I want to thank all y'all who reviewed the last chapter. I don't have time to post your names, but just know that I am grateful.

Chapter Twelve

"It's weird," Meg said, staring at her hands that lay folded on top of the metal table, "you spend your whole life taking care of other people and you completely forget what it's like to have only yourself to care about. And the funny thing is, you don't really care about yourself anymore."

She'd been in the interrogation room two minutes before she started talking. Before anybody had started talking. Meg was certain that Grissom and Catherine didn't know where to start. They were probably still trying to get over the shock of who she really was to ask any questions right away. So, after minutes in silence, Meg had decided to speak. She didn't know what would come out of her mouth. She only knew that she had to say something.

She ran a hand through her hair. A weary, world-on-the-shoulders sigh escaped her lips.

"When Mom died, it was my job to take care of my sisters. I was ten years old and I had to take care of six little girls. And Dad, well he was no help. The call came and Dad just totally checked out.

"I didn't have time to mourn; I couldn't' even cry at night because I had to comfort my sisters when they cried. And all Dad could do was lock himself away in his office. He couldn't even look any of us in the eye for…he still can't look any of us in the eye."

Tears blurred Meg's vision as she ducked her head, her dirty blonde hair forming a veil around her face. Her shoulders shook with repressed sobs. She wasn't trying to get their sympathy, that wasn't the idea at all. Meg just couldn't help the flood of emotions that had suddenly welled up inside of her. For too long she had been the strong one. Now, all she wanted was to be the weak one. The one who someone else comforted.

But she wouldn't find any comfort here. No. She would only find the stony faces of those who had thought they knew her.

"I knew that if I didn't take care of my sisters that no one else would." She continued after she'd calmed slightly. "It was my job. I was the oldest and the burden fell on me. I did my best. I really did. But I always felt as if it wasn't good enough. Someone always needed me to help them with something. Someone always needed her clothes washed, help on her homework. I nearly flunked out of school because I was so busy doing things around the house."

She raised her eyes to meet those of the two CSIs.

"I didn't mean for things to turn out the way that they did." She said. "I didn't want it to come to this." She shook her head sadly. "Things just got out of hand."

"Meg," Catherine leaned forward, a semblance of her old self, the self that had befriended Meg, in her eyes, "we need you to tell us why you tried to kill Greg. And why you killed those other people."

"The game." She answered simply. "It was all part of the game."

> > > > >

A game? That's all that he was to her: a frickin' game? And what the hell did that mean anyways?

Greg stood on the other side of the two-way mirror, watching the proceedings in the interrogation room. She had looked so helpless before, but now, as she stared at Catherine, Meg's eyes were empty. It was as if her soul had been snuffed out like a flame, and now she was nothing more than an empty shell. And that frightened Greg to no end.

"What game?" Grissom asked. Meg turned her soulless eyes on him.

"His game." She replied, even her voice had lost any spark of life.

Greg's hands balled into fists at his sides; he was swiftly losing patience with her cryptic answers. He wanted to know why the hell she'd tried to kill him and damn it he wanted to know now! It took all his will power to remain where he was standing and not barge into that room and demand answers. His jaw was clenched tightly and his teeth ground together, giving him an insufferable headache. But Greg remained where he stood, fighting to keep control.

"Who's game, Meg?" Grissom leaned forward slightly in his seat. Meg shook her head.

"I can't tell you. He'll kill me." It was said simply, not a trace of emotion- not even fear- within her voice.

Greg's fury turned to worry. What had happened to Meg to make her like this? Where had the woman that he'd fallen in love with go? Because this certainly wasn't the Meg Sawyer that Greg knew.

"Then can you at least tell us what this game is?" Catherine asked, taking a shot at the questioning.

Meg closed her eyes. Greg could see that she was fighting against something. But what?

Finally, her eyes opened and Greg was relieved to see that Meg had returned.

"It's…" she shook her head, "I don't know how to explain it."

"Try." Catherine gently ordered. Meg drew in a deep breath, her eyes searching the corners of the room as if the answers were hidden in the shadows there.

"It's more like…a test. He tries to break me or something…I don't know." She hung her head, her voice choked with tears. Greg found himself fighting another urge to rush into the room, but this time to hold and comfort Meg.

It was amazing the way that love played with you. One moment he was denying that Meg tried to kill him. The next he wanted to kill her. And after that, he just wanted to hold her in his arms and assure her that everything was alright. But he couldn't. He was no longer a part of this case. He wasn't even supposed to be watching the interrogation.

Meg's head came back up, and, for a brief moment, Greg was certain that she was looking directly at him. But just as suddenly, her eyes returned to look at Catherine and Grissom.

