TITLE: No More Death, No More Murder

AUTHOR: Micky Fine

DISCLAIMER: Characters from the show do not belong to me. I am making no profit from this piece of fiction. All other characters have been created by myself.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you all again for your very helpful reviews. My goal right now is to churn out a chapter a week because of my hectic schedule. However, just so you guys don't feel like you're being jipped I'm going to make every attempt to make sure they're nice and long to make up for the lesser frequency of their appearance. Enjoy and please let me know what you think.

Reviews always welcome.

Grissom and Catherine surveyed the door in front of them. 16 was displayed in brass numbers and based on the tenant list it belonged to S. Sidle. Pulling out the key he had removed from Sara's purse, Grissom unlocked the door. Stepping inside he took a deep breath and smelled the scent that was indefinable and purely Sara. Blinking back regretful tears over what could have been, he began to go through her apartment.

"Just as neat as I thought it would be," Catherine commented.

Grissom had to agree. The glass coffee table in the living room was dusted, the forensic science magazines neatly stacked on top in chronological order starting with the most recent. Grissom turned his attention to the entertainment center. CD's, DVD's and videos alphabetized and organized on their own shelves. All the equipment was neatly dusted. Curious, he found himself examining some of the titles of her music and movies. She had an amazing range in taste of music from classical to rock and her movies covered almost every major time period.

Recalling why they were here Gil moved towards the bedroom with Catherine just behind.

"You know, they say that the bedroom best reflects a person and should be a place of calm and relaxation," Catherine stated as they took in the sight.

The bed was slightly rumpled, although an attempt had been made to make it look neat. The lavender sheets hung out longer on one side. There was a mystery novel on the bedside table lying next to a glass jar containing a scented candle. A lava lamp stood in the corner on the floor. On the walls were black and white photos of with a variety of subjects from people to plants. Grissom noticed that at the corner of each one was a familiar signature.

"Sara took these pictures," he said in shock.

"No kidding," Catherine said and looked at them more closely. "They're amazing."

"Yeah."

Then he noticed something out of place in the neatness and organization of Sara's apartment. A pile of clothes on the floor near the doorway to what appeared to be the bathroom. He picked them up and examined them.

"Workout clothes," he stated to catch Catherine's attention.

"Maybe she went to workout to release some of the stress. You know, nearly being killed and all she may have needed some way to work that out of her system."

"We should check and see if she has a membership anywhere."

"I'll get right on it," Catherine said and walked out of the room, cell phone in hand.

As Grissom distantly heard her speaking to someone at the lab about going through Sara's purse and checking for a gym membership, he once again surveyed the room. It was more feminine and soft than he would have imagined. There was so much he didn't know about this woman that he wanted to find out. And he still wasn't sure he would ever get that chance.

After exiting her room he caught sight of Brass surveying photographs on top of several pieces of furniture.

"Check this out," Brass said, beckoning to Grissom, "these must have been taken when Sara was at university and then there are several that are more recent."

Grissom turned his gaze to the photographs. There was a picture of Sara in a Harvard sweatshirt smiling and laughing at the camera. Sara hugging a short blonde woman also in a Harvard sweater. Then there was a picture of her with the blonde woman and a taller dark-haired man with green eyes, all three with their arms around each other.

"Friends from Harvard?" Brass guessed.

"It would appear that way," Grissom replied.

Then he looked at photos that appeared more recent. She was again with the blonde woman and the dark-haired man. And then there was a picture of her with her arms around a little girl who had amazingly similar features.

"Who is that little girl?" Brass asked aloud, voicing Gil's own thoughts.

A female voice from behind them said, "That would be my daughter."

Grissom turned around to see the short blonde woman from the photos.

"Sara didn't tell me there would be other people here for breakfast. Who are you? Friends, colleagues?"

"I'm Gil Grissom, this is Jim Brass and the woman over there is Catherine Willows. We work with Sara. Now, who are you?"

Striding forward she shook his hand with a firm grip. "Ashley Kerrigan, I'm a friend of Sara's. Where is she by the way?"

Hanging up her phone, Catherine replied, "In the hospital."

Nick and Warrick walked into the lab bone-tired. Processing the scene had been tough on them. There had been so much blood and the thought that it was probably Sara's sickened them both.

"I'm gonna drop off this sample of blood that didn't match the spatter and I'm gonna give Sara's clothes to trace and see if they can find anything," Warrick stated wearily to Nick.

"I'll meet you in the break room."

"Pour me some coffee. Black."

"You got it."

Striding into trace he nearly ran into Greg who was walking backwards.

"Greg, what are you doing?"

"Trying to get the best view of the hallway."

"And you would be doing that why?"

"None of your business."

"Ok then.  Has anybody told you about what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

Warrick took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy.

"Sara was attacked last night. She was shot twice and she's in the hospital recovering from surgery."

"What?" the look of shock on Greg's face was painful.

Warrick tried to distract Greg by getting him involved with the reason Warrick had come to trace in the first place.

"You have Sara's DNA on file?"

"Yeah," Greg answered, distracted.

"Good, I want you to run it against this sample and see if it matches. If it doesn't see if you can find who it belongs to."

"Ok."

"Oh and check this out," Warrick said as he placed an evidence bag on the counter. It appeared to hold something made out of black cloth.

"What is it?"

