After Grissom left, Sara sat down on the couch and contemplated what she would do with the twelve hours she had before shift started. She knew she couldn't sit inside of the empty house alone, and she also knew that any attempts at sleep were useless. Sara trudged down the hallway to the bedroom and started rifling through her drawers. When she found the gym shorts and top that she wanted, she undressed and put the clothes on. If I can't sleep I might as well get some exercise.

Locking up the house, Sara grabbed her keys and cell phone and put them into the zipper pockets in her shorts. She slipped the earbuds of her MP3 player into her ears and started off on her jog.

Sara had been running for about two hours when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She had lost all track of time and was absolutely exhausted. Sara came to a complete stop, pulled the earbuds out of her ears, and answered her cell phone. "Sidle," she said, panting.

"Sara, you okay?" Nick asked, concerned.

"I'm out running. What do you need Nick?"

"I wanted to see how you were doing. Catherine told us all what was going on. I'm sorry Sara."

Sara was still panting and struggling to pull in a deep breath. "The sheriff was being an ass and now Gil is off in Marina Del Ray all by himself."

"Sara, where are you?"

Sara looked around, her eyes widening as she took in her surroundings. "I just passed that grocery store you usually go to."

"Sara, that's almost ten miles from your house," Nick berated, concerned for her wellbeing, "do you have water with you?"

"No."

"Go into that park near there and sit down on one of the benches, I'm coming to get you."

"Nick, I can make my way back home," she whined.

"Sara, I don't even want to know how long you've been running, but I do know that I don't want you passing out somewhere on the street. Griss would kill us all. Go sit in the park and catch your breath, I'll be there in a few minutes."

Before Sara could protest, Nick had hung up. Sara groaned and went to sit down in the park. When she looked at her watch she realized how long she had been running. I am so stupid. We've got enough problems right now and I've got Nick worrying about me because I pushed myself too far. I can't believe I've been running this long.

When Nick pulled up, Sara had her head between her knees, and she was shaking. Nick grabbed two bottles of water and raced out of the car to her side. Nick brought her head back up and put a bottle of water in her hands. "Drink," he said, twisting the top off.

Sara started to drink, and her stomach started to feel queasy once again. Nick knew she looked green, but he also knew how important it was to get fluids back in her. "Ignore it Sara, just keep drinking."

Nick rubbed her back and realized how hot she really was. He opened the other bottle of water and started to douse her hair in the liquid. Sara shuddered and stopped drinking. "Nick, stop, I'm cold."

"Sara, you're not cold, you're overheated. I've got to get you cooled down. Please, keep drinking the water."

Sara started to drink once again. "Sara, do you think you're okay to walk?" Nick asked, figuring he could cool her down quicker with the air conditioning from his car.

Sara nodded and allowed Nick to help her off of the bench. When she stood up she instantly felt dizzy, but Nick grabbed onto her before she could fall. Nick wrapped his arm tight around her and led her to the car. He helped her into the passenger seat and took off her socks and sneakers. Afterward, Nick went around the car to get into the driver's seat. Nick put the key into the ignition and cranked up the air conditioning. "Sara, how do you feel?"

"Sick."

"Well, no one asked you to go out and run a marathon," he joked.

"I honestly had no idea I had been running so long. I didn't even know where I was until you asked me."

"Keep drinking that water. What you did was dangerous, you could have heat exhaustion."

"Nick, I'm fine, just take me home."

"You're coming back to my apartment, you're not staying in that house by yourself. You need a friend right now."

"Nick, I do not want to talk about this right now."

"We don't have to talk about anything, but I want you to know that I'm here if you need me."

Nick pulled away from the park and started back to his apartment. Sara leaned her head against the headrest and kept her eyes closed during the ride to Nick's apartment.

"Sara," Nick nudged her after he pulled into the driveway.

Sara opened her eyes and looked around. "Nick, what's going on?" she asked, confused.

"Sara, we're at my place," he stated, "c'mon, let me help you inside."

Sara struggled to get out of the car, feeling the lactic acid start to kick in. Nick finally just picked her up and carried her into his house. "You've got the guest room," he announced, setting her down on the bed.

Nick left the room and returned a few minutes later with a pair of sweat pants and a dark t-shirt. "You might be more comfortable in these," Nick said, handing her the clothes.

"Thanks Nick."

