Title: The Conference (Lame working title – any suggestions? Please feedback)
Author: BettySwollocs
Rating: PG so far I'll let you know if it changes
Disclaimer: Sara Sidle, Dana Scully and Monica Reyes all do not belong to me. However Alex Kenny does so I shall now take her to bed and make sure she knows it :D
Feedback: Pleeeeeeeeeease – makes use of Sara's puppy dog eyes
"I need to book a week off"
Grissom was astonished.
Sara Sidle? Willingly taking time off work? This was unheard of. After several minutes of quite accurately impersonating a goldfish, the senior CSI managed a reply:
"Wuh..err... when?"
"November 12th to 19th"
"Err... that should be fine. But if you don't mind me asking, where are you planning on going?"
"There's an international physics conference in LA, I'm gonna make a holiday of it, road trip, take in a few sights After all you did tell me to get a life..."
"I never meant..," Gil interrupted gently, he had known that comment would come back and bite him in the ass, and even though he was glad to see Sara doing something other than work he really never intended to offend her.
"I know what you meant, this isn't really about you, I was just messin' with ya"
With a wink and a smile Sara turned abruptly and left his office, whistling a light tune as she retreated down the corridor to continue her work.
Roughly a month later, Friday November 12th finally rolled around. Sara greeted this fact this with mixed emotions.
The prospect of finding out about all the latest developments in the world of physics excited her, and it would be nice to talk science geekery in public without people looking at her like they would a bin-man obsessing about his job, lack of understanding combined with a twinge of pity.
On the other hand, she had never been very good at social situations and usually did her best to avoid them, over the next week, however, she realised that she would be encountering great many of them to and therefore feared that it would turn into a week long nightmare filled with odd looks and awkward silences.
Standing in the entranceway of her apartment Sara pushed down her fears about the impending trip and embraced the excitement. Picking up her car keys and slinging her dark green holdall over her shoulder she pulled closed her apartment door and headed down the stairs towards the parking garage.
Having stowed her luggage in the boot of her Tahoe she claimed the driver's seat and inserted one of her favourite mix CDs into the player. With the sound of Joni Mitchell pouring from the cars high tech speakers she pulled out of her reserved space and headed for the highway with a smile plastered across her face.
By the time she hit track three, Joan Jett's, Crimson and Clover, she was doing eighty on the freeway singing her heart out along with the powerful, if somewhat repetitive, lyrics.
"Well I don't hardy know her"
She tapped the rhythm of the bass on the steering wheel.
"But I think I could love her!"
'Hmmm... now there's a position I've been in before' she thought, allowing her mind to drift back to life previously, when she lived in San Francisco.
Flashback ::1996 San Francisco::
A young confident Sara Sidle strode along the side street of the city, her head held high allowing her shoulder length brown hair to blow backwards in the slight breeze.
Despite the breeze the day was hot and Sara wore a white vest top with black slacks and belt. The shirt which she had previously worn, was also black and was tied tightly around her hips allowing it too, to blow in the breeze. Along with her well loved black leather boots which she refused to trade in for a cooler model even on a scorching day like this, the pieces de resistance of the outfit were the brand new black, Oakley sunglasses. All in all she felt like the dog's bollocks and it showed in the casual long stride and the gentle sway of her hips.
Her destination was a small auto-garage in which her prised dark blue MG roadster was currently being worked on. It had needed a new radiator and had been in the shop for several days now, so Sara was on way, check book in hand, to take her baby home.
As she arrived at the large, open fronted building her pride and joy was just visible at the back of the garage with bonnet open and a mechanic still lazily tinkering away.
"Damn" she muttered as she mentally prepared herself to have some harsh words with said mechanic.
At that moment the air beside her was disturbed an the deep roaring of an engine moving quickly past her was all she could sense. Quickly she became aware that the noise was produced by a beautiful Harley-Davidson motorbike as it drove past her to park in the entrance of the garage. Sara beamed and lifted her sun glasses up to sit on top of her had as she stepped into the relative darkness of the garage and moved over towards where the rider was dismounting.
She had planned to complement the rider on the fine ride but as they turned to face her and removed their black motor bike helmet suddenly all thoughts of automobile transport were forgotten.
