The Forest for the Trees
Title: The Forest for the Trees
Author: ardvari
Rating: G
Pairing: Sara Sidle/ Lilly Rush (CSI/ Cold Case)
Spoilers: None
A/N: Random randomness. Experimental. It crawled into my head and started going through my drawers so I had to let it out. Thanks to princessklutz04 for the beta and just generally for putting up with my madness and... randomness.
I blame the -27 windchill for this one. *sings* I hate Winnipeg...
The Forest for the Trees
“I’m glad there’s less blood on this job.”
On the way down the stairs and out of the building they kept bumping into each other, walking too close and keeping their heads down against the blowing snow.
Sara wasn’t used to snow anymore, squinted a bit against the pinpricks that stung her cheeks and buried her hands in the pockets of her coat. Lilly was right beside her, much more comfortable with the elements. So comfortable in fact that it seemed she was walking in between the snowflakes, not through this beginning storm with a stranger beside her.
“You sure this is the right place for you?” she yelled over the wind and half turned towards Sara without slowing down.
“I went to school in Boston!” Sara yelled back, straightened up a bit and growled to herself as Lilly shrugged.
“I know a West Coast girl when I see one.” Came the snarky reply.
Snorting a bit, Sara slid down the stairs into the moist, uncomfortably warm mouth of the underground subway system and tried to brush the snow out of her hair before it melted and ran into her collar.
One look at Lilly kept her from complaining and she wanted for all she was worth to wipe that smile off the other woman’s face.
*+*+*+*
When Lilly pushed open the door to her house, she heard the relieved sigh of the woman behind her, the promise of hot chocolate and warmth all she needed right now. That they circled around each other like two caged wildcats didn’t matter, neither did the recognition in each other’s eyes, the same longing, the same melancholy.
“Amaretto in your chocolate?” Lilly asked, held up the bottle of amber- colored liquid and shook it, creating a fiery storm inside.
Sara nodded and sat down by the window, on the wide ledge, and stared out at the snow. Cold cases, death warmed over. New leads on old cases, less blood, more gratification when science managed to put people behind bars that should have been there years ago. It sounded good. Close enough to being a CSI without all the bad stuff.
With steaming cups Lilly walked over, handed off one of them and sat down on the couch, seizing up the woman sitting by her window.
“Why here?” she finally asked, not a mean question, just curiosity.
“Seemed like the right place to go when I left.”
“Fair enough. Why’d you leave?” this was the most she’d cared to ask someone in a long time.
“Is this an interrogation?” Sara asked, one eyebrow raised while she sipped her hot chocolate.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to…”
“Something happened. I needed… to get my head on straight. Opportunity knocked and I ended up… here.” Sara broke in, a wry grin on her face. Snapping at each other wasn’t going to help.
Lilly shrugged, blew into the steaming cup and stared past Sara and out the window.
“This won’t let up for a while. First big snowfall we’ve had in a while.”
“I missed this kinda weather in the desert. The real storms, the snow… the fact that a hot chocolate always tastes better when it’s freezing outside…” Sara mused, took another sip of the spiked chocolate and sighed.
“Couldn’t live in the desert, I think. This place is… home.” For a while they sat in silence, content for now but not completely at ease with each other.
Neither of them knew that the other had come incredibly close to death. And for now, that was fine.
Author: ardvari
Rating: G
Pairing: Sara Sidle/ Lilly Rush (CSI/ Cold Case)
Spoilers: None
A/N: Random randomness. Experimental. It crawled into my head and started going through my drawers so I had to let it out. Thanks to princessklutz04 for the beta and just generally for putting up with my madness and... randomness.
I blame the -27 windchill for this one. *sings* I hate Winnipeg...
The Forest for the Trees
“I’m glad there’s less blood on this job.”
On the way down the stairs and out of the building they kept bumping into each other, walking too close and keeping their heads down against the blowing snow.
Sara wasn’t used to snow anymore, squinted a bit against the pinpricks that stung her cheeks and buried her hands in the pockets of her coat. Lilly was right beside her, much more comfortable with the elements. So comfortable in fact that it seemed she was walking in between the snowflakes, not through this beginning storm with a stranger beside her.
“You sure this is the right place for you?” she yelled over the wind and half turned towards Sara without slowing down.
“I went to school in Boston!” Sara yelled back, straightened up a bit and growled to herself as Lilly shrugged.
“I know a West Coast girl when I see one.” Came the snarky reply.
Snorting a bit, Sara slid down the stairs into the moist, uncomfortably warm mouth of the underground subway system and tried to brush the snow out of her hair before it melted and ran into her collar.
One look at Lilly kept her from complaining and she wanted for all she was worth to wipe that smile off the other woman’s face.
*+*+*+*
When Lilly pushed open the door to her house, she heard the relieved sigh of the woman behind her, the promise of hot chocolate and warmth all she needed right now. That they circled around each other like two caged wildcats didn’t matter, neither did the recognition in each other’s eyes, the same longing, the same melancholy.
“Amaretto in your chocolate?” Lilly asked, held up the bottle of amber- colored liquid and shook it, creating a fiery storm inside.
Sara nodded and sat down by the window, on the wide ledge, and stared out at the snow. Cold cases, death warmed over. New leads on old cases, less blood, more gratification when science managed to put people behind bars that should have been there years ago. It sounded good. Close enough to being a CSI without all the bad stuff.
With steaming cups Lilly walked over, handed off one of them and sat down on the couch, seizing up the woman sitting by her window.
“Why here?” she finally asked, not a mean question, just curiosity.
“Seemed like the right place to go when I left.”
“Fair enough. Why’d you leave?” this was the most she’d cared to ask someone in a long time.
“Is this an interrogation?” Sara asked, one eyebrow raised while she sipped her hot chocolate.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to…”
“Something happened. I needed… to get my head on straight. Opportunity knocked and I ended up… here.” Sara broke in, a wry grin on her face. Snapping at each other wasn’t going to help.
Lilly shrugged, blew into the steaming cup and stared past Sara and out the window.
“This won’t let up for a while. First big snowfall we’ve had in a while.”
“I missed this kinda weather in the desert. The real storms, the snow… the fact that a hot chocolate always tastes better when it’s freezing outside…” Sara mused, took another sip of the spiked chocolate and sighed.
“Couldn’t live in the desert, I think. This place is… home.” For a while they sat in silence, content for now but not completely at ease with each other.
Neither of them knew that the other had come incredibly close to death. And for now, that was fine.