A/N: Thank you all for reading (re-reading, sorry :( ) and sticking with this. Chapter was inspired by Drowning Pool's song Bodies.

I should warn you all I have gallows humor, I study crime for a living so I am a bit desensitized to it, so I apologize in advance if any of my handling of the violence within the next chapters (include this one) is a bit callous. According to my Shrink GF (GF who is a shrink not my shrink cause that would be unethical) i have issues with inappropriate humor, she's right.

Chapter 10: Let the Bodies Hit the Floor

Parking his car outside the bank, Grissom decided to expedite the process and called the acting bank manager, John, from the parking lot. "Hello John, This is Gil Grissom from Las Vegas …"

"I remember Dr. Grissom, what can I do for you?" John asked in a polite voice.

"I am outside the bank and need to speak with a few employees again, as well as you. We had a break in the case."

"Of course anything we can do to help. I am away from the bank at the moment, but should be back within the hour. If you want to start with some of my employees until then. The security guard should remember you."

"Thank you." Gil responded hanging up the phone after saying goodbye.

Grissom walked into the bank thinking it was a good idea he did not invite Brass along because he did not need another lecture about his health.

"Hello Dr. Grissom." The security guard greeted him. "Back with more questions?"

"Yes." Grissom responded trying to remember the guards name and failing, "Who is in charge of arranging catering?"

"That would be Betty, the director's administrative assistant."

"I need to speak with Betty. Is she here?"

"She should be upstairs. I can call her to come down and get you. If you want to go wait over there" The guard indicated to an empty chair in front of an empty desk, "I am sure she will be down in a few minutes." The guard was trying to be helpful because he truly felt bad about what happened to Mark and his family. The details that were in the paper were gruesome and he knew in investigation like this they kept some of the more gory details out of the papers.

"Thanks." Grissom said feeling in his bones that this was the connection between the two families if there was one.

Sitting in the chair Grissom watched the bank operate around him. He saw Betty making her way over to him, but his attention was drawn away by a group of suspicious men walking into the bank.

It was not like he had expected, he saw the pieces fall together but the minute he realized exactly what was going on it was too late. Each of the men had walked in together, the first sign of things to come was the duffle bag one of the men carried. The other two men had the black backpacks they were reaching in. Before Grissom could even call out to warn anyone, one of the four men pulled a 9mm Glock out of the backpack, and put it right against the guards head, pulling the trigger and killing the helpful bank guard instantly.

Grissom stood in his spot, knowing any movement would likely result in him or one of the other bystanders being shot. Screams filled the air, and those who tried to run towards the entrance where either shot or a bullet whizzed by their feet stopping them in their tracks. Grissom grabbed Betty, who was pregnant, and managed to reach him before the chaos started. She was trying to rush towards the exit, and he knew the men would not hesitate to kill her like they had the guard and some of the other hostages who tried to rush the door. She struggled to pull her arm free of his grasp. Grissom called to her, "Betty stop. Just listen to them and everything will be ok. I promise."

Betty looked at Grissom terrified, but listened to him because he was law enforcement and he had to know about these type of things.

"Everyone shut up." One of the helmeted men yelled over the screaming voices.

It quieted down quickly and the three other men herded the people in the bank to the center of the room. Grissom pulled Betty with him, shielding her from the gunman who had a gun pointed at them and only a few inches from his head as walked towards the middle of the room like everyone else. At the same time another man herded the people from behind the bank counter to the center of the room.

"Down on your knees" One of the men ordered everyone. "If you want to live all you have to do is follow the rules. Rule 1: Don't make any noise or move. Rule 2: Do as you are told. Rule 3: Don't try to be a hero. Each time one of you breaks a rule, two people die."

The man enunciated the last line by pressing his gun against the head of the hostage closest to him, which happened to be Grissom's. "Now everyone take your cellphones out, remove the battery if you have an iPhone smash it, and than put your phone in the bag my colleague, Mr. Two, is bringing around. Failure to comply will result in two people being shot in the head."

"Two and three watch the hostages. Four go search the bank for more people." The leader said. Grissom noted the man had a scar that ran from his right eye down to his ear. He was a male approximately 35 years old, medium build, black hair, green eyes, and there appeared to be a tattoo on his wrist but it was hard to make out. The man who must be one, was referring to his colleagues as numbers.

