Title: The Smell of Safety
Fandom: CSI
Pairing: Sara/Warrick
Rating: PG
Word Count: 325
Prompt: 36 Smell
Sara loves the smell of coffee, always has
done, ever since she was thirteen years old. Every time she picks up a cup of
coffee, even gets the faintest whiff of it, she remembers coming down the
stairs of her first foster home, the very first morning she was there, and
inhaling the aroma of freshly brewed coffee halfway down. She can still see the kitchen, the tiled
floor, the pine cabinets,
She wonders sometimes did they ever know quite how well they succeeded, that even now, all those years later, all it takes is the smell of coffee to bring her back to that moment, to make her feel safe, secure, contented.
While most people know that she loves coffee, the reason why is a closely guarded secret, and of the people in her life in Vegas, only Warrick knows. Just like he knows that the best way to wake her up in the morning is not with a screeching alarm clock, nor even with hugs and kisses and sweet words whispered in her ear – though she’s not exactly adverse to such an awakening.
But Warrick knows the surest way to her affections is to slip out of bed while she’s either still asleep, or dozing on the cusp of wakefulness, go to the kitchen and make the first pot of coffee of the day. He pours her a cup, just the way she likes it, and then he goes back to the bedroom, sits on the edge of the bed and presents it to her like it’s the finest gift in the land.
And to her, it is, because it brings back all those memories, and when she looks up into Warrick’s face, into Warrick’s eyes, she feels safe, secure, contented.
But most of all, she feels loved.