A/N: Thanks goes out to everyone who has taken the time to read this fic! I'm really sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up… The Science Fair has been pretty difficult to write, for whatever reason. In any event, I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
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Disclaimer: I do not own any part of CSI or its characters. That honor goes to the good folks over at CBS.
Title: Nick and Sara vs. the Volcanoes
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THE FAIR: Twenty-Six Hours Prior
"This is… ridiculous," Nick sighed, as he and Sara walked down one of Northrose Elementary School's corridors. "I still can't believe that someone would steal from a little kid…" he mumbled, as they carried their clipboards to the first volcano.
Smiling over at the young boy, Sara took a look at the volcano.
"Hi!" seven year old Tommy Tucker grinned at the two judges. "This is my volcano!" he explained, pointing to the gray-colored, cone-shaped volcano.
James's volcano is red and brown, right? Nick asked himself, kneeling down to better peer at Tommy's project.
"How did you make this?" Sara asked Tommy, glancing at the pre-written questions on her official clipboard.
"Well," Tommy hesitated, puckering up his lips. "My mommy made it for me, actually!" he said with a huge smile. And then opening his eyes wide, his mouth formed a giant 'O' shape. "Oops!" he exclaimed, covering his mouth with his hands. "I wasn't s'posed to say that!" he frowned, as his lower lip started to quiver. "Mommy's gonna be mad at me!" he moaned, sitting back down behind his booth.
Sara raised an eyebrow, glancing at Nick. "Well… uh… so… did you help your mommy make the volcano…?"
"I watched…" Tommy admitted, before his expression fell again. "Oops… I don't think I was s'posed to say that, either…" he sniffled.
Sara wrinkled her nose, biting her lip. "Well…" she trailed off. "Good luck with the science fair, and… we'll see you at the award's ceremony!" she simply told the little boy, making some notes on her clipboard, and walking away. When she and Nick were safely out of earshot of the child, she frowned. "See? This is why I hate science fairs!" she told him. "No one ever makes his or her own project! It's all about whose parent or guardian can make the best project!"
Nick chuckled, smiling at her. "I bet you did your own project, Sara," he grinned, as they continued on to the next volcano.
"Well… of course I did, but…" she trailed off, as they turned the corner. "I still felt like the science fair was really for the adults…"
Nick just laughed, as they neared the second volcano entered into the fair. Glancing at the boy's nametag, he grinned. "Hi, you must be Tyler Jones!" he greeting the child, peering across the table at the volcano.
"Wow! How'd you know that?" Tyler asked, his eyes going wide.
Sara laughed. "Magic!"
Nick just raised an eyebrow, trying not to chuckled. "Actually… your nametag has your name written right on it," he informed Tyler, pointing to the sticker on his shirt.
"Oh, right!" Tyler replied, a smile breaking out on his face. "So do you want to hear about my project?" the third grader asked the two judges.
Both Nick and Sara nodded, each smiling at the youngster.
"Well," he began his speech, "This cone shape represents an active volcano, which can form on the land or in the sea…" he explained. "And when you add in the right ingredient, it goes 'KABOOM!'" he added, as if nothing else needed to be said.
"So… what ingredient do you have to add, in order to make the volcano explode?" Sara asked the little boy, trying her hardest to smile and look as excited as Nick did. Glancing over at her colleague, she hid a frown. He… really seems to be enjoying this! I guess… it could be worse… I could be stuck here alone, although stuck really isn't a great word… and…I AM getting to spend some quality time with Nick, outside of the lab…
"Well…" Tyler hesitantly replied, glancing down at one of his index cards. "You use… uh… hmm…vinegar and soda…" he told Sara, biting his lip.
Sara just raised an eyebrow. "Baking soda…?" she asked him.
"Oh, yeah! Baking soda…" he confirmed, looking over at his volcano. "Wanna see it erupt?" he then eagerly asked.
"Sure, go for it!" Nick smiled, glancing down at the gray volcano. This one does not belong to James, either... his was red… "Dump in the vinegar, and let's see what this thing can do!" he grinned, taking a giant step backward.
Tyler added the vinegar, and loudly clapped for himself when his volcano successfully erupted with red and orange lava. "YEA!" he exclaimed, pumping his tiny fists in the air.
Sara just smiled, and Nick patted him on the shoulder. "Nice job, buddy," he kindly told him. "We have to move on now, but we'll see you at the awards show!"
"'Kay, bye!" Tyler replied, turning back to his volcano, and adding some new baking soda to his project.
"You're…pretty good with the kids," Sara commented, as she and Nick walked away.
"Thanks, Ms. Sidle," Nick chuckled, as they approached the third and final volcano that was entered into the fair.
"Hi!" Genevieve Walters smiled, immediately straightening her back the moment that she saw the two judges approaching her.
"Hello," Sara grinned at her. "How are you doing today…?"
"I'm doing okay," the fifth grader replied, glancing at her volcano. "The baking soda is already in there, and the vinegar is ready to go…would you like to see it erupt?" she asked.
"Sure," Nick told her, once again backing up.
Pouring the vinegar into the opening, Genevieve smiled at Nick and Sara. "This volcano is a replica of Mt. Vesuvius," she explained to them. "I've always been fascinated by that particular volcano, and I thought that studying it would make a great science fair project. Take a look behind me," she then instructed Nick and Sara. "I have pictures of Mt. Vesuvius, and… I explored what Italy would actually look like, if Mt. Vesuvius had never erupted…" she added, pointing to a computer model set up just next to her volcano stand.
"Fascinating…" Sara mumbled, studying the pictures. "And where did you find all of this information?"
"I went to the library for the pictures," Genevieve admitted. "I used the internet and a couple of encyclopedias for the basic information, and then went to UNLV to ask a computer major for help with the pictures of what Italy would look like now…"
"Nice work, Genevieve," Nick earnestly told her. "We might have some more questions for you later, but at the very least, we'll see you at the awards ceremony!" he informed her, pulling on Sara's sleeve to get her to move on. Heading away from the table, he gave her a slightly confused look.
"Well that was certainly interesting…" Sara mused. "She infused history, science, and technology into her project…I really liked that one…"
"It was definitely pretty good," Nick confirmed. "Although… that was not James's volcano."
"No, but this is!" Joe Simmons proudly interrupted Nick, briskly walking toward the two CSIs.
"Where… where did you find it…?" Nick asked, frowning.
"It was in the dumpster," Simmons replied. "Not broken, but… covered with a banana peel."
"Well, let's get it back to James," Nick suggested. "And then… we'll figure out who took it."
"I bet you right now," Sara frowned, "That it was the parent of one of the children who took the volcano…"
"No…" Nick shook his head. "There's no way that a parent would have done this…"
"So you think that another student did it…?" she asked. "I… don't know about that, either!"
Nick just grinned, shrugging. "We'll figure it out after we get this science fair started… right, Judge Sidle?" he jokingly asked her, playfully nudging her.
Sara just nodded, as they walked back to James in order to deliver the good news.
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TO BE CONTINUED
