CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Chapter Seven

Sara Sidle

"Desert Run"

Nick's strong muscled body emerged from the water in slow motion, the water sprinkling off his tanned skin and running down his chest and thighs. It was like watching one of those ads for men's perfume, thought Sara. A few of the girls in the stands were sitting perfectly still, their eyes glued to him.

"Poor suckers" Sara smirked. She turned her head and looked at the starting line for her run. The Vegas Desert loomed after it, heat waves sizzling up from the hot red sand. A shrub or bush could be seen every now and then on the rough terrain and markers had been placed to show the way for the runners. Sara gritted her teeth as she saw a flash of yellow in the distance. The San Francisco team were gaining.

"Yo!" yelled Nick, quickly making his way over to her.

"What took you so long?" demanded Sara as he strapped the baton onto one of her armguards.

"Those bastards" murmured Nick, nodding his head toward the yellow flash far into the Desert.

"They tripped you?!" asked Sara in disbelief, just as a black four wheel drive crashed its way from a side path near the edge of the lake.

Nick nodded and the car slowed down so he could hop in, dripping wet.

"Alright Sara get goin'!" ordered Grissom.

A few other swimmers were stumbling their way up from the lake surface. Sara didn't need any more encouraging; she turned and started to jog, her feet hitting the sand in no more than a few seconds.

"And so thy great knight shall begin ye journey" said Greg, holding his hand out to salute Sara as the car followed closely by her side.

Warrick gave him a funny look, "You really do have brains in ya ass, don't ya Greg."

Nick gave a laugh and reached for a towel in the boot, "No they're somewhere else!"

"Shut up!"

"Leave him alone" advised Catherine from the passenger's seat. She reached over to the cup holders and took out an ice cold banana smoothie, "Here Nicky, we got these just before your heat started. It's still cold."

"Oh, cool" said Nick taking his "Thanks."

Grissom was watching Sara running silently with determination, at a pace which made everyone else look silly. She was wearing a tight pink tank top, and matching shorts. Her body was perfect, and Grissom had to avert his eyes and focus on driving or else the car would end up toppling over. The team was busy switching through tracks on the radio.

"No that's sooooo old!" said Greg.

Catherine flipped the channel.

"Yeah yeah, leave it!" exclaimed Warrick.

Nick looked up from his smoothie cup and enjoyed the hot desert breeze billowing through his hair. It sure was a nice change. His eyes landed on the sweaty figure which was Sara.

"Oh my god Greg look! She has abs!" Nick exclaimed pointing to Sara's direction.

"Where lemmie see!" Greg pushed Nick out of the way and the two boys fought for a better view through the window.

"Stop perving on me, or I swear to god I'm gonna-"

"TAKE A CHANCE YOU STUPID HOE" sang Gwen Stefani from the radio. Everybody in the car (except Grissom) laughed.

"Sorry Sar" said Warrick catching her glare; he patted the radio, "Gotta love your music."

She muttered darkly under her breath and continued to place foot after foot, willing her body to focus. Her breathing was uneven, something which wasn't good. She knew she had to slow down her racing heart and spread out her energy or else the Las Vegas team wouldn't hold 2nd place for long. This was the hardest part, and some smart jackass had made the runners run not only through the Desert, but over the sand, which was a hundred times harder to travel over than a road. The sun was beating down hard on her back, and she was lucky if it didn't turn her into a shriveled prune by the end of this.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Nick said lazily, drinking his banana smoothie and enjoying the comforts of the four wheel drive, "Has anyone ever seen that movie Resident Evil: Extinction. You know with that hot girl runnin' everywhere in Nevada, being chased by zombies."

Greg jumped in his seat enthusiastically, "I've seen that movie, it rocks!"

Nick poked his head out of the window, "Hey Sar!"

Sara, who was still running at a rather fast pace, threw him a dirty look.

"Just pretend you're being chased by a zombie, that'll hurry ya up!" Nick smiled.

Sara glared at him and pulled up her middle finger, teaching Nick the most basic form of sign language. Catherine laughed from the front seat.

"Your doin' great Sara!" Warrick encouraged, "Only 9 more miles to go and you're done."

