Summary: Strange events in the form of murder leave nothing, but trouble and confusion. Nick and Warrick are pulled into a world they were not ready for. It threatens not only their lives, but their sanity.

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: Hello, hello, hello! Well, found out the eye issue and what do ya know, have an eye infection. Ah, yay to me. Man, do I ever loath having to do anything eyeball related. Things give me the willies. But onto the fan fiction thing, I have tried out that reply option in the reviews page for the last two chapters last night. I will not be able to do that regularly, but will try as much as I can. Time is running short for me as it is. So I hope it worked for everyone I tried it with. But thanks to the people (MJ and Joy for the last two!) I am unable to do so with. You still help me out a lot with my confidence in this story. So onto the new chapter and another piece to the puzzle. Enjoy as always and see you all again. Bye!

Title: Poisonous Fear

By: duffshel

#13

Detective Vega got out his squad car slowly. His body was sore, but he had gotten some sleep. Now if he could just get some of his worries off his chest, he would be fresher than a rose. There was something he wanted to check over before he went to check with Grissom on what needed to be done yet. Nothing had panned out with the brother-in-law and the dogs. There was no brother-in-law.

He walked down the hallway of the CSI lab, nodding at the people he passed. There were no qualms here for him. Vega respected these people and their hard work. If not for them, his job would be completely pointless. He could arrest all he wanted, but he needed someone to make it stick.

The two CSI's were already in the room, but he highly doubted they were at all waiting for him. Hell, he hadn't said he was going to stop by. As far as any of them knew, he was sitting at his desk in the department. But they had the sheets he needed.

"Hey guys."

Catherine and Greg looked up at the cop as he entered the room. Neither was surprised by the visit, "Hey, what do you need Sam?"

"I just wanted to look over some stuff and knew you guys would have it."

"Sure, take a look at whatever," Catherine waved her hand absently over the files spread out over the large table.

Sam didn't need a bigger invitation to sit. His eyes darted around over the titles on the files and found the two he wanted. Neither CSI glanced to see what he grabbed and he didn't say a word about them. These were the lists. He just hoped something came from looking over all these damn names. It was really something he should have done earlier, when Nick showed him Johnson's name.

He wanted to know about the other two families of those kids. Something made him want to check for their names. As he scanned the list of members for that church, neither of the other parents made the list. So much for that train of thought. But he caught another list.

With a frown on his face, Vega pulled the other list from the other folder. This was the one he had given to the CSI's. It was the list from Mr. White's office. Without thinking too much about it, Vega allowed his eyes to roam the white paper. But it was about half way down that they stopped completely.

"What!"

Catherine looked up at the cop as he began to ruffle through the two name lists that they had. He seemed excited about something. This might be a good thing. She lifted herself out of her chair a little more to see if she could make out what he was trying to do.

The detective didn't notice the movement of the woman sitting across from him as he matched the names, "Well, well. Something finally works."

"What did you find?"

"I found a match from both of the lists. I think I might have something for the White's"

This announcement made Greg dismiss what he was looking at and study the man in front of him, "You found our suspect?"

"Not for sure, but this man's name is on both lists. I agree with Jim on this one that it all is somehow connected to that place. And since this guy works with our late Mr. White, it is the best lead I can think of."

"So what's the name," Catherine stood, "We'll need an address."

"We?"

"Of course. Greg and I are going to accompany you to the man's house and take a look around. Can't leave you to break our case now can we?"

Vega laughed and shook his head. He didn't have anything to respond with and simply followed Catherine from the room. There was the sound of a chair scrapping along the floor and knew that Greg was coming. It was just too bad they didn't have a warrant for this.

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

The house of Brian Dubois wasn't too shabby. It was a little gaudy for Catherine's tastes, but it was an impressive size. She stood behind Vega as the other man rang the doorbell. Greg was holding his kit in his right hand, gently bumping it on his leg as they waited. The younger man was happy to be out of the lab. Catherine could tell.

It took almost a full minute before the lock was clicked out of place and the knob began to turn. The door swung open to reveal an extremely tall, pale man with dark brown hair, gray streaks running through it. Mr. DuBois looked like he hadn't slept in awhile or was up all last night drinking.

