Disclaimer: I don't own CSI. I don't own anything, not even a car...

Chapter 1:

Scene 1

Greg Sanders snuck quietly down the hall of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He was hoping he could slip unnoticed and act like he was there the whole time. He was late, and he knew Grissom would have his head.

"Greg."

Greg jumped, and turned to see Grissom standing in the doorway to his office.

Greg giggled nervously. "Uh, hi. I um…" He was at a complete loss for a excuse.

Grissom waved it aside. "Yeah, you're late, don't let it happen again." He held out a piece of paper. "New assignment. You're with Sara. Homicide out by Blue Diamond."

"That's out in the middle of nowhere, right?" Greg asked.

"Yeah, and it's a really messy one. Lots of evidence to collect. You better go get started," Grissom replied.

Scene 2

The crime scene proved to be a broken down old farmhouse in, as Greg put it, "the geographical center of nowhere."

When they arrived at the scene, Sara looked at her cell phone. No service. "Great," she muttered.

The main part, well, the messy part, of the crime scene was in the upstairs back bedroom. The DB, or what was left of it, had been slumped in a mutilated heap in the corner. It had been removed and taken in for autopsy before they arrived. But the walls, floor, and ceiling around it were still covered in blood spatter.

As they walked in and took in the whole room, Greg was starting to wish he hadn't eaten right before shift. It was incredible how much blood one human contained.

They set about processing the room, before it became totally overrun by flies. They attempted to shoo away the offending insects. "No eating evidence!" Greg had yelled at them.

Both CSIs stopped dead when they heard crashing in the kitchen below. They were in the middle of nowhere. What would someone be doing all the way out there? Unless…

they drew their sidearms and moved slowly towards the bedroom door. A quick peek out, and they started down the hall. They crept carefully down the stairs, making every attempt to keep the steps from creaking.

As they moved to the kitchen, Greg positioned himself in front of Sara. He carefully leaned into the kitchen, where he saw a middle-aged man, his back to them, rifling through the cupboards.

Greg leveled his gun at the intruder. "Excuse me, this is a crime scene."

The man turned around casually, one hand on the counter behind him, as though he were hiding something.

"Oh, yeah. I heard about that," the man said. "Two people were murdered here "

"Two?" the CSIs asked in unison.

"Yeah," the man said calmly. "One in the bedroom…" His hand fumbled behind his back. "And one in the kitchen."

As he said this, he pulled out a pistol from behind him, aimed straight at Greg, and fired.