A/N: The next two chapters are pretty much full of great big fluff with a little bit of angst crème filling. It's basically just to get to know Shelly and to see the connection with her and Sara grow. Also, there are very subtle hints as to whom the father is … as if you smarties don't already know.:) … I hope you enjoy the scene with Ecklie (It's my favorite so far):)
I apologize now, because I don't want to offend anyone by it, but the swearing is a must in this story for character background.
Mochaccino Girl- I am very sorry if my A/N in the prologue offended you or anyone else. The truth is that I do read a few OOC stories so my words were a bit harsh and hypocritical. Again, I do apologize for it.
Now on with the show … err … story. :)
P.S. The next two should be long ones
Chapter 3 – Getting To Know You6:13pm Friday
"Miss Sidle?"
Sara rolled onto her right side, her face squishing into the back of the sofa. "Miss Sidle?" Shelly nudged her shoulder but Sara only squirmed some more.
"I hate to do this." She sadly whispered, but her evil grin told otherwise. "Sara!"
Sara jumped, span in place, forgetting for the moment that she was on her couch, then crashed to the floor. After catching her breath from laughing so hard, Shelly went to help Sara up by grabbing her arm but Sara snatched it away and mock-glared up at the still snickering teen.
"Sorry, but you weren't waking up the other way." Shelly continued to laugh.
Sara growled as she pulled herself back onto the couch. She sat there for a few minutes, willing her heart to slow down, and then turned and faced Shelly. "What do you want smart-ass?" She growled playfully.
"I umm…" Shelly quickly turned shy. "I, actually, I didn't want to go through your cupboards to find breakfast, or I guess it would be dinner, without your permission and I'm kind of starving."
Sara smiled, amazed at the multiple personalities that this young girl had shown in the last twenty hours. She went from intelligent to standoffish at the crime scene; pissed at the station; confident with the sketch artist; uncomfortable at the diner; shy when they came to the apartment; scared when she had the night terror; weary when she told of her rape; playful when she awoke Sara a couple minutes ago; and now she was shy again. Sara shook her head lightly. 'Something about this girl just …'
"We aren't going to eat here if that's alright with you Shells. I don't have much in the way of appetizing, especially since I'm sure you aren't a vegetarian."
Shelly gave a non-committable shrug of her shoulder. "I'm not a big fan of meat but I didn't have much of a choice growing up, you know?"
Sara nodded. "So, I thought that we could go out for something to eat. Sound good to you?"
Shelly smiled and nodded. "Sounds good." She then looked down at herself and back to the bedroom where her dirty, week old clothes, lay on the ground beside Sara's hamper.
"Don't worry about that." Sara started. "I'll lend you a pair of clean clothes for now and after we eat we can hit one of the malls or outlet places."
"It's Friday, still a weekday, and it's just past six. We still have to find a place to eat and by the time we finish it it would be pushing past nine and by that time all the stores should be closed or at least closing."
Sara laughed which made Shelly blush and look at her quizzically. "You haven't been in Las Vegas long that's for sure. Shells, Vegas is full of twenty-four hour every things. Food, clothing, movie, fun stuff, there's an area called 'The Strip' that never closes. We can go there."
Shelly nodded and smiled. "Do they have any sports stores there? I'm not a big fan of the girly girly shit. Wait… I…" Shelly looked down shyly again. "I didn't come here expecting to get money or hand outs, Miss Sidle. I'm used to wearing the same clothes for a couple days, washing them, then wearing them for a couple more days."
Sara looked at her with a look of disgust. Shelly smiled slightly, knowing her disgust was towards the clothing not herself. "Or … sometimes my friends and I would steal clothes but I don't like dropping myself to that level."
"First things first, it's Sara, not Miss Sidle. Now, you'll ignore the fact that you don't want my money or any 'hand-outs' as you call them, and we'll go shopping. It's not handouts, kiddo, I truly do want to help you. So, we're going for food then we're going to go down to The Strip and find you some clean and comfortable clothes. Deal?"
