think I should be trained either?" Joshua hesitantly asked that last part. He hoped she would agree to it and would talk to Jarod but wasn't so sure if she would anymore. They had walked to the short portion of the beach near the lounge and were now in full view of the hotel. Joshua stopped and waited for her reply, crossing his fingers as he waited.
Sara stopped also when she realized he was no longer walking beside her. She slowly turned toward him as she thought about his question. "No, Joshua, I do think you should be trained. You're a liability to all of us if you're not. I don't like those kinds of liabilities. It's too dangerous." She sighed then continued. "I'll talk to Jarod later. I don't, however, want you to bring it up to him. Understood?"
He nodded as a smile formed on his small face. "I won't say anything but I hope you won't take too long."
Sara grinned. 'He was so eager.' She nodded to him and said, "I won't, I'll talk to him today. Okay?" She reached out and ruffled his hair as he tried to duck. He nodded in agreement as they continued talking.
Elsewhere, Nick Stokes walked towards the occupied balcony of their suite. Grissom and Catherine sat at the table and Warrick sat in a chair against the railing facing toward the suite. Nick walked out and went over to the railing and breathed in deeply. The others watched intently and considered his movements thoughtfully. They didn't know how he was feeling but he looked better than when they saw him last. He turned around and poured himself a cup of coffee from the carafe that was on the table. He took in the worried looks of his friends and smiled at each one before he took his first drink. He turned back around and looked over the railing down to the beach. His face suddenly drew into a frown and then he hurriedly placed his cup down on the table and walked back into the suite. The others stared after him and Warrick even moved to get up to go after him when Grissom waved at him to hold back. Grissom looked over the railing to see what Nick had seen. He turned back around when he heard the door to the suite open and watched as Nick left. Catherine and Warrick both looked back at Grissom with questioning glances. "Sara is on the beach." And that was all he needed to say. They all stood at the railing to watch the scene unfold in front of them as they waited for Nick to reappear.
Nick rushed down to the front lobby and almost ran out the front doors. He stopped suddenly as he saw that Sara and Joshua were still on the beach. He breathed deeply as he considered what he was going to say. After taking another deep breath, he slowly walked toward the two forms on the beach.
Sara and Joshua were throwing stones toward the water trying to form a multiple skip off from them even with the tide. Sara turned to find another one and caught movement up on the path. She looked up and saw Nick approaching and gasped slightly. 'He's actually coming to talk.' She stood slowly and waited as he approached. Joshua saw him also and touched Sara on her arm. She looked down at him and he said, "I'm gonna go and leave you two to talk." He then walked away, back down the beach.
SARA TURNED BACK to the approaching Nick and walked forward to meet him. When they met, neither knew what to say. She finally broke the silence as they stared for what seemed like minutes to them. "Hi." She said softly and then smiled at him.
He smiled back and said, "Hi." He shoved his hands in his pockets and then grew silent once again but his eyes danced with conversation embedded in them.
Sara glanced back and forth at each of his eyes and read his need in them. "You, umm, ready to talk?" He nodded at her and then opened his mouth to speak but saw her eyes look past him and upward. He turned to look at what she was and saw Grissom, Catherine and Warrick staring down at them. He turned back to her and she nodded toward the right. "Let's walk so we can keep prying eyes off of us." He again nodded and began to walk with her away from the lounge and down the way she had came up.
They walked several feet before Nick found his voice. "Umm, Sara? How is your shoulder? Is it going to be okay?"
Sara heard the difficulty in his speech as he tried to talk to her. 'He must have a lot of questions and thoughts.' She smiled at him with a tilt to her head and replied, "Yeah, it'll be fine. Just some time to heal is all that's needed."
"Good, glad there isn't any worse damage to it." He glanced away as he tried to make coherent thoughts in his head. Sara read the conflicting emotions in his face and reached out to touch his arm. When she did, he looked down at her hand then up to her face. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it as he couldn't think of what to say.
"Nick. You can ask whatever you need to or say what you want. I won't run away. I'll try to answer as much as I can and as simply as I can." The concern on her face was evident and Nick saw the raw emotions he felt reflected in her.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" He asked on a whisper as he watched her intently. He wanted to know why she would hold that back from him all this time. Why she found it necessary to keep that a secret when he was her brother, her twin.
Sara gently pulled her hand back and quickly replied without any hesitancy, "To protect you."
Nick frowned at her answer. He knew she spoke the truth because of the immediate reply but wondered at it. "Why, what do you need to protect me from now? The Centre isn't around anymore."
Sara started walking again as he followed a step behind. "The Centre may not be but the Triumvirate is and I fear them more than the Centre. They controlled the people and the research at the Centre. They're the ones in charge." She stopped and turned to face him again. "I wanted to be close to you. To get to know you but also wanted to keep you safe. When Grissom asked me to come to Vegas, I already knew you were there and it was an added bonus to move." She smiled at the memory. "Nick, I'm sorry about, well, about what the Centre did to you. It nearly killed me." She wiped tears away as they started falling on her face. Nick felt tears on his face then her hand as she wiped them away.
