A gentle drizzle slowly turned into a torrential downpour as Nick flicked his windshield wipers on high and eased off of the pedal a bit.
"Rain really comes on fast." Sara remarked.
She continued to gaze out the passenger side window, though Nick knew she couldn't possibly be seeing well out of it, as he glanced over at her when she spoke, quickly returning his gaze to the road ahead.
""Let's just hope it goes away really fast." Nick replied, not particularly enjoying driving on such a muddy road in such a mess.
"Yeah" Sara answered him distractedly, until a disheartening thought made its way into her mind "our crime scene isn't outside is it?"
"Well, the body was discovered by the fire department tending to the blaze, there's already water damage." Nick commented, though still not happy with the circumstances.
"Great, firefighters ruined the entire inside- or what's left- of the building" Sara huffed, knowing that this is not the only time that firefighters have surely compromised evidence "and mother nature decides to turn her ugly head on any chance of getting anything outdoors."
Nick just nodded in response, quickly losing hope of achieving anything but wasting his time at this new crime scene.
"Why the hell did Grissom decide to send us into the middle of nowhere on a dud case?" Sara asked angrily
At Nick's lack of response, Sara sighed kicking her feet up onto the dashboard of Nick's Denali, and lounging her seat back a bit while doing so. Her dark tan slacks slipping upwards a bit, revealing her smoothly shaven ankles to Nick's wandering eye, as he looked over to see what all the movement was about. Normally Nick would scold her for such actions but on a rough night like this, the interior of his car be damned if it kept Sara quiet and happy. He couldn't help but let his gaze drift upwards to the perfectly protruding cleavage that was hanging ever so slightly out of Sara's sleeveless black shirt that she wore underneath of her waterproof forensics jacket. Her hair slightly curling in the moist air and bouncing upwards to frame her pale face perfectly, Sara caught him staring a bit at this point and Nick quickly drew his eyes back to the road.
"And why don't we have the radio on?" Sara continued her complaining relentlessly.
"Jesus Sara, could you just chill for a minute" Nick barked out harshly, startling his friend.
He immediately regretted it though catching the look of hurt in his friends' eyes. Truthfully, all Sara had been looking for in the radio was an end to the awkward silence she was feeling after catching Nick looking at her like that. She couldn't blame the man for losing his temper a bit though; she had been pretty whiny this whole ride- just as she moved to open her mouth for an apology, Nick beat her to it.
"I'm sorry Sar, it's just drivin' in this rain has got me all stressed, I know you're probably right about the crime scene- and well, it just seems a bit ridiculous we have to drive four hours to a worthless crime scene, and stay in a hotel to get some sleep before bookin' it back to Vegas for more work." Nick hardly took a breath during his rant.
"Nicky, it's alright. I know I've been bitchin' a lot, and well, driving four miserable hours to a dud crime scene just isn't how I wanted to spend my Thursday, y'know? I'm sorry too." Sara apologized meaningfully and sank back into her chair a little more, pulling the forensics jacket a little tighter around her and closing her eyes.
"Should I pull over so we can kiss and make-up?"
Nick stated his joke as he looked over at Sara once more. Though this time as his eyes returned to the road he saw a large doe and her fawn crossing the highway in front of him. Nick slammed the brakes a bit as he swerved way to the right to miss the stray deer, jolting Sara and causing her eyes to burst open.
Nick pulled back onto the highway, smiling guiltily at Sara and offering a low and embarrassed
"Sorry."
Not missing a beat, Sara made herself comfortable again and this time replied to his earlier statement.
"You better keep your eyes on the road, Stokes, you start thinking about kissing me and you'll get us both killed"
Nick decided to ignore Sara's statement, and offer only a hearty chuckle in reply. The rain seemed to get harder, making it even more impossible for Nick to see, so he pulled onto the right shoulder smoothly, intent to wait for things to die down a bit before continuing their voyage.
The two sat in a relaxing, yet boring silence, until Sara opened only her left eye and reached her hand over to turn on the radio. Nick smiled as he caught her hand before hitting the button.
"What?" She asked incredulously, not willing to sit in silence any longer.
" 's busted. Damn thing squeals like nothin' I've ever heard before when you turn it on." Nick replied laughing slightly at the disappointed, yet amused look Sara now had plastered on her face.
X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X
Scattered about the layout table were four different case-files, a CSI located behind each case brainstorming, trying to find similarities.
