By: SilentScreamer13

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with CSI… and so on and so forth 

Authors Note: GSR! Rating may change in later chapters

Her head felt like it was going to explode. She hadn't slept in almost forty-eight hours and it was beginning to catch up with her. She yawned as she walked into Grissom's office. "You know Sara, your shift ended about eighteen hours ago."

"Yeah well, you know I don't like to stop in the middle of a lucky streak. Those prints you had me process from the crime scene weren't in our database. Whoever the murderer is has a clean record. Not even a speeding ticket!"

"So we have no leads, suspects or murder weapon."

"Correct."

"Then the only thing we can do is go to the evidence. We're going to have to go back to the crime scene."

"You can drive, I think I might kill us if I get behind the wheel." She said as she grabbed her jacket.

"Sara, how many weeks of vacation have you used this year?"

"None, but its only November! And if I remember correctly, I'm not the only one who hasn't touched my vacation days!"

"You need to take a couple days off and recoup. You're exhausted."

"Grissom, I know my limits. If I need a couple days, my ass will be out of this office so fast, you won't even get the chance to stare at."

He smiled as they climbed into his Tahoe and drove away. Most of the car ride was in silence until Grissom worked up enough courage to ask her a question that had been eating away at him for months. "Sara, do you remember the case we took at the Mental Hospital?" Her body instantly tensed and she lost color to her face.

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

"Do you…" he paused for a moment, "do you ever blame me for what happened?" He had finally asked it and now he was dreading the answer.

"Grissom, you left to get a key. You couldn't have known that Adam was going to do that. I don't blame you for anything. Besides, I'm still here aren't I?" She looked over at him with a bit of amusement in her eyes.

"That you are Sara Sidle, that you are." He didn't know why, but knowing that she didn't blame him for what happened lifted a huge knot out of his chest that had been lingering there way to long.

The rest of the car ride was in silence. When they arrived, they were the only ones there. There was a sort of a bad vibe that just hung in the air.

"So, I'll take the Vics bedroom and you can work wherever." Sara said with a little humor in her voice.

"I thought I was in charge." He said to her as she walked away.

"Only when I'm working on your pay roll. I'm here on my own time." She threw over her shoulder. He couldn't help but feel a little proud of her when she walked away. She was the strongest person he ever met. He grabbed his kit and headed inside behind her.

Sara's POV

As she looked over the bloody bed sheets and ropes connected to the bedposts, she felt sick to her stomach. How could anyone ever in there wildest dreams think that rape was somehow a type of sex? By the lamp shattered on the floor and the way they had found the Vics body, it was easy to tell that this woman had put up a huge fight. She wasn't ready to die, and she had made that clear, but she just wasn't strong enough. As she looked over the bed sheets more carefully something caught her eye. A HAIR! It was short and black, but the Victims hair was long and red. She immediately snapped a picture and grabbed her kit. If this little hair could put this guy behind bars, no way was she going to screw anything up. She collected it and put it in an envelope. As she was slipping it back into her kit, she heard Grissom come up behind her.

"I found a hair. I must have missed it the first time. If this is the Perps hair, we've got him!"

Suddenly a pair of male arms reached down around her throat and waist and began to haul her over to the sliding glass door.

"Grissom! Suspect on the Premises!" She could barely shout that out with his arm choking her. As he tried to pull her through the slider, she grabbed the doorframe and held on for dear life. It was working until something hard and heavy hit the back of her head and she fell into the welcoming darkness.

TBC...