Darkness Falls

By Amanda Hawthorn

RATING: PG-13/ maybe R when finished

PAIRING: Grissom/Sara Romance Nick/Sara/Warrick friendship Cath/Sara/Lindsey friendship

CATEGORY: Angst/eventual romance

ARCHIVE: Sara and Grissom and my site http://www.pink-martini.net/amanda/

FEEDBACK: Love it, but no flames please I’m fragile!!

EMAIL:  [email protected]

SPOILERS:  Lady Heathers Box, Crash and Burn, and could be an alternative Playing With Fire

SUMMARY: When tragedy strikes in the lab, Sara’s maternal instincts leap into motion.

DISCLAIMER: CSI belongs to CBS and Alliance-Atlantis Productions. No
infringement intended.
AUTHORS’ NOTES: This is for my huge online family at the Grissom and Sara Yahoo group. Your support and encouragement means the world to me, as do you all.

As always for Niff, Phon, Geena, Rosa and Shroedy, my wonderful friends.

Huge thanks to my beta Marlou, you’re a star!!!

Also for Dutchie, who never fails to leave her words of encouragement in every review. Thank you…

Ó Amanda Hawthorn August 2025

 ***

The lab had been quiet for the last few hours, giving the night shift some time to go over some of the cold cases that remained unsolved. Grissom and Catherine had been called out to a homicide in one of the casino’s leaving Nick, Warrick and Sara to their own devices. Sara, for her part was quietly going over an old case that had been bothering her for some time.

Opening the file folder, her eyes scanned over the pages, the old information from Eddie Willows’ murder leaping out into her heart, once again screaming of her failure.

Time had moved on since then, and as much as Catherine tried to reassure her that she held no blame, it didn’t help the feelings of failure that ate away at her constantly. With a heavy sigh, her eyes fell to the large package that had arrived a few hours ago for Catherine. The unique scrawl captured her attention as she moved a little closer for a better look.

“Hey, what you doing?” Nick asked from the doorway, causing her to pull her eyes away from the package and back to the file on the table. When she didn’t answer him, he stepped into the room, walking in slowly to look over her shoulder. He’d noticed how quiet she had seemed lately, and not all of it was attributed to the recent knowledge that her relationship with Hank had been nothing but a farce on his part.

Closing the folder, Sara let out a slow sigh as she sat back into the chair, inclining her head to try and free the knot in her neck. Stepping closer, Nick shifted to stand behind her. Moving his hand, he touched her shoulder gently as he leant over to open the folder on the table, his eyes scanning the name on the pages.

“Sar,” he sighed “, stop doing this to yourself, you did all you could.”

“Try telling that to little Lindsey,” she muttered “she’s lost her dad and I couldn’t even put the bastards away.”

“Honey you did put them away.”

“Yeah,” she scoffed “child abandonment, that’ll really keep them behind bars won’t it!”

“Okay, that’s enough,” he moaned, turning her around in her chair so he could look into her eyes “Look Lindsey’s here visiting Cath, why don’t you go and say hi?”

“I don’t think so Nick,” she said softly, shaking her head “kids don’t like me.”

“Of course they do,” he laughed, “what about that little girl Brenda Collins, she liked you. Come on, it’s time you started to mix a little around here.”

“I…”

“No,” he told her sternly when she started to protest. Taking hold of her hand he pulled her up from the chair and lead her out of the break room and into the corridor, pulling her along with him towards the lobby just a few feet away.

Sara’s heart and mind fought a raging battle with every step she took. How could she look into the eyes of the little girl whose father she had failed to help? As they neared, she started to drag her feet, slowing the pace.

“Sara,” Nick scolded, holding tighter onto her hand as they came into the open space of the lobby to see Lindsey sitting quietly with Warrick, giggling at something he had just whispered into her ear.

“Hey Lind’s,” Nick grinned, pulling Sara next to him, “I brought Sara to say hi,” he turned his head to offer Sara an encouraging smile.

“Uh, hi Lindsey,” she offered, trying to keep the uneasiness in her voice from escaping. Letting go of Nick’s hand, she dropped her arms to her side, searching for something else to focus on other than the child who was staring in her direction.

“Where’s my mom?” Lindsey asked quietly, turning to Warrick as she spoke.

“Uh she’ll be back soon,” he told her “she had to go out, but she asked me to watch you for a little while.”

“Okay,” she nodded, her eyes turning towards Sara again, watching her carefully before looking back at Warrick, “I need to go to the bathroom.”

Both men gave each other a startled look and then turned their eyes onto Sara. It took her a few moments to realize that they were staring at her, their eyes pleading with her. Taking a deep breath she forced a smile onto her lips, “Uh, I’ll take you,” she nodded, then a little more quietly “if you want me to. I mean I know you’re not a baby, I’m..” Nick leant in close to her and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her shaking to subside “sorry, I’m rambling.”

Lindsey took a moment to answer, her confusion evident in her eyes. She had only met Sara a couple of times but she seemed nice enough, so offering Sara a small smile she nodded “Okay.” Standing, Lindsey walked over to take Sara’s hand before turning around to offer Warrick a smile, “see you later War.”

“Later Lind’s,” he smiled.

Sara waited quietly, not knowing what to do with her arms as Nick offered her an encouraging smile “You girls have fun ok?”

Ignoring his remark, Sara held the door open for Lindsey, only then looking back to glare at Nick who found the whole thing amusing.

“Hey what’s up with her?” Warrick asked when they had disappeared through the door.

“You know Sara, she’s having doubts about herself again,” Nick sighed “she’s blaming herself for something she couldn’t have prevented.”

Warrick’s eyes melted into the now closed door which the two girls had just vacated “Ah,” he sighed “Eddie Willows.”

“Yeah,” Nick started “the one and only. Hey that reminds me, did you notice that package that came for Catherine? It’s pretty big.”

“Yeah I did,” Warrick grinned “either she has an admirer or..” his words died on his lips, his voice cut off by a huge explosion that burst through the doors that Sara and Lindsey had only seconds earlier walked through, sending pieces of wood, concrete and glass flying in all directions flooding the whole lab into chaotic darkness.

“NICK,” Warrick choked his name through the smoke and darkness flooding into the lobby, bathing the walls and occupants in a thick cover of billowing dust. Warrick struggled to hear over the roar of the fire alarm as well as frantic screaming from the shocked staff that scrambled towards the exits only to be hit by flying rubble. “NICK,” Warrick called out again, stepping carefully over the fragments under his feet as he staggered, trying to keep his balance.

“Here,” came the weak reply “I can’t see.”

Warrick held his hand over his mouth and nose, trying to breath through the dense air as he sought blindly through the darkness to find his friend “NICK?”

“Here,” he spoke again, his voice closer until Warrick stumbled over some strewn chairs that had been mangled amidst the dust and confusion. Bending down, Warrick’s eyes scanned the rubble, the darkness starting to ease a little so he could see through the debris. Trying to focus, he saw Nick pinned between the wall and a mangled piece of rubble that had caught around his legs. Even through the darkness, Warrick could see the deep red pooling blood that had started to ease it’s way out of the wound in Nick’s legs. “Jeeze man,” he swore as he took a deep dust filled breath only to cough heavily afterwards.

“ I know bro,” Nick nodded, his own breath ragged as he spoke “this is bad.”

The whole building had seemed to fall into an eerie silence, the fire alarms the only sound to break through the walls with a piercing shrill.

“What happened?” Warrick asked, looking around as he spoke “There wasn’t a warning, nothing.”

“Don’t know man,” Nick coughed, pushing his hand up over his eyes to clear his vision until realization stabbed inside his heart “Oh god, Sara and Lindsey.”

“Oh Jeeze,” Warrick groaned, looking for the exit “damn, I can’t see anything through this dust.”

“Go,” Nick nodded, pulling himself up only to gasp in pain as the wire entangled around his body dug deeper into his thigh.

“You ok?”

“Fine, go, find the girls,” Nick muttered as he reached down for his phone only to find it smashed at his side, “My phone’s totaled, what about yours?”

Looking down at his waist, he reached for the cell phone still cradled at his hip. Unclipping it, he rubbed it against his shirt trying to brush some of the dust away before turning it on. “Damn,” he groaned.

“Yours wrecked too huh?” Nick winced, the dust in his throat causing him to swallow hard.

 Warrick nodded “No signal.” Kneeling down next to his friend, he placed the phone in his hand “keep trying to call out ok?” Giving his friend a final look, he moved towards the wall that once housed swing doors “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Okay, now go.”

Inside the women’s washroom, the lights sparked and hissed as dust filled the room. Sara opened her eyes slowly trying to focus on her surroundings, at first uncertain where she was. She tried sitting up, but the pain that ripped throughout her body pushed her back down with an audible gasp.

“Sara?” a small voice spoke through the darkness, unleashing into sobs “Sara?”

“Lindsey,” she croaked, her eyes desperately searching the dust filled room, trying to see through the debris that littered the walls and floor, “where are you honey I can’t see you.”

Sara strained to hear through the shrill of the fire alarm, her eyes trying to see through the dark swirls of dust that floated around the room. She turned her head when something moved beside her, and only then did she see Lindsey shuffling closer towards her, the tears streaking down her face to mingle with the dust and dirt creating a slick stain down her cheek.

“I thought you were dead,” she sobbed “you wouldn’t move when I called you.”

Lindsey’s sobs caused something to stir inside her heart spurring her decision to make a conscious effort to ignore the pain that raged rampant throughout her body as she pulled herself up to sit against the wall. As she moved, raging fire soared through her thigh, alerting her to the wetness that seemed to pool down beneath her legs. Sara’s hands trembled as she moved down to feel the cause of the pain, only then, her fingers coming into contact with the jagged edge of a large piece of the bathroom mirror protruding deeply into her thigh. Taking a deep breath, she tried to pull it out, groaning in agony as her fingers slipped on her blood, to at last remove the object to fall with a clatter onto the floor.

“Sara?” Lindsey whispered through tears “What’s the matter?”

“S’ok sweetie,” she muttered through clenched teeth, fighting her way through the agony that tried to claw her back down     “you’re gonna be ok.”

Lindsey crawled over towards her, her sobs turning into small sniffles as she curled into Sara’s side “I’m scared.”

Sara opened her arms, pulling Lindsey into her embrace as she looked around the wreckage with bleary eyes “me too,” she admitted softly, placing a small kiss into Lindsey’s hair. “Are you hurt?” she whispered worriedly, “are you bleeding?”

Lindsey shook her head against Sara’s chest, as she tried to bury herself deeper into the security of the older woman’s arms. Moving her arms around Sara’s waist, she touched something wet and pulled her hand away to see a deep red stain on her fingers “Sara,” she gasped, her voice rising a notch into near hysteria “it’s blood.”

“S’ok,” Sara mumbled, the pain in her body numbing her senses as she tried to stay focused for the child she had silently vowed to protect, “my blood.”

“But you’re bleeding,” Lindsey cried, holding onto Sara’s body creating a wave of mind numbing agony to rip throughout Sara’s lower body. She gasped in pain, her hand coming up to lie across Lindsey’s shoulders as she tried to block the pain out of her mind.

“Bet you wished you’d stayed with Warrick,” Sara joked, instantly regretted it when the wall beside them rumbled, bringing rubble tumbling down. Ignoring the pain, Sara pushed her body over Lindsey’s, shielding the child from the falling debris that threatened to tumble down on them at any second.

“I want my mom,” Lindsey whimpered as she clung to Sara, her eyes darting fearfully around the room.

“I know honey,” Sara said softly, pulling herself to sit up again, taking Lindsey with her “I’m gonna get you back to her ok?”

“But you’re hurt.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sara gasped as a wave of pain washed over her body causing nausea to rise up in her throat. Letting go of Lindsey, she hunched over onto her side, giving in to the nausea that emptied whatever little it could find in her stomach.

Outside the building, a small crowd had started to gather, consisting mostly of staff that wandered around dazed and confused. The shrill of the fire alarm refused to be silenced, its pitiful cries calling out into the night to mingle with the approaching sirens of the fire engines that had started to arrive.

On the sidewalk amidst the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles, Greg sank to his knees, unaware of the deep gash in his forehead that cascaded blood down his face. He stared ahead, his whole body refusing to cooperate with his mind as he stared with wide eyes, watching the rising smoke swirling up into the sky. His body was shaking with shock, clawing him down into the dark pit of night as he started to rock backwards and forwards, wrapping his arms around his body.

“Sir,” a voice spoke behind him, causing him to turn his head slightly to see a paramedic kneeling beside him “can you walk?”

“I,” he started, his voice swallowed inside the violent waves that shook throughout his entire body “my friends.”

“Sir you have to move away from the building,” the man spoke softly, moving down to help him to his feet.

“My friends,” Greg muttered again, pointing weakly to the building before him.

“We’re going to help them,” he promised, leading him away to an awaiting ambulance, one of many that had started to line up along the roadside.

 During the confusion, Brass arrived from the crime scene he had just attended with both Catherine and Grissom. He surveyed the scene with growing alarm, his mind trying to process the scene of destruction before him. Climbing out of his car, he ran towards the people gathered on the sidewalk, searching the faces for his friends. “What happened?” he asked frantically, looking from face to face, only to be met with silence. Scanning the crowd, he saw someone he recognized, and made his way through the sea of bodies littering the sidewalk, as the paramedics attended to their injuries.

“Archie?” he yelled, finding the young lab tech who stared straight ahead with unseeing eyes.

“Archie,” he asked again, “What happened? Where’s the night shift?”

“I,” Archie started, his voice shaking as he tried to speak “it was so fast, I don’t know what happened.”

“But the night shift? Sara? Nicky?”

The lab tech’s eyes turned from him to watch the building before him, the flames and smoke mesmerizing him as he slowly shook his head, “I don’t know,” he whispered through the tremors coursing their way throughout his body “I ..”

“Oh god,” Brass gasped, his stomach suddenly rolling in waves as the truth finally hit him. Looking around he raced over towards some firemen who were helping the walking wounded out of the building.

“There’s people inside,” he blurted “they could be trapped.”

“Sir step back,” one of the firemen told him.

There’s good people in there,” he protested, trying to avoid the restraining hands pushing him away.

“Let us do our job,” someone spoke behind him, causing him to turn to see a man he recognized. Hank Pedigrew.

“You have to help them,” Brass said shakily, his voice dripping with desperation,“Get them out, Sara’s in there.”

For a moment Hank’s eyes flashed with worry only to fall back into his work mode again, “We’ll get her out, now please move back so we can do our job.”

Brass stared at him, stepping backwards to let him pass, his mind racing with distorted images. Grissom, he had to let Grissom know. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he looked down at it for a second, his mind and heart conflicting with indecision. He knew how Grissom felt about his team, especially the young woman who was still inside the burning building, so making a decision; he punched in the speed dial number and held the phone to his ear, his heart thumping wildly as he heard the voice on the other end “Gil, you have to get back to the lab, there’s been an accident. No I don’t know, just get here.” Shutting off the phone, he shoved it back into his pocket and turned around on the sidewalk to make his way towards the ambulance crews to offer any help he could.

Nick could hear the sirens as he looked down at the cell phone in his hand again, cursing the blank screen for the hundredth time in an hour “Work dammit,” he muttered, throwing the phone onto the floor in frustration as he tried to move his trapped legs. With shaking hands, he moved down to the mangled wire that was wrapped between his body and the wall, sending coursing pain to roar throughout his stomach “AARGGHH,” he seethed, his hands trembling as he tried to pull the metal away.

Time had seemed to stand still in the darkness, the silence deafening inside his ears as he looked around for something to focus on. Images flooded his mind. Images of people he knew, people he hadn’t talked to for a long time, and here, in the darkness, he began to feel the dreaded pang of regret. He had left so many things unsaid, so many things he should have done before, but always thought he could put them off until later, he had time enough right? But now, here, bleeding and alone, the sadness began to eat away inside his aching body.

Nick could smell his own blood in the mingling dust, the copper smell causing his eyes to grow heavy as the reality of the situation started to sink into his mind. He was alone; he didn’t want to die alone.

Closing his eyes, he barely heard the rubble shifting from the empty space before him, his tired mind unfocussed.

“OVER HERE,” someone called, scrambling over the rubble to reach him. “Sir,” the fireman spoke through his mask “sir?”

Opening his eyes slowly, Nick looked up in dazed confusion, his voice failing to speak as tears of relief flooded his eyes.

Hang tight,” the fireman nodded, “we’re gonna get you out of here.”

“Sara,” Nick muttered in a ragged whisper, moving his head to watch the crumbled entrance where Warrick had not long ago walked through “in there,” he breathed heavily, his body convulsing as it tried to dispel the dust from his lungs “Lindsey, she’s there, just a girl.”

“A child?” the fireman asked worriedly “there’s a child in there too?”

Nick nodded blindly, his body overcome with pain when the fireman tried to free him from the mangled wire twisted around his legs. Sinking down, Nick’s eyes slipped into unconsciousness, the pain driving his body into numbing overdrive.

“OVER HERE,” the fireman called to his colleagues, alerting them to his whereabouts, “WE NEED A MEDIC.” Within minutes Nick’s body was swamped in a flurry of medical staff, lifting his unconscious form onto a stretcher ready to take him to safety.

“Ok people,” the fireman spoke, walking towards what was left of the doors “ we have a child trapped somewhere in here, keep alert and look for any signs of collapse.”

Moving aside, he and four other fire officers moved cautiously through the building in search of survivors.

Further inside the corridor, Warrick stumbled over the fallen rubble, making his way towards the now wrecked labs. The darkness surrounded him as he trod over broken glass that crunched beneath his feet. He needed to find them, to take them out of here and reunite Lindsey with her mother, but the more he moved the more terror filled his veins. The blast had ripped through this corridor and taken most of the glass panels with it, bringing urgency to his heart, “SARA,” he yelled frantically, his voice shaking with emotion “LINDSEY.”

He stopped to listen, his breathing heavy as he tried to stop the dust filtering through his hands over his mouth. Pushing closer, he called again “SARA.”

Inside the washroom, Sara had sunk into unconsciousness, her body losing the battle to keep her wits alive. Sitting up slightly, Lindsey shook Sara’s arm, trying to bring her awake “Sara, I hear something.”

“S’ok,” Sara muttered, dragging her eyes open “S’ok.”

“Sara. I can hear someone calling your name,” Lindsey said again, shaking Sara until she opened her eyes fully, blinking back the tiredness that threatened to engulf her.

“

SARA,” they heard again, closer this time.

Sara moved her body, dragging her legs towards the wall, clenching her teeth as the pain shot through her thighs “HERE,” she yelled as she clawed at the barrier keeping them both locked inside, only to pull back when her voice cracked into coughs when more pieces of debris fell from above them causing her to instinctively reach out to pull Lindsey close to her, shielding her body with her own. They both heard a movement of rubble being pulled away from what was left of the door, and for the first time since this whole nightmare had begun, Sara allowed herself to unleash the tears pooling inside her eyes.

“SARA,” the voice called again, outside, and close, the desperation evident in his voice.

“WARRICK,” Lindsey yelled through sobs, her arms tightening around Sara’s body as she tried to help her to stand.

 You’re gonna be ok honey,” Sara whispered tiredly, her legs slipping back beneath her again “you’re gonna see your mom.”

“We’re gonna be ok,” Lindsey sobbed, clinging to her “WARRICK, HELP US.”

Outside, Warrick frantically pulled some of the fallen debris away “I’M COMING,” he yelled “HONEY I’M COMING.”

“Did you hear,” Lindsey sobbed, turning her eyes up to Sara “we’re getting out of here.”

Nodding her head weakly, Sara forced a smile to her lips. She knew enough about the human body to know that she had lost a lot of blood. With every second that passed she could feel herself becoming more unfocussed, more unresponsive and she could feel her heart beating slower inside her chest. Fighting to stay conscious, she pulled Lindsey towards her, unaware that her blood on her hands had left spattered patterns all over the little girls cloths. “When you get out of here,” she whispered weakly, her eyes slipping closed only to open again as she spoke “tell your mom I’m sorry.”

“No I won’t,” Lindsey sobbed, grabbing fistfuls of Sara’s shirt to shake her eyes open again “you’re not going to leave me.”

“Not leaving sweetie,” Sara slurred, her eyes rolling back into her head again as she fought to stay alert, “promise me?”

“No, no, I won’t promise,” Lindsey sobbed, “you told me you wouldn’t leave me, you promised me.”

“So tired,” Sara whispered, her hand slipping from Lindsey’s shoulder as she lost the battle to stay awake.

“Sara,” Lindsey sobbed, scrambling onto Sara’s unconscious body to wrap her arms around her waist, as her tears soaked through to Sara’s cooling skin, just as the first barrier keeping them inside was pulled away to reveal a small gap where Warricks face appeared.

The sight that greeted him caused Warrick’s heart to leap out into his throat. “SARA,” he yelled, trying to rouse her with his voice. When she didn’t move he drew his attention to the young girl wrapped around her body “Lindsey, I need you to wake Sara, can you do that for me?”

Sitting up, Lindsey nodded tearfully, her arms reaching out to shake Sara, pushing her body to make her open her eyes “Wake up,” she begged, her small hands grabbing hold of Sara’s shirt “Sara.”

Opening her eyes slowly, Sara tried to focus, her vision becoming increasingly blurred “Lindsey?”

“I’m here,” she sniffed, breaking into a watery smile as she spoke, “Warrick’s here too, look, here he is.”

Sara turned her head, her blurry eyes trying to focus on her friend “Warrick?”

“I’m here Sara,” he choked, his voice catching in his throat as he spoke “We’re getting both of you out of here.”

“I..” she started, blinking back the pain in her thighs with a new lease of willpower as she pulled herself closer to the small clearing near to Warrick “Lindsey,” she nodded “get Lindsey out of here.”

The young girl beside her grasped hold of her hands, clinging to Sara’s body in desperation,“No,” she protested, “not without you.”

Closing her eyes, Sara tried to remain in control, her foggy brain desperately trying to pull her down into sleep once more, but she fought it with every ounce of inner will she could muster. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she opened her eyes again, holding firmly onto Lindsey’s arms as she pushed her towards Warrick.

“I’ll be out before you know it,” she whispered, her voice slurring slightly as she fought for control, knowing that already the chances of that were becoming slimmer by the second “but I need to know you’re safe first ok?”

“But..” Lindsey started to protest, reaching out towards Sara again.

“Honey the walls are falling, and we haven’t got a lot of time,” Warrick spoke up, reaching his shoulder through the gap to touch Lindsey’s arm, as he did part of the beams above him crumbled dust spatters onto his arm, “Lindsey please?”

Ignoring the pain rising in her body, Sara pulled herself onto her knees, the stinging heat causing her to gasp for breath. Reaching out her fingers, she touched Lindsey’s shoulder, pulling her into a hug before releasing her again so to hold her at arms length, “You have got a mom who loves you out there,” she told her calmly, her voice giving way to breaking tears “and she’s gonna be so worried about you.”

With a gentle push, she moved Lindsey backwards; enough for Warrick to snag her arm and guide her through the gap, causing more of the wall to collapse, making the opening smaller. Lindsey clung to him as he pulled her out, her sobbing breaking his heart.

“S’ok now sweetie,” Sara nodded, allowing her eyes to close again as she sat back against the wall once Lindsey was safely through “see you soon.”

“Nooo,” Lindsey screamed, her tears soaking into Warrick’s shirt “Sara you promised.”

“Sara will be out soon ok,” Warrick soothed, his heart thumping wildly inside his chest as he peered back into the small hole that still kept Sara prisoner in her concrete tomb “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m not going anywhere War,” she smiled, losing her voice into a wracking cough that took over her body.

