Buried Alive

A/N: Here we go! Another CSI story :) I've been thinking about writing this for a while, just never had the time. So here it is, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Don't own CSI unfortunately :(

Chapter 1:

Nick rolled his eyes as Greg bounded besides him; the lab rat- well, ex-lab rat- was eager to go on his first case. Unfortunately, he got stuck with the kid; don't get him wrong, he loved the guy like a little brother, but Greg wasn't that experienced. He also wasn't in the mood to be babysitting; it was his first day in a month since he'd been buried under six feet of sand and he wanted to be more alert than ever. Never again was he letting that happen to himself.

"Would you calm down?" Nick said irritably. "You need to be on your toes; no goofing off like you did when you worked in the lab. This is a very serious job."

"Geez Nick, why do you have to rain on parade?"

"Because if you screw this up, Grissom and Ecklie will have my ass."

Greg's smile vanished and decided he didn't want to get Nick in trouble. "Sorry."

Nick sighed, feeling bad that he was shedding his own sour mood onto Greg. "No, I am. It's just been a rough month."

"I understand…so, what did Brass say this was?"

"Uh…" Nick squinted at the bright sun; it was hot as hell…but not as hot as his tomb. Shuddering, he erased the sickening thought from his mind. "A robbery gone bad; the owner was killed as well as one of the thieves."

"There were two?"

"Apparently. Brass looked at the security tapes, but it didn't have good picture; hoping maybe Archie can clear it up."

They finally reached the scene, stepping into the small store. It reeked of corpses and Greg's face turned a bit pale. He wasn't used to the smell of dead bodies…or the bodies in general. This was gonna take some getting used to.

"You gonna hurl, bud?" Nick smirked.

"No," Greg shot back. He didn't want Nick to think he was weak and useless. He needed to prove that he was just as good a CSI as Nick, Warrick and Sara were.

Nick looked skeptical as he set his kit down. "Well if you do, take it outside; we can't have you contaminating the crime scene."

Greg scowled, but set his kit down as well.

"So, CSI in training, tell me what we do first."

Greg swallowed his nervousness and scanned the area. Brass and the other officers had made sure there were no bystanders and the victims were definitely dead. The crime scene tape was already put up so there was no need for that.

"Photographs."

"Good; you start over by the back door." Nick bent down and opened his kit and handed Greg some numbered tags. "If you find anything you…"

"Put these down and take a picture."

"And then?"

"Collect the evidence."

"Okay, you've learned well; I'll take pictures of the whole scene. Ready?"

"Yes, sir," Greg saluted with a grin before grabbing his camera.

Nick rolled his eyes, but with a small smile. "Just go."

Greg complied, getting some extra bags for any evidence he might find and then heading for the back of the store. He carefully scanned every corner, shelf, and dust bunny he found…but there was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe the guy didn't use this way as an ex…his eye suddenly caught a small spot of red by the door. It would've easily been missed by a regular person. Smiling in accomplishment, Greg knelt closer to the floor and snapped a photo before swabbing the substance. It was obviously blood, but he wasn't gonna assume anything. And then he hit the jackpot; there seemed to be another drop leading outside. Guy must be injured; the team was gonna be so proud of him. He was sure that he'd become the best CSI Grissom had ever saw…well, besides Nick and Warrick. He was so caught up in his discovery and the evidence that he forgot to let Nick know where he was going and went out the back door alone. The drops seemed to get bigger as he went further away from the scene; it was a rush. He couldn't believe what he'd been missing!

Meanwhile, Nick was still taking picture when he realized Greg had been a bit quiet. Finally got him to shut up. He stood up, stretching his legs, and looked around the store. He couldn't see any blonde unruly hair, but he figured the kid was on the ground.

"Greg, you find anything?"

No response.

Nick frowned, his gut telling him to go to the back. He briskly walked to where Greg had gone, his heart beating frantically as he started to panic. And it didn't get any better when Greg was nowhere to be seen.

"Greg!" He started to run a hand through his short hair when he noticed a number one tag by the door. Not giving it a second thought, Nick pushed open the door and ran outside. He followed the trail of numbered cards. "Greg, where-" His ears suddenly perked up at the sound of retching; following it, he ran to a nearby alley and what he found made him relieved yet angry. Greg was bent over, spewing vomit onto the ground; a few meters behind him laid a dead body of a hobo.

"Greg, what the hell were you thinking?"

The younger man looked up, wiping an arm across his mouth. "What?"

"You don't go wandering off on your own; you had no backup and you didn't even tell me!"

Greg frowned in confusion. "Whoa Nick, I'm sorry; why are you all worked up about it? I was just following evidence."

"Doesn't mean you go off on your own, Greg." Nick looked down at the trail Greg had been following. "And I thought someone who worked in a DNA lab for three years would know what blood looked like by now; this is tomato juice…if you bothered to suck it up and look at the body," Nick pointed to the hobo and Greg saw the guy had a bottle of tomato juice in his hand. "It seems the guy had some, dripped it all over the place and then died."

"Nick-"

"I'm gonna go tell the officer about this guy," Nick turned and headed back towards the store, but then turned around again. "You better not get ahead of yourself Greg, because this is a bad start…and if you ask me, I don't think you're ever gonna become a CSI." With that, Nick left, leaving Greg shocked…actually more hurt than shocked. He couldn't believe Nick would say that to him. He stubbornly wiped the tears trying to escape his eyes and turned away from Nick's receding form. Why was he always such a screw-up? Maybe Nick was right; maybe he wasn't cut out to be a CSI.

"Aw, don't worry; it'll all get better soon." A voice said behind him; before he could turn around to see who it was, a cloth was shoved over his face. Chloroform. He was so screwed. He tried struggling, but he knew there was no point; in seconds, he slipped into unconsciousness.

~+CSI+~

As the officer followed Nick back to where Greg and the body were, he couldn't help but hate himself for what he said to the kid. He didn't really mean it, it was just the fear of thinking Greg was kidnapped and the anger that came after it that made him lash out. God, the number one rule you were taught: if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. He'd have to apologize to the guy once they were finished with the scene.

"Greg I got the officer, we should start-" Nick stopped cold. This wasn't right. "Oh no." What he saw in front of him was completely different from what he saw three minutes ago. Greg's vest, camera, and baggies were strewn all over the ground by the trash bags. A white cloth was on the ground and…the hobo was gone. The guy hadn't been dead. He had been too busy berating Greg that he didn't even bother to check if the drifter was actually dead.

"Nick, where's the body?"

"Hold on, hold on." Nick knelt down to the cloth and picked it up, sniffing it briefly. Fuck; it was chloroform. And the tomato juice bottle was actually just a chloroform container with a label saying that it was tomato juice.

"Call for back-up; tell them we have a code red." Nick swallowed, feeling sick. This was his fault; if he didn't yell at Greg or if he didn't leave him here alone, this never would've happened. And he couldn't believe his last words to the kid were 'you'll never be a CSI.' He was such an ass.

"Don't worry, G. We'll find you; just hang on…wherever you are." But there was something in his gut telling him that this wasn't any ordinary kidnapping…that it was gonna be so much worse.

TBC…

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A/N: So? Is this worth continuing? Let me know! REVIEWS! I just love Hurt!Greg don't you? :) P.S I don't know if the part of tomato juice looking like blood or the 'blood' trail is actually plausible along with chloroform in a bottle that's posing as tomato juice. Also I'm making code red: kidnapped officer/CSI even though it probably isn't.