Chapter IX
Drowning Sorrows
The ringing of her cell phone woke Sara from a sound sleep. As rare as that was, she was a little miffed to be dragged from it...Not that her nap had lasted all that long, she'd spent a good chunk of the morning with Sofia. First breakfast, then they had went and seen Jim, he looked better already, and then they'd ended up having a beer too. She liked spending time with the blonde detective...and she sure beat the company of her police scanner and forensics journal. She grabbed at the offending phone and squinted at the ID. It was Warrick. She flipped it open, "Yeah?" After a moment of listening, she sat up in bed. "I'm on my way."
She found him in the Lucky Dragon Casino's bar. By one of his hands was a thick file and by the other was a casino chip. Between his hands was a bottle of beer. He was well on his way to drowning his sorrows. She sat on the stool beside him. She looked up at the bartender, "Can I have some water, please?" She turned her attention to Warrick. "Hey."
When he'd found himself staring at the dealer, waiting for the first card to be thrown out, he knew that if he placed a bet, a casino bet, he'd lose everything he'd worked for over the past few years. He'd stared down at his cell phone. He'd been a few button pushes away from calling Nick...but he stopped. Instead he scrolled down to a name that he'd rarely called before...though he had a feeling that he would be changing that. He called Sara Sidle...it was ironic, really. The first time he'd met the brunette CSI, he'd been at a Blackjack table. It looked like they'd come full circle.
He didn't acknowledge her when she sat down. He didn't acknowledge her when she put in her order for water, he didn't acknowledge her greeting. He stared at this beer bottle and she waited patiently. That was Sara's way. Catherine would have pushed, Grissom would have started quoting some long dead philosopher, Nick would have started drinking with him. Sara let him form his own words, muddle his way through it. After a while, he did finally speak. "I was served with divorce papers today." For a moment, Sara was completely silent. A few weeks ago, Warrick would have laughed at himself, going to the lab's anti-social hermit for advice, he wished that it was possible for him to punch the Warrick of a few weeks ago in the face. "It's her loss, Warrick...but have you tried to talk to her about what happened?" He snorted into his drink. "Look above your head, what do you see?" Sara tilted her head back. "Security camera, they're all over the place, it's a casino." He nodded morosely, "When I was here...when Jim was shot. I was up in the security booth. I saw her on one of the screens with another man." He looked up and saw Sara looking at him, concern in her brown eyes. "Are you okay, Warrick?" He shook his head, "I called her...confronted her about it...Do you know who he was, Sara?" She shook her head. Warrick downed the rest of his drink, "A VIP Host, she was planning my birthday party. I called her a cheater and she was planning a party for me." He signaled the bartender for another drink and rested his head in his hands.
His eyes were closed so he didn't see Sara wave the bartender away, canceling the drink order. "Warrick, I don't know what to tell you...but...when Grissom called me the first time, to come here and run that investigation...well, I left a lot of things behind. San Fransisco was good for me...to me...Alex was good to me too, for a while. Two days before Grissom called me, I came home early, as a surprise. I found Alex in bed with another woman...I left two days later without going home." She sighed and swirled the water around her glass, "And I regret that every day...it's followed me. Don't give up on love, Warrick...She may have filed for divorce, but it's not final yet...don't make it final until you know for sure."
Warrick looked up and their eyes met. "I think you're right." She grinned, "Of course I am...now how much have you had to drink?" He shrugged one shoulder. "That much, huh? Well, let's get you out to my car. You can crash on my couch, sober up and pout about this until you've come to an answer." He stood, slightly unsteady on his feet. "I thought it was called brooding."
Sara lead him to her car, he was drunk enough to know that he could not drive...but still sober enough to ponder Sara's words. It was rare that Sara ever spoke of her time before Vegas. Sometimes it was as if her life had begun when Grissom had called her. He was honored that she trusted him enough to tell him about something like that...even if he probably wouldn't remember it tomorrow.
Author's Note: Yeah, I think I'm tired of this touchy-feely friendship discovery stuff too. Damn me and my need to develop my characters. Warrick is still staring down the barrel of divorce and Sara shared some of her past. I have always wondered what and who Sara left behind when she came to Vegas. So there's a tidbit for everyone. Now that we've firmly established the friendship...I can get back to one of the things I'm good at, killing people...wow that sounded less creepy in my head. Anyway, we're about to see the rest of the CSIs and theres going to be more action, less dialog, and another scene of Sara/Sofia goodness...hooray!
