A/N: A huge thanks to Alison and Alicia for their beta work. Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I love feedback!!

(1:00 AM)

On the east side of Las Vegas an elementary school was being entered illegally. Four miles away three men dressed in army fatigues sat silently in a parked car staring at a two-story house. They studied the darkened windows while they waited for a signal from their partners.

"Are both of you nervous?"

"Danny, we've been through this. If you wanted to back out you had your chance."

"I didn't say I want to back out Ron. I just asked if you guys were nervous." Danny's voice rose steadily as he talked.

"Shut up," the harsh tone from the third member of their group startled them.

Danny opened his mouth prepared to shout but one look had him lowering his voice to a near whisper. "Sorry. It's just...it's just that I've never done anything like this before and I'm a little nervous. Hey, Jake, have you done this before?" Jake shot him another annoyed look. "I just mean how do you know about all this stuff?"

Jake glared at Ron. "Keep your brother quiet."

Danny looked like he was ready to let loose with a string of questions and Ron slapped him in the back of the head from his position in the back seat. "No questions Danny. The less we know about each other the better. Let's just wait for the call." They all turned their attention back to the house.

The two-story structure was located in an upscale neighborhood. Despite this, or maybe because of it there was very little security used. There were no fence around the property, only bushes separated one lawn from the next. The sidewalk ran from the street up to the front porch steps and branched off to circle to the back of the house. No bars adorned the windows and the owners had even left some of the blinds open.

After five minutes of observing the house they heard a low buzzing noise. Jake fished his cell phone out of his pocket and read the display. He nodded his head and turned off the phone. "Okay, let's go." All three men exited the vehicle and softly closed the doors.

They started up the sidewalk to the dark house. Ron and Danny each went around one side of the house while Jake walked straight up to the front door. He found the spare key and let himself into the silent house, stopping to listen for movement. Hearing no one he methodically looked in every room on the ground floor to make sure that the occupants were both upstairs. Once he had checked every room he went to the back door and let the others in. They gave him a thumbs up letting him know what it was all clear.

Jake motioned for them to follow him and he led them to the front of the house smoothly maneuvering his large frame between the furniture. At the bottom of the stairs Jake took the black bag that Danny had been carrying. He opened it and withdrew three sets of black driving gloves and three black ski masks. After donning the gear Jake pulled a nine millimeter handgun out of the waistband of his pants. He loaded a round into the chamber and took the safety off.

Danny and Ron stood staring at him with their eyes wide with shock. He zipped up the bag and shoved it into Danny's chest. He jerked the gun towards the stairs and started climbing. The other two exchanged worried glances and followed. They moved silently through the darkness, checking each room upstairs as Jake had downstairs.

Finally they reached the last bedroom. The three stood outside of the door and listened intently for movement inside the room. The house remained deadly quiet. Jake reached a hand forward and grasped the doorknob while bringing his hand with the gun up to point straight ahead. He looked back at Danny and Ron to confirm that they were ready. They each gave a small nod and Jake slowly turned the doorknob in his hand. He pushed the door open an inch at a time and scanned the room, looking for its occupants.

The door stood completely open. A king sized bed stood in the middle of the large bedroom and two figures lay sleeping under the blankets. Jake moved to the larger figure and waved Ron to the smaller of the two. They looked down at the sleeping couple. The man was probably in his mid to late fifties and the woman in her early fifties. They were both on their backs with their arms down at their sides.

Jake waved his hand to get Ron's attention. Ron looked up and nodded indicating that he was ready to proceed. Moving simultaneously they both leaned forward. Jake quickly pressed his hand over the man's mouth and his eyes flew open in sleepy confusion. Jake held up the gun for the man to see. Stark fear replaced the confusion and his eyes shifted to his wife.

Ron was holding his hand over her mouth in a similar fashion. Her eyes were wide with terror and filled with tears.

(11:30 PM, earlier that night)

Sara finally signed her name to the incident report and rubbed her eyes. She hated paper work in any way, shape, or form. Standing up, she stretched her tense neck muscles. Sara picked up the sheet of paper and walked to Grissom's office. He wasn't back from his meeting yet so she laid the paper on his desk and walked out into the hall. She flipped open her cell phone and dialed Warrick's number.

"Warrick."

"Hey. Do you need help at the scene?" she asked.

"Definitely. How soon can you be here?" He sounded distressed.

"Warrick, are you okay?" Sara had visions of him being held at gunpoint.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just-" he was interrupted by a very high pitched screech. "I can't believe I got robbed again!! When are you good for jack shit cops gonna get your shit together and do something about this goddamn shit!" Sara assumed the woman was walking away from Warrick since her tirade did stop but quieter.

"You gotta come help me Sara."

She laughed. "Alright, give me the address and I'll be there in a few minutes." Warrick gave her the information and another plea for her to hurry. As she disconnected the call she noticed Grissom walking into his office.

Sara hurried after him and stopped in her usual spot in the doorway and watched him settle back into his chair and fiddle with his glasses. "Hey."

Grissom looked up from the frames in his hands in surprise. "Hi." Sara frowned at his distracted tone.

"How did your meeting go?"

Grissom just stared at her.

"You know, the meeting you said that you had to go to?"

Grissom nodded. "It...uh...it was fine."

She shook her head. It was probably too much to expect that he would change overnight. 'Patience, Sara, patience,' she reminded herself. "I'm headed out to help Warrick. I put the form on your desk."

He looked at her in confusion and panic. "What form?" "Grissom, the incident report? Shotgun? Ringing any bells for you?" She exhaled irritably and stepped into his office and closed the door. "Grissom, what's wrong? You're acting stranger than usual."

He smiled at that and sighed. "Nothing is wrong...yet. I need to talk to you about it but it'll keep until later. Go help Warrick. I'm going to finish a few things here and see if Nick and Catherine need help."

She looked at him warily. If he needed to talk to her it must be bad. If he wanted to put it off it must be worse than bad. "Is it about me getting pulled over last night?"

Grissom shook his head. "It has nothing to do with that. Go on, we'll talk later. It isn't bad."

'Wonderful. Now he's reading my mind.'

"And I'm not reading your mind. I can tell by the look on your face that you're worried. Now go." He turned back to the pile of paper work on his desk. Sara grinned wondering how he could be so in tune with her and claim not to understand people.

TBC...