Been a hell of a long time since I've worked on this story. I hope the wait if worth it.
Sara stared at the Boss as he stretched.
"Are you even human?" Sara asked. It had only been a day since he had been shot and barely avoided an explosion that sent him from a second story balcony onto the roof of a van, and yet he seemed fine. A tad stiff yes, but this was crazy.
The Boss smirked at her.
"I owe it all to years of clean living and hard work." He told her.
"What are you talking about?" She asked. Even as a joke that didn't make a lot of sense.
"I have no idea. I think I'm still a little foggy from the painkillers." He admitted.
"Still, the rate of recovery in incredible." She said, examining the shoulder wound. It looked great.
"Always did heal up fast. Never knew why. But I do. Probably the only reason I'm still standing." He said.
"I guess it explains how you lived through a boat explosion that killed everyone else on board." Sara said.
"Maybe I'm like that Bruce Willis in that one movie with Sam Jackson." The boss wondered with a grin.
Sara looked at him, thinking.
"Wait, "Unbreakable?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's it. I'm unbreakable!" he yelled, jumping on a sofa and slapped his bullet wound. Then he fell off the couch whimpering in pain.
Apparently even with seemingly inhuman healing bullet wounds still hurt when struck.
Who knew?
Sara rolled her eyes and helped Boss onto the sofa.
"I swear you're like a child all of a sudden." She told him, rubbing the bridge of her nose.
Pierce walked in.
"Hey boss, glad to see your up and about." He said.
"Yeah more or less. " Boss replied.
"Did you take care of the car?" Sara asked.
"Yeah I got it, relax girl. We torched the inside and had it scrapped and buried. Ain't no one finding it. And even if they do, nothing connecting it to us." He told her.
"I've heard a lot of people saying the exact same thing." Sara reminded him.
"I'm sure. But don't worry. This ain't our first time getting rid of a car. And we also got rid of that Van the boss landed on after his swanton off the balcony, just to be safe." Pierce said, sitting down on the couch.
"'Ain't' isn't a word." She replied, which made Boss and Pierce laugh.
XXXpagebreakXXX
Greg looked up as Nick walked into the crime lab.
"So, find anything?" Greg asked.
"No. Sara wasn't home, and judging by the mail hadn't been in a day or so." Nick told him.
"You know something is defiantly going on with her lately." Greg said.
"Yeah. I don't know what. I mean, she did say she's tending to a friend who was hurt bad so that could easily be why she isn't at home." Nick pointed out.
"Maybe it's nothing but just seems like something because we're looking for there to be something." Greg suggested.
"Good point. Couple odd things don't mean a lot." Nick agreed.
"Since you two are in agreement how about you drop it." Catherine said as she walked in. "What do we have on that motel shooting outside town?"
"So much and yet so little." Greg said opening a folder he had on his desk. "So far every DB found was a member of the D Street Killers. Apparently they used the motel to cook meth. What we do have is variety. Some guys killed with 9mm's which the ballistics lab is sure came from a SMG called the….hold on let me make sure I get this right, ok here it is, a CZ Scorpion Evo 3."
Greg held out a picture of the gun in question which Catherine accepted.
"I've seen a lot of shootings but I don't think I've seen one with this type of gun." She admitted.
"Me either. We also have bullets from a 9mm glock, actually 2 glocks. And most interesting, rounds from a sniper rifle. Ballistics is still processing those but they're sure it's from a sniper. Seems it was fired from an abandoned law office across the street. A conference room facing the motel had a window removed. So far nothing from there yet but there's a lot to process so it'll take time." Greg said.
"A sniper? That's interesting." Catherine said. "That doesn't sound like just a run of the mill gang tussle. I heard there was an explosion, do we know what happened?"
"Yeah. Like Greg said the motel was being used to cook meth, from what we can piece together during the shooting a burner was knocked onto some chemicals causing the explosion. We also found some broken glass in the parking lot. We matched the glass to a window used in vans, but no sign of the van." Nick told her.
"Well, keep working and let me know if you find anything. I've got to talk to Russell about that Blood Motor's warehouse case from the other day." Catherine said, walking out.
