Who Are You? - Chapter 2 (Buffy/Nick)
Title: Interrogations
Author: Lisa
Status: 2/100
Chapter List: Broken Swords // Interrogations // The Only One // Ring of Fire // Trace // Not Quite Warren Buffet
Rating: PG
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Pairing: Buffy/Nick Stokes
Genre: Drama/Angst
Summary: Shivering as a phantom icy finger slid down her spine she took a deep breath. “I uh… I had been going for a walk and heard a noise.”
Challenge: Prompt#009: Writing. Written for tth100
Spoilers: NA
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are copyright of Joss Whedon & Mutant Enemy. CSI and all related characters are copyright of Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television & CBS.
Distribution: Not without permission from myself.
AN: Kisses n’ Hugs to Ava for taking a look at this piece. xoxo Thanks to Ponder for the re-edit.
That small black plastic chair that Nick was currently occupying had done nothing to relieve his back pain. The burning sensation had started two hours into his double shift. Having spent the next few hours in the lab, hunched over equipment as he tried to decipher the odd mucus-like pus that surrounded Mr. Carlson’s wound had only morphed the burning into a throbbing, pinching ache.
“How did you come across Mr. Carlson?” Detective Brass looked up from his notepad, waiting for the woman to answer.
The memories of that particular night were still etched in Buffy’s mind like a horror slideshow. Shivering as a phantom icy finger slid down her spine, she took a deep breath. “I uh… I had been going for a walk and heard a noise.”
Leaning in closer, Nick asked the next question. “What sort of noise?”
“Umm… like - like a suction cup being pressed down and then…” her voice trailed off. Casting her gaze downwards she stared at the unwelcoming steel table. Tears pooled in her eyes as she remembered how the man’s face twisted from the pain before his brown eyes glazed over. Life had left him in that moment and she had witnessed it all.
A warm hand encased her cold one, pulling her mind back to the present and away from the onslaught of memories.
Slowly lifting her wide-eyed gaze, she met a pair of caring dark chocolate eyes that seemed to sympathize with her. Uncomfortable with the undeserved affection, Buffy gave Mr. Stokes a tight smile before pulling her hand away.
“Then when I got there he - he was just crumpled on the ground. Dead.” Buffy paused to lick her cracked lips before she continued. “I - I checked for a pulse but there wasn’t one and that’s when I called 911.”
“Ms. Summers, I found some mucopurulent, mucus pus, around Mr. Carlson’s wound. Nothing at the crime scene indicated how he came in contact with it; we’re thinking it was transferred off the assailant. Do you recall if you found any substance that looked like this on your clothing?” Nick pulled out an enlarged photo of the wound out from a manila folder and slid it in front of her.
Buffy swallowed the salvia that spilled in her mouth, a pre-warning that her stomach was rebelling. She tried not to gag from the taste of bile that rose up her throat as her eyes stared at the gruesome photo. With a clenched jaw she swallowed once more, pushing back down her stomach contents.
Even with her life being laced with death it didn’t dull the image. Not trusting her own voice she shook her head in response.
A few moments passed before Nick reached out and placed the photo back in the file. “You don’t recall seeing anything after you found Mr. Carlson? Could be a figure hiding in the bushes that you thought was just a shadow at the time? Before you came across him was there anything that you found odd on your walk? Anything?” With a small hopeful smile on his lips, Nick waited for a response. Often, a witness would see something at the crime scene and think nothing of it until later when they were questioned.
With a shrug of her shoulders Buffy shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be more helpful but I don’t remember anything odd.” Except for that Polgara demon that would be deader than dead the moment she tracked it down.
The breath Nick had been holding escaped his lungs in a loud ‘whoosh’ as he leaned back in his chair. Grabbing the pen on the table, he jotted down some notes. With nothing more to ask he turned to Brass, giving the detective a slight nod.
Clearing his throat Brass gave a tight, unfriendly smile to the woman. “I think that’s it for now, Ms. Summers. Thank you for your time and if we have any more questions we’ll contact you.”
