FIC: Metronome 11/?
TITLE: Metronome
AUTHOR: KL
FANDOM: CSI (Vegas)
PAIRING: Catherine/Sara
SUMMARY: One pushes and the other pulls. What will it take to get them on the same page?
RATING: PG13
DEDICATION: This was and still is for wonkots42 who is my everything
A/N: I wrote this story almost five years ago, but it's not archived anywhere and I've never posted it here so...let's pretend it's new, okay?
[ Part 1 - Prologue] [ Part 2] [ Part 3] [ Part 4] [ Part 5] [ Part 6] [ Part 7] [ Part 8] [ Part 9] [ Part 10]
Part Eleven
Alex almost groaned in relief as she finally dropped her pen on the table. It had been a long day - interviewing Daniel Avery, interspersed with phone calls and meetings with various powers that be, all wanting to be updated and given status reports. She was beginning to remember the other reason why she left the federal system.
“You’re still here.”
Alex turned to see Catherine at the doorway. There wasn’t any spare space so the conference room was sequestered into a makeshift office for the duration of her visit. That meant she had very little privacy but on the plus side, her work area did have more than ample space. The ever-growing pile of files and folders with which she was laden occupied but a fraction of the huge table monopolizing the room.
“Thankfully, not for much longer. I’m just clearing up.”
“Rough day?” Catherine pulled up chair across the table.
“No more than expected,” Alex said, letting out a huge sigh. “Should have known that some things never change,” she added acerbically, “but the next bureaucratic asshole who asks for a status update is going to get his butt kicked all the way down the Strip. Don’t these people talk to each another?”
Catherine smiled ruefully while looking somewhat embarrassed.
“In that case, I’m next in line but I’ll take a butt-kicking over the prospect of talking to Ecklie any more than I have to. So give it your best shot.”
Alex let out a bark of laughter.
“Why do I get the feeling that my life will be in mortal danger if I come anywhere near that part of your anatomy?”
Catherine’s eyes crinkled in amusement.
“I didn’t think you scared so easily.”
Alex lifted a finger in protest.
“I don’t. You’re just fortunate that you have Sara on your side.”
The remnant of a smile was instantly replaced by a momentary twitch of annoyance before it fell behind the mask of cool indifference.
“Lucky me.”
Catherine’s dry response to her rhetoric wasn’t what she expected but instinct warned her to curb her curiosity, at least for now. Alex did observe, however, that although Catherine had regained her neutral expression, she refused to look Alex in the eye. She theorized that her actions earlier in the day had caused *something* - what, she wasn’t sure since Sara has been persona in absentia for the last eight hours or so - to happen between Catherine and Sara. As she handed over the thin folder to its intended owner, Alex decided to test out her theory.
“Lucky you indeed. Our Sara is quite a girl…”
She might as well as poked a cattle prod at her companion because Catherine’s eyes jerked up immediately to meet her questioning gaze. If looks could kill, Alex would have been incinerated, pulverized and reduced to atoms in the microsecond it took for that familiar mask to materialize yet again.
Catherine’s immediate reflex had been to lash out at Alex for that comment and the situation she induced earlier that day. She was glad she didn’t. The whole situation disturbed her more than she cared to admit and until she regained her balance, she didn’t need anyone else to be wondering why.
“If you say so,” Catherine answered in a flippant tone of voice as she focussed on the first page of the Alex’s report. Her next sentence was more deliberate, as she laced it with a good measure of sarcasm. “I’d be far more impressed if she’d actually turned up on time tonight.”
*Oh yes, something definitely happened this morning*
“She’s not here?”
“If she is, I can’t find her.”
Alex knew she should end the experiment before her luck ran out but she couldn’t resist the temptation.
“I thought that the two of you...”
This time, Catherine levelled her a look that would sear through carbon steel. It practically dared Alex to finish the sentence the way the both of them knew she intended to.
“…stopped by the station to speak to Captain Brass before shift,” she continued smoothly. Alex allowed her lips to curl upwards ever so slightly at the fact that she deflected a potential blow-up and managed to throw the other woman off her guard.
Keeping Catherine on tenterhooks was almost as satisfying as finding out what happened.
Catherine felt the bottom fall out of her prepared rant and groped to come up with a response that would not betray her disappointment or her anticipation.
“I’ve been working on the phone logs for the past hour. You haven’t seen Sara since this morning?”
“I haven’t even spoken to her at all. I just assumed that she had her hands full.”
Catherine let the obvious innuendo pass without comment.
