Summary Natalie Davis created miniatures, committed murders and ultimately abducted Sara. The question is why? Rated M for adult content, this story will get dark following Natalie's journey. Spoilers for Season 7 are included so please, you have been warned about the spoilers and darkness.
Author's Note This is my first attempt at a fan fic, so please read and review as suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated. I have tried to keep as honest to the CSI timeline as possible, however, since it is a little fuzzy, so am I. As you read, you will question Ernie's relationship with Natalie. Is Natalie seeing things that aren't there?
This is written with Natalie's perspective in mind…remember that. Ernie realizes what Natalie is and Natalie learns who Gil Grissom is.
Also, I apologize for the long delay in updating. I am in the process of interviewing for new jobs and trying to pack my house up to sell and move across country. Sorry. I promise to try and do better.
Disclaimer I did not create nor do I own neither the characters nor anything to do with CSI. I am merely a fan. That is it.
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Chapter 7x x x x x x x x x x
The first thing Ernie Dell saw when he came into work today was Raymundo Suarez face down, dead in the chicken stun bath. Although it would be a horrible way to die, take your pick, electrocution or drowning, Ernie found it slightly ironic. The thought of how Raymudo died made Ernie smile a bit. Raymundo died in the same smelly, disgusting way in which he lived. Ernie was just glad that Natalie was not around to see it. She had enough troubles with Raymundo, and Ernie didn't think that she should be exposed to that level of violence. As far as Ernie knew, the only dead body that Natalie had ever seen was her sister Chloe, and, well, that was enough. Ernie knew that was the start of all of her troubles and he wanted to do everything that he could to make her life more bearable.
If a dead body wasn't challenging enough for the start of his day, the plant was now swarming with police officers and detectives and various other official people. Too many people poking around if you were to ask him. Ernie really just wished that they would hurry up and do their job so they could get Raymundo out of the stun bath. He was starting to stick up the place worse that the chickens that were piling up.
Ernie was not accustomed to dealing with the police. He had always been able to pull off the friendly grandfather look, enough to just skirt around any sort of suspicion for anything that he might have done. Even when he was younger, he always skimmed along the perimeter, never really calling any attention to himself or his activities. So, when he was questioned at the plant about Raymundo's death, he was miles out of his element and certainly uncomfortable. He had nothing to hide, so he didn't worry that much about talking to the police captain, but still, it bothered him.
The police captain, Jim Brass, asked him a wide variety of questions about his relationship with Raymundo, what he was like and if anyone would want him dead. Ernie told him everything he knew about Raymundo, and about who would want him harmed, well… almost everyone that would want him dead. Ernie was careful to leave out any issue he had with Raymundo and he left Natalie completely out of the conversation. There was no need to bring her into this.
After his conversation with the police captain, Ernie stated to get to work, eventually, cleaning the stun bath the Raymundo's body had occupied. The task gave him time to think. More like time to worry. It was one thing to wish someone else harm, to dream about it, to fantasize about it, but it was something else entirely when your wishes come true. Raymundo had been such a bastard to Natalie, the agony that he inflicted on her, only half of which he probably knew about, and the rest that he couldn't even bring himself to consider. Many nights Ernie wanted to choke Raymundo with his bare hands. He wanted to throttle him for bringing such sadness and distress into Natalie's life. He had vowed that he would make Raymundo pay; he had just hoped he would have been the one to dispense justice. Who would do this to Raymundo? Fate, for once, was kind to Ernie and his family. Or so he thought.
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Ernie came home from his weekly dinner with Natalie only to find that Las Vegas' finest had been traipsing in and out of his house, making a mess of things. There were police cars and cops everywhere, on his lawn, in the street, in his house. They were hauling out brown grocery type bags of his stuff. They were everywhere that he could see.
When he got inside his house, he saw that the police were in his workshop and were taking his molds and miniature projects that he had been working on. Each item was carefully placed in its own individually labeled bag. The police were photographing everything in his home in painstaking detail. His life was being invaded and he was not at all happy about it. This was not good. Not at all.
