Show: CSI

Title: I Could Be the One

Author: NubianGeek

Greg came into work that night with a sense that something was going to

happen. There was a kind of excitement that he had never felt before. He had no idea where this 'thing' would come from, so he made sure that he was very much aware of everything that went on around him.

Those around him noticed that he was a bit more 'up' than usual; however, no one was about to ask him about it.

On his dinner break, he went to check his e-mail. There was a message from his friend, Resourceress. Greg had been writing to Resourceress, or Emma for about a year. He felt very close to her, even if they had never met. He had been strangely drawn to her, and he didn't know why. Several times during their relationship, he had thought about actually meeting Emma. He knew that Emma had recently moved to Las Vegas because he had given her some help finding certain locations in the city.

He also knew that Emma was single and near his age. He knew what his friends would think if he went out with someone he met from the Internet. Emma, on the other hand, couldn't understand why Greg opposed the meeting. What it all boiled down to was that Greg was scared.

He didn't realize it, but he had been sitting there for more than five minutes staring off into space. He was so far gone, that he didn't notice Catherine walking up behind him. The two had developed a special bond since the lab accident. Catherine had become kind of an older sister figure.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" she asked quietly.

Greg immediately felt embarrassed. When he didn't speak, Catherine read what was on the screen.

"Oh, it's from a girl," she teased. Greg still hadn't said anything.

"Do you like her?" Catherine asked.

Greg started to deny everything, but he wasn't very good at lying.

"Yeah, I like her a lot."

Catherine liked Greg too much to laugh. She could see that he was being serious.

"So, you've never actually met her before, have you?" Greg slowly shook his head.

"I want to, but what if I don't like her?" Catherine didn't look convinced.

"You already like her, Greg." Catherine said. She then, walked away.

Greg now knew that he was being silly. He turned back to the computer and began typing. Boy, I've done some crazy things before, but this . . . She was online, so Greg IM'd her.

"Hey you . . . " he typed.

Emma had been checking her e-mail that night. She knew that Greg worked nights, so she was quite surprised when he IM'd her.

"I want to meet you."

Emma Salazar had just graduated from the Police Academy six months earlier. She was now a rookie cop, and she loved it. She loved the uniform, and the

weight of her gun. She liked being a beat cop and getting to know the people in her district.

Getting to know Greg, who was also in law enforcement, had been a perk as well. She longed for the day when she could get her detective's shield. And now, in the midst of all the wonderful things happening in her life, Greg wanted to meet her. She felt like she already knew Greg, that is, if he had been telling the truth. Greg had taken off the next night so that they could go out to dinner. She tried not to think about what it would be like. She tried to focus on the job at hand.

They had received a call about a robbery in progress, and her and her

partner, Langston, were headed there. She took this opportunity before they arrived, to prepare herself.

They had arrived at the liquor store without their siren, and immediately called for backup. Everything was done by the book.

Langston approached the door of the store. He looked inside. He could see

the perp holding a gun on the clerk. He didn't even know that they were

there.

"He doesn't see us." Langy whispered.

"What about the clerk?" Emma asked.

Langy tried to get the clerk's attention and motioned for him to get down. The moment he did, Langy burst through the door. Emma wasn't ready for that. Their backup had not arrived.

"Mark . . . "

Langy immediately went low and yelled, "Police." The perp turned and fired. Emma returned fire to cover her partner. In the course of the subsequent shootout, Langy lay dying, and Emma shot and killed the robber. Emma was lauded as a hero. There were pictures and articles in the newspaper. She kept he date with Greg that night. She was still on the high from all of the publicity, but she was really excited about meeting Greg.

They had arranged to meet at the restaurant. Greg had a brief description of what she looked like. Five foot four, Hispanic, long brown hair. Greg's description of himself sounded to Emma like the All-American boy.

Greg stood outside the restaurant. "What if she doesn't show up?" he thought to himself. Then, he saw her. She was wearing a slinky, black dress that went well with her coloring. Greg felt his breath catch in his throat.

