Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this piece of fiction but part of the plot and a couple of characters. Anything that's cannon, I don't own. It's as simple as that.

"Hey Sara," Grissom called out to Sara as she passed his office, "you've got two DBs in Falcon Street, near the airport. There's an officer waiting for you." She stepped into Grissom office swiftly, and grabbed the paper slip that he was offering her distractedly, as his eyes feasted over a newly acquired entomology book. Sara smiled, he loved to watch Grissom when he was concentrated just like he was now he was now, he looked adorable. Scanning the surroundings for people, Sara had to resist the temptation to kiss Grissom when she saw Greg chatting with Archie just a few steps from the office. Well, she'd get to see him later, anyway.

"Thanks, see you later." Sara waved goodbye before stepping out of the office, receiving only a small nod for a response.

As she walked to her towards her car, Sara felt a smile tug at her lips. The anticipation of a new crime scene always thrilled her and the knowledge that, when she got back home, she'd have Grissom waiting for her with a warm dinner, made her happier than she'd been in a long time.

The trip to her crime scene did not last too long, as there was surprisingly little traffic. As she parked, she could see a small crowd already gathering around the front of the house, where the yellow tape kept them at a safe distance. That was a phenomenon Sara had never understood, why people could enjoy themselves so much from the suffering of others. She could hear the hypocritical comments right now, it reminded her of a poem Grissom had quoted once when discussing the matter, 'Humans snuggled down the mess, in masochistic tenderness'.

"Excuse me, are you from the crimelab?" The voice of the young officer approaching her pulled her away from her thoughts. She turned around to face him, he was pale and quivery and Sara wondered whether this was his first crime scene. However, his voice was firm and that reassured Sara.

She nodded vaguely in response and showed him her ID. "Sara Sidle, CSI." He nodded back in approval.

"Officer Gerard O'Connor, first on scene. And the only one so far." He added after a second of hesitation, obviously annoyed. Sara, shook his hand, smiling a little at him.

"The bodies are in the upstairs bedroom. The neighbour heard some shots and alerted the police. I was near so I came as quick as I could."

"ID?" Sara queried.

"We believe that they are the owners of the house, Joanne and Gary Thompson."

"Okay, I'll go take a look." Said Sara, grabbing her kit before starting towards the house. "It's all been cleared, right?"

Officer O'Connor nodded distractedly as he threw a warning glance towards a teenage boy, who seemed to be getting ideas about jumping the tape. As she walked into the house, Sara hoped for the young officer's sake that more cops would arrive soon, because the crowd was growing and one guy wasn't going to put them off.

It was a small and dark house, probably old, but the way it was furnished gave it a homely feeling. Sara couldn't help but think that the only thing that seemed to contradict the peaceful demeanour of the house was the harsh smell of iron in the air, a smell that she knew only too well.

As she made way to the top of the stairs she looked around to see if there was anything out of place. Her brief scanning yielded no results.

As she entered the main bedroom the stench grew more powerful and she couldn't help but grimace at the sight that appeared before her eyes. There were, in fact, two bodies, one female and one male. The female, about thirty, was slumped against the bed's headboard, her hands seemed to be tied behind her back and there were a few bruises in her cheek and forehead apart from the obvious gunshot wound that she sported near her temple. Looking closer, Sara could see unburned gun power, it had been a close range shot.

As she was turning to examine the male, Sara heard a small sound coming from outside the bedroom. She felt her senses switching into alert for a few moments. She stayed still for a few moments trying to discern any noise from the deafening quiet of the room. The silence that had seemed kind of welcoming at the beginning, now seemed eerie and it made her feel uncomfortable.

A moment later, when the momentary fear had gone, she shook her head in disbelief at herself. She'd been doing this job for so many years, she should've grown accustomed to the small noises that were to be heard in every crime scene. The officer had already cleared the scene, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Putting her earlier uneasiness to the back of her mind, she turned back to the male. He seemed to be the same age as the woman but his dead seemed to have been much more violent. His clothes were covered in blood, and he sported multiple gunshot wounds near his stomach. Not to mention the bruises that littered his body, leading Sara to believe that he had been beaten, and judging by the teeth marks on knuckles, he had fought back. Sara smiled triumphantly, if he had hit his attackers moth there were good chances that there'd be traces of saliva, which meant DNA.

Swabbing would have to wait, though, as the coroner had not arrived. Turning back to examine the rest of the room her eyes fell on a photograph of the two people lying dead in the room. They looked like they were in the beach and they were both smiling happily. Sara turned to look sadly towards their flesh and bone counterpart.

Her back to the entrance to the room, Sara took her camera and started to take pictures. The grimness of the situation hitting her fully as she documented, once again, the result of another violent crime.

All that Sara felt before her body fell motionless onto the floor was a sharp pain at the back of her head, and then nothing.