Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to CSI or it's affiliates. I am merely a fan whose would like to take already established characters into a story of my own rendering.

Burn

Chapter 4

It was a bittersweet reunion for the CSIs. Grissom had petitioned for his old team and Ecklie had given in. And much to her own reluctance, so had Catherine. Only on the promise that she would be a co-supervisor.

Gil Grissom fell happy in a small way. Although the circumstances surrounding their reunion were not what he had wanted, he was glad to have his old team back. Each had their own unique talents and together he was certain they could find this killer.

Hopefully before anyone else had to die.

Grissom stood at the door of the conference room without going in and smiled at the happy scene. Hugs and handshakes all around. They were acting as if they hadn't seen each other in years, even though they usually passed each other in the hall nearly every day. It was also nice for everyone to include Sophia. She was welcomed like an old acquaintance. This was his family. They were together again. At least for a little while.

Grissom's happiness was stopped briefly by two events happening one after the other. Grissom looked over to where Sara and Nick were standing. The embraced each other and held on. They had always been close, but the way Nick held on made Grissom feel something. Jealously? No, there was no room in his life to be jealous. Nick was only a friend. He wasn't in to the whole interoffice relationship. So why was he jealous?

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to dwell on the thought as the other event happen. The bright reunion was halted by the appearance of Conrad Ecklie. "Grissom, I hope you don't mind if I say a few words before everyone gets on their merry way."

Grissom forced a smile, "Why no Conrad, go right ahead." He would soon eat those words. The laughter and smiles were lost when the two men walked in the room. Everyone sat silently, Sara next to Sophia. Grissom had noticed the two were getting close. That would be good. They could work well together given their individual talents. It was a good thing. Everything was good. No need to be jealous or nervous.

Until Ecklie started talking.

"Ok everyone, as you've already been told, we're working a possible serial that involves putting one victim in the next victim's house. As far as we can tell, the two victims have never met each other. " Ecklie began. His words seemed lost for the moment. Everyone knew that already. Why was he there?

It was time to explain, "Now, you'll be working in pairs with both Catherine and Grissom supervising. If you have a question, you can go to one or the other. Or me." With the final comment, Ecklie had expected a smile or something but all he got was silence.

Without missing a beat, he continued, "Now I'll be making the assignments..."

"Ecklie, I think Catherine and I know this team and their specialties well enough to pair them ourselves." Grissom interjected.

The words fell on deaf ears, "As I was saying, I will be assigning you to a partner. Catherine and Grissom will work the primary crime scenes and, heaven forbid, any new crimes scenes."

"There's no heaven when you're around." Greg mumbled. The comment was loud enough for Warrick to hear, causing him to kick the youngest CSI under the table.

Fortunetly, Ecklie didn't hear a thing. "Now Warrick, you and Sophia will work together. Interview any and all friends, family, neighbors, dogs, anyone who might have had any contact with the victims. I've just been told that we have a match for our second victim. Heather Graves. From what Sophia has given me, they both were missing approximately three days prior to being found.

"Doc Robbins said they'd only been dead about two to three hours when they were discovered." Sara said.

"Yeah, which would mean that he kept them alive for three days." Nick concluded.

"I'll check over the burn marks a bit closer to determine if they were given over a short or long period of time." Said Doc Robbins from the end of the table.

After nodding his approval, Ecklie continued. "Warrick, Sophia, make sure you keeps tabs on our live witness. Brass will work with you. If you feel like she might be in danger, let Brass know and she'll be moved. So far, she's the only link we have to finding this person."

Warrick and Sophia nodded and looked at each other. Although they knew the other's reputation, they had never worked together before. Warrick hoped she was as good as everyone said she was and Sophia hoped that they could get along. She had hoped to work with either Grissom or Sara since they were the only ones that seemed to think she wasn't a nuisance. But it would be nice to get to know other of the infamous former night shift.

Ecklie continued, "Sara, Nick, work the evidence that's been found so far. Find a link. Surely there's some hidden clue that can help. Also, keep up with the testing results. Everyone else is going to be too busy. It'll be your jobs to relay them to the rest of the team. Understood?"

The whole room knew that Conrad was calling Sara out without using her name. It was no secret that they despised each other. Sara thought Ecklie was a bastard who only looked out for himself, especially after what he'd done to Sophia. She knew the only reason he was here so he could take the credit if the case was solved, but keeping Grissom and Catherine in charge was a way to pass the buck if something went wrong.

