Title: Purple Rose
Author: Maaike aka LittleTarzan
Written for: The Fragments of Sappho Challenge by ShatterStorm productions for mrswoman
Prompts: Sofia's ex, Catherine's jealousy
Pairing: Catherine/Sofia
Fragment: mingled with all kinds of colors
Wordcount: 3.632
Spoilers: Season 5 and 6. Especially Bodies in Motion.
Disclaimers: CSI is not mine and unfortunately nor are Catherine and Sofia. Dammit.
A/N: Sorry for the story being so late.
A/N 2: Thanks to my beta Emma, you rock! I promise that one day you won't have to correct so much ;)
She never really enjoyed working at the Las Vegas crime lab. Not that it was a bad job, but to her it was just a way to earn a living. To the others in the lab, it was more of a calling. That's why she never felt like she fitted in, especially when she was 'demoted' to the graveyard shift with Grissom, Sara and Greg. It was obvious she didn't belong there.
The only one who had treated her like a normal person was Catherine. The blonde had become head of the swing shift. She seemed to be the only one who understood that it hadn't been Sofia's choice to break up the graveyard team. It was Ecklie's sick idea of a joke. She was glad that at least one person didn't blame her for it.
Sofia didn't get to see her much, but she definitely tried to. It was normal for Sofia to come in early, just to catch Catherine on her way out or finishing up. After a while, they had fallen into some sort of routine. Catherine would be writing reports and Sofia would bring her coffee and help her out when needed.
She remembered that for a while, she actually enjoyed her work. Even though she knew it was only because of a certain blonde. Without her noticing, she fell for Catherine Willows, she fell hard. She knew there was absolutely no way that her feelings would be reciprocated, but she figured that everyone was entitled to dream. Sofia tried to be extra careful when she was around Catherine. She didn't want the object of her affection to find out how she really felt. She knew the blonde wasn't stupid, she was far from it, actually, so it was important to hide her feelings.
When she heard about the job opening in Boulder City, she didn't have to think twice, even though it meant leaving Catherine behind. She knew it wouldn't really matter, Catherine wouldn't really miss her. Maybe the coffee, but not her. Even though it would be easier to just leave and let everyone find out through Grissom, she decided that she could at least tell Catherine she would be leaving.
That evening, Sofia went in extra early. She had made a stop at Catherine's favourite diner to get coffee. She knew it was lame, but she didn't have any better ideas. When she entered Catherine's office she knew that telling the blonde in person was a bad idea. She felt stupid and incredibly uncomfortable. What did she expect? For Catherine to beg her to stay?
With a goofy smile she sat down and handed Catherine the coffee.
Catherine took the cup and smiled one of those incredibly amazing smiles. "Thanks."
"How was your shift?"
"So -so. I'm wrapping up my case, a slam dunk B&E. It's hard to believe some people can be so incredibly stupid," she said with a smile.
Then she glanced at the clock. "You're in early," she stated simply.
There it was, the moment Sofia had dreaded. She wondered if it was still possible to just walk out and let Grissom inform everyone. A voice in her head told her to shut up and face Catherine. Telling her in person was the least she could do.
It was easier said than done, though. Looking at the beautiful blonde in front of her, she knew she wouldn't be able to say it. Not without drinking a couple of beers.
Catherine studied Sofia intently. She wondered if the younger blonde would finally take the plunge and ask her out. It seemed to look like it, because Sofia seemed very uneasy. Catherine was about to help her out a little when Sofia spoke up.
"It's your favourite," she said. Smooth, Curtis, very smooth.
"Oh," was all Catherine managed to reply. Had she only imagined Sofia's interest in her?
"I thought you..," before she could finish the sentence Catherine paused. She had changed her mind, she was not going to ask Sofia if she wanted to ask her out.
"You thought I what?" Sofia asked, wondering what was going through the other woman's head.
"No, nothing. Never mind." This was probably the most awkward moment the two of them had ever shared.
Sofia wondered what the strawberry blonde meant. Was there more?
"Thanks again for the coffee," Catherine said. She decided it was best to get back to work and forget all about it.
"Any time," Sofia said. In her head she was cursing herself for being such a coward. It would have been so easy to just say those simple words. If Catherine said no, there would be no harm done. She could just leave and forget all about it.
"Would you," Sofia started.
