Title: Love Bites

Pairing: Sara/Nick, Amelia/Speed, hints at Amelia/Grissom

Spoiler: Lost Son, Viva Las Vegas, Pilot, basically all CSI episodes up to season 4/5ish.

Summary: After Nick's older sister Amelia transferred from Las Vegas, he thought he'd never see her again. Then she became a victim in a serial killer's game. Now, the Las Vegas CSIs are racing against time to find the killer.

Disclaimer: I only own what you do not recognize. I.E: Amelia, Evan, and the victims and suspects. CSI Belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer and all of those smart people who created these fine CSI series.

My Original Note: This is a flashback sort of chapter. It starts with the pilot episode for CSI: Las Vegas. Sorry it's sort of stupid...i guess. I just sort of wanted you to get a semi-feel for what Amelia's place had been like when she had been in Las Vegas.

Chapter 5: Grissom's Pain

"You send me to a broken state

Where I can take the pain

Just long enough

That I am numb

That I just disappear

So go on and fight me

Go on and scare me to death

Tell me I asked for it

Tell me I'll never forget

You could give me anything but love

Anything but love" -Apocalyptica featuring Cristina Scabbia "S.O.S. (Anything But Love)

Grissom smiled at Holly. She looked around his office again, a little put off by all of the creatures. It was natural for anybody that came into his office. Holly held the gauze tighter to her arm. She was a little weirded out by having to give blood, but didn't ask why.

"If you say so." Grissom popped a grasshopper into his mouth as the door opened.

"Grissom?" The person called out. She walked into view and stopped. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" She signed to him. Grissom smiled as he turned and put the jar back in the fridge and then looked back at her.

"Still here?" He asked, joking. She walked towards the desk, one of her 'shut up' faces on. She was about 5'6", short brown hair, fair skin, and a southern drawl with some words. She was the one person Grissom could stand to be around. She didn't find the bugs and dead animals disgusting, she found them interesting, hence the reason he let her keep a desk and some things in his office.

She stuck out her tongue. "Shush." She turned to Holly and smiled. He would miss her smile. She stuck out her hand. "Hi! I'm Amelia Martin." Holly took Amelia's hand. Amelia had an assortment of nicknames. Grissom and Warrick usually called her Melia or Mel. Catherine, Nick, and Greg would call her Ames or Amster. Jim just usually called her Amelia or Amy.

"Holly Gribbs." Amelia stuck her hands back in her pockets after they shook hands.

"So you're my replacement, huh?" Amelia asked. Holly nodded.

"If you're the one leaving, then yeah."

"Well...you'll have fun, that's for sure." Amelia looked at Grissom and winked. He smiled at her.

He would miss everything about her.

"What can I do for you?" Grissom asked.

"I just came to say bye." Amelia said innocently. Grissom gave her his 'yeah, right' look. She rolled her eyes. "Don't be mean Gil." She walked over to her desk and grabbed the only folder on top of it. She walked back to Grissom and handed it to him.

"I talked to the wife again. Have fun." Grissom took the folder.

"Thank you." He said softly. Amelia smiled and turned to Holly.

"Have you talked to Brass yet?" She asked. Grissom rolled his eyes as he set the folder on his desk. Holly shook her head and Amelia frowned. "Just remember he likes to scare people. Just keep your cool." She told Holly. Holly nodded.

"I'll remember that."

"Ok." Amelia balled her hands and turned to Grissom. "I've got to go." She signed. She sighed, obviously not ready to part with him or the office or anything else here.

"We'll miss you." He signed back, talking out the words. That was another thing he'd miss. Amelia was the only one who knew that he knew sign language. Amelia told him that a friend of hers from middle and high school had been deaf. Her friend had taught her how to sign.

Amelia walked behind the desk and gave Grissom a hug. It was warm and gentle. Something Grissom always hoped for.

He never wanted it to end.

But she was married.

As Amelia pulled away she kissed Grissom on the cheek. He was too stunned to do anything. She walked back around the desk and smiled at Holly.

"Good luck and have fun."

"Thank you. Good luck wherever you are going." Holly said. Amelia smiled and walked around the shelves and headed towards the door.

