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. I bleeped out a word in the song just to be safe and I laughed as I did it because I'm pretty sure everyone reading this has heard it before so it seems pointless, but just so I don't get in trouble I did it. Enjoy and please review! Thanks!
Interesting Notes: Do you know what lengths I went to research brooms? Its almost too embarrassing to even mention. I called up Lowe's and questioned them to death and I did a little research on the web and even came across a site on how to care for you broom. It reminded me slightly of Harry Potter. So all the things you learn in this chapter about brooms is pretty much truthful. Also in every apartment complex I've been in they have the ground floor then first, then second, so technically you can live on the second floor but be three stories up.
Kathryn Mason-Sykes—So you think you know who died in Nina's life? It'd be interesting to see who you think. You'll find out shortly enough because that's where some Greg angst is going to come in.
KrazyKid197—Yes the beginning is like Mystic River I told everyone that in the notes before the story started. And don't worry there will be angst. Mostly Nick angst though. I hope that's okay.
Chapter Two: Crime Scene
You're stabbing the backs
Of the ones that are holding you up
And maybe it doesn't matter
But it just seems so clear to me
That they don't care that it hurts to breathe
They don't know and they can't see
That the songs you own make your heart beat
The breakdown, the stitches, broken lives
And no one knows what we're going through
There is a difference between
What you've earned and what you deserve
And as long as you are living well
Our sweat can drip straight to Hell
Prove me wrong
Prove you give a f---
About the sound, about the words
Prove that we've crossed your mind
On some term besides numbers
There's no loyalty
There's no f---ing ethics here
It's not the message that keeps you here
--Give Up the Ghost "Crimescene"
Greg, Nick, and Nina's Apartment—Wednesday April 7—7:30 am
"Cassie hurry up and eat or we're going to be late." Nina yawned as she pulled Greg's sweater on over her pajama top. Her daughter finished shoveling cheerios into her mouth and tossed her bowl noisily into the sink. The spoon clattered against the bowl for a few moments before falling into the bottom of the sink and coming to a silent rest. Nina looked at her daughter who shrugged as she grabbed her backpack off the table.
"Sorry." She said sheepishly.
"Don't sorry me. If you woke them up I'll never hear the end of it. Do you have your lunch money?" Cassandra nodded her head, "good. Go get in the car." Nina gave her a small shove towards the door as she turned to look for her keys, purse and shoes. Three minutes later she had the keys (found them in the bathroom) and her purse (cleverly hidden under Nick's boots), but she had no shoes. "Forget it." She muttered to herself as she left the apartment. She ran down the two flights of stairs and out to her parking space. Cassandra sat calmly in the front seat already buckled. Nina jumped in, started the car, and tore out of the parking lot.
"Lindsey told me you work with her mom now." Cassie said as they drove the short distance to her school.
"Yes, I do."
"Can she come over for my birthday? I don't want anything big. Just a cake and Lindsey to come over."
"Don't you want to invite anyone else?" Nina groaned as the only light on the way to the school turned red.
"No, not really. Lindsey said I should invite Will. I feel really sorry for him because he gets picked on a lot by the bigger kids, but he hasn't been in school this week. I heard a teacher say he's missing." Nina's heart sunk. Missing. It couldn't be. Cassie couldn't know him, right?
"You shouldn't eavesdrop Cassie." She reprimanded.
"Is he really missing mom?" she asked ignoring the comment.
"That's none of your concern." The light turned green and Nina pulled into the student drop off lot. "Have a good day. I have to go in early today so Aunt Marie is going to pick you up."
"Okay." Cassie said getting out of the car.
"Don't go with anyone else and be careful." She cautioned her daughter.
"Okay mom." Cassie sighed shutting the door.
"Goodbye." Nina said to the air. She left and sped back to the apartment as quickly as she could. As quietly as possible she reentered the apartment, cleaned up the few dishes in the sink, then headed back to bed to get a few hours sleep before getting up and getting ready for work.
Six Hours Later or 1:30 pm
"Nina," Nick called banging on her bedroom door, "Are you up yet? It's almost time to leave." She woke with a start and looked around the room to get her bearings straight. She shook the dreams from her head and looked at her clock. The red letters glared menacingly at her as she read 1:30. She let out a string of curses as she threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. Nick turned from the door and went into the kitchen to help Greg with the dishes. "Yeah," he told him, "she's up." The two laughed as they heard Nina bang into a few walls in her rush to get ready.
"Do you think we should buy her a new alarm clock?" Greg asked trying to be serious, but failing miserably.
