Summary: A serial killer comes to town on the boy's night to work. Things don't go calmly for Nick or Warrick when the killer decides to not play nice.

Disclaimer: This is all written in fun and trial for something new. Everything CSI is not mine and never will be. It belongs to the creative talent of the actors, the writers, the directors, and producers. I am not making any money off of this. Only meant to offer something new on something already so great. No reason to sue.

Author's Note: Thanks again to all those who review and the honor I received for favorite author's list. Means a lot to mean and keeps me working hard on this piece. This chapter is one of the longer ones. I hope you all enjoy it. I promise, there is a bang coming, just give me a couple more chapters. Then, we will see if you still like me then. :) Have fun and drive carefully!

Breath for me

Written by: duffshel

#3

Nick walked into Dr. Albert Robbins' office with slight apprehension. This case was not going to be an easy one. The crime scene had given them too little and there was too much weight on the girl's body to prove the case. He had worked on other cases with little to go by, but this one of the few where the dead person was the one with all the tales.

Doc Robbins was standing to the left of the girl. His green apron was full of blood from his evaluation of the body. He was looking at her left hand with great interest. That was the hand he found the black cloth in. Nick coughed softly to get the good doctor's attention.

"Ah, Nick. It is good to see you. I am almost done with the preliminary work on your body. The cause of death is as you and David thought. She was strangled as you can most certainly tell by the bruising and slight burns around the entirety of her neck. But, she was a fighter."

Nick moved closer to the steel table as Robbins lifted the hand to show to him. There was caked blood under three of her nails, possible skin sample. Also, a black string hanging from the index nail.

"She must have clawed him at one point. Got blood so I will scrap to see if I can get any skin samples."

That was a big plus for the side of justice. Blood was the best thing to get, no matter the amount. Nick sudden felt a jolt of happiness. Things may work out for the best.

"I sent in samples to Sanders for detox to see if there was anything in her blood stream that may have helped her attacker get her to go easier. I am also still working on tests to determine rape or not. Should only take me another hour and I should be able to answer all your questions."

Nick looked up, "Well there in one question I have for you right now. Do we know who she is?"

Robbins couldn't help, but chuckle to himself. Using his cane, the older man moved over to his counter where his notes laid. There was also a bag of personal belongings to the victim.

"I totally forgot about that. Thanks for reminding me Nick. Her name is Heather Lewis. She is from New York City. Only 22 years old."

Robbins handed Nick the plastic bag and walked back towards the body. Nick looked at the small wallet that laid in the bottom. This was a young girl. Young people always seemed to suffer the most in situations like these. He just hoped the would be able to get something and get someone.

"Thanks. Warrick or I will be back in a few probably to get a final report. I will check with Greg about the results and then have him send you a copy as well."

"You take care Nick. This will be a tough one, but we will figure it out before too long."

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Warrick studied the tire database that the lab computer gave him. The mold was not bad, but there were a few areas that were missing from the track. It was making a little tougher to get an exact match. As it was, he had two possible matches. There were still a few more tires to match it to. Warrick straightened his back and cringed slightly at the large crack that was omitted.

With a deep sigh, he stood up and moved around a little bit. His eyes were beginning to geek out on him. That was one thing he could never do, stare at something for hours on end. Greg was better at that kind of thing with his microscopes and all. He jumped about a foot when he heard a thump behind him. Nick simply smirked.

"Nice moves there buddy. You could always dazzle on the dance floor," the Texan drawled.

"Just shut up, man!"

Nick walked towards the computer the taller CSI was working on. The selection of tires to match to was impressive. It made Nick glad he was a fiber specialist. He could work with his black fabric. The plastic evidence bag was in his right hand.

"How is it going? Do you have anything on the brand yet?"

"Well, I have it narrowed down between Firestone and Bridgestone. The two are quite similar in its types and I have found one of each that could be a possible match. And from the width of the tire, it is a larger sedan, not a truck."

Nick nodded at the information. He knew Warrick was better at that sort of thing and would leave him to it. The black cloth was calling his name.

"I am going to head across the hall and start some tests with Greg on this. Hopefully we can figure out what it is from exactly and where it was purchased from."

After receiving his basic wave of dismissal from Warrick, Nick left the room. The glass walls did nothing to hold out the pounding of Greg's occasional rock music. It seemed the Grissom sent him into the lab to work on their case, but he ended up getting stuck in there again. Greg was turning out to be a good CSI, but at this point in time, he still was a excellent DNA analysis and lab technician.

The smaller man was jumping around, but not to the extent that he used to. Nick could remember the time when Greg used to wear the latex gloves on his head and a mask cut out to look like a face. He kind of missed the old Greg. This new one was still fun, but not the same.

The music got louder when the door opened, of course, but Nick never would listen to his music that loud. Country music just didn't sound the same at ear drum shattering sounds. The stereo was close to the door, so it only two steps to get to it to turn down the blare. Greg jumped as the room suddenly filled with complete silence.

"What the fuck dude!"