"Meg?" Catherine reached out a hand to touch the young woman, but quickly drew back before any contact was made.

"I'm alright." Meg assured her, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm okay." She ran a hand through her hair before continuing.

"I think, for you to understand, that I should start at the beginning." She paused. Greg waited with baited breath for her to continue. Seconds passed before she finally drew in a breath, a resigned look crossing her face.

"I was recruited for the FBI a few days before my college graduation." Meg started. "I wasn't sure if I really wanted to follow in the tradition of my family, but I knew that it would break my father's heart if I didn't. So I accepted my spot in the program. The training program was easy to get through. My father had been getting me ready for it basically since I was born. I knew what to expect.

"Once I graduated training I was assigned to the Nevada branch. And, I was paired with another agent: Jeremy Moore.

"A couple of years went by and I was doing well. I did a good job and eventually was promoted. With the promotion came a new partner: Agent Wilkins. We got a long for the most part. He had known my father back when Dad still worked as a field agent. After my mother's death, Dad decided that it would be best if he took a desk job. He didn't want us girls to lose two parents. Anyway, though Wilkins was a friend of my father's, I didn't care for him much. He was arrogant and too self-assured. Both dangerous traits in our line of work. He also insisted on harassing me. It wasn't enough for me to form a complaint against him, but it was enough to drive me crazy.

"Things were fine for awhile. Wilkins could deal with me constantly turning him down for dates. But, one day, I don't know, everything changed."

Meg's story halted as she stared out into space, her eyes seeing things that no one else could. Greg felt his insides twist. The story was about to take a bad turn, he could feel it in his gut.

Her fingers tapped against the tabletop, beating out a steady rhythm. Beneath the table, her leg bounced up and down nervously.

"I've told you too much." Meg said, biting her bottom lip. "I…I can't tell you anything else."

"Meg-"

"I'm sorry." She shook her head, fresh tears pouring down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry."

>>>>>

She'd said too much. If he ever found out…Meg didn't even want to think of what he would do. She brushed away her tears, tired of breaking down in front of them when she should have been strong. This was not like her. She was not weak.

Yes I am, she thought, he's made me weak.

She drew in a shaky breath and exhaled slowly, trying to calm her nerves.

"It's weird being on this side of the table." She said softly, more to herself than to the two others in the room with her. Absentmindedly, she traced circles in the cool metal. "I've always wondered what it felt like to be on this side. But I never thought that I would have to learn what it was like."

"Meg." Grissom's no-nonsense voice caught Meg's attention. She looked at him through lowered lids. There was no way that she could look him full in the eye, especially after all that she had done.

"Please focus." He ordered. "Tell us the rest of what happened."

Meg shook her head.

"I can't. I can't tell you. I'm sorry."

"Meg, if someone hired you, you need to tell us who it was. Otherwise you're going to be charged with the murders." Grissom's words did nothing to sway her. Meg would rather face life in prison than to deal with what he would do if he found out she'd told on him. No. The truth was best kept hidden. No one else needed to get hurt.

She shook her head again, biting her lip.

I won't tell. I won't tell. I won't tell. The words ran through her mind over and over again until they were nothing more than a dull hum.

She heard Catherine sigh. A glimmer of hope lit within Meg. They weren't going to force her to tell. Good.

Chancing a glance at the two CSIs, Meg studied them. They looked, for lack of a better word, defeated. They wanted to know what Meg wasn't telling them. But there was no way that they could force the information from her. And they knew it.

Grissom signaled to someone behind the mirror. It wasn't until then that Meg wondered who stood on the other side. Who was listening to their conversation? She prayed that Greg was miles from the police station. She didn't want him to see her like this. She didn't want him to see her at all. Or rather, she didn't want to see him. Because Meg knew that if she saw him, she would surely crack. He had been the only one to ever break through the defenses that she'd built around her heart. And she knew that she wouldn't be able to keep the truth from him, now that she had revealed herself for who she truly was. She would break under the pressure the second she saw his beautiful face. Meg knew that she would tell him because she wouldn't want him to think that she'd wanted to kill him. She would want to throw the blame on someone else so that he would no longer hate her. For surely he hated her now.

> > > > >

Catherine turned to Grissom after the police officer led Meg from the room.

"Well," she sighed, "where do we go from here?"

Thoughtfully, Grissom rubbed his chin, his eyes distant.

"We go back to the beginning." He replied.

> > > > >

Well, what did y'all think? This chapter was a bit longer than the others, so I hope that was good. Um…I think that this story is going to be ending soon. I'm guessing that there will probably be like two or three more chapters, but I'm not exactly sure. Anyways, please review and tell me what you thought 'cause I always love to hear the opinions of my readers. Thanks.