"The one she has works just fine. She just has to turn it on. Besides she deserves it for being so loud this morning." He yelled the word loud so that Nina could hear him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She told him miserably as she buttoned up her green shirt and grabbed a piece of half eaten toast from one of their plates. "I still get ready faster than the two of you. I'll be waiting in the car." She informed them grabbing the keys off the counter before Nick could reach them. She smiled sweetly at him, grabbed her purse, and left the apartment. She was unlocking the door to the black SUV when a passerby said hello. "Hi," she responded without looking up.
"You don't look familiar are you new to the complex?" the man asked. Nina turned around to give him her answer, but could only stare.
"Um. Yeah, yeah, I'm new. I live on the second floor. How about you?"
"Ground floor, I don't like the stairs all that much. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. If you need someone to show you around I'm in apartment 129." And with a wave of his hand he was gone.
Nick and Greg discovered a very giddy Nina in the back of the car when they climbed in.
"What's wrong with you?" Nick asked as he started the car.
"A really, really, really hot guy lives on the first floor and he offered to show me around sometime." She smiled dreamily and sighed, "He was really hot." She added again. Greg rolled his eyes.
"Nina," he reasoned, "you don't need to be shown around. You've lived here for five years."
"Don't go bursting my bubble just because he didn't ask to show you around." Nina joked. Nick laughed. Greg decided to go with it.
"Shhh," Greg said seriously, "Nick doesn't know." He said glancing at Nick quickly before adverting his gaze and humming.
"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." She whispered back. Nick shook his head at their antics.
Crime Lab—Wednesday April 7—1:55 pm
"Hey would you look at that. We're early." Nina informed everyone as the three of them entered the break room.
"You seem oddly cheerful." Catherine informed her handing her a cup of coffee, "You know I'm thinking maybe the reason I can't get to sleep is the fact I'm drinking coffee in the middle of the day." She added as an after thought. Nina shrugged and took a sip.
"Nina's got a hot date." Nick informed Catherine. She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, really. How hot are we talking here?"
"First-date hot."
"Who's first-date hot?" Sara asked entering the break room with Warrick close on her heels.
"Some guy Nina met." Catherine said.
"I haven't seen a first-date hot guy in a really long time." Sara sighed sitting down.
"What in the hell is first-date hot?" Warrick asked. The girls looked up as if just noticing there were others in the room. A slight tinge of pink graced Nina's cheeks and she excused herself from the room. Catherine studied her coffee intently and Sara coughed as she hid behind a magazine. Grissom choose that moment to grace them with his presence and hand out assignments.
Crime Lab—Wednesday April 7—3:28 pm
"There's been another murder." Grissom informed Nick and Warrick in the break room, "Catherine and Greg are out on an apparent suicide and Sara's covering the break-in from yesterday. I need the two of you to head over to Arden." Nick looked up alarmed. Grissom confirmed his fears, "It's another little boy."
Arden, Nevada—Wednesday April 7—4:05 pm
Like before, Brass had beaten them to the crime scene. He stood waiting for them, his notebook already flipped open. "His name is Eric Hunter. Was reported missing by his grandmother four days ago. An anonymous tip was called in. This is the same as the other one. I bet anything there's another tomorrow and the day after that until we catch the bastard." Warrick nodded, but Nick had already proceeded to the crime scene. The boy had been posed differently. His legs were together, but his arms were stretched out. His eyelids were covered with gold and a pearl rested on his lips. Both men got to work collecting the evidence. Warrick was looking around the body for any possible tracks when he noticed something that didn't belong in the desert.
"Hey Nick, " he called out, "I found hay." He kneeled down and picked up the piece of evidence with his tweezers and put it in a small evidence bag.
"Finally," Nick said a little relieved, "something to work with."
"What do you think hay is doing out here?" Warrick asked looking around to see if there were anymore pieces. Nick didn't answer, knowing that he had only been thinking out loud. They spent another hour at the crime scene before heading to the crime lab to drop off the evidence and then heading to the morgue.
Crime Lab—Wednesday April 7—8:18 pm
Nina paged both Warrick and Nick to tell them she had their results. Upon entering both knew they were not going to be happy with the results from the look on her face. She sighed and handed them a few sheets of paper.
"The pearl and gold are real and yet again there were no foreign epithelials on either. The gem is a sapphire and also has no foreign epithelials. However," she said smiling and grabbing another sheet of paper from the desk behind her and handing it to Warrick, "You managed to find a piece of a broom at your crime scene. It's known as broomcorn. This particular piece of broomcorn was unprocessed and included the stalk. You might be looking for someone who makes his own brooms."
