Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the original character Tobias Slater, that is. I'm not really proud of the fact that I own him. He's kind of nasty and I don't like him very much. He's definitely no prize.
A/N: The song is "This is How a Heart Breaks" by Rob Thomas. I highly recommend the CD.
Warning: There is a teeny-tiny bit of rough language in this chapter. The subject matter warranted it.
Greg stared blankly at the pile of evidence that lay before him, his mind no longer on his case. He'd tried Sara's apartment phone dozens of times, .her cell, her pager, and all went unanswered. His mind was almost frozen in shock, fear, rage. He didn't know what to think. What to do. He couldn't think straight. He needed to clear his head…clear his thoughts…maybe this was all a bad dream. Maybe… He needed to find her. He had to. He grabbed his keys. Maybe she was still at her apartment. But the voice on the phone had told him to wait. He hesitated, and in that moment of hesitation, his pager buzzed. It was the front desk. He hurried down there, walking rapidly. "You paged?" he asked Judy, the receptionist.
She nodded, indicating a man standing over to one side of the room. "He asked to see you. Said he had a delivery only you could sign for."
"Thanks." Greg walked over to the man cautiously, who turned around to greet him. He wore a delivery uniform.
"Greg Sanders?"
"Yes?" he asked, somewhat suspiciously.
"I have a special delivery for you. You need to sign for it." The delivery man held out a clipboard, indicating the location for Greg's signature with an x.
Taking the proffered clipboard, Greg quickly signed his name and accepted the package. Turning it over, he analyzed it from every angle. Whatever its contents, they were encased in a plain bubble wrap mailer. A printed sticker with his name and the lab's address was the only adornment on the outside. He felt it gingerly as he carried it back to the room where he'd been processing evidence earlier.
He sat down, and felt the package, but hesitated before opening it. He knew he should tell someone. Grissom. But he couldn't make himself. Not when Sara's life could depend on his silence. He had to find out what this bastard wanted first.
He looked around, quickly analyzing his surroundings. The lab walls were made of glass. Anyone could walk by at any time and see what was happening. The voice had told him to open it when he was alone. He could take no chances. The roof. Taking the package, he headed up.
Crouching down on the roof, he gingerly began to open the package. No telling what was inside. Taking out his pocketknife, he slit the side of the package open. Pulling the sides apart, he carefully looked inside. A cell phone? Greg would have sooner expected a bomb. He pulled the phone out of the packaging and looked it over. Suddenly it rang, startling him, and he dropped the phone. Chasing after it with a curse, he prayed it was unbroken. And then it rang again. He answered it.
"What do you want?"
"Well, that's no kind of greeting. Hello to you to, 'Greggo'. That's what they call you, isn't it? Cute."
"What do you want? And why would you send me a cell phone?"
"Do you think I'm stupid, Sanders? The cell phone you're holding is untraceable, as is mine. I don't trust you. That's why I sent you a cell phone."
"You say you have Sara? Yeah? Let me talk to her. I want to talk to her now." Greg said, desperation in his voice.
"I'll do you one better, loverboy."
The phone beeped in Greg's ear, and he pulled it away, looking at the screen. Would you like to receive the jpeg file? the screen read. He pushed the "accept" button. As the photo loaded, he recognized her instantly. It was a close-up of Sara's face, her mouth gagged and a gun to her temple. Her eyes were wide, scared. But still defiant. The sight of her like that sent an arrow straight through Greg's heart. He couldn't even imagine what she must be going through. He put the phone back to his ear. "What do you want with her, you bastard?" he said with as much hate as he could muster.
"Now, now, Greg. Is that any way to talk to the man who could put a bullet in the head of your girlfriend, ending her life at any moment?" Silence. "I didn't think so." Greg could hear a gun cocking.
More silence. Greg struggled to compose himself.
"Stop," he whispered.
"Now, are you ready to listen to me?"
Greg shut his eyes, fighting tears. "Yes. Just don't hurt her. Please."
"Since you've proven yourself capable of following instructions this far, I have some more for you. In about five minutes, you will receive another delivery. This time it will be a police officer delivering an evidence bag for you. Don't worry, he doesn't know what's in it. And he'd better not find out. As far as he's concerned, he's making a routine evidence drop off. And it had better stay that way. If you try to involve the police, she dies."
The man hung up, and Greg sat, hugging his knees, trembling.
Don't you wanna go for a ride
Just keep your hands inside
And make the most out of life
Now don't you take it for granted
Five minutes later, he received another page. It startled him. He hurried down to the front desk. Judy, the receptionist, looked up at him with a cheery smile. "You're popular today. Another delivery for you. It's not your birthday, is it?"
He shook his head. A uniformed officer approached him. "You Greg Sanders?"
"Yes," he replied shortly.
"I've got some evidence here for you to log in. Sign here." Greg quickly signed and accepted the sealed evidence bag.
He took it back up to the roof. Opened it with trembling hands. It was a gun. Greg was confused. Was this the right package? What the hell am I gonna do with a gun?
Ring.
He wanted so badly to ignore it. But he couldn't.
"Hello?"
"I assume you gotten the second delivery by now?"
"Yes. And what the hell do you expect me to do with a gun?" Greg asked.
He laughed sardonically. "What does anyone do with a gun? I want you to kill someone, of course."
Greg shook his head in disbelief. "What…how…are you out of your fucking mind?" he asked incredulously. "That's…I'm not going to murder someone for you, you sick son of a bitch!"
"Oh, I think you will."
No. No way. There was no way that this was happening. "Not a chance."
"Listen to me very carefully, Sanders. If you do not do as I say to the letter, I can promise you that you will never see your girlfriend alive again. Do you really want to be responsible for her death?"
