One more chapter to go :)

x x x x

Chapter 24

"We're sorry! We didn't mean it." The children continued to wail mercifully as the person behind the camera continued to force the poison down their throats. Judging by the lethargic, wasted appearance of the children this was a long, torturous process. Nick stopped it, unable to watch any more. He wiped furiously at his eyes, making them red and swollen.

"We're sorry?" Warrick repeated. "We didn't mean it."

"Tomas' death?" Sofia guessed uncertainly. "Presuming the person in the video was Beninga.

"Tomas was killed playing on the beach ... with other children." Grissom said slowly, thinking it through. "But he was usually kept away from other children. So..."

"Maybe he got out." Brass theorised. "He obviously could, we saw him."

"So he gets out, and goes to the beach. Then what?" Cath asked.

"Maybe he got freaked out and hid in the cave." Sara suggested, trying to stop the river of tears from her eyes.

"Or maybe he was chased into the cave." Grissom added, catching her gaze. "The other children had never seen him, right? So, kids are curious, they would have wanted to know who he was and ..."

"And why his face was covered." Sara finished. "He knew he wasn't supposed to be out, and that he was different from them. So he hid in the cave until they left him alone."

"And got trapped." Sofia finished.

"Beninga must have blamed them for her son's death, so she killed them." Nick said, tears building in his eyes again, despite his best efforts.

"It wasn't their fault." Sara choked, beginning to cry again. "They were just children." Catherine pulled her into a tight hug, burying her face in sweet smelling brunette curls. Warrick reached across and rested a caring hand on Sara's back.

Of its own accord, the video ejected itself.

They were done.

X x x

With the case solved, Ecklie took the evidence back to the San Francisco lab, with Grissom in tow this time. He had been looking forward to meeting 'George'.

This left the others to entertain themselves at the orphanage for one last day.

Sara was sat on the wall of the front steps. Catherine clambered up next to her and took her hand. Sara didn't avert her gaze, but smiled contentedly. They sat like that in silence, watching the guys and Sofia playing football on the grass.

Neither said it, but they could feel something different today. It was lighter, brighter. As if reading Catherine's mind, Sara spoke.

"This is what it used to be like." Cath glanced sideways at her. She was smiling. She leant over and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Nick glanced up in time to see the moment. He chuckled softly, shaking his head.

Upstairs, Brass was packing his things up. He picked up a jacket off the floor...

And out fell his socks.

He stared at them dumbly for a moment. One eyebrow went up and his eyes darted from one side of the room to the other.

"Thank you. Much appreciated."

X x x

Catherine had hopped off the wall to join the guys' game, but Sara had declined, opting to sit and watch. Despite being shocking at football, Catherine was having a great time. She turned to smile at Sara, but her girlfriend was staring straight ahead, eyes wide. Cath turned to see what she was looking at, and dropped the football.

"Cath?" Warrick asked, stepping up to her.

"Call the police." She said. They were about to ask why, but she took off towards Sara. The guys realised what was going on and Sofia pulled out her cell.

Cath reached Sara, who was not moving. Just staring, eyes locked with Beninga's.

She recognised her now. That cold glare; distant, detached voice. She remembered.

Slowly, almost naturally, she lifted a gun to her head and fired.

Sara didn't even flinch. She sat motionless and watched Beninga commit suicide from across the garden, as if her unconscious mind had expected it to end this way.

As police sirens wailed in the distance, and the guys sprinted towards the dead body, Sara stood up and calmly walked inside.

Now, it was over.

X x x

"Case closed." Ecklie sighed, falling into bed.

The rest of the day had flown by, with statements and police and everything else to do.

They were all exhausted and pretty much collapsed into sleep.

Catherine woke up in the middle of the night to find Sara missing from her arms. She sat up and glanced around the room. A dark figure by the window caught her attention.

"Sara." She mumbled tiredly, walking over to her.

"It works." The brunette muttered.

"What does love?" Cath sighed, enveloping her in a lazy hug from behind.

"The lighthouse." Sara stated. Cath looked around her, and sure enough a bright stream of light glistened across the crystal water.

"It didn't work yesterday." Cath frowned, not understanding. Sara turned to face her, a content smile gracing her lips. She kissed Catherine softly, pulling her back to bed.

X x x

The next morning the sun shone down on them as they packed their bags onto the coach. Once again, Sara had disappeared from Catherine's side. The blonde spun in a circle looking for her. Unsurprisingly, she found her staring out to see at the cliff edge.

"Time to go sweetheart." She said softly, approaching her.

"Okay."

"You miss it here." Cath guessed when Sara made no attempt to move.

"Not anymore." The older woman noticed a bunch of hand-picked roses in Sara's hand. Seven, to be precise. One for every child who died here. She cast them into the breeze, letting it carry them onto the beach, where they would be washed away into the ocean. Cath smiled sadly, taking her hand.

"Come on my mermaid." She whispered, tugging her away.

"You remembered." Sara mumbled amusedly, through her tears.

X x x

They clambered onto the bus, each casting a final glance at the house. It suddenly looked less forbidding then when they arrived.

As Greg glanced backwards, his eye caught something. "One second!" He called, hopping off and sprinting across the grass.

"Greg!" Grissom huffed impatiently, checking his watch. When the lab rat returned he was practically giggling.

With a proud grin, he held up his precious camera.