Nick couldn't help, but to laugh. Greg's eyes were wide and both of his hands hand hit his chest to stop the shock. "I thought Grissom said you couldn't do that anymore now that you are a CSI Level 1?"

"Yeah, well. He isn't here right now is he. Grissom sent me back to the lab to get our stuff done and said I should help out you and Warrick if you guys needed it. It seems to me that you do."

"Doc sent you his tests for our girl and I have some cloth I need to work on. I can do that myself, but would appreciate the use of your lab. It is the best after all."

"Sucking up will do nothing for you," Greg said with a straight face as he moved some of his supplies over to make room for the other man.

The beakers were all shiny, the test tubes were lined up by the hundreds, and the pipettes were stacked in their separate boxes. Nick really didn't know what he was going to use yet. This was not going to be simple as most people would think.

The cloth felt like basic cotton, sort of like the stuff used to make his work t-shirts. His best guess was just a simple t-shirt that you could buy at any local shopping store. Despite having the feeling he would get very little from the cloth, Nick set up his equipment for the tests he wished to perform. He was going to have to cut up the black fabric, but make sure there was enough left to go in the file.

As Nick got the Bunsen burner ready for his burn test on one of the small squares he was going to use, Greg turned the music back up slightly. He just couldn't work in a completely quiet lab. It always made the day seem as if it would never end if there was no background noise. Greg knew Nick wouldn't mind as long as it wasn't too loud and not too out there. The country boy was open to different types of music, just not to losing his hearing.

Greg slipped in a glance at his colleague. Nick had pulled on the classic latex gloves and was holding a small square of black cloth with a tweezers over the burner. The small collection plate was being held by his other hand underneath to collect the ash. There was no way Greg was going to do any of those tests. They were too boring for Greg's taste. He preferred to test the girl's blood for impurities to see what she was on.

"So Nick, where is the other half of the dynamic duo?"

Nick smirked, "He is looking at tires."

"You two evaluate the weirdest stuff."

"You will have to do it soon yourself, my friend. You are still new enough that Grissom is giving you easy things to do. Soon you will be where we are and looking at tires and fabric. It is the one joy of the job I would say I would miss the most."

Greg couldn't help chuckling at the dramatic tone of Nick's voice. He knew his friend liked his job, but there were parts of it that were less desirable. It was where Greg wanted to be. He had done the lab work thing and needed a change. Over the years, he watched everyone else go out into the world and do science while he stayed in walls of glass with beakers. He longed to get out and try something on a new level.

"I can't wait to get there Nick."

"It will come, boss. Just give it some time and you will be solving cases left and right."

Nick had finished with a couple of quick tests on the cloth. So far, he had been right. It was basic cotton, nothing out of the ordinary. He would have to search his own database later to see if he could figure out which companies used that certain weave in their products. But Nick was not going to hold his breath. The body was still the thing they had rely on.

Without bothering Greg from his tests, Nick walked out of the lab. He could see Warrick still searching over the tire files. A sigh echoed through the empty hallway and Nick checked his watch. There were only a few more hours to this shift. This case was not going to be solved this night. Nick considered whether or not he should start his searches or go talk with Robbins. He really should wait for Warrick on that one. Coffee sounded good.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Becca could feel her tears streaming down her face, but she really wasn't aware of herself crying. The man who had grabbed her was sleeping on the bed next to her. His head was hanging down towards the right and there was a small stream of drool dropping onto his shirt collar. She had tried to get her hands free, but had no luck.

Another whimpered escaped. She couldn't remember ever crying this much in her life. All she wanted to do was have a night out on the town with her girlfriends. This guy came out of no where. She wasn't prepared for him at all. It had been an easy grab. Her husband would have a field day with that. Whatever he had used on her was potent. It had lasted a long time and really fucked with her head.

The man who called himself Ken shifted and moaned. Becca risked a look at his face. He was going to wake up soon. Her eyes drifted downward with the intention of focusing on her feet in front of her, but stopped immediately on the man's crotch. She started to shake slightly. The tears came faster. Ken looked to be having the problem every teenage boy had when they woke up after a good dream. A cold shower probably was not going to be on the menu either.

Ken shifted again and his eyes slowly opened. At first he was disorientated at the scene that came into view, but everything came into clear focus at the sniffing sounds next to him. Ah yes, Becca. Arching his spine, Ken considered how tight his pants had gotten since he was last awake. He hadn't though to raping the girl then, but now it seemed like the best idea he had ever had.

Becca gasped as well as she could around the gag as Ken turned his gaze on her face. His eyes were dark with lust and a desire for pain. Her trembling got even worst. He reached out his left hand and brushed it against her wet cheek. It was moist when he examined it. His eyes got darker.

The girl had been crying for awhile and looked completely ready to satisfy him. He pushed himself up to his knees with a groan. His hands went straight to his belt bucket. Ken always preferred to be naked first. It got him even more into the mood for the activities that would follow. Plus, his belt would be at the ready if he tired of the girl and got straight to the killing.

