Chapter 9:

"Hey, Catherine." She greeted in a hours voice.

"Hi," Catherine smiled.

"Where's Gil?"

"Getting some food, he needed it." She answered, emphasizing the word 'needed' "feeling any better?"

"You know you're the first person to ask me that?" Sara asked, laughing.

"Huh, wow." Catherine laughed as well.

"I'm doing much better. Which reminds me, how's Lindsey?" Sara asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

"A lot better." Wow, this is going pretty well.

There was an awkward silence. Sara looked down at her hands, remembering something that had happened at the cabin.

It was going well, "Sara? What's wrong?"

She looked back up at the older CSI, eyes teary with concern, "Catherine…was somebody shot?" She asked.

Catherine let out a sigh, but not one of relief, "Yes, Jacob Collins. But he was the one who pulled the trigger."

"He committed suicide?" Sara asked, slightly alarmed. Catherine only nodded. Sara leaned back into her pillow, absently asking, "why?"

"Because he's a coward, Sara." Catherine said, placing a comforting hand on Sara's shoulder. She looked back up at her, tears clearly visible in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," Catherine said, her eyes beginning to sting, "I didn't mean to get you into this, I-"

"Cath, don't." Sara put up hand to silence her. "I don't care what anyone has told you. None of this is you're fault."

Finally Catherine was able to believe that. It truly wasn't her fault.

"Besides, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me." Sara said in a quieter tone.

"What?" Catherine asked, bewildered.

"I know that everything is okay now, and everyone is safe. But Lindsey got the shit beat out of her because of my stupid 'plan'. If I hadn't said anything-"

"Then you'd still be stuck at that cabin." Catherine interjected.

She had a point. "I know, I just… I just can't help it."

Wow, Catherine thought. Those had been nearly the exact same words she'd said herself only a few days before.

"Sara, I said the exact same thing while you and Lindsey were missing. I felt so guilty, but, now I understand that I couldn't have known that those men were going to come and do what they did. They were going to get Lindsey no matter what, and-" she paused, feeling the lump form in her throat and the tears filling her eyes.

"Sara, you brought my baby back home. She may be bruised, but she's going to live. I don't think I can ever repay you."

"You don't have to," Sara's own emotions were getting the better of her, "I know you would have done the same."

Gently, Catherine reached out and pulled Sara into a hug, whispering, "thank you," in her ear.

"You're welcome," Sara whispered back, leaning into the comfort of her pillows once more.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door, causing both women to jump. "Can I come in?" they heard Brass call.

"Yes," Sara said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Hey," he said, opening the door, "I'm about to make your day, and you greet me like that?" He said with a small laugh.

"Wait, what?" Sara asked, not seeing the humor in the conversation. Catherine, too, was rather confused.

"Brian Collins was just arrested."

XX

He didn't understand it. His day had been going so well; everything was going as he'd planned. Why did he have to let his guard down?

How could he be so stupid?

The two small bells hanging from above the door chimed as Brian walked into the grocery store. Pulling his cap down slightly, he waved at the young, curly haired cashier. He needed to make this quick. The sun would be up in less than an hour, meaning more people would be around, meaning someone could recognize him.

Gotta get moving, gotta get moving, he thought as he walked through the isles.

He quickly grabbed his things, and ;after looking to see if there were more people, stepped into the young cashier's line.

"What brings you here so early, sir?" She squeaked, picking up a can and bagging it.

"Uuh, just wanted to pick up some things before it got to crowded." There. He didn't lie, did he?

"No need to worry sir, not much traffic around here," she bagged another item, "the most people I've ever seen in here at once is ten."

That's still quite a few, he'd thought. He looked outside, noting that the sun was starting to shine over some nearby trees. Gotta get moving, gotta get moving…

"That'll be fifteen dollars and twenty cent, sir." Her squeaky voice broke his thoughts, but he didn't stop looking out the window as he handed her his credit card.

She scanned it, and nothing happened.

She scanned it again, nothing happened.

Looking back up at him, she paused.

She'd seen him before. But where?

She glanced down at a small drawer just below the register. A white piece of paper was sticking out, one that a rather old detective had given her sometime yesterday. Pulling it out, she nearly fainted.

BRIAN COLLINS. WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ON THE KIDNAPPING OF 17 YEAR OLD LINDSEY WILLOWS AND 40 YEAR OLD SARA SIDLE. IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON HIS WHEREABOUTS, PLEASE CONTACT THE LVPD AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU.

Holyshitholyshitholyshit

"Is there a problem?"

"Uh…uh…no, sir-well, yes, your card isn't working." She sputtered out. "Give me a sec, I'll get the manager." She crumbled the paper into her pocket, and headed for the managers room.

"No, wait! You don't have to-"

"Company policy, sir," she lied over her shoulder.

She nearly knocked the door off it's hinges as she ran to her manager. "Mr. Wheeler! Mr. Wheeler!" She whispered loudly, grabbing his shoulders roughly.

"What the hell, Amanda?" He said, shaking her off, clearly caught off by her sudden gesture.

"This man," She said, pulling the picture out of her pocket, "is at my register!" she half cried.

He peeked out of the small window, and sure enough, the man in the picture was standing (rather impatiently) at his young employee's register.

"His card wasn't working, so I told him I'd come get you. What should I do?" She was starting to panic.

