Thank you all for the reviews so far- I hope you enjoy this- please me know what you think!

Dead Nature

(One)

Sara climbed out of her Denali the night sky stretching above her for miles extending towards the horizon. The irony smell of blood filled the air as she approached the their crime scene, the sound of her heels clicking against the floor, her steps faltering for a second as she saw Greg standing by the door. His eyes met hers and it was as if the world had stilled and the oxygen had disappeared, her chest constricting.

"He did it again" His voice was low; his eyes downcast and glazed over.

Taking a deep breath of night air, Sara stepped past him taking in the scene with as much detail as she could. The room smelt of disinfectant, the furniture in all of the allocated spaces the only thing wrong with the image before her was the body lying on the bed. The young woman's blonde hair lay in a tangled mess surrounding her, nothing but a lace teddy covering her.

"Is her wedding ring missing?" Sara asked sensing Greg standing behind her but refusing to face him, her eyes focused on David kneeling beside the bed scribbling notes onto his clipboard.

"Yes" The voice behind her informed her. Sara could feel herself shiver, a lump building up in her throat and without wanting to she found herself glancing down at the ring on her left hand.

"Ligature marks suggest she was strangled, he used a stocking. She was also bound for sometime before TOD" The coroner explained with a saddened voice as he cast his eyes over the bruised and bloodied body.

"I need some air" Sara announced shortly her body responding physically to the sight of the body. She turned quickly moving past Greg into the parking lot taking a ragged breath attempting to gather all the professionalism she could.

"Sara" Greg muttered softly in her ear, his hand reaching out for hers but she moved away the idea of physical contact repulsing her in that moment.

"Sorry" She looked him in the eye quickly before glancing away.

"If you can't handle this I'll get someone else" He announced carelessly watching her as a frown creased his brow.

"I can handle it- I don't need your pity" She shot back not being to refrain from being bitter. "I just need some air."

"Are you sick?" He asked with raised eyebrows and some concern.

"No" Sara shook her head taking a gulp of air.

"Are you pregnant?" Greg questioned sternly.

"Why would you ask me that?" With a frustrated groan Sara moved away from him, making her way back into the motel room without bothering to glance back.

The body had been removed and it was almost as if nothing terrible had been in the room, but as Sara made her way to the bed she couldn't shake the atmosphere that surrounded her. She warily began taking photos of the bedspread, gathering together the very few clues the killer had left them. He was meticulous- and as she studied the creases in the otherwise undisturbed bedspread Sara realised that it terrified her.

Sara found herself looking in the mirror at the circle that had been drawn in red lipstick- their serial killer's calling card. Her refection was caught in the image and she couldn't help but see the irony- her head spinning as she studied the person looking back at her. Sara realised she looked exactly the same as she had done before but the very core of her being had changed; she felt lost.

A hand touched her shoulder forcing Sara to flinch dragging her back to reality as rough fingertips smoothed over her arm. Greg appeared behind her, his image reflected within the red ring, Sara's heart stopping as she noticed him, jumping without meaning to. Greg's eyes burned into her, like he was searching her soul for the truth. It made a shiver cross her skin as she desperately tried to tear her gaze away from his. She didn't want him to see how broken she was inside; she didn't want him to see the ghosts reflected in her pupils. She didn't want anyone to see them. She quickly cleared her throat and turned her eyes to her hands absolutely certain that Greg knew exactly what was making her act this way. A blush crept across her cheeks as she recovered from the shock quickly turning to face him.

"Anything" She asked cautiously knowing that if they were still dealing with the same killer there was not likely to be anything giving himself away.

"The room was booked in the victim's name...like all the others" Greg gave a small shrug "The guy behind the counter said- she came in, shaken up- hat, sunglasses, covered up- and paid for the room in cash."

"Did you get the CCTV tapes?" She asked hopefully.

"Yes- but I doubt we're going to get anything from them" He replied. "You ready to head back?"

"Yes" Sara nodded glancing around the room to make sure that she had collected everything. They both awkwardly made their way back to their separate Denali's briefly saying goodbye. The roads passed them by as the streets filled with people ready to escape from their everyday lives.

Sara pulled in the crime lab parking lot shortly followed by Greg- he climbed with an exasperated look waiting on the curb for her as she picked up her kit and box of evidence from the boot.

"You seriously need to retake your driving test- I was behind you the whole way back- I was almost certain you were going to get into an accident" He said matter-of-factly to her as they made their way back inside.

"Well if you weren't driving behind me making me nervous it wouldn't have been a problem" Sara pointed out.

"You're on the roads- there is always going to be someone behind you Sara" Greg shot back. Without saying a word Sara continued walking, making her way towards trace with the hope that Hodges would be able to find something on the little evidence they had in this case.

"Sara" DB appeared at the door. "Sheriff's in the layout room- wants an update"

Sara made her way to the layout room awkwardly standing in the space beside Greg, not meeting his eye as they faced the critical eye of higher powers.

