Chapter 19

When Sara returned to Vegas she still had a couple days before she had to return to the lab. She didn't want anyone to know she was back yet, or else someone might suspect something. So she mainly stayed in her apartment watching TV and partaking in her favorite addiction.

Her second night back, she had a brilliant idea. She decided to confront Alex with the mother load she had hit in Mineral. This was actually her second brilliant idea of the night. Her first was to let Grissom in on the knowledge she had gathered, but that was two drinks ago when she could think more clearly. Now, letting the alcohol do her thinking, Sara just wanted to take Alex down a peg or two.

Sara drove around Alex's complex for a few minutes, trying to find the right building. When she finally spotted it, she pulled crookedly into a parking space. She was lucky that she didn't hit the car parked next to hers. She got out of the car, the cold night air sobering her only a little and unsteadily walked to the door.

"Alex!" she called, knocking loudly on the door, unaware of what time it was. "Alex!"

The knocking startled Alex awake. She looked at the alarm clock. One a.m.! Who could it be? She thought, struggle to get out of bed.

Sara was not happy that it was taking so long for the door to be answered. She started hitting the door, palm open. "Alex!" she called, oblivious to the porch lights that were coming on. "Stupid apartments," Sara muttered. "No freaking door bell."

Alex struggled to get to the door. She knew her neighbors would not like this late night disruption. She knew the voice sounded female, but she didn't recognize it. She couldn't imagine who would be causing such a commotion this late at night.

She peered through the peephole. All she saw was the back of a woman she didn't recognize. She opened the door slightly.

"Hello?" she questioned the unfamiliar woman.

"Alex," Sara turned around. "Can we talk?"

When Sara turned around, Alex recognized her. "Ms. Sidle!"

Sara was taken aback at the formal salutation. "It's Sara," she said, shifting a folder restlessly from one hand to the next. "Can we talk?" she repeated her question.

"Yeah, ok," Alex replied, wondering if something had happened to Grissom. "Is everything ok?" Alex opened the door and let Sara in.

"Well, that depends on you," Sara said accusingly.

Alex noticed the shift in Sara's tone. "Well, then, what was so important that you had to rush over here in the middle of the night?" Alex angrily shot back.

Sara handed Alex the folder. Alex opened the folder and flipped through the photocopied news articles. Her eyes started to fill with tears. "Where did you get these?"

Sara leaned in towards Alex. "Mineral," Sara smugly answered.

As Sara leaned in, Alex could smell the alcohol on her breath. "Are you drunk?"

"I am not drunk," Sara said with indignation. Then shifted the conversation back to Alex. "So, what do you have to say about those?"

Alex didn't feel any explanation was needed or would really be heard by Sara in the state she was in. Still, she had heard many things about Sara from Catherine and Grissom. She didn't want to make Sara any more of an enemy that she already appeared. Plus, she didn't want to let Sara leave in the condition she was in.

"You want an explanation?" Alex asked.

Sara nodded.

"Well, have a seat, this might take a while," Alex replied, hobbling to the kitchen to make some coffee. She knew Sara needed to sober up.

Alex tottered back in to the living room and sat in an easy chair that was kiddy-corner to Sara.

"So, let's have it, Lexa" Sara demanded, putting special emphasis on the name.

Alex cringed at the sound of "Lexa." Then she sighed. When her records were sealed and her name changed, she thought she'd never have to rehash the events of her teenage years. "I had issues as a teenager," Alex started. "My grandmother raised me under an iron fist. When I turned 13 I decided I had enough.

"I started getting everyone to call me Lexa. I thought it sounded so much cooler than Alexandria," she rolled her eyes at the thought of those years. "And then I started hanging around with a bad crowd."

"Drugs?" Sara patronizingly asked.

Alex shook her head. "No, I was never into drugs—or alcohol. All my friends did, but I just couldn't bring myself to try any of it. I did however do other things with them: petty theft, vandalism and the like. But I never got caught."

Sara had pretty much guessed all of this. She knew the first crime Alex was convicted of was not a starting point; it was an ending point.

"My grandmother pushed me to get a job when I was 15, and I started as a bookkeeper for the local grocery store. It was there that my 'talents' were first noticed by this Mafioso-wannabe who knew how to sweet-talk a teenage girl hoping for bigger and better than Mineral, Virginia. Little did I know, he was mixed up in a local money-laundering scheme.

"He, trying my intelligence, got me to cook books for him. It wasn't long before I was caught. I used to have a big mouth and I let slip what I was doing to the wrong person."

"What about the assault charge?" Sara asked plainly.

"Hang on," Alex replied, going back to the kitchen and getting a cup of coffee. She carefully got back to the living room and handed the cup to Sara. "Drink," she commanded.

Sara, at first, wouldn't drink. "I'm good," she said, placing the cup down.

"You drink or I don't continue," Alex responded.

"Fine," Sara replied begrudgingly, taking a drink.

"The assault charge was not my fault. I was defending myself against Mr. Mafioso when he found out it was me who took the operation down," Alex explained.

"Serves him right," Sara said between sips. "Taking advantage of a teenager!"

"Serves me right," she corrected, shaking her head at the past she thought she'd out run. "Anyway, I had a spotless record before that, I was 16 and I didn't kill anyone, so they decided to go lenient on me. Plus, I know my grandmother pulled every string she could. I got three months in Juvie and probation until I was 18."

"What about the name change? The articles call you 'Lexa Corbett'," Sara questioned.

Alex shook her head again. "That goes way back," she started. "Shortly after I was born, my grandfather's brother fought my grandmother for custody of me. My grandfather's family hadn't liked my grandmother for a long time and said some pretty hateful things during the custody hearings.

"Ultimately, custody was given to my grandmother and, out of spite, she changed her name and my name back to her maiden name, Corbett. I started going by Alex again when I returned to school following my stint in Juvie. Those three months were enough to make me never want to break the law again. And then after I graduated high school, my grandmother let me change my name back to Hart, hoping it would make things better for college."

Sara nodded in understanding. The system sucked. And she started to feel a little foolish as she sobered up from the coffee. "Does Grissom know?"

Alex wasn't surprised at the question, but the motivation for Sara's visit had finally become clear. Jealousy. One of the things she had been apprised of was Sara's feelings for Grissom, and this was Sara's way of trying to cause a rift between Alex and Grissom.

"He knows," Alex responded.

Sara seemed disappointed at Alex's answer, but satisfied. She set down the empty cup and started to get up. "Well," her foolishness was again catching up with her, "I should be going."

Alex noticed Sara's unsteadiness. "Are you ok to drive? Why don't you crash on the couch?"

Sara was going to argue until her exhaustion and the rest of the alcohol caught up with her. She didn't need to be pulled over for drunk driving—again. "O-okay," she responded sitting back down. Alex's kindness caught her a little off guard as well. Most people probably would have kicked her out by now.

Alex got up to get Sara an extra pillow and blanket. Dammit, she scolded herself, I should just kick her out. Why do I always do this sort of stuff? Am I that afraid to say no? That someone might not like me?

When she got back to the living room, Sara was already sound asleep on the couch. Alex gently lifted Sara's head and placed the pillow under it. Then she clumsily covered Sara with the blanket.

I just don't know what he sees in her, she thought as she shuffled back to bed, exhausted. It had been an interesting night.