Disclaimer: I do not own CSI: or Nick Stokes. The whole episode 'Grave Danger' isn't mine either. I only own the idea and Morgan Lynn Rodriguez (She is mine).

Giuli Miadi Black - Here's the update and thanks for all the help. I owe you, big time! bows down

Andy-Ander - Thanks. Here's the update, I hope you still like and keep reading and reviewing.

shadysgurl15 - Thanks.

Samsara Dallire - Thanks a lot for your review, my dear. It's reviews like yours (they may be rare but they are definitly worth it) that make me keep going with this. I love deeply 'my' Morgan and I'm glad that someone understands her essence and likes her, at least, a little bit. She's not the cold-hearted bitch she seems and that will be revealed... soon. I count on you to keep on that side of the track. You can count on me to keep writing this. This one's for you.

Arwennicole - Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.

A/N: Hey there. This chapter is dedicated to the one and only Samsara Dallire. If you like good stories, then go check out hers. They're great. Her skills to portrait our Nicky boy are amazing and she is one hell of a writer. Check them out!

Facing Grave Danger

Chapter 36

One week (and a lot of 'I'm bored as hell' statements) later, Morgan was finally back to her beloved job. She was back at Nick's apartment and, after doing some deep cleaning on her room for a day, just to keep her busy, and going shopping at the mall the next day, she had hated these days. Although Morgan was forced to accept that her room really needed some deep cleaning and she indeed had enjoyed that afternoon spent at the mall, looking for a new pair of jeans and some t-shirts, the rest of the week had been awful.

Now, she was happily driving through the streets of Las Vegas, her hands tapping on the wheel as she listened to Sublime's '5446/Ball Chain' and headed to the crime scene that had been assigned to her as soon as she had pulled in, her field-kit in the seat next to hers. She was thrilled to go back into solving puzzles and she was even afraid her deduction skills were a little too lazy to go back to full mode.

She turned right to an apparently calm neighbourhood, stopping the car after a few blocks. Her voice quietly following the song, even after she had turned off the car, she reached for her kit and walked to the house that had been isolated by the famous 'Do not cross' yellow tape.

"Rodriguez.", Brass greeted, with a nod, as she passed under the tape.

"Captain.", she greeted back, stopping her singing. "How've you been?"

"Ah, I have my days…" Brass answered. "We have two DB's, a female and a baby, her daughter. Catherine's already inside, with David."

"Okay, I'll go see what I can do to help.", she said, turning around and walking to the door of the house.

"I'm glad to see you back here, Morgan.", Brass spoke up, as she was entering the house. Turning around back to him, Morgan smiled and nodded to him. "So am I, Captain… So am I."

Brass smiled and walked to his car, to drive off and do his job of reuniting the victim's background, down at the Police Station. Morgan carefully entered the living room, where one body, the mother's, lay on the floor, face down, blood pouring aside from a bullet wound to the back of the skull. David was kneeling next to the body, measuring the liver temperature.

"TOD was approximately six to eight hours ago.", he announced to Catherine, who was snapping photos of the perimeter closer to the body.

"So, death occurred around 3.00 and 5.00pm.", she said, in between photos, trying to start an idea.

Putting down her kit and reaching for her flashlight, Morgan walked closer to them. "COD is more likely that shot to the back of the head, right, Super-Dave?"

"Hey.", Catherine and David greeted and he nodded, confirming her impression. "I believe so, yes, but I can only tell you more after the autopsy."

Morgan smiled. "Brass said that there was another victim, a baby…", she started, looking at Catherine. "What do you want me to do?"

"The baby is over there, on the crib. COD was probably asphyxia and there's a pillow next to the body that could have been used. I'm processing this body's surroundings, I don't know if you'd rather take care of the baby's or process the rest of the house."

Morgan moved the flashlight to the crib and looked at it for a little bit before making her choice. "I think I'll go through the rest of the house.", she said, a little sample of contrived anger noticeable on her voice.

Catherine nodded and continued to take pictures of the living room, the main crime scene of that case. Morgan took some steps back and reached for her kit, but before she left the room, she analysed the whole scene for a moment more.

"Cath…", she called.

"Hmm?", the CSI supervisor turned her attention up from the camera and looked at the younger analyst. "You're thinking of something?"

"Yeah… I think the mother was a collateral damage."

Catherine looked surprised. "What? Why do you think that?"

"Come here. Look at the scene from my perspective…", she suggested, signalling for Catherine to join her, by the doorstep of the living room. The supervisor did so and they both stared at the scene for a minute or two, processing it, before Morgan spoke again.

"Look… the crib is right there, by our left. There's a baby communicator on top of the counter, next to the crib and it's on, right?", Morgan pointed the flashlight to that location, as she explained her still kind of vague idea of how the murder had happened. "Then, on the other side of the room, you have the phone. The nearest door to the phone is the one that leads to… what is it there?", she asked, walking to the said door, on their right. "Oh, the kitchen... have you been there yet?"

"No. I arrived little time before you, I was just getting started."

"Think with me. The mother is in the kitchen, with the baby-communicator turned on, preparing something, when she hears a noise through the communicator. She rushes to the living room and sees someone asphyxiating her baby, leaned over the crib. What's her first reflex?"

"Run there, to try to stop whoever was trying to kill her baby?"

"Or run to the phone, to call the Police?", Morgan suggested, her flashlight now pointing to the body's location and the way it was positioned.

"And then, the killer takes the weapon and shoots her?"

"Stopped her from calling the authorities. Her feet are on the direction of the crib which means she was facing the right side of the room, in our point of view, and that she had her back to the crib. And she was shot in the back of the head. Cath… I believe the baby was the target here."

