A/N: Some will say this ends in a cliffhanger, although I don't really feel that way…but at this late hour as the rest of the family sleeps, it is alas as far as I can go tonight…I hope this leaves you in a good place, as I am sure to be away from the computer until late in the weekend…hope this pleases…all mistakes are mine…wishing you and yours a safe and fabulous New Year's Eve…and best wishes for another new and terrific year including some juicy new chapters of your favorite fanfics… -Kathy
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Awaiting a fax from Catherine containing the rest of the information needed to swear out a warrant for Terri Miller, Jim Brass sighed as his cell beeped with a call from dispatch.
At first planning to ignore the aggravating ring, the insistence of the tone caused him to click on the response button and bark, "Brass."
In a delayed second, he was on his feet and already moving towards the door.
"What's their location? I'm on my way. Tell them to locate that Denali and send me their 20, but under no circumstances - I repeat, no circumstances - are they to engage the CSI until I arrive on scene."
Cursing under his breath, Brass was now halfway to the exit before Warrick could catch up with him.
"Brass? Is it Sara?" Ric spoke, his long legs now in even pace with the rushing of the captain's shorter stride.
A sideways glance told of Jim's fury – and desperation.
"It's Grissom," was all he could say as he rounded his cruiser and pulled out with lights flashing before Warrick had completely secured his seatbelt.
"Hey, Nick's waiting for Cath's fax," the CSI began, hoping to calm the situation and ascertain exactly what had happened.
"Yeah, well, looks like we have bigger problems right now. Grissom's speeding out of the city – my guess is he's heading towards home."
Warrick seemed to be having trouble connecting the dots, but remained silent as Brass clicked on his two-way, hoping his eavesdropping would supply some answers.
"This is Capt. Brass. What's the current 20 on those officers in pursuit?"
A heavy sigh forced its way from his tightened lips as the response confirmed his worst fears.
"Okay, I'm about 15 minutes out. Pull up the location for CSI Grissom's residence and send it to those officers. Tell them to sit tight and keep surveillance on the residence. No action unless I'm notified first. Got that?"
Returning the mic to the console, Brass had almost forgotten Warrick was seated alongside him.
"Stupid bastard. What the hell does he think he's doing?"
"Brass," Ric prompted, not liking at all where his current deductions were leading him, "does Griss think he knows where Sara is?"
"I'm wondering if he's thinking at all," was the cryptic reply, as Brass flicked on the cruiser's sirens.
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Unaware of the cruiser almost half a mile behind him, Gil's stomach fell as he noticed Sofia's car parked on the street outside the townhouse.
Sofia would have parked in the garage unless-
Grissom ran from his hastily parked vehicle and peered inside the attached single car garage's windows.
County van, has low loading ramps…would have been easy to transport a wheelchair…
Somehow, Gil found himself on the porch of his townhouse and from somewhere calm deep inside himself he watched his hand locate the key to the front door.
Without conscious thought to his actions, he inserted the key and opened the door, noting somewhere in his distraction that the deadbolt had not been fastened.
Sara always insisted on the door being secured, if she was able to she would have checked that the deadbolt was fastened.
His face glistened with sweat as his hands shook ever so slightly in fear of what he would find when he entered what he used to consider his haven from death.
Would he find that the insanity he faced during every shift had now not only infiltrated his home, but had taken away the one person he loved more than his own life?
Hand still on the inside doorknob, Grissom froze at the sight before him.
Protruding into the walking space from the kitchen to the living room, a pair of legs clad in fitted khakis lay motionless in an odd angle.
The smell of fresh gunpowder tickled his sensitive nose, causing him to mutely open his mouth as he shook his head slightly.
His eyes continued their practice view of the scene, locking on a somewhat dazed Terri Miller standing over the body, gun still in hand.
She had been standing there some fifteen minutes, almost totally separated from reality.
In her mind, she was convinced that she had rid herself of a dangerous threat to her survival – to the life with Grissom that was mutually desired .
As the kitchen clock ticked softly, the minutes had melded into a macabre daze whereby Terri was convinced that Gil would come home, sweep her off her feet, and thank her for getting rid of the two women who stood in the way of their happiness.
As he stood silently gripped by the horror of the scene before him, Terri finally turned to him with narrowing eyes as if she wondered if he were truly there.
