Disclaimer: I don't own CSI or any of these characters.
A/N: Well, it's about time, isn't it! Thank you for being so patient with me! Oh, and thanks to Kim for beta-ing this chapter. FYI, I love reviews!
Grissom whistled loudly as he put away the breakfast dishes. Everything had gone better than he expected.
Much better.
He finished drying the last fork, and hung the dish towel on the oven handle. The events over the last few days were starting to catch up with him, and he could feel his eyelids starting to droop. Yawning, he made his way through the townhouse to his bedroom.
He pulled on a pair of sweatpants in exchange for his jeans and crawled into his bed. Within seconds, his eyes closed and he faded into the dream world.
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Plop!
He landed softly on something rather hard, with his legs split. Grissom opened his eyes surprised and nearly died from a heart attack.
He was surrounded by massive trees that had to be at least twenty feet tall, maybe more. Even more unbearable, the trees had long vines with vicious looking thorns. Grissom felt himself move, and looked down.
It seemed he was riding horseback on a pure white stallion. His body was enclosed tightly in silver armor that glinted in the sunlight, making him slightly claustrophobic. He looked to his side, and saw a long sharp sword.
He was definitely not in Kansas anymore.
Grissom took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself. It was only a dream, and he would be waking up any second now….
Grrrrrrrooooooooooaaaarrrrrr!
Grissom nearly fell off the horse. He glanced nervously at the sky, feeling slightly nauseous at what he saw.
A gigantic black dragon was hovering over him, its yellow eyes peering at him furiously. It let out another roar, and opened its mouth.
Grissom did not want to stick around to see what would come out of the mouth of the dragon. He wasn't stupid. Grabbing the reins, he kicked the side of the horse, and held on for dear life.
The horse galloped safely into the underbrush of the tree, just as the dragon released its fiery breath. Grissom could feel the flames licking at the back of his head, but he didn't dare to look back.
After galloping for awhile, Grissom slowed the horse and slid off rather ungracefully. He had made it out of the forest and onto a meadow of green grass.
He stretched his sore leg muscles and stood up straight. Luckily because of his armor, he didn't seem to have any injuries from the thorns that had scratched at him during his hasty escape. Pulling off his helmet, he looked around to analyze where he was.
That's when he saw it.
Tall, stone walls high upon a hill, led by a gravel road. A castle. It reminded him of something off of the cover of a Disney Magazine.
Grissom rubbed the bridge of his nose and sat down. He looked at his arm, and pinched it.
Nothing.
He closed his eyes, grabbed his hair and shook his head wildly. He opened his eyes again hopefully, but was only disappointed.
Grissom sighed. This was one of the very few moments of his adult life that he felt like crying.
He looked around, and glanced at the stallion, which was grazing close by. Suddenly, the horse looked up and whinnied. Grissom turned around, and felt his throat clench.
The dragon was back. The beast was flying fast towards Grissom and the horse, looking ferociously annoyed. It opened its mouth, and blue flames poured out in earnest.
Grissom ran towards the stallion and climbed onto its back. Without being told, the stallion took off, not towards the forest, but towards the castle. Grissom merely held on for dear life.
Daring to glance behind him, he saw the dragon closing distance on him. Suddenly, the horse stumbled out of control, and Grissom was thrown off.
Quickly gathering himself, he stood up, only to duck and miss the dragon's sharp claws. Grissom stumbled backwards and looked at the dragon, which was circling back. He could swear the beast was smiling at him.
Cocky little bugger, he thought.
Suddenly, an idea formed in his head. Why should he have to run when he could defend himself?
Wait a second, Grissom thought. This is not me thinking here!
No, it's not, said a tiny feminine voice. You have to kill the dragon so you can get the princess. She's in the tallest tower. Quickly, you must go!
Lady, are you crazy? Grissom thought back. But there was no answer.
Looking to his side, he grabbed his sword and took a stance. Hopefully, his dream self would know how to fight.
The dragon hissed, and started to do a head dive towards Grissom. Grissom gulped, but held steady. He felt the sword vibrate, and a sensation came over his body he'd never felt before.
The dragon reached its claws out to deliver a death blow, but Grissom got there first. He took the sword, flung it into the dragon's belly, and dove out of the way.
