Title: Halfhearted

Pairing: Sara/Nick, Amelia/Speed, Amelia/Grissom

Spoiler: Lost Son, Viva Las Vegas, Pilot, basically all CSI episodes up to season 4/5ish.

Summary: Amelia's out of the hospital and she's back at the Lab. What happens when a hug between Amelia and Grissom incites riot? A case involving the murder of a Politician's wife, another involving a dead husband and a Casino theft wears down the CSIs as unexpected news jumps in their faces.

Disclaimer: I only own what you do not recognize. I.E: Amelia, Evan, and the victims and suspects. CSI Belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer and all of those smart people who created these fine CSI series.

My Original Note: First chapter! I hope you guys like! I'm trying to be more descriptive and such. I just bought the CSI: Miami book Heat Wave, which is a good book so far, so I've gotten some good ideas. I also have the CSI book Grave Matters, which is another great book. They're good for ideas. Please Read and Review!

Chapter 1: Back To Work

"Justice Is Lost

Justice Is Raped

Justice Is Gone

Pulling Your Strings

Justice Is Done

Seeking No Truth

Winning Is All

Find it So Grim

So True

So Real" -Metallica "...And Justice For All"

The sun started to set in the west in Las Vegas, Nevada, waking up the night owls. Half of the residents of the city and surrounding cities were going home to prepare dinner for their families and tuck in their children and then finally crawl into their own bed for a nice, peaceful sleep. The other half of the city was preparing to go out to the clubs and the casinos. But then there was a small part of the city that was getting ready for work. Somebody had to work the night shift at certain places all over the city. Places like the Las Vegas Crime Lab and the Las Vegas Police Department.

The people on day shift were just coming off as the people on night shift were coming on. The tired faces of day shift were greeted by the lively faces of night shift. Grumbled greetings were given from the likes of Conrad Ecklie to the likes of Gil Grissom, while Grissom preferred to give Conrad a very lively 'Hello' and a big cheery smile, just because he knew it would piss him off. Ecklie stormed out of the building, biting back a snide remark, while Grissom headed towards his office to hand out assignments.

Inside the lab, Greg and Amelia were chatting it up with each other as they waited for everyone else to come in. It had been two weeks since Amelia had returned to the lab. She had gotten her car back and had found and moved into her own apartment, which happened to be about five minutes from Grissom's townhouse. She and Grissom had gone on three dates since he first asked her out. They had managed to keep it from everybody, though it was hard.

But yet something was nagging Amelia. Something was nagging her in the back of her mind and it was pissing her off. She had taken the engagement ring Tim gave to her and she had put it in a shoe box with pictures and newspaper clippings about Tim.

After she did that, everything suddenly felt wrong to her.

And every time she went out on a date with Grissom she felt like she was cheating on Tim. She just pushed that feeling away and chalked it up to the fact he had died recently. It's natural, she told herself. He's dead and I feel guilty because I loved him a lot. One night, after she had her first date with Grissom, she woke up in the middle of the night after having a weird dream. She was still on her one week bed rest, so Grissom had been at work and she was all alone. She dreamt that Tim was still alive and he was mad at Amelia for cheating on him. The dream felt real.

It felt so real that Amelia called Horatio in Miami, at 12:15 a.m., just to confirm that Tim was, in fact, still dead. Horatio confirmed her fears and they ended up talking for hours.

But a doubt still lingered in the back of her mind.

She couldn't shake it.

Amelia said her goodbyes to Greg, who returned to his lab, while she joined the rest of the team in the lounge and waited as Grissom handed out assignments.

"Ok, Mel and Catherine, you have a DB at a hotel." Grissom handed the paper to Amelia, his eyes looking at the next slip of paper. He looked at her as their fingers touched. Amelia quickly pulled away and looked down at the paper. Grissom cleared his throat as the rest of the team gave him and Amelia a questioning look. "Uh, Sara you're with me. DB killed in his home." He handed the slip to Sara. " Warrick, and Nick, you have a theft at a Casino." He handed the slip of paper to Warrick.

"Have fun."

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Amelia parked her SUV in the front parking lot to the hotel and got out. She adjusted her vest and pulled her long blonde hair back into a ponytail. She walked back to her trunk and pulled her kit out as Catherine pulled up in her Denali. Amelia waited as Catherine got her own kit from her trunk.

"Hey Cath." Amelia greeted her. The two women decided to leave the lab separately. Catherine smiled at Amelia as she shut her trunk.

"Hey. You sleepin' better?" She asked. Amelia had told Catherine about her dreams, though not divulging the whole truth. Even at about 3 and half months, Amelia still hadn't told anyone she was pregnant. She didn't know how.