Catherine played the whole scenario that Morgan had just described in her mind for a moment. It did made sense, actually. "Okay, then… So let's do things like this: you forget the rest of the house, for now, and focus on the kitchen. I'll process the living room. When you're done, go to the Police Station, maybe Brass has something more on the victim. I'll go to the morgue, to see what Doc Robbins has to tell us."

"Divide and conquer?" , Morgan asked, a glimpse of thrill shining on her eyes. She had missed the challenge part of this job, the one that made the blood on her veins run faster.

"And hopefully, have the killer locked up soon. I really need my day off tomorrow; I've been post-phoning it for a week already."

"Oh, please, don't tell me about days off…", Morgan asked, a truthfully annoyed look on her face.

Catherine grinned. "Was it too boring?"

"No. It was worse than that. It was HELL boring! I swear, Catherine, that if I had to spend one more day out, I'd go even crazier than I am already.", she said, reaching for her kit and walking to the kitchen. "I cleaned the first day, went shopping on the second… and then, five days of boredom."

Catherine laughed. "You needed to rest too. You'll see, it will prove to have been good for you."

"I'll accept your point if these days of rest make me catch the killer faster…", Morgan said, walking to the kitchen. "A baby communicator is on the table in front of the stove. Nice…"

Catherine smiled before continuing to photograph the scene. "You're good, kid… You're really good at this.", she thought.

(A couple of hours later)

After processing the whole kitchen, top to bottom, Morgan drove back to the Crime Lab, to drop off the evidence she had collected and then head for the Police Station. Leaving the samples and traces at the care of Wendy and Hodges, she hopped back to the car. Just then, her cell phone started ringing.

"Rodriguez."

"Morgan… Hey.", Nick's voice sounded, at the other end of the line.

"Oh hey Nick.", her face lit up with a little smile, as she started the ignition. "What's up?"

"I'm working this robbery at Bellagio and now I finally got a little break. I'm driving back to the Lab, to process evidence and I thought that we could take a break together, have some coffee or so."

"Oh damn… I'm just leaving the Lab; I have to go downtown to meet Brass. I'm sorry… We're kind of stuck until the evidences are all processed and until we've learnt something about the victim's background.", Morgan explained. "I was about to go through it, see if I can find something."

"Tough case?", Nick asked.

"Yeah.", she answered, sighing. "I'm sorry, Nick. Can we meet up later?"

"It's okay Morgan, you don't have to be. Of course, we'll meet later. I'll work on the evidence first and, when you get back to the Lab, I'll see you then."

"Okay.", she said, with a smile. He was really trying to keep up to his word of taking things slowly. "I'll call you later."

They hung up after a few seconds and she let the cell phone fall to the seat next to hers, remembering the one request she had asked Nick, when they had left the dinner, that morning, the week before.

(Flashback)

After finishing their breakfast and talking about nothing in particular for some time, Nick and Morgan left the dinner. Nick tried, unsuccessfully, to disguise a yawn.

"You're tired.", Morgan commented. "You should go home and throw yourself right into your bed. This was just your first day back yet… you should take it easy now, Nick, you've been out of the field for over a month."

Nick nodded. "Yeah. It was just a though shift. Some sleep hours and I'll be refreshed enough.", he smiled as they were walking to the place where the SUV's were parked. A little before they reached Nick's car, Morgan turned to him and tried to clear her voice.

"Nick… I just have one thing to ask you… If we're going to move forward, I need to ask you something…"

"I know, Morgan."

"What?", she asked, surprised.

Nick approached her face with his and briefly kissed her forehead. "I know what you want to ask me. We'll take things slowly… I won't rush anything, I'll wait until you show me you're ready.", he said, before stepping away and opening the door. "I don't want to screw up this time. We have a lot of time now, let's take things slowly."

Morgan didn't react immediately to his words, amazed about how well Nick knew her, so well that he could even anticipate her wishes. She smiled, gratefully, and nodded.

"I'm going home now. You coming?", he asked, before getting inside the car.

"No, I won't go just yet. I have to stop by Sofia's house first, I left my purse there, I just brought my wallet and documents and the car keys.", she said. "I'll go home afterwards, in a little while."

"Wake me up when you get there, would you?", he asked.

"I will.", Morgan nodded. "Sleep tight."

Nick chuckled and got inside the car. Seconds later, he was pulling out of the parking place and driving home. Morgan walked to her SUV and also got inside it, putting her sunglasses back on the top of her nose. Turning on the ignition, she took a deep breath. "You're finally moving on with your life, Lynn… Don't get all scared now."

(End of Flashback)

The week that had already passed since that day had been pretty calm. Nick showed her clearly that he intended to keep up his word of wanting to take things slowly between the two of them. She had heard about his reputation of being a player but as time passed by, he had proven her that those wild days were over. He had even once said to her that he was getting too old for those games and that he wanted more from personal relationships now. Something more reliable.

It had been a week with little time together, since Nick had been working, back on the field and during nights, and Morgan had been suspended, but they had managed to talk a lot and even go out together one night, with dinner and a little movie. Nick had proposed that, in an attempt to help her distract a bit from the fact that she couldn't go to the Lab. Being such a workaholic as Morgan was, it had been hard for her to be like 'forbidden' to work but Nick had helped her manage that situation, the best that he could.

And slowly indeed, they were moving forward, creating a bound that was even stronger that the one that they had had already, until that point. And, for the first time since she had left her hometown, Morgan was feeling free, relaxed… almost happy.

And she owed that to Nick.

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