Catherine's head shot up, maybe she hadn't imagined it. "Would I what?" Catherine hated these kinds of uncertain conversations. She liked it when people were direct, but she had to admit that in a way, it was incredibly cute.
"Would you like to go for a drink or something?" Sofia felt her heart almost beat out of her chest. She wondered when the hell a question like this became so hard.
Catherine did a happy dance in her head. It had taken Sofia long enough. "Sure, but don't you have to work tonight?"
"I have the night off," Sofia answered with a smile.
"You came here just to ask me out?" Now it was Catherine's turn to mentally kick herself. Sofia never mentioned it would be a date.
Sofia started blushing, which only made her look cuter than she already did.
"Yeah," she said with a shrug. What a big fat lie. She was going to tell Catherine, only not now.
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Sofia glanced at the beautiful blonde next to her. Catherine had her eyes on the road so it was a good opportunity to just take in her beauty. If she had known it was going to be so easy, Sofia would have asked her out a long time ago. Then again, "should have", "would have" and "could have" are the last words of a fool.
"Like what you see?" Catherine smirked.
"Busted," Sofia said, chuckling. She should have known Catherine would notice. It was her job to notice after all.
The evening continued with light chatter and a couple of beers. Before they knew it, both blondes were chuckling over something stupid.
Catherine liked this side of Sofia. She didn't show it very often, but Sofia was definitely a charmer. A little shy, but as the evening advanced, her shyness seemed to vanish into thin air. Good, because Catherine liked more forward women. She decided it was time for a little teasing, just to 'help' Sofia along.
Sofia felt more and more secure around Catherine. The strawberry blonde turned out to be very entertaining company, just as she had imagined it would be. She decided it was time for some action. She only had a few hours left, she should tell Catherine about her transfer.
Catherine was explaining something to Sofia with her hands. But instead of putting her hands back on the bar, her hand landed on Sofia's knee. A jolt of electricity woke up Sofia's body.
"Catherine…I," Sofia started.
But Catherine didn't let her finish. She had waited long enough.
"Shut up and kiss me, Curtis," she said with a wicked smile.
Sofia was shocked at first, but she didn't need to be told twice. Catherine's lips were indescribable. Soft, persistent, tasty, all of the above and more. Sofia momentarily lost her ability to think straight, not that she ever really thought straight to begin with.
She felt Catherine's tongue lick her lips, demanding access. If there was one thing about Catherine Willows, than it was that she never asked, she demanded. Sofia knew what this kiss meant. It meant that she had given control to Catherine, something she didn't mind at all.
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And there she was, Sofia Curtis, once again back in Las Vegas. She had been away for a while. Boulder City was ok, but when a spot opened in Sin City, Brass had called her immediately. She didn't need to think twice.
So far it had gone quite well, but now the graveyard shift was coming back to the lab to process evidence and Sofia was getting a bit nervous. What if Catherine hated her? The way she had left Catherine the morning after they had gone out wasn't very nice. But she hadn't known what else to do. She didn't want to have to explain everything, nor did she want to wake the sleeping beauty up. She had just left.
She had been interrogating a suspect who refused to talk. Add annoyance to the nervousness. She really hoped she wouldn't run in to Catherine today. She was glad she could hand over the suspect to one of the other officers.
"I don't care what he says. Put him in the tank and see if he wises up. Sure as hell can't get any dumber." She said as she almost pushed the suspect into the arms of the other officer.
"Detective Curtis," she heard someone call out her name. As she looked up she saw Gil Grissom and Jim Brass standing in the hallway. She walked over to her old colleague and her new partner.
"Grissom."
"I thought you were supposed to be arresting people in Boulder City," Grissom said. The surprise was evident in his voice.
"Well, a spot opened up here and ... I transferred in today," she didn't really know what to say. Fortunately she had her partner helping her out.
"Surprise," Brass added dryly before turning around and leaving her with Grissom.
"Well, your mother would be proud."
"My mother made captain. You know, I'd just qualified for my shield when the sheriff pulled my papers and "volunteered" me to CSI. I think my mom hated that more than I did."
"You won't miss the lab, will you?" Grissom asked. Even Sofia knew that he already knew the answer to that.
"There are some things I'll miss. I'll see you around," she shrugged. I'll miss working closely with Catherine. But that was something she wouldn't say aloud, especially not to Grissom.
She just turned around and walked away. She had never thought that Catherine would still be haunting her thoughts. Even though in Boulder City she had a short relationship with another woman, she still thought of Catherine. A lot.
