DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters and if ever I do, what will I do with them? They are rightfully owned by Anthony Zuiker, CBS, Alliance Atlantis, and Jerry Bruckheimer.
A/N- Hello. This is my second fic (yey!) for CSI. I have my original characters back together with our CSI's. This will be an N/S, G/C and maybe a Greg/OC (no, not his cousin…) Hope you enjoy! Oh, Review this chapter too… (Alias fanfiction readers do not review much… so depressing…)
I'll gladly receive your *harsh* criticism. (Oh, But I'm not saying that you flame me… please… Thanks… J )
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CHAPTER ONE
"Hey, we got a d.b in a construction site." Nick greeted Sara and Greg in the break room. It was a few hours before their shift ends. Sara was finishing her coffee while Greg was answering the crossword puzzle.
"How many?" Greg asked.
"Just one. Vic was found inside the portable bathroom. Brass needs people there now." Nick replied.
"Okay." Sara said as she gulped the last drops of her coffee. Greg put down the puzzle and his pen. As they went out, Greg asked, "Where's Warrick?"
"He's in Grissom's case. Together with Catherine and Christianna." Nick answered. "A ballet dancer was struck dead with a sandbag."
"Oh…" was Greg's only reply.
***
"She was struck at the back of her head. She was probably bleeding internally by the time her head hit the floor." David informed Grissom as they inspected the corpse of Alaine Tripman, the rising star in the Las Vegas Dance Company, in the orchestra pit. She had fallen down after she was hit by the sandbag.
Grissom nodded in understanding. He looked around. Catherine was photographing the perimeter of where the body was situated. Christianna was up in the stage, photographing the sandbag. Warrick was with the stage manager, looking at the security videos.
Their crime scene is in one of the theatres where most major ballet companies perform if ever they are on tour. In this case, the Las Vegas Dance Company was rehearsing for their show, the romantic and tragic (add boring) tale of 'Romeo and Juliet'.
Alaine Tripman was supposed to play Juliet. And she's dead.
"Did you know that Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' is one of the most danced story in the world of ballet?" Christianna said as she kneeled down to bag a fiber.
"Don't forget several reincarnations in the movies." Catherine replied as she snapped away.
"Is the sandbag really the cause of her death?" Chris asked Grissom. She was now looking at the rope that used to hold the 'murder weapon'.
"Its not an improbability, but we have to rule out several probable factors first." David answered for Grissom. Gil was looking up at the stage lights.
"The sandbag must have fallen down right?" Grissom asked.
David also looked up. "Well, probably yes." He answered.
"Well it might not be an accident. The end of the rope is too clean for a breakage. It was most probably cut." The young CSI said. Grissom went up the stage to look at it himself. She was right. The cut was too clean.
Sgt. O' Riley suddenly called out to him. The stage manager is ready for questioning. Grissom went with the burly sergeant to accompany in the questioning.
Catherine was now gathering evidence near the corpse. The dead girl was beautiful. She had lovely black hair, which was still fixed in a bun, long eyelashes, straight nose, a lovely mouth.
'A pity she died too early.' Catherine thought as she watch the EMT's put the victim inside a body bag. She shook her head, she was used to seeing dead bodies but she was not used seeing young lives being destroyed by mistakes, wrong decisions and accidents.
A while later, Grissom went back, his face a bit unreadable. He said to them in a clear voice, "The way up to where the sandbags and lights are, is broken. The stage manager said that there is no way up the stage walk." As he said this, he noticed that there were four metal bars hanging near the stage walk.
"Excuse me, but what are these for?" Grissom asked to the stage manager, who was being questioned at the back of the theater.
"Its for the aerial part of the ballet." He answered in a loud voice. Grissom looked up again. There was a four feet gap between the bars.
"Can we get them down, please? And the list of those who perform and handle them. Thank you" Grissom asked. The stage manager consented. A few minutes later, the bars were lowered. Catherine and Chris looked at him, a bit confused, but for different reasons.
"Aerial ballet in 'Romeo and Juliet'? For what part?" Chris asked.
'What's with the metal bars?" Catherine asked.
"The aerial ballet will be performed, according to the stage manager, at the part where Romeo climbs Juliet's terrace. The metal bars may be the only access up to the stage walk." Grissom said, answering both their questions.
"So we're going for fingerprints?" Chris asked. Dusting for fingerprints is one of the most tedious tasks in this job.
A few hours later, they were finished with the fingerprints and most probably, finished with their shift. Warrick helped them an hour after they've started and they were going to extend a little for some more 'evidence' gathering.
Grissom's phone suddenly rang. He reached to his breast pocket and took the call.
"Grissom." He said. Seconds after the that greeting, he suddenly exclaimed, "What?! Yes, we'll be right there. Yes, stay in the hospital. Don't leave." He ended the call and faced the others.
"Sara fell down from the second floor of their crime scene. She was pushed. She's now in the hospital."
*******
[At the hospital]
"Nick, how is she?" Grissom asked as the rest of the team streamed in the hospital corridor.
"The doctors said she'd be okay. But they're still checking." Nick replied. He looked worried and tired. The suspect fled again after Sara fell down. He also shot the officer at the scene. That officer is now in the ICU, fighting for his life.
Catherine sat down the chair. Grissom and the rest followed suit. A few minutes later, the doctors appeared.
"You may go see her." The doctor acknowledged. They waited for him to turn the corridor before going inside Sara's room.
As they went in, they saw Sara, laid on the bed, deathly pale. She doesn't have any tubes that connect to some sort of machine, but she was lying on the bed, her head with a bandage. She looks dead.
They all sat down at the chairs provided for the visitors. Nick sat alone at the corner, near the bed, looking into the space. He felt at fault to what happened to Sara. 'If I didn't give in to what she persisted, she wouldn't be here.' He thought and closed his eyes.
Warrick was taking a nap besides Greg, who was unfortunately punched by one of the officers who thought he was the person behind the shooting. Greg got the crossword section of the paper and was answering it.
Grissom was in between Catherine and Christianna. Catherine was reading one of the business sections of the newspaper while Grissom was reading the front page. Christianna was doing paperwork, one of the things she had managed to swipe when they hurriedly returned to the lab.
A couple of hours later, Nick suddenly said in a relieved voice, "You're awake, thank god."
They all stood up. Sara was wide-awake; a bit confused, her dark brown eyes a contrast to her pale face.
"Hey Sar, you okay?" Warrick asked. All of them looked concerned. Sara looked at them. Her eyebrows knitting, she was really thinking hard.
"Sara, honey. Are you okay?" Catherine asked softly.
She slowly looked at their faces. They can see her blinking back the tears that were forming round her eyes.
"Who are you, people?"
A/N-Hello again. So, what do you think? Review please. Hope it didn't suck…