Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: Miami... or any of its characters... cries in a corner ...
A/N: I remember when I wrote this chapter... I was in a band concert and it was on my stand and I wrote at every moment we had free... floofymiko was sitting next to me and writing her fic... coughcough BE INSPIRED AND CONTINUE AND FINISH IT ...AT LEAST THE CHAPTER coughcough
Chapter 9:
She was in a dark alley. It was night-time and the poor yellow lighting of the street lamps illuminated nothing other than the fact that she was trapped. To her left was a dead end; in front and behind of her were the walls of the two buildings, possibly apartments, but again, a dead end. Her only escape was if she could turn right and run, but she stood planted to the ground and found that she could not move.
It was just so dark. If she squinted, the failed lighting allowed her to see faintly the bricks of the edifice in front of her, but that simultaneously gave her a feeling of unease. She was quickly becoming claustrophobic.
Then, just like that, the whispers began and she became terror-stricken. She whipped her head from side to side, but could not find the source of the whispers. They seemed nonsensical to her, until she discerned, "Natalia." She found that she had lost all sense of self as Luke Litano emerged from the shadows and stepped in front of her. Another murmured "Natalia," had her turning around only to realize that another, a second, Luke had appeared behind her. Both were charismatically smiling at her. She strongly believed that this was a nightmare beyond anything she had ever experienced before. She didn't know how to deal with the current situation and remained transfixed in her spot. She couldn't breathe and told herself to count to ten, but she found that she just couldn't. Her heart was in her throat and she was terribly frightened.
She hated the feeling of being trapped and having no control. She wanted to escape, but her legs refused to obey what her brain commanded. Slowly, she realized that her right side was also blocked, but by what appeared to be a black cloaked figure with a black drooping hood that concealed the person's face. To Natalia, the figure looked like "Death," without the scythe. The figure had an outstretched hand, covered by a sleeve, as if it was beckoning to her. Natalia quickly glanced at the Lukes and the dead end to her left. The situation was so terrifying and she knew she had to somehow escape the two Lukes, who seemed to be slowly advancing toward her. Which way to go?
Defiantly, she shouted, "I choose 'Death'!"
She found that she could now move freely. With caution, she made her way to over to "Death." She didn't want to die. Not just yet anyway. Someone grabbed her hand from behind. For a panicked second, she thought that it was one of the Luke's, but it wasn't. This hand was soft, warm, and gentle. It most DEFINITELY was not Luke's. It was…
"Natalia! Hey, Natalia! C'mon, wake up!" She blinked several times before she locked eyes with the person calling to her. They were within the lounge, where Alexx had left Natalia. The tea that Alexx had boiled for her was quite cool from being left untouched. There was also the slightest hint of strawberries in the air.
"Eric." He was by her side.
"Hey," he said softly, "you were having a nightmare. You shouted something about Death."
"Yeah." Her cheeks turned rosy as she looked down to see that he had her hands clasped within his. NOW, Natalia, is the perfecttime to tell him!
"How many scares are planning to give us today?" His expression was filled with worry and seriousness, but his eyes told another story.
Natalia found herself to be speechless and immobile, but not out of fear. He left her side to go to go to a large plastic 'Thank You!' bag. She instantaneously felt the absence of his warmth. "You must be hungry. Do you like habañeros?" A grin spread across his face as she laughed. She has such a beautiful laugh…
"You know I do."
"That's good. Eat this. I'll go get Ella and Jem off of… everyone's hands." He laughed mostly to himself. Those kids really think that we're their parents. Why?
"Do you have something to eat?" I'm glad those kids arrived, even if they are a touch delusional; I think that because of them, Eric and I are a little closer. Or have we always been? She shivered slightly at the thought.
"Yeah. Oh, here. I got some chocolate too." He knew that, like Ella, Natalia favored a Reese's Fast Break highly. He basked in her happiness and beautiful smile.
"Thank you!" She's just like Ella.
"I'll go get the kids, now. They're probably hungry too." Natalia nodded; momentarily distracted by the chocolate, but both shared the same thought. 'The kids'? Has a nice ring to it.
"Coop?"
"Yeah?"
"How much did you put in?"
"What?" An impish expression had found its way onto his youthful face.
"Love dust! How much did you use?"
Cupid, instead of answering, laughed jovially, which made Fate scowl. "The Sandman said that our measurements had to be accurate. And you must have put in a LOT of love dust with the dream dust. Didn't you?"
The Sandman had always been a grandfather-like figure to the miscreants. His door was always open to expend to them his advice and wisdom. His home on the cloud was always very warm and welcoming. Fate and Coop loved going over there because they loved to play with the star dust that daily coated the Sandman's yard. They collected the dust into little pouches to be used later when the Sandman was on duty. When darkness colored the sky, just a sprinkle of the 'dream dust' would give people good dreams for at least one cycle of the moon. This allowed the Sandman to have more time to focus his energy on the occasional insomniac and also to give mini-lectures to the two teenagers on how to use the star dust properly on humans. He always warned them about the importance of accurate measurements. He was especially concerned with Coop, who was the keeper of the pink strawberry-scented love dust. If the love dust is weaved into the star dust the right way, it allows one to have good, happy dreams of their soulmate. If not, the dust plays on the extremes of one's emotions, usually fear, grief, or lust. These instances the Sandman tries his very best to prevent, but it would be nothing short of a miracle if Fate and Coop could actually absorb his knowledge through their thick skulls.
"And what if I did? And since when have you gotten so worried about everything? It makes you sound old."
"You heard what Destiny and Father Time said!"
"So…they lecture us every other week…sometimes even more."
"But this time's different, this time we may actually have to stand trial in front of the Council of Elders. If our actions screw up the humans lives below, then we're gonna be screwed."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Cupid wasn't going to waste him time being afraid of the Council of Elders. "I have a job to do. I help people fall in love. It's up to you and Destiny to see who's whose soulmate. I'll deal with the consequences later." Fate was impressed, almost envious of Cupid's fearlessness. I'm scared of Their verdict. I'm scared of what may happen to us.
"I wish we could just have all the fun we wanted to have without any consequences to deal with."
"Yeah, wouldn't that be great." Cupid's tone was one of biting sarcasm.
"What?" It was Fate's turn to be mystified.
"You sound like one of those humans when you say that. We can live forever, they can't. Remember that." Humans are so… He didn't even bother finishing the thought.
"Yeah, but if the Council's verdict doesn't favor us, then we technically won't."
"Why are so pessimistic all of a sudden? You really worry too much. Do you need to visit the Sandman again?" Fate just shook her head somewhat and returned to the edge of the cloud. After a moment of contemplation, Cupid joined her.
A/N: Hehe... Sandman... I know... random.. XD This was so much fun to write! XD ... happihappi... I watched last night's episode of CSI: Miami, 'Going Under'... o man!--- total EricxNatalia scene ... that I apparently missed... XD ... proves there canon-ness! XDDD ... SQUEE! XD