"Now you will see the best thing you have ever seen, my pet. Try not to get too excited at the sight. We are going to have a long couple of hours."

His pants and boxers came off easily. His erection stood out proudly, ready for action. Ken slowly removed his black t-shirt and exposed himself completely to Becca. The girl's eyes couldn't help, but to take him in and examine everything she saw. He fell in love with her when her eyes got almost impossibly wide at the size of his cock.

"Like what you see? You can if you want to. I won't tell what a dirty little girl you are."

Becca tried to pull away from the man as he reached for her again. This time his hands went right for her pants. Her body was pulled into a flat position and he literally ripped them off. Ken wasted no time in tearing the tiny panties away from what he wanted. His mouth began to water.

"Are you ready for me? You better be. I don't play nice."

Becca tried to scream around the gag as he lowered himself on top of her. Pain filled her senses. She wanted to die.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Grissom came upon Nick as the younger man was resting his eyes on the sofa in the break room. His case with Greg was not to difficult to figure out and they had a confession from the couple's maid in no time. Seems they refused to give the woman a raise so she poisoned them with rat poison in their pasta. There had been no regret in the tiny woman's eyes.

Nick looked exhausted to the head CSI. They had a lot of hard cases the past couple of weeks, but Nick always seemed to be awake and alert. Now, he looked tired with gray circles forming under his eyes. Gil shook his head. The kid needed to take a vacation. He was sure his family back in Texas would be happy to see him come around.

"How is the case going Nick?'

The younger man almost jumped right off the couch. He had not heard anyone enter the room and the sound of a voice scarred the living shit out of him. Nick looked straight at his boss with wide eyes. If Nick would have had a mirror, he would have realized he looked just like Greg did about an hour earlier.

"Gris, I didn't hear you come in. You need to give a guy a little warning before you give him a jump start."

Nick's accent was thick in his shock. It took Gil a second to figure out exactly what had been said. He smiled. Nick always did have a way with words.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were napping."

"Nah, I was just resting my eyes. Too much coffee in the blood to get to sleep that fast. I was just thinking about how unlucky were are probably going to be on this case."

"What do you mean?" Gil's eyebrow crinkled down into a frown. He had looked over the case himself just a few minutes ago. The body had given a few clues, but it appeared that Nick had not talked to Doc again yet.

"Well, Greg and I have finished on our case and there in nothing new right now. I was going to offer our assistance to you and Warrick on this one."

On the outside, Nick smiled. Inside, he cringed. He had been hoping that him and Warrick would be able to do this one on their own and show Grissom that they could handle something like this. Nick didn't have the energy to talk his boss out of his offer for help. Deep down, he knew they would need some higher help to get this one solved.

"That would be great. Things are pretty thin for us right now. Warrick only has a tire tread and I have some basic cotton cloth. Nothing out of the ordinary yet."

"I see. I have been to see Doc Robbins and talked with him about his final tests on the body. She was clean of drugs except for traces of ether in her nasal passages and esophagus. It appears that she was drugged that way and hauled off. There is something odd about everything as well."

Nick's ears perked up at that, "What do you mean?"

"Well, after I took a look at her and looked over the results of the initial work, I couldn't help, but think I had seen something like this before. I quickly looked up some recent cases from other jurisdictions and found similar murders. All women whom where strangled and dropped off somewhere to be found. I am thinking we may have a serial on our hands."

"Hm, I think I remember hearing about a murder case in California with a girl that was raped and murdered, but there was nothing to go on. The dude was clever and left nothing, but…tire treads…"

Nick looked up Grissom. Both men were thinking the same thing. They had some phone calls to make.

!#$&()!#$&()!#$&()+

Sweaty and feeling completely alive, Ken fell to his side of the hotel bed. Becca laid prone in shock and disgust. Ken couldn't keep the goofy grin off his face as he stared at the ceiling. She hadn't been too bad, even got her off once. That was satisfaction at the fullest. But he wasn't done. It was time for the big finally.

"That was not too bad. I am sure you made a few men happy in your young days. Too bad that it will never happen again."

Ken reached over the edge of the bed to the floor. His belt laid waiting for its turn to play. It felt warm and welcoming in his hand. Again, he fell in love with Becca as her eyes showed complete fear and defeat at the sight of it in his hands. He leaned over and kissed her lips over the gag. His tongue traced the lower on before pushing past the cloth to her teeth. She moaned in fear.

"I promise you will like it."

With that, Ken sat up straight and turned to straddle her hips once again, this time minus the sexual lust. Lust of murder was in his eyes now. The belt moved quicker than Becca's brain could follow. It was looped around her throat and was pulled taunt in less than the blink of an eye. No more oxygen was available.

Ken pinned her body down with his legs and weight. She had almost super strength in this battle for her life, but he was used to it. Everyone got it in those last moments. She would soon calm down and allow it to happen. Again, Ken leaned down and kissed her slack lips. They were getting that erotic blue shade. Her struggles were getting less. He pulled tighter. It would all be over soon. The question of the hour, where to put the body?

TBC…