TITLE: No More Death, No More Murder

AUTHOR: Micky Fine

SYNOPSIS: The team investigates a crime involving one of their own. GS.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters on CSI, any other characters that show up in this fic are mine and you're welcome to use them if you like. I am making no profit from this piece of fiction.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is my first CSI fic, so some of the science may not be quite right. The plot strands may be a little tired so if you have any ideas on how to give it some new life let me know. There will be more to follow, but reviews help me work faster.

Reviews always welcome.

The case had been straight from a textbook, right down to the motive. Man and a woman found shot in her apartment. All bullets and casings found. Simple blood spatter. Prints and hair everywhere. After Nick and Sara had processed all the evidence it had become evident that the woman's boyfriend, who was not the other victim, had committed the crime. Sara had been disappointed with the simplicity of the case and although Nick hadn't said anything she could tell he was too.

All they needed to really cement their case was the murder weapon and the suspect. That was why Sara and Nick we're standing outside of a dumpy apartment on Friday afternoon wearing bulletproof vests waiting for the police team to clear the apartment. As she waited, Sara contemplated the usefulness of the vest. It did protect her vital organs but if she were shot in the head it wouldn't make any difference.

"You know what we need?" she said to Nick.

"What?"

"Bulletproof hats or helmets or something?"

"And you were thinking about this why?"

"Because this vest is uncomfortable and that made me think about the vest. And that made me think about how it doesn't protect my head..."

"And that made you think about the helmets. Sara, I think you had a little too much coffee today."

"What makes you say that?"

They were interrupted when Brass poked his head out the door, "It's all clear, you guys can do your thing now."

"We'll finish this later," Sara said with a fake glare.

Nick just shook his head.

As they entered the apartment Sara wrinkled her nose. It was even dumpier on the inside than it was on the outside.

"Not only is this guy not to bright he's really unorganized," she commented to Nick.

He shrugged.

Gesturing with her hands Sara said, "I'll take the left, you take the right."

Nick glanced at what she had given him, "Sure give me the bathroom AND the kitchen."

"Hey, I'm stuck with the bedroom," she once again wrinkled her nose in disgust. From here she could see the dirty clothes strewn on the floor, underwear prominently in sight.

Nick chuckled, "Come on, let's get this over with."

Sara nodded, pulled on her gloves, picked up her case and walked into the bedroom. There was a smell that reminded her of a high school locker room. Since she knew the suspect wasn't too bright she decided to look in the obvious spots.

First she checked in and under the bed. Plenty of dust bunnies but no weapon. Then she checked on top of the dresser and then forced herself to go through it. There were more clothes on the floor than in the dresser and she still hadn't found the weapon. She then methodically inspected the bedside table and a small writing desk. She was about to go through the mounds of clothing on the floor when she spotted the closet. It wasn't particularly obvious being painted in the same grungy color as the rest of the room. Figuring there was nothing more obvious than the closet she pulled open the door and found herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

After Nick had gone through the entire bathroom from ceiling tiles to floor tiles he decided to see if Sara had found anything before he tackled the kitchen. He had to go down the hallway a short distance before he reached the bedroom and just as he reached the edge of the doorway he caught a glance of Sara with her hands in the air, backing away from the closet. Nick thought she was surrendering to the dust bunnies and made a note to not let her have any more coffee for the rest of the day. And then he saw the man exit the closet with the gun pointed at her head.

As Sara glanced between the gun and the face of the man holding it, she really wished she had that bulletproof hat. As she looked at the gun she noticed that it was already cocked, all that had to happen for the gun to go off was for him to squeeze the trigger. She took a deep, shaky breath.

"Don't even think about screaming or I'll shoot you before they can get here."

"I won't scream. Just put the gun down and this will be much easier."

"You mean put the gun down so I can arrest you. I don't think so."

"C'mon, you don't really want to shoot me, I just do forensic stuff. I couldn't arrest you, but the police can. And I happen to know quite a few people on the force who would be quite upset if you did something to me."

"I doubt they'll know you're gone if I shoot you all."

"Shoot all of us?"

"Yeah, you and those cops that were snooping around while I was in here."

"Trust me, you don't want to shoot all of us. If you did other cops would come and hunt you down for hurting one of their own. And when they caught you, you'd have to spend several lifetimes in jail."

"Well, then maybe I'll just take you with me."

"Believe me, I'd be a lousy hostage, I have a tendency to fight, kick, scream and stuff. You don't want to take me."

"Well, then I guess we're back where we started."

"We are indeed."

There was silence for what seemed like hours. Knowing it was the only thing left to do, Sara prepared herself for what she was going to do and took a deep breath.

"BRASS!"

She heard the trigger click, but didn't feel the pain of a bullet racing into her skull. Realizing that the gun had misfired she did the fastest thing she could think of to disable the suspect. She kicked him in the balls. He howled and dropped to his knees. Then, Sara stepped on his wrist causing his hand to flutter open and release the gun. Suddenly, as if he appeared out of thin air, Nick swooped in and took the gun and soon they were surrounded by what seemed like fifty policeman.

Realizing what had almost happened, Sara felt her hands begin to shake and her knees felt like they wouldn't support her for another second. Thankfully, Nick once again came to her rescue by putting a hand around her waist and pulling her out of the room.

Nick watched the color disappear from Sara's face. She was just about to go into shock. Pulling her closer to his side, he began to lead her out of the building.

"C'mon Sara, let's get out of here."