When The Past Comes Biting
Copyright Notices: This story takes place within the fictional "CSI" universe. Therefore, all characters, locations, etc. are the official property of the CBS network and any other related entities unless otherwise indicated by way of other copyright notices in other chapters. Additionally, this specific chapter contains references to the song "Insomnia" by the British electronic band Faithless. This song is the official property of Arista Records and any other related entities.
Episode Spoilers: This story contains references to the CSI episodes 2X17 "Felonious Monk", 2X20 "Cats in The Cradle…", and there are also some small storyline references to episode 14X8 "Helpless" as well as the series finale "Immortality".
Author's Note: I'm happy to say that this new CSI-themed fanfic is yet another big passion project of mine, as I've been a big fan of the CSI franchise (especially its original flagship Vegas show) since my early teens. The story's plot takes places nearly a month after the events of "Immortality", so to recap: Catherine Willows is now the Director of CSI following D.B. Russell's departure, Julie Finlay has unfortunately passed away, Sara Sidle and Gil Grissom have both departed Las Vegas to renew their life and love at sea, and Nick Stokes has departed for his new job as Director of the San Diego Crime Lab. This story will detail some of the big career advancements that our remaining characters have gone through, and some other faces (both new and familiar) will also make appearances here. As always, thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read this story, and I hope you all enjoy it!
This story in its entirety is Rated "M" for violence and some language. A discussion of mental health issues (including self-harm) will also be included in a future chapter.
Chapter 1: A Bitter Night Out
Full Moon Nightclub
Eclipse Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 2015
A typically packed and busy night was in full swing for the Full Moon Nightclub, located within Las Vegas' Eclipse Hotel and Casino. Roughly 150 young clubgoers danced closely with one another in the dark nightclub, which was decoratively bathed in ultraviolet blue light, as the song "Insomnia" by Faithless boomed out of the speakers. If one ever needed an exact song to precipitate a casual sexual hookup, this was it.
Hanson Lewick entered the club just after 10:00 PM. The 5'7 muscularly built and dark-haired white 25-year-old was, by day, a student in the Culinary Arts Program at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. However, he often moonlighted as a promoter for the Full Moon and, considering that he chose to be a club promoter in a city that was so well known for its nightlife, he made a very comfortable living with this fun side gig.
The young man began his evening as he always did by ordering his usual whiskey and cola cocktail from the bar. He then made his usual rounds, passing out promotional flyers for the nightclub to people at the bar and around the dance floor before going out to bust some moves of his own while enjoying Faithless singer Maxi Jazz's seductively poetic rapping as well as the song's intoxicating electronic beat.
After the song came to an end and another song took over, Hanson continued dancing on his own for a while until he caught sight of two very attractive young women observing him from a booth to the right of the dance floor. The first young lady, dressed in a white Nirvana t-shirt and low-cut denim shorts with white flat heels, stood at a rather short stature of about 5'2 with very flowingly long brown hair and very beautifully haunting blue eyes. Her companion, meanwhile, was a slightly taller short-haired blonde clad in a form-fitting white tank top with white bellbottom pants and matching high-heeled sandals.
The handsome and charismatic club promoter made his way over to the booth and gave a charming smile to the two eye-catching ladies. "Hi there", Hanson said, "What brings two beautiful ladies like you here tonight?"
Park Pines Motel
East Fremont Street
2:30 AM
Hanson Lewick stumbled out of Room #4 at the Park Pines Motel, a somewhat low-rent lodging establishment on East Fremont Street just blocks away the famous Las Vegas Strip, and clumsily shut the door behind him as he left. Though he was still dressed in the same t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers as he'd worn earlier, this was not the same suavely confident club promoter who had been passing out flyers, dancing the night away, and charming pretty women at the Eclipse earlier in the evening.
Hanson's cheerful and fun-loving nature had been replaced by very bad nausea, heavy vomiting, and recurring abdominal pain. To add discomfort to injury, he had also suffered 2 bouts of bloody diarrhea during his few hours at the motel. He walked roughly 20 feet out into the motel's front parking lot before clutching his abdomen, letting out an anguished groan of extreme pain, and collapsing face first onto the hard asphalt.
Seeing the young man collapse as he came out of another room, motel maintenance man Roy Wilkins sprinted across the parking lot to give aid to Hanson. Roy was a tall heavyset African-American man in his mid-50's who was dressed in a bright green coverall jumpsuit with the motel's name and logo embroidered on the front, as well as a pair of steel-toed work boots.
"Hey man", Roy called out as he knelt down to Hanson and rolled him over on his back so he could breathe, "You okay buddy?"
Trained in first aid, Roy momentarily checked Hanson's wrist for any palpable pulse before briefly listening to his chest for breath sounds. Finding neither, he groaned in frustration before taking his phone out of his side pocket and dialing 911.