Fic: Show Me Chapter 11
TITLE: Show Me
AUTHOR: vanillabug
RATING: T/PG-13 (will be NC-17/M in later chapters)
CATEGORY: Catherine/Sara Romance
DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything!
SPOILERS: Anything up to “Crash and Burn” is fair game.
ARCHIVE: With Authors Permission VanillaBug1@comcast.net
STATUS: WIP
SUMMARY: Catherine and Sara, along with Greg and Nick attend the Annual Pacific Coast Conference in San Francisco. How long can Catherine and Sara keep denying that they are nothing more than friends? CATHERINE/SARA PAIRING (will be rated M in later chapters)
Show Me
Show Me 11/?
The next morning went a lot smoother than the previous. Catherine and Sara quickly worked themselves into a morning routine. When Catherine found herself a few extra minutes ahead of schedule, she ventured across the street of the hotel, and bought the team a quick breakfast of coffee and bagels for the road.
The four CSIs had a full schedule packed for the day, but Nick undoubtedly had the worst of it. Going from one lecture hall to another and at one point, at the hotel conference room. Throughout the day, Greg helped Nick when he could, but Grissom had the lab tech’s schedule full as well. Catherine and Sara on the other hand, had a much easier day than their male counterparts. All of Sara’s commitments, thankfully, were in one building, and at the opposite side of the campus, Catherine’s schedule almost mirror Sara’s. Aside from a small trek to another building and an extra lecture to give, the strawberry blonde stayed stationary as well.
After Sara finished her last commitment for the day, she took a walk across the campus to meet up with Catherine after her last lecture. The brunette reached the building just as Catherine’s seminar was ending. As Catherine exited the seminar room, she noticed that Sara was waiting for her and offered her colleague a smile.
“Am I glad to see you,” the strawberry blonde sighed.
“That can be interpreted in a few different ways,” the brunette chuckled walking up to Catherine.
“How some of those people have a job, let alone graduated, is beyond me,” she said.
“Tough crowd?” Sara asked as the duo made their way out of the building.
“Dumb crowd is more like it,” she replied shaking her head, “I’m amazed their department solve cases at all,” she stated causing Sara to laugh, “What? I’m serious. I have never been so thankful to work with the people I do.”
“Well, the feeling is mutual. At least from my stand point that is,” the brunette smiled.
“I’m sorry Sara, how did your day go?” Catherine asked as they reached the parking lot.
“Better than yours it would seem,” the brunette laughed.
“I’m sorry for just going off like that. It was just so frustrating.”
“I know, it’s fine Catherine, really,” Sara replied sending Catherine a reassuring smile. “As for my day, very boring. The two lectures I gave, I’m pretty sure 90% of the people in there were planning on what they were gonna do once I shut up and the seminar was over. It’s like college all over again. But, oh well, it’s a small price to pay for a vacation.”
“I guess that’s one way to look at it,” Catherine agreed, “Besides, it’s their loss anyway. You are one of the most talented, if not THE most talented criminalist I have ever met.” Catherine smiled as they reached the rental car.
“Aside from yourself of course,” Sara offered.
“Naturally,” the blonde laughed hopping inside the car.
“Your mood turned around pretty fast,” Sara stated as she fastened her seat belt.
“You only have yourself to blame for that one Sidle,” Catherine teased, buckling her own seatbelt.
“Well, lets hope it lasts for the rest of evening. I don’t think the boys can handle the Catherine we were all blessed with yesterday.”
“Hey, I wasn’t that bad yesterday was I?” Catherine asked as Sara started the car.
The brunette just looked at Catherine with a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ expression.
“Really?” Catherine asked, “Now I feel even worse.”
“Don’t worry about it Cath. Greg got the most of it. By his own doing really,” she stated pulling out of the parking lot.
“That is true. But, I still feel pretty bad.”
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about it. Just turn on the ole Willows charm tonight and you’ll be the light of his life,” the brunette suggested.
“You guys planned something for tonight already?” Catherine asked as they drove back to the hotel.
“Uh, yeah. The cocktails back at the college. Tonight is one of he nights of forced socializing we have to endure, remember?”
“Ugh,” the strawberry blonde replied, running her hands through her hair. “I don’t think I can deal with a whole night of this crowd. Who’s gonna know if we don’t go. It’s not like they have a check in sheet.”
“Ecklie and Grissom want us to make contacts with other CSIs in case something we are working on goes beyond Nevada. They think it would be easier if we had an ‘inside connection’” Sara said.
“I repeat, it’s not like they have a check in sheet,” Catherine smirked.
“Name tags.”
“Huh?”
“They have name tags,” Sara stated.
“You’re not serious?”
“That’s what Greg told me earlier,” the brunette shrugged.
“And how does he know?”
“Apparently, he was getting to know a woman on his lunch break today who was in charge of making them.”
“Now I know I am surrounded by stupid people. This isn’t a high school reunion for crying out loud! What are we ten years old in need of babysitting?” The blonde couldn’t help but laugh.
“I guess so,” Sara replied, joining in on the laughter. “Greg was telling me the last few years, some people were actually treating this like a vacation and blew off everything conference related and just hung around California for a week.”