Shelly gave her a shy but genuinely happy smile and nodded. "Deal."
6:57pm
As they listened and sang along to "Sometimes Wanna Die" by Joydrop, Sara turned a quick glance at Shelly and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you have a good voice?"
Shelly stopped singing and ducked her chin to her chest, her shy smile permanently set. After a few minutes, Shelly started singing again and that was the only other sound in the car, besides the radio, for the rest of the drive.
They sat looking over their menus at the 'Little Italian' and commenting lightly on the different foods that Shelly had only ever heard about. As soon after the host came by to drop off their drinks and take their orders, the table was engulfed in uncomfortable silence; Sara not wanting to say anything that would cause the kid any more hurt and Shelly not saying anything because she didn't know how much this crime scene investigator wanted to get involved.
Sara sat, thinking, 'I'm not a shrink but even I can tell that she needs to talk to someone. I need to make her trust me enough but the only way how is uncomfortable.' She shook her head lightly. 'Too bad for me.'
"Shelly," When she had the girls attention she continued. "I've got an idea that would probably help the both of us."
"What is it?"
"How about, for the next couple days at least, we have no filters with each other."
"What does that mean?"
Sara smiled, "What I mean is, I propose a deal that for as long as I'm helping you find your father, we should be able to talk with no filters."
"You mean, tell each other everything?"
"Yeah. I think it would be good for the both of us to be able to tell someone our burdens; anything and everything with no regrets and no judging."
"A way to get shit off our chests?" Shelly asked and Sara nodded. "Deal. At least this is a whole hell of a lot cheaper then a shrink." They laughed again and enjoyed the rest of their meal, only talking of 'safe' topics until they got out of public.
8:30pm
After they hungrily devoured their dessert of Tiramisù, which Shelly was quick to inform Sara means 'Pull-me-up' in Italian, they left the restaurant and headed down 'Las Vegas Blvd' to 'The Fashion Show Mall.'
As soon as they stepped foot in the mall, Shelly made a quick beeline for the nearest sports shop, Champs. Once there, however, she quickly became her shy self.
Sensing Shelly's discomfort, Sara was quick to sooth her. "Remember, I told you that I don't mind spending the money. You need new clothes. In fact, think of it this way; when we find your father, he can pay me back that way it's his money we're spending." Sara gave her a wink.
Shelly smiled and moved over to the right. There she grabbed a few pairs of socks and other undergarments.
Next they headed for the shirts. Shelly's eyes widened at the magnitude of different styles, sports teams, and brand names that were available. "You've never been to a store this big have you?" Sara asked when she noticed the young girls expression, which quickly turned regretful.
"Actually, I have. There's a huge mall named Water Tower Place that my friends and I would hang out at in Chicago. That's where we did most of our uhhh … 'Five-finger-discount shopping.'" She paused and looked back at the shirt selections. "It's just, it didn't have this many brands and shit. This place is huge." That said, she practically ran towards the baseball section and quickly pointed out a Chicago Cubs, navy blue t-shirt. "I love that one."
"Then why don't you grab it and try it on in one of the dressing rooms?"
"Nah uh. No way. I am not subjecting myself to the chance of being videotaped. My friends all say I'm just being paranoid but some stores tape the dressing rooms so I'm not doing that. No way." She shook her head vehemently.
"Okay, okay." Sara laughed. "Put it in." Shelly smiled and dropped the shirt into the cart.
There were a few more plain black and blue shirts in the far corner so Shelly grabbed one of each of those.
They headed over to a section of sweatshirts. "Do you mind if I get myself a sweater too?" Shelly asked.
"It's the middle of February so it shouldn't get too cold for too much longer but sure, get it. I told you, whatever you want, grab it." Sara smiled as Shelly grabbed a sweatshirt that was again of the Chicago Cubs. "Let me guess, Chicago Cubs are your favorite baseball team?"
"Yeah," Shelly's smile was bright. "They're my favorite in the Nation League. The Toronto Blue Jays are my favorite team in the American League."
