Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 13:46:41 MST From: Megan Hull Subject: Deja Vu (1/1) To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU Another anap-shot that came to mind a while ago. There's a saying in the scientific community that goes something like: if it happens once, it will happen again. Some don't beleive it, but it sounds plausable. Disclaimers: Don't own nothin', wish I did. Un-beta-read. Mistakes are mine and mine alone. May be archived by Mel, anyone else, please drop me a line. Comments and constructive critisizm welcomed at . Flames will be raspberried and promptly discarded. On with the show! Deja Vu (1/1) "Uh, oh. This doesn't look pleasant," Natalie commented as Thom wheeled the gurney into the room. "Yeah, don't it?" Unlike Eddie, Thom had a rather morbid sense of humor and enjoyed cataloguing all the various ways people found to do themselves and each other in. "Apparently, this idiot wasn't watching where he was walking. He moseyed right between a couple of gangs in the middle of a stand-off. Both sides though he was a member of the other and opened fire. We have a pool going as to exactly how many times this guy got shot before he hit the ground. I put down 125." "That many?" "A handful of gangsters on both sides had AK-47s." "Wow." "Here," he said eagerly, ignoring Natalie's dubious glance, "Check this out." He opened the evidence bag containing the victim's clothes, pulled out a shirt and held it up for inspection. The shirt contained so many bullet holes, it was completely shredded. "I'm willing to bet he didn't feel it for very long." Natalie reached out to finger the decimated material, then decided against it. "That's, uh, pretty thorough," she said at last, not at all looking forward to this autopsy. "The crazy thing is, his pants almost weren't touched. Each and every one of those guys was going for a kill. I'd say they did it." "Thom, get out of here, or you'll be joining him!" Natalie said firmly, not wanting to hear any more. Thom laughed and left. Natalie thought, She unzipped the bag, then turned away to ready her instruments. Thom had been right; all the damage had been focused solely in the chest area. In fact, his face was hardly affected at all, other than being absolutly white in death. She had just begun her preliminary examination when she heard the door behind her open quietly. Not breaking stride, she turned and motioned for Nick to wait until she reached a stopping point. He did, and at the sound of her tape recorder snapping off, approached. "This one of yours?" she asked. "No. I came in to see about Mr. Myers from last night." "Well," Natalie said, laying out the sterile instruments, "tox isn't back yet, so I can't tell you anything definite, but offhand, I'd say he had a heart attack, plain and simple. Nothing suspicious about it." "That's a relief. I really didn't want to go back to questioning his widow." Nick glanced casually at the corpse on the dissecting table, frowned and looked again. His eyes took on the slightly glazed look that Natalie knew meant he was remembering something. Abruptly, he snapped out of it and grabbed her by the arm. "Nick!" Natalie yelled in surprise and anger. "What--?" Nick propelled her to the door, opened it quickly and shoved her outside. "Stay out," he ordered firmly, then closed the door tightly behind him. Natalie just stared at the door for a few moments. she wondered, perplexed and not a little upset. She seriously considered going back in, but something held her back. Nick usually had a reason for the weird things he did, whether he explained it or not. But he was going to explain this one, or else! Meanwhile, she pressed her ear against the crack where the door met the wall and listened. She heard the sound of the refrigerator door opening and closing, then a strange, wild sound. There was silence for a minute or so, then she heard the low rumble of Nick's voice, and another answering him. It went back and fourth for a while longer, completely confusing Natalie. Suddenly, the door opened, pushing her aside, and a figure walked out. He was about her height and was wearing the clothes from the evidence bag, the only exception being that he had Nick's leather coat on, zipped up right to his neck. The man bobbed his head and muttered a perfunctory "ma'am" as he brushed by her and out the door. She stared after him, eyes wide and mouth gaping, long after he was gone. Then Nick was at her elbow, and she glanced up at him, still unable to remove the shock from her face. Nick shrugged. "He'll bring it back," he said, deliberately misinterpreting the cause of her surprise. It worked, and Natalie was jolted out of her paralysis by the absurdity of the comment. "Just as long as he doesn't bring it here," she said with an uneasy laugh. She looked again down the corridor to the double doors the man had just exited from and shook her head. "My life is way too weird," she muttered. She turned and re-entered the room, Nick holding the door and following her in. She stopped and took in the recently vacated dissection table and several empty unit packs in the garbage, then pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "I think I need an aspirin," she said weakly, heading for her desk. "And chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate." End "Eternal nights too short, How quickly melt away, With all the love we shared once, Forever in a day." ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com