"People make their own brooms?" Nick questioned. Nina just shrugged.
"Hey, I only report what I find. And because I'm so absolutely wonderful I also found out where the materials to make a broom can be purchased. It's probably not going to help you much, but they sell it at Lowes, Home Depot, HQ, and this online website specializes in this kind of stuff, R.E. Caddy and Company." Warrick almost hugged her.
"Let's get to work. Thanks Nina." Warrick said over his shoulder as they left the lab. Nina smiled and looked around. Deciding that she deserved a break she headed to the break room to grab a much needed coffee. Yep, she thought to herself, it's definitely a drug. She found Catherine and Sara in the break room going over a case.
"Where's Greg?" Nina asked going over to the coffee pot.
"Ballistics with Bobby they're checking a bullet in the suicide case." Catherine answered, "Did you need something?"
"No, just wondering." She sat down across from the duo and blew lightly on her coffee. "Cassie's birthday is coming up soon," Nina told them suddenly, "and she wants to invite Lindsey. I was thinking I'd take them to a movie or something. She doesn't want a party." Catherine nodded in understanding.
"Lindsey went through that stage. She grew out of it." Nina sighed and took a sip of coffee.
"I wish we had a backyard so I could have a barbeque for her. You know nothing fancy. Just a little something."
"You could use mine." Sara blurted out. Catherine and Nina gave her an odd look. Sara blushed and looked back down at the papers in her hands, "I mean if you wanted to that is. I could leave for the day while you use it if you want." She offered.
"You wouldn't have to leave Sara," Nina protested, appalled by the idea, "Cassie would love to have you there. She told me to invite you as well anyway. You're her new idol. She wants to be just like you so you better watch out. She'll question you to death about every aspect of your life. That girl is a weird one."
Crime Lab—Thursday April 8—4:21 pm
Grissom entered the break room looking tired. He held only one case file.
"From now on everyone is on this serial killer case. All other cases can be put on hold. This is our number priority. I want this solved before another child is murdered."
Arden, Nevada—Thursday April 8—5:00 pm
"Same as yesterday," Brass informed the CSI's, "His name is Fredrick Morgan. His mother reported him missing four days ago and an anonymous tip was called in. And before you asked the call was traced to a pay phone. It's always the same when the guy calls. He tells the operator he'd like to report a murder, gives the name of the boy, and the location then hangs up. All with in two minutes." Nick and Grissom took the body, Greg took pictures, and the others spread out to search for any clues as to how he got there. The pearl was collected and bagged, another piece of broomcorn was found and bagged, but there was no other trace evidence. Grissom's cell phone broke the immense silence that had befallen the grim CSI's. He stepped away to take the call.
"You found what?" Grissom practically screamed. At least it seemed like a scream in the intense silence. Grissom hung up and informed the others of Doc Robbins' discovery. "All of the boys were molested prior to death." Nick looked sick and he stumbled when he stood up. Catherine rushed to his side, but he shooed her away. Greg noticed the exchange and chose to ignore it – for now.
Crime Lab—Thursday April 8—9:13 pm
"Nina I need those results." Grissom said entering the lab followed closely by Nick. She looked flustered. Her usually neatly kept hair was falling out of the bun and into her face. She had rolled up her sleeves in an attempt to cool down, but it wasn't working. She was currently running a test on one of the pearls against one of the other victim's epithelials because she had found some that didn't belong. She grabbed a small stack of papers and shoved them at Grissom while she continued what she was doing. She talked and worked. A task Greg had never been able to perfect.
"The gem is a bloodstone, the pearl is real, and so is the gold. The broomcorn is a match to the other one. They both came from the same broom. And I am currently testing the foreign epithelials I found on the pearl from the third victim to the first and second victims. I will page you as soon as the printer begins to print."
Twenty-five Minutes Later
Grissom had been waiting for Nina's page for what seemed like at least five lifetimes. He went as fast as his legs would carry him from his office to the lab. Nina didn't even wait to be asked. As soon as he walked through the door he had a few papers shoved into his hands.
"The epithelials are a match to the second victim. That got me thinking how odd it was so I compared the pearls. They increase about an eighth of an inch with each new victim. I think the killer might have accidentally gotten them mixed up or maybe switched the order of who he was going to kill. I mean it sounds like all his victims are locked up somewhere. If they each have been missing for four days they're probably locked up together."
"There's an and at the end of that. I can feel it." Greg said leaning against the doorframe. Nina smirked.