She let out a frustrated shriek and turned back to the road in front of her, trying not to pay any attention to the car hauling itself alongside her. They were all up for it big time once she was through with this! Just they wait! They wouldn't know what had hit them! This new thought only fueled her anger, making her run faster.

Sara crossed another 7 miles with great difficulty, stopping on more than one occasion. For one thing she wasn't born to run, and it was never one of her best skills (Today however she seemed to be proving herself wrong). For another the 5 people, or 4 literally because silently Grissom was watching her every move, were driving her insane with their constant chatter and jibes. She had half a mind to jump into the car and be driven the rest of the way. This part of the course was where a lot of the teams crashed out and Sara could completely understand why. And she was sweating that much, it wasn't funny.

"Come on Sar only another incy mile left" encouraged Catherine, "Your doin' great!"

Sara gave her an appreciated smile.

Grissom suddenly sat up straighter in his seat as if he'd been stung, eyes squinting behind his sunglasses.

"What's wrong?" asked Catherine.

"We still have a chance" he said into the silence. He pointed into the distance.

The flash of bright yellow, glinting in the sun was like a beacon to their hungry eyes.

"We're gaining on those sons a bi-!"

"Alright! We get the point!" snapped Catherine at Nick, "Common Sara push harder!"

"Yeah common push!" shouted Greg wedged between Nick and Warrick, "You're nearly there!"

"Make it sound like I'm in labor, why don't you?!" she shrieked, pulling her stiff body faster.

"Sorry"

The team continued to shout encouragements to Sara and this seemed to boost her deadened spirit. And gradually the car sped up, along with Sara's renewed pace, even though her legs felt like chunks of lead. Closer and closer they drew to the San Francisco team, they could even see the black SUV quite clearly beside Cynthia's bobbing form. Sara willed her legs to move faster. In all her time in San Francisco, when she was just starting out as a Crime Scene Investigator, she didn't fit in with her team. A brunette amongst a sea of blonde hair blue eyes, wasn't a great mixture In that building. This was Sara's chance to prove them all that she wasn't weak, and that she was now the happiest being in Vegas.

"Your doin' great Sar!"

"Don't mess this up!" demanded Greg, "I didn't almost kill everyone for nothin' you know." He touched his leg, which was still sore and winced.

Sara gave a low laugh as they begun to level up with their opponents and the four wheel drive roared onto the other side of the two running women. Cynthia turned her head in surprise, mouth agape slightly.

"Sidle!"

"What?!"

Cynthia threw her a dirty look, "Go ta hell! This ones San Francisco's."

Sara laughed sarcastically as they drew closer, and completely level. The two opposing cars floored it, the passengers and drivers throwing each other evil looks.

"There's the finish line!" someone from their car shouted.

Everyone looked ahead. There was a fairly large crowd gathered on either side of a final, black and gold running strip and a long tape at the end which said 'FINSH' all over it. Sara's heart leapt in her throat. This was it.

"Common Sara!"

"Kick her ass Cyn!"

"Kick his ass Sar!"

"Screw you, cowboy!"

The two women tore on, hair whipping out behind them. The cheering and whistling of the crowd was enormous as they reached them. The two cars stopped dead before they plowed into the onlookers and everyone got out, tensely watching the two women. Cynthia and Sara bolted down the final strip, pushing and shoving each other into the fence, at one point Sara swiped at her and thought she heard a rip. But she hadn't come all this way, through the Desert to lose now. With an air of confidence Sara put on a boost of speed and the finish line was there, right there when…..Cynthia pulled her foot out. And Sara skidded to the floor with a smack, scraping her knees and elbows painfully.

Cynthia gave a smile and the crowd 'booed!' while she ran over the finish line, bringing the tape down with her. It seemed San Francisco had won yet again. Yet down on the floor Sara looked back, at the disappointed faces of her team, at the wild jumping and cheering the yellow team were displaying and at the stillness of the crowd. And she spotted something yellow on the ground, a few meters back.

With a determined smile, Sara Sidle dragged herself on, and over the finish line groaning, "We won."

A:N/ Sorry for the late chap, I've had to go back to school and its been a nightmare, I really hate that place…

Anyway thanks for reviews guys they're great. Last chapter will be up shortly since I've already written most of it anyway ;)

Sorry if there are a few errors, I wrote this late into the night and I really need a betta reader.

Sar'z