The yellow brick road came to an end and the small group found themselves gazing up at the enormous castle before them.
"How could Cavallo afford this on his pay?" Warrick asked as his eyes swept across the building.
"Exactly," Nick huffed. "See, that's why I'm gonna have a complete career change!"
Greg's eyes flew to his friend. "Not Miami…""Miami again!" Nick groaned, shaking his head. "What's wrong with Miami?"
"What's right with it?" Sara and Greg said together, their eyes linking. "Jinx!" They both said together, bursting into laughter.
Shaking his head, Grissom made his way towards the steps and looked up. Spotting some movement in the huge doorway, he saw the image of Cavallo as he tried to escape. "CAVALLO!" He yelled.
All eyes turned to where Grissom was looking and suddenly everything scrambled into confusion.
The entire team and their ensemble made their way up the steps, when Catherine spotted the wizard Cavallo turning on his heels to return back up his steps.
"Hurry, hurry," she cried, "Don't delay, I need to get home for my daughter today."
"Calm down Cath," Warrick told her, pulling on her arm trying to calm her down.
"Calm, calm, calm he says, when my poor Lindsey's in a daze. I should be home, I'm a caring mother, please be quick, she has no other."
"We'll get you home in time Cath," Warrick promised as he pulled on her hand to pull her up the steps with him.
"How embarrassed I will be if we don't find a cure in time, how many CSI's are there who constantly speak in rhyme?" Shaking her head, Catherine groaned again. "And what do I tell the teachers, I'll feel like such a goose. What happens when I meet with them speaking like Dr. Seuss?"
"Brass said the cure was in the castle," Sara called out as she reached the huge doors.
"My brain is in there somewhere!" Hank yelled only to quake in fear when Heather shoved his own straw foot in his mouth.
"Soon I will have my chastity belt key returned and then you will not be worried about a brain," she purred, her pace quickening as she caught up with the others.
The castle was dark inside, the empty hallways echoing with every sound. Looking around, Grissom saw Cavallo's shadowy figure trying to open one of the doors but the key refused to turn in the lock.
"Hold it right there, Robert," Grissom yelled as he raced closer to Cavallo.
Robert Cavallo stopped what he was doing and turned around to face the small group of people who had started to gather around him. "This is my castle, you are all trespassing."
"We're here as CSIs, Robert," Grissom told him as he put on his authoritive voice. "Now hand over that key and tell us where the missing authors are."
"No, it's mine," he hissed as he yanked the key from the lock and held it to his chest.
"Actually, that key is mine," Lady Heather told him in her best seductress voice as she stepped closer.
Cavallo's eyes widened in shock and he held on tighter to the key, the red lace that was looped in between the hole draping over his fingers. "It's mine, I found it."
"I need my key," Heather insisted, backing Cavallo into a corner.
"Help," Hank yelped when Heather reached out for her missing key and pinned Cavallo against the wall. Looking towards Warrick, Hank waved a pleading arm around him. "Help!"
Warrick looked Hank Scarecrow up and down and pulled on Catherine's arm to take her away from the scene before her.
"You played our Sara for a fool and filled her heart with pain, you'll get just what is coming to you in Lady Heather's domain," Catherine told him before Warrick pulled her away from him.
Hanks mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. When Heather reached for him and sent straw flying in every direction, he cried pitifully when she started stroking him with her key.
"Looks like Lady Heather has her key back," Sara muttered softly as she leant in closer to Grissom's arm.
Grissom looked down at her in shock and gulped heavily. "She never gave me her key, Sara."
"Thanks for telling me," she smiled sweetly and squeezed his hand then turned her attention to both Nick and Greg who were in front of the locked door with their backs towards her.
"It's stuck, Nick," Greg whined.
"It can't be stuck, give it another try."
"I can't, it's too stiff."
Sara scoffed lightly, her chuckles simmering slightly as she stepped up to stand in between them and put her arms around their shoulders. "Is this a bad time or would you two like to be alone?"
"Sara…" Nick growled.
"Oh come on guys, you can tell me." She grinned, "When are you gonna be picking out curtains, because you know both Catherine and me want to be flower girls, and then you'll have to make Warrick the best man because I wouldn't want to piss him off if I were you…"
"You are not helping," Greg groaned as he took a conscious step away from Nick.
"Oh come on, you're so cute," she beamed.
Nick ignored her, turning his head away from her infectious smile as he pushed the door forcefully with his body.
"Uh Nick," she whispered, patting his arm insistently.
