All Hallows Eve

[sarapals]

Here's a little fanfic story we are writing, 4 short chapters, and we'll post each chapter here--ending right before Halloween! We think DB is the kind of boss who would have a Halloween party!

Chapter 1:

The brightly colored envelopes had been handed to everyone in the lab at the end of the night shift, so Sara knew from all the excitement generated about the party invitations. A party—given by the new boss and his wife to celebrate their move to Vegas and, Sara’s eyes rolled, a Halloween costume party.

Skipping the party was her first thought but opting out of the new supervisor’s first soirée was not a wise career decision and she actually liked him. While the last thing she wanted to do was dress up in some gaudy costume with others, even if they were friends, she knew D.B. was sincere in his attempts to connect with everyone in the lab. Nick had read the invitation aloud and when he read the last sentences, all of them sat in surprised silence.

He read, “Costumes a must! But please no fluffy kittens or fuzzy puppies!” Nick looked up, “What does that mean?” He continued, “With Ecklie’s blessing, day and swing supervisors and CSIs have agreed to cover three hours of night shift so the party can continue until midnight.” Nick was smiling as he finished.

Catherine was already laughing. “It means the Russell’s are not into plushies and furries!”

Everyone laughed and the excitement started; quickly, two of the lab techs joined them with ideas and suggestions. Sara’s second or third eye roll was not missed by Catherine.

“Come on, Sara. It’ll be fun. We haven’t had a dress-up party in years!”

Catherine’s comment caused another eye roll; Sara knew but asked “How long ago was that?” She remembered Catherine had dressed as a dominatrix and bets were made about the authenticity of her costume. She also remembered how impressed Grissom had been with Catherine’s costume.

Nick edged between the two women. “This will be fun! Sara, you can come as Red Riding Hood!”

“What? I don’t think so! And why Red Riding Hood?”

He chuckled. “Since the invite is for us and a guest, I thought you could bring Miz Betty as the grandmother!” He laughed at his joke and ducked behind Catherine to avoid an elbow poke from Sara.

Sara scowled. She and her mother-in-law had reached a level of reserved ease but attending a costume party together was out of the question. “I don’t think so—I’ll tell you what—why don’t you ask her to come as Bonnie to your Clyde?”

“Stop—stop!” Laughing, he backed away. “You will come, right? I’m coming for you if you are not there!”

She and Catherine walked a few more steps. “Will Grissom be home? It would be great to see him. And he and D.B. would have a lot in common.”

Normally, Sara kept quiet about her husband’s whereabouts; even when he was home, she did not announce it. The first months after she had returned, the teasing has been enough to last her a life time.

“Maybe he’ll be at home.”

Catherine caught her arm, gently pulling Sara into an office. “Don’t you miss him? After all the years we worked together, I miss him every day—and you—how?”

As Sara folded her arms across her chest, Catherine glimpsed a second of conflict in the eyes of her co-worker; just as quickly it disappeared.

“We’re doing fine, Catherine. And yes, I miss him very much when he’s gone, but when we talk—I know he’s happy—excited—doing things he’s dreamed of doing for years. I would not keep him here for—for all the gold chips at the Bellagio!”

Catherine persisted, “But why do you stay?”

Sara laughed softly. “Because I need to—want to. Practical reasons—insurance, Hank, Betty, my mother, the condo—a paycheck.” She laughed again. “And I’ve never loved bugs the way Gil does.”

“But he’s away so much!”

“We’re together at least once a month—sometimes more often if we can. Right now, he’s in Peru where they are finding an amazing variety of insects in an area no one has ever studied. Catherine, if you could hear his excitement—when I do, I know why he’s there and I’m as happy as he is.”

“I couldn’t do it,” Catherine declared. “I want a man in my bed with me a lot more often than every four weeks!”

Sara laughed. “Any man or is it still one particular man?”

With a laugh, Catherine shrugged. “We’re good too.” Her phone appeared in her hand. “I need to make sure he has the party night off.”

“Yeah, you two can come as Cleopatra and Mark Antony.”

Catherine grinned. “You think so?”

Sara saw Hodges heading their direction, waving the orange envelope. “I’ve got to go—see you tomorrow,” she said and headed in the opposite direction.

Once in her car, she drove home, walked to the dog-sitter’s and picked up Hank. Together they spent an hour in the park with the dog sniffing every plant and post in the area as Sara let him roam on a long leash. At home she checked messages and found none. She knew there would be one at some point; her husband was somewhere in Peru, near its northern border with Ecuador. His last video message had been several days ago but she knew he was in a remote mountainous jungle area where satellite signals were often disrupted by weather, the jungle, who knows what else. She sent a quick message about work and the impending party, but decided not to mention the costume part of it.

