Title: Twilight Time
Author: Melanie-Anne
Email: melani_anne@yahoo.com
Rating: PG-13 for some strong language
Archive: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit.
Summary: Takes place after Bulletproof. The CSIs investigate a shooting during a student theatre production, despite resistance from almost everyone involved. [Horatio/Calleigh]
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to me, never will ::sigh:: No offense intended to the real management, staff and students of Miami University's theatre department.
A/N: Follows Kryptonite, But She Breaks and Bulletproof. Before I get into trouble, the theatre industry is not as crazy and stuck up as it is in this story (although that's not to say that it's not crazy and stuck up ::grin::) Some of my best friends are actors ;o) Additional notes at end.
For the real Gen, 'cause you were there.
* * *
Here in the afterglow of day, we keep our rendezvous beneath the blue
Here in the same and sweet old way I fall in love as I did then
Deep in the dark your kiss will thrill me like days of old
Lighting the spark of love that fills me with dreams untold
Each day I pray for evening just to be with you
Together at last at twilight time
~The Platters, "Twilight Time"
* * *
Eric Delko looked around the theatre foyer, his habits as a CSI coming to him as naturally and unconsciously as breathing. Mid-week was slow for Miami University's small theatre department, and Delko gave each of the audience members a quick once-over. Mostly students, coming to support their friends. One or two older people and an eccentric fortyish man downing drink after drink at the bar. Delko recognized him from his picture in the program as the director. Brett Something-or-other.
Genevieve Risi, Delko's girlfriend of two weeks, returned from the bathroom and slipped her arm through his. He felt slightly less out of place than before, and smiled down at her. Genevieve was completely unlike him. Tiny and slender, with a mane of dark hair, she was a dancer at Taboo, a club in downtown Miami. At times he worried that she would break if he held her too tight, but she was surprisingly strong for her size. He'd met her at his gym and they'd fallen into the habit of doing the circuit machines together. From there it had been a natural progression to lunch, and drinks, and bed.
"Isn't Tanya great?" she asked. Tanya, her sister, was Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. When Genevieve had invited him to the play, he'd been skeptical. He couldn't recall watching Shakespeare before. Ever. But then she'd smiled and said please, and he'd found himself saying he'd love to.
To his surprise, he was enjoying himself so far.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"She's going to New York when she graduates. She wants to make it on Broadway."
Delko wrapped his arm around Genevieve's waist and drew her against him. Planting a kiss on her neck, he murmured, "Broadway, hmm?"
She laughed. "Yeah . . . Eric, that tickles."
He knew; that was the point. Just then the foyer lights flickered, signaling the end of interval. Delko took her hand and led her back into the theatre. They found their seats and patiently waited for the house lights to go down. Delko wondered what it was about the theatre that made a person want to whisper once inside. He turned to Genevieve, intending to ask her, and smiled when he saw her staring expectantly at the stage. Earlier, she'd whispered that the most magical time was the second before the stage lights came up, while the entire auditorium was dark. Looking at her now, he was inclined to agree, although for different reasons.
The lights dimmed, and Delko settled back in his seat to watch. There was a loud bang from the wings. Delko immediately recognized it as a gunshot. He looked around; no one else seemed perturbed, thinking it was part of the show. The actor playing Benedick stumbled out onto the stage, clutching his chest. A man dressed in a sweat suit followed, a gun in his hand. Delko grabbed Genevieve and pulled her down onto the floor. He took his cell phone out of his pocket, switched it on and dialed 911.
The shooter hopped off the stage and came into the audience. The house lights were almost completely dim. Someone screamed. Genevieve tried to pull away from Delko.
"My sister!" she hissed.
"Just stay here." He tightened his grip on her wrist and slowly raised his head. Everyone hid behind seats, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. The shooter walked up the stairs, pausing at each one as he looked down the rows. Eventually he stopped. He raised the gun slowly and fired once. There were more screams. Genevieve clung to Delko, whimpering. The shooter calmly walked out.
"Gen, stay here." Delko climbed over her and followed. He didn't have his gun on him, but he hoped he wouldn't need it. Back up would be here soon anyway, he thought. He just had to make sure the shooter didn't leave before then.
"Eric!"
He looked back. Genevieve was still crouched on the floor, her knuckles white as she held onto the armrest. Her eyes were wide and frightened.
"It's okay. Just stay there."
He pushed through the doors and looked around the foyer. It was empty. He swore softly and hurried to the exit. A car's wheels screeched in the car park and there was the sound of approaching sirens. Delko reluctantly admitted there was nothing he could do, and returned to the theatre.
Genevieve threw her arms around him. "Why'd you follow him? I thought he'd shoot you too."
"I'm fine. Hey!" he yelled. "Could we get some light in here?"
Almost immediately, the house lights went on. Delko saw the director's body at the same time as someone screamed.
"Eric, let's go. This is . . . I . . . please can we just leave?"
"I can't." He sat Genevieve down. Part of him wanted to take her away from all of this but another part of him knew he had to preserve the scene. He found his phone lying on the floor where they'd hid, and dialed Horatio's number. As he quickly filled his boss in, he climbed over the seats and felt for a pulse. There was none.