“So do I and that’s precisely the reason why I don’t need her to start playing hooky now.”
Alex’s brow creased slightly.
“Sara Sidle does not play hooky. Did you try calling her?”
“Yes,” she retorted, “and I got her voice mail all six times.”
The crease deepened. Catherine watched as the younger woman found her cell phone and tapped a sequence of buttons before bringing it up to her ear. The crease turned into deeper furrows with each passing ring. Alex finally gave up and ended the call when the recording of Sara’s voice eventually kicked in.
“She’s not answering. I’m going to try the apartment.”
Thirty seconds and an answering machine later, Catherine gave her a look that practically said “I-told-you-so”. A tiniest part of her was relieved knowing that Sara was not solely avoiding her. Not that it really mattered since she was just being honest. If Sara chose to neglect work on purpose, she was asking for trouble.
“Has she ever done this before? Disappeared from work without telling anyone?”
“Never.”
Catherine answered instinctively, mildly surprised that she noticed that much about Sara. “Alex, she’s an adult who can take care of herself,” she added quickly, as if to justify her purported insight of her colleague.
Alex was too busy trying to untangle the knot of anxiety occupying her gut to notice her defensiveness.
“What if she’s in trouble?”
As hard as she tried to convince herself that this was just a case of extreme tardiness or even childishness, Catherine was starting to share some of Alex’s apprehension. Somewhere between mind and mouth, that concern chose to camouflage itself behind a thick wall of irritation and annoyance.
“If she keeps up this game of hide and seek, she’ll be in a shit-load of trouble.”
The callous tone of Catherine’s remark had the instantaneous effect of transforming anxiety to fury. Alex was about to shoot off a sentence that contained the words “bitch” and “heartless” when the screech of Catherine’s cell phone intervened. Saved by the proverbial bell.
“Willows,” Catherine answered without even looking at the display. From her tone of voice, Alex surmised that she fully expected it to be yet another request for an update. Some powers that be to placate. Which was why the confused look that Catherine currently wore as the conversation progressed wasn’t making much sense.
“Yes, this is she…what? Hold on…”
Or why Catherine was now staring at the display of her cell phone while the line was still open. Alex did notice that when she brought the phone back to her ear, all traces of uncertainty were gone and her voice had a distinctly hard edge to it.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing with Sara’s phone?”
AUTHOR: KL
FANDOM: CSI (Vegas)
PAIRING: Catherine/Sara
SUMMARY: One pushes and the other pulls. What will it take to get them on the same page?
RATING: PG13
DEDICATION: This was and still is for wonkots42 who is my everything
A/N: I wrote this story almost five years ago, but it's not archived anywhere and I've never posted it here so...let's pretend it's new, okay?
[ Part 1 - Prologue] [ Part 2] [ Part 3] [ Part 4] [ Part 5] [ Part 6] [ Part 7] [ Part 8] [ Part 9] [ Part 10]
Part Eleven
Alex almost groaned in relief as she finally dropped her pen on the table. It had been a long day - interviewing Daniel Avery, interspersed with phone calls and meetings with various powers that be, all wanting to be updated and given status reports. She was beginning to remember the other reason why she left the federal system.
“You’re still here.”
Alex turned to see Catherine at the doorway. There wasn’t any spare space so the conference room was sequestered into a makeshift office for the duration of her visit. That meant she had very little privacy but on the plus side, her work area did have more than ample space. The ever-growing pile of files and folders with which she was laden occupied but a fraction of the huge table monopolizing the room.
“Thankfully, not for much longer. I’m just clearing up.”
“Rough day?” Catherine pulled up chair across the table.
“No more than expected,” Alex said, letting out a huge sigh. “Should have known that some things never change,” she added acerbically, “but the next bureaucratic asshole who asks for a status update is going to get his butt kicked all the way down the Strip. Don’t these people talk to each another?”
Catherine smiled ruefully while looking somewhat embarrassed.
“In that case, I’m next in line but I’ll take a butt-kicking over the prospect of talking to Ecklie any more than I have to. So give it your best shot.”
Alex let out a bark of laughter.
“Why do I get the feeling that my life will be in mortal danger if I come anywhere near that part of your anatomy?”
Catherine’s eyes crinkled in amusement.
“I didn’t think you scared so easily.”
Alex lifted a finger in protest.
“I don’t. You’re just fortunate that you have Sara on your side.”
The remnant of a smile was instantly replaced by a momentary twitch of annoyance before it fell behind the mask of cool indifference.
“Lucky me.”
