Title: Gone
Author: Cindy Ryan
Catagory: Xover--WW/CSI
Pairings: Josh/Donna, possibly Nick/Donna, Grissom/Sara
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When CSI is called to a Vegas hotel room the investigation leads to a missing WH staffer
Spoilers: General, WW--season three spoilers minor with a Simon reference
Notes: This is my first attempt at a CSI fic so please read and review :)
Donna Moss winced as she tried to lean back against the cold cement wall. Her whole body throbbed with pain and the slash on her left side was still bleeding slightly.
The young blonde woman fought back tears as she strained against the ropes that bound her hands and feet. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened a few hours earlier. Her friend Beth had called her a month or so back with this idea for a trip to Las Vegas.
Donna had jumped at the chance since she couldn't remember the last time she had taken a vacation that wasn't related to work.
Now as Donna sat in the cold basement room she wasn't sure if her friend was still alive. Her memories of being taken from their hotel room came in snatches. Most were too brief to get a complete image. All Donna knew was that she had been dragged from her hotel room some how stabbed along the way before two men chlorophromed her.
Donna closed her eyes and tried to rest. She had a feeling her captors would return soon. She would need all her strength to fight them.
*******
Groggily Nick Stokes reached out from under the blanket for the ringing phone. As he did he cranked open one eye to look at the clock on his nightstand: two forty one. With a
sigh Nick hit the talk button one of these nights he'd like to get a full nights sleep.
"'lo?"
"Now don't shoot the messengar but Catherine needs us down at the Paris hotel."Warrick Brown's just as sleepy voice replied back.
"Didn't we just get off shift about two hours ago?"Nick grumbled as he kicked the covers off and headed for the closet.
"Yeah but that doesn't matter with this job."Warrick stated with a grin.
"What's going on?"Nick asked as he pulled out a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt.
"Usual."Brown stated as he pulled his car into a left turn. "Somebody wanted somebody dead."
"Great."
"Just try to think of the overtime we're getting."Warrick replied with a grin as he made a left turn.
"Keep dreaming."Nick stated with a laugh. "We'll never see a dime of overtime from the city."
"True.I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Right.Bye."Nick said as he ended the conversation and finished getting dressed.
*********
Nick arrived at the Paris hotel casino around three fifteen a.m. and headed up to the nineteenth floor. As the elevator ascended
Nick ran a weary hand along the back of his neck. He hadn't stopped anywhere to grab a cup of coffee. Nick had experienced
Catherine's wrath once before when he was late and it was something he didn't want to live through again. Especially
this early in the morning.
The elevator beeped signalling it's arrival on the nineteenth floor and slid open it's doors. Nick stepped out onto the
carpeted hallway and glanced around at a familiar scene. Four uniformed Vegas police officers were mingling outside
a room in the middle of the hallway keeping other hotel guests away from the crime scene. Nick spotted homicide Captain
Jim Brass talking to Catherine Willows just inside the room's enterance.
Nick approached the pair and waited until Brass had stopped speaking to ask. "Morning, what do we have?"
Catherine glanced to the center of the room where a red haired woman in her late twenties lay sprawled,lifeless on the floor. "One dead, one missing."
Brass picked up the story. "Two women were registered to this room but we only have one body.....a Beth Anderson, 29 from Washington D.C."
Nick looked at the corpse before looking back at Catherine. "I don't understand, Catherine. This looks like a run of the mill homicide. Why not let
the day shift handle it and let us get some sleep?"
Catherine smiled grimly. "This is anything but routine, Nicky. It's going to be as high profile as they come."
Nick set down his equipment kit while asking. "Why, who's the vic?"
"It's not who the victim is but who missing woman is."Catherine replied somewhat crypticly.
"Catherine."Nick warned too tired to play guessing games.
"The other guest registered to this room is Donna Moss."Brass interjected.
Nick looked at the policeman sharply. "Why do I know that name?"
"Probably because you saw her being harassed by the press a year ago when her boss Josh Lyman was shot in Virginia."Catherine supplied.quietly.
"Damn."Nick swore softly as he remembered the pictures of the thin blonde woman. "Do we know for sure if she's a vic or if she's just missing?"
Brass shook his head. "No, we don't but from the looks of this room it's a sure bet that if she's not dead she's hurt."
