Drip, Drip, Drip
Predictably the whole night shift arrives hours early for shift, desperate for a break in the case. They were spread throughout the lab, avoiding the dreaded day shift like the plague. Catherine and Grissom were checking out miles of surveillance tape with Archie, seeing if the outdoor cameras caught the perp on tape slashing (more like stabbing) Catherine's tires. Warrick and Nick were comparing photos from before the contamination of the scene to after. Sara was the only one working alone, studying fragments of brick from Warrick's grandmother's house.
He's got his eye on his next victim. It was too bad really that it had to be this way, her own stubbornness would be her downfall. Nobody rejected him and got away with it. But he didn't really blame her, he believed that her friends filled her head with lies about him. If anyone on the night shift knew that they would have laughed in his face. Sara Sidle was not one to be easily influenced or manipulated or even intimidated. Many times she challenged her co-workers to the point of exasperation.
He watches her with the ease of one who makes his living by observing people. He knows that she doesn't eat meat, likes rock and roll, and that she's a workaholic. But those things don't mean much to him. He's more interested in how she interacts with others. He notices the friendships she has with Warrick and Nick. How they challenge each other on the job and support one another. He sees the close bond she shares with Catherine, being the only two women in a male driven profession. But what bothers him most is her relationship with him. He hears the gossip and realizes that once again he'll come in second. He doesn't realize that 90% of the gossip is untrue. He doesn't understand that he never had a chance. She'll never notice him. But his next step will cause her to notice as well as everyone else.
"Later Greg." Sara called to the young lab tech as she exited the room. He didn't notice her departure as he was so wrapped up in his work, hoping to have some results for Grissom. The clock read 9:30pm, which meant she had half an hour to shower before shift started.
Sara threw off her shirt and tossed it in the direction of her locker in disgust. She had spent the last few hours going over the sparse evidence they had collected from Warrick's grandmother's house. If the same guy was involved in all three incidents, she wanted to prove it and nail him. So far the evidence wasn't backing them up. Plus now she had her regular shift to look forward to. She usually loved her work, even to the point of obsession; but this case was more mentally and emotionally draining then she could ever have imagined.
She headed towards the showers to turn on the water. The pipes in the locker room took forever to heat up and she wasn't in the mood for a cold one. However, she never made it to the shower. Before she even heard anything, a hand clamped over her mouth and a sharp object stabbed into her neck. She immediately went limp in her captor's arms. He dragged her lifeless body to the support pole in the center of the room and tied her tight, in case she did wake up from the mild sedative he had injected her with.
The picture of a half-naked and submissive Sara Sidle was a sight to behold. He sat in the corner staring at the beauty while she stirred from her sudden, yet brief slumber. He watched her struggle to wake up from unconsciousness. Her beautiful brown eyes met his dark ones with confusion, before filling with terror.
"Ecklie." She whispered as the truth of their case was revealed and fear of her current situation threatened to overwhelm her. She wanted to vomit with the way he was looking at her, staring at her partially clothed body. The effects of the sedative had not fully worn off, she realized as she found herself fading in and out of consciousness.
When she awoke again, it was to feel a slight prick in her stomach followed by a decisive cut. He sliced her skin leaving a message that she couldn't read. He gently caressed her face before sneaking away. Before her eyes opened, she could hear the gentle, constant Drip, Drip, Drip of her own blood falling to the floor as she went unmoving once more.
When she awoke again a few seconds later, Sara tried to call for help, but she went still at the sight of her own blood dripping down, landing in puddles at her feet. She again was sent back into unconsciousness, this time it had nothing to do with the sedative, only the pain as the blood continued to run.
Twenty minutes later the others were gathered in the break room, going over their present case. "Nick, we'll find out who trashed your crime scene." Grissom promised more determined than ever.
"And who slashed Catherine's tires." Warrick added in frustration.
The clock struck ten o'clock reminding them it was time for shift. "Hopefully the cases will be a welcome distraction." Catherine wished fervently. The whole team had been on edge for 2 days now, with no end in sight. She knew with sickening certainty that it wouldn't stop until every team member had been targeted.
"What I don't understand, is if he does have a vendetta against us, why his attacks are relatively minor?" Catherine commented, voicing her doubts aloud. "Granted it's freaky and strange, but not life-threatening." She added before the men could protest.
"Where's Sara?" Nick questioned when he realized his best friend was missing.
"I'll page her." Grissom announced. They all chuckled when they heard her pager ring from the lab. Sara was famous for her intense work ethic. This wouldn't be the first time she was late for assignments because of a case. "I'll get her." Nick volunteered.
"Where's Sara?" Nick echoed his earlier words when he didn't spot the brunette in the lab right away.
"Don't know." Replied Greg. He didn't look up from his microscope. "She left a while ago, I guess. I thought she went to get something to eat." He offered as a guess.
Nick returned to the break room confused. He shouldn't be worried, but with all the other weird things going on lately, he was. "She wasn't there." He announced to the group.
"Well obviously she's somewhere in the building." Catherine declared and the four set out to look for her. "she couldn't have gone far." She reasoned.
