Disclaimer: CSI belongs to CBS and Jerry Bruckheimer.
A/N: Thank you all very much for reviewing!
Part 10
The two women finally boarded the plane. The wait had been long and Sara felt that her body had hardly any energy left. Their flight to San Francisco International Airport would arrive at 7.30 pm, giving both of them time to recharge some of that lost energy.
Looking out of the window, Sara felt Catherine's hand on her thigh –the strawberry blonde's thumb making circular motions, offering the brunette's body some relaxation while her mind was still filled with thoughts of what was to come.
The next morning, they were going to meet with DA Muller. On the phone, he had said he wanted to talk things through with Sara before she would be heard by the parole board. So, when they would arrive at San Francisco they would head out to a hotel, get some sleep and Friday morning they had an appointment at the DA's office.
A sigh escaped the brunette's lips as she remembered that, fortunately, she wouldn't see her mother during this parole hearing.
Catherine, who –at a glance- noticed the younger woman's mindset, leaned closer to Sara, placing her head on the strong shoulders of Sara and reached for her lover's tightly clasped fingers.
Wanting to pull the brunette's thoughts away from the dark thoughts that were invading her mind, Catherine decided it was time for another subject.
"How'd you think Linds is holding up?" the strawberry blonde asked as she entwined their fingers.
Sara turned and faced the older woman. A little snicker left her throat before she spoke up, "I think the right question in this case would be: How's Ann holding up?"
"Hmmm," Catherine smirked as she felt the brunette's head settle on top of hers. "I think you might be right on that one."
"Yeah," Sara started and after placing a kiss on the strawberry blonde locks she continued, "It's very brave of Ann to take your little blonde tornado while we're away."
----
Meanwhile, back in Las Vegas, Nevada.
"Alright, Lindsey," Ann said as she came walking into her living room, carrying two mugs –one filled with hot cocoa, the other with steaming coffee. "What would you like to do?"
"Well…" the little blonde started and took the offered mug. "Thanks…actually I was thinking maybe you could show me how to take pictures? Remember you promised me that day? When Sara was still in the hospital?"
Ann nodded, already regretting for having made that promise to the –at that time crying- girl. She had promised to show the girl how to take photos like a real photographer. A twisting, stinging feeling settled in her stomach as certain memories from years ago flooded back into her mind.
"I thought…maybe we could take some pictures of…I don't know…Sara's bike or something? You know? Those arts-y black and white pictures?"
Again the dark-haired woman merely nodded.
"Then, when Sara comes back, I'll have a present for her. A thank you gift for all she's done for me…with the fire and all…" Lindsey said, her rambling finally coming to an end.
Ann looked at the girl and was met by a puppy-look –big eyes, lower lip protruding a bit.
"Please?" the girl added for good measure.
Ann found herself agreeing before she could even really think things through.
Now I understand what Sara means with being unable to resist the Willows' charm, the nurse thought, a small sigh escaping her lips as Lindsey almost bounced her off the couch as she hugged the dark-haired woman.
----
"Ladies and gentlemen," the captain's voice sounded through the intercom. "As you can notice we have hit some turbulence."
"Some?!" Catherine huffed, both hands clamping on to Sara's right arm as the plane violently vibrated through the air.
"We are almost cleared from this air stream, which will lessen the turbulence. Our ETA is 7.30. So, we're still on schedule." And with that said, the voice over the intercom stopped.
"Yeah," Sara said, referring to the strawberry blonde's question/statement from before. "This really is some turbulence. I've had worse."
"Really? When?" Catherine asked, her head leaving Sara's shoulder –eyes locking on the hazel ones of her lover.
"After the trial, all those years ago, when I promised myself I'd never go back…"
"I'm sorry," Catherine said, immediately regretting ever asking.
"It's ok," the younger woman said, "This'll be the last time…the final chapter." Or so she hoped.
She couldn't stop a tear from falling, which Catherine noticed, reaching over, cupping Sara's chin.
Pulling her closer, the older woman closed the gap between their lips, engaging them in a passionate and loving kiss –offering Sara all the comfort the strawberry blonde could give.
----
Ann opened the small walk-in closet in the spare bedroom and walked to the back, Lindsey curiously following close behind.