Outside, Catherine and Grissom’s Tahoe screeched to a stop on the roadside, the sight that greeted them striking them both into numbing fear.

“Oh my god,” Catherine gasped, flinging the door open to break into a run as she moved swiftly through the bodies, searching frantically for Lindsey.

Grissom looked around him, stunned, his legs refusing to move until he saw the blurry image of Brass running towards him “Gil, it’s bad, it’s really bad.”

“What happened Jim?” he asked, his voice rising as he moved towards his friend, his pace speeding up as they neared the sea of people wandering dazed along the surrounding car park.

“Don’t know Gil,” Brass said through a ragged breath “they’ve just brought Nicky out, he’s messed up real bad.”

Grissom’s heart leapt out into his throat fearfully, a woman’s image coming to his mind as he found her name on his lips

“Sara?”

“No,” Brass shook his head “no one’s seen her, I think she’s inside.”

“God Jim,” Grissom choked, his eyes suddenly feeling the unshed emotions rising up inside his chest “oh god.”

“I know,” his friend nodded, placing a comforting arm on his shoulder as they pushed forward towards Catherine.

“Lindsey?” she repeated, over and over to every face, her voice becoming more frantic with every person who looked at her blankly as they shook their head.

Catherine’s eyes began searching frantically, every face, every injured body. Through her tears, she looked over towards one of the paramedics, blind panic taking over her senses as she made a bolt towards him, yanking on his arm to gain his attention  “My daughter, she was inside.”

“Calm down ma’am,” the man told her, pushing her away from the building, so the emergency personal cold bring out more of the injured.

“Calm down?” she seethed, anger reaching up into her voice “my baby is in there, let me get in..”

“Ma’am, step back,” he repeated, pushing her away forcefully into Grissom’s restraining arms.

“Let them work,” Grissom told her, pulling her away from the entrance only to have her turn on him with clenched fists onto his chest “Get off me,” she seethed, her teeth clenched in anger as the tears rolled down her face “I need to find my daughter.”

“Cath, stop,” he tried again, his own voice breaking with the destruction around him. People he knew were bleeding, their faces contorted in pain, and still he couldn’t see the one face he needed the most.

“You don’t know what love is,” she spat, anger and grief fuelling her words as she thumped his chest “you don’t care about anyone, so let me go dammit.”

Her words hit a raw nerve inside his heart, causing his fingers to unclench around her shoulders to let her go. His whole world was crumbling around him and she accused him of not caring. Looking around numbly, his eyes scanned the crowd until he saw Nicky being pushed into an ambulance. His whole body refused to cooperate with his mind as he forced himself to move closer to the ambulance, moving swiftly over to his side, “Nicky?”

Nick opened his eyes slowly, a small smile gracing his face beneath the oxygen mask, only to close his eyes again a second later.

“Move aside please Mr. Grissom,” someone spoke behind him. He turned quickly, his eyes coming to rest on a face he knew, a face he had come to despise. Hank watched him carefully as he pushed passed him to climb up into the ambulance, his job taking over his reactions.

“Sara?” Grissom asked him urgently, ignoring the anger inside his heart, “have you seen her?”

“No, she’s not been brought out yet,” Hank told him, keeping any signs of emotions from his voice, “We have to get him to hospital.”

Moving back, Grissom watched the doors closed before he turned to search the faces, desperate to find her.

Warrick held Lindsey to his chest, her sobs muffled against his shoulder as he held her tightly “It’ll be ok honey,” he whispered, trying to sooth her, “Sara will be ok.”

“She’s bleeding,” Lindsey choked out lifting one of her small hands to ball a fist as she punched his chest “she’s gonna die.”

“No,” he told her, his own voice crumbling with unshed tears as he carried her towards what he hoped way the outside “she isn’t.”

As he made his way back through the rubble he was met by falling debris and turned to shield the little girl in his arms until he saw the cause of he disturbance. Relief flooded his eyes when he saw some firemen coming in through the doors, “Oh thank god,” he gasped, “my friend is trapped.”

“Let us handle it sir,” the officer nodded, moving to pat his shoulder so they could make their way passed him.

“No, I need to go back to her,” he said urgently, his voice shaking in waves as he handed Lindsey over to a fireman “take her outside.”

“Warrick,” she sobbed, looking back over towards him as he moved away, her tears falling down her dust caked cheeks.

“It’ll be ok Linds,” he called, turning back, retracing his steps back towards Sara.

He stumbled over the glass and fallen concrete, leading the remaining firemen back towards the way he came, quickening his pace with urgency.

“SARA?” he called out as they neared “SARA?”

Inside her tumbling prison, Sara opened her eyes slowly, hoping that his whole nightmare had been just that, a bad dream that she would soon wake from.

Her mind swam in confusion, trying to focus on her surroundings as Warricks voice reached its way through the rubble.

“War,” she mumbled, her mouth so dry she had to lick her lips to sooth the cracked skin “WAR,” she spoke up, her voice louder.

“We’re here Sara,” he told her, reaching a hand to her through the small gap enticing her to take his comfort while they freed her from this nightmare.

Sara saw his hand; his contact giving her new found courage as she reached for him, touching his fingertips only to loosen her grip on him.

“Move back Sara,” he told her, “help’s here ok, they’re gonna get you out.”

“War,” she whispered, her eyes flooding with sorrow as she pulled herself away, “can you do something for me?”

“Anything,” he nodded, his own voice cracking with a combination of fear and sadness.

“If I don’t get out of here,” she started, her voice losing its battle against the tears that threatened to engulf her.

“You will get out,” he told her defiantly “you will, you hear me?”

“But,” she gasped, taking a breath “if I don’t, tell Grissom…..tell him….I….tell him…I love him..”

Warrick moved his hand away from the hole, his last contact with Sara broken. Had he heard her right? Did she just ask him to tell Grissom what he thought she did? Taking a deep breath, he called to her, the fear in his voice causing his body to shake.

“Sara?”

He listened intently, wishing he could pull her out in the same way he had Lindsey, but he knew from the worry in the fireman’s face beside him that something was wrong.

“Keep her talking,” the fire officer told him as he palmed his hands over the crumbling boundary that kept her sealed inside.

Nodding numbly, Warrick moved closer, his mind fighting for words to bring her some comfort but he didn’t know what to say, how could he when she was trapped inside, maybe hurt, maybe…Thinking back to when he pulled Lindsey out, he had seen the blood all over her cloths, the deep red stains splattered over the material that clung to her tiny body. If she was hurt, then so could Sara. Taking a breath, he called through the wall to her “SARA?”

He listened, keeping perfectly still while the emergency services pulled part of the wall away, making a wider gap for them to peer through.

Sara didn’t move, didn’t make any indication at all that she had heard them, but instead stayed slumped against the wall, her eyes closed.

“SARA?” Warrick called again, his voice heavy with worry as he frantically helped with the tearing down of the wall, ignoring the debris that threatened to tumble down to seal her further inside. He needed to help her, to help them, anything to make the obstacle between her and them smaller.

“Ok people stop,” a voice came beside him, halting their movements allowing Warrick to see Sara fully for the first time since this nightmare began.

Moving him aside, Warrick watched helplessly as a paramedic made a tentative move to amble in through the opening, his movements deliberately slow for fear of causing another cave in.

If Sara was aware of any movements inside the small room that had ultimately delivered her a death sentence, then she made no indication of it.

“Sara,” the paramedic spoke softly as he scrambled over pieces of glass and broken mirror to get to her “Sara? Can you hear me?” Moving closer, his eyes wandered over her battered body, her whole side now caked in oozing blood that stained her cloths. Lifting a hand, he pressed his fingers to her neck, willing her to be alive, only to sigh with relief when he found the faint pulse drumming against his fingers.

Outside, Warrick held his breath, tears stinging his eyes as his usual restrained emotions reared up inside him, consuming his heart with fearful sorrow. This was Sara, the strong one out of them all, she had to survive, she had to.

“I’ve got to get to her,” he told the paramedic, his own voice sounding foreign to his ears “let me come inside there, please?”

Looking up from the woman he was attending, the paramedic shook his head sadly “ I can’t let you in here sir, the building is unstable.”

“But, is she…?” his voice trailing off, he couldn’t bear to say the word, the final extinction that would tear his life as well as his friends apart.

“She’s alive,” came the reply “barely, but she’s alive. I’m going to try and lift her out.” Moving slowly, he carefully maneuvered her unconscious body into his arms, the desperate measures of the situation causing him to avoid all the training he had been given.

Edging closer to the opening in the wall, he lifted her body carefully, guiding her head through to the fire officers who treated her with just as much care, their cumbersome hands, gloved and dusty supporting her upper body with her accompanying paramedic until she was finally free of her incarcerating tomb.

Warrick gasped out the breath he had no idea he was holding, his relief allowing the wash of tears to escape down his cheeks, which he made no move to wipe away. Moving closer, he knelt down beside her to see for himself that she was breathing, his heart overriding his logical brain as he stooped down to scoop her up into his arms, “I’m taking her out of here,” he croaked, his voice catching in his throat as he held her to his chest.

“Sir?”

“No,” he groaned, his eyes showing more emotion as he started the slow walk towards freedom “when we’re outside then you can take her, but not now,” his voice trailed off as he buried his face into her hair, his tears coating her dust coated strands.

The firemen nodded their approval, all of them turning to pursue other parts of the wrecked building for survivors, while the paramedic turned to follow behind the latest victim of this destruction.

Catherine paced the sidewalk, her hands twisting together nervously as if the mere movement could bring what little comfort she could muster. Images ran through her mind casting endless scenarios on what her daughter was going through right now and if she was alone and afraid.

Casting a glance towards Grissom, she could see the worry etched into his face, creating a chasm of sorrow inside his blue eyes. She knew she had acted a lot less than a friend should, but under the circumstances, her daughter was the main priority in her heart right now, and friendship came a long way behind.

How could this be happening now? Only a few hours earlier she had left her daughter with her friends, the people she trusted most in this world, and now, here she was, her life in total chaos with the tussled emotions raining droplets of fear over her heart. She was lost, with nowhere to turn and no one to guide her this time.

A sudden hum of voices broke through her dazed mind, alerting her to some kind of movement behind her. Watching numbly, she moved aside as emergency staff surged passed her, pushing her backwards in their quest to help the injured emerging from the building.

Grissom too looked up eagerly, his eyes scanning the crowd for any sign of his friends, his heart screaming loudly inside his chest, praying for it to be Sara.

Standing up from the sidewalk, he moved slowly over towards Catherine, his voice failing to reach his lips as he reached out to touch her arm.

“I,” she started, her voice engulfed in tears as she watched helplessly “my baby, I shouldn’t have brought her here, it’s my fault…”

Her voice trailed away to give in to the tears building up inside her eyes, she had just lost Eddie only weeks ago and now she was losing her daughter too. Sudden anger reached out from her heart, rearing up inside her as she yanked her arm from Grissom’s touch, her seething words dying on her lips as a small voice screamed out to her.

“Mommy…”

Catherine’s head snapped up, her eyes searching frantically as she pushed through the crown before her “LINDSEY?” she screamed, her head turning from face to face until she saw her, in the arms of a fireman being carried to safety.

Surging forward, Catherine ran to her daughter, snatching her out of her rescuers arms, pulling her close to her body as she rocked her from side to side, the tears flowing freely down her face as she clung to her in desperation.

“Lindsey,” she whispered, kissing her daughters face, hair, and every part of her she could reach only to pull her tightly towards her again.

“Mommy,” Lindsey sobbed, her arms tightening around her mother’s neck “I need to help Sara, they wouldn’t let me help Sara.”

Grissom moved towards Catherine slowly, unwilling to intrude on their reunion until he heard Sara’s name and stepped up closer to listen, the drum of his heart almost drowning out his senses “Sara?” he asked worriedly, his eyes scanning the little girl worriedly only to leave her face to return to the smoldering building before him.

“She needs me,” Lindsey cried, struggling against her mother’s arms as she fought to escape “she’s bleeding mommy, she made me leave her.”

Catherine’s eyes searched over her daughters face as if seeing her for the first time as her eyes registered that there was blood in her hair, “Oh god,” she gasped “baby you’re hurt…”

“No mommy,” Lindsey sobbed, her tears soaking through to Catherine’s skin as she clung to her “not me, Sara’s..”

Grissom’s gasp caused Catherine to turn to him, her eyes only seeing her daughter and not the bloody hand patterns on her cloths. When she finally came to her senses, she looked down to where his horror filled eyes were staring and almost dropped Lindsey to the ground. Blood, so much, spattered everywhere over the small body in her arms, too much blood surely for one person to lose?

“Lindsey, “ she gasped, as one hand reached to her daughters skin beneath her cloths “you’re bleeding..”

“NO,” Lindsey cried, struggling until Catherine loosened her hold slightly, “Sara’s bleeding, she held me when the wall fell down. I have to help her like she helped me, please mommy let me go…”

Grissom could feel the nausea rising inside his stomach, his fear mingling inside to build up a cocktail of endless regrets that roared through his heart. Sara’s blood? Was she alive? The thoughts of losing her now before he had had a chance to show her how much she meant to him seemed to rob him of his breath, his body no longer able to burden the sorrow that plunged deeply through his heart. Sinking to his knees on the sidewalk, he lost all ability to find his strength, if she died, if he lost her now…

From beside him, Catherine watched in sudden horror, the realization of her earlier words to him suddenly rearing up inside her mind to curse every beat of her heart. How could she have accused him of not loving anyone when here he was, his pain laid bare before him.

Closing her eyes, she pulled Lindsey’s shaking body to her own, her own selfish relief fuelling her heart into soundless prayer. Sara had to be ok. She had to be.

Warrick held Sara’s limp body close to his chest as he neared the outside world, the flashing beams of neon blue light from the emergency vehicles causing him to blink back the intrusion from his eyes.

Looking down, he willed the woman in his arms to open her eyes, anything to give him a sign that she was aware of what was going on around her.

Scanning the scene before him, his eyes caught hold of Grissom’s slumped figure, his whole body motionless against the wall of pain that engulfed him.

Looking down, Warrick gave Sara’s body a soft shake, urging her to open her eyes and see how many people here loved her, but she stayed still, unmoving.

Silence penetrated the air around him as he emerged into the cool wind, the solitary cry of the fire alarm filtering through the night sky, screaming out its pain for all to hear.

Pulling her body closer to him, Warrick lowered his lips to her ear, whispering words that he hoped she would hear.

“Sara,” he told her, his eyes stinging with emotion as he carried her towards freedom “You can wake up now, see?” His voice caught in his throat, choking back the lump that constricted his words “ Sara, come on girl, you can do this, you’re the strong one, remember?” As he spoke he held her tighter, a solitary tear escaping to roll down his face.  “Wake up…please?”

She remained silent, her face deathly pale. The only sign of her inner battle to survive was the slow rise and fall of her chest. Holding her close, he stepped through the rubble leading to the threshold, unwilling to relinquish his hold on her to the paramedics that tried to tear her from his arms.

“Get off of her,” he growled angrily, refusing to let them pull her away, his need to protect her overwhelming his aching heart.

From his place on the sidewalk, Grissom’s head snapped up, his body on full alert as he took in the sight before him. His ears hummed with the thudding of his heart, the sound drowning through his senses as he fought to breath as he fought to calm his breathing.

Finding his strength, he climbed to his feet, his need for her becoming too overpowering to fight anymore. His heart reached out to her, screaming out the words that he could never tell her that he could never voice before, his courage urging him onwards until he was there by her side. Taking a shaky step closer, he reached out a trembling hand to touch her, his fingers aching to feel her warmth beneath his hands. “Sara?” he whispered, his voice straining against the tears threatening to emerge from deep inside him as he stepped a little closer towards her still form. “Oh god, Sara,” he gasped, his voice catching on a sob as his eyes blurred with tears.

Reaching down he found her hand with his own, wrapping her inside his warmth, trying to pass on some of his body heat as if he could heal her with his touch.

Warrick watched on helplessly, his own torrid emotions burning inside his chest as he watched his boss and friend crumble before his eyes. Stepping closer to Grissom, he sandwiched Sara’s body between them, offering the older man some comfort from his pain, but knowing at the same time that these wounds would never heal.

“Take her Griss,” he croaked through his tears “I…”

Reaching out his arms, Grissom took her from Warrick, cradling her like some treasured possession until he dropped his face to nuzzle his nose into her hair. Her softness hiding his heartbreak until he could no longer take the pain and sank to his knees with her in his arms as he rocked her between the ragged breaths that his lungs tried desperately to catch and hold on to. The surrounding paramedics watched on helplessly, pleading in silent movements that they needed to take her away from here if she was going to survive.

When Grissom didn’t move, Brass stepped closer towards him, kneeling beside his friend who refused to be parted from the woman in his arms.

“Gil, let them take her, she’ll be in good hands,” he told him softly as he cast a worried glance over the fallen body of this remarkable woman, “let them take her alright, you need to let her go.”

Nodding numbly, Grissom loosened his hold on her body, lifting her in his arms to slowly and carefully ease her down onto the awaiting stretcher, his reluctance to leave her side overriding his emotions.

Taking a step back, he looked down to his body and the dark red stain that now adorned his shirt “ Oh god,” he gasped sorrowfully, the shock pushing him to stare down at his blood spattered hands.

Everything faded from around his body to leave only the scene before him. Taking a step closer, he watched on numbly as the paramedics rushed around Sara’s broken body, securing her gently while they worked to stop more of her blood from seeping through her clothes.

Lindsey looked up from her place at Catherine’s side, her eyes alert to the sorrowful wail that came from somewhere in the midst of night. Moving away from her mother’s arms, she lunged forward towards Sara, her cries bringing the stillness of the night to an end. Catherine reached out to pull her back, needing to keep her close beside her. She had almost lost her daughter once tonight and she selfishly needed to keep her close for fear of losing her again. But now, when she looked on to see the broken figure of her friend on the sidewalk she snatched her hand away to watch with more than motherly pride, as her daughter reached out to extend her comfort to another human being.

 Warrick’s arms came up to wind around the little girl, stopping her movements to hold her back while the paramedics worked on the woman they all loved. Stooping down beside her, he picked her up in his arms, holding her close to urge the little girl who had shown more bravery than anyone he had ever seen in his life to be brave for just a while longer.

“SARA,” she cried, reaching an arm out for her new- found friend, needing to help her keep the promise they had made to each other whilst they were trapped together. “Sara,” she sobbed, huge tears rolling down her cheeks as Warrick turned her to face away from the scene.

“Sara will be ok,” he told her firmly, his own eyes wet with tears “She has you to come back to.”

“I promised her,” she sniffed, her voice breaking on a sob as she threw her arms around his shoulders clinging to him desperately. Warrick pulled her closer, feeling the wetness from her sobs seeping through his cloths as she clung to his body.

Catherine’s eyes swam with tears as she stepped closer towards Sara’s prone body, torn between helping her daughter or her friend. Looking towards Warrick, he nodded to her in silent communication that he would take care of the little girl in his arms while she gave comfort to the one person everyone had seemed to forget.

Stepping closer to Grissom, she rested one hand on his arm while the other rubbed his back as she tried to ease away some of his pain.

Grissom stood rock still, his eyes fixed on the woman on the stretcher, showing no indication that he felt Catherine beside him. Watching quietly, she glanced over at Jim, questioning him silently, willing him to tell her what she needed to hear.

“Not good,” he mouthed silently, his eyes brimming with the emotions choking him, “she’s bad.”

“Oh god,” Catherine gasped, bringing a trembling hand to her mouth, her mind screaming out in turmoil as she laid her head on Grissom’s shoulder trying to offer some comfort while his world fell apart around him.

“Sir, do you want to travel in the ambulance with her?” someone asked Grissom, breaking the silent walls around him. For a second he watched numbly, unmoving, his eyes scanning Sara’s closed eyes with a mixture of love and fear.

Stepping closer, Catherine rubbed his shoulder “Yes he does,” she nodded, bringing him out of his reverie to urge him towards the ambulance, “We’ll follow you Gil, ok,” she said softly as she squeezed his shoulder, his silence worrying her more than anything else he could be unleashing right now. “ Gil?” she repeated, pulling his arm to turn him towards her “Okay?”

When he turned to catch her eyes, she gasped with the intensity shining so clearly from his sorrow filled depths, his aching pain all too visibly clear.

“Go with her Gil,” she urged, stepping forward to engulf him in a quick hug before pushing him away from her so he could climb in behind the paramedics taking Sara away.

 As the ambulance sped away, Catherine turned back towards her daughter, who still held tightly onto Warrick, her arms surrounding him in her vice- like grip.

With everything that had happened tonight, Catherine knew she owed Sara a huge debt of gratitude that she would gladly repay a thousand times over as soon as she was well again. If she ever regained consciousness.

These new thoughts of dread that Catherine had tried so hard to control began a slow ache deep inside within the essence of her heart, which in turn brought a fresh onslaught of tears to her eyes. Turning slowly, she offered a watery smile towards Warrick before taking a few steps closer, her need for human touch overpowering her senses.

He watched as she approached, his own eyes filled with shock and mirroring the emotions that ravaged his heart and coated his mind in so much pain that he didn’t know that he wasn’t sure if, and how, if they could survive this nightmare.

“Sara’s going to be ok,” she told him defiantly, her voice catching on a sob as she spoke “She has to be.”

“She promised she wouldn’t let me die,” Lindsey muttered against Warricks shoulder, refusing to lift her head from the safe sanctuary of his arms.

Reaching out a hand, Catherine rubbed her daughters back softly. “I will never be able to thank her enough for looking after you baby,” she whispered brokenly as a single tear broke free from its restraints to, roll down her cheek. Moving closer, she surrounded Lindsey and Warrick in her arms, holding them both close to her body while the chaos still reigned around them.

Jim Brass watched the trio sadly, his own emotions fighting and threatening to consume him. He knew these people so well. Their closeness for each other extended out to him as they had drawn him into their tight circle. Over the last few years he had become more and more like family to all of them, their lives and feelings winding around his own.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped closer to the three people engulfed in a powerful embrace, hating himself for having to break it up, yet knowing he would need to prepare at least two of them for the coming few hours.

“Catherine,” he spoke quietly, drawing her away from her circle of warmth and forcing her to look over towards him. “I need to speak with you, it’ll only take a second.”

Nodding slowly, she moved away from her family to take a step towards him, her heart aching with worry when she caught the sorrow in his eyes.

“Jim?” she whispered, “What’s happened? Is it Sara?”

“No,” he sighed, shaking his head, his voice faltering as he tried to find the right words to say to her.

“Oh, god,” she gasped again, her mind concluding the only possible solution as she blurted a name that meant as much to her as the rest of the people here “Not Nicky? Please tell me he’s not….”

“No,” Brass told her, reaching out a hand to silence her voice as he pulled her to one side. “I’ve heard that Cavallo is on his way over. He’s,” he stopped for a second thinking of the right word before speaking again, “disturbed at all this.”

“He’s disturbed?” she asked incredulously “His people are falling like dried up and curled leaves around him and HE’S disturbed?”

“Ok, maybe a bad choice of words,” Brass told her, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat “I’m just telling you how it is ok? I’m not the bad guy just the messenger.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice cracking on a sob that failed to reach her lips “we’re all a little out of it right now. I’m…”

“Hey it’s ok,” he smiled “look go to the hospital, get Warrick and your daughter checked out and worry about Cavallo and the investigation later. I’ll tell him that you’ll see him when you’ve had time to calm down and sort everything out.”