"Wouldn't Sara laugh if she could see us now?" Warrick commented as they began their search.. "She's two minutes late and we've got a search party looking for her."
"Shh." Catherine directed suddenly. "Do you hear that?" she asked her male teammates. Drip, Drip, Drip was all they heard.
"A leaky pipe?" Grissom guessed as they approached the locker room.
"The lights are off. That's odd." Nick commented as he pushed the door open and fumbled for the lights.
As the lights came up, the foursome was horrified at the sight that greeted them. Sara was unmoving and tied to the pole. "Sara!" Catherine screamed, it was the only thing she could do as they stood in shock. Her voice startled Sara and her eyes flew open as she was relieved to have been found. Nick started to come close to her but she shook her head no, ignoring the pain, to discourage them from getting closer. She couldn't get the words out.
"A bomb?" Grissom guessed fearfully. "What is it?" Warrick asked, feeling nauseous at the sight of her, and wanting to free her as soon as possible.
"A crime scene." Sara managed to whisper. "I want to nail the bastard who did this." She exclaimed as the tears began to fall freely. She relaxed knowing her friends were there, and that she would soon be free. Her physical ordeal was over, but the emotional one was just beginning.
"She's right. We need to process the scene carefully. As soon as you get the pictures, Catherine untie her." He directed. "Nick you take the perimeter of the locker room, Warrick you'll do the interview." He addressed his team, assigning the tasks. He forced himself to remain in control, despite the fact that this was Sara. "Are you okay?" he finally got around to asking her.
"So much for relatively minor incidents." Catherine murmured to herself. This was a tell tale sign that their suspect was completely over the edge. With one strange twist, he had escalated their case, instilling a real sense of fear in all of them.
"You're bleeding." Nick stated the obvious, struggling to ignore his friend as he went about doing his job.
"She's going into shock." Catherine noted, seeing the unreadable look on her face. She moved closer to get better pictures of the wounds. She located the source of the dripping they had heard that had sent them to the locker room, when they would have had no reason to look for her there.
Blood continued to fall off her stomach, puddling unto the floor. "Grissom, read this." She called out to their supervisor. His stomach dropped as he read the message left behind. "G-you're next." He was sickened when he realized that the suspect had gone through his whole team just to get to him.
"Whoever attacked Sara, also was involved in the other events." Grissom announced, more than a little pissed off.
"Why the sudden escalation?" Grissom pointed out the illogical motive behind Sara's attack.
Catherine soaked a towel in warm water and brought it over to wash the blood off of Sara. "Don't." Sara pleaded with her friend. "DNA." She explained further. Catherine was shocked, apparently Sara was still lucid enough to direct them all in the investigation. She was doing a better job than the rest of them.
"Did you see your attacker Sara?" Warrick asked surprised. He had assumed that she hadn't. The rest of the team turned at his question and waited for her response.
"Ecklie." She replied quietly. Now Warrick was convinced he was going to be sick. As sick as Warrick was feeling, Nick was just as pissed. He had seen the way Ecklie had stared at Sara in the past, and wondered what had pushed him over the edge. Immense guilt filled him as he wondered if there had been anything he could have done to prevent this.
"He didn't wear gloves." She told Catherine, who tested for fingerprints. Finally they were able to get some evidence. Warrick untied her and helped her into a nearby chair until they could remove her from the crime scene.
"hey Warrick, can you get Sara a button down shirt?" Catherine whispered to the younger man discretely. He nodded and grabbed a light green long sleeve shirt out of his locker, slipping it on the slender frame of the brunette CSI who clutched it across her chest modestly before Catherine helped her button it up.
"Why would he do that?" Grissom wondered aloud. "I thought he was smarter than that." He mused to himself.
"Smarter, but arrogant." Sara answered as she shivered, remembering the look on his face. She was sitting on the bench, seemingly unaware of the conversations going around her.
"He was so freaking certain we'd contaminate the scene because of Sara." Nick proclaimed. "Just like the crime scene." He added repulsed.
"But it was because of Sara that we didn't." Warrick added fiercely, proud of her for her courage, and relieved that she seemed to be as okay as one could be after such an attack.
"You're done here Sar. Warrick, take her out." Grissom instructed the pair as he continued to search for evidence. Warrick gently guided her out by her elbow, careful not to hold onto her too hard, though he desperately wanted to keep her close to assure himself that she was all right.
"Coffee?" He offered her as they sat down in the break room. She answered in the negative and he opened a blank notebook to record her answers.
"Why were you in the locker room?" He began gently, hoping she was stable enough to answer his questions.
Sara was up for the challenge, knowing from experience, that testimony right after an attack is the strongest form of evidence for the prosecution. "I wanted to take a shower. I left Greg in the lab at about 9:30pm." She replied softly.
'thirty minutes.' Warrick swore under his breath as he contemplated his next question. He couldn't believe that he had been in and out and done in such a short amount of time.
"What happened next?" He probed sensitively, ignoring his desire for the facts, to get Sara through this ordeal.
