Chapter Text
Catherine Willows stood in the doorway of Jim Brass’s office, looking out the door as he told her about the warrant for their latest case. She could hear him speaking but wasn’t paying any attention; something else had caught her eye. Sofia Curtis was out in the corridor talking to a woman Catherine had never seen before. This woman had brown hair cropped into an immaculate chin length bob, two piercing brown eyes and an infectious smile. She leaned in towards Sofia, placed a hand on the small of the detective’s back and back and whispered something into her ear. For a fleeting second, Catherine wished that she was standing there with the mystery woman and Sofia was the one that was watching from a distance. The brunette intrigued Catherine.
“Catherine… Catherine!” Brass’s voice brought her attention back to the task at hand. “Have you heard a word I said?”
“Sorry, Jim. Who’s that woman with Sofia?” She gestured to the pair who were still standing halfway down the corridor.
“That would be Shannon Wallis, our newest detective. Transferred in from Miami six months ago and passed her exams yesterday.” Brass could see that Catherine, like many of the men and women of his department, had already fallen under Detective Wallis’s spell.
“Shannon…. Now what were you saying about the warrant for the McGuire residence?” Catherine forced her mind back to the job.
“Just that we can’t take anything that isn’t strictly related to the case, as usual. Oh, and she’s single in case you were wondering.” Brass saw the faint glimmer of a smile in his colleague’s eyes.
*
Brass hadn’t specifically said that Detective Wallis was straight, nor had he confirmed that she was anything but, but he had told Catherine that she was single. His words echoed through the strawberry-blonde’s mind, taunting her, teasing her. Catherine had seen the way Shannon had flirted with Sofia, watched her place her hand exactly where the older woman knew that the blonde detective liked to be touched.
Catherine and Sofia had dated for three months back when the detective had been a CSI. It had been fun, but when Sofia transferred to another PD, the pair had agreed to go their separate ways. The older woman still loved Sofia, but she knew that they were better off as friends. Now having seen Wallis flirting with her ex, Catherine didn’t know which one to be jealous of. She sat in her office, elbows resting on the desk, chin cupped in her hands. The only person who had ever caused her this many problems was Sara. Beautiful, moody, Sara. Catherine had pined away several years of her life thanks to the brunette and then had her heart ripped out when Sara began dating Grissom. Catherine knew that the two had always been close, but she had stood there in disbelief when Gil told her. The happiness in his eyes was evident and Catherine had to force her face into a look of pleasant surprise rather than the anguished heartache his news had caused her. If there was one thing she could be grateful to Eddie for, other than Lindsey, it was the years of having to put a smile on to hide the pain. Those years had taught her how to hide her emotions. A valuable life skill to master for moments like that.
Catherine was lost in thought again. She didn’t hear Sofia knock on the door or her footsteps as she approached the desk.
“Cat, sorry to disturb you…” Sofia’s voice snapped Catherine out of her pensive state.
“Oh… ‘Fia… not a problem.” Catherine looked up in bewilderment.
“Have you got a minute?” The younger woman smiled.
“A few, yeah. What’s up?”
“It’s about the new detective, Shannon Wallis.” Sofia had fallen for her, she should have known. Catherine’s eyes fell to the desk.
“Yes?” The CSI tried not to sound as disappointed as she felt.
“Well she saw you earlier in Jim’s office….” Catherine cringed.
“Oh?” Where was this going? Did Wallis think she was some sort of pervert for staring like she had?
“She asked me about you. Wanted to know if you’re single, if you date women, that sort of thing.” Catherine couldn’t believe her ears. Was Shannon really checking her out too?
“What did you say?” Sofia smiled at Catherine’s peaking curiosity.
“I told her that if she wants to know anything other than that you’ve been known to date women that she’d have to ask you herself.” Sofia smirked mischievously at her ex-girlfriend, turned and walked out of Catherine’s office.
*
Catherine spent the rest of the shift preoccupied by thoughts of the latest addition to the LVPD payroll. She hadn’t seen her all night and it was beginning to irritate the CSI. All she wanted was the chance to see if Sofia was pulling her leg. As the strawberry-blonde headed through the parking lot, she was praying for a glimpse of that chestnut-brown hair. She reached down to pull her keys out of her purse and realised that she had left it on the bench of the locker room. She turned around and hurried back across the lot. The thought of Shannon temporarily pushed from her mind by the thought that she’d be late picking her daughter up for school.
