A/N1: I am not very happy with how this chapter has turned out, but it's what you get.
A/N2: I don't know if there is a band out there called Ballabaloo, I made that up.
A/N3: I know nothing about Harvard or if someone as young as I have described can get in. Nor do I know anything about being a genius. This is fiction after all.
Spoilers: I forgot those in the first part. Up until season six I guess. Nothing to direct I think, just job descriptions and such.
I do not own the characters or the show.
Thanks for all the reviews I really appreciate it! Please let me know what you think of this chapter, I'll take good and bad.
Chapter two
"I told you I could get her here!" Greg exclaimed as he sat down next to Catherine leaving Sara a seat facing the stage.
"Well, that's a good boy, Greg." Catherine replied playfully and smiled.
"So I am not buying breakfast today." He paused for dramatic effect. "You are." He finished and pointed at her.
"I know, I know." She raised her hands in mock surrender.
"What are you talking about?" Sara looked at them questioningly.
"Eh.." Greg was at a loss for words.
"Well…" Catherine wasn't succeeding either. If she hadn't promised to not fight with Sara, she would have come up with an answer quickly, but now she didn't know how to explain the silly bet.
"You made a bet whether or not I would come with Greg?" Sara asked. Greg merely nodded.
"Well, yes. Yes we did." Catherine answered. "But…"
"I see." Sara interrupted her. She paused contemplating something. "Who's buying me breakfast then?" She asked with a smirk.
"Greg." Catherine answered immediately smiling.
"Hey!" Greg piped up. "You lost the bet." He said pointing at Catherine.
"Well, I'm already buying you breakfast, so it's only fair that you buy Sara breakfast." It seemed logically enough to her.
"Cath… erine is right." Sara said to Greg, only barely managing to change Cath to Catherine. "And you did get me here on false pretences." She added for good measure.
"You are so not getting out of this one, Greg." Nick snickered.
"Nah man, just give it up already." Warrick joined in.
"Well with that settled." Brass said. "We better order something to eat."
They ordered breakfast and just sat there chatting lightly enjoying the music. Sara was lost in the music and her thoughts, and most of the conversation around the table was lost to her. She remembered a time long lost, a time when she had been almost happy. A time when she had someone who knew every little detail about her life. A time when someone stayed beside her instead of running far away. She remembered the last time she had seen Veronica – or Foxy as she liked to call her. It was in the summer. The summer she had finished at Harvard.
That's where they met, Sara was four years older than Veronica, but that didn't seem to matter to either of them. Sara had been asked to help her find her way around campus, and the professor had made her understand how important it was for her to make the girl feel at home. She was valuable to the institute, was the words he had used. She was a kid genius; one of the sharpest minds in the country. Sara knew how the new girl must be feeling; the insecurities, the overwhelming feeling of dread, fearing that she would have no friends, fearing that no one would like her, being away from everything she knew. That was how she had been feeling anyway. But when she met the girl all these thoughts went flying out the window. Foxy was one of the most outgoing persons she had ever met and Sara had been trapped in her personality from the first time they had a longer conversation.
Foxy might have been only fifteen years old, but they could talk about anything – even the most dorky things that Sara had never had anybody else to talk with about. Most people called her dorky when she started talking about her interests, but Foxy was interested. She wanted to learn about it, she wanted Sara to teach her about forensics and physics. She was the light in Sara's life, she made her go out among other people, she made her do things that made her blush to this day. Whenever she dared Sara to do something, Sara had done it – even the one time she had dared her to make a move on that blonde. It had been worth it, really worth it. Foxy had to sleep at the library that night. A smile formed on her lips again. Foxy was so vibrant and full of life, so unlike Sara, and she had chosen Sara as her friend. They were friends not lovers, they had talked about it, but it had never been more than friendship. Foxy was so full of life, right up until that night.
"Sara?" Catherine couldn't keep the slight annoyance out of her voice.
"Huh?" Sara blinked to focus back to the present. "What?" She asked before realizing that it might have come out sounding harder than she had meant it. "Sorry, I was just lost in my head there for a moment." She smiled apologetically to the blonde.
