"Falling, falling, FALLING!" Jake yelled after they had reached the new crime scene. Ronnie ended up having to leave early because there was a family emergency, so they dropped her off back at home. Nick, who had been in the back of the car with her had requested to drive, and since none of the three remaining people wanted to get out of the car at the crime scene like a criminal, they had piled up into the front seat. Cassandra was in the middle and Jake was in the co-passenger seat, it didn't work to well since he fell out of the car and onto the ground when he opened the door since he was half on the seat, half off, and Cassandra wasn't far behind.

They all heard Jim's familiar laugh coming towards them, so they looked to see what was going on.

Jim approached them. "You two just made my night with that. Nick, Cassie, Jake," he nodded to each of them respectively. "So, care to fill in why you were all together before?"

Cassie pointed from Jake to herself. "Old friends. He decided to drop by uninvited. Nearly gave Nick, Ronnie and I all heart attacks," she growled the last part.

Jim glanced at Jake. "At it again, huh?"

"Yup," Jake nodded proudly.

Cassandra looked at him again. "Do I wanna know?"

"No," Jake shook his head.

Nick chuckled. "Anyway, what's going on? What is this?"

Jim pointed over his shoulder at where the crime scene tape was. "Woman in her late fifties, early sixties. Been dead about three hours, according to David. That's all we have right now. Cassie, Catherine's waiting for you by the body if you wanna check it out. Nick, you too. Jake, stay with Willis. We may need you around,"

"Got it" all three of them went in the direction they were supposed to go.

Catherine looked over her shoulder when she heard them call a greeting. "Hey guys, what took you so long? We have a lot of work here!"

"We'd say traffic, but that's a total lie. Let's leave it at two guys who both 'know Vegas and its shortcuts well and a girl whose friends with both of them," Nick replied.

Catherine laughed. "Alright. Hey Cassie, you think you can help me roll our Jane Doe over fully?"

"Sure," Cassandra nodded, going over to the woman's other side since she was facedown.

She and Catherine rolled her over onto her back. What they didn't count on was Cassandra jumping to her feet with a yelp of surprise, then walking a few feet away, muttering 'This can't be happening, that's the second one I know,"

"Cass? You okay?" Nick frowned, starting to go over to her. "Cath, what happened?" he asked, pausing when he was a few feet away form her.

"I dunno. She saw the woman's face and just jetted," Catherine shrugged.

Nick nodded and walked over to Cassandra. "Hey, what was that about? Are you alright?"

"No, I'm not, Nick," Cassandra replied, squatting down, running her hands through her hair.

Nick paused. "What is it?"

Cassandra pointed to the body again.

Nick frowned again. Oh God, please don't let it be Sara… wait, no. Catherine would've known. He looked at the body and frowned, seeing it was Beth. "Oh shit…"

Catherine looked at them. "You guys know her?"

Nick nodded. "My neighbor who's also the landlord to her place," he pointed at Cassandra.

"Oh…" Catherine licked her lips. "Is…"

Nick looked back at Cassandra and put his hand on her back. "Hey, you wanna sit this one out?"

"How about I just sit the rest of this entire job out, Nick? That's the second victim I know this week. I know it's only two, but… now I'm worried about Sara, and I know she won't cancel the flight even if I asked…"

Nick nodded. "You go back to the car, alright? I'll talk to Brass and Grissom when I see them… I want you to stay at my place tonight, okay? You're right, it could be nothing, or it could be something. If they investigate her house, since it's yours as well you may not have a choice anyway,"

"Thanks," Cassandra nodded and walked away.

Nick went back to Catherine. "She's flustered since this is the second victim she knows, and this one was close. She's gonna sit this case out. I'll call Greg and get him down here,"

"Right," Catherine nodded.

Nick walked a few feet away and dialed Catherine's number.

Gil and Greg soon arrived at the scene a couple of minutes apart and had noticed Cassie standing by the squad car they had come in, talking to Jake.

"What's up with Cass?" Greg asked.

"Knows the victim… again," Nick replied. "She's gonna sit this one out, which is why I called you in,"

Greg pursed his lips. "Oh, yikes… Er, okay, where can I start?"

"Outside. Work in," Gil replied.

Greg nodded and went over to where Nick had gone moments before, going to work right away.

A couple of hours later:

Jake was never one for uncomfortable silences, so he had volunteered to drive back to the houses after calling Max and Lynn to explain what happened and say that having a couple of drinks after getting back wasn't going to work. As he turned down Nick and Cassandra's block, he sighed. He had come to trust Nick in a short time, so he had no qualms with her staying at his house, not even considering he'd take advantage of her. He was unhappy to see his best friend so upset, but he was happy that his concentration on the road made him preoccupied from worrying about her.