Suddenly she bumped into something soft. She cursed herself for not paying better attention. As she looked up to see who she bumped into, her heart stopped. Of all people to bump into, it had to be the blonde who occupied her thoughts.
"Erm, hi, Cath..erine," she tried to make it sound smooth, but failed hopelessly.
She was sure that if looks could kill, people would be planning her funeral by now. So her suspicions were true, Catherine hated her, or at least, disliked her… a lot.
"What are you doing here?" She asked the younger blonde.
Catherine had to admit, the blue blouse and those pants looked great on Sofia. The LVPD badge seemed to compliment the ensemble. She just loved women in uniform.
"I work here," Sofia replied.
To Catherine, the reply was a typical of the woman she had shared her bed with one night. Straight to the point. Something she liked.
"I transferred here today, I'd like to talk to you," she said again.
"What is there left to say?" Catherine asked, wondering if Sofia was going to apologize for leaving like she did, or if she was just trying to see if they could do it again sometime.
"A lot, if you ask me," Sofia replied. She knew that right now there was no time for being shy, she had to be direct with Catherine if she ever wanted to have another chance.
"Ok, I can spare a few minutes now," Catherine replied, motioning Sofia to come with her.
Catherine felt more at ease in her office than in the hallway, especially when she was going to talk about personal things. She had been angry with Sofia for just leaving like she did. She wasn't the kind of person to mope, so instead she got angry. But now she saw Sofia again, she couldn't be angry with her.
"What did you want talk to me about?" Catherine asked. She sounded colder than she had intended, but she did want Sofia to know that she was pissed off.
"I wanted to apologize for not telling you I had to leave. I tried, but..,"
Catherine didn't let Sofia finish. "You tried? Oh wait, you were too busy fucking me to tell me you got your ass transferred to Boulder City?"
The hurt in Sofia's eyes was evident and Catherine regretted lashing out like she did.
"I'm sorry. I just, I was pissed off that you left me like that. You could have at least have told me to my face, or have left me a note," Catherine sighed.
"When I asked you out for a drink, I never thought you would say yes. And I sure as hell never thought you we would end up in bed together," Sofia answered. She felt bad, even more so now she could see the damage she had done.
"So you decided not to tell me at all?" Catherine stepped closer to the blonde, she was curious to see how Sofia would answer. She wondered what was going on in that pretty head of hers.
"I couldn't."
"So it was just a one night stand then? One last opportunity to make use of 'what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas'?" Catherine said, wondering why it bothered her so much all of a sudden.
Sofia was shocked by what the blonde said. It meant way more than that to her, and she hoped it was the same for Catherine. She didn't know what to say to make Catherine understand. So instead, she just used something she knew she could do.
Sofia stepped forward and planted a soft kiss on Catherine's lips. She wanted to reassure Catherine that it was more than a one night stand. When she went to pull back, Catherine wrapped her arms around Sofia and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.
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It had been so much easier than she thought. Sofia's return felt so far away, it was as if she had never left. Catherine was content to have the younger blonde by her side. The more time they spent together, the more she found out about the Detective. And the more she found out, the more she liked Sofia.
They had decided to keep their contact at work to a minimum, since they both had problems with keeping their hands off each other. Catherine knew that once shift ended, Sofia would make it up to her.
As she drove to the crime scene with Nick, she was thinking about the previous night. Sofia had ordered a Jacuzzi and it had been installed during the afternoon. The blonde Detective had promised that Catherine would be the first one to experience the extreme pleasure of a Jacuzzi. She smirked at the thought; it had indeed been an extreme pleasure.
When they arrived at the scene they were greeted by Sofia Curtis. Catherine was pleasantly surprised and raised her eyebrow at her lover. Sofia just winked at her and managed to 'accidentally' touch Catherine's ass as she guided her and Nick to the crime scene.
Catherine told Nick to check the inside while she worked the perimeter. The Texan was quite surprised, since Catherine normally did the inside, but happily complied with her request. Sofia knew exactly why the primary chose the perimeter and she had to admit, she liked the idea.
"Any chance you will be helping a woman in distress?" Catherine asked in a sultry voice.
"Of course I will, but I don't see a woman in distress," Sofia replied mockingly.
"Oh, you don't know half how much distress your presence is causing Detective," Catherine smiled before turning around and starting her investigation.