Then it hit Grissom that he didn't even know where she was going to.

Before he could stop her she was out the door.

She was gone.

---Grissom stared at the picture of Amelia and Nick as the memories of her last day flooded back to him. Amelia had kept three pictures on her desk when she was here. One was of her and Nick, the next one was of the whole CSI team, and the last was of her family in Dallas. Amelia had left the pictures when she transferred so Grissom kept the one of her and Nick on his desk, the other two he gave to Nick.

Grissom had taken the picture when Amelia first came to Las Vegas. He could still remember that day.

---"Hey Griss! Take the picture!" Nick said, handing the camera to Grissom. Grissom rolled his eyes and took the camera.---

Amelia had been wearing her usually brown track jacket with a black shirt and blue jeans. Her hair was short; long bangs and then short all the way around. She would sometimes spike the hair in the back. Amelia's hair was a honey brown color, unlike Nick's dark brown.

Grissom looked up as Catherine walked into his office. She looked like she had taken his advice. She was wearing clean clothes and looked refreshed. Grissom cringed inwardly as he wished he had gone home to take a shower and get some sleep.

"Have you been here all day?" She asked, giving him one of her looks. Grissom sat up in his chair and forced a smile.

"I lost track of time. Sorry." He apologized. Catherine raised her eyebrows and rolled her eyes.

"They found another body Griss." Catherine told him. Grissom sighed and rubbed his eyes. "She's alive." Catherine added. Grissom shot up out of his seat.

"Let's go." He hadn't expected that. This woman would be a valuable witness and maybe now the killings would stop. Grissom could only hope as they rushed out to Catherine's Tahoe.

---Scene #4---

When Grissom and Catherine reached the scene, the fourth victim had already been rushed to the hospital. Nick, Warrick, and Sara were already processing the scene. Grissom and Catherine walked over to a grim looking Jim Brass, their kits in hand. Jim looked up as they approached him. Before he had even said a word, Grissom could tell something was not right.

"Who do we got?" Grissom asked. Jim cleared his throat and handed Grissom a wallet in an evidence bag.

"Amelia Stokes." Jim managed to spit out. Grissom's eyes went wide as he stared at the license. It was Amelia, but with long blonde hair. Grissom set his kit down and rubbed his temples. Catherine snatched the wallet from his hands and stared at it in shock. Nobody had been prepared for that.

"How?" Grissom managed to say. He closed his eyes to think. She fit the MO. 34, blonde hair (though dyed), and an 'Am' name.

"Does Nick know?" Catherine asked, looking at Nick. Jim nodded. Nick didn't seem to be bothered by it. He was being professional and was handling it very well. Grissom couldn't believe it. His eyes shot open.

"What letter?" Grissom asked. Jim held his hand up the way Amelia's had been. "M." He muttered.

"Diem?" Catherine said. Grissom sighed.

"Possibly. Find out where Evan Martin is." Grissom told Jim. Jim nodded and headed towards his car. Grissom turned to Catherine. "Let's go to the hospital." Catherine nodded.

"There's something I need to tell you." Catherine said as they climbed into her Tahoe. "It's about Miami." Catherine said. Grissom looked at her in confusion.

"Go on." Grissom pressed. Catherine sighed as she pulled onto a road.

"Ames was there. She transferred to the Miami-Dade Crime Lab. I talked to her and I might have said something's I shouldn't have. She and Evan were in the middle of a divorce." She paused and took a deep breath. "She said Evan wouldn't let her call us. I believe that too, at least now. She walked with a slight limp, which led me to believe that Evan abused her." She paused again. "I talked to some people and found out that Evan stabbed her twice and broke three of her toes."

"And you think he had been doing it for a while." Grissom said. Catherine nodded as she parked in front of the hospital.

"It would make sense." Catherine said sadly. Grissom couldn't help but agree with her. They walked into the hospital and over to the front desk.

"We need information about Amelia Stokes. She was just brought in." Catherine said. The nurse nodded and picked up a chart.

"They just prepped her for surgery. Head trauma and," She paused to look at the chart. "A stab wound in her lower back." She told them. She looked up at them.