~Fin~
Completed: November 12, 2007
Revised: March 28, 2008
Author: Lisa
Status: 2/100
Chapter List: Broken Swords // Interrogations // The Only One // Ring of Fire // Trace // Not Quite Warren Buffet
Rating: PG
Fandom: BtVS/CSI
Pairing: Buffy/Nick Stokes
Genre: Drama/Angst
Summary: Shivering as a phantom icy finger slid down her spine she took a deep breath. “I uh… I had been going for a walk and heard a noise.”
Challenge: Prompt#009: Writing. Written for tth100
Spoilers: NA
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are copyright of Joss Whedon & Mutant Enemy. CSI and all related characters are copyright of Anthony E. Zuiker, Jerry Bruckheimer Television & CBS.
Distribution: Not without permission from myself.
AN: Kisses n’ Hugs to Ava for taking a look at this piece. xoxo Thanks to Ponder for the re-edit.
That small black plastic chair that Nick was currently occupying had done nothing to relieve his back pain. The burning sensation had started two hours into his double shift. Having spent the next few hours in the lab, hunched over equipment as he tried to decipher the odd mucus-like pus that surrounded Mr. Carlson’s wound had only morphed the burning into a throbbing, pinching ache.
“How did you come across Mr. Carlson?” Detective Brass looked up from his notepad, waiting for the woman to answer.
The memories of that particular night were still etched in Buffy’s mind like a horror slideshow. Shivering as a phantom icy finger slid down her spine, she took a deep breath. “I uh… I had been going for a walk and heard a noise.”
Leaning in closer, Nick asked the next question. “What sort of noise?”
“Umm… like - like a suction cup being pressed down and then…” her voice trailed off. Casting her gaze downwards she stared at the unwelcoming steel table. Tears pooled in her eyes as she remembered how the man’s face twisted from the pain before his brown eyes glazed over. Life had left him in that moment and she had witnessed it all.
A warm hand encased her cold one, pulling her mind back to the present and away from the onslaught of memories.
Slowly lifting her wide-eyed gaze, she met a pair of caring dark chocolate eyes that seemed to sympathize with her. Uncomfortable with the undeserved affection, Buffy gave Mr. Stokes a tight smile before pulling her hand away.
“Then when I got there he - he was just crumpled on the ground. Dead.” Buffy paused to lick her cracked lips before she continued. “I - I checked for a pulse but there wasn’t one and that’s when I called 911.”
“Ms. Summers, I found some mucopurulent, mucus pus, around Mr. Carlson’s wound. Nothing at the crime scene indicated how he came in contact with it; we’re thinking it was transferred off the assailant. Do you recall if you found any substance that looked like this on your clothing?” Nick pulled out an enlarged photo of the wound out from a manila folder and slid it in front of her.
Buffy swallowed the salvia that spilled in her mouth, a pre-warning that her stomach was rebelling. She tried not to gag from the taste of bile that rose up her throat as her eyes stared at the gruesome photo. With a clenched jaw she swallowed once more, pushing back down her stomach contents.
Even with her life being laced with death it didn’t dull the image. Not trusting her own voice she shook her head in response.
A few moments passed before Nick reached out and placed the photo back in the file. “You don’t recall seeing anything after you found Mr. Carlson? Could be a figure hiding in the bushes that you thought was just a shadow at the time? Before you came across him was there anything that you found odd on your walk? Anything?” With a small hopeful smile on his lips, Nick waited for a response. Often, a witness would see something at the crime scene and think nothing of it until later when they were questioned.
With a shrug of her shoulders Buffy shook her head. “I’m sorry. I wish I could be more helpful but I don’t remember anything odd.” Except for that Polgara demon that would be deader than dead the moment she tracked it down.
The breath Nick had been holding escaped his lungs in a loud ‘whoosh’ as he leaned back in his chair. Grabbing the pen on the table, he jotted down some notes. With nothing more to ask he turned to Brass, giving the detective a slight nod.
Clearing his throat Brass gave a tight, unfriendly smile to the woman. “I think that’s it for now, Ms. Summers. Thank you for your time and if we have any more questions we’ll contact you.”
~Fin~
Completed: November 12, 2007
Revised: March 28, 2008