Eeks! Another WIP! Hope you guys enjoy this first bit...let me know if you think it's worth continuing or not.

Jenny

Unregulated:

Sara slammed her locker door shut, sinking onto the bench with a sigh. Burying her head in her hands, she bent over and rested her arms on her lap. She had worked two long shifts, and had just been coerced into working another. She had been a good sport so far, she really enjoyed her job, and working gave her something to do, but it was getting to the point where she wasn't sure she was going to put up with being walked over anymore.

Nevertheless, she took a few deep breaths, rubbing her eyes tiredly as she changed into a fresh outfit. After a normal shift, her clothes smelled pretty bad. After a double, it was definitely time to change. If she worked a triple in the same outfit, she'd probably have to peel it off by her fourth shift. As the thought crossed her mind, she offered a silent prayer that there wouldn't be a fourth shift. If she wasn't given the night off after working 24 solid hours, it would definitely be time to find a new job.

"What's the story, morning glory?" Greg asked, strolling into the locker room and twisting the dial on his own lock, "You're here awfully early...or late?"

"Don't tell me I'll have to put up with your peppiness on this case." Sara groaned, sinking back onto the bench, "I'm not in the mood to smile, so don't even try."

"Triple?" Greg asked, his cheery tone quickly muted, "Why don't you just tell Grissom no?"

Sara yawned, looking up at the younger CSI with a shocked expression, "They're reopening a lead position, I've got to get that promotion. If Grissom tells me to stand on my head and eat blow fly eggs, I...well, I probably wouldn't do it, but I'd sure as hell consider."

"Didn't Nick win that position last time?"

"That was 2 years ago. I'd like to think I've advanced some since then." Sara replied sarcastically, "Doesn't hurt to try. Besides, I don't even think Nick is running."

Greg raised an eyebrow, "I'd beg to differ. He and Warrick were talking about it last night. You were there. Breakroom, before shift?"

"Oh, I wasn't paying attention to those two." Sara replied, a scowl on her face, "Do you think I could make it?"

Greg held up his hands, "Not getting in the middle of this. You and Nick are both my friends, I won't pick between the two of you."

"That's a no?"

"That's a nothing." Greg replied, "Ready to go, we've got ourselves a 3 hour drive."

Sara stood, noticing a smirk on Greg's face. "What?" She snapped, "What's so funny?"

Greg said nothing, walking past her into the hallway, humming the "Gilligan's Island" theme song. Trailing behind him, she rolled her eyes, muttering, "What an idiot."

"Heard that!" Greg called, resuming his humming, "I'm driving."

With a groan, Sara sped up her pace, catching up to the still whistling Greg. This was going to be a long, long day.

--

"What do you mean, you lost the body?" Sara practically yelled at the officer, her eyes wide, "How the hell do you lose a dead body?"

Officer McClellan grimaced, motioning to his car, "We're in the middle of the desert, no one has come by all day. I was waiting for you guys, and I got hungry..."

"You've got to be kidding me." Sara hissed, "You left the scene to get a hamburger?"

His eyes downcast, Officer McClellan muttered, "Chili Dog."

"Does it really matter what you ate, Officer?" Greg asked, before Sara completely blew up, "What time was this?"

The officer looked down at his watch, "I got back about half an hour before you two arrived. You aren't going to tell my supervisor about this, are you? I could lose my job."

"How do you care to explain the missing body?" Sara asked impatiently, "If we don't include this in our report? Our dead victim just got up and walked away? We aren't going to lie for our reports, we have to document everything."

"But--"

"Save yourself the trouble of defending yourself, we have work to do. Body or not, this area has to be processed." Sara hardened her gaze on the officer, "Stay Put."

Officer McClellan nodded glumly as Greg and Sara started walking to the pool of blood, where the body once laid. Greg stole a glance at an irritated Sara, asking softly, "Don't you think you were a bit hard on him?"

"He lost a dead body. What do you think we should do? How many people do you know who are that irresponsible?" Sara snapped, squatting next to the blood stained dirt, "I've been on the clock for 22 hours. What do you expect from me? I'm in no mood to deal with stupid people."

Greg remained silent, pulling out the camera to begin taking pictures while Sara swabbed the blood and bagged the few shreds of clothing that remained on the site. After a few seconds, Greg called out, "Sar? I've got footprints."

Sara stood, her back cracking as she tried to work the kinks out of her weary body. She walked to Greg, snapping a photo of the ground, "Let's follow them."

"Want me to get the officer?"

"He can't keep track of a dead guy, how do you think he can keep us safe?" Sara retorted, "Got your gun?"

Greg nodded, putting his hand to his waistband, "Yeah. Let's go."

"I'll leave my kit here, just let me grab some supplies." Sara walked to her kit, sticking a few swabs and evidence bags into the pockets of her vest. She hung her camera around her neck and retrieved a bottle of water, "Ready?"

"Let's do it."

--

The sun had long ago set over the hot Nevada desert, and a shiver passed through Sara, making her wish she had brought a jacket. She glanced at her watch, cursing softly, "Greg, it's 9:15."

"What the hell do you expect me to do?" Greg asked harshly, "I called the officer, he said he'd meet us down here with David. We can't just leave the body here."

Sara shivered again, rubbing her arms for warmth, "That was two hours ago. It shouldn't take them that long to get down here. I don't like being out here in the dark, it's dangerous."

"That's why we should have taken McClellan from the get go." Greg replied cooly, "But you wanted to go off on our own. 'We have our guns'. Remember?"

Sara nervously surveyed the area, listening for any unusual sounds, "That was in the broad daylight. I didn't think we'd find the body. What the hell are we going to do if whoever took this guy, and possibly killed this guy, comes back?"

"Scream like girls and haul ass?" Greg suggested, only to be swatted on the arm by an irate Sara. He signed, "Listen, we'll watch each other's backs, and I'm sure they'll get here soon. I'll call again, if you'd like."

"Remember how hard it was for us to get a signal out here?" Sara questioned, "What makes you think it will be so easy to call them back? I just want to get back into the car and drive home. I'm hungry, I'm tired, I don't want to be here anymore."

Greg sighed, checking his cell phone for signal and cursing when he was rewarded with nothing, "Look, we'll leave flares at the body or mark our way back with something, that way David can get down here and we can go back to our original location. We'll finish up and head back to the lab, and you can sleep on the way."

"Definitely wouldn't be following protocol."

"Being out here alone isn't following protocol either."

Sara groaned, "Okay, you're right. Let's get out of here."

She took a step away from the body, a slight breeze making her skin freeze, "Which way did we come from?"

"I thought you were monitoring that."

Sara groaned, raising her hands to her forehead as she stomped her foot angrily, "Are you telling me that you have no idea where we are at? That we're just stuck in the middle of nowhere with some dead guy? Is that what you're trying to say!"

"That about sums it up." Greg muttered with a heavy sigh, trailing his foot through the dirt, "We're lost."

TBC