Disclaimer: Characters owned by CBS
Chapter Two
Grissom snatched the phone from his desk and punched in the familiar number, for what seemed like an eternity he listened to it ring out. Maybe she has gone out? He thought. Cutting the connection he redialled her cell, again no answer. Leaping from his chair he sprinted down the corridor past the break room where the rest of the team watched in confusion.
"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Warrick looked to Catherine for an answer.
"Beats me, haven't you noticed he's been acting kinda odd lately?" Catherine glanced at each member of the team in turn, their confused expression revealed their answer, for saying they worked for the number two crime lab in the country she was surprised that they hadn't even picked up on what was happening right under their noses.
"You mean he's been acting more odd than usual?" Greg added with a grin causing Nick and Warrick to break into a round of laughter.
Deciding that she wasn't going to get anywhere talking to them Catherine left the giggling trio and headed down the corridor after Grissom, but just as she was about to enter the car park she saw his SUV speed out of the parking lot.
Grissom's mind was racing as he headed onto the highway that led to Sara's apartment, random questions flooded his brain. What had all the crime scenes got in common? Why had they been sent to him? Why Sara? What was the link? A moment of clarity reminded him to call for backup, after all he did not know what would be waiting for him. Hitting speed dial he was greeted by Captain Brass's gruff voice after only two rings.
"Brass."
"Jim, its Gil, listen I can't explain now but I need you to meet me at Sara's apartment ASAP. Do you need the address?"
"No, I got it, will I need to bring a unit with me or should I come alone?" After hearing the strange tone in Grissom's voice Jim knew that whatever this was about it was serious.
"Come alone." Grissom was struggling to think straight, he trusted Brass and it was beginning to occur to him that if this was for real and something terrible had happened to Sara then their relationship would not stay a secret for much longer. "How soon can you get there?"
"I'm about 5 or 6 minutes away, I'll meet you there." With that Brass broke the connection leaving Grissom listening to a dialling tone.
After filling Brass in on the basic details they quickly climbed the two flights of stairs and closed in on apartment number 23. Both men drew their weapons and as Grissom produced a key and began to open the door he looked to his friend to confirm that he was ready.
The apartment was quiet, Brass took the lead and moving into the living area he scanned the room. Nothing, as he made his way through the open plan kitchen to the closed door he briefly glanced down to the floor near the refrigerator. There his attention was drawn to the Sara's discarded service weapon, lay in the same place it fell from her grasp and a small pool of what looked like blood. Glancing back he saw that Grissom had made the same discovery.
"Are you OK?" Brass could see that his friend was struggling to keep his composure and if what Grissom had told him turned out to be true what lay beyond this closed door would not be a pretty sight.
Swallowing hard Grissom forced his eyes away from the scene on the floor, feeling his breath become erratic and his chest tighten he felt like he was having some sort of panic attack but just as his vision began to blur he felt Jim's hand on his shoulder.
"Stay with me buddy, we need to clear this room, are you with me?"
Although he wanted to run from the apartment, scared to death of what lay ahead Grissom managed to nod absently.
Opening the door slowly at first, Brass heard a muffled sound coming from inside the room, he strained his ears to try and make out the sound more clearly.
"All units this is Sierra, Foxtrot, Delta there is a robbery in progress at the liquor store on Ashbury Avenue East, all available units please attend."
Pushing the door fully open but sending his weapon in first in case somebody was hiding, Brass soon discovered the source of the voice. The police scanner was still crackling away on the bedside table. Although the volume was turned down low, in the silent apartment the noise seemed to echo around the room. Jim checked the rest of the room quickly and moved into the adjoining bathroom leaving Grissom alone, when he rejoined his friend he found him standing motionless in the middle of the room.
"I don't understand it Jim, the was no mistaking the identity of the victim or the location of the crime scene, and I know that something is wrong." Grissom moved to sit on the unmade bed and gathered his head in his hands, when he looked back at Brass he saw that he was staring at the photograph that sat on the dresser. It was the one that had been taken a few months before when he and Sara had managed to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a few days. In it they looked like any other couple lost in each others embrace, Grissom remembered how happy and alive he felt when he was on that vacation. The thought of losing all that made tears prick at his eyes and in a bid to conceal them from his friend he lowered his gaze to the floor.
"How long have you two been….." Brass allowed his voice to trail off, he was not a man who could easily be sensitive and show his emotions, dealing with hardened criminals for the last 35 years had made that difficult but although he had had no idea his friend had finally done something about his feelings for Sara he had been aware for a very long time that the two shared a connection that was stronger than most marriages.
"Over a year." Grissom met his friends gaze and tried to judge his reaction but Brass simply nodded. "After Nick was taken I kind of re evaluated my life and in the end all the excuses I had made up as to why we couldn't be together seemed insignificant, and you know what? She makes me happy, I never knew anything was missing from my life until we got together." Rubbing his eyes in a vain attempt to regain some composure Grissom added, "We have to find her Jim, whatever it takes. Nothing else matters to me, only Sara."
"Hearing the sheer determination in his friends voice Brass immediately retrieved his cell and put out a missing persons call to all units before handing the phone to Grissom, "You know Gil, you need to call in the rest of the team on this, they need to process this apartment, if there is anything here, they'll find it."
Grissom did not relish the idea of everybody trampling through his and Sara's private life but he knew it needed to be done; the longer Sara was missing the more danger she was in. Hitting speed dial he waited for Catherine to answer.
Around about the same time Sara began to regain consciousness. Momentarily confused she wondered if she was waking from a nightmare but the intense pulsating pain coming from the side of her head told her that the nightmare was only just beginning. Forcing her eyes to open she blinked repeatedly to force her blurred vision to clear. Taking in her surroundings for the first time she was perplexed to find that she was back in her own bedroom spayed haphazardly on the bed. Nothing seemed out of place until she heard the voice on the police scanner announce a missing person alert, for a Sara Sidle.
A/N: Tell me what you think so far, the next chapter will have more Sara in it. I promise! Reviews inspire me to write quicker :-)
