A/N: A tad bit shorter chapter, but one with a lot to say. I was asked where this was going with Sara and Cath...this might answer that...or maybe not. The ladies are the stars of this chapter, so let me know what you think:)

I have a long, rough week ahead of me, so I doubt if I can get the next chapter out any sooner than Thursday.

Disclaimer: If I owned them...1 Warrick would have more screentime. 2 Nick and Warrick would work together more. I love the interaction between the two of them. 3. Greggo would still be a labrat, he was adorable there. Until those three things happen, there's no doubt that I don't own them!

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"Well?" Grissom looked over his glasses at Catherine as she dropped into the chair opposite from him. It was late into the next shift and neither of them had been home, nor had they gotten any rest.

"You are not going to like what I have to say." Catherine sighed. She was tired. She was frustrated. She was pissed, and she was worried. She wanted to take it all out on someone, but she wasn't sure whom. It varied between Gil and Warrick. Since Warrick was out of pocket, she aimed her glare at Gil Grissom.

"Why don't you tell me and I can make my own judgment?" Gil snapped, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He seemed to be as tired and cranky as she was, which made Catherine feel a little bit better.

"I found similar cases in five different states. All are unsolved, and all have about as much to go on as we do." Catherine smirked sardonically at him. "The catch is….the most recent one was in Nineteen fifty-seven."

"Forty-nine years ago?" Gil frowned, doing the math in his head. "Okay, so our killer is in his sixties? It's not impossible."

"Except, I haven't told you when the other killings were." Catherine pressed on. "Nineteen forty-four in Utah. Nineteen thirty in New Mexico and Nineteen oh-five in New York."

"So……our killer is a hundred and twenty?" Gil heaved a sigh. This week was getting worse and worse. He was missing three of his CSI's. One of them had been nearly killed. Now, he had an unfeasible case. On days like this, he wondered why he didn't just retire.

"Or, it's some sort of cult killings. They teach the next generation to kill the same way. Some sort of ritual sacrifice?" Catherine suggested.

"Good…..that's a workable rationalization." Gil nodded. "But why haven't we heard of such a cult? Why such a long gap? Two generations between killings? Anything on the internet?"

"No." Catherine shook her head. "But, while I was researching this, I did find another similar attack. A much more recent attack. One of our cases, in fact."

"Yeah? Which case?" Gil pondered the idea. He glanced up at the board that held all of their unsolved cases. "We haven't had any cases where someone has been mutilated such as this."

"No. However, we had a stabbing, just like Lamarax and the victim in fifty-seven. The same type of knife was used as the Lamarax stabbing, and Lamarax has a stab in the exact same position as the one I found. It's the same kind of knife used in both cases."

"Really? And it happened before Lamarax? How recently?"

"This week."

"Really? I don't remember pulling another D.B that was a victim of a stabbing. Are you sure it was one of our cases?" Grissom argued. He prided himself in having a good memory. It wasn't like him to forget something such as this, so she had to be wrong.

"Our victim wasn't a D.B. He survived."

"Then it can't be the same guy." Grissom dismissed the thought. "A killer like this doesn't leave someone alive. He enjoys the torturing and killing too much."

"He was interrupted. He didn't get to finish." Catherine countered. "I know this, because I was the one who interrupted him. The victim was Nicky."

"Nick?" Gil frowned. "You are saying, this killer is after Nick?"

"Yes. I'm saying this is the very same person that attacked Nick. I interrupted him, so he went on to the next victim." Catherine reiterated. "And if he's like all other killers that have been interrupted, he won't be satisfied until he finishes the job. Which means, Nicky is in danger unless we catch this freak?"

"So, as long as Warrick keeps him hidden, this guy will be looking for Nick?" Gil deliberated aloud. "How did Warrick know this? Why wouldn't he share this with us? And what does Greg have to do with all of this?"

"It gets better." David Hodges spoke up from the open doorway. "Archie Johnson is now M.I.A also."

"Archie?" Catherine frowned.

"From what I overheard of him on the phone, Archie got a call from Nick. He then clocked out and tore out of here, only stopping to grab his laptop." Hodges had the nerve to look smug. "That was…..over eight hours ago. He hasn't been answering his cell since."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Grissom demanded. He didn't like the snarky tech, and if Hodges wasn't as good at the job as he was, he would have been fired long ago.

