A/N: So originally i intended to include some Greg in this chapter but i decided to split it into two chapters so it's a little more consistent. I have the next chapter typed already just making one final decision and it will be up in a couple days or tomorrow, depending on how fast i can make up my mind.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS/FOLLOWS/FAVORITES. You guys are ridiculous! but in a good way. :P

As always, if anything confuses you or just sounds silly, feel free to message me or call me out on it in a review.

Stay beautiful,

Pinazee

"Look mr. officer sir, I was try*hiccup*tryin' to get the money that was due to me," slurred Marleys Ex-wife Tanya Baker. She was a slender woman but it was drug induced, making her gaunt and bony. She had dark red hair with splits of gray dripping throughout. She would have been a lovely woman but years of cigarettes and alcohol made her look as if she was rotting on the inside out.

Jim had dealt with her kind before; They were traveling down a road of loneliness and lost themselves along the way. Now, Jim has talked to many family members who have lost a loved one but the people he felt sorry for the most was sitting in a chair clenching a cup of decaf coffee across the room. They lived in a hollow shell waiting for death to sweetly take them away. Without purpose, they would seek other means of filling the silence- through drugs or the bottom of a bottle- and yet nothing would fill their souls with happiness. They survived but didn't live. Ellie, his daughter, seemed to be going down that path and it scared him to death. Like any father, Jim wanted nothing more than his daughter to be happy and he wasn't so sure she was. But he had no way of knowing, she never contacted him. Even after his accident, Ellie was distant.

Tanya Baker was currently fighting an upcoming migraine and the man across from her was not helping at all. When she first got here, the immediately took her to this room and left her there with some coffee to sober her up a bit. Jim had walked in about an hour later.

"Alright Ms. Baker, are you ready to tell us why you were there?" Tanya dropped her shoulders and leaned her head against the table. Jim could hear her mumbling something incoherent.

"Could you say it to me please?" Tanya lifted her head up and dropped it sloppily into her free hand.

"I just told you. I just wanted the money that bastard owned me. Did you hear me that time or do I need to write it down for you?" Years he has listened to snide remarks and been assaulted, these little comments to him were like bug bites-annoying as hell but only irritating if scratched.

"No need. I'm just saying it's pretty convenient that you happened to be at the house the day his family got murdered." His steal eyes pierced her like a knife and she straightened up in her seat a bit.

"Look, I don't know anything about that. I was just getting off my shift and decided to hit the bar. I've been lookin' for this man for 12 years now. That bastard never once paid his rent the whole time we were livin' together. He just kept usin' and spendin' and usin' and spendin'. And now I find out he's livin' the good life with some housewife and his precious son. He owed me and that night I finally found where he was holed up, so I took a cab and when I got there you guys were already rummaging through his frickin' mansion. Bastard. Look can I go now, I've gotta get somewhat coherent before my shift starts in-" Tanya looked at her wrists then dug through her purse. "Did you take my watch?"

"You must have dropped it somewhere. Look, I have just a couple more questions and then you can skip your merry way. Why did it take you so long to find him? There are phone books, social media sites, all kinds of ways to find someone nowadays. Nothings private."

"Marbar got in some sort a trouble in the early days. He's been stayin' under the radar ever since."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know he was with that tramp when it happened. She disappeared with him."

"How long ago was this?"

"10, 15 years I guess."

"Well which was it, 10 or 15?"

"It was a long time ago and I barely remembered to put on my shoes these days."

"Do you know who gave you his address?" Tanya smiled.

"Didn't talk much, his mouth was busy with other things." Tanya got a haze in her eyes like she was watching a movie off in the distance. "I was sittin' all by my lonesome and this buff guy sits down next to me and leans in real close and says to me 'I've been looking for you all day.' and I was real confused so I told him, 'we've never met, back off I've had a long day' and he says to me, 'of course we've met, you were in my dreams last night rockin' my world.' Now i'm like real pissed and stuff so I give him the finger and scoot down. He follows me and normally I'd have given him so many curses he'd have been deflating like a popped balloon but he just gave me this look like he was lonely too. So I pat the seat next to me and he sits down all happy and he asks me, 'so what are you drinking away tonight?' and I tell him about Marley and my job and he tells me about this guy that stole something of his ages ago too and he finally had to confront him. I asked him if the guy was smart enough to give him his thing back but he said he had sold it already and well things ended up moving to the mens bathroom from there."

"Is there a point to this?" asked Brass counting the seconds go by. Tanya looked offended.

"Yeah, when the guy in the bar dropped his pants a paper slipped out of his pocket. After our little fun, I noticed it and saw it was my Marbars name and address so I went to find him. Pretty lucky I ran into that guy actually or I'd have never found him."

"Ma'am, your ex-husband was found murdered the day you showed up to his house and a CSI was attacked at the scene, I wouldn't really call that lucky. Do you have any way of contacting bathroom man?"