"Ok. Can you contact the Las Vegas Crime Lab when she got out?" Catherine asked. The nurse nodded and smiled.

"Of course."

---Lab---

"Not much to tell ya, Nick. The blood on this knife matches vic 3 and 4. The blood on the shoe print matches Ames. It's the same thing as the others. I'm sorry." Greg told Nick. Nick sighed and rubbed his face. This was not going good at all. No suspects and no new clues. And now Amelia...

Nick had never really forgiven Amelia for leaving and never calling, but he didn't want something like this happening to her. He just hoped that she would be ok and that they could patch things up.

"Thanks anyways man." Nick managed to say. Nick tried to give Greg a convincing smile, but it fell short. He knew this. Nick turned from Greg to see Catherine standing in the door, her eyes red from crying.

"Hey Nick. Anything new?" She asked, smiling. Nick shook his head and blocked the tears. Crying wouldn't do any of them any good right now.

"I just don't understand. Why Ames? What did she do to deserve this?" Catherine frowned as she watched Nick fight with the emotions. She had seen it with so many people before. But now it was different. Nick's own sister was in surgery fighting for her life and Nick couldn't do anything to help. "It doesn't make sense." Nick leaned on the door frame, unable to stand on his own, the pain too much to bear.

"These sort of things don't ever make sense. You know that Nicky. Ames just got caught up in this guys sick and twisted games." Catherine told him. He looked away from her and at Greg. Greg was trying to work, but he was listening to their conversation, blocking his own tears.

"How is she?" Nick choked out. This was eating him up inside. Anybody who worked in law enforcement had had brushes with death before, but Amelia wasn't even on the job. As far as Nick knew, she was just passing through Vegas. Nick looked back at Catherine.

"They were taking her into surgery when we got there." She told him. Nick forced a smile. Nick stood up straight as Sara suddenly showed up next to them, a large smile on her face.

"I found it!"

---A/V Room---

"Ok." Sara said as everyone gathered in the room. "I figured there had to be something else that tied them all together. Most serial killers pick victims who have some sort of tie together. Just theirs ages, names, and hair colors didn't seem like that was all, for me at least. So, I searched and I found it." She pointed up at the screen which showed a catalog cover. "It's a women's clothing catalog. Not very well known. All four vic's have ordered from it." She clicked a button and a list showed up on the screen. Four names were highlighted.

"So then I did a trace of the people who take the phone orders, which is how all four victims made their purchases. Three men have worked for it in Miami and in Las Vegas. The first two lived in Las Vegas and then moved to Miami, but the last man, he worked in Miami and then moved to Las Vegas a few months ago." Sara told them. "He took all of their orders."

"Who?" Warrick asked.

"Alexander Washington." Was her simple response. She clicked a button and a picture of a rugged looking man came on the screen. "He did a year for attempted murder on a club owner in Miami. He served if from late 2002 until late 2003. Amelia Stokes and Calleigh Duquesne, two of Miami-Dade County's finest CSIs, were on the case." Sara told them. "Washington had one TRO out on him. From a woman named Anna McKlansky. She married a man named Arthur McKlansky and he was killed in a drive by three years after they got married."

"Apparently Anna, after Arthur's death, noticed someone following her all the time. Washington made himself known by accident one time and she got a TRO out on him. She moved away a few months ago." Sara paused. "When Washington came here, Aja Vechincov was in a car accident with him. He had to pay all damages, though claiming it was her fault. Then Akia Whitmore wouldn't check him out at the grocery store. He caused $300 in damages at the store because he was angry. Alia Kraushaar, allegedly, always parked in Washington's spot at the condo complex."

"So he's probably been planning on killing Amelia for a while." Warrick said. Sara nodded.

"And he probably figured while he was at it, he would get back at the other three women. But the big question is..." Sara started to say.

"Is he done?" Grissom finished. Sara nodded.

"I couldn't find an exact address, but he does live in the same condo as Alia Kraushaar and Michael Faire." Sara said as a cell phone went off. Everybody checked theirs. It was Grissom's. He stepped out into the hall to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Gil? It's Jim."

"What do you have for me Jim?"

