Chapter Seven

Catherine rewound the segment back, hitting the play button for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. It was now near six, and she had been reviewing the surveillance footage continuously since a little after four thirty. Shaking her head, she bit her lip as she watched it one more time.

"Show me what you have," Grissom's voice startled her, and Catherine found herself quickly drying her eyes off, glad that her hair was hiding her face somewhat.

"You okay?" Grissom asked suddenly, watching her.

"Yeah," Catherine said, smiling sadly. I always enjoy watching my friends get pounded to a pulp, she added silently. "Okay," she stated, backing up the footage again. "Five after Eight, Sara and Greg pull up, enter the store. Seems like our owner tried to get them to leave, but knowing Sara, she's persistent."

Grissom nodded, perhaps a little too persistent. "It would have been best if she and Greg just left," he stated, folding his arms.

Catherine nodded in agreement. "You sure you want to watch this?" she asked him, pausing the tape. "It's not pretty."

"That's why I'm here," Grissom told her gently, nodding for her to continue. She started the video once again.

"At seven after, two men arrive, masked, clothed in black. No car visible from the outside camera; must have walked, taken a taxi or a bus. Greg walks around the corner…" she didn't have to finish, the footage said enough.

Grissom said nothing as his blood boiled, as he watched the two men thrashed both Greg and Sara throughout the video. He felt sickened, and was somewhat glad that the footage was only visual, and not audio as well.

His thoughts were interrupted as Warrick came into the room. "You need to see this," he told Grissom, nodding to Catherine as well as she paused the video.

Grissom shook his head. "Not now," he didn't want to leave, he felt nauseous, and he wanted to see if they could get a face off the surveillance.

"You're going to want to see this," Warrick persisted.

Grissom frowned as he followed Warrick out of the room. He stopped, and turned to Catherine before leaving. "See if you can find a face for our boys," he told her, before hurrying to catch up with Warrick.

"This just started broadcasting," Warrick warned him, flipping on the screen. The news was on, the red line at the bottom read 'Breaking News' and a young blonde women was just beginning to announce.

"Police are on the lookout for two suspects who are believed to be holding two CSI Officers hostage. Greg Sanders and Sara Sidle never made it to the crime lab for their shift, and were believed to be caught in a small store robbery. So far, police have no leads."

"How did they get this information?" Grissom asked him, and Warrick only shrugged.

"Told you that you wanted to see it," he said with a sigh, turning of the screen.

The air was dry, a burning sensation had settled deep in the back of his throat. If breathing wasn't hard enough, trying to swallow was worse. Half the time if felt like he couldn't even breathe; it was if he had swallowed a bubble, that refused to pop, and the constant coughing wasn't helping either.

Greg had regained some of his strength, not much, but enough that he could move under his own power. Still, Sara tried her best to stay right by his side, offering up an awkward shoulder when she could. Mando and Stitch kept a close eye on them, keeping the pair in between them, with Stitch leading the gang up a rocky hillside.

Soon after stopping, Mando had drug the pair from the trunk. They were quite literally in the middle of nowhere, Sara could see no real pavement in either direction, or sign of life, but then again it wasn't like she was given much time to look either. Soon after, Mando had begun to push her up the hillside, trying to keep both her and Greg apart. After holding her ground some, he finally let her walk beside a feeble Greg, offering him help only when he would take it.

The climb was slowly wearing him out, Sara was surprised that he had lasted this long. They were nearing the top when Greg stumbled, and Sara caught him the best she could, only resulting in the both falling to their knees. Grumbling Mando grabbed Sara by the arm, yanking her up, following suit with Greg as well.

"This is taking too long," he yelled ahead to Stitch.

"We're nearly there," the younger man yelled back, "just around the bend there," he pointed out to the rocky formation.

Greg heaved inwardly as he stumbled forward once again. He wasn't certain if he could make that distance, but Mando would see him through, Greg was quite sure of that. The pair had been told nothing, only threatened, as they were pushed along the rocky path.

Finally, Greg and Sara could see their destination. An old broken down house, nearly invisible from the country road they had left, sheltered by the high hills. It looked as if no one had lived there for years.

Fear was beginning to consume Sara. Slowly, little by little. She had a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach, that their fates would be decided once reaching the house. She shook her head. Why kill them way out here? If they wanted them dead, wouldn't it have been easier and less painful to finish them off at the store? They had talked about ransoming, the one thing with that however, is the victim hardly ever came out alive. They were dead before the ransom was even made. Was this what was to become of them? Just another case, another day's work?

"Home sweet home," Stitch laughed, kicking the door open.