Greg closed his eyes, but a tear slipped out nonetheless.
Life is like a mean machine
It made a mess outta me
It left me caught between
Like an angry dream I was stranded
"Are you ready to do what I ask you?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "The gun has exactly one bullet. You are going to put that bullet into Gil Grissom's head."
"I'm not going to kill my boss! Grissom has been nothing but good to me. He's taught me everything about this job. No!"
"Let me ask you this, Sanders. Who means more to you? Grissom, or Sara? It's up to you. You're the one making the choice. You can choose not to kill him, and condemn her to death, or, you can choose to save her life by ending his."
"Why? Why do you want him dead?"
Silence.
"Are you still there? Say something!" Greg said, rage rising up in him, threatening to boil over.
"Gil Grissom…he's the one who put me in jail. He put me on death row. And now he's going to be the one to die." The man on the phone paused, growing irritated.
"Now, enough of this! If Gil Grissom's murder isn't the lead story on the morning news, you can kiss your little girlfriend goodbye. I will mail her to you in pieces, Sanders. Do you think I'm kidding? Just try me. You know, I've been in prison for a very long time. She's a pretty girl. Maybe I'll have my fun with her before I kill her."
"You so much as lay a hand on her, and I swear I will make you pay!" Greg raged.
"You will do as I say and kill Grissom. Oh, and when you look into his eyes and pull the trigger, Sanders, tell him it's from Slater. I want him to know why he's dying." And with those last words, he was gone.
I'm steady but I'm starting to shake
And I don't know how much more I can take
It felt like hours. Greg, tormented beyond belief by the choice he was going to have to make, felt as if his head was going to explode from the pressure, or at least cave in. At least, if that happened, he would be out of his misery. He wouldn't have to make the deadly decision that now lay before him.
He picked up the gun, halfheartedly considering putting the cold hard steel muzzle to his temple, and then put it down again. What would that solve? Nothing. That wouldn't change the fact that Sara would die. Why couldn't it be between her or himself? Greg would have laid down his own life for hers in an instant. But this just wasn't that simple. God…oh God, what do I do? Where do I go from here? he cried out silently.
And once again, he picked up the gun.
Grissom looked up from the never ending stack of paperwork that lay on his desk, ever vying for his attention.
"Well hello, Greg. Can I help you with something?"
When Greg didn't respond, Grissom squinted at him, scrutinizing the young CSI. "You know, Greg, you don't look so well. You know, I should have insisted that you take another couple of days off after the accident. You should go home and get some rest-" he stopped abruptly.
What he saw didn't register right away, and when it did, he thought for a moment that he was in a suspended reality. What he saw couldn't be real. How could it, when what he thought he saw was Greg, holding a gun on him. He was having trouble believing what his eyes told him.
"Greg…what are you doing? Put that away."
Greg's whole body was shaking, and tears were streaming down his face. He tried to say something, but he couldn't get it out at first.
This is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
"Greg? What's wrong? Just put down the gun and talk to me." Grissom said reasonably, trying to keep Greg calm and keep himself calm at the same time.
"I…I can't…Grissom…" he said, his voice raspy, trembling even harder. "I'm sorry, Grissom."
You take a hit now, you feel it break down
Make you stay wide awake
This is how a heart breaks
"Why not? Just talk to me, Greg. You can tell me. Whatever it is, I promise I will understand. Just help me understand what's going through your head right now. Please, put the gun down so we can discuss this calmly."
And I'm sorry but it's not a mistake
And I'm running but you're getting away
"I can't," he whispered, "he's going to kill Sara unless I do this."
Suddenly it all came together with a startling rush, and Grissom understood everything. "My God," he breathed. "It's him, isn't it, Greg? It's Slater. He wants you to kill me. He has Sara, doesn't he? Doesn't he, Greg?"
Greg didn't answer, but Grissom saw the truth in his eyes.
"Greg, it doesn't have to happen this way. We can work this out and stop this without anyone getting hurt. I give you my word."
Greg only shook harder, unable to speak, only shaking his head.
Grissom got up from his seat behind the desk, and walked slowly forward, hand outstretched. "Greg…son, just give me the gun. It doesn't have to be this way."
This is it now
Everybody get down
This is all I can take
This is how a heart breaks
"I'm so sorry," Greg sobbed, as his fingers tightened on the trigger. "But it does."
You take a hit now, you feel it break down
Make you stay wide awake
This is how a heart breaks
TBC
I'll just apologize in advance for my evilness in giving you yet another cliffhanger. I hope you can forgive me enough to keep reading my story. I really appreciate your reviews! They have been so inspiring and just keep me writing when sometimes I don't feel like it! So please keep reviewing!
Unlikely-to-bear-it: First cookies and then goldfish and now ice cream? It's all a plot to make me fat! LOL.
Lalenna: Thanks for the review! I take that as a very high compliment...I do try to go for a more different feel to my stories. Hope you enjoyed this last update...and the cliffhanger ending! Muhahaha!
oypoodle: I am so glad you like it! Thanks for the review!
sciencenerd: drumroll please...and here you go! An update as requested!
Jenn Sidle: I hope that this update came soon enough to save you from going crazy. If not, see you in the loony bin! LOL.
saraluver: You may not find out Sara's fate for the next couple of chapters. I promise nothing! Muahaha. Oh my Gosh. It's true. I AM evil.
taz3: Thanks for the lovely review! Hope you liked this chapter as well!
NothingButSarah: Thanks for both of your reviews! Here's a secret...don't tell...I would never kill Greg. Ever. He's safe.
Duckie24: You are in no way a dork, because I did indeed analyze screencaps until I discovered the Ben and Jerry's flavor. I just had to throw that in there. Couldn't help it. I'm delighted that you noticed!
