So here is chapter 10! I went back to Greg in this chapter, but we have some pretty major developements here. As always, thank you for reading and I'm a sucker for reviews.

PS. I most unfortunately do not own CSI.

Greg followed Wendy down the hall to the trace lab. She was still holding his hand and, in the back of his mind, this registered as a definite step in the right direction. He did not have time to dwell on it, however, because she let go of his hand the moment they stepped into the trace lab. Hodges was bent over a microscope with his back to them. Wendy cleared her throat and Hodges straightened up and looked around. His eyes widened when he saw Greg.

"Sanders!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still in the hospital."

Greg blinked. "I was released a couple of hours ago," he said. "Ecklie gave me a lift back to the lab about an hour and half ago."

Hodges nodded and then glanced at Wendy and then back at Greg. "What brings you two here?"

Wendy stepped forward. "I need to know about the trace from Captain Brass's jacket," she said without preamble. "I think its transfer from where Reichman touched him and I want to know what part of the desert it came from."

Hodges squinted up at her. "I haven't finished processing it yet."

"What? What do you mean you haven't finished processing it yet? I sent it to you nearly an hour ago. Top priority."

Hodges folded his arms across his chest. "I know that," he said testily. "But I've got other things on my plate as well. There's the trace from the vests and then the tape lifts Kohler sent over from the room Sara was supposed to be in. I've got a lot on my plate right now, Wendy. I can't just move your stuff to the top of the pile, just because it's your stuff."

Wendy balled her fists up and advanced on Hodges like an angry cat stalking a mouse. He backed away and ran into the counter, breaking an empty test tube in the process.

"Grissom is missing, you idiot!" she shouted at him. "That trace is our only link to Reichman, Grissom, and Sara. We know where he held the team before he put them in the house, but we don't where he's holding Grissom and Sara right now. It's quite possible that he went to that location before he kidnapped Grissom. That trace from Brass's jacket is the key to finding them!"

Hodges looked at her with his mouth hanging open. He stuttered around for a minute and then muttered that he would "get right to it" and scurried off to the other side of the room to begin processing.

Greg was staring at Wendy in awe. She took a deep breath and then turned to him. He recoiled slightly and Wendy grinned sheepishly.

"Sometimes you have to put people in their place," she said, shrugging. Greg smiled tightly, but didn't reply. Wendy sat down next to him.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked after a minute.

Greg looked down at his hands. "I don't know," he admitted quietly. "I mean, I want to help you guys find them more than anything, but…"

"You're scared," she finished for him. He nodded and she put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay to be scared, Greg. I would be, too if I was in your position. But you just gotta keep going. If you stop and look around you at the horror you're facing, then it will overwhelm you. Keep your chin up and keep your eyes on the task at hand. You'll be all right, Greg," she said leaning over and kissing his cheek again.

Greg looked into her eyes and felt an odd sense of serenity flood through him. He found himself nodding and Wendy smiled. Neither noticed Hodges standing motionless behind them, glaring at them. Wendy took Greg's hand.

"Come on," she said, pulling him to his feet. "Let's go see if there's anything in the break room. You look like you could use some food."

Greg smiled appreciatively again and followed her to the break room. After raiding the refrigerator and finding nothing worth eating, they called and ordered takeout. They laughed and talked for the better part of an hour while they waited for the trace results to come back from Hodges. Wendy watched Greg carefully as he animatedly told her a story about a crime scene involving the mob, a dumpster, and a large amount of blood and marinara sauce. Though he was laughing and talking like nothing had ever happened, Wendy could see that what Reichman had done to him and the others was affecting him greatly. He would never have admitted it to her, but she could tell he was still scared out of his mind. He was hiding it well, but Wendy had always had the gift of being able to read people and Greg was like an open book to her. She had to fight the impulse to grab him and just hold him several times. Finally, after what seemed like a year, Greg's cell phone began to vibrate. He picked it up, read the text message, and beckoned at Wendy.

When they arrived at the trace lab, Hodges was standing there waiting for them with his arms crossed over his chest and a piece of paper in his hand.

"What did you find out?" Greg asked, full of trepidation. Wendy touched his arm lightly, reassuring him. Hodges glared at the two, but didn't say anything. "Well?" Greg said impatiently, fear flooding him.

Hodges sighed. "The trace from Captain Brass's jacket is a kind of desert plant that only grows in the western desert about 30 miles outside of Vegas.. There were also traces of gold and cyanide," he said. "My best guess is that Reichman is holding them somewhere to the west in an abandoned mine."

Greg's face fell. There had to be hundreds of mines to the west of Las Vegas and even if they limited the search to within 30 miles of Vegas, they were still looking at a huge search. Greg ran his fingers through his hair and turned to go, but Hodges called out as he was going through the door.