"Terri-"
The words barely made it from his mouth as he tried to take in the really horrific possibility that he was looking down upon Sara's dead body.
The pain was excruciating, he found himself unable to pull in enough air to sustain his quivering form.
Turning fully towards him now, Terri maintained her position close to the body as her hand closed tightly over the grip of the gun still pointed towards the stilled form lying on the cold tile beside her.
It seemed as if she were waiting for him to decide his next move.
His mind was reeling.
Gil wanted to rush towards her, knock her away from the body – oh, god…the body!
His experience told him that the unnatural way the shoes pointed away from each other displayed the loss of muscle control that was usually an indicator that death had occurred.
His eyes were riveted to those feet, those shoes…those shoes…
I've never seen Sara wear short fashion boots like those ..she prefers running shoes for comfort and support with all the long hours and double shifts she often pulls…
His eyes locked on those still feet before him, his mind swirling as he tried to recall where he'd seen those shoes before.
Gil inhaled sharply at the image of Sofia walking smartly away from him, those boots clacking to her seductive swing.
His eyes closed against the horror of recognition, yet his pulse raced at the slim hope that Sara was still alive.
Opening his eyelids, his fury became focused on discerning Sara's whereabouts.
He wanted to tear across the short distance that separated him from this murdering witch.
He wanted to slam her bodily against the wall and grind a confession from her as she gasped for breath.
He wanted to hurt her for the pain she had inflicted and continued to inflict on their lives…
He wanted to kill Terri Miller for what she had done to his Sara.
Moving towards her slowly, his mind screamed at him to approach the situation logically, gain Terri's confidence, disarm her calmly, learn about Sara…keep his emotions in check.
He'd watch Sara diffuse tense situations with her soft, conversational style.
She'd always been successful at keeping the upper hand, and although he'd often gone off on her so many times afterwards she would steadfastly reply in her teasing fashion,
"You catch more flies with honey. I would think you could understand that better than anyone, Grissom."
Gil ached to hear that voice, see that teasing smirk, reach out and touch her one more time.
With that mission firmly before him, he surprised even himself a bit when he moved to grab hold of Terri, pulling her rather rigid form into his artificially comforting arms.
"Terri…thank god…are you alright, honey?"
The words dripped like honey from his lips, and he closed his eyes against the pain of going through with this farce.
After a long moment, Terri raised her arms to encircle Grissom in a tight hug.
This was everything she had ever dreamed it would be.
His hands played with the ends of her hair lightly, and it took every ounce of strength not to grip it painfully and make her disclose Sara's whereabouts.
"Are you alright?" he gulped heavily, keeping her close to him to avoid having her see the negative effect her proximity was having on him.
Terri took his emotional state as an indication of his feelings for her, after all everyone knew Gil Grissom to be an honorable man.
"Yes…yes, of course, darling…I'm fine…just fine now…" Terri purred happily, her long months of planning and executing the plan finally having secured her prize.
Steeling himself, Grissom was about to speak again when his surgically-repaired hearing caught the briefest sound from the master bedroom.
Hope surged in his heart, despite the fear of what he'd actually discover there.
I hope that is Sara…I need to buy her some time….forgive me, honey…
And before another second went by, Gil released Terri enough to face her and pull her into a heart-stopping kiss.
He moaned a bit, in part to make the act believable but also to mask any additional sounds that might be coming from the bedroom.
Pulling away, his first reaction was to release the bile that threatened to spill over.
Instead, he held Terri tightly to his chest in an apparently amorous action while his hand soothed her hair over her exposed ear.
The movement would allow her to hear his voice while acting as a filter to any additional sounds in the deadly silent townhouse.
His ministrations had caused a shift in their positions, giving Gil his first heartbreaking look at Sofia's motionless body.
"Did she hurt you, honey?" Gil asked softly, his worry for Sara now his total focus.
Terri sniffed in reaction to his comfort.
"She…she was drinking…oh, Gil, she said some dreadful things…" she began, snuggling against him as he had now turned them away from the body.
Her movement allowed him to step forward a bit towards the front door.
"Shhh…it's alright…it's alright, honey…I'm here now…" Gil continued to speak in low tones, emphasizing the intimacy of the moment.
Another step forward and his hands were now massaging her upper back.
When one hand reached her neck, he was struck with the thought of how easily he could grip her pressure point and cause her to lose consciousness.
