Hit & Run

By Mellaithwen

Rating: T

Genre: General/Angst

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable as CSI and it's characters belongs to Anthony Zuiker and not me. The song lyrics belong to Rooster.

Additional Disclaimer: Spoilers for s5, the team has been split but as far as time frame goes I'm not going into specifics...it's difficult enough as it is

Summary: While on the case of a murdered ten year old, tragedy hits the CSI team. Can they keep focused while grieving for a friend? And is there a link between the two deaths? Character Death

Chapter 1, Angel's Calling

A man on his break, from what had been, and still was, a very hectic day of work. Crossing the road. Headlights shining, breaks screeching, his eyes wide, his body frozen in the middle of the road as it came straight for him. A scream, a shout, and an eerie silence stolen by the revving of the land rover as it went into reverse and left the scene of the accident, leaving the man bleeding. Dying alone, in the middle of a deserted road.

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Sara Sidle walked up the small hill to her apartment building. Dark clouds formed above and she held the jacket closer around her as the wind picked up. For a day in the desert it was quite cold.

She had finally given in to Grissom and taken a day off. They had been working on a young girl's murder and they had no leads. The killer was smart and the case had taken a lot out of the entire team. Night shift and swing shift were pulling doubles and working together on this one.

Jenna Mason was ten years old, she had been walking home from school when she was attacked. Her body had been found the next day, she had been raped, but whoever it was had been very careful and they hadn't been able to get any foreign DNA, and ever since then the CSI's had been working hard to get her attacker behind bars where he belonged.

After Grissom had seen Sara almost fall asleep, while walking towards him no less, he practically ordered her to take the day off. She had protested, claiming it was nothing, but her supervisor was having none of it.

Eventually she had agreed but instead of going straight home she had gone to get a bite to eat before returning home. Parking her car she made her way to her apartment building; a fair walk away.

She saw a shadow behind the trees as she passed them but she ignored it. The rain had slowly begun and was picking up its pace, quickly soaking Sara to the skin. Her steps quickened as she continued to walk.

She heard a rustling and suddenly she could hear the footsteps of someone keeping up with her long strides as if they were small, easy steps.

She looked up and was surprised to see Greg standing next to her.

'Funny,' she thought 'He can never keep up with me in the field.'

He only wore thin clothes but he didn't seem any colder in the pelting rain, and she noted, with slight amusement, he was wearing the same clothes she had seen him in last night.

She stopped in her steps, despite the now thundering skies above her growling for attention.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, not bothering to hide the smile on her lips. Greg smiled back, though his cheeks blushed slightly.

"I, uh, missed you today." He answered, stumbling over his words. Now it was Sara's turn to blush, she smiled sheepishly and continued to walk, knowing he would follow.

"Bad night?" Sara asked, referring to his lack of wardrobe change.

"You could say that," Greg answered simply. There was a silence until he broke it.

"So, how was your day?"

The lab was incredibly backlogged, and though Greg was an official CSI Grissom had kept him in the lab to help get back on track. He hadn't really been a part of this most recent case. For that much, he was lucky, though Sara was certain he didn't see it that way.

"Not the best, yours?"

Greg faltered slightly and looked at her sceptically. Wouldn't this have gone under the "Bad night?" comment? He looked at Sara and saw she was still waiting for an answer. He sighed before replying. "Same,"He looked up to the skies. "Guess it's the rain."

Sara cocked her head to the side, wondering how something that had started only a few minutes ago could be the cause of a bad day.

"Well you never get rain when it's a good day, right? Nature reflecting life..." Greg trailed off, looking straight up at the skies. He stretched his head backwards so he faced the skies completely. Water hit his face, but he didn't care. He closed his eyes and relished in it, as though it was foreign to him, then again, in Nevada it usually was.

Sara stopped too. She didn't intend to but she found herself staring at Greg. His normally spiky hair was flattened by the rain, drenched locks dripping onto his face. Sara waited patiently, finding it oddly soothing to watch Greg do this. A raindrop hit her neck and trailed down her back, alerting her back to the very wet present.

