"One Nightmare to Another"

Chapter Two

By: Faith/Hope&Love951

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of CSI. I am just writing this for fun and in hopes that others will enjoy the story.

Gil Grissom looked at the body that lay on the floor, he closed his eyes for a moment and only hearing someone clear their throat did he open them. He could see that the man that stood before him was having a hard time. He himself was having a hard time in the crime scene that use to be Nick Stokes home.

"Thanks for coming so quickly David," he heard Jim Brass say as they both turned to look at Grissom.

Not knowing what to say David knelt down beside the body. It was the same size as Nick, but as anyone in the room could tell, there was no way to ID the body at the present location. There had been too much damage. He examined the charred remains and looked up at Grissom. "Cause of death is gunshot wound to the side of the head. I really can't tell more than that here, but after getting him back to the lab, we'll be able to examine the body more carefully and give you more."

David's eyes filled with tears as he stood. "Sorry this happened to him."

Grissom shook his head; "We're not assuming anything until we know for a fact that this is Nick. Until we do, this is another John Doe." With that he started doing his job. Processing the room. He had given the other rooms and the outside of their friends home to the other CSI's, not wanting them to have to witness what he had to while processing the living room.

He continued to do his job until he saw the body bag that now held the remains being zipped up. His only thought was how he had watched Nick inside the Plexiglas casket. A single tear ran down his cheek as he watched David head out of the room.

Outside, Warrick watched as David and another examiner exited the house. The body that had been found in the house was being brought out by the two men and it took all the willpower he had not to rush over to find out for sure. Instead he turned his attention to the other CSI who was watching the examiners load up and head out. Neither he, nor Catharine said a word; they knew what the other was thinking. They had a job to do and they weren't going to leave a stone unturned until they got the information that they needed.

Faith Hope and Love

Pulling open the drawer, David turned to his boss. "This isn't going to be easy. The body is really charred." He said as he uncovered the remains.

Robbins looked down at the body before him. Some days he really hated his job and today was defiantly one of them. Looking to where David stood staring down at the corpse he knew that even though the young man was the one that had pick up the body that lay before them he still was having a hard time of it. "Would you like to leave the room while I do this or do you want to stay." He placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "I'll understand if you want to leave. This isn't going to be easy."

Clearing his throat to stop himself from losing it, David turned tear filled eyes toward the older man. "I'll be ok."

"You sure?"

Nodding David looked back down at the body. "Yeah."

Robbins turned his attention back to the task at hand. "The only way that we're going to be able to ID him is through dental records. The body is too far gone to ID any other way."

The younger man just nodded as they started the task before.

Faith Hope and Love

Hodges waited for the printout to come out of the printer and looked at Sara. She had brought in a sample of what had been used to cause such an uncontrollable fire in Nick's house. "You were right. It was defiantly kerosene."

Reading over the printout Sara nodded. From the smell alone she knew what it was, but she still wanted to make sure everything was done right. "Thanks," she said in a small voice before heading toward the door. She was almost in the hallway when David called her name. Turning she looked toward him.

"Do they know yet?" He asked.

Shaking her head she excited the room and headed toward where Warrick was going over a shoeprint he had gotten from in front of the back window to Nick's home. "We were right, the house was drenched in kerosene."

Warrick looked up from the shoe draft. "The shoe was a man's size 10 and a half. Looks like a work boot of some sort, but I have to run it to know for sure what make." He motioned for her to come on in. "How are you holding up?"

She shook her head; "I'm just trying to work on the case right now. I can't let myself believe that Nick was in that house, but I…" She couldn't go one, even knowing that she needed to stay strong, her mind kelp playing the scene of Nick inside that casket and the sounds of his cries as they were trying to free him.

"We're all scared… right now. We've just need to stay focused. I know it's going to be hard, but if you need anyone to talk to, you know where to find me." Warrick said going closer to where she stood.

"I know you're right…but how can this be happening so soon after Nick was buried like that," she couldn't stop the tears that were now falling. "This isn't right. He should be home right now. Getting better…"

Warrick went to her side, pulling her into a comforting embraces. "Everything is going to be alright. One way or another…it will." Even as he said it, he himself couldn't believe those words.

"What about if that wasn't Nick? What if he was taken again? How can he deal with that right now? You know how he was in the hospital. He was barely hanging on." She pulled away from Warrick. "You know what that means. That chances are his brother was the one killed."

"If that is the case, we're going to find Nick and bring him home." He let his eyes meet hers. "If that's the case, we will help him like we did before. As his friends, we'll be there for him."

She broke the eye contact as Warrick's cell phone started to ring.

"Warrick. Yeah, Sara's with me, we'll meet you there," he closed up his phone and looked at Sara. "That was Catherine, they have the results back on the dental records. We have an meeting in fifteen minutes to discuss what we have so far."

Faith Hope and Love

Sara, Warrick and Greg sat around the conference table waiting for Catherine and Grissom to enter, each knowing that the information they were going to be given would change their lives. Each one cursing the one they believed was responsible, Nigel Crane. After waiting five minutes Catherine and Grissom walked though the door. In their hands the each held a folder.

From the looks on their faces, it wasn't good new. Catherine opened the folder that she was carrying as she took a seat. At that moment, it seemed that everyone was sitting on pins and needles.

"Ok, we have a name to the body…" Grissom said passing out some papers. Team members started to read as Grissom told them what they had been waiting hours to know.

To be continued...

Author's Notes: I want to thank everyone who has read this story and everyone that has reviewed the first chapter. I am glad that you are enjoying it. Your kind words were wonderful. Thank you.