"A moment?" Catherine chuckled. "I've only called your name for the last couple of minutes."
"Oh." Sara blushed a bit. "You didn't sit there before."
"Eh... No." Catherine looked at her looking slightly amused. "I switched with Nick five minutes ago. I got tired of Greg gloating." She laughed a little. "You didn't notice?"
"No." Sara blushed a little more.
"You were really long gone there?" Catherine more stated than asked. "But what I wanted to say was that I was sorry about the bet. We shouldn't have…"
"No Catherine, it's ok. It's fine really. It was a fifty-fifty chance really." She smiled at the older woman.
"Oh." Catherine was stunned that she didn't have to deflect a fight. "Well, thanks." When a smile started to grace the features of the younger woman, she couldn't help but ask: "What?"
"Nothing really."
"No, what is so funny?" Catherine asked - a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Just this." Sara said pointing a hand between the two of them. "Us." Her smile grew bigger. "Us having a civil conversation."
"Well." Catherine paused. "I kinda made a bet with Warrick as well." She admitted sheepishly.
"Oh." Sara smirked. "What do you get this time?"
Catherine just giggled. Since when do I giggle? "Next solo case." She shot out.
"Lucky girl." Sara laughed a little, not really knowing what was so funny. It felt good though. They lapsed back to silence letting the music wash over them. Veronica had just started on Independent love song.
"She's good." Catherine stated.
"Yeah." Sara answered letting the music sweep over her once again before continuing. "I know her." She said before she knew what she had said. She didn't know why she had volunteered the information, and to Catherine of all people.
"Yeah?" Catherine said telling her to go on.
"She…" She paused trying to find words to describe the girl to Catherine. "She was…" She paused again not happy with the way her mind was forming sentences. "She was the first person who ever liked me for me. The first person I ever trusted 100 percent."
"She must be special then." Catherine commented surprised that Sara had opened up to her.
"She is the second most special person I know." Again the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.
"Only second huh? Who is number one then?" Catherine couldn't resist asking, she was lead CSI for a reason after all.
"Huh?" Sara was blushing again. "Eh, my mom, my foster mom." She just put out the first person coming to mind. There was no way that she would ever admit that she was speaking to the most special person in her world right at that moment. Sara might have admitted to herself that she had a crush on her co-worker, but that was a secret she would take to the grave. Luckily she was saved from continuing the conversation when their breakfast was served.
"The original band is finally here. I hope you enjoyed listening as much as I enjoyed playing. Have a nice day and weekend everybody." Veronica got up from behind the piano. "Please welcome Ballabaloo."
Veronica left the stage and started walking towards the bar where the entrance to the kitchen was, Sara followed her path with her eyes. She didn't get close to where the group was sitting, but for a moment she turned her head in their direction. She slowed down to almost a stop when their eyes met, and Sara saw recognition in her eyes. She picked up her pace again though and looked back towards the bar, and didn't show any other signs that she had recognised Sara.
"Why isn't she coming over?" Catherine asked her.
"We didn't part on the best of terms." Sara said absentmindedly. She saw Foxy walking up to a man at the bar, giving him a hug. She said something to him and he left her alone for a minute, only to appear next to her again with a steaming cup of coffee.
"What the…" Catherine started.
"What?" Sara asked shocked back to the table at Catherine's outburst.
"That's the guy my sister is dating." Catherine explained pointing to the guy Foxy was talking to. "He better not have that little thing on the side, or he will have to deal with me!" Just as she finished the sentence, the two disappeared into the kitchen area. "Well, that's it! I'm gonna kill him."
"Whoa, easy there Cath." Sara grabbed her by the arm just as she was about to get up. "Remember; follow the evidence."
"I am!" Catherine hissed.
"No, you're not. Would you just listen to me for a minute?" She said tugging at her arm to get her to sit back down. When she succeeded in doing so she continued. "I would be very surprised if they are having an affair."
"And why is that?" Catherine knew that her voice was far from friendly, but she couldn't seem to be bothered with that right now.
