I hadn't really realized what a cliffie chapter 33 was when I posted it, I'm sorry about that. But now, fresh from the beta, I give you chapter 34… Which could possibly be described as a cliffie as well, but I just can't help myself. Thanks for the reviews on chapter 33, I hope you'll give me some feedback on this one as well.

Now, this story is nearly finished, only two more chapters to go after this one, and I was thinking about writing a sequel to it, but I only want to do that if people wants to read it, so what do you say? Do you want a sequel to Blast from the past?

Jess, thank you. I'm so lucky to have the best beta in the world! You have made this story so much better with your feedback, suggestions, decisions and of course making sense of my punctuation. Thank you.

Chapter Thirty Four

The Rescue

Sara let go of Catherine's hand and ran after Kimberly. Getting in her way she held up both hands trying to stop her.

"You can't go in there, Kimberly."

"Watch me!" The detective said through clenched teeth, trying to get past Sara.

"Kimberly, stop!" Sara grabbed her by the shoulders but Kim shrugged her off.

"Sara, get out of my way!" Kimberly stopped and looked her straight in the eyes and Sara recognized the anger and hate in them all too well.

"I can't." Sara tried to get through to her. "She would kill me if I let you in there without backup."

"Get your gun then." Kimberly tried to get past her once again and succeeded this time.

"He will kill them if he sees you coming." Sara said forcefully to get through to her.

Kimberly stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at Sara. "I have to do something, Sara. I couldn't protect my own family, the least I can do is get them back."

"Not like this." Sara walked up to her placing a hand on her shoulder. "You will go to jail if you kill him, and then what good will you be to her?"

Kimberly hung her head trying not to cry.

"Let the SWAT team do their job and wait for her here. That's when she'll need you the most. That's when Julie will need you the most." Sara had kept her hand on the detective's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back to the others and wait." She noticed the tears running down the other woman's cheeks and felt helpless. She wasn't used to comforting other people. She looked helplessly at Catherine as they almost reached the others. This was her field of expertise; she was the one who was good with people. Silently she pleaded for her to come help her to comfort the distraught woman.

Catherine saw and recognized the look in Sara's eyes immediately and rushed to the two women. She drew Kimberly into a strong hug as if trying to share some of her own strength with the woman. She held on for a while before guiding her back to the other CSIs who had gotten the radio out so they could listen to what was happening with the operation. "It's going to be alright, honey." Catherine tried to reassure the detective with words as she squeezed her shoulder in support as well. "These guys do this all the time, they will get them out."

Sara moved to stand beside Catherine again placing a tentative hand on her waist. Benjamin moved to Kimberly's other side to support her as well, but also needing support from her. Nick moved to stand next to Sara, making sure to not stand too close, but close enough to be there for her should she need it. They were all quiet, ready to listen to the sounds coming from the radio.

"Alpha leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."

"Red Raven this is Alpha leader, we are getting in position, over."

"Romeo leader this is Red Raven, what is your position?"

"Ready to rock and roll, Red Raven, over."

"Foxtrot leader this is Red Raven, give me your positions, over."

"Foxtrot is ready, over."

Kimberly let go of Catherine and sought the arms of Benjamin who was the closest she could get to Veronica outside the warehouse. She had been to a lot of these SWAT actions, but the stakes had never been higher than right now.

As Kimberly let go of her, Catherine automatically turned towards Sara, holding on tighter to her. The brunette was holding on to her with one arm, but that was the only thing that indicated that she was worried. She was standing tall, her face masked with her usual stoic expression turned towards the darkened warehouse. The blonde pressed her body flush against her side in silent support and was happy when Sara tightened her grip around her waist.

"Remember we have three civilians in this place, one child and two women. One is a cop's wife, so let's get them all out safe."

There was a pause on the radio.

"All teams wait for my command."

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Bridget was trying very hard not to get hysterical as time went by and her sister didn't come back to the room. She kept little Julie close to her all the time, and did her best to keep the little girl quiet. She didn't want them to come and get them as well. She was scared for her sister, it had been hours since their captors had taken her out of the room. What had happened to her? Why wasn't she back with them yet? Was she still alive?

