Disclaimer: I do not own CSI or any of the characters contained within this story, which is not for profit in any way.

A/N: Thanks to all the people who reviewed!!

State of Mind

As Sara Sidle returned to full alertness, she seriously missed the delirious state, because the realizations and memories that were hitting her now were terrifying. Icy cold panic was rolling down her spine in waves and tingling over her scalp. Her breath came in shuddering gasps, and, God help her, tears were welling in her eyes.

Trying to pull herself together, she took a deep breath. However, not only did she succeed in sucking in water, but a searing pain shot through her chest as well. Spluttering and closing her eyes against the pain, Sara struggled to remember what had happened. She remembered the woman calling her name. Sara had turned around and tried to place the woman's face but couldn't.

"I'm sorry; do I know you?"

"Not really. I'm Natalie."

That was what did it. Flashback to a recent conversation with Grissom. Dell foster child, first name Natalie. Miniature killer. And the taser had come from out of nowhere.

Sara groaned at the memory. For a second, she just let the awful situation sink in. And it was truly horrendous. The water that she had previously thought she was swimming in was actually rain. Torrential rain. And she wasn't at the beach; she had to be in the desert. Talk about polar opposites. After Natalie taser-ed her, she must have drugged her too, to keep her unconscious while she moved her.

Sara groaned again.

Though she couldn't really move at all, and the water in her eyes wasn't helping any, something about the shape and smell of the large thing she was trapped under had her seriously thinking it might be a car.

Pinned under a car in a freak flood out in the middle of the desert.

Her situation did not look good, and Sara couldn't stop a wave of scared self-pity from rolling over her and bringing with it fresh tears. Grissom's face popped into her head. The sound of his voice in her ear. The way he looked at her sometimes that would tell her volumes without saying a single word. Had she really been doubting their relationship just a little while ago? How long had it been since Natalie had taken her away from her plans to go to San Francisco?

It all just seemed so silly now. Grissom loved her. She remembered the letter she'd read in which he'd quoted Shakespeare's Sonnet 47. She thought of the petrified look on his face when he'd run in the room thinking she was being attacked at the scene of the murdered showgirl roommates, and her heart hurt. Surely he knew she was missing by now. She just wanted to have him hold her close and tell her it would be okay. They would be okay.

But dwelling on the hopelessness that was her current situation would not make it any better. She didn't want to wallow; she had to think of a way out of this mess!

Suddenly, it wasn't Grissom she was thinking about. It was Nick. Nick in a glass coffin, buried alive and struggling to breathe while they searched for him two years ago. He'd been so brave and worked so hard to move past the horror of his abduction.

And now, as rain and tears slid down her face, Sara vowed that if . . . no . . . no, when her friends came to take her home, she would give her life everything she had. She wouldn't be afraid to live it. She would be as brave as Nick had been.