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 sort of short chapter. Just here to place things together. The next two chapters will hopefully be worthwhile. I love my faithful readers. Please read and review!

Chapter 9: Still Hurting

"Give unto me your troubles

I'll endure your suffering

Place onto me your burden

I'll drink your deadly poison" -Evanescence "Give Unto Me"

"Ok," Grissom said as they once again sat in the layout room. "Any new evidence?" He asked.

"Amelia said she doesn't recognize the name Alexander Washington, but she would be able to recognize him." Sara said, ignoring the glare from Nick. She was really confused as to why one minute Nick was concerned about his sister and then one minute he didn't.

"So she's awake?" Catherine asked. Sara nodded.

"Yeah. She blames herself for everything that happened. Apparently, Washington is behind a car bomb incident in Miami. According to Amelia, Speedle and Amelia went on a date and when he was walking her to the door, his car blew up. I called Caine and had him fax over the case files, along with the case files from Speedle's murder. They never found the guy who had planted the car bomb." Sara set the files on the table.

"Ok. So, Amelia may be the prime target. What else?" Grissom said.

"The doctors don't expect Anna Sjvivovich to live. The injuries are too severe. They do, however, expect her to live for a few days, so if she's up to it, we might get a statement out of her." Sara said.

"I was able to figure out his route." Warrick said, standing up. He laid out the map on the table. He had the first five crime scenes marked. It was shaped like a star. "My guess, is that the next victim, hopefully the last, will be here." He pointed to a spot on the map. "Which means he might be in a hotel around the area."

"Brass ran a check on his credit cards, he has stayed at five hotels in the last two days. They were all around wherever the victims were found." Catherine said.

"Brass is checking all of the hotels in this vicinity." Warrick said. Grissom nodded.

"So, for the sign language, so far we have Die Me." Sara said. Grissom pursed his lips as he thought.

"The last victim, if we don't find him before he gets to her, will give us the answer we need." Grissom said.

"Which is?"

"What the sign language is for and why he's doing this." Everybody nodded in agreement. "Ok. I guess all we can do is wait." He sighed and stood up. "I need to call Caine and then I'm going to go talk to Amelia."

"Don't bother." Nick said angrily. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" Grissom asked, confused.

"I said don't bother. It's been four years and she's lied to us all. As far as I'm concerned, she's just another victim in a case." Nick stood up and left, leaving four confused people behind. Sara looked at Grissom.

"Whoa." Warrick muttered, folding the map back up.

"I don't know what's wrong with him. One minute he was concerned for her and the next...he flipped. I don't understand. I know you guys must be angry about everything, but she has a solid reason, for at least the first two years." Sara said. Catherine frowned.

"She does and I flipped out on her in Miami. I said some things I shouldn't have. But Nick...he's always talked so nicely about her, even after the last four years. What's his problem?" Catherine asked.

"The problem is that you guys aren't giving her a chance. Since she left, you haven't." Warrick said. "Her reasons may not be rock solid and perfectly understandable, but none of you knew what she was going through down there." Warrick started heading towards the door. He left without looking back.

In truth, he was just as bad as Amelia. Ever since Warrick and Catherine had come back from Miami, Warrick and Amelia had been calling each other. They talked all the time. Warrick always knew what was going on with Amelia. They had been good friends when she lived in Las Vegas, so when he found out she was in Miami, he didn't hesitate to get back to the way things were. He always loved talking to her.

It also didn't hurt that she was good looking.

Smart.

Very good looking.

Easy to talk to.

Warrick sighed and headed into the locker room. He needed to clear his head.

---The Hospital---

Amelia stared at the doctor. She had called him in there after she had woken up. After looking at the clock, she figured she had only been asleep for a few hours.

"Just tell me the truth Doc." Amelia said. She had been grateful that he hadn't said anything while Sara and Nick were there. She didn't want them to know. Just in case it was...dead, she didn't want them to know.

"The truth is, Ms. Stokes, that the baby is unharmed." He said. Amelia let out a breath that she hadn't realize she had been holding. The one real thing Amelia had left of Speed. His baby. She would have always had something to remind her of Speed anyways, but this was something she always wanted.

The doctor turned around as someone knocked on the door. The door opened and Grissom came in. Grissom. Amelia thought. All the memories of the times they spent together came flying back. The doctor smiled at Grissom and then left the room. Grissom stood at the end of the bed.

"Hey Gil." Amelia said. Grissom smiled.

"Hey Ames. How you feeling?" He signed to her. Amelia chuckled and sat up.

"I'd sign, but yeah. I feel ok. How are you guys?" She asked. Grissom sat on the end of the bed and stared at her.

"I'm sorry about Nick." He said. Amelia's smile turned into a frown. She shook her head.

"Don't worry about him. It's...he's angry and he has every right to be." She said. And the truth was that Nick did. Amelia should have done something to contact him, but she didn't. She let him down.

