One Thing After Another

By: Colleen – Adriane

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, although I would like to very much.

Spoilers: some for "Butterflied" "nesting Dolls" and "Committed" but not many

Summary: here's the down low, Grissom nearly runs over their witness in a murder who gets killed by a madman that stabs Sara, sound confusing? It's not really, read on and find out what happens. Major GSR. Rated for thematic elements. Pg.

Chapter 1 Case File

The young woman's feet pounded the pavement with a sickening slap as she ran. Her flip-flop style slippers had long since flown off and the bottom of her feet, she was sure, looked something like raw hamburger by now. The hems of her black sweats were torn, her hair was frazzled and her arms were cold, but she didn't care. She was somewhat too preoccupied at the moment as she ran for her life. She risked a glance over her shoulder. A man who easily stood 6"5 came around a building and aimed a gun, she screamed at the same time as the gun went off and a bullet whapped into the building in front of her she, in her panic, stumbled and fell. She watched the concrete rush towards her as if in slow motion, before her face impacted, shearing the skin off her cheek. She heard the sound of boots on pavement and she wheeled around, but it was to late, the man grabbed a fistful of hair and wrenched her backwards. 'I'll get you' said the oily voice in her ear as she felt the end of a cold gun barrel press up against her temple. As the metal touched her skin, it was like her body suddenly switched to survival mode. Reacting like a cornered wild animal, the woman flipped onto her back feeling a clump of hair tear from her scalp, once on her back she didn't hesitate to kick out with all her strength. She aimed well as the kick landed on the mans groin. He keeled over gasping and she jumped to her feet and bolted with a sudden burst of speed she didn't know she possessed. She wasn't about to be caught again…

…C.S.I supervisor Gil Grissom drove in silence back to his home. He had just come back from a crime scene in which a tall, able-bodied man was brutally smashed in the face and killed. He had worked the scene alone; everybody else was out. Catherine had begged him for the night off so she could see a movie with her daughter, Warrick and Greg were investigating a home invasion case, Nick was soloing a hit-and-run out in Henderson and Sara… well last time he'd seen her she was at the lab, but Grissom hadn't been able to get a hold of her since. He tried calling her both on her cell and at home to bring her out to this scene, but he never got an answer. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he almost didn't see the slim female figure step out in front of his car. 'Shit!' he said jumping on the brakes with both feet. The car screeched to a halt as the girl put her hands on the hood of the car for a moment before sliding down in front of it. Grissom got out of the car and went to girl's side. 'Are you okay?' he asked as she pushed herself up. When she pushed her hair back he felt as if he'd been hit in the face 'Sara?' he asked, but once she was standing again and in better light he realized this was not the same person as the elusive Sara Sidle.

'Please' she said taking his hands desperately 'you have to help me' she glanced at Grissoms jacket 'you're a cop!' she said 'please!' just then a gunshot went off and a bullet pinged off something. The girl clutched his arm harder 'he's after me' she said in a shaky voice 'and he'll kill me if he finds me!' Grissom nodded and glanced around the car, no one was there at the moment.

'Get in' he said. The girl obliged as Grissom got in the drivers door. He started the engine and drove off, in his rear-view mirror, he could swear he saw a tall man standing there, staring after the car. The girl leaned her head on the window and tried to slow her breathing, he gave her a moment to calm down before speaking. 'My name is Gil Grissom with the Las Vegas Crime Lab' he said.

'Madeline Johnson' she replied 'but everyone calls me Maddie.'

'Do you know who that was chasing you Maddie?' Grissom asked

'Yes' Maddie replied looking both disgusted and terrified 'that is Kevin Johnson, my father.'

She wasn't dreaming really, well she was, but it wasn't a story like one usually has when they dream. This was more like an instant replay of her life in the past week or so. Snippets of murder scenes, glimpses of people she'd talked to, stuff like that. It was still disturbing however. Right now she was seeing, for the second time, the face of a Raped and Murdered young woman, when the vision changed to the face of her devastated brother. Suddenly it changed again as a voice from reality drifted into her dream world 'Sara?' it said. The vision changed to that of Grissom. A smile played at her lips, he had a boyishly handsome face crossed with wise eyes and a caring (if not clueless) personality that had always appealed to her.

