lvpd_sidle | mixed_muses CSI/24 AU

She shakes her head in a jerking motion, darting quick looks at Jack. "I watched the others. The doll will die. They always do." A sick smile twists her lips. "He loves her. He loved me. He died. He'll know she'll die and it's his fault."

"Except you've got a problem there, Natalie," he says, leaning across the table. "You made two big assumptions. One, that she'll be dead before we find her. And two, that Grissom loves her, and he'll be delusional enough to believe it's his fault. Problem is, he doesn't love her. Not as much you loved Ernie, and so the only person he's going to blame is you."

His smile widens. "All that time making the model, all that attention to detail...and you got so much of it wrong."

She jerks violently, shaking her head, her mouth open. She is clearly stunned. "Wrong? I'm not wrong I watched them he touched her face he held her arm...."

She shakes her head violently again. "Too late. Too late. She will die. She won't get free. She can't get free."

When she's not looking, he lifts the bottle of bleach and quietly places it on the table, not looking at it, almost as if it's not there.

"They work together, he has to touch her arm to get her attention, to pass something to her."

He leans in, again. "You went to all the trouble to make the model, and then you dump Sara somewhere. Don't you want us to see how close the model is to real life? Don't you want us to see how accurate you got all those little details; the only things you got right? How are we supposed to do that if we don't know where she is?"

Natalie sees the bottle and shakes even more, almost vibrating in her seat. "Bleach," she says softly, as if in a trance. "I hate the smell of bleach. Can't forget it."

---

Sara breathes heavily, pulling as hard as she can at her arm. She's moved beyond feeling simple physical pain.

Gotta get out gotta get out get out get out GET OUT!

She sees the rearview mirror and manages to pull it down.

Then it begins to drizzle.

She feels the bones in her arm snap and cries out.

Then she continues pounding at the window.

GET OUT!

---

"Flash floods are expected," Brass murmurs lowly to Grissom, studying the interrogation.

"Fuck," Grissom breathes. "Fuck! If we can't get through soon..."

"She may drown."

Jack watches her shake, part of him recoiling from what he has to do, from pushing her closer and closer to the edge, screwing with her head as the Chinese screwed with his. Concentating on what he's doing, trying to put the memories to the back of his mind, he puts his hand on the cap, twisting it back and forth, open and closed, but not lifting it off. The chemical burn scars on the back of his hand are clearly visible to her. "Where is she, Natalie?"

"The smell. The SMELL!" She recoils again, backing away, knocking her chair down. "Behind the car dealership out in the desert. Oh god, the smell, the smell, I can't forget it I can't forget it I can't forget anything...."

Brass looks at Grissom. "Car dealership?"

"I think I know what she's talking about." Nick's voice startles the other two--they hadn't seen him come into the room. "Found an advertisement for a used vehicle lot out of the city limits."

"Desert?"

"Yes."

"I'll call a search-rescue copter."

Grissom opens the door, going in only two feet. "Jack," is all that he says. They have a lead now. They have hope.

--

Water floods into the car in a steady force.

Sara keeps pounding at the window.

Use the pressure against the glass. Wait if you need to--you can hold your breath.

You will not die here.

YOU WILL NOT DIE HERE!

Something in him--some dark, vengeful part of him--is tempted to pull the cap off after she breaks, to let the smell out into the room instead of just being in her head, but instead he forces himself to twist the cap closed, leaving the bottle on the table as police officers come in to restrain her.

He hurries out the door, only noticing his own hands trembling once he's outside the room, away from that one-way mirror and concrete walls that seem too close.

"You've got a location and a chopper standing by?" he asks, assuming the answer to both is "yes".

"Yes," is the clipped answer. "This way." And after a moment, Grissom looks at the other man. "Thank you. I...could see that was difficult for you."

He could also see something else there. A remnant of an expression that he used to wear whenever he had been around Sara. Wistfulness.

Don't be the fool I was.

The copter is on the roof of the building. Brass rattles off the approximate location to the pilot, giving up his seat for Jack. "We'll be following on the ground!" he shouts just before the pilot shuts the door. He watches the copter take off.

--

Almost got it, Sara. Keep pounding. Keep pounding.

She raises her head above the water with effort, gulping in a few painful breaths.

Keep pounding.

Jack nods his thanks and hops in, pulling on the headset and buckling in as they take off. Rain splatters against the windshield, making it difficult to see. He's flown in worse, but he's never had to try and find someone from the air in rain this heavy, even a controlled search like this.

They're over the car lot in minutes, and Jack shifts from his seat into the back of the helicopter, strapping on a harness and clipping himself to a bar so he can hang out the door, searching the ground. He's soaked in minutes, but he barely notices, everything in him focussed on the patch fo ground lit by the chopper's spotlight.

I can't let her down, not like everyone else. She has to be alive--

After a moment, Jack is pulled back into the copter, not seeing anything on the ground. "I see a dirt road back here--I'll follow it!" The pilot shouts, moving the craft along.

"There!" Grissom yells, seeing the searchlight come on an overturned vehicle. The rain is pounding hard and he can see that it is flooding. Be safe, Sara. Please be safe.

COME ON!

She pounds at the window with the last of her strength and feels it burst open. Water rushes out. Breathing heavily, she frees her broken arm, and crawls out, into light.

Light? She looks up, making out the copter above her.

She waves weakly.

He's just propping one foot on the skid to lean out and search when he spots the small figure moving against the background of rushing water and mud.

"I've got her!" he yells over the storm, "Give me the cable!" The rescue team balks, one of them reaching to pull Jack back in. "Dammit, I was in Special Forces; I've probably done this as many times as you have, now hook me up!"