Greg wasn't willing to walk in on his own, and seeing the hesitation, Mando grabbed him roughly behind the neck, shoving him forward. Greg grimaced at the pain, trying to pull free, with little success, as Sara was hustled in behind him with the threat of a gun, pointed to the back of her head.

Shoving Greg to his knees, Mando picked up a long piece of chain that was covered in dust, wrapping it around his wrists several times before locking it secure. Turning to his left, he could see Sara receiving the same treatment.

"That'll hold them," Mando nodded at Stitch who finished tying Sara up.

"Feel free to wander as far as those chains will let you," Mando continued, laughing some as if it were a game. "But if you get too noisy, gags always work nicely."

Neither of them said anything as Mando and Stitch turned to leave. Only when they were gone did Sara get to her feet, testing the lock, finding that it wasn't coming off anytime soon. The chain itself wasn't very long, not as long as Greg's was anyways.

Turning to watch him, she was frightened to see him still on his knees, bent over in the same position Mando had him in when locking him up. He was breathing heavily, and his body was starting to shake again. Sara could tell that he was concentrating; his eyes were closed, and his face was tense.

Moving over to him, she placed her hands on his shoulder as she sat down on the dusty floor. Greg barely opened an eye, turning away even as he did so.

"You okay?" Sara asked quietly, knowing that it was indeed a ridiculous question to even be asking. Greg had been shot, beaten and drug halfway across the desert, and she was asking if he was okay. But the same thought occurred in her mind as well. Was she okay? She certainly had seen better times than this, but she felt well enough at the moment, with an exception of the heavy weight in her stomach, and ever growing worry that her companion wouldn't last much longer.

Greg nodded in answer, lifting his head up some, "Throat's sore," he managed to say, giving her a soft grin. That was the least of his worries though. The gunshot wound, he could tell, had ripped open again. He could feel a small, yet definite blood trail making its way down his side again. He wasn't sure how much blood he had lost already, but he was certain he didn't have room to spare.

Sara smiled back at him, even though she could tell he was in a great deal of pain. Ever so gently she began rubbing his shoulder, moving down to his back, watching him closely, as if studying him.

Greg made no move or comment as she did so, listening to the unnerving rattle the chain made as she moved her hands in short semi-circles. With a sigh he met her eyes again, the grin now gone. "So," he rasped quietly, "is this where it ends?"

Sara stopped her motions for a moment, watching him with a saddened expression. "I don't know," she told him softly. "I want to say we'll get out this somehow, part of me wants to believe that still, but honestly…I don't know anymore."

Greg nodded silently, disappointment masking his face. He had wanted to hear different, even if he doubted that they would escape, he still wanted to hear her say that they would. He was caught off guard when Sara fingered his chin, leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the lips. He blinked as she pulled away, unsure of what to say or do.

Sara only smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and closing her eyes. Greg watched her for a moment, before laying his head on top of hers, looping his arms around her chest. "We'll get out of here," he told her, more confident now.

"It's okay," she muttered, her words muddled by his shirt. "I don't mind going like this."

Greg laughed softly, yawning as he leaned against the wall behind them, bringing Sara with him. "We will get out of here."

TBC

A quick thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Ms. Elizabeth Granger

Lol, poor Greg…not sure if you're really helping him by sitting on him though. Though your karate action might help some.

Teenwitch

Thanks for the comment! I always try and keep the characters, well, in character. Makes the most sense to me anyways.

Cherokeeladay

I'm really curious to what breakfast food rhymes with his name. I've been thinking about it, but I'm stumped. What is it?

Slynn

Greg's not dead…not yet anyways not to say that he will be either…you just never know with me :D

jbr12476

Surprising huh? Only thought about posting a few chapters, but this has turned into a full fledge story, and I'm already working on a sequel

RiverRunsDeep

I thought the baby shampoo worked well with him. In my opinion at least. Grissom is jealous, yes….serves him right I feel :D After asking Sophia out.

Few

Glad you like it. Stitch is more…stupid than Mando I guess you could say…mean, yes, but true.

CSIindiegurl

My secret for writing? I just write…I sit down, put on some quiet music and write, I let the story tell itself. Weird huh? Thanks for the comments!

Yet-Another-Weasley

Greg's a hottie…I watched him in the second season the other day, compared to know…he's changed a lot. Not that I mind of course!

Dee

looks down uh….hi? how'd you find me? Lol…glad I've got you hooked, but I didn't know you were being literal :D

raccoony

It's a bigger trunk yeah, but it's not like they have a lot of room to move around in their either. Hope that helps