"Doesn't Chicago have two baseball teams? Shouldn't that team be your second favorite?" Sara asked perplexed.
Shelly's mouth hung open. She started to laugh as she shook her head. "Hell no! I would never cheer for the White Sox. Those South side bastards won the World Series this year over my Cubbies and that's just not right. In fact, I'd rather be shot again then have to watch them carry on a parade with my teams championship." Shelly shook her head again as she walked towards the pants section.
"You mean you've been shot before?" Sara asked incredulously.
Shelly cringed. She didn't exactly want that little tidbit out there. "Well, the Gun Runners is a dangerous occupation." She said flippantly.
"How many times were you shot?" Sara asked as they looked over the pants in front of them.
"Twice. Once in the shoulder when I was thirteen and then the second time the bullet just grazed my lower oblique area. I should've gone in to get stitches but I didn't."
"Why didn't you?"
"Because I was fifteen years old and being tutored to be the leader of the East division of the Gun Runners and it would be seen as weak." She stated in a 'Duh, isn't it obvious' tone.
"Have you ever shot someone?" Sara asked hesitantly, unsure if she really wanted to know if this young girl could actually take another persons life.
"Hell no. I was in it for the family atmosphere and the money, that's it. I would never kill another living being. Though, I did have to shoot at people but I always made sure I missed them, that way it would seem like I just sucked at shooting."
Sara nodded, pleased that she had never shot anyone. "In order to be able to miss every time you must know your way around guns."
"I know enough." Shelly smiled as she picked out two pairs of khakis, one black pair and one blue and set them into the shopping cart.
They continued to walk as they talked about, more like Shelly told Sara about, most of the sports equipment and apparel that they passed. "How the hell do you know all the tiniest details about stupid shit like this?" Sara asked.
Shelly shrugged. "I just have to walk past a sign and I can remember the details. I'm told it's a gift but it can also be a pain in the ass."
"Why would it be a pain in the ass?"
"Because I could, at times, have what Cels calls 'Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth' and people get very annoyed when you start spouting off at the mouth about shit they don't really care to know." Shelly shrugged and then bolted towards a stand in the middle of the 'Jersey Department.' "I have to get this." Shelly grinned.
She pulled the Chicago Cubs baseball jersey off its hanger and held it against herself. She took a peak at the price tag and turned green. Sara almost laughed; the look on Shelly's face was so funny. "This is too much." Shelly sighed and went to hang the jersey back up when Sara's hand stopped her.
"I'm sure you get one of the ones that don't have a name on the back. They don't cost as much."
Shelly placed it back on the rack and grabbed one without name. "Can I really get one?" Shelly's smile was so wide that there was no way that Sara could say no so she smiled back and nodded.
"Sara."
Her smile was gone.
She turned in the direction the voice came from and grimaced. "Ecklie, I wouldn't expect to see you here."
"Well, I'm here to pick up a few things that I forgot for the camping trip that I'm taking my son on. Who is this young lady?" Conrad Ecklie said in his always-smarmy voice. Being the ever-political monkey, he pushed out his hand for Shelly to shake.
"The name is Shelly." She looked down at Ecklie's hand that was still extended between them and pointed to it, "I don't touch other people; Germ phobia." And with that, she turned around to look at the hats that were being displayed.
Ecklie stood looking at the back of Shelly's head with shocked annoyance. Sara had to try her hardest to keep the laugh from bubbling out of her. Obviously, from Ecklie's glare, she didn't succeed at hiding the smile but when Ecklie went to comment, Shelly turned back around. "I'm sorry, Mr. Eakie, but the camping shit is way over there." She said as she pointed to the other side of the store. "Now if you don't mind," Shelly grabbed Sara's arm and started pulling her towards the shoes while pushing the cart with the other hand. "My sister and I are going to be looking for shoes. See ya." She continued to pull Sara until they were around the corner and out of view from Ecklie.
"Shelly-" Sara started to chide but was cut off.