"Brain DuBois? I am Sam Vega with the LVPD and these are CSI Willows and Sanders with the crime lab. We are here to ask you a few questions. Is it alright if we come in?"

The man looked completely confused, "Ask me about what? I paid that parking ticket I got last month. No warrant for arrest needed. I was trying to sleep."

"This will only take a few minutes. And no, this is not about a traffic violation. We are here to see if you know anything about what might have happened to your coworker Mr. Ralph White or his wife."

Catherine watched as the man thought it over before he finally waved them inside. He kept looking behind them as if waiting for someone to jump out of the bushes. She followed and was led into a large living room with very plush furniture. It seemed that being an accountant paid very well.

"So what happened to White? Did he do something stupid?"

"No, he is dead. Along with his wife. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Vega sat down on the edge of the large couch next to the CSI's.

DuBois' mouth dropped and his eyes got large, "Dead! Wow, I just saw the guy at work the other day. But no, I didn't even know he was dead. It is a shame. He was a hard worker."

"You were not friends?" Greg couldn't believe the detachment of the other man.

"No, just worked together. He got the promotion instead of me. Guy was a counting machine. No one could keep up with him. I just saw him by the coffee pot."

"So you would say you were jealous of him?"

The tall, skinny man turned to face Vega at the question, "Everyone was. He was the boss' favorite employee. Someday he was going to make partner."

"Do you attend a religious group called the Church of Gods?" Catherine asked suddenly.

"Yes…what does that have to do with anything?"

"A member of the church is also dead," Vega rubbed his hands together, "But that doesn't apply to what we need from you today."

"You think I murdered them? That is insane!"

Mr. Dubois jumped to his feet and began to pace his living room. His face was contorted up in anger and something else that Catherine couldn't figure out. Something was not being said here. This guy was up to no good, that was for sure.

Greg began to feel uncomfortable with the man walking in front of him like a caged tiger and got to his feet. He walked over the large glass door in the far wall. The backyard to the property was impressive underneath the patio lights, lots of green grass and a few trees. And there was pretty decent sized pool sitting in a cement patio. Greg admired it all when something caught his eye.

"Mr. Dubois, when was the last time you cleaned your pool?"

Everyone turned to face the youngest man in the room. Greg could feel a blush rising on his cheeks, but knew he couldn't let it show. He needed to be strong and confident to get respect from this man.

"I had the guys here yesterday, why?"

"Have they started with a new cleaner? I have never seen one that leaves yellow stains on the cement."

Catherine rushed over to look at the pool as soon as Greg finished speaking. Without thinking about it, she pulled the corner of her shirt out and used it to cover her hand as she opened the door. Once she was to the edge of the pool, she could make out yellow stains over the entire inside of the pool and all around on the cement.

"Sam, I think we are going to need to ask Mr. Dubois a few more questions."

Mr. Dubois began to sweat and fidget at the announcement. He knew what this meant and he knew what a bad liar he was. This was not going to go well. He should have said no. There was no resistance when he felt the cop take his arms and pull them behind him. The cuffs were cold on his flesh.

"You are going to come down to the station with us. Do you have a lawyer?"

"No, but I know one. He's a friend."

Sam nodded his head and turned to remove the man from his own house. He needed to call for backup and have this place sealed off. The two CSI's were going to have some work to do. Yellow spots in a pool were enough to question him, but not hold him. They needed proof.

Catherine walked back in and grabbed the kit bag from where Greg sat it next to the couch. She handed Greg a couple swabs as she got ready to take a few pictures of the area. This was a potential crime scene and they needed to get it documented. If this was their guy, he wasn't going to get away with it.

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

Brass walked through the police department hallways at a pace that kept everyone back. No one had the nerve to approach him while he was in that state. He really couldn't remember a time he had been so angry. This was getting ridiculous and quickly. And that damn CSI was not answering his phone. What kind of supervisor didn't answer his phone!

Andrew Kehls sat in a chair down a ways in order to stay out of the path of fire, but was not going to leave his Captain out of his sights. He had been assigned to work with the older man for the night. And he knew that if he were to look away for a moment, Brass would be gone. That would not look good for the young cop trying to make something out of himself.