"Evan Martin moved to San Francisco last week. According to his friends, he's been there the whole week. Get this, a month ago, Amelia filed charges against Evan, citing abuse for the last 14 years. Amelia started dating Timothy Speedle, a Miami-Dade CSI, after she divorced Evan in 2002. A few months after they divorced, Tim walked in on Evan beating Amelia. Amelia moved in with Tim and they lived together until Tim was killed in the line of duty a month and a half ago. Then apparently, Evan started beating her again, hence why she finally filed charges against him." Jim paused and cleared his throat. "They found him not guilty less than a week ago." He added sadly. Grissom lowered his head and rubbed his temples.

"No wonder Amelia was back in Las Vegas. She was running from all of that."

"And look what she ran into."

"Jim, I need you to look for an Alexander Washginton. He lives in the same complex as Alia Kraushaar. He's a definite suspect." Grissom told him.

"Got it." They both hung up. Grissom walked back into the A/V room and sat down. Everybody was looking at him for an answer to what the phone call was about.

"And the truth comes out." He muttered. He looked at Catherine with sad eyes. "I need the number for Miami-Dade's Crime Lab supervisor." He told her. Catherine looked surprised.

"Caine? Uh, ok." Catherine was confused but never the less got her cell phone out and started flipping through the numbers. She had kept the number in her directory, just in case. She found it and clicked on it. She put her phone to her ear and listened. After two rings, Horatio Caine picked up.

"Caine." Catherine smiled at the sound of his voice. She had gotten along with him, while she was down in Miami, and she called him every once in a while to see how he was doing. It had been about two months since she last called him.

"Horatio. It's Catherine."

"Catherine, how nice to hear from you. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Catherine frowned and sighed. Not much of a pleasure, She thought as she focused her thoughts. I'm afraid.

"I wouldn't call it a pleasure."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"When was the last time you talked to Amelia?" Catherine asked quickly. Grissom stared at her as she conversed with Horatio.

"Mel? Well, that would be about a week ago. I helped her finish packing her stuff." He paused.

--- "Thank you Horatio." Amelia hugged Horatio and bit back the tears. She had already cried too much. Horatio held onto her, not wanting to let go of his precious friend. He knew how much she was hurting and he didn't want her to hurt alone.

Horatio had known Amelia for four years and she was very precious to him, and to the others. They had built a strong friendship.

"We'll always be here for you, you know that." Horatio told her, finally pulling away. Amelia flashed one of her smiles, a true one.

"I know H. I love you guys." Amelia kissed Horatio cheek. "I need to go back to Nick. But I'll be back. I love this place to much. The 'gators are just too much fun." Horatio smiled down at her, even in all of her pain, she could be positive.

"We love you too Mel." ---

"Why?" Catherine looked at Grissom. He held out his hand.

"Grissom wants to talk to you." Catherine quickly handed the phone to Grissom.

"Caine?"

"Grissom. You want to tell me what this is about?"

"We have been investigating a serial murder case. Amelia was our fourth victim just an hour ago." Grissom pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh God. Is she...?" Horatio trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. First Speed...now Mel. This can't be happening, Horatio thought. The office around him began to spin. Not Mel. Please not Mel too.

"No. She's in surgery right now." Grissom told him, his own senses spinning around him. He heard Horatio sigh in relief.

"Thank God. Do you have a suspect yet?"

"We have a lead. Listen, Caine, I need to know if you ever saw anybody following Amelia or Calleigh." Grissom said. Horatio thought for a minute.

"To tell you the truth, only Evan. After Speed...died, uh, Evan came back around. Amelia would stay with me or Calleigh, but Evan still got to her. As for Calleigh, I never noticed anyone following her, and she never said anything. Do you think Evan has something to do with this?" Horatio asked.

"We're not sure. He's apparently living in San Francisco right now."

"Ok. Listen, I've got to go. But give me a call when you find something."

"Of course." They hung up and Grissom handed the phone back to Catherine. "Do you two remember Timothy Speedle?" Grissom asked Catherine and Warrick. They both nodded.

"Yeah. Him and Amelia were very close. Why?" Catherine asked. She suddenly didn't like where this was going.

"He was killed in the line of duty a month and a half ago."