In a World They Forgot

I'm Not Really Sure How It Goes

"Miki, Greg! I need you two to go down to the Mirage Casino. We may have a lead on our twin cases." Grissom walked into the break room and threw a file onto the table we were sat around. Greg gulped down the rest of his coffee and I crammed the rest of my chocolate into my mouth, we grabbed our jackets, grabbed our gloves, grabbed our car keys and left the lab, me throwing an evil glare towards Hodges who smirked and waved at me from his lab.

The day I could painfully maim and castrate that man would be the day I'd gain eternal happiness.

"Miks?" I snapped out of my bitter thoughts and look over at Greg who had an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't matter. I'll drive." He shook his head and threw me a puzzling glance before pulling the keys out from his pocket. I fastened my belt and leaned back in the seat as Greg slowly moved the van from the parking lot. I loved driving through Vegas at night. Its’ lights, sounds and crowds always brought a smile to my face, even with the vast amount of murders that took place here. I heard Greg chuckle and turned my attention to him.

"What?" I asked, a smile spreading across my face as I studied his features, my heart skipping a beat as I took in just how handsome he really was to me.

"You look so peaceful when you're in the land of Miks." He commented, turning the van onto the strip.

"Save that kind of talk for after the shift." I warned him, unable to hide my smile, though his words only reminding me of Hodges' threat.

"That kind of thing is normal for me to say. No one will get suspicious from that!" Greg said, waving it away with his hand.

"I'd rather not risk it Greg." I told him, noticing the unusual amount of people outside the Mirage and focusing on that instead.

"Okay Miks. If that's how you want to be during work then we will stay strictly professional, but I still get to steal your coffee." Greg said turning to smile at me as he stopped the van up an alley designated for service vehicles only.

I returned his gesture and tied my hair into it's usual bunches before snapping my gloves on and climbing out, grabbing my case from the back and getting my ID out ready. The commotion outside of the casino seemed to be getting out of hand and some guy stumbled back into me. I regained my balance on the edge of the kerb and moved the guy to the side, trying to find the reason why he stumbled and soon discovered it when I spotted a glaring middle aged man with a busted lip standing just a few feet away from me.

"We're with Las Vegas Crime Lab. Can we help you gentlemen?" Greg's light tone had vanished and he was standing in between the two men.

"Yeah, mind your own damn business!" The one with the busted lip yelled at him, wiping the blood from his lip with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Hey. I suggest you back off and calm down before you find yourself on a trip to the station with a lovely pair of silver bracelets on your wrists." I told him joining Greg's side.

"I'd like to see you try girlie!" He slurred, wiping more blood from his lip.

The other man had been held back by casino security but this one was still in full blown rage, and no one seemed able to get a hand on him before he shoved them away.

"Sir, calm down please--"Greg tried a calmer approach, hoping it would have a better effect.

"I told you to mind your own damn business!" The guy swung a punch at Greg and it caught him in the jaw causing him to stumble backwards and into the side of the van.

I grabbed the guy's fist and twisted it quickly around his back before locking it tightly with my own hand and using my knee to push him face first into the wall where he couldn't attack me or anyone else nearby. I caught his flailing hand and pulled it next to the twisted one, holding them tight in a steel grip as I grabbed some handcuffs that I rarely had to use and locked them around his wrists. I pulled my radio from my belt and heard the static through the speaker. "This is CSI Romani I need officers at the Mirage Casino. White Caucasian male has just attacked a civilian and CSI Sanders." I said, speaking into the crackling receiver.

"Lemme go!" The man began to struggle against my grip which only caused his face to meet the wall again.

"Not a chance pal." I hissed to him, holding him in his place tighter.

"As soon as I get to the station, I'm pressing charges against you for assault!"

"Yeah, good luck with that."

As an officer led the man to the car and statements were taken, I made my way over to where Greg sat on the kerb with ice pressed against the corner of his lip and jaw. I furrowed my eyebrows and peeled the ice from his hand and looked at the injury. The edge of his lip was split slightly and a small purple bruise was forming along his jaw and rising to his lip.

"Ouch." I said allowing him to apply the ice again.

"You got that right." He said, only moving his mouth slightly because of the pain.

"Here." I pulled out my small bottle of pain medication that I carried just to be on the safe side and handed them to him.

"No, you need them." He reached up to push my hand away

"Like hell I do. I just took that guy down without even flinching." I slipped one into my hand and handed him the bottle of water I’d purchased moments before for him. He looked up at me and back down to the pill before rolling his eyes and taking it in one swift gulp. "Now I'll have my Greggo back in a few minutes." I smiled, ruffling his hair.

"I thought you said save that kind of talk for after the shift is over?" He joked, arching his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes and stood up, glancing around as the crowds began to disperse from the scene slowly.

"We'd better actually try and find out why Grissom made us come here in the first place." I said, checking the time on my watch, we'd already wasted an hour dealing with this pitfall.

"There was a man in the alley at the back of the casino. He grabbed one of my girls and asked her if she had a twin and that he'd be interested in spending time with the two of them. When she told him no, he threw her to the ground and then ran to one of the dumpsters where he proceeded to empty his stomach of his previous meal." The head chef told us when we found him.

"How is the girl?" I asked.

"She's fine. I sent her to the restaurant and gave her a complimentary meal to apologise for what she went through. My head waiter has just given her a wonderful dessert of chocolate cake."

“Why would he think that she had a twin?” I questioned, feeling a little confused.

“There’s another girl who works here and the pair of them are almost identical. You can only really tell the difference when you’re up close and both of them are together. It’s a little creepy at times.” He explained, shuddering for what I could only assume was dramatic effect.

"One of us will talk to the victim and the other will go and see if we can find anything in the dumpsters." Greg explained to the chef who nodded and then excused himself back to his kitchen. The two of us looked at each other and Greg pointed to his bruised jaw. I groaned and folded my arms.

"I did it last time!" I protested.

"This could get infected! There‘s an open wound!" Greg argued.

"Eurgh! You owe me Sanders, and it‘s not like you‘re supposed to shove your face in it." I mumbled before heading to slip into my overalls.