Catherine confirmed the detective's statement with a nod. "Preliminary tests show there are two blood types."
"Has anybody contacted DC yet?"Nick asked just as Warrick approached them from the rear of the hotel room.
Catherine nodded. "Grissom's back at the lab now placing the call. This is one call where I'm glad he's in charge and not me."
"Where do you want me to start?"Nick asked after a moment.
Catherine glanced at Warrick.
"We've got the bathroom nearly done."The young black man replied. "We're just about to start on the main part of the room."
Catherine nodded. "Nick, give Warrick a hand. I'll head over to security with Brass and see if we can get a hit with the security tapes."
**********
Sara Sidle knocked on Gil Grissom's open office door. "Hey."
The older man glanced up from his desk. "Hey. Just got off the phone.....it's true nobody sleeps in D.C."
"Is Moss's boss on the way?"Sara asked as she slid into one of the visitor's chairs.
"He will be."Grissom replied as he stood. "I couldn't get a hold of Mr. Lyman but I talked to the Chief of Staff, Leo
McGarry. Mr. McGarry said he'd call Mr. Lyman and get him on the next flight."
"Hopefully he'll give us some insight."Sara commented as she held up a thin manillia file. "Because Ms. Moss doesn't have
so much as a parking ticket. Why would somebody go to the trouble of dragging a woman out of her hotel room if it wasn't
a personal attack?"
"Remember where she works, Sara."Grissom replied. "Politics has always been a hot issue."
Sara raised an eyebrow."Enough for somebody to overhear her in a casino and decide to attack later?"
Grissom shrugged. "We've seen people killed over a lot less, Sara. Remember what happened a year ago in Virginia?"
"The President was shot after a speech."Sidle replied as she leaned forward. "Wait a minute wasn't Lyman almost killed during that? Think there's a
connection?"
"Could be. We'll know more when he gets here."
**********
Josh Lyman impatiently paced the a small spot in front of the baggage carrosuel waiting for his suitcase to appear. It was nearly seven a.m. and Josh was tempted to
say the hell with the bag they could find him and mail it. Donna needed him, she'd been missing for nearly seven hours now and the damn airline was taking it's time
giving him his luggage.
Josh still couldn't believe what Leo had told him in that late night phone call when he had tracked him down at Amy's.
' 'lo?'
'Josh, it's Leo. I need you to come in.'
'What's wrong?'
'Just come in.'
'Is it the President?'
'No Josh, it's Donna and I'd really rather not tell you over the phone.'
'Damn it Leo just tell me. What's happened to Donna? She's in Vegas.'
'I just got a call from the head of the Vegas crime lab. The friend she went to Vegas with is dead.'
'Dead how? Car accident?'
'No Josh she was murdered and they're looking for Donna now.'
Josh jumped slightly as the carousel buzzed signalling the arrival of the luggage dragging him back to the present. All Josh could think about since Leo's phone
call was why someone would do this? Why would someone do this to Donna and her friend?
Finally Josh spotted his suitcase it was the tenth one down. Not caring about the other passengers he shoved out of the way Josh snatched the bag and raced
outside to hail a cab.
*********
Gil Grissom stood in the morgue waiting for Doctor Robbins to finish his exam of Beth Anderson.
"Bruising on neck, plus three stab wounds."Robbins summarized as he leaned away from the body. "Somebody really wanted this girl dead."
"Or she gave them a hell of a fight."Grissom replied as he looked down at the victim. "The killer thought the knife wounds would kill her but she struggled. So
he strangled her."
Robbins picked up the dead girl's left hand and held it under the light. "There is some skin under her nails. Don't know if it's enough to do a DNA match."
"Give me whatever you have."Grissom replied as he headed toward the door. "The missing girl is works for one of Bartlet's Senior staff. I'd rather not have to call
the President of the United States and tell him we failed."
Robbins nodded solmenly. "I'll have the preliminary results in an hour."
"Thanks."Grissom replied as he walked out the door.
Catherine caught up with him as he rounded a corner in the hallway. "Josh Lyman just got here."
Gil nodded. "Bring him to my office."
"Do we have anything to tell him?"Catherine asked as she matched step with Grissom.
Grissom shook his head. "Nothing he'll want to hear. Can you sit in on this one?"
Catherine nodded. "Sure."