"Sorry." Shelly ducked her head and continued sheepishly. "Remember the whole 'Diarrhea-of-the-Mouth' thing? Well, it also gets me in trouble because I don't think about consequences of my words. Who was he anyway?" She asked as she looked up.
"He was my boss."
"Oh, whoops." Shelly said with a smile.
"Yeah whoops."
"It's okay, he gave me the creeps anyway. I had to get rid of him."
Sara sighed and finally let the smile she was trying to hide show. "So what did you grab back there?"
"This," Shelly took off her old and beaten Cubs baseball cap and pulled on a black 'FlexSeam' baseball cap with the Toronto Blue Jays logo on the front. "No outfit is complete without my hat."
"Why's that?"
"I have no clue."
Shelly took a quick look around the shoes but saw nothing she immediately liked. "What exactly are you looking for?" Sara asked.
"Anything that is comfortable, affordable, lasting, and not affiliated in any way with Nike."
"Why not Nike?"
"So many reasons." She took a few steps around the wide corner and saw the perfect pair. She tried on the black, blue and yellow pair of 2XS Sports running shoes and nodded. "These are the ones."
9:55pm
They stepped out onto the sidewalk in front of the mall and stared at each other for a second. "What now?" Shelly asked.
"Well, what do you want to do?"
"First I want to walk back to the car and put these bags away. Then … I don't know. What do you do for fun?"
"Fun?"
"Yeah, fun. What do you like to do when you're off duty?"
"Uhhh…" 'Wasn't it just a couple years ago Grissom was asking the same thing?' Sara thought. "Well, I like to watch TV, read books, listen to my scanner."
"Uh huh. Anything else?"
Silence.
"Okay then." Shelly looked around as she thought about some things to do. She looked across the street and saw a sign for the Cirque Du Soleil. "The Chicago Tribune called that," She pointed to the sign, "'One of the most innovative and exciting shows to be seen anywhere.'"
"You want to go see the Cirque Du Soleil?" Sara asked.
"Sure. I've read that it's fun."
"Okay then, let's go."
12:45am Saturday
"That was awesome!"
Sara smiled and nodded her head. "How about we grab a movie and bring it back to my apartment. We can watch that and maybe talk if you want." Sara suggested.
"Sure … wait!" Shelly's face turned strained. "What time is it?"
Sara looked at her watch, "12:46. Why?"
"Shit!" Shelly reached down to her hip but found nothing was there. "Shit, shit, double shit! Where the hell is my phone?"
Sara grabbed Shelly's shoulders and stopped her from pacing. "Your phone was taken into evidence. If it's an emergency that you need it then we can go back to the lab and I can see what strings I can pull to get it back for you."
"Yes! Yes I need it. Debbie phones every night at ten. Damn it."
Sara asked no further questions as they drove to the lab.
1:14am
They entered the lab at a brisk pace, Shelly's mounting anxiety making Sara weary. After quickly signing in with Judy, the receptionist, and getting a visitor pass for Shelly they took off towards the evidence room.
"Hey Steve." Sara greeted the evidence room clerk who nodded in return.
"What do you need from which case?" He asked.
"Case – 0054108, O'Brien, and it's the cell phone I'm looking for." Steve nodded and went to grab the cell.
Sara pulled out her own and dialed Greg Sanders, who was added to the case by Grissom when Greg closed his case the night before.
"Sanders."
"Hey Greg, it's Sara."
"Hey Sar. How's your night off going? What are you up to?" He asked with his ever-present cheer.
"It's going well." She answered flippantly. "I need to know something and if you don't answer correctly then I need a favor."
"Uhhh, okay then. What's up?" He asked tentatively.
"Have you processed the cell phone in the O'Brien case?"
"I didn't think it was a priority. Why?"
"I need you to process it. I'm down at the evidence locker right now picking it up so I'll bring it to you in a few minutes."
"I'll meet you in layout room two." He said before hanging up.