"Because." Sara dragged it out. "As far as I know he is not her type."
"Not her type, that's what you call evidence?"
"Well, yeah." Sara said looking her in the eyes.
"Well. How?" Catherine asked. "What is her type like then?"
"Oh, I don't know. Blond for starters." Sara said keeping eye contact.
"He IS blonde, Sara." Catherine said exasperated.
"Yeah, I mean more like you blonde." Sara smirked; somehow she couldn't resist teasing the older woman a little. And somehow she couldn't seem to be able to break eye contact either. She saw how realization dawned in her features and chuckled. "Get it now?"
"She's gay?"
"Bingo."
"Bingo? How do you know that's she's gay?"
"I only lived with her for a year." Sara said, then realizing how it could be interpreted. "Shared a room with her – shared a room. Not living together as in living together. We were just friends. Good friends, but just friends."
Catherine started laughing, and soon it was too contagious and Sara had to join in.
"What's so funny?" Nick asked.
"Sara!" Catherine snorted.
"What?" Sofia was curios as well.
"Hard to explain." Sara said between laughs. "Ahh!" She screamed as a pair of arms encircled her and a head appeared on her right.
"Calm down, Sass!" A light voice whispered in her ear. "I won't bite."
"Foxy!" Sara squealed and got on her feet embracing the shorter woman in a bear hug.
"Well, that's more like it! That's the kinda greeting I like!" Veronica held her out at arms length and gave her a once over, before hugging her tightly again. "It's been too damn long, Sass."
"I know." Sara let go of her and looked her in the eyes. "I missed you." She said looking down.
"God girl, you still do that?" Foxy reached out and placed her hand under Sara's chin and lifted it up so she was looking her in the eyes again. "That's better. I missed you too."
They stood there a while before someone cleared their throat bringing them back to reality. Sara looked up at the man standing next to her friend.
"Sorry, Sass this is Benjamin." She pointed at the man. "Ben this is Sara Sidle; a friend from Harvard. Ben is my younger brother."
"Nice to meet you Sara." Benjamin shook her hand.
"You too." Sara smiled.
"And I'm not that much younger. Just about ten minutes; we're twins." He looked at the people at the table. "Catherine hi. I didn't see you there." He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. "How's Lindsay?"
"Hello Ben." Catherine blushed a little because of the things she had nearly accused him of. "She's good. She's at Nancy's right now as a matter of fact."
"Introductions please!" Greg directed at Sara.
"Oh right. Sorry. Guys this is Veronica Lavisham…"
"Christiansen." Veronica corrected her. "My last name is Christiansen now, changed it when I turned 18."
"Ok, Veronica Christiansen. Foxy this is…." Sara introduced her to her friends around the table and they offered that they could join them. Continuing with their breakfast Sara and Veronica got up to date on each others lives. Sara told her all about her job, and she found out what her friend had done with her life. It turned out that she was now a doctor at a Vegas hospital, married and had a daughter.
"Really?" Sara asked a bit surprised. "You have a daughter? How?"
"How? Sara, come on! You know how that works!" Veronica laughed.
"Well, I just thought – you know." Sara laughed as well.
"Ok. You're right. It was kinda expensive, but she is worth every little bit of it!"
"I bet it was, especially if she is anything like her mother." Sara let the compliment out easily.
"Thanks Gorgeous." Veronica smiled shyly. "She's the reason I'm here by the way."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Kim kinda left me, and she had her yesterday. We agreed to meet here – neutral grounds and all. So I'm here to pick her up." She looked at her watch and then at the door. "And they are now officially late." She smiled.
Just as she had said that Sara looked at the door and saw a blonde come in carrying a little girl about three years old. 'This can't be right.' She thought. She knew the woman carrying the little girl; it was Sofia's detective partner Kimberly Shaw.
"There they are." Veronica got up and went to them taking the girl from Kimberly. They talked a little and Veronica gestured to the others at the table. Sara waved to Kim, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"What's Kim doing here?" Sofia asked.