"My guy was thirty-four." Grissom stated, his eyes never leaving the manila folder in his hand.
"Mine was forty-seven." Catherine added, slapping some photos of her victim on the table.
"My guy was thirty." Greg chirped in, thumbing through his file more- in desperate search of some sort of link.
"Mine was just a kid, nineteen." Warrick stated angrily as he thought of such a young life being snuffed out so cruelly.
In an attempt to get things moving faster Catherine offered no explanation as she blurted out her next comparison.
"Oriental"
The voice next to her resounded and she realized Grissom's booming voice had answered hers.
"Caucasian"
Greg came next
"African American"
"Caucasian" Warrick finished things up as before and was becoming increasingly angry "Damnit Grissom, there's nothing. This guy's just killing for the sake of killing!" Warrick exclaimed, exasperated.
Warrick's frustration was felt throughout the group, and a good two minutes passed before anyone spoke. Grissom rubbed soothing circles on either side of his forehead, removing his glasses and practically throwing them on the table. Everyone else began to thumb threw their cases silently, not wanting to disturb the older man but desperate to find something, anything.
"It just seems tooelaborate to be random." Grissom voiced his next question in a grave tone "Does anybody have anything probative?"
The mans vision blurred as he lifted his head from his previous position. The other members of his team looked up at him dismally, and plunged their brains right back into their case files. Grissom smoothed out his wrinkling shirt and closed his eyes.
Every three months a victim would be found; branded, whipped and generally mutilated. All of which had numbers carved into their stomachs post mortem. The numbers varied, but the branding was always the same. First the victim would get 'I am a true believer' branded across the width of their back, then each bare foot would get a brand 'hope' on the left, and 'faith' on the right. The last brand ran the length on the victim's stomach, and was proven to only be done one letter at a time, diagonally 'Salvation?'
"There was a hair found at my vic's crime scene, no tag though so without something to compare it to it's pretty useless." Greg piped up, his voice less than hopeful.
"There was some trace found on the burns on my victim's body, Doc Robbins thinks that the killers attempted to 'treat' the burns with something- though from the looks of the burns I think it was more to harm the vic than to help him" Catherine stated in a bit of disgust.
The men around her all agreed, and admitted that their victim's showed signs of similar treatment. After silence had overtaken the layout room once again, Grissom spoke up.
"So it's obvious that whoever did this to these people, wasn't necessarily our for death- these bodies leave too much room for error- it's too compl-"
"It's torture- whoever did this wanted these victims to suffer." Catherine cut him off abruptly
"How do you torture someone at random?" Greg spoke harshly, genuinely disgusted at the thought.
"Greg," Catherine began soothing him in her motherly tone "you can't ask questions like that, people do things…" her voice trailed off as it was clear nothing else needed to be said.
"You don't." Grissom answered Greg's question as he sorted through his case file for the hundredth time, searching, before he voiced his next statement "There is a connection."
X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\X/\
As Nevada continued to get a record amount of rain, in a record amount of time Sara and Nick sat in the cold Denali, just listening to the downpour.
"How close are we to the crime scene anyway?" Sara asked curiously, knowing that the estimated four hours that Grissom had given them surely felt like it had already passed twice-over.
"What time did we leave?" Nick asked turning his left wrist from the position it was in, crossed over his chest, in order to see his wristwatch.
"About 2 a.m." Sara replied, knowing it wasn't quite 6 a.m. but hoping more than anything that is was close.
"Well, it's 4:45 now. We still have a good hours' drive, maybe a bit more cause of the rain." Nick answered her, causing Sara to growl in frustration.
Silence consumed the pair as Nick knew the only way to cheer Sara up would be to occupy her otherwise.
"What's your favorite color?" Nick asked in a sly tone.
"Why does it matter?" Sara replied, quite aggravated.
"Humor me." Nick barked back, in a forceful, yet friendly tone.
"Purple." Sara relented, wondering the point of this.
"Green." Nick answered his own question. "Your turn."
"Nick, come on- how old are we?" Sara asked mockingly.
"With the rain, we don't have anything better to do- now come on."
Sara gave in and a half an hour passed with petty arguments and laughable answers coming from the two. The rain slowed, forcing Nick to get back to his driving. He turned the key slowly in the ignition, sad that he would now have to look at the road, instead of the beautiful brunette sitting beside him.