Catherine reached out to him, drawing him into a soft hug before moving away from him. “Thanks Jim.”

“Anytime,” he smiled, nodding silently to indicate that she was needed somewhere else right now. Smiling sadly, she stepped away from him, moving back towards her circle of love that she so desperately craved and needed right then.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital, Grissom followed the stretcher taking Sara away from him. Coming closer, her tried to follow her into the brightly lit emergency room, but found himself pushed back by a pair of hands that refused to let him enter any further. “I’m sorry sir but you can’t go in with her, you’ll have to wait outside.”

“But I..” Grissom started, his eyes searching over the doctor’s shoulder for a tiny glimpse of the woman who had just been taken away from his arms.

“Go to the nurse at the front desk,” the doctor told him, his voice softer this time “you’ll need to give us her details.”

Grissom nodded his head numbly, his mind racing with a thousand different questions as he fought to control his raging emotions. “Is she gonna be alright?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed “, someone will come and find you as soon as we know. Now please, let us do our job.”

Stepping backwards, Grissom watched in a nightmarish daze as the doors to the small room closed before him, breaking the final link with the brunette who had become his world.

“Grissom?” a voice called behind him, causing him to turn around to see a battered looking Greg watching him worriedly.

“Greg?” he asked, shaking the confusion from his mind as he tried to focus “You too?”

“Yeah,” he grinned sadly, touching his stitched forehead gingerly, indicating the wound he had suffered “it’s only a scratch.”

“I didn’t know,” Grissom muttered softly, his body aching under the intense pressure of his pain “I didn’t think of anyone else. I’m really sorry.”

“Hey it’s cool,” he smiled, his eyes wandering over Grissom’s disheveled clothes to notice with a stunned gasp, the blood on his shirt “Grissom, you’re bleeding.”

Looking down at himself, Grissom shook his head slowly, his knees almost buckling beneath him as he croaked out a name that had itself burned into his heart so long ago “Not me,” he whispered brokenly, his voice shaking as he spoke “Sara, she..”

“SARA?” Greg gasped, his voice rising in pitch and volume as he stepped closer to the man before him. “Where is she? Is she ok? Is she..”

“No, I don’t know.” Grissom groaned, his voice almost breaking into a wail as his body fought to unleash the intense emotions inside his heart. “They won’t let me see her, she’s bad Greg, really bad.”

Stepping closer, Greg took hold of Grissom’s elbow, steering him over towards the white plastic chairs that were lined up along the far wall. “Sit down,” he commanded, pushing the older man down to a chair, to take the next one himself. “You want coffee or something?” he asked tentatively as he tried to hide his intimidation from the man who always managed to strike sudden fear through his veins.

“No,” Grissom said quickly, only to turn to him and offer a sad smile “Thanks anyway.”

“Ok,” he nodded, his mind racing with questions only to be silenced when he closed his eyes. “She’s gonna be ok,” he said aloud, his voice shaking with trembling emotions as he fought to convince himself more than anyone “If she…if something happens.” Leaning forward, he buried his head into his hands, his mind trying to cast away the doubts and fears that plunged deep inside his heart, bringing with them the raw emotions that only a short time ago had caused his heart to plunge into fear.

Slowly, he sat back up, realization dawning inside his mind as he turned towards the broken man beside him “Nick? Does Nick know?”

His words reached in through the dark haze that had surrounded Grissom’s senses pulling him away for the briefest of seconds before he turned back towards Greg, his mouth suddenly dry as he shook his head slowly. “I don’t know,” he whispered “I, is he…I can’t believe I didn’t think, is he alright?”

Turning towards him, Greg offered him a sad smile, knowing he would have to be the one to deliver the news.

“I don’t know where to start,” Greg whispered sadly as his words caught inside his throat. “I mean one second we were all laughing and doing the stuff we usually do and then Bam, everything changes.”

Leaning back against the wall, Grissom let out a long shuddering breath, his aching heart wishing he could undo this nightmare and turn things back to the way they were prior to the explosion. If only it could be so simple as turning back the dials of the clock, then he would change the way he acted towards the people he cared about, and in find some way to make up for the misery he had caused so many over the last few months.

“What happened Greg?’ he asked softly, the sorrow in his voice causing the young lab tech to turn his eyes towards him hesitantly.

 It shook Greg suddenly to realize that the man everyone had come to know as closed off and unemotional, had feelings after all. He was obviously hurting, his blue eyes showing the torrent of raw emotion that was usually kept behind a wall of denial.

“I don’t know,” he whispered as he leaned his head back against the wall “it’s the strangest thing you know? I can remember every detail of what happened this morning when I went home. I can remember what I ate for breakfast but I can’t remember what happened back there. I’ve tried so hard, but I can’t.” Taking a deep breath, Greg sat forward to bow his head into his hands, trying desperately to hide the wall of tears that hid inside his eyes. “Nick’s hurt pretty bad,” he whispered, “his leg’s been mangled up and he lost a lot of blood. His doctors said that he’ll be ok but he won’t be walking around for a while.”

Grissom drew in a sharp breath as he tried to block the mental image of the hurt and broken bodies of the people he now regarded as family from his mind. “I don’t know what to do,” he croaked, his tear filled eyes unable to keep the emotion from pooling slowly down his face “ I should have been there.”

“To do what?” Greg asked carefully. “You think Sara could cope any better than you are right now?”

“That’s just it,” he choked, “I’m not coping. Look at me, is this coping?” Sitting forward he swiped angrily at her face to rid the wetness that showed his weakness all to clearly to the outside world. “Sara wouldn’t fall apart. She would take charge and organize the chaos.”

“I think you really should pay attention Grissom,” Greg told him sadly. Sitting up slowly in his seat he turned towards the older man and regarded him carefully. “She’s not as strong as you think she is you know.”

“I..” he started, his voice dying on his lips as he struggled to keep the soft whimper escaping from his heart. “There’s so many things I should have told her, but I didn’t know what to say. God…” Grissom’s voice broke as a cascade of tears slipped from his eyes, bringing a wave of destruction through his body to leave him that left him broken and torn in the wake of this nightmare.

“It’s not too late,” Greg sniffed “you can still tell her.”

“She’s in a bad way,” he whispered softly, his words catching inside his throat “She’s so pale.”

“Sara is going to be okay,” Greg told him defiantly, his eyes unleashing the emotions that refused to be silenced “she has too many people who love her to even think about leaving us, so don’t you dare give up on her.”

“I haven’t,” Grissom told him brokenly as he turned to face the man beside him, shocked to see that the pain on his face mirrored his own “I’m sorry Greg, I should have realized, I know how you feel about her.”

“S’ok” Greg nodded sadly as he tried to sniff away the remaining remnants of emotions from his eyes, only to have them replaced by another onslaught. “Doesn’t matter anyway, it’s not like she’d ever be interested in me.”

Grissom opened his mouth to answer, but before he could say anything someone called his name from a few feet away. He turned in his seat. His heart aching with a tiny measure of relief when he saw Catherine, Warrick and Lindsey moving towards them.

“How is she?” Catherine asked quickly, gasping back a breath as she came to sit down beside him.

“I don’t know,” he said softly, his emotions once again riding on a sea of sorrow that wouldn’t be silenced no matter how hard he tried to calm the waves that roared up inside him. “They wouldn’t let me go with her. Cath, she’s so quiet, I’ve never seen her like that before. What if I lose her?”

“You won’t,” Catherine whispered as she pulled him into her arms, caressing his body with the comfort he needed to feel right now. “ Shhh,” she whispered soothingly, her fingers stroking his back as he shook in her arms.

Warrick held onto Lindsey as he fought against his own raging tears that tried desperately to be freed from their restraints, but he held them back for the sake of his friends. One of them had to be strong, and he had elected himself to bear the weight of their pain. There would be a time for tears and sorrow later, when he was alone and in solitude. Clasping Lindsey’s hand to his chest, he smiled down towards her, his words motioning Greg to allow the two people beside him to release their emotions in private. “ I think Nick could do with some friendly faces right about now. What’s say we let your mom handle things here for a while?”

“But I want to see Sara,” Lindsey sniffed, her eyes filling with tears as she looked over to Greg for his moral support, but when he stood up to reach a hand out to touch her hair softly she knew she had to be patient. Nodding her head slowly, she wrapped her arms around Warrick's neck, taking his warmth to lull her into some sense of security.

Catherine’s eyes met Warricks briefly before he nodded silently, indicating that he would take Lindsey with him so she could turn her attention back to the broken man beside her. His pain broke her heart. She had known Gil Grissom for a very long time, and seen him lose his emotions only once or twice before, but it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.

“She’s gonna be okay,” she whispered. “You think she’s gonna let you off the hook that easily?” Tightening her arms around him, she held back her own emotions, knowing that if she let the tears flow now, she would never be able to stop their flow.    “She adores you Gil, you really think she’s gonna leave you behind?”

Her words caused his heart to reign more regrets around his aching body as he slowly started to move away from her arms “I’m scared Cath,” he admitted through ragged breaths as he fought to control his raging emotions “I don’t know how I’m going to get through this if she dies…What do I do?”

“She isn’t going to die,” she told him forcefully, choking back a sob as she spoke. “ She promised my little girl that she wouldn’t leave her and when was the last time Sara went back on a promise?”

“Never,” he sniffed, pulling away from her completely as he brought one of his hands up to wipe his face. “You’re right, she’s going to be fine. She has to be.”

“You love her Gil, that’s all she needs to get her through this.” Reaching out a hand to his, she entwined her fingers in his to pull him back with her to rest against the wall, as they both silently watched the doors that had taken Sara away from them. Both of them waiting for any sign of movement, as they drew strength from each other.

“She’ll be ok,” he whispered softly, as he prayed silently to whichever higher power was listening, to spare her life and bring her back to him again. He wished someone would come outside and end the waiting, anything to let them know that their anguish would finally be over. But as every minute ticked by, he slowly started to lose himself into the deep chasm of darkness that threatened to swallow him whole.

Catherine held onto his hand, willing him to find the tiny piece of hope inside him that would end the chaos and allow Sara to return to the family that needed her. She knew deep inside that if they lost her, then none of them would ever be able to recover from her loss, especially the man beside her whose heart had been shattered with grief.

“Excuse me?” someone spoke beside them, his blue surgeons gown covered with large smears of blood. “You came in with Miss Sidle?”

“Yes,” Grissom gasped, fighting to control his breathing as he sat straighter in his seat “How is she?”

 Catherine leaned forward in her chair to cover Grissom’s shoulder with her hand. She subconsciously held her breath as she felt her heart racing inside her chest.

“Miss Sidle is a very lucky young woman,” the doctor told them carefully before he continued, “another hour and we would have been too late.”

Grissom watched the man before him intently as he hung on to every word. Taking a deep breath, he shifted a little in his seat before he let out a strangled cry from somewhere from deep inside the confines of his chest. “How is she? Is she going to be alright?”

“She’s strong,” the doctor nodded slowly, his voice lowering as he stepped a little closer to them. “We found shards of glass inside her wound which lacerated a vein. Thankfully it wasn’t the major artery, so we were lucky. We managed to repair the damage but due to the amount of blood she’s lost, we had to replenish her system with extra blood and fluids before her body went into hemorrhagic shock.” He regarded them carefully, before he continued, his voice soft and compassionate, “She will be in a lot of pain when she eventually regains consciousness, so we have had to administer some strong medication to keep her rested for a while longer. Don’t expect too much from her for at least 24 hours.”

“Can we see her?” Grissom asked quickly, his need to see her for himself outweighing anything he had ever felt before.

“Yes, someone will come down and take you to her in just a few minutes.”

“Thank you,” Grissom gasped in relief, his smile lighting up his whole face as he sank back into his chair.

“You’re welcome,” the doctor smiled as he took a step back, then turned to leave them alone with their private heartache.

“Oh god,” Grissom let out the breath he was holding as he slumped backwards. Relief flooded his eyes, which he tried desperately to keep at bay but his emotions once again refused to be silenced.

“Hey,” Catherine soothed, lifting a hand to rub his shoulder “she’s alright Gil,” she told him through her own tears. “Sara’s come back to us.”

“I know,” he whispered through tears, his happiness causing him to choke back the sob that started to rise up inside his chest. Closing his eyes, he let the salty droplets slip from under his lids to wash away the anguish, leaving him with a feeling he hadn’t felt inside his heart for a very long time.

Beside him, Catherine laid her head against his shoulder, drawing on his newfound sense of peace. Her own feelings ran rampant inside her heart, alerting her to the sadness that had yet to leave her. Could it have been only weeks ago that Eddie had been taken from the realm of the living to leave her with a gaping hole that left her torn inside? Part of her had still loved him. After all, he was the father of her child; that was something no one could ever replace. Thinking back Sara’s face came into her mind to haunt her memories once again. She had been so cruel with her words, causing Sara to think that she was incapable of doing her job. Had her campaign of mistrust caused Sara to protect Lindsey? Would she have really given her life to in some way earn back the trust she thought she had lost?

Her thoughts left her mind as a nurse came over and paused in front of them. “Are you Miss Sidles family?”

“Yes,” Grissom said quickly, standing shakily to his feet as he spoke. His eagerness to see her reached through to his eyes, hiding the sheen of tears that never left his eyes.

“You can see her now,” she smiled kindly. “ If you would both like to follow me.”

Wordlessly, Grissom and Catherine nodded their acceptance, both of them needing to see Sara for altogether entirely different reasons.

“Is she alright?” Grissom asked softly, his voice shaking slightly under the strain of his heart.

“She’s a tough one,” the nurse smiled “she’s very sick right now, but yes, I think in time, she will be fine.”

They came to a stop outside a closed door where the nurse moved to turn the round handle “I have to warn you though,” she said quietly before opening the door “she’s hooked up to a heart monitor and she’s being given fluids intravenously, so she may look a little different to what you’re used to.”

Opening the door, she stood back to let them enter while she remained standing in the doorway, quietly watching. She had seen this kind of situation so many times before; she was prepared for the victims loved ones to suddenly buckle beneath the pressure.

Grissom drew in a ragged breath when he saw Sara’s prone body hooked up to various different tubes. She looked so pale that he hardly recognized her at all. Stepping closer, he felt the tears once again sting his eyes as he lifted a shaky hand to touch her bare arm. Closing his eyes slowly, he stroked her warm skin, the touch sending tremors of relief through his veins.

“Sara,” he whispered brokenly, taking another step until he was pressed beside the side of her bed. “Oh Sara.”

Catherine turned slightly to nod towards the nurse who offered her a watery smile. “I’ll be outside if you need me,” she whispered softly before taking a step away, leaving the emotional scene surrounding her.

Catherine watched Grissom with a mixture of love and sadness. Sara had protected her daughter at all costs, paying the ultimate price for her struggle to help. Stepping closer towards Grissom, she inhaled deeply before reaching down a hand to touch Sara’s fingers “Lindsey’s safe Sara,” she sniffed “you took care of her for me and I will never forget it.”

Sara remained silent. The only indication of life being the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest and the shrill beeping of the heart monitor.  Grissom pulled up the chair beside the bed to sink down into it, his fingers trailing over her soft skin. Without hesitation, he slipped his hand over hers to entwine their fingers, willing her to know he was here beside her.

“Gil,” Catherine whispered hoarsely, “I know you have some things you want to say to her right now, so if you want me to leave I’ll understand.”

“I think you know all the things I’m feeling,” he whispered, his voice breaking as he spoke. “I used to be able to hide my feelings so well, maybe too well.”

“She knows how you feel about her Gil,” Catherine told him reassuringly as she moved closer to place a hand on his shoulder.

“How does she know?” he choked, “I convinced her and myself that I didn’t need her. But look at me now,” he shuddered sadly, his heart breaking as he spoke. “I think I’ve demonstrated just how lost I am without her.”

“Oh Gil,” she whispered as she squeezed his arm gently “Sara loves you.”

Her words sank into his heart, causing an ache so deep he had to fight to control his shattered emotions. He knew that he and Sara had shared something that kept them linked together. Sometimes her presence became all too painful for him to withstand, and other times he needed her so much that he could barely breathe. Now was one of those times when she commanded his attention by doing nothing at all, drawing him in closer. Sometimes she scared him half to death with the depth of his feelings for her, other times she filled him with intense joy that filtered through to his heart and soul.

He felt Catherine’s hand tighten on his arm, her touch offering him the reassurance he needed, until she withdrew her warmth and slowly retreated from the room. He felt her distance and was somewhat relieved to be able to unleash the pain that had begun to burn a hole inside his heart. Slumping forward, Grissom moved his head down slowly to lay against Sara’s hand, his fingers still entwined in hers. This was all the comfort he needed right now, to be here, with her.

Catherine moved over to one of the plastic seats that she had only just left a short time ago. Guilt reigned tightly over her heart as she tried to banish the image of Sara’s broken body from her mind, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t.

With shaking hands, she rubbed her fingers over her tired eyes. Maybe this was a nightmare she mused. Maybe she would wake up any second and remember none of this, but as the minutes ticked by she knew this was no dream. She shifted back into her chair to lay her head against the wall, her eyes closing against the well of tears that threatened to flood her eyes. How did this happen? When had her simple life become so difficult? Reaching down into her purse, she pulled it up onto her lap. Delving inside, she searched around for the tissues that she always kept when she was out with Lindsey.

The sudden ringing of her cell phone almost caused her heart to stop and she chided herself for being so weak. Pulling it out of her purse, she pressed it to her ear expecting to hear Cavallo demanding answers. “Willows.”

“I saw you on the news,” a man’s voice spoke, a voice she didn’t recognize.

“Who is this?”

“I see you received my gift,” he chucked “too bad you weren’t in the building at the time. No matter, next time.”

“Next time?” she gasped, “Who are you, you sick bastard?” she seethed while her heart was beating wildly inside her chest.

“Have to go,” he told her “see ya.”

Catherine stared at the silent phone in her hand trying to comprehend what in the hell had just happened. Closing her eyes briefly, she opened them again to punch in some familiar numbers then pressed the phone to her ear.

“Jim,” she whispered shakily, her bottom lip trembling as she tried to speak “can you meet me at the hospital. I need your help.”

 Nick looked up wearily when he heard the soft voices of Warrick and Greg joking lightly with each other as they neared his room. His heart ached inside his chest as he waited for their inevitable appearance, unsure whether he was ready for visitors right now.

“ Hey bro,” Warrick grinned as he came into the room with Lindsey’s hand securely wrapped in his. Warrick tried to remain in control of his tumbling fear that fell right down into the deep chasm of his mind when he saw his friend in obvious pain.

“Hey,” Nick croaked, his dark eyes falling instantly to the little blonde girl by his friend’s side. Immense relief flooded his heart, leaving in its wake a wash of tears that slowly tumbled from his eyes. “Oh thank god.”

Greg watched quietly from his place in the doorway, knowing that Nick didn’t know comprehend how much the events of the last few hours had rocked the foundations that had kept them all closely tied together. Trying to push his best smile to his face, he called out to Lindsey who still hid partly behind Warrick, holding him close to her like some sort of security blanket.

“Hey Lind’s,” he said, forcing a smile to his face, “you wanna come and get something to eat with me? I’m sure they’ll have some brownies or a sandwich.”

The little girl turned to him only to cling on tighter to Warrick’s hand, afraid to release the one person other than Sara who she felt totally completely safe and secure with right now.

“Honey, you could do with something to eat,” Warrick told her softly as he turned around to sink down on one knee to face her. “I promise I’ll come and find you in a few minutes ok?”

Lindsey’s eyes started to fill up with tears as she looked from Warrick to Nicky, her bottom lips trembling. Stepping up closer, she wrapped her arms around Warrick’s neck, pulling him tighter towards her.

“Promise?” she whispered against his ear.

“I promise,” he smiled gently, trying to give her some of the reassurance she so desperately craved.

“Ok,” she nodded, unwrapping her arms from around his neck to release him. Stepping back, she heard a sharp gasp slip from Nick’s lips and turned towards him with more than a little fear in her eyes.

“Come on Lind’s,” Greg urged, holding out his hand for her, relieved when she finally reached out for him. Smiling down at her, he guided her away from the tense atmosphere surrounding the occupants inside the small room.

As soon as they were alone, Nick choked back on the breath he had been holding to expel and let it escape from his body.     “Sara?”

“Nick,” Warrick sighed sadly, his voice cracking as he tried to find some way to tell his friend the news.

“Blood,” Nick whispered “Lindsey had blood on her.”

“Nick,” Warrick started again, only to have his voice die on his lips as Sara’s lifeless image found its way into his mind, bringing with it another wave of intense sadness that filled his eyes.

“Oh God, please don’t tell me she’s gone,” Nick whimpered, his own eyes flooding with liquid fear as he watched his friends reaction.

“I don’t know,” Warrick groaned sadly as he rubbed a tired hand over his eyes to try and banish the tears before they appeared showing his weakness.  “She’s bad Nick, I don’t know if she’s...if she’ll....”

“Don’t say it,” Nick whispered, “She’s strong, she wouldn’t leave us.”

“God Nick,” he gasped, his face turning to the ceiling in despair as he spoke. “Griss is a mess. He fell apart when I brought her out. She was so…still.”

“I can’t believe this is happening War,” Nick sniffed “she was beating herself up about Eddie Willows and now she’s hurt.”

“She was amazing Nick,” Warrick told him, his voice a mixture of sadness and pride which filled his eyes as he spoke. “She effectively saved Lindsey’s life down there. I am so damn proud of her.”

“She made things right,” Nick nodded tearfully, “she blamed herself for letting Cath down. I guess she’s even now.”

“Yeah,” Warrick sighed, “I guess.” His eyes wandered over to his friend’s bandaged leg. “So how are you feeling?”

“Me?” Nick sighed, forcing a smile “tissue damage that’s all. I’ll be out of here in a few days.”

“Good,” Warrick nodded “that’s great.”

“Listen bro, I’m a little tired, would you mind…?”

“Get some rest,” Warrick nodded, answering him before he’d had a chance to finish speaking. “I’ll drop by and see you later.”

“You’ll let me know about Sara?”

“Count on it,” he smiled, “later.”

Nick watched him retreat from the room. His emotions ran through him like pure molten lava that coated his heart like a pressurized inferno.  How could this be happening? Fresh tears began to track their way down his cheeks as he let the sadness embrace him. Sara had to be all right. He needed her she was his best friend.

Catherine stared down at her hands in numbing fear. Her mind replayed every second over and over trying to find some clue as to who would do this to her. Closing her eyes tightly, she focused on the voice she’d heard. Did she recognize him?

“Hey,” Brass smiled as he came to sit down beside her. “What’s going on? It sounded urgent on the phone.”

“Jim,” she gasped, turning to him as she grasped at his arm him with shaking hands “it was my fault.”

“You’re shaking,” he told her worriedly as he reached out to her, trying to calm her with his touch. “What’s your fault?”

“I had a phone call,” she whispered, her voice shaking as she spoke. “I didn’t recognize him, but he said he’d seen me on the news and he wanted to know if I liked my gift.” Turning towards him, she gasped back a sob, “I think he caused the accident because he told me he’d get me next time.”

“What?” he asked incredulously, “Did he give any indication, any clue that he knew you personally?”

Catherine closed her eyes as she fought to remember. “I don’t know,” she told him quietly “No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, what did he sound like? Did he have an accent? Did you hear any background noise? Anything at all?”

I don’t know,” she growled in frustration, “If I knew don’t you think you’d be the first one to know?”

“Yeah, look I’m sorry, I guess we’re all a little wired right now.” Coming to sit down beside her he took out his cell phone and looked around the empty corridor, “How’s Sara?”

