Sara's heart was pounding, her eyes stinging with unshed tears, the sound of the gun ringing loudly in her ears. For a moment all she could do was stare in disbelief at Mike. Then she slowly turned her head round to the side, looking to her left, towards the front door, seeing the bullet lodged about three inches from her head. So close that at this distance she couldn't even see it in focus.

She slowly looked back at Mike, meeting his eyes, both of them staring wordlessly at the other.

By the time the two CSIs and Brass got to the apartment building, it was already surrounded with cops, and even a media van had turned up. Brass shook his head as they walked over to the lead unit. 'How the hell did the media beat us?' he asked nobody in particular. 'Hey Bobby.' He added, as he neared an older looking guy sitting in his patrol unit. 'You were first on the scene.' It wasn't so much a question as a statement.

'Yes sir.' Bobby answered anyway. He was forty, but a young forty, sporty looking, the uniform fitting his broad shoulders well.

'Anyone been in or out?'

'No sir. Still waiting to secure the perimeter and get hold of the landlord.' The cop said.

'Ok, thank you.' Brass told him. He turned to Catherine and Warrick. 'You were here, anything out of the ordinary, anything wrong then?'

'Not that we noticed. Except maybe the front door was on latch. But apart from that it was silent.' Catherine told him, pulling out her cell phone. 'I better let Gil and Nicky know what's going on.'

'Might as well wait- we don't know anything yet.'

'Captain?' A young cop called out to him. They all turned to the caller, a cop who barely looked old enough to be out of high school let alone be a cop, was stood with an older woman, who was looking mighty anxious. 'This is Mrs Jackson. She's in the top flat, called in the disturbance.' Officer Hayter told them as they walked over.

'Hi, Mrs Jackson.' Brass said, briefly shaking her hand. She was only just sixty, if anything, her hair mainly grey, pulled into a loose ponytail. She had on a skirt and blouse.

'I was just going to work. Heard the gunshot, and called you.' She told them without prompting.

'At what time was this?'

'Well, I leave at eight fifteen and I was at the front door when I heard it.'

'Was it just the one shot?'

'Just the one. So loud though. I might not have known what it was, but my husband used to live down the firing range, and dragged me along a few times.'

'Is your husband.'

'Deceased. Last year.'

'I'm sorry to hear that.' Brass said. 'Have you noticed anything odd around here recently. Anything out of the ordinary?'

'Well, no, not really.'

'Is your front door normally on latch?' Catherine asked.

'How do you know that?' The woman asked confused.

'We were here yesterday. Sara Sidle is a co-worker.'

'Ah. Sara's a lovely girl. And yes, to answer your question. Damn lock broke a good week ago and the land lord still hasn't had it fixed.'

'You're moving out?' Catherine asked, nodding at the to let sign.

'I retire next week. I'm going back East, to be near my daughter and her family.' The woman explained.

'Is there anything, even something you might think has nothing to do with this, that is different round here?' Catherine asked.

Mrs Jackson seemed to consider something, as her eyes strayed past Catherine's, over her shoulder. 'Well, there is that car.' She finally said.

'The green Ford?' Brass questioned.

'Yes. It's been there all yesterday. I've never seen it before, and this is a quiet street.'

Brass looked at the car, before pulling out his radio. He stepped aside as he talked to control, getting the registration details of the car.

He didn't like the answer.

He excused them all the Mrs Jackson, and led Warrick and Catherine away from the crowds. 'Car's registered to a Michael Laskey.'

The name registered as familiar but it took a moment for it to sink in properly. 'Mike Laskey, the boyfriend?' Catherine asked.

'One and the same.' Brass told her.

'What on earth would he be doing here?' Catherine asked confused.

'I don't know. But everything suddenly got a whole lot messier.' Brass told them to stay put as he went to speak to the officer in charge of the scene. Telling them to stay put, that they had a suspect's name. To consider him armed and dangerous.

An incident van had been set up, so Brass, with Warrick and Catherine stepped into it for some privacy.

'So, the case Sara gets suspended on, stalks her home.' Warrick asked.

'Why aren't we going in? Shot's fired- Sara could be dead!' Catherine said, confused and bewildered by this sudden turn of events.

'We have to make sure that the scene is contained. We don't want an armed suspect on the run. If Sara's dead, this is damage control. If she's not, then we'll try the negotiation route.'

'Who's to say Sara's even there?'

'Her car's here. I think we can safely assume that for now.' Brass said to Warrick. He turned to Catherine. 'You might want to phone Grissom now.'

Sara had heard the response to the gun shot. Heard sirens coming to a rushed stop outside, people milling around. Here, sitting with Mike and the gun it felt surreal, like it was happening to someone else. That the sounds of the police were coming to help someone else.

She idly wondered if anyone from the lab knew yet. Whether anyone cared. Greg might, she thought to herself. Maybe he would miss her.

She pulled her attention back to the here and now, after finding her thoughts centring on who would turn up to her funeral. When had she started thinking of this as the end? It scared her that her thoughts were turning so melancholy. She looked up at Mike. She should be working on him. Trying to figure out the connection, what had got him so whiled up that he thought holding her at gun point was such a hot idea. All she really wanted to do was sleep, though. Sleep sounded nice.

Grissom was out in the field, so Catherine paged him, and then phoned Nick instead. After a very much shortened version of what was going on, Catherine asked him to run background checks on Mike, see if there was any reason other than the present case to suggest why Mike had taken such a dislike to Sara.

The sitting down and waiting got old real quick. The only activity of any note came much too slowly for the CSIs. A cop finally pulled out a loud speaker, training it towards the house.

