Disclaimer: Hehe, I almost forgot this part. I don't own CSI or any of the characters created by the writers of CSI, much to my chagrin. One can always hope though...

It seemed like an eternity since Nick had been kidnapped. In actuality, it'd been 6 hours 15 minutes and 13…14…15…seconds. But who was counting? Sara stared at the computer before her with the cryptic message scrolling across the screen. Grissom had elected to make the drop-off of one million dollars, but Sara had the sneaking suspicion that the man had no intention of setting Nick free. He wasn't in it for the money, he was sick, just really sick. Her mind whirred, trying to process information, but her body was beyond exhaustion. What could she do? Nothing. She felt utterly helpless, one person amidst an ocean of anxiety. Her hands gripped the edge of the table as she watched Nick inside his plexiglass prison. She thought back to the interview with the daughter. Poor girl, and poor Nick! The world could be so twisted. A scarred girl finally gets her revenge at Nick's expense. It could've been any of them, why Nick? Lady Luck was fickle, that was a fact. Chance, what a paradox! As she wearily studied the live feed from the webcam, a thought began forming in the back of her mind. It was a shadow of an idea, golden edges shining in the dark recesses of her brain. It slowly got brighter, manifesting itself. With what seemed like an audible explosion, it hit her. Sara knew where Nick was.

She sat there in disbelief, could she trust herself? How in the world could she know! Her gut told her to go for it, her mind rationalized; "You're tired Sara, you've had too much caffeine, you're hallucinating. Besides, would your co-workers actually believe you? You have no proof!" Sara was struggling within herself. But…if there was any chance of saving Nick…what if she was right? She abruptly stood up and bolted from the room, she would go alone. Running to her Tahoe, she started the car and gunned it out of the parking lot. Not exactly certain why she was so sure, she let the mysterious force guide her.

She drove as if in a daze, her body was no longer her own. Right. Left. Left. Right. Sara's mind was drowning in thoughts. Her recent feelings for Nick surfaced and she could feel her heart contracting painfully. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, really loved him. Grissom was but a distant memory. She wanted Nick, and now it was almost too late. She didn't even know if Nick wanted her, but that wouldn't affect her own emotions. Sara thought back to all her memories of Nick; flirting with him, fighting with him, processing scenes with him, experimenting with him. Why didn't she see it sooner? Stupid Grissom…stupid me, she silently chastised. Before she could dwell on her own shortcomings, her car stopped. It was a plant nursery; the daughter's nursery. She literally burst from the car, thanking God or whomever had been watching over her this night, that she had the presence of mind to remember a shovel. She searched methodically, running and calling Nick's name. Suddenly, she stumbled on something sticking up out of the ground. Gasping in pain, she glanced down. It was a pipe! With superhuman strength she used her shovel and cleaved huge pieces of the soil out of the ground. Sweat dripped down her back as she shoveled. She could see something materializing under the ground. Something transparent. Plexiglass maybe. She abandoned her shovel and threw herself on the ground, clearing dirt away with her bare hands. After a few minutes, Nick's face came into view, contorted in pain. Sara screamed,

"Nick! I've got you!" His crazed eyes reflected his fear, tears streaming as he strained against the lid of the box. Sara was prying the lid open with her fingers, tips bloodied from digging. Just as her fingers were at the edge a voice rang out from the darkness.

"Uh, uh, uh. I wouldn't open that if I were you." An old man stepped out from the darkness. "Your friend Mr. Grissom is probably at the warehouse now with my money. It's a good thing I decided to check on Mr. Stokes. Don't want my captive getting away." He fingered something in his hands. Sara's head had snapped up at the sound of his voice. Her heart strained painfully in her chest. Her hand strayed to her gun.

"I have explosives underneath Mr. Stokes, if he gets up… BOOM! I'm afraid you have a bit of a dilemma here Miss...Sidle." He glanced at the name on the back of her vest and grinned, but his eyes were like ice. Nick was panicking, why wasn't Sara getting him out? Sara was so scared now that she could barely breathe.

"Hold on Nick!" She shouted, "DON'T MOVE !" Nick heard her and panicked again at the helplessness in her voice. The man spoke again,

"This remote here shuts off the explosives. Here, take it." Sara hesitated, was it a trap? No choice. She thought miserably. She reached out and grabbed it. Praying harder than she'd ever prayed in her entire life, she pressed the button. With a whoosh, the lid sprung open. Disarming the explosives also unlocked the coffin. Crying with relief, she reached down and gently pulled Nick from the box, he collapsed in her arms as she furiously brushed fire ants from his body. The man watched them with a faintly amused smile on his face.

