Author's Note: I owe smacky30 a huge thank you for her excellent beta job on this chapter! I know it's not easy to start beta reading in the middle of a WIP, but her wonderful suggestions greatly improved this work.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present Time
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The heat continued to grow; the sun's energy magnified by the reflective sand, absorbed by the rocks, held down by the mists of evaporating rain. Mirages danced in her vision, flickering along the rising waves of heat; pools of water that were not really there, tall trees stretching into the sky. Her body sore, weak, and tired beyond anything she could have ever imagined, she stumbled across the desert. Her mantra had become engraved on her psyche, Don't stop. Keep going. You're almost there. Don't stop...
Occasionally images of remembered pain would flash through her mind, but these were no more substantial than the ground beneath her feet, which shifted continuously in an effort to knock her down. Her muscles grew weaker as the life was drained from them one hard won step at a time, her will forcing her to rise again and again. Get up. Get up. Don't stop. Don't sleep. Stay awake.
She continued to move eastward, avoiding the direct glare of the sun by keeping it at her back, the promise of a road all but forgotten. She tried to focus by forcing her mind to recall, with great difficulty, facts that had once been almost instinctive. The line between thought and speech began to fade as the heat reached her head, "Three times four is ... twelve. Four times five is ... twenty... ugh!" Her hand automatically collected the fallen mirror as she pushed herself back to her feet yet again. "Four times five is... Come on! Four times five is twenty."
As her vision began to blur, growing black at the edges, she knew she was could not last much longer. She forced herself onward one step at a time, "Don't stop. Don't stop. Four times six is... twenty four... Get up, get up! Don't stop, don't stop!"
Her legs shaking, she forced her eyes to see, to discover what was truly in front of her. A long shadow stretched out across the sand, wavering but present, a slightly larger bush providing scant refuge. "Don't sleep, don't sleep. Stay awake, just stay awake..." She forced her tired legs across the short space, collapsing in the slightly cooler patch. Her hand still gripped the mirror, and a thought came up through the darkness in her mind, East. Roads to the east. Almost there. Must be almost there.
Using the last of her strength, she stretched out her arm, turning the mirror upward and slightly to the east, it's reflective surface aimed toward the roads she hoped were there. Her eyes fluttered closed, and a deep red shrouded her vision, slowly fading into blackness.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Yesterday
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Cars flowing past, pausing at the gate, windows opening, hands reaching out to pull a ticket. Apple red, midnight black, sea green, sky blue. Small sports cars full of young women, minivans full of laughing children, long trucks full of camping gear.
Her hands gripping the steering wheel, eyes watching each car pass, cataloguing colour, model, driver, license plate. Not her. Not her, yet. Wait. Wait.
A silver car, new hybrid, causing her hands to tense. A man leaning out, pulling a ticket with a sharp yank, driving through the opening gate. Not yet. Just wait. Today, she'll come today. She always eats here. Just wait
Cardboard box waiting in the backseat, perfect miniature inside, but her eyes never wander, watching each car stop, driver pulling a ticket, yellow gate slowly rising, the car continuing past her. Another silver car, brunette driver leaning out, pulling a ticket. Sidle.
Carefully pulling in behind, following the car up through the spiralling structure, slowing as the car stops. Pulling into the space beside the silver car, keeping her face averted. Sidle getting out, lights flashing briefly, trunk opening, hands collecting her kit and vest, locks engaging with a flash and a beep. Sara striding purposefully toward the elevator, pulling on her vest. One hour. At least one hour to eat. Need to be fast.
Gathering the cardboard box, heading toward the elevator, toward the white van waiting to take her to CSI.
x.x.x.x
Cleaning cart filled with supplies, cardboard box lying on top, waiting by a white van, Platinum Maids across the side. A distinctive stride, greying hair. Grissom. Blonde woman by his side, climbing into a large black SUV, pulling out into traffic. Perfect.
Bustling activity in the halls, small receptionist waving, no one stops her, no one looks twice. Glass walls dark, but the door standing open, quietly closed behind her. Shelves lined with jars, bottles, and insects, everything in its place.
Almost the same. Almost, an addition catching her eye. A miniature room, shelves lined with jars, bottles, and insects.
Grissom. He wants to learn. He almost has it, almost. Not quite. I can help him. He'll let me help if she's not here. When Sidle is gone, I'll be his special girl. Just us. Just us, when he finds out she is gone.
x.x.x.x
Elevator slowly going up, lights flashing through the gaps as it passes from floor to floor. Flash Flash Flash The doors slowly opening. A few cars left now, two parked side-by-side, one silver, a new hybrid. Still here. She's still here. Soon. Just wait. Fading into the shadows against the wall, small black device gripped in her hand.