"I took off my shirt and went to turn on the shower to warm up the pipes when I felt someone grab me and then everything went black." She confessed shakingly to her co-worker. She was still feeling the effects of the sedative and tried to shake it off.
Something didn't add up to him. Surely Sara would have fought back was his first doubt. Then she mentioned that everything went black. "Show me your hands." He instructed her. She immediately held them out and turned them over. 'No defensive wounds.' He thought as he tried to reconstruct exactly what happened. He stared at her hoping to get answers when he noticed a raised bump on her neck. It looked like a puncture wound.
'What the?' Warrick wondered as he stared at the wound. He made a note in the notebook to check for some sort of needle. It would explain the lack of defensive wounds on her. She never had a chance as Ecklie had sneaked up on her. The new facts revolted him so strongly he wished he could kill him with his bare hands. Knowing his own temper, and his feelings for Sara, he couldn't help but wish that he had a chance to do so.
"Check this out." Nick called out in disgust, drawing Catherine and Grissom to his side.
"Semen?" Catherine said in disbelief. "Oh God." She shuddered to think what the evidence meant. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.
"Let Warrick know. See what Sara says." Grissom instructed Nick. The Texan hurried back to the break room and tried to discretely summon Warrick out of the room. But he wouldn't leave her side, and she wouldn't let him.
"What is it?" She whispered fearfully. Nick kneeled down next to her as Warrick held her hand, disturbed at what news Nick could be bringing. "We found seminal fluid in the locker room Sar." He began slowly. He was about to repeat his statement when it hit her. "oh." She muttered quietly. "Oh." She said again louder as her face went pale and she broke away from the two men to throw up in the garbage can. Warrick felt the same way as he followed closely behind her to comfort her. She had been so strong so far but the implication of rape seriously rattled the usually composed Sara.
"Did he do anything to you?" Nick questioned her tenderly, trying to keep his emotions in check.
"I don't know." She admitted softly, closing her eyes to keep from throwing up again. Warrick exchanged worried glances with Nick. The two men were planning their next move. Warrick quickly decided, "I'm taking her to the hospital." Nick agreed and went to tell Grissom.
"Well?" Grissom grilled Nick as soon as he stepped into the locker room. His harsh demeanor disappeared when he noticed Nick's anxiety-ridden state. "What is it?" he asked the young CSI more gently this time.
"She doesn't know." He informed them much to Catherine and Grissom's chagrin. "Warrick's taking her to the hospital right now." He also reported as he slowly went back to his part in the investigation.
"Brass is on the way." Catherine updated the two men as she hung up her phone.
"Warrick said to be on the look out for a needle. There weren't any signs of struggle on Sara's part, plus a puncture wound in her neck which would suggest he snuck up on her." Nick declared before the three went silent, processing the evidence as quickly as possible. Ecklie had quickly escalated the situation and they intended to stop it before it went any further.
Warrick took Sara to the hospital. He escorted her right into the emergency room where her physician Dr. Binotto was waiting.
"Don't go." She pleaded with him in a panicked whisper. Warrick sat down next to her as the nurse drew the curtains in. Sara could understand in that moment why most victims of sexual assault never went to the authorities. They wanted to forget it ever happened. But she couldn't let Ecklie get away with what he did to her or her teammates. She had never experienced fear quite like this before. She had not been in control, and it terrified her to no end that there were moments she could not remember.
As the doctor checked her for evidence of a sexual assault, she squeezed his hand until he lost feeling. 'Damn she's strong' was on his lips before he noticed the terrified look in her eyes. Her brown eyes popped out against her pale skin. He squeezed her hand back in return to try to reassure her. He wished desperately he could take away her pain.
The doctor finished the check up and wheeled Sara upstairs for some ex-rays. Warrick waited for the results before calling Grissom. The nurse bandaged her up while the doctor reported to Warrick. "The results came back negative." Warrick was relieved, and let out the breath he didn't even know he had been holding. "Thank you Doctor." He replied simply and gratefully.
"Doesn't mean the recovery will be any easier though." Dr. Binotto reminded him gently. "You can take her home as soon as she gets back."
"Grissom." The supervisor answered tensely. "Hey boss, it's Warrick."
"How is she?" He asked softly, concerned about his young CSI. He felt no small amount of guilt for bringing her to this lab in the first place.
"The results were negative on the rape kit. She has a few bruised ribs though. I'm taking her home in a little while." He informed him. "She's getting bandaged right now."
"Alright. The rest of us will be headed to Ecklie's house at 9am with Brass if you guys want to come. Tell Sara she doesn't have to though." Grissom offered, but not believing that she would actually stay away.
"Yeah. See you tomorrow." Warrick said hanging up just as Sara was wheeled out to him. She signed her release papers and he pushed her to the curb.
"I'll be right back Sar." He said softly. He tried to move away but she grabbed his arm urgently. "Don't leave me." She said in her most vulnerable voice. "How about I carry you?" He compromised. She nodded and he easily lifted her into his arms and quickly walked the short distance to his car. He buckled her in gently and drove them both to his house.