A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing :) The flashbacks in this chapter scenes from episodes in the first season leading up to Too Tough To Die.

"Sara?" Warrick whispered again. Every passing second was making him become more frantic with worry as she remained motionless on the bed. "Sara, wake up, please!" She couldn't go now… she couldn't leave him, not now…

Catherine had already ran to the bathroom, wetting a washcloth with cold water and returning to the bedside where she set it down on her sweat-drenched forehead, slowly dabbing it away. "Sara honey, wake up."

When she didn't stir, Warrick was beginning to panic again. "I'm going call 9-1-1," he said and without another word to Catherine he bolted through the doorway of the bedroom into the kitchenette where the phone was.

Staying with Sara, Catherine kneeled down in Warrick's place on the floor, still gently rubbing Sara's forehead with the washcloth. "Sara, wake up," she pleaded with her again, "Please, just wake up."

Everything was blurry and hazy and cloudy but she could hear muffled voices as she began to stir on the bed. Who was there, though? She couldn't tell. She took a deep breath and instantly recognized a scent- perfume. Catherine's perfume. She only wore it when she wasn't working, it interfered with the job. "Cath?" Sara finally whispered.

Catherine immediately let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah honey, I'm here. Warrick's calling an ambulance, okay?"

"What's going on?" Sara hoarsely whispered, licking her dry lips. Her lips felt like sandpaper and her tongue wasn't moist enough to help at all.

"You passed out," Catherine explained, heading into the bathroom. Spotting some paper cups, she grabbed one and filled it with some water, returning to Sara's bedside. "Here, drink this," she instructed her, putting a hand on her back to steady her as she tried to sit up.

Sara took the water greedily, like she had just been handed a million dollars, and sat up despite her tired body's groaning protests. She held it up to her lips and started to gulp it down before spitting it out and lunging forward to the edge of the bed as her body heaved.

"Sara?" Warrick instantly came running at the sound, "Sara, what's wrong?" he worriedly asked, running to her side and putting a hand on her back so she didn't fall. When she was unable to respond, he looked to Catherine, "What happened?"

"She woke up and I handed her some water but she can't keep liquids down," Catherine said. Then thinking about it for a minute, something dinged in her head. "I'll be right back," she told him, getting up and jogging down the hallway to the kitchen.

"Sara?" Warrick whispered as Sara finished emptying the few… oh so few contents of her stomach. Once she had collapsed against his body, he wrapped an arm around her waist and felt her forehead with his. She was burning up now more than ever and her body was shaking. It was scaring the hell out of him and he didn't know what to do. He only hoped the ambulance came soon.

"Here," Catherine said, returning the bedroom with a clear plastic cup filled with some crushed ice, "When Lindsey was little, she got dehydrated and she couldn't keep liquids down," she explained, walking over to the other end of the bed and sitting down next to Sara, "She can suck on ice for a little while until she can."

"Okay Sara," Warrick whispered, taking the glass from Catherine and slowly holding it up to her lips. "Come on, open your mouth," he whispered, nudging her with his arm when she didn't respond.

After Sara eventually complied, Warrick tilted the glass and let some ice fall into her mouth before taking it back. "Just suck on it," he told her, "Just suck on it and then I'll give you some more."

Sara immediately started working at the ice with her tongue, with the roof of her mouth, with her teeth, anything she could in order to melt it to soothe her sore dry throat. Within seconds it was gone and she was already reaching for the glass.

"Hey," Warrick whispered, slowly grabbing her hands and bringing them back to her side, "Easy, I don't want you to choke yourself," he told her, "If you have too much you might throw up again, Sara…"

"But I'm thirsty!" Sara protested, "Why can't I just have some water?"

"Because you can't keep fluids down, Sara," Catherine tried to explain, "Remember? I handed you a cup of water and you couldn't keep it down…"

Sara was much too tired and agitated and upset to think much of what they were saying to her or of what she was saying for that matter. She just wanted water and she wanted it now, despite the consequences. She would kill for a glass of water. "I want some water!" she angrily cried, looking up at Warrick, "Why won't you give it to me?"

