Laura took Sara's hand in hers and turned it over, noticing for the first time the callused finger Grissom had so tenderly spoken about. She brushed the tip of her index finger back and forth over it a few times, ever so lightly, ever so gently, as though trying to commit it to memory. Her heart clenched with overwhelming grief and she pinched her lips, closing her eyes to hide her heartbreak, as another endless stream of tears rolled down her face.

This man, this Grissom, knew Sara better than she, her own mother did, better than she could ever hope to, and it broke her heart. This man had told her things she should have known about her own daughter, her flesh and blood. Simple things, titbits of a life she was never a part of. He could recall her smile, the exact colour of her eyes and contour of her face better than she could, her own mother who had given birth to her. She should be the one to have fond memories of her daughter, of a happy life together, not him. She should be the one to speak lovingly of her and know her like the back of her hand. More tears spilled, tears of anger and resentment this time, and she desperately tried to swallow them back but instead broke down into pitying sobs on Sara's shoulder.

"I've failed you. I've failed you all my life," she said through her tears, "as a child and then as an adult. Your brother's right; I've ruined both your lives. I've only ever done wrong by you but now it's going to end. Now I'm going to do right, right by you. Sara, sweetheart I promise to do the right thing and all I can to protect you from more pain and suffering." She paused again, unable to get her breath for the sobs catching in her throat, and buried her face in the crook of her daughter's neck, weeping.

"Who is this woman, this McKay?" she had asked Brass anxiously, as McKay's threat had intensified and Sara was being moved to a different room in the ICU. "And why is she so hell-bent on killing her, on killing both of them? Do you think she'd try something here, now, knowing you're here protecting her?"

Brass hadn't answered. He had stared Laura in the eye for a long moment, still clearly debating with himself whether she was an amazing actress or just another innocent bystander in all this, and in the end had averted his gaze with a shake of the head.

"Captain Brass," Laura had said, with a long despondent sigh that had made him look up, "if I were in your shoes I wouldn't trust me either." Her voice trembled and she'd held his gaze, her expression a mixture of sadness and resignation. "But I swear on my daughter's life that I have nothing to do with this woman, that I don't mean Sara any harm, only what's best for her. That's all I ever wanted for her and her brother however…misguided my actions in the past may appear to you. I can't take back what I did, however much I want to. But you got to know that what I did, I did to protect them both, Sara and Mattie. Isn't that a mother's job? To love and protect her children?"

Brass had shrugged, not in indifference but in uncertainty, turning away from Laura to speak to a passing nurse and Laura had given up trying to convince him.

And yet, in the end he'd had no choice but to trust her. When the call of "Officer down" had come he'd sent the two officers that were with him as backup. Then the news that Grissom was held at gunpoint came and when almost immediately they heard the gun shot Brass had looked at Laura, and then at Sara and fearing for Grissom's life had bolted out of the door.

A little calmer now, Laura smoothed down a tendril of Sara's hair sticking out from under the bandage around her head, smiling as her fingers lingered on her daughter's face. "He loves you," she said in a murmur into her ear. "The man loves you with his life. The way he spoke about you…the smile on his face despite his tears…it was like you were there in front of his eyes and he only had to look at you. Like you were in his heart and he only had to close his eyes and look inside to find you."

She stroked around her eyes, wishing she could see their warm chocolate centres one last time, and her face clouded with sorrow. "He talks about you as though you're about to wake, as though you're just asleep," she continued. She swallowed and roughly wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand. "And maybe you are."

Tears welled in her eyes again and she glanced over her shoulder toward the door as though expecting it to open at any moment and for Brass to storm back in and pull her away. "You're very fortunate, Sara," she said, "to have known a love like that, to have found such a depth of devotion, such dedication in a man. Such unconditional love. A love that will not end with death."

The second gun shot rang out suddenly, echoing through the floor with deadly silence. Laura flinched and immediately stopped crying, wiping her tears while her expression darkened solemnly as a terrible sense of foreboding coursed through her. Panic filled her, a physical sickness she could feel in her throat and in her gut, and she hurried out of the door, almost knocking a passing nurse off her feet in her haste to find out what was happening. She quickly mumbled an apology before running down the corridor toward the bank of elevators.

A look of fear suddenly crossed her face, replacing her panic and she stopped dead in her tracks. She frowned and whipped her head round, urgently scanning the corridor with her eyes but it was empty. Still, the hairs at the back of her neck stood on end and she could smell danger. She wanted to throw up. I can't leave Sara; I'm her only defence, she thought, quickly retracing her steps to Sara's room.

She opened the door quietly and found he nurse she'd bumped into by Sara's bed near the bank of life support equipment. Everything looked as it should. Breathing hard, she closed her eyes as relief washed over her and noiselessly took a step in, watching as the nurse suddenly took hold of Sara's breathing tube with one hand and the mouthpiece with the other.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked with sudden alarm, startling the nurse out of her wits.