'We know you're in there. It would be in your interests to surrender yourself and your weapons.'

'The police are here.' Sara said unnecessarily.

Mike gave her a hard look. 'Oh, won't that be fun. They weren't meant to come.'

'Well you fired the shot.' Sara pointed out childishly.

'You made me.' He fired back.

'Show yourselves now. Release anyone you may be holding, and surrender your weapons.'

'Maybe you should give up your gun.' Sara told him.

'I don't think so.'

'It's gonna end, Mike.'

'It shouldn't have come to this.'

'We will be calling the house. Please answer the phone so that we can talk.'

'You should have stopped me back then.'

'I don't know what you're talking about.' Sara pleaded desperately.

'Too bad.'

The phone ringing barely cut into his icy glare. He glanced at it before looking straight back at her, almost like he was studying every last detail of her.

'No one's picking up.' Brass said.

Catherine's cell rang. 'Willows.'

'It's Nick. Might have found something. Mike and his family own a house in San Francisco. Several times the police have been called out there, mostly with Mike threatening people, usually a girlfriend of the time, assault mainly.'

'What has this got to do with.'

Nick cut her off. 'Sara was the CSI on one of the cases, assault with intent of one of the girlfriends.'

'I still don't get it.'

'Well, neither do I. All I know is that she knew Mike, four years ago, on another case.'

'Thanks Nicky. Keep digging.'

Catherine detailed it out for the others.

'What so he's.escalating or something?' Warrick finally asked.

'He certainly seems to like being in control. I mean, the assault charge could just be the beginning.'

'All those calls to the police- he can't be very good.' Brass commented.

'Her name was Lydia. It could have been anyone of them though.'

Sara was startled by his sudden voice filling the quiet. She looked over at him. 'Lydia.' She said flatly.

His face twisted for a moment with anger, but he held his temper. 'You came to the house, asking stupid questions, how did the bruises happen. And I lied. Told you we had been playing rough. That she liked it rough. Lydia didn't say anything, couldn't have done. They all had their secrets.'

'She had burns.' Sara stated, piece by piece the case coming back. 'Cigerette burns on her legs.'

'Smoking is a filthy habit. Ruins your looks, makes you smell funny. And what would Mommy and daddy thought?'

'What, so you taught her a lesson?'

'I didn't do anything. She did it all herself.'

'Lydia was the same age as you. She wouldn't talk to anyone. Just said you did it.'

'Of course she did. Wouldn't admit to it, would she?'

'So you made her burn herself, as punishment?' Sara clarified.

Mike's hand on the gun had moved, tracing the other arm with a finger. For a moment he seemed to forget he was meant to be holding her at gunpoint.

'Was that Keely's punishment, as well? She slept around, so she had to kill herself?'

'What kind of reputation is that? Whore. Not gonna look good on the CV. Dear old mommy would have freaked. I did everyone a favour.'

'What did the others do?' Sara asked quietly.

'They all had their bad habits, you know?' He asked, tears rolling gently down his face. 'They all had it coming. Swear too much, you get your mouth washed out with soap. You lie to me, and you'll get the belt.'

'Punishment.' Sara elaborated.

'They all deserved to be punished.'

'Like you were punished.' Sara said, closing her eyes as the enormity of it came to her. On Mike's arms were dozens of old burn marks, circular, made with a cigarette.

The assault had been a cry for help as much as anything. Doing to his girlfriends, someone he could control, what was being done to him.

'It's gonna be alright.' Sara said gently.

'No it's not! I killed her. He said I was no use alive, so I killed her.' He yelled.

'Mike, you have to let me go. I see it now.'

'It's too late now. It's gone too far. Can't you see? Can't you see what he'll do to me?'

'I see, Mike. We can protect you from him.'

'No.'

'Mike, being here, hurting me, it's not gonna solve anything.'

'This is all your fault!' He screamed at her. 'If you'd seen it. I showed you my arm, but you completely denied it. You believed him instead of me!'

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't know. How could I have known.'

'All you had to do was look.'

Sara closed her eyes, opening them slowly. Mike had mirrored her movement, closing his eyes, wiping away the tears.

'It's not my fault.' Sara whispered, as she dive for the gun.

He moved almost at the same time. The struggle for the gun was intense, but Sara's muscles refused to be drawn into anything this soon, and cramped up, sending her sprawling, allowing Mike to get the gun.

'I'm sorry you didn't see it.' Mike said, pointing the gun at himself.

Sara gulped, looking down the barrel.

'I'm sorry you couldn't stop me killing her.' Mike said, his finger tensing on the trigger. 'I'm sorry it came to this.' He said, as he turned the gun round, and pulled the trigger, blood and brain matter flying through the air to land on the astounded Sara.

The police didn't wait for a second shot, but ran full tilt into the apartment building, weapons in hand, kicking Sara's door down. They cleared the room, Sara still sprawled on the floor, unable to move, unable to take her eyes off what was left of Mike's head.

'Sara!' Catherine was the first to reach her, followed closely by Warrick.

The tears started down her face before she could stop them. 'It's all my fault, it's all my fault.'

'Shh.' Catherine said gently, turning her over and with Warrick's help getting her sitting. 'It's ok. It's all over.'

'It was all a cry for help. His dad did it to him, so he did it to them. And I didn't see it. I didn't see it.'

'Shh. Why should you have. You saw him once. Where were social services, the school. This isn't your fault.' Catherine repeated.

Sara looked over at the body of the teenager on her floor, not even beginning to understand what had happened. All she knew was that at the end Mike was as desperate as someone could get.

The end