"Emma?" Greg asked hopefully.

"Yes, hi Greg." They hugged. It was natural. He took her hand, and they walked into the restaurant. Greg stole small glances in Emma's direction. She was beautiful. He caught himself out-and-out staring.

"Everything looks so good." Emma said as she looked at the menu.

"It sure does." Greg said softly.

They ordered and talked some more. They were old friends meeting each other for the first time. If there were any doubt about being in love with her before, all doubt was erased now. The stuff he was getting now was all bonus. The laughter, the smile, those eyes -- wow.

When dinner was over, Greg didn't want the evening to end. He was unusually quiet as they came out into the night. She could tell by looking at him that he didn't want the evening to end.

"Well, what do you think?" Emma asked. For the first time in a long time, Greg was speechless. Greg moved closer and took he face into his hands. He kissed her softly at first. The initial shock of that kiss threatened to throw them both off-balance.

Emma put her arms around him and held on. It had begun to rain, and the two of them were standing there getting drenched.

"Greg, will you take me home please?"

The next morning, Greg awoke to the smell of frying bacon, and coffee. He sat up and was immediately disoriented. Then, the sweet thoughts came back.

When they arrived at Emma's house the night before, Greg knew he wanted her. As soon as the door was closed, Greg began kissing Emma again. She wanted him as well. they wasted no time heading to the bedroom.

The first time they made love, it was quick and passionate. They snuggled, cuddled and slept afterward. Then, they made love once again; this time, they took their time getting to know every inch of each other's bodies. Slowly, Greg was brought out of his reverie and back to the present.

"G'morning." Emma said as she brought in a tray full of breakfast

goodies and a pot of coffee.

"Wow, this looks great." Greg said as he nabbed a strip of bacon and began chomping as Emma poured him a cup of coffee. After she handed it to him, she stopped and was unusually quiet. Greg stopped eating long enough to notice that there was something wrong.

"Are you okay?" he asked. She was looking down at the bed absently

playing with the bed spread.

"Am I ever going to hear from you again?" Emma asked. She still wasn't

looking at him.

"What d'ya mean? why would you think I wouldn't want to see you again?"

Emma tried to get her thoughts together.

"It's just that a lot of guys are just happy with a one night stand;

they don't want a relationship."

"I'm not 'a lot of guys'" he said softly as he lifted her chin and

kissed her gently.

"So, what are you saying?" Emma managed to say through kisses.

"It means. . . I want to keep seeing you," Greg quickly placed the

breakfast tray on the night stand and made love to her one more time.

As a result of their impromptu lovemaking, Emma was almost late for

work. She had just made roll call, and was surprised to receive a standing

ovation.

Emma had to blink her eyes in disbelief. These were the same guys who

had razzed her since day one. It was nothing serious; just pranks. This

scene made it all seem worth it. Her fellow officers were congratulating her

and slapping her on the back. They presented her with a newspaper article

which proclaimed her a hero.

There was someone else looking at that newspaper article. He looked at

Emma's picture, and knew that she was the one. She was the one that would be

his salvation.

"Hey Greg, how was your date?" Catherine asked that night. she

understood when she saw the big grin spread across his face.

"That good, huh?"

"We had a very nice time," he finally admitted. Catherine had a feeling that there was more to the story, but she didn't have time to ask right then.

The call came in about an hour after their shift started. A male jogger was found shot in the head. The body was being transferred to CSI for autopsy. What they found was very interesting.

Emma had just gotten off work when she got the call to come back. She was not a happy camper.

Greg saw her before she saw him. His breath caught just as it did when

he first saw her. He knew that she was in law enforcement, but he couldn't

figure out what she was doing there. He followed Grissom and Catherine to the

autopsy room. He came in just in time to hear Emma say: "I have no idea how

it got there."

Brass was already there, and Greg didn't like what seemed to be going on.

"How do you explain your name etched into the bullet that killed this

man?" Brass was putting the pressure on. Emma was almost in tears.

"What's going on here?" he asked. Everyone's eyes flew to Greg.

