A minute after Lydia rang the doorbell, Mark opened the door. He was uncertain of what to say, and she wasn't sure either. She pushed the money towards him.
"Here's your money, now where is she!" Lydia's voice shook a little, but she kept her gaze firm.
"Where's who, what are you talking about dearest," he said very innocently.
"You know exactly what I mean! Cut it out Mark, I'm not yours and I never have been! We were engaged, that's all, and it ended four years ago when you assaulted me!" She was getting agitated, but she didn't lose her focus.
His voice and manner became very cold. "Fine, she's inside, but now that you're here I think I might help myself to you as well."
"Do you think I'm stupid? I won't let you touch me."
"Yeah right," he said. He made a quick move for her hand, but at the same time she pulled out a gun. She dropped the bag of money at the door. He backed into the house and she followed. At the same time the police outside moved into position.
Lydia realized that she was vulnerable, but she also knew that she was Lindsey's only hope. She cleared her mind and focused only on him and what he was doing. She realized that he was backing up too far for her liking so she told him to stay where he was, he of course complied.
"I'm in a new position Mark, now I'm the one in control and you're the weak one, where is she."
"The garage."
"Thank you."
"Why do you hate me?"
"You don't want me to start listing my reasons, you'll only get upset." She didn't realize it, but he was backing up very slowly as they spoke. He managed to back up far enough to trip into a cabinet, which startled Lydia. He tried to move towards her, but she started to cock the gun again so he backed up.
Suddenly he pulled out a gun from a shelf and they leveled their guns on one another. She was scared, but somehow she kept her cool. He was now very angry.
"Is this what you wanted Lid! Did you want me to be angry again! Are you trying to get killed! What, no answer!"
"I'll give you my answer!"
And she shot. Unfortunately the bullet only wounded him and he shot her as well. She screamed and then the others entered the house with shouts. Lydia had fallen down and he had picked her up so that she was his shield. They were both wounded in the shoulder, but she was worse off then he was. He backed them against a wall so that he could get a good view of the others. He knew that he wouldn't get out alive, but he wanted to ensure that she wouldn't either.
Warrick had kept Greg and Catherine outside of the house, although both of them had protested it. Nick stayed with them so that they wouldn't go in. Grissom and Sara however stood with Brass in front of Lydia and Mark.
Grissom looked into his daughter's pleading eyes, he knew that he had to save her, she was his only child and he loved her with his whole heart. She was weakening quickly, and she looked between her father and her friend with love. She was no longer afraid, but she was somewhat sad, she didn't want to die.
"Give up the gun Mark," Brass said in a commanding voice. "You've already lost, so what's the point of doing this?"
"She's mine, no one else can have her. She'll die with me."
"What gives you that right," asked Sara, her gun was pointed directly at his head so she knew that she could kill him.
"She's my wife, she's mine and no one else's!"
Brass, Grissom, and Sara were a little surprised, but they didn't break their concentration. "What would it take for you to let me go," Liddy whispered.
"Tell me you love me and show me you love me."
"Right now?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I love you, I always have and I always will, does that satisfy you," Lydia spat the words out kindly, but she didn't mean them. He was satisfied though, so he let her go a little bit, which caused her to collapse on the floor.
He stood against the wall with the gun limply hanging in one hand. No one was certain what he or she should do next, everyone was afraid to make a move, and Lydia was crying on the floor; she was broken and dying.
Then he yelled, "I still don't care what you say! You brought the police and I told you not to! The girl is going to die!"
With that he moved towards the garage door, and as he approached it he fired towards the police, which caused several screams, and a few shots to be fired back. He fell to the ground with several bullets in him, one of which came from Grissom's gun.
Grissom went over to his daughter, and he held her in his arms, while he put pressure on her arm to stop the bleeding. Brass meanwhile checked Mark's pulse; he was dead. In a few minutes the rest of the team was let inside, and they opened the door into the garage. Catherine entered first, and Lindsey was cut free from the chair, and she ran into the waiting arms of her mother.
The rest of the team hugged Lindsey as well, since they worried about her so much. Then she was led into the next room where Lydia had been laid carefully in Greg's lap and Grissom was putting pressure on her wound. Lindsey ran over to her sister and she held her hand. Lydia smiled into her little sister's face, and promised that everything would be all right. Catherine also kneeled next to them. After a minute or so Lydia passed out.
Eventually, Lydia and her family were taken to the hospital where they sat in a waiting room while the medics and doctors managed to stabilize Lydia's condition. Lindsey was also checked out by the medics who said that she was fine so she was released. After an hour or so they were permitted into Lydia's room where she was sleeping. Lindsey managed to curl onto the bed next to her sister and fall asleep, while Grissom and Catherine fell asleep on chairs in the room.
Greg and Sara made there way to the hospital as quickly as they could. They said that they were siblings to Lydia and they were permitted into the room. The sight actually was sweet. Lindsey was gently sleeping against her sister while Catherine and Grissom were sleeping using one another as headrests. Sara smiled and Greg went over to Lydia's side and he kissed her forehead. Then they sat down to wait until she woke up as well, and in doing so they also fell asleep on chairs in the room.
When Liddy woke up she giggled slightly because of her sleeping friends and family, the number of people in the room had actually increased from when Greg and Sara had come in. There were now members of her extended family as well as several co-workers of theirs in the room.
She did realize that her arm was in pain, but the drugs she was on helped her a lot. She kissed Lindsey on the head; she was overjoyed that her sister was back again. She knew that a lot of questions needed to be answered, but right then she was content because she had everyone who cared about her in that room and everyone was safe.
She fell back asleep, but she knew that everything was fine and it would be fine from then on.
TBC...
Thanks for the reviews guys! CSI Kennedy, csifreak04, gcshipper, sitarra, jewelbaby, gckyr, CSIFan4Life
Sorry that it took so long, my modem broke and we only got it replaced today!