"Alright, now, calm down," he started, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I'll call the police, and we'll keep him until they get here. Go out there and tell him I'll be there in a moment."

Taking a deep breathe, and putting on a fake smile, she walked back to her register. "He'll be out in just a sec."

"Look, I could really just pay in cash," Brian said, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"Oh, here he comes!" She pointed towards the door as Mr. Wheeler walked toward them.

It had all gone down hill from there.

Now he sat in the interrogation room at the LVPD with a steamed looking Captain Brass standing on the other side of the table. He lifted his hands from the table, rubbed his chin with a single finger, and laughed lightly.

"Y'know," he began, still scratching his chin, "I don't think I've ever arrested a suspect dumb enough to walk into a store with his own WANTED picture in one of the windows." He laughed a little harder, causing Brian to look down at his feet in embarrassment.

"Back to business," Brass said, his tone much more serious, "we've got a truck load of evidence against you. You kidnapped two people, both of which said you assaulted them, and we have you on tape murdering Carl Maddox. Need I go on?"

No response.

"Now all that's missing is the 'why'." He began again.

"Well, according to the CSI's, it was to get your brother Gerald out of jail. Is that correct?"

No response.

"Y'know, it might help if you cooperate."

He seemed to think about this for a moment, looking down at his feet again. But he finally looked back up at the detective, and nodded.

"And to get back at that bitch blonde who put him there." Brian growled, looking at the table.

It took everything Brass had not to jump across the table and strangle this moron.

"You are aware that it was his fault that he was put away, right? Ms. Willows was only doing her job."

"So? He's never done anything wrong before in his life!" Brian crossed his arms like an angry, spoiled child, "he didn't deserve it."

"Hey, he made the choice to drive while under the influence, he hit the other car and he put that other driver in a wheelchair for the rest of his life!" Brass yelled out coldly, slamming his hands down every time he said the word 'he'. "He deserves everything he got, and you deserve everything you're gonna get."

"What about Jacob?" Brian asked, "he was part of this too! What's his punishment?"

"Spending the rest of his 'afterlife' in Hell." Brass said. Had the mood not been so heated, he might have smiled.

"W-what?" He sounded like his breath had been knocked out of him.

"Your coward of a brother capped himself before he could even be arrested."

"Oh…oh my God.." Brian covered his face with his hands.

Brass; not taking Brian's attempt to be devastated, looked at the officer at the door, mouthing 'book 'em'. After reading Brian his rights (though he didn't think he deserved them) he left, a sense of relief washing over him.

It was over.

It was finally over.

XX

Wednesday, 11:16 a.m.

Sara anxiously pulled her T shirt over her head. Today was the day. She was going home.

Beside her was Grissom, who patiently waited for her to finish putting on the cloths he'd brought for her; one of her old, comfy T shirts and some loose black sweatpants. She didn't look her fanciest, but at the moment, neither cared about either of their appearances. She'd asked him to bring her something comfortable, and he did. That was all she cared about at the moment.

"You ready?" Grissom asked, wrapping his arms around a now standing Sara, planting his hand on her waist.

"Very," she smiled, placing her hand on his.

He opened the door of her hospital room, and together they stepped into the disinfectant scented halls of the hospital. She was still sore, but according to the doctor, she could go home as long as she stayed in bed. She had no broken bones (to her amazement) but she did have some severely bruised ribs. But most of the bruises on the outside of her body had begun to fade, which helped make the events that caused them fade as well.

"Is Lindsey leaving, too?" Sara asked, looking up at her husband.

"I think so," he replied, "Catherine said she'd be leaving with Lindsey soon, we could wait if you'd like."

"I would."

So they waited. They stood by the front desk, waiting for Catherine and Lindsey to come walking down the hallway. Sara hoped that it wouldn't be long, but if she had to, she'd wait forever.

Suddenly two figures could be seen walking down the hall. One taller than the other, with a protective arm wrapped tightly around the smaller one. Sara instantly recognized them.

"Hey," She called as they got closer.

Hearing her voice, both looked up, smiling once they saw the couple. "Glad to see you standing, Sara." Catherine smiled.

"It feels good." She looked down at Lindsey, "how you feelin'?"

"Better," Lindsey shrugged.

After a moment of silence, Grissom pulled Sara towards the exit, "we should head home," he said.

Each group walked to their cars; which were parked rather close to each other.

"Get better, Linds," Sara called as she opened her door.

"You too!" Lindsey smiled, waving happily at her.

After buckling up, she leaned into the leathery comfort of Grissom's car. The ride home went by quickly and quietly. Grissom helped her out of the car and up the stairs into their home. Once inside, Sara walked as fast as she could and collapsed into their bed.

The clean, cool sheets greeted her as she tucked herself underneath them, placing her head on her fluffy and feathery pillow. She inhaled deeply through he nose, taking in it's clean scent, and closed her eyes. She could feel Grissom slid into bed behind her, and wrap one of his strong arms securely around her.

The last thing she remembered was him whispering in her ear, "welcome home," and planting a kiss on her cheek.

After that she fell into a blissful sleep.

TBC!

I am so sorry for the long delay! I has benchmark testing all last week, and went to compete for my Art Olympics team on Friday. Had to baby sit and go to Outback on Saturday, and had a friend spend the night. And the past few days I've been drained and have tried very hard to get this up before Thursday. I hope it was worth the wait.

Note: There will be 1 or 2 more chapters plus an epilogue.