She let everybody down.

"No, he doesn't. I talked to Horatio." Grissom told her. Amelia sighed. "You really are too hard on yourself. Nick never tried to find you, so why should you have?" He asked. Amelia licked her lips.

"Because I'm his sister."

"Yes and he's your brother. I know for a fact that Nick took 10 months to call you after he came out to Las Vegas." Grissom said. Amelia shook her head.

"But I told him I'd call." She said quietly. "I told him I would call, but I didn't expect Evan to go all psycho on me. He never objected to me talking to you guys before. But suddenly, in Miami, it was like, you guys are the enemy. I just...I don't know." Amelia looked away from him and focused on the heart monitor. Even after a few hours, the thing was starting to get on her nerves. She'd give anything to just be able to rip it out of the wall and throw it out the window.

Amelia took a deep breath.

"That doesn't mean it's your fault." He said. Amelia looked at him.

"I talked to Warrick. Ever since he and Catherine left Miami, we have been talking. So tell me, why didn't I ever call Nick or you?" Amelia asked. Grissom was shocked. He hadn't known that Amelia and Warrick had been talking.

Amelia was having a hard time being in the same room with Grissom. When she left Las Vegas, she took all of her feelings for him with her. She always had a crush on him. Then she met Speed, and while as married as she was, she flirted shamelessly with him and sometimes, she'd think about Grissom. And now she was here with him again, but this time, she was still mourning for Speed. The man who had her heart, truly, for the last four years. She couldn't just forget about him and move on.

Not with his baby growing inside of her.

"I, uh...Amelia." Grissom stuttered. Amelia sighed and wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes.

"I'm sorry Gil. God, everything is so screwed up." No matter how hard she tried, the tears kept falling. "I wasn't supposed to come back like this. I wanted to take a vacation with Speed and introduce him to everybody and then it all changed in an instant and I didn't know what to do." Amelia took a deep breath as she tried to go on. "I was so scared. Horatio and everybody was being so nice and I knew they knew how bad I was hurting, but I couldn't stay."

Grissom listened as she talked. It broke his heart to see her like this, no matter what, he couldn't be mad at her. But Grissom didn't know what to do. Even with Amelia, he hid his feelings and tried to remain as the 'intellectual Grissom' that everybody knew, not an emotional type of person that everyone else was.

But suddenly Grissom was standing up and he walked down to her. He sat next to her and pulled her to him. Amelia was startled at first, but then the tears really started flowing as she was held in Grissom's grasp. Amelia had always wondered what it would be like to be held by Dr. Gil Grissom, the most serious, smart guy you'll ever meet, and now that it was happening, she was sort of glad.

Not glad because of the circumstances, but just glad that she would at least get to experience it once in her life. For some reason, while she was held by Grissom's strong arms, she felt like she was cheating on Speed, but she didn't pull away. Instead, it felt like something was pushing them together.

But she couldn't let it go any further.

She couldn't get in a relationship with him.

It would ruin everything.

Minutes past before the tears finally stopped. But neither pulled away. Until the door started to creak open. They pulled away fast, looking away from each other. The rest of the CSI team crept into the room slowly, unable to figure out what was going on. Grissom turned around and smiled at the team as they came in. He looked down at his shirt and realized it was wet from Amelia's tears. He sighed. Oh well.

"Hey, are we interrupting something?" Catherine asked, pointing at Grissom's shirt. Grissom and Amelia both shake their head and smile.

"No, Grissom was just learning what it's like to be human." Amelia said smartly. Everyone smiled at her comment. They all crowded around the bed, but Grissom stayed in his spot. Nick eyed Grissom and Amelia cautiously.

"Well, we just wanted to ask you a few more questions about the case." Catherine said. Amelia smiled at her.

"And so you all had to come down here?" She said. Catherine rolled her eyes.

"Stop complaining." Catherine said, smiling. Amelia chuckled as Catherine pulled out at photo. Amelia took it and stared at it.

---"Aaahhh." Amelia screamed as she realized she had just been stabbed. It was the same as when Evan had stabbed her, the same spot and everything. The person pulled the knife out and Amelia spun around.

She had a second to register who it was. That rugged face, that stupid smile, they'd met. She held her arms up in front of her face as he reached his arm up.---

Amelia shivered and handed the picture back to Catherine.

"That's him. I'd recognize him anywhere." She told them. Catherine nodded.

"Ok. Did he say anything?" She asked. Amelia thought for a minute then shook her head.

"Not that I can remember. It happened in a matter of seconds and then I was out. I just know that it was him." She said. Catherine nodded and smiled.

"Alright. Well, I guess that's all." Catherine said. Amelia smiled and closed her eyes. Her head was starting to pound. She could hear everybody talking around her, asking her if she was all right, but she couldn't talk. She felt someone take her hand, but she couldn't move. She struggled to open her eyes back up, but the darkness over took her.