Title: Appearances Author: Amy aka Lady Julieanne Pairing: C/S Rating: R, for content I guess. Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me. I have borrowed them for my, and your amusement. Feedback: By now you should know that feedback is required. The muse that lives in my head threatens to stop writing without it. Distribution/Archive: Just ask. Summary: A string of strange murders causes the whole night shift to pull extra shifts to try to catch the killer. ********************************************************************** Catherine woke up in an unfamiliar bed with an unfamiliar blanket covering her very nude body. For a second she wondered just where it was that she had fallen asleep. She rolled over and found herself face-to-face with Sara Sidle. Suddenly clarity returned to Catherine and she remembered not only where she was, but how she ended up there. She couldn't decide which she liked better. Being here in Sara's bed, or the memory of the things she had done here. Catherine glanced at the bedside clock and realized that it was time to go. She had less than a half-hour to get to Lindsey's school. If she hurried she'd be able to make it. She tried to get out of the bed without waking up Sara, and was not successful. Catherine was barely one step away from the bed when Sara looked at her groggily and asked, "What time is it?" "Time for me to pick up Lindsey. I've got to hurry, I have less than a half-hour to get dressed and get to her school." Catherine leaned in kissed Sara lightly on the cheek before she stepped away to find her clothes. "Hang on, I'll take you," Sara said as she rolled lazily out of bed. Catherine had started pulling on her clothes but stopped immediately when Sara got out of bed. Sara stood and stretched her taller frame, accentuating every inch of skin. Sara looked at Catherine and smiled. "See something you like. You seem to be staring," Sara kidded. "God yes. I like everything I see. And I don't mind staring. In fact, I think I'm allowed, being your girlfriend and all. But, for future reference, next time I only have a half-hour to be somewhere, you need to stay in bed." Catherine resumed putting on the rest of her clothes, wishing she didn't have to pick up Lindsey. Sara's naked form was making it harder for her to agree to leave. "Tempted to stay?" Sara prolonged her teasing. Knowing that they really did have to leave she grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to put on. "Hell yes. I've told you before, and I'll say it again, you have a fantastic body. The more I see it the more I like it. And right now, that's not good. I really do have to go." Catherine had a mild look of desperate irritation on her face. She obviously wanted to stay. "Well, if you need to go, then I suggest we leave soon, or we'll be late." Sara said, practically bouncing out of the room with energy. Within minutes the pair was downstairs and in Sara's Jeep. Catherine didn't even know Sara owned a Jeep. She had always seen Sara driving a car. "How many cars do you own?" Catherine asked out of curiosity. "Uh, three. This, a classic `Vette and the dumpy little coupe I drive to work." Sara took off out of the parking lot at what amounted to amazing speed. Catherine was beginning to wonder if she should've just called a cab. It might have been safer. "Why so many?" Catherine figured if she could keep a conversation gong, she might not focus on the fact that they were headed towards Lindsey's school at freeway speed, when they should only be doing 45. "Well, this one's for fun. I mean with the desert and mountains and everything, this just seemed a natural purchase when I moved to Vegas. I have a '57 black and white Corvette convertible with red leather interior. I always told myself when I had enough money, I'd buy one `cause it's a seriously hot car. I've wanted one since I was old enough to know what a car was. I'm not sure why I still own the Monte Carlo, other than the fact that I've had it forever and it still works." "So what's with the NASCAR speed here? You think we're going to be that late?" Catherine grins nervously at Sara. "Shit. Sorry," Sara says as she slows down and Catherine's sigh of relief is audible. "I don't' think we'll be late, I just have this bad habit of driving fast. Sorry." Sara's driving got them to Lindsey's school with plenty of time to spare. Lindsey seemed really happy to see Sara again and the three of them talked about typical grade school gossip all the way back to Catherine's. "Hey, I'll pick you up before shift, okay?" Sara asked as Catherine and Lindsey got out of the Jeep. Lindsey headed up toward the house, and Catherine walked over to Sara's door. "Yeah, thanks for breakfast," Catherine said with a sly grin. "Hey, don't' forget, you've got some leftover at my place. So now you have to come back sometime." Sara kidded with Catherine. Catherine leaned in for a quick kiss and said, "Who can resist an invitation like that?" Sara waited until the two were safely inside and then headed back home. She figured she