'Sara' said the voice again, this time she knew who it was as she was slowly shaken out of her slumber. 'Sara, wake up!' said the voice once more, this time accompanied with a shake of her shoulder that finally made the last of the dream dissolve into reality as she woke. 'Hi sleepyhead' Grissom said as Sara shook her head and straightened up.

'Why are you here?' she asked in a croaky voice,

'I called you both at home and on your cell and you didn't answer' he said as he hung his coat on the coat rack by the door 'I got worried' he said smiling, this statement was partly true, but Sara didn't know it and was slightly taken aback 'plus, your in my office' he said. Sara looked around her and realized she was indeed in her supervisor's office.

'Oh… um…' she staggered as she tried to remember how she wound up in here 'I uh…' she shook her head again

'I'm gonna guess you came in here to find me and saw the open case file on my desk' he said

'Uh… Yeah' Sara said as it came back to her 'how'd you know?'

'Because I cant really think of any other reason for you to come in here…' he started, Sara shook her head, this time mockingly

'So full of yourself' she said

'And your sleeping on an open case file,' He finished motioning to the desk.

'Oh, uh…' she started to gather up the case file hurriedly when Grissom put his hand down on the papers

'Don't worry, it was your case anyway' they smiled at each other when Grissom spoke again. 'Listen' he said 'there's someone I need you to talk to' he began to rattle off the story as he led her to the break room. 'So will you talk to her?' he asked as they approached the glass doors.

'Yeah, sure' Sara said as she walked into the room.

Sara pushed open the glass door and saw the girl lying on her stomach staring at an apple she'd set on the table 'find a face in the fruit?' Sara asked in an attempt to break the ice.

'I'm debating whether I want to eat it or not' she said, pushing up the girl turned around and both women jumped at the resemblance. There was a long moment of silence as Sara took in how much this girl looked like her, she had never seen a person with such resemblance to herself since the day they investigated the death of a butterfly fanatic that could easily have been Sara's twin. Finally Maddie spoke 'whoa' she said

'I'll say' Sara said as she came to sit down on the couch 'I take it your Maddie?' she asked, the girl nodded

'And I take it your Sara'

'Yeah' Sara smiled 'how'd you know?' Maddie smiled back, she didn't have the gap toothed smile that Sara did

'It's what Mister Grissom called me when he nearly ran me over.' There was a moment of silence 'Maddie, can you tell me what happened tonight?' Maddies face went solemn

'I don't know where to start.'

'From the beginning' Sara replied 'right up until you ran in front of Grissoms car.' After a long moment, Maddie nodded.

'I was watching a movie in my bedroom when I heard screaming from the kitchen, I thought it was my mom and dad fighting again, so I just turned up to volume… I'm used to it by now. The screaming got louder and I heard my mother scream "NO!" and then there was a crack and a thunk, then silence. I got scared then, so I paused my film and went into the kitchen, I… I saw my father standing over my mother with her face bashed in, and he was covered in blood. I gasped and he turned and saw me. "You" he said then started chasing me down the hall, I ran for the door and he grabbed his shotgun off the table and caught me. He pulled me back by the hair and pushed the gun between my eyes. I somehow got away; I… I think I bit him, but I'm… not exactly sure. After that I pulled open the door and ran, with him chasing me. He… he caught me again and I got away again, I bolted and when I came around the corner I saw Mr. Grissoms car and… well I'm sure you know the rest.' She went silent, Sara said nothing, after a second Maddie looked up at her with a tear-streaked face 'there's more' she said 'and if I tell you, do you promise to put him behind bars?' not exactly sure what to say to this request, Sara nodded

'I'll do whatever I can.' Maddie took a deep breath and began to speak. She told Sara about how there were two of them, her and her 16-year-old brother Jamie, and how their father was an Alcoholic and how he not only beat on their mother, but on them as well. She showed Sara some of the scars on her arms from regular beatings and told her about how her brother is, at the moment, suffering from a double leg break. Sara listened quietly, never interrupting, marveling at this girl's ability to stay so calm, thinking back, she remembered how emotional she'd become when she had admitted her abusive past to Grissom, and Sara never got emotional. Several long minutes later, she left the room and allowed Maddie to calm herself. Turning down the hall, Sara took off to hunt down Grissom.