Author: Cindy Ryan
Catagory: Xover--WW/CSI
Pairings: Josh/Donna, possibly Nick/Donna, Grissom/Sara
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When CSI is called to a Vegas hotel room the investigation leads to a missing WH staffer
Spoilers: General, WW--season three spoilers minor with a Simon reference
Notes: This is my first attempt at a CSI fic so please read and review :)
Donna Moss winced as she tried to lean back against the cold cement wall. Her whole body throbbed with pain and the slash on her left side was still bleeding slightly.
The young blonde woman fought back tears as she strained against the ropes that bound her hands and feet. She still wasn't quite sure what had happened a few hours earlier. Her friend Beth had called her a month or so back with this idea for a trip to Las Vegas.
Donna had jumped at the chance since she couldn't remember the last time she had taken a vacation that wasn't related to work.
Now as Donna sat in the cold basement room she wasn't sure if her friend was still alive. Her memories of being taken from their hotel room came in snatches. Most were too brief to get a complete image. All Donna knew was that she had been dragged from her hotel room some how stabbed along the way before two men chlorophromed her.
Donna closed her eyes and tried to rest. She had a feeling her captors would return soon. She would need all her strength to fight them.
*******
Groggily Nick Stokes reached out from under the blanket for the ringing phone. As he did he cranked open one eye to look at the clock on his nightstand: two forty one. With a
sigh Nick hit the talk button one of these nights he'd like to get a full nights sleep.
"'lo?"
"Now don't shoot the messengar but Catherine needs us down at the Paris hotel."Warrick Brown's just as sleepy voice replied back.
"Didn't we just get off shift about two hours ago?"Nick grumbled as he kicked the covers off and headed for the closet.
"Yeah but that doesn't matter with this job."Warrick stated with a grin.
"What's going on?"Nick asked as he pulled out a pair of jeans and a red polo shirt.
"Usual."Brown stated as he pulled his car into a left turn. "Somebody wanted somebody dead."
"Great."
"Just try to think of the overtime we're getting."Warrick replied with a grin as he made a left turn.
"Keep dreaming."Nick stated with a laugh. "We'll never see a dime of overtime from the city."
"True.I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Right.Bye."Nick said as he ended the conversation and finished getting dressed.
*********
Nick arrived at the Paris hotel casino around three fifteen a.m. and headed up to the nineteenth floor. As the elevator ascended
Nick ran a weary hand along the back of his neck. He hadn't stopped anywhere to grab a cup of coffee. Nick had experienced
Catherine's wrath once before when he was late and it was something he didn't want to live through again. Especially
this early in the morning.
The elevator beeped signalling it's arrival on the nineteenth floor and slid open it's doors. Nick stepped out onto the
carpeted hallway and glanced around at a familiar scene. Four uniformed Vegas police officers were mingling outside
a room in the middle of the hallway keeping other hotel guests away from the crime scene. Nick spotted homicide Captain
Jim Brass talking to Catherine Willows just inside the room's enterance.
Nick approached the pair and waited until Brass had stopped speaking to ask. "Morning, what do we have?"
Catherine glanced to the center of the room where a red haired woman in her late twenties lay sprawled,lifeless on the floor. "One dead, one missing."
Brass picked up the story. "Two women were registered to this room but we only have one body.....a Beth Anderson, 29 from Washington D.C."
Nick looked at the corpse before looking back at Catherine. "I don't understand, Catherine. This looks like a run of the mill homicide. Why not let
the day shift handle it and let us get some sleep?"
Catherine smiled grimly. "This is anything but routine, Nicky. It's going to be as high profile as they come."
Nick set down his equipment kit while asking. "Why, who's the vic?"
"It's not who the victim is but who missing woman is."Catherine replied somewhat crypticly.
"Catherine."Nick warned too tired to play guessing games.
"The other guest registered to this room is Donna Moss."Brass interjected.
Nick looked at the policeman sharply. "Why do I know that name?"
"Probably because you saw her being harassed by the press a year ago when her boss Josh Lyman was shot in Virginia."Catherine supplied.quietly.
"Damn."Nick swore softly as he remembered the pictures of the thin blonde woman. "Do we know for sure if she's a vic or if she's just missing?"
Brass shook his head. "No, we don't but from the looks of this room it's a sure bet that if she's not dead she's hurt."