Catherine closed her eyes as he spoke only to open them again a second later. She tried not to look at him, averting her eyes from his so he couldn’t see the guilty pain that shone so plainly from her depths. “She’s pretty bad,” her voice caught on a sob, bringing fresh emotions to her eyes. “She’s gonna pull through, but she almost…oh god Jim,” she gasped as her voice caught inside her throat. Leaning forward she hunched over to rest her elbows on her knees “She almost died to save my child. How can I ever look her in the eyes again knowing that some sick nutcase was trying to hurt me?  It should have been me in there, not Sara, not Nicky, but me.”

“Look we don’t know that yet,” he soothed, reaching out a hand to rub her back “for all we know it could be someone playing a sick prank that’s all. Let’s not overreact until we know for certain, okay?”

Catherine nodded slowly as she moved her head into her hands. “Sara thought I didn’t trust her anymore after Eddie’s murder. I was so cruel to her. I said some things that I shouldn’t have, and now….” Drawing in a shuddering breath, she tried to control the shaking waves that took over her body. “ She’s paid the price for my ignorance.”

“Mommy,” Lindsey called out to her as she came running down the corridor towards them. From her seat, Catherine looked up. Seeing her daughter caused a huge beaming smile to emerge onto her lips and she found herself standing up to meet her little girl half way to scoop her high up in her arms.

“We saw Nicky,” Lindsey told her, pulling her mother closer towards her as she spoke “and Greg took me to get chocolate cookies.”

“He did?” Catherine beamed, glancing quickly over towards Greg and Warrick, smiling her thanks to both of them.

“Is Sara okay now?” Lindsey asked pulling back slightly to look into Catherine’s eyes “Can I see her?”

Warrick saw the pain flash behind Catherine’s eyes and stepped closer to tap the little girl on the shoulder, distracting her for a moment. “Honey I think maybe she’s still asleep.”

“But I won’t wake her up,” she gasped, turning to her mother again to hold the sides of her face in her small hands “I promise mommy I’ll be really quiet.”

“I know you will baby, but Sara’s really sick right now, maybe later?”

“Warrick?” Lindsey asked, turning her face towards him “, you can take me, just for a little while, please?”

 I,” he sighed “honey I wish I could…”

“How about I go and ask Gil if he would mind you popping in to see Sara for just a minute?” Catherine smiled, hoping that she could satisfy her daughter for the time being “and then I think we need to go home don’t you?”

“Catherine, I don’t think that’s wise,” Jim told her cautiously, breaking his silence as he looked towards her.

“What?” Warrick asked worriedly “why?”

“I, Jim can fill you in,” she told him as she placed her daughter’s feet firmly onto the floor “let’s go and see Sara for a few minutes okay?”

“Yep,” Lindsey smiled, taking her mothers hand excitedly. Warrick watched them as they moved away, his heart pounding inside his ears as he spoke “What was all that about Brass?”

“Catherine received a phone call a short time ago from some guy claiming to have sent her something. He implied that his gift caused the explosion inside the lab.”

“Oh god,” Warrick groaned as he fought to control his ragged breaths “there was a package in the break room addressed to Catherine. We didn’t think anything of it at the time. Damn, who the hell did this?”

“It came in with the late mail,” Greg offered, breaking his silence to speak up. “You really think this guy blew up the lab?”

“I don’t know that yet,” Jim told him quickly as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “I’m gonna go down to my guys and tell them what we know so far.” He started to walk away, but turned back again briefly “This guy told Catherine he would get her next time. I don’t think it’s a good idea for her and Lindsey to go home right now.”

“No,” Warrick nodded “I’ll take them both to my place when we leave here.”

“Yeah good idea, oh, and Warrick word of warning,” he groaned, “Cavallo wants answers and he expects everyone to report to the work as usual. He’s talking about setting up a temporary lab in part of the PD building. Just so you know, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks Brass,” Warrick nodded “the sooner we find out what happened the sooner we can get through this.”

“See you later,” Jim nodded as he punched in some numbers on his cell, waving a hand behind him in a silent gesture of goodbye.

Sighing heavily, Warrick moved over to one of the chairs and sank down into the seat “This is nuts.”

“I know,” Greg agreed, “ this shouldn’t be happening. We should be all working and doing our stuff just like we always do. This is all wrong.”

“Yeah,” Warrick nodded, his voice wavering as he sank forward to hold his head in his hands “nuts.”

Catherine held Lindsey’s hand tightly as they cautiously stepped into the doorway of Sara’s room. The slow steady rhythmic beat off the heart monitor was the only sound inside the room.

Looking up slowly, Grissom offered her a weak smile, his hand still wrapped around Sara’s fingers.

“Hey,” she smiled softly as they stepped cautiously into the room, bringing Lindsey closer so she could have a tiny peek at the woman asleep in the bed. “How is she?”

“Same,” he sighed, turning his eyes back towards Sara’s sleeping face. “I’m staying here with her tonight.”

“Okay,” she whispered, then turned her attention down towards Lindsey “Why don’t we come back tomorrow when Sara’s had more time to rest?”

Letting go of her mother’s hand, Lindsey walked slowly up to Grissom, stopping beside him. “Can I kiss her goodnight?”

Grissom felt his heart lurch up inside his chest as he slowly met Lindsey’s eyes. Smiling gently, he slowly untangled his hand from Sara’s to move aside for her to come in a little closer to the bed.

“I think she would like that,” he whispered softly as a fresh sheen of tears washed over his eyes. Lifting Lindsey up a little so she could reach Sara’s face, he tried to choke back the sob that threatened to escape his lips. His heart raced inside his chest with incredible emotion as he watched little Lindsey brush her small fingers through Sara’s hair.

“Night Sara,” she whispered softly as she leant down to place a soft kiss on her warm cheek. “Feel better soon okay?”

She lingered close to Sara’s ear for a few seconds before Grissom lifted her back down to the ground.

“I’m going to take Lindsey home now Gil,” Catherine told him as she took hold of Lindsey’s hand again to lead her back towards the doorway “Call me if there’s any change?”

Sitting back down into the chair beside the bed again, Grissom nodded wordlessly, returning his attention back to the brunette that held his heart and soul in her hands. His fingers snaked out again to wrap around hers, caressing her softness with loving care. He knew by the silence that he was now alone again and found himself moving closer to her prone body laying his head down onto the mattress beside her hand.

Closing his eyes, he felt the tiredness creep over him once again, taking him to a dreamless sleep where nothing but nightmares waited to claim him.

 Warrick offered Catherine a small smile when they returned from Sara’s room, his eyes awash with questions. Coming closer, Lindsey slipped her small hand into his; smiling up at him.

“How’s Sara?” he asked softly, his words causing Catherine’s heart to once more ache inside her chest.

“She’s still asleep,” she sighed as she stepped up closer towards him seeking the comfort from him that she so desperately sought. The last few hours had been an experience she wished none of them would ever have to suffer again. Moving in closer to him, he slipped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his warmth.

“You and Lindsey are coming home with me tonight,” he whispered, waiting for the inevitable reaction that was usual for her stubbornness. It never came.

“I…I think that might be a good idea,” she sighed sadly “I don’t want to risk Lindsey again, not for anything.”

Warrick’s hands slid around her tighter, pulling both Lindsey and Catherine into his circle, his silent vow to protect them smothering anything else in his heart right now.

“Is Sara gonna be okay?” Greg asked quietly from his place on one of the white, plastic chairs. “I mean is she…bad?”

Turning around to face him, Catherine’s heart melted with concern for the young lab tech. “Oh Greg, I’m so sorry that no one told you.” Leaving Warrick’s arms briefly, she came over to sit down beside him. Reaching out to take his hand, she offered him a small smile. “She lost a lot of blood, and for a minute there we really thought we were going to lose her.”

“So she’s all right? She’s going to recover fully isn’t she?”

“In time I hope so,” she smiled. Squeezing his hand, she let his fingers slip from hers. “You should go home and get some sleep Greg. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be one hell of a day.”

“Yeah. Cavallo wants everyone in as usual. Can you believe him?” Greg groaned miserably as he looked down into his hands  “I mean how can any of us act like nothing happened when two people are seriously hurt? God knows how many others were injured.”

Catherine turned her eyes to Warrick, seeking an explanation but withdrew it when she saw the look in his eyes. Conceding defeat, she turned back to Greg and offered him a small smile. “You’re injured Greg.”

His fingers automatically reached up to feel the plaster on her forehead. “Yeah, but mine was only a scratch. Nick and Sara…”

“Are going to be fine,” she told him reassuringly, cutting off his words before he could speak of something that was, for the time being entirely out of their hands.

Lindsey yawned tiredly beside Warrick. He smiled down at her and picked her up into his arms “How about we get this little one home?”

“Yeah,” Catherine nodded, smiling wearily as she turned back towards Greg briefly. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I….yeah, I think so.”

“We’ll see you tomorrow?” She asked quietly as she stood again.

“Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes glancing over towards Lindsey whose eyes had closed, her battle between sleep and awareness finally taking its toll on her small body. “You’ll need someone to watch Lindsey for you.”

“Greg?”

“I can come and sit with her for a while. I can’t go back there right now, and I don’t think she should either.” Standing up he came closer towards her, “That’s if you want me to?”

“Yes,” she smiled, reaching out to pull him into a quick embrace “I would like that, and I think Lindsey would too. You do know that having bought her chocolate cookies has made you a friend for life, right?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled as he pulled away from her embrace to take a step back. “I kinda figured that out. Now go home and I’ll come by Warrick’s tomorrow to sit with her.”

“Okay,” she smiled “but what about you?”

“I’m gonna hang around here for a while and see if Grissom needs a ride home.”

“Oh that’s sweet Greg, but I’m afraid he won’t be going anywhere for a while. He’s kind of made himself a permanent fixture by her bedside.” Reaching out to him again, she rubbed his shoulder. “Come on, get some rest.”

Nodding silently, he gazed one last wistful gaze down the empty corridor before following them out towards the exit.

Darkness closed around Nick’s body as he tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep in. Every time he moved, a searing hot pain rampaged throughout his body, forcing him to lie back into his pillow until the wave had passed, leaving him fighting to breathe.

Thinking back to the conversation he’d had with his doctor earlier, he tried to make some sense of what had happened to him. His leg hurt like hell, caused apparently from shards of metal from the explosion. His doctor had tried to explain the injuries to him in the best way possible without causing him any further distress. The metal from the explosion had flown across the room to wrap around his body, lodging its way deep into his right leg, ripping through his skin to embed itself into his leg muscle. His surgery to remove it had been extensive as they tried to repair the damage that had ripped through his muscle fibers. He had been told he was lucky. He could have lost the use of his entire leg if they hadn’t operated on him in time. If the operations had taken place slightly later, amputation would have been the only solution to saving his life.

Glancing down towards his bandaged leg, he found his mind drifting back to the smoke and clouds of dust that billowed around him in the darkness. Everything had happened so fast that there was no way anyone of them would have been able to prepare themselves for the intrusion into their lives.

Shifting slightly, he instantly regretted the minor movement. Another wave of pain washed throughout his lower body, bringing a deep gut-wrenching gasp from deep down inside of him. Clenching his teeth, he fought with his voice in a bid to stop himself from crying out in agony.

Tears stung his eyes, forcing a well of emotion to fall upon his cheeks. His isolation here played heavily upon his battered heart, as he looked around the dimmed room in sudden desperation. He was alone in the dark and no one would come to help erase his memories this time.

Closing his eyes, he fought to banish the distorted images from his mind as he relived every minute detail of his terror over and over again. If only he could pick up his phone and call Sara’s number like he always did when his night terrors came to claim him. She would talk him down and calm his senses. Her voice would wash over his soul to lull him back to sleep, taking the images away with her.

“Sara,” he gasped, his voice cracking into a sob as his tears won the torrid battle that raged inside his heart. His inner sobs clawed him down into the darkness, surrounding his mind as he slowly sank into a disturbing dreamless sleep.

Some time later, Grissom slowly opened his eyes. For a moment he thought he had dreamt all of the chaos around him and began to slowly berate himself for his stupidity. But as he crossed the delicate balance between consciousness and sleep, he realized this was no dream.

His back ached from his bent over position and he tried to move himself backwards to sit up, but his head wouldn’t move. For a moment he tried to discover the restriction, eager to ease the dull ache starting to form down his spine. Sitting up slowly, he reached out for Sara’s hand, suddenly realizing that the pressure on his head were her fingers threaded through his hair.

His heart thudded loudly inside his chest as he lifted his hand to find hers. In this one precious moment he managed to smile for the first time since this whole nightmare had begun. She must have reached for him some time during the night, eager to accept his comfort, and that thought brought him more happiness in one second that he had felt in a whole lifetime.

Sliding his hand delicately up her bare arm, he found her fingers entwined in his hair, her touch igniting his heart. Wrapping his fingers around hers gently, he caressed her soft skin before guiding her hand down to his lips.

Sitting up slowly, he winced at the pain inside his spine only to push it away when he looked over towards her heavenly face. With sudden clarity he realized in that single moment why he loved her so much only to find her eyes on him, open and wide.

“ Sara,” he gasped tearfully, his movements causing her to draw in a deep agonized breath as a wave of pain soared through her body. He looked on in horror as his emotions broke free to roll down his cheeks. “ Oh honey, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Sara closed her eyes until the wave of nauseating pain left her body to leave slight tremors inside her. She could feel Grissom’s closeness as he gently stroked her fingers with his. The soft reassurance lulling her into a deep sense of security.

Opening her eyes slowly, she focused on his deep blue depths feeling a wave of relief wash over her heart. Opening her mouth she tried to speak, but no words would come. Taking a breath she tried again, this time slowly. “ Where…how?”

 He smiled down at her tearfully, clasping her hand in his protectively. “ It’s okay. You’re in the hospital,” he lowered his voice reassuringly as he tried desperately to control the emotions in his voice, but the words seem to drag on his lips as if the intense pressure from the last few days was finally taking its toll on his heart. Tears of relief flooded over his cheeks and he closed his eyes to try and stop the flow, but his emotions refused to be silenced.

His tears caused a surge of shock to run rampage throughout Sara’s body, bringing with it the deep feelings that she had embedded inside her heart so long ago. She needed him to know that having him here beside her meant everything to her.

 Licking her dry lips, she squeezed his fingers, urging him to look at her. Her need to see him again overwhelmed her heart with a deep penetrating love that had been growing for so many years. Holding her breath, she watched as his eyes fluttered open to reveal his beautiful eyes.

“ Lindsey?” she whispered hoarsely, her voice croaking against the dryness inside her mouth. As she tried to focus, images flooded her mind. Images of the room crumbling around her as she fought to protect the little girl against the forces which intended to claim them. Flinching hard, she squeezed his hand in hers as she tried to banish the nightmare from her mind.

“ You’re in pain,” he gasped, his voice a mere whisper. Loosening his fingers, he tried to disengage his hand from hers, but she clasped him tighter. “ Honey, let me get the doctor?”

“ No,” she whimpered, her eyes filling with tears as she held on to him desperately. “ Lindsey? Is she…”?

“ Sara,” he started, his voice shaking with tears “, she fine. She got out alive because of you.”

His words washed over her soul to crumble the walls of worry that had built a barrier around her heart. Closing her eyes, she whimpered softly as more tears consumed her body, freeing her at last from the guilt that had eaten away at her for so long.

“ I have never been so scared,” he whispered as he closed the short distance to plant tiny kisses into her hair. “ I thought I had lost you this time.” Reaching around behind her head with his other hand, he threaded his fingers through her hair while he laid his head next to hers on her pillow. She turned her face to rest against his, their tears mingling together as they both sought comfort from the other.

Lindsey woke up with a scream, her eyes searching the room in fear. The haunting images inside her mind returned with a power that left her shaken and wide eyed. “ Mommy?” she whimpered, her eyes darting from the wall to the slightly open door, which filtered light in through the room. When she heard no response, she climbed out of her make shift bed and ventured outside into the hall. “ Mommy?” she called again, her fear causing her to shake.

From the kitchen, Greg almost jumped from his chair when he heard her cry. “ Lindsey?” he called as he walked towards her voice almost colliding with her coming the other way.

“ Where’s my mom?” she whimpered, “ I want mom.”

“ Hey it’s okay sweetie,” he smiled, reaching out a gentle hand to coax her closer to him. “Your mom and Warrick had to go into work for a few hours. But she said you could call her when you woke up.”

Lindsey watched him cautiously, as she wrapped her arms around her waist protectively. “ I had a bad dream.”

“ You did?” he asked softly as he held out a hand to her. “ How about you come and sit down with me and we’ll see if we can make it go away?”

Watching him carefully, Lindsey slowly nodded her head. Edging closer to him, she untangled one of her arms from around her small frame and took hold of his hand, walking the short distance towards the coach to sit down. He smiled at her warmly before coming to sit down next to her, waiting patiently for her to talk.

“ I was dead,” she whispered tearfully, the images still embedded inside her mind creating a tidal wave that shook her small body in memory. “ Sara was asleep and I couldn’t wake her up.” As she spoke, her tears turned to sobs that wracked her body as wave after wave of remembrance left her small body.

“ Hey,” he whispered shakily as he closed the short distance to pull her into a gentle embrace “ you were so brave and everyone is so proud of you.”

“ But Sara died,” she wailed mournfully, her small arms clinging to him as she sobbed “, she wouldn’t wake up.”

“ Oh sweetheart she didn’t die. Sara’s in hospital getting better because of you.”

Lindsey shook her head against his chest, trying to will the images away from her mind, but the bleak gray surroundings of her concrete prison reared up to claim her again.

“ Shh,” he whispered softly “, it’s all right now, you’re okay and so is Sara. You’re both safe that’s all that matters now.”

Pushing herself away from his chest, Lindsey wiped the tears away from her face. “ I want my mom.”

Greg found his own emotions raging inside his heart. He knew that Catherine would want to be here with her instead of working. Reaching over for the phone, he picked it up and started to dial her number.

Warrick stood beside Catherine, worry shining clear from his eyes. As soon as they had arrived at the now destructed lab, the memories had started to filter through the pair of them. Only a few hours ago their lives had been ripped apart in more ways than one.

“ You feeling all right?” he whispered as he draped a hand over her shoulder in reassurance. He felt her tense beside him and moved to pull his hand away, but she stopped him by reaching up to clasp his hand with hers.

“ Don’t…please..”

“ Hey it’s okay,” he whispered, pulling her into his body trying to give her some of his strength to get through this.

“ Where’s Grissom?” Cavallo snapped behind them as he rallied the staff like sheep in a Penn. “ I am not happy about the situation any more than you people are, so let’s try and at least get some organization around here. So, I ask again, where is Gil Grissom?”

Catherine pulled away from Warricks chest to stand defiantly on her own. “ He’s at the hospital.”

Cavallo glanced over towards her then looked down at the clipboard in his hands. “ According to my list, he wasn’t among the injured in the accident.”

“ He’s with Sara,” she told him, her breath catching inside her throat as she realized her mistake. “ Sidle,” she corrected, He’s with Sara Sidle and Nick stokes. They were hurt pretty bad.”

“ Well that’s all very comforting, but he’s needed here if we’re to salvage some of this situation. So I would appreciate you calling him and asking him to make an appearance.” Turning away from her, he addressed the rest of the night shift with unwavering resentment. “ Not all of the lab was damaged. There was major collapse in the break room and surrounding areas, and from the fire departments report, we still have access to many of the undamaged labs.”

“ That’s good and all,” Warrick spoke up, “ but how are we supposed to carry out our work when the building’s not even safe?”

“ I was coming to that,” Cavallo started, his eyes piercing Warrick with a scrutinizing stare “ Brown right?”

“ Yeah,” he nodded “, I was inside when the accident happen.”

“ Well as for your first question, the building has been made safe. For now everyone will use the fire exit to enter and exit from the building. All areas from the break room through to the DNA lab are out of bounds until the investigation is complete and the building work commences.” His eyes left the small crowd to look down at his clipboard again. “ We recover what evidence we can, and by that I mean we work fast. That’s all people, let’s get to work.”

Catherine sighed heavily, she knew the torment of the explosion would return to haunt her as soon as she stepped a foot inside the wrecked lab. She almost lost her daughter in here, and that was something she would never be able to forget.

Her cell phone had started to ring loudly, its vibration sending a pulsating rhythm down her side. Reaching inside her purse, she pulled out her phone and placed it next to her ear. “ Willows.”

“ Where were you last night?”

Catherine’s heart thudded inside her chest as she gasped in a deep breath. Reaching out to Warrick, she grabbed a handful of his shirt, clutching at him desperately. “ I… who the hell are you? Why are you doing this?”

Beside her, Warrick’s eyes grew wide in alarm as he reached over to take a hold of her hand, pulling her with him as they quickly made their way into the police department.

“ Oh I’m hurt,” the man chuckled. “ You really don’t remember me do you?”

Catherine tried to keep her voice calm as she hurriedly walked beside Warrick as he pulled her towards Brass’ office. “ I don’t. I’m sorry, should I know you?”

“ Think of the date bitch,” he spat angrily. “ Or maybe you need another demonstration.”

“ A demonstration?” she gasped “, look I don’t know who you are, if you tell me then maybe I will remember.” As she spoke, they moved inside Jim Brass’ office causing him to spin around in his chair. Standing up quickly, he opened his mouth to speak but Warrick held up a hand to silence him the pointed to the cell phone over Catherine’s ear. Nodding slowly, he came to stand beside her, writing something on a piece of paper, to hold it up to her. ‘ Keep him talking.’

Reading it, she nodded. Rubbing a hand over her eyes she took a deep breath. “ You said I should know the date, August 3^rd right?” When the mystery voice failed to answer, she tried again. “ Look how am I supposed to know the answers if you won’t tell me what I need to know?”

“ You should remember, after all you’re the one who helped to put him away,” he drawled. “ Think about it.” The phone went dead suddenly, the caller ending this conversation.

“ Oh god,” she gasped tearfully, her arms reaching out to Warrick who stepped a little closer to ease her trembling body with his warmth. “ He said I should remember the date. He said I should remember because I was the one who helped put him, someone else, away. Oh god this can’t be happening.”

Greg looked down at the phone in his hand with a heavy sigh. “ She must be a little busy right now Lind’s,” he told her, offering her a small smile. “ How about we have something to eat and call her back in half an hour?”

“ Okay,” she muttered softly as she moved to climb off of the couch. “ Can we call Sara?”

“ Um,” Greg started only to lose his voice mid flow. There was nothing he wanted to do more than call the hospital and enquire about his friends, but he didn’t think he could handle any more heartache today. “ Tell you what, we’ll hang out here for a while then we’ll call the hospital to see how Sara and Nick are doing.” For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to answer him, but after a few seconds she offered him a tentative smile. Immense relief washed over him, as her smile opened up his confidence no end. He watched her silently while she made her way back down the corridor, all the while hoping that his friends were all right.

Nick opened his eyes slowly to the pulsating pain inside his lower body. Squeezing his closed fist tightly, he opened it again with the pulse of agony rampaging throughout his body. Gasping aloud, he pulled on the wire that the nurse had left for him, fumbling with the call button on the other end, pressing it insistently.

A few seconds later, a nurse came rushing into the room. Looking at his contorted face she knew immediately that his pain had returned with a vengeance and went over to his side.

“ Mr. Stokes,” she soothed, “ I’ll call the doctor for you, he’ll want to have a look at your wound.”

“ Hurts..” he muttered painfully, clutching his eyes tightly closed again.

