Time Warp.

Chapter 1.

New Beginnings.

Author's note: Bear with me for this story. I know everyone grew up in different parts of the US & I know Ducky was probably still in England/Scotland while the characters were kids but I just thought this might be an interesting story. Also I'm not too good at American geography so if things seem a little hinky then just ignore it.

P.S Characters from CSI (Vegas, Miami & New York), Criminal Minds, Numb3rs, Cold Case, Without a Trace & Bones also feature in this story just to spice things up a bit.

The story will be told from the perspective of the following (in this order): Aiden (from CSI NY), Eric (from CSI Miami), Sara (from CSI), Don (from Numb3rs), Lilly (from Cold Case), Spencer (from Criminal Minds), Abbey (from NCIS), Martin (from Without a Trace) & Angela (from Bones). Each of them will narrate chapter by chapter. IE Aiden narrates the first chapter then Eric narrates from where chapter 1 ends etc.

This year was going to be different. New school, new chapter of my life. This year I would start over. No-one would know me so I would be able to be whoever I wanted. Initially I hadn't wanted to move away from New York. Away from friends, from everything I knew. But after last year… Now I couldn't wait to get away. Since it had been at the end of the school year I had so far been able to hide away at home. Some of my closest friends had tried to see me, but I wasn't ready. The sooner we left the better. I had been packed for almost a week, but mum & dad weren't able to leave work straight away. They had both managed to get transferred. I wondered what it was going to be like. Mum had said our house was right in the middle of suburbia. We were headed for New Orleans. I had asked Dad when we were leaving & it was now only a few days to wait.

The day finally arrived & I helped Dad load everything onto the truck. I grabbed my shoulder bag, took one last look at the house & jumped into the car. Dad was going to drive the truck & Mum & I would follow in Dad's car. Mum had sold her car & was planning to buy a new one once we got to New Orleans. Dad had marked places on the map where we were planning to stop for breaks. I was sitting in the front seat listening to the radio when mum got in. I took one last look at our old home as Mum started up the car.

I won't bore you with the details of the trip. We stopped at every designated stop, everything went according to plan. It took us almost a week to make the trip but Dad had expected that. He'd booked us into a whole heap of roughly comfortable hotels.

We made it to New Orleans with one week to spare before school. We spent the first day or two unpacking then, on our third day there, Mum took me shopping for school supplies & a new outfit. We had both joked that I couldn't wear just anything for my first day.

As we got out of the car, I noticed the mall for the first time. I had seen it from the car but I hadn't really noticed it. But now as I looked at it I realized I was going to have to familiarize myself with every part of it & quickly. Otherwise I would find myself getting very lost, very frequently. As Mum locked the car I slowly headed for the entrance. I didn't want to leave Mum behind but I was eager to get closer. We waked inside together & I gasped at the enormity. From outside it looked big but from the inside… There had to be hundreds maybe thousands of stores. I smiled & chuckled to myself. Mum & Dad had better hope I never got hold of their credit cards! I could rack up a massive bill just going into one or two stores never mind the rest of the complex!

Mum & I took a moment to take in everything. I stole a glance at Mum & could see I wasn't the only one in heaven.

"You know," Mum said "We don't have to go into every store if you don't want to." I raised an eyebrow at her & we both burst into laughter.

"Where should we go first? Clothes or school supplies?" I pondered.

"Why don't we get the school stuff out of the way & we can put it all in the car then come back, have something to eat & go clothes shopping for some nice outfits after that." I nodded. It sounded perfect!