"No, Sara, it wasn't your fault. It was the Centre's. I want to thank you instead for doing what you did." He looked up toward the sky and continued, "I don't want to think about what else they would have had in store for me if you hadn't." He looked back to her face and saw the pain in them from the memory. He quickly pulled her into a hug and held her as they both let out the fear and pain they had held onto for so long. "I, umm, I've been having flashes of an image of you as a little girl since that first night when we arrived here. I don't remember having a twin sister and you would think I would."
Sara pulled back from him but continued to let him hug her as she did the same. "Nick, you were there when I was taken. We were in bed, bunk beds I think, when they came in. Just as they had gotten me out of bed, you woke up. I remember one of the men walking toward you and although I don't remember what they said, I would assume they threatened you. You probably don't remember because of that and because of seeing me be taken."
Nick's eyes closed as she spoke. Memories rushed back as he saw her at the birthday party then it was dark and he saw the flashlights and her face with a hand over her mouth. He quickly opened his eyes as he felt the fear again. He looked into her eyes as she tried to read what he might be thinking. "I saw it Sara, the images, I saw it." He hugged her again and they remained that way for quite awhile. "I know now why Mom and Dad were so protective of us. I should call and let them know."
Sara pulled back suddenly and shook her head. "No, Nick. Not yet. I, uh, I don't know if that would be a good idea. I…"
Nick looked at her face and saw that she was scared. "Sara?"
"It's too soon. I can't do that. I can't handle that much." Sara was scared at the thought of meeting a whole family -her family.
"Okay, Sara. I understand. But maybe later, you'll let me take you to see them?" He asked but was afraid she would still say no.
Sara instead nodded and said, "Someday, Nicky, when I am better prepared for it." He smiled at her answer and knew it wouldn't be too long.
They continued to walk down the beach, as they held close to each other. Nick let his thoughts wander and realized that his 'sister' was in a relationship, a boyfriend was involved. He also remembered that at that moment in time, they were fighting and he along with Catherine and Warrick knew that Grissom was perfect for Sara and vice versa. He decided to put his two cents in as the concerned brother. "Sara, are you still angry with Grissom?"
Sara stopped and turned to look at him. "Why do you think I'm angry with Grissom?"
Nick now realized the mess he was letting himself into. "I, umm, well, you know with the discs and all that he was watching."
Sara's anger flared as she thought about them seeing the discs. "What, you guys saw them too? How could he,"
"No, Sara. We didn't see much." Nick took hold of both of her arms as he tried to explain. "When Grissom realized we were behind him, he stood and hid the screen from us. He said that if you knew he watched them it would be one thing but he wasn't going to have you getting mad at us and also invade your privacy. He said he would take the brunt of it if you found out but wouldn't let us. The other night he mentioned how he didn't know you anymore, the real you and I think it scares him."
Sara searched his eyes for the truth and recognized it. Her stance loosened and she relaxed. "Thank you, Nick. I was about to go beat the hell out of him."
Nick grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "He loves you. You know that don't you?"
Sara gave him a small smile and nodded. "I know but he still went beyond the boundaries Nick. He wants to understand me, sure, but he needs to let me tell him not him searching it out behind my back. It makes me feel like a lab rat and he's researching me. That's what the Centre used to do."
"Are you going to talk to him? We only have today and tomorrow here. I would hate to have him go back to Vegas without you two working this out." Nick really didn't want to have to work around Grissom in a worse state than he was before when Sara had left.
Sara sighed, she knew she would have to but wasn't looking forward to it. Some decisions were made during the night and she knew that Grissom was going to take them personally. "Yes, Nick, I am. I guess the sooner I do it, the better."
Nick nodded in agreement then they hugged again and walked back to the hotel as they talked about non-consequential stuff. Before walking in though, he stopped her and made sure to make eye contact as he said, "Sara, I just thought you should know, that when you disappeared, Grissom was, well, he was different. He was already withdrawn from everyone what with his hearing problem and all, but without you there to help him through it, I think he felt lost. He came to work on time, not early, and he always left on time never staying late. He wouldn't go out with us after work and he just seemed to shut down. You didn't know about his hearing did you?"
Sara looked down at their feet and nodded. She then gazed back at him. "Yes I did. I was waiting for him to tell me though. I figured it out when he didn't answer me several different times. His reaction in court was the final piece of the puzzle for me."
Nick grinned. "You really are smart. None of us had any clue." Sara grinned at him too then they walked into the hotel and went to their separate rooms.
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A/N: Just a quick note in reference to my other fics… I'm very gratified that so many like A Time for Love and I know that many of you are patiently waiting for another chapter. I have been diligently working on Chapter 11 this past week and hopefully will be posting it tomorrow sometime. Thank you for your kind reviews. They certainly help my muse when I don't feel much like writing.