XXXpagebreakXXX
"So, whats there to do in Vegas?" The Boss asked Sara.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"It's Vegas. I want to do something. Lets you and I do something." He said.
"Like what?" She asked him.
"I don't know. Hit a Vegas show or something. I'm sure we can find something." He said.
Sara let out a sigh. She hadn't known the Boss for long, but long enough to know that when he got like this it was better to just give in. Pierce gave her a smile and a slight nod.
"Ok, I'll figure out something for us to do."
"Great. I'll shower and change. Why don't you head home and I'll pick you up later. It's a date." He said as he went into the suites bedroom.
She opened her mouth to retort to the "it's a date" line, but decided it wasn't worth it.
Grabbing her keys, she left and went home.
XXXpagebreakXXX
Pierce walked into his own hotel room, talking to Shaundi on the phone.
"So, how's that cop girl working out?" She asked.
"Sara ain't a cop. She's a Crime scene chick. And she's impressing me. Boss-man really seems taken with her already." Pierce told her, tossing his jacket on the bed.
"What do you mean?" Shaundi questioned.
"Well, he seems to like having her around. Did that D Street motel clean up with her yesterday, had her stick around after. And I guess he's gonna do a Vegas show with her soon." He replied.
"You think he's into her?" Shaundi asked.
"I don't know. I mean she's a looker, but she's also married. So he could be, or he could be trying to get a feel for her as a member of the Saint's. Or hell, he could be keeping an eye on her to make sure she ain't gonna cross us." Pierce said, suggesting possible reasons.
"I doubt it's that last one, or he wouldn't bring her on jobs so soon." Shaundi reasoned.
"Yeah true. For my gut so far, I think she's been straight with us. I think she really does think she's doing good by joining up and helping." Pierce admitted.
"Well, I'll be down in a few days so I'll meet her then. In the meantime I better get going. Have things to do you know."
"Yeah, course girl. Talk to you later. Give my love to the others." Pierce said as he hung up.
XXXpagebreakXXX
Sara checked herself in the mirror again and frowned. She didn't know why she was so concerned with how she looked. True she didn't want to look bad, but this had to be the 5th time she had looked at her reflection since she showered and changed.
Despite the Boss's comment this wasn't a date. It was a pair of friends, gang members, going on the town. After all The Boss, and it was now she realized she didn't know his name, was still new to Las Vegas and wanted to enjoy himself, and with her being a resident of Vegas she made a good choice to show him around.
That's all it was.
She was married. Happily.
It was not a date.
She could hear a car pulling up in the driveway. Likely The Boss.
She grabbed her purse and went out to join her friend.
After checking how she looked in the mirror again.
XXXpagebreakXXX
She had to give this to the Boss, he cleaned up well. He had showered, shaved, and overall you wouldn't know what happened to him the day before. As they drove to the Vegas Strip they talked.
"Wait, you're a vegetarian?" he asked, as though not believing her.
"Yes. Grissom did this experiment with a dead pig during a case and after that I didn't want to have meat." She told him.
He stared at her.
"What?" she asked.
"I've heard of you mythical creatures but I've never actually encountered one before." He said.
She rolled her eyes and went to smack his shoulder, but managed to stop herself, remembering his wound.
"Oo, that was close." He said with a grin as they pulled into a parking garage, and then headed to the hotel that had the show Sara chooses for them.
XXXpagebreakXXX
Catherine was filling out a report about the final results of the investigations into the Blood Motor Warehouse case when her cell phone rang. Putting down her pen, she picked up the phone and glanced at the caller ID. When she saw who it was she opened her phone and put it to her ear.
"Well hey stranger." Catherine said.
"Hello Catherine. Sorry to bother you, but have you talked to Sara? I've been having a hard time getting a hold of her for a few days, and when I do it's not for very long." Grissom told her on the other end.
Catherine leaned back in her chair.
"Not since yesterday. Apparently a friend of hers was in an accident so she's sticking with him to make sure he's ok." She replied.
"Yesterday? Because she called me last night. We only talked for a minute but she didn't mention that." Gil told her.