Catherine’s dry response to her rhetoric wasn’t what she expected but instinct warned her to curb her curiosity, at least for now. Alex did observe, however, that although Catherine had regained her neutral expression, she refused to look Alex in the eye. She theorized that her actions earlier in the day had caused *something* - what, she wasn’t sure since Sara has been persona in absentia for the last eight hours or so - to happen between Catherine and Sara. As she handed over the thin folder to its intended owner, Alex decided to test out her theory.
“Lucky you indeed. Our Sara is quite a girl…”
She might as well as poked a cattle prod at her companion because Catherine’s eyes jerked up immediately to meet her questioning gaze. If looks could kill, Alex would have been incinerated, pulverized and reduced to atoms in the microsecond it took for that familiar mask to materialize yet again.
Catherine’s immediate reflex had been to lash out at Alex for that comment and the situation she induced earlier that day. She was glad she didn’t. The whole situation disturbed her more than she cared to admit and until she regained her balance, she didn’t need anyone else to be wondering why.
“If you say so,” Catherine answered in a flippant tone of voice as she focussed on the first page of the Alex’s report. Her next sentence was more deliberate, as she laced it with a good measure of sarcasm. “I’d be far more impressed if she’d actually turned up on time tonight.”
*Oh yes, something definitely happened this morning*
“She’s not here?”
“If she is, I can’t find her.”
Alex knew she should end the experiment before her luck ran out but she couldn’t resist the temptation.
“I thought that the two of you...”
This time, Catherine levelled her a look that would sear through carbon steel. It practically dared Alex to finish the sentence the way the both of them knew she intended to.
“…stopped by the station to speak to Captain Brass before shift,” she continued smoothly. Alex allowed her lips to curl upwards ever so slightly at the fact that she deflected a potential blow-up and managed to throw the other woman off her guard.
Keeping Catherine on tenterhooks was almost as satisfying as finding out what happened.
Catherine felt the bottom fall out of her prepared rant and groped to come up with a response that would not betray her disappointment or her anticipation.
“I’ve been working on the phone logs for the past hour. You haven’t seen Sara since this morning?”
“I haven’t even spoken to her at all. I just assumed that she had her hands full.”
Catherine let the obvious innuendo pass without comment.
“So do I and that’s precisely the reason why I don’t need her to start playing hooky now.”
Alex’s brow creased slightly.
“Sara Sidle does not play hooky. Did you try calling her?”
“Yes,” she retorted, “and I got her voice mail all six times.”
The crease deepened. Catherine watched as the younger woman found her cell phone and tapped a sequence of buttons before bringing it up to her ear. The crease turned into deeper furrows with each passing ring. Alex finally gave up and ended the call when the recording of Sara’s voice eventually kicked in.
“She’s not answering. I’m going to try the apartment.”
Thirty seconds and an answering machine later, Catherine gave her a look that practically said “I-told-you-so”. A tiniest part of her was relieved knowing that Sara was not solely avoiding her. Not that it really mattered since she was just being honest. If Sara chose to neglect work on purpose, she was asking for trouble.
“Has she ever done this before? Disappeared from work without telling anyone?”
“Never.”
Catherine answered instinctively, mildly surprised that she noticed that much about Sara. “Alex, she’s an adult who can take care of herself,” she added quickly, as if to justify her purported insight of her colleague.
Alex was too busy trying to untangle the knot of anxiety occupying her gut to notice her defensiveness.
“What if she’s in trouble?”
As hard as she tried to convince herself that this was just a case of extreme tardiness or even childishness, Catherine was starting to share some of Alex’s apprehension. Somewhere between mind and mouth, that concern chose to camouflage itself behind a thick wall of irritation and annoyance.
“If she keeps up this game of hide and seek, she’ll be in a shit-load of trouble.”
The callous tone of Catherine’s remark had the instantaneous effect of transforming anxiety to fury. Alex was about to shoot off a sentence that contained the words “bitch” and “heartless” when the screech of Catherine’s cell phone intervened. Saved by the proverbial bell.
“Willows,” Catherine answered without even looking at the display. From her tone of voice, Alex surmised that she fully expected it to be yet another request for an update. Some powers that be to placate. Which was why the confused look that Catherine currently wore as the conversation progressed wasn’t making much sense.
“Yes, this is she…what? Hold on…”
Or why Catherine was now staring at the display of her cell phone while the line was still open. Alex did notice that when she brought the phone back to her ear, all traces of uncertainty were gone and her voice had a distinctly hard edge to it.
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing with Sara’s phone?”