Author's note: Thank you all SO MUCH for the wonderful response to the last chapter! I know my breaks between writing can be a pain, but thank you for sticking with me! So, please, enjoy this next chapter!

……….

"We're waiting to open it until we get to the lab," said Nick into the phone as he stared at the bagged letter.

Brass shook his head on the other end, "Is there anymore evidence that this is the guy?"

"Jim, she's a dead ringer for Sara. There is a letter addressed to Grissom, she was shot once in the head like the girl Catherine's looking into back in Denver, and I'll bet you anything that she has been injected as well."

"I'm just trying to… you know what? I'll just wait until you get back to the lab."

"Have you gotten a blood sample from Sara yet?" asked Nick.

"Grissom and Sara should be here any minute now. I'll call you when I know something."

……….

Now that she was back in Vegas, it seemed like everywhere she went was filled with bright light that reached every corner, obliterated every dark shadow. And as comforting as Sara always thought the light would be during two dark years, right now she just wanted to curl up in her dark room and sleep.

She associated light with happiness, hope. Two things that right now right now she didn't really have. She was relieved to be free, but happy wasn't a word she would use, and after two years of threats from Matthew, she didn't dare hope for anything. Sara knew what he was capable of taking away.

Right now, walking into the lab squeezing Grissom's hand tightly in her own, was the closest she would allow her self to feeling safe. To feeling anything. She wanted to be numb when the nightmares came, the flashes of her captor rushing her mind. She wanted to forget and let go, and if no one was going to let her do that, she would be numb to their investigation.

"Sara? How are you doing?" Grissom whispered when they reached his office door.

She forced a smile to creep to her face, "I'm doing better. Why are we here? I thought we were getting my blood drawn?"

Grissom nodded as he pushed the door open, "Yeah. But you're going to wait in here while I go grab Greg. I don't want to make a commotion, and… I don't want you to be overwhelmed by people."

Sara bit her bottom lip, and stared at him as he led her into the office. He just shrugged and let go of her hand to walk around his desk. Grabbing a note off his desk, he frowned, and started back for the door.

"Warrick and Nick are out on a case. Wait here, I'll only be a second."

Sara shifted awkwardly as she watched Grissom walk out. She rolled her eyes and turned to examine the random knickknacks that lined the shelves around the office.

Grissom's sure step took him quickly out of the room, winding him around the sterile hallways of the lab. Not too far away, he could hear Greg talking to someone.

"Yeah, I'm heading over. Well, give me a few seconds, I can't teleport to his office. Brass, calm…," but he wasn't able to finish his sentence as he walked right into Grissom.

"Jesus, Griss. You should watch where you're going. Yes Brass, I found him! I'll call you back," and he shut his phone.

"Where have you been? And where's Sara?" asked Greg as he stared over Grissom's shoulder.

"We had a bit of a situation back at home, but we got it taken care of. And Sara is waiting in my office. Where are Warrick and Nick?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah, about that… look, they got called out to a case. Brass said Warrick or Nick would be trying to call you but…," and Greg was interrupted again by his ringing cell. He sighed and flipped it open.

"Brass, I told you to give me a… oh, hey Warrick… yeah, he is," Greg turned to Grissom and held his phone out to him, "Your phones not on."

Grissom frowned and took Greg's cell, "What is going on Warrick?"

He listened carefully to Warrick's deep voice, noting that he held back his fear with calm restraint. With every word he spoke, Grissom's face fell a little further, until he turned slowly around to look at Sara through the glass windows of his office.

"We, ummm… we have to take her blood first. We'll head straight back to my place," he paused to listen to Warrick again, "I won't tell her, not yet. She's just starting to calm down. Thank you Warrick."

Grissom quietly closed the phone and handed it back to Greg, "We need to do this quickly. If he's here…"Grissom didn't continue, but started to make his way to Sara, hoping he could get her back home without being found.

……….

He watched the lab carefully, licking his lips as people walked in and out. All those people, and he was sure that the only ones who knew what was going on in this small, small world were locked away inside, breathing easy, thinking they were safe. Even with that small amount of people in on his game, the lab seemed to buzz with renewed life. And that made him smile.

Grissom and Sara had been inside for about thirty minutes, and he wasn't surprised when he at last saw them walk out. They were closer than before; Grissom had his arm loosely draped around Sara's shoulders, as she rubbed awkwardly at her bandaged arm. Matthew smiled; Grissom already knew.

Sara faked a laugh, and Grissom tried to smile. And Matthew started his car.

Let the games begin.

……….

He didn't try to wiped the blood off his hands, and he didn't try to set her back upright. Instead, he lingered over her, and watched her as she breathed heavily on the floor. He smiled as she tried to lift a bloody hand to her head to wipe the blood dripping into her eyes from the gash on her forehead.

"I think I've said I don't take rejection well," he whispered, "Want to hear a story?"

He didn't wait for an answer, not that he really expected on.

"I put in an application at the crime lab around the time Holly Gribbs died. I remember seeing you in the lab when I brought in my application. I didn't expect you to recognize me; hell, I barely recognized you. I waited for weeks to get called in for an interview, and you can imagine how much it hurt when I found out you had stuck around. Grissom asked you to stay, start a career in Vegas… stay with him."

He lifted a hand to his forehead and wiped away the small beads of sweat forming there. He shook his head as he looked down at the stilling form below him.

"You always get to thinking it's just about what hasn't happened. Not getting to talk to the world renowned Gil Grissom as a student, not getting a job in his lab. No, this is about pain, what's been taken away. About rejection, Sara, something I thought you'd understand. You took it all away from me! You both did! YOU RUINED ME!"

His voice echoed across the walls. He spit, and kneeled down besides her. He moved a bloody stand of hair from her swollen eyes.

"If I decide to let you go, don't ever think you'll be safe. Don't ever hope to be rid of me. I'll be around every corner and in every nightmare. And the minute you think you're safe, and comfortable and loved, your world will come crashing down. I have control now. I'm the boss. I'm the devil… and life will be hell! You. Will. NEVER. Be. Free. Of. Me."

He walked out, leaving her still form on the floor where she had dropped.

……….

The both stared down at the envelope placed on the door step. Sara's hand took Grissom's. A tear fell down her face as she shook her head.

Grissom pulled out his phone, and quickly punched in a number, "Brass… we need a CSI. We have another envelope."

He turned to look at Sara, and squeezed her hand as she wiped at the tears that fell freely down her cheeks.

"I'll never be free of him," she whispered, and then she really started to cry.

TBC