Once again I unfortunately do not own CSI (but wouldn't that be awesome?) Thanks to everyone who took the time to review and…to everyone who didn't, I hope you're enjoying reading the story anyway!

Catherine had not had an enjoyable drive to the crime scene. Sitting alone in her SUV, she wondered dully whether she'd done the right thing in letting Nick come along on this assignment. The silence did nothing to ease her worry so she switched on the radio. Good old Rock n' Roll, unfortunately, was unable to drive the thoughts out of her head.

The last thing Nick needs right now is to investigate a case where someone was buried alive. I'm the boss now I can't let Nick suffer any more than he already has. I can't believe I'm the boss now. How can I be the boss of Grissom? There's no way this isn't going to be awkward.

Thoughts like these continued to plague her all the way out of the city and into the desert, where she knew she would have to eventually break the news to Nick and Grissom of why they were out there and what they could expect.

Now Catherine stood, watching Nick approach the body partially buried in the warm earth. Well you've really done it this time. How could this not affect him? She motioned to Grissom to join her a few feet away and both began looking for any clue that may have been further from the burial site. It was time to put aside her feelings of angst and swallow her pride. It was time to ask for help from the old boss.

"Now what?" Catherine was surprised when Grissom opened their conversation with the exact words she had been preparing to use.

"I should never have let him come."

"Well it's too late for that now Cath…err boss…we'll just have to help him get through this."

Catherine decided now was not the time to smirk at Grissom's apparent discomfort with her new position on the team. He was right…as usual. Just where did he find this kind o insight?

Nick knelt carefully in the dirt, uncaring that he was getting covered in dirt. He purposely avoided looking at either of his fellow CSI's, he knew that they'd be watching him closely for any sign that he couldn't handle this assignment. He couldn't let them see how bothered he was by this situation or it was likely he would be taken off the case. He needed to prove to himself that he could handle being back at work. So, shuddering only inwardly, he moved closer to the woman's body and began looking for any clue as to how she got there.

It was meticulous work. He started by snapping photos of the scene, first of the grave, then some close ups of the woman's face, her hair, and her naked body. She had obviously been through a lot. More than anyone should ever have to go through.

When he was finished snapping pictures he set aside his Nikon and took out a small flashlight. The sun was setting quickly and he knew that he would need as much light as possible to find anything too small to have been noticed by the others. Catherine and Grissom were nearby, each struggling with their own thoughts and holding their own investigations. Nick was left almost alone – aside from the watchful eye of Brass – to search the woman's body. He began at her face.

A small amount of blood had left a small cut just above the woman's left eye and trickled down her face, stopping near her nose. Nick swabbed the cut carefully for any foreign materials and with a 'snap', replaced the lid and put the swab into an evidence bag. As far as he could see there were no distinguishing marks on her face, so he continued his search down her neck and along the rest of her body. Unable to find anything he considered pertinent to any investigation, Nick slowly lifted the woman's left arm and released a stifled scream.

"What is it?" Catherine and Grissom were next to him immediately.

"No – Nothing…" Nick tried valiantly to keep a calm face but couldn't hold back the terror in him. He ran as quickly as he could away from the crime scene (so as not to contaminate any of the evidence) and began vomiting next to – but luckily not on – Grissom's clean Tahoe.

Both Catherine and Grissom peered into the small hole to discover what had affected their friend so violently. Before long they saw several small black bits sharing the coffin with the deceased. Grissom leaned closer on one knee to find out exactly what they were dealing with.

"Ants." He announced in a hollow voice. "But there aren't any bite marks on the corpse so they must've only gotten into the coffin after it was opened by our guys."

Catherine was only partially listening to the report. She was far more concerned with the condition of her CSI. Fighting every motherly instinct within her, she refrained from going to him and offering her support. Her knowledge of Nick led her to believe that he would be better off with a little time to adjust to these new, and slightly horrifying, circumstances.

When Nick returned to the scene it was with a slightly pale, though highly determined face. He looked around him and at Catherine, giving her a small smile to let her know he was recovered from the wave of nausea that had hit him so suddenly. Catherine noticed that he was keen to keep his distance from the scene or perhaps it was just the ants he was trying to avoid.

"Sorry" he mumbled with a slightly ashamed look on his face.

"Don't be" his boss replied. "Listen, if you need to take off…"

"No I'm fine now" Nick assured her, "I just…I can't handle ants very well since…since…well you know…since they tried to eat me alive."

The small chuckle Nick let out to accompany this valiant effort to make light of the situation did little to assure Catherine that he was in fact ready to come back to active duty. On the contrary, she was more worried about him than she had been after reading the case in the first place.

"So what did you two find?" Nick seemed to be trying to bring everyone's mind back to the case and off of his recent display.

"Nothing big," Grissom answered immediately. He was climbing out of the hole with the dead body and was wearing his usual grim face. But I think I've found something in this box. As he climbed his partner noticed that he brandished a short, dark hair in a pair of tweezers, which was most likely the reason for his climb having been more than slightly awkward.

"Good find." Catherine patted Grissom on the back and took his free hand to help him up.

"Ya, I should have caught that." Nick's face was still displaying his feelings of embarrassment at the spectacle he'd caused earlier as he leaned forward pinching a small paper package in which to put the hair.

"No, it was blending in with the dirt there, I only saw it when I was trying to identify the species of ant. You should take this back to the lab and have it checked for DNA as soon as you can…I mean…well, I guess that's your call" he finished with a significant glance at Catherine.

"Sounds like a plan." She nodded to both of them and hid a snicker from Grissom at the way he was acting. It's definitely going to take him a bit to get used to this! "You can take my vehicle and I'll get a ride with Griss when we're all finished here."

Nick left the scene with Catherine's keys in one hand. He was trying not to think that the others were acting strangely towards him. He knew his episode had made them nervous, but he'd told them he was ready for this! Am I though? Nick sighed as he headed back towards the lab…was he just being paranoid…it seemed to him that things were not just going to slip back into place. Maybe this was going to take some time to get used to…for everyone.

Yes the chapter's very short but please review so I know whether to continue with the story!