Irrefutable

By: Manigault

Thank you to everyone who has read this story and especially those who have reviewed. I hope it was worth the read.

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Brass stood on the lakes edge and squinted into the distance where he could make out a scattering of debris. Boards, not only from the pier, but from several boats were flung over the water in an array of confusion. He prayed there were no body parts mixed in with the debris.

"Sara? You out there?" Brass shouted, his eyes scanned over the floating boards for any sign of life. He thought for certain that he'd heard her cry for help when he'd stepped from the car and had been more certain that he'd seen a slight movement. Now he saw nothing except for the swaying boards.

Taking a step into the lake he felt the the water seep into his shoes, soaking his socks and the legs of his pants.

"Jim, what are you doing?"

Brass looked over his shoulder towards Warrick who was staring at him with concern.

"I thought that I heard Sara, but I don't see her from here," Brass shrugged and asked softly, "any luck over there?"

"We met your friend, Rob Philmon," said Warrick, his eyes moving from Brass to stare at the water over the man's shoulder as he continued to speak. "Philmon was with Sara when Lurie pressed a button that did all of this destruction."

"It was Lurie, then," Brass rubbed the back of his neck and started to take a step away from the water to go in search of his old friend when Warrick practically pushed him back into the lake as he brushed past him. "Warrick?"

Brass turned to find that Warrick was already diving into the water and swimming away from the shore towards something Brass could not determine.

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Nick patted Greg on the shoulder as they moved towards the section of the pier where Sara was last seen by Rob Philmon. They had been standing near each other when Lurie had detonated the bomb and neither one of them had time to process their actions as the air was shattered with the blast of the bomb and the fallout that resulted.

Philmon had been thrown backwards, hitting the edge of the water near the shore where he had blacked out. Sara, he'd assured them, had not been on the boat.

The sun was shining brightly over the water, intermingling with the bits and pieces from the bombs blast. Staring blankly into the horizon, Greg pushed back the tears that were threatening and focused on the area surrounding them.

"Hey Greg, isn't that Warrick out there?"

Greg followed the direction Nick was pointing and saw Warrick swimming towards a large boxy object of some type. Hope jumped inside the minds of each man as they raced away from the pier and back in the direction of the shore nearest to Warrick and where they found Brass standing knee deep in the lake.

"What's he see? Did he find Sara?" asked Greg excitment causing him to race past Brass and into the water towards Warrick.

"I don't know what he saw, but he was off in a flash," Brass said as he lifted his arm and swept it towards the lake. The men stood watching as Warrick reached the strange floating object and swiveled his body back towards the shore.

"Sara! I've got her and she's breathing!" Warrick shouted, his voice carrying over the water and reaching the mens ears like a cold slap. Immediately animated, each man took action and began to move in synch with one another as Warrick began slowly pulling the object with it's passenger towards shore.

Nick and Greg both ran into the water to meet Warrick while Brass pulled out his phone and radioed for an ambulance to meet them on the spot he was standing. Within seconds he was joined by EMT's, fellow police officers, and Rob Philmon.

Reaching Warrick's side, Nick and Greg noted the battered body of their friend who was lying halfway across part of a boat, one arm wedged between the boards to a degree that indicated she had somehow forced it through the narrow opening before passing out where she would have surely drowned.

Surrounded by her friends, Sara was gently pulled to shore where the EMT's took charge by gently pushing the protective men to the side so they could extract her arm from the boards and examine her injuries.

In all of the excitement, Brass was dimly aware that he needed to phone Grissom and let him know that they had found Sara and she was alive, if the worse for wear, and barely breathing.

He didn't get the chance as he saw a flurry of movement and Grissom was pushing his way through the small crowd that had gathered near the waters edge.

"Sara?" Grissom's eyes landed on Sara's face and his heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest as he struggled to remain in some control of his emotions. "You're alive."

"We need to get her to the hospital for a complete assessment," one of the EMT's commented as they began the process of placing her on the stretcher. A groan escaped from Sara's lips as they lifted her and moved her to the gurney and her eyelids flickered open and then closed several times before she whispered softly.

"Grissom?"

Moving to the head of the gurney, Grissom was able to stare down at Sara as she whispered his name and her eyes flickered open to see him smiling gently. "I'm here, honey, I'm not leaving."

"We're okay?" asked Sara, her voice barely more than a whisper.

Kissing her forehead, Grissom nodded. "We're going to be okay."

Grissom followed the gurney as it was lifted into the ambulance where he insisted they allow him to remain by her side. Before stepping inside, he turned back to the sea of relieved faces of his makeshift family and smiled warmly. "Thank you."

Waving him on, the scene was reminescent of the one outside of Brass's hospital room when he was safely out of the woods. The image would stay with Grissom for the rest of his days. Climbing into the back of the ambulance he moved to Sara's side where he gripped her hand in his own and felt the slight squeeze that indicated she was aware of his presence. He'd been given a second chance and now a third to have the life he wanted. This time he would take no chances.

The End.

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Note: If there is a demand then there will be an epilogue. Let me know?