Grissom and Horatio were tangled in the white linens of Grissom's bed. Grissom sat on his lovers hips, bent over and kissing his chest. Horatio ran his hands through Grissom's hair and groaned as Grissom licked his nipples, tickling his chest with his beard.
Grinning devilishly, Horatio slipped a hand between their hips causing his lover to cry out. Then they kissed deeply, moaning, Grissom bucking his hips before Horatio rolled him on to his back. Grissom gripped Horatio's face, their tongues entwining. He bit Horatio's lip before he sunk his teeth into Horatio's shoulder, muffling a high pitched moan.
Horatio kept his hand busy between their hips. He grunted as Grissom bit him and reached for the condom on the bedside table.
They had been rolling about in bed for almost an hour, giving, taking, pushing, holding out. This was only the second time they had seen one another since Horatio faked his death and almost cost them this. This relationship, this friendship, this partnership, this everything that had come of one risked kiss.
"Ah, God Horatio," Grissom rasped as Horatio groaned throatily, their bodies meeting.
Horatio had come to learn a few things about his lover, the least of which was not that Grissom liked pain. Pain with boundaries? That was deeply enmeshed within Grissom's sexual psyche. Though Horatio had had more partners in his life, Grissom's had clearly been more instructive. Grissom was now in the process of playing teacher to Horatio and both men were clearly enjoying the process.
When they had worked out the last drops of their passion, Grissom lay on his back with Horatio pressed against his side. Horatio had his head propped up in his palm and was running his other hand over Grissom's chest. He exhaled deeply and Grissom flopped his head over on the pillow to look at him.
"I'm really glad you're here."
"I'm...glad I'm here too." What Horatio didn't say was how much he hated Ecklie for not letting Grissom take the whole night off and have a long weekend. He wasn't about to let someone like Ecklie ruin this perfect moment. Their eyes met before their lips did, sharing a kiss that was much less heated than their lovemaking had been. It was soft, lips and tongues caressing.
They showered and dressed in their tuxedos. Horatio had gotten them tickets to the Las Vegas Philharmonic. They would attend the show then Grissom would have to go in for his shortened night shift. Finishing tying his bowtie, Horatio looked over his shoulder into the bathroom and felt his heart skip a beat. He turned to take Grissom in, dressed in his suit, looking incredibly handsome.
Grissom was standing in front of the mirror, now fidgeting with his own tie and frowning. Coming to stand behind him, Horatio kept his eyes trained on Grissom's form, his heart moving to somewhere between his tongue and his chest. Grissom had an intensity that could match Horatio's but a sense of humour and relaxed demeanour that Horatio didn't have. It made Horatio forget a great deal of the tragedy that had followed him in his life when Grissom brought him coffee and the crossword in the morning, insisting they have a go at it before they got up.
Turning Grissom to face him, Horatio grasped the tails of the bowtie and began tying it. Grissom let his soft grey eyes rest on Horatio in thankfulness. His lover looked amazing in a tuxedo and Grissom smirked at his own inability to dress himself.
When Horatio finished tweaking the tie in to position he put his hands on Grissom's shoulders and ran them up to rest on either side of his neck. Their eyes met and Grissom noticed something in those blue pools.
"Everything all right?" Grissom left his lips parted just so after he said this and Horatio swallowed hard.
It was incredibly difficult for him to express himself at the best of times and telling Gil Grissom that he was in love with him was proving the most difficult of all. With most things, Horatio Caine did not hesitate but in this, he was lost.
"Uh, you look incredible." He covered.
Grissom narrowed his eyes somewhat. "Is that all?" He sensed that the compliment, though genuine, was made to fill the space of another thought. It had been months and he still could not put the Saris incident out of his mind. Somewhere in him, Grissom was afraid that Horatio was keeping something from him, even if it was only to protect him.
Horatio looked down before retuning his eyes to Grissom's and stroking his jaw. "I...it's just that you-"
A loud ring broke the moment and Grissom looked to his bedroom. He stepped out of the bathroom and found his cell phone. "Grissom."