"Anytime. You should try to get comfortable and get some sleep before shift, you're going to be pretty worn out. I'm going to be in my room trying to get some sleep, but come and wake me up if you need to talk."

Nick patted her shoulder before leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

As soon as Nick left, Sara pulled herself out of her drenched clothes and put on the clothes that Nick had given her. She laid down in the bed, cell phone in hand, waiting for Grissom's call. After a few minutes, she fell asleep.

When Nick got into his room, he picked up his cell phone and called Grissom. He was greeted with voicemail. "Griss, it's Nick. First of all I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for your loss. Also, I think you need to give Sara a call. She practically ran herself into heat exhaustion, and she's pretty worked up over the fact that she can't be there to help you. Right now she's safe, I've got her at my place, and I'll help keep an eye on her at work later. You don't need to call me back, but like I said, call Sara."

Nick hung up the phone and stared at the ceiling. He knows what he's doing, he'll call.

Sara woke up when her cell phone vibrated in her hand. She flipped open the phone and held it to her ear, hoping it was Grissom. "Sidle," she answered, somewhat sleepily.

"Hey, honey," Grissom answered, "did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but that's okay, I wanted to talk to you."

"I heard you went on a little jog this morning."

Sara groaned. "Nick called you," Sara said, more a statement than a question.

"Yes, he's worried about you, as am I. Do you want to talk?"

"Gil, I couldn't sleep without you there, and I decided to go for a run to clear my head a little. I pretty much went into a trance, and I ran for a really long time without realizing what I was doing. That's when Nick called, found out where I was, and came to pick me up."

"Heat exhaustion, Sara? How long had you been running?"

"About two hours."

Despite the situation, Grissom emitted a slight chuckle. "How do you feel?"

"Like a truck ran me over. Lactic acid is a pain in the ass, literally."

Grissom chuckled again. "You want to do me a favor and try and take care of yourself so I can take comfort in the fact that you are safe?"

Sara tried to smile, but too many things were bothering her. "Did you get there okay?" she changed the subject.

Grissom frowned when she sidestepped his concern. "Sara, I am talking to you, I think I got here okay. Right now I'm waiting to rent a car. Sara, what can I do to help you?" he asked, knowing that any other questions would just upset her.

Get me out to you. "Gil, you've got enough on your plate, please don't worry about me."

"Sara, how can I not worry about you when you don't take care of yourself?"

Sara took a deep breath and tried to keep her emotions in check. "I'm worried about work," she admitted.

"Sara, you don't have to go out into the field, you can just stay in the lab and get some work done," he provided her with an outlet.

"That's not what I'm worried about, I'd actually welcome going out into the field."

Grissom was confused. "What are you worried about then?"

"Losing my cool."

"Sara, just think for a few seconds before you say anything. If something starts to bother you pull yourself out of the situation."

"I just don't want to run into the sheriff," she mumbled.

Grissom didn't want to start discussing the sheriff again, so he redirected the conversation. "Sara, remember, if you need to talk to me, call. I'd rather you take out your anger and stress on me than run yourself into the ground."

"Gil, I should be helping you."

"We're in this together, we're helping each other."

"Thank you, I love you," Sara stated, "and if you need anything, give me a call."

"Sure honey. I love you too."

Sara closed her cell phone and turned over in the bed. She looked at her watch and realized she could still get some sleep before she had to get ready for work. She snuggled into the pillows and tried to drift off once more.

When Nick woke up, Sara was still sleeping. He decided to give her some more time to rest while he showered and got dressed. When Nick returned from the bathroom a little while later, Sara was sitting in the living room with a cup of coffee in hand. "I see you made yourself at home," he joked.

Sara picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "There's more in the kitchen for you."

"Well, I'm glad, being this is my apartment and all," he said facetiously.

Sara shot him another look and Nick grinned. "I need to go home and shower before I go to work. So, after you've taken your sweet time with your coffee, I'd like to get going."

Nick returned to the living room with his coffee and sat next to her on the couch. "Oh, I thought you wanted to go to work in that," he deadpanned.

Sara poked his side. "I'm serious Nick!"

"I know, you need all of that time to primp and look beautiful."

Sara went to poke him again, but Nick grabbed her hand. "I'm all ready," he stated, "let's go Sidle."

The two went out to the car and left for Sara's house.

