Title: You're the One
Summary: Greg hires Nina to be the new lab tech and Grissom upgrades Greg to CSI Level One. His first case has to do with a nine year old boy who was sexually abused and then murdered.
Notes: Here's the second Episode. I'm trying to keep up maybe an update of every two days because of work and time and money. Wait... money doesn't have anything to do with this so we'll just forget that. Anyway I have a new favorite person Kathryn Mason-Sykes. Your reviews always make me laugh. Okay I'll stop talking…typing…whatever and let you get on with reading the story. Enjoy and please review! Thanks!
Semi-IMPORTANT Notes: Alright I've been watching Mystic River for the past few days while I was sick. Talk about angst. Anyway the idea for the case in this episode came from that movie so if it looks familiar in the beginning that's because it is. Also I've been doing lots of research just for this case and the crazy killer which is why it has taken me so long. You'll have to know a little about Christianity and the bible to understand a little of it. But have no fear I will try and make everything as clear as possible. Most of the ideas for this came from Revelations if you're curious though. Yes, I know I have lots of notes this time, but I think they're a little important. This fic will be mostly a case-file fic and the only real drama will be between Nina, Greg, and Nick because they are now all living together. Marie and Shawn will make a few guest appearances along with Cassie and Lindsey.
Chapter One: Little Boy Lost
Little boy lost
In little boy land
How much does it cost
To understand
Little boy say
Why do you cry
And how much will you pay
To know why
--Madonna "Little Boy Lost"
Somewhere—Someday—Sometime
"I dare you." His best friend said throwing him the stick he had used to write his name in the wet cement. He twirled the stick in his hand nervously and looked around. No one was there. What harm could it do? Just write your name and be done with it. No one would really care. He stepped in front of the small square patch of wet cement that was on the sidewalk and began to write. W. Okay the first letter was done only three more to go. I. Only two more.
"Hey, you kids what do you think you're doing?" a cold voice asked from behind them. The car door slammed and all three of the boys jumped before turning around to see who it was. The man wore a badge on his belt, but Will didn't see any writing on it.
"Nothing." Will stammered out.
"Defacing city property is a felony. Did you kids know that?" all three shook their heads.
"Come here." He told them roughly. They obeyed immediately. He pointed at Rick first, "Where do you live?"
"Right there, sir." he pointed at the rickety apartment behind them. He turned to Sam next.
"Over there, sir." He pointed to a similar apartment across the street. Will was next.
"And you?" Will gulped down his fear and it hurt.
"Three streets down, sir." He answered.
"Does your mother know you're here?"
"Yes." The man nodded his hands on his hips.
"Get in the car. We'll take a little trip to your mother's and tell her what you've been up to. You two run along now and be sure to let your mothers know what you've been doing. And don't let me catch you ruining my sidewalks again." None of the boys moved. "Get in the damn car." He yelled at Will. The small boy scampered to obey and climbed into the back of the car. The man slammed the door shut behind him and got in behind the wheel. A man Will had noticed before was sitting in the passenger's seat. His hair was turning colors and had the distinct look of pepper that had been mixed with salt. He turned and smiled wickedly at Will. On his left hand he wore an intricate gold ring with a red X in the middle of it made of thousands of tiny rubies.
Crime Lab—Tuesday April 6—5:05 pm
Nina had swung right into the flow of things and was able to work the lab herself within four days. To tell the truth Nick thought she might be even a little faster than Greg was, but he would never voice this out loud.
All the CSI's, including Greg who proudly wore his Level 1 badge, sat at the table awaiting assignments. Grissom walked in with only two cases in hand. He looked around deciding who should be assigned what and took a seat at the head of the table. It always reminded Greg of how a family dinner might be.
"Nick and Greg you're with me on a murder case. Warrick, Catherine, and Sara there was a break in at one of our favorite apartment complexes." He handed the file to Catherine and she opened it to glance at it quickly.
"Pacific Harbors." She said incredulously. Sara took the file from her and opened it up.
"Look at that. It's apartment 318." Warrick smirked as Nina walked in. Everyone stared at her.
"What?" she asked defensively.
"Nothing. There was just a break in at your old apartment complex." Catherine reassured her.
"Oh," Nina shrugged it off.
"Was there something you needed?" Grissom asked.
"Yeah, I needed to talk to Greg and Nick." She glared at the both of them.
"Be quick," Grissom told her, "we have a crime scene we have to get to." Nick and Greg looked warily at each other before following her out of the room and into the hallway. The glare left her face and a smile replaced it.
"Cassie's tenth birthday is coming up in two weeks we need to think of something to do. I know she'll want to invite Lindsey so I'll talk to Catherine about that, but I don't think I can ask for the night off. It's too early to start requesting days off. But it's on a Sunday so we can have it during the day. I need you two to think on it." Nina patted them both on the arm and turned to go back to the lab.
"Wait," Nick said causing her to turn back around, "that's it?"