Horatio stood in the doorway and leaned against it, watching his lover. Grissom's frown turned angry.
"There's no way that you can work this Conrad?" His voice became thin when he was upset, Horatio noticed. "I'm aware...fine. I'll be there in 10 minutes."
The snap of the cell phone closing caused Horatio to raise an eyebrow. "Problem?"
Grissom gave him an incredibly pained look. "Horatio...that was Ecklie."
"He wants you to work your full shift?" Horatio ventured.
"The mayor's son has just been found in a dumpster," he replied with his characteristic forthrightness.
Horatio looked at him slightly in surprise but all he could read in Grissom was agitation.
Grissom stepped towards him, shaking his head as he tried to find the words.
"Let's go," Horatio said simply.
Slightly taken aback, Grissom could still think of nothing to say.
Horatio nodded towards the door, "If you have to work tonight I'm...going with you. This time is precious."
Grissom paused before he stopped trying to find something appropriate to say and just pulled Horatio in for a fierce kiss. Their bodies close and tongues dancing, Horatio felt that pang again and felt ridiculous. Grissom, having been completely sidetracked from their bathroom conversation, smiled mid-kiss in spite of himself. Horatio didn't complicate, he rolled like the swell of the ocean and it was one of many things that Grissom loved about him.
The looks on the faces of the CSI's facing the doors of the break room caused those not facing them to look over their shoulders. Their supervisor and a man they recognized as the head of the Miami crime lab entered the room. Dressed like they were about to attend a ball. Their smiles died before they had a chance to form them, however, at the sight of Grissom's face. He was clearly upset.
"I'm assuming everyone's heard?"
Horatio stood in the doorway, behind Grissom. His and Sara's eyes met at the same moment. She gave him a brave, stolid look. He responded with a smile that could only be found in his eyes.
"Mayor Haglund's son." Catherine said, standing to face him. "I'm sorry Ecklie called you in."
Grissom shook his head impatiently. "Let's just get to work. Why is everyone here?"
Nick raised his eyebrows and looked at his fellow male CSI's to either side of him. "Uh, we were on assignment already when we got called back for this, Griss. Somethin' 'bout all hands on deck."
Grissom frowned again. "What were you working on?"
"Nick and I were workin' a rape out at Spring Valley," Warrick said.
"Sara and I had a home invasion-robbery," offered Greg.
"I was doing," Catherine stopped herself from saying 'your paperwork', "some catching up."
"Nick, Warrick, get back out to the Spring Valley rape. Keep in touch." Grissom looked at them and they quickly rose to their feet and headed towards the door.
"You got it Griss." Nick said quietly as they left, both of them nodding to Horatio.
"Catherine, Sara, Greg, get your kits-"
"Gil, where are Warrick and Nick going?" Ecklie said from the doorway, walking into the break room to face Grissom.
Grissom gave him a withering look. "To the rape in Spring Valley."
"I called them in from that to work Mayor Haglund's case." Ecklie said passive aggressively.
"Yes, Conrad and I sent them back out to it. The mayor's son's death doesn't trump a rape. I'll have more than enough help without them." He indicated the rest of the room and Ecklie looked at Horatio.
"Who are you?"
Horatio didn't respond but instead levelled Ecklie with a gaze that made most people squirm. Unfortunately, Ecklie had an upsetting amount of self righteousness and was not phased.
"This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine, head of the Miami Crime Lab." Grissom said.
Ecklie looked both men over. "What's he doing here," he clarified impatiently.
"Visiting this fine city and, apparently, helping you catch a killer." Horatio said smoothly, looking askance at Ekclie.
Greg looked around nervously while Catherine smiled. Grissom relaxed somewhat.
"You're dealing with the paperwork," Ecklie said, staring at Grissom with displeasure. "The body's at the morgue already. I think you should come with me to see the mayor and someone should head to the crime scene."
