Chapter 10

Author's Note: The song I'm referencing in this chapter is called 'Kill of the Night' by Gin Wigmore. It's on YouTube and I highly recommend listening to it while you read the chapter to get a sense of the mood. Also, this is the final chapter of the story. I hope you enjoy it!

Greg was having a difficult time focusing on anything. Eater moved around the room. He plugged a speaker into his laptop and turned on music.

"What music is this?" Greg wondered.

Eater smiled at the two of them. "Some of my favorite songs that I think are appropriate for dinner, for our time together." Greg didn't recognize the song, but he knew it was a woman singing. Her voice echoed off the walls and he could pick out some of the words.

"My cold desire…to hear…the boom boom boom of your heart?" He asked. Eater smiled at him and Greg shrank back.

"Don't worry, I'll have another taste of you later. Right now, I'm interested in the appetizer." He got up and moved towards Sara, who shrank back. He opened another wine bottle and poured more of it out.

"Wait! Why…did you remove their organs?" Sara asked. Eater stopped pouring the wine and studied her.

"Why do you think?"

"To eat them…" She whispered back. He nodded and went back to pouring the wine.

"I'll probably let you keep your organs, sweetheart. I don't know about him, though." He pointed at Greg, who shrank down into the chair as far as he could. He forced fed Sara the wine, again. She gagged on it, wanting to throw it back up. Once he'd given her the amount he considered appropriate, he put the glass back on the table.

"Now it's your turn." He said, pulling out the knife.

"No, wait…what if I AHHHHHH!" Sara screamed, thrashing in the chair. The pain was beyond anything she could imagine. She couldn't think as the knife burned its way across her skin. When he'd sliced the skin away, Sara felt lightheaded and nauseous again.

"SARA!" She jerked her head up to see Greg staring at her, his dark eyes wide with concern. She couldn't help it, tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Think of someone else. Think of someone you love." Greg said firmly. Sara's vision tunneled into darkness as an image of Gil's face floated up and into the tiny pinprick of light left visible before passing out.

~XXXXX~

Agent Ryan used Hodges information to find the exact meat processing facility in the abandoned complex of industrial buildings on the north side of town. The facility itself was still quite large, but it was more than they had before. She contacted Sheriff Ecklie, Captain Brass and Detective Crawford and notified them about the location. Catherine, Gil, Nick, Morgan, Finn and D.B. all went to the police department so they could arrive together. Agent Ryan stayed behind to contact her department back at Quantico about the progress they made.

They agreed that no sirens would be best. No one wanted to attract his attention and cause him to make a hasty decision to kill either Greg or Sara. So when the police and the CSIs arrived at the large, abandoned facility, no sirens were blaring. They drove silently around the perimeter, positioning police cars at each potential entrance and exit to block Eater in.

Nick suggested they use a thermal camera to detect the heat signatures of people, to make sure they entered at Eater's exact location. They didn't want to waste precious time wandering around the massive building, trying to find the right room or corner, while Eater continued to harm their friends.

As Nick swept the building with the thermal camera, Gil moved to stand next to Morgan. He felt protective of her and he knew that if he had a daughter, this is what he would feel. I have to find a way to stay here in Vegas. I can't let Sara and my friends slip through my fingers again, he thought.

Nick made a silent motion with his hands, indicating a back corner of the building. The officers went ahead of the CSIs, their guns drawn. They found a doorway into the building and went in one at a time until all the officers and CSIs had successfully entered the building. They fanned out in a V shaped formation and moved towards the heat signatures Nick saw on the thermal camera. Catherine led the CSIs forward, with Nick and Finn just behind her. D.B. and Morgan were in the back, and Gil positioned himself off to the side near Morgan.

They paused silently behind the police, who were silently communicating how they planned to enter the room when they heard an earsplitting shriek come from the room ahead of them.

"Leave him ALONE!" They heard Sara scream. Loud thrashing noises and cries could be heard. Morgan jerked forward, but Gil held out his arm.

"NO!" They heard Greg scream loudly. "I'm going to KILL YOU!" Greg roared, sounding angrier than any of them had ever heard. They heard laughter, sinister and low, echoing over the walls.

"Go!" Brass hissed, stepping back. The officers flooded the room, aiming their weapons.