Pushing the gun harder into Grissom's temple, "What are you staring at?"

"Nothing." Grissom said diverting his gaze.

"Keep it that way and no one will get hurt." The man said removing the gun from Grissom's head. The leader, Mr. One, walked away towards the front doors. Grissom's view was blocked by Mr Two who was standing over him waiting for Grissom to grab his phone and take the battery out.

"Your phone." Mr. Two ordered looking down at Grissom.

Grissom reached in his pocket and pulled out the phone. He ignored the gun trained on him while he pulled out the battery and threw it into the bag.

Mr. Two moved on down the line of hostages and when he finished he threw the bag behind the counter away from the hostages. Someone would have to race across the bank and over counter to reach the bag. The chances of one of the hostages doing that without one of the robbers noticing was slim.

Mr. One was behind the counter emptying the tills. He called out to his men, "Two minutes."

However, shortly after the first cop car appeared outside the bank. Some idiot drove to the scene of the bank robbery with his sirens blaring, alerting the robbers that the police where outside.

Mr. One vaulted over the counter, "Who triggered the silent alarm?" He asked grabbing one of the women out of the hostages and placing a gun into her head. After no one responded, he pulled the trigger ending the crying women's life. "Who triggered the silent alarm? Confess now or I kill one of you each minute."

A male bank teller raised his hand, "It was me Sr."

Mr. One smiled at him, "See that wasn't hard. What is your name?"

"George Sr." The male bank teller was at the most twenty-five and he was clearly terrified.

"George that was a stupid thing to do."

"I'm sorry."

"Yes you are." Mr. One said quickly aiming and firing his gun again, this time the bullet struck George square in the chest sending the hostages screaming and cowering.

Grissom could do nothing as he watched two people murdered in front of him. He sat there in shock at the unprovoked violence. He felt warmth on his face and in his mind he knew it was grey matter from the woman who had been shot a few feet from him. Betty, the pregnant woman, was screaming and crying next to him. Grissom tried to pull himself out of the fog of shock and grabbed her hand to comfort her.

"Shut up." Mr One snapped at the crying hostages who were now huddled together terrified.

Grissom looked at Betty and did his best to comfort her.

After a few minutes only Betty was left crying and Grissom knew he had to do something now or else she would meet the same fate as the other two.

"Betty listen to me." Grissom whispered to her holding her hand tightly. She looked up at him, "You need to calm down. I am going to do my best to ensure nothing happens to you ok."

She shook her head still crying loudly.

"Shut her up or I will." Mr One snapped at Grissom his gun aimed at Grissom and Betty who were huddled together.

"I am trying." Grissom said his anger clear in his voice as he moved to shield Betty from the gun. "Betty please calm down." Grissom said blocking her from the gunman who was ready to strike out.

Another woman next to them started to help Grissom. She was rubbing gentle circles on Betty's back whispering to her about how everything would be fine. It took another minute before Betty was calm enough that she made no sound as she cried.

"Mr. Three." Mr. One called out to one of his men, "Remove the bodies. Throw them in the back. Get Mr. Helpful to help you." Mr One said indicating to Grissom.

Grissom waited for Mr. Three to grab his arm and pull him up to his feet before he moved. Grissom and Mr. Three grabbed the woman who had been shot in the head first and dragged her by her arms to the back. Grissom was panting from the exertion of pulling the woman's dead weight, as well as, the fear he felt in his heart for all of the innocent lives in the bank. These men did not shy away from murder, and Grissom was not sure if anyone would survive their wrath.

The moved next to the male teller who had since died from drowning in his own blood. Grissom refused to look at the young man's face. He felt sick to his stomach. He had seen many dead bodies, but he had not often seen people killed with his own two eyes. There was a detachment that was possible when you did not have to observe the violence firsthand. That detachment allowed him to get past the carnage and the evilness of the crime. Seeing it with his own two eyes, watching the victims cry and scream, and the life drain out of their eyes would haunt him if he survived this.

"Join the others." Mr. Three said once they finished with the male tellers body.

Grissom returned kneeling next to Betty who looked at him in horror. Grissom used his shirt wipe the blood and matter off his face to try to make himself look less like a mass murder. It was not his fault, he knew that, there was nothing he could have done to save those people. But being in this situation, and being who he was, made him feel like a guilty coward for sitting back and not trying to stop anyone.

