All I Want Is You
Disclaimer: Okay, I think it's common knowledge that I do not own CSI, I only love the show and like to write fanfics for it.
Chapter Three: Sara's Past Catches Up
Sara's cell phone rang as she was leaving a scene behind Catherine. She didn't immediately recognize the number, but it was a California area code. She excused herself for a moment to take the call.
"Hello," she answered tentatively.
"Is this Sara Sidle?" a voice asked.
"Yes," Sara answered.
"Sara, it's me, your mother," Laura Sidle spoke.
Sara froze, "I uh, I haven't heard from you in years."
"I know," Laura sighed.
"You're completely finished with your sentence now, parole and all?" Sara asked.
"I've been done for a while, I just haven't been able to find a number to call you," Laura said.
"If you really wanted to, you could have found me by now," Sara started.
"Sara, don't start. Not over the phone. The truth is I was still mad at you for years, but now…I'm not getting any younger. I want you to come visit me," Laura finished.
"I can't do this right now, I'm at work," Sara suddenly said, "call me back in a couple hours."
"Sara, I haven't heard from you in a long time and now when I get a hold of you, you won't talk to me? Maybe you haven't changed," Laura said angrily.
"Mom, I told you I'm at work, I have to go, my co-worker is waiting for me," Sara hung up before her mother could protest.
Sara walked over to Catherine's waiting SUV and slid wordlessly into the passenger seat.
"Is everything okay? You look upset," Catherine noted.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just got a call from someone I haven't heard from in a long time," Sara said as if it was no big deal.
"I see," Catherine started the engine, "well you know if you a woman to talk to, I'm here for you."
"Thanks," Sara smiled briefly, "I'll remember that."
Catherine knew when it was not a good idea to press Sara for information. She hated that Sara was so private, just like Grissom. Neither one of them let anyone inside their private worlds. Of course, that may change now that the two had admitted their feelings to one another and started to date. Still, she wished that she knew more about Sara. She considered Sara a friend and it was hard to not really know much about Sara's life. No one really did, at least not anyone in Las Vegas.
When they got back to the lab, Sara took her evidence to log it in without saying another word to Catherine. Whoever had called Sara, said something to upset her because she had been happy and talkative before her phone rang. As soon as Sara finished with her evidence, she headed for Grissom's office.
"Gil, are you busy?" Sara asked.
"Not too busy for you, come in," he smiled.
"My mother just called me when we were leaving our crime scene," Sara blurted.
"Uh…okay, and this is a bad thing, why?" Grissom was confused.
"I haven't talked to my mother in a long, long time," Sara sighed, trying to decide if it was okay for her to spill the whole story to Grissom.
"I'm guessing something happened between you?" Grissom moved to close his door, making sure there was no way for someone to overhear their conversation.
"When I was twelve years old, my dad died of alcohol poisoning. My parents were always very lax, they used to be hippies. So after he was gone, she let the B and B they had run together gradually fall apart. She stopped maintaining it and people quit staying there because it was in such bad shape. When she finally got over mourning my dad, she started to see a lot of guys. She got into drugs and she was always drinking," Sara paused, trying to calm herself down.
"I never knew any of that, Sara, I'm so sorry to hear that your childhood was like that," Grissom was stunned.
"That's not all," Sara took a deep breath, "one of the guys she was dating came into my bedroom in the middle of the night. He raped me."
Grissom couldn't find words and only stared at Sara, her brown eyes full of pain.
"I was old enough that I knew it was wrong, I called the cops and they removed me from the home. My mom was arrested on several charges including child endangerment and possession of drugs. I became a ward of the state and I never heard how long she was in jail for. I was passed around from foster home to foster home. Some of the foster parents were abusive. I got beat up a few times. When I was 18, I got the heck out of California and went to Harvard. I never looked back until my mom called just today," Sara finished shakily.
Grissom's eyes were filled with tears at the end of her story and he quickly pulled Sara into a hug. She cried on his shoulder and they stayed like that for a while, not caring who saw them through the windows. For the moment, Sara and Grissom were the only people that mattered in the world.
"I've never told anyone all of that before," Sara whispered into his shirt.
"I had no idea your life was like that," Grissom stroked her back.
"I tried to just put all of it behind me. Pretend it never happened. I can only imagine all the stares if people knew that was how I grew up," Sara sniffled, "that's why I was so happy when you asked me to come to Las Vegas, I thought getting away from California was a good idea."
"It's not healthy to just ignore memories like that," Grissom started.
"Please don't start that talk," Sara sighed, "I haven't repressed all these memories. I think about them every day. That was a big part of why I started drinking. There were other factors, but that's not important. If it hadn't been for nearly getting arrested for a DUI, I would have probably continued getting worse. Now I see a counselor, and it helps some, but I don't think I'll ever get over this completely. Anyway, I think my mom wants me to visit her, but I don't think I can do it."
Grissom was still reeling from all the details of Sara's life. The saddest part was how matter-of-factly she had told the story. He knew when he first met Sara that she had a troubled past, but he never knew just what had happened to her. The fact that she was with him today, a successful CSI was amazing to him. He couldn't understand how a person with an upbringing like hers could turn out to be a such a beautiful, amazing woman.
Before Grissom could speak again, Sara's cell phone rang again. She looked at the number and knew it was her mother again.
"I have to take this outside," Sara got up and left Grissom dumbfounded at his desk.
A/N: Happy New Year to you all. I want to thank everyone who has read/reviewed my stories. 2004 was a good year for me at Fan Fiction. I hope 2005 is just as good, if not better. Hope you enjoyed the new chapter, the next one will come faster than this one. It's just something about being at home making me not want to write.