Greg saw Sara walking down the hall and pushed the case folder to the side. "Hey, I made an extra coffee for you." Sara reached for it after placing the phone on the table. "Are you going to tell me why this is a rush all of a sudden?"
"The owner of the phone would like it back a.s.a.p. That's why." Sara answered cryptically.
Greg got down to work, fingerprinting as he spoke. "Did it belong to the suspect or the victim?"
"I am not a fuckin' victim!" Greg jumped at the sound of Shelly's outburst.
Sara spun around and pushed Shelly into the corner of the room. "Do that again and I'll have to take you out of here and we'll have to wait for your phone in the parking lot. Understood? You already mouthed off my boss so please don't cause any trouble here." Shelly nodded and apologized but her anxiety was still visible.
"You mean she mouthed off Grissom?" Greg asked in surprise.
"No, Ecklie."
He cringed then laughed as Shelly's grumbled, "Yeah, well, he creeps me out."
"I hear ya kid. The guy creeps me out too and I have to work for him." Greg countered as he went back to work on the phone.
He stopped, mid print, when he heard Shelly reply, "Well, I wouldn't mind working for him." Both Sara and Greg's necks cracked in unison as they swung their heads in Shelly's direction.
"Dude, tell me I misheard you." Greg begged. When Shelly shook her head he sighed. "You really want to work for Ecklie?" She shook her head again. "That's what I thought." He laughed softly.
"What I meant is that I wouldn't mind working here."
Greg nodded. "It is a cool place. Especially when you get to work with smart, awesome people like Sara here or like Grissom, our boss."
"I thought Ecklie was your boss?" Shelly asked as she hesitantly took the stool next to Greg. 'He may be male but if Sara trusts him enough to work with him…' She thought.
"Yeah, he's the assistant director and therefore our boss but Grissom, he's our true boss man. He's the supervisor of our merry band of idiots here on nightshift."
Shelly laughed as she got more comfortable and watched as Greg swabbed for her assailants DNA. Sara also laughed, becoming more comfortable as Shelly's anxiety seemed to dissipate.
"So, what made you want to become a weary traveler in our less then humble abode, Chicago?" Greg asked, adding his own nickname for Shelly.
Sara was about to ask Greg to drop the subject when Shelly answered, in a voice so calm that even Sara, who knew the turmoil this kid was going through, wouldn't have guessed anything was happening out of the ordinary.
"You know, I've read that the lights of Vegas could be seen from a plane at maximum elevation."
"So you're here to see the lights of Vegas?" Greg asked in a disbelieving tone, giving her a sideways glance before picking up the phone and wiping the print dust from it.
"Among other things." Sara was surprised to hear the flirting tone coming from Shelly, the girl who told her she would never trust men. Greg gave a flirtatious smile right back and handed the phone over to Sara who had pulled on gloves. She began to check it over quickly to make sure nothing was missed.
"I just need Greg to sign the chain of custody papers and then we can go back to the Evidence room and sign off that you can take it." Sara said to Shelly. Shelly smiled a goodbye to Greg, which he immediately returned, and walked out of the room. When Sara reached the door, she turned and joked over her shoulder, "She's only 18 Greggo." The last thing she saw was Greg's blush as he packed up the prints and swabs to be analyzed.
Shelly wasted no time after strapping into the passenger's seat as she quickly flipped open her cell phone and checked her missed messages. The only name that Sara saw when she took a quick peak at a red light was the name 'FostmaDeb' which appeared at least nine times in the seconds that Sara was able to peak.
Shelly pushed speed dial one and waited for the person on the other end to answer.
"Oh my god Shelly. I was - am so worried about you. What the hell happened that you couldn't pick up your god damn phone and answer me?"
Shelly pulled the speaker away from her ear and, when Sara gave her a questioning stare, she gave Sara a sheepish smile. "I take it you could hear her." Sara nodded and smiled back.
"SHELLY! What the fuck is going on?"
"Debbie, please, Lil' B doesn't need to be woken up from you swearing and screaming like a lunatic."