The older cop walked towards Kehls and abruptly stopped. Brass turned and pressed his back onto the wall, "I swear, that Grissom is going to drive me into early retirement."

"Why don't we just go to the house and wait for him there?"

Brass lifted an eyebrow at the suggestion. It wasn't odd for him to be at the scene first, then have the CSI's arrive after. And it would piss the other man off. Brass couldn't stop the grin from rising on his face. He looked at the man sitting by him. The kid was going to have talent.

"You're right. Get you stuff. We are driving over there. Grissom can just get off his ass and meet us."

Without waiting to see if Kehls got up to follow him or not, Brass pushed off the wall and made to head to the exit. The two men maybe got twenty feet before they were stopped by an interesting sight. It seemed the Vega had finally arrested a man too tall for him. The brown haired man towered over the cop, but it was good to see that he wasn't putting up any resistance. In fact, the man looked defeated.

Catherine and Greg stood off to the side as Mr. Dubois was booked and being made ready to have his prints and photo taken before questioning. The two CSI's noticed Brass and Kehls staring at them and waved the two over. The blonde haired woman couldn't help, but notice the odd look the younger man was giving their suspect.

"Jim, Andrew. How's it going?"

Brass coughed, "Not too terrible except for the fact that your boss seems to be okay with not answering his phone."

"Yeah, he does that sometimes," Catherine smiled.

Officer Kehls was still starring at the tall man as if he was trying to remember why this man was triggering his interest. The young man knew he had seen, even talked to this guy before. It just wasn't coming to the front of his mind. He could hear the others talking, but he was locked up in his own head, sorting through his memories.

"What did you need to talk with Grissom about?"

"We got a new 419 call. It seems that arresting Mr. Johnson might not have been a very good idea."

Catherine crinkled her face in confusion. "What?"

"It seems that someone broke into the Johnson home," Brass sighed, "Veronica Johnson's body was found in the kitchen. A neighbor went over to ask for something, looked in a window and saw her on the floor, lots of blood. This was around nine this evening, supposedly, but the call didn't come in 'til thirty minutes ago. I have to two cops there now."

"We were going to join them," Kehls finally pulled his attention for Dubois as the other man was lead away into the back rooms.

"Paramedics?"

"Already left. Called in for Phillips and left the place to the cops. And Catherine, the kid is missing."

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

It was so quiet in the lab. He finally understood the need that Greg had to play music, loudly, in his DNA lab. Warrick wished he had that ability. But he knew Mia would probably kill him over the choice of tunes. He liked life way too much to even tempt it.

The doors to the lab rooms were all open to help with the heat that kept coming from somewhere. He could hear Hodges mumbling something to himself across the hall. It was annoying to say the least. Someone had to take that guy out back and beat him for a few minutes. That might help a lot.

Warrick rubbed at his eyes with his forearm. Looking in a microscope this long was making him go cross eyed. His respect for Mia was going up notch by notch, but he would never let the woman know. It would work against him in the end. He was about to say something to her when a shout of triumph came from across the hall.

"Well, it seems that Hodges has come up with something," Mia smiled.

"Yeah, about time to."

The two crossed the expanse of the hallway and entered the trace lab. The man inside was not surprised to see them, "Things a little dull over there in DNA?"

"We were wondering what in the world could cause you to show some sign of human life," Warrick said simply.

"It just so happens that I made the match between the paint the victim was drowned in and what Catherine sent in from that pool. Exact same make up. It is what one could call chrome yellow if they understood it. But most people call it sunshine yellow though I did find a hint of a green shade as well. Lead chromate in this sample was diluted by numerous lead salts to achieve this color. It is common in most hardware stores so there is no way to really get an exact location on where it was bought from."

Warrick nodded, "So this guy was at the murder. He might be able to give us the information that Mr. Johnson won't."

"Hold back their big boy," Mia smirked, "But you are still stuck with me. No CSI work for you. All you get to add to this case is DNA papers."

"Don't remind me…" was all he got out before Mia dragged him away from Hodges and his information on the yellow paint.

TBC…