"Because I'm such a genius I figured if he messed up on those two pearls he must have left something else behind and he did. On the third pearl there was some dirt. Take a look under the microscope." She pointed and Grissom followed her command. "The Orovada Series Soil was designated as Nevada's official state soil in 2001. This soil is classified as coarse-loamy, mixed, super active, mesic Durinodic Xeric Haplocambids, and is found in Northern and Central Nevada. Orovada soil grows most crops common to Nevada and is considered prime farmland because it contains volcanic ash that reduces the amount of water needed for irrigation. And there's only one place near Vegas that has this type of soil. The Desert National Wildlife Range. It's about an hour from here near the Nellis Air Force Range. The wildlife center has been doing some testing on the soil for the last three months. I called the supervisor and he's awaiting your arrival to show you around."
The DesertNationalWildlifeRange—Friday April 9—8:00 am
Grissom, Nick, and Greg arrived at the Range fifteen minutes before they planned to mostly due to Nick's driving. The supervisor greeted them with a handshake and a smile.
"I hear that some of our dirt wound up in one of your cases. All testing being done on it is done in the back lot. I can take you there if you'd like to see it first hand." Grissom nodded and thanked him for his cooperation. They drove to the back lot in a golf cart and on the way the supervisor explained only eight people were working on the project and they'd had the soil specially delivered from Northern Nevada. He also explained that because of lack of security during the week anyone would be able to take a look at the experiment. He gave Grissom a list of all his employees and had highlighted the ones working on the project. All in all it hadn't been too eventful to drive out and get information that could have been faxed, but it made Grissom feel like he had left no corner unchecked. You always had to make sure when it came to a murder case. Especially when children were involved.
Crime Lab—Friday April 9—3:52 pm
Grissom threw the file down on the table and startled Nick awake. He looked up in horror. "Not another one."
Crime Lab—Friday April 9—7:28 pm
Nina hadn't been home all day. Once the guys had brought her the sample of soil from the range she had stayed to compare. All her time had been spent on the murder case and she was backlogged. She knew Ecklie would scream and curse at her if she put any of Grissom's cases ahead of his so she had declined to go home when Nick and Greg went. She was now processing all the evidence Grissom had just thrown at her from the recent murder and she was about to collapse from lack of sleep, but she refused to let Grissom see that. She wasn't week. If he could do it, she could do it. She paged him and took a seat on the swivel chair to await his arrival. In the two seconds it had taken him to get there she had begun to drift off.
"You paged me Nina." Grissom told her gently. She awoke with a start, but was on top of things immediately.
"Yeah, the stone is an emerald. That was pretty obvious. Nothing out of the ordinary on it or the pearl or the gold. No sign of dirt or foreign epithelials at all. Also the semen Doc sent over belongs to none of the victims and the broomcorn came from the same broom as the other two. I'm starting to think he might be leaving them behind on purpose. Probably to prove we'll never catch him." Nina stifled at least three yawns during her entire speech and Grissom had been watching her strangely the entire time.
"Have you been home Nina?" he asked worriedly. She shook her head and looked at the clock.
"Nope I've been here for exactly twenty-eight and a half hours." She said sleepily. Grissom looked shock.
"Well Greg and Nick are out with Brass questioning suspects. Go lie on the couch and get some rest and as soon as they get back you're going home." He reprimanded.
"All right. I just have to finish running one more test for Ecklie and I'm all caught up." Grissom sighed and let it go. Nina reminded him a lot of Sara.
Crime Lab—Friday April 9—7:57 pm
"Hey Nina," Jackie said coming into the lab, "You look beat."
"I am." She replied warily as she finished cleaning up and put the piece of paper the printer had just produced on a stack on her desk.
"Go home get some rest."
"Grissom told me to crash on the couch until Nick and Greg get back. That's where I'm headed now unless there's something you needed." Nina told her sincerely. Jackie shook her head, but a sly smile crept onto her face.
"Nope, nothing, but I did here about the first-date hot guy. So what's he look like?" Nina smiled dreamily as she began to walk out of the lab.
"Johnny Depp face, Viggo Mortensen body, and Val Kilmer hands."
Notes: Okay a friend of mine once said she saw a first-date hot guy and so the saying has always sort of stuck with me and it's funny because every time either one of us says it and were around other girls/women they sort of automatically comprehend it. But if you don't get it it basically means if Johnny Depp were to ask you to go to a motel with him you'd probably end up saying yes no questions asked, so a first-date hot guy means he's so hot that on a first date you would be willing to go all the way.