Leaving his side, the nurse walked down to the end of the bed to retrieve his notes and started to read. “ I’ll get you some pain meds,” she told him. “ I’ll be back in a minute or two.”

Opening his eyes, Nick watched her leave and tried to relax. His first night here had been filled with nightmares that consisted not only of the accident, but something from his past that always returned to haunt his dreams. He had always had nightmares, but in time he’d managed to push them aside, and as the years went on, the nightmares started to lose most of their power over him. But last night, the images returned with severity to mingle in with those of the explosion to concoct a powerful image of doom that hung over and weighed down his heart.

“ Here you go,” the nurse smiled warmly, offering him the small cup that held his pills. “ I’m Susan, so if you need me for anything you just have to call me, okay?”

Throwing his head back he tumbled the pills into his mouth then took the offered cup of water from her hands. Swallowing the tiny pills in one gulp, he allowed himself to relax a little, knowing that in only a few minutes they would provide his body with relief from the pain.

“ My friend,” he whispered hoarsely as she took the cup from his hand. “ Sara, how is she?”

“ Sara?” she asked puzzled, trying to picture in her mind who the woman was.

“ Sara Sidle, she’s my friend,” he told her, his throat constricting tightly as he fought the urge to cough. “ Can you find out for me...please?”

“ Of course,” she smiled softly as she came closer to sooth him back down into the pillows. “ Your doctor will be around to see you in a little while, so try and get some sleep before he arrives.”

“ K,” he muttered with a contented sigh as the pills started to work their magic to wash his pain into submission. Closing his eyes, he drifted off into a dreamless sleep, his body conceding to the urge to fight.

Gil Grissom had always thought of himself as a strong man personality wise, but after last night he was beginning to question his judgment. Sitting up slowly, his eyes drifted down to the sleeping woman by his side. She never ceased to cause his breath to catch in his throat, or his heart to beat just that little bit faster. Even in sleep. Even with the injuries she had sustained, she still took his breath away.

He smiled down at her gently as he reached out a hand to stroke her hair. She had fallen into a resting slumber only minutes ago, finding the power of sleep overpowering her tired mind. His heart raced with the surge of electricity that soared through his body. The intimacy of this one simple touch opened up feelings that he had never been able to admit to before. The fact that she could ignite him in ways that no other woman had ever been able to do before caused his heart to flutter somewhere between heaven and earth.

She had rampaged into his heart a long time ago, crashing through his defenses, rendering him powerless to her beauty and personality. So why had he spent so many months trying to push her away from his heart when all he needed right now was her touch? He had no doubt in his mind that he loved her. Hadn’t he always? He always constantly thought that they would always have ample time to know one another, that he could deny her advances for as long as he needed. But after last night, when he held her lifeless body in his arms, his fragile balance between denial and loving her had been shattered leaving him broken and lost.

Closing his eyes against the regret that washed over him, he found himself remembering the times when he had almost succumbed to her power. She would smile her smile and he would try to avoid her eyes, but she knew. She knew his knees were quaking and his heart was soaring and that he was fighting the urge to pull her into his arms. Had she known his inner battles, he wondered. Had she known that if he pulled her into his arms he would never be able to relinquish his hold on her, ever? So he lied to his heart and he lied to her. He allowed her to believe that she held no place inside his heart, convincing both of them that he could live without her. But time and time again, he had watched that beautiful smile fall from her lips and hated himself for causing her pain.

“ Thought you’d gone,” Sara whispered sleepily when her eyes fluttered open as she fought to stay awake.

“ Hey,” he grinned, moving closer to her once again. “ How are you feeling?”

“ Tired,” she whispered softly, her eyes fluttering closed only to open again just as quickly.

Reaching out to her, he delicately ran his fingers down her cheek. “ You should sleep.”

Sara regarded him for a long moment, her eyes accustomed to every emotion that emanated from his eyes. Squeezing his fingers gently, she coaxed his eyes to hers. Pushing her fatigue away she tried to give him her best smile, “ What’s wrong?”

“ Me?” he asked. “ I’m fine.”

“ I know you,” she whispered as she lifted her fingers to trace delicately over the stubble on his chin. Reaching up, he clasped her fingers with his own. He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her palm delicately, the touch causing his eyes to flutter closed.

“ I’m sorry,” he told her, his voice a mere whisper as fresh emotion welled up inside his eyes. “ I’ve been distracted lately. I’m sorry I hurt you.”

“ S’ok,” she smiled forgivingly, her eyes fighting their battle to remain open.

“ Go to sleep sweetheart,” he whispered, his voice showing the same tenderness that controlled his heart. “ I’ll be here.”

“ Griss,” she smiled sleepily, a sigh on her lips as she blinked away the sleep that tried to possess her. “ Wake me up when Nick comes okay? ”

“ I will,” he whispered gently, as he leaned forward to place a soft kiss on her forehead, then sat back to watch her lose her battle and surrender to sleep.

His heart lurched with guilt when she had mentioned Nick’s name. No one else had existed beyond her, and it never once occurred to him that Nick was in another room alone and in pain.

Sitting back in his chair, he watched her for a few more minutes before tearing his eyes away. Untangling his fingers from hers, he rose quietly to his feet. Nick needed someone with him too, and while Sara slept he would go and check up on him, something Sara would do herself if she were able to do so.

His eyes lingered over her sleeping face and he fought the urge to sit back down beside her. He could gladly lose himself in her presence and that thought used to scare him half to death. Leaning over to her, he placed a soft kiss in her hair then moved to back away towards the door, his heart screaming inside him, urging him to stay.

Sighing heavily, he found Sara’s nurse waiting at her station when he emerged. “ She’s sleeping again,” he smiled when she looked up at him.

“ She’s on heavy medication,” she told him with a smile. “ She’s a very lucky young woman.”

“ I know,” he nodded, his voice shaking as he spoke. “ I um.. now she’s sleeping, I wanted to look in on our friend Nick Stokes. He was brought in yesterday.”

“ Nick Stokes?” she asked, her eyes looking down at her computer screen to find the information she required. “ Ah yes, here he is. He’s in room 9, just along the end of the corridor.”

“ Thank you,” Grissom smiled, his eyes momentarily returning to the room behind him that held his whole life.

“ She will be fine,” the nurse smiled “, If she wakes while you’re gone I’ll send someone along to find you.”

“ Thank you,” he grinned, his eyes falling down to her badge, “ Alice.”

“ You’re welcome.”

With a heavy heart, he turned away and started the short walk down toward Nick’s room. He scanned the numbers along the way until he came to the door he wanted. Moving closer, he walked slowly in through the open door and gasped at the sight before his eyes. “ Oh Nicky,” he sighed sadly, causing the young man in the bed to open his eyes.

“ Hey,” Nick smiled, his obvious delight at seeing a familiar face reaching through to his dark eyes.

“ How are you feeling?” Grissom asked softly as he came into the room easing himself down into the chair next to Nick’s bed.

“ Been better,” he mumbled as another wave of pain washed over his body. “ Dammit,” he groaned.

“ Are you okay?” Grissom asked worriedly, climbing to his feet.

“ Yeah, just can’t move without my leg hurting.” Laying back into the pillows, Nick waited for the pain to subside before slowing his breathing to somewhere resembling normalcy.

“ Do you want me to find your doctor or something? Maybe you need a new dose of medication.”

“ Any more and I’ll be way out of my head,” he smiled only to wince as a twinge of pain reminded him that his body didn’t look to kindly on being moved too much.

Grissom sighed heavily as he sat back down into his chair. “ What happened Nick? You and Sara are lucky to be alive.”

“ Wish I knew Griss,” Nick whispered brokenly, closing his eyes against the memories that haunted his mind. “ We were talking, then Sara took Lindsey to the bathroom and then all I remember was this huge explosion and then the whole place covered in rubble.” Turning his head slightly, he watched the change of emotions visible in Grissom’s eyes. “ How’s Sara?”

Looking up, Grissom couldn’t hide the smile that danced on his lips when he thought of her. “ She’s hurt pretty bad.”

“ I wish I could see her,” Nick sighed, closing his eyes as he spoke. “ She was blaming herself for Eddie’s death again. I found her reading the case file, and well, you know how she can get?”

“ Yeah,” Grissom nodded, “Yeah I do.”

“ So I dragged her out of the break room,” he smiled “She wasn’t exactly kicking and screaming, but you know Sar, she protested anyway!”

“ I can imagine,” Grissom smiled, visualizing the image in his mind. Sitting forward he lowered his voice a little as he spoke, “ Has your doctor explained what’s wrong with your leg?”

“ Yeah,” he sighed, “ apparently some of the metal from the chair legs sliced through my thigh and into muscle. It hurt like hell at the time.”

“ And now?”

“ Still hurts like hell,” he smiled.

Grissom glanced over to the younger man in the bed and offered him a small smile. “ At least you’re able to laugh about it.”

“ Yeah well the way I see it, if it hurts then at least I know it’s there right?” Nick closed his eyes briefly then laid back into the pillows.

“ I should let you get some rest,” Grissom said softly, starting to stand until Nick opened his eyes to watch him.

“ No, it’s okay,” Nick told him with a smile “If you don’t mind me saying Griss, you don’t look too good yourself.”

“ Yeah I know,” he sighed, “ it’s been a rough few hours.”

“ You know Sar’s stronger than you think she is. She’ll be able to handle this.”

Looking up towards his friend again, Grissom felt the tears sting his eyes once more to reveal the depth of feelings that lay hidden beneath his façade. “ What if I can’t?”

“ Well then maybe you should tell her how you feel,” Nick offered. “ Look she’s my best friend, it hasn’t been easy for me to watch her go through the hell you’ve been throwing at her.”

“ I…”

“ Now I know you didn’t realize you were hurting her, but you were. But this is Sara, she’s tough and smart.” Taking a deep breath he clenched his hands against the sheet that wrinkled beneath the pressure of his fingers, until the wave of pain passed.

“ I’ll find your doctor,” Grissom told him quickly as he stood up. “ You shouldn’t be in this much pain.”

“ No,” Nick whispered, laying back into the pillows as far back as he could, “ he told me to expect this.”

“ But isn’t there anything they can give you to ease it even a little?”

“ This IS easing it a little,” Nick smiled, his eyes registering the release of pain from his system. “ I start physio in a few days so compared to that this is a piece of cake.”

Turning around, Grissom came back into the room, returning to the chair beside Nick’s bed. “ I’ll have to go back to the lab at some point. I’m sure Cavallo is reading the riot act right about now.”

“ You think the lab will still be in use after what happened?” Nick asked in surprise. “ I thought Warrick said that they had to set up temporary labs or something.”

“ I don’t know Nick, I haven’t been near the lab since they brought Sara in.” Grissom’s eyes dropped down into his hands, focusing on his fingers as he spoke again, “ I don’t want to leave her.”

“ Watch it Griss,” Nick grinned, causing his friend to look up and meet his eyes. “ Don’t let Sara hear you talking like that, she’ll kick your ass for sure.”

“ Yeah,” Grissom chuckled, the mental image impacting into his mind. “ Right about now, I’d welcome it.”

“ She’s tough,” Nick told him seriously. “ Look she loves you, she’ll fight with everything she’s got if she knew you felt the same way as her, and by the looks of you I’d say you do.”

“ That obvious huh?”

“ We’ve known for the last three years Griss,” Nick smiled, “ it’s just you that didn’t see beyond your nose.”

“ Well it’s all changed now,” Grissom sighed wistfully, “ I thought I’d lost her this time.”

“ One thing I know about our Sara,” Nick mused, a small smile tugging on his lips, “ when she loves you, she loves you with everything she has. There’s no falseness, no hidden agenda, just her.”

Nick’s words caused a momentary flash of jealousy to rear up into his eyes, but he pushed it away before the feeling had time to emerge. “ Sounds like you love her too.”

“ Of course I do,” Nick told him, turning to face his friend with perfect clarity in his eyes. “ She’s my best friend.”

“ Sorry,” Grissom blushed slightly, returning his gaze down to his hands. “ I guess I’m just not used to all this emotion.”

“ Well get used to it Griss,” he smiled, “ don’t you think it’s about time you realized we’re family?

“ I think it’s slowly starting to become clear there Nicky,” he smiled softly, his eyes widening slightly when Nick stifled a yawn. “ I should leave you to get some rest.”

Yawning again, Nick turned to him with a sleepy smile. “ Sorry.”

“ Don’t be. You get some rest okay, I’ll stop by later to see you.”

“ Sure,” Nick whispered as his eyes lost their battle to keep open any longer.

“ Night Nick,” Grissom smiled again. Creeping over towards the doorway, he took one last look behind him and headed out of the door.

Warrick and Catherine scanned the piles of files on the table before them. They had pulled everything from August onwards from every case that Catherine had been involved in since her time as a CSI.

“ This is like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Catherine groaned in frustration. “ It could be anyone.”

“ Here’s one from August 4 years ago. Does David Wells mean anything to you?” Warrick asked.

“ David Wells?” she asked, closing her eyes as she tried to conjure up the image of his face in her mind.

“ He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl.” Warrick’s eyes scanned the paper before him. “ It says here that you found the murder weapon.”

“ Yeah I remember,” she sighed as the distorted image of the victim came into her mind. “ She was just a baby. He snatched her from her own backyard, she didn’t stand a chance against him.”

“ Well he has the perfect alibi, so I guess we look through some more of these,” he groaned, his hands fingering the pile before him.

“ Yeah I guess so,” she sighed. “ Listen can you take over for a few minutes? I need to check in with Greg.”

“ Yeah sure,” he smiled, “ take your time.”

“ Thanks,” she grinned, as she reached down into her purse to pull out her cell phone. “ I won’t be long.”

As she passed, she reached down to his shoulder, squeezing it in thanks. The two of them had developed a strong bond since this nightmare began and she found it increasingly difficult to be away from his presence.

Stepping outside into the hallway, her eyes met with the rubble and destruction that still reigned its chaotic residue over the adjacent walls. An image of her daughter trapped and bloodied sprang into her mind, causing her to catch her breath. She needed to be away from here, if only for a few minutes to regroup her tattered emotions.

Making her way out into the cool night air, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Lifting the small object in her hand, she started to press in the number that she knew so well. Thoughts of her mystery caller came back to haunt her mind once more. Who the hell was he anyway, and how did he get her number?

Her musings died away when she heard the familiar voice at the other end of the phone.

“ Hello.”

“ Hey Greg it’s me.”

“ Catherine?” he gasped, “ where have you been I’ve been trying to call you?!”

Catherine’s heart started to pump wildly inside her chest. “ Why? What’s happened, is Lindsey okay?”

“ Yeah she’s fine. She wanted to talk to you.”

“ Greg don’t do that to me! You almost gave me a heart attack,” she groaned miserably. “ Where is she? Can I talk to her?”

“ Hang on,” she heard him yell her daughters name and then waited until she heard the muffled sounds at the other end of the line, waiting until the heavenly voice that washed away all of her frustrations.

“ Mommy,” Lindsey said excitedly, “ I had cookie dough ice cream.”

“ You did?” she gasped dramatically, giving herself a mental note to remind Greg to cut back on the treats. “ Oh baby I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up but I had to go into work.”

“ Greg told me I could go and see Sara if you said it was okay,” she beamed, her small voice sounding so alive that Catherine could barely contain the emotion welling up inside her eyes and heart.

“ Well don’t you want to come with Warrick and me later? It’s not fair on Greg taking you if he doesn’t feel well.” Catherine heard the disappointment in her daughters voice as she let out a mournful “ Mommy, I want to see Sara.”

Closing her eyes against the wetness in them, Catherine felt her resolve slipping slightly, “ Tell you what, let me talk to Greg first so he can call the hospital. If Sara isn’t up to visitors then I’m sure Nicky would love to see you.”

“ Mom,” Lindsey whined, then, knowing she wouldn’t be winning this battle of wills, gave up and relented. “ Okay, but will you and Warrick let me go with you too?”

“ Of course baby, I love you,” she beamed, “ now run and get Greg for me and I’ll see you later.”

“ Love you too, bye mom,” Lindsey giggled, as she squealed out Greg’s name begging him to stop tickling her.

“ Hi Greg,” Catherine smiled unable to hide the humour in her voice, “ I see you and Lindsey are getting on well.”

“ She’s a great kid,” he grinned, “She wants to see Sara, so I checked with the hospital already and she’s doing a little better, so if it’s okay with you…?”

“ Yes Greg, it’s fine with me,” she smiled, “Give Sara and Nick our love won’t you?”

“ Sure will,” he smiled, “and we’ll see you after shift.”

“ Yep, bye.”

Turning off the phone, Catherine’s eyes focused on the darkening sky. Looking up, she spotted a few stars that twinkled brightly above her. If only she could make a wish like she used to when she was a little girl. Fighting away the feelings of embarrassment, she looked around her sheepishly to see if she was alone before closing her eyes. “ Please end this nightmare,” she whispered, “ and help me find the man responsible for this.”

Opening her eyes again, she glanced up into the darkness. If only life was as simple as it was when she was a child. Taking a deep breath, she turned back towards the labs where the chaos waited to undoubtedly overpower her once more again.

Warrick looked up from the file he was reading when she came back into the room. Offering her a smile, he motioned for her to come and sit back down next to him. “I think I may have found something.”

“What?” she gasped, “You have?”

“Well it could be nothing so don’t get too excited yet.” Opening the file on the desk he started to read some of the details aloud, coaxing Catherine closer with his words as she lowered her body into the seat beside him.

“Richard James, arrested for armed robbery on July 18^th 1999. He was remanded in custody pending investigation into the death of his brother, who was found dead execution style, bullet wound to the head.”

“Yeah I remember that case,” she sighed, “At the time he was always the prime suspect for the murder but he killed himself in prison.” Looking down closer towards the file on the desk, she started to read some of the other details. Remembrance of the actual arrest visualized inside her mind. The blood, the screams, the sobbing child. “Wait a minute, he had a son didn’t he?”

“Um…” Warrick hummed as he read down the file. “Yeah, Robert, then aged 12, so he would be what..16 now?”

“Yeah, I remember his eyes War,” she shuddered, “His eyes were so cold and he looked at me with such hatred in his eyes.”

“Well it says here, Richard James was pronounced dead on August 3^rd 1999 at 1a.m.” Looking up quickly, his eyes met with hers to register the same recognition.

“What time was the explosion?” she asked quickly, “Do we know?”

“Uh, rough guess..” Thinking back inside his mind, he tried to remember the time. “Lindsey woke up a little while after you and Griss left for that homicide which was what…12.30?”

“Yeah I guess so.”

“If I had to guess, I’d put time around 1a.m., which means…”

“Which means we have a lead,” she gasped, grabbing hold of his hand to squeeze his fingers. “You coming?”

“Where to? Cath, this could be nothing.”

“And it could be everything, come on War.”

Warrick watched her excitement, and felt a grin begin to tug at his lips. Picking up the file, he stood up to follow her out of the room where they came face to face with Cavallo.

“I just got the initial report back from the investigation team. The main impact of the explosion started inside the break room, which in turn destroyed the surrounding areas.” Rubbing his hand over his eyes tiredly, he stood back a little to let them pass. “Has Grissom come in yet?”

Catherine and Warrick exchanged glances before Catherine spoke up quickly, “He’ll be in tomorrow, he..um..he felt he couldn’t leave his team until he knew they were off the critical list.”

“Critical list?” Cavallo asked in surprise, “I was under the impression that they both escaped with minor injuries.”

“MINOR?” Catherine growled, her first instincts wanting to rip his throat out, but Warrick’s calming tone pulled her back.

“Nick lost a lot of blood,” he started, his calm voice rising in pitch and volume, “ I hate to think what could have happened if he hadn’t been pulled out in time, he was still cut up pretty bad. And Sara? Man, do you read any of your reports?”

Cavallo opened his mouth to speak, ready to reprimand the man before him, but Warrick’s strained voice cut him off before he could speak. “Sara is lucky to be alive at all, another hour and she would have died. I helped pull her out of the rubble and she was battered and bloody, so don’t you tell me to call my supervisor and get him to come back here to this place when it damn well nearly killed the people he cares about.” Taking a breath, he turned away from the man before him, disgust reigning in his eyes. “We’ve got work to do.”

Wordlessly, Catherine followed him, her heart pumping wildly inside her chest. Reaching out a hand, she pulled him back, stopping his angry strides. “Hey you okay?”

“I’m mad,” he growled, anger flashing in his eyes. “That bastard doesn’t give a rats ass about his people, all he sees us as are little numbers on his pay roll.”

“I know Warrick,” she sighed, “believe me I know exactly what you’re talking about, but don’t let him bring you down okay?”

“I…” he sighed angrily, turning his eyes away from hers while he swallowed his frustration. “I’m sorry Cath, but that guy makes me so mad.”

“Forget him,” she smiled, stepping forward to close her hand around his wrist, “we could really be onto something with this.” Lifting the folder in her hands, she waved it before him, “Are you with me on it?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, the anger leaving his eyes when he turned towards her. Offering her a reassuring smile, he let her lead him towards the outer building.

Sara opened her eyes to an intense ache inside her lower body. Gasping a breath, she looked around to search for Grissom, her need for him right now becoming more overwhelming than anything she had ever felt before.

Moving her hand, she probed along the bed in search of his warmth, at the same time afraid to move even slightly because of the searing pain she was in.

“Griss?” she whispered hoarsely when she came into contact with his fingers. He didn’t move with her touch, so she tried again, “Grissom.”

Snapping his head up, he looked around disorientated at first, until he realized where he was. Blinking back the tiredness in his eyes, he shuffled closer towards her bed. “Hey,” he smiled, “how are you feeling?”

“My leg hurts,” she whispered softly, gasping back the sob that threatened to escape her throat. “Talk to me,” she smiled through the wave of pain, pushing it towards the far reaches of her mind, “please?”

“Honey let me call the nurse okay?” he asked softly, “You may need more pain meds.”

Nodding slowly, she released his fingers, allowing him to retreat from her touch. Closing her eyes against the loss of his warmth, she found herself wishing he would stay with her, that this tenderness he was now showing towards her wouldn’t die away when he came to his senses. She knew he was dangerous, that he had an immense power over her life and maybe sometimes and perhaps occasionally he used that power against her. Tears stung her eyes and she pushed the thoughts away, intent on enjoying his closeness while he gave it so freely.

Grissom came back into the room to return to his place by her side. Reaching for her hand, he cradled it against his chest, “The nurse is on her way.”

“Okay,” she nodded, trying to hide the tears in her eyes. She threaded her fingers through his, tightening her hold to increase their closeness. She would deal with his inevitable separation when it happened.

Squeezing her hand gently, Grissom urged her to turn her eyes towards him. “What do you want to talk about?”

Another wave of pain ripped through her body and she grasped his hand tighter, his knuckles turning white under the pressure. Shuffling in a little closer to her, he lifted his free hand to comb his fingers through her hair. “It’s all right,” he whispered as he lulled her with his gentle strokes, soothing her until the pain subsided.

“ Thank you,” she whispered brokenly, her eyes closing to hide the tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks. Images descended on her mind, bringing her rubble filled tomb back to her with choking accuracy. She could almost taste the imaginary dust that threatened to engulf her, its overwhelming power causing her to choke back the breath she was holding.

“Sara?” Grissom asked, the worry in his voice causing her to turn her eyes towards him. He held his breath when he saw her pain and in that one moment he knew he would move heaven and earth to help her. Standing up from the chair, he perched up onto the side of her bed, careful not to dip the mattress enough to cause her any more pain. “Tell me what I can do.”