"How touching this all is." He crooned. "All the better when I kill you both now. Guns are so much simpler." He sighed, pulling a pistol out from his coat pocket. Sara's face was resigned; she knew he wasn't going to let them go that easily. Sara had one bargaining chip, anything to save Nick.

"Take me." She said.

The man laughed uproariously, "Take you? And let him go?"

"Yes." She replied firmly. Nick's eyes snapped open. He shook his head furiously. He was too weak for speech, but desperation shone from his eyes. No, Sara! He silently pleaded. Don't do it! The old man stood stock still considering the proposition. Sara meanwhile was scrabbling with the cell phone behind her back, placing a call to somebody, anybody, realizing at that moment her foolishness and impulsiveness for trying to save Nick by herself. She pressed Send and placed the phone on the ground behind her, hoping that somebody could trace the signal from it.

"Please." She begged the man. "Take me instead of Nick, he's been through enough." She got up and started walking toward the man. Nick feebly grabbed her hand. Sara gently dislodged his fingers from hers and flashed him a sad smile. Everything is going to be alright Nicky. She thought to herself. The old man saw her walking toward him, and saw her hand reaching for her gun.

"Don't come any closer!" He shouted, pistol pointed at Nick. Sara stopped. What now? She thought desperately. Somebody come help us!

Meanwhile, back at the lab, all hell had broken loose. Grissom had returned from the warehouse, still bearing his one million dollars, looking defeated. Answering the questioning looks of his team, he said slowly,

"He wasn't there…" His face crumbled. At that moment, Warrick's phone rang. "Brown." He answered. "Hello?" He couldn't hear anything, only faint talking in the background, it sounded like… "Sara?" No answer. Crap, she could be in trouble. Warrick was getting a bad feeling.

"Grissom! I got a call, I think its from Sara. "Something's wrong."

"Warrick, trace the call, find out where she is, as fast as possible."

"Right Gris." He rushed off. Grissom went into his office and let his head drop onto his folded arms. He felt so old, and vulnerable. He wanted his old team back very badly. Suppressing his anxiety, he nodded off to sleep, it had been an impossibly long night.

"Gris! Wake up!" Grissom's eyes opened to see an excited Warrick Brown leaning on his desk.

"Sara's call, we got a location!" Grissom sat up anxiously.

"Where?"

"A plant nursery five miles from here." Grissom bolted out of his office calling over his shoulder,

"That's where Nick must be, call Brass!"

Sara and the old man stared at each other. Nick was almost in a comatose state, still trying in vain to make Sara back down. All of a sudden, the sound of sirens approached. Alarmed, the old man glanced over his shoulder. With surprising agility, his hands whipped out, catching Sara off balance. He turned her around and pressed his gun against her temple. Nick croaked out her name, but could only look on in horror. The sirens got closer and closer until Sara could see an entire entourage of cars park at the edge of the nursery. Catherine, Warrick, Grissom, and Greg flew out of their respective vehicles and found Sara in the hands of the madman. Catherine almost burst into tears.

"Oh my god, what the hell are we going to do now?" Grissom fixed his eyes on the scene before them. Sara; her eyes wide and afraid. The old man; calm and in control. Nick; behind them both, gasping in panic and pain. The events that happened next occurred as if in slow motion.

With a sudden surge of strength, Sara elbowed the man making him double over in pain. She wrestled with him for the gun, face to face. A shot rang out. Sara's eyes opened wide in surprise. Her gaze went to the red stain steadily spreading across the V neck of her shirt. Sara's hand covered the wound, blood running freely between her fingers. She sank to her knees, feeling her life draining out of her along with the blood. Her face was serene, her mind was a jumble. That V neck…the only place the vest didn't cover… she almost laughed at the irony of it. She felt her heart skip a beat, the end was coming. Her eyes trained on Nick. At least he was safe. She reassured herself.

The moment the shot rang out, an officer immediately took down the old man. The team was aghast as they watched Sara sink down to the ground.

"Get the ambulance!" Grissom screamed. He ran to Sara; Greg, Catherine, and Warrick in tow. But Nick had gotten to her first, crawling inch by inch to her prone body. Sara was still kneeling, but her energy was almost gone. Her sticky hands still covered the gaping hole at her neck, the metallic stench of blood enveloped her. Nick's hand trembled as he cupped her cheek,

"Oh Sara." He managed to croak. "Why…oh God!"