She loved the flirtatious undertone of their conversations. It was something Sofia had mastered very quickly. There weren't many people who could make Catherine Willows blush, but the Detective was one of the very select group who could.
While she was working the scene, she noticed Sofia was checking her out while interviewing witnesses. She smiled at the thought. It was a good reassurance to know that she still could keep younger women satisfied. She noticed how her lover suddenly walked away from the group to a more secluded area to pick up her phone.
The look on her face made Catherine worry. Who was it on the phone? What did they want? Why did Sofia look so distressed? She decided to move a little closer to find out what's going on.
"Look Andy, I don't care that you are in Vegas," Sofia hissed into the phone.
It was obvious she wanted to keep her conversation private, but Catherine didn't care. Who the hell was Andy?
"I've moved on, we had a good time but it's over. It's been over for a long time," Sofia said calmly.
Catherine felt stinging near her heart. Sofia was talking to an ex.
Sofia got so sick and tired of Andy calling her almost every day, and now was an especially bad moment- Catherine was around and she didn't want her lover to know about Andy. She sighed and turned to see where the blonde CSI was. She was staring at her with her mouth agape. She had found out.
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It had been 4 hours and 23 minutes since she had last seen Catherine. Shift was about to end and it didn't look good for Sofia. The blonde CSI had almost stormed towards the Denali to get her evidence back to the lab. She hadn't even acknowledged Sofia's presence. The blonde detective sighed. She had to do something.
Sofia decided on buying flowers. She went to the nearest flower shop and asked the attendant for advice.
"I would go for the purple rose. They are quite rare. I mingled all kinds of colors to see what I would end up with and I only got a purple rose twice," the attendant told her.
Sofia decided to follow the advice and bought one purple rose and a bouquet of jasmine, the flower of sensuality. Catherine stood for sensuality, in Sofia's opinion. She carefully put the bouquet of jasmine in a vase on Catherine's desk, hoping her lover would find it. She wrote a little note, telling Catherine to meet her at the car.
Now all she could do was wait.
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Catherine was incredibly pissed off. She had finished her work on the perimeter quickly and waited for Nick in the car. While she had been in Boulder City, Sofia had slept with another woman. That wasn't the worst thing, since Catherine had no claim over the blonde Detective at that time. Worst of all was that Sofia hadn't told her about it.
Poor Nick had been the one to suffer the wrath of Catherine. She had made him process the evidence while she went to talk to Doc Robbins. When the Texan had asked her something, she snapped and told him to do his work for once. She had turned around and stormed away, leaving a confused Nick behind. He wondered what he had done wrong.
As Doc was finishing up his exam, Catherine decided to go to her office to get some Tylenol. It had been a long time since she had a headache and she was sure it had to do with Sofia. Catherine didn't like to share, especially not when it came to lovers. Even though she trusted Sofia and knew she was not sleeping with that Andy now, she was jealous as hell. Sofia was hers, and hers only.
By the time she entered her office she was fuming again. Why the hell didn't Sofia tell her? As she looked up she saw the bouquet of jasmine on her desk. She smiled. As a flower lover she knew what they meant. It was either sensuality or a cry from Sofia asking if she felt the same. Knowing Sofia wasn't as into flowers as she was, it was probably sensuality. To her, Sofia was pure sensuality, in her own way she was one of the most sensual women she had ever met.
The note on her desk told her to meet Sofia at the car. She just assumed it was Sofia, no one else would send her flowers, right? She quickly checked her make-up in the small mirror she had in her office and rushed outside.
She stood still momentarily as she saw Sofia leaning on the hood of her car, holding a single purple rose. You give a purple rose to someone you have fallen in love with on first sight. That's as much as Catherine knew, plus that purple roses were quite rare.
"I know you overheard me talking on the phone to Andy. I should have told you about her, but…," Sofia didn't get to finish her sentence.
"But you didn't," Catherine said, while putting her finger on Sofia's lips. She knew Sofia was smooth, except when it came to her. Call it a quirk, but it was a damn cute one.
She placed a sweet kiss on Sofia's lips. It was incredibly sweet of the blonde Detective to apologize with flowers. She knew how much flowers meant to Catherine.
"I'm sorry," Sofia said, offering the rose to Catherine.
"You can show me sorry when we get to your place," Catherine said with a smirk before getting into Sofia's car.