Sorry the update took so long. I've been uber busy with finals and everything. The next chapter should be up within a week or so. :) Enjoy!

PS. I don't own CSI. dramatic sigh

Pain.

That was the first thing Grissom noticed as he slowly regained conscious. The second thing he noticed was that he was going to be sick. He groaned as a wave of nausea washed over him and just managed to flip over in time to avoid throwing up all over himself. When he finally stopped heaving, he opened his eyes and took stock of his situation.

His best description was a small square jail cell. The floor Grissom was laying on was made of concrete and, instead of walls, he could see iron bars all around him. It was cold in the cell; his fingers were starting to go numb. He thought maybe he could warm up a bit if he sat up, but another wave of nausea rolled over him when he tried, forcing him back down onto his stomach. He raised a hand to his head and suddenly found the reason he was in so much pain. He had a large gash in his forehead that was bleeding profusely. He could the warm sticky substance pouring down his throbbing head. He groaned, closed his eyes, and fought the urge to throw up again.

After a few minutes, Grissom heard the grate of metal against metal and then footsteps. He felt someone grab his arms and then drag him across the floor. A few seconds later he was forced onto his back and hoisted into a sitting position with his back against the bars of his cell. He took several deep breaths and then slowly opened his eyes. The sneering face of Joseph Reichman greeted him.

"Hello, Gil. It's been a long time."

Grissom blinked several times, trying to clear his head enough to talk intelligibly with Reichman. "'Absence makes the heart grow fonder', Joseph, though, forgive me, I do not believe that this particular quote applies in the current situation.

Reichman's smile faltered slightly, but then he laughed. "Still spouting out old quotes, I see. You haven't changed in the slightest, Gil."

Grissom felt annoyance flare up in him. "Maybe not in habit, Joseph, but habits only tell a partial story. I've changed a great deal since we last met."

Reichman shrugged. "Doesn't matter, Gil," he said flippantly. "I still knew exactly how to lure you out of the lab, didn't I? I was still able to kidnap you. Doesn't matter how much you've changed. You're still the same enough that I could predict your actions. That's what counts here." Reichman rubbed his hands together expectantly. "But enough of this! Why don't you go ahead and ask me the questions you're dying to have answered. Go ahead. I can't guarantee you that I will answer, but, please, feel free to ask me anything."

Grissom seethed, but didn't see the point in arguing with Reichman anymore

"Fine," he said resignedly. "Where am I? What did you do with Jim and the other guys that were with me in that tunnel? Why did you kidnap me? For that matter, why did you kidnap my team? Where is Sara? Why didn't you release her along with the others? What is the point of all this, Joseph?"

Reichman's smile widened as he listened. "All excellent questions, Gil. They will all be answered in due course, but I think only a few for now. Why did I kidnap your team? That's an easy one. To get to you. I knew that you wouldn't rest until you had found all of them. That also brings me to one of the reasons I didn't release Sara Sidle with the rest of them. She was the way to you. I knew that if she was still missing, you would continue to look and you would do whatever it took to find her. I was right. As for where Sara is right now, she's still alive and that's all you need to know, though, make the wrong move here and that could all change very quickly. Now, on to dear Captain Brass and the five uniforms you dragged down into my tunnel. They're dead. I shot them because they were a liability. They knew too much."

Grissom felt numb with shock. "Brass is…dead?"

He couldn't fathom that Brass was dead. Brass had been one of his greatest friends for longer than Grissom could remember. They trusted each other unconditionally. Grissom even had power of attorney over Brass, which he had had to exercise a few years before. Brass had been shot in the line of duty and it had fallen to Grissom to decide whether or not the doctors would perform the risky surgery that would save Brass's life. It had been one of the hardest decisions Grissom had ever made, but in the end he had given his consent and Brass had survived. It was all water under the bridge now though. Brass was dead. Grissom was not a man given to tears and he held true to that now, but the urge was nearly overwhelming.