"Greg, what's your interest in this?" Grissom asked without blinking an

eye.

Emma looked quickly to Greg, and he could tell that she didn't want to

be rescued.

"Uh, I'll just wait out here -- If I'm needed."

Emma was relieved. It was bad enough that she was crying in front of

her colleagues.

"I can't explain it," she simply said.

Other than her name on the bullet, the police really had nothing else to

connect Emma to the murder. She was, however, on desk duty pending the

investigation.

"City's sweetheart one minute, disgraced the next," she mumbled as she

left the room. Greg was waiting for her.

"What was that all about?" he asked. She pulled him aside.

"Some guy was shot. When they did the autopsy, they found my name on

the bullet," she waited a bit to let this information sink in.

"But how. . ." Greg asked

"I don't know."

Greg could see how this was upsetting her. He took into his arms, and

held her.

"So, this must be the girl form the Internet." Catherine said with a

smile. Greg turned and was slightly embarrassed to see Catherine standing

there.

"Catherine, how do you think Emma's name got on the bullet?" Catherine

thought for a moment.

"Emma must have made a friend somewhere." was all that she said.

Emma went back to work at the desk. She hated it. She did her mindless job as if she were running on auto pilot.

Just before the end of her shift, a man stepped up to the desk.

"Uh, yes, could you tell me where I could find the Stolen Property Division?" He asked.

"Up the stairs and tot he right." Emma answered automatically.

"Hey, aren't you that police officer that was in the paper?"

Emma had been eyed with suspicion by her fellow officers when she returned tot he station. She didn't find it odd that this man would ask about it.

"Uh, yes, that's me." She answered.

To her surprise, the man didn't ask anything else about the incident.

"My name is David. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me?" Emma took in a sharp breath. Under normal circumstances, she would have welcomed such an invitation, but . . .

"I'm seeing someone right now, sorry." She said. The slight twinge of irritation showed on his face. He tried to play it off.

"That's okay. Bad timing. Maybe I'll see you around."

Even though she was totally devoted to Greg, it was a definite ego booster.

"Why is it that whenever I start dating someone, other guys start coming out of the wood work."

Greg was in the lab. He thought about Emma, and what had happened earlier. He, again, did not hear when Catherine approached.

"Well, how're you holding up?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, I'm fine." he lied.

"So, I guess things went really well last night?" Catherine asked.

"Yeah. I'm in love with her." he confessed. Catherine that fact would make this investigation a little difficult.

"So, how do you think Emma's name got on that bullet?" Greg asked.

Catherine could see the desperation on his face. He wanted Emma to be innocent.

"Well, I speculated that it's obviously someone who knew her, but she doesn't, necessarily, know him."

Greg had no doubt that Emma was racking her brain trying to think of who this guy might be.

"Oh, Greg. . ." Catherine began. He looked up.

"I'm happy for you." She smiled and walked away.

Greg had arranged to call Emma before she went to bed that night.

"Hello." she said as she answered the phone.

He loved the sound of her voice. It was so smooth and rich. He was distracted.

"Uh, hi. How're you doing?" He asked as if nothing had happened.

"I miss you." she said quietly. Greg wasn't prepared and felt his heart lurch in his chest. He swallowed hard to try to dislodge the lump from his throat.

"I miss you, too. Look, what are you doing on Saturday? Can I see you?" he asked. She smiled even though he couldn't see the smile.

"Yes, I'd love to see you on Saturday." There was an awkward moment before they hung up.

They were still quite shy with one another, even though they had known each other for a whole year.

He was silently happy as he returned to work.

He sat at his desk as he looked at picture after picture of her. They were candid pictures that were taken when she wasn't aware. He liked the feeling of watching her when she wasn't aware. It gave him a sense of power. He prepared he bullets, and he felt a sense of accomplishment. It was a boost to his self esteem. He felt like he could do anything now, and he would.

