Disclaimer: Nope don't own them or anything like it.

Spoilers: It's set Post Grave Danger so spoilers for Season 5 & 6

Author's Note: It's a darker story than others I've posted, no one beta'd so any errors our mine own. R&R let me know what you think.


Greg followed Nick out of the AV Lab watching as the Texan began mentally compiling a list of the equipment in the crime lab that could help them find Sara if this lead panned out. They would need things to determine where the pool was or had been, shovels to dig her out and hot coffee to thaw out her insides. Nick was so absorbed in his task that he didn't notice when David Hodges stepped out of the Trace lab and waved the pair over. Greg noticed that Hodges looked as tired as the rest of them with dark circles under his eyes.

"Hodges?"

"Greg. How is she?"

"Hanging in there. Was that all?"

"No I was processing that reddish-orange fiber that Grissom found..." Unwilling to miss another lead Greg followed the lab tech leaving Nick to complete the other task. Perching on a stool in the lab Greg listened as Hodges explained what he knew about the reddish-orange fiber Grissom had found. It was a carpet fiber. Since first seeing the fiber Greg had been struck by the feeling that he was missing something. They were overlooking something important. The Trace Analyst kept talking about the carpet fiber's grass stain, but Greg found himself zoning out until it felt like he was looking at the evidence from across the room. It was from this perspective that he finally knew where he'd seen those fibers before. Opening his cell, he called Grissom.

"Grissom."

"It's Greg. I know where that carpet fiber came from now that Hodges discovered grass stains on it. When I was doing the perimeter on the second house I noticed there was this ugly rug outside the door to the patio. It was covered in these hideous rusty and maize poppies."

"Good job and thanks Greg." Grissom cleared his throat at the surge of pride in his youngest CSI. Sara had spent the most time training him and she would be so proud of Greg. "I'm gonna head over there now. You guys follow as soon as you can." Having a second piece of evidence leading him back to the second house made him feel better about his decision. Locard's Exchange Principal was good science explaining how a perpetrator leaves evidence of his presence at the scene while taking some of the scene away with him. In his gut he knew that the carpet fiber hadn't been planted, it was transferred unwittingly. He was relieved to finally have solid evidence to follow. He'd had enough of wild goose chases that delayed and confused the issue. Sara needed to be found now, enough time had been wasted. Stopping in his office he grabbed his kit and the blanket he kept for sleeping in the breakroom. Already thinking ahead to what she'd need as soon as she was out of the water.

Opening up the vehicle's door he set his case in next to Sara's and then took time to make sure there were towels, blankets and spare overalls in the back of the SUV. Once he found her she'd need to get out of her cold wet clothes as soon as possible so she could start helping her body temperature raise. For just a moment he indulged in the fantasy of drying her hair and skin, but mostly holding her close so that her warm breath on his skin would remind him she was safe and alive. He needed to know that she was alive and that it wasn't too late.

Reaching the scene he walked around the perimeter again looking for clues that would pinpoint the location of Sara's watery prison. The backyard was very plain divided between a large rectangle of grass and a slightly smaller concrete side formed around the large brick built in bar-be-que. He was hoping that by observing the scene alone in solitude he could put the pieces together and solve the puzzle faster by himself than waiting for the others to arrive and begin the grid search pattern. Grissom didn't want to the the hero of the story because he felt no need to be a hero. What he needed was to find Sara as soon as possible, because he desperately needed to touch her skin and feel it grow warmer, to see her smile and gaze into her eyes while pushing her wet hair off her face before he lost it.

Standing next to the patio rug that was every bit as ugly as Greg had described he noticed the odd layout to the back yard observed that there was no sign of disturbed grass on the lawn side, except for the area around the back side of the bar-be-que. Walking over to the brick work station he saw that wooden door that opened on the front side. Opening the door he noticed how shallow the cupboard was. Playing a hunch Gil walked around to the backside of the bar-be-que using his gloved fingers to lightly brush over the brick. Until he found what he was looking for a small camoflogued latch. Pulling on it he revealed another wooden door.

Grissom admitted he was impressed by the clever ploy of painting the door to match the bar-be-que. Shining his flashlight inside the opening he was pleased to discover a space just large enough for a hunched over person to get into. Opening his phone he called Catherine to explain, because someone needed to know that he was going into a dark unknown space alone. "Gil this is a bad idea we're only ten minutes away wait for us."

"I can't Cath I nearly waited too long to get my head out of the microscope. It's about time I did something."

"Gil..." She pleaded as he closed the phone, turning off the ringer just in case she called back. Determined he moved into the space to discover in the darkness ladder like rungs with rope railings leading down. Moving quietly and cautiously down he counted the rungs as he decended to the hidden room underground. The arching flashlight revealed another door, opening it he noticed the light coming from a short ways off.

Stopping just outside the ring of light he surveyed the room, but didn't see any shadows or movements so he stepped closer. The one side of the room contains a computer, video camera and office equipment. There will be time to process it for evidence after Sara's safe, he promised himself. Time enough to get a solid case against this guy. Slowly he turned his attention to the other part of the room. Dreading it, yet needing to see what was there. Just as she had been on the computer screen earlier Sara was floating in the water. It was the differences that had his heart lurching, her lips and skin were bluer then the last time he'd seen her. Sara was suffering from hypothermia and needed out of her cage before her survival became a deadly race against time.

He's standing in front of her, with his hand on the glass before he even considered moving. Knocking on the glass he gets Sara's attention and is painfully reminded of her attack at the State Hospital. "Sara. Honey." His words pull Sara back to reality, so she stops floating and starts treading water.

"Gri-is-is-somm." She uttered around the shivers that were racking her body.

"I'm here sweetheart." She nodded and moved closer to the plexiglass, opening her hand she pressed it against the clear divider where his hand was. If not for the cold plastic they would have been touching. "and we're going to get you out of there as quick as we can." Opening his phone again he calls Brass to let his friend know Sara had been found, but they would need the bomb squad sent out to check the place out.

"Sara. Honey I need you to talk to me. We have to wait for the all clear from the bomb squad and then we're going to get you out of there and warm you up. Also I was thinking when this is all over you might like to go out to dinner." He wasn't sure, but he suspected the wet drop rolling down her check was a tear and he had to bite his lip to keep his own from falling. He was with Sara, but now his mind raced back to their perp and the questions that haunted him as he starred into her dark eyes. He'd found Sara and was grateful, but wonder if he would still loose her. Was her watery 'tomb' booby trapped like Nick's grave had been and if so how did they rescue her without blowing her up because the bull dozer trick wouldn't work a second time.

TBC