Closing her eyes, she fought against the pooling emotions that threatened to engulf her heart. They pulled her down, back into her dark and dusty prison, staking their claim on her soul. She could feel herself falling, further and further away until she heard Grissom’s soft voice calling her name.

“Sara?” he spoke softly, leaning down towards her so he was close enough to feel her breath on his face, “Honey I’m here, I won’t leave you.”

“I…Griss..” her voice caught inside her throat as a single tear escaped to roll down her cheek. “I’m scared.”

“I’m here,” he whispered through the intense emotions rising inside his heart. “For as long as you need me, I’ll be here for you.”

“Then don’t leave me?”

Grissom’s heart almost melted, her words breaching his already crumbling walls, allowing his emotions to overflow from his heart. Shaking his head slowly, he leaned down further, lifting her shoulders slightly so he could encircle her tenderly with his arms. His need to feel her closeness fueled his emotions, as he willingly gave himself to her for as long as she would need him.  Seeking his comfort, Sara buried her face into his neck. Tightening her arms around him, she pulled him closer, drawing strength from his embrace and his love that he so willingly offered.

Lindsey pulled on Greg’s hand eagerly as they approached the brightly coloured blooms in the florist’s window. “Oh Greg, what about those one’s?” Lindsey asked excitedly as she pointed out some deep purple carnations. “Aren’t they pretty?”

“They are,” he grinned, “but are you sure Sara wouldn’t like something a little different?”

“Like what?”

“Well don’t you girls like cute things like teddy bears and stuff like that?” Squeezing her hand gently in his, he pulled her over towards another shop window. “What about one of these?”

Lindsey eyes lit up when she saw all of the different kinds of teddy bears displayed in the shop window. “Greg,” she squealed as she let go of his hand to press her face up against the window, her eyes glowing with excitement when she saw the perfect present. The white fluffy toy puppy sat proudly amongst all the other toys, its bright eyes sparkling in the window. Lindsey turned to look up at the man beside her, “Can we buy that for Sara?”

“Sure we can,” he grinned, reaching down to clutch her hand again, “ Maybe we can find a present for Nick too while we’re in here.”

Lindsey looked up at him adoringly, a huge grin gracing her lips, “Boys don’t like teddy bears silly.”

“Oh?” he grinned, “And how do you know that?”

“I just do,” she smiled, pulling on his hand to lead him into the shop.

Brass looked up from his desk when he saw Catherine hurriedly coming into his office followed closely behind by Warrick.

“Jim,” she gasped excitedly as she waved the brown folder in front of her, “We may have a lead.”

“You do?” he asked with a frown as she placed the open folder onto his desk. Coming around to his side, she ran a finger down the contents until she came to the paragraph she was interested in.

“Richard James,” she told him, “ He was arrested back in 1999, but he killed himself on August 3^rd of that same year.”

Scanning the pages, Brass read with interest before lifting his eyes towards her again. “The dates coincide.”

“Yeah and his kid was at the scene,” Warrick told him, stepping closer into the room. “He could have a motive for revenge. After all, Catherine essentially found the evidence that incriminated his father.”

“Yeah it’s possible,” Brass mused, reading further through the file. “He’d be about 16 now, right?”

“Yeah,” Catherine nodded, “It’s worth checking out even if it turns out to be wrong.”

“I agree,” he nodded “ Okay, leave this with me and I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Thanks Jim,” she smiled as she turned to head out of the room, “His brother was shot dead too, his murder is still unsolved. Maybe we should go over the evidence again,” she suggested, giving Warrick an uncertain glance. “We might find something? It’s worth a try.”

“Yeah, sounds good. Okay. Page us when you have anything for us?” Warrick asked.

“Sure,” Brass nodded, watching them as they retreated from the room.

Nick opened his eyes when he heard the slight movement inside his room. Trying to focus, he saw the blurred image of Greg advancing towards his bed. “Greggo,” he smiled sleepily, “hey man. How’s it going?”

“I should be asking you that question,” Greg grinned. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” he mumbled, stifling a yawn. Nick offered him a small smile “Sorry.”

“Hey it’s cool, don’t worry.”

“Hi Nicky,” a small voice sounded from the end of his bed. Lifting up slightly, Nick looked down to see Lindsey holding a huge dog in her arms.

“Hey sweetie,” he smiled, “come here and let me look at you.”

Stepping around the bed, Lindsey moved closer to him, offering him a small smile, “Do you like the present we brought for Sara?” she asked excitedly, “Do you think she’ll like it?”

“Of course,” he grinned, “I can guarantee she’ll love it.” Nick’s eyes wandered over to Greg who smiled sheepishly as he looked down towards the little girl beside him.

“Lind’s you wanna give Nick his present now?”

“Yep,” she beamed, handing him the dog so she could delve into her jeans pocket. “Greg wanted to get you a teddy bear like Sara’s, but I told him that boys don’t like bears.”

“Well you’d be right,” he grinned, “I’m a bit too old for teddy bears.”

“Yeah that’s what I said too,” she beamed, “so we brought you this instead.” Taking the small key ring from her pocket, she lifted it up to his fingers, dangling the chain for him so he could look down for a better look. There was a brightly coloured stone inside the round plastic mould that had a message inscribed inside. “You have to read it,” she beamed, “I picked this one.”

“You did huh?” he smiled, “Well how about you read it to me then?”

“Okay,” she grinned, lifting back her hand so she could read out the message to him. “It says ‘Hug me, I’m a hero’.”

“That’s great sweetie,” he beamed as he took the key ring from her offered hands. “As soon as I get out of here, I’ll put it with my keys.”

“We got you a card too,” she smiled, looking back towards Greg and reaching out her hand for the small envelope he offered her. Taking it, she turned back to Nick and put it into his hands.

“Wow this is great,” he smiled as he pulled open the envelope to reach the card inside. Taking it out he read quietly, taking a moment to read over the written words before turning to offer her a tearful smile. “I’m glad I’m alive too sweetie.”

“We’re gonna go and give Sara hers now, but we’ll come back again in a minute,” she smiled excitedly. Looking up at Greg, she pulled on his arm, “Can we go to see Sara now?”

“Yeah, of course we can,” looking back over at his friend he grinned as he was lead to the door, “Do you want anything? Magazine’s, books?”

“No thanks man, I’m good. See you in a few.”

“Later,” Greg nodded before he exited the room with the very excited 9 year old.

When they arrived at Sara’s door, they found the room still bathed in dimmed light. Grissom was perched on the bed next to her pillows, which they had managed to push aside to make room for him. He had his legs stretched out along the side of her bed while his head leaned back against the wall, dozing. Sara had turned slightly in her sleep to lay her head in his lap, and had her hand rested on his thigh, holding her to him possessively. Reaching down to her hair, Grissom’s fingers were combing through her silken strands, his gentle movements soothing both of them into a reassuring slumber. Greg almost gasped aloud when he saw the scene before him. They looked so peaceful and so perfect together that he was reluctant to break the spell that hung inside the room. For a moment he considered tiptoeing back outside the room, but he caught his arm on the door handle on the way out, causing the resting couple to stir.

Opening his eyes, Grissom looked up to see Greg and Lindsey hovering in the doorway. His slight movements roused Sara from her slumber, causing a contented sigh to escape her lips. Tightening her hold on him, she relaxed against his body, letting his gently stroked lull her back into sleep.

“Sara,” he whispered softly, running his fingers through her hair as he coaxed her awake. “You have some visitors.”

“Hmm?” she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. Drawing her hand along his thigh, she lifted her head slightly to look up into his smiling face before turning to where his eyes were focused.

“ Greg,” she smiled sleepily, then a second later she spotted Lindsey by his side. Instantly awake, she pushed herself up a little more, allowing Grissom to climb off the bed and help her. “Lindsey?” she whispered softly, her eyes linked with the little girl whose emotions mirrored her own. Holding out a hand, she indicated for Lindsey to come closer to her. Her lower body was still protesting in pain, but she pushed it aside. “Honey please come and give me a hug?”

Without having to be told twice, Lindsey rushed forward. Grissom held her up to Sara’s side so she could pull her into a tight embrace. The two lost themselves in heart wrenching sobs that shook their bodies in wave after wave of powerful relief. “It’s so good to see you,” Sara sobbed into her hair, only to pull her back so she could cradle her face in her hands. “Let me look at you,” she sniffed, holding back the happy tears that engulfed her heart.

“They wouldn’t let me stay with you,” Lindsey whispered, her face awash with tears. “I tried to come back to you like we promised, but they wouldn’t let me.”

“Oh baby,” Sara whispered brokenly as she pulled her back into her arms. “I couldn’t let you stay with me. I didn’t want your mom to lose you too.”

“But what about you?” Lindsey whispered into her shoulder.

“I was only concerned about you,” Sara told her through tears, “and now we’re both here, alive and…” she started to chuckle softly as she pulled the little girl back so she could look at her again. “We’re both clean!”

“No dirt,” Lindsey beamed as she leaned forward into Sara’s waiting arms.

“I bet your mom was so glad to see you,” Sara whispered. “We both did good didn’t we?”

“We did,” Lindsey told her, pushing herself back so she could hold onto Sara’s hands. “Does your leg still hurt?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “but with you here, it doesn’t really hurt that much.”

“We brought you a present,” Lindsey told her as she reached out to take the toy dog from Greg’s hands. “I picked it.”

Sara’s eyes filled with tears again when she took the fluffy dog from Lindsey’s hands. “Oh honey he’s adorable.”

“Do you like it?” Lindsey asked with a smile as she leaned in closer to snuggle down next to Sara again. Wrapping her arms her back, Sara pulled Lindsey in closer and pressed a small kiss into her hair.

“I love him,” she whispered, “ he’s the best present anyone has ever given me.”

“Ever?” Lindsey asked, turning in her arms to look up at her.

 Sara smiled. “I don’t get many presents, but out of the one’s I’ve ever had, I’ll always love this one. Thank you.”

Grissom moved away from the two girls slightly, enough to give them a little space, but not enough to move away completely. Turning his eyes towards Greg, he noticed the emotion raging inside the younger man’s eyes. “How about we go and visit with Nick for a while, Greg? I think these two girls will be talking for a while yet.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Greg nodded. Then looking over towards Lindsey, he called out to her, “You stay here with Sara okay?”

“Okay,” she smiled happily resting contentedly against Sara’s chest.

Bending close to Sara’s ear, Grissom whispered a soft word of goodbye, causing a deep red blush to creep up her cheeks. Holding out her hand, she caught his fingers with her own to stop his movements.

“Thank you,” she whispered adoringly, her eyes communicating everything that words could not. Squeezing her hand, he offered her a blinding smile of his own, leaving her feeling more loved and protected than she had ever felt before in her life. Watching him leave, she closed her eyes against his loss, only to be pulled into another hug by the little girl who had become her savior.

Warrick and Catherine stood beside the evidence table surveying the objects spread about before them.

“I just don’t get it War,” Catherine sighed, “everything points to Richard Wells.”

“Yeah I hear you,” he nodded, his eyes scanning the bloodied shirt. “So lets go through what we know already.”

Closing her eyes, Catherine took a deep breath as the images from the original case ran through her mind. “Okay. Richard James gets out of jail, lies low for a while then pays his brother a visit.”

“The dead brother?” Warrick asked again, reaching down to the pile of photo’s to spread them across the table.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Why did he wait so long to visit when his son was waiting for him? If it had been me I would have gone straight to my child.”

“So the son lived with the dead brother?”

“Yeah, he lived with him while his dad was in jail. Poor kid.” Catherine’s mind drifted back to the boy who was found huddled into a corner. “Police found him cowering when they arrived. He wouldn’t speak a word.”

“So he witnessed the whole thing?” Warrick gasped, shaking his head in disbelief, “that’s gotta do some serious damage to someone that age.”

“It’d do damage to anyone,” Catherine sighed. “We know that a neighbour called the police because she heard some kind of disturbance from the house. Lots of shouting and arguing.”

“Hmm, great way to greet your kid when you get out of jail don’t you think?” Sighing heavily, Warrick leaned down closer with his elbows on the table.

“Yeah,” she huffed, pushing the image of the scene from her mind. “I arrived in time to see Richard James led away from the scene in handcuffs. Apparently the brothers had been arguing over money.”

‘The bank job?” he queried.

“Yeah. They found marked money in the house along with the mask that had been used.”

“What about the weapon?” Warrick asked, “Was it found?”

“Yeah in the vic’s hand,” she rubbed her hands over her face tiredly before she spoke again. “The casings from the robbery matched the gun found at the brothers house.”

“So the brother shot himself?”

“That was the first impression, but at the autopsy it was proved that the brother was left handed. The gun had been placed in his right. And the gun had Richard James’ prints all over it. I processed the scene then handed everything over to day shift because we were needed on a triple homicide. They handled it from there. It seemed open and shut, easy.”

“I sense a but?”

“I looked in on Ecklie to see how things were going with it and he hadn’t found no GSR on Richard James anywhere. Not on his cloths or his hands. Nothing.” Looking down at the pictures again, she reached out to touch one of the victim lying in his own blood.

“But his prints were on the gun,” Warrick groaned incredulously.

“Yeah I know.”

“So what happened to the kid?” he asked, “was he ever questioned?”

“He was in a catatonic state, severely disturbed. He wouldn’t say a word, so he was placed in a temporary foster home. Poor kid was only wearing a pair of shorts when they found him.”

“Yeah, poor kid,” he sighed, turning his eyes back to the shirt again.

“You know I’ll always remember his eyes when they took his dad away,” she whispered. “I don’t think he really knew what had happened back there, but when he looked at me I felt…I don’t know….cold.”

Leaning closer, Warrick looked down to examine a smudge of blood on the shirt. “What does this look like to you?”

Bending over close to him, Catherine’s eyes followed the path of his. “I don’t know, it looks like it could be larger spatter, but…” reaching over to the opposite side of the table, she grabbed a magnifying glass and held it over the smudge.

“Warrick?” she asked with a smile forming over her lips as she turned to look at him.

“I see it,” he nodded, “I see it.”

“How could this have been missed?” Catherine asked, her eyes scanning over the smudged blood fingerprint that had lay hidden for so many years. “Look at the size.”

“You said the kid was never questioned right?” Warrick asked, feeling the flutter of excitement coarse through his veins.

“Not that I’m aware of, but you’ll have to ask Ecklie, he handled the investigation.”

“I’m on it,” he told her, his skillful hands recovering the print before standing back to head towards the door. “I’m gonna head over and see if we can get a hit from this.”

“Okay,” she nodded, turning back towards the evidence on the table. Fragile hope started to fill her heart to open up the puzzle that had eluded this case for a very long time. Maybe this would all be over soon. Maybe her wish would be granted.

Sara smiled down at the little girl in her arms. Holding her closer, she leaned down to kiss her hair softly. “What are you thinking about?” she asked quietly, “You’ve been really quiet.”

Lindsey closed her eyes tightly against the images that invaded her tired mind. A soft shudder coursed through her body as she tried to push the memories away. “My dad.”

“Oh,” Sara sighed sadly. She knew this would have to come out sooner or later, but she had hoped it would have been a lot later. “Did your mom explain to you what happened to him?”

“Not much,” she sniffed, “just that some bad people hurt him.”

“Yeah,” Sara nodded quietly as she tried to swallow down the emotions that reared up inside her. “I’m sorry you lost your dad.”

Lindsey heard the soft shaking in her voice and started to pull back to look up at her. “Are you crying?”

Shaking her head defiantly, Sara reached out a trembling hand to push a strand of Lindsey’s blonde hair away from her eyes.

“I wish I could take your pain away honey, I really do.”

“I didn’t want him to die,” Lindsey started, her small voice starting to crack. Leaning forward again, she sank into Sara’s arms. Tears escaped to roll down her cheeks to sink through into Sara’s hospital gown.

“Honey please don’t cry,” Sara whispered sadly, her own emotions escaping to cascade down her face. “I’ve never been all that close to my parents, so I can’t even pretend I know how you feel. But you have so many people who love you.”

“I miss my dad,” Lindsey sobbed quietly, her hands balling into fists as she grabbed hold of some of Sara’s gown. “I want him back.”

“I know baby,” Sara soothed, as she tried to ignore the tremors of Lindsey’s body causing stinging pain to soar throughout her lower body. Biting back a scream, she gasped in a deep breath and threw her head back against the pillows taking Lindsey with her.

“Sara?”

“I’m okay,” she groaned through gritted teeth, “it’ll pass in a minute. Keep talking…”

“I don’t want you to die too,” Lindsey said suddenly, her eyes wide and full with fearful tears. “Please don’t leave me.”

Pushing the pain aside, Sara reached out a hand to steady Lindsey’s sobs. “I promised you I wouldn’t die and I held on for you didn’t I? We promised we’d help each other when we got out, and we are going to do that.”

Hovering in the doorway, Grissom listened with intense emotions rising inside his heart. He could have lost her this time, really lost her. His mind had been battling with his heart for so many years, their constant thoughts and feelings conflicting with the other. He loved her, he knew that already, but why had he denied it to her and himself for so long? Stepping closer into the room, he walked slowly over to them.

“Hey what’s all this?” he asked softly, his hand instantly reaching over to Sara’s hair. Shuffling over slightly, Sara made room for him, silently seeking his comfort.

“I don’t want Sara to die,” Lindsey sniffed, holding tightly onto Sara’s body.

“Sara isn’t going to die sweetheart,” Grissom smiled, “you really think she would want to leave you?”

“See I told you,” Sara smiled tearfully. “We are going to get through this together, just like we promised. Okay?” she asked, pulling back Lindsey’s body so she could cradle her face in her hands. “Okay?” she repeated.

Nodding, Lindsey started to smile, then leaned back down into her chest again. Sara wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly. Leaning her body back, she felt Grissom’s arm tighten around her shoulder, pulling her closer to his warmth in his own subtle way offering her his undying devotion. He was here for the duration and nothing or no one would force him away.

Catherine looked down at the photos before her again, trying in some way to find a hidden clue, anything that could help to end this nightmare. Closing her eyes tiredly, she picked up one of the photos images to replace it back into the evidence bag, and then proceeded to do the same with the others.

Her pager beeped on her hip and she reached down to retrieve it. Holding it up, she read the text message as a new hope filled her heart. It was Warrick.

“Hey,” he grinned when she made her way into the lab. “You’re gonna love this.”

“I am?” she asked excitedly, “We got a match?”

“Yeah,” he told her as he directed her towards the computer screen. “ Well not on the print itself, but there’s a line in the actual print which I thought was just blood spatter, but it seems it’s a scar, a very unique scar in fact.” Directing her closer, he couldn’t contain his excitement, “ Look at the name Cath, I think we are getting somewhere.”

“Robert James,” she gasped, “the boy? What was he doing touching the victim? I…” taking a step back, she drew in a ragged breath. “Why would a 12 year old boy who was clearly distressed, touch the victim who was lying in his own blood? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe I can help you there,” Brass spoke as he came in through the door with another file in his hand. “Seems our boy has spent the last four years in a Juvenile Detention Center.” Handing the file to Catherine, he turned his attention to Warrick as he spoke. “He was released 2 months ago after he was said to have made ‘considerable changes regarding his behavior’. Counselor’s words, not mine.”

“Theft, burglary, assault,” Catherine reeled off as she read from the file. “This kid has convictions spreading right back to when he was 12 years old.”

“Yeah, and his last term of confinement was a little more enlightening,” Brass nodded, handing over a separate piece of paper to Warrick who looked at him questioningly. “Read it,” Brass commanded.

Looking down at the words, Warrick scanned over the information and turned worried eyes towards Catherine. “Cath, I think you should read this.”

“What?” she asked, eyeing the paper in his hand suspiciously. “Tell me.”

“Newspaper clippings of your cases, more specifically of you personally were found in his room with derogatory terms scribbled over your photo.” Handing her the paper, Warrick watched carefully as she took it from his hands to stare down at it blankly. Reading over the words, she gulped visibly as she tried to comprehend what she was reading.

“I think we may have found our suspect,” Brass told her quietly, his eyes watching for a reaction, anything to tell him what she was feeling. None came.

“Warrick, I need some air. I’ll let you fill Brass in on the new information.” Without glancing at either man in the room, she handed the file back to Brass and walked out quietly as she tried to keep the nausea from rising into her throat.

“How’s Sara doing?” Nick asked with a yawn, his eyes apologetic as he looked over towards Greg. “Sorry.”

“You know you could give me a complex,” he grinned, “every time I see you, you yawn. Am I that boring?”

“No, sorry man,” Nick grinned. “I’m just really tired.”

“Well you’ve been through a lot, you have every right to be tired.”

“No it’s not that,” Nick sighed sadly, his voice lowering as he spoke. “Well partly it is the accident, but mostly it’s because I have trouble sleeping.”

“You have nightmares?’ Greg asked with a smile. “Join the club, I think we all have nightmares in this job.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, “but usually I can pick up the phone and call Sa….someone. She…they calm me down.”

“You call Sara when you have a nightmare?” Greg asked incredulously.

“I didn’t say that!”

“No but you were going to,” Greg smiled. “Look why don’t you just ask the nurse to take you to see her?”

Nick sighed heavily and waved his hand over the general area of his bandaged thigh. “I have, but it hurts too much to move. I’m dreading physio.”

“How about calling her, surely you’re allowed to do that. You know she asked how you were?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” he smiled. “I really would like just to hear her voice for myself, it’s been too long.”

“It’s almost 2 days!”

“Yeah well in here 2 days feels like a life time.” Lying back against the pillows, Nick closed his eyes tiredly. “I wish I could just wake up and find that this whole thing has been some bizarre dream.”

“I’m with you there,” Greg sighed sadly. Looking down at his watch he shifted back slightly in his chair. “I should get going.”

“What time is it?” Nick asked tiredly as he cracked open an eye to look over at his friend.

“Time for me to take Lindsey home. Poor kid has had a rough time.” Standing up, he pushed back his chair quietly. “Catherine and Warrick are coming in to visit after shift.”

“Okay,” he mumbled tiredly, his eyes losing their struggle to stay open.

“Night Nick.” Greg grinned as he left the room quietly. Walking over to the nurse’s station a little way down the corridor, he stopped to offer a smile to the pretty nurse on duty.

“Could you be able to do me a huge favour?” he asked, piling on his charm.

“Depends,” she smiled, looking up at him with bemusement shining from her eyes. “What is it?”

“Nick Stokes, he’s desperate to see his friend whose a little way up the hall. Sara Sidle?”

“Yes I know, he asked me to look in on her, but she and her husband were asleep. I didn’t want to disturb them.” She watched his face change into confusion until he realized whom she was referring to.

“Oh you mean Griss?” he grinned, “He’s our boss.”

“”Well whatever he is, they were both sleeping.”

“Okay,” he smiled again, “is there any way that they could talk on the phone? Nick and Sara I mean, not Griss and…never mind.”

“I think that could be arranged,” she chuckled. “First thing in the morning, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks,” he smiled, “but he, Nick that is, he has nightmares and when he’s at home he usually calls Sara. I think she calms him down or something.”

“Oh I see,” she nodded, “Well in that case, I’ll keep an eye out and if I see him in any distress I will definitely find a way for him to talk to her.”

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“Oh and as of tomorrow, I’m afraid visiting hours will have to keep to their normal times. Not my idea, it’s just they have a policy around here.”

“No problem,” he nodded, “What are the hours?”

“10 a.m. until 2 p.m. then 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.”

“Thanks,” he nodded before he moved away from her to walk down towards Sara’s room.

Walking into her room, he smiled at the sight before him. Lindsey had fallen asleep on Sara’s chest. Their arms wrapped tightly around each other.

