Rating: M

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, anything CSI related or anything else in this story (except for the fact that I wrote the story itself)

Summary: Sequel to 'The Dagger in his Heart'. Read that one first or this one won't make sense. What happened next…?

Okay, chapters are working. Thanks again for the reviews. I will try to update on Mondays but I'll be away this Monday, so here's an early chapter for you. Enjoy!

Warning! Spoilers through to series 6

PS. I use English spellings E.g. colour, jewellery, metre (just to clear up any confusion)

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Blurred images filled the TV screen for a few seconds, before suddenly focusing on the face of a young girl. The girl was pale with long, curly brown hair framing her face. Her huge eyes were focused on a piece of paper on the wooden table in front of her, her frail hands playing with a biro. Although she couldn't have been older than 11, the dark circles under her eyes made her look older and weaker. A deep voice suddenly started to talk from behind the camera.

"11th October 1983. Investigation into the murder of Martin Michael Sidle, case 1379S 0382PL. Witness interrogation with Sara Louise Sidle, daughter of deceased. Time is 3:14 a.m.

"Now Sara, we've been trying to find out who hurt your father. I know this must be tough for you, but could you tell us what happened that night in your house?"

The girl never looked up from her pen as she answered in a flat, defeated voice. "That night? Why just that night? Why don't you ask about all the other nights? Don't you want to know about the days too? Those were bad too, maybe even worse. To tell you the truth, there was nothing out of the ordinary happening that day. I came home from school, Kevin came home an hour later and took me to meet Eric again. I came back when it got dark and there was a tea towel hanging out the front window. I went and sat in the shed like I was supposed to until Mom came for me. She never came, as usual, so I walked around the block for a while until Mrs Pleckum over the road saw me and took me home. I ran upstairs when I saw the beer cans on the floor so that Dad didn't know I was there. He's the worst after a few beers. I heard him shout at Mom again so I hid in my closet until the police arrived. And now I'm here."

"Okay, thank you Sara. Did you see any blood in the house when you came home?"

"Fresh blood or the usual? You really need to be more specific if you want to know what happened. The usual blood was there; the big stain on the hall carpet that Mom tried to make me clean for 3 days solid without any breaks, the spray on my bedroom wall was still there. There was no reason for it not to be there. I heard you people saying he died in the kitchen; I didn't go in the kitchen that day so I didn't see any new blood. There probably was though. You should ask Kevin, he'll know."

"You're doing great Sara, just a few more questions left. You say your brother, Kevin, took you to meet Eric? Who's Eric?"

"Kevin says he's his friend, but I doubt it. Eric's old and doesn't live near us. He's never been round for dinner and they never say nice things to each other. Kevin doesn't have any friends; he's too secretive and moody. People write things about him on bus stops and through bricks through the windows at home. Eric isn't a friend."

"Okay, so why does he take you to see Eric?" The young Sara looked up from her hands for the first time, fixing the man behind the camera with an icy stare, her lip trembling.

"Kevin thinks I'm a stupid kid. I'm not, I skipped two grades and I get higher grades than anyone else in my class. But Kevin still thinks I'm a little kid that has no idea what's going on. You keep avoiding the subject of my father. I know he's dead. I'm not sorry for what happened to him. You think I'll break down and destroy the case you're building against my mother. Don't worry, I won't interfere."

"Sara, it's my job as an investigator to find out the truth. We'll be happy with the truth. You're clearly an observant girl and your help might let us find out who killed your father. Now, why did he take you to see Eric?"

Sara suddenly stiffened, both on the video and in Grissom's arms. Grissom, however, was watching the screen intently. His mouth was hanging open slightly, his blue eyes wide with horror. He knew who Eric was, and exactly what Sara was taken to him for. The young girl on the screen remained silent.