As she ran back through the doors to the department, Catherine wasn’t looking where she was going and found herself flat on the floor within seconds.
“Whoa there Lassie! In a bit of a hurry aren’t we?” A hand reached down to help her out.
“Sorry about that. I’m running late to pick up my daughter.” Back on her feet Catherine looked into the deep brown eyes that had caused butterflies in the pit of her stomach all shift.
“I won’t keep you then.” Detective Wallis smiled at her. “I’m Wallis by the way, Shannon Wallis.”
“Catherine, Catherine Willows. Pleased to meet you.” And with a quick nod of the head, she dashed back to the locker room.
The only thought other than grabbing her purse running through Catherine’s mind was that Sofia had never told her that Shannon was Scottish.
*
Shannon sat in her car and sighed. Today had been an interesting first day as a detective. Not from the caseload point of view. After all she had expected to be thrown in at the deep end, what she hadn’t expected was Catherine. The CSI was, in Shannon’s mind, too beautiful to be true. After the heartbreak of her last relationship, Shannon had sworn off dating women. But that had been before Catherine had walked into the Detective’s life. Shannon couldn’t remember the last time she had felt like her legs were going to buckle under her, or her heart was pounding so strongly she could hear her pulse in her ears. Catherine excited the thirty-five year old woman. Shannon knew that she would have to ask her out soon or she wouldn’t be able to cope with the anxious feeling the older woman was already beginning to cause when she was near.
In a fit of spontaneity, Shannon grabbed her police issue notebook, tore a sheet from the pad, jotted down her name and number and jumped out of her car. She ran the length of the parking lot and eventually found the car displaying Catherine’s parking permit in the windscreen. She placed the paper under one of the wipers and ran back to her own vehicle, aware that she could be caught by the strawberry-blonde at any second as she hurried to collect her daughter.
*
As Catherine reappeared from the building and back into the parking lot, something caught her eye. Running away from her four-wheel drive, she could just make out the slim figure of Detective Wallis. The CSI stood there for a moment before remembering she had to go and get Lindsey from her sister’s and drop her off at school. She hurried to the car and found the piece of paper attached to the windscreen. Without looking at it, she grabbed it and shoved it into her purse, jumped into the car and drove off. All the while watched by the deep brown eyes of Shannon Wallis.
*
It wasn’t until Catherine got home after dropping Lindsey off that she remembered the odd behaviour of Shannon Wallis and the piece of paper unceremoniously stuffed into her purse. She pulled it out and smoothed it down before turning it over. There was Shannon’s name and what was presumably the detective’s cell phone number. Catherine raised one eyebrow; her heart had begun to pound against her ribcage. All thought of sleep disappeared. She played absent-mindedly with the torn edge of the piece of paper. Should she call? Wallis had made the first move; the ball was in her court.
*
Shannon Wallis paced the length of her living room, occasionally glancing at the clock on the mantelpiece that surrounded the electric fire. She couldn’t sleep. Her mind was racing with the thought of what she had just done. The nervous adrenaline rush that she felt was causing her heart to beat at twice its regular speed. Had Sofia been telling her to stay cautious when she thought she was encouraging her? Had she done the right thing? Time seemed to be standing still. The not knowing was agony for the thirty-five year old.
*
Catherine took a deep breath and picked up the phone. Then she promptly put it back down again. ‘This is ludicrous.’ She thought to herself and picked up the phone once more. She punched in the number and counted the seconds before it started ringing. With each ring, the strawberry-blonde became more nervous. Just as she was about to hang up, Detective Wallis answered.
“Wallis.” The voice at the other end sounded just as nervous.
“Shannon? It’s Catherine… Catherine Willows.” The shaky but husky voice of the other woman calmed Shannon a little.
“Hi Catherine.”
“Listen, I was wondering, I mean if you don’t have anything planned, do you fancy meeting up for brunch?” Catherine was shocked by her own boldness.
“Sure. Where do you want to meet?” Shannon was losing the panic stricken tone to her voice.
“Why don’t you give me your address and I’ll swing by and pick you up in an hour? Save us taking two cars?”