Nick dropped Sara off, and he left for the lab after much persuasion. Sara entered her house and enjoyed an extremely long shower to try and work the kinks out of her body. Once she was dressed, Sara locked up the house and headed for the lab. Please let me get through this day without incident.
When Sara entered the break room, Warrick and Nick were waiting to give her a hug. "We're here for you if you need us girl," Warrick said.

"I'll be your shoulder," Greg gestured with his head.

Sara laughed and shook her head in amusement. She plopped herself down on the couch and looked up as Catherine entered the room. "Hi Sara," she spoke, giving her a warm smile.

"Hey Cath," Sara replied.

"Okay, we've got a busy night," Catherine rifled through the assignment slips, "Warrick, you've got a jewelry heist. Nick, you and Greg have a homicide. Sara, you're with me, we've got a B&E. Warrick, if you get done early, you can help Nick and Greg."

They headed out of the lab and to their respective scenes.

"How are you doing?" Catherine asked Sara in the car on the way to the scene.

"Okay," Sara answered, "I'm mad that I'm here, but I'll do my job, if that's what you're asking."

"No, I wasn't referring to that at all. I see you're walking kind of stiff."

"Yeah, I had a little mishap earlier in the day."

Catherine raised an eyebrow. "A mishap?" Catherine questioned.

"Yeah, I ran about ten miles."

"Are you out of your mind?" Catherine exclaimed.

"It's a long story," Sara stated, "I'm okay though."

Catherine accepted Sara's answer and they continued the drive in silence.

When Catherine and Sara arrived at the scene, Brass informed them that it was a false alarm. Slightly ticked off, Catherine and Sara returned to the lab. "Sara, why don't you go meet Warrick at that jewelry heist, and I'll go help out Nick and Greg."

Sara nodded and started to walk to her car. "If there's any problem page me," Catherine stated.

Sara and Catherine went their separate ways to go to their scenes.

"I can't believe that idiot left his prints all over the scene," Sara told Warrick as they put the evidence in the car.

"Yeah, I know. Let's get this evidence back to the lab and see if anything else is going on."

When Warrick and Sara entered the lab, it was fairly quiet. They dropped their evidence off and continued through the hallway to the break room. When Sara went to get a water bottle out of the refrigerator, her beeper went off. Seconds later, Warrick's sounded also. Sara pulled the device up to eye level and read the display. '419 - Brass' "Do you have what I have?" Sara asked.

"419?"

"Yes. You drive, I'll call."

Sara and Warrick headed back out to the parking lot, and after Sara had gotten directions, took off for the scene.

Brass was waiting for them when they pulled up on scene. There were news vehicles everywhere, and reporters were harassing everyone in sight. Brass pulled them under the tape and inside of the crime scene. "Glad you guys finally got here," Brass sighed.

"The swamp is insane out there. Where's the body?" Warrick asked.

"Bodies," Brass emphasized, "we've got five."

Sara's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Sorry Sara," Brass stated, "everyone else is at the other homicide scene, and they're having their own problems."

Brass led them down the hallway and pointed toward a children's bedroom. "There's three children in there, all stabbed to death. In the kitchen there's a woman bludgeoned to death with a frying pan, and there's a male stabbed to death in the study. Back door was the point of entry, and there's multiple blood trails through the hallway."

Sara fought to keep the budding nausea down and tried to maintain her cool. She was already having enough trouble dealing with everything else, she didn't need to go process a scene with dead children. They were seriously understaffed and unprepared to handle a scene of that magnitude. "Why can't Catherine get over here?" Warrick took charge and asked Brass.

"They discovered remains at their scene. They're about in the same boat as we are."

Warrick sighed and turned to Sara. "How do you want to handle this?" he asked.

"I'll take the kitchen," Sara stated, not wanting to face the prospect of processing children at the moment.

"Alright, let me know if you get anything. I'll take the bedroom."

Sara and Warrick went their separate ways and started to process the scene.

When Sara finished processing the kitchen, she went back to where Warrick was working in the bedroom. Although she did not want to see the devastation in the room, she needed to talk to Warrick. "Warrick," she called, quickly glancing into the room.

Sara gasped when she saw all of the blood all over the floor. She plastered a fake grin on her face in an effort to suppress the gag reflex. Warrick walked over to the door and looked at Sara with concern. "What do you need Sara?" he asked.

Sara's gaze returned to Warrick. "I finished processing the kitchen. My entire kit is emptied out," Sara stated.