The look on Sara's face was enough to break Warrick's heart. Her face was damp with sweat; her forehead, upper lip and bridge of her nose were caked in it. Her hair was matted and sticking to the sides of her face and her eyes were glistening with tears. "Sara, listen to me," he whispered, gently lifting her into his lap despite Catherine's presence. He didn't care who saw the display of affection at the moment. "I want to give it to you, I really do, girl, but I don't want to make you sicker than you already are."

"I just want some water, Warrick," Sara whispered, "That's all I want!"

"I know, Sara," Warrick whispered, gently pulling her head against his body, "I know…"

"I don't want to feel this way anymore," she finally admitted as more angry tears descended down her face, "I don't want to feel helpless! I want to feel human again!"

Warrick didn't respond; he couldn't. He was too frightened at the feeling of Sara's rapid heartbeat against his own chest. Her breaths were short and quick, coming out shallower every second. "Sara, you have to calm down," he whispered.

"I don't, Warrick! I don't want to feel this way anymore, this entire thing wasn't my fucking fault!" she screamed, angrily pounding at his chest with her fists. She was too weak to hurt him but Warrick was still worried.

She was going to snap, he could sense it. And normally he would feel relieved that she was finally letting it all out, but not now. Her heart was beating far too quickly and her fever was much too high.

"Warrick!" Catherine called from in the living room when she saw the ambulance pull up outside. She had been the only one who had heard the sirens approaching. "The ambulance is here!"

Warrick immediately scooped Sara back into his arms, almost running out of the bedroom to the front door of her apartment, "I know it wasn't your fault, Sara," he tried to remain calm for Sara's sake, "but can you breathe for me now?"

"Warrick, she's not moving," Catherine immediately felt her blood run cold as she looked down at Sara's motionless form. She had been screaming seconds ago, something definitely wasn't right.

"Damn it!" Warrick angrily shouted, "Sara, wake up!" he yelled, throwing the front door open and almost knocking Catherine out of the way in the process, "Wake up, right now!" he angrily told her as he bolted down the stairs, looking around for the ambulance on the way. As he saw a group of EMTs running with a gurney between them he looked down at Sara as he tried to catch his breath. "Sara, please," he whispered, "You can't do this… not now. You can't leave me now, girl," he whispered. "Not after everything we've been through together!"

"Damn! Taking the whole window!"

She turned around and shot him that look he had seen far too often on her face, one of her signature glares. "Grissom reinstated you."

"And you have a problem with that."

"Sara, please wake up," Warrick whispered.

"Let me guess. Grissom gets you to dime yourself off and now you both feel better? You're supposed to be in court. Instead, you're placing bets for a cheap thrill to satisfy nothing!"

"Hey! This has nothing to do with you. So are we going to work together… or not?"

She couldn't leave him now, not after he had come so close to losing her. He had almost lost her in the midst of the Holly Gribbs investigation because he was too blind to accept he had made a mistake. He was fighting himself and his gambling addiction, and the stupidest thing he chose to do was fight with Sara. Because of their strong will, they both eventually had mended fences. But if they hadn't he never would have been able to experience this wonderful life she had showed him.

"Sara, please," Warrick whispered, ignoring the EMTs who were trying to get his attention. "You can tell me I'm an idiot, you can yell at me for not protecting you, you can hit me…" he whispered as he felt moisture beginning to run down his face, "I don't care, just don't leave me!"

"I want to be Shannon," she had that excited tone to her voice as she let Grissom know exactly what was on her mind. She smiled as he handed her the card and she was victorious.

"The stewardess," he bluntly said.

"Excuse me, it's 'Flight Attendant'," she corrected him.

Warrick tried his hardest to fight back his tears but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. "You can tease me, you can taunt me, you can make fun of me, I don't care," he whispered to her, rubbing her cheek with his thumb, "I just want to see that smile again. Please," he whispered.

