Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership over any character from the show CSI.
No profit is being made from this story.
A Glimpse of the Past
By Moose
Chapter 3
The insistent knocking on the door woke Sara. Nick stirred slightly on top of her, and she shook him awake. "Nick, someone's at the door."
"Go away!" Nick called, not quite up yet.
"Stockard, the troupe's gonna be here soon," yelled the person on the other side of the door.
That woke Nick. "Stockard?" he asked Sara, who looked as mystified as he was.
The pounding at the door continued. "Bruce, if you don't open the door in ten seconds, we're going in and drag you out."
"What the hell is going on?" Nick asked Sara, getting up and putting on his boxers. "I can't even find my clothes!"
"What about me?" Sara exclaimed, slipping on her nightgown. "Look what you did to this."
Nick couldn't help but grin. He gave Sara a quick kiss. "Sorry about that," he said, although his tone told her he wasn't really sorry about it. "I couldn't help it, it's all your fault."
"Yeah, yeah," Sara replied. The pounding at the door just got louder. "What are we going to do Nick?"
"We have to get dressed," Nick said, getting up and going around the room. Sara began looking for their clothes as well, one hand keeping her nightgown in place.
"We're coming in, Bruce!"
Nick leaped in front of Sara just as the door opened. A man in a suit walked in the room, grinning. "I knew it," he said jovially. "I knew she was with you!"
Lee poked her head into the room. "Hey, you two had a great night, I suppose," she said, her tone just as teasing as the man's. "Better get dressed now. Everyone's gonna be here any minute now."
"Lee, I - we," Nick stammered, not quite knowing what he wanted to say.
"Come now, Bruce, no need to explain," Lee said. "I'm sure Tim's perfectly fine with this, aren't you hon?"
The man beamed. "Don't worry, man. I don't have any problems with this. Just as long as you don't hurt her okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean, no I won't," Nick replied.
"Now you two put your clothes on," the man said. "We'll be waiting for you at the studio. And if you don't get there in five minutes, we'll be coming back to get you. Hear that, Samantha?"
Sara looked over Nick's shoulder and found the man looking at her. She just nodded.
"Okay, let's go then," Lee said, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him out of the room. "Let's leave your sister and Bruce alone so they can get dressed now." She winked naughtily at Nick and Sara before closing the door.
"What was that all about?" Sara wondered aloud the moment the door was shut. "Lee is acting really weird."
"For some reason, they called us Samantha and Bruce," Nick said, turning around to face Sara. "And that man is acting like Tim. Could Lee be acting her story?"
Sara shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't like this. She could be a psycho, for all we know," she said, resuming her search for their clothes.
Nick's eyes followed her and he can't believe that he wanted to kiss her again. We'd better find those clothes, he told himself, forcing himself to look at the other side of the room. Strange their situation may be, he still couldn't wipe the goofy smile off his face.
"Aha!" Sara's triumphant voice snapped Nick back to reality. "Found them!"
Nick turned and saw Sara behind the desk. He went over there and quickly got into his pants and shirt. He turned around and was amazed to find Sara completely dressed. "Wow, you dress up fast for a girl."
"I had to, with you in such close proximity," Sara teased. "Seriously, Nick, what are we going to do now?"
"Our field kits aren't here," Nick said. "I don't have my gun either."
"Neither do I," Sara remarked. "And my phone's also missing."
Just then, the door opened and the man who was acting like Tim stuck his head in. "Good, you're dressed," he said, entering the room. "Come on, they're ready to start."
"Start what?" Sara asked.
"Dancing, of course," Tim replied, looking at her curiously. "Come on, you know they can't start without Bruce."
"Oh good God, don't tell me I have to dance," Nick muttered under his breath. Glancing at Sara, he said, "Come on, let's get this done and over with."
As they walked towards the door, both tensely watched the man from the corner of their eyes. Nick took Sara's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Somehow, their cautiousness was more out of habit; instinctively, they really don't feel that they're in danger.
The corridor was now brightly lit, and to their amazement, the empty space that was the bulk of the building was now teeming with beautiful women. There was a grand piano on one side and a band of musicians were waiting with their instruments. Nick threw Sara an I-don't-believe-this look and she mouthed, "Me, too."
"Okay, ladies, let's start now, Mr. Stockard has finally graced us with his presence," called a man standing at the center. He clapped sharply and called, "Places, everybody go to your places!"
Nick and Sara watched in awe as the ladies assembled themselves. The man clapped twice again and the band began playing. Soon, the ladies were dancing. At the middle of the song, the group parted in the middle, exposing Lee. Lee began singing solo and dancing at the center. Apparently, she was the main performer of the number.
When the song ended, the man clapped and exclaimed, "Perfect! Now let's move on to the next number."