The dragon faltered, and crashed to the ground, squealing in agony. It twitched its legs and tail a few times trying to get up, but fell down.
Silence overcame the meadow.
Sweating, Grissom stood up and approached the dragon carefully. He saw a slow stream of blood flowing from the belly. It didn't take a criminalist, like him, to figure out the dragon was dead.
Suddenly, the dragon's body twitched and revolted, then started to shrink. In a blink of an eye, the dragon was gone, and a tall woman in a long black dress stared up at him with black, dead eyes.
Grissom gasped. It was Lady Heather.
He rushed over to her, but knew it was too late. The fact that she had tried to kill him made Grissom sick to his stomach.
Turning his back, he walked over to the stallion, who was observing safely from a distance. He patted the stallion on the back and climbed on.
"Ok boy, let's go find this Princess," he said, and gently nudged the horse with the heels of his boots.
The horse whinnied and took off towards the castle.
Within a few minutes, Grissom had reached the castle. The giant walls loomed far above his head, and he didn't bother dismantling from the stallion. If the Princess was at the tallest tower, there was no way in hell he would be walking on foot.
Inside the castle, he saw a long winding staircase. He cursed, knowing the horse wouldn't be able to make it up. Taking the reins, he slid off and led the horse over to the stairwell, tying the reins to the railing.
He sighed, and started the long trek up the stairs.
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In what seemed like hours, Grissom finally made his way to the top of the stairs. Sweating, he leaned himself against a wall.
Don't stop now! You're almost there, said the tiny voice in his head.
Grissom grunted, and walked down a long, narrow hallway. There were no windows or pictures framing the walls, and the only door he could see was at the end of the hallway.
Walking over to the door, he turned the knob. The door swung open, and he gasped.
The room was cast in a brilliant orange glaze from the setting sun, and there was a large white canopy bed. Lying in the bed was a women dressed in a white nightgown, sleeping. Her long brown hair was cascading down the sides of the mattress, and from the film of dust around the room, it seemed like she had been undisturbed for quite awhile.
Grissom walked further into the room, and crept towards the bed. He looked at the women intensely.
It couldn't be. But, it was.
It was Sara.
Grissom leaned down and brushed his fingers across her face, shivering at the unexpected warmth.
"Sara?" he whispered. "Sara, can you hear me?"
She didn't even stir.
You have to kiss her, said the voice. It's the only way you can awaken Aurora.
Aurora? He knew he'd heard that name before.
All of the pieces seemed to come together quickly. Dragon, castle, sleeping princess. It was an uncanny resemblance to the story of Sleeping Beauty. But stuck in a fairytale? Absurd.
All he knew was that he wanted Sara to wake up. He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, and leaned back.
Nothing.
He shook his head. Like a kiss on the cheek was going to fix this problem.
He felt butterflies in his stomach, but ignored their flittering wings. Leaning down, he brushed her lips with his, lingering for only a moment.
Suddenly, Sara gasped and her eyes flew open.
"Where am I?" she asked, looking around herself. "Philip? Is that you?"
Philip? Oh, she means me, thought Grissom.
"Are you alright?" asked Grissom, cupping her cheek.
Sara nodded. "Where's Maleficent?"
Grissom sighed. "If you mean that lady in black, I killed her. She was in the form of a dragon, and-"
Sara flung her arms around him. "Thank you so much Philip! After she cast that spell on me, I knew I was a fool to trust her, " she cried, tears running down her face.
"Honey, let me get you out of here," said Grissom. "I have a horse waiting downstairs. Come on, let me take you home."
Sara nodded, and took his hand, letting him lead her out of the room.
The two ran down the flight of stairs to the stallion. Grissom helped Sara on first, and then climbed on next to her. He felt her wrap her arms around his body, and he smiled.
"Come on, let's get out of here," he said, and nudged the stallion to proceed.
Once outside, the stallion easily approached a full gallop. Grissom was slightly stunned to see the body of 'Maleficent' vacant, although the grass was still blood stained from where she had fallen.
Looking forward, Grissom saw the forest approaching. He turned back to see if Sara was alright, noticing how she shivered.
Looking forward again, he moved to slow the horse, but instead, the only thing he saw was a thick tree branch coming straight towards his head.
He closed his eyes, preparing for quick impact, but instead, he fell into darkness.
TBC
