Sara woke up loudly. She knocked her alarm clock of her bedside table. She slammed the bedroom door closed and the bathroom door. Her drawer fell out when she was getting dressed and she cursed loudly when she dropped her tea mug. She kicked the wall hard. Half a minute later she heard her door opening.
"Sara, it's Michelle," a young voice called out.
"Hey, Shell," Sara called back. The young woman's voice always calmed her down a bit.
Michelle came into the kitchen. Sara got another cup and made sure there was enough water in the kettle.
"I heard you get up," Michelle explained. She chuckled slightly, "Even my brother wasn't that noisy."
"Never had a brother, wouldn't know," Sara said.
"They're not really worth it. Though, for the most part you can tell them things."
"I've got a guy like that," Sara said. She smiled as she thought of Nick when he'd kissed her so sweetly.
"The quiet guy came to see you last night, well very early this morning," Michelle said.
"Who?" Sara asked, pouring water.
"The quiet one, from your work," Michelle explained.
'Grissom,' Sara thought, but she knew Michelle's aversion to names and didn't say it out loud.
"You couldn't have called him the old one?" Sara asked. Grissom was obviously older than the others.
"He's only 46, the worn one is 49. Anyway, ages are almost as confusing as names."
Sara didn't question how she knew how old Grissom and Brass were. The answers were usually more confusing than not knowing.
"He's the boss," she said, "You could have called him that."
"I think describing someone's major characteristic is better than any other label that has been forced upon them," the young woman answered with an air of smug wisdom.
Sara smiled, "So who am I?"
"You're the reserved one. I had to choose which of you was quiet and which was reserved. It was hard from a photo but I think he would tell you things if you asked in the right way."
"You like doing that, don't you?" Sara said.
Michelle smiled but was saved from answering by the phone ringing.
"Sidle," Sara answered it.
"Hey, it's Nick."
"Hiya."
"Um, we got a match on the DNA," he began carefully.
Sara felt her stomach clench, "Really?"
"Yeah, there was a case in San Francisco about seven years ago. There was DNA on the rope, enough for a sample, but it wasn't handled right for a warrant."
Sara didn't say anything.
"I wanted to know if you knew the name of the suspect, or if you know someone who did," Nick went on.
"Yeah," Sara said. "Call Kelly Sharman at SFPD, she worked the police side, tell her I said to say hi."
"Thanks," Nick said.
Sara hung up before he could ask about the victim. She hung up before she could worry about why he hadn't already asked. She put the phone down carefully and turned back to Michelle. Michelle was gone. There was a scrap of paper on her tea cup. She'd written 'Ta' on it.