She found him in the lab entertaining himself by looking at something under a microscopeProbably a bug, Sara thought. He looked up from his work and saw her standing in the doorway 'so what did you learn?' he asked her so calmly he may have been asking her when the lunch bell rang. Walking towards him to lean on the desk she began to speak forcefully

'We have to get this guy Grissom' she said 'not only does he beat on his wife, but on Maddie and her brother, he's got a double leg break from him right now! You should see the scars on her! And now he's killed his wife and tried to kill her, it's only a matter of time until he does!' Grissom stood

'Sara…' but she continued as if she hadn't heard him.

'He tried to kill her while she was trying to escape, and we need to keep her safe from him and nail the guy now…'

'Sara' he said louder

'What?' she snapped, but he didn't register it he just continued to speak

'Listen, you and I have the head on the case, and we will get him, we almost always do…' Sara interrupted

'But what if we don't, this is one case I don't want to see go up on the fish in your office'

'We will get him Sara' Grissom said 'as long as you keep your head on straight and not let your past blind you. Vengeance is blindness, blindness is uncertainty and uncertainty is failure'

'Who said that?' Sara asked, Grissom smiled

'Me' he said and she couldn't help but smile back.

Chapter 2 Attack

Sara and Grissom entered the Kitchen of the house after the body of Mrs. Jonsen had been removed. The two opened their silver field kits and started to work with Maddie hovering at the door. After promising not to go into the kitchen, she was allowed to come into the house with them. As the two photographed, processed and bagged each piece of evidence, Maddie proved her passion for criminalistics by naming the tools they were using and what they were doing, she even rattled off exactly what Mia would do with a piece of evidence Sara was bagging once it got to the lab. She rattled off names and ideas and what to do with each piece of evidence, after a while Grissom started quizzing her on what they were doing. Sara, who was busy spraying a row of saucepans and skillets with luminol, turned around to stare at him in shock, all he did was smile, it was so rare that Grissom actually connected with another human being that it was really a sight to see. After a while however, Maddie said that the smell of the blood was starting to make her queasy, so she left the room for fresher air. Sara and Grissom looked at each other

'Acting more and more like you all the time' he said and Sara smiled, turning back to her work. Spraying a heavy skillet with luminol, she stopped, the back of the pan lit up blue

'Uh Gris?' she said

'Yeah' he replied

'I think I found the murder weapon.' He came over to her side and photographed the item; they bagged it and placed it inside Sara's field kit. Grissom turned back around and stopped. Something was wrong with this crime scene, looking around as carefully as he could he realized. Reaching behind him and touching Sara's arm he said

'Look at this scene' he said 'counter by the stove, what's missing?' Sara looked long and hard and then it clicked

'There's a knife missing' she said they looked at each other 'one that was there before, which means…' Grissom interrupted

'Which means we have got to gather up whatever we can and get out of here now.' Sara nodded, wide-eyed and started gathering what she could into her field kit. The two walked calmly towards the door, trying to be as quiet as possible as not to alert whoever was in the house. Grissom was about to open the door when Sara caught his arm

'Maddie!' she said 'she's still in the house!'

