Unexpected Friendships
By
Sydne
Rating: PG13
Disclosure: All characters belong to CBS, etc…
Summary: Takes place at the end of A Bullet Runs Through It.
Sofia Curtis walks down the steps from Officer Bell's wake and pauses in the warm Nevada sunshine. Looking back to the closed door, she briefly wonders if she should return and support her friend Jim Brass. He had told her to leave, but she is worried about him. The last few days have been rough and she knows it had taken a lot of guts for Brass to show up at this wake.
Deciding to give him and the family their privacy, she turns and walks to her car. She takes her uniform jacket and cap off and tosses them onto the back seat. Instead of getting inside the car and leaving, she walks to the rear passenger fender and leans on it. Her wait is not long; about fifteen minutes later Jim Brass exits the house and starts to walk to his own car.
"Jim," Sofia calls.
Looking over he spies the slender, blonde woman and changes his direction. Walking over to her, he takes off his hat and asks, "What are you doing here?"
"I thought you could use some company. How'd it go?" she asks, her voice laced with concern.
"It went," Brass, tells her as he lifts a non-committal shoulder.
Reaching over, Sofia places her hand on his arm, "Hey, lets go get a drink. I don't know about you, but I could use one."
A drink sounds like a damn fine idea to Brass. In fact several of them sound like a fine idea. "Alright."
"Where do you want to go?"
"Let's go to my house. I want to get out of this monkey suit," Brass tells her as he gestures to his uniform.
"Okay, I'll follow you over in my car," Sofia tells him as she walks to the driver's side of her car.
Turning away and walking to his car, Brass thinks, "Will wonders never cease?"
During the drive to Brass' home, Sofia has the time to consider her friendship with the older man. She realizes that she is drawn to him, but she's unsure if it is sexual in nature. Brass is not the type she normally is interested in. Sofia prefers men who are buff, blonde and brown eyed. Brass is none of these. In fact, he's the exact opposite.
Still, there's something that attracts her to him. She knows he can go from gentle to pit bull in less than five seconds. She's seen him do it in the interrogation room. Sofia wonders if he's like this outside of work. She doubts it.
Mentally shrugging to herself, she decides Jim Brass is a mystery that she'll have to solve piece by piece.
Pulling up in front of Brass' modest home, Sofia takes the time to check her makeup in the mirror. Brushing back a lock of blonde hair from her eyes, she decides she looks fine. She gets out of the car and meets him on the walkway to his front door.
"I thought you might change your mind," Brass tells her as he takes his keys out of his pocket and opens his front door. Gesturing for Sofia to enter, Brass hears her answer,
"Why?"
"Well, I figured the pity might have worn off," he tells her as he takes off his uniform coat and throws it on the back of the couch.
Wandering around his living room as she looks at his accumulated odds and ends, Sofia asks, "Why would I pity you?"
Quirking his eye at her, Brass changes the subject, and "What do you want to drink?"
"I don't care. What are you having?"
"Scotch."
"That's fine," she answers as she picks up a picture of him and a young blonde girl. "Who is this?"
Glancing over at her, he tells her, "That's my daughter Ellie. It was taken on her fifth birthday."
Brass walks into the kitchen and rummages in the cupboard for a couple of glasses. He tosses some ice cubes into them and grabs the bottle of Scotch. When he returns to the living room, he finds Sofia sitting on the couch looking at a travel magazine. Sitting down next to her, he places the glasses on the coffee table and pours alcohol into each of them.
"I didn't know you liked to travel," Sofia tells him.
Nodding, Brass looks at her, "Mm-hmm, I travel whenever I can. Getting away from Vegas, well, makes me feel human again. This job can drain you."
He hands Sofia a glass and picks up one for himself, "Cheers."
Sofia tips her glass towards him and then takes a sip of the smoky liquid. Brass watches and then quickly follows suit. They sit in silence for a few moments. When the silence becomes uncomfortable Sofia decides to break it.
"Jim, how are you doing?"
"Sofia, don't," Brass, tells her his voice husky.