The CSI's looked at him in confusion with the exception of Grissom, who looked stunned. "You had the body released?" Again, the thinness of his voice betrayed how agitated he was.
"I wasn't about to have Cody Haglund's body on the 11 o'clock news, Gil. Yeah, I had the body moved." Ecklie said, his own voice rising as he gestured.
"You've just compromised the entire investigation, Conrad!" Grissom stepped to within inches of Ecklie's face as he spoke.
"I know how to do my job." Ecklie replied quietly, threateningly.
"Yeah, you know how to be a first rate Assistant Director, don't you." He turned away and left the room, heading to his office.
Horatio followed immediately, not wishing to have to share further words with Ecklie. Catherine, Sara and Greg picked up their respective kits and filed out of the room, avoiding looking at Ecklie.
Grissom stood next to his desk, his hands on the silver evidence collection kit which sat atop it. He was breathing deeply, trying to calm himself down when a soft knock came on the door. Grissom looked up as it opened to see Horatio and his team standing there.
"Where do you want us, Grissom?" Sara asked, standing between Horatio and Greg. She looked calm and confident and it hadn't yet dawned on Grissom what Horatio being there might mean for her.
He looked them over and was grateful. After one last deep breath, he moved to stand in front of them, taking his kit with him.
"Greg, go see Robbins and process the body. Sara, Catherine," He looked at each of them and paused when his eyes fell on Horatio, "Horatio. Go to the crime scene. Look at everything and keep in mind it's been tampered with." Grissom handed his kit to Horatio, who made sure their hands contacted liberally as he grasped the handle.
Sara looked away and Greg didn't notice the look that passed between the two older men. Catherine didn't let Grissom see her smile, not that he would've noticed anyway.
"Thank you, sir." Horatio said, looking warmly at Grissom, who's eyes were full of conflict.
"I'll follow along as soon as I can," Grissom said finally and they moved towards the doors.
"Why is Caine really here?" Ecklie asked as they ascended the steps of Haglund's mansion-like house.
"I think he came for our first rate body farm," Grissom brushed him off, knocking on the door.
They were admitted by a distraught looking woman they both knew to be Mary Haglund, the boy's mother. They offered their condolences as she led them inside to a sitting room. Walter Haglund sat on the couch, surrounded by aids and going over paperwork spread liberally over the table. He looked up as his wife introduced the men.
"Conrad," he nodded to Ecklie. "You must be Gil Grissom."
Walter Haglund had less than 10 years on Grissom and Ecklie though his hair had fully silvered. Some people said he had a trustworthy face for a politician, a comment likely attributed to his good looks. He was tall and broad, not that you could tell that looking at him now. Grief was clearly written on his face.
"Mary, why don't you let me talk to these gentlemen, hey?" He cast a caring gaze to his wife and Grissom thought in that moment that he probably didn't cheat on her. Mary nodded and left, looking dazed.
Ecklie and Grissom sat down. "Mayor Haglund, what can you tell me about your son?" Grissom asked, cutting to the chase.
Walter sighed and ran a thick-fingered hand through his hair. "Cory was...he was a good student, played basketball, played the trumpet..."
"Has he been in any altercations recently?" Ecklie asked.
Walter shook his head. "Cory isn't a fighter. Everyone liked him, you know?"
"Did he have any close friends, a girlfriend perhaps?" Grissom asked in his gentle tone.
"Plenty of lady friends but, I don't think he was seeing anyone special."
"That's not true," came Mary Haglund's unsteady voice from the doorway. All three men looked up at her.
"Mary-" Walter started, eyes full of concern for her.
"A mother knows her son." She was staring at Grissom as she said this.
Grissom stood and walked to her. "Misses Haglund, would you show me to your son's bedroom?"
He grasped her elbow lightly as she nodded and led them away from the sitting room.
"Cory, he was never a secretive boy, never had a reason to be," Mary explained as they ascended the stairs. "But recently, he's been keeping something from us I just...I couldn't figure out what."