Catherine confirmed the detective's statement with a nod. "Preliminary tests show there are two blood types."
"Has anybody contacted DC yet?"Nick asked just as Warrick approached them from the rear of the hotel room.
Catherine nodded. "Grissom's back at the lab now placing the call. This is one call where I'm glad he's in charge and not me."
"Where do you want me to start?"Nick asked after a moment.
Catherine glanced at Warrick.
"We've got the bathroom nearly done."The young black man replied. "We're just about to start on the main part of the room."
Catherine nodded. "Nick, give Warrick a hand. I'll head over to security with Brass and see if we can get a hit with the security tapes."
**********
Sara Sidle knocked on Gil Grissom's open office door. "Hey."
The older man glanced up from his desk. "Hey. Just got off the phone.....it's true nobody sleeps in D.C."
"Is Moss's boss on the way?"Sara asked as she slid into one of the visitor's chairs.
"He will be."Grissom replied as he stood. "I couldn't get a hold of Mr. Lyman but I talked to the Chief of Staff, Leo
McGarry. Mr. McGarry said he'd call Mr. Lyman and get him on the next flight."
"Hopefully he'll give us some insight."Sara commented as she held up a thin manillia file. "Because Ms. Moss doesn't have
so much as a parking ticket. Why would somebody go to the trouble of dragging a woman out of her hotel room if it wasn't
a personal attack?"
"Remember where she works, Sara."Grissom replied. "Politics has always been a hot issue."
Sara raised an eyebrow."Enough for somebody to overhear her in a casino and decide to attack later?"
Grissom shrugged. "We've seen people killed over a lot less, Sara. Remember what happened a year ago in Virginia?"
"The President was shot after a speech."Sidle replied as she leaned forward. "Wait a minute wasn't Lyman almost killed during that? Think there's a
connection?"
"Could be. We'll know more when he gets here."
**********
Josh Lyman impatiently paced the a small spot in front of the baggage carrosuel waiting for his suitcase to appear. It was nearly seven a.m. and Josh was tempted to
say the hell with the bag they could find him and mail it. Donna needed him, she'd been missing for nearly seven hours now and the damn airline was taking it's time
giving him his luggage.
Josh still couldn't believe what Leo had told him in that late night phone call when he had tracked him down at Amy's.
' 'lo?'
'Josh, it's Leo. I need you to come in.'
'What's wrong?'
'Just come in.'
'Is it the President?'
'No Josh, it's Donna and I'd really rather not tell you over the phone.'
'Damn it Leo just tell me. What's happened to Donna? She's in Vegas.'
'I just got a call from the head of the Vegas crime lab. The friend she went to Vegas with is dead.'
'Dead how? Car accident?'
'No Josh she was murdered and they're looking for Donna now.'
Josh jumped slightly as the carousel buzzed signalling the arrival of the luggage dragging him back to the present. All Josh could think about since Leo's phone
call was why someone would do this? Why would someone do this to Donna and her friend?
Finally Josh spotted his suitcase it was the tenth one down. Not caring about the other passengers he shoved out of the way Josh snatched the bag and raced
outside to hail a cab.
*********
Gil Grissom stood in the morgue waiting for Doctor Robbins to finish his exam of Beth Anderson.
"Bruising on neck, plus three stab wounds."Robbins summarized as he leaned away from the body. "Somebody really wanted this girl dead."
"Or she gave them a hell of a fight."Grissom replied as he looked down at the victim. "The killer thought the knife wounds would kill her but she struggled. So
he strangled her."
Robbins picked up the dead girl's left hand and held it under the light. "There is some skin under her nails. Don't know if it's enough to do a DNA match."
"Give me whatever you have."Grissom replied as he headed toward the door. "The missing girl is works for one of Bartlet's Senior staff. I'd rather not have to call
the President of the United States and tell him we failed."
Robbins nodded solmenly. "I'll have the preliminary results in an hour."
"Thanks."Grissom replied as he walked out the door.
Catherine caught up with him as he rounded a corner in the hallway. "Josh Lyman just got here."
Gil nodded. "Bring him to my office."
"Do we have anything to tell him?"Catherine asked as she matched step with Grissom.
Grissom shook his head. "Nothing he'll want to hear. Can you sit in on this one?"
Catherine nodded. "Sure."