Title: Red

Author: Grissomgal71

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own these characters, but I wish I did. For right now, I'll just keep playing with them in my own little world.

A/N: Well, here I am back again! My terrific beta, Grissom, pointed out that it's been a year since I had a new story posted here and I could hardly believe it. Where does the time go? But I'm glad to be back, and I hope you all enjoy this new fic! I know this chapter is quite short, but I have also posted chapter 2. You'll have to wait a couple of days for the next part. Thanks again to Grissom and to DaVinci13 who acted as a 'delta' on this fic (is that what comes after 'beta'?).

Chapter 1: From Above

Grissom and Sara approached the building warily. Their trained eyes automatically scanned the area, searching for anything that seemed out of place.

In front of them was a three-story office building; other, even taller structures flanked it on either side. At least they seemed tall in this residential area, far enough off the Strip that you couldn't even see the spindly expanse of the Stratosphere tower.

Besides the police cruisers and yellow tape behind them, everything looked deserted on this early Sunday morning. Unfortunately for the two exhausted CSIs, crime very rarely took a weekend off. They continued their trek through the empty parking lot, finding no evidence of any recent visitors.

"Where did you say the body was, Grissom?" Sara asked, breaking the studied silence.

"Upstairs, in –"

His reply was abruptly cut off as two shots suddenly exploded through the stillness.

Chaos erupted around Sara as she heard screams and running steps. Someone yelled, "Down! Everybody down!" And a frantic voice she thought might belong to Brass said something about "shots fired" and rattled off their location. She heard the voice again and realized that it was definitely the police captain; this time he was calling to her. "Take cover, Sara!" he instructed, since she didn't seem to be moving on her own.

Her brain working somewhat rationally again, Sara realized that she was crouched down in a tight ball, with her arms instinctively covering her head. She also took notice of the fact that she was pretty much out in the open in the middle of the parking lot. The only real protection was the shelter of the police cars parked behind her.

"Sara!" she heard Brass call again. And she turned her head to see him, also stooped down low, gesturing for her to join him and the other officers. "Back here! Come on!"

Before she could even move, something occurred to her. She twisted in the other direction and saw Grissom crumpled on the ground a few feet away. Her first thought was, How'd he get over there? He was right next to me. From the way he was laying, she could tell immediately that he'd been hurt, and that dire realization spurred her into action.

"Grissom!" she screamed, rushing to him. He was on his side, facing away from her, and she gently rolled him over.

The first thing she noticed was the blood. It was pouring from a wound on his left thigh, running over and through his fingers, which were clasped desperately around his leg in a futile attempt to stem the flow.

"Oh, God," she breathed.

To be continued…