'Well we can't call her' Grissom said

'Then we'll have to go find her.' Sara put down her field kit and turned to the door on her left. Putting his own field kit on the floor, Grissom followed her. Pushing open the door, he saw the living room was empty. They moved on to the next door, again nothing. Maybe we've had been imagining things, Grissom thought as they opened three more doors to find nobody inside. They got all the way to the end of the hall and went to open the final door. There was a large amount of clattering inside. Sara aimed her gun and stepped back and Grissom opened the door. There standing over a D.B was a tall husky man dressed in black, when he turned Sara caught a glimpse of a long shining knife soaked in blood, as he moved slowly out of the bathroom, she saw who his victim was. Lying, nearly decapitated on the floor was Maddie with the same look of shock and terror on her face as she had when Grissom had first met her. 'Drop the guns' said the man as he advanced onto the threshold, his huge form nearly entirely filling the doorway. 'I said drop them!' he said pointing the knife as Sara's throat. She stifled a gasp as she suddenly flashed back to the night at the insane asylum in which a tenant had pressed a makeshift knife to her throat. She instantly let her gun clatter to the hardwood. 'You to' said the man turning the knife to Grissom. He stared at him for a moment then did what he was told. 'Your Sara' said the man turning his attention to her, Grissom spoke before Sara had the chance

'How do you know her name?' he asked, the man spun and pushed the knife to his throat

'Speak again' he threatened 'and I'll cut your vocal cords.' He looked back to Sara, he seemed mainly interested in her 'so you're the cop Maddie was talking about, you do look an awful lot like her' he brushed the knife against her cheek 'the one she said promised to put me behind bars.' Sara's emotions threatened to drown her but she held her composure 'I don't want to go to jail you know' he said 'doesn't sound very nice.' As he was speaking to Sara, Grissom slowly and as quietly as he could crouched down to snake back his gun. He picked it up and tried to holster it while he was still low, but suddenly he lost his balance and put his hand down to catch himself. The man flipped out. Wheeling around he whipped the long blade out in an arc. Grissom fell back or he would have had his throat slit open, the gun skidded off, but this freed Sara she raced for the gun as it was sliding and caught it as Grissom pulled himself to his feet, seemingly forgetting about the knife the man ran up like a charging quarterback and caught Grissom around the throat with one strong hand.

'HEY!' Came Sara's voice, the assailant let go of Grissom and put his hands up in surrender to Sara's gun pointed right at his face. 'Drop it!' she ordered sounding somewhat like a drill sergeant, the man started to lower his arms slowly, and all seemed well.

It wasn't.

The man swung the knife down with the force of a person swinging an axe to chop wood. He sunk the already blood spattered blade deep into her abdomen; she fired the gun as she dropped it and the bullet got him in the thigh.

'Sara!' Grissom called as she made a noise that sounded like choking and gasping at the same time. Dropping her gun she staggered backwards clutching her stomach with a look of alarm on her face. Grissom ran up next to her and took her by the shoulders as she fell. She crumpled to the ground as the look of alarm rapidly melted to one of inexplicable pain. Time practically stood still for Sara, the collapse to the ground seemed to take an eternity and the pain was unexplainable. She expected to hit the hard floor, but instead she fell against a body that held her up. She felt pressure that she wasn't applying against her bottom ribs and a slurred voice speaking in a forced calm. Subconsciously she knew whom the slurred voice, the pressure on her ribs and the body belonged to but consciously the only thing she could register beyond her pain was an overwhelming fear over something she couldn't explain.

He did everything he could he called an ambulance, tried to stem her bleeding, tried to keep her conscious and out of shock, but still, the wait for the ambulance was the longest wait of Grissoms entire life. When finally the E.M.T's arrived it was all he could do to stand back and do nothing. The rest of the time towards the hospital was a blur, he rode in the back of the ambulance with her, gave the E.M.T's as much information as he could, but he couldn't do much else but sit in the ambulance and stare at his hands covered in her blood and prey she would live.

Chapter 3 Life or Death

Having washed the blood off his hands and splashed some water on his face, Grissom felt cleaner, if not any better as he walked into the waiting room outside the ER. He sat, hunched over, wringing his hands as he thought about the night. The girl they had tried to save was now lying in the morgue, the assailant was in the hospital with a bullet in his leg and probably more steamed than ever, and Sara was in the ER with a possibly life threatening stab wound in her stomach. And try as he might he couldn't get a hold of the rest of the team. He felt utterly alone. He glanced up at the ER doors and felt a chill up his spine, he felt terrible. Sara could die in there without ever knowing how much he cared for her. Grissom had often been teased about how clueless he was about Sara, and he took it with a shoulder shrug and a bug specimen, but in truth he really did care for her, a lot. He'd been captivated by her smile since the day he met her. Sure it wasn't absolutely perfect, but Grissom always found imperfections rather alluring. She'd worked so hard this week; she was exhausted, as much as she denied it, he could tell, she was exhausted beyond belief. And He had made the decision to ask her out to dinner tonight but, he sighed, real life had gotten in the way. And now, because he put it off so long, he might never get that chance.