"Step away from the chair and put your hands in the air!" Detective Crawford yelled. The CSI's quickly followed the officers into the room, positing themselves in the small gaps between each officer, aiming their guns at Eater. Gil was horrified by what he saw in the room. Sara was pale and crying, blood running down her arms. Vomit was on the floor at her feet and she was shaking violently.

Greg didn't look much better. He had a bloody lip, dried blood all over his shoulders and blood coming from his arm. His face was flushed with anger and he was using what remained of his strength to try to free himself from his restraints. Eater turned to glare at the officers and the CSIs.

"Step away from the chairs and put your hands up where we can see them!" Detective Crawford yelled. Eater tilted his head as if the command confused him. He walked slowly towards Sara, his hands out and visible. He was holding the knife he'd been using to cut them.

"How rude. I haven't finished my meal." He said calmly. He reacted quickly, swinging his arm wide and slicing Sara's other arm. She shrieked in pain. Greg jerked violently in his chair and broke through one of the restraints, freeing his good arm.

"Stop IT!" He yelled. Eater looked at him in surprise.

"You are quite a strong young man, aren't you?" He smiled and licked his lips.

"This is your last warning! Drop the knife and step away from the chairs!" Detective Crawford yelled. Eater was too close to Greg and Sara; if any of the officers fired and missed, a stray bullet may hit one of the CSIs. No one wanted that on their conscience. Eater drifted closer to Sara, holding the knife out as if he were going to drop it.

"Maybe you'll just have to kill me, then. Perhaps I won't go gentle into that good night, hmm?" Eater said, scanning the room. Gil noticed that the light on the camera was blinking. This was being broadcast live over the internet!

"He's playing us because he wants a show for his fans!" Gil said, indicating the camera. Eater smiled at him.

"Indeed, a clever man among dull witted rocks." Eater said with delight in his voice. He lifted his hand with the knife in it as if he were going to stab himself in a final act of cowardice. He paused for effect and then brought the knife down to stab Sara in the chest.

"NO!" Greg screamed at the same time a gun went off. Eater roared in pain and fell sideways, clutching his knee, which had quite literally exploded. Everyone turned to stare at Gil, who was calmly pointing his gun at Eater.

"What have you DONE?!" Eater moaned, clutching his knee, unable to get up on his own. Gil holstered his gun and Detective Crawford jumped forward to kick the knife out of Eater's reach. The officers hauled him up despite his wails of pain and cuffed him. D.B. darted forward and turned the cameras off, unplugging the equipment and switching off the generator.

"I need a medic. We have two officers who need to be transported to the hospital for blood loss and knife wounds. Also, an asshole with a GSW to the knee." Brass said over the radio. They hauled Eater out of the room as he cried out in pain. Gil started shaking in surprise. He'd fired a gun, sure, but never really at a person. Never to actually hit them with the goal of maiming or harming them in any way. He'd only acted in self-defense, never as the aggressor.

He was frozen to the spot as he watched Morgan rush forward and yank Greg's restraints off of him. He ran forward to Sara, focused only on her as he pulled her restraints off. She smiled, tears still staining her cheeks. He grabbed her face in his hands.

"I've never shot anyone like that before. I don't know what came over me." He said.

"I would hope I came over you." Sara replied with a small smirk. That trademark smirk of hers that he loved so much.

"Yes, you came over me. I want to do this again but I don't want to hurt you." He said softly as he heard sirens wailing in the distance.

"Maybe…we can talk. Later?" Sara asked. Gil nodded. They turned to look at Greg and Morgan. Morgan was hugging Greg desperately and crying into his chest. He patted her and was murmuring soothing words.

"No, don't you get it Greg Sanders?" Morgan cried, pulling away.

"What?" Greg wondered. He looked confused.

"I love you, you…. Beautiful, wonderful man!" She swatted him on the arm and grabbed his face, planting a kiss on his mouth right in front of everyone; the other officers, their colleagues from the lab and the paramedics rushing in to take them to the hospital. Greg leaned into the kiss, unable to wrap his damaged arm around Morgan. Gil looked down at Sara, who was smiling. She sat back weakly.