Ecklie thought that Sara was too much like her mentor, Grissom and no matter how smart she was, he knew that unless she controlled herself, she would end up just like him, Lost potential.

Conrad also knew that Nick and Sara were the two most emotional people in the lab and didn't need to be in the field. They would compromise the case. Besides, their specialties would allow them to be the best ones to analyze the evidence collected so far. With a nod from both, Conrad continued.

"Greg, I understand you've been working with Mia. We need you to stay there." Greg started to protest, but Grissom held up a hand to allow Conrad to finish, "She needs the help and although, regardless of what you might think, I do want you to get experience in the field. However, your a DNA wiz and there is a lot of evidence to be processed."

Greg, although he understood, had thought this might be a chance for him to show everyone he could really help and be more than just a dead weight. This was the kind of case he'd been waiting for. But he was stuck in the lab. Again.

Now Ecklie is perceived as a power-hungry glory chaser. However, somewhere deep inside him hides a small heart that he sometimes lets loose. Like the Grinch on Christmas Day, he felt for Greg. He placed a hand on the youngest CSI's shoulder and gave him a small smile, "If all the testing is caught up with, you can join Grissom and Catherine in the field. But if Mia ever gets behind, you have to help her. No exceptions."

Everyone was surprised and pleased at the remark. None more so than Grissom. Greg's eyes lit up at the chance to get in the field and without another word, dismissed himself with a mock salute to the group and headed back to the lab. Ecklie smiled again, then continued, "I expect to be kept informed at all times."

"Don't worry Conrad, I won't keep you in the dark." Grissom responded as Ecklie walked out of the room to inform the sheriff what the plan of action was. After he was long gone, Grissom looked at his remaining troops, "OK guys. Let's do what we can with what we have. Sara, I think you and Nick should start with the sheets recovered from the two beds. Go over them until you're satisfied that there's nothing more we can learn from them."

Nick looked at Sara who's eyes were full of admiration and anger. Although she was respectful of her supervision, she felt undermined after having to be told to carefully go over evidence she'd already carefully gone over. Nick understood her feelings and patted her on the back while looking at Grissom. "We'll start at the morgue first. Maybe the body will give us a clue as to what we need to be looking for."

Grissom nodded. "OK. Check on those burns for us too. If the victims were burned elsewhere, then the houses we found them in are secondary crime scenes."

"Which would mean there's a primary scene out there." Catherine said looking at Gil.

Grissom nodded then continued, "After that, check in with Greg and Mia. They should be finishing up with the cigarettes from the first vic by then for you to process for anything besides DNA. Look for something that might help. I'm guessing start with the ones that were just inside the mouth. After all, they are the murder weapon."

Both Nick and Sara nodded as Grissom continued, "Warrick, go find Brass and get Mary Hawthorne here for questioning ASAP. She has probably seen the killer and doesn't even know it . Sophia, round up anybody who's spoken, seen, driven by, or gawked at the two victims for the last seven days. When Mary is here, Warrick and Brass will join you. Find a link between the victims and a possible next target. We know this guy's already chosen his next victim, but has he chosen the fourth yet? Take your time, but get everyone here now before they have a chance to skip town. Someone might know something."

Sophia looked at Warrick, then back at Grissom, "Do we have any cell phones, diaries, or day planners to go by?"

"Only from vic number two, Jenna Rhimes. We just got a name a residence from vic number one. That's where Catherine and I will be if we're needed." Grissom said, "Actually, go through Jenna Rhimes' cell phone first while Warrick finds Mary Hawthorne. No offense to any of my female coworkers, but we don't know what kind of motive we're working with. He could change from brunette to blond in a second. Let's not give him that chance, especially with my own people. According to the conversation we had with him earlier on vic number two's cell phone, he may have been watching us already." Grissom looked at Sara, but didn't feel the need to divulge exactly what was said. Archie would be processing that recording soon enough.

Everyone silently agreed. Even though it was well know that all three women were well trained and carried guns, all remembered Holly Gribbs and knew that the suspect may return to the scene of the crime. Better not to give him an easy target if at all possible. Grissom then turned to Catherine and gave her a weak smile, "Ready to go?"

Catherine smiled. Although they were now equals, it was still nice to work with her long time friend again. "Let's do this."

At that, everyone got out of their seats and headed out knowing that it was going to be a long night.