The idea at once tantalized and horrified him.
He had always thought himself above such actions.
But here, now, with Sara's safety in the balance, Gil realized that such an action was not out of the realm of possibility.
Inhaling deeply, Grissom pulled back to look at the face of this woman who had masterminded such evil and inflicted so much pain into their lives.
Terri's smile was so genuine, yet her eyes seemed conflicted – as if she were waging some internal war.
The need to remove her from the premise was paramount in his mind.
He needed to get Terri as far away from Sara as possible, despite the fact that she bordered on the brink of sanity and still possessed her handgun.
His past dealings with suspects had taught him patience in attempting to disarm a person.
Gil only hoped his patience would not wear thin.
"Honey, listen to me," he tried to smile, hoping in her current state that she would buy into his deception.
The look of adoration he found in her eyes both repelled and annoyed him, yet he kept his feelings locked away.
"We have to get you away from here. We can go away, right now, just the two of us. I'm parked right outside."
He felt her stiffen in his embrace, and for a moment he worried that she would become combative.
Silently asking for Sara's forgiveness, Gil plunged forward and kissed Terri like there was no tomorrow.
Because he was damn well certain there would be no tomorrow for this sham of a tryst.
And if he soon discovered that Sara had been taken away from him forever, he could guarantee that Terri Miller had lived her last day on this earth.
The kiss had its intended effect, leaving her dazed and willing to do just about anything he asked.
With conscious thought, Gil swooped her long frame into his arms and flung the front door open, passing them both through the threshold without a glance backwards.
He hoped to get Terri away from this crime scene and alert Brass to come and check the townhouse, hopefully finding Sara still alive.
Gil made it halfway down the sidewalk when suddenly he heard the screech of tires stopping across the street.
Once her attention was distracted away from Gil, Terri seemed to wake from her fairytale – only to be smacked with the bitter truth of her current situation.
Grissom was lowering her to the ground as Brass leaped from his vehicle shouting, "Las Vegas Police! Put the gun down and step away from each other!"
Terri turned towards a stunned Grissom and somehow ascertained that he was as shocked as she was.
Her heart swelled with happiness that he was not in on some dastardly plot to rid himself of her.
Gil Grissom… my Gil…really wants to be with me!
Seeing her chance for happiness thwarted by this single police captain, Terri's tortured mind felt the odds of taking out this final obstacle to happiness were in her favor.
"Don't worry, Gil. This bastard won't keep us from being together," she muttered softly, and he found himself unable to react quickly enough to her words.
It happened almost in slow motion.
Gil raised his hand to protest her actions as Terri planted her feet and assumed a shooting stance.
Brass raised his weapon just as Gil wrenched his neck to glare at his friend not to shoot, still slightly unsure of Sara's whereabouts.
Then Grissom found himself in a state of confusion.
Brass had caught his eye, and Gil was sure he had not fired.
Yet, at that moment, the sound of gunfire erupted so close to him that Grissom was sure he'd suffered some degree of hearing loss.
His body refused to move other than to follow the vision of Terri's face just inches from his.
Her features registered first surprise, then utter pain as her body slumped over.
There seemed to be no sound, just the clank of her gun falling to the sidewalk below before her body followed suit.
Grissom just stood there as the officers who initially responded left their vehicle parked across from the Denali which partially obstructed their position.
He stood unmoving as the officers initially trained their guns on him before hearing Brass' order to stand down.
In another heartbeat, Gil found himself face-to-face with Warrick and Brass, the older man's hand gripping his friend's upper arm.
"Gil? GIL!"
Grissom could see Brass' mouth moving, but whether it was the aftermath of the shooting at such close range, or the shock of the events, he found himself temporarily unable to hear more than a muted rustle.
Warrick moved into his line of sight.
"Griss," he spoke slowly, moving his mouth clearly, "what about Sara?"
Gil reacted as if he had momentarily forgotten why he had come here.
He wanted to run back into the house.
He wanted to be the one to find her, to comfort her, to hold her.
But with the shock of Terri Miller dead at his feet, crumpled in similar fashion to Sofia's lifeless form, Grissom suddenly found himself unable to bear the thought of uncovering one last dead body.
For surely this discovery would be the one from which he'd never recover.
"Bedroom," he managed to eek out before the world began to swim, and blessed darkness overcame him .