"Where did I put it," the dark-haired woman muttered to herself as she perused through the boxes standing on the ground.
As she saw the letters 'DR' on the side of one of the boxes she knelt down. "Ah…there it is."
After setting a few boxes to the side, she was able to grab hold of the large box, covered with dust –showing that it hadn't been touched in a long time.
"Why do you keep this hidden in your closet?" the curious little blonde asked.
"That is a long story," Ann sighed.
Lindsey noted a change in Ann's demeanor and realized she probably didn't want to talk about it, so the girl decided to let it rest…for now.
----
The two women arrived at San Francisco International Airport at 7.50 pm, the turbulence causing a delay of twenty minutes. A bit tired of the long sit, though mentally more rested, Sara and Catherine headed for the conveyer belts at the baggage claim area to collect their suitcases.
"I'm glad the flight is over," Catherine said as she reached for Sara's suitcase, "That turbulence was getting to me."
"Yeah, I noticed. Pfff, that death-grip you had on my arm," Sara pouted as she rubbed over her right arm. "I think it might be broken," the brunette kidded.
"Really?" Catherine said, arching an eyebrow. Fortunately, or so the strawberry blonde thought, they were in Frisco so the retaliation she had in mind could be executed.
Quickly putting the suitcase onto the trolley Sara had just grabbed, Catherine positioned herself right in front of the brunette. "Let's examine that broken arm of yours."
"Cath, what ar…" but before Sara could finish her question, Catherine kissed her full on the lips. Immediately Sara's hands found their way across the smaller woman's body –one settling in her strawberry blonde locks, the other –the right one- settling on her ass.
As soon as Catherine felt the brunette's right hand give her a little squeeze she broke off the kiss, grinned and stepped away. "See? Nothing wrong with your arm, certainly not broken."
"You and your evil tricks," Sara said, trying to look offended. Spotting Catherine's suitcase she quickly stepped up to the conveyer belt and grabbed it –placing it on the trolley as well.
"Don't pretend you didn't like that," Catherine quipped, "Your eyes are betraying you."
Sara decided to ignore the smirking strawberry blonde's last remark and started to push the trolley towards the exit. "Come on, let's go," Sara said as she turned round, offering Catherine her hand.
----
Together the two walked back to the living room, Ann carrying the large box, Lindsey a small bag containing extra lenses, filters, and other smaller photography utilities.
"Alright," Ann said, the sadness that had invaded it just minutes before now completely vanished –or at least covered up by her normal, vibrant sound. "Let's get started."
Opening the box, she started to reach for all her books on photography. After placing those on the table she grabbed the two photo albums that were also in there as well. Ann sat down and took one of the albums in front of her. She opened it and a small smile came onto her face as she saw the picture on the first page.
It was a picture of her mother and father, taken a long time ago –when she had been about Lindsey's age. Her parents had given her a camera for her birthday and since that day she had always wanted to become a famous photographer. The next few pages were all filled with her first series of snapshots of her family.
The little blonde Willows had been skimming through a book about black-and-white photography, and now reached for the other album, curious about the nurse's pictures.
The first few pictures had nature as their theme –mountains, lakes, forests. It seemed to Lindsey that each part of the country had been captured by Ann's lens –showing almost fairytale like landscapes surroundings.
In the next picture, a woman was lying in a hammock, the photo taken from a low point of view –sunlight creating a strange looking halo around the woman's body.
Lindsey flipped through the next couple of pages –noticing the same dark-haired woman was on all of them. The woman made the girl think of Pocahontas, with the long, jet-black hair, her skin having the color of coffee latté.
Seeing there were a dozen or more pictures all with the same woman posing on them Lindsey figured the woman had been one of Ann's models.
Ann had put the album on the table and was now checking out her old, first camera and was glad to see it still worked. This is a great camera for Lindsey to learn how to make pictures, Ann thought as she reached for a roll of film.
Lindsey was almost done with the photo album, but as she leaved through the last few pages which were filled with pictures of landscapes again, something fell out –a Polaroid.
Grabbing the Polaroid picture from the ground she saw the same dark-haired woman again –Ann standing behind her, arms around the woman's waist while kissing the woman's cheek.
"Ann?" Lindsey asked as she walked around the table, stopping next to the nurse and showing her the picture, "Who's this?"