"Damn it, Jim! I'm trying to be a friend here. I know how damn hard it was when I thought I shot him. I can only imagine what its like to know you are the one who did?"
Brass glares at her and drains his glass of Scotch. Re-filling it, he looks over at Sofia.
"You wanna know what its like? You really want to know?"
"Yes," Sofia softly says.
"It sucks. It sucks long and hard. I've killed perps before and it didn't bother me. This," he says gesturing wildly, "is tearing me up. You know what happened inside Bell's house today?"
Sofia shakes her head no and watches him quietly.
"Every officer there avoided me like the plague. When Bell's wife came in, one of them told her who I was." Brass' voice hitches at the memory. "Instead of walking away or slapping me, like I thought she would, you know what she did? She hugged me."
Tears fall down Brass' normally stoic face. Sofia scoots next to him and puts her arm around his shaking shoulders. She pulls him close and Brass lets the pain of the last few days erupt from his soul. When he is done, he pulls away from her and wipes his face on the back of his sleeve.
"I'm sorry," Brass tells her.
"For what? Being human?" Sofia softly responds.
"I was raised in a family where men weren't supposed to cry. We were supposed to be tough. You know, have that strong male exterior," he tries to smile, but it comes across as a grimace.
"You know, that old social more is a bit dated now, don't you?" Sofia asks as she reaches over and refills her glass with Scotch.
"I suppose you're right," Brass tells her.
Leaning back, Sofia studies him. She sees a man who is bent, but not broken. Brass will need support, but he will survive. He'll have some scars, but he'll learn to live with them. She decides its time to change the subject to something lighter.
"Jim, you said you liked to travel. Where have you been?"
Brass is grateful for Sofia's change in topic. While, he appreciates her support, it's hard for him to be open to anyone. He has always been a private person. Maybe he is not as private as Grissom, but he still keeps things to himself.
"I've been to Honduras, Costa Rica, and Panama. You want to hear something weird that happened to me in Honduras?"
"Sure."
"Well, I saw raining fish," Brass tells her with a smirk.
"You're kidding," Sofia laughs.
"No. I was standing on the beach when all of a sudden sardines started falling from the sky. I did some research when I returned home. One theory is that they are sucked up in waterspouts and then they fall on the land."
"I think you're teasing me."
"Nope, I'm serious," Brass deadpans.
Finishing her drink, Sofia rises from the couch, "I think it's time for me to go."
Rising with her, Brass places his hand on her shoulder, "Sofia, don't go. Please stay and have pizza with me. Maybe we can watch a movie?"
Sofia hears the plea in his voice. She realizes that Brass isn't quite ready to be left alone, "Jim, I'd like that very much. However, this uniform is getting uncomfortable."
"We can solve that. I've got an old sweatshirt you can wear. It would be a bit big, but…"
"Okay, you win. As long as I get to choose the pizza."
Flashing her a smile, he takes her hand and pulls her down the hallway towards his bedroom. When they get there, Brass releases her hand and she waits in the doorway. He walks over to his dresser and pulls out an old UNLV sweatshirt and tosses it to her.
"The bathroom is across the hall. I'm going to change too."
Turning, Sofia goes to the bathroom and quickly changes her shirt. Looking in the mirror, she laughs out loud. The shirt is huge on her. Smiling, she returns to the living room and takes a seat on the couch. Brass soon returns wearing jeans and a polo shirt.
"Its nice to see you in something besides a suit. You look good," Sofia tells him.
Blushing, Brass responds, "Thanks. You want to order the pizza?"
"Sure."
Beckoning her to following him, Brass heads for the kitchen. He walks over to the wall phone and picks up a stack of take out menus. Handing the stack to Sofia, he tells her, "I eat in a lot because of the work hours. If you'd rather have something besides pizza, feel free to order that."
"I understand about the hours. I think I've got the same set of menus at home," Sofia tells him as she looks through them.
"Hey, Jim. How about Chinese?"
"That's fine."
As Sofia places the order and arranges for delivery, Brass returns to the living room. He walks over to the entertainment center and opens the bottom drawer. He wonders what kind of movie Sofia would like to watch and decides to let her pick. He really doesn't care what they watch. He just wants her company for the evening.