Later that night, Ernie was hauled down to the police station and grilled about not only Raymundo's death, but to his surprise, Penny Garden and Izzy Delancy as well. This was not going to be a good time. Things took a particularly ugly turn when he saw the photographs of what he recognized as Natalie's work. He could feel his heart beat out of his chest when Gil Grissom showed him all of the photos. Pictures of his molds directly compared to Natalie's miniature items and scenes. Pictures of real dead bodies compared to miniature dead dolls. The detail was exact. For a brief, fleeting second, for just a flash of time, Ernie was proud of what he saw. The miniature scenes were perfect, even beautiful. And then reality struck him. Natalie was a monster?
He was stunned silent. He felt the bile rise up from his stomach into his throat, burning the whole way. He was using all of his energy to keep from vomiting across the table. What could have pushed Natalie to kill these people? She couldn't have anything to do with this…could she? The meeting was a blur. His mind was trying to filter through all of the information he was receiving from the cops and trying to not give Natalie away. He had to protect her. Ernie vaguely remembered them trying to play tough with him. Picking on an old man. He fought right back and without anything to hold him on, they had to let him go.
As Ernie was leaving the police station, he called Natalie on her cell phone immediately. He needed to know if she had any part in what the police showed him. If she did, he had a whole new problem on his hands. He had to talk to her to figure it all out. There had to be a reason. Some misunderstanding. There had to be, otherwise, she was a cold-blooded murderer, something that he could not allow himself to even consider.
"Natalie, it's me. We need to talk… I am coming over right now. The police showed me pictures of them miniatures that we worked on together and dead people. Dead people! Honey, stay right there, I will be there in ten minutes," was the message that Ernie left for her. She never answered her Goddamn phone. It always went straight to voicemail. It never mattered who it was, she never answered the phone. He knew she was looking at the caller id, and knew it was him but she still wouldn't pick up. It made him crazy.
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Natalie was working on a new project when she heard her phone ring. She didn't immediately get up to answer it because she was so engrossed in painting the finishing touches on a new miniature doll that she didn't want to break her stride. Once she started, she always found it difficult to stop. When she was finished painting the necessary details on the doll's face, she got up, took off her rubber gloves, and walked over to her phone. She looked down at it and saw that she had a message. It was from Ernie and after she listened to his message, her heart almost quit beating, actually, it stopped and then traveled up into her throat. She was now gripped by true absolute panic. How could the police know? Did they know about Chloe? Why would they call Ernie and what was he going to do? She would have to tell him, she was never very good at lying to him, as he had a way to make her tell him everything. He was not going to understand. He was not going to be happy with her. She only did what she had to do…
When Ernie arrived at Natalie's apartment door, he took a deep breath before raising his hand to knock. How was he going to talk to her about this? What was he going to say? What was she going to say? She wasn't capable of murder? Was she?
Ernie finally knocked at her door. On the third knock she opened the door to let him in, and he brushed past her into the living room. Now he was the one that was frantically pacing. Maybe he should have seen this coming. It always disturbed him seeing the shrine of sorts that she had of a dead doll from every angle. Her entire apartment was more of a workshop, devoted to her projects. She had no television, no stereo, and no dining room. She did everything while looking up at the massive bloody doll parts. The apartment was dim and dark. The windows were covered by her "art." It reminded him of something out of a horror movie. The only other furniture in space was her bed. It was a depressing and scary place to be, but it seemed to make her happy and comfortable, so he never said anything. Maybe he should have.
Natalie just sat on the edge of her bed waiting for Ernie to speak. She never took her eyes off of him as he paced back and forth through her room. He was upset and he kept opening his mouth to say something and then snapping it back shut, shaking his head. She was not used to seeing Ernie upset and unnerved. That was usually her role.
After a few tense moments to compose himself, Ernie started, " I just came from the Police Department and they showed me your miniatures and pictures of dead people."