"The dress Sara was wearing when she was found. There are several unidentified substances on it. See if you can figure out what they are."

"Alright."

"I'm going to get some coffee but Nick and I will be around. If you can't find us let someone else on the team know. We're all working this case."

"Sara and I met at Harvard," Ashley Kerrigan began, "we were roommates all four years. She was studying physics and I was taking law. We both had similar backgrounds. My parents had been hippies, actually they still basically are and we had had similar experiences."

"You were good friends after university as well?" Grissom asked.

"Oh yeah, we kept in touch. Tried see each other as often as we could but with our jobs it was a little difficult."

"Who is this man in the pictures?" Grissom asked pointing to the dark-haired man with green eyes.

Ashley barely looked at it. "That's Jake. Sara and he dated for a while at Harvard but it didn't work out and they ended up being friends. He's an anthropologist now.  I think he's working somewhere in Africa right now."

"Why are you here Miss Kerrigan?" Catherine asked.

"Conference all week. I'm the delegate from my firm. Sara was thrilled when she heard I was coming out here. We made some plans for some early morning stuff but she said she couldn't really do too much at night cause she was working and I was at the conference during the day. We were planning to do some stuff this weekend."

"Did you see Sara last night?" Brass questioned.

"Yeah, she phoned around four yesterday and said that things had changed at work and that she had the night off. We met at a bar Sara had discovered and really liked. Good-looking guys, good music, good food. It was a nice place."

"Did you meet anyone else there?" Catherine asked.

"A couple of guys bought us some drinks. This hot guy started to hit on Sara but then she said she had to leave. I think something is going on with her."

"Did the man follow her out?" Grissom asked.

"No, she left and the two guys and I had some more fun before I headed back to my hotel around midnight."

"Alright, thank you," Gil said.

"Where can I visit Sara?" Ashley asked.

Catherine informed her of the hospital and room that Sara was in. Before she could impart any more information her cell phone rang.

Brass showed Ashley out and then returned, joining Grissom as they listened to the cryptic end of Catherine's conversation. When she hung up they looked at her questioningly.

"Gil, you need to get everyone who's working on this case together. We need to have a meeting."

Nick and Warrick sat at the table in the break room. They looked up questioningly at Grissom when he entered.

"What's up Gris?" Nick asked.

"I don't know. Catherine wouldn't tell me."

Brass came in and joined them. The table was finally filled when Catherine arrived with Greg in tow. Catherine refused to sit and began to pace along the front of the room.

"What's up Cath?" Warrick asked.

"I just got off the phone with Sara's doctor."

"Is she awake?" Grissom asked.

"No."

"That's not good. She shouldn't be unconscious for this long," Brass commented.

"I know. The doctor said they ran all kinds of tests. They said she isn't in a coma, her brain isn't swelling, she doesn't have a concussion and all of her blood work came back normal."

"Then why is she still unconscious?" Greg asked.

"They don't know. The doctor told me that even with some of the miracles of science, doctors still have a hard time understanding some of the brain's and body's reactions to trauma and stress," Catherine said the last part with a sense of irony.

She was greeted with silence.

"Do they know if she'll wake up?" Grissom finally asked, dreading the answer.

"They think she will. They've been monitoring her brain activity and they say it's normal. They said we'll just have to wait."

When Catherine finished her sentence, Greg jumped up and left the room. Catherine turned to go after him but was stopped by Grissom.

"Just let him go. He needs to deal with this in his own way."

As Catherine turned back to look at him she was surprised by the deep sorrow present in Gil Grissom's blue eyes.

"Are you alright?" she whispered.

He blinked and now she surveyed only the mask he always wore. He looked at her blankly and walked off in the direction of his office.

Greg sat in the chair next to the hospital bed. He looked at Sara's pale face in shock. It was wrong. This shouldn't have happened. He grasped her hand in his.

"Hey Sara. It's me, Greg. I can bet I know what you're thinking, 'What is that guy doing holding my hand when he should be in the lab?'. Well, I'm on a break. A long break."

His conversation with Sara's silent form was interrupted when a doctor rushed in.

"What did you do to her?" the doctor demanded.

"Nothing, I was just talking to her. Why?"

"Her brain activity just increased exponentially. She can hear you and her brain is trying to get her body to react. Keep talking to her. Maybe it will help her wake up."

Greg watched the doctor's retreating back and then turned back to the brunette in the bed.

"I knew you could hear me. I'm working on the case you know. You're case. They have me analyzing some trace stuff on your dress. I must admit I have a hard time picturing you in that dress. Actually, that's a lie. I can picture you in it I'd just really like to see you in it. To the tell truth I think all the guys in the lab would like to see you in it.  Maybe you could wear it for work some time. Or change into it after shift and just walk through the hallways. I think every guy on shift would drop his jaw to the floor. Even Grissom.

"We're worried about you, you know that. The doctor doesn't understand why you aren't waking up. Maybe you could wake up for me and then you could really help us out on the case. I know you'd really like to.

"Hey, maybe when you wake up I could take you out to dinner," Greg paused, "Damn, I was sure that would make you wake up just so you could say no and set me back on the straight and narrow. Guess not.

"I should head back to the lab and check on your results. I'll try and come back soon. You just do me a favor and fight to wake up, ok? We all really need you to wake up."