Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

Chapter Three

Sara glanced around the room. It looked different from this side of the table. She hadn't realised that the changing of angles would result in such a different perspective. For starters, she was face to face with the mirror image of herself. She cringed at her appearance; puffy red eyes, pale skin, faint mascara tracks down her face. She lifted her hand up and tried to wipe the stubborn black smears away.

Replacing her hands back in her lap, she unconsciously began to ring them. Grissom, who was sitting next to her, placed his hand over hers in order to refrain her movement. Obediently, she complied, and he squeezed her hands gently, before taking her left hand into his and interlocking their fingers. Sara stared to their joined hands, then looked up at Grissom. He shrugged, squeezed her hand again, but didn't let go. Sara was dying to ask who this was and what did he do with Grissom, but she had a funny feeling that she would know his answer.

The door to the interrogation room opened suddenly, and Sara, expecting Grissom to let go of her hand, released him from her grip. However, his hand remained firmly in place. She stared at Grissom for a few more moments, before turning her attention to Catherine and Warrick who has just entered the room.

"Hey guys, sorry to do this to you," Warrick apologised, taking the seat opposite Sara. Catherine sat down beside him, opposite Grissom.

"It's fine," Grissom replied. Sara looked down at her hands again.

Catherine took in the sight before her. Grissom holding Sara's hand, his fingers intertwined with hers. If anyone had told Catherine about this earlier today, she would have laughed at them. Grissom, the socially inept, geeky, enigmatic workaholic and Sara, the fiery, emotional, intelligent workaholic, a couple? How had they managed to breed? She had known that there were feelings between the two. She had encouraged Grissom to act on them. She never would have guess that he already had.

Breaking from her thoughts, Catherine remembered the reason why they were all in this room.

"I need you to tell me about the day Madeleine disappeared," Catherine spoke gently. Grissom opened his mouth to answer, but surprisingly Sara spoke first.

"It was a typical morning, I made blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I remember, because Maddie got blueberry and syrup stains down the front of her uniform. It nearly caused us to be late for school. Grissom left for work at eight, we left not long after. I walked her to class, kissed her goodbye and that… that was the last time I ever saw her." Sara's eyes welled up. Tears once again fell down her cheeks. Grissom put an arm around Sara's shoulder and pulled her towards him, allowing her to bury her face into his neck.

"So you two were living together?" Catherine asked, partly because she had to and partly because she was dying to know what had happened between the two.

"Yes," Grissom answered his eyes on Sara.

"When did you find out that Madeleine was missing?" Warrick asked.

"It was my team that got the call, at around 1:30. Two girls didn't show up for class after lunch. I started to worry when I heard that they had disappeared from St Michael's, but I didn't want to alarm Sara. When we arrived they told me the names of the missing girls and that's when I removed myself from the case and called Sara."

"Where were you Sara?" Catherine asked.

"I was at work," came the muffled reply.

"Where did you work?" Warrick asked. Sara pulled away from Grissom, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.

"The coroner's office." Her voice sounded flat, Grissom took up her hand again.

"What did you do when you found out?" Catherine questioned.

"My, uh, boss, took me down to the school. I was in no state to drive. I found Grissom and we went to the police station. We were questioned separately then released. Afterwards, we went home," Sara answered.

"Have either of ever received any form of communication from the kidnapper. Any form of ransom demand?"

"No," Grissom answered as Sara shook her head.

Listening to Sara and Grissom talk, Catherine couldn't imagine going through what they had been through. Catherine knew that despite their recent rough patch, she wouldn't survive without Lindsey.

"Ok, you know this is going to be difficult, and we may never find her," Catherine paused, letting that realisation sink in. "But we are going to do everything we can, to make sure that she returns home safely."

The silence that hung in the air was then broken by the ringing of Catherine's cell phone.

Emily looked around the office, it was a nice office. There were flags and certificates on the wall, and the desk was neat and tidy. She sat on her father's lap, her head buried into his shoulder, her right hand was held captive by her mother's firm grip. It had been a teary reunion. Her parent's hadn't let go of her since they laid eyes on her. Not that she was complaining, it was good to be back. She felt strange though, she last saw her parents five years ago. She had changed a lot in those few years. She was now thirteen-years-old, no longer the immature eight-year-old.

The sound of the door opening brought Emily out of her musings. Brass strode over to his desk and sat down. Nick and Greg followed behind him, Nick leant against the filing cabinet as Greg came to a standstill beside Brass' desk.

"Hi Emily, my name is Jim, and this is Nick and Greg," Brass indicated to them respectively. "I know that you probably want to spent time with your parents, but I need to ask you some questions, so that we can find Madeleine, is that ok?"

"Anything to help find Maddie," Emily replied in a timid voice.

"Why don't we start at the very beginning, tell us everything you can remember," Nick suggested. Emily nodded, casting her mind back to that day at school.

