Notes: While this story contains GSR, it is not the focus of the story and shouldn't prevent you from reading the full story. The reason it contains GSR is because I am trying to have the story fit (somewhat) within the timeline of the show.

Grissom and Sara have been dating for two years, given the starting point being shortly after Nick's kidnapping.

I am not going to show you who the killer is right away, but am leaving the field open for a couple chapters. While there are many theories as to whom the MK is, I have chosen three of the more popular ones as suspects. Yes, I know who I'm making the MK.

Thank you for the reviews.

Reason- Chapter 1

Early April 2007- two months before then end…

"I'm tired of hiding," Sara told Grissom as she leaned against the bedroom door.

He turned to face her, his expression neutral. For a moment he looked at her face; she was tired, not physically, but emotionally. A few soft strands of her hair fell across her right eye, and her back was pressed against the door. He walked to her and brushed the stray hairs behind her ear. "I know."

Her eyes were pained. "Do you? Do you honestly feel horrible about keeping our relationship a secret?" She was accusatory, but not angry. He didn't answer, causing her to become more agitated. "We've been dating for nearly two years now, and we've kept it a secret from everyone. Greg, Warrick, Brass, Catherine, Nick, Robbins, you know, our friends."

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "You know we can't tell anyone, it would endanger out jobs." He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm trying to protect you."

She sighed in resignation. "I know. I just hate keeping secrets from people."

David Hodges was used to spending his time alone; he didn't like it, but he was used to it. It saddened him that none of his co-workers were close to him, even though he tried to befriend them. Some of his friends from California still talked to him, but they knew him, which is why they talked to him. He supposed that he usually came off as obnoxious to some of his co-workers, even though it wasn't on purpose, it was just his personality. He didn't have a problem with Greg, and Greg didn't really have a problem with Hodges, making Greg his closest friend in Las Vegas. He always tried to impress his bosses, which was why he was more curt with everyone else, apparently his bosses weren't very impressed with him despite his efforts.

Before leaving for work, he paused to look around his apartment. It was neat and organized, not to mention exceedingly clean. He was an almost compulsive cleaner, making sure that no germs were living in his home. It was also fairly empty and barren. He didn't realize however, that Sara, Grissom, and Sofia all had homes in similar states of emptiness, with few pictures on the walls and few memories of the past to surround them. So even though he felt alone, he wasn't the only one.

Sophia Curtis spent her time working, sleeping, and running. She also sometimes spent time with some of her friends from Days, or from the police department. They were shallow friends, the kind you talked to about a lot of things, but never really opened up to. If she ever really opened up to someone, she would have told them about her family.

Most people knew that her mother worked somewhere in the police department. It was true; her mother did work as a warrants officer for the Las Vegas Police Department. What they didn't know was that until a few years ago, they hadn't talked for over a decade. No one knew that they were originally from California, and no one knew what her mother was like years earlier.

Her mother had always been a cop from as far back as she could remember. Unfortunately, he mother also developed a dependence on alcohol and found a boyfriend that was scum. Sophia was removed from their care and placed in a foster home. Her mother was allowed to have visits with her, but after Sophia went away to college, she stopped talking to her mother.

In more recent years, their relationship had mended some, but it would never heal completely. She still had nightmares about the treatment she had gone through while in her mother's care. She stretched before going on her afternoon run, trying to chase away her memories.

It would surprise many to learn that Sophia, Hodges, and Sara shared similar pasts. They had all been abused as children. They also had all been placed in foster care in the area of San Francisco, California during the 1980s.
After going through another long day of work, the Miniature Killer returned home. Alone in the apartment that few of their friends had entered, the killer's mind began to turn. The people who were supposed to die were dead, but the people in the lab were still awaiting the killer's return. The killer had to plan something new. Who would work as a victim, the killer wondered. If the puzzle was unsolved, then surely there had to be another victim. There was only one person that the killer could think of as the next, and possibly final victim. If the cards were played right, this would be the greatest puzzle that Las Vegas had ever seen.
To Be Continued...