They entered a dark blue bedroom covered in the posters of basketball stars. Mary stayed by the door as Grissom walked in and looked about. He picked up a photo on the desk of Cory and some other kids, laughing in the sunshine by a pool.
"When did you first notice this change in Cory's behaviour?" He asked, opening the drawers of the desk and looking through them.
"About two months ago."
Grissom placed the photo on top of Cory's lap top and continued to look about. After he had gone through the room as much as he felt capable without his kit, he picked up the photo and the laptop and turned to Mary.
"Misses Haglund, where was Cory tonight?"
"He said he was going over to Sarah's to study but...that was a lie." She was looking at Grissom but cast her eyes down as she spoke the last few words.
Grissom looked at her, feeling there was nothing he could offer her, not yet anyway. "I need to get these back to the lab."
She nodded at him without meeting his eyes, saying nothing. She stood in the doorway looking into her sons bedroom as Grissom took the stairs down.
"Mr. Haglund, can you think of anyone in particular that may have a grudge against you?" Grissom asked from the doorway of the sitting room.
Ecklie and Walter looked up at him. "I'm the mayor of Las Vegas. Everyday I have to find a balance between the casinos, the tourists and the folks who just call this place home. I wouldn't say I'm popular."
Grissom nodded. "I'm sorry for your loss," he said quietly before turning to leave.
The ride to the crime scene had a tense edge to it. Catherine rightly determined the cause to be Sara and felt for her. Sara had expressed a desire to meet Horatio while at the same time being terrified of it. She wasn't sure how she felt about the man but didn't want to be petty. Most of all, she didn't want to backslide when she had been doing so well emotionally.
And now there he sat, in the passenger seat next to Catherine.
"How's Lindsay doing?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know. They only heard of each other through Grissom but both felt like they knew one another reasonably well because of it.
"She's doing good."
"Your mother?"
"Oh, my mother is doing just fine." They both smiled at this.
"How's Kyle?"
"He's a teenager."
Catherine chuckled.
Sara watched him, her stomach twisting in knots. Grissom had told her a bit about Horatio but had actually been sensitive in that he didn't let the topic dominate their conversations.
They pulled into an alleyway, guided by the lights of police cruisers and flapping yellow tape. Horatio walked confidently next to Catherine, lifting the tape for her to step under. She turned to Sara. "Horatio and I are going to process in the tape, you take the rest of the alley. When we're done, we'll switch and get a second pair of eyes on both areas."
They fanned out.
Horatio put the kit on the ground and opened it. He smiled at the meticulously organized set up. Every jar and vial full, extra sets of gloves, ample stock of swabs and tape lifts. He retrieved a flash light from it before standing and looking around. It had been a while since he worked a crime scene at night and it slowed him somewhat. He took extra time as he looked over the dumpster, running his light over it slowly. He peered at a dark spot on the catch before swabbing it.
"Get something?" Catherine asked, looking over at him from the other side.
"Blood." Horatio held up the swab and looked at it in the light.
They both came to stand in front of the dumpster and shone their flash lights into it.
"You have jumpers?" Horatio asked.
"Are you kidding me?" Catherine raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. "I'm not sending you in there looking like that after your night got screwed up."
"That's very kind but...I am here to help." Horatio rumbled, putting his hands on his hips and looking down at her.
"That's fine," She said, walking towards the Denali, "but Grissom might loose it if he finds out you've been in the dumpster. Just spot me."
Horatio smiled and continued scanning the interior. When Catherine returned in a blue jump suit, he lifter her by the hips to sit on the edge of the dumpster. Catherine swung herself in, thankful that garbage day was recent enough that it wasn't that full. Horatio lit her way and took various items from her as she handed them up. Various pieces of trash had Cody Haglund's blood on them. One piece of paper caught Catherine's eye.
"Hey, shine that over here," she said, wading to the corner. She held up the paper and uncrumpled it in the light.
"What is that?" Horatio asked.
"It's a receipt from the Bellagio." Catherine said quietly, thinking to herself. When Horatio didn't respond, she continued. "Chips to cash, 20,000 dollars."