Maybe it's his faked credentials, maybe just the force of his personality, but in seconds, they're snapping the line onto his harness. Sliding out of the helicopter, he turns his back t the open air an rests his feet on the skid for a moment before jumping backwards, jerking his thumb downward to signal the crew to lower him down.

At this moment, Sara doesn't care who is coming down. All she knows is that she wants away from wherever she is and she would really like to be warm again.

She shivers, knowing that she's already gone into shock. Internal bleeding may be a factor. My arm's broken. Concussion, some other cuts...

She moves forward to meet the descending figure.

She blinks, almost certain that she's hallucinating. "Jack?" Her voice is a rough croak.

He keeps his knees bent as he touches the ground, the rescue team quickly letting out a lot of slack so he doesn't have to worry about getting pulled off his feet as the helicopter moves in the storm's winds. He can't go far, though, and he reaches out to support her as soon as she gets close enough.

"Sara, are you okay, are you hurt anywhere other than your arm?" She's on her feet which is enough, though the way she's hugging her arm to her chest indicates that she's injured it somehow.

"Concussion. I may have a couple of cracked ribs." She staggers on her feet. "And I think I'm---" she slumps forward against him, unconscious.

He grabs her just before her eyes roll back, her body going limp. There's no time to worry or panic, there's too much to do--

--have to get her in the chopper, have to get her to a hospital--

--wrapping the belt attached to his harness around her waist, he clips it in securely, keeping up a steady stream of encouragement though he knows she probably can't hear him.

"It's all right, Sara, you're safe. We're gonna get you to a hospital--"

Wrapping an arm tightly around her waist, he jerks his thumb upward, signaling for them to be hauled up. It's probably just as well that she's out cold as they're pulled off the ground with a jerk that would have caused more pain in her arm and ribs.

Within minutes they're approaching the helicopter and Jack unwraps one arm from around her so he can grab onto the skid, turning them so she's closest to the open doorway. The rescue team unclip her first as Jack rattles off possible injuries, then help him in, wrapping them both in blankets.

[ooc: Grissom will get his reaction now. Feel free to god the arrival at the hospital however you like.]

"Jesus Christ," Grissom breathes, catching sight of Sara's pale face. He reaches across and takes her other hand, knowing Jack won't let go either. "You're going to be okay, Sara. You beat her. You beat her at her own game. You're going to be okay."

After a few minutes, Sara stirs, opening her eyes blearily. "In custody?" The words are obviously painful to speak.

"Yes," Grissom says quietly.

Jack holds Sara's other hand until they arrive at the hospital and a waiting trauma team whisks her away to the ER. A nurse provides him with a towel and a spare set of surgical scrubs to change into, and he heads into the bathroom to change. It's only once he's alone that he allows himself to take a deep breath, that he realizes that he's shaking.

She's all right. She managed to get out from underneath that car and walk over to me, she's got to be all right. She'll be okay. She's tough. Pull yourself together; it's not going to help anyone if you're losing it.

Pulling on the scrubs, he notices with distate that the top has short sleeves. His tattoos and more importantly his scars are clearly visible. Needle scars and track marks are still stand out on the inside of his arms; hopefully no one will notice or ask questions.

After a couple minutes to pull himself together, he heads back out, quickly finding Grissom. "Any news?"

Edited 2007-11-12 21:21 (UTC)

"Internal bleeding is a strong possibility. Her left ulna and radius are both fractured and two of her left ribs are cracked. They're checking right now for internal bleeding." His words are clipped, tension visible on his face.

He turns to face Jack and notices the scars. He makes no comment, however. Your story is your own.

"I want to thank you once again," he says quietly. "You got through to Natalie in a way the rest of us may not have...and Sara very well could have drowned."

Jack shrugs, staring off down the hall. "By the look of it, she would have started unraveling if anyone had brought that bleach in, and Captain Brass already had that ready."

He rubs his forehead for a moment, silently praying that there isn't any internal bleeding, that all she'll have are broken bones and a concussion, so that she won't be stuck in here for very long. "Did they say how long it would take to finish the examination?"

"No---"

A doctor comes into the waiting area. "Are you Miss Sidle's family?"

"Yes."

"I'm Dr. Corrigan. Essentially, Ms. Sidle is a very fortunate woman. There appear to be no signs of internal bleeding. She does have a moderate concussion, however, and we would like to keep her here overnight for observation."

"Is she awake? Can we see her?" Jack asks, quickly.

"Yes, she is. You may visit her for fifteen minutes, but after that, I insist that you abide by the hospital's strictures. A nurse will bring you to her." He nods sharply and walks away.

Shortly thereafter, a nurse leads Jack and Grissom to Sara's unit.

Two IV lines are running to her arms and she is hooked up to a cardiopulmonary monitoring machine. The beep beep beep is monotonous.

Her skin is very pale. Bruises stand out in very sharp contrast.

"Hi," she says softly.

"Hey," Jack says, walking over to her bedside and taking her hand. His smile is somewhat forced; a brave face when he's still rattled at the scare they'd had. "How're you feeling? They giving you the good drugs?"

"I feel like shit," she says with a painful chuckle. "The county won't pay for the good drugs."

She breathes in deeply, wincing. "Natalie--"

"Is in custody," Grissom says quietly. "And there is no chance she can escape."

"She and I aren't that different--"

"--you've never murdered anyone, Sara. Do not make her your responsibility."

The two lock eyes for a moment before Sara nods.

"I'll go give the others an update," he says quietly, nodding at Jack and leaving the room.

"I guess he got you when I was taken?"

mixed_muses CSI/24 AU

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