She was beautiful. Her light brown hair fell about her shoulders as it was released from the confines of the helmet. She shook her head lightly to allow it to fall into place and when she stilled it again Sara's eyes fell onto those of the mystery women. They were, breathtaking, hazel and deep and Sara didn't know quite how long she was lost in them before she dragged herself free to absorb the rest of the figure standing before her.
She was dressed head to toe in motorcycle leathers. Briefly Sara considered that she must be boiling wearing those on a day like today but the thought was soon lost amongst the surging lust in her brain (and quite possibly other places). As Sara observed the stranger unzipped and removed her leather jacket revealing a vest top much like Sara's underneath, only this one was in black.
"I like" Sara mused, and this only served to widen her grin.
Finally she completed the short distance over to wear the other person stood.
'How had it taken her so long to cover such a short distance?' she wondered but then the excuse pooped into her head 'There were distractions' and she suppressed a giggle at her own internal humour. Deciding to get away from her scary internal self Sara introduced herself to the other party who still stood watching her progress with an intrigued look on her face.
"Hi. I'm Sara. Sara Sidle"
"Well hello Sara, Sara Sidle" she replied with a grin, "I'm Alex, Alex Kenny"
"Smartarse." Sara braved, it was a little strong for the second line you say to someone but she had a hunch this girl would take it in the way it was meant. "Now I make all the effort to come over here and introduce myself, and what do I get? The Mickey taken out of me"
Luckily Alex was still smiling and Sara's internal self made another appearance in order to breathe a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry. It's just that you sounded so...."
"James Bond?" Sara suggested
"No that would have been 'Sidle, Sara Sidle'. I was thinking more along the lines of chivalrous but misguided movie hero."
"Well you remembered my name so my sneaky repetition strategy clearly paid off. "The friendly banter only serving to increase the glint that was already in her eye.
"That's a beautiful machine you got there" she added finally getting to the point she originally came over to make.
"Why thank you, this here is my other half, although I haven't gone as far into insaneo land as to have named her...yet."
"Ahh but you decided that she's a 'her'?" Sara questioned with the raise of an eyebrow.
"Well of course, sleek, beautiful, purrs when you get her between your legs.... Its got to be female" At this both girls' grins expanded exponentially and both was accompanied with a slight blush, not that either woman would have admitted it.
"Well there's a definite amount of logic in there, you've obviously have put a little thought into the matter, some might say too much."
"Some? But not you, I assume?"
"Well I for one believe that one should spend as much time as possible pondering the gender of the love of ones life. As I have done myself. She's right back there getting tinkered with by that dirty old man." Sara replied putting great emphasis on the 'she'. And then added "I'm sure she feels violated, probably should get her some counselling when her radiator's fixed."
At this Alex laughed, a full natural laugh which did things to Sara which wouldn't be proper to mention at a dinner party. As she did so, Alex moved around to see the vehicle to which she was referring and as she did so her laughter stopped and was replaced by awe.
"Wow, you own that car? I have to say Sara I'm severely impressed. I saw that beauty here yesterday, was even tempted to take her for a spin but she was in pieces"
"You were here yesterday? Why's that, I'm no expert but Id say she's in perfect working order" Sara asked nodding towards the bike.
"Oh yeah she's fine" Alex replied affectionately stroking the leather of the seat, "Actually I work here."
Another grin threatened to split Sara's face in half,
"You work here?, You mean like as a mechanic?" she asked already playing with images of the beautiful girl in greasy overalls wheeling out from underneath a car, the imagery causing her eyes to glaze just enough for Alex to notice.
"Yes, I'm a mechanic, and I get that reaction a lot. I don't know what it is about the job but chicks seem to love it"
"I cant imagine what you're talking about" Sara said, her eyes playful enough to let Alex know that the exact opposite was true.
"Sure you don't" Alex replied with a roll of her eyes.
"A little sure of yourself don't you think?"
"This coming from miss 'Sara, Sara Sidle, over there" She continued grin growing wider with every passing response, pretty soon it was going to take over her entire head, maybe even her entire body, she was sure of it.
Sara, suddenly drained of wit just laughed and looked down at her feet as she absentmindedly kicked small stones.