"Whatever. Are you all right? Will you be coming home soon? Have you found your father yet? What's going on with you?"
"Yes, no, no and lots." Shelly laughed as Debbie growled at her cryptic answers.
"I thought we got over your obsessive need for privacy kid. I want to know what happened to you, now."
Sara continued to drive as Shelly detailed the events of the past two days to Debbie. When they arrived at the video store Shelly opted to stay in the car while Sara went in.
"So tell me more about this person who's taken you in. She better be treating you good."
"Sara is treating me just fine Deb. It's actually been awesome."
"So Sara has been good?"
"I repeat … she's been awesome."
"She hasn't just been buttering you up, getting ready to catch you un-aware?"
"Now look who's paranoid." Shelly laughed. "What would she be doing to me un-aware?"
"I don't know. I guess living with you full time for the past six months has made me a bit edgy when it comes to strangers. Your paranoia has rubbed off on me."
"Nice excuse Deb. Put B on the phone for me please."
"He's asleep." Debbie protested lightly knowing that wouldn't stop Shelly.
"Your point?"
She sighed and started off for Brennan's room. "This is just too cute." She said as she looked in to the crib. "I'll phone you back in a second." Shelly hung up and smiled as Debbie took a shot of her sleeping boy. When the phone started to vibrate, she ignored it and instead, waited for it to ring.
She flipped it open and answered with, "Camera phones kick ass." just as Sara got back into the car.
"Yes they do. Now aren't you glad that I didn't listen to your protests when I bought the damn thing for you." Debbie replied as she gently woke Brennan up.
"Yes. I'm not sorry that I protested though. They were a lot of money that you didn't need to spend but I thank you. Without it I wouldn't be able to see my baby." Sara raised her brow at Shelly as she started the ignition and took off home.
"Brennan is awake so hold on."
Shelly waited until she heard his gurgling then spoke, "Hey Baby B. How's my lil' boy?" Brennan giggled at the sound of his mom's voice. "Have you been behaving for Fostma Deb?" All she got in return was giggling and many lines of nonsensical gibberish. She laughed along with her son. "Well I hate to leave you again Baby B but you need to get back to sleep. I miss and love you very much."
As she waited for Debbie, Shelly turned to Sara. "Because of the fuckin' long distance charges I don't get much but at least I get to say hi and he get to hear my voice, you know?" Sara nodded.
"So I sent the picture and I'll send more tomorrow. I have to get this one back to sleep and then get to sleep myself. You do realize what time it is correct?"
"Were you sleeping when I phoned?"
"Well … no."
They both laughed. "Then don't bitch. I knew you'd want to hear from me as soon as I got my phone back. I'll talk to you later Deb. Love you." Shelly hung up after hearing the sentiment returned. When she looked over to Sara, she couldn't help but ask, "Why are you laughing?"
Sara pulled into the parking lot of her apartment and killed the engine. She turned to look at Shelly as she opened the door. "To hear you, 'Shelly the Hard Ass', speaking in soft tones to a baby was just very sweet."
"Shut up." They both laughed.
"So, what is a 'Fostma.'" Sara asked as they grabbed the shopping bags.
"'Fost' for foster and 'ma' for mother. Hence; Fostma, short for foster mother." Shelly answered as they walked up the walkway to the apartment.
2:52am
Shelly sat down on the sofa with her popcorn resting on her legs, ready and waiting for Sara to come sit down and start the first movie of the night. "The first movie will be 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and the second one, which I got just for you since you're such a big fan of baseball, is 'Bull Durham.' I was told that it's pretty damn funny." Sara shrugged as she sat down.
"Thanks." Shelly said as Sara handed her a glass of pop.
"Now, let's get one thing straight right now," Sara started. "For the next four-and-a-half hours there will be no sharing, no burdens, no problems, no cases, just rest and relaxation. That is it." They shook hands and started the movie.
By 6:30, half way through the second movie, they were both fast asleep.
I want to thank everyone who reviewed. I appreciate the time you take to write your opinions. :) Mange Tak.