"I'm not quite finished in here," Warrick stated, "we really need more help down here."

"Brass is trying to get day shift to come in and take over. We don't have the manpower to deal with this right now."

Warrick nodded. "Why don't you take that evidence back to the lab and come back with more supplies. I'm running low also."

"Okay, I'll be back in a little while."

When Sara left the house, her mind was so focused on the treachery inside that she had forgotten the maze of reporters that littered the front lawn. She looked up when a camera flashed in her face. "CSI Sidle, can you tell us what the scene is like inside?"

Sara's eyes widened in horror when she saw the mob that lay ahead. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting the media attention. "This is a homicide scene, if you would just let the investigators do their job," Sara said, trying to push through the throng.

"CSI Sidle, isn't it true that your fiance, and head of night shift, is on leave?" another reporter pried.

"Yes it is, but that doesn't have anything to do with this investigation."

"But if he was here you might actually be able to process the scene faster. Why are you leaving when there is still more to process inside?"

Sara was getting extremely frustrated with the reporters. "I need to bring evidence back to the lab, and you are blocking my way," she tried to push through again.

"Ms. Sidle, don't you think it's a little soon to be investigating a multiple homicide one day after your future mother in law passed away? Don't you think it will impair your judgment?" a reporter pushed too far.

Sara snapped and lashed out at the reporters. "My personal life is none of your damn business, and it sure as hell doesn't interfere with my job!"

"It sure seems like it's interfering right now," a reporter further baited her.

Brass pushed under the crime scene tape and worked his way through the reporters to get to Sara. Her shoulders were visibly shaking, and he could tell that it was taking all that she had to try and keep herself together. Brass was finally able to get behind her and grab her shoulders. "Leave CSI Sidle alone," he bellowed, directing her through the crowd and toward his police vehicle.

Tears were streaming down Sara's face, and Brass was practically holding her up. "It's going to be okay," he tried to comfort her, "all of this crap is ending now."

Brass helped her into the car and drove away from the scene.

Throughout the entire drive, Sara had herself pressed to the door, staring out the window. Brass was on the phone with Catherine. "Cath, Warrick is the only one left at the scene right now. You have to send someone else over," Brass informed her.

"What happened to Sara?"

"Let's just say that the news stations must be a disaster right now, and the sheriff is probably having a fit. They attacked her Cath."

"Where is she?"

"I've got her in the car, and I'm driving her back to the lab."

"Call in that plane ticket and get her on the next flight to Marina Del Ray."

"Sure Cath, I'll take care of her and make sure she gets to the airport in one piece."

Brass closed his cell phone and turned the car around. "Where are we going?" Sara whispered.

"Your house."

"Why?"

"You're done working. You're going to pack a bag and get ready to get on the next plane to Marina Del Ray."

Sara tried to fight her emotions, but a few more silent tears streamed down her face. "Don't worry about what happened at the scene," Brass stated, "I'll get it under control with the sheriff."

Sara groaned. "That has to be a mess," she sniffled.

"Well, at least you didn't sock anyone."

Sara's attempted chuckle came out more like a croak. "Take the couple of days and try and help Gil get through this. We'll take care of the mess here. When I'm done with you I'll make sure the evidence gets back to the lab."

Sara nodded and refocused her attention out the window.

After taking her to pack a bag, Brass brought Sara to the airport and sat with her until it was time for her flight to leave. Brass pulled her into an awkward hug before she could leave. "Take care," Brass said.

Sara nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.

Brass squeezed her hand one last time and allowed her to board the plane.

After Sara found her window seat, she pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed Grissom. "Grissom," he picked up, sounding slightly weary.

"Gil," her voice broke, and she started to cry again.

"Sara, what's wrong?" he asked, his heart breaking when he heard her sobs.

"I'm coming," she stated through her tears.

"What happened?"

"It's not important now, I'll tell you when I get there. I'm on the plane right now."

"What time are you landing?"

"In an hour and a half."

"I'll meet you at the airport. Sara, take deep breaths and try to relax, we'll be together soon enough."

"I love you," her voice wavered.

"I love you too honey. I'll see you soon."

Sara closed her phone and leaned her head against the window. Tears poured down her face as she relinquished her pain and suffering. The only mother I ever really had is gone, and now the rest of my life is falling apart around me. How can I keep doing this?