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Chapter 10

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Nick, Warrick, and Greg sat up at the sound of three sets of footsteps above them, one quicker and lighter than the others, making their way to the basement stairs. They watched in silent anticipation, wondering who it was that would next come down those fateful steps.

Their spirits fell when they saw Catherine pushed ahead by Vivian, who was dragging Lindsey behind her. Shoving Catherine aside to wait by Nick, Vivian pulled Lindsey to the other side of the basement and opened the door to a small cage, which looked just large enough for a small dog kennel. Lindsey was crying.

"No!" Catherine shrieked, getting up from her fall and running to her daughter. But she was stopped when Vivian delivered a powerful backhand, causing Catherine to fall back, hitting her head on the hard concrete floor. While she lay motionless, Vivian finished locking Lindsey in her cold metal prison, then dragged Catherine to her own space beside Nick, chaining her like the others.

"That wasn't very smart, Catherine. If you would only use your God-given brain, you'd realize that there are still two more that must join you before punishment ensues. Note to self," Vivian sighed to herself as she walked to her desk. "Never assume that the implied is understood."

Instead of going back to her research, she decided to set up for her finale. 'Better now than later,' she thought. She liked to think of herself as always being prepared, so she began setting up a video camera near a large pole in the center of the room, a set of knives and other torturous instruments laying at its base.

Once finished with the camera, she leaned down to inspect her weapons. Pulling out a knife first, she was disappointed when it barely left a mark on her skin.

"Can't have a dull blade, now can we?" she asked, an innocent look on her face as she smiled at the team, who were all scooched over as close as possible to a now silently weeping Catherine.

Taking the knife to a grinder by her desk, Vivian started the process of sharpening the blade, filling the room with the sound of stone against steel. With her focus solely on her task, Vivian shut the world out of her mind, oblivious, if even for a moment, to all around her…

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"Hello, Vivian."

Vivian turned from her task and was shocked to see Sara Sidle standing ten feet away with a gun pointed at Vivian's heart. Gil Grissom and Jim Brass stood behind Sara, their weapons drawn as well.

"Surprised to see me?" Sara asked, cocking her head.

"A little," Vivian answered truthfully, backing slowly towards the dog kennel. "But then, you always were the smart one, weren't you, Sara?"

"Don't move," Sara warned in an icy tone. "I'll shoot."

"Oh, are you sure?" Vivian asked with a haunting smile. "I don't think you will. You can't ethically take someone's life, can you?"

Sara clicked the safety off and cocked the gun.

"I will shoot you, Vivian," she said strongly, realizing that she was trying to throw her off.

"Drop your weapon and fall to your knees!" Brass called out, cocking his weapon as well.

"Okay." Vivian complied, setting the knife down beside her and dropping to one knee.

Sara inched her way forward, gun still at the ready, but not seeing Vivian's hand reach back to unlock the kennel door.

Just as Vivian had expected, as soon as the latch was undone, Lindsey shot out like a jackrabbit and ran to her mother, providing just enough distraction for Vivian to jump forward, knocking Sara's gun from her hand and putting the knife to her throat.

"One move and Sara dies!" Vivian shouted. It was clear that she was desperate, but not scared shitless. She knew she held power right now, which made her all the more dangerous.

"Stop, Vivian. You're smarter than this," Grissom coaxed, leaning down to set his weapon next to Sara's on the floor.

"Gil, don't," Sara started, but Vivian held the now razor sharp blade tighter against her throat, drawing blood and shouting, "Shut up!"

Although having faced near-death experiences before, at this point Sara couldn't takeit anymore. Everything that had happened in her past, from her abusive childhood to recent events and the deterioration of her relationship with Grissom, she was clearly coming to realize that life had used her as a shithole. It was time to use that to her advantage. Resolved to her fate, she looked at each of her colleagues in turn. Her emotions never showed so clearly as they did at that moment as her pleading eyes locked with those of Grissom, standing just a few feet away.

'I'm sorry, Grissom.' Her eyes told the story. 'Please forgive me… I love you. Goodbye.'

At that moment, she yelled, "Jeremiah 14:15," before jerking an arm back and turning her body as if to face off with her assailant, the blade slitting her throat as she did so, blood spattering all over Grissom and Brass. Her elbow caught Vivian in the stomach, making her double over to catch her breath as Sara fell to the ground and lay motionless.

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"No!" Grissom cried, rushing to her side. Leaning down he brought her head up to his lap, elevating the wound to slow the bleeding, all the while calling her name. "Sara? … Oh, God! Sara…"

"Shit!" Brass muttered, picking up his walkie. "Dispatch, this is Jim Brass. I need backup and medics now! Officer down! I repeat, officer down! Suspect fighting back!"

Seeing Vivian come at Grissom, Brass called out a warning, knowing he'd never be able to handle her himself. He rushed to the team members chained to the wall. Reaching Warrick first, he shot the locks on the chains, releasing him.

"Go help Griss!" he shouted while moving to Nick.

Warrick's legs felt a little wobbly, having not used them for at least 24 hours, but once he regained his balance, he ran like the wind to wrench Vivian away. He pulled her off of Grissom by the arms, twisting them behind her back, but she fought loose and turned on him. A combo of weaponless combat and street brawling ensued, combining Warrick's past and present. It was clear by the use of his training that the CSI wanted to be civil about this, but the streetwise tough guy Warrick Brown, which had presented itself on a previous case in his old neighborhood, was showing through and it was just as clear that he wanted Vivian to pay for what she'd done.

Once the others were free from their bondage, Nick ran to help Warrick, showing his Texan roots as he tried to help take her down, while Greg rushed to the sidelines, helping Grissom pull the already injured Sara away from the action. By now Brass was shouting onto the radio, asking where the hell was his backup while ushering Catherine and Lindsey up and out of the basement.

Meanwhile, the fight to subdue Vivian had grown ugly. The three had moved toward the center of the room and Vivian, having lost her knife, had switched for a whip, thrashing wildly at her attackers. Nick took a stripe on the arm before managing to wrestle the weapon from her, kicking the others away as well.

When Brass's backup finally arrived, the brawl was ended as nightsticks came down upon the instrument of their torment. Backing out of the chaos, Nick and Warrick exchanged battle wounds.

"You all right, man?" Nick asked, seeing Warrick rubbing his jaw but watching the medics attend to Sara.

"Yeah, she's got one hell of a punch, though. She clocked me!" Warrick nodded back at Nick. "How 'bout you?"

"She took a chunk out of my arm with that whip, but I'm good," he replied, rolling up a sleeve to assess the damage.

"Guys, come on! Follow the ambulance to the hospital. I'm going with Sara," Grissom called from the top of the stairs.

"Let's go. You drive." Nick tossed Warrick the keys before rushing up the stairs, holding his arm as he went.

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