A/N: Thanks to all who have been reading and reviewing!
Wiping a drop of sweat away from her forehead with her arm, Sara let out a long, tired sigh. She had been at this high school for hours now taking swab after swab of the puddle of blood the victim was lying in order to determine whether or not it was all his back at the lab. The smell was beginning to make her feel a bit light-headed, and she was sure that she wasn't going to exactly smell like roses either when she got back to the lab.
"You smell like death," Sara could hear Greg's voice ringing in her ears.
Lifting up a small plastic bag containing the victim's wallet and other personal effects, Sara headed out of the building to get some fresh air and to store more evidence. Walking outside she was surprised to see that the sun had started to go down, which only made her realize that she really had been there for as long as she'd guessed. After depositing the evidence bags into the trunk of her car, Sara reached into her kit and took out a water bottle, opening it and gulping it down greedily.
Throwing the empty water bottle into her car, Sara closed up her trunk only in time to see a line of SUVs parking in the school parking lot. Soon the familiar forms of Catherine, Nick and Warrick were visible in the remaining purple-and-orange-tinted sunlight. Crossing her arms over her chest, Sara walked over to them, taking her sunglasses off. "What are you guys doing here?" Sara asked, sounding a bit harsher than she intended to.
"Nice to see you too, Sar," Nick said with his signature Texan smile.
"Grissom sent us," Catherine shrugged. "He said you might need a hand.
Sara couldn't help but feel as though Grissom sent them because he didn't trust her. This was her case. If he hadn't have thought she could handle it, then why the hell did he give her the assignment in the first place?
"So ya want to… fill us in?" Warrick asked, shifting the grip he had on the handle of his silver crime-scene kit.
Sara just sighed. "Kid was found dead by the janitor in the hallway. Guy says he fell out of the locker and called 9-1-1 when he saw the blood. The victim's name was Kevin Jameson," Sara explained as they walked toward the school. "School ID was found in his pocket. I'm guessing he was a football player judging from his sports jacket."
"You're a little quick to judge, aren't you, Sar?" Nick asked with a small smile as Sara shot him a look.
"That's a safe assumption," Catherine shrugged. "So if he was a jock, that might give someone motive."
"We're thinking the motive was robbery," Sara said, "All of his money was missing from his wallet."
"He could've been broke," Warrick suggested.
"I don't think so, though," Nick said, shaking his head. "When you were in high school, were you ever caught without any money?"
"True…" Warrick trailed off.
"Hey, Cath…" Nick said, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "What did you mean by motive being the fact that he was a jock?"
Catherine just smiled a little. "Well, not everyone likes jocks," she shrugged. "They tend to make other people feel inferior because they're generally popular and in pretty good physical shape."
Sara looked over at Nick and Warrick with teasing smiles. "So, uh… you guys weren't jocks, right?"
"Hell no," Warrick said. "Like I told Cath- I had thick glasses, big feet…"
Nick shrugged. "I was what you would call average in that field, I suppose."
"Alright, so anyways," Catherine said, looking over at Sara. "Where do you need us?" Catherine knew this was Sara's case, and the second Grissom had suggested they go over to help her she knew Sara was going to be a bit pissed off. Catherine knew that Sara liked to be in charge of her cases, and she didn't want any help unless she asked for it.
"Nick, Warrick, could you guys go process the locker the victim fell out of?" Sara asked. "Do a thorough scope; fibers, hairs, blood samples, everything."
"We know how to process a scene, Sar," Nick smiled, heading off with Warrick.
"Oh hell!" Warrick yelled when he saw the giant puddle of blood. "Someone didn't like this kid."
Catherine looked over at Sara with a raised brow. "Where do you need me?"
"Why don't you—" Sara paused when she heard voices coming from outside. "…Hang on a minute," she told Catherine, jogging over to the front of the school.
"Sara, where are you going?" Catherine asked, walking after her.