They spent the entire day together. Because Emma was not from Las Vegas, she had not had enough time to see much. She loved amusement parks, especially roller coasters. So, Greg took her to Circus, Circus. He found out that Emma was a roller coaster junkie, much like Grissom. She dragged him on every daring ride they had there.

They hadn't discussed the case the whole day.

When the day was over, they sat in Emma's living room. She began to feel uneasy.

"Greg, what do you think's going on - - I mean, with the bullet?" Greg had racked his brain trying to figure this out.

"Catherine said that it might be somebody you know - -like an enemy." Emma had a smirk on her face.

"Greg, I've only been on the job for six months. I haven't really made any enemies." He could tell that she was trying to make light of the situation, but he could also tell that she was afraid. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Will you stay with me tonight? She asked helplessly.

She had decided to take her life back. She didn't like the idea of running scared. She decided to do what she did best, which was research.

She was working on the hunch that this guy had killed before - - in essence, a serial killer. Elements such as, her name on the bullet, had given her this idea.

She went to the police database and typed in the specifics of the case. It was a huge hunch, one of which she hoped paid off.

Her spirits lifted as she saw that she had several hits on the information that she put in.

"Great. Now I have to research each one."

She spent the rest of the day researching each case to see if there were any unusual similarities. At one point, she got out a calendar and plotted the dates of the murders. After that, she was stuck.

She quickly had lunch of a salad and diet coke , and went back to work. She desperately needed something to tie all of the murders together. Her eye happened to fall on today's newspaper.

"I wonder. . ." she began, as she gathered her purse and keys and headed out the door.

She ended up at the library. There, she looked up newspapers from all of the dates of the murders. She scanned through, hoping to find the least little tidbit of information.

She withdrew a sharp breath, and then went back through her findings to make sure that she was correct. She printed out the necessary pages from each paper, gathered her belongings, and headed out the door.

It was now time for Greg to be getting ready for work, so she chanced it and swung by his place.

Greg, who had just come out of the shower, was not expecting visitors. So, when the buzzer sounded, he hastily grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself and went to the door. He looked through he peephole and felt a mixture of panic and excitement. For a split second, he wondered if he should tell her to wait, or just open the door. He opted for the latter.

"Oh, hi . . .sorry." Emma blushed as she observed Greg in the towel.

"It's okay. Come on in. Uh, I'll do and change."

Emma went inside and sat down on the sofa, then she looked around Greg's apartment. She knew that he made pretty good money, and smiled as she saw the really expensive stereo system, and then her eyes fell on his computer and various other electronic gadgets. Just like Greg to spend his money on this, she thought.

By this time, Greg had come back. The towel was now gone, and clothes replaced it. Emma couldn't help but feel a little disappointed about that.

"So, what brings you over?" Greg asked casually.

Emma could barely speak fast enough. She pulled out everything that she had been working on. It took Greg a minute or so before things began to sink in. But, once he did, he began to get excited about what she did find.

"Did you do all of this today?" he asked. She nodded and kept talking.

"Of course, all of this is circumstantial. We have to talk to Richard Smythe."

Richard Smythe had made millions off of his personal image campaigns. 'A New and Better You'. Is what he pushed. Emma had researched and found that in each location where a body was found, Smythe was there for a speaking engagement.

"We need the one item that will tie those murders to ours. What about the bullet?"

Emma smiled as she presented the final piece of her presentation.

"There were bullets with names etched into them. Those cases remain unsolved."

Even though Greg was smiling at her progress, he was also worried.

"Does it say anything about the people whose names were etched into the bullets?" he asked.

Emma read further and her smile faded.

"They all became victims."

Emma and Greg brought their findings to their superiors. Emma's lieutenant was very impressed with Emma's work.

"We'll send a couple of our detectives out to question Mr. Smythe."

Emma was also allowed to go back on duty. She smiled and Greg kissed her when she got the news.

He knew that she was on his trail. He had seen her go to the library. He followed her. It was time to put on his act. He checked his appearance in the mirror. It was just in time, for just at that moment, the doorbell rang.