'Dr. Grissom' said a voice, Grissom looked up; a doctor was standing before him.

'That's me' Grissom said

'Dr. James Moncton' said the doctor 'I'm Miss. Sidle's doctor.' Grissom stood up

'How's she doing?' he asked

'Better than I usually see in cases like this, she's certainly a fighter, most people in this condition give up, but she seems determined to stay alive'

'What about physically?' Grissom asked 'how's she doing?'

'Like I said, better than I could have expected…' the doctor went on to explain exactly what happened and what was wrong, the procedures and the risks.

'Hang on' Grissom interrupted 'why are you telling me all the procedures and risks?' the doctor looked confused

'Sir' he said 'you don't know?

'Know what?' Grissom asked, totally lost

'Miss. Sidle gave you her power of attorney, it's your decision.' Grissom sat back down, oh joyhe thought now I'll really be responsible if she diesAfter a long moment he looked up at Dr. Moncton

'Do it' he said.

Grissom didn't know how long he sat there in dead silence, it was only when a female voice called his name did his senses click back on. He looked up and saw the entire team, as well as Catherine's 14-year-old daughter, Lindsey, Marching towards him looking as scared as he felt. He stood up to greet them and almost laughed at their appearance. Catherine Willows was dressed in brown pants with a red shirt and a matching beige blazer, looking stylish as usual, and the usually outgoing Lindsey Willows was practically hiding behind her mother. Greg Sanders was covered from head to toe in dust probably from being in a basement and Warrick Brown looked as if he were Recently working right next to a radiator going full blast. Nick Stokes was still in overalls with a grease stain on his face from working on a car, Dr. Al Robbins the crime labs resident coroner, was dressed nicely and looked as if had just been out on a date with his wife, and Detective Jim Brass was the only one that looked somewhat normal. Though everyone carried the same question on his or her face. Is she okay? Catherine greeted Grissom with an embrace, when she pulled back she looked up at him right in the face.

'How are you doing?' she asked in a concerned tone

'Um… as good as can be expected' Grissom replied honestly, there was a long moment of silence as everybody tried to figure out the best way to ask about Sara. Finally Lindsey spoke up.

'Is Sara okay?' she asked

'The doctor says she's doing better than he could have expected in a case like this' Grissom replied Glancing down at Lindsey, e explained, briefly, what was wrong with her and just as he was finishing Dr. Moncton walked out.

'Hello' he said in a voice loud enough to get everyone's attention 'I take it you are all coworkers of Miss. Sidle' he said. There was murmured responses 'well; the operation was a success' everyone breathed a sigh of relief 'now the recovery is mostly up to her, but she's quite the fighter, so I'm almost positive she'll pull through.'

'Can we see her?' Lindsey asked

'Lindsey' Catherine said elbowing her daughter in the ribs

'Ow, what?' she said

The Doctor smiled a bit 'yeah, you can see her, but she's still knocked out cold right now.' He turned and led the troupe to Sara's room. The group filed in as quietly as they could, and Grissom almost gagged at the sight of her. She was pale and hooked up to intravenous, heart monitors and numerous other gizmos that were keeping her well. Grissom dragged one of the two uncomfortable chairs to her bedside and sat down again, taking her cold hand in his and waiting.

Chapter 4 Confessions and Gunshots

Not everyone could stay, when it hit 11:30 Catherine took Lindsey home and Warrick and Greg had to get back to the Lab. Nick, Brass and Robbins hung around for a little while, but Nick had to leave soon after, and finally so did Robbins and Jim. Grissom had been grateful for the teams company, but understood they had other responsibilities as well and realized they had to leave. When he was finally alone in the hospital room, he was actually thankful for the silence, the chance to think. He leaned his arm on the edge of her bed and began to think, just about general things, and not long after, he had fallen asleep…

… When he woke it was with a start. The sun was starting to trickle into the room and when he looked up, Sara was wide-awake. 'Hi' she said, Grissom sat up

'How long have you been awake?' he asked

'Oh, a few minutes, just long enough for the sedatives to knock off' she replied

'How are you feeling?' he asked

'Better than I thought' she said. Grissom smiled

'The doctor said that about you'

'Said what?'