"Nah, it was kind of a one time only deal. It was at Gino's Bar, the bartender Rich could probably tell you more."

"Do you still have the card?"

"I think it's in my purse." Tanya began rummaging through her little pink satchel. Brass immediately reached over and grabbed her hand, stopping her from potentially tampering with evidence.

"I'm afraid your purse is now evidence. We're going to have to take it."

"Of course. I only paid for it with my money but sure it's all yours."

"You'll get it back when we're done. Back to your story, can you at least give us a description of the guy besides 'buff'?"

"Umm, tall I guess. I don't know man I was hammered. Like I said, Rich can probably tell you more." At that point, he realized he wasn't going to get anything else useful from her. He closed his notepad, thanked her for her time, and stood up ready to find sanctuary in his office.

Tanya turned to him suddenly and said, "Hey is it possible for me to see my Marbar one last time?" Brass was confused. This woman openly hated this man and yet she had a look on her face that was genuinely sad. Why is it so hard for people to be honest with themselves thought Brass.

"I'm afraid the morgue isn't open for public viewing." Brass walked out shaking his head in disapproval and headed towards his office running into Nick in the hallways.

"Hey Nick, I have a place for you to check out."

In the lab next door Morgan was processing the boot prints Greg had found leading into the alleyway. She tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail, swishing her bangs behind her ears and got to work. She put a see through sheet over the photo and sketched out the imprint, taking her time to fit the curves perfectly. It became a challenge in parts because the entire print wasn't there. She had to fill in a lot of blank spots with what she thought might belong. Her mind kept wondering as well. All the "what if" questions circled around in her head like a vulture taking it's time for it's dinner to die. What if Greg hadn't lived? What if he was taken instead? What if it was Nick? She didn't realize she had stopped drawing until Finn came inside.

Finn leaned her head into the doorway, knocked on the inside panel, and said, "Hey, have you finished the boots yet? I need the light table next."

Morgan looked down and realized she had only finished half of it. She said, "Oh, umm I should be done soon." Finn was never really good with emotions, whether it was figuring out others or her own, but something seemed off about Morgan. There wasn't really anything to notice, it was more like a silent buzzing noise surrounded her, as if she could see her mind fighting itself to come to a conclusion.

Finn walked in casually, clutching her files, and said, "Hey Morgan are you okay? You seem a little...distracted." Morgan looked up from her work.

She had no intention of sharing her thoughts. She wasn't really sure how she could explain it anyways if she couldn't figure them out herself. She looked to Finn, giving her the best smile she could and said, "Yeah I'm fine. Are you okay?" Finn just smiled back, knowing full well she was anything but fine. She tried to deduce what could be running through her mind right now. It didn't take long for her to connect Greg to the problem. It wasn't a secret around the lab, Morgan liked Greg, Greg liked Morgan, but they both seemed too afraid to go further. Usually the entire lab would conspire to get two people together, but because Morgan was Ecklie's daughter, they didn't want to interfere and get on the bad side of the boss. It was probably for the best anyways. Something like this needed to come naturally to them and in their own time. Whether or not Ecklie knew of them was completely undetectable. He didn't talk casually to coworkers except his daughter, and they had a well established strained relationship that she wouldn't have told him anything anyways.

"You know, it could have been a lot worse in that alley. Kind of makes you think how quickly life can slip away from you. It makes me want to go skydiving." Morgan looked at her with a strange smile.

"What does skydiving have to do with anything?" Finn leaned on the table and grinned dreamily.

"It's just something I've always wanted to do, but was too scared to. I just don't want to die before I had the chance." Finn became serious and stood up. "Back in Seattle I lost a close friend of mine on the job. Before she was killed though, we had a big fight. Over something as frivolous as a lost camera. The morning before she passed away however, I found the camera in my apartment. When I found out later what had happened to her, it was like someone had stuffed their hand down my throat and squeezed my heart until it burst. The worst part is that I never got the chance to apologize to her. She died believing I hated her." Finn breathed in deep for a second to prevent herself from tearing open old wounds. A hungry silence filled the room.

"Finn..." Morgan said quietly. she didn't know what to say. Every sentence she came up with sounded empty and useless.

Finn finally said,"This job takes away so much from us- our social life, our families, even chips away at our soul- don't let it take away your chance at happiness." Then she simply nodded at the man walking by. Morgan looked over to see Greg deep in thought with a file in hand. She smiled to herself and looked back at Finn, who winked at her and walked away. Morgan had to process what she just said to her but when she looked down she realized she still had work to do. She began sketching the rest of the boot to distract her from the new "what if's" floating around in her head. What if she asked him out? What if he turned her down?

What if he didn't?

She looked up to find Greg in the next lab talking to Hodges and she pictured herself walking straight up to him, confidence displayed like a billboard, and giving him a passionate kiss and him returning it right back.

She frowned as she watched him walk back out with a furrow in his brow, shattering the daydream, and she went back to copying boot prints.

Thank's for reading :)