Chapter XII

Welcome To Vegas

The Las Vegas Crime Lab was one of the best in the country. Of course, any lab that had Sara on the payroll was better off than most, though she was probably being biased. It was too early for the Graveyard shift to be in, but if she knew Sara, and she did, that probably wouldn't make a difference.

She made her way into the lobby and was headed to reception. The labs down the hall looked like the ones in San Francisco. There were microscopes and computers and other CSI…things. She didn't pretend to understand what the Crims did, she was just glad they did it. She eyed the receptionist and waited while assorted Lab Techs and what she supposed were CSIs and Detectives were taken care of. When she got to the desk, she put on a half-smile. "I'm here to see Sara Sidle, is she in?" The receptionist was halfway through her 'No' when a blonde whirled around on her.

"Sara's not here and she's not taking visitors at the moment. She's had enough surprises for a while."

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Fury raced through Sofia like fire in her blood. Was this heartbreak for Sara? Another fucked up part of her past coming back to give her more grief? Not today, not when she was here to stop it.

The woman didn't look anything like Laura Sidle, though that meant nothing. She was about Catherine's height and she had flame red hair that was modestly streaked with gray.

The woman scowled, "You've obviously met Laura." Sofia nodded, "Unfortunately." Of all the things she would have expected, the woman's reaction was not one of them. "Is Sara okay?"

Sofia crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the desk, making sure her service weapon was in full view. "She's fine, not that it's any of your business." The woman's face turned red. "You don't know what the hell you are talking about." Sofia shrugged, "You can attempt to go over my head, though Grissom is in Kansas. If you start walking now…" The thus-far-unidentified woman tilted her head to the side. "You're not Catherine…you must be Sofia, Detective Curtis."

Sofia blinked, but was saved from what could have been a highly humiliating 'huh' by another voice from the hallway.

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"Captain Burgundy?" Both she and the redhead turned. Wendy Simms, DNA Tech, stood there, grinning. "It is you. What my replacement is so bad you came all the way to Vegas to get me back?"

For her part, Sofia looked from Wendy, to Captain Burgundy and back again. Wendy caught on and grinned, "Oh, sorry, Sofia. This is Captain Janet Burgundy, she runs the Frisco Special Victims Unit. Cap, this is Detective Sofia Curtis, she does Homicide here in Vegas."

Janet grinned, "Hello Wendy, it's good to see you again. Not to bruise your ego, but I'm here for Sara." A frown, and a deep look of concentration crossed the brunette's face and then she made the connection. "Whoa. Your Sara is Sara Sidle? Freaky."

Wendy was all smiles, and Detective Curtis was still looking somewhere between shocked and suspicious. She looked over both women with a cool and intelligent gaze. Wendy was a good friend, and a genius with DNA. The Detective, though, was a new element. She'd heard more then a few things about the blonde from Sara. Sara. That's why she was here. These two were just…distractions. "Yes, that would be Sara." She motioned with her hand, "About this tall, brown hair, any of this ringing a bell? I would love to know where she is. She's not answering her cell phone."

Sofia blinked again, the woman was wearing what she had long considered to be 'The Sara Sidle Smirk' Now that she had calmed down, mostly, she looked at her. Well, suffice to say, if she hadn't just met Laura Sidle, she would have wondered if this could have been Sara's mother. They moved in the same way, with mindless grace. Their facial expressions, from smirk to eyebrow quirk, were very much the same, and then there was the stance. The 'I don't take crap from anyone' posture with arms over chest and a glare that could melt steel. She wasn't exactly sure how the woman knew Sara, but they definitely knew each other.

Author's Note: A few people, I can't remember precisly who, nor am I inclined to look, mentioned that a story with Detective Janet Burgundy would be interesting. So here it is. She's a foil charecter to Laura, the Angel on Sara's shoulder, if you will.