"Somewhat. Ready?" She asked. Catherine nodded. The two women walked into the hotel and were greeted by the manager.

"If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the body." He said. Catherine and Amelia nodded and followed him.

"High profile?" Catherine asked, looking around as they walked to the elevator.

"Yes." Was all the manager said. Catherine gave Amelia an annoyed look behind the manager's back and Amelia fought to suppress a laugh.

"Who is it?" Amelia asked as they stepped out of the elevator.

"Rene Edwards." He answered. Amelia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You mean Rene Edwards as in wife of Jack Edwards, famous politician in these parts?" She asked as they stopped at the crime scene tape. Half of the hallway was taped off. Bullet holes covered the walls. The manager nodded.

"Yes, that Rene Edwards. If you need anything, let me know." Amelia and Catherine nodded and then he left. The two women set their kits down and pulled out gloves. As they slipped their latex gloves on, Capt. Jim Brass walked up to them.

"What do we have?" Catherine asked as she and Amelia stepped under the police tape and began looking at the wall and floors.

Jim opened up his small notepad.

"Rene Edwards, age 50, wife of politician Jack Edwards and mother of four. According to the witnesses, Mrs. Edwards was sitting with her family in the living room watching the election on TV. Her youngest two kids, Emma and Matt were in their bedroom, the adjoining room, sleeping. Cate was in there watching a different TV program. The two kids woke up around 9:25 and Cate went to get her mother when she couldn't settle them down. Mrs. Edwards was putting them back to sleep around 10 when bullets started pouring through the walls. Cate, Emma, and Matt made it to the other room, but Mrs. Edwards was hit in the back and went down." Jim told them. Amelia smiled as she took pictures of the walls.

"Nice story Jim." She said. Jim smiled at her and closed his small notepad.

"Thanks, I'm here all night. Mr. Edwards, his brother John, Rene's brother Gary, Emma, Cate, and Matt are in the adjoining room. David is in the room with the body."

"I'll take the room." Catherine said. Amelia nodded and continued taking pictures. She stopped taking pictures and lowered the camera.

"How many bullets?" He asked. Amelia took a step back and took a guess.

"I would say, um, about 30 or so. .45, or maybe a .32. Hard to tell. I'm guessing whoever did this knew that this was the kids room. Why try to kill the kids?" Amelia asked. She looked over at Jim who shrugged.

"I don't know. It doesn't look like all of the bullets got through." He said. Amelia looked back at the wall.

"No, most of them got stuck in the wall. It looks like only four or five got through. Huh, guess I gotta bag all these bullets." She said, looking at the floor where a few of the bullets had fallen.

"Lucky you." Jim said before walking into the room. Amelia stuck her tongue out at his back.

"Lucky me." Amelia muttered.

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Amelia walked out of the lab with a headache. It had taken her hours to get all of the bullets from the scene. 35 in all. Then she combed the carpet in the hall for anything that seemed out of place. She picked up hairs and fibers and...a few drops of blood. She had brought everything back to the lab and was ready for a break. Catherine had returned from the scene a few minutes after Amelia and she was at the autopsy with Al.

Amelia walked into the layout room and found Nick in there, working on one side of the table. Amelia smiled at him as she set her pictures on the other side. He smiled back at her.

"How's it going?" He asked, motioning to the pictures. Amelia sighed and spread the pictures of the wall out.

"Bad. Politician's wife." Amelia said as she set out the pictures of Rene Edwards. Nick cringed. A dead politician or a dead politician's family member was never a good thing. That would mean it would be high profile and most likely messy.

"Who?" He asked as he stretched.

"Rene Edwards." She told him. Nick shook his head as he went back to his work.

"That cannot be good at all. Jack Edwards...who would want to kill him or anybody in his family? He's a nice guy." Nick said.

"As far as we can tell, the bullets were supposed to kill his kids." Nick's head shot up. "The bullets were shot into the kids room. The wife was in there putting her kids to bed. They all ran for the next room, but...well, she didn't make it." She told him. Nick sighed and looked back at his pictures.

"That's gotta suck. I've seen her in the paper. She's always doing something for charity and kids. She seemed like a great person." Nick said sadly. Amelia nodded.

"Yeah." Was all she said. Amelia stared at the pictures, trying to piece everything together. The evidence seemed to match up with the witnesses statements. All she had to do was find out who would do this. Nick was right, the Edwards' were a nice family and everybody loved them. It was rare that anybody spoke out badly about them. Everybody seemed to love them.

So who would want to kill them?