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Present Time
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As the water began to flow under the car, eroding its support, a combination of wiggling, digging, and pulling finally freed one arm and her legs from the sandy soil, but her left arm remained pinned fast. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. The thought floated inanely through Sara's mind as she maneuvered herself to gain the best leverage possible in the tight space.
Pain pulsed through Sara's body as she pulled hard enough to fracture bone, but her arm still remained pinned beneath the wreck. As the pain pounded her body, the rain pounded the car. Her lower body was thoroughly submerged and the car was filling rapidly as the rain continued to fall on the hillsides above her.
Brief bursts of lightning allowed her to see the interior of the car as she forced herself to breathe deeply, banishing the pain to the edge of her consciousness as she had done so many times in her past. As her awareness of the pain receded, she turned her mind toward controlling the panic induced by the inexorably rising water. You can do this. Don't give up... Think Sidle: What can you use? What's available? You've gotta get out of here... NOW!
She wrenched off the rear-view mirror and took a deep breath, submerging, using the mirror first to try shifting the rock then digging around and beneath it. Suddenly another wave of water hit the car and she was able to pull free as it rocked in place. Pulling herself out of the watery trap, she didn't even notice as her vest floated away... She was free.
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1982
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"Natalie, sweetie, this is Mrs. Wetzel. She's going to give you a really nice home, okay? You won't have to stay with all those kids in the group home any more. You can live here for a while."
"N-No other k-kids?"
"Well, Mrs. Wetzel is a really nice woman and likes to take care of as many kids as she can help, so you'll have some brothers and sisters, but she'll take special care of you. Better than at the home, okay?"
"Natalie, why don't you come inside and we'll take your picture. Then you can be in my photo album. This can be your new home."
"My- my p-picture? Am I your special girl?"
"Yes, we'll take your picture to show how special you are to us... Just sit right here and I'll bring the camera over."
Flash
Laughter floating in with the breeze. Toys littering the floor: a yellow helicopter lying on its side; a red car with a white stripe, number 66; a white ambulance, 911 on its roof, blue and red lights; a stuffed horse, tan with brown spots, brown tail, one eye dangling by a thread. A doll, blond hair splayed out around a pink china face, red lips, green eyes, blue flowered dress blowing in the wind --
"See Natalie? Watch this - your picture will start to show up in a little while."
Colours darkening on the white background. A face taking shape. Dark hair hanging down over a yellow jacket, her elbow resting on her black bag.
Different from Chloe... Chloe went away, Daddy made Chloe go away... that smell...
"What do you think, Natalie?"
A ghost of a smile, "You made me come back."
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"Natalie, sweetie, could you help me with the laundry? You can put the clothes in while I get the bleach."
Flash
A strong, pungent smell. The red fading, Chloe disappearing. Tears streaking Daddy's face, red tips on his fingers, sleeves pushed up, hair falling in his face, a bristled brush, spots of light appearing in the red. A pervasive, never-ending smell. Colours swirling through her mind...
That smell... No. No! I don't want to go away! No! NO! NO!!
"NO! NO! NO!"
"Natalie, what's wrong? Stop yelling. What's wrong?? Natalie? Natalie! NATALIE!!"
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"Love you."
"Love you too, sweetie, sleep tight."
Flash
A deep dark pool, spilling from the sidewalk onto the lawn, red mixing with green. A white shirt and floral skirt, arms curled upward as if in sleep, legs cushioned in the grass, white shoes still pristine.
Daddy -- no, Mrs. Wetzel -- saying love you, but not to her, never to her... Climbing a ladder to a tree house -- no, to the top bunk -- looking at the girl who stole her love. Just a little push and she'll go away.
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Earlier Today
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"Okay, I got it... A 2007 red Mustang totalled outside The Trip Wire Bar six weeks ago. Driver fatality. DWI. Car went to scrap. Lead CSI on the case -- Sara Sidle."
Six weeks, April 4th... that was right after Cammie... I think I remember -- "Pull up the case photos." SHIT! I think that's her... that's definitely her -- "Oh, my God. She was at the crime scene."
Nick was saying something about getting the car out to the desert, but it all faded to the background. She's not even looking at the car. Everyone else there is focused on the car, on the blood, but she's looking straight at Sara... Why? Why Sara and not me? She must have known I was the one that caused Ernie to -- She mailed the last miniature directly to me. Why is she looking at Sara? ... Sara was still torn up over Cammie, I wanted to give her something easy, support her...
A little of the conversation made its way through his thoughts, "I don't know. This just feels different."
"It is different." He remembered now, using the excuse of taking the camera to give Sara a slow caress, hidden, he thought, among the confusion of the paramedics and police as they went about their business. Just a little thing to make her smile. Here we worried over what would happen if the department found out, we were so careful at first. I didn't worry as much after coming back from Williams, after realizing what she meant to me... Never thought the danger from my loving her would be physical...