The ladies performed several more numbers after that. Nick and Sara watched in amazement from the sidelines, with Tim standing and clapping beside Nick. They still have no idea what was going on, but there seemed to be no other choice for them but to play along.
"This is crazy," Sara muttered halfway through the performance. "I wonder why Brass hasn't reached us yet."
Nick shrugged. "Maybe he had an urgent assignment."
"Shhh," Tim admonished them. The pair fell silent again, and watched the rest of the performance without saying anything.
After the last number, Lee came bounding towards them and fell into Tim's open arms. "Whew, that was exhausting!"
"You were great, Scarlet," he assured her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Wasn't she, Bruce?"
"Yeah," Nick agreed, not at all surprised that Tim called Lee Scarlet.
"Thanks!" Lee beamed.
"Scarlet, honey, I need to take Samantha home now," Tim said, looking at his watch.
Sara looked at Nick in alarm. She wasn't about to go anywhere with this stranger.
Tim saw this. He smiled. "Don't worry, sis, Bruce can go with us if he wants. He has seen tonight's performance anyway."
"Yeah, lucky you three," Lee said, pouting dramatically. "You all can go now and I have to stay here and practice some more."
This is just like Lee's story, Sara thought, feeling a little panicky. If the three of them leave in Tim's car, it could all end up the way Lee narrated the night before. There has to be a better ending to this story, she thought. I don't want to die yet.
Beside her, Nick was thinking of exactly the same thing. Just then, he had an idea. "Why don't I just take Sar - Samantha home?" he told Tim.
"Well, I guess that's all right, but how am I getting to the club tonight?" Tim wanted to know.
"You can take my car," Nick replied. Surely a guy like Bruce Stockard has his own car.
Tim looked at Nick closely. "You don't have your car here, you came with me, remember?"
"Oh, right," Nick said sheepishly. He nudged Sara, asking for help.
Sara thought fast. "Why don't you ride with Lee?"
"What's with you two? You're not at all thinking straight," Tim remarked. "You know Bruce's dad doesn't like that."
"Well, he's not coming tonight anyway," Nick fibbed. "So what do you say, Tim?"
Lee giggled. "Come on, Tim, these two obviously want to spend more time together. Why don't you just do as Samantha suggested?"
Tim looked at Nick and Sara dubiously. "Are you sure your dad's not gonna be there?"
"I'm sure," Nick nodded, hoping he looked and sounded confident. "The keys?"
Tim got the keys from his pocket and handed them to Nick. "Okay, just make sure you take her straight home, you hear me?"
"Yes, we're not going anywhere else," Nick said, grabbing Sara's hand. He began walking towards the exit, Sara in tow.
"Goodbye!" Lee called after them. Nick and Sara paused just long enough to wave goodbye to Lee.
The moment they got out of the building, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, what was that all about?"
"Beats me," Sara shrugged, surprised to see that morning was just breaking. "A lot of things don't add up."
"At least we're out of there now," Nick said. "But we'll both be dead when Grissom finds out we lost our field kits."
"The purse!" Sara moaned. "I can't believe we lost the evidence."
"Hey, if we could lose our clothes, I think we'll be perfectly capable of losing the purse," Nick remarked, his eyes teasing. Sara was about to answer back when they heard a familiar voice call them.
"Nick! Sara!"
Both of them turned to the direction where the voice came from and they saw Warrick emerging from the woods. Brass was not far behind.
"Hey, thanks for finally finding us," Sara greeted them. "What took you so long?"
Warrick nodded to Brass. "Chief here couldn't find this clearing."
"Sorry guys," Brass apologized. "Everything went haywire when it rained."
"Where are your kits?" Warrick asked.
Nick pointed to the building. "In there. Sara and I had to go in when it rained."
Before Nick or Sara could stop him, Warrick opened the door. Expecting to see a brightly lit studio and to hear music and voices, Nick and Sara were astonished with the dark silence that greeted them. Sara felt chills run up her spine and Nick tensed beside her.
"Come on, let's go get them," Warrick called.
Hesitantly, Nick followed Warrick, with Sara behind him and Brass bringing up the rear. Warrick turned on his flashlight and followed Nick's directions to the office. The whole building was eerily dark and silent.
"There they are," Warrick said, shining his flashlight into the office. Nick and Sara went in and found their field kits on floor by the couch.
"Nick, this is creepy," Sara whispered as she and Nick went to retrieve their stuff. "Where are all those people?"
"How in the world did this happen?" Nick countered. "What will the others say when we tell them our story?"
"Are we going to tell them? We could just say that we went in here when it started to rain."
Nick looked at Sara for a moment. "Okay," he finally said. "That's what we'll tell them."
They grabbed their field kits and followed Warrick out. Neither said a word during their trek back to the road. Both were still trying to figure out what really happened that night.
