Chapter 2 – Never fear, for she is near

Sara's POV

I'm at home and in my shower, trying to wash away the grime of the crime scene Catherine and I processed earlier today. That was one rattling scene. Which really freaks me out because as far as they go, that one was clean and not very messy.

Those glassy brown eyes have seared themselves into my brain. The image of her mouth opened in pure horror makes its way into my mind in quick succession with the two gory holes in our victim's head.

Her name was Ashlyn Timmings. She was twenty-six years old. She was engaged. And now she is dead.

My mind flashes back to the scene again, doing a quick inventory of the evidence Catherine and I collected.

The slip of paper with the bold message was our first piece. It was in plain font, typed on a sort of waterproof paper. Nearly untraceable except for the series of numbers on the back. 24598. It was those numbers that gave the paper its uncanny resemblance to the fortune in a Chinese cookie. We bagged it and gave it to Ronnie to see what he can unearth about this document.

After an hour of tedious searching, we managed to uncover both bullets. We found one in the leg of a poker table, completely intact. The other was a little more on the crushed side. It was discovered in the wall of the casino embedded in a layer of thin sheet metal to support the wall. We sent the bullets to Bobby so he could do his crazy ballistics things and give us the makes of our guns.

Other than those few things, not much else was discovered at our scene. We know we are looking for two shooters and that's about it. Until the evidence is processed it looks like we are out of luck.

I give my hair one last rinse under the steady stream of warm water and attempt to wash away the last cruel shiver that courses through my veins at the thought of Ashlyn's cold dead eyes boring into my soul, begging me to find her killers.

Stepping out of the shower, I wrap a towel around my body and set another one in my hair. I raise my hand and wipe the steam from my mirror, giving me a hazy view of my perturbed expression. My eyebrows have knitted themselves together in what I suppose is my classic "anguished" look. My mouth is a tight line, unforgiving and unwavering.

I lean forward and rest my hand against the mirror and hang my head. We need more evidence. More evidence. Just go Sidle, go back and find more.

I snap back to reality when the ringing telephone startles me from my mantra.

I hold the towel I wrapped around my body close to me to keep the warmth in as I exit my bathroom and head towards the sound resounding from my bedroom. I pick up the phone with a sigh and answer.

"Hello?" I venture.

"Sara?" One word from the other person and her identity is clear. That husky voice belongs to none other than Catherine Willows. My arch nemesis three days a week.

"Hey Catherine," I simply respond. I'm completely baffled as to why she would call my house. I didn't even think she had my number.

"Sara…I…" she falters a second and it's then that I realize something must be up. "Sara, I…I can't stop thinking about the case. I can't stop seeing her face in my mind."

I blink and then close my eyes tight, seeing Ashlyn again. "Me neither. She just seems so, I don't know, different."

"I know what you mean," Catherine replies. "I just have this gut feeling that this was a random act of violence. I'm worried we won't put her killers behind bars."

"Catherine…" I begin, but I am at a loss. I wouldn't know what to say to anyone who said something like this to me. I'm no good at talking about emotions, even though I am probably one of the most emotional people I know. And to really make things more difficult, it's her that I'm trying to console. She hates me.

I suck in a breath and try again. "Catherine, you're the best damn CSI I've had the pleasure of working with. If you don't find something, than the world is going to end or something equally as drastic will happen. Like Grissom developing a sudden fear of bugs or Greg finally stopping his endless efforts at picking up every woman he lays eyes on."

Catherine chuckles at the other end. Good, she's smiling. Crisis averted. "Thanks Sara. Really. I don't even know why I called. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the moment. Lindsey's in school and the house just seemed so empty. I was just sitting here thinking about the case. Wondering if you were as affected as I was."

Wow. Her words speak volumes of her true emotions on this case. It must REALLY be bothering her if she was thinking about me.

"It's safe to say I think I am."

Silence.

"Sara?" Catherine's voice wavers as my name leaves her tongue. "Do you think that maybe we can just suck it up and not kill each other on this case?"

And there we have it. A peace offering. I've only been waiting for this since the day I stepped into the Crime Lab and Catherine shot me her first of many unwelcoming stares.

"I thought you'd never ask," I respond to her. I hear her soft sigh at the other end.

"Want to meet back at the resort? Maybe look for more evidence?"

"Are those the sweet sounds of overtime calling my name?" I ask her back.

"I do believe so, Sidle. That and the cacophony of justice."

I grin at her sarcastic tone that has crept back into her voice. Her insecure talk before was really freaking me out.

And before I can help myself, my lamest moment of my life thus far rears its ugly head and forces me to respond: "Never fear, sweet justice. Super Sidle is here."

My cheeks instantly blaze with the red-hot fire of shame. I allow myself to hear Catherine's loud guffaw before quickly hanging up the phone and letting embarrassment have its evil way with me.

Catherine's POV

I'm not sure why I called Sara. I was sitting at my tiny dinette table in the kitchen, silently cataloging the evidence and wracking my brain for answers to this already worrisome case.

Something about this scene was so eerie, like the perps were trying to tell us in some way that this was just the first in many of a series of similarly disturbing cases.

It felt like they were taunting us. Saying, "Look we can put two bullets in an innocent girl's head at the same time, anytime we want. There's no way in hell you are going to find us".

I hate that.

I hate this.

To top it all off, I'm working this case with none other than the enigma known as Sara Sidle. For whatever reason, that woman makes me more emotionally unstable than a loony in a padded cell. I can't seem to control my tongue around her, and I think I'm starting to understand why.

After our phone conversation, I think I might have realized something important. Sara Sidle was never out to get me.

I'm beginning to think that the real reason I have fought her for so long is that she has threatened everything I have worked for. She's strong, independent, and brilliant. I think I have always picked on her to take her down a notch in my head. Put us on the same level.

When I called her, freaked as hell about this case, she didn't use my weak moment against me, and I think that is what spurred the sudden peace offering. It's about damn time I handed her the olive branch.

Yeah, I definitely think I realized something important. Sara Sidle is not the devil. Sara Sidle never was the enemy. Sara Sidle can calm me down in seconds.

And damn, Super Sidle would be hotter than Wonder Woman without even trying.

And she can save me any day.

AN: Hope everyone enjoyed it!! Let me know what you think :