I was thinking, with this story drawing to a close in two more chapters (one more after this plus the epilogue) that I really didn't cover as much detail as I would have liked. For instance: Anna's journey to becoming a CSI, the courtship/proposal/wedding of Danny and Lindsay (including the time that they were locked in Cozy's together), how Mac and Stella tried to keep their relationship a secret, more of Elsie and Anna's brilliant plans (karaoke, anyone?) and the details of Flack and Anna together. Which is why, if you all would like, I am already putting together a prequel/sequel thing for you all. With your reviews of this chapter, kindly either put a "yay" or "nay" as to whether you would like me to continue. Have a good time with this semi-evil cliffhanger!

Chapter Twenty-Five: Hold On

Marjorie gawked. "You're kidding me. You mean, that girl was kidnapped?" The young woman's eyes were wide.

Tina was pacing her kitchen now. "Yes, but Marjorie, I really need to call Warrick, so I'll call you back later."

"Please," Marjorie said as Tina hung up.

Across town, Sara and I were still trying to process the warehouse scene, when a soft beeping caught my attention. I looked at his pager and read it to Sara. "Grissom's got a 911 for us. Let's head back to the lab." The group piled back into the SUV and drove to the lab.

"I wonder what Grissom needed," Danny thought out loud. I shrugged from the front seat.

"Whatever it is, it's something urgent."

Grissom's office was already full, yet again. Warrick and Nick were standing near Grissom's desk, talking to him, as Horatio, Catherine, and Mac talked in hushed whispers. The entire group looked up as the rest of us filed in.

Warrick held up his cell phone. "That was Tina. Her friend Marjorie spotted someone downtown today who matches the physical description of Anna."

Flack and Danny glanced at each other. "Well, do we know where they were taking her?"

Grissom looked up at the two New Yorkers. "We can assume that this ritualistic human sacrifice takes place at a warehouse," he began, "and we have located a few abandoned warehouses right outside of the city."

"Well, which one are they taking her to?" I asked.

Grissom exhaled. "There's one to the north of here, and we think that this one is the one they've taken her to…"

Danny and Flack looked at each other and nodded, drawing their guns.

"…but here's the thing, Danny, Flack," Mac continued, addressing the two men, "we have to do this thing right. If we don't, Anna could get hurt, and we don't want that."

The two men nodded and put their guns away for the time being. "Now," Horatio continued, "we have a plan, but we need to make sure that you all stick to it," he said, mainly talking to Flack now, and added in a tone just above a whisper, "you can't get carried away by your emotions."

Flack nodded, though I suspect he was still wary of this whole plan. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Here's the deal," Catherine began, "what we need is for Nick and Warrick, you two are going to take Sara and circle the building. Greg, I want you with Flack and Danny. You three are going to start on the first floor of the warehouse. Grissom and I are going to be on the second floor with Mac. Horatio said that he can check the top floor by himself. Everyone understand that?"

We all nodded, though my mouth suddenly felt very dry. "We can't get Brass involved with this," Grissom said, addressing his team, "because there is supposed to be no police involvement, and we want to get Anna out of there alive."

"Is everyone ready?" Mac asked. We all nodded mutely.

"Then, we need to get going," Grissom said, checking his watch. "It's about two hours until sunset and according to this ritual, the sacrifice is supposed to be taken at sunset."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

I felt very numb as I rode with half of the group to a little dive a few minutes away from the warehouse. I snuck a glance over at Flack and Danny, who looked equally clammy. I took a deep breath as we got out of the SUV, inhaling the evening Vegas air. Dirt and gravel crunched under our feet as we drew closer and closer to the warehouse. It was a massive building, with crumbling walls and peeling paint on its exterior. Catherine made a motion, and everyone loaded their guns. She signaled once more, and we moved inside.

I was met with the aroma of dust and mold as we stepped inside of the threshold to the warehouse. Catherine motioned towards a rusted set of stairs as she, Grissom, Mac, and Horatio climbed up to the other floors. This is it, I thought. We're all alone now. Danny pulled a small flashlight from his pocket, as Flack and he moved around, covering me from any gunfire that should erupt. The warehouse was full of rooms, all abandoned, and empty corridors leading to more vacant rooms. We must have walked for over a twenty minutes before we heard a cold voice.

"Why, hello there detectives," it drawled. Flack and Danny walked slowly into the room that the voice was coming from. Catherine, Grissom, and Mac were already in the room, their guns trained on four or five shadowy figures in the center. A man was in front of them, with a bound and gagged woman, holding a glistening silver knife at her throat. Flack and Danny tentatively backed up against the wall, in hopes that the figures wouldn't be able to see them.

"And Detectives Flack and Messer, what a pleasure to see you both here too," the voice continued. It was a woman's voice, I realized. I stepped further away from Danny and Flack, retreating into the shadows. Either the woman failed to acknowledge me, or she honestly didn't see me. I could see a table fixated in the center of the room with candles lit in the around it.

