Disclaimer: I don't own anything other than the mistakes and story line.
Parings: Nick/Other Character, GSR, Catherine/Warrick, Greg/Other Character
AN: This is a sequel to my first CSI fanfic: Quarantined. I suggest you read that one first though you can follow this story quit easily without it.
BLOOM TO PERISH
In the Shadows of Las Vegas, a happy couple strolled chatting lightly about their first child's impending birth. As the two stopped, his hand on her extended belly feeling his son's kicks, a figure approached from behind; neither noticed. Their eyes closed as they stood together, wrapped in each other's arms beneath the moon-lit sky. As the obviously feminine figure draped in black approached, time began to run out.
The man's efforts weren't enough to stop the scintillating blade from piercing through his wife's abdomen. Powerless, he stood and watched as his life and future shattered before his eyes.
Without a single word, the attacker ran off into the night leaving nothing but hurt and death hovering in the air.
The first CSI's on the scene were the supervisor Gil Grissom and the soon to be married, Nick Stokes. Like they'd done in the previous scenes, they processed evidence in silence; both being affected tremendously these particular cases.
"Same as the others" Grissom spoke grimly as he packed the evidence he'd collected.
This was the 6th attack of the sort in the Las Vegas area that week. In all cases, the victim was a pregnant woman expecting her first child; ages ranged from 17 to 37. So far, four of the victims had died, the other two had been severally injured; not one of the foetuses had survived. 'Foetus'. That was the term Grissom had elected to describe the infants. With his own child only seven months away, the term 'baby' made it impossible for him to distance himself emotionally from the cases.
Also awaiting his first child, Nick wasn't taking the cases any better. Every time the father had to be interviewed, Nick made some excuse not to be the one to do it; Grissom couldn't blame him. The thought of being in those men's shoes was deeply terrifying.
In each case, Grissom had been the one to deal with the Father:
Case 1: The victim, Kathleen Rhys was a 23 year old Caucasian female, eight months pregnant. Murdered in the drive way of the house she shared with her husband Joe. Though it was a hard interview, it was the first and Grissom had been able to deal with the man's frustration and despair.
Case 2: Vicky Gore, a 31 year old African-American waitress. Murdered outside the dinner she worked in. The father, Sam Gore had been the soul witness and during the interview had broken down in incontrollable sobs.
Case 3: Jennifer Dunn, a 4 month pregnant 17 years old, Caucasian, murdered outside her school with all her friends and boyfriend as witnesses. The interview with the boyfriend, Cody had been one of the hardest for Grissom. It was after seeing the young man grieving his girlfriend and child that Grissom had decided he had to do everything possible to stop the cases get to him.
Case 4: Laura Hews, 37 years old, 6 months pregnant found by her husband still alive in the driveway at night. In this case, Grissom had to deal with the father, Kyle and the mother both of which were inconsolable.
Case 5: Fay Jenkins, a 28 year old African-American female, 7 months pregnant was now in critical case in the Desert Palms' ICU. The foetus had died and the father, Jon had taken his rage out on the interrogation room.
Case 6: Was the case he was working now. As far as Grissom could tell, Todd and Patricia Hewitt had been surprised by the killer during a night stroll around their neighbourhood. Patricia had died within seconds along with their son. The father, Todd was giving his statement to a policeman as the CSI's investigated the scene.
Suddenly, Nick's voice brought Grissom back to reality, "What's this supposed to mean?" He asked picking up an ultra-sound image "There were others like this at the other scenes."
Grissom barely looked up before stating, "COD is obvious…" He inspected the area from which blood was still oozing on the vic's abdomen "Stab to the abdomen, she bled out in seconds." He stood up, looked down at the body and sighed heavily.
"You know, I'd really like to have 5 minutes alone with the guy who did this…" Said Nick, his fists clenched at his sides.
"I know it's hard, Nicky. But you have to keep your head clear. No emotions." Grissom heard his own words and realised they were relevant to both of them.
Nick limited himself to nod, his thoughts lost in what he'd like to do to the perp "That the father?" he asked looking towards Todd Hewitt.
Grissom nodded "Yea, I'm going to go talk to him…"
Nick cut him off "No…I'll go."
Before Grissom could ask what had changed his mind, Nick was half way to the police car.
When he got home, Nick went straight into the bedroom where he knew Lauren would be asleep. If everything had gone as planned, Nick and Lauren would have gotten married over a month ago. But there had been complications with Lauren's pregnancy, and she'd been put on bed rest forcing the wedding to be postponed for two months.
With only a day to go, Nick was feeling more and more nervous almost like the gnawing feeling in his gut was foreshadowing something bad.
On entering his room though, all the worries vanished. His fiancé was sitting on their bed beaming at him from behind her ever-growing belly. He kissed her and the happiness inside her invaded every bit of him.
Lauren felt like nothing could go wrong. She was getting married to the perfect man, she was two months away from becoming a mother and her wedding was all set to go. She'd managed to get both her parents to attend the wedding; she hadn't seen them in the same room since the day her father had left home when she was 12. Her younger brother was flying in from New York and the best surprise of all, her sister, Allyson with whom she hadn't spoken for 9 years had RSVPd.
For the fifth time that week, Grissom had let Nick go home early. He knew the cases were affecting him enormously and that the more time he got to spend with his wife-to-be, the better he'd feel. At least, that's how it worked for him. Whenever he wasn't with Sara, he felt worried, he called her several times a day and made sure she was never completely alone; he only felt relaxed when she was in his arms.
Though when he'd suggested that she stay away from the field Sara had been annoyed, she was now grateful. She saw enough of the serial-killer's work in the lab and as her body adapted to the baby and her attachment to it grew, she began to appreciate Grissom's concern for her and their child.
"How's the evidence coming along?" He asked entering the lab with the new evidence he and Nick had collected.
"It's boring and…" She handed him the DNA report "…inconclusive. I ran it through CODIS. No match."
Grissom looked at the sheet and saw something that disturbed him, "XX?"
"Yea I know…" Said Sara looking as disturbed as he felt "…I can't believe a woman would do this." She sounded upset as she put her hand on her stomach.
Grissom saw this and after looking around to ensure they were alone, kissed her lightly on the lips, a hand over hers as they felt their child move.
"So…" He said after pulling back "…our perp is a woman with no record…"
She nodded "Seems so…"
He handed her the image they'd found at the scene.
"Can you compare this to the other five?" He said as she examined it.
"Yea sure, looks the same. I'll run it through th computer and dust for prints." She said as she scanned the image whilst opening her print kit.
"The others had nothing on them…so don't get your hopes up." Said Grissom as he turned to leave "I'll be in my office when you're done."
Sara watched as Grissom walked away. Once she'd printed the ultrasound and found the first print of the case, she put it on a pile to be analysed later and decided it was time to go home and be pampered by Grissom.