They broke apart abruptly for air. Both breathing hard, they stared at each other before Sara backed away suddenly.

"No…Grissom…what are we doing?" she stammered.

"I thought this was what you wanted."

"It is…it was….I'm actually not sure right now," she said quietly.

He reached out for her hand, and held it gently. When she didn't back away he began to rub her arm, trying to comfort her.

"Then what do you want Sara?"

"A reason why Grissom. Why now? What brought this on? That line 'you're beautiful when your angry,' is just a line," she scoffed, "I've been waiting for years, and all of a sudden you just kiss me. What goes on in your mind?"

He gaped at her for a moment, unsure of how to explain his actions. Formulating an answer in his mind, he finally connected the words with his mouth;

"You were upset, we're both under a lot of stress with this case. But that's not the only reason why…" he saw her face flash with anger but he continued, "I've been wanting to do that for a long time Sara. I guess in the heat of the moment I got caught up. It was inappropriate I know, not something I should have done here, or now. But I wanted to, and the scary part is, I want to do it again."

It was her turn to stare at him, "You're serious Griss?"

"I am. Sara, I care about you very much, whether or not you choose to believe it."

"It's defiantly going to take some time to get used to. I never thought I would say this Grissom, but I think I am going to need some time to think this over. You took you're time getting here, and I was serious when I told you that if you took too long, you were going to loose your chance."

"I don't want to loose my chance."

"Then I need some space, some time to think."
He sighed, "Take all the time you need. I just want you to know that I care. Life's to short for me to push you away any longer. I was foolish to do it before. I guess I needed a wake up call, and tonight, as well as Nick's case were what I needed…" he trailed off.

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it softly, looking into his eyes,
"I've always known how short life is, I just took less time to realize it then you. But because it hit you so hard doesn't mean you take it so fast. We'll talk when we get Clara back ok?"

He nodded, and she let go of his hand. He watched her leave his office and wondered if he would ever share another magical moment like they had had with her ever again. He prayed they would.

Catherine stalked into the lab where Hodges had his head bent over a microscope.

"Hodges!"

He jumped slightly and glared at her.

"Tell me you got something from those fibres," she said.

"They were my top priority, but sadly nothing probative came from them. All I got was that they had chloroform on them. Other than that, they are generic white cotton fibres. Sorry."

"Nothing else? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Sorry."

Catherine left the room, and started down the hall. She kept her head down, hoping that no one would see the angry tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks.

"Whoa!" Warrick exclaimed as the two nearly collided.

"Oh 'Rick, sorry," she mumbled, not looking at him.

"Did you talk to Hodges yet about the white threads?"

"Yeah, nothing. Another dead end," she swiped at her face.

"Are you ok?" he asked, concern creeping into his voice. When she didn't look at him, he gently placed his fingers on her chin, lifting her face so he could see her eyes. He saw the tears, and her embarrassed blush as she turned away.

"Cath…" he murmured, as she let a tear slide down her cheek. He pulled her into his arms, and he could feel her let out a sob.

"Why 'Rick? Why Nick again?" she gasped, then pushed away from him. She brushed her tears from her face, angry that she let that much emotion show.

"It's so frustrating…" she tried to explain.

"It is. Don't think that any of us aren't taking this as hard as you are. We're all mad right now, just looking for answers, evidence, that's all we can do."

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"No, don't be. The case is getting to everyone," he reached out and brushed her face with his hand.

"Thanks 'Rick," she smiled a little.

They heard footsteps approaching and Catherine quickly stepped away from Warrick as Greg appeared.

"What's up Greggo?" Warrick asked, glancing at the files in the younger man's hands.

"No pull overs in the area where we found the car at all in the last few hours. Sorry."

"Damn," the senior CSI muttered.

Three pagers began to beep and they all grabbed them from their waists.

In the meeting room the team sat around the table as Grissom walked in the room, Nick by his side. Sympathetic glances filled their faces, as they took in how tired he looked, how pale he was. Their hearts went out to him. Nick sat down as Grissom continued to pace the front of the room.

"We just got drop instructions from the kidnapper. They were scrolled across the screen of the feed as all the others have been before," he began.

"Has Archie been able to trace the feed?" Greg asked.

"No. As of right now we have one hour to get the money to the location," the supervisor continued.

"Do we have the money?" Sara questioned.

"We don't. Right now we have just under a million. The plan is to put it in the duffle bag, and have the real money cover fake bills. The fakes look enough like real ones that whoever is taking it shouldn't be able to tell the difference. Brass is notifying all the banks right now about the funny money, and they in turn will notify other branches. The minute this guy tries to use it, the police will know. It's the best plan we have right now."

"Who's making the drop?" Warrick inquired, asking the question on everyone's mind. He glanced at Nick who didn't meet his gaze, only said quietly,

"I am."

To be continued….

Sorry for the delay. I have one paper done, one nearly done, and three to go. Hopefully this chapter will tide you over for now. Thanks for sticking with the story! -L