"Move back Sar," he told her gallantly, "I'm gonna get this door open."
Stepping aside, Sara once again tapped his shoulder, "Nick…""What?"
"The door…"
"I know, I'm trying to open it," he told her huffily as he thumped into it again with his shoulder.
"Uh…it says pull," she told him sweetly, watching the colour creep up his cheeks when he realized his own mistake.
"Oh, I knew that," he muttered, then reached down to the handle and pulled the door open.
Cavallo tried to make a run for it but tripped over Hank's abandoned leg and fell with a thump onto the floor. Warrick left Catherine's side and caught him before he could make an escape for the outside.
"Where are the missing authors?" he asked, shaking Cavallo as he spoke.
"Hey guys, there's a door at the bottom of this corridor and I can hear voices," Nick told them before starting to walk tentatively through the door.
"Nick, you know they prescribe medication for that now," Greg deadpanned, earning a scowl from the young Texan.
"Lead on Nick," Grissom prompted, stepping closer to Sara again as he started to follow.
Warrick held onto Cavallo and pushed him in front of him, "Where are they?"
"I only wanted some stories about me," Cavallo whined. "It's not fair, Grissom and Sara have stories, you and Catherine too, but none for me. I wanted a pairing too."
Glancing behind him, Warrick spotted Heather and Hank and gasped in a breath, "Dang, that is just so wrong."
Everyone else turned to see Heather dangling her key in front of Hank's eyes as he tried to push himself further back into the wall.
"They're made for each other," Sara mused before turning again. "Let's find the authors and go home."
"I too want to return and speak normally once again, if I go to school speaking in rhyme, they will all think I'm insane."
Cavallo looked to Catherine in shock, "You're…""I'm speaking in rhyme as you are aware so don't try and pretend you care." Catherine snapped.
"I didn't mean to make you rhyme," Cavallo groaned, "I'm sorry."
"Save your apologies Cavallo," Warrick told him angrily. "You better think real hard on how to change her back."
When they all reached the closed door, the voices that Nick had heard earlier came drifting through the hard wood.
"How am I supposed to beta a Cavallo fic? I have a relatively strong stomach, but certain pairings are just 'not done'." Marlou asked with a sigh.
"Marlou, hun, you're the best beta we have, even you could make a Cavallo fic look good. Listen, he can't make us write fluff can he?" Amanda asked worriedly. "I only do angst."
"I don't know Mandy, you didn't hear what he told LK."
"LK, what did he tell you?" Amanda asked quietly.
"I don't know how this happened, nobody knew who I was...I was anonymous. I didn't even pay attention to the show." Laura Katharine rambled quickly.
"What did he tell you to do?" the other authors asked her.
Looking up, Laura Katharine sighed, "He took me to one side and told me 'You write fluff--you pair me with someone.'"
"Oh God, he didn't!"
"He did," she sighed, "Why me?"
"Why you? Oh, I can think of a few reasons. But uhm... what *did* you say?" Marlou asked.
Me?" she sighed, "Oh I just said 'ME? FLUFF? Oh, no, I don't do fluff.'"
"Get outta here," Hazeleyes57 laughed. "You write the best fluff."
"If you say so," Laura Katharine sighed.
"Hey, Bangkok and Back, Odyssey Revisited " Amanda reminded her, "to name just a couple."
"Everyone shush," Jane Moss whispered as she crept over to the door, her voice hushed to a whisper, "there's someone outside."
"If it's Cavallo looking for his damn fluff then I say we jump him," Hazeleyes57 suggested.
"That has conjured up some really unpleasant visions there," Amanda groaned, putting her hands over her face. "Thanks Nicola."
"Sorry!"
"And here we go, sliding right back down into the gutter again," Marlou sighed.
"Do we ever come out of it?" Laura Katharine asked innocently.
"Maybe to take a breath," Jane Moss whispered. Taking a step back as the door handle started to turn, she looked around. "We need something heavy to hit him with."
"What about a laptop?" Marlou whispered, looking around until she spotted LSI's laptop resting on top of her sleeping form. "Poor thing was up writing all night."
"Really?" Hazeleyes57 whispered.
"LK, what's she been writing?" Marlou whispered loudly.
Leaning over to take a peek, Laura Katharine drew in a breath and shook her head. "We can't have this laptop, she's writing a new chapter of Remember Lake Tahoe."
"That's excellent," Jane Moss beamed, containing herself before her and the other authors started to discuss the finer points of the story.
Before they had a chance to react, the door flew open and Nick and Greg came tumbling inside.