CSI: Lessons Learned
Disclaimer: We do not own CSI: or anything associated with it. Unfortunately, those belong to CBS and Atlantis. If we really did own CSI, trust us, you'd know.
Summary: A seminar at a high school brings more trouble than it's worth. Will the team be able to work it out with the help of two teenage fanatics?
A/N: This story is based on real events and real people from our past. Please forgive any injustice done to their characters; it is meant only to enhance the plot of the story. The views represented in this story are not necessarily the views held by the authors themselves.
Dedication: This story is dedicated to the many teachers and students of Satellite High School that have changed our lives, but more importantly, to those who never saw graduation with the rest of us. Will and Allie, this one's for you.
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Chapter 1: Setting the Stage
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"I've set up a Special Interest Seminar for this Friday," Mr. Funk told his AP World History class. The teens looked up from their essay exams, knowing that a Funk seminar was one of the best ways to get out of a few classes. "It's on different branches of study under forensics," he continued.
Thirty minutes later the bell rang signaling the end of class. The class finished their last few sentences and turned in their exams, thankful for an excuse to flee out into the beautiful Florida sunshine.
"Kati, Terri, hold on a minute." The girls both stopped. Mr. Funk knew that these girls would be especially interested in going to the seminar. He also wanted to know if they had anything to do with the cross-dressing plastic flamingo herds outside his portable.
"Look girls," he grinned, seeing their wide-eyed stares, "I mostly set this thing up for you. So I have gotten the day off for the both of you. You guys get to be the guests, gophers, and tour guides." He watched as smiles lit both of the girl's faces, he could tell they were excited. "I want you guys to meet me in my portable tomorrow at 7:30. Also, dress nice. I told the group coming that some of my best students would be their tour guides tomorrow. I want them to be impressed."
As the girls left, Funk smiled to himself, chuckling at the interesting day his friend and his colleagues were sure to have tomorrow. Suddenly Kati popped her head into the room.
"Funk, I just wanted to thank you for this chance to view this stuff up close," she said, causing Funk to smile. "Because nobody gets to see flamingoes this up close!" she called over her shoulder as she ran.
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The next morning the girls showed up promptly at 7:30, finding a note on the corner of Funk's desk telling them to help themselves to some breakfast. Terri had decided to wear a nice linen pant and pink blouse for the day. Since the heat was up again, she had her hair up in a ponytail. Kati, however, had opted for a knee-length black skirt with a slit in the side, with a cranberry blouse and black vest. Her hair was down and it's chocolate corkscrews reached the middle of her back. The girls looked about the same, both were relatively short and had brown hair and amber-hazel eyes. Terri had paler skin, almost a baby pink, while Kati had more olive tones.
The girls were in the middle of fighting over an apple and spice donut when a group of people started to walk in. As Mr. Funk came in and started to give introductions, he noticed Kati looking at him expectantly. He just smirked and pulled a dollar from his pocket and handed it to her, the group stared on slightly confused as she hugged the man and ran out the door.
"Sorry folks… Kati can't function without Diet Pepsi in her system," Funk explained while Terri just laughed at her friend's antics. Once she had returned, a man who looked like the head of the visiting group broke the awkward silence first.
"I am Dr. Gil Grissom," said the man. Both of the girl's eyes grew wide and Kati took a large gulp of her Diet Pepsi. Terri and Kati looked back and forth at each other, Funk just sniggered.
"As in the entomological genius?" Kati ventured,
"With the fetal pig?" Terri continued.
Both looked at the group with shy eyes.
"I can see Tom has been talking about me again," he stated as his team began to take an interest in the girls before them. Kati and Terri shared a mischievous smirk and began to converse in sign language, much to everyone's surprise. All except Funk, that is. He was used to the two girls going back and forth, fingers flying like hummingbird wings.
After a moment of watching, Grissom joined in the conversation.
/ I'm glad that you find us so interesting, girls. It's not often that we run into such interested and entertaining students such as yourselves. /
Suddenly, both girls stopped their signing and blushed. They weren't used to having their conversations interrupted by nationally acclaimed forensic geniuses, not to mention understood.
Grissom addressed the girls again. / Let's continue with the introductions, shall we? /
Nodding, the girls quieted their hands and their minds, and looked to the others in the group as Funk laughed and Grissom started to introduce them.
"I supervise the graveyard shift at the Las Vegas crime lab. Ms. Catherine Willows here is my next in command, a CSI Level III with a specialty in blood pattern analysis. Standing next to her is our resident expert in Audio/Visual analysis-"
"Warrick Brown!" Terri squealed, her excitement palpable, making the others in the room laugh.
"Well," Grissom praised, "you certainly know your forensic scientists."
"Funk trained us well," Kati grinned maliciously.
"I can see that… As for the rest of my team, this is Nick Stokes and Sara Sidle. Nick specializes in Trace, and Sara in Material and Element analysis. Greg Sanders couldn't make it, he had to stay and help sort out the DNA backlog."
Suddenly, the door to Funk's trailer burst open and all heads turned to see who had barged their way in. Although teacher and students showed no recognition to the man in a suit and tie, the others seemed to know him as he was greeted warmly.
"Sorry, guys. Hit a little traffic on the causeway and then the woman at the front desk was a bitch about a visitor's badge."
Terri and Kati sighed and rolled their eyes. "Typical attendance…" they said simultaneously.
"This is one of our good friends on the force, Homicide Detective Jim Brass," Nick laughed. "Usually he's everywhere before we are."
"That's my job," Brass smiled.
"Well," Funk jumped in. "Gil, these are my two top students. This is Terri Gordon, and the sinister one over here is Kati Owen. They've both been interested in forensics for as long as I've known them."
"That's good to know," Warrick said, his bright green eyes shining. "Maybe you could help us with the seminar."
Awe, disbelief, and sheer joy crossed the girls' faces at the thought of it.
"Before we get into all that, I believe we were promised a tour!" Sara piped up, a smile spreading from her eyes to her lips. "Know any decent tour guides?"
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Before long, Kati and Terri were being the best tour guides Satellite High School had ever seen, pointing out not only the different buildings, but making sure to include notes on the best teachers and classes on campus. By the time they were ready to start setting up for the seminar in the auditorium, they had seen the city of portable classrooms affectionately known by the students as "West Hell, the Trailer Park", the lunch patio, the English building, and they knew which restrooms to avoid and what not to eat in the cafeteria.
"You guys have got a lot going for you here," Catherine smiled, impressed. "This sounds like an amazing place to go to school."
The girls shrugged.
"It's alright," Terri said unenthusiastically. "You just have to know how things work."
"Yeah," Kati agreed. "Once you've figured out the system, it's pretty easy to cheat… and I mean that in the very best way possible, of course," she added with a mischievous smile.
Sara laughed. "I know exactly what you mean. College was the same way, especially in the larger universities, and I went to Harvard, so I learned quick."
As they walked into the auditorium, the girls stopped in their tracks, amazed at the scene before them. The stage had been converted into a crime scene, with yellow tape blocking off the stairs on both stage entrances and a body lying in the middle of a pool of blood.
"This is awesome!" Terri cried. "It looks so real!"
Kati, however, stayed quiet, looking instead to the faces of the Vegas crew. They, too, were staring at the stage, but the looks in their eyes were those of true investigators, not guest speakers.
"I didn't know that you already had this set up," Terri continued, starting toward the stage.
She was stopped by Sara's hand on her shoulder. "We didn't."
As the implications of Sara's response sunk in, Terri's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God!"
"Grab you kits," Grissom said suddenly, as Brass got out his cell phone. "I think our convocation just turned into a case."
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