A/N: Yet another fast update! :D Thanks especially to Myx Nyx. You made me want to write the next chapter…

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Sara:

Well, needless to say my morning of peace and quiet went out the window the moment the note arrived. Cat and I rushed back to the lab, despite the fact that we were both scared shitless and put the note in Grissom's gloved hand. The bat was left for whatever DNA tech who was on at the time to process. I felt bad for them, but at the moment I had bigger fish to fry. Cat and I hovered over Grissom's shoulders as he sprayed the note with nanhydron then put it under a hot iron to speed up the process of searching for prints. Unfortunately, the ghost had been to careful. There were no prints, and as we later discovered, no DNA either. We were stuck at another dead end, and at this point we weren't just looking for a murderer, we were looking for a stalker with an agenda.

Even Cat looked afraid for our well-being, so I put on a brave face in front of her and the boys. She needed the comfort now more than I did, and I had learned to deal with fear alone. When you live in a house like mine, you learn to do everything alone. Hell, I was cooking, cleaning, and doing laundry by the time I was 10, and the lesson of hiding fear and pain came much sooner than the lesson in independent living. So, despite the fact that I too was terrified, I held Cat as we waited for results that we knew were going to be negative, reassuring her that everything would be alright, and that we'd get through it together, and that no matter what I'd take care of her, making sure nothing happened to her. Eventually I guess she started to believe it, to believe in me, because she calmed down, realizing that no one was going to kidnap us while we were in a police building. They may have found a way to know about our activities, but that's as simple as hacking the security cameras. They would have to get inside to get to us. Soon, I wasn't worried either. The fact that I had been able to hold and console Cat was enough for me, and I realized eventually that what I was saying was true. He couldn't hurt us. For that moment, we were safe, and above all, I knew in my heart that if this ghost person came anywhere near us I would let him take me before letting him hurt my Cat, so nothing bad would ever happen, at least not to her.

Cat:

I felt so bad sitting with my head in Sara's lap, having her console me, when I knew that she must be scared too, no matter how well she had decided to hide it from the world, and yet, I also knew that it was helping her in a way, because as she spoke, more and more strength came into her voice, and I knew she meant every word, because you don't mess with Sara Sidle when she's talking like that. I couldn't help but notice a particular fierceness in her eyes when she said "and don't worry, I'll never let anything bad happen to you. I won't let him hurt you." I also couldn't help but notice that she said that she'd never let them hurt ME instead of she'd never let them hurt US, so after shift I approached her carefully, trying to see what she meant by that.

"Sara," I asked, still being cautious, knowing she was in defensive mode, ready to kick this guys ass where and whenever. "Are you sure you're ok? I mean, it's kinda been a tough day, but you only seem better than you did before."

"Really Cat, I'm fine. With my childhood I learned that when something bad happens, you only get stronger to support the challenge. I'm ready for this guy."

"Sara, you know that you're probably not going to get to fight him right. I mean, as much as I'd like to see him get his ass kicked in, you probably aren't going to be the one who has that pleasure."

"Cat, you read the note, and Gris is still working on the case, meaning he's going to come for one of us at some…"

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head, then nothing. I floated into blackness, and my last thought was how could we both have been facing away from the door?



Sara:

Midsentence I heard Cat groan, then a loud thump. I turned a quarter of the way around to see myself face to face with who I assumed to be the ghost. He began to speak in a deep, raspy tone:

"So. You didn't think to tell your coworkers to get off the case? Well, it doesn't matter now anyway. It's far too late to change your mind." At this he put a gun, not to my head, but to Cat's. "If you move, make a sound, or try to hurt me, I blow her brains out." He snarled a sick laugh, knowing that he had me, knowing that if he had put the gun to my head, he would've made a critical error, because I would've died to save Cat's life. "Now, you're going to walk out of the building, acting normal, making it seem like you're just going out to your car to get something before they put you in protective custody. I will watch you till you get to the parking lot. There will be a black car looking a lot like yours in the first space out. Get in the car. My boss is waiting. I'm going to go out a different exit, one only I know about, with your little girlfriend here. Go, now. One false move and she dies. I'll be watching."

And with that I was forced to walk out of the locker room, tell Grissom that I wanted my book out of my car, shake off his offer of an escort, pretending to be offended that he thought I couldn't take care of myself. He asked me the title of my book, and I got an idea. My captor obviously would want me to at least respond, in order to make him less suspicious and less likely to follow me at a distance. So I told him, as I was walking away "Masked stalker in a black jeep. It's a crime book." I knew that once he realized we were missing, he would pick up the clue and use it to our advantage. Knowing that I had done all I could do, I walked out to meet my awaiting doom. I immediately saw the car that was masquerading as mine, but then again I am a CSI, I got in as instructed, and found myself face to face with the boss, and I was surprised to see that I actually knew who the real ghost was.

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A/N: lol another cliffie. I hope you're not too mad at me…  Next chapter should be up soon and you'll find out exactly who this masked stalker is… Please review, even if you're mad about the cliffie. If I get enough reviews I'll post again tomorrow…