might be able to catch an extra couple hours of sleep and then quick work out before she needed to pick up Catherine. Sara and Catherine were only slightly early for shift that night. Grissom noticed they came in together, but hardly paid any attention, after all he did know that they had gone out together that morning. Sara, as usual went straight for the coffee, and Catherine headed off to her office to catch up on the paperwork waiting on her desk. Catherine had the following day off and was hoping to finish up the more menial tasks of her job so that she would not have to come in on her off time to finish up. Sara was idly chatting with Warrick in the break room when Grissom came in with the assignments. Nick and Catherine got sent off to a burglary gone bad, Grissom had a stabbing, and Sara and Warrick got assigned a 419 at the Bellagio. Sara was definitely less than thrilled to be working with Warrick. He was a talented CSI, but they had a tendency to butt heads every now and then. Grissom tried to help them resolve their problems by making them work together often. But the two of them were both too stubborn. Sara finished her coffee and headed out the door with Warrick. Warrick drove the Tahoe to the casino, and Sara couldn't help but notice that maybe he had some NASCAR tendencies as well. What should've taken them about fifteen minutes only took five. O'Riley was waiting for them when they got to room 213. "Welcome to the Bellagio." O'Riley said with a smile. "Just so you know, you're probably not going to like what you see in there." To give O'Riley credit, he was right. Sara did not like what she saw when she entered the room. The room itself was a mess. Bedding and furniture strewn everywhere. Someone had even tossed around the stupid little complimentary toiletries. More disturbing was the dead body centered on the white sheets of the bed. The victim was completely nude but the body position was what struck Sara. The victim was awkwardly trussed up, kind of like you would see a cow at a rodeo, except this was different. The victims arms and legs were trussed behind her back. Her knees were bent and her arms pulled back to make the position almost physically possible. Even more odd was the fact that the rope used to tie the victims arms and legs was also wrapped around her neck and tied like a noose. Sara instantly knew from the victim's restraints that this woman suffered a lot before she died. Warrick seemed upset by what he saw as well. Sara could only tell by the grimace on his face and the way she saw anger flash through his eyes. After initially looking over the scene, Warrick and Sara split up. Warrick went off with O'Riley to check on possible witnesses and hotel staff that may know anything and Sara was left to process the room. Not long after Sara began collecting evidence, David from the coroner's office showed up to remove the body. Sara made certain that she removed the rope tying up the victim. She wanted to preserve the knots in the rope. Sara thoroughly examined every inch of the hotel room and when she was finished, it was hours later. Someone had definitely wanted to make sure the room looked as if it had been ransacked. Warrick returned to the room as Sara was finishing up. As eager as Sara was to find out if he had learned anything, she had some news of her own to share with him. "Hey Warrick. You remember how this room looked when we got here right?" Sara had actually removed enough evidence to make the room look cleaner than when they had originally arrived. "Yeah, it was a total mess. Why?" Warrick wrinkled his eyebrows in confusion. "Because there isn't a single fingerprint in here. Lots of fibers, a few epithelials, but not one print." "Odd," is all that Warrick says. His eyes scan the room for anything that Sara may have missed. Sara knows he does this not to imply that she missed anything, but because he has not spent as much time at the scene and has fresh eyes. But she still can't help but be irritated with the way he does this. "Odd. You're right about that. The place clearly looks ransacked and there aren't any fingerprints anywhere. I know all could mean was he wore gloves, but I've got a distinctly uneasy feeling about this." Warrick, with his usual coolness toward Sara simply asks, "You got everything here? Ready to go?" Sara ponders that someday she will have to talk with Warrick about why it seems they can't get along, but she realizes that today is not the day. "Yeah, let's get out of here." Back at the lab Sara hides in a lab room documenting all the evidence and making sure everything is appropriately bagged and tagged. She knows Warrick is busily writing reports on whatever conversations he had at the casino, and she is grateful that he volunteered for that task. Sara hates the paperwork part of the job, and nothing generates more paperwork than interviews. ********************************************************************** Ah...yes. There's that plot I have previously spoken about. Not as much fun as the smut, but necessary.