Horatio, keeping the light trained on Catherine, looked about the alleyway and thought about the drive there, the neighbourhoods they had passed. "Isn't...isn't that a bit out of place?"
Catherine shrugged. "This is Vegas, there's probably thousands of these receipts in dumpsters all around the city but...but it is a lot of money for this part of town." She handed it to Horatio who slipped it into an evidence bag.
She climbed out of the dumpster and they both looked into it, having the same thought.
"This isn't are primary crime scene," Horatio stated.
"Not by a long shot," Catherine agreed. "Sara?"
The brunette took one more photo before returning to the dumpster.
"Anything?" Catherine asked.
"Tread marks. We can run the measurements, see what we get," Sara said, doing her best not to let her gaze stray idly to Horatio.
"All right. Let's switch and do it one more time." Catherine said, stripping off her industrial rubber gloves.
Grissom opened the doors to autopsy and garnered a surprised look from Doc Robbins. "What can I do for you, ?" He asked wryly.
Grissom looked at the doctor squarely and without a smile. "I'm just here for the dead guy."
"Mmm," Doc Robbins murmured, turning towards the slab, "Not much of a man, he's 16 if he's a day."
Grissom stood next to Robbins and looked down at Cody Haglund's body. His eyes narrowed. He was just a boy. "Cause of death?"
Robbins pointed to wounds in the boys abdomen. "Exsanguination due to sharp force trauma." He spread the lips of the wounds apart slightly. "Whatever the weapon was, it left irregular marks of varying depth."
The wounds were round, Grissom noted as he leaned over the body and peered at them. "Greg?" He called. Greg turned from the counter he had been working at and looked at his supervisor. "Did you find anything probative?"
Placing one last item of clothing in a brown paper evidence bag, Greg walked over. "There was some trace in his stab wounds and," He lifted up a clear baggie, "I got his cell phone. I figure most kids nowadays have their entire lives on these things."
"Anything else?"
Greg looked back at the piles of evidence bags on the counter before returning Grissom's look. "I'll probably find more once I get his clothes to trace."
"But you noticed the personal nature of the attack."
Greg looked down at the body. "Uh..."
Grissom pointed to the wounds. "There was a lot of force here, a lot of violence. It denotes a lack of control...it's likely that the murder was personal."
"Right," Greg said, "stabbings are pretty personal anyway and the murderer...didn't stop after one or two thrusts."
"Exactly, not even with our victim here fighting back." Grissom held up the boys arms to expose defensive cuts. Greg looked at Grissom who looked at the young man over the rims of his glasses. "You gather the evidence, Greg, try putting it together as it comes to you."
Greg nodded eagerly before turning to leave, a box of evidence in his arms. He always expected Grissom to chew him out but his boss never did. Grissom's concern was making a stand up CSI out of Greg, never belittling him.
Grissom looked over the body a few more minutes before thanking Robbins and heading to A/V.
"Archie."
"Hey Grissom." Archie had Cory Haglund's laptop hooked up to his system and was going through its contents on his screen.
"Anything?" Grissom wore a frown of concentration as he was wont to do when working a case.
"You're looking really sharp." Archie didn't look away from the screen and so missed the sidelong glare Grissom threw his way.
"And the laptop?" He said, feigning patience.
"Well, it might help if I knew what I was looking for. There's the usual stuff. Pictures, videos, homework. Nothing that's popping out at me from his e-mails or IM. If someone had it in for him, they weren't letting him know on-line."
"Maybe they were letting him know via the tried and true method of phone conversation." Grissom postulated.
"That's Grissom code for 'look at his phone'." Archie smiled.
"Thank you Archie."
As he exited A/V, he saw Horatio, Catherine and Sara entering the building. He knew if they had found something they would have phoned him so he didn't ask if there was any case breakers, just fell in step as they walked to layout.
"What did you find at the crime scene?"
The three other CSI's flanked him.
