Lisa threw her head back proudly as she eyed the crowded dance floor of Dark Alliance from her stool near the door, her dark hair brushing her bare back sensuously and sweeping down to caress her breasts unconsciously. With an almost feral grin, she uncrossed her legs and slid from the stool, heading for the bar slowly. She was conscious of every step, letting the undulation of her hips be kept loose and free against the soft satin of her skirt. Her feet ached slightly from the forced angle created by her stiletto heels, but she pasted a smile upon her finely boned features and slowed as several appreciative whistles rose from the side crowd. She turned her head slightly; dipping it to the side as she eyed the men crowded around one of the few tables left.

Oh shit, she thought to herself, recognizing one of the men from her work. He was eyeing her appreciatively but turned his head when he caught her watching.

She's didn't go to bars by herself, not usually. But the urge to get out and away from work where she was stuck in the same postal position as she had been since she was eighteen had been strong on a Thursday night. The urge to feel, to maybe experience at least a vicarious thrill, had been almost crippling as she had started to get ready for an early sleep and she had instead turned to her closet. Finding that little black suit, she had torn off the sleeves and the excess frills with a quick and savage movement of her hands. Even her makeup was heavier than what she usually wore; her lipstick blood red and making her feel far more savage than normal.

She needed a change; away from her work, from her family, from that damned reminder that her ex-boyfriend had moved on from her.

With another toss of her head, she shoved her way through the crowd and slid gratefully onto a suddenly vacated seat. The bar tender smiled at her softly, his eyes surprisingly kind as he handed her a water.

"Oh, thanks," she managed over the dull roar of the hip-hop being played in the background. She reached for the tiny purse slung over her shoulder but he suddenly shook his head.

"It's on the house. You look like you needed it," the bartender answered, his bleach blonde hair falling into his eyes and creating a puppy-ish look to his young face. Lisa smiled, the movement softening the hard lines from the frown she had been sporting. "My name's Gabe. Let me know if you need another drink."

"You're an angel," she murmured. Gabe grinned and shrugged.

"It fits the name description," he stated. Lisa smiled and shook her dark bangs out of her eyes.

"I'm Lisa. Maybe there is something you can do for me," she answered, sliding her hand down the bottle's neck. Her eyes darkened slightly from brilliant emerald to a heated jade green and he grinned back at her.

~~~~

Grissom turned his head slightly to the side as he looked over the bloody display on the bed. A woman and man were entangled together, hips pressed in a more consummate display of emotion. An almost classic missionary position, complete with her arms being pinned over her head and the man's head tucked in beside hers.

Almost classic.

Except for the blood that stained the sheets, gunpowder residue burning the man's skin where he had been shot clean through. The man had a gaping hole in his back, and the woman was looking stonily up at the ceiling of the room, her mouth slightly open. The sex act had stopped only when they had both been brutally killed. Grissom set down his case and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What a way to go," Catherine commented as she approached from behind, lugging her case. Grissom glanced at her casually over his shoulder, and just after he looked away, he looked back at her, staring. Catherine met his gaze coolly, starting to fidget at his expression. "What?"

"Did I pull you away from something?" he asked curiously and she gave a shrug. She was looking not only elegant but also sexy in her skintight black pants and low-cut red top, discreetly covered by her leather jacket. It was hard not to stare, and the junior officer in the room was having the same problem.

"I had a date." She watched him carefully for his reaction but besides a slight tightening in his shoulders he gave no sign of being bothered by her admission.

"I see. Somewhere nice I hope, for nearly one a.m.?" Grissom questioned as he looked back over the bodies, pulling on a pair of latex gloves quietly, snapping them at the wrists. His sarcastic tone made the junior cop cough and look away. Unbothered, Catherine gave another shrug accompanied by a Cheshire- like grin.

"No where special. Who was the previously happy couple?" she replied and David glanced up from the left side of the bed. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at his chart.

"Lisa Nagi and Gabriel Delano. Not married. This is Gabriel's home, I think. It's nice, a bit too gauche for my tastes." Grissom looked over the young coroner curiously and Catherine's blue eyes twinkled.

"How do you know that?" Grissom demanded as he looked at Brian's chart

"Brass," David answered as if it made all the sense in the world and went back to checking the bodies.

"And you know that the house is gauche because…" Catherine paused, waiting for him to fill in the blanks for her. David blushed to his roots.

"We're house-shopping now. My head's full of decorating terms. I'm lucky I was able to look at my apartment normally after it all," he said softly and Catherine chuckled as she made her way around the bed and stared at the bodies. Grissom moved to the opposite side, clicking his tongue almost impatiently. Catherine popped open her camera and tossed her hair out of her eyes, snapping a quick picture of him staring at the bodies. He blinked and looked up at her. She merely smiled and turned the camera back to the couple.

Grissom sighed and glanced over the entwined corpses. "Well…I wonder," he stated, and Catherine looked at him, their eyes meeting before she quickly checked her digital camera's current picture. Grissom set his case down and walked around David to stand beside her, peering over her shoulder at the photos. Catherine looked at him out of the corner of her eye and dared to smile.

"And what, exactly, are you wondering?" The expectation of a corny punch line was clear in her azure eyes.

"I'm wonder who came first…the chicken or the egg," Grissom told her, and Catherine shook her head, groaning at that comment. But as she glanced back down at her photo, she blinked and looked back up at the body to see what exactly Grissom was staring at.

A multitude of feathers were embedded into the gaping wound on Brian's back, nearly matching his pale skin. Catherine turned and watched Grissom smugly go back to his case.

"It's safe to say neither came at all," she muttered.

~~~~~~~~

tbc