"I don't remember all of it, some things are… fuzzy."

"It's ok, sweetheart, just try your best, alright?" Nick replied warmly. Emily nodded.

"I remember playing in the playground. My friends and I were playing hide-and-go-seek. I ran to hide behind the building. He grabbed me from behind, placed his hand over my mouth, and carried me to a small room at the side of the building. I can't remember what sort of room it was. It was dark, but I saw Maddie tied up with tape across her mouth before he shut the door. I don't know how long we sat in the closet, but eventually we left. The bell must have gone for the end of lunch, because there was no one on the playground anymore. He took us out one by one to a car parked on the side road.

"We were put in the trunk of the car, and we drove for what felt like hours. Finally he stopped at this deserted motel. We were let out of the boot, and he took us to the room. That's when he told us, that we were going to be his new daughters. He said our real parents didn't love us, and that he did, and that he was going to take care of us. Maddie, stood up to him, she said that he wasn't our father and nor would he ever be. She received a lashing for it." Emily paused, she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. Her father hugged her tighter, and her mother caressed her face.

"You're doing great Emily," Greg said giving her an encouraging smile.

"Can you tell us anything about the man who kidnapped you?" Brass asked.

"He's about his height," she said pointing to Nick. "And he has light brown hair, green eyes, and he wears glasses. He's a strict Catholic, he made us learn the bible. He gave us new names, Abigail and Rebekah."

"Which one were you?" Greg asked.

"I was Rebekah, Maddie was Abigail. If he heard us calling each other by our real names, we would have to read the bible out loud until he told us to stop. We only called each other by our real names at night, when we were alone. It felt like we were playing characters. Whenever we were near him, we were Abigail and Rebekah the bible reading girls, but when we were by ourselves we were Maddie and Emily plotting our escape. We detest those names.

"We only stayed at the motel that one night. He then drove across the country. We were in Miami for a bit, then Atlanta, then New York… no then Washington DC, then New York, Chicago, uh… Seattle,… L.A., then we came here... i think, I can't remember all of the places. We would stay for about six months then we would move again."

"What about schools?" Brass asked. Emily shook her head.

"He said schools were dangerous and that someone might try to take us. He taught us at home. He said education was important."

"What was a typical day like for you?" Nick asked curiously.

"We would wake up, eat, then have lessons from nine till twelve, normally maths and science in the morning. We would then have lunch and a break till one and then it was English and history till three. Then he would take us out, for ice-cream or to the park, or the beach."

"Did you ever try to get away during those times?" Greg wondered.

"No he was always watching us, he always made sure he was near by," Emily sighed.

"Did you ever try to tell someone that you were in trouble?" Brass asked.

"Yes, but no one would believe us. Mostly we would tell other kids. Father wouldn't let us near any adults. But the kids would call us liars. We tried in every state." Emily sniffled, her emotions getting the better of her.

"How did you manage to escape?" Brass asked her.

"At every new place, Maddie and I would search for a way out. But we could never find one. The apartment we were in here, was on the third story. Unlike all the other places, our bedroom had a faulty window, and you could open it up and crawl through it. Fortunately, there was a drain pipe outside our window. We planned, to escape together, but Maddie just wasn't strong enough to do it. The flu had left her very weak. She insisted that I go, so I did. I crept out of the window, and crept down the drain pipe, then ran for my life. I kept running for a long time, I got into the city before I slowed down. Then I tried to find a pay phone to call the police."

"Do you know the address of the apartment in Vegas?" Nick asked. Emily shook her head.

"We only moved here a couple of weeks ago."

"What about what it was near, can you remember anything specific?" Emily furrowed her brow in concentration.

"It was out of the city a little bit, closer to the suburbs. I remember seeing a neon sign while I was running…"

"This is Vegas there are neon signs everywhere," Greg grumbled.

"Do you remember what was on the sign?" Nick asked glaring at Greg.

"It said something about weddings and Elvis?" She shrugged.

"Anything else?" Brass asked suppressing a smile.

"There was a mini-mart just down the road from the apartment, and there is a park across from it."

"How big is the park?" Nick asked.

"It's not that big, there is a swing set, a slippery slide and a basketball court." Nick frowned slightly.

"Are there any other stores or schools or anything in the area?"

"I think there is a school the next block over, cause sometimes, during the day you can hear the children playing. Oh, there is also an ice cream place next to the mini-mart… um… Paul's… Phillip's… Patrick's…"

"Peter's?" Nick supplied.

"Yeah, that's it. Peter's Ice Cream Parlour." Emily smiled.

"Oh, man," Nick muttered under his breath, staring at the ground.

"What is it Nicky?" Brass asked. Nick looked up.

"I know where they are."

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, I love you all! I hope you are enjoying the story and that it isn't a little too far-fetched. If you want, let me know what you think. (Nothing too harsh though) I haven't started Chapter Fouryet, but I promise to have it done as soon as I can.