Prolonging the Inevitable by CSIECHO

Sara/Catherine Fan fiction

Set through Seasons 1 to 9 of CSI this will in the end be a Sara Catherine piece with a few bumps along the was. A few Buffy and Supernatural references along the way.

Originally posted as several sorter pieces this is one bigger WIP. Mostly taken down for some bad spelling Errors though there has been a little reworking while i had them down.

I own nothing to do with CSI Buffy or Supernatural I'm just having some fun and making no money what so ever while I do so.

Big thank you to truth7 for your pointers and kindly agreeing to beta my story.

"Sidle!" Aaron's voice sounded groggy to his own ears as he answered his phone. He silently groaned to himself at his own stupidity for not turning his mobile of and disconnecting his land line. Then again he had been so tired when he had finally gotten home earlier that he was surprised her had made it to bed and not just passed out in the living room or even his car.

Now though those extra couple of minutes looked like they would have been well as he fought to open his eyes and listen to who ever was on the other end of the phone. It had to be work related though he guessed he couldn't think of anyone else who would feel the need to talk to him at this time of the night.

"Aaron."

Aaron instantly recognised the voice on the other end of the phone there was no mistaking Grissom's voice even when he was as tired as he was. 'At least he had the decency to sound sorry.' sighing Aaron ran his free hand over his face pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes stung and he was sure that there was a headache brewing deep in his skull all in all this wasn't the way he had seen his night going.

"You do realise that it is the middle of the night on my first night of in what feels like a very long time?" Aaron questioned his boss, trying not to sound as pissed of as he felt. He knew Grissom wouldn't call him lightly but still he also knew the older man was well aware of just how much over time Aaron had put in to get a result on his last case.

"I'm sorry Aaron it was never my intention to call you in tonight but I need you to come to my scene." Aaron sat up paying a little more attention to what his boss was saying there was something hidden just below the surface of what had just been said Aaron could hear it in the supervisor's voice. It gave him a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach one he really didn't like and he knew that no matter how tired he was feeling there was no way he would would be able to do anything else tonight till he knew what was going on With Grissom.

"Griss, it's my night off. I pulled two doubles in two nights. I need sleep, no matter what people might think about my magic powers." Ok so he knew he was going to be getting out of bed and heading off into the night didn't mean he was going quietly.

"I know, and I wouldn't have called you, if it wasn't very important."

"Important, Griss, bugs are important to you," Aaron smirked "Where are you?" Aaron asked, pulling out a pen from the drawer in his bedside table and taking notes on the pad he always kept by his bed.

OO

checking the clock on his bed side table Aaron ran the numbers in his head calculating the time it would take to have a quick shower a cup of coffee and drive to the address he had just been given he knew he could probably shave a few minutes of his time if he went without the coffee but then he knew there was also know way he was making through without the caffeine though he wasn't sure it was going to help the headache that was trying to get his attention.

"Give me 40 minutes." Aaron hung up before Grissom could make any further comment on the amount of time Aaron was allowing himself. he tossed his mobile on the bedside table closing his eyes and resting his head in his hands. He knew that if he didn't get moving that very minute he was going to struggle but his limbs really weren't playing ball. Opening his eyes he caught sight of the picture on his bedside table, Aaron gazed at it for a moment his eyes taking every detail before he reached out picking it up, running is fingers over the face of the brunette behind the glass. 'Where are you girl?' Aaron sighed as he put the picture back carefully where it had been before. With one last look at it, he pushed himself off the bed stretching his tired limbs before heading to the bathroom. Setting the shower he let it run for a moment not wanting to set into a cold shower no matter how much it might help to wake him up. he turned from the shower stall stripping off first his t-shirt and then boxers placing them in the dirty wash he glanced in the mirror instantly regretting it not liking the face that looked back one bit. He looked tired the bags under his eyes making him look so much older than he was his hair a mess and the two days of stubble making look even more untidy. He ran his hands through his hair and once again closed his eyes, Why oh why hadn't he shut his phone of he was sure than no matter how bad he looked now he would have been able to handle it after a good night's sleep.

deciding the water had reached an acceptable level, he stepped under the spray closing his eyes and leaning his head back letting the spray hit his face. Turning from spay he let it hit his back working out some of the stress still in his tired muscles. Double shifts were killers; two in a row pushed even his high level of physical tolerance.

Forty five minutes and two cups of coffee later Aaron pulled up at the address he had been given. It hadn't been too hard to find after all, all he had had to do in the end was follow the flashing lights. He sometimes wondered why they gave each other exact directions to their crime scenes, when all they had to do was follow the circus. With one last look of himself in the rear view mirror, Aaron got out of the Denali and headed to the trunk to pull out his vest and kit. Locking the car, he headed towards the yellow tape. Nodding a hello to a couple of officers, Aaron headed towards Brass.

"Hey, Brass." Aaron smiled in the direction of the homicide detective and was a little perplexed when Brass moved to block his entrance to the crime scene.

"Sorry Aaron." Aaron noted that the detective did actually look sorry for whatever was going on which only made things more confusing. "I can't left you in the scene why don't you find Grissom and he'll explain."