A Glimpse of the Past
By Moose
Chapter 3
The insistent knocking on the door woke Sara. Nick stirred slightly on top of her, and she shook him awake. "Nick, someone's at the door."
"Go away!" Nick called, not quite up yet.
"Stockard, the troupe's gonna be here soon," yelled the person on the other side of the door.
That woke Nick. "Stockard?" he asked Sara, who looked as mystified as he was.
The pounding at the door continued. "Bruce, if you don't open the door in ten seconds, we're going in and drag you out."
"What the hell is going on?" Nick asked Sara, getting up and putting on his boxers. "I can't even find my clothes!"
"What about me?" Sara exclaimed, slipping on her nightgown. "Look what you did to this."
Nick couldn't help but grin. He gave Sara a quick kiss. "Sorry about that," he said, although his tone told her he wasn't really sorry about it. "I couldn't help it, it's all your fault."
"Yeah, yeah," Sara replied. The pounding at the door just got louder. "What are we going to do Nick?"
"We have to get dressed," Nick said, getting up and going around the room. Sara began looking for their clothes as well, one hand keeping her nightgown in place.
"We're coming in, Bruce!"
Nick leaped in front of Sara just as the door opened. A man in a suit walked in the room, grinning. "I knew it," he said jovially. "I knew she was with you!"
Lee poked her head into the room. "Hey, you two had a great night, I suppose," she said, her tone just as teasing as the man's. "Better get dressed now. Everyone's gonna be here any minute now."
"Lee, I - we," Nick stammered, not quite knowing what he wanted to say.
"Come now, Bruce, no need to explain," Lee said. "I'm sure Tim's perfectly fine with this, aren't you hon?"
The man beamed. "Don't worry, man. I don't have any problems with this. Just as long as you don't hurt her okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I mean, no I won't," Nick replied.
"Now you two put your clothes on," the man said. "We'll be waiting for you at the studio. And if you don't get there in five minutes, we'll be coming back to get you. Hear that, Samantha?"
Sara looked over Nick's shoulder and found the man looking at her. She just nodded.
"Okay, let's go then," Lee said, grabbing the man's hand and pulling him out of the room. "Let's leave your sister and Bruce alone so they can get dressed now." She winked naughtily at Nick and Sara before closing the door.
"What was that all about?" Sara wondered aloud the moment the door was shut. "Lee is acting really weird."
"For some reason, they called us Samantha and Bruce," Nick said, turning around to face Sara. "And that man is acting like Tim. Could Lee be acting her story?"
Sara shrugged. "I don't know. But I don't like this. She could be a psycho, for all we know," she said, resuming her search for their clothes.
Nick's eyes followed her and he can't believe that he wanted to kiss her again. We'd better find those clothes, he told himself, forcing himself to look at the other side of the room. Strange their situation may be, he still couldn't wipe the goofy smile off his face.
"Aha!" Sara's triumphant voice snapped Nick back to reality. "Found them!"
Nick turned and saw Sara behind the desk. He went over there and quickly got into his pants and shirt. He turned around and was amazed to find Sara completely dressed. "Wow, you dress up fast for a girl."
"I had to, with you in such close proximity," Sara teased. "Seriously, Nick, what are we going to do now?"
"Our field kits aren't here," Nick said. "I don't have my gun either."
"Neither do I," Sara remarked. "And my phone's also missing."
Just then, the door opened and the man who was acting like Tim stuck his head in. "Good, you're dressed," he said, entering the room. "Come on, they're ready to start."
"Start what?" Sara asked.
"Dancing, of course," Tim replied, looking at her curiously. "Come on, you know they can't start without Bruce."
"Oh good God, don't tell me I have to dance," Nick muttered under his breath. Glancing at Sara, he said, "Come on, let's get this done and over with."
As they walked towards the door, both tensely watched the man from the corner of their eyes. Nick took Sara's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Somehow, their cautiousness was more out of habit; instinctively, they really don't feel that they're in danger.
The corridor was now brightly lit, and to their amazement, the empty space that was the bulk of the building was now teeming with beautiful women. There was a grand piano on one side and a band of musicians were waiting with their instruments. Nick threw Sara an I-don't-believe-this look and she mouthed, "Me, too."
"Okay, ladies, let's start now, Mr. Stockard has finally graced us with his presence," called a man standing at the center. He clapped sharply and called, "Places, everybody go to your places!"
Nick and Sara watched in awe as the ladies assembled themselves. The man clapped twice again and the band began playing. Soon, the ladies were dancing. At the middle of the song, the group parted in the middle, exposing Lee. Lee began singing solo and dancing at the center. Apparently, she was the main performer of the number.
When the song ended, the man clapped and exclaimed, "Perfect! Now let's move on to the next number."
