Here you go, two chapters in one day, make up for all the time that I left you hanging

Chapter 9

12: 22

She'd never felt so helpless, so scared or so desperate in her entire life. She was now up at a little house on the outskirts of Vegas hidden among the trees and hills.

Her and Adam had arrived at the house about 20 minutes earlier, when Adam pushed open the door they were greeted by a man who easily stood 6 and half feet tall and was big, not fat, just all around big. Adam had pushed her inside the house and shut the door with a snap, Sara caught her footing reasonably quickly, refusing to stumble into the man at the door. He smiled and looked her up and down in the most inappropriate of ways

'She's pretty' he commented bluntly stroking a thumb across her jaw, she pulled her head sharply away. He Grabbed he face roughly and forced her to look up at him 'keep in mind, beautiful, that I have control of this situation, you will comply to whatever I say or ask you to do or you can watch your friends die.' He released her and pushed her back into Adam's arms. 'Lock her in the basement' Adam moved toward the basement door but the man caught his arm 'wait, you did let them on just enough, didn't you?' Adam smiled evilly

'I did' the other man smiled

'Well done' he said and patted Adam on the back as he forced a struggling Sara towards the basement door.

Now she lay on the cold cement floor curled up with her knees pulled to her chest among the multitude of boxes and bags and other peripheral items often discarded in a basement. Her body shook, and her eyes were hot, but not with tears as you might expect. Her fear and despair were rapidly turning into a raging fire of pure anger. How dare they! How Dare they make her feel this weak and helpless, she had always been a strong woman and now as she sat in this cold damp basement, she felt totally helpless and she HATED that feeling. Letting out her held breath, her brow creased into a frown and she forced herself to her feet. They would come back down again, surely, and this time she would be ready. As quietly as she could she began to sift through the boxes and other junk down there. There had to be something, and old frying pan maybe, or a baseball bat, an old set of kitchen knives perhaps? Oh yes, anything like that, though not ideal, it would certainly do the trick…

Grissom rode shotgun with Catherine, his nerves too frayed to drive. He hated the heavy murderous weight of the gun holstered at his side, but knew it was necessary. The convoy of CSI Tahoe's, EMS and Patrol Cruisers drove for at least an hour to get out to the secluded area where Greg thought Sara was. Now the group of them fanned out along the base of the hill, flashlights and guns all pointed in the same general direction…

She felt the door creak open and she tightened her grip on the old frying pan she'd found, she was pressed up against the cold stone wall as one of the men made their way down the stairs. She took a shaking breath and, as she heard the click of a shoe on pavement, she came out swinging. The man who had met her and Adam at the door yelped and jumped back in surprise, as Sara swung hard. Back and fourth towards his face she swung the pan blindly; her eyes downcast as she did so. He heard him yelling and stumbling backwards as she did and at long last she felt the back of the pan smash into the mans face. With a roar like an angry bear he fell backwards clattering into the piled of discarded boxes behind him. She wasted no time, dropping the pan she bolted up the stairs with the man gasping behind her.

'Adam, detonate. DETONATE!' she ran harder. Jumping three steps at a time. She stepped into the kitchen and was faced with a furious Adam. She ducked under his arms and raced towards a knife block on the counter, she snatched a butcher knife out of it and began swinging again. Adam caught her arms and threw her down on the kitchen table. She screamed and fought his grip. With a well-aimed kick she kneed him in the gut and he stumbled backwards. She was on him immediately, running on pure adrenaline now, she sat on his stomach and raised the butcher knife over her head. She swung it down hard, catching him in the chest. He choked and she dropped the knife as blood spattered against her face. She looked down at the man in shock for a moment then heard the other man moving downstairs. Grabbing the knife for defense, she pushed open the door and ran…

Nick Climbed the hill slowly his gun and flashlight pointed in the same direction. In the distance he could just see the sparkle of the other flashlights. He concentrated on finding Sara. It was then that he heard the footsteps. He held his gun up to eye level and watched as the shadow came closer.

'Stop moving!' he commanded, but they didn't, instead the slim figure came into the beam from his flashlight and barreled full into. Losing his grip on his gun the two of them tumbled to the ground. He caught a look of the persons face and relief flooded through every cell of his being. She obviously didn't recognize him though because she fought him for all she was worth. Kicking and smacking at him in a blind attempt to escape.

'Sara!' he shouted, her movements slowed 'Sara, it's okay! It's me, it's Nick' she stopped moving and looked up into his face.

'Nick' she breathed as she threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped her tight in his arms for a long moment.

'Your alright, your safe now.' She pulled away to look at him. Her face was dirty and her stomach was bloodstained. Her hair was a mess and the only thing that looked like Sara right now was her dark eyes that reflected every emotion she ever had.

'Yes' she said then suddenly looking as if she snapped from a trance said 'no! No we aren't okay, we aren't safe. That man in there has a bomb and that house is gonna blow. And Adam is dead but the other is still conscious' she gagged at the thought. Nick let his eyes fall to her hand. She was clutching a bloody knife.

'I killed him Nick' she cried as he gently pried the knife from her fingers.

'I know' he said 'its okay.' He rested his hand against her shoulder 'you'll be okay.' He pulled off his coat and wrapped it around her shoulders then pulled his walky talkie out of its holster. 'I've got her, she's a little shaken, but very alive.' He proceeded to say something about Sara's warning about the bomb and told them where they were.

It seemed like half the city came swarming around them in minutes. Sara stood up with Nick's assistance and looked around at the faces staring back at her. She moved forwards with a smile on her face. Greg was there immediately, he threw his arms around her like a child. Sara grinned as he whispered in her ear.

'You look terrible.'

'I missed you to' she whispered back she he drew away. Catherine caught her friend's hands and smiled broadly, Warrick said nothing, he just nodded, and it was more than enough of a response for Sara. She looked over to her right and saw Grissom standing apart from the crowd. She moved over to him.

'Grissom' she said quietly as she approached. He looked at her for a moment

'Are you alright?' he asked

'I am now' she replied. There was a moment of awkward silence, which was broken suddenly as Grissom moved forwards and folded his arms around her. A little surprised, but relieved she hugged him back, breathing in his scent and promising never to forget it.

'I'm so glad you're alive' he said in her ear as they drew apart slightly. He looked down at her small frame.

'Me to' Sara replied, but was cut off as Grissom moved forwards and stole a kiss. Warricks jaw dropped open while Catherine muttered

'About time', and Nick put an arm around a, slightly hurt looking, Greg as he grinned.

'We need to leave now!' came a shout. Everyone wheeled around as Brass moved away from the house at almost a run.

'What's going on?' Catherine shouted moving forwards from the crowd

'There's a bomb in there that we can't disable and it's due to go off in about fifteen seconds!' The race was insane. People turned and bolted as far as they could away from the house. Grissom and Sara ducked behind a tree in the last millisecond as Catherine stumbled. She cracked her head on the ground and clearly on a rock because with an immense effort she tried to get back onto her feet and didn't make it.

'Catherine!' Warrick cried as he doubled back for her. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to her feet. 'come on' he said as the two of them moved down the hill…

Fire was the last thing they saw.