She looked down at the little girl in her arms, Veronica would have to stay alive for the little girl. Julie looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"Mommy?" She asked.

"She'll be back soon, honey." Bridget answered with a strained smile.

"Julie want mommy." The little girl started sobbing quietly.

"Shhh, honey. It's going to be alright. Mommy will be back real soon." Bridget shifted her slightly and started rocking her gently back and forth. "Everything will be just fine."

She wasn't sure whether she was trying to convince herself or the little girl.

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"Team leaders, do you have a visual?"

"Alpha, negative."

"Romeo, negative."

"Foxtrot has a room with two bodies through night vision googles – both alive."

Sara looked back and met Kimberly's eyes. They both knew that Veronica would not be one of the two people in the room, she would sacrifice herself before letting anything happen to her daughter or sister. Kimberly let go of Benjamin, she needed Veronica and even though he was her twin, he would never be her. Sara pulled Catherine closer, but didn't voice her concerns that Veronica was dead.

"Snipers?"

"Nothing, boss."

"Nothing here."

"No one by the windows, boss."

"All teams await my orders."

"Why don't they get in there already?" Matthew asked angrily.

"They have to make sure that they won't have enough time to kill Veronica, Bridget and Julie." Kim answered in a detached tone of voice looking towards the warehouse.

"But they know where they are, why can't they go in there?" Anita started as well.

"They don't have a fix on…" Kimberly turned and looked at the three siblings. "Veronica is not in that room with them."

"But…" Matthew started again, but didn't get further as Kimberly advanced on him pushing him roughly against the nearest car.

"Shut the fuck up!" She pushed him once more. "Let them do their fucking job and shut the fuck up!"

"Whoa!" Warrick and Greg pulled her away from him.

"Let go of me!" She shrugged them off and walked away from the group. "Just leave me alone right now!" She put her hands on her hips and leaned forward slightly hanging her head breathing in and out heavily. She needed for all of this to be over. She needed for both her girls to be safely home with her.

"Shaw?"

Sara took the radio to her.

"Yes."

"Curtis here. Brass and I will go with the second wave. How are you holding up?"

"Just get them out of there and soon. I'll worry about me later."

"Will do. It won't be long now."

"Thank you." Kimberly gave back the radio to Sara. The brunette squeezed her shoulder again before walking back to stand beside Catherine.

Catherine looked up at her. "Are you alright?"

"Not really." Sara shook her head. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"About them going in or about Veronica?" Catherine moved to stand in front of the other woman so she could look her in the eyes.

"I don't think she will be… unharmed." Sara whispered so low that Catherine barely heard her.

Catherine had nothing to say to reassure the brunette, so she did what she thought best; she pulled Sara close to her and hugged her comfortingly. Sara didn't relax in the embrace, but she didn't pull away either, so the blonde figured that she had made the right choice.

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Veronica had felt and heard her arm break when she had used it to stop him from kicking her in the head. She cradled it carefully against her torso, trying to prepare herself from his next attack. She felt her body wanting to give up and just drift away into nothingness, but she willed herself to stay awake, trying to keep her hopes of rescue up. She couldn't leave her daughter alone with these men, who knew what they would do to her if Veronica wasn't there to protect her. She instinctively knew that Bridget would do everything in her power to protect the little girl, but she was just a girl herself and she couldn't do much against two grown men. She had led a sheltered life not knowing of the darker sides of life, she wouldn't know how to protect herself, let alone a little girl.

"It is my destiny to teach you. It is your destiny to serve me. You will learn." Dunne chanted the words over and over while beating her as if they were a magical cure.

Veronica coughed, and felt more than saw the blood dripping from her mouth. She figured that he had broken one or more of her ribs and one of them had punctured a lung. She would need medical attention soon or she would die.

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"Team leaders this is Red Raven, let's get them out of there. On my mark, over."

"10-4 Red Raven."

"Ready, Boss."

