Disclaimer: I own none of the characters (except a mysterious man and a couple of dead bodies). Everything belongs to the wonderful people of CSI and CBS.

Spoilers: None this chapter, but possibly some from "Stalker" and "Overload" in later parts.

Archive: Only here, if you wish to use it somewhere just let me know.

Feedback: Yes, please!

Warnings: Possible Character Death and mentions of past abuse (later chapters).

Pairings: Again possibly some N/S or W/C although it may just stay a gen fic. Y'all tell me what you think.

And now presenting, "One More Day."

"Hey Sara, I left my camera back in the house I'm gonna go get it," Nick Stokes told his partner for the night. They had just finished processing a particularly gruesome double murder. A mother and a daughter had been found by a neighbor, dead in their pleasant two story house. It was in a nice area of town, but when Nick showed up it was filled with police cars, ambulances, and grief stricken neighbors. After gathering all the evidence they could find he and Sara Sidle were about to head back to the lab to process the information they needed.

"Yeah okay, do you want me to wait for you?" Sara asked as she shut the passenger door to her Tahoe.

"No, no I got it. You head back and get those hairs to Greggo. I'll meet you in the break room," Nick said, flashing his big Texan grin, "I'll only be a few seconds."

Sara nodded and got into her car. Nick watched her drive off before heading back into the house. There was always something creepy about being in a house you had just found dead bodies in. Especially when you were alone. He walked up the stairs looking at the pictures that lined the walls. It was then that he noticed something he hadn't before. A large picture that showed the smiling face of the young girl and what he assumed was her father was tilted slightly to the left.

Nick quickly walked to the top of the stairs, where the mother had been found, and grabbed his camera. He pulled back on some gloves and flashed some pictures of the photograph. He then gently lifted the picture from its place on the wall. Behind it was a small safe, on which the lock had been broken. Nick opened the safe and discovered it was empty. 'So this hadn't been a random murder. Whoever did this probably knew this safe was here,' Nick thought.

As he sat down the frame to take pictures of the safe a rough voice whispered from the bottom of the stairs, "Don't move." Nick froze at the sound of the voice. "Very good, now put the picture back in its place and turn around."

Knowing it was better to do what he was told, Nick hung the picture on the wall and slowly whirled around. He came to see an older man, probably around forty-five, holding a gun straight out in front of him. "Now walk down the stairs and if you even think about reachin' for that gun," the man said nodding the gun holstered to Nick's hip, "You'll be dead before you hit the ground."

Nick walked down the steps, slowly and cautiously hoping not to frighten the man into doing anything rash. As he neared the bottom of the steps he chose to speak, "Look man, don't do anything stupid." He immediately regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. 'Why is it so hard to think straight in situations like these?'

"Stupid? I'm not doin' nothin' stupid. I'm protectin' myself," He growled out.

"I'm not trying to hurt you sir, okay? Just put the gun down and tell me what you're protecting yourself from." Nick tried to remain calm and talk to this man. However he couldn't help the overwhelming fear that was curling in his stomach.

"Ha! You're not trying to hurt me? I know what you are; you're one of them crime scene folks that I seen on T.V. You're here looking for clues and stuff so you can put me away. Well let me tell you something, you ain't gonna find any. I was careful when I murdered them girls," the man said. Nick could tell from the look on the man's face that he hadn't meant for those words to come out.

Taking advantage of the man's surprise he spoke gently, "Sir, sir you've got to put that gun down. You don't want to get into any trouble do you?"

The man looked at Nick and just as it appeared he was lowering his gun he aimed it right at Nick's chest. Before the bullet was even fired Nick knew he said the wrong thing. The shot sprang from the gun without a sound and Nick felt a tearing on his left side, right below his heart. As the world darkened and he fell to his knees her heard the man speaking. It seemed like he was a million miles away from Nick but he still managed to make out some of the words.

"I'm sorry I had to kill ya. Ya seem like a real nice fella. But I just couldn't have you spillin' my secret could I?" He actually looked sorry before he turned and walked out of the door leaving Nick to fall all the way to the floor.

Back at the Lab

Sara wheeled into her parking spot and grabbed the evidence out of the car and headed into the CSI headquarters. She strolled in and went straight to the CSI's favorite lab tech. She set down her camera and kit and held out a small bag filled with short black hairs to Greg Sanders, "Hey we found these on the body of a six year old blonde little girl. See if you can identify them for me will you?" Sara asked.

"Sure thing, just set them on the counter." Greg responded. Sara did just that and then stepped out of the lab and went and poured herself a cup of the famous Hawaiian Blue coffee into her favorite mug. She leaned against the table waiting for Nick to show up. She waited patiently for about a minute before getting fed up. She walked out of the break room thinking maybe Nick had thought they were supposed to meet somewhere else. Sara looked everywhere she could think of but still came up empty handed.

She looked out into the parking lot and noticed that his space was empty. Taking out her cell phone she quickly dialed Nick's number.

Back with Nick

Trying to keep his eyes open was getting harder and harder as the moments passed. Nick felt his grip on consciousness slowly slipping away. Somewhere Nick heard a ringing. Realizing it was his cell phone he slowly reached for it and fumbled to find the 'talk' button. He finally pressed it but found that trying to speak was just too much.

"Nick? Hello? Nick are you there?" He some what managed to recognize the irritated voice of Sara Sidle on the other end.

Knowing that he needed to speak if he wanted to get help anytime soon, he opened his mouth. No words came out however, just a blood bubble that slowly slipped down his chin. He hopped that the sound of his ragged breath would register with Sara but he knew he was grasping at straws.

"Nick if you don't say something right now I'm hanging up. I mean it! Oh fine, screw you," Sara's muffled voice was the last thing he heard before his eyes slipped closed.

End Chapter One

A/N: Ok y'all this is my first CSI fic and I hope that it was... somewhat good. As I'm not exactly an expert on all of the scentific lingo so if there's anything that needs improvement let me know! The other characters (Grissom, Warrick, Greg, Catherine, Brass and everyone) will show up more next chapter. Thanks for reading, please review.

-Amelia