The elevator doors open, a tall brunette steps through, cell phone pressed to her ear, large silver case by her side, listening as the voice on the phone talks, occasionally responding. Coming closer. Becoming audible.
"I'll be right there. I'll meet you at the lab."
Him. She's talking to him. Grissom.
Flash
Blue jeans with a patterned pocket, black vest, Crime Scene Investigation across the back, wavy chestnut hair covering her face, sprawled across the sand, right arm groping from beneath a battered red Mustang, trapped in the desert.
Flash
Phone snapped closed, keys pulled from a pocket. Tail lights flashing, the trunk opening, kit laid gently down.
It's time. It's time now.
Stepping from the shadows, "Sara."
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present Time
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Staring out over the desolate stretch of land, feeling the heat pulsing around him, Grissom stood lost in his memories. Unable to aid in the search, he felt useless, barely noticing the hectic activity behind him as rangers and police continued to secure the scene of the drowned hiker. Now what? There's no more evidence to follow, it's all been blown away in the wind. He thought of his team, still out looking, scouring the desert beyond all hope. Nick, Greg, please, find her. Just find her. I don't know what else to do, the trail is gone.
Suddenly the officers' radios crackled to life, and Sofia's voice filled the air, "We found Sara. North on the 159 at Turtlehead Peak. We need a MedEvac out here, right now!"
Not waiting to hear more, he glanced at Catherine. The two of them turned and raced for their Denali. Reaching it first, Grissom jumped into the driver's seat. Impatiently, he started the car, its engine roaring to life, and they were speeding toward the main highway, Turtlehead Peak clearly visible in the distance. They found her. Thank you, God, they found her!
His thoughts were echoed aloud by his companion, as she reassured him, "They found her. They found her!"
One eye to the land in front of them, he manoeuvred the large vehicle around brush and rocks almost automatically, as his mind continued to burn with the sharp hope that had blazed suddenly on hearing Sofia's words. He tried to focus on that hope, to keep the doubt from creeping back, but the faint echo of her final communication still haunted him, MedEvac, they need a MedEvac, but that's standard procedure. Please let her be okay. Please, God, let her be okay!
The dirt gave way to pavement, and their speed increased. He could see the black chopper in front of them, lowering slowly to the ground a few hundred feet from the road itself, marking the spot where she lay. He pressed his foot more firmly on the accelerator, They found her, and I'm almost there.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Yesterday
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Glowing lights from the city fading into darkness, clouds obscuring the stars, beam of the headlights illuminating a steady procession of white lines, flashing by.
Flash
Red Mustang, wheels in the air, shattered glass littering the street. Man in a white T-shirt, right arm torn and bloody, dead on the asphalt.
Flash
A battered red Mustang, doors dented inward, roof crushed, paint scraped clean by the asphalt. Wheels in the air, propped on a jack in the sand. Desert hills stretching out around it. Lifeless, for now.
Flash
A hand reaching out for a camera, brown eyes in a face framed with brown hair looking up to meet blue through the dark masks of their sunglasses, a shared smile, a hidden caress.
Flash
Blue jeans with a patterned pocket, black vest, Crime Scene Investigation across the back, wavy chestnut hair covering her face, sprawled across the sand, right arm groping, trapped in the desert.
White lines streaking by. Flash Flash Flash
A patch of coloured light ahead. Almost there. We're almost there.
A slow turn onto a dirt road, then a sudden attack from behind, brown eyes briefly meeting her gaze, as the car spins out of control, coloured lights flashing beyond the window, swirling around in her pain. NO! NO! NO!
x.x.x.x
A gravel road, small bushes flashing by on the edge of her headlights, dust swirling through the air. Sidle, bound again, leaning against the back door, face marred by the burn of gravel, no longer the perfect image in her model. Voice trying to reach through the darkness.
"Natalie."
She knows my name.
"Natalie Davis... I know who you are. I know a lot about you."
No! No one knows a lot about me. No one except Ernie.
"You make miniatures."
Ernie taught me. Ernie loved me.
"I've seen you before, right? You work in the lab, on the cleaning crew."
Bushes flashing by, dust swirling. Occasional flashes of lightning snaking across the horizon. Flash Flash
"So, sorry about hitting you back there. I guess, uh... I have a fear of trunks. In my business, you only find one thing in them."