Reichman's deep voice penetrated Grissom's thoughts. "Yes, Brass is dead. And now nobody knows that you're gone." There was glee in Reichman's voice. Grissom felt like he was going to be sick again and clamped a hand over his mouth, fighting back the urge. Reichman smiled wickedly.

"Enough talk!" he said, rubbing his hands together again. "I have a surprise for you, Gil, but first, I'm going to have to tie you up. Don't try to resist. That would be bad news for Miss Sidle. "

Reichman exited the cell momentarily and then returned carrying a long rope and a knife, the same knife he had been holding against Sara's neck in the photograph. He cut a long section of rope off and tied Grissom's hands and feet to the bars of the cell. Reichman worked methodically, checking and rechecking his work, leaving no room for doubt. When he was finished, he smirked at Grissom, who was sitting against the bars of the cell listlessly, and walked out of the room.

Grissom sighed wearily once Reichman was gone. His head was still throbbing painfully, such that he couldn't think straight. He sat there fighting the pain until he heard the door to his cell open again. He opened his eyes slowly and blinked several times, not believing what he was seeing.

Reichman was standing in the center of Grissom's cell with a naked, shivering Sara lying at his feet. She looked much the same as she had in the last photograph Grissom had received of her, but if he hadn't known better and he hadn't seen the tremors that were racking her body, he would have thought she was a corpse. She was pale as death underneath the bruises and cuts covering her body. Hot anger coursed through him as he watched Sara shiver. Reichman cackled wickedly again.

"Make you angry, Gil?" Reichman getting down on his knees next to Sara. "Make you want to break free? Try it. I dare you. See how long your little Sara lasts."

Reichman's words cut through Grissom more effectively than any knife as Grissom struggled with his anger. He couldn't take his eyes off Sara. The bruises on her face looked so dark against her pale skin and the cuts that were visible on her arms and legs looked like the deepest, crimson red. Grissom's heart broke as he looked at her and watched her tremble. It took every bit of will he possessed not to break his bonds and rush to her side. Reichman watched Grissom's struggle and smiled gleefully again.

"Look at you, Gil. You're pathetic. You don't even have the guts to fight for your girlfriend." Reichman took the knife out of his pocket and pressed the flat of the blade against Sara's neck. Sara began to shiver even more violently and Grissom heard her moan softly. He could practically taste his anger. Reichman moved the flat of the blade slowly down Sara's body, grinning maniacally. Sara moaned again. Grissom could barely stand it anymore.

"I believe," Reichman said suddenly, still running the knife over Sara's body. "That you wanted to know what the point of all this was." Reichman glanced up at Grissom. Grissom didn't trust himself to speak and said nothing. "The point…is revenge."

Grissom raised an eyebrow. "Revenge for what?"

Reichman's eyes flashed, his smile suddenly gone. He turned the knife slightly and Grissom saw a new red line appear on Sara's thigh. He heard her moan again, her voice laced with pain.

"Don't play dumb with me, Gil," Reichmans spat. "You disgraced me, fifteen years ago. I lost my job, my wife, my future…everything. And it was all because of you. You and your stupid meddling. Why couldn't you just leave it alone, Gil?"

Grissom felt his anger pulsing. "You killed three people, Joseph!" Grissom exclaimed. "I'm an investigator. What did you expect me to do? Ignore the evidence? The evidence never lies, Joseph. I did what I had to do."

To Grissom's complete surprise, Reichman smiled. "You're right, Gil," he whispered. "And so have I."

Before Grissom could even think, Reichman raised the knife and plunged it into Sara's side.

His horrified scream mixed with Sara's pained one and reverberated around the small cell. Reichman turned to Gil and raised the knife as though he was going to stab Grissom, but seemed to think better of it. Instead, Reichman smiled slowly and looked down at Sara. A pool of blood was starting to form around her. Grissom could feel the tears falling down his face.

"I give her about an hour," Reichman said, nodding. "I was going to stab you too, but I think this will be more painful. How does it feel, Gil, watching her die? Knowing there's nothing you can do to stop it?"

And with a cruel laugh, Reichman turned and walked out of the room.

Another cliffie. sigh...You're all gonna hate me by the end of this.