The ladies performed several more numbers after that. Nick and Sara watched in amazement from the sidelines, with Tim standing and clapping beside Nick. They still have no idea what was going on, but there seemed to be no other choice for them but to play along.
"This is crazy," Sara muttered halfway through the performance. "I wonder why Brass hasn't reached us yet."
Nick shrugged. "Maybe he had an urgent assignment."
"Shhh," Tim admonished them. The pair fell silent again, and watched the rest of the performance without saying anything.
After the last number, Lee came bounding towards them and fell into Tim's open arms. "Whew, that was exhausting!"
"You were great, Scarlet," he assured her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "Wasn't she, Bruce?"
"Yeah," Nick agreed, not at all surprised that Tim called Lee Scarlet.
"Thanks!" Lee beamed.
"Scarlet, honey, I need to take Samantha home now," Tim said, looking at his watch.
Sara looked at Nick in alarm. She wasn't about to go anywhere with this stranger.
Tim saw this. He smiled. "Don't worry, sis, Bruce can go with us if he wants. He has seen tonight's performance anyway."
"Yeah, lucky you three," Lee said, pouting dramatically. "You all can go now and I have to stay here and practice some more."
This is just like Lee's story, Sara thought, feeling a little panicky. If the three of them leave in Tim's car, it could all end up the way Lee narrated the night before. There has to be a better ending to this story, she thought. I don't want to die yet.
Beside her, Nick was thinking of exactly the same thing. Just then, he had an idea. "Why don't I just take Sar - Samantha home?" he told Tim.
"Well, I guess that's all right, but how am I getting to the club tonight?" Tim wanted to know.
"You can take my car," Nick replied. Surely a guy like Bruce Stockard has his own car.
Tim looked at Nick closely. "You don't have your car here, you came with me, remember?"
"Oh, right," Nick said sheepishly. He nudged Sara, asking for help.
Sara thought fast. "Why don't you ride with Lee?"
"What's with you two? You're not at all thinking straight," Tim remarked. "You know Bruce's dad doesn't like that."
"Well, he's not coming tonight anyway," Nick fibbed. "So what do you say, Tim?"
Lee giggled. "Come on, Tim, these two obviously want to spend more time together. Why don't you just do as Samantha suggested?"
Tim looked at Nick and Sara dubiously. "Are you sure your dad's not gonna be there?"
"I'm sure," Nick nodded, hoping he looked and sounded confident. "The keys?"
Tim got the keys from his pocket and handed them to Nick. "Okay, just make sure you take her straight home, you hear me?"
"Yes, we're not going anywhere else," Nick said, grabbing Sara's hand. He began walking towards the exit, Sara in tow.
"Goodbye!" Lee called after them. Nick and Sara paused just long enough to wave goodbye to Lee.
The moment they got out of the building, Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, what was that all about?"
"Beats me," Sara shrugged, surprised to see that morning was just breaking. "A lot of things don't add up."
"At least we're out of there now," Nick said. "But we'll both be dead when Grissom finds out we lost our field kits."
"The purse!" Sara moaned. "I can't believe we lost the evidence."
"Hey, if we could lose our clothes, I think we'll be perfectly capable of losing the purse," Nick remarked, his eyes teasing. Sara was about to answer back when they heard a familiar voice call them.
"Nick! Sara!"
Both of them turned to the direction where the voice came from and they saw Warrick emerging from the woods. Brass was not far behind.
"Hey, thanks for finally finding us," Sara greeted them. "What took you so long?"
Warrick nodded to Brass. "Chief here couldn't find this clearing."
"Sorry guys," Brass apologized. "Everything went haywire when it rained."
"Where are your kits?" Warrick asked.
Nick pointed to the building. "In there. Sara and I had to go in when it rained."
Before Nick or Sara could stop him, Warrick opened the door. Expecting to see a brightly lit studio and to hear music and voices, Nick and Sara were astonished with the dark silence that greeted them. Sara felt chills run up her spine and Nick tensed beside her.
"Come on, let's go get them," Warrick called.
Hesitantly, Nick followed Warrick, with Sara behind him and Brass bringing up the rear. Warrick turned on his flashlight and followed Nick's directions to the office. The whole building was eerily dark and silent.
"There they are," Warrick said, shining his flashlight into the office. Nick and Sara went in and found their field kits on floor by the couch.
"Nick, this is creepy," Sara whispered as she and Nick went to retrieve their stuff. "Where are all those people?"
"How in the world did this happen?" Nick countered. "What will the others say when we tell them our story?"
"Are we going to tell them? We could just say that we went in here when it started to rain."
Nick looked at Sara for a moment. "Okay," he finally said. "That's what we'll tell them."
They grabbed their field kits and followed Warrick out. Neither said a word during their trek back to the road. Both were still trying to figure out what really happened that night.