Disclaimer: Not mine

AN: Thanks for the encouragement, your kind words keep me writing look how quickly this chapter got up. Special thank you to angstyotaku at the YTDAW.

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Al Robbins was watching the screen then glancing at the picture in his hand, comparing the photo still to the woman on the screen. As a Coroner he'd spent his life looking at details while maintaining an objective distance. Watching Sara on the screen he was finding it hard to remain distant and objective, especially when he caught a detail that might have been missed by the others. He'd compared the two images for several minutes before sending Archie to get Grissom. He was certain now as he looked at the detailed screen shot he'd had Archie print out for him. The picture in front of him had been magnified and now that he'd

Only now as he waited for the CSIs did he see the other details that the photo showed clearly like exactly how much distress Sara was in. The mask of control she wore was slipping. He suspected that she was beginning to feel fear, panic and hopelessness, but at the same time she was keenly aware that others were watching so she was trying to maintain her composure to make the others feel better.

"Archie said you might have a lead?" Grissom radiated intensity, the meeting with his team hadn't gone very well and any lead that got them closer to finding Sara was like manna from heaven.

Robbins nodded, "I don't know if this will help or not, but it might narrow down the water source. I noticed some discoloration on her blouse when she shifted positions." Robbins used a pen to circle the small spots on Sara's blouse in the magnified picture. "I thought it might help."

Grissom adjusted his glasses and looked at the picture the small spots of light on her dark blouse were obvious in the still. "It looks like medium velocity spatter pattern, probably from when she tried to use the bed frame to break the Plexiglas." He'd been so focused on what she was saying that he'd missed it. Now that it had been pointed out to him it was obvious and he was angry with himself for missing it. How much time had that oversight cost them? "The water's been chlorinated. Have Greg figure out the concentration and get together a list of types of possible sites."

"I'm on it. Gil where's Sara vest?"

"In my Tahoe."

"Right. Keys?" He dug them out and handed them over. Catherine took them and headed for the door. Robbins got up and moved allowing Gil to take the seat in front of the monitor again.

"So what's Catherine doing?"

"Checking Sara's vest for trace fibers. If we're lucky we'll find fibers from her blouse. Then after a simple experiment we'll be able to determine what percentage of chlorine to water would be necessary to duplicate the damage. Which would narrow down the sources since public pools use a different concentration than private."

"Al this guy is a real piece of work. He doesn't just want kill CSIs. He wants to torture them physically and emotionally. Nick was in the coffin facing asphyxia, possible suicide and fire ants. Sara's in a cell facing hyperthermia, drowning and the affects of chlorine. Carl Jung said that 'The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers."

"We've seen humans do lots of terrible things to others for reasons lots of different reasons. Sometimes we never know or understand why."

Grissom nodded watching Sara knowing time was running out and the bastard was winning. He tried to remind himself that letting his anger over power his reason would allow the perp to win. In his mind he could already see the damage from the chlorine, how it would strip the natural oils in her skin and hair until it was dry, irritated and cracked. The water didn't even have to be that cold for her to get hypothermia. They were running out of time. If they were lucky and the water was between 59 and 69 degrees she had less than ten hours to survive.

"Gil if you need anything…" Robbins left the sentence hanging as he wandered out of the lab and headed back to the Morgue. "Please don't let her end up on one of my slabs."

Alone again Grissom stared at the screen marking the slow passage of time by the height of the water. Sara wasn't over talking any more and that concerned him because it was like her inner spark was dimming. It made him angry again, because he'd noticed the same change in Nick when he'd picked up the gun. "Hang on Honey. Just a little longer."

Sara's head popped up almost as if she had heard a sound. Gil watched her lips moving as she formed words, but couldn't see or hear another person.

"Hello Ms. Sidle. Are you enjoying my hospitality?"

"Who are you?" Grissom was frustrated at only catching her half of the conversation. He just hoped Sara repeated enough of what her captor said that he could get more of a lead.

"That really isn't important."

"It's important to me I want to know who is responsible for doing this."

"Well that would be Ms. Williows, Captain Brass and of course Dr. Grissom."

"What do Brass, Cath and Griss have to do with this?"

"You're here because of what they did to me. I've given you all the information you need, just follow the evidence."

Sara pondered the puzzle for a minute. "So I'm here because they put you in jail, but why the clear coffin and cell? Why make them watch on video?"

"It's what they did to me. I was on display for everyone to see.

"But why are you doing this? You're obviously not in jail if you can do this."

"I am out of jail, but my prison remains. The bible says an eye for an eye. Do you believe that?"

"The bible also talks about forgiveness and mercy." She told him, reasonably.