"Yeah," she nodded before walking away again, "oh and you both better stop giving Cassie sweets in the morning." She threw over her shoulder.
"I swear being a mother means you gain psychic powers." Greg told Nick as they walked back into the break room.
Arden, Nevada—Tuesday April 6—5:56 pm
Brass had arrived at the crime scene before them. There was no need for it to be taped off as it was in the middle of nowhere. A few officers were milling around as far from the scene as they were allowed to be.
"The boy's name is William Wright. His mother reported him missing four days ago. An anonymous tip was phoned in about an hour ago. That's how we found him." Brass filled in reading from his note pad. Grissom nodded. Nick looked grim and Greg wore no expression. He had found it best just not to think when a child was involved. It made it easier somehow. Slowly the three headed towards the body where David was already kneeling over the small body. Greg knew immediately the boy had been posed. He had been laid on his back and both his arms and legs had been spread out. A circle had been made around him using his own blood. The circle touched him at five points; his head, hands, and feet.
"He's been dead for about thirteen hours. That's all I can tell you right now," David stood up and removed his gloves, "he's all yours." He remarked before walking away. Grissom thanked him and set down his kit.
"Greg I want you to photograph." Grissom told him as he and Nick kneeled down to get a closer look at the victim. Greg began to shoot photos as Grissom and Nick talked.
"The killer made a pentagram using what looks to be like the victim's blood." Nick commented as he swabbed a sample.
"Nick look at this," Grissom said peering at the boys closed eyes. A yellowish substance had been smeared on the eyelids like paint.
"Is that gold?" Nick asked Grissom.
"We'll find out when he gets to the morgue. It's hardened and I don't know of anyway to extract it without taking the eyelid with it." Greg grimaced when he heard this, but Grissom didn't notice. Nick picked up a small white ball on the boys lips and put it into a plastic bag.
"Grissom it's a pearl."
"I have a feeling this might have been a religious killing." Greg commented, "I mean he's been made into a human pentagram, his eyes are basically glued shut from gold and he has a pearl in his mouth. It basically screams ritual."
"Very good, Greg." Grissom praised as he stood up and looked around. He saw nothing. There were no footprints, no tire tracks. Only sand, lots and lots of sand.
"How did he get here?" he questioned out loud. Greg knew better now than to try and answer one of Grissom's questions so he remained quiet.
5464 Eastwick Circle—Tuesday April 6—7:38 pm
Grissom had followed the body to Doc Robbins and was currently there doing what he did best. Nick had taken the evidence to Nina to be analyzed and tested. Now he and Greg were off to inform and question the parents. Not an easy job. Brass was to meet them there and the two waited in the SUV until he showed. Solemnly the three walked up to the doorway. Brass rang the doorbell and they waited anxiously for the mother to answer. A young girl answered the door bouncing a two year old on her hip.
"Can I help you?" she asked warily.
"Is this the Wright residence?" Brass asked. She nodded and looked at them questioningly. Brass pulled out his badge and flashed it to her.
"I'm Detective Brass and this is." Brass wasn't able to finish as the girl emitted a happy squeal.
"Oh, you've found him haven't you? I just knew he'd be back soon. Mama!" she called out loudly into the back of the house, "Mama, they've found him." Despite his best efforts to tell her the truth Mrs. Wright came to the door and ushered them inside the joy radiating from her heart. The young girl sat the baby down in his play pen with his bottle and joined her mother in one of the chairs, sitting on the arm and wrapping an arm around her mother's shoulders.
"Mrs. Wright, please, this isn't what you think it is." Brass told her dreading the next few moments when she found out her son had been brutally murdered.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Wright asked her spirits falling. Her heart lodged in her throat and she felt sick to her stomach as she had already guessed the other news to come when Detective Brass lowered his head briefly.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Wright, but your son was murdered." Mrs. Wright put her head in her hands and began to sob loudly. Her daughter however became angry and shot up from her seat.
"No," she yelled at them, "No, you're wrong. He's not dead.
It's not him. My baby brother will be home anytime now. You're lying."
"Rebecca," a voice asked as the front door was opened. A young man stepped in and
Rebecca ran to him. He held her in his arms and took in the situation at once.
"No," he whispered breathlessly, "not Will. Not our little Will." He patted Rebecca's headed and whispered soothing words to her as he walked over to Mrs. Wright. "Mama Belle are you okay?" he asked kneeling down beside her.
"They killed my baby. Someone killed my baby." She screamed clawing at his shirt and falling to her knees. Her wailing made the baby start to cry as well and the whole house was a complete wreck from the mind-blowing news of the death of the nine year old boy.
"They're lying," Rebecca said once again letting go of Danny and glaring at the three men, "I'm going to find Will and stop this nonsense right now. Danny take care of Tommy. I'll be back shortly." She told them defiantly and before anyone could stop her she was gone. Danny acted quickly.
