The sight that greeted him caused Warrick's heart to leap out into his throat. "SARA," he yelled, trying to rouse her with his voice. When she didn't move, he drew his attention to the young girl wrapped around her body. "Lindsey, I need you to wake Sara, can you do that for me?"

Sitting up, Lindsey nodded tearfully, her arms reaching out to shake Sara, pushing her body to make her open her eyes. "Wake up," she begged, her small hands grabbing hold of Sara's shirt, "Sara."

Opening her eyes slowly, Sara tried to focus, her vision becoming increasingly blurred. "Lindsey?"

"I'm here," she sniffed, breaking into a watery smile as she spoke,"Warrick's here too, look, here he is."

Sara turned her head, her blurry eyes trying to focus on her friend, "Warrick?"

"I'm here Sara," he choked, his voice catching in his throat as he spoke. "We're getting both of you out of here."

"I..." she started, blinking back the pain in her thighs with a new lease of willpower as she pulled herself closer to the small clearing near to Warrick. "Lindsey," she nodded "get Lindsey out of here."

The young girl beside her grasped hold of her hands, clinging to Sara's body in desperation, "No," she protested, "not without you."

Closing her eyes, Sara tried to remain in control, her foggy brain desperately trying to pull her down into sleep once more, but she fought it with every ounce of inner will she could muster. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she opened her eyes again, holding firmly onto Lindsey's arms as she pushed her towards Warrick.

"I'll…be out…before you know…it," she told her, her voice slurring slightly as she fought for control, knowing that already the chances of that were becoming slimmer by the second. "But I…need to know you're…safe first…okay?"

"But..." Lindsey started to protest, reaching out towards Sara again.

"Honey the walls are falling, and we haven't got a lot of time," Warrick spoke up, reaching his shoulder through the gap to touch Lindsey's arm, as he did part of the beams above him crumbled dust spatters onto his arm, "Lindsey please?"

Ignoring the pain rising in her body, Sara pulled herself onto her knees, the stinging heat causing her to gasp for breath. Reaching out her fingers, she touched Lindsey's shoulder, pulling her into a hug before releasing her again to hold her at arms length, "You have…got a mom who…loves you…out there," she told her calmly, her voice giving way to breaking tears, "and…she's gonna be…so worried about…you."

With a gentle push, she moved Lindsey backwards; enough for Warrick to snag her arm and guide her through the gap, causing more of the wall to collapse, making the opening smaller. Lindsey clung to him as he pulled her out, her sobbing breaking his heart.

"S'okay now…sweetie," Sara nodded, allowing her eyes to close again as she sat back against the wall once Lindsey was safely through "I'll…see you…soon."

"Nooo," Lindsey screamed, her tears soaking into Warrick's shirt. "Sara you promised."

"Sara will be out soon," Warrick soothed, his heart thumping wildly inside his chest as he peered back into the small hole that kept Sara prisoner in her concrete tomb. "I'll be right back."

"I'm not…going anywhere…War," she smiled, losing her voice into a wracking cough that took over her body.

Outside, Catherine and Grissom's Tahoe screeched to a stop on the roadside, the sight that greeted them striking them both into numbing fear.

"Oh my god," Catherine gasped, flinging the door open to break into a run as she moved swiftly through the bodies, searching frantically for Lindsey.

Grissom looked around him, stunned, his legs refusing to move until he saw the blurry image of Brass running towards him "Gil, it's bad, it's really bad."

"What happened Jim?" he asked, his voice rising as he moved towards his friend, his pace speeding up as they neared the sea of people wandering dazed along the surrounding car park.

"Don't know Gil," Brass said through a ragged breath. "They've just brought Nicky out, he's messed up real bad."

Grissom's heart leapt out into his throat fearfully, a woman's image coming to his mind as he found her name on his lips. "Sara?"

"No," Brass shook his head. "No one's seen her, I think she's inside."

"God Jim," Grissom choked, his eyes suddenly feeling the unshed emotions rising up inside his chest. "Oh god."

"I know," his friend nodded, placing a comforting arm on his shoulder as they pushed forward towards Catherine.

"Lindsey?" she repeated, over and over to every face, her voice becoming more frantic with every person who looked at her blankly as they shook their head.

