caved in

Morgan and Sara drove up to the crime scene. It was on the very edge of their jurisdiction, but the dead body lived in Vegas, so Morgan guessed that counted. Sara seemed to tense up in the desert so Morgan was driving.

"How much farther?" asked Sara, trying to control her breathing and the overwhelming memories that always came with desert crime scenes.

"I think it's just ahead. I hope this is pretty straight forward. I promised to be somewhere tonight." She parked with the truck that seemed to be local law enforcement's patrol vehicle.

"Where are you going?" Sara followed her friend to a crowd in the distance.

"Nowhere exciting. I just promised I'd be there."

"Then, let's hurry."

They walked up to the man who seemed to be in charge who told them that the dead body had been found inside the mine. "At least Nicky's not here," Morgan told her, one of the few people who knew how bad Nick's claustrophobia still was.

"Can't blame him though, I wouldn't want to go in there either if I were him." She didn't mention that tight spaces somewhat scared her after a night under that car.

"I wouldn't either." She wasn't saying she blamed Nick. She had her own hangups about certain things relating to her 'experiences' since joining the team and knew all about Nick being buried alive. Although she hadn't been part of the team at that time, Greg had mentioned it once or twice.

"Can we get this done quickly?" Sara asked quietly.

"Here. I'll go in with him. You collect up here, okay?"

"No, I'll come, it's okay."

"It'll be better if we split our resources, Sara. Faster. Believe me, you'll be far enough back." She went into the cave.

Sara hesitated, but stayed where she was, until she heard something odd. She ran into the cave, calling for Morgan.

"Sara, don't...!" Morgan was cut off as the rocks began to fall.

"Morgan!" Sara pushed through a section of debris and pushed Morgan out of the way of a falling rock.

Both girls miraculously escaped unscathed, but nonetheless, trapped.

"Dammit!" Sara tried to move a rock, but didn't succeed.

Morgan tried the more scientific approach, pulling out her cell phone. "Damn. No bars."

Sara sat back, thinking. She tried calling for help, but no-one replied.

"They can't hear us."

"We're too far back."

"What are we going to do?"

"Hope like hell someone heard it and is getting help." Morgan took stock of what they had with them, what she knew as facts. Fact one: they had half a bottle of water that she'd been carrying in her kit. Fact two: it was noticeably cooler than it had been in the desert sun. Fact three: being as they'd been in the desert, the nearest blanket or jacket was in the vehicle, outside the cave. Fact four: they had a granola bar to eat between them. It wasn't the first time the facts were not in her favor, but the first time she couldn't do anything to alter them.

"We need to shift the rock, try and make a hole."

"Sara, if you shift that rock from this side, it is going to fall and not on the right side."

"We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"We're not. You're going to hold the phone up, right there," she showed Sara where.

"What are you doing?"

"Collecting the evidence before anything else happens."

Sara nodded, glad that one of them was calm.

Finn would have gladly strangled Russell when he'd given her the assignment. She wasn't surprised to see a vehicle already out there, although he hadn't mentioned who was also working it. She pulled up just in time to hear the loud crash from inside the cave. "What happened? What the hell happened?"

"It's collapsing!" shouted one of the men that had spoken to the girls.

"Were the CSIs in there?" It was the only place they could have been.

"Yes."

"Get them out!"

"We're trying."

"Do you know their names? Do you know which ones were sent?"

"Two girls. Uh, Sidle and Brody?"

She cursed under her breath and walked away, walking in a circle until she calmed down enough to speak civilly and then called her male best friend.

"Hey Jules, what's wrong?"

She didn't even fuss at him for calling her Jules this time. "The girls. There was a cave in."

"What?"

"The girls were inside the mine when I got here. The mine collapsed with the girls still inside."

"Shit! I'm on my way."

"Can you tell the others? I want to see if there's anything I can be doing to help."

"Of course." He hung up to call Nick and Greg.