 | ShatterStorm Productions
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| ShatterStorm Productions
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Disclaimer: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," the characters, and situations depicted are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer Television, Alliance Atlantis, and CBS Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. This site is in no way affiliated with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigators," CBS, or any representatives of Jorja Fox or Marg Helgenberger.
Author's Notes: This is my first fic and it is a response to the rumors that Sara is not coming back. There is some GSR so bear with me. This is also completely unbeta'd so sorry for any errors.
Sara Sidle came to with a rush of sensations. She felt pain all over her body. There was water rushing all around her and sand underneath her. There was something large and metal on top of her. Her movement was extremely limited but she tried to focus hard on the only escape route which was a narrow opening directly in front of her. Her vision was also limited because it was dark. Her head felt fuzzy but she fought to stay conscious. She needed to get out.
Sofia Curtis stared through the one-way mirror at Natalie a.k.a. the Miniature Killer as Brass tried in vain to question her. Natalie sat in the chair with her legs pulled close to her body and kept singing the same song repeatedly. Sofia flicked her toothpick away in disgust. Sara had been missing for 12 hours now. They had nothing to go on but a miniature and a serial murderer who was most likely in a state of psychosis.
Sofia glanced at the file of photos from the past crime scenes as well as clues from the miniatures. Her piercing blue eyes were drawn to the doll pictures that seemed to be hidden in all of the miniatures. An idea too root in her brain that was risky and probably a bit unethical but the clock was ticking and they needed Natalie to snap out of it. They needed to reach her.
Grissom had sat in the room with Natalie for two hours saying very little before Brass had taken over and Grissom had gone to the miniature for answers. Sofia felt for Grissom having to deal with Sara's undetermined fate. She had known that the two were secretly involved and had said nothing. She respected both of them and Sara had seemed less antagonistic towards her since becoming involved with Grissom. It bothered Sofia that Grissom was most likely at the root of Sara's previous animosity towards her. Sofia had no interest in Grissom in that way. She respected the man a great deal for his skill as an investigator and his intelligence but his flat affect left much to be desired. Sofia preferred a partner with more passion and fire lurking within.
She had also always respected Sara and when met with the negativity had decided to make it a game of sorts to stop it from hitting home. There had been more than one occasion where her eyes met Sara's chocolate brown ones and she could have sworn she saw the hint of challenge in them when they exchanged banter.
Sofia sighed as Brass finally exited the interrogation room, wiping sweat off of his brow. "Has Grissom made any headway with the miniature?"
"He and just about the entire lab are analyzing previous evidence, going thru the garage where she was abducted, and he won't let anyone but him touch the miniature."
"I don't blame him. This was a personal attack."
Sofia nodded and looked at the figure in the other room rocking herself. "Brass, do you know if this was recovered from Natalie's apartment?," she asked, handing Brass a photograph.
Brass squinted at the photo curiously and said, "If they did, it's in the lab."
Sofia didn't give him time to say more as she made her way to the lab. Her shift had been over hours ago but like the CSIs, she remained actively pursuing Sara's case. She didn't want to admit how much Sara's abduction really bothered her because it would mean having to find out why. The possibility of the answer would complicate things too much for her and she had worked really hard to get comfortable where she was.
Sofia walked thru the hallway glancing thru different lab windows. Grissom was in his office with the miniature and surprisingly he had allowed Hodges to stand next to him. Sofia had heard thru the grapevine that Hodges and some of the other lab rats had made the connection between bleach and the miniatures.
She checked a different window and saw Nick viewing some video tape. She continued down the hall impatiently and finally came to a room where Catherine and Warrick were sorting through a large amount of evidence on the table. She scanned the table hurriedly and her eyes lit up as she found the object she was looking for. Her hand shot out for it only to be stopped by a gloved hand wrapped around her wrist.
"Whoa Sofia, what are you doing? This is evidence." Sofia locked eyes with Warrick and tugged against his hand.
"We're getting nowhere with Natalie. We need to try something else."
"I can't let you take that evidence Sofia."
"Sara is running out of time while you debate this out. I'll return it when I'm done." Warrick's eyes grew hard at Sofia's insinuation that he was hindering their efforts. Sofia felt his grip tighten but she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of wincing in front of him.
"Warrick, let her have it. We need to find Sara."
Sofia nodded gratefully to Catherine as Warrick released her wrist and she abruptly turned and jogged out of the lab. She wasn't sure how she was going to play this but she had to be on top of her game.
Sofia approached the door to interrogation with a bottle of water and a canvas bag. She walked in and sat across from the rocking woman. Natalie's voice was becoming hoarse from her continued singing. "Natalie, my name is Detective Curtis." Natalie continued to stare at the table top blankly and sing. Sofia placed the bottle of water on the table and unscrewed the cap. She took a small sip and watched Natalie's eyes follow the movement then go back to the table top.
"Natalie, I heard what happened with your sister." Natalie stopped singing but continued her rocking. "That had to be difficult for you. Always vying for attention. For recognition. Here you have this unique gift of an eidetic memory and your sister gets all the credit."
