Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, never have. P

In the Midst of it All: Chapter 2

She got back to the lab in a little over half an hour. Traffic had been pretty backed up on the strip and for a while she was about to just get out of her car and walk the rest of the way to the lab. However, the scorching temperatures kept her inside the car with the air conditioner on high. She breathed in the cool air one last time before turning off the car and hurrying up inside.

Spotting Greg, she nearly threw the evidence bags at him, "Can you drop all of this off with Mia? And you can get Bobby over at Bullistics to take a look at this."

"Sure," he responded, a bit bewildered, "And you can't because?"

"Because I've got to be somewhere in an hour."

"Well, have fun then," he said grumpily.

"Sorry, Greg, I don't mean to force this all on you. Wait, where were you earlier?"

"Doctor's appointment; today was the only day they had open."

"Are you sick?' she backed away, jokingly, "Or was it just a check-up?"

"Not sick; I just get migraines. They're putting me on some medication, though."

"Oh, sorry," she replied. "I guess I'd better go now."

"See ya later. Good luck in court."

"Thanks," she said and hurried off to the locker room to quickly shower and change before heading over to pick up Grissom.

Forty Minutes later she was sitting in one of the uncomfortable airport seats, waiting for Grissom's flight to arrive. After only ten minutes, she was growing bored and weary. She stood up and bought a cup of coffee to try and keep herself awake and she paced back and forth by the window. Eventually, she sat back down and fell asleep, her head resting on her hand.

She jumped when he tapped her on the shoulder and called her name.

"Sorry," he apologized.

She grabbed her now cold, coffee and took a sip before responding, "You ready to go?"

He nodded, "So, anything interesting go on while I've been gone?"

"Well, we're working on a pretty big case right now. Four bodies out in the middle of nowhere. Cathrine, Nick, and Warrick are working on it as well."

"Well, I guess I'll get started on that tomorrow. Don't we have a trial to be at?"

"Yeah, we've got a little over an hour, though. Everything for the case is in either the back seat or trunk of my car."

"Would you like to stop somewhere before the trial? We could go over everything for the case," Grissom suggested.

"Sure, sounds good."

Ten minutes later, they found themselves sitting in a small diner about a block off the strip. There weren't many people eating there, save for a few people who were probably regulars. Business was probably slow because the tourists don't usually eat at small diners like this one.

"So, how have you been doing since I've been away at the seminar?" he asked.

"Okay," she said.

"You sure?" he pressed, knowing that for the past few months, she'd been going through a lot. But then again, he didn't find it odd that she didn't want to tell him how she really was; she was always very introverted.

She nodded and changed the subject, "How was the seminar?"

"Well, I gave two lectures; one on the second day and one on the fifth. For the rest of the time I sat in for some of the other lectures, but most of the stuff I knew already. You would have benefited from it, though."

"What are you saying," she inquired. "That I'm not as smart as you?"

"Not at all; I was just saying that you would have found it interesting. I know you seemed like you were interesting in that butterfly book I gave you a while ago." He blushed a little.

"Yeah," she said, smiling "Let me go get something out of my car."

She headed out to the parking lot and opened the trunk of her car. Rummaging through, she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the folder and was about to shut the trunk when she got the strange feeling that someone was watching her. She didn't turn around, but looked out of the corner of her eye, but saw nothing. Yet someone was there, breathing down her neck. She turned around the other way, but never got a chance to find out who was behind her.

He watched her walk outside, but her car was parked around the other side of the building and out of his view. Now he simply sat and waited, but after ten minutes passed, he was getting worried.

"Have you seen the woman I was sitting with? Maybe she went in the restroom?" he asked a waitress who walked by.

"Sorry, sir. I just saw her go out to a car in the parking lot; didn't really notice if she came back in. I could check the ladies room if you'd like," she replied.

"Yes, thanks."

The woman came back after a few moments and shook her head in a reply of "no."

He dialed her cell phone number and was a bit surprised to hear it ringing close by. He turned around, hoping he had been over reacting and she was just coming in from outside, but all he saw was her cell phone, sitting on the table right beside him. He frowned; a few more minutes and she still hadn't come back in. He left a sufficient amount of money on the table and headed out to the car.

The trunk was still opened, but Sara didn't respond when he called her name. Nobody was there, but he did notice something scary. He saw a trail of blood drops leading away from the car. He followed them out to the curb; where they stopped. There was no blood in the street, but he saw a fresh pair of tire tracks leading away from the parking lot.

A/N

The next chapter should be up soon, I've been writing in one of my notebooks during school whenever I'm in Study hall or Lunch, so I have more time to write than before. Thanks for reviews, as always, I love reading them so much. D