"Mama Belle I'm going to go call Sam and tell him to get home. Will you be okay for a few minutes?" she nodded weakly as she continued to sob on the floor. He picked up Tommy and made his way into the kitchen. He came back in a few minutes and ushered Mama Belle upstairs. He still carried Tommy on his hip when he reappeared in the living room. Mrs. Wright could still faintly be heard sobbing, but Greg tried to ignore it as best as he could. He had only witnessed the grief of knowing a loved one was murdered once, but Nina had hidden her pain well from both him and Shawn. Although Marie had told him she cried nonstop for days while she was in the hospital with Cassandra shortly after her birth. "I'm terribly sorry. I guess we all just had our hopes set too high. I just can't believe he's really gone. He was only nine and so full of life. Who would kill a kid? Tell me what kind of human being would be able to live with killing an innocent child?" Danny sat in the same chair Mrs. Wright had sat in earlier and bounced Tommy on his knee as he talked.
"I'm truly sorry for your loss." Nick told him, "Were you related to the victim?"
"Through marriage he was my nephew, but I've known him all of his life. Rebecca and I were childhood friends. We both grew up in this neighborhood. Then she had little Tommy here when she was seventeen and we got married shortly after and moved in here. Her father and I both work in landscape management, which is a fancy name for mowing rich people's lawns and weeding their flower beds." Tommy began to cry again and Danny stood up and bounced him on his hip.
"Where was Will when he disappeared?" Greg asked mainly out of curiosity. He looked to Nick for reassurance and he smiled at Greg.
"Out playing I assume. I was at work. I came home around nine to find complete and utter chaos. He just never came home and that's very unlike him. He's always home by five so he can eat with Tommy and then they usually take a bath together and he watches cartoons from seven until eight and then goes to bed."
"It's the same routine every night?" Greg asked. Danny nodded his head.
"Yes, unless he spends the night with a friend and that's extremely rare. He doesn't like being away from the house. He's very close to Rebecca. She helped raise him when times were hard on the family and her mother had to find a job."
"Could we get a list of his friends from you?" Greg asked. Nick's cell phone rang and he answered it quickly, excusing himself from the conversation.
"I'll go talk to Mama Belle about that list for you." Danny disappeared upstairs with Tommy and Nick continued to converse silently with the unknown caller. He hung up and looked at Greg and Brass.
"He choked on a jewel. Nina identified it as jasper and she's testing it to see if it's real right now. She's also testing the gold and the pearl." They waited a few minutes in silence before Danny came back downstairs without the baby. He had just handed them the list when the front door opened. Mr. Wright walked in clutching Rebecca to his side.
"Danny take her upstairs to her mother. I'll talk to the police." He told him. Rebecca looked lost and confused, a faraway look in her eyes. Danny grabbed her hand and led her upstairs. "What can I do to help you find my son's killer?" Mr. Wright asked them seriously.
"Do pearls or jaspers have any significance to you or anyone in your family? A birthstone maybe?" Nick asked Mr. Wright shook his head.
"No, sir. Will's birthstone was a ruby, mine and Rebecca's are garnets, and Belle's and Danny's are emeralds. Why?" Nick took a deep breath.
"He was found with a pearl placed on his mouth and a jasper was found lodged in his throat. We believe he choked on it." Mr. Wright sat down in shock, but kept his composure even though it pained him deeply. "We'll need you to come and identify the body to make everything official and then they'll release him to you. Thank you for your cooperation." Brass and Greg stood and followed Nick out of the house. Greg stopped though and turned back to the father.
"I am deeply sorry for your loss, sir. I promise we'll find him for you and your family." Greg turned and shut the door behind him knowing he had just made this case personal.
Crime Lab—Tuesday April 6—8:12 pm
Grissom walked as quickly as he could to the DNA lab to hand over his evidence and find out some of the results Nina had paged him about.
"Grissom," Nina called out the moment she spotted him. He entered the lab and handed her the extra evidence. In return she gave him a few pieces of paper.
"The pearl only had epithelials on it from the victim and it's a real pearl. Also there were foreign male epithelials under the victim's fingernails, but I need someone to compare them to. And the blood was a mach to the victim's as well."
"Thanks Nina. I need you to put a rush on the gem and the gold. Find out anything you can from it." Nina nodded and looked at the bag.
"Grissom," she said calling him back into the lab, "this gem is known as jasper." She informed him before continuing on with her work. He thanked her and walked back to his office to call Nick.
Half an Hour Later
Nina paged Grissom as soon as she had her results. He quickly walked over to the lab from his office to be informed.
"The gold is real. It must have been kept in liquid form for it to have been painted onto the victim's eyes. Also the jasper," she held it up in her gloved hand, "is real as well. There were no foreign epithelials on either one." He thanked her and left the lab to go back to his office and do some research on ritual killings.
Notes: Yes, even more notes. I'm currently working on the next three chapters so they should probably be up shortly. Hope you enjoyed. Please review! Constructive criticism is welcome.