*
Five minutes after putting the phone down, Shannon was once again in a state of panic. This time, the Scottish detective was rummaging through her wardrobe in an attempt to find something to wear. It wasn’t like they were going on a proper date, but she wasn’t meeting up with an old friend either. The brunette wanted to make a good impression on Catherine, wanted to make her realise that there was more to her than just the job. The problem was that most of her wardrobe seemed to be made up of work clothes. In the end she reached for a pair of tight black jeans, a pink v-necked sweater that revealed just the right amount of cleavage and a pair of black ankle boots. She surveyed herself in the mirror after changing.
‘Well you’ve looked worse.’ She thought to herself and hurried into the bathroom to do her make up.
*
Catherine was also having problems choosing something to wear. She threw clothing item after clothing item onto the bed, discarding it because it was too slutty or too conservative. She was getting more and more frustrated. Eventually, she too went with tight jeans, blue this time, a short sleeved, pale blue shirt and a pair of tan boots. She hurried to do her make up and hair, having wasted forty minutes on searching for clothes, before heading out the door and driving to the address Shannon had given her over the phone.
*
Five minutes before Catherine was due, Shannon walked out of her front door, locked up and went downstairs to wait outside her apartment block. Great swooping bats had replaced the butterflies in her stomach. She had to remind herself that Catherine had called, had actually picked up and called to arrange this. That had to be a positive sign. As she stood outside, watching for signs of Catherine’s SUV, she tried to calm herself. It wasn’t an easy feat by any means. Every time she thought about the ever-closer arrival of the woman she fancied, another bat joined the ones already residing inside of her.
As Catherine’s car pulled up next to her, Shannon couldn’t help but smile even through her fear. The older woman rolled down her window and invited Shannon to get into the car. The brunette quickly did as she was asked and was soon strapped in next to the woman she hoped to get to know better.
“So, is there anything in particular you fancy eating?” Catherine asked, pulling away from the curb.
“I’m easy going, as long as it’s not porridge. Contrary to popular belief, not every Scot likes that stuff.” Shannon laughed.
“Well I don’t think you’re in danger of finding that on many of the menus round here.” Catherine laughed as well.
“In which case I’ll let you choose where we go to eat.” Shannon smiled, she was feeling a lot more relaxed now.
“In which case I know a lovely little pancake place just out of town.” Catherine smiled too and took the next turning left.
*
The journey to the pancake house Catherine had mentioned was pleasant. Both women relaxed into an easy banter and the time passed quickly. As they pulled into the parking lot and Catherine parked the car she turned to face Shannon. The younger woman looked positively radiant when she smiled.
“I didn’t get the chance to say it before, but that sweater looks great on you.” Catherine smiled at Shannon.
“You think so? I have to admit it took me forever to find something that wasn’t work clothes.” Shannon blushed furiously.
“You look beautiful.” Catherine answered honestly and undid her seatbelt, jumping out of the car and running round to the passenger side to open the door for Shannon.
“Thank you.” Shannon blushed again as Catherine opened the door.
The truth was that Shannon wasn’t used to being complimented, or to being treated like a lady. Her last relationship had been with a woman who in the end had preferred leering at every pretty face to go by than complimenting Shannon. She had ended the relationship when she found out her ex had cheated on her.
She stepped out of the car and stood, waiting for Catherine to lock the doors. The strawberry-blonde pressed a button on her keys and the central locking kicked in. Catherine offered Shannon her arm. Shannon looped her arm through the milky white one offered to her and found herself blushing again. Catherine pretended not to notice, she didn’t want the brunette to feel uncomfortable. They headed for the entrance to the pancake house and once again fell into their happy banter.
*
Brunch was a fairly sedate affair, Shannon asked about Lindsey, how old she was, where she went to school. Catherine was only too happy to fill her in before asking what had brought Shannon to Las Vegas. Shannon felt it best to be honest with Catherine and told her that she needed to escape her ex. She’d originally stuck it out but it had become too hard to stay in Miami working the beat with the woman. Catherine had nodded sympathetically and told her that she knew what that was like, although not one mention of Sara’s actual name passed her lips. Both women chatted easily, as if they had known each other for years, and they flirted naturally. By the end of the meal, neither was ready to say goodbye, and Catherine invited Shannon back to her house to continue chatting.
*
What neither woman saw was the brunette in the corner booth watching their every move. Catherine and Shannon had been so engrossed in each other that they hadn’t noticed the way she stared at them, her eyes narrowed into jealous slits. She hadn’t been expecting them to arrive and as she watched them depart she called for the check. Something was ticking over in the mind of the brunette and it wasn’t something good.