"Why don't I go and change before I die of heat stroke, while you go and see how Barry's doing manhandling your baby and I'll come over and join you when I'm done?"
"Sounds like a fine plan to me" Sara responded and after a polite nod she began to stride over towards the little MG.
end flashback
That had been just the beginning of a beautiful romance for Sara, the most successful of her life to date. Not that it was the longest, but merely that of the whole four months that it lasted she barely had a single bad memory.
They were on intellectual even ground, something which, although she would never admit it for fear of sounding big-headed, was difficult for Sara to find and shared a wonderful playful side to their otherwise private and quiet personalities. This compared with utterly, mind blowing, earth shattering sex made the whole relationship very successful. However, it came to both of them at around the same time the sudden realisation that it was time to move on. Both had enjoyed there time together but felt it needed to end before it turned sour and tainted the beautiful thing which they had had. Inadvertently they both planned a gentle breaking-up speech for the same night which, when it was revealed caused great relief in both girls and lead to one last night spent laughing and joking and eventually having wonderful break up sex.
After that they became friends who saw each other every few months until Sara moved to Las Vegas and their communication was reduced to occasional phone calls.
Looking back on those times Sara smiled a warm peaceful smile that filled her entire being with an uplifting happiness.
By 1pm Sara had been driving for four hours and felt the need for a break. Hunger and curiosity pointed her in the direction of a small roadside café called 'Whistler's Place" which had signs advertising 'Good Home Cooking'. The establishment also stood right next to a petrol station, so she decided to fill up the vehicle as well while she was there. Pulling onto the forecourt she threw the Tahoe into 'park' and climbed out of the door, stretching out her arms and legs as she walked around the car to the petrol cap. Just as she was about to remove the nozzle from its resting position she saw something which caused her heart to leap into her mouth.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a very familiar shape pulling up onto the forecourt the other side of the pumps. As the dark blue MG roadster pulled up she glanced at the licence plate and realised that it was in fact the very same car that she used to own, looking non the worse for six years of wear. A smile spread across Sara's face so bright it lit up the area better than the mid-day Californian sun. She was just preparing herself to go and talk to the owner and compliment her on the car when she had something of a de ja vous. If she thought her heart was in her mouth before, now it had deserted her completely.
For in the driver's seat of the car sat past love number two, Alex Kenny herself. After the seconds it took to recover control of her limbs she managed to co-ordinate them to take her round the MG to the door from which Alex was just emerging.
"Well bugger me!" the girl exclaimed on seeing her ex.
"My thoughts exactly", came the reply from a still somewhat shocked Sara,
"How the hell have you been?" Alex asked her excitement clear in her voice as she pulled the other girl into a fierce hug.
"Uh ...I'm good" Sara managed as she had most of the air squeezed out of her before she gave up talking and just hugged back.
After long moments Sara pulled back from the embrace to look into Alex's eyes as she said,
"It's so good to see you again! Do you wanna come grab a bite to eat and catch up" She gestured towards "whistler's place" and just grinned some more when her answer came,
"I'd love to. Just let me fill up this beauty first"
"Yes, and your definitely gonna be filling me in on that little development" Sara replied with a false stern look between Alex and the car.
Alex just laughed and moved around to her petrol cap as Sara walked away to do the same.
Five minutes later having paid for her petrol and parked the Tahoe Sara walked into the small diner and looked around until she spotted Alex sitting in at a corner table with two steaming coffees. Walking up to the table and sitting down she said,
"Wow, you're still amazing, I've been craving coffee for three hours" Alex just smiled and said,
"Somehow I thought you might be."
After taking a tentative sip on her scalding coffee and sighing contentedly as it slid down her throat, Sara started with the question she'd been dying to ask,
"So, d'you mind telling me how you came to be driving my old car?"
"Well it's quite simple really", the other girl began, "A young man brought it into the garage about six months after you left for Vegas and I was so shocked that you would have given her up that I actually called the police to check that it wasn't stolen"
This caused both girls to grin as they both knew how important the car formally had been to Sara.
"So anyway, they said that, no, the car did belong to the man who had dropped it off and when I'd fixed it up the young man came back and took a shine to my Harley. Now by this time I was starting to consider getting something a little more practical than the bike, just a little mind'you not like that old man wagon u got, your so gonna explain that one to me, so I offered the bloke a part exchange and the rest, as they say, is history."