"Sara, was it anything to do with this?" A hand appeared on the screen, placing a small bag of white powder on the table. "We found this in your brother's room." Sara glanced at the powder, a look of fear on her face. Her eyes suddenly seemed even more prominent as her face paled more than Grissom thought was possible. It was mixed with another expression though, longing. She dropped the pen from her hands and flung her impossibly bony frame towards the bag. The hand re-appeared, snatching the bag from her grasp. A security guard ran into the screen, seizing the girl and taking her from the room. The investigator clearly forgot about the camera and took her seat. The man looked tired, running his hands over his bald head. Another voice, a throaty female, came from behind the camera.

"You reckon this Eric's Eric Gardener? He's been released on good behaviour, he could be dealing again."

"It could be. How old was that girl, eleven? Twelve maybe? I've never seen a kid addict before. This is seriously fucked up."

"You know how these guys work. If her brother was taking her to him, he could have got her addicted. Or maybe…shit! Thompson, we should get a SAE kit done ASAP."

"Why…? Oh shit! He's been paying Gardener off with her? Gardener must be doping her up to stop her fighting back, so now she's hooked too…shit! We need to find this bastard, raping kids for coke money. That is fucked up big time. Crap! The camera!"

The screen suddenly went dark, and a voice began to speak. Although distorted, both Sara and Grissom could detect the familiarity in the voice. It was harsh and full of rage, enough to reduce anyone to a quivering mass of fear.

"I know all of your secrets Sara. You trust me and I trust you. We belong together, we should be together. If you want this video sent to everyone at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, you stay with your bugman. If you want respect and love, he will not give it to you. He will leave you and break your heart again. I know I broke it too, but I've changed. Come back to me." With that, the tape finished, leaving a silence so loud it could have deafened crowds of people.

Grissom turned the monitor off and turned to face Sara. She was facing the screen still, his face screwed up in an attempt to fight away tears. She had untangled herself from his arms during the video, distancing herself from him as if Nick could see them. Grissom placed a hand on her shoulder. He knew Eric Gardener was a notorious cocaine dealer in San Francisco; he was mentioned in a newspaper Gil had read a few years ago, talking about a dealer who, like him, would take whatever method of payment was going. Sara had told Gil that Kevin was an addict at the age of seventeen, and that he had used Sara as payment. What she had failed to mention was that she had been an addict herself. The girl on the tape looked frail and unwell, and her reaction to the cocaine on the table had shocked both the two detectives conducting the interview and Grissom. Glancing at the woman in front of him, the only resemblance of the young girl he could see was the fear taking over her pale face.

Grissom reached for her hand, only to feel her recoil. Sara looked at his face. She expected to see the look of pity and disappointment everyone had given her when they found out about her addiction. She had grown to despise that look. Only concern filled Grissom's face though. She glanced down at her feet, willing herself to tell him of her decision. The tape had arrived before Grissom had left for work, she had mulled over this choice for hours. She could see no other alternative.

"Gil? I'm going to do what he says." She couldn't bring herself to look at his face, afraid that his expression might make her change her mind. She reached out and took his hand, which lay limply in hers. "I really do love you Gris, more than I could ever love Nick, but this…this is too much. I'm putting us both in danger when it could just easily be stopped. I can't let anyone else see that interview, only Nick knew about the cocaine. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want you to feel sorry for me, or be disgusted by me." Grissom made a noise as if to interrupt, but Sara ploughed on. "If I go back to Nick, this'll stop. Then, I can make him want to get rid of me so we can be together. I know what Nick hates in women, I can pull this off. I love you so much it hurts at times Gris, but this is something I have to do. If I don't do this, we could lose each other forever and I couldn't live with myself if I caused that. Gris?" She finally looked up, tears falling down her face.

Grissom simply sat and listened as she spoke. He knew she would do whatever she could to protect him, but his heart began to sting again. Forget sting, it was downright crumbling into a pile of dust in his chest. He was finally happy with the woman he loved for the first time in his life, and she was leaving to protect him. He knew he must look like a wounded puppy, but he had no fight left in him to carry off his emotionless face. He gazed into her eyes, silently pleading her not to go. He needed her, she needed him. However, she just repeated the words she told him before, when she went back to Nick for the first time.

"I'm so sorry."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sorry about the angsty chapters so far. There will be happier bits too!