When Sofia returns she finds Brass kneeling by the drawer. Walking over to him, she kneels next to him and tells him, "Dinner should be here in about a half hour."
"Great. I was trying to figure out what movie you would like to watch," Brass tells her pointing toward them.
Looking through Brass' movie collection, she tells him, "I didn't think you'd like comedy."
"What? I'm not always serious," Brass tells her smirking.
"I can see that," Sofia smiles. Deciding that a light comedy may be the best for the evening, Sofia reaches in and pulls out "The Longest Yard".
"Is this okay?"
Looking at her choice, Brass tells her, "That's perfect."
Taking the film from her, Brass stands and begins to load the DVD into the player. He returns to sit next to Sofia on the couch. "Do you want to watch this now or after dinner?"
"Mmm," Sofia ponders, "How about we wait until dinner gets here and then eat while we're watching it?"
"Good idea. Would you like another drink?"
"As much as I'd like one, I better not. I don't want to get plastered tonight. I'd take a soda if you have one."
Nodding, Brass rises from the couch and heads towards the kitchen. He's just about to enter when the doorbell rings. Thinking it's the deliveryman; he goes to the door and opens it. He's surprised when he sees Gil Grissom standing there.
"Griss, I wasn't expecting you," Brass says as he blocks the doorway.
"I knew Bell's wake was today and I thought you could use some company," Grissom responds as he tries to peer around the shorter, stocky man.
"Uh, actually Griss, I've got that covered. I appreciate you coming by though."
"You sure, Jim?"
"I'm positive, Gil," Brass tells him as the delivery van pulls up. "Ahh, I see dinner is here."
"Okay, You won't be in tonight will you?"
"No, I'm off duty for the next few days."
"Well, If you need me, you know where I'll be," Grissom tells him as he starts to turn away.
"Gil, I really do appreciate you coming by," Brass sincerely tells him.
"No problem, Jim. Enjoy your dinner," Grissom tells him as he walks away.
Brass greets the deliveryman and pays for their dinner. Walking back into the living room, he sets the bags on the coffee table.
"If you want to start digging that out, I'll go get some plates and your drink. I'm sorry for the interruption."
Waving him off, Sofia tells him, "Don't worry about it."
Brass watches as she starts to dig into the bags. Smiling, he heads towards the kitchen. He quickly gets forks, plates, and Sofia's drink. Returning Brass finds that she's taken everything out of the bags and has it sitting on the table. The smell wafts to him and he realizes he hasn't eaten much today.
"That smells good," he tells Sofia as he hands her a diet Pepsi.
"Yeah, it does. There's pork-fried rice, sweet and sour chicken, moo goo gai pan, and egg foo young. I hope you like what I picked out."
"You did fine. I like all of those," Brass says as he starts dishing out the food. He fills one plate and hands it to her. Filling his own, he leans back and takes a bite. "Mmm. This is good. I didn't realize I was hungry."
"Do you remember the last time you ate?"
"Actually, no."
Brass and Sofia settle back on the couch and munch contentedly on their meals. When they are about half done, Brass looks over at her. "Ready for the movie?"
"Sure," Sofia says around a mouthful of pork-fried rice.
Smirking, Brass hits the play button on the remote control and the movie begins. They finish their dinner as the movie plays. Brass sits his dish on the table and pours himself another glass of Scotch. Gesturing to her, he tilts the bottle and she shakes her head no. Nodding he pours himself another drink. When he starts to lean back, he sees that Sofia is done and he reaches for her plate. Taking it, he sets it on the table on top of his plate and then settles back on the couch next to her.
As the movie plays a sense of comfort rolls over him. It's the first time since he found out he was Bell's shooter that he feels content. Sofia can feel the change wash over him and smiles. Reaching out, she takes his hand and holds it. Brass is startled and looks down. He notices her hand and grasps it tighter. Looking back to Sofia, he smiles and returns to watching the movie.
A new and unexpected friendship has been made in the middle of strife and stress. It's a new and fragile friendship, but Brass is certain it will grow to be strong and steady.
Finis