Natalie was starting to panic, tears forming in her eyes. She could feel her pulse race and her mouth went dry. She was at a loss as to what to do or say.
"Honey, the cops know I helped you build some of that stuff. They even know I delivered that package to the old lady's house like you asked me to." He paused for a second, trying to get the most difficult sentence out. 'They think that Ikilled all of those people."
"But you didn't." Natalie said simply, shaking her head, not really understanding the conversation.
"Did you kill them?" Ernie asked, trying to look into her eyes. He was desperately struggling to read her.
Natalie just looked down at the floor, overwhelmed by terror, completely frozen, unable to answer.
Ernie stepped closer to Natalie, bending down, trying to get to her level. When she didn't acknowledge him, he put both hands on her knees. He slowly started rubbing his hands in small circles over her knees, moving up her thighs. "Honey," he started again, "did you?"
"Yes…" Natalie barely whispered.
Ernie was shocked. His hand movements stopped and he started to stand up and pace again. He thought that Natalie was the only thing that he had done right in his life. How could she have done this, murder? It was like he was looking at a different person. At this moment, Ernie realized that this was no longer his little girl; Natalie was now something much more.
"Why? Why would you do that?" Ernie pleaded.
Natalie continued to look down at the floor, looking at the lower region of the room, not wanting to deal with this, not now. Maybe if she ignored him, he would go away. This would all go away. She started to hear a little tune in her head.
" Honey, they are going to put you in jail!" Ernie tried to find a tone to emphasize the importance of the conversation while keeping her grounded in the here and now. He was trying to desperately find a way to rationalize Natalie's actions. "Unless you had a good reason to do what you did. The cops would listen to that. What about Raymundo…did he touch you?' he asked, needing to know but not really wanting to know the answer.
"Yess…that smell…" Natalie said, maybe a little too loudly. Now everything was starting to come crashing into her head. She was seeing blinding flashes and bursts of Raymundo. Him pawing on her, grabbing her, reeking of bleach. She felt like she was falling, and that she was losing all control over herself as she was over her life. With the miniatures, she had complete control, now…everything was wildly spinning free.
Natalie was frantically trying to pay attention to Ernie. She could only hear every other word that he was saying now. His words were intermixed with that little tune. The same little tune that always burrows into her skull.
"Something is wrong with my little insides.
I'm just as sick as can be."
The room is starting to become fuzzy and unfocused. Ernie is angry now and Natalie is trying to understand why. He is more animated than she had ever seen him and it is frightening her. The tears in her eyes are close to overflowing; she is losing her fight to hold them back.
Ernie was continuing, trying to get through to Natalie, "And the old lady? The pervert rock star?" He came down to Natalie's level again, bending down so that he is able to look into her eyes, resting his hands on her face, pulling her towards him, to look at him.
"If they did something, tell me. I know some people deserve killed, I do, but you had a good reason right?"
"Yes…" Natalie said, now hearing more of Ernie and less of the song. Everything is starting to come back into focus. She blinks her eyes and leans in to his touch. He slides his right hand down from her face, trailing it softly, soothingly down her arm. Somehow his touch always seems to bring her back. Natalie lets her tears flow slowly, freely, because she knows that will make him stop being upset with her. He is going to stop talking and tell her everything will be all right. It always is. At least that is what he always says.
"All right, listen to me. I am going to take care of this. I ain't goin' to let nothing happen to you. Promise you won't kill anymore. Promise me you will be a good girl. I need you to do that for me. After all you are my special girl" he finishes with a smile.
Natalie instantly perks up "Your special girl?"
"That's right, my special girl."
"I promise" Natalie responds sweetly.
Ernie kisses her softly and turns to leave. He has to do something to protect her. He can't let anything happen to her. He looks back at Natalie once more before he walks out her door, smiling sadly at her, knowing that he is her only last hope. And with that last thought, he leaves her to go home.