“Hi Greg,” Grissom whispered with a smile as he slowly disengaged his fingers from Sara’s hair.

“I’d better take Lindsey home,” Greg smiled, stepping up closer towards the sleeping child to lift her carefully from Sara’s embrace. Lindsey sighed in her sleep and moved her arms around his neck. “Shhh,” he whispered, “time for bed sweetie.”

Sara slowly opened her eyes when she felt the warmth of Lindsey’s body leave her. Instinctively, she reached out to pull her back, but Grissom held onto her hands. “Honey it’s okay,” he soothed, his voice deliberately low. “Greg’s taking her home.”

Coming fully awake, Sara lifted her head up a notch to see Greg offer her a small smile. Turning to Grissom, she reached up a hand to cup his face. “Go and get some sleep.”

“I’m fine,” he smiled, “I’m happy right here beside you.”

“I know,” she whispered as she gazed up into his eyes, “but you look so tired. Go home and get some rest.”

“But…” he started, his protests silenced by her finger on his lips. Bringing up a hand to hers, he kissed her fingers before smiling down at her.

“For me okay?” she asked, her eyes shining with pure emotion as she gazed up towards him lovingly.

“You want me to go?” his voice seemed strangely hoarse as he spoke, something that didn’t go unnoticed by neither Greg nor Sara.”

“No I don’t want you to go,” she admitted sadly, “but we both know you can’t stay here with me forever. You need to go back to work soon.”

“All right,” he sighed, looking down at his disheveled clothes. “I suppose I really could do with a shower.”

“Well I wasn’t going to say anything,” she giggled, happy that he was finally coming around to her way of thinking. Reaching out to him, she pulled him down into a hug, holding him close to her, savoring every second before their inevitable parting came to be.

“I’ll see you in a few hours,” he smiled, his face dangerously close to hers. “Do you need anything?”

“Only you,” she smiled as she moved a hand to his face, “Get some rest okay?”

For a second, Grissom was caught in her eyes. Leaning down slowly, he pressed his lips to hers, offering her a soft kiss that she instantly accepted and returned. Both of them reveled in their closeness, neither wanting nor willing to move away from the other, but when the sounds from the room closed in around them, they reluctantly returned to reality. As they pulled away from each other, a thousand different emotions passed between their eyes to highlight unspoken words in one precious moment.

“See you tomorrow,” she whispered with a smile.

“Try keeping me away,” he grinned. Pulling himself upwards, he moved away from her slowly. His eyes conveying their desire to stay with her forever, but when she smiled, he knew he already had forever, he just never knew it before. Offering her one last smile, he turned to exit her room for the first time since she had arrived here to walk beside Greg.

“She’s gonna be fine you know,” Greg grinned with a knowing smile as they walked towards the exit.

“I know,” Grissom mused, unable to hide the new feelings that cascaded through his heart like a rampaging fire. She ignited him. She had forced the coldness away from his heart to crash through his walls and brought him more love than he had ever known in his lifetime. Turning to Greg, he offered him an un-Grissom like smile. “We’re both gonna be fine.”

Catherine gulped in a breath of air as she stood outside staring over the city lights. Closing her eyes, she tried to escape the conjured images of the destruction caused possibly by a boy who, for some reason, hated her entire being.

“Hey,” Warrick spoke behind her, causing her to jump visibly. She refused to turn around and face him, refused to let him see how scared she was.

“Why Warrick?” she whispered. “Why does this kid hate me enough making him want to hurt everyone I care about?”

“I don’t know,” he sighed, stepping closer to embrace her from behind. “I really don’t know, but right now, Brass is preparing to get a search warrant for the kids’ foster home.”

Catherine’s eyes welled up with tears, “Sara almost died trying to save my daughter because I made her feel useless and unworthy. I blamed her for things that she had no control over.”

“Sara knows you didn’t mean it Cath,” he told her, pulling her in tighter.

“I’m no better than that damn kid.”

“Hey,” he told her as he moved away to turn her around so she was facing him. “Don’t say that. Don’t even pretend to think things like that.” When she started to turn her head away, he shook her slightly causing her to once again face him. “Sara thought enough of you AND your daughter to put her life on the line. SHE was prepared to die because she wanted Lindsey to be safe.” As he spoke, tears formed in his eyes, “ You didn’t see her. She was amazing Cath, she saved your daughters life by willingly sacrificing her own. So don’t you dare turn all of this back round making it all about you.”

“I…Warrick,” she started, the shock of his tirade evident in her eyes.

“This kid has chosen to take whatever anger he has for you out on all of us, so that makes this case ours. Not yours, not Brass’ but ours.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered tearfully, closing the distance between them to hold him tightly against her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he soothed, his arms automatically coming up to wrap around her. “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“I needed to hear them,” she whispered. “This isn’t all about me and what he’s trying to do. This is about people I care about and that’s what makes me so mad.”

“I know,” he sighed, pulling away from her slightly. “Come on, let’s find Brass and nail this bastard.”

Brass was waiting for them when they arrived back inside the building. Holding up a piece of paper, he waved it before them. “I have it.”

“What? Already?” Catherine gasped as she tried to comprehend how he could obtain a warrant so quickly.

“Already had it,” he nodded, “this new information is a bonus. Come on.”

Watching him walk past them, Warrick turned to Catherine and shook his head incredulously. “Remind me to thank him later.”

“Yeah,” she mused, “later.”

Nick forced his eyes open in the darkness as he tried to escape from the nightmares surrounding him. His heart pumped wildly in his chest and he fought to control his breathing. The night terror was the same as before, its overwhelming power over him pulling him deeper. Dark claws of torrid dreams tugged at his eyes, trying to force him back into slumber where the darkness could once again consume him.

“Sar,” he called out, his heart racing wildly as he fought to find a way out of the pitch black void that surrounded him. “Sara,” he wailed.

The nurse came into his room, clicking on the light as she stepped closer towards him. “Are you all right Mr. Stokes?”

“Sara,” he whimpered, his voice quiet like a frightened child. “I need to see Sara.”

“Hang on a second,” she smiled, “let me see what I can do, okay?”

Nick watched her as she left the room, his heart leaping inside his chest. He hated this, waking up in a cold sweat unable to separate reality from the land of his demons. How many times had he called Sara in the middle of the day? How many times had she answered her phone half asleep yet still managed to calm his dreams?

“You’re in luck,” the nurse smiled as she came into the room wheeling the hospital phone in beside his bed. “Sara is awake, seems she has had trouble sleeping too since her husband went home.”

“Huh?” he asked confused, his fuzzy mind trying to make sense of what she had just said, “Husband?”

“Oh, sorry, your friend corrected me earlier. They just seem very close so naturally I assumed..”

“Who?” he asked again, “You sure you got my Sara, right? Brunette, pretty?”

“Yes, Sara Sidle,” she smiled.

“Oh, yeah, that’s her,” he nodded. “Guess she’s had our boss attached to her side huh?”

“I thought he was going to become a permanent fixture eventually,” she grinned. Lifting the phone cord to plug it into the socket in the wall, she offered him a warm smile. “Here you go, she’s waiting for you.” Handing him the receiver, she pressed a button on the number pad, and then turned to leave.

“Uh thanks,” he grinned as he placed the phone to his ear.

“Sar,” he whispered hesitantly, his voice faltering when he heard silence on the other end of the line.

“Oh Nick,” she sighed happily, “it’s so good to hear your voice.”

“You too,” laying back into the pillows he smiled into the phone. “How are you feeling? Everyone is so proud of you.”

“Proud of me?” she gasped, “What the hell for?”

“You saved Lindsey’s life. Honey that is something to be proud of.”

“I did what I had to do,” she told him. “She’s okay thank God.”

“How about you?”

“Been better,” she chuckled, “I feel like I’ve been shoved through a barbed wire fence and left to die, but apart from that I’m fine.”

“Do you remember what happened?” he asked tiredly, “I don’t remember anything apart from a huge bang and then everything shooting to hell.”

“Me neither,” she whispered. “The door from the bathroom flew off of its hinges and the wall crumbled. I don’t remember much, but I…” she took a breath, “I had to protect Lindsey. I didn’t care about my life, I needed to keep her safe for Catherine.”

“Well I care about your life honey, and I know everyone else does too.” His voice broke as he wiped a tear away from his eyes, “I wish I could see you.”

“I know,” she sighed, “me too. I miss you.”

“Sara,” he whispered shakily as he fought to control the raging emotions capturing his body. “I..”

“Bad dreams?” she asked softly, “I know sweetie, it’s okay, I’m here.”

“I’m sorry,” he shuddered, “you’re hurt worse than I am, I shouldn’t be bothering you with this.”

“Nick, how many times have you been calling me when you’ve had a bad dream?” she kept her voice firm but soft, “I promised you that I would always be here for you no matter what, remember?”

“I remember,” he sniffed.

“Close your eyes now baby” she whispered softly into the phone, “everything’s gonna be all right now.”

Feeling a new sense of peace wash over him, he did as she asked. Closing his eyes, he drifted into sleep, listening to the sound of her voice.

Two police cars, followed closely by Brass and Warrick and Catherine’s Tahoe, came to a screeching halt outside the quiet suburban house. Everything was in total darkness until the sound of the sirens alerted the neighbourhood, as light after light snapped on inside every home.

Ambling out of his car, Brass walked calmly to the door he wanted and banged hard on the solid wood. When no sound came, he thumped hard again, banging his fist down. “Police,” he called, “open up.”

Slowly the light came on and the lock clicked open to reveal a woman in her thirties hurriedly pulling her robe together. “Police?” she asked worriedly, “what on earth for?”

“Ma’am, this is the foster home of Robert James?”

“Robbie?” she asked, “Yes, it is, but what’s he done?”

“Excuse me,” Brass muttered, barging passed her in the doorway while shoving the warrant into her hand.

Catherine and Warrick came up the path, following Brass into the house. As they passed the foster mother, she stopped them “What has Robbie done this time?”

Before they could reply, Brass and two police officers pushed a struggling boy into the hallway. His eyes met Catherine’s and a sudden recognition flashed in his eyes. “Bitch,” he spat.

Flinching, Catherine took a step away from him as sudden fear clasped at her heart. “Why?” she asked in a ragged whisper, “Why’d you do it?”

“Why?” he grinned evilly, “You killed my father.”

Before Catherine could respond, Brass yanked him away and out of the house, leaving both her and Warrick reeling from his shocking words.

Grissom paced his bedroom unable to sleep. He wished that he could just relax like he had promised Sara he would, but he couldn’t. His mind raced with a thousand different thoughts, eventually taking him to the one place he desperately needed to be. By Sara’s side.

His cell phone rang suddenly, breaking him out of his thoughts to bring him back to the present. With a heavy sigh, he reached for it to flip it open and place it to his ear. “Grissom.”

“Griss, it’s Warrick. Where are you?”

“Uh, I’m at home. I promised Sara I’d try and get some sleep, but that’s proving to be difficult,” he sighed.

“Listen, I could really do with your help. I told Cath to go home. We’ve just found our bomber.”

“Excuse me? Bomber?” Grissom asked confused, “What bomber?”

“Oh God, I’m sorry, you were with Sara. The explosion was caused by what we think was a parcel bomb sent to Catherine.”

“What?” Grissom gasped, running a hand over his forehead tiredly, “Okay, where are you? You can tell me everything when I get there.”

Catherine walked in through the hospitals sliding door. Her mind was swimming with guilt, as if in some way she was responsible for what happened to her friends. Coming up to the nurse’s station, she stopped beside the woman at the desk.     “ I know it’s late,” she sighed, “ but can I sit with my friend Sara Sidle for a while?”

“We don’t usually permit visitors at this late hour unless it’s the husband,” she sighed, “but she’s been quite unsettled for the last few hours. So okay,” she smiled, “but only for half an hour.”

“That’s all I need,” Catherine nodded tearfully as she turned away from the nurse to walk towards Sara’s room.

Sara tried to move to a spot that was comfortable, but every time she moved she paid the price with shots of pain. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes again, wishing that Grissom were here beside her.

“Hey,” a soft voice spoke from the doorway, causing Sara to look up.

“Cath,” she gasped, “what’s wrong? Is it Lindsey?”

“No, no,” stepping closer into the room, Catherine came to sit on the chair beside Sara’s bed. She tried to swallow the intense emotions that threatened to spill over onto her cheeks, but they came regardless causing Sara to watch her worriedly.

“What’s the matter?” she asked quietly, biting back the sting of pain that erupted inside her abdomen. Reaching out towards her friend, she grasped her hand tightly resulting in Catherine looking up at her. “Cath?”

“I…” Catherine started, her voice shaking as she spoke, “I’m sorry.”

Sara watched her intently, her own emotions rearing up inside her eyes as she swallowed the tears back into her throat. “I don’t know why you’re apologizing,” she whispered, “ but you don’t have anything to be sorry for.”

“I blamed you for Eddie’s death,” Catherine blurted tearfully, “I said some awful things to you that are just unforgivable.”

“And then you took them back,” Sara told her as a single tear broke free to roll down her face. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Yes it does matter,” Catherine sniffed, clasping tightly onto her hand. “I made you doubt your abilities. I caused you to believe that I didn’t trust you.”

“Cath,” Sara started slowly, trying to think of the right words to say. Taking a shuddered breath, she closed her eyes as more tears leaked out from the corner of her closed lids. “I don’t deserve your trust, I let you down.”

“No, honey,” Catherine told her firmly, bringing up her other hand to join her other one to clasp tightly onto Sara’s. “You didn’t let me down. I was the one, it was my fault.” Taking a deep breath, she calmed her voice as she spoke through her emotions. “I almost lost Lindsey, but you saved her life. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for her.”

“I did what had to be done,” Sara told her, “We were both so scared.”

“I’m sorry,” Catherine whispered.

“I couldn’t let you lose her too,” Sara told her tearfully, “I couldn’t let her die. I know we’ve never really been good friends Cath, but I didn’t want you to hate me anymore.”

“Hate you?” Catherine gasped, “Oh honey I don’t hate you. I’ve never hated you.” Getting up from the chair, she reached over to pull Sara into a hug. “You saved my daughters life, yet you almost died because of the things I had said to you.”

“I’m sorry,” Sara whispered into Catherine’s shoulder, her own emotions rampaging through her heart. “I tried to find the evidence for you. I really did.”

“I know,” Catherine sobbed as they pulled away from each other, keeping their hands joined. “I’m so sorry.”

“You have a great kid, you know that?” Sara sniffed, “She saved my life too. She made me promise to fight.”

“Yeah, she was screaming for us to let her come back for you.” Looking down towards their clasped hands, Catherine squeezed her fingers gently, “I owe you so much.”

“You don’t owe me anything.”

“I do,” she nodded tearfully, “you kept my daughter alive, you gave her hope and I will never forget that. Never.”

“You’d have done the same for me,” Sara whispered.

“You know one day you’re going to be a wonderful mother,” Catherine told her with a smile.

“I doubt that,” she chuckled sadly, “I need to find a man first.”

“Oh I think you’ve already found him Sara,” Catherine told her knowingly. “He refused to leave your side.”

Closing her eyes against the fresh onslaught of tears that threatened to engulf her once more, Sara shook her head. “Maybe he’ll think differently when I’m out of here.”

“I don’t think so Sara.”

“I wish I could believe you Cath,” she whispered, “but I know from experience that when I get too close to him, he runs away as fast as he can. He’s been wonderful though, problem is I’m scared he’ll change his mind about me,” she smiled tearfully. “I’ve had a small glimpse of how good we could be together, but what if he has his usual selective amnesia when I’m well again?”

“Honey, I’ve known him a long time. He loves you, don’t ever doubt that.”

“I don’t doubt it Cath,” she sighed, “I’m just trying to prepare myself for his denial”

“He won’t risk losing you again Sara,” Catherine told her firmly. “I have seen him go through so many different trials in his life, but when he thought he had lost you…” closing her eyes against the memory, she took a deep breath before continuing. “I accused him of not caring for anyone. I didn’t realize until Warrick brought you out, just how wrong I had been.”

“Warrick brought me out?” Sara asked, her eyes flooding with tears, “He was supposed to take Lindsey and leave, he promised me he would get her back to you.”

“And he did,” Catherine told her, “he gave Lindsey to some rescue workers and then went back for you.”

“I didn’t want him to die, he shouldn’t have risked his life for me.” Shaking her head, Sara tried to remember what had happened when Lindsey had disappeared into the safety of Warricks arms. The images hit her with a strength that almost knocked her sideways. “I remember telling him he had to leave,” she whispered, her voice strained against the memories. “I thought I was going to die. I was prepared to die.”

“Don’t talk that way,” Catherine gasped, “do you really think any of us could survive losing you?”

“I…”

“Your loss would break Gil’s heart, not to mention everyone else who loves you,” Catherine told her firmly. “You have so many people who adore you Sara. I don’t think you realize just how many.”

“I think I know,” Sara smiled sadly, “It took an explosion to make it clear, but I know now.”

Catherine shook visibly at Sara’s words, knowing that she would have to tell Sara the truth of what had happened eventually. Through her tiredness, Sara shook Catherine’s hands, causing her to turn her eyes towards her.

“What’s wrong?” Sara asked worriedly.

“We found the cause of the explosion,” Catherine sighed, closing her eyes to keep the haunting images from her mind. “There was a package.”

“Yeah, it was in the break room,” Sara nodded, casting her mind back. “Pretty big too, oh….” Turning her eyes towards Catherine, she nodded with recognition, “Cath, it was for you.”

Nodding her head, Catherine couldn’t keep the emotions from swelling inside her eyes to escape down her cheeks. “He’s a 16 year old kid Sara,” she whispered in a shuddering gasp, “and he called me to gloat about it, I didn’t know what to do.”

“Oh God,” Sara groaned, her voice catching on a sob as she spoke. “Why? What did he want with you? I don’t understand.”

“Brass arrested him an hour ago,” Catherine sniffed, “he had photo’s of me and Lindsey in his room  Sara. He was watching us and I didn’t know.” Her voice broke as she spoke, allowing tumbling emotions to fall from her eyes. “He could have killed everyone I care about and I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Sara whispered brokenly, tugging her friend down into a healing embrace. “It’s not your fault,” she told her through her own tears, “we’re all going to survive this.”

Shaking her head against Sara’s shoulder, Catherine gulped for air as she poured out the intense guilt that had been eating away at her heart for so long. Her sobs shook Sara’s body, the tremors causing the stinging in her body to stir into wakefulness, but she gasped back the pain, unwilling to let it surface. “Lindsey’s a great kid,” she whispered, trying to lighten the tone in the room. “She wouldn’t let me give up and I’m not going to let you give up either.”

Catherine pulled back, lifting herself up into a sitting position. Moving a hand from Sara’s, she swiped at her face with her fingers. “Okay,” she whispered sadly.

“You have to do what you do best Cath,” Sara told her, swallowing the pain that had started to soar through her lower body. “You have to keep everyone grounded.”

“And you have to believe that you and Gil are going to be wonderful together,” Catherine chuckled sadly, her voice hiccupping slightly. Reaching out for Sara’s hand again, she watched her carefully, noticing that she had paled slightly. “Honey are you okay?”

Drawing in a ragged breath, Sara grasped her hand tightly,  “Hurts.”

“Oh God,” Catherine gasped, leaping off of the bed. “Shall I call your nurse?”

“No S’ok,” Sara muttered, “Pain meds are wearing off.”

“Honey let me find your nurse,” Catherine told her, pulling her hands from Sara’s and heading out of the door.

Warrick looked around the photo-covered wall with disgust as the flash from his camera every so often lit the room. All around him pinned up were photos. Catherine and Lindsey picnicking in the park. Catherine at a crime scene, Catherine meeting Lindsey from school, and on many of the photo’s derogatory names were scribbled over her face.

“Oh my God,” Grissom whispered to himself as he entered the small room and looked around him.

“Hi Griss,” Warrick nodded, looking at him briefly before turning his eyes back towards the scene before him. “How’s Sara?”

“Sleeping,” Grissom nodded, his voice faltering slightly with surprise at Warrick’s question. Pushing the thoughts away, he made his way over to one of the walls. Leaning in to look closer he found his gaze drawn to an art book that had been propped up against a tattered dresser that stood against the horrifying shrine of photo’s. Picking it up in his gloved hands, he flicked through. The hand drawings were remarkable to say the least, but all of them had one very resounding theme, blood, death and destruction.

“What you got?” Warrick asked as he moved closer to peer over Grissom’s shoulder.

“I think we have one very disturbed young man here,” Grissom sighed.

 “I’ll bag all of these photo’s,” Warrick said softly, indicating the littered walls. “Cath was pretty upset by all of this.”

“I would be too,” Grissom nodded, his eyes drawn to one photo in particular which caught his attention. Reaching up to pull it down from the wall, he peered at it closely. His heart suddenly started beating wildly inside his chest when he saw the grainy photo of himself cradling the lifeless body of Sara in his arms. “Bastard,” he seethed angrily, his voice rising loudly as he scanned the rest of the images.

“What?” Warrick stopped what he was doing and came closer to see what had caused Grissom’s unusual outburst.

“He was watching and taking damn photo’s of his crime Warrick,” he spat angrily, waving the incriminating photo in the air as he spoke. “He knew this would happen. The son of a bitch was watching while we were immersed in misery.”

“Jeeze,” Warrick gasped, taking the photo from Grissom to peer down at it angrily.

“We’re all here,” Grissom told him, moving his hand along the disturbing imagery that had caused more than a little fear to eat away at his heart. “He wanted this.”

Moving over to the far wall, Warrick’s eyes were drawn to a small box that had brown wrapping paper around it. Stepping closer, he cautiously turned it over to see Catherine’s home address scrawled on the package. “Dammit,” he groaned, “Grissom take a look at this.”

Grissom came over to stand beside him, “Oh God, bag everything and move out.”

“What?” Warrick asked confused.

“You heard me, bag everything and move out. This is no longer a safe crime scene,” Grissom told him quickly as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket to speed dial a number. Placing it to his ear, he took a deep breath. “I need bomb squad here, we have another device.”

A few minutes later, Grissom stood out on the roadside with Warrick, both of them stunned into silence as the bomb squad moved into the house. By now a small crowd had gathered outside to form a ring around the police cars that flashed their neon blue lights silently.

“This is sick,” Warrick groaned, “he’s just a kid.”

“A kid with a deadly agenda,” Grissom told him. His eyes stayed trained firmly on the house, waiting for a sign that it was safe to return back inside.

“Why Catherine?” Warrick whispered, more to himself than anyone else. “This is like some stupid bad dream.”

“It’s real,” Grissom told him stonily, his blue eyes frosted with anger. “We could have lost good people because of this kid. As it stands he has managed to seriously injure both Nick and Sara.” Shoving his hands into his pockets angrily, he glared over towards the darkened house, his face blank.

“Sara’s gonna be okay,” Warrick murmured knowingly, “She’s a fighter.”

Grissom’s eyes flickered with emotion with the mention of her name, and for a moment Warrick thought he saw a glimmer of something else until the tough mask fell again, hiding the emotions behind Grissom’s cold exterior.

“I love her too,” Warrick told him angrily when he wouldn’t answer. When Grissom turned to face him, Warrick could almost feel his heart snap in two. “She’s my friend too Grissom,” he whispered, “I care about her that’s all.”

“And I don’t?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Warrick snapped. “Look, I know what I saw okay. You and Sara need each other.”