We set off to find a store with school supplies & found one quickly. I would be taking quite a few subjects & Mum grabbed extra books just in case. I was in the habit of writing very detailed notes. We headed over to the pen section & found that the store didn't have the brand I liked. We couldn't find the texta brand I liked either. Mum told me we'd find them somewhere else. I grabbed a random pack of writing pencils & tried to find decent coloured pencils but none looked like they would last. I picked up a packet of erasers & placed them in the basket. We were about to head for the cashier when I remembered I would need a pencil sharpener. I went back & took the first one I saw. This time I made sure I had everything. We walked over to the counter & I started to take everything out. The girl behind the counter looked bored. She was tall, pretty, long blonde hair, blue eyed type. Hr name badge read Samantha. She looked at us & realized we were waiting to pay. She sighed & started scanning the items. Thankfully she placed them carefully & neatly into the bag. As Mum handed over the money, she gave me the once over & said,

"Nice outfit. Really suits you. Try a little colour next time." She giggled at herself as she spoke. I rolled my eyes & replied,
"Just cuz I'm not all cutesy & colourful like you is no reason to criticise. I wear what I want & like if you don't approve keep it to yourself." I was surprised to find I had not raised my voice as I spoke. She raised her eyebrows & sneered. I could tell she didn't like being told off. I only hoped we wouldn't be at the same school. I had seen at least eight different high schools when we arrived in New Orleans. My mother smiled at me as we left the shop.

"Wow, nice way of handling it. Very mature. I'm happy to see you growing up so well." She told me. I giggled & replied in a very smart arse way;

"I had two exceptional teachers to show me how to grow up." Mum chuckled as we reached the car.

Once we had placed everything in the car, I remembered we hadn't got my pens, textas & coloured pencils. I mentioned it to Mum & she nodded.

"I don't know about you but I'm not really hungry yet so why don't we have a quick look."

We found another stationary store & quickly found what I liked. Since the bag wasn't so big we decided not to take it out to the car. As we perused the eateries, I noticed there was a strange smell. We finally picked somewhere to eat & the smell turned out to be coffee. Now having lived in New York you'd think I would have recognised the smell but strangely, though the sign said it was, it didn't smell like coffee. Mum ordered a latte & I asked for a milkshake. We both ordered chocolate muffins.

"Would you consider wearing a skirt or dress if we can find a decent black one? With a matching top for the skirt?" I smiled. Mum was always trying to girlify me. I figured since she was offering & paying I would humour her.

"Can I get matching nail polish & eye shadow?" I asked 'innocently'. Mum sighed as she smiled.
"Okay. But only if you let me pick out some other outfits for you. I'll try to pick ones you'll like." She intoned as I started to roll my eyes. She could tell I was only teasing. As our muffins & drinks came, I noticed a group of girls watching us. My eyes strayed to the exit & my heart jumped as the girl from the stationary store walked in & headed over to the group. I gathered they were her friends. As she sat down they started whispering & kept staring at me. I tried to ignore them but couldn't help overhearing her telling them of our encounter.

"She was so rude. I mean I was only trying to give her some helpful hints about fashion & she totally snobbed me! She's obviously new. If she comes to our school I think I'll ask my parents to transfer me. Where's Cal?" They all nodded sympathetically then realised she had asked a question.

"Uh… She's still on vacation. Her family went to Texas to see all the relatives. She won't be back till the night before school goes back." Answered the only dark haired girl in the group. I noticed she had a slight accent. It was obvious that Samantha was the leader.

"Have you spoken to her yet?" The raven-haired girl shook her head. Samantha sighed. I tried to ignore them & I could see Mum was trying to get my attention. I looked up to see another girl walking in. She was blonde like most of the other girls but I noticed they all stopped talking as she walked over. That's when I realised Samantha wasn't the boss, she was second in command. Despite the look my mother was giving me I allowed myself to eavesdrop this time.

"Hey girls you seemed to be having a very involved conversation just now. Care to fill me in?" Samantha tried to casually shake her head without attracting attention but failed.

"You wouldn't have been talking about me would you? Because if you were I think I have a right to know," This time they all fervently shook their heads. "Nah we were just talking about boys. Nothing you'd be interested in. You & Derek being so close & all." Answered Samantha quickly. I smiled inwardly. If the girl noticed Samantha's looks that she was directing at the other girls, she didn't mention it.

"So, what's the latest with Calleigh? Anyone talked to her yet?" They all shook their heads.