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When Ernie got home, he quickly put all of his important documents in a locked firebox that he kept under his bed. He gathered together all of his credit cards and a large amount of cash to put in the box as well. Both Natalie and Trevor knew that if anything were to ever happen to him, they were supposed to get the box before anyone else could. The less that the Government knew about what to take, the better. He did remove one item from the box. His revolver.
Ernie then went to the kitchen and brewed a pot of tea. After his encounter with the police and Natalie, hot tea sounded very good to him right now. When it was ready, he poured a bit into a fine china cup, adding sugar and milk. He then went down to his workshop to use his computer. He was going to confess to Natalie's crimes. The police would eventually find out about Natalie and there was no way that she would be able to survive prison, let alone the trial.
Ernie turned on his webcam and logged on to his email. He was preparing to send his confession to Gil Grissom.
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Two days after their "fight", where Natalie made her promise to Ernie, they were supposed to have lunch together. It was grilled cheese and tomato soup day and Natalie was happy about the opportunity to see Ernie.
When Ernie was ten minutes late, Natalie tried calling him with no luck. After half an hour, Natalie called Trevor to see if he knew anything. Nothing. Natalie started to panic, where is Ernie? She called the hospitals, called Mannleigh Chickens, she called everywhere she could think of. In fact, the only place she did not call was the police station.
Frantic, Natalie called a cab to take her over to Ernie's house. Just waiting for it was making her insane. Her mind was flooded with thoughts about horrible things happening to Ernie. Maybe something had happened to him. Maybe he was hurt or sick.
As the cab turned down Ernie's street, that was when she saw it. Police cars. Lots of them in the distance. She could see the alternating red and blue and white lights. She was mesmerized for a moment and then told the driver to take her home. She had to get home and figure out what was happening.
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When Natalie got home she was a mess. Actually, a mess would be the kindest way to describe Natalie's state of mind. Her thoughts were working overtime and she had envisioned every horrible, gut-wrenching scenario that made up her nightmares.
She had called everyone that she could think of. There had to be another way to find out what was going on. Natalie checked Ernie's voicemail, with no luck. She knew it was wrong, but Natalie knew all of Ernie's passwords and PIN numbers. She didn't want to know, but with a photographic memory, it was hard not to. Sometimes she would check his voicemail or check his e-mail, just to make sure. To make sure that everything he told her was true.
Finally, she checked his outgoing e-mails. There were order confirmations for his website, notes from his Locomotiville friends. Nothing that was telling her what was happening. And then she looked at the last message. It was to a and was titled "I CONFESS TO THE MURDERS OF"
Natalie froze. One word was repeatedly bouncing through her head "No." How could he do that? Why would he confess to what she did. He said it would be ok, and she believed him. She just never thought that he would take responsibility for what she had done. It was her crusade, not his.
Natalie opened the sent message and clicked on the link within the message. She was surprised to see that it was Ernie. He had sent a video clip confession to a Gil Grissom. She smiled at the thought that he was trying to protect her. He was the only one that truly cared for her, loved her.
As he finished his message, Natalie was still no closer to knowing what had happened. Then, she watched in horror as Ernie quickly raised his revolver, placed it under his chin and fired. He fell forward, with the bloody hole in his head facing the camera. His body was soon swarmed by SWAT members and Natalie watched in shock as they checked his vital signs. She heard one of them say he was dead. She turned it off and abruptly ran to the bathroom to be sick. She continued throwing up until there was nothing left and she was just a heaving pile on her bathroom floor.
When Natalie woke up, she was still lying on her bathroom floor. She was cold and shaking and she only had one thought. Gil Grissom.
Natalie had made a promise not to kill anyone else to Ernie. But he was dead and so was her promise to him. Gil Grissom had taken away the only light, the only bright point in her life. If it weren't for that man, Ernie would still be alive, here with her. Gil Grissom had forced Ernie to make a choice. His life for hers.
Gil Grissom would have to make the same choice, to feel what it was like to have blood on his hands.
Natalie got up and went to her workbench. She had a lot to work on.
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Thanks for reading! If you like what you have read, please leave a review I would appreciate hearing your comments.