Sara was tired, so tired. She mustered up her energy and smiled. She whispered so only Nick could hear,

"I love you." Then her world went black. She slumped forward into Nick's arms.

"Sara!" Nick cried out.

Grissom was terrified.

"Warrick! See to Nick. Where the hell is that ambulance?" He picked Sara up and bundled her limp form in his coat. He ran with her to his car, just as the ambulances pulled in. Sara's breath was shallow and her pulse was almost imperceptible. The paramedics loaded her onto a stretcher and worked on her furiously. Nick was already in the ambulance, straining in his stretcher to get to Sara.

When they all arrived at the hospital, all they could do was wait. Grissom sat stiffly in a chair staring blankly at his hands. Warrick paced nervously and Catherine wept silently in a corner. Greg had gone to get coffee for all of them, barely able to keep himself from bawling like a baby. The doctor emerged from the operating room. His face was grim. Grissom stood up and rushed over to where the doctor was standing.

"Mr. Stokes is going to be fine. He's stable, no lasting damage from the ant bites." The whole team breathed out a sigh of relief. Grissom was still worried though,

"What about Sara? Sara Sidle?" The doctor averted his eyes slightly. Head bowed, he spoke,

"She lost vast amounts of blood. On the ride here, she went into shock. We did all that we could, but she didn't pull through. I'm sorry." Grissom could only stand there in disbelief. Catherine sank down into a chair and Warrick angrily punched the wall in front of him. Gathering his wits, Grissom, spoke quite calmly.

"Catherine and Warrick, go see Nick. He needs you guys. Don't tell him about Sara if he doesn't mention it." Catherine nodded dumbly, wiping at her tears, and followed Warrick to Nick's room. Grissom turned to the doctor,

"Can I see her?" The doctor motioned Grissom to follow him. They arrived at a hospital bed, Grissom saw Sara's familiar face. Her features were untouched, beautiful. She was so pale. He grasped her icy hand and cried his heart out.

Back at Nick's room, Warrick and Catherine tried to put on a happy face for Nick's sake. He was awake, and he definitely hadn't forgotten about Sara. The only thing keeping him from leaping out of the bed was the sedative he'd been given. The only things on his mind were Sara's last words to him. I love you. Did she mean it? He needed to see her so badly! Warrick could see the turmoil on Nick's face, he urged his own tears back.

"Hey buddy, you're gonna be alright. We're here for you." Catherine added,

"We were so scared Nicky, but everything's going to be fine now…" Her voice trailed off, cracking a little. Nick wasn't hearing them.

"Sara?" He said in a raspy voice. "She ok?" Fresh tears ran down Catherine's face, Warrick gripped Nick's hands firmly.

"Nick…Sara, she's not ok. She…she…" He couldn't finish, but Nick knew instantly what had happened. "Dead?" He whispered, half to himself. Catherine nodded, and then ran out the door , Warrick heard her retching outside the hospital room. This is what hell is like, he thought grimly.

Nick's mind had imploded. Dead, Sara, Sara's dead. The words didn't seem to compute. She said she loved him! He silently screamed to himself. I didn't get to say it back! He wanted to sink into oblivion and forget what happened. This was all some ghastly dream, they would all wake up and everything would be fine again... right? He burst into tears, every sob making his joints ache, but the hurt in his limbs couldn't compare to the one in his heart.

3 Months Later

The rain was gushing in a torrent. He stood alone at her gravestone, flowers in hand. He gently placed the white roses at the foot of the stone. Tears flowing, he ran his hand across the name etched into the granite headstone. Sara Sidle. He would never forget her, and her sacrifice for him. The rain pounded down relentlessly soaking him to the skin. He ignored it and focused only on her. Too late he had realized he loved her. Too late for him, and too late for her. He prepared himself for the plummet into depression that always occurred after he visited Sara's grave. It didn't happen. Instead, a glimmer of hope shone down on him. He knew what he had to do for, his sake and Sara's. Nick was going to live his life to the fullest, he was going to be the best CSI he could, he'd do it for her. She would've wanted it. The rain gradually stopped and the sun peaked out from behind the clouds. Nick smiled, for the first time in three months. He knew that when the time came, he would see Sara again, in heaven. And when he did, the first thing he'd say to her would be "I love you too."

The End