"There can be no forgiveness or mercy for what the Las Vegas CSI's taken from me?" He stepped a little closer allowing Sara to look in his eyes, dark brown eyes like Nick's, but lacking the warmth and humanity she always saw in Nicky's. "I would like your forgiveness though."

"I am not forgiving you for what you've done to me."

"No I apologize for lying to you Ms. Sidle. They can't hear you, never could it was just another aspect of the game."

"You lied." She said simply repeating what her visitor said. "They can't hear me after all." Sara sat on the bed a little defeated. Damn.

Closing her eyes she rested her head against the cement wall. She thought of Grissom, remembering the feel of his hand holding hers giving her comfort. That memory brought up another. Watching Grissom in the AV Lab as he watched Nicky so intently. Whispering soft words of encouragement. With a flash of insight she remembered clearly how Grissom would focus on people's lips, watching their mouths form words.

Gil Grissom could lip read and her captor didn't know that. That knowledge gave her power because it didn't matter if they could hear her or not as long as Griss could see her lips. She kept her expression sad as she looked at her captor, keeping her face turned to face the camera.

"So they have know way of knowing what we talk about." Sara bit her lip as if to keep from crying.

"Yes. Can you imagine their frustration at watching you talk, maybe giving them the vital clue to rescue you and not being able to get it."

"They could have brought in a lip reader." She pointed out.

"There's an old saying about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. I know they haven't brought anyone in."

"You know there's no lip reader, because you're watching the crime lab?" She repeated.

He nodded and held up the recorder. "Did you want to record your goodbye to your family now?"

"No I don't plan on saying goodbye."

"I'm not surprised given your family history.

"Why did you bother asking if you already knew about my family?"

Sitting in the lab, Grissom watched Sara was repeating enough of what the perp said that he could follow the conversation. It seemed she knew he was here watching, reading her lips. Just say the right thing you sonofabitch it was a familiar interrogation mantra, but never had it meant so much. He thought about all the times Sara had sat in on interrogations where he or Brass alternated between speaking and silence to get the desired confession. Come on Honey get him to reveal too much. Get him to give us the clue we need to find you.

"It worked out for the best, better that I'm here. I wouldn't want Lindsey to be an orphan."

Dear God, it could have been Catherine. He thought, not that the idea made him feel any better. He'd lost track of the conversation again. Focusing back on Sara he tuned out the lab, all sounds and all feelings until his whole world was the image on the screen.

"You seem to know a lot about us."

"Yes. The hunter should know his prey."

"Is that all we are to you prey?"

"I had to study you to know how to strike. To know how to deliver my revenge. To find like minded allies."

"Was Walter Gordan one of your allies? Are you going to blow yourself up like he did with the ransom?"

"There is no ransom that was his aberration of the plan."

"So the ransom was an aberration? Why did he change the plan?"

"He wanted someone to 'pay' for what was done to his daughter."

"Then what do you want?"

"You went to Harvard and Berkeley Ms. Sidle so you're a bright girl, what do you think I want?"

"Money isn't enough for you because you want someone to suffer." He made a motion with his hand urging her to continue. "To suffer like you suffered in a cage, watching helplessly as someone you love died?"

"Very good Ms. Sidle, incomplete, but very good."

"Okay, so you weren't in a cage exactly. " She pursed her lips in thought ignoring the cold water rising up her leg. "Then you were in prison." A slow nod. "For a crime you didn't commit." Another nod.

"For the mistake your colleagues made I lost everything. Years on death row waiting for technology to set me free, but that doesn't matter now because you don't have that long. Are you getting cold Ms. Sidle?"

"Yes. The water is cold." Her teeth were chattering, but she kept her focus on keeping her speech clear. The water was well over the bed by now.

"You should take this opportunity to tell Dr. Grissom how you feel about him."

"I'll tell him when I see him."

"Do you really want to talk that chance, Sara?" He asked in a menacing tone.

"Yes. They'll find me like they found Nick."

"The closest they came to finding you was just after you disappeared. It was a pleasure meeting you Ms. Sidle." The voice went away as she was plunged into darkness again.

Sara waited for the light to come back on before repeating his final cryptic comment. "They were closest to finding me just after I disappeared. What the hell does that mean? I hope you can figure it out Gil, because I'm counting on you to get me out of here."

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AN: I hope the Italic side of the conversation between Sara and the Bad Guy made sense. Also any errors you find are my own, I took some liberties with the chlorine on silk, the effect of chlorine and hyperthermia are based on research. So please forgive any errors and omissions. AlsoI had Sara call Grissom by his given name instead of his surname for a reason, likea private message, there may be more on that in the next chapter. Let me know what you think