"I used to wonder why the infamous ladies man, Mr. Nick Stokes could possibly be single for a minute- but now, now I don't have to wonder anymore." Sara teased her friend, knowing he would latch on to the bait.
"Oh yeah, I'll humor you Sar, why is that?" Nick asked, knowing his answer- but praying she didn't.
"No woman wants to potentially spend their life with a man who doesn't understand the delicacy that is Peanut Butter." Sara said in an almost serious tone, before bursting into laughter.
Nick laughed, but decided to seize the moment where Sara had opened up a bit, by opening himself up. "Oh yeah, my reputation precedes me." Nick stated seriously, with a smile.
Sara quirked an eyebrow and listened, knowing he would keep talking.
"I'm not in college anymore, I'm not lookin' for what I used to be lookin' for- I just haven't found the one yet." Nick finished speaking; successfully turning the lighthearted conversation into a more serious one.
"You and me both my friend." Sara answered, looking dreamily out of her window again.
As an unwelcome silence settled on the pair, Nick decided to keep the game alive.
"Big wedding or small wedding?"
"None."
"Come on Sara, if you find that lucky, special guy- with tanned arms, long flowing hair a-"
"Cut it out, Cowboy."
"C'mon Sar, seriously, what would you want- if you had a change of heart."
"Depends how big his family is I guess, cause you guy's would all either be up there next to him- or on my side by yourselves."
Nick knew of Sara's past, and decided to stray a little away from marriage- but to ask her something equally important.
"Kids or no?"
"I don't think I'd be a very good mother." Sara's answer caught Nick a little off guard, though he was a bit relieved he wouldn't have to fight for the answer.
"You'd be a wonderful mother, take my word,"
"I don't know, I mean, if I had a guy who I knew would be a loving father- and if he wanted kids- if he were the one- I – I'd be willing." Sara added in a hesitant tone, surprised at herself for sharing so much with Nick- despite him being her best friend.
"What about you lover-boy, you wanna be a daddy?
"Definitely." Nick answered confidently, never looking at Sara.
"You didn't even hesitate." Sara accused amazedly.
"It's just something I hope to get the opportunity in my life to do." Nick answered.
"Now, c'mon Nick- you're still young- you'll find her." Sara offered as she smiled and looked out the window.
"If you were to have a son tomorrow- and your wife left it up to you—what would you name him?' the surprising question came from Sara, Nick pinned the curiosity on her tired state, genuinely surprised she would be remotely curious about that.
Nick thought about the question a minute, and answered. "Austin."
"You really are a Texan." Sara laughed a little at the answer.
"Born and raised." Nick smiled back.
"Cute name though." Sara added.
"How about you?" Nick took a risk and asked her, knowing she'd be compelled to answer since he did- and trying to hide his genuine curiosity.
"Cole." Sara answered, for what seemed like the first time without embarrassment.
Nick just smiled, conveying his approval through his thousand watt grin.
The remainder of the ride passed without much excitement. The CSI's arrived to the scene just as the sun poked over the horizon. An officer stood guarding the scene to greet them.
"Jared Michaels, Coaldale police force." The man extended his hand to the two criminalists and then continued talking. "We had some of our guys come out initially- we saved some of the stuff from the rain, but the odd circumstances were linked to some of the crimes you guys have been having down your way, so we had your boss send you's up."
"Sara Sidle and Nick Stokes, Las Vegas Crime Lab" Nick replied in greeting.
"Where is the evidence that your guys collected?" Sara asked, getting straight to business.
"Locked in their truck over there, gave me the key- told me to let you's have it so it doesn't break the chain of custody too bad- they said you'd be able to transfer it to your vehicle." Jared answered, a bit intimidated by Nick and Sara.
"Has the body already been removed?" Nick asked
"Yeah, the coroner thought it to be detrimental to leave it with the weather the way it was- the location was adequately photographed, but the body was sent to our coroner's office." Jared replied.
"We'll need one of you guys to safely transport it to our coroner if it's linked to our other crimes." Sara added.
"Of course, I'm set to do that if it's needed." Jared answered.
The CSI's just nodded and moved to see if they could collect anything that had not already been collected with what was left of their crime scene.
"You got anything left to tell us before we get started Jared?" Nick asked quickly, trying not to be rude to the man.
"Fire Marshall said all early indications point to arson, I'm not investigator, but I'd say there's something left over in that house, you're killer didn't want us to see."