Catherine's eyes began searching frantically, every face, every injured body. Through her tears, she looked over towards one of the paramedics, blind panic taking over her senses as she made a bolt towards him, yanking on his arm to gain his attention. "My daughter, she was inside."

"Calm down ma'am," the man told her, pushing her away from the building, so the emergency personal could bring out more of the injured.

" Calm down?" she seethed, anger reaching up into her voice, "my baby is in there, let me get in.."

"Ma'am, step back," he repeated, pushing her away forcefully into Grissom's restraining arms.

"Let them work," Grissom told her, pulling her away from the entrance only to have her turn on him with clenched fists onto his chest. "Get off me," she seethed, her teeth clenched in anger as the tears rolled down her face. "I need to find my daughter."

"Cath, stop," he tried again, his own voice breaking with the destruction around him. People he knew were bleeding, their faces contorted in pain, and still he couldn't see the one face he needed the most.

"You don't know what love is," she spat, anger and grief fuelling her words as she thumped his chest. "You don't care about anyone, so let me go dammit."

Her words hit a raw nerve inside his heart, causing his fingers to unclench around her shoulders to let her go. His whole world was crumbling around him and she accused him of not caring. Looking around numbly, his eyes scanned the crowd until he saw Nicky being pushed into an ambulance. His whole body refused to cooperate with his mind as he forced himself to move closer to the ambulance, moving swiftly over to his side, "Nicky?"

Nick opened his eyes slowly, a small smile gracing his face beneath the oxygen mask, only to close his eyes again a second later.

"Move aside please Mr. Grissom," someone spoke behind him. He turned quickly, his eyes coming to rest on a face he knew, a face he had come to despise. Hank watched him carefully as he pushed passed him to climb up into the ambulance, his job taking over his reactions.

" Sara?" Grissom asked him urgently, ignoring the anger inside his heart, "have you seen her?"

"No, she's not been brought out yet," Hank told him, keeping any signs of emotions from his voice, "We have to get him to hospital."

Moving back, Grissom watched the doors closed before he turned to search the faces, desperate to find her.

Warrick held Lindsey to his chest, her sobs muffled against his shoulder as he held her tightly. "It'll be okay honey," he whispered, trying to sooth her, "Sara will be ok."

"She's bleeding," Lindsey choked out lifting one of her small hands to ball a fist as she punched his chest. "She's gonna die."

"No," he told her, his own voice crumbling with unshed tears as he carried her towards what he hoped way the outside, "she isn't."

As he made his way back through the rubble, he was met by falling debris and turned to shield the little girl in his arms until he saw the cause of the disturbance. Relief flooded his eyes when he saw some firemen coming in through the doors, "Oh thank god," he gasped, "my friend is trapped."

"Let us handle it sir," the officer nodded, moving to pat his shoulder so they could make their way passed him.

"No, I need to go back to her," he said urgently, his voice shaking in waves as he handed Lindsey over to a fireman. "Take her outside."

"Warrick," she sobbed, looking back over towards him as he moved away, her tears falling down her dust caked cheeks.

"It'll be ok Linds," he called, turning back, retracing his steps back towards Sara.

He stumbled over the glass and fallen concrete, leading the remaining firemen back towards the way he came, quickening his pace with urgency.

"SARA?" he called out as they neared. "SARA?"

Inside her tumbling prison, Sara opened her eyes slowly, hoping that his whole nightmare had been just that, a bad dream that she would soon wake from.

Her mind swam in confusion, trying to focus on her surroundings as Warrick's voice reached its way through the rubble.

"War," she mumbled, her mouth so dry she had to lick her lips to sooth the cracked skin. "WAR," she spoke up, her voice louder.

"We're here Sara," he told her, reaching a hand to her through the small gap enticing her to take his comfort while they freed her from this nightmare.

Sara saw his hand; his contact giving her new found courage as she reached for him, touching his fingertips only to loosen her grip on him.

"Move back Sara," he told her, "help's here okay, they're gonna get you out."

"War," she whispered, her eyes flooding with sorrow as she pulled herself away, "can you…do something…for me?"

"Anything," he nodded, his own voice cracking with a combination of fear and sadness.

"If I don't…get out…of here," she started, her voice losing its battle against the tears that threatened to engulf her.

"You will get out," he told her defiantly. "You will, you hear me?"

"But," she gasped, taking a breath, "if I…don't, tell Grissom…..tell him….I….tell him…I love him.."