Grissom’s jaw twitched as he listened to Warrick’s words, his own emotions rising inside his chest as he fought to control the increasing need to leave this place and return to the safety beside her. Warrick was right about him. He did need her, he did want her, but then he would never readily admit that to anyone else. He needed to be beside her, helping her through the pain, but first he needed to collect the evidence so that this whole nightmare would never be repeated again. Keeping his voice low, he whispered a few words to acknowledge his feelings as well as protect them. “I know.”

Warrick’s heads spun around to look at him, shock and relief shining from his eyes. He tried to think of something wise to say, but he couldn’t think of a single word. Instead he lifted a hand to Grissom’s arm, patting him reassuringly. “She’ll get through this,” Warrick told him reassuringly.

Grissom was about to reply with a few words to indicate the subject was closed, but stopped in mid flow when there was movement from the house. Members of the bomb squad left the house and one of them came over to where Grissom and Warrick were standing. “It’s deactivated. It’s safe for you to photograph now.”

“Thank you,” Grissom nodded, acknowledging the man in front of him before picking up his field kit to hurriedly push past him to go back into the house. His eyes were drawn to the package on the table, which was now open. Inside was a shoebox which had held a deadly secret. Walking over to it, he lifted his camera and photographed the once deadly package.

“Hey Griss,” Warrick spoke softly as he came into the room, his eyes searching for something he may have missed.

“Let’s head back to the lab,” Grissom told him, holding the bagged device up so he could see it better. “We have what we need.”

Warrick nodded silently, his stomach rolling in nauseating waves as he held onto the bags of incriminating photos. “Right behind you,” he whispered shakily as he followed Grissom out of the room.

Catherine sat silently beside Sara, holding onto her hand while the doctor came in to take a look at her injured thigh. Gasping in a breath, Sara groaned low inside her throat when he gently pulled the bandages free so he could see how she was healing.

“Everything is healing fine,” he told her, “I’ll have Alice clean and re-dress the wound, then we’ll see about getting you up and mobile in a few days.”

“Won’t that be a little difficult?” Catherine asked worriedly. “She’s in a lot of pain.”

“It’s part of the healing process,” he nodded, “She’ll be in pain for some time, but that is because of the severity of her injury.”

“Well, can you see about giving her something, I mean just look at her,” Catherine snapped.

“S’ok Cath,” Sara hissed painfully, “this isn’t as bad as it was before.”

“But..”

“Can you do me a favour?” Sara asked, clutching Catherine’s hand tightly bringing her attention towards her.

“Of course, what do you need?”

“Look in on Nicky for me,” Sara asked softly, her voice breaking as she bit back a painful cry when nurse Alice placed a new bandage over her thigh.

“Of course I will,” Catherine smiled, squeezing her hand. “As soon as you’re settled, I’ll go and look in on him.”

“Thanks,” Sara muttered, closing her eyes until the pain had started to ebb away.

“You know you’ll be back to your old self in no time,” Catherine smiled, doing her best to lighten the mood in the room. “Everyone misses you.”

“What about the lab?” Sara asked tiredly as she turned her eyes towards her friend.

“Oh yeah the lab misses you, big time!”

Sara bit back a chuckle, gasping a breath when the movement caused her thigh to stir with the beginnings of pain again. “No I meant…”

“I know what you meant,” Catherine grinned, her voice becoming lower as she moved in a little closer. “The damaged areas are under investigation, but as for the rest of the lab, we’re still able to work.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you know Cavallo, he doesn’t like losing a day of precious work time!”

“Yeah,” Sara sighed, “but that’s what he does.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Catherine watched as Sara’s eyes started to close and flutter open again. “I’m gonna let you get some sleep,” she smiled, “I’ll stop by and look in on Nicky.”

Okay,” Sara whispered, as she lost the battle with her eyelids. Pushing herself upwards, Catherine untangled her hands from Sara’s and smiled down at her, “night honey,” she whispered as she retreated towards the door.

Back at the lab, Grissom stared at the wreckage that littered the hallways of the now destructed part of the lab. Gulping a breath, he turned away from the sight before him and carried on walking with his precious evidence in his hands.

An hour later, Brass stuck his head around the door to Grissom’s office. “We’re about to interview the suspect.”

“I’m almost done here,” Grissom nodded, as he picked up the photo of the bagged device and looked down at it thoughtfully.

Brass watched him quietly from the doorway and wondered if the change in Gil Grissom was something that would be a permanent fixture from now on. Stepping inside the office, he came over to sit down in the chair opposite him. “So,” he started, “how’s Sara?”

Grissom’s eyes closed with the mention of her name, and for a moment he tried to hide behind his mask of denial, but she refused to leave his mind. Letting out the breath he was holding, Grissom placed the photos on his desk. “She’s in a lot of pain,” he said softly, “I would have stayed with her again tonight but she wanted me to get some rest.”

“So you came here?” Brass grinned. “You two are so alike you know that?”

“So I’m told,” Grissom smiled. Pushing the chair backwards, he stood up and picked up the evidence in his hands. “Okay, lets get this over with.”

“Yeah,” Brass nodded in agreement, standing to follow Grissom out of the door towards the interview rooms.

Robert James looked up as the two men entered the interview room, his face holding a sinister smile. He watched intently as both Grissom and Brass came to sit down at the opposite side of the table from him, his eyes firmly trained on the graying man.

“How’s your girlfriend?” he asked coldly, knowing his tone caused more than a little anger to stir inside Grissom’s blue eyes.

Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Brass leaned over and took the photos from Grissom’s possession. Taking a breath, he looked directly at the young detainee. “Why did you do it Robert?”

Robert James remained silent, his cool eyes staring into Grissom’s, trying to read his thoughts. Closing his eyes briefly, he opened them to smile slightly as he spoke, “She reminds me of my mother.”

“Who?” Brass asked, willing Grissom to break his silence. But his friend remained silent, as if he could escape his inner pain by staring at the culprit before him.

“The woman you were holding,” Robert said quietly, directing his words to Grissom. “She wasn’t supposed to die, not her.”

“She…” Brass started, only to have his words cut away from his as Grissom shifted slightly in his seat.

“Sara is not dead,” Grissom told the young man coolly, keeping his voice leveled as he spoke. “I assume that you know the damage you caused here?”

“Yes I do,” Robert nodded, “that was my intention.”

Grissom’s eyes turned to the photos on the table, and pulled one closer to himself with his fingers. “Why Catherine? Why does she deserve your so called ‘treatment’?” Grissom’s heart caught inside his throat as his eyes scanned across the array of images placed on the table. He settled on the one with him cradling Sara in his arms and found his eyes drawn to it, unable to release it from his gaze. Reaching out a trembling hand, he ran his fingers across the photo, coming to rest on Sara’s face.

Brass watched with fascination as Grissom continued his silent vigil over the photo of the woman he loved. Breaking his reverie, he cast his steely gaze onto Robert James who kept his eyes trained on Grissom.

“So why Catherine?”

Snapping his head up, Robert met Brass’ stare with a cold one of his own. “She killed my father. Way I see it, the bitch had it coming.”

“DO NOT call any woman by those derogatory terms in my presence,” Grissom warned in a low unwavering voice, his eyes holding the young detainee with seething anger. “I have read your file. Your father committed suicide in prison, so please explain to me how you have come to the conclusion that Catherine Willows is even remotely responsible for your fathers death?”

Robert shifted in his seat angrily as he watched Grissom’s unwavering gaze upon him. “She took him away from me,” he drawled angrily, “She made them take him.”

“Your father murdered your uncle in cold blood,” Brass intervened, opening the file at the appropriate page. “He placed the murder weapon in your uncles hands. Now that tells me that he is responsible for his own actions.”

“You still don’t get it do you?” Robert coaxed, chuckling to himself as he spoke. “The bastard deserved to die. He did nothing but beat on me while my dad was in prison, so my dad was gonna fix things.”

“So your father killed your uncle because he hurt you?” Grissom asked, finally comprehending the mystery. “So why was your fingerprint found on the deceased’s clothing?”

“Had to make sure he was dead,” Robert grinned.

“Oh I think he was dead,” Brass cut in, “your dad made sure of that.”

Grissom watched silently as Robert turned his cold eyes onto the photos on the desk, before lifting his head to meet his gaze. Nodding his head in understanding, Grissom’s mind started to clear. “Your father was covering for you, wasn’t he?” He asked softly, “Your father couldn’t do it, could he? Bank robbery to murder is a hell of a step don’t you think?”

“I..” Robert stammered, closing his eyes as images flooded his mind. “My dad was weak. He couldn’t do it.” Opening his eyes again, he watched Grissom unwavering, “He decided to do just one more bank job with my uncle, ‘one for the road’ they called it. But they forgot about me. They forgot about what that bastard had done to me.”

“So you decided to teach them both a lesson?” Brass asked slowly.

“My dad dying wasn’t in the deal,” he hissed, “he wasn’t supposed to leave me again. He promised we’d be okay.”

“So what happened Robert?” Grissom asked, his voice soothing. “You shot your uncle, and I’m guessing your father panicked?”

“Yeah,” Robert grinned. His moods swung between the child and the young man he had become, his attitude morphing between the two “Dad saw the blood and freaked.”

“So he took the heat to protect you?” Grissom asked. “A natural instinct for any parent I would assume.”

“He made me take off my cloths and throw them into the fire,” he nodded wistfully. “She never noticed the bruises.”

“Who? Catherine?” Brass asked.

“Yeah, she took my dad away, but she didn’t even ask why I had bruises over on my legs.” Robert’s voice started to crack as he spoke, his tears clouding his eyes. “He wasn’t supposed to die. We were supposed to go away and start a new life together, but my uncle waved money under my dads nose and he forgot all of his promises.”

“So because your father let you down, you’re taking your anger out on Catherine? Where the hell is the sense in that?” Brass asked him with a growl.

“Why shouldn’t she suffer too?” Robert hissed angrily. “You should all suffer.”

Grissom stiffened with his words, his anger reaching high into his eyes as he tried desperately to hold onto his tongue. Beside him, Brass stood up from his chair and motioned for the officer to hand cuff the disturbed teenager. “You’re under arrest for murder, intent to murder, willful destruction of a government building, and stalking a criminalist with the intention to cause harm.” Lifting his eyes to the officer, he sucked in the nausea rising inside his throat, “Take him away.”

Both men watched in silence as Robert James was led away to begin his confinement before his court date. Sighing heavily, Brass sat down heavily in the chair beside Grissom. “Sometimes I hate this job.”

Nodding silently, Grissom’s eyes scanned the photos again briefly before scooping them up and placing them inside the evidence bag. “I know what you mean,” he sighed.

“Shifts almost over,” Brass offered, “I have a bottle of whisky if you wanna join me?”

“No thanks Jim,” Grissom said softly, shaking his head slowly as he pushed the chair back and stood to his feet. “I have to be somewhere.”

Nodding knowingly, Jim Brass watched him as he headed towards the door. “Tell her I said hello.”

Turning slightly, Grissom offered him a small smile then disappeared from the room to leave emptiness in his wake. Moving over towards the exit, Brass reached up to click off the light before departing the room to follow in the same path as his friend only a moment ago. The nightmare was finally over, he mused.

Half an hour later, Gil Grissom stood in the hospital room doorway looking in on Sara’s sleeping form. Part of him wanted to rush towards her and sink to his knees beside her, but he knew that would scare her more than any words he could ever say. Slowly, he entered the room, careful not to wake her. Her nurse had already told him that she had been restless in his absence, so he kept his steps quiet as he came over to sit down beside her.

Her face was still incredibly pale, but she continued to take his breath away. Leaning closer towards the bed, he reached out a tentative hand to touch her fingers. He needed to feel her, her warmth releasing his heart from the chaotic restraints that had held him prisoner while he was in the company of a young killer.

Closing his eyes tiredly, he willed the wall of tears that had threatened to engulf him, away. He had to be strong for her. He had to show her he could cope, even though his heart was in pieces without her.

“Hey,” she whispered softly, causing him to jerk his eyes open in surprise.

“Hey,” he smiled as he shuffled closer. He had never before felt so helpless in his whole life. He’d always been strong, happy with his self-made isolation. Then one day, Sara Sidle came into his life and tore down all of his walls. She was in so deep now that he couldn’t remember a day when he didn’t love her.

“I missed you,” she smiled sleepily, reaching to pull him closer to her.

“Me too,” he nodded through tear filled eyes. The last few hours had worn down his senses, creating a deep chasm where he could feel himself slipping in to, something that he couldn’t hide from the woman who loved him. Even in her current state, Sara knew he needed her.

“C’mere,” she whispered softly, opening her arms for him as he moved closer to nestle his head against her chest. Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, she slipped a hand into his hair, threading her fingers through his curls. Closing her eyes, she felt his silent tears soak through her gown onto her skin and tightened her hold on him, giving him as much reassurance as she could.

“I need you,” he whispered hoarsely, admitting the one thing that scared him more than anything else in the world. He had never needed anyone before; he had always been so independent. But now, after all that had happened, he couldn’t seem to escape the fear of losing her surrounding his heart.

“I’m here,” she whispered softly, her own tears cascading down her cheeks as she spoke. “We’ll get through this.”

Her words gave him the courage to lift his head from her arms and sit up to look into her eyes. What he saw in her brown depths mirrored the feelings inside his heart and he suddenly needed to be closer to her. Moving slowly, he came to sit beside her on the bed, careful to avoid her injured thigh. She smiled softly as she reached up to draw him down to her, nestling his face in the crook of her neck. Holding him close to her, she stroked his back gently with her fingers, drawing comfort from his embrace as well as giving him everything she possessed.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off into a peaceful slumber, taking his warmth and his love with her as they both released their demons to find love and strength in each other’s arms.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Grissom came to a stop outside of Sara’s hospital room to hear the sound of hysterical laughter slipping from the room. The sound cascaded over his senses, warming his heart. Sara was laughing, really laughing. Pushing open the door, he stepped inside to find Lindsey sitting on the edge of Sara’s bed, dangling her feet over the side, mimicking Sara’s own movements.

Catherine sat back with her camera in hand, motioning with one hand towards the two giggling females. “C’mon you two, squish up a little more.”

“Mom, people don’t say squishy any more!” Lindsey groaned, leaning closer into Sara’s shoulder to hide her embarrassment. “Tell her Sara.”

“Hey don’t involve me in this Lind’s,” Sara beamed, “I’m recovering remember?”

Lindsey smiled happily as she wrapped her arms around Sara’s waist. “When are you going home?”

“Soon I hope,” Sara sighed as she leaned down to place a soft kiss on the top of Lindsey’s head. “It’s not fair, Nick got to go home two weeks ago.”

“Sara you can’t expect everything to heal over night,” Catherine told her, her voice taking on the motherly tone that she had adopted for both Sara and Lindsey lately. “Now come on you two, move closer so I can take this photo.”

“I look a mess,” Sara pouted, “why do you want a picture of me anyway?”

“I want it,” Lindsey told her in a quiet voice as she looked up into Sara’s brown eyes. “I love you so much Sara.”

“Oh baby,” Sara sighed tearfully, reaching down to encompass the little girl in her arms. “I love you too, and you know what?”

“What?” Lindsey asked in a whisper.

“No one has said those words to me in a very long time,” Sara’s voice lowered as she spoke, not wanting her emotions to ruin such a wonderful moment.

“Well, I do,” Lindsey smiled, “you’re my best friend.”

“You’re mine too,” Sara whispered. Reaching up a hand, she wiped the beginnings of a tear away from her eye to reach over and hug the little girl tighter to her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Grissom standing in the doorway and felt her heart flutter inside her chest. “Hey,” she beamed happily.

“Oh Gil, good you’re here,” Catherine smiled. “Now go and sit beside Sara so I can get you all in the frame.”

“I..” he started, automatically backing out of the room until he saw the luring eyes of the woman he loved calling out to him. Admitting defeat, he came slowly into the room to sit down on the opposite side of Sara. Her warmth caused his body to relax into hers as they shuffled a little closer to each other. She surrounded his senses, drowning out everything but her and he soon found his arms reaching around her.

Sara lifted her eyes up to his, melting into his gaze. They lost themselves in each other, their eyes communicating in ways that mere words could not. Offering him a small smile, she leaned in closer, tipping her head to meet his lips as they grazed hers softly, enticing him closer with a gentle kiss of her own.

Beside Sara, Lindsey looked up to stifle a giggle, hiding it behind her hand. “Ewwwww,” she muttered, “that’s gross.”

Catherine smiled at the scene before her and chose that moment to take a photo. The flash of the camera alerted them back into reality causing them to pull their lips apart abruptly. Sara leaned close to his chest, hiding her embarrassment into his shirt. Holding her tighter, he tried unsuccessfully to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. Leaning down, he kissed her hair to look up briefly, “What?” he asked guiltily, staring unimpressed at both Catherine and Lindsey who both couldn’t contain the amusement from escaping.

Lifting her head from his chest, Sara smiled up at him lovingly, inviting him to kiss her again. Lindsey watched in fake horror as they closed the distance between them and climbed down from the bed to go and stand next to her mother. “Maybe we should go and get some lunch now?”

Patting Lindsey’s shoulder, Catherine chuckled softly at her two friends. “You know that might be a good idea honey.”

“Bye Sara,” Lindsey called from the doorway, her warm smile growing wider when Sara sank even further into Grissom’s chest, her arms moving up and over his shoulders to link behind his neck as they deepened their kiss.

“Uh, time to go,” Catherine muttered, pushing her daughter out of the door to look back briefly before closing the door behind her.

“Do you think Sara will be okay mommy?” Lindsey asked quietly as she took hold of her mother’s hand.

“Oh I think she’s gonna be just fine honey,” she smiled. “Everything is gonna be great from now on.”

Inside Sara’s room, they pulled apart gently, slowing their kisses into tiny pecks still unable to part completely. Reaching up around him, Sara pulled him into a powerful embrace, holding him to her body as if her life depended on him.

“I have some news,” he whispered softly, kissing her cheek as he spoke. Slowly disentangling himself from her arms, he pulled back to smile down at her adoringly. “I spoke to your doctor on the way in.”

“You did?” she asked with a smile. “And what does ‘Doctor Dread’ have in store for me today?”

“Well,” he whispered, kissing her forehead before tracing his lips along her hairline. “He said if you have regular help, you can go home.”

“What?” she gasped happily, lunging closer to wrap her arms around his neck, his words lifting her spirits higher than they had been since this whole experience began. “Oh I wanna get out of here.”

“I know you do honey,” he whispered, “that’s why I want you to come stay with me until you’re well enough to go back to work.”

His words forced an inner fear back into her heart once more with his mention of work. Swallowing hard, she clung to him tightly as she forced the fear away.

“Honey what’s wrong?” he whispered, “Don’t you want to stay with me? I understand if you’re more comfortable....”

Closing her eyes, she nodded her head silently against him, the tremble in her body reaching through to his skin. “I..” she started, her voice faltering, “What if it happens again? What if he sends another bomb, I don’t think….”

“Hey, Robert James was sentenced to life imprisonment, he’ll never send anything again, I promise you.” Pulling her tighter, he held onto her shaking body, easing her fear with his love. “When the time comes, I’ll be there with you okay?”

“But, what about Nicky?” she whispered, “He’s so scared but he’ll never admit it. What if we never get over this Griss? What if…?”

“Shh,” he soothed, showering her face in reassuring kisses, “Nicky came to me a few days ago and told me the exact same thing as you just did. I won’t make you come back to work until you’re strong enough. Nick’s coming by to see you as soon as we get home, he’s ready to give it a try.”

Pulling away from him, she held onto his hands as she bit her lip nervously. “What if it takes me a while? I don’t think I could live with your disappointment in me. I…”

“Disappointment?” he asked in surprise. “How could you ever disappoint me?” Lifting their joined hands to his lips, he kissed her fingers gently, “I am so proud of you Sara. I’m proud to have you as a friend and I’m proud to have you as the woman I love.”

“I..” she gasped, “Did you say love?”

“I believe I did,” he grinned, reaching out to pull her into his arms again. “I love you Sara.”

“Oh God,” she gasped tearfully, sniffing back the emotion as her heart burst into flames. “I love you too.” She felt him tighten his hold, keeping her close to him, unwilling to let go until her doctor came into the room to give her the good news.

EPILOGUE

“Here we are,” Grissom smiled as he held open his door for her, holding out a hand to steady her when she took a tentative step through the threshold of his town house. Offering him a reassuring smile, she limped slowly into his living room unaware of the welcome committee waiting to greet her.

Taking a step inside, she was greeted by a very loud chorus of ‘surprise’, causing her to almost jump out of her skin. “Oh my,” she beamed happily, her tears over flowing when Nicky rushed over towards her, hobbling as he did. Reaching out, he pulled her into his arms, holding her to his body as they rocked each other through tears of happiness and relief.

“God Sar,” he sniffed, pulling her tighter, “it’s over now, we’re gonna be okay.”

“I know,” she whispered, clinging tightly to his body until he was ready to release her.

“Hey man,” Warrick muttered as he stepped closer, “let the poor girl breathe. Don’t make her pass out before I’ve had my turn!”

Sara giggled into Nick’s shoulder and slowly pulled away from him. Moving a hand up to his face, she cupped his cheek reassuringly before releasing him to turn into Warricks waiting arms.

“Damn, I missed you girl,” he told her, his arms tightening around her.

“I’m home now,” she whispered, “I missed everyone so much.”

“Sara,” Greg grinned, hovering closely beside them, his arms twitching by his side. Looking up into Warrick’s eyes, Sara offered him a huge smile before turning to Greg and pulling him into a hug.

“It’s good to see you,” she told him before releasing him, “love the new hair.”

“Oh this?” he beamed, pointing to his new array of spiked up hair sticking in every different direction. “This is my ‘welcome home Sara’ hair!”

“I’m touched,” she grinned, resisting the urge to reach out and ruffle the spiked strands. Turning to look down beside him, she saw a very impatient Lindsey trying to gain her attention. “Hey baby,” she beamed, holding out her arms for the little girl to rush in to.

“I baked you a cake,” she beamed excitedly, pulling onto Sara’s hand to lure her over to the table.

“You did?” Sara gasped, feeling more tears sting her eyes when she saw Lindsey’s sweet creation. “Oh Lind’s,” she sniffed, “it’s beautiful, thank you.” Reaching out, she pulled her back into her arms, holding her close until Catherine stepped up beside her.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Catherine whispered through the strong build up of liquid emotion that lay so raw inside her eyes. Reaching out to her, the two women embraced tightly, holding Lindsey between them in a bond so tight that no one would ever be able to break them apart.

“It’s good to be back,” Sara whispered as she pulled back to smile around the room to all of her friends. “This is so…” her voice cracked as she spoke, her words dripping with emotion. “Sorry, I can’t…”

Stepping closer, Grissom took hold of her shoulders and turned her around to face him, showing her with his touch and his presence that she had so many people who cherished and adored her here. Offering her a small smile, he pulled her into a reassuring embrace, holding her close to him while the others started talking to each other, giving both him and Sara a little privacy of their own.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered softly, his warm breath grazing her ear. “They all love you.”

“I know,” she told him tearfully, “this is just so overwhelming. I haven’t had this kind of thing before.”

“Well you’ll have to get used to it honey,” he smiled as he pulled back to gaze down into her eyes. “This is our family.”

Smiling up into his eyes, Sara felt the fear leave her heart to be replaced with the love that enveloped the entire room. Tipping her chin, she reached up towards him to collect a soft kiss, meeting his lips on the way down to hers. The kiss was brief but full of promise, one which she was determined to collect on later when they were alone. Stepping closer, she gave him one final hug, before reaching out to hold onto his hand, leading him over to the other side of the room where their family awaited them. The healing had begun and the time for sorrow was long gone now, forever…..

The End..