She clicked ‘send’ and almost immediately a video message appeared in her box. She opened it, watched and listened as her husband described a hike in the rain, with a camera recording his steps. As he walked, he talked about what he was seeing—plants, orchids, frogs, birds—stopping to record a small hummingbird and resuming his walk with “You won’t believe your eyes, Sara.” The screen filled; against the unbroken green of the forest, richly colored butterflies and jewel bright birds flashed like magic touches of paint. The camera moved upward to a pale cloudless sky, and then downward to show a long winding silver river in the far distance and the dark green of tree tops. His voice continued, “It’s absolutely breathtaking. This is the highest point in the area and we are working just below the summit.” His voice grew quieter, softened. “I think of you all the time, Sara. I can see your face, hear your voice.”

The camera jiggled and Sara heard new voices as others joined Grissom. She heard him say “I’m recording this to send to my wife.” The voices joined in a chorus of “hello” messages as the camera continued moving across the lush landscape. Grissom added, “More later” and the video clicked off. Not once had he put his face on camera.

Sara leaned back in her chair and sent another message. Sometimes she would get an immediate response; other times there was a delay. She clicked back to the video message and watched again. Several times she caught a glimpse of Grissom’s shoe as he walked on the path. She laughed as she realized she was watching his feet rather than what he was describing.

She got a drink from the kitchen and returned to the desk; no new message had been received. She called for Hank and crawled into bed, leaving the computer on. She might hear the ‘ding’ of an arriving message, she thought, as she drifted into sleep.

[sarapals]

Chapter 2

For the following week, crime in Vegas continued at its usual pace—dead bodies, destroyed lives, broken locks, stolen cars, smashed windows, drug deals gone bad—but nothing stopped the excited plans for ‘The Party’. Everyone seemed to throw out dozens of costume ideas hoping for a reaction, and at the same time, refusing to confirm what they would wear. Secrets were everywhere as a sort of bartering system developed for items of clothing, for everyday items repurposed into a costume. 

Early one morning, evidence from a puzzling death covering the layout table, Morgan asked, “Seriously, how is everyone’s costume coming?”

Her question was met with mumbles; Greg drew something in the air that looked like a question mark and Sara stayed silent.

Morgan sighed so loudly the papers ruffled on the table. “Now, guys. I’m new in town and haven’t had a real date since I got here—this is not normal!”

Surprised, Catherine stared, open-mouthed. Greg and Nick began to snicker. Sara laughed, mumbling “I know that club.”

“So,” she continued, “why don’t we show up together—dressed alike? We’re a team, right? Everyone else can show up as—as Charlie Sheen or Captain Kirk.” From her grimace everyone knew who was coming in Star Trek costume. “We would really be cool—we could all be the ‘Where’s Waldo’ guy—remember him from when you were a kid?”

Catherine dropped her head to hide her laugh; Lindsey had loved the Waldo books.

Undaunted, Morgan continued, “Maybe not Waldo. No dead bodies—ugh. We see enough of that! We want to stand out in a crowd.” Her forehead wrinkled in thought. “Space men are out, so are Vegas mobsters. How about bugs? We could be roaches! Yeah—dark brown shirts, brown pants, wings, antenna—five giant cockroaches!” She was oblivious to the wide-eyed stares of the two men and two women around her and the looks they gave each other before one of them snorted. “We could make wings out of pantyhose, with wire and long, to the floor. Can anyone use a hot glue gun? Legs are easy, just glue felt legs to our shirts and pants. But the wings would make the costume!”

By the time she had finished, all of them were laughing. Catherine had her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking; Nick and Greg, raucously laughing, were eagerly agreeing. Even Sara laughed as Morgan drew a standing cockroach with long antenna and multiple legs sticking from the body.

“With a little work, this will be fun—can you imagine everyone’s face when we walk in looking identical! And roaches!” Morgan gushed on. “I can do wings—I was an angel once in college and it would not take much to make bigger wings. Cutting, gluing, a little wire and,” she spread her arms, a wide grin on her face, “we are roaches!”

“I’m in!” Greg said immediately.

“Me too.” Nick agreed. “Come on, Sara, Catherine. This will be fun!” Nick’s laughed turned into giggles. “There is one person I wish could see us!”

“Roaches,” Sara’s expression was one of unbelievable resignation. “If you will, I will.” She looked at Catherine.

Catherine nodded her head. “We’re going to need a video camera.”

Morgan’s apartment was too small to work on five pairs of roach wings, so Catherine offered her dining room. Two days later, Nick, Greg, and Sara were fed by Lily as Morgan, Catherine, and Lindsay twisted wire, stretched colored tights over the wire, wound duct tape, and hot-glued Velcro and elastic in appropriate places as each costume gradually changed into sometime resembling a roach—sort of.