"If it didn't hurt so much, I'd probably be clapping right now. It's about time those two realized they're perfect for each other." She looked up at Gil, who grinned.

~XXXXX~

Greg and Sara were rushed to the hospital. Agent Ryan sent the team a message, confirming Eater's identity as a man named Ernest Wilcox. Knowing his name made him a lot less mysterious and scary to Greg, who sat in his hospital bed with bandages on his arm. They'd given him and Sara skin grafts to cover their wounds with fluids and antibiotics to prevent infections.

They wanted to keep them for a day just to make sure they were okay; they stitched up Greg's wound on the back of his neck and cleaned them up. Morgan sat by his bed, holding his hand.

"I'm such an idiot, I shouldn't have waited until something bad happened to tell you." Morgan said. Greg couldn't keep the grin off of his face. He knew he probably looked ridiculous, but he didn't care that much.

"Well, you're a beautiful idiot." Greg said. Morgan laughed. She got up and kissed him again. A knock came at the door and Catherine appeared with Nick.

"How are you doing, Greggo?" Nick asked.

"Better. A lot better." He said, casting a glance at Morgan who smiled.

"Well, we just wanted you to know that now that we have him, the FBI is going to extradite him. He killed a guy in San Diego, so it's a Federal case now." Catherine said. "I'm in charge of transporting him, so I have to leave. I wanted to say goodbye to you two before I left."

She came over and gave Greg a hug and a motherly kiss on the cheek. She hugged Morgan as well.

"I have a good feeling about you two, so don't mess it up or I'll have to a Federal case out of that, too." She said.

"Thank you." Morgan said. Catherine smiled sadly, turning to give them one last wave before leaving the room.

"What about you, Nick, do you get to stay?" Greg asked.

"No, man. I have a lab to get back too. They're falling apart without me." Nick gave them both hugs before he left as well. Morgan took Greg's hand in hers and leaned against his bed. He sighed and rested his face on her hair, inhaling its sweet scent with a smile.

"I wish they didn't have to leave." Morgan said sadly. "Do you think Grissom will leave?"

"I don't know." They were silent for a while and Greg turned his head to look down at Morgan. She smiled up at him.

"I'm an idiot for waiting this long." Greg said.

"Then I'm an idiot too, for not saying anything sooner." Morgan said.

This time, he brought his hand to her face and pulled her into the kiss.

~XXXXX~

*2 Weeks Later*

"I know this is a big change, but I'm confident that you will all get along well with your new supervisor." D.B. told the CSIs in the break room. They all looked shell-shocked. D.B. was leaving them to work for the FBI Cyber Division! After everything they'd been through, he was going to leave?

He explained the opportunity to them and said he couldn't pass it up. Agent Ryan needed to expand her team and she wanted him to work with her.

"When do we meet the new boss?" Finn asked. Sara stared down at the table. She didn't want to act as though she was too upset about D.B. leaving, but it seemed as if the supervisor never lasted very long.

"Right now, actually. He's in my office, let me go get him." D.B. left the room. Finn nudged Sara's arm.

"So…you and Gil. What happened?"

"We talked a little, but he left again when Catherine left too." Sara said. "He said he had to take care of some things."

"I'm sorry. I thought something would come of it." Finn said.

"Me too." Sara muttered, angry with herself for allowing her emotions to run away with her again. When was she going to learn to not get her hopes up?

"Ahem. Meet your new supervisor, Gil Grissom." Sara tore her eyes away from the table to see Grissom standing in the doorway with a huge smile on his face.

"Gil?" Sara said, jumping up out of her chair without realizing it.

"Yes, Sara. I'm back." Greg smiled and elbowed Morgan who high-fived Finn.

Sara darted forward to wrap her arms around Grissom in a massive hug. He chuckled and whispered in her ear.

"So…how about a date this Friday, hmmm?"

"Yes. Most definitely yes."

The End

Author's Note: Obviously, this is the best case scenario for everyone. I'm hoping that by having Ted Danson move to CSI: Cyber that the writers are purposefully leaving the supervisor position open so that Grissom can return to it and permanently reunite him with Sara. Plus, I had to put Morganders in there since they're my first love. I recently found out through some spoilers that some of the characters won't be included in the finale, which makes me sad, but… I'm still curious about how it's all going to go down.