Sofia took another sip of the water and passed it across the table to Natalie. Natalie stared at Sofia with distrust in her eyes but Sofia would have taken any emotion at this point besides the blank facade.
"I'll bet she wasn't even as smart as you was she? So you find someone who understands you and can interpret your masterpieces only to find that he is already involved with someone."
Natalie continued to remain silent and to stare at the water bottle. Sofia reached into the canvas bag and pulled out the old china doll with the smudged face. Natalie forgot the water bottle and focused on the doll. Sofia saw a barely perceptible tremor in Natalie's hands as she watched the doll.
"What did it sound like when your sister's skull hit the pavement? Was it like a cantaloupe or was it more like an egg?"
Sofia let the doll fall to the table with a crack and watched Natalie jump at the sound. She was looking at Sofia now with curiosity. Just when Sofia thought she had failed she heard Natalie speak.
"It was more like an egg. Her skull was the shell and the yolk was her blood."
Sofia stood up and slowly slid the water over to Natalie and then casually perched her hip on the table. Natalie gratefully sipped from the water bottle until it was almost empty.
"Natalie, I think that you and I have suffered similar problems. In fact you've done me a favor whether you realize it or not. Sara Sidle has been a thorn in my side since day one. Always garnering favor with Grissom. Never willing to work with me as a team."
Sofia walked over to the mirror and leaned her head against it. She couldn't see Natalie thru the curtain of golden blonde hair but she waited in the silence.
"I saw how she brushes you off. You make her nervous and she looks at you when you're not looking."
Sofia frowned at that last bit of information but shrugged it off. She pulled back from the mirror and turned to face Natalie.
"I don't know if I buy your bullshit about wanting Sidle dead but if you want to know where she is, you have to do some things for me first."
Sofia kept the surprise out of her face and nodded to Natalie.
"I was going to make this offer to Grissom but it seems he hasn't figured out the miniature and you'll do in a pinch. Before I tell you anything I want you to tell me an example of when Sidle hurt you."
Sofia ran her hand thru her hair and then sat back down across from Natalie.
"Shortly after I left CSI to become a detective, there was an incident where an officer was killed by friendly fire." Sofia swallowed and almost croaked out, "they suspected that Officer Bell was killed by my gun."
Natalie leaned forward suddenly completely intrigued with Sofia's story.
"I was put on leave pending an investigation but I couldn't stand the waiting."
"Did you dream about Officer Bell?," Natalie interrupted.
"I saw him turning around after he got shot and looking at me as if he knew." Sofia was staring somewhere beyond Natalie now.
"No one would look my direction without whispering. I went to the one person that had sort of been a friend. I went to Grissom and I started to tell him my fears and Sara walked in. She had this blank look on her face and she just told me I shouldn't be there and I needed to talk to someone outside the department."
Brass stared thru the glass at Sofia in sympathy. He remembered how hard that had been on her when in actuality it had turned out to be his gun that killed Officer Bell. He'd had no idea that Sofia had tried to talk to Grissom and been turned away.
"How did that make you feel when Sidle pushed you away?" Natalie had a twisted gleam in her eye at Sofia's discomfort.
"It felt like she had stabbed me and told me I had to walk around with the knife in so that I wouldn't bleed everywhere and inconvenience anyone."
"Was it you that killed Officer Bell?"
Sofia hesitated for a second and then replied softly, "Yes."
To Sofia's surprise, Natalie started to giggle.
"Detective Curtis, you are far more delicious than I first thought. I wish I had more time to play with you. You are so wonderfully conflicted."
Sofia reached into the canvas bag and pulled out desert maps and placed them on the table.
"Now for your part of the bargain."
"I'm not quite done with you yet Detective. You have a choice to make. If you want to know where Sidle is, then you have to do something for me."
"What do you want Natalie?"
"I am going to give you a capsule to swallow. The capsule contains a poison that will take full effect in three hours. The antedote is in the glove box of the car that is on top of Sidle. It will take you two hours from here to get to the location so time is of the essence. If you don't take the capsule, you don't get the location and she dies."
"Truthfully Detective, it's more interesting to offer this to you since Sidle has hurt you and yet a part of you still cares for her."
Sofia looked up sharply at that into knowing eyes. She knew she was running out of time.
"Where is the capsule?"
Natalie reached into her mouth and pulled one of her molars out. It appeared to be a false tooth with a hidden compartment. She knocked it into Sofia's hand and Sofia swallowed it before the door burst open.
"Sofia! No!," Brass shouted. Natalie started to giggle delightedly again.
"Show me the location Natalie!" Natalie reached for the pen that Sofia handed her and circled an area on the maps.
"You have two hours and 55 minutes."
Sofia ran from the room with Brass right behind her.
"Brass, we need a chopper and a medivac to go to the scene. We'll also need something to lift the car in case we can't get her out."
"I'll call everything in, Sof, just get to the chopper pad." Brass laid his big, beefy hand on Sofia's shoulder and squeezed. Sofia squeezed Brass' hand then took off.
|| Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10 || Part 11 || Part 12 || Part 13 || Part 14 ||