Nick, on the other hand, who was in the backseat with Cassandra, was looking at her ever so often to see if she looked back, which she didn't. She just kept staring out the window. When Jake pulled up to the house, he poked her shoulder. "Hey, we're here,"

"Yeah, I know. If you'll excuse me, these guys are here for Beth or questioning, so Jake, can you…" she trailed off, then nodded at the squad cars in front of her house.

"Sure, C.J," Jake got out of the car and opened the door for her, letting her get out.

"Cass, hold on!" Nick called after her.

"Nick, just… let her be. She doesn't do well the first couple of hours when she's upset. She'll come around later," Jake told him.

Nick nodded. "Thanks, man," he got out of the car and shook hands with Jake before going to his door and unlocking it before stepping back out to wait for Cassandra. When she came back in, he approached her. "Day shift, I take? Do they need any more information?"

Cassandra shook her head.

Nick looked her up and down briefly. "You want anything?"

"Nick, no," Cassandra snapped, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I know you're trying to help… I just… I just need to rest right now…"

Nick smiled weakly. "Yeah, alright. Come into the doctor's office,"

Cassandra smiled and stepped inside after him, laughing when what he had called the house seemed to fit the place. It did look like a doctor's office. "Not bad… uh, where…?"

"Take your pick from the two other rooms. Go down that hallway. The one on the left is my room, then the other two are guestrooms," Nick cut her off, already figuring what she was going to ask.

"Thanks," Cassandra slipped passed him and followed his directions. She picked the smaller of the two rooms, threw her effects down onto the nightstand and collapsed on the bed. It barely took her a minute to fall asleep. However, she only got about an hour of sleep before she heard her cell phone ring. "Oh, you have GOT to be shitting me," she muttered into the pillow and groped around for her phone, finally getting it. She hit talk and brought it to her ear. "Sidle,"

"Hey Nick, it's… Wait a second…Sidle? … Cass?!"

Cassandra bolted upright. "Sara?!"

"Uh… yeah. What're you doing answering Nick's phone?"

"What're you talking about? This is mine…" Cassandra pointed out.

"No it's not. I called Nick because I couldn't get in contact with you for some reason. I tried your landline…"

"Yeah well, that's gonna be impossible for a bit. Long story. Hold on," she knew she had seen a lamp on the nightstand, and was crudely proven right when she succeeded in flipping the switch, turning it on, having her vision spotted since her eyes weren't used to the light. She looked at the nighttable again, frowning to see that her cell phone was on the table. She took the phone she was holding away from her ear, then noticed it wasn't hers. It just had the same ringtone. "Damn…" she put the phone back to her ear. "Hold on, Sar. Let me call you back on mine," she waited for Sara to reply before switching phones. When she got Sara back on the line, she continued. "Anyway, what's up?" she yawned.

"First things first. Why the hell would you even answer Nick's phone at four in the morning? Shift's OVER by now, so… Oh God, Cass, tell me you two … I knew it would be you and him!"

"Wait, slow down, there. Nothing happened, Sar. My landlady was found dead earlier. Nick offered for me to stay here since the house is gonna be swarming with cops all night and day,"

"I'm sorry about your landlady. I remember you told me you and her became friends pretty fast. Anyway, as far as Nick's concerned, Promise me,"

"…I'm not a kid, Sar,"

"Promise me you two didn't. I'm not mad, I just don't wanna go into an awkward situation when I come by the house,"

"Come by the… you're not due here until tomorrow," Cassandra pointed out.

"Cass? Who are you…?" Nick showed up on the other side of the doorway, tilting his head, seeing she was on the phone. "Who called?"

Cassandra waved her hand at him to silence him. "It sounds like you're saying you're at the airport,"

Nick grinned. "Josh?" he asked. He quickly ducked to avoid the shoe Cassandra threw at him.

Cassandra went wide-eyed. "You are?! Why didn't- earlier flight? Why didn't you call me? Oh… right… just stay put, I'm coming," she hung up the phone. "Can I borrow your car?"

"Well, you're happier than I left you," Nick smirked.

"Nick, shut up and gimme your car keys," Cassandra sighed.

"Why?" Nick asked.

"Because Sara got an earlier flight to come here and is waiting at the airport now,"

Nick raised his eyebrows. "Come on," he jerked his head to the right, indicating for her to follow him. He got the keys off a rack. "Why didn't you tell me in the first place?" he tossed them to her.

Cassandra caught them and frowned. "I should really stab you in the eye with one of these," she opened the front door, then looked back at him. "You coming or not?"

"After that threat, who would?" Nick chuckled. "And if I'm coming along, why did I need to give you the keys?"

"Shut up and get out here!"