'He said that you were a strong patient, he said a lot of people in you state just give up, but it was like you didn't want to die'

'I didn't' she said with a small smile. Grissom took a deep breath as he looked at her.

'Sara' he said moving up onto the edge of the bed, it was now or never 'I was really scared' he said 'I thought you were going to die on me'

'You should know better' Sara replied

'I should' Grissom replied, he looked up at her 'but still, he stabbed you and the world seemed to stop, I thought you would keel over dead right there.' Sara watched him with caution, not sure if she was still dreaming or if this was real, was he really saying this? 'I felt like this was partly my fault, you've been working to hard, and that's partly my doing, as a supervisor, I shouldn't be working my people that hard.' Sara's hopes were dashed, she'd so been hoping he wouldn't say "supervisor." Sensing her disappointment he continued 'and as a person who really cares about you, I shouldn't treat you that way.' Sara smiled that sweet smile, and almost instantly Grissom didn't know how to continue

'Why do you think I moved to Vegas?' she asked 'you were here'

Grissom smiled 'I'm glad you did.'

'Prove it' Sara challenged as she sat up a little more 'kiss me.' Grissom hesitated, he didn't want to hurt her, he glanced at the bandages around her waist. 'You wont hurt me' she said as he leaned in. He hesitated for a moment then just did it, he'd waited to long. The kiss didn't last long, but it didn't have to. It was so real and so sweet, Sara felt she'd be sick if he'd held out any longer. She leaned her forehead against his shoulder and he gathered her up in his arms. His touch was strong but gentle.

'I've wanted you forever' he whispered in her ear. Sara smiled, Finally she thought, she was his.

'And I'm all yours' she whispered back.

She wasn't exactly sure what happened in the few hours after the kiss ended, but the one thing she remembered so clearly was falling asleep with him. The first real sleep she'd had in at least a week, - not conked out from exhaustion, not passed out, and not drug induced – was in a hospital room, with a stab wound in her stomach and in the arms of the man she thought she would never get close to. She remembered falling asleep smiling.

Grissom was shaken awake violently and when he looked around the only other person in the room was Sara, still sleeping soundly. What had woken him so harshly? He looked around again nervously, there was nothing there, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going terribly wrong, and he had to find out what. Moving as carefully as he could, he got up off the hospital bed and walked over to the window in the room. Pulling the blinds apart he gasped at what he saw. There on the ground were three doctors, including dr. Moncton, lying dead on the floor with bullets in their bodies. He stepped back from the window and came back over to Sara's bed. 'Sara' he said shaking her shoulder she groaned and rolled over to face him

'What's up?' she asked upon seeing his face

'Are you good to walk?' he asked as Sara pulled herself into a sitting position.

'I think so, why?'

'Because we have to leave now' he said

'Why?' she said sounding less drowsy 'What's going on'

'There's a shooter in the hospital' Grissom said simply. He moved over to the window and pushed back the blinds again so she could see the chaos outside, patients, doctors and visitors hobbled, ran and rolled on wheelchairs out of the hospital as fast as they could. The doctors didn't seem to mind that family was hustling out their patients. 'Come on,' he came to Sara's side and took her around the waist to help her to her feet. Clutching her stomach, she stood and the two moved to the door. Reaching over with his free hand, Grissom opened the door and came face to face with the muzzle of a 9. mm Handgun. Sara gasped and Grissom froze.

'God your annoying!' said the same man whom Grissom had shot in the leg 'your everywhere she is!' he motioned to Sara but turned the gun back to Grissom 'I missed the first time' he pushed the gun harder against his forehead 'I wont make the same mistake twice,' he cocked the gun…