"Sir, we're going to need to take her now," one of the EMTs told him. He had been trying to get Warrick's attention the entire time but he wasn't getting through to him. "Sir?"

"Please, Sara?" Warrick asked her, "Come on, just open your eyes…"

"Sir, we need to take her but we're going to take good care of her," the EMT told him, reaching over and slowly starting to take Sara from his arms.

Just as Warrick was practically about to punch the guy in the face, Catherine was there to restrain him. "Warrick, they have to get her to the hospital," she told him, stepping in front of him before he could hurt anyone. "They need to take care of her."

"They're trying to take her from me," Warrick angrily said, looking at Catherine. She knew that look. It was the look of an upset, worried man who had stayed up for three days straight trying to take care of the woman he loved.

"They're not trying to take her from you," Catherine calmly replied, slowly prying his fingers off of Sara. "They're trying to help her. Can you let them do that?" she softly asked him.

Looking at Catherine for a minute, Warrick was about to protest before she made eye-contact with him. Sara had shot him that same look when she was trying to calm him down. "…Okay," he finally said, and as his hold on Sara finally loosened the EMTs set her on the gurney and wheeled her toward the ambulance.

Not thinking much of it, Catherine caught Warrick in a hug before he was able to go to the ambulance to the follow them. "It's going to be okay," she told him before she released him, "Now go take care of her for us, will you?" she whispered.

Warrick nodded, about to run off before he stopped himself. "Thanks, Cath," he quietly told her before he jogged off after the EMTs to the ambulance.

Catherine waited until they had loaded Sara up into the ambulance and Warrick was inside with her to head back up to the apartment. She desperately wanted to go with him to the hospital but he had called her on the phone and told her he needed her to pick something up. If he had called her, then it was obviously important. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she would know what he meant when she saw it.

Going through the door of the apartment and leaving it open behind her, Catherine looked around. She didn't anything that stood out. Maybe he left it in the bedroom, she thought. Heading down the hallway into the bedroom she started looking around for anything that looked out-of-place. And that was when she saw it.

There on the dresser were some clear plastic evidence bags, about two or three of them along with some bindles and swabs that had been closed up and sealed. She suddenly felt cold. Very, very cold.

Approaching the dresser almost cautiously, Catherine swallowed her nerves and reached out to grab one of the bags, closing her eyes and letting out a shaky sigh as she saw what the contents were inside. It was something she had seen far too often and something she should never see in the home of one of her closest friends.

Reaching into her pocket she immediately called Grissom. They needed to get it to the lab and have it tested as soon as possible, but some bastard had hurt their Sara and he wasn't going to get off scot-free.

"Grissom."

"Gil, I'm going to bring some samples over to the lab," Catherine immediately told him without even a greeting, already outside the apartment on her way to her car with the bags in-hand. "They're a top priority."

Grissom was confused. "Didn't you just close a case? It's your day off."

"I know it's my day off," Catherine said, shoving her car key in the lock and throwing her car door open. Putting the evidence bags in the passenger's seat, she crawled inside and closed her door behind herself. "But this is urgent."

"What's going on, Catherine?" Grissom could sense the tone in her voice and knew instantly that something was indeed wrong.

"It's Sara, Gil," she told him, "Warrick's taking her to the hospital. He told me she was…" she took a deep breath, her eyes slipping closed as she caught herself. She hated the word… "He told me she was raped. He called me earlier and told me he needed me to pick something up from her apartment because he didn't want to leave her, and I'm bringing a SART kit to the lab," Catherine explained, already on the road.

The other line was silent for a long moment, the only response being heavy breathing. "…Is she okay?"

"I don't know," Catherine said, speeding through every intersection, "She passed out and she's barely eaten anything for three days. She can't keep any fluids down and Warrick's with her at the hospital now."

Grissom let out a heavy sigh. "Do we know what happened yet?"

"I don't have any details," Catherine told him, "Except that I know the son of a bitch that did this is a dead man."