Aaron dropped his kit and sighed. He'd been dragged out of bed on his night of so he could come down and do Grissom a favour. So what the hell was going on?

"Where is Griss?"

Without another word Brass pointed Aaron in the direction of the stoic night shift supervisor and then wandered back over to the scene. Aaron turned in the direction he had been shown and was surprised to see Grissom wasn't working the scene either. He was sitting against the trunk on his own van looking rather lost. Deciding that was never a good look on his boss, he wandered over slowly trying to figure out what the hell could be going on.

"Look I know you're the boss and all but you call me up on a rear night off to came meet you out here and i'm told I can't enter the crime scene. I really hope that there's a good reason for this."

Grissom turned in Aaron direction when he heard the young man, though it wasn't Grissom who answered. It was the voice of a young woman, a voice Aaron had been dying to hear for a long time.

"Hey don't get all irritated with Griss. I asked for you to be here."

Aaron whirled around so fast at the sound of her voice, he nearly toppled over. Steadying himself, he was faced with a sight he could have well lived the rest of his life without seeing, his sister, his baby sister in handcuffs.

"Sar'" Aaron was convinced for a moment he was seeing things he had been working hard and he was tired it wasn't out of the realms of possibility that he was still asleep and this was all some sick dream . After a moment or two he was forced to admit that she was really there, and this was real life. he closed the distance between them in an instant all he wanted to do was pull her into a hug; he was stopped short by one of the uniformed officers he had greeted on his way in.

"Sorry Aaron, she's a suspect in a homicide and has potential evidence on her."

"She's my sister!" Aaron snapped.

"You know all about preserving the evidence." The other officer told him, recycling a line Aaron himself had used many times.

"It's ok, Az." Sara tried to reassure her older brother.

"Far from ok," Aaron told her, seething as he pointed his finger in her face, "I hate you so much right now." he snapped out so close to strangling her right there on the spot and solving everyones problems. when people said little sisters could be a pain they had never met his sister she wasn't a pain she was agony.

OO

Catherine willows pulled her truck to a stop just behind what she recognised as Aaron's and exited just in time to see Aaron pointing angrily at a young woman, Catherine could only guess was their suspect by the way she was cuffed. Catherine Couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips as she witnessed the scene in front of her she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the woman in cuffs too, Catherine herself knew what it was like to be on the wrong end of Aaron Sidles temper, though Catherine herself could give as good as she got and she was never in chains while doing so.

Shaking it off she concentrated on the matter at hand which was what the hell was she doing here when there were two capable CSI's already here. She had been pulled off a double homicide with Warrick to come work this case. All she had been told by Grissom, when they had spoken, was that neither he nor Aaron could objectively work this case and she was beginning to see why. She headed over to where Grissom was trying and failing to calm Aaron down. The two men had the back of Grissom's truck open and were using it as a makeshift seat.

"Months, Griss and then she turn up like this."

As Catherine neared the side of the truck, she could hear what the two men were saying.

"I know Aaron and I know you've been worried but you're not helping anyone right now. You need to calm down and talk to her."

'Like that's gonna happen.' Catherine thought to herself as she cleared her throat, alerting the others to her presence.

"Ah, Cath. Thank you for coming."

"No problem Griss. You are the boss after all." Catherine smirked. "Where do you want me?"

Getting up from his seat next to Aaron, Grissom stepped in front of Catherine.

"Should I just go on and process the house."

"No." Grissom told her, taking off his glasses and wiping them on the sleeve of his shirt. "I'd very much like it if you would process the suspect first."

With the word suspect, a snort of disgust came from the back of the van and Catherine had to suppress a smile, who ever this young woman was she had well and truly wound up Aaron.

"I'll just get on with it then." Catherine told him. Motioning with her head in the direction of the van; indicating that maybe Grissom should go and talk to Aaron again. She was dying to find out just what was going on and who this woman was that meant that neither Aaron nor Grissom could work this case. She realised though that she would find out soon enough now though this was her case and she would need any information that would help her solve it and that included who the girl in cuff was and what she was to Aaron because it was clear whether he liked it or not right now Aaron knew the girl.

"If you would wait for me I would very much appreciate it." Grissom told her, turning back to Aaron.

"You call me from my scene with Warrick and bring me here you could at least let me process the way I want Grissom what's going on?"

"I'll explain what I can." He reassured her, continuing on his walk back towards Aaron. They spoke for a few moments, Grissom turned once to point in Catherine's general direction. Feeling a little self-conscious Catherine turned towards the house. Catching her first glimpse of the suspect, who was talking and joking with one of the officers. What was going on today? Grissom really was going to have some explaining to do on this one.

A gentle hand on her shoulder brought her out of her silent mussing. "Shall we?" Grissom tried to smile; even though it wasn't a real smile, it looked far too forced and she wondered why he had even tried.

"If I'm going to work this case I'm going to need to know why you and Aaron can't and whether Aaron is going to be a problem he looks like he's going to loose the plot and any moment"

"Aaron and I both have a personal interest in this case." Grissom told Catherine as they walked over to where the brunette stood.

"And what would that be?" Catherine asked, still not quite getting what was going on.

"Well, Catherine Willows I'd like you to meet Sara Sidle... Aaron's sister."