"Hang on, Sanders," he said. Greg turned back to face the trace analyst. "I also found some black tri-lobal fibers. I'm running them through the database right now. We should have possible matches soon."

Greg felt hope flood him again. Tri-lobal fibers were only found in the interiors of cars. It was possible that if they could ID Reichman's car they might be able to locate it and bring him in. Greg thanked Hodges, glanced at Wendy who smiled, and then raced out the door and began to head towards Ecklie's office. He was robbed of the necessity, however, when Ecklie stepped out of the AV and ran right into Greg.

"Sanders," Ecklie said, surprised. "How are you feeling?"

"Never mind that now," Greg said impatiently. "I have some information for you."

"And I have some for you," Ecklie said. "Grissom contacted me about 10 minutes ago. He was on his cell. The signal was weak and I don't think he could hear me very well, but I managed to get a recording of the tail end of the conversation. I got lucky and just happened to be in the AV lab at the time. Archie hooked me up to a recorder the minute he realized who I was talking to. He's going over the tape now, trying to isolate anything that might help us figure out where Grissom and Sidle are."

Greg stared at the assistant lab director, lost for words. Ecklie smiled, perhaps the first true smile Greg had ever seen on the man's face. "Don't worry, Sanders," he said. "We're going to find them. I've got the entire lab on this. Now, didn't you say you had some information?"

Greg mentally shook himself and nodded. "The trace came back from Brass's jacket," he said. "Hodges found plant fibers from a plant that only grows in the western desert about 30 miles outside of Vegas. He also found black tri-lobal fibers which I suspect came from whatever car Reichman used to transport us from the crime scene where he kidnapped us to the holding cell."

Ecklie nodded thoughtfully. He seemed to reach a decision. "Sanders," he said looking at Greg with a resigned expression on his face. "I need you to tell me what happened down there."

Greg was already frantically shaking his head. "I…I can't," he said, his voice faltering. "I can't relive that again. It's…it's too…no."

Ecklie frowned. "Come with me, Sanders," he said, turning and walking down the hall. Greg had no choice, but to follow. As they traveled on, Greg felt a leaden weight drop into his stomach. They didn't stop until they reached Ecklie's office, where Ecklie motioned Greg in and ushered him into a chair. Ecklie himself rounded the desk and settled himself behind it, then sat looking at Greg appraisingly. Greg felt like a child who had been sent to the principal's office. He looked anywhere, but at Ecklie. Ecklie cleared his throat after a while and Greg looked up, filled with fear.

"Look, Greg," he said in a surprisingly soft voice. Greg was stunned at the use of his first name. "I know you've been through a horrible ordeal today. I can't even imagine what Reichman put you and the others through. I saw Catherine's face," he said, shuddering slightly. "And I saw the pictures of Sara."

Greg felt tears prickling in his eyes again and fought to maintain control. Ecklie's words were like salt in an open wound. Greg's head throbbed for the first time since he had been released from the hospital. Ecklie waited for a moment and then plowed on.

"I know that you're still hurting and I know that this isn't going to be easy, but I need to hear what happened, from beginning to end. Everything you can remember. It might help us find Grissom and Sara all that much faster. Please, Greg. Please do this. For Grissom and Sara."

Greg sat in silence and Ecklie waited for the young CSI to say something, anything. They sat in silence for nearly five minutes and Ecklie had just about given up hope when Greg suddenly lifted his head up, a tear sliding down his cheek.

"Ok," he said thickly. "Ok. I'll tell you." Greg took a shaky breath and Ecklie leaned forward. Greg opened his mouth to speak, but he never got anything out because, at that exact moment, Wendy burst into the room. Greg nearly sighed in relief as Ecklie turned to look at Wendy angrily.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," she said breathlessly. "But we've ID'ed the type of car that the fibers came from. It's a 1968 Chevy Camaro. The database also showed that most cars with the black interior were either red, blue, or white. Detective Curtis is putting out an APB and Hodges is doing a search in the database for '68 Camaro's registered in Las Vegas and Las Angeles."

Ecklie stood up. "I'll go and see how Hodges is doing," he said. As he walked out the door, Wendy pulled Greg into a hug.

"We're getting closer," she said, hope flooding her voice.

"Yea," he said, wearily. Wendy had her back to the door so she couldn't see down the hallway, but Greg could. He caught Ecklie's eye and saw that he wasn't out of the woods yet. Ecklie's look clearly said they were going to finish their conversation later.

Greg hugged Wendy to him closer and closed his eyes as the memory of a woman's scream echoed in his head. His head throbbed painfully as the screaming grew louder and Greg felt himself spiraling down. The last thing he remembered before the bliss of darkness overtook him was the jeering voice of Joseph Reichman, calling out through the darkness:

Find them if you can…

So there you have it! Please R&R! I would totally heart you if you did:D