I know it's been FOREVER since my last update. I've literally been writing one sentence a day for that past three months. School can be a pain sometimes. Well, I hope those who read the previous chapters still remember. Enjoy! Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Special thanks to drakien for being an awesome beta!

Chapter 4

The trio approached the house simultaneously, ducking under the crime scene tape. Sofia greeted them with a nod, and then focused her attention solely on Grissom. "You're late," she said with what looked like a seductive smirk. Grissom simply raised an eyebrow in reply, urging her to continue. "One of the neighbors called it in; went to deliver mail that was put in the wrong mailbox. Victim's name is Benjamin Preston." She shook her head slightly, "He's one of us."

"Shot in his own home?"

"Yeah." Sofia paused briefly. "Shame really, he just got promoted to Detective a few weeks back."

"I thought this was a double homicide?" Sara asked, her eyes traveling around the perimeter of the crime tape and the numerous neighbors behind it.

"Yeah, I was getting to that." She turned back to Grissom again, causing Sara to frown ever so slightly. "The second victim has no relation to the first. Jacob Wright. I found his school ID in his wallet; senior year in high school; technically victim number one since he was the one discovered by the neighbor."

"You touched the body?" Sara inquired.

"I was a CSI," Sofia retorted defensively. "I figured the sooner we ID the body, the better.

"Maybe you should leave that to us next time," Grissom said impassively. "Detective."

Sofia scoffed humorously. Sara smirked slightly. Greg simply raised his eyebrows inquiringly.

Grissom sighed. "Senior year is always the best year," he said, almost like he was speaking to himself.

"Because it was the easiest?" Greg nodded, "Partying and slacking off; definitely memorable."

Grissom shook his head slightly. "Because it was over after that."

Sara raised a brow, and then turned her attention back to the blonde. "Got the wallet?"

"Bagged and tagged it, under Grissom's name of course." Grissom frowned in annoyance. Sofia pointed to the car in the driveway, "The teenager was found in the back seat. Detective Preston was found in the house, right next to the door."

"Grissom, I thought you said this was a gang related shooting, though?"

"It is," Sofia replied, eyeing the youngest CSI. "You'll understand when you see what's at the front door.

"Great," Grissom nodded, gesturing to the house, "Shall we?" They started to walk up the driveway, when Grissom spoke out again, "Not you, Greg. I want you to question all these neighbors out here with Sofia. See if you can find anything interesting."

Greg frowned slightly, "You and Sara gonna cover both bodies?"

Grissom smirked, "We'll manage without you."

"I'm sure you will," Greg muttered in reply, stalking off with Sofia to a very large group behind the yellow tape.

Sara grinned at Greg's retreating back before turning her attention back to Grissom. "Which DB do you prefer?"

"I think we should work them one at a time. Together." Sara stared at him. He cleared his throat. "It would be easier; no comparing notes."

She blinked, "Ok…which one first then?"

"Which one do you think was the target?"

"Must you answer my question with another question?"

"Must you ask questions with obvious answers?" Grissom replied, a playful tone to his voice.

Sara huffed out a light laugh. One minute the man standing before her was 'unattainable, love of her life Griss,' and the next he was 'science nerd, know-it-all Gil Grissom.' She felt so awkward and uncomfortable with him when they were alone, room filled with emotional as well as sexual tension, yet so playful and connected with him when they were at a crime scene, when he was just her colleague and mentor.

It scared her.

There were times that Sara thought that maybe a mentor and supervisor was what Grissom was meant to be for her, despite her feelings. She obviously felt more comfortable around him when they were both working, connecting their brains rather their hearts. But as time passed, the feelings in her heart seemed to grow stronger instead of going away. It was then she realized that 'unattainable, love of her life Griss,' and 'science nerd, know-it-all Gil Grissom' were one and the same. The 'science nerd, know-it-all Gil Grissom' was one of the things she loved most about him.

And boy did it suck.

"They could have both been targets," she replied, smiling.

"A detective at home and an unrelated teenager in a car parked in the driveway?"

Sara rolled her eyes, "Ok, enough with the sarcasm, Grissom." She smiled at him and walked toward the front door. "Let's process the detective first."