"There, there, Mr. Sanders, we wouldn't want you hiding in the shadows," another voice added. I swallowed hard, and inched towards where Danny and Flack were. Both of them still had their guns out and trained on one of the figures near the center of the room.

"Why did you do it Mahala?" Mac asked in a calm and even tone, gun aimed right at the young woman. Her dark eyes glistened maliciously in the candlelight.

"Don't you see, Detective? It's my tradition, my heritage. We need to have a perfect human sacrifice."

"Anna's not a perfect person," Danny added in a flat tone. "None of us are perfect."

Mahala laughed. "It doesn't matter if she has a traffic ticket, or a blemish on her skin. She is green-eyed, signaling wealth and prosperity. Her hair falls straight, meaning that she is a good person, not wayward. She is a brunette, meaning that she is very brilliant and bright. Don't you see, Detective Messer? She is the perfect person for our sacrifice."

One of the men in the center of the room agreed and Mahala nodded encouragingly towards him. The man stepped closer towards where Cameron was holding Anna. He knelt down towards her and moved his hand towards her face.

"Don't touch her," Flack growled from beside me, gun now aimed at the man. The man merely laughed and stroked Anna's face. Anna whimpered.

"Why, Detective? Can't bear to watch your precious Anna being touched by someone else?" Mahala taunted, motioning for the other men in the room to go over and stroke Anna's face, neck, and shoulders. Keep it together Flack, I begged. As much as it was sickening me to see Anna being touched by a bunch of creepy men, I wanted Flack to keep his cool so that we could get her out of the warehouse alive.

Flack held his gun steady and his eyes were fixed on Anna's. The two of them looked at each other, a silent communication.

Please, Flack, don't do anything rash. I know you'll get me out of here. I believe in you, she seemed to be saying with her eyes. I watched Flack lock eyes with Anna before he fixed his gaze to Mahala.

"You're telling me that out of a million people that passed by your alley in New York, that you chose Anna because of her physical appearance?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at the woman. The woman smiled.

"No one else who passed by the alley was such an easy target as Anna. I could tell that she was distracted, emotional, and in a hurry to get somewhere."

Danny stiffened next to Flack.

Flack spoke up. "She was emotional because of me. We had a fight the night before. I meant to say," he said, turning his eyes towards Anna once more, "that I was sorry. I'm so sorry Anna," he said, gaze softened.

I forgive you Flack. I want you to know that. I wanted to tell you, and I was on my way to tell you that was sorry about our argument. I don't want something stupid coming between us.

"Well, isn't that just sweet?" Cameron hissed, looking back and forth between Anna and Flack. "They got one last moment of forgiveness before she died," he said, pulling Anna to her feet. The young woman winced in pain. Her arms were bound behind her back, and her feet were tied together. The men in the room agreed with low murmurs.

"Well, now that you are all here, I think we can proceed with the sacrifice," Mahala said with glee, motioning for her husband to put Anna on the table. Catherine stopped her, by voicing a question.

"How do you know that we won't shoot you all now?"

Mahala and the others laughed, as Cameron stood up from placing Anna on the table. Mahala was still watching her, but Cameron scrambled around and talked to one of the men, who handed him roped to bind Anna to the table.

"And risk hitting your precious little Anna?" the woman asked with skepticism. "You would never do that."

"You're right, Mahala," Mac said, mouth twitching. A shot rang out in the air, and Cameron fell to the ground, knife slipping out of his hand. Mahala screamed and the CSIs advanced towards Anna. Mahala and the other men wouldn't let them off that easily.

"No!" she shrieked. "I'll kill her myself!" The woman picked up the knife of her dead husband and pulled Anna to her feet, knife ready to slit her throat. Gunfire was heard all through the air, as the other men began to fall, one by one. Mahala looked at Danny, who was coming towards her. Instead of slicing Anna's throat, she threw the younger woman against the stone wall behind her, and Mahala took off running for the exit.

I'm not dead. But I feel very odd, very tired. I want to sleep. Yes, sleeping is nice…

"Anna, listen to me. Anna, my name is Greg, and I need you to stay with me," I said. I wasn't shielded from the gunfire, but I was making sure that Anna was, placing my body in front of hers. She had hit the wall pretty hard, and I knew that she was beginning to slip into unconsciousness. Danny jogged over to where I was.

Is that Danny? Oh, Danny, I feel really tired. I hope you don't mind if I just go to sleep for a little bit. It would feel very nice…

"Price, listen to me, don't you dare fall asleep. Anna, keep yourself awake, please."

But Danny, I want to sleep. I want to close my eyes…I think I will now. My eyelids feel really heavy and I feel tired. Yes, I think I'll fall asleep now…

"Hold on, Anna. Hold on," I told her, as her eyes slid shut.

Well, obviously, Anna doesn't die. It would be kind of hard to be married and have four kids if she was dead. But the next chapter will reveal everything, like who fired the first shot, and if Flack ever tells Anna how he really feels…Yep. All that and more, in the next chapter!