Disclaimer/Author's Note – See Chapter One

Chapter Four – A Special Case

Grissom had to get out of there. Scooping the contents of the envelope back into its confines again, trying to avoid touching the note in the vague hope that he would not further compromise any prints that might be present, he gave it to Greg to take to DNA, trace and fingerprints. After telling Catherine to look after Sara, he stormed off to his office to calm down.

His emotions had been threatening to get the better of him since Sara's DNA and fingerprint had shown up at his crime scene. But now those emotions were dangerously close to erupting, and that he could not afford. He had to keep calm, not lose his head. For the sake of the case. And for Sara.

He looked down at his shaking hands and was startled to see his white knuckles clenched fiercely around his coffee mug. He didn't remember picking it up.

Suddenly he was overcome with rage. Tightening his grip on the mug, he pulled his arm back and hurled it at the wall.

'Son of a bitch!' The words boiled out of him in unfettered fury.

'Guess there's no point in asking if you're okay.'

Grissom had no idea how long Catherine had been standing there.

'I thought you were with Sara,' was all he could say.

'Ladies room, washing her face. I'm taking her to the hospital now for… for a sexual assault exam,' Catherine edged into the office, looking worried. 'What are you going to do?'

'Work the case,' he answered sullenly. He moved to his chair and sat down, suddenly needing to put his desk between himself and Catherine's penetrating gaze.

'Can you? Objectively?'

Grissom glared at her. 'What the hell's that supposed to mean?'

'Well, you're not exactly your usual detached, analytical self now, are you?' Catherine moved closer to the desk. 'It's Sara. It feels personal to all of us. But for you…'

Catherine hesitated, not sure if she should push him now. But then, she'd never really been one to skirt an issue.

'If it were any of us, you'd do your damnedest for us. I know that. But Sara, she's… special.'

When Grissom could no longer hold her gaze, he looked away and sighed.

'Right now, she's evidence.'

'So, we'd better go process me then,' said an oddly detached voice.

Grissom looked up to see Sara in the doorway, looking lost, and scared, but mostly stung by what he'd just said.

'Sara,' he started, not sure what to say.

'I'm ready to go Cath,' Sara said, ignoring him.

She turned and hurried away from the office towards the car park. Catherine looked at Grissom and shook her head before following Sara out. Grissom cradled his head in his hands.

'You're an asshole, Gil,' he berated himself.

Warrick's eyes went briefly in and out of focus as he stared at the small screen in front of him. Nothing moved. He'd gone through hours of footage, and no one had gone near the door of the warehouse, even during the day leading up to the crime.

'Anything yet?' Nick's Texan drawl inquired as he entered the AV lab. Warrick shook his head without tearing his gaze from the screen.

'Nothing. No one went near the place all day. But it's got me to thinking. If our perp was casing the place, watching it for any length of time, they'd probably think that the warehouse was totally abandoned. But I have it from the owner of the industrial park that it was only going to be vacant until tomorrow.'

'So our guy might have thought that his bugs would have plenty of time to decomp the body before it was found? Any reason to think that he might have known the warehouse was going back in use?' Nick wanted to know.

'The owner doesn't seem to think so. It wasn't a secret. But no one outside of the company would have had any reason to know.'

Nick thought for a moment. 'Are you checking into the employees?'

'Brass is on it,' Warrick replied, finally looking away from the screen. 'Checking for anyone with a record or a grudge. But right now, we've got nothing. It's kinda hard when we don't know who the victim is. How'd you go with the missing persons reports?'

'Narrowed it down to 8 possibilities, based on our vic's height and weight. O'Reilly's tracking down dental records. Hopefully won't take too long.'

Nick looked at the screen. Suddenly, something caught his attention.

'Heads up man,' he told Warrick.

A dark coloured SUV had pulled up in front of the warehouse door. A figure in dark slacks and a jacket got out, wearing a black hat they both recognised.

'That looks like…' Nick began.

'Sara,' Warrick finished. 'Her coat, her hat, her car even.'

'What's the time code say?' Nick asked his partner.

'1 am,' Warrick replied.

'So Sara left the bar at 11pm. Everything's blank after that. Gris and Brass were at her house by 7am this morning,' Nick started to lay it out.

'But according to Greg, the amount of rohypnol in her system was enough to have her unconscious for at least 8 or 9 hours.'

'Meaning that she must have been out of it by 1 am this morning. No way is that her,' Nick concluded.

'Meaning someone, what? Drove her home, and then took her hat, coat and car to the warehouse. Killed our vic, and left Sara's car back at her apartment before 7 am this morning,' Warrick thought aloud.

'Tells us something else, partner,' Nick replied. 'Look at the perp's build. Our killer's a woman.'

No matter how many assault cases she had worked, nothing prepared Sara for going through a sexual assault examination herself. The humiliation built up inside her chest until it was almost too painful to breathe. Tears threatened to breach the defences of her eyes, but she refused to cry. Not here. Not now.

When it was over, Catherine sat in a chair near her, offering her unspoken support while the doctor went through her findings. Sara was grateful she was there.

'I can't find any evidence of sexual assault, Sara,' the doctor began. 'There's no evidence of sex taking place in a while.'

Sara felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off her chest.

'You're sure?' Catherine wanted to be sure.

'As sure as I can be,' the doctor replied. 'There's no sign of injury, the clock's completely clear.'

Sara was too caught up in her relief and remaining confusion to speak. Slowly she lowered her feet to the ground and got off the examination table.

'I'll leave you to get dressed,' Catherine told her, squeezing her arm and giving her a quick smile. She and the doctor left the room.

In a daze, Sara quickly put her clothes back on. I'm burning this damn outfit when I get home, she thought absently. All the emotions of the past several hours started to build up again. The confusion, the pain, the fear… and still the nagging knowledge that she still didn't know what had happened to her, who had drugged her, or why her fingerprint and hair had wound up at a crime scene.

When she left the exam room, Catherine wasn't around. Standing opposite the door, leaning back against the wall was Grissom. He looked up as she closed the door, his blue eyes filled with regret.

'Hey,' he said simply.

'Hey...' she started to reply, before everything became too much for her. The tears she had held back throughout her exam broke through her barriers, and Sara wept.

Suddenly she felt his arms around her, holding her up, clutching her sobbing, grief-wracked body to his chest, giving her all the warmth and support he could muster. Grissom let her cry, sobbing into his shoulder like a lost child. Gently he stroked her hair.

Grissom wanted nothing more in the world than to take all her pain away, to give her comfort and solace. He had felt so utterly helpless, and though he still felt that way, he finally got it. He might not have all the answers yet, he might not be in control. But he could be there for her.

Slowly, Sara got her breathing under control, and the tears slowed. She gently pulled away from him and looked up at his concerned face.

'What are you doing here?' she asked him.

'I wanted to be here for you,' he told her. A look of guilt crossed his face. 'And to apologise. I'm sorry about earlier. I was an asshole…'

'Its okay,' she answered gently. 'It means a lot that you're here.'

'Come on. I'll take you home.'

To Be Continued...