(A/N) SORRY for the long wait ---again! Ugh, I need to be more consistent! Sorry, I've been really busy…so um; this one is twice as good as the other ones. ? Review!

Just Remember

Chapter 12: Hope Fades

"Wait, a lead?" Nick asked, apparently shocked.

"Yeah," Amiya smiled, "Two callers identified a man, a woman, and a child. The woman and the child match the descriptions of Mrs. Stokes (is it?), ok, and Maura Charles."

"Where?" Asked Greg.

"Downtown Cincinnati, we need to hurry. Warrick, you go with Paul, Greg, you go with Ryan." A younger man about Amiya's age stepped forward and beckoned Greg. "And you can come with me," She pointed at Nick. They all walked quickly down the hall, and they met with more DNA agents. A man came up to them, he had wild crazy hair and seemed very flamboyant.

"Hey, the DNA of Sara matches two other homicides. It seems like the actual perpetrator may be using her for his murders. But he hasn't killed her yet." He smiled.

"Good Job," Paul said while smiling.

"Do I get a promotion?" He asked. Paul shook his head, "No Ray, no you don't." Nick immediately was reminded of Greg. Greg smiled as if remembering and walked faster towards the door. They stepped into the large vans and went on their way to downtown. As soon as Amiya hit Columbia Parkway, she turned on the sirens and they began speeding towards fountain square. Neither Nick nor Amiya said anything in the car. Nick felt his chest pounding and his head seemed to spin. He grabbed a hold of the seat handle and then watched as she made each bend. He looked out at the Ohio River, the brown water seemed like chocolate. Even the cloudy sky seemed nice; he had a great feeling that he would see Sara again. He felt elated, but nervous. What would he say? How would he say it? He practiced the words over and over inside his head, but nothing came to him except, how are you? And that sounded stupid, even inside his head. Amiya turned to him as they stopped at a red light.

"They have police officers over there…so there's no need for us to rush too much," She smiled, "You really love her don't you?" Nick smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I really do," He sighed, "Yeah, I really do." He looked out the window and gazed at downtown Cincinnati. The buildings of PNC banc, and the Carew Tower glared down on him giving him a foreboding feeling. He felt tears in his eyes, if he saw his wife today, then he would be so happy. But if he didn't, he knew that he would be completely hopeless and all of his hopes would be crushed. Lets hope it doesn't come to that, he thought. They droved through the town and then finally stopped in front of Fountain Square.

"This is where they were spotted," Amiya said. The other two vans stopped behind them. Warrick and Greg stepped out and ran behind Nick who was already up there trying to drink it all in. Little Maura was lying there, already dead. The police had come too late.

"What the hell happened?" Amiya screamed. A detective walked to her and said, "The call was made by the un-sub himself from the pay-phone. He used gloves, we tried to call the lab, but they said you had left. Several witnesses talked about how they saw them sit her down. The woman almost looked like she wanted to be found, they said. But she was dragged away by the other man, they thought nothing of it, it bothered them, but nothing, in their eyes, was really going wrong. They also said that the un-sub left around fifteen minutes earlier, and he headed north.

"Why can't we follow him?" Nick asked.

"Well, the thing is, we have no way to know exactly where he went. But what we are going to do is identify his car, and then that way get where he lives," said Ryan slowly. Nick nodded; he understood that he needed to be objective. But he really wanted Sara back.

"Okay, just hurry." He sadly said. They all left, but he sat down and buried his head in his hands. Amiya stood beside him.

"You okay?" She asked while sitting down. Nick looked at her and pointed at the space beside him.

"Have you ever loved someone so much that you would go to the end of the earth for them?" He asked. She smiled.

"I'm engaged, to Ryan. So yeah, I guess I do love him; we've worked with each other for years. I would die for him." Nick smiled.

"And if he disappeared for years without a word and then reappeared, you would be elated right?" She nodded, "But what if, every time you reached out to hold him, he would be there, right in front of your hand, and you just couldn't reach him?" Nick looked at her seriously.

"I would feel worse than words can say, I would feel almost dead, and I guess it would be better for me to die myself. But there would be a little hope; it would be so small that I couldn't feel it. And then I would worry about how everyone else could take it, and soon collapse with all the emotional stress," said Amiya who started to feel sick. Nick looked at her and smiled, he realized that she wouldn't be able to handle it. And eight years ago he would've cried if anyone told him that was going to happen. He had lived so long without Sara in his life, and felt a strong emptiness when people spoke about her. He turned to Amiya.

"You can go," he said, "I'll be fine, I'll get a cab."

"No," answered Amiya, "I'm fine. I don't mind staying. They'll call us with any information."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll go get some coffee," She smiled. Nick grinned, she reminded him of Sara when she was younger. He knew he couldn't live without her knowing that she was alive. I'll find you, he thought, and you'll come back home, and we'll be a family again.