"And, in all our phone conversations, you never once thought to mention this?"
Alex paused to consider her reply,
"Well I didn't know how you would react, you could have thought I was looking for a memento of you or gotten a silly idea like I was still in love with you into your head"
"Nah. I'd have understood. Your not in love with me your in love with the car! Damn I miss her..." Sara's eyes glazed as she went off into a dream world whilst gazing out of the café window towards the object in question.
Just as Alex's beautiful laughter snapped Sara out of her trance a tall brunette waitress in black slacks, white blouse and an apron walked gracefully over to their table.
"May I take your order ladies?" she asked in a beautifully soft Irish accent.
A look of lust past over both of the girls faces as they turned to face the arrival and the waitress just grinned at them.
Finding her voice Sara said,
"err...I'll have a cheese omelette and fries please. Alex?"
"And I'll have a quarter-pounder please, also with fries"
After the waitress had written down their orders and left the girls, and they had watched her walk away for as long as they could without falling out of their chairs, turned back to each other and laughed.
"You always were a sucker for an Irish accent Sara" Alex joked
"And you always were a sucker for a uniform" Sara responded then added, "Almost caused me to join the police force"
Again they both laughed but this time it was Alex's eyes that glazed, just ever so slightly...
Snapping her out of it Sara asked,
"So, are you still getting your hands dirty for a living?"
"Yup, indeed I am, are you still wearing latex gloves for a living?"
"Yep, what else could I possibly be doing. Actually I think I gave my boss a heart attack just asking for this week off to go to this conference I'm on my way to"
"Conference? You don't mean the international physics conference in LA this weekend?"
"Yeah, the very one, why have you heard of it?"
"I've more than heard of it, I'm bloody going to it. I'm on my way there now!"
It took a moment for the amazing coincidence to sink into both the girls minds but after a few seconds they were both grinning wildly again.
"Well I'll be damned. I guess great minds really do think alike!" was Sara's reaction.
"You can say that again" Alex added.
At that moment their food arrived and both girls thanked the waitress a little more enthusiastically than strictly necessary.
"Suck up" Sara playfully accused Alex once the waitress had left
"Oh yeah and you weren't I suppose?!" She responded with a raise of her eyebrows.
As they ate they fell into easy conversation about memories of the past and recent developments and time flew by. When their plates were cleared and both were still trying to find excuses not to go on with their journeys Alex had a brainwave.
"I've just had an absolutely barmy idea" she announced with a mischievous grin. "Why don't we double up, leave the old man wagon here and you can ride with me to the conference, that way we get to spend some more time together and you get reunited with your baby for a few days"
Sara considered the idea for a moment or two before asking,
"Are you sure?" and then with yet another grin "I wouldn't want to cramp your style"
Alex's answer was nothing if not direct
"Honey, you are my style, you attract more chicks than even that car does and trust me that's saying something!"
Sara blushed at the extreme compliment and looked down at the table before quietly saying,
"Well when you put it so nicely, how could a girl refuse?"
More grins all round.
It wasn't long before the girls were on the road again. Sara had slipped the owner of the garage one hundred bucks to park the Tahoe round the back an keep an eye on it for her with a promise of another two on the car's safe return. She had then grabbed her holdall, jacket and a few CDs out of the car and headed over to where Alex was waiting patiently in the MG. On walking up to the vehicle Sara had said,
"Dear god I've missed you" and lovingly stroked the paintwork of the car.
"But you've only been away from me ten minutes" Alex jokingly replied, knowing full well that it was not her she was referring to.
Sara stuck her tongue out at her friend in a defiant look which quickly turned pleading and puppy doggish as she asked,
"Will you let me drive her? Pleeeeease?!"
"Now you no its not fair to use that look, I don't stand a chance" Alex replied before sighing and climbing over into the passenger seat of the car.
"Yessss!" Sara had exclaimed before throwing her luggage into the small boot and jumping over the door into the drivers seat in true Hollywood style.
Despite her law enforcement career Sara had never been one for observing speed limits especially when behind the wheel of her beloved MG so pretty so they were making good progress down the highway headed west.