The nurse took a moment before turning around, a pleasant smile plastered on her face. "I was only checking everything worked as it should," she replied hesitantly, making a show of checking Sara's breathing tube before turning toward the EEG reading.

Laura glanced down the corridor for police presence, but it sounded like mayhem had erupted downstairs and there was none. She stepped fully into the room, watching as the nurse reached for Sara's medical chart. "Maria's just done all that," she said with growing anxiety. "Do you have any idea what's happening downstairs?"

"A mental patient's cut loose," the woman replied distractedly, glancing up briefly from the chart. Laura tried to make eye contact but the nurse's gaze shifted quickly back to Sara. "They got it under control," she added, trying a reassuring tone but it only increased Laura's fears and suspicions that something was amiss.

Laura moved closer to the bed, searching with her eyes the nurse's chest for ID. "I've not seen you before," she said, adopting what she hoped was a casual tone. "Are you new?"

"I'm generally on the cardiac ward," the nurse replied with an edge to her voice.

Laura eyed the nurse with distrust. "Where is Maria?" she asked, swallowing the sudden tightness in her throat. She hopelessly glanced toward the closed door, willing Brass to return.

"She's…gone on her break. Could you leave the room please?"

Laura did a double take. "I beg your pardon?"

"I need to change her catheter."

"Change her catheter?" she repeated with disbelief. "But Maria…" She shook her head. "Can I see some ID, please?" she insisted, moving closer to the nurse.

The nurse's smile faded, her mask suddenly dropping, her gaze darkening ominously.

Laura looked toward the door but there was no way she could leave Sara on her own while she went and got help. "Captain Brass is on his way," she said bravely squaring her shoulders and edging between Sara and the nurse protectively.

The nurse narrowed her eyes. "Oh, I don't think so. He's far too busy downstairs." She slipped her right hand in her pocket and pulled out a pair of surgical scissors, which she threatened Laura with.

Laura's eyes widened with fear as panic once more filled her. Suddenly, she was taken back in time and it wasn't a nurse standing there in front of her brandishing a pair of scissors but Sara's father with a raised fist. Sara wasn't lying in her hospital bed anymore but cowering under the kitchen table, black and blue, her lip split and swollen, silent and dumbstruck as she trembled with fear.

"Put the scissors down, please," she said raising a protective hand toward the nurse.

The nurse made a wild swipe at her with the scissors but Laura reared back and she missed.

"Put the scissors down, I beg you," Laura cried.

"I don't think so." Holding the scissors up defensively toward Laura, the nurse felt the fingers of her left hand to the life-support machine searching for the on/off switch.

Laura's body began to tremble with fear and tears began streaming down her face as her emotion got the better of her. "Don't you harm her, please," she pleaded tearfully. "She's just a little girl, my little girl. I beg you."

Her fingers hovering teasingly over the switch, the nurse smirked at Laura's pathetic pleas.

Laura's gaze hardened and she swallowed, her tears stopping immediately as the nurse's smirk morphed with that of Sara's father in her head. Her breath hitched. She wasn't the weak, defenceless, pathetic woman she once was and wouldn't behave or be treated as such anymore. Then, she'd grabbed the first thing underhand - a kitchen knife - with devastating consequences. Now, she knew different. Holding the nurse's gaze fiercely, she surged forward, grabbing the nurse by the wrist and twisting it round mercilessly until the scissors dropped to the ground.

The nurse gave up trying to turn Sara's ventilator off and with her free hand, got hold of Laura's hair and pulled back as hard as she could. But pain was something Sara's mother was used to and had learned not to accept. She kept her cool, holding fast and channelled twenty-two years of pent-up anger and frustration, and regret into protecting her daughter. With a move she had practised countless times, replayed over and over again in her head in the aftermath of stabbing her husband to death, Laura tightened her hold on the nurse's wrist, twisting it round until the nurse grunted in pain and was left with no choice but to let go of Laura. Laura continued to twist the nurse's arm behind her back in a textbook self-defence manoeuvre until beaten, the nurse dropped to her knees with a loud scream of pain.

At that same moment the door flew open and Brass barged in, weapon drawn. He took in the two women on the floor, the muzzle of his gun flicking uncertainly between them. The nurse was immobilised on the floor, Laura's knee pressing hard onto her back while her arm was held back in an arm breaking lock.

"Get her off me!" the nurse began to shout. "This woman is demented. She just tried to kill her own daughter!"

"That's not true!" Laura defended, as she twisted the nurse's arm higher up her back. "She's lying! She was trying to turn Sara's life support machine off. I swear to you, Captain Brass it's the truth," she insisted, even though she knew Brass wouldn't believe her.

Brass threw a glance toward Sara, noticing the pair of scissors lying on the floor. He moved closer to them and kicked them out of the way, all the while holding Laura's gaze. "Let her go," he told her. "It's all over now." He motioned to the two officers behind him to step in and separate the two women.