Entertaining as always, Lily served breakfast and told stories of gluing showgirl costumes and head dresses directly to skin. “And it was not this washable stuff—it was the original super glue. That stuff stayed with you for days!”  She plated pancakes and passed them to Nick.

Two loud expletives came from the dining room. Lily retorted with “Watch your language! We have company!”

Catherine appeared in the kitchen. “We’ve gone through all the panty hose—and need at least two more pairs. Sara?”

“I’m on it!” She swallowed the last bite of pancake and pushed back. “Thanks, Lily. Much better than the diner.” She grabbed her keys.

“Get the plus size, Sara!” Morgan called.

Lily walked to the dining table and looked at what they were doing. “You need hair spray.” She lifted the cut-off panty portion, examining it closely. “Now why is the double layer in the crotch not sewn together?” She ran fingers between two layers of fabric. “Look at this! It makes a perfect little pocket! This is weird.” With a puzzled glance, she looked at Catherine, and then Morgan.

Morgan, bending wire with pliers, replied, “Oh, that’s a place to put your cell phone—keeps it safe and you don’t need a pocket or a purse.” She never looked up as she reached for duct tape.

Lily stared at the young girl; her mouth dropped open. Catherine’s rumbling laugh was followed by a fit of choking on her coffee.

“Well, I never, but I guess it works!” Lily said as she picked up her purse and left the room. “I’m going with Sara.”

Somehow, over several days, brown sweat shirts and pants were fitted with felt legs, coiled wire became antenna glued to caps, and wings of black pantyhose, coated with hair spray, became amazingly realistic roach wings. Elastic, duct tape, Velcro and glue held everything together.

Sara told Grissom about the party, but decided to keep the costumes secret until they were dressed and could send him a video which Lindsay had already volunteered to “direct”. Not only were the costumes put together at Catherine’s house, they were going to dress and leave for the party from there so they could arrive together. Sara was secretly happy to have the night off so she could come home and sleep after the party.

The night of the party, Nick, Greg, and Sara arrived within minutes of each other; Morgan was already in Catherine’s house where she seemed to have lived for three days putting finishing touches on costumes.

Nick welcomed Sara. “Are you ready for this? We are going to be the highlight of the party or end it when we walk in. I hope Mrs. D.B. has a sense of humor!”

“I’m not sure why I agreed to this,” Sara whispered as Greg approached with a wide grin on his face.

“Ahh—we’ll have fun. D.B. is a fun guy.”

“Hey,” greeted Greg. “Are we ready to become bugs?” He changed his voice, “not just any bugs, but cockroaches! I wish Grissom were here—he’s not, is he?”

Sara shook her head. “Not this week. Still searching for new bugs in Peru.”

Once inside, everyone had wings, antenna, and legs attached to shirts and pants as Lily and Catherine passed bottles of beer to everyone.

Sara laughed, “It may take something stronger than beer to get me through this night!”

Morgan adjusted Sara’s cap of antenna. “We look good! And Lindsay and Lily have a ‘script’ ready for us to tape and send to your hubby.”

The script appeared; it involved music and dancing. Sara reached for another beer. After clicking on the camera, Lindsay gave a short introduction. Everyone followed directions, hiding faces as they formed a circle while Lindsay filmed. With a music cue, they broke apart, one by one, with Sara last, smiling for the camera, as they formed a dancing line of cockroaches, kicking feet into the air, doing several turns to show off the entire costume—this went on for thirty or forty seconds—before Nick or Greg, tangled in their own feet, tripped. The fall caused an avalanche of five as the others went down in a heap, laughing so hard they stayed on the floor as Greg yelled for help from the bottom of the pile.

“Cut! Perfect!” Lindsay shouted. “This is going to look great!”

Scrambling to get off the floor, the group watched a replay of their performance. Greg accused Nick of tripping him. Nick said Greg was clumsy. The women laughed at their own foolishness. Lindsay downloaded the video, less than two minutes long, and Sara hit ‘send’ to Grissom’s email.

Not waiting for a response, which might be in minutes or hours, the group left for the Russell’s house. It was decorated for a party. Lights were everywhere, hanging from bushes, decorating the house, in the flowerbeds. Bales of hay and pumpkins made a path to the front door. Several ‘ghosts’ were spotlighted hanging from the house. The five roaches tramping to the open front door were partly disguised by darkness and the color of their costumes. Behind them, a woman and man dressed as playing cards were adjusting their own costumes and did not seem to notice the invasion of insects.

Walking behind Sara, Catherine whispered, “I hope I do not regret this.”

[sarapals]

And the next chapter:

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7466609/3/

[sarapals]

Last chapter here: (just a wee bit of sweet stuff!)

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7466609/4/