Lost in his thoughts he didn't really even realize when he started speaking them aloud and took no time to censor them. "This girl holds me responsible for the death of Ernie Dell. I took away the only person she ever loved, so she's going to do the same thing to me... It's not about a psychotic reaction to bleach, or some dead sister, or the doll." The doll... not about the doll this time... this time, but... "NotUrLittleBisqueDoll."
Striding from the room toward the computer in his office, Grissom failed to see the stunned looks he was leaving behind, as the team silently sought confirmation from one another, aware of the magnitude of what they had just heard.
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1987
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"Mr. and Mrs. Dell, there are some things I should tell you about Natalie before you agree to take her on. Her mother died when she was six, and her four-year-old sister died shortly afterward in tragic accident, which Natalie witnessed. She's very quiet and shy most of the time, but several foster parents have returned her after she became a danger to the other children. She does really well in foster homes when she's the only child, though she has occasional fits. She's been in and out of various group homes and fosters since 1981.
"Some of her former foster parents have complained that she's obsessed with death and has a morbid fascination with any car accident, crime scene, or other death she sees either on the street or in the news. This is probably understandable in light of the early deaths in her family, but it may be hard on your other children.
"I know that you two have many other fosters as well as a son of your own. Are you sure you're ready to take on Natalie?"
"Honey, you sure she's one?"
"Yes, Ernie. She's a chosen one. She needs us. We'll do right by her."
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"Here you go, Natalie, this will be your new bed, just right for a Princess like you. You put your stuff here for now. We'll go see the rest of the house and meet your new brothers and sisters. How's that sound?"
A slow nod, "L-L-Lots of sisters?"
"A few, but don't you worry, we picked you out special. You're a chosen one."
"Your special girl?"
"Yes, Natalie, if you're good, you'll be my special girl."
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Earlier Today
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Grissom found the team still where he had left them, pouring over the details of the model, their energy, if possible, even more focused than before. I think I may have said a little too much back there... The wry thought crossed his mind, followed by a more sobering, I don't care, as long as I -- we -- get Sara back.
"We've got an address. Nick, Warrick," he handed them a slip of paper, "I want you guys to head there with the police. It's been a few hours since I talked to Sara, but I'm not sure exactly when she was abducted. Natalie may or may not be there. We don't know how far away she plans to take Sara or even if they went straight there. Be careful."
"Yes, sir." He watched as they strode purposefully from the room toward the lockers where their vests were stowed. I need to find Natalie to find Sara, but maybe the clues are in her house, even if she's not there. He shifted his attention to Catherine and Greg, who were both watching him as if he were a ticking time bomb, just about to explode. Yep, definitely said too much... Gotta hold it together if we're going to find her.
"Cath, Greg, Brass is at Sara's car. Looks like the place where she was abducted," he handed them a second slip. "Go down there and see if you can find any clues as to where she was taken, see if they have video surveillance, anything else you can think of..." Catherine met his eyes briefly in an unspoken promise to do all she could, then followed Greg out the door, leaving Grissom alone with the miniature, his gaze locked on the slowly moving hand. Please, God, let her still be alive. Please...
Grissom felt his mind wandering as he searched the model yet again for any clues, time passing without his knowledge. Sand... looks like hobby shop sand, not from the desert, no location clues there... Sand blowing, swirling around in the downdraft of the spinning helicopter blades, Sara standing beside him, hair whipping in the wind, reaching out to her -- FOCUS, Gil! -- The car... I think Nick and Greg pulled everything we could from that, we know what car it is, we know why she chose it... A smirk as she called out to him, "Hey, Grissom... Could you come tape me up?" Looking beautiful, sitting in the front seat of a pickup, hands outstretched, smiling as he -- FOCUS! -- The landscape... rocks and hills, pretty generic, nothing to go on by the shape or type of rock, typical Vegas desert... Searching for a body among the desert rocks, hoping that the killer wasn't merely mocking them, trying to spend time with "the pretty one" ... Pulled aside by Sara as the search continued and the sun set. "Is this logical? ... Does this look 'helpful' to you?" -- No. Not helpful. This is definitely not helpful... I don't know what to do! Sara...
The ringing of his cell phone snapped him out of his thoughts, and he quickly rubbed a hand over his eyes before answering with a gruff, "Grissom."
"Griss, this is Nick. We got her. We got Natalie. She's on her way to the station now. Warrick and I'll process the house."
He barely heard the end of Nick's speech as he closed the cell phone and headed out of the lab. They got her.
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TBC
A/N: Feedback greatly appreciated! Nitpicks welcome.