"She mentioned before she left that they wouldn't be returning until the night before school goes back. Samantha already asked." The answerer added as she saw the look on the girl's face. It was the same girl who had told the group earlier.

"Um… not that we don't all want you here, but didn't you have some dinner thing with your folks JJ? I mean shouldn't you be getting ready? You don't want to be late." The girl raised her eyebrows & I assumed she was JJ.
"Well lucky for me, my folks decided that it would be boring for me & told me this morning that I wouldn't have to come. So I thought I'd come down & see whether you girls were here. Anyone hear where the party's going to be held this weekend?" I was just about to tune out, when I realised that a couple of the girls were watching me still. I stared back at them & kept their gaze. Their cheeks flushed & they looked away.

Mum tapped my hand & I looked away from the other table. She pointed out that I hadn't yet touched my muffin. I shrugged & was just about to suggest a doggie bag, when Mum held up her hand.

"Don't even suggest we get it to go because I am not even going to contemplate looking at clothes while you're eating a muffin!!" I giggled.

"That's why I was going to suggest that we get it to go & I could eat it when I get home." Mum smiled the smile I usually received when I was being cheeky. We had both finished our drinks so Mum went over to pay & took my muffin with her to ask for a bag. I turned to look at the girls again but it seemed they had left while we were talking.

By the time we got home both of us had about 6 different outfits! We had been to about four different stores before we found one with prices Mum was willing to pay. While she was very keen on shopping Mum was also practical. She didn't believe that any clothes priced over $1000 were worth wearing.

Dad was repositioning the sofas when we got home & Mum & I decided to give him a fashion show. Not surprisingly he didn't much like the outfits I had picked.

"Which one were you planning on wearing to school? Please don't tell me one of those all black outfits." I tried to look all innocent as Dad rolled his eyes. Mum tried to change the subject by suggesting that I explore the neighbourhood but I quickly declined. I went to my room & continued unpacking my books.

I knew Mum & Dad were worried about me. I could have tried to explain why I didn't want to leave the house but I knew it would mean talking about what had happened at the end of the last school year & I wasn't ready to talk with them about that yet. I hadn't told them about the nightmares I was having & I didn't see any reasons to worry them even further.

When the night before school finally arrived, Dad tried one more time to sway me from wearing the black mini-skirt I was intending to wear the next day.

"Aiden I know you like being a rebel type, sweetie, but don't you think people might get different ideas about you? I think the outfit looks great but other people might just think it's strange." I raised an eyebrow & smiled.

"Dad, I really don't care what people think of me. I thought you would have known that by now? If they think I'm weird all the power to them. Even though I know you & mum want me to, I have no intention of making any friends at my new school. Before you say anything it's not because of what happened last year. I just don't want any new friends." Dad sighed & rubbed a hand through his hair.

"Fine but if someone tries to be friends, please don't make yourself unlikeable just to prove a point." I smirked again as I headed for the shower. I had decided to wash my hair even though it didn't really need it. Mum walked into the bathroom as I was drying my hair.

"Have you ever heard of the concept of knocking? Lucky for you I'm not starkers." I continued drying my hair.

"Despite the fact that I changed you & bathed you while you were a baby. Nothing I haven't already seen before, Aiden." I screwed up my face.

"A little too much information mum. How do you think I should wear my hair tomorrow? I was thinking of wearing it out but then I thought it might be a warm day. But I don't want to wear it up too fancy cuz it might give me a headache," Mum held up a hand to stop me.

"While I think its great that you're asking for my opinion, its really up to you honey. But I'll help you if you need it." I nodded & started brushing the tangles out of my hair. As I climbed into bed, I let myself imagine what school was going to be like. Dad had a point about making a friend or two. But after what had happened……

I couldn't keep my mind on the book I was reading so I decided to call it a night. I was enjoying the thought that I would be able to put everything that had happened behind me & be someone new.

This year was going to be different… But I had no idea just how different it would turn out to be.