"Tread marks from where somebody tore out of the alley. It could be related or not." Sara said.
"We check everything. Good eye Sara." Grissom opened the door to let them all file in.
"There was a lot of blood in the dumpster. We brought back almost everything from inside it so hopefully our killer nicked himself," Catherine added.
"There was blood on the dumpster that may...have come from someone catching their hand in the release mechanism." Horatio rumbled.
"That's a start," Grissom said, his mind becoming excited despite itself. The game was in play and almost all the pieces were known.
"It is a start. That was not our primary crime scene." Horatio added, looking askance at Grissom.
Grissom inhaled and thought this over. "There was nothing in the dumpster to indicate where our primary may be?"
"Oh, I found a receipt from the Bellagio for some pretty big bucks." Catherine said as they laid out evidence on the table, picking up the bag containing the receipt. "I thought I'd head over there and chat up their floor manager."
Grissom looked over their evidence, laid out like Halloween candy waiting to be sorted. He then looked at each of the CSI's.
"All right. Catherine, follow the receipt."
"I'll let you know what I find. I'm just...gonna go change my clothes." A small smile passed between her and Horatio.
"Sara, look into those tread marks. They might not give us anything right away but they could be useful later." He missed the exchange between Catherine and Horatio as he looked intently at Sara.
She couldn't be sure but she thought Grissom held her gaze a little longer than he normally would, wanting to see if she was perhaps upset. Sara kept her eyes level and her face composed.
"I'm on it," she said simply and left the room.
With her gone, Grissom found Horatio's eyes and felt his stomach twist at the red head's smile.
"That leaves...you and me," Horatio snapped on a pair of gloves, "to go through this."
Grissom sighed and put on his own gloves. Both men fell into their own worlds as they sifted through the bags, collected swabs and made notes. Horatio could feel how tense Grissom was, agitated about their forfeited symphony tickets, his run ins with Ecklie and, Horatio thought he could detect, the fact that his lover had been dragged into this investigation. He made a note to reassure Grissom later that there was nowhere else he would have rather been. Glancing up occasionally at Grissom as he worked the evidence, he smiled to himself.
They both stood with the sleeves of their nice dress shirts rolled up, their suit jackets hung up before they delved into the trash. They were right next to each other and, in Horatio's mind, the symphony might have added a bit to the moment, but not much.
Grissom groaned and moved his head from side to side, cracking his neck. When he looked up, Horatio was still examining a trash bag. Just outside, Nick was walking towards them.
"Any news?" He asked, poking his head through the door.
"Nah, Not yet. You?"
Nick shrugged. "I've got some stuff for DNA. Warrick's still interviewing people at the scene with Brass."
"Okay. I'm coming with you to DNA." Grissom turned and touched Horatio lightly on the arm. The other man didn't look up from the evidence in his hands. "You know where to find us when you're done?"
"I do," he said in his rough voice. "I'll catch up with you in a minute."
Grissom nodded and followed Nick out. They unloaded bags of swabs on Wendy who just shrugged at went straight to work.
Grissom poked his head into the room where Greg was going over Cody Haglund's clothing. "Greg?"
"I'm almost done." He too did not look up from the pants he was examining with the ALS.
"Great, have you found anything?" Grissom rubbed his beard.
"Well, if Cody Haglund wasn't dead, I'd say no but-"
"But what?" Sometimes Grissom tired of Greg's cryptic lead ins and he replied impatiently.
"There's semen on his jeans."
And Grissom understood. "It's probably his. Run it anyway, see if he had a partner."
"I am all over it," Greg said, swabbing. "And that's the last of it."
"Blood and Semen, that's all you found?" Grissom tried not to sound like he was pressuring.
"Some cream and maroon coloured fibers on his pants?" Greg tried.
"Good. Thank you Greg."
Grissom stood out in the hall for a moment, his mind working. He kept coming back to the same detail. They needed to find their primary crime scene, all of their evidence would be out of context until they did.
"Grissom!" Grissom looked up to see an irate Sheriff Atwater striding towards him.