Brass had the unpleasant misfortune of getting this assignment. He was impressed by the police work that Emma had done.

"Richard Smythe?" He asked unenthusiastically.

"Yes, that's me. What can I do for you?"

Brass flashed his badge, but Smythe was not impressed.

"Won't you come inside officer?"

Brass looked around the mansion. There were a lot of impressive homes in Vegas, and Brass had seen his share of them. But, this one was not shabby.

Smythe invited brass into the livingroom and offered him a seat.

"I'm investigating a murder." he began.

Smythe didn't look surprised. In fact, he looked very calm as Brass proceeded.

"Do you think that I am connected in some way?" He asked innocently. Instead of coming out and accusing the man, Brass tried another tactic.

"Things are pointing to someone in your entourage. I wonder if you can verify these appearance dates?"

Smythe put on his reading glasses and looked at the list that Brass had.

"Yes, these are correct. I've done five conferences in this general area."

He handed the list back to Brass.

"Was your entire entourage present during these conferences?" Brass asked.

Smythe thought for a moment.

"As far as I know." he answered.

Smythe challenged Brass with his eyes.

They had confirmed that Smythe had been in town on the dates of the murders, but that was all. They had nothing to tying Smythe to the murders, even thought Brass was sure that he did it.

"We need to figure out, somehow, who his next victim will be.

Brass and Grissom were brainstorming.

"Where is his next speaking engagement?" Grissom asked.

"If we can't predict his next victim, we can, at least, predict where he will next strike."

He stepped off the plane in Santa Barbara. He would need to choose another victim soon. The first order of business was to find a place to hunt.

Grissom and Brass stepped of the plane in Santa Barbara armed with Richard Smythe's speaking schedule. Because Brass had met Smythe, he decided to keep a low profile. Gil, on the other hand, planned on being very visible. He registered for Smythe's conference.

Grissom sat in the front row, trying his best to look like he believed in this mumbo jumbo. This guy was shoveling so much horse manure that Gil was afraid he was going to sprout daisies.

When Smythe was finished with his seminar, Brass to up surveillance.

They didn't have to wait lone before Smythe emerged. They followed him at a distance, hoping to prevent him from abducting anyone.

Greg and Emma had tried to return to a somewhat normal life. They tried not to think about the case at all. Even though Smythe was in Santa Barbara, they still didn't feel that they could breathe freely.

Greg told Emma that Brass and Grissom had gone to Santa Barbara to, hopefully, apprehend Smythe.

They sat, now, in each other's arms. It was about two hours before Greg had to be at work.

"I'll be glad when this whole thing is over." Emma said. Greg gave her an extra squeeze.

"Don't worry. It'll be over soon. Then, we need to think about where we go from here." Greg said softly.

Emma had been so worried about this killer, that she didn't have time to think about their relationship.

It wasn't that Emma didn't want things to go on from there, she did. But, she knew from past relationships that relationships took lots of work.

Greg too her silence to mean that she had second thoughts.

"Emma. . .?" Greg asked quietly. He looked desperate.

Emma placed her hand on his cheek. She looked into his eyes, and then kissed him as her answer. Greg deepened the kiss. He wanted her, and he couldn't control himself any longer. He began removing her clothes.

When Greg arrived at work that night, he was very happy. He was afraid that people might guess what he had done that evening. He tried to be 'all business'.

"Catherine, have you heard from Grissom?" he asked.

"Not too much. He and Brass are watching Smythe now." Greg was relieved to hear that.

Emma turned out the light as she thought about Greg. She smiled.

Emma was already asleep , or she would have heard someone entering her home, uninvited.

Brass and Grissom had kept a watch on Smythe all night, with no results. They were both cranky. They both had a feeling that Smythe knew that someone was watching them.

Their pattern had been to call the other before they went to sleep. So, that morning, when Greg got off shift, he called Emma. There was no answer.

Maybe she has her cell turned off, he thought. So, he called the police station where she worked. He received a very big shock.

"What do you mean, she never showed up?" he said loudly. Passers by, including Catherine and Sara, heard his outburst. They saw the look of panic on his face.