"Let's get in there."

Kimberly moved closer to the rest of the group, her eyes shifting between the radio and the warehouse in the distance.

Sara held on tighter to Catherine, her eyes were fixed on the warehouse as if she could see what was going on over there. Catherine did what she could to support the brunette, so she held on to her just as tightly. She knew it wasn't much, but it was all she could do for now. Later she would do more, but for now she just held the other woman.

"Go!"

As the signal was given Kimberly started running towards the warehouse ignoring Warrick and Greg shouting for her to stop. Sara let go of Catherine and ran after the detective – not to stop her this time, but to join her. Catherine hesitated for a second looking back at her friends and colleagues.

"Make sure they stay here." She told them pointing at the Lavisham siblings, before running after the other two women.

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Bridget heard the sound of a door splintering and a few muffled shouts, before the silence suddenly returned. She held Julie closer keeping her eyes fixed on the door – what was happening? Then the door suddenly opened and strong flashlights shone on them. Screaming she turned and protected Julie with her own body. When she felt a hand placed on her shoulder she started kicking and screaming at whoever was touching her.

"Leave us alone! Give us back Veronica! What did you do to her, you sick bastards?"

"Bridget." A female voice yelled over her screaming. "Bridget, we're the police. We're here to get you out of here."

Bridget stopped suddenly and looked up at the woman speaking with tears running down her cheeks. "Police?" She asked though sobs.

"Yes." The woman nodded and held out a hand to her. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Where's Veronica?" Bridget asked as she got up, still holding Julie closely to her. "Where's my sister?"

The woman put an arm around her, but didn't look at her. "Come on, let's get you out of here." She said as she led the crying woman through the door.

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As the three women got closer to the warehouse they saw black dressed officers leading a cuffed Burns out through the doors, placing him facedown on the ground. Kimberly changed her direction and barged directly towards him. She had just reached him and was about to attack him when she heard a voice calling out for her.

"Mama!"

She looked around and saw a young woman carrying her daughter coming out the door escorted by other black dressed police officers.

"Julie!" She ran towards them with her arms stretched out to the little girl. As she reached them she took the little girl from the other woman's arms and hugged her tightly. She held her out, checking her over for any injuries. "Are you ok, sweetie? Did anyone hurt you?"

"Where's mommy?" The little girl cried. "I want my mommy."

Kimberly locked eyes with Bridget who shook her head slowly; she didn't know where Veronica was.

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Veronica lifted her head up slightly when she heard it, was it for real or was she dreaming? She had heard a faint noise of something moving outside the room. She put her head down again as Dunne kicked her in the stomach. He moved away from her and for a second she thought her time was over, that he had heard the noise as well. But he didn't go to the door. Instead he went to an old dresser, pulling something out from a drawer. Turning slowly towards her, he revealed the new object in his hands – a large shining knife. He caressed it reverently and walked slowly towards her.

"Do you recognize this, my sweet?" He asked, his eyes fixed on the knife. "I tried before, but this time I will succeed in cutting the devil out of you."

Veronica started trembling. If he started cutting her she was dead for sure. Silently she started praying to every God she had ever heard of.

He kneeled down beside her letting the knife caress her cheek, but not cutting her yet. He looked up startled when the door flew open and black dressed people came running in. He raised the knife and Veronica clearly saw the madness shining in his eyes. If he couldn't have her, no one could.

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As they heard the shot being fired they stood frozen in place, looking at each other for what seemed like hours but was merely seconds. Kimberly woke first from the shock and quickly handed Julie over to Catherine. She got out her gun and ran inside the warehouse. She heard the SWAT team members shouting after her, but ignored them – she needed to get to Veronica right away.

Sara followed right behind Kimberly, praying that Veronica was still alive. She pulled out her gun as they reached a door that had clearly been ripped off its hinges. Breathing in deeply she raised her gun and followed the detective through the door.

"We need paramedics in here!" A man shouted out from inside the room.

Please dear God, don't let it be Veronica! Please don't let it be her! Please let her be alive!