Disclaimer: CSI is owned by CBS, Anthony Zuiker, and a lot of other people. Sadly I'm not included on that list.
A/n: So, I've taken my cue from the awesome/scary promos we've been getting, though I have filled in the blanks on my own. I don't know if this is the way it happend, but it's my take on it. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first part of this story.
Several hours earlier….
Sara sighed as she exited the elevator heading for her car. They were finally getting somewhere with the Miniature Killer, and she was looking forward to going home and taking a nice hot soothing bath. Taking her keys out she pushed the alarm button, and heard it disengage. She went to the trunk to stow her kit. As CSI's they'd all learned that as they could be called in on a big scene at anytime, it was best to keep your kit stocked and ready at all times. She reached up to close the trunk when she heard someone say her name. Looking around she recognized the girl from the janitorial crew. Sara smiled and turned to her. "Hey, Natalie right? Can I help you with something?"
Natalie smiled and walked over to her. "Yes. My-my car won't start, and I-I was hoping you could try it while I looked under the hood."
Sara smiled. "Sure, I know all about cars. Maybe I can help you figure out what's wrong." She headed over to the car Natalie had indicated.
Natalie followed her over to the car. "If you could just pull the hood release, that would be good."
"Sure." Sara leaned down to find the pulley that would pop the hood open. She paused when she smelled something odd, kinda sweet. It seemed familiar. She felt that Natalie had come up to stand behind her, and figured it must be her perfume. "You know, I'm glad…" She was cut off when a cloth was pressed over her face. She jerked back, trying to get away from it, but someone was pushing her down. She tried one last time to break free, but hit her head on the edge of the car roof, and between that, and the suffocating cloth, soon passed out.
Natalie calmly removed the cloth, removed Sara's cell phone from its clip, and laid it beside her kit in her trunk. She pushed Sara over to the passenger seat, climbed in and started the car, giving a little giggle at how easy it had been.
Sara opened her eyes, blinking several times. Moving her head, she felt bits of rock and sand bite into her cheek. Lifting her head up, she winced at the ache in her head, and the dryness in her mouth. Squinting, she looked up. She saw she was lying under what looked like the top a car. Muzzily, she tried to figure out why she was under a car. The last thing she remembered was that she was she had been going to help Natalie with her car. Had she crawled under it to see if she could see what was wrong? No, that couldn't be it. She was laying on sand and rocks, not the concrete floor of the garage. And she was definitely under the top of the car, not the undercarriage. Moving her head a little, she looked out from under the car. Natalie was kneeling beside it. "Natalie? What's going on? Where am I?"
Natalie smiled and reached over and twisted the handle of a hydraulic jack. The car started to lower. Before she'd had time to process what was happening, the edge of the car began settling on her arm, which she'd only just now realized was poking out from under the car. The pressure turned to pain. "What are you doing? Arrggghh!! Don't do this! Ahhhhh!" She heard bones crack and felt faint with the pain. She looked up and dimly saw Natalie peering at her from beside the car. "Why-why are you doing this?" She panted.
Natalie watched her, silently. She watched as Sara panted, watched as tears slipped down her cheeks, but through the pain, she saw defiance shining through. "Why am I doing this?" She asked calmly.
Sara could only gasp, as pain shot up her arm, through her shoulder.
"I'm doing this to save you. To save you the pain of losing the one you love. Because you know, it never lasts. Love. Someone can say they love you so much, but in the end, we always disappoint them." She blinked and stared into the distance. "And now he'll see. He'll see that I'm the good one. The smart one. The BETTER one." She stood up and started backing away. "Look at it as a test. If he loves you, he'll find you." Smiling with the wind from the approaching storm blowing her hair, she turned to go.
Sara moaned as she watched her start to walk away. "Natalie?! NATALIE!!!! Don't do this!!!" She yelled, panicking. But Natalie kept walking, got into her car, and drove away.
Present
Taking a deep breath, Grissom stood and made his way down the hall to the breakroom. He put his hand on the door, and hesitated. His fingers contracted on the handle, and he closed his eyes. Exhaling sharply, he pulled the door open. All eyes turned to him. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Nick, Warrick, I want you on Natalie's apartment. There's gotta be some kind of clue there. Turn it upside down. Catherine, take Sara's car. Maybe she was able to leave some kind of message before Natalie took her. Greg, Natalie had to have gotten Sara out of here somehow. Contact the DMV; she has got to have a car. If not, than someone helped her, and by God we'll find them." He turned to go.
Catherine jumped up. "Gil! What are you going to do?" She looked at him, concerned.
He gestured vaguely towards the outside, where the storm raged. "We know that she's… that she's under a car, and that car is pinning her down. The desert is full of flash flood areas. Places where it can be dry as a bone one minute, and a rushing rapid with just a couple of hours of rain. I'm going to do some tests to see how much time she would have if… if that were the case." He opened the door, and said without looking back. "I don't have to tell you that this is the only case tonight. It's time sensitive, and we… we need to work as fast as possible." He left.
Nick and Warrick silently exited as well, heading for the car. Their normal bickering about who would drive absent as Nick silently handed the keys to Warrick, knowing that he was the quickest, if not the safest, driver.
Greg stood and nodded to Catherine and Brass, then left.
Catherine looked towards Brass. He gave her a small, encouraging smile. "Let's go get her Catherine." She nodded, and followed him out of the room.
Nick and Warrick donned their gloves and opened the door to Natalie's apartment. Looking around, they took the place in. Straight ahead was a hall lined with display cases holding those bisque dolls Grissom had told them about. They walked forward, they're footsteps muffled by the carpet runner. As they reached the end, they stared in amazement. Pictures of Sara were plastered on the wall. In a lot of them she was with Grissom. Nick looked to Warrick. "Looks like she knows."
TBC…