"Where are we on this case?" The Sheriff placed his hands on his hips and leaned into Grissom's space.
Grissom looked at him half perplexed, half offended by his tone. He didn't notice Horatio exit layout but stay by the door, watching the scene before him. "We've just wrapped up evidence collection and have started processing."
Atwater looked at Grissom like he may be mentally impaired. "That's what your going to feed me?"
Grissom scowled at him. "That's what I've got."
"That's not good enough! I've got a press conference in an hour. The city is going to want to know what happened to the mayor's son." Atwater took a step towards Grissom, getting in his face, invading his personal space.
Horatio took a step towards them.
"I suggest you try 'the investigation is on-going', especially if you insist on having press conferences before you've given my team any time to work." Grissom shouted back.
"Do you take this for a joke?"
"Anything but, Sheriff Atwater. A boy is dead and I'm doing everything possible to find his killer and give his parents some piece of mind." Grissom said, his voice still strained but lower in volume.
"Really? How is it then that I hear two of your CSI's are back working a rape case when they were called in on this?"
Grissom pursed his lips and tried in vain to keep his lip from curling. Damn Conrad. "Because that girl deserves piece of mind too."
Atwater lowered his head, shaking it.
"If there was anything they could do, I would have kept Warrick and Nick on the case but there wasn't."
"One hour, Gil. Get me something or your done." Atwater attempted to stare Grissom down but he didn't budge, didn't rise to the bait. He turned away from Grissom and glared at Horatio questioningly as he walked past him.
Grissom waited until Atwater had left before looking at his watch and placing two fingers on his neck, feeling for a pulse. His breathing was unsteady.
Horatio walked up to him but Grissom didn't take his eyes from his watch. Eventually Horatio gently clasped Grissom's wrist, obscuring his watch and causing him to look up. "All right?" He rumbled softly.
The gentleness in Horatio's tone sidetracked Grissom from the argument. They shared a reassuring gaze before Horatio smiled lightly and released Grissom's wrist. "Hang in there."
Grissom nodded and fought down the urge to kiss him.
They went to the room where Sara sat in front of a computer screen, running tread patterns and measurements. She looked up at Grissom and smiled. "He doesn't know a thing about evidence, Griss, we'll stick it to him."
This garnered a small smile from her supervisor. "You heard that, huh?"
"The whole lab heard that." She said sympathetically.
Grissom inhaled deeply. "Any luck?"
She looked at Horatio standing behind Grissom's shoulder protectively before her eyes slipped back to the screen. "The wheel base is short and narrow, I'm thinking sports car, two-seater. I'll should know for sure within a half hour."
As Sara finished, Nick burst into the room. "Grissom, we've got somethin'."
Sara and Horatio turned to look at Nick as Grissom stepped closer to him. "About the rape?"
"About both our cases." Nick was excited, the pace of his breath faster than usual. "Semen from our rape matches the semen found on Cody Haglund's pants."
Grissom's jaw muscles worked beneath his beard as he processed this. "Is it a match to Cody Haglund?"
"Wendy just caught it by eye, she hasn't had a chance to run it against Cody's DNA yet."
"We've been working the same case," Sara said as a smile slowly formed on her face, "Atwater can chew on that."
Horatio smiled at her and Nick looked slightly confused but Grissom's mind was on the case. "You have to go back to your crime scene," he said urgently, "it could be our primary."
"We're on it," Nick said excitedly.
"Take Greg, he can fill you in on everything he found on Cory Haglund." Grissom said as he moved past Nick and towards A/V.
"Archie, pull up Cory's most frequently called numbers." Grissom said, his phone open and ready to hit send.
Archie clicked around on his screen until a call history appeared. After a search, two numbers came up again and again.
"Jim," Grissom said into the receiver, "I need you to pick up Sarah Broughton and bring her down, she should be cleared to leave the hospital by now...your rape case is related to Cody Haglund's murder...any chance Travis Beacher was at that party?"