“Just great. The year we get to go to this thing, we get screwed out of fun,” Catherine said as they pulled up to the hotel.
“It seems that way,” the brunette agreed.
“Figures,” the blonde scoffed.
“So, much for that good mood,” Sara laughed.
“At least tonight I’ll have you guys around if I start to feel my IQ dropping,” Catherine sighed as they pulled into valet parking.
Sara stopped the car and placed her hand on Catherine’s knee, “I’m always around for you Cath,” she smiled, locking eyes with the strawberry blonde.
“And I for you Sara,” Catherine replied placing her hand on top of the brunette’s, earning a bigger smile from Sara. “Hey, what are friends for right?” Catherine grinned.
“Right,” Sara replied, sadness evident on her face.
“I’ll grab our stuff from the trunk, if you can grab the valet ticket,” the brunette said, removing her hand out from under Catherine’s.
“Yeah … yeah … sure,” the older woman replied forcing a smile.
Sara unbuckled her seatbelt just as two valets opened the car doors. As the brunette stepped out of the car, she took a deep breath and sighed. She handed the valet the keys and made her way to the back of the car. The more time she spent with Catherine, the harder it was to be just friends. Little did Sara know, Catherine was fighting the same battle. The blonde stepped out of the car, still a little flustered from the tender moment she had just shared with Sara.
“Good afternoon ma’am,” one of the valets stated.
“Afternoon.”
“Number 136,” he stating handing Catherine their ticket.
“Thank you,” Catherine replied as Sara closed the trunk.
“Have a good evening ma’am.”
“You too,” the blonde said.
“All set?” Sara asked.
“Yeah,” Catherine smiled as she tried to take her bag from Sara’s hand.
“I got it Cath.”
“You don’t have to Sara.”
“What are friends for, right?” The brunette stated, earning another smile from the older woman.
“Right,” Catherine replied as they walked into the hotel. “So, um, what time does this cocktail thing start?”
“7:30 I think. It’s only 5 so we have plenty of time. You want to see if the guys want to grab a quick bite before we go?” Sara asked while they waited for the elevator.
“Sure, I’m actually pretty hungry,” Catherine answered.
“Me too,” Sara agreed as the elevator door opened. Both women stepped inside as Sara continued, “And if last night was any indication, I’m sure the boys wouldn’t mind some food in their stomachs.”
“Did you see all the food Greg ate?” Catherine recalled as she pushed the button to their floor. “I didn’t think he would ever stop.”
“Probably wouldn’t have, if I hadn’t freaked out,” Sara added.
“You were just surprised to him. Not everyday you get a blast from the past like that. I’m sure if he would have seen you he would have been a little freaked too.”
“Listen, Catherine, about Mick,” Sara began, but was interrupted as the elevator door opened on their floor with Nick and Greg on the other side fiddling with their cell phones.
“Hey, where are you guys going?” Catherine asked getting their attention.
“Oh, hey, Catherine. I was just about to call you. We were just heading across the street to that burger place to grab some dinner. Wanted to see if you and Sara wanted to meet us there when got back to the hotel,” Nick explained.
“I called ahead and they have a few veggie burgers to choose from,” Greg added.
“Wow, thanks Greg!” Sara replied a little shocked.
“No biggie,” the lab tech shrugged.
“Yeah, it actually is. Thanks,” the brunette smiled giving Greg a small hug. “Let me drop these off in the room.”
“Here, let me,” Catherine said taking the laptop cases from Sara, “I really have to use the restroom real quick.”
“You sure?” Sara asked.
“Of course,” she replied already halfway to their room.
“It’s gonna be another hour before we leave this floor, you watch,” Nick commented as Catherine opened the room door and stepped inside.
“Nah, maybe 20 minutes max,” Greg stated.
“You two are horrible,” Sara laughed.
“Women and your “bathroom” routines,” Greg said putting “bathroom” in quotation with his hands.
“It takes a lot for some people to be beautiful,” Nick replied.
“Catherine is always beautiful. She doesn’t even have to try,” the brunette stated out loud without thinking.
“Really?” Nick asked surprised.
“Huh?” Sara said snapping back to reality.
“You think Catherine is beautiful huh?” Nick teased.
“I mean …” Sara began to fidget, “who doesn’t. It’s a pretty common consensus.”
“Right. Common knowledge,” Nick agreed giving Sara a knowing grin.
“What?” The brunette asked.
“Absolutely nothing,” Nick replied.
Before Sara could question Nick any further, Catherine emerged from their hotel room.
“Ready guys?” The chipper blonde asked.
“Just waiting on you,” Greg stated.
“Oh, and Nick is buying,” Catherine smiled.
“And why would I do that?” The Texan asked confused.
“Grey only had 20 minutes. You thought and hour, you lose Nicky. Dinner is your treat,” the strawberry blonde smirked.
“In that case I vote for lobster instead of burgers,” Greg commented.
“Shut up Greg,” Nick sulked causing the other three CSIs to laugh as they waited for the elevator.
To Be Continued...