"So- we have five victims- how close are we to getting this guy?" She asked with raised eyebrows, her eyes casting over the images pinned up across the walls.

"We now know that he's targeting his victims through a dating website epically set up for married women looking to have affairs..." Sara began indicating to one of the print outs. "He poses as a single man...interested in no-strings-sex."

"He lures his victims to bars, restaurants... generally places far enough away from where they are located to be unfamiliar and he drugs them." Greg continued. "He keeps his victims for 72 hours...beats them...rapes them...forces them to rent rooms in motels which are known as hot spots for adulterers, where he dresses them up in lingerie and strangles them"

"He uses the victim's cars, their credit cards, their cells phones..." Sara pushed towards the Sheriff an image of a hooded figure standing beside the door. "We have looked over the surveillance tapes of all the motels...We have nothing but this image of him"

"They buy their own deaths..." DB commented as his studied the image of a woman disguised handing over the funds for a motel room.

"This is all we have?" The Sheriff raised her eyebrows. "You better get back to work"

Giving them a stern look, she disappeared out of the door, the sound of her heels clicking as she made her way towards the exit filling the room as the three of the stood with exhausted expressions.

Sara quickly made her exit returning to Hodge's lab, waiting for her results. Greg glanced at his boss attempting to word his concerns.

"What do you want to say Greg?" DB eventually asked leaning against the table as he flicked through the case file.

"Sara...this case...it's really been getting to her. And she's been at work all the hours she can, and she's working on it even when she's not..." He said, knowing that Sara would not appreciate being ratted out like this.

"...And you would like me to have a word with her about work/life balance?" The older man asked with raised eyebrows.

"If you could...She's not listening to me..." Greg shrugged picking up the CCTV tapes they had collected that day.

The sound of the door opening made Sara jump, as she glanced towards the beam of light making its way into the otherwise darkened conference room she had chosen to work in. She had laid out the emails the killer her had sent their victims on the table before her, a small lamp lighting them up.

DB Russell sank into the seat by her side exhaling loudly.

"So, I had this friend once... "He Began. Sara glanced over at him taking a deep breath as she prepared herself for a story. "He lost his dog. Little Spaniel... big brown eyes, long floppy ears... anyway; he went out and looked for this dog every day and every night for... days on end. He was obsessed, like a man on a mission. Then one day his wife told him he had to let it go or she'd lose it with him. To have a rest and look after himself for a change. You know what happened the next day?"

Sara sighed, rolling her eyes "The dog came back" She said deadpanned.

"Right- he took a phone call from the shelter." DB nodded with a satisfied smile.

"What's your point?" Sara retaliated, turning her attention back to her work.

"The point is...sometimes we need to step back and not let things consume us. We're going to find this guy. You working yourself to the ground isn't helping anyone" He said softly.

Sara rolled her neck form side to side in attempts to loosen the knot that had formed at the base, and with some resistance stood up.

"I'm going home" She announced glancing at her watch.

"Good girl" He nodded, at her with a smile that seemed to get under her skin but not wanting to argue Sara walked out of the door with nothing but a wave over her shoulder.

Sara made her way home, strange mood settling into her system as she watched couples drive past hand in hand. With the thousand miles between her and Grissom felt like far too much, as she figured out the time zones while she pulled up into her drive way.

It was far too early to call him- or was it far too late?

With a defeated groan Sara collapsed onto the sofa switching on the TV realising that for now- she was alone.

The door bell rang through the house forcing her up from her spot on the sofa- the movie continuing as she made her way to the door. With an irritated sigh she swung it open, surprised to see Greg standing in front of her.

"Hi" He said softly, a smile tugging at his lips. She had barely noticed the bunch of flowers and bottle of wine in his hand until he offered them to her.

"Hi" Not knowing what else to do Sara stepped aside taking the things he was offering her waiting for an explanation as to why he was there.

"I wanted to say sorry...I was being an arse today...and you don't deserve it" Greg said after clearing his throat- his eyes going to 'He's just not that into you' on the screen before looking at Sara.

"It's okay...I haven't been that great to be around" Sara nodding biting her lip slightly as she moved towards the kitchen. She found a vase placing the flowers inside it, and filling two glasses of wine for them both. She handed one to Greg and took a sip from the other as she leant back against the counter.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked stepping closer to her.

"There's nothing to talk about..." Sara shrugged shutting him out realising that she wasn't ready to talk about her problems with someone who knew her enough to know when she was lying.

"I know this case...it's gotten to us..." Greg began talking taking small steps closer to her. "But we've got to stick it out...when we put this guy away...everything will be fine"

"It's going to be okay" He whispered to her, pulling her towards him for an embrace.

Before Sara could stop herself, her hands were firmly on his chest pushing him away from her. Tears stinging her eyes as she studied the man in front of her- the hurt expression crossing his features as he tried to understand what was happening.

"You have to go..." She finally said, the words escaping in a meek whisper. "You need to leave..."