"That's what Russell told me." Catherine replied. "Speaking as a friend, I think you should fly up for a few days. Something's been going on. She hasn't been around the lab as much as she used to. I don't know exactly what's up with her, and I don't want to say anything without anything to really go on, but I think you coming up for a little while would be the best thing."
"That bad? What do you think's going on?" Gil asked.
"Well, again I don't have anything that really points in any solid direction. But you know how the rumors can go. Before you know it you get whispers covering pretty much anything." Catherine told him.
"I see. Ok. It'll take me a day or two to cover my obligations here but I'll start making travel plans to come home." Gil said.
The two of them said their goodbyes and hung up.
XXXpagebreakXXX
"Ok, I take it back. Magic doesn't totally suck." Boss admitted as they walked out of the elevator and over to the car.
Sara had chosen a magic show she had heard good things about from the coworkers at the crime lab. Initially The Boss hadn't been on board but the skilled tricks won him over.
"I told you. So, drop me off at home?" She asked as they got into the car.
"Yeah, but first we need to swing by Eclipse to grab something." He told her.
"As long as you don't drink. Alcohol isn't what your body needs." Sara reminded him.
"Yeah because I forgot you mentioned that 3 times last night. You aren't my mother you know." He replied.
"No, but someone's got to look out for you." She retorted.
They pulled behind the Eclipse and got out, walking to the back door.
"And that someone's you?" Boss asked.
"At the moment, yes. You asked me to stick around. I don't want to lose friends." She pointed out.
"Shit I did say that didn't I." He realized.
They got to the backdoor, but he didn't open it.
"Speaking of, here's a question that bears asking. Let's jump ahead a bit. The Saints have kicked those other idiot wannabe gangs out of Vegas. Then what? You said it yourself we're the better of two evils, but we'd still be an evil. Would you really be fine knowing you helped a gang like us take over your city? That any gang activity you investigate after all that would partly be on you?"
"I don't…Well I haven't…where did this come from? I already told you I don't know what I'd do that far ahead." Sara replied, a bit thrown off.
"That was if it was between the gang and your husband. This is bigger picture. You're a lieutenant. I kinda need to have an answer on how long you see yourself here. I mean," he draws a handgun from his jacket. "What's to say you don't become a liability and I have to do something I would very much hate?"
"Well, I can't answer that because I don't know. This is new territory for me. I never thought I'd be ok with a gang before this, let alone a lieutenant in one." Sara replied.
"Yeah I guess that's true. I just wanted to ask. You know you don't seem worried that I just took out a gun and all but threatened to shoot you." Boss pointed out.
"I'm kinda not." She reached into her inside jacket pocket and produced a magazine. "You need one of these. I took it during the magic show."
"Very good indeed. Had no idea." He admitted as he holstered the gun, and then took out a revolver. A ruger Super Blackhawk. "But you didn't get these."
"Are you sure?" She asked.
He was silent, and then glanced at the gun.
"You're shitting me." However a visual check confirmed that the bullets were in the cylinder. But when he glanced up he saw she had grabbed her own Glock 22 and pointed it at him. "Ha ha ha, now that's pretty good."
He holstered the revolver and stepped closer, putting the barrel of her gun to his heart.
"So, you gonna pull?" he asked.
"You know I can't. Safety is on." She pointed out. He smiles.
"Yeah, but you could still hurt me." He joked.
Sara holstered her gun.
"So, what are you thinking? About my role in the gang after we take over." She asked.
"Not sure. I'm very much hoping at the end you'll still be with us. Like you said, new territory. Why, what are you thinking about it? Where do you see yourself?" he asked.
Sara didn't know who made the first move. If it was him or her.
And if she was honest at the moment she didn't how it happened.
As their lips met, she wasn't thinking of the crime lab, or the Saints or any of it.
In this moment, with a violent gang leader Sara Sidle has somehow felt more alive than she has in a long time.
Chapter end:
Phew this took a while to get out. The relationship between the boss and Sara increases as her attempts to lead a double life get more complicated.
Next time: Sara struggles to work effectively while splitting her time between her CSI job and her loyalties to the Saints, especially in light of the kiss.