Heres Chappie 12, sorry for the long wait everyone, I was swamped with homework... and busy last night at nine o clock... hee hee... that was a good episode... well, enjoy everyone, I'm off to do chem homework... yippee... Thanks for reading, everybody!

Oh, little note about last chapter... I originally wrote the story w/ our suspects using sniper guns, but I realized that wasn't very realistic, so I changed it to an automatic, so you guys might notice a small inconsistency in the following chapters... I changed it it in those, but was too lazy to repost chapter 11 just for one word...

Chapter 12

Greg rarely drove to crime scenes, but they'd decided to take two cars, so he got stuck behind the wheel. He didn't mind as much as he usually did. It gave him something to do with his hands and take his mind off worry for Nick and Catherine. Usually, he didn't like to drive big SUV's like Sara's Tahoe. He always preferred small cars. For some reason, they felt more secure to him. As he drove, he tried to keep his mind on cars. Greg wasn't sure how to act. He was worried, of course, but concern was not one of his usual expressions, so as like last time, he tried to stay occupied. Sara's Tahoe was in good condition like his own, but hers was in good order because she took care of it, whereas Greg rarely drove his. He wasn't that much of a car person. As long as he had some mode of transportation aside from a bus or bicycle, he was happy. Nick was the car person.

Greg looked down at the GPS screen and glanced at Grissom, who was sitting in the passenger seat. He was staring out the window, elbow on the armrest, looking thoughtful and concerned. Greg looked back at the road and followed the police car in front of him on to the mountain road. Something was bothering him about this. Sure, the road was empty, but he felt a tingle of apprehension. It seemed slightly familiar. He shuddered and tried to shake off the feeling, but it stayed at the back of his mind, making him nervous.

Grissom didn't seem to notice anything, and Greg could not see his face. For a moment, he wondered if his boss had fallen asleep. They were getting near to their destination and Greg could see Warrick and Sara in the car behind them. He considered waking Grissom, but at that moment, Grissom sat up and looked at the GPS map. "Nice nap?" Greg questioned, trying to insert a bit of his old lightheartedness.

"I wasn't asleep," Grissom said.

"So you were doing…"

Grissom looked at him. His expression was unreadable. "I was thinking."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Greg asked, remembering his feeling of apprehensive familiarity.

"What?"

"Doesn't this road seem… well, familiar?" Greg asked.

Grissom looked out his window and shrugged. "Vaguely, but that wasn't what I was thinking about."

Greg sighed. Maybe he was going crazy. "What where you thinking then?"

"I was just thinking about what we… you… said back at the lab." Grissom said, staring out the window again. "About them being dead."

Greg looked at his boss, alarmed. "I didn't mean that!" He said quickly. Now that Grissom said it out loud, he realized the weight of his words.

"I know you didn't," Grissom waved a dismissive hand at him. "But what's disturbing me is that they haven't left us a ransom note yet. They would have sent it pretty quickly. They know we're good at our job, and they wouldn't want us to find Nick and Catherine before they got the note to us. I'm thinking they might have lied to Nick and Catherine about holding them for ransom."

Greg looked at him, getting his meaning. "We don't know their intentions yet. They could be dead. They could be still alive. And what's their motive?" Greg wondered alive.

"Do you think they're alive?" Grissom asked.

Greg glanced at his boss. It was both like and unlike Grissom to ask such questions. He thought for a minute. "We don't know yet until we get there." Greg said, doing his best to avoid the question.

Grissom wasn't to be fooled though. "I know we don't know yet, but what do you think?"

Greg didn't know if he wanted to tell Grissom his thoughts. He hesitated for a minute before saying with conviction. "I think they're alive."

Greg watched Grissom's face, trying to pick out emotions. Was it just him, or did Grissom look at him a little pityingly. "You think, or you hope?" Greg didn't answer. The answer was both, but he did have some reason to think so. "Why do you think that Greg?"

Greg simply drove for a minute. "In that phone conversation you had with them." He said slowly. "Well, at the end, we just hear the phone getting squashed." Grissom nodded. "We have no proof that they're dead. No gunshot, no scream to suggest death. We know that he likes to torment his victims. If he was going to kill them, wouldn't he have let us hear it and then crushed the cell?"

This seemed to take a minute to sink in. Grissom looked a little hopeful, but he said. "I hope so, I hope so Greg."

TBC and Reviewers: You guys rock! You're what keeps me updating this fic!