"Shh…" Sara said, putting her hand up to silence her. "Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Catherine asked, shooting her a confused look. But then she heard it, too. Voices, and none of them were familiar to her. "…Sara, I think maybe you should get away from the door," Catherine advised her. There was a strong possibility that the suspect was still at the scene, seeing how this was a huge campus, or the possibility that the suspect had returned to try and hide the body. Catherine, having already been attacked at a crime-scene, didn't want to take any chances. "Sara…" she warned.
Sara slowly crept around the corner, keeping one hand trained on her gun. Swallowing her fear, Sara opened the door leading outside, almost screaming when someone ran into her.
"SARA!" Catherine yelled, quickly unholstering her gun and pointing it at the person who had rammed into her.
"Where is he? I have to see Kevin!" the person said. Sara composed herself and finally got a good look at the person. She was another student, Sara thought, judging by her varsity cheerleading outfit. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, staring up at Sara with anxiety.
"This is a crime-scene," Sara quickly said, re-holstering her weapon. "You can't be here. You're going to contaminate the scene…"
"Crime-scene?" the girl whispered. "What…? What happened?"
Sara looked at the girl, swallowing as she prepared to tell her what happened. "We're investigating a homicide."
"No…" the girl whispered. "Kevin! No! KEVIN!" she screamed, trying to run past Sara. Sara quickly grabbed the girl around her shoulders, trying to restrain her from trespassing into the scene. "LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SEE KEVIN!"
"He's not here anymore," Sara calmly told her. "The coroners came and took his body for autopsy."
"You don't understand," the girl whispered, fresh tears stinging at her eyes. "He's my boyfriend. I'm Ashley, he… he didn't ask for me…?" she whispered.
"He was already dead when we got here," Sara told her. "…I'm sorry for your loss."
As soon as the girl began to break down in sobs, the doors opened and an officer stepped through the doors, resting his hands on his knees as he panted. "I'm sorry," he panted, "I tried to… stop her… but… she ran."
Sara just shook her head at the officer as she led the girl to a bench, completely ignoring Catherine who was staring at her dumbfounded. "Ashley… what's your last name?" she quietly asked her once she was sitting down.
"I can't tell you that," Ashley whispered, shaking her head back and forth.
"Ashley, you can tell me anything…" Sara told her, sitting down beside her. "And the more we know, the faster we can help find who did this to Kevin."
"No, you… don't understand," Ashley whispered, choking down the bile forming in her throat.
"What don't I understand, Ashley…?" Sara asked.
Ashley wiped her eyes, looking around from side-to-side. "No one… no one else is here, right?" she whispered.
"Just us," Sara assured her. "Crime-scene investigators and police, but that's it."
Ashley nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around herself. "Could we go somewhere else?" she whispered.
"Sure," Sara told her, slowly getting to her feet. "Let's, um… walk around," she suggested, motioning toward the door. As she passed Catherine, Sara told her, "Go help Nick and Warrick with the locker and the blood pool," as quietly as she could so Ashley couldn't hear her.
"Blood pool?" Ashley asked, feeling her stomach jerk. Running outside, she emptied the contents of her stomach into the trash can and Sara quickly jogged up behind her, putting a supportive hand on her back.
"Ashley… do you have any idea who could've done this?" Sara quietly asked her.
Ashley looked up at Sara, slowly nodding her head. "Yeah… yeah, I do," she whispered. "But I can't tell you that."
"Why not?" Sara asked, puzzled.
"Because they'll know I told you," she whispered. "They always know."
Sara reluctantly nodded slowly in understanding. "Ashley, were you here at the school at all today?"
"Yeah," Ashley nodded, sniffling. "I went out to the football field for cheerleading practice and then I took a shower in the girl's locker room," she told her.
"When was the last time you saw Kevin?" Sara asked her.
"Last night," Ashley told her. "We went out and saw a movie and then went to dinner. He drove me home and that was it," she whispered.
Sara nodded slowly. "Thanks," she told her. "Go get some sleep," she suggested, turning to walk back into the building.
"Ms. Sidle?" Ashley quickly asked. Sara turned around. "…I'm sorry I can't help you anymore," she whispered, "But believe me… by the end of the night, you're going to be just as terrified as the rest of us."