He checked on the actor next. By now, some of the other cast members had come out of hiding. Tanya knelt on the stage, cradling her friend's head in her lap. She looked up as Delko stopped next to her.
"I think he's dead." She was pale, her make up streaked from crying.
Delko pressed his fingers to the neck, and nodded. "You can't help him, Tanya."
Moving slowly, in shock, Tanya got to her feet. Eric put his hand on her shoulder.
"Why don't you go sit with your sister?"
Tanya nodded then glanced down at her hands. She rubbed them on her dress but the blood remained. She started to hyperventilate. Delko caught her as she fell and carried her away from the body. He set her down on a chair in the wings then returned to the stage to wait.
* * *
Calleigh and Horatio walked into the theatre side by side. They'd passed a few audience members in the foyer, some in shock, others well on the way to drowning their fear in alcohol. They stopped at the top of the stairs. Delko was talking to Frank Tripp on the stage. Two girls sat comforting each other in the front row. A few cast members were scattered around the auditorium.
"Hey, Horatio? How come you never bring me to the theatre?" Calleigh smiled up at her boss, although he was now so much more; her friend, her lover, her everything.
"Excuse me, you two," a voice came from behind them. They made way for Alexx to pass. Calleigh followed her to the director's body and Horatio went to join Delko.
"Looks like a single gunshot to the head." Alexx carefully felt the skull until she found what she was looking for. "Exit wound at the base of the neck. Through and through."
Calleigh pulled out her flashlight and shone it on the floor. "Who brings a gun to a theatre?"
Alexx shrugged. "It takes all kinds."
"Umm." Calleigh bent over the seat and picked up the bullet. "Gotcha."
"You and Horatio came together?"
Calleigh couldn't hide her smile. "Yeah."
"Good."
She looked up and met her friend's eyes. Time to steer the conversation back to the case. "Was that a muzzle stamp I saw earlier?"
"You okay?" Horatio put his hand on Delko's shoulder. Delko nodded. "What happened?"
"There was a shot and Benedick—I don't know his real name—came on stage. The shooter followed, came up the stairs, shot the director and left." Delko shrugged. "That's basically it."
"Okay."
"I should have stopped him."
"And got yourself shot? We'll get him, don't worry about it." He smiled, hoping to reassure the younger man. "Are you sure you want to be involved?"
"Yeah."
Horatio thought for a moment, then nodded. "Alright."
"Thanks." He crossed to Genevieve and Tanya, his hand automatically reaching for Genevieve's. She leaned against him. "You guys okay?"
They nodded. Tanya had changed back into her street clothes; the now bloody costume taken as evidence.
"Can I, like, go outside for a smoke?" Tanya asked. "It's creepy just sitting here and watching you guys, you know, do your thing."
"It shouldn't be a problem."
"Great." She pulled her sister along with her.
"Shakespeare? Man, you must be serious about this girl."
Delko turned and greeted his friend with a smile. "You're just jealous 'cause, for once, I'm the one in a relationship."
Speed picked up his field kit. "Whatever, man. You ready to interview a bunch of scary drama students with me?"
"I'm sure they're not all scary. You just had a bad dating experience, that's all."
Speed laughed. "Yeah. So, H. says they're in the green room. Any idea how we get there?"
"Via the stage, I guess." He shrugged. "Hey, why do you suppose it's called the green room?"
Calleigh joined Horatio on the stage and looked out across the auditorium. "All the world's a stage," she said and smiled. "Have you ever acted?"
"No. Raymond was always the one who liked being in the spotlight." His expression turned nostalgic. Calleigh thought he hadn't changed at all; as long as the job got done, he didn't care who got the credit. He would never be accused of doing something for the glory of it.
"I was in a play once," she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Really?"
"A nativity play when I was ten. I was the angel."
"How were you?"
"Wonderful, of course." She chuckled. "But then I discovered guns and the stage lost its appeal."
Horatio turned all his attention on her and smiled. In the three weeks they'd been lovers, he had learned more about Calleigh than he'd ever dreamed he would. He knew she liked hot showers and long bubblebaths—but not alone. She was grumpy until she had her morning coffee and was ticklish along her ribcage. Champagne made her giggle. And now he knew she had once been a Christmas angel. He could definitely see her as an angel and for a wistful moment pictured their own daughter, long blonde hair, wings pinned to her dress, blue eyes, her mother's smile . . .
"Hey, H?"
Returning to the present, he realized Speed was talking to him. "Yes?"
"Delko and I were talking to some of the cast members. We have an id on the shooter. Claire Tremayne, she's Hero, she says it was Martin Gerber. Adrian Stein's understudy."
Horatio turned to look at the body currently being examined by Alexx. "And Adrian would be our dead man. So we have the star and the director, and we have a motive."
"Talk about jealousy," Speed said.
"It takes all kinds," Calleigh echoed Alexx's earlier words.
"Okay," Horatio said. "Let's see what we can find out about Martin Gerber."