*Ahem* I'M BACK BABY! It's been a seriously long time since I've updated or posted anything new - long enough for me to get pregnant, have the baby and to now have a four year old! In truth I completely lost my inspiration and have only just regained it.
But ya'll don't want to hear about that! I've been working on this for months and I wasn't actually going to start posting it until it was complete, but typing up the first two chapters tonight made me realise how much I've missed doing this and got a bit excited so here's the first chapter of my new fic! Hope ya'll like it :-)

A basement
Somewhere in the suburbs of Las Vegas

The room was dark save for a few sporadically placed candles and an old flickering TV set silently playing the same images on an unending loop. The person sat, head bowed, at the desk. One solitary candle cast its dancing glow across the hundereds of pictures that had been pasted to the wall.
A hand reached out a single finger, brushing the seven figures in a candid group shot one by one. Male, female. Blonde, brunette, red head. Black and white.
Soon, they would all pay.

"Now man, no need to get sore just because the waitress preferred me," Nick Stokes laughed, bumping shoulders with his friend and colleague Warrick Brown as they exited their usual diner and headed across the parking lot to their respective vehicles.
"Please, the girl was all over me, making eyes at me, you're out of luck Stokes."
"Oh really?" Nick needled, pausing to pull a scrap of paper from his pocket. "If she liked you so much why did she slip me her number when you were in the bathroom?"
Warrick gaped. "No way! Damn, can't believe I lost out to the cowboy." He gave him a playful shove.
"What can I say man, chicks dig the Southern charm." He punctuated his statement with a wink. Warrick couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head. They lapsed into companionable silence as they neared their cars.
In a moment, the silence was broken.

"Hey Nick!"
The man in question turned, preparing to offer a greeting. He barely got a glimpse of the man when something wet hit his face. His scream of pain was instantaneous as the burning sensation spread through his eyes and nose, inhaling what felt like a ball of fire down into his lungs. He dropped to his knees, coughing and reaching his hands up to his face.
In the seconds it took Warrick to react, the assailant had sprinted off across the parking lot. He was torn between chasing the guy down and helping Nick. Concern for his friend won out and he crouched beside the injured man, screaming at a passer by to get some water.
"It's goning to be ok buddy," Warrick kept his voice as calm as he could while he fished his cell phone from his pocket and punched in a number, although he doubted Nick could hear him over his own yells of pain.
He pulled the phone up to his ear just as the call connected, placing a hand over his partner's prone, writhing body.

"This is CSI Warrick Brown I have a 1013, officer down outside of Vinnie's Diner on Tropicana. Paramedics and police required immediately."
The bystander returned with a bottle of water and Warrick poured it over Nick's eyes, trying to flush out whatever he'd been sprayed with. He could hear the sirens approaching in the distance.
What the hell had just happened?

"Mom? Lindsey?" Catherine Willows called out as she entered her home, dropping her purse and keys on the table, kicking off her shoes and unclipping her gun, all in one seamless, graceful motion. Huffing her strawberry blonde bangs out of her eyes she let the door click shut behind her while placing her gun on a high shelf, well out of the reach of wandering three year old fingers. No sooner had she done that did a pyjama clad blur of blonde race towards her.
"Mommy!" Lindsey launched herself into her mother's waiting arms, wrapping her own tightly round Catherine's neck.
"Hi baby. Did you sleep well?"
The little girl nodded.
"Gramma's in the kitchen," she replied, pre-empting Catherine's next question. "She's making me pancakes for breakfast."
Catherine chuckled and haded into the kitchen where indeed, Lily was at the stove in her dressing gown making what smelled like chocolate chip pancakes. Hearing their approach the older woman turned with a smile, gesturing to the hot pan.
"Hungry?"
"Starving," her daughter admitted, setting Lindsey down on a stool at the breakfast bar and moving to pour herself some juice.
"I'm not surprised, you CSIs never seem to have time to eat," Lily commented, adding some more batter to the pan. "I swear you've lost more weight. How do you expect to get a man without a little meat on your bones?"

The red head rolled her eyes.
"Mother," she warned. "Not in the mood."
Lily shrugged and returned her attention to the food, although Catherine swore she heard her mutter something about 'nice men' and 'try and keep one next time'.
Catherine sighed and sipped her juice, rolling her neck to ease the tension there. She really needed a massage, but with her work schedule and Lindsey the chances of her booking an appointment and actually keeping it were astronomical.

The sound of her cell phone chirping from her purse by the door made her groan. Byt the time she actually reached her bag however the ringing had stopped. It took all of two seconds for it to start up again.
"Willows." The voice on the other end of the line made her shoulders sag and her eyes close. "Well that's got to be a new record Gil, I've been home a full ten minutes before..."
The sharp tone of Gil Grissom stopped her in her tracks, her eyes widening and the colour draining from her face.
"Oh my God is he ok? No, no I'm on my way now, I'll meet Sara and Greg there."
She hung up and turned to Lily who was loitering in the doorway.
"Mom please don't lecture me, I have to go. Nick was attacked."
Lily gasped. "Is he ok?"
"All I know is that he's at Desert Palm. Grissom is on his way there now but he wants me to meet Sara and Greg at the crime scene."
"Do what you have to do Catherine, I'll take care of Lindsey."

After a brief explanation and a kiss for her daughter, Catherine gathered her things and jumped into her car. She reversed out and pulled away, her mind to preoccupied to notice the car parked on the opposite side of the street, the morning sun glinting off the camera lens pointed in the direction of the house.

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Well it wouldn't be me without a cliffhanger right? Lol. Hopefully I'll be able to update semi regularly but I make no promises lol.

Lily
-x-