He smiled back. "Good idea."

They approached the front door, lights skimming over a bloody knife wrapped in a bandana. Sara side-stepped Grissom and snapped a few close-ups. Swinging her camera back around her arm, she picked up the knife and examined it. "Looks like a dagger," she squinted slightly, "with some sort of snake carved into the handle."

Grissom was busy studying the bandana, "Could be from a gang we encountered years ago; they were targeting uniforms."

"I'm surprised you remember a case so long ago."

Grissom shined his light over the victim, "It's hard to forget what we don't understand."

"Killing's never meant to be understood," she replied wistfully. She carefully stepped into the dimly lit house, Grissom trailing close behind, dusting everything he encountered. Beside the entrance was the victim, sprawled on his back. Crouching to get a better look, she spotted a ten dollar bill near his hand and a five dollar bill on his waist. "Victim had cash on him. Literally," Sara noted out loud as she snapped her camera.

"Interesting how he was killed with one bullet to the heart, yet we found a bloody knife outside."

Sara glanced at him, "I don't see any other wounds."

Grissom frowned slightly, "We'll have to wait until David gets here to turn him around."

After dusting everything from the doorbell to the walls of the entryway, he slowly meandered into the remainder of the house. Sara finished bagging the bills and quickly followed. The first room they encountered was the living room. The television was turned on; blaring a loud game of Monday Night Football. Sara photographed an empty beer bottle and its now remaining five-pack, and then quickly bagged the empty bottle as evidence.

Observing the clean yet non-decorative house, she mused, "I'm guessing this guy isn't married."

"No pictures, no color, no plants…I'm assuming your guess is correct."

"Men."

Grissom raised an eyebrow and looked at her thoughtfully, "As I've asked Catherine before…what's wrong with it? It's certainly clean."

Sara smirked, "Beauty, Grissom."

The other eyebrow went up, "Excuse me?"

"There's no beauty in this home. Most people like things beautiful or attractive," she paused, "Well, at least women do."

Grissom focused his attention to the carpet, scanning for any trace of evidence. "I didn't know you were so interested in…looks."

"I'm not. Let's just say a night in a hockey rink got me thinking about it."

He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I see."

After collecting a handful of evidence from the house, the pair wandered back outside to what was technically "victim number one." Sara scanned the exterior of the car, while Grissom went to check on Greg and Sofia. She quickly printed the door handles, meeting up with Grissom before she checked the interior. "Hey, ready to check the inside?"

Grissom turned, "Let's go." Glancing back at the detective and the youngest CSI, he stated, "Keep me informed."

"Anything interesting on the neighbors?"

"Greg said that one of the neighbors saw a kid running away from the house, but thought nothing of it until now."

Sara frowned, "But he didn't hear any gunfire?"

"Apparently not," Grissom replied. He opened one of the backdoors and shined his flashlight on the body. "Is David here yet?"

"Way ahead of you, boss," a voice came from behind them. "I already checked him. I say he's been dead for over twelve hours. Just waiting for you to hand him over," David said with a small smile.

"Good. There's another one inside for you."

They examined the body for trace; an effort that ended up being fruitless. Grissom opened the passenger door, careful to not bump his head on the top of the doorway. He spotted and quickly swabbed a drop of reddish liquid. After testing it with Luminol, he concluded it was indeed not blood. Grissom scanned for any other visible trace, and after coming up empty, he rejoined his partner in the back seat. Sara pursed her lips thoughtfully as she spotted a familiar object poking out from under the seats. Carefully fishing it out, she held it up for Grissom to see.

He stared at it from the other side of the car. "So this victim died from what looks like multiple stab wounds. What's a gun doing in this car?"

"I think victim number…" she paused and gestured to the body in the car, "two?"

"Technically, he's victim number one. The neighbor spotted him first."

Sara frowned in concentration, "Ok…so victim number one, could possibly be a suspect for victim number two?"

"So who killed victim number one?"

"Wait," Sara's frown deepened. "So since victim number one could be a killer of victim number two, that means victim number two died first—technically making him victim number one—right?"

Grissom matched her frown with one of his own as he sighed. "This is going to be a long night."

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