"I mentioned it to Sara, and she told me not to say anything to you. If you ask me, she was acting rather suspicious too." Hodges seemed to take great enjoyment out of offering this opinion.

Catherine pulled her cell out of her pocket and hit Sara's number. It went straight to her voicemail. She turned around and called Sara's home number. The answering machine picked up after the fourth ring. Clicking her own phone off, she looked nervously at Grissom. "Sara's not answering. Where would she be?"

"Why does everyone on my team keep disappearing?" Gil wanted to know, his own anxiety beginning to surface. Turning his attention to Hodges, he let out a calm threat. "None of this goes any farther than the three of this, got that?"

"Sure, you're the boss." Hodges sneered insolently.

"What do we do now?" Catherine whispered. "Where is Sara?"

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Sara sat in her car, once again staring at what looked like an abandoned building. She knew better. She knew her so-called friends were in there. It was bad enough that they had left her out of this, but if they had actually pulled Archie into this instead of her……

She couldn't even think of a threat that would show them exactly how angry and hurt she actually was. She considered letting Hodges go to Grissom. She should just let them feel the wraith of their very irritated shift leader. Except, she didn't think that Gil was all that irritated anymore. By the look in his eyes, he had grown worried about his boys.

He and Catherine were like two loving parents. At the time the guys disappeared, they had been angry at their disobedience. The longer their boys stayed missing, the more Grissom and Catherine began to worry. She knew that they had Brass looking for them, unofficially.

From what she could tell, the guys were not budging from this building. Whatever it was that had Warrick hiding his friends away must be something fierce. Nick, even injured, wasn't one to let things keep him from his job. He'd been thrown out windows, buried, guns in his face, but he kept on coming back.

Sara had just about decided that it was time she paid the guys a visit when someone knocked on her car window. She'd been so engrossed in her thoughts, that she hadn't seen the man approach. He gave her a friendly smile and motioned for her to unroll the window.

Sara gave the window a little crack. "Yes?"

"You've been sitting here a long time." The tall man was leaning down a bit so he could look her in the eye. "I was wondering if you were having trouble? Waiting for a tow?"

"No…..um….well…." Sara didn't know what to say to the man. He was giving her a nice, charming smile, but the look in his eyes didn't seem so charming. His blue eyes were full of devilment, they almost seemed sinister. "I was just….sitting here…..collecting my thoughts."

"You must have a lot of thoughts to collect." He laughed, running his finger along the top edge of the window. "You've been sitting here for three hours."

"Well, yes…….I just needed some time alone." Sara glanced down at her watch. He was right! She'd clocked out of work three and a half hours ago. She looked up at him, studying him.

"And this isn't the first time you've been sitting here. You were here for a long time yesterday too!" He informed her accusingly.

"How would you know? Who are you?" Sara grew suspicious and a little frightened. Was this man following her? If he attacked her, who would know where she was?

"My name's Jake Tucker. I run security here. It's my job to keep care of these here buildings." The charming smile was back. Sara frowned, looking around at the graffiti and broken windows. If he was really the security around here, there was obvious reason he was only a rent a cop. He obviously hadn't been doing that great of a job. "It's my job to see who all is here and why."

"You don't look much like a rent-a-cop." Sara eyed him. "Where's your uniform?"

"At the cleaners." He replied smoothly, the smile remaining in place but it was somewhat eerie looking in Sara's opinion.

"What company do you work for? Where's your identification?" Sara demanded, growing disconcerted at his lies and not liking the ongoing smile.

"My identification?" He looked surprised. "Right here, of course!" He made as to get something out of his pocket, but before she could blink, he gave the window a yank and then a shove and it fell. He had effectively got the window off the runner and it crashed down into the door, leaving absolutely no barrier between herself and him. He pounced, grabbing her and yanking her through the now open window. She struggled, but he was much stronger than he looked.

He slammed her against the car, knocking the wind out of her. "I don't think you're here for the peace and quiet! You see, I think you're here for the same reasons I am. Three reasons, right? One is an angry cuss, irritable as a bear with a thorn in his paw. One is an energetic fellow, full of ideas and questions. And one…..well, he's injured, so he's not too fun at all right now? Am I correct? Am I close? You see, I know exactly why you are here. I'm here for those same reasons!" The smile was back, but Sara saw no charm in it at all, as she slowly lost consciousness.

So...any thoughts? TBC...