Not in the trunk, not this time. No, I promised. I won't kill her, Ernie. I'll be your special girl.
"We actually have a lot in common, you know? I was a foster kid, too."
What?
"Happy, happy, joy, joy."
It doesn't matter. She doesn't understand me, nobody understands me now.
"I do know what it's like to be alone... afraid that nobody's ever going to be there for you."
"Ernie was." Ernie understood me.
"Yes, he was. That's true, Natalie. I lost my father, too. I know Ernie loved you. He would not have wanted you to do this."
I didn't lose Ernie. Grissom took him from me. Grissom.
"Ernie loved me more than Grissom could ever love you."
"Grissom? ... Oh, I know what this is about. Natalie. What did you put in the water, Natalie? ... Huh?" Her voice trailed off in the darkness, bushes continued to flash by in the dust.
x.x.x.x
A battered red Mustang, illuminated in her headlights. Doors dented inward, roof crushed, paint scraped clean by the asphalt. Wheels in the air, propped on a jack in the sand. Waiting.
Blue jeans with a patterned pocket, black vest, Crime Scene Investigation across the back, wavy chestnut hair covering her face, sprawled across the sand, right arm extended out from beneath the car. Everything in its place, as Sara slowly awakens.
"Natalie? ... Natalie, what are you doing?"
The flip of a switch, hydraulic jack slowly lowering the car.
"Natalie ... What are you doing?"
Dash slowly crushing one arm, legs pinned beneath the seat, window frame slowly pinning her remaining arm, restricting her movement.
"No... No... No! Don't do this!"
Pinned arm stretched from beneath the car, hand groping in the sand, the rest of her obscured. Desert hills stretching up around her, bushes and rocks littering the earth. Everything in its place.
"Natalie? Natalie... Natalie!" Her voice fading away, as the engine roars to life.
See Ernie, I didn't kill her. I promised. I'll be good.
Everything in its place.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Present Time
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Slowing only slightly, Grissom pulled off the highway, the spinning tires adding to the dust already blowing in the downdraft of the MedEvac blades. As if in slow motion, he saw two medics rushing toward where Nick and Sofia stood, and he brought the SUV to a halt. Slamming it quickly into park, he threw open his door and ran toward the tattered body lying in the partial shade of a tall bush. Oh no, Sara! Please, God, let her be okay!
As he got closer, he could hear the medics trying to rouse her, "Sara?! Sara, can you hear me?!"
He and Catherine slowed as they approached and he got a full view of her bruised and battered body, lying limp on the sand. Oh God! He could barely hear Catherine over the tumult in his mind, but he felt the medics answer beat through him.
"How is she?"
"She's not responding. Respirations are shallow."
Watching their studied movements as they placed an oxygen mask over her head calmed him slightly. Respirations are shallow, but she's breathing. She's breathing.
"Give me a large-bore IV prep now."
Unable to do anything but watch, he wiped the sweat from his brow, silently pleading for some response. To keep from despair he began cataloguing the medics actions, mentally reviewing her injuries, Large bore IV, they need to rehydrate her as quickly as possible. As soon as it's in, she'll be getting help. It will help drop her temperature down to safer territory as well. Water is the main thing she needs now. They can worry about her arm later, but it's good to see she was thinking well enough to create a sling.
"IV's in. We've got to move."
"Still no radial pulse."
No radial pulse, she's definitely dangerously dehydrated, probably nearing heat stroke and potential brain damage as well. Please, Sara, let us have found you in time. In a daze, he watched Nick gather up the IV bag, helping the medics prepare her for loading.
"Let's go get loaded up. Watch the arm." Realizing there was something he could do, he knelt to help protect her injured arm, gently cradling it as the medics fastened the straps around her body, staying as close to her side as he could.
"On my count. One, two, three."
He followed them closely as they bore her toward the helicopter, staying out of their way as they loaded her in. Please let us have found her in time... Please!
"You're secured? Get that IV pump."
He could hear Catherine shouting above the beating of the blades, "Where are you taking her?!"
"Desert Palm!"
There was no way he was letting her out of his sight now that he had found her again. Barely waiting for a response to his shouted, "Move over! I'm going with her!" he climbed into the helicopter beside one of the medics. The doors slammed shut behind him, and he felt the machine lift into the air. His eyes focused on her face as they sped toward the hospital, Sara, come on. Wake up, please! Please, God, let her be okay.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
TBC
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
A/N: Feedback greatly appreciated! Go ahead and push that review button...