"I have to go. . ." he said as he hung up.

Gil's cell phone rang.

"Hello." he listened for a bit, and Brass couldn't miss the look of concern on his face. He finally said, "Emma's been kidnaped." Brass stared back in disbelief.

"How do they know she was kidnaped?" he asked.

"They found a bullet with her name on it in her apartment."

Greg was a mess. Nick and Warrick tried really hard to cheer him up, but to no avail.

Greg had already cried so much, he couldn't cry anymore. In his mind, he thought that she was already dead. He kept telling himself that he couldn't live without her.

Catherine had told him to go home, which was probably not a good idea. He needed to keep busy.

"So, it couldn't have been Smythe, even though we know that's it's related to the case." Brass said.

"Yes, but whoever it was went out of their way to let us know that the kidnaping is related to this case." Gil said.

Brass an Grissom had taken the first plane back to Vegas. They had really wanted to nail Smythe, but, whatever happened, Smythe did not kidnap Emma. So, who did?

She woke up in darkness. The first thing that she noticed was that her hands had been tied behind her back, and her feet were bound. Also, there was a rag stuffed in her mouth.

Emma struggled for a bit, trying to free herself. But, she soon found out that this was useless.

Then, she heard voices. They were muffled, but she could tell that there were two voices. One of them was male, and the other was female.

She couldn't help it, she started to cry. She thought about Greg. He must be worried sick. She didn't want to think about what might happen to her.

"If Smythe didn't kidnap Emma, it's got to be someone he knows." Grissom said.

"According to the tabloids, Smythe was seeing a Jane Hopkins off and on. Maybe I should go and see Jane." Said Brass.

Brass soon found out that Jane had disappeared. No one had seen her for a couple of days. So, Brass decided to talk to Jane's co-workers.

"Jane didn't tell you she was going anywhere?" he asked.

The woman that Brass was questioning seemed a little annoyed, unlike the friend of a missing woman.

"Look, Jane didn't say where she was going." she said.

"Did she mention Richard Smythe, or someplace that she and he would go to be alone?" The woman started to say no, but changed her mind.

"Jane has a cabin that she and Richard used to go to, to escape the paparazzi."

She told Brass where it was.

When Brass came back to organize the troops, Greg cornered him.

"Please tell me you've found her." he begged.

Brass felt sorry for the kid.

"We might have a lead on her." he said.

"I'll call when she's safe." Brass didn't know what he say if the girl were already dead.

They went in silently, in case she really was there. The cabin looked abandoned, and Brass lost hope that the girl was even there.

As Brass' men stormed inside, they could almost feel the silence. They searched the cabin from top to bottom. Just as Brass was about to give up, they came to a locked door.

"Break it down." Brass demanded. The men did as they were told. Brass heard the soft sobbing immediately.

"Emma. . .?"

She didn't answer, but he knew that it was her.

"Boy is Greg going to be happy to see you." Hearing Greg's name, Emma perked up.

"Greg. . ." she said softly.

"Don't worry, I'll deliver you personally."

Greg was still moping around the office waiting for any word from Brass.

"Greg. . ." he recognized her voice and almost cried again. Greg pulled her into his arms and whirled her around. Then they both cried.

Brass had left some officers at the cabin to wait for Smythe and Jane to return. They weren't disappointed. A couple of hours later, the two were apprehended.

Brass was going to take Emma to the hospital just to be checked, but he knew he had to get her to Greg. Now, Greg took her in for a check up.

Greg kept thinking about how he almost lost her. He wouldn't let her out of his sight for anything now.

"Emma, I love you." he finally said.

"I love you, too." Emma answered. They kissed through tears of happiness.

"Greg, did you ever find out why Smythe had my name on the bullets?" Emma asked.

"He had seen your picture in the paper. He was fascinated by strong women." Greg replied.

So, she had finally done something to really shine, and this was her payment for it? Oh well, it didn't really matter because they had caught Smythe and she had finally caught her one true love.