Disclaimer: don't own it.

Spoilers: season seven

Greg Sanders drained the last of his coffee from the mug, then went over to the trace lab, to see if Hodges had made any progress with his soil samples. They needed to find the primary crime quickly.

Hodges looked over at the lab rat turned CSI. "Heard you told off the under sheriff. Not the best career move, if you ask me."

That was quick, Greg thought. I yelled at him less then ten minutes ago and it's all over the lab. To Hodges, he said, "I'm not asking you. Now where are you with my dirt?"

The trace shrugged, a little miffed that Greg didn't want to play right now. "The sample contained a mineral found near an office that your suspect's father owns."

"Thank you." He handed Hodges the sample from Jack's shoes. "See if you can match it with this." Sanders grabbed a copy of the report off the printer and went to find his boss. He knew that Grissom would be a lot more upset if he heard from McKean our somebody else before Greg told him about what happened.

Grissom himself was reading something in his office. As Greg opened the door, the Billy Bass that was above the frame began to sing.

Gil looked at him. "There's something I need to talk to you about…" Greg started.

Then Grissom's phone went off. "Hang on."

Greg fought back a groan. He would bet his entire supply of Blue Hawaiian coffee that McKean was on the other line.

After listening for a few seconds, Gil's eyes went up to Greg, first confused, then a little exasperated. "I think he's out in the field at the moment, but I'll talk to him as soon as he comes back." Then he hung up the phone.

"What happened? McKean said that you were insubordinate, and wants me to suspend you, or least pull you off the case. He thinks that you have a problem with authority."

Greg sighed. "I have a problem with political assholes." He explained the situation, and the details of the case.

Grissom looked over at him. "Well, at least you came to me." He paused, then tried to figure out his next move. You said that you've got a lead. Go check it out. Let me deal with McKean."

"I'm still on case?" Greg was surprised.

Grissom nodded. "You didn't do anything wrong." He grinned at his youngest CSI. "Nick called right before you got here. He wanted to make sure that I knew what really happened. Just do one thing for me."

"What?"

"Next time, let me yell at the annoying politicians."

Greg rolled his eyes and thanked his boss before heading out the door. He hurried out before Grissom changed his mind.

Nick was waiting for him in the parking lot, along with Horatio and Brass.

"I heard that Hodges has a lead on our primary crime scene."

Greg nodded. "Was just going to page you. We need something get something to hold on, and fast."

"Then let's get going." Horatio led the way to one of the department Denalis.

Nick made a beeline for the driver's seat, but Greg beat him to it. "My case, I'm driving." Stokes just rolled his eyes and climbed into the back.

Brass and Horatio exchanged an amused look. It was going to be a long drive to the scene. After a few arguments, they put a classic rock station on the radio, and then turned on the air conditioner. They didn't say much on the way out to the old office building.

When they finally got there, the sun was starting to set. The building itself was sitting on the edge of the dessert. It looked empty and abandoned.

They pulled up to it and climbed out of the truck. Jim and Horatio enter first, with their guns drawn. Nick stood just behind them with his own weapon.

Greg hung back a little bit until they cleared the scene, as he was unarmed. After confirming that they were alone in the building, Sanders, Nick, and Lt. Caine searched the building, looking for any evidence that this was where the murder had taken place.

After a few minutes, Jim's phone went off. He went outside to get a clearer signal.

Nick went to check the second floor while Greg and Horatio searched the offices on the first floor. Greg noticed that a lock on one of the doors was broken. It was clear that somebody had forced his or her way in.

The dust around it wasn't as thick as the rest of the building, either. Greg thought that he had found the primary scene. He looked over at Horatio. He was on the other side of the building, out of hearing range. Greg shook his head and opened the door.

He could see there were signs a of struggle in the room. There was an odd smell in the air that lent an ominous feeling to the room, though Greg could figure out why it was He could see blood spatter on the walls and furniture. He photographed it and swabbed a few samples, figuring that Ashley must have been trying to run during the attack. Doc Robbins had mentioned that she had defensive wounds.

After putting the swabs back into his kit, Greg picked up the camera again. He had noticed some shoeprints in the dust. They seemed to be about the same size as the ones Nick had found at the dump site.

Then, he followed them over to a file cabinet. He dusted for prints on the draw handles, finding some on the bottom drawer. Greg lifted them and opened it. What he saw made his blood run cold.

It looked like a bomb. Greg fought back panic. He knew he didn't have much time left before it went off, and now realized why the smell in room was bothering him so much.

Thinking quickly, Greg took a few photographs to reference later and then shut off his camera. He then pulled out the SD card and put it in a pocket, figuring that it had a better chance of escaping damage then the entire camera.

He closed up his kit to try and protect the contents and then ran out to find Horatio and Nick.

Horatio heard Greg yelling and ran over, asking him what was wrong.

"We need to find Nick and get out here right now. No time to explain." Greg was surprised by how calm he sounded.

Horatio nodded. "I think he went upstairs." The two of them turned toward the stairs.

Then the bomb exploded. Greg was knocked to the floor, hit by a piece of flying debris. He put up his hand to protect his face just as something else collided with it. The object was burning hot.

After a second or two, Sanders forced himself to move. He was terrified, but was more worried about Nick. He felt a twinge through his ribs as he climbed up, but he had more important things to worry about.

The air was filled with smoke. Greg could barely make out Horatio lying two feet away from him. He went over and helped him up. By now the entire building was on fire, and they still had one person unaccounted for.

Nick. Greg and Horatio ran over to where the stairs used to be. The floor above them had partially collapsed. It was hard to see anything in the thick smoke, but Greg finally saw his friend, pinned under some heavy beams. He looked more or less okay.

Greg led the way over to help him. He paused a moment when the smoke started to making him a little woozy. Then he and Horatio reached Nick.

Working together, the two of them managed to free him. They had just pulled him out when a loud crash informed them that they were running out of time.

Greg tried to help Nick up, but Stokes outweighed him by a good fifty pounds. There was no way Greg could get him out alone.

Caine saw the problem and walked over to Nick's other side. The two them managed to get him outside, where Brass had all ready called for help.

The last thing that Greg remembered was hearing the sirens approach as he lost conciseness.

A/N: Sorry to leave you there, but I have to go. The next one will be up tomorrow. Thank you for reviewing. I really do love to read them. Maybe the cliffhanger will get more of you to do it. LOL Please let me know what you think.