"Dr. Grissom." Betty whispered to him, "WE are going to get out of this right? Your people will ensure that right."

Mr. Two heard the conversation and walked over to Mr. One telling him exactly what he had heard. While the criminals did not know who Grissom was, Betty's comment about his people had struck Mr. Two's interest. Either the man was one of the whales of Las Vegas or someone powerful enough to have people who would try to influence the situation.

Mr. One walked over to Grissom, his gun casual aimed at Grissom's head. "Your wallet please."

Grissom looked up at the man, as he felt Betty try to shrink so she hid behind him. Grissom raised his hands and used his right hand to slowly reach in his back pocket and pull out his wallet. He handed it over to Mr. One.

Mr. One opened the wallet and saw Grissom's identification card for the Las Vegas Crime Scene Investigation. Supervisor the card read. Shit, Mr. One thought, he was the police, and this made the continued presences of the police outside even more difficult to deal with.

"Move him and the girl over there." Mr. one ordered wanting to remove Grissom from the hostages. Mr. One was under the assumption that Betty was more than someone Grissom had come to speak with regarding an investigation.

"It's ok." Grissom said to Betty as they were both ordered to their feet and moved across the room where Mr. Four stood guard over them.

"Mr. Helpful here is a cop." Mr. One spoke to the hostages, "A coward who let us kill two people and he did nothing."

The group of hostages that had not worked at the bank or spoken to Grissom when he was at the bank last, all looked at him in shock.

Grissom wanted to correct the man that he was not a police officer, merely a criminalist, but he thought better of it.

Before Mr. One could continue his speech one of the phones in the bank started to ring. Mr. One walked over to the empty desk where the phone rang. Grissom and Betty were sitting in front of the desk and watched as Mr. One made his way over.

Mr. One answered the phone not saying anything.

"Hello, this is John, I am an FBI agent. I am calling to check on everything. We heard a few gun shots, is everyone ok in there?"

Mr. One laughed, "Everyone is fine, except for the guard, and two hostages."

"What are the status of the guard and two hostages?"

"They are dead. And more will join them if you do not get me what I want."

"I will do my best."

"Better do better than your best there are sixteen people in here, and one of your own." Mr. One said, "I will kill each and every one of them."

"I believe you. May I ask who I'm speaking to?"

"You can call me Mr. One."

"Mr. One, what do you want?" The negotiator asked.

"I want a helicopter and a bus out front in three hours."

"I will look into getting those for you." John the negotiator stated, "But I will need something else in return."

"Hostages right. How many?" Mr. One asked.

"All of them." John was optimistic, it was after all his first time of being the lead negotiator.

"Cannot do that." Mr. One said. "How about you get us some food and water. Bottled water and prepackaged food."

"In return I will need a hostage."

"No problem." Mr. One said, "I will send out a hostage when the food arrives." Mr. One hung the phone up walking around the desk and glaring at Grissom.

"Gilbert Grissom." Mr. One said looking at Grissom on the ground, "Who is the lovely pregnant woman next to you?"

"Betty." Grissom answered doing his best to shield her from Mr. One.

"And what brought you both to the bank today?" Mr. One asked.

"Betty works here and I had some questions for her about one of her co-workers who recently passed away." Grissom answered.

Mr. One studied Grissom to see if he was telling the truth, and he could not really deduce either way. "So you do not know Betty?"

"Not really." Grissom said.

"You seem pretty protective of her for not knowing her." Mr. One stated know sure Grissom was lying.

Grissom did not have a response, it was common decency. She was scared, pregnant, and it was his job to protect the innocent. He may have failed at that already today, but he would do his best to help Betty.

"We really don't know each other." Betty said knowing that being associated with Grissom would only put a target on her and her unborn daughter.

Mr. One studied her as she shrieked away from his gun pointed at her.

"What do you do at the bank Betty?"

"I am the mangers assistant."

"The manager's secretary." Mr. One responded.

"Yes."

"Where is the manager?"

"The acting manager is away at a business meeting. He was due back soon."

"Lucky him." Mr. One stated moving his gun over to Grissom. "What did you need to talk with Betty about?"

