Title: Thinner Than Blood
By: Ashika
Summary: A figure skater from Disney on Ice is dead and, as usual, no one is confessing. The CSI team has a couple of witnesses and a suspect who's nowhere to be found. "There's an underground to figure skating? You've got to be kidding!"
Disclaimer: If I owned any part of CSI, I would hardly be writing fanfiction, now would I? In any case, it belongs to CBS and etc. Disney On Ice is property of Disney and it's affiliates.

Holly dragged her mother through the hallway. "Mommy, I wanna meet Beauty, Beast, and Gaston!"

Her mother laughed. If John hadn't gotten her backstage passes, they could be almost home. But John knew Holly loved figure skating. She loved the skaters, the glitter; the ice. Sometimes Holly's mother wished she had never brought her daughter to an arena. She wished she had left the little white boots on the shelf.

It was too late. Holly was obsessed and her mother had to suffer. They had to get up at 5 to be at the arena for 6. Holly's practice was at 6:30.

Holly's mother would drag herself to the coffee machine, dumping in $1.25 for a large cappuccino. But all of her complaints went away when she got to watch her little girl – blonde hair flying in the wind and little pink skirt fluttering around her. Besides, at least Holly was doing something athletic. She wouldn't be one of those kids who got into violence and drugs. She had something to work for.

So when Disney On Ice came into town, Holly was the first to bring it up. At ten she was capable of blatant manipulation. Her mother was amused by the way her daughter could get her father to do anything. And Holly wanted to go to Disney On Ice.

It was lucky that her husband knew the arena manager. She wasn't sure they would have been able to afford tickets. But John was generous and even gave them the backstage passes.

He'd winked and said, "Don't worry about it. These aren't selling so great anyway. People just don't want to come and see skaters. They want blood and guts. I've always liked figure skating. At least they don't smell nearly as bad as the hockey players. Tell Holly to have a good time."

So they went. The show was good. Holly could barely sit still and when the show was over she wanted to sprint downstairs to the locker rooms. "Hold on, honey. They're just barely off the ice. There's no way that they could be ready for visitors."

Holly tugged on her mother's arm, blue eyes pleading. "Please, Mommy? Let's go now! I want to be first to meet them."

Her mother smiled. "Wait for some of these people to leave. They're going home, so we shouldn't get in their way."

"But - "

Her mother gave her the look. "I said no. We're going to wait and then we'll go." Her gaze softened. "It'll be easier for us to get there if we wait. There won't be so many people moving around."

Holly pouted, but was easily consoled by a lollipop her mother dragged out of her purse. Half the people were gone when Holly's mother finally stood. "Okay, I think we should be fine now. Do you need to use the bathroom?"

Holly wanted to say no, and get right downstairs, but decided against it. If she got to the locker rooms and then had to go to the bathroom, she'd be wasting their time. She nodded to her mother, "Yeah, I have to go pee."

Her mother smiled and led her to the bathrooms. The line was still horrendous, but it seemed to be moving fairly quickly. She stood and waited for her turn, holding her daughter's hand.

"Mommy, I wanna go see them!" Holly whined.

Holly's mother gave her a stern look. "It's almost our turn. Now hush."

Holly fidgeted the entire time, clearly wishing she were meeting the skaters. Their turn came and went and Holly dragged her mother to the skaters. They showed their passes to the guard and he smiled at Holly. "Have a good time, kid."

She smiled like Santa had just given her an ice arena. "I will! I can't wait to meet them!" The guard chuckled before waving them through. "Just go follow the signs. Don't go into the rooms, they'll come out."

Holly's mother smiled back. "Thank you, sir."

The hallway was brightly lit, though one light flickered in its last hours. One man walked toward them clearly in a bad mood. He scowled until he registered that there was someone in front of him. He forced a smile onto his face and nodded to them as they passed by.

Holly, of course, couldn't let him go by without knowing if he were Gaston. "Excuse me, sir," she said. She was always polite to others in public. Holly's mother wished she were so nice at home. "Are you the Beast?"

The man stopped and his smile became a little strained. He turned back to Holly. "Sorry, no I'm not."

"Are you Gaston?"

"Nope. Hey, I've got to go. Sorry."

Holly looked disappointed but nodded. "Can you sign my program anyway?"

The man laughed, his smile real and looking years younger. "Sure, what's your name?"

"Holly."

"Cool." He signed the program in the silver gel pen Holly had insisted on bringing. "Do you skate?"

Her face was eager. "Yes, I love skating. I skate everyday. I want to win the Olympics."

The man looked sad. "Awesome, you do that. I'll be watching." He didn't sound patronizing and Holly looked ecstatic. He handed the program back to her.

Best wishes, Holly. Go for the gold!

His signature was indecipherable, but Holly didn't care. Her first signature!

Her mother wanted to know who he was. As he hoisted his bag back onto his shoulder she asked, "What's your name, sir?"

"Daniel Ramleb," he smiled. It was forced. "I'm sorry, I really have to go."

Holly's mother was worried. "Are the other skaters still here?"

His jaw muscle ticked. "Yeah, just keep walking. You'll find them."

"Thanks."

He walked on and Holly and her mother trekked toward the rest of the skaters. The pale grey walls were marred with hockey puck marks. Holly continued to babble about how excited she was to meet the skaters.

A locker room door was open. Holly's mother thought it may be the doors they were looking for. She remembered the guard's warning. Don't go into the rooms. She wondered why.

Before she could stop her, Holly was plunging into the locker room.

"Holly, no - "

The door stood wide open and a girl stood over another holding a skate. Blood dripped from the blade and the girl on the floor was obviously wounded – badly.

Holly's eyes grew round and she screamed.


AN: Well…that was interesting. I will actually introduce the CSI team next chapter, but this was sticking in my mind. Now, don't be angry, but Disney On Ice doesn't actually get farther west than Oklahoma (according to the Disney On Ice website). I didn't realize this until after I started writing this, mainly because there was something I misinterpreted. All in all, even without Disney actually coming to Las Vegas, I did check and there are arenas in LV. Of course, there's arena almost anywhere. I do, as a general rule, know what I'm talking about. I haven't been on any tours, but I've heard stories from my coaches. And I've done some traveling through skating, myself. I also realize that Beauty and the Beast is only playing in Asia and Australia.

Any questions or comments? Please leave a review. It makes my day, even if they're flaming.