"Come on Greg, we'll freeze out here." She said as she took hold of he arm and practically dragged him the rest of they way.

As they reached the doorway, Sara fumbled for her key in her pocket. Once found, she turned it in the lock and jumped inside into the warmth, away from the cold corridors of her apartment building.

Sara made her way into the kitchen and made them both some coffee. She made her way to the living room with the cups in her hands.

"Shouldn't you be in work?" Sara asked Greg as he sat on her couch but declined the hot drink. Knowing how backlogged the lab had gotten recently

He looked straight at her, "No." His calm tone telling her he would say no more. They sat in comfortable silence for quite some time. It was nice, she was just sitting there, but Sara felt incredible comfort from having Greg by her side.

She felt his gaze on her and turned to look at him. He opened his mouth but closed it again. He wanted to say something but was clearly finding it hard to do so. He had leaned in closer and continued to do so. He looked as though he had just found the courage to speak up when the phone rang suddenly. Greg didn't flinch but Sara did. She had been staring at Greg for so long that the sudden sound scared her.

"I better get that," Sara declared as she began to get up. Greg's hand shot out from nowhere and took hold of her wrist. She looked at him with a quirked eyebrow.

"What's the hurry?" He asked quickly, desperate for her to stay.

Sara laughed as though it was the stupidest thing in the world.

"Well people tend to hang up after a while..."

"Yeah, but why not just," He paused "leave it?"

"Greg, it could be Grissom or something."

"Or Nick," Greg sighed, knowing he had lost.

"Or Sofia or some sales guy, either way, I'm gonna answer it."

Sara stood up from the sofa and made her way to the small table near the door where the phone rested, still ringing furiously. Her back was to Greg, she didn't see his sad gaze, she didn't see him close his eyes and swallow the lump in his throat. Greg knew he'd missed his chance.

"Sara? It's Nick." The voice announced as she picked up the phone. Sara smiled, suppressing a chuckle. She would have to congratulate Greg on his guess. She reached into her pocket, and looked at her mobile. The screen glowed as the writing said "Fifteen missed calls."

'Why so many?' She wondered, cursing herself for leaving it on silent for so long. The call list revealed almost everyone on both the night shift and swing. Clearly, they had wanted to get through to her.

"Hey Nick, what's up?" She asked. No reply. Maybe there was a sudden break in the case and she was needed, had her casual question annoyed him enough to stop his conversation completely?

She could hear a deep breath on the other end as Nick braced himself, but for what she did not know. As she waited she realized how thick his voice had been. What was going on?

"Nick?" She asked softly, not wanting to rush him, but growing worried.

"There was a hit and run, Sara." He finished simply.

Sara let out a gasp. "Was anyone hurt, well that's a stupid question, but you know what I mean, I mean-." Sara was babbling.

"Oh god Sara, it's-," Another deep breath, his voice cracking under an unseen strain. "It's Greg."

Any shock suddenly left her system and she found herself close to laughter.

"Right. So not funny, you're like a school prankster or something! One problem, Greg's behind me."

"Sara-," Nick started but was cut off.

"I don't think it's healthy to have so much fun doing this to people, Nick." Sara commented dryly, clearly un-impressed by Nick's timing. I mean he could have at least checked that Greg wouldn't be going over to see her before phoning.

"Sara," Nick said more firmly, thinking this was just denial. "He coded in ICU, we got the call a few minutes ago."

Sara didn't know what to say, Nick was so sure, and she didn't want him to feel embarrassed. How could she explain to him that Greg was there with her.

"Look I know this is hard, but it won't do you anyone any good if you do this." Nick said, hating the silence, hating everything about the situation, while Sara was getting irritated.

"Nicky," She said"You've got it all wrong, OK? Greg's here, with me, and he has been for over thirty minutes, I'm hanging up now." And she did. Maybe it was insensitive, I mean clearly the guy was drunk, or maybe just tired, but she couldn't just listen to this crap.

Sara sighed and put a hand to her head, pushing her temples to stop a headache forming. She looked up, ready to see the look on Greg's face when she told him. She looked up, only to find that there was no one there.

TBC

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