"An ongoing investigation."

"You said that already. I asked specifically what." Mr One said annoyed with Grissom and showing it by placing the gun barrel against the top of Grissom's head.

Grissom grimaced as he felt the metal on his scalp. His heart was racing, he felt the blood rushing in his head, and the world felt like it was fading to black. He fought the feeling of numbness in his arm and spoke his voice wavering slightly, "Two families were murdered recently. One of them was the former bank manager here. I believe there was a connection between the families. Betty could confirm that connection."

"Are you alright Gilbert? You look a little pale." Mr. One taunted him noticing the change in Grissom's as he was pale and sweating. Mr. One interpreted it as fear. In reality, Grissom was experiencing a panic attack, but only because he was sure he was experiencing a stroke or heart attack.

"Health condition." Grissom answered through gritted teeth as his chest felt like someone was crushing it.

Mr. One pulled the gun away from Grissom's head seeing the man struggling with pain. "Betty go join the others over there."

Betty scrambled away back to the others not looking back at Grissom who was now holding his chest in agony.

"I think are cop is having a heart attack." Mr. Two said looking over at Grissom.

"Too bad. I was looking forward to killing him." Mr. One said watching Grissom wither in pain at his feet.

A few minutes later the symptoms started to recede and Grissom was able to focus on the events unfolding.

"You still with us Gilbert?" Mr. One asked glaring down at Grissom.

Grissom swallowed and answered, "Yes."

"Good." Mr. One responded before the phone rang.

"Brass." Brass answered his cell phone standing outside the scene of a bank robbery. He received a call from a young patrolman because it happen to be the very bank that one of the victims in his latest homicide case managed.

"Have you heard from Grissom?" Catherine asked knowing Brass would know who had called him by her voice if he did not check his caller ID.

"Not today. Why?"

"He is not here and he is usually here early." Catherine said feeling something was off. She just had this feeling that something was wrong and it centered around Grissom. He had been working himself into the ground.

"He is probably still asleep. The man has been working around the clock."

"Maybe."

"Catherine I'm in the middle of a mess. The bank that Mark Howards managed is currently being robbed and it has turned into a hostage situation."

"So I will probably see you later this evening."

"Probably. The FBI is overseeing things right now, but we think there are already three bodies inside."

"Let me know if you hear from Grissom."

"If you are so worried why don't you go over to his place or send Sara or someone." Brass responded.

"Good luck with the case Brass." Catherine said ending the call. She decided to wait until shift started before she raised any more alarms, but just to be safe she called Grissom's phone that went directly to voicemail. This did not help her fears because he never turned his phone off. It was an occupational hazard, he was always on call. That was enough to spur her to drive over to his house and check on him.

Thanks for reading and reviewing (more soon as soon as I read through it)!

For some reason fanfiction is not letting me respond to comments (they aren't even show up outside of my email). So here are answers to questions/comments:

Everyone who commented thank you so much. It means a lot to me because I was not sure if anyone was going to put the effort to re-read or read this after such a long break. I am not a fan of my own writing so to know people are reading it is great. I've always been the ideas / stats guy and my co-authors are the writers. So thank you again! The comments kept me writing well into the wee hours of the morning and I now have two additional chapters (past this one) completed.

TORCAN: I did get a job, not the dream job, but the job I needed (funny how that works out).. But I did manage to become Dr. Brent or as my mother calls it an almost adult (when I get a TT job i'll be a real adult according to her).

SevernSound: Then v Than and other grammar error, I apologize. Hard to believe someone could get all the way to PhD status and not have decent grammar but true story. I do the best I can and i know it's not that great. In RL i have a co-author for all of my academic writing and he edits for grammar ect. My only excuse is that I was never taught grammar back in the day (special education in the early 90's in the US was not regulated and poor inner city schools were the worse, where I happened to attend school).

Guest?: This has become my most recent outlet since I do not have to go into the office and work while the uni is closed for winter break. It has become a good outlet. I am sorry you too got to experience cleaning up the mess someone left behind after dying. Took me a minute to figure out what LIAW. I hope upon re-reading it was halfway decent.

JellbeanChiChi: Thanks for reading. I have only read a few of the chapters of In the Dark, but hope to get back to it soon.