Laura's gaze filled with sadness and she nodded resignedly. She slowly released her hold on the woman and got to her feet stopping only just short of holding out her wrists for them to be cuffed. She watched as one officer got hold of her arm while the other helped the nurse up. The latter got to her feet, throwing Laura a wry victorious smirk.

"Take her into custody," Brass instructed with a nod toward the nurse.

"What? No," the latter shrieked. "You're making a mistake. She's the killer."

"Save your breath for the interrogation room," Brass said with disinterest, watching as the officers led her out of the room.

"Did you catch McKay?" Laura asked with alarm. "Is Mr Grissom okay? Is he hurt? Only when I heard the second gunshot, I thought-" Her words were coming out between heavy pants as she struggled to catch her breath. Her whole body began to shake with the dry sobs that suddenly racked her and she wavered on her feet weakly.

Brass wrapped his arm around her and helped her down onto a nearby chair. "Come on, Laura, take slow deep breaths," he said, crouching down in front of her. "It's the shock. It's only shock. Grissom's going to be okay and Sara's all right too. She's okay. She's okay," he kept repeating soothingly while she calmed.

"I'm sorry," she said when the last of her sobs had subsided and she felt calmer. "I don't know what came over me."

Brass pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wordlessly passed it to her. "I've seen it before, it's perfectly normal," he said in a casual, almost friendly tone while Laura dabbed at her eyes. "Grissom would give you the medical explanation for it. But it's to do with levels of adrenaline released in your body in moments of stress…Anyway," Brass said with a shake of the head as he pushed to his feet, "that was an impressive move you showed there. You nearly broke her arm."

Laura couldn't help the upward curl of her lips and she shrugged. "Sadly, I learned it far too late," she said with a sigh. Brass nodded his understanding. "I'm...trained in weaponless defence," she added brightly, "I took classes when I was in jail." Brass arched a brow, glancing toward Sara. "And now, I teach self-defence at the women's refuge, among other things but it's the first time I really put my training into practice."

"Sara's pretty good with her hands too," Brass remarked, smiling back.

Laura glanced toward Sara, her smile fading. "What made you change your mind about me?"

The detective pursed his face thoughtfully before letting out a drawn-out sigh. "Grissom put in a good case in your favour, so I edged my bets. Besides, we suspected McKay had an accomplice here at this hospital and now it seems we found her."

Laura hadn't known Brass very long, but she knew this was as close to an apology she'd receive. "Thank you," she said, catching his eye before getting up and moving closer the bed. Pinching her lips as she willed herself to stay strong, she took her daughter's hand. "It won't bring Sara back, though, will it?"

Brass joined her side. "No, it won't," he replied quietly, "but it will bring some comfort to you and Gil. And me too. At least now, she can't hurt us anymore."

Laura nodded her head, her watery eyes fixed on Sara's face. "It's all too late, though, isn't it?"

"She's not gone yet, is she?" Brass replied with a hopeful tone. "So we must be strong and not give up hope. There's always hope."

Although well-meant the detective's words were of little comfort. Laura nodded, a lonely tear running down the side of her face.

Brass touched his hand to her shoulder. "You did good today, Laura. Sara would be proud." Brass gave a comforting squeeze of her shoulder and Laura closed her eyes, nodding her head more vigorously. "I know she would," he repeated quietly. Laura didn't reply and the detective lapsed into an awkward silence. "I hear a brain specialist is on the way," he croaked after a while before clearing his throat uneasily.

"Everyone tells me that this isn't Sara lying there," she cut in before he could say more. "That the real Sara's vibrant and smart and headstrong and-" Laura paused abruptly, and cleared the tears in her voice before taking a shuddering breath. "Do you have children Captain Brass?"

Brass nodded softly. "I have a daughter, Ellie."

"If it were her lying there, like this…what would you do? Would you prolong her life?"

The detective lifted his shoulder in uncertainty. "Honestly, I don't know."

Laura closed her eyes, releasing a fresh flow of tears. "I do, and Mr Grissom does to."

Brass didn't say anything. When she reopened her eyes, turning toward him with a sad grateful smile he was watching Sara with uncensored tenderness, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill. Understanding that this man's love for Sara was as genuine as Grissom's, if of a different nature, she reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze before gently placing Sara's in it. "Stay with her for a moment," she said in a quiet voice. She took a moment to dry her tears while she watched Sara before leaving the room.

Brass stood numb and absolutely still for long minutes, the tears in his eyes remaining unshed. Gradually, his face pursed, contorting with pain and sorrow and he gripped Sara's hand tighter as for the first time since her attack he allowed his tears to flow and himself to begin to grieve.


Tbc.


A/N: I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone again for their amazing and overwhelming and sustained support with this story. Those who review, but also those of you who have recently put the story on alert or in their favourite list. So late on in the game, it means a lot first that you've read this far but also that you want to know how it'll all end. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.