Author's Note: Just a teensy warning...there's a little bit of swearing in this chapter. :) OK…Enjoy!

Chapter 47 – 5 stages of Grief

Catherine sat on the couch for a minute or so with her head in her hands. She wasn't crying. Just sitting there. Sara sat beside her, wanting to say something comforting but not being able to find the right words. She wasn't any good at this so she just sat there with her hand on Catherine's shoulder. Sara thought of something Grissom had told her when she was still in college.

"We meet people in grief everyday. But sometimes they will be in different stages of grief. We have to deal with all of them." The first one was denial. That seemed to fit. But after a minute or so Catherine's head popped up.

"That bastered," she said quietly.

The next one is anger.

Sara just looked at her, a little confused by the sudden outburst. "That bastered. What the hell is he thinking?" Catherine's voice was getting louder and louder. "He thinks he can mess with me? He thinks he can mess with my daughter?!" Catherine stood up. Sara could tell she had an idea of some kind.

"Who in goddamned hell does he think he is? He isn't even that good a kidnapper! It took us two shifts to find Nick and he didn't even hurt him at all!" Catherine started pacing. Sara sat there and watched her. Sara had learned that when Catherine was yelling it was best to stay out of her path then talk to her later about it when she had had time to cool off. Of course, this time Sara didn't think she would cool off. She did not want to be George Shempsky right now, getting in the way of Catherine's attitude.

"I can't believe I'm just sitting here! What the hell is wrong with me?! I need to go and find my daughter." Catherine walked around the coffee table and out the door. Sara raised her eyebrows and watched her leave.

"Mommy, why is Catherine so angry?" Charlotte piped up from the table behind Sara.

"She's just a little upset right now." Greg was still sitting there drinking coffee so she told him to watch Charlotte for a minute while she went to go and find Catherine.

Sara walked down the hallway to try and find her. She looked in the layout rooms and some of the different labs before she found her walking into Grissom's office. Sara walked in a second after she did and Grissom looked up then stood up as both of them came in.

"Catherine. I didn't know you were here."

"I need to find her." Grissom looked at Sara then back to Catherine.

"I know you do, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to be on this case…"

'Uh-oh,' Sara thought. She took a step back as she saw Catherine tense up and foresaw the explosion waiting to happen.

"Are you kidding me?" Deadly quiet. "Are you seriously kidding me? You won't let me be on this?" Her voice rose in pitch and volume. Sara took another step back. "My daughter is in the hands of a psycho deranged maniac and you don't think it's a good idea for me to be on the fucking case?!"

Grissom saw the error of his ways a second too late. Trying to cover it up a little he said, "I just don't think you could put-"

"Yeah, yeah I know. My emotions would get in the way of my unbiased opinion. But you know what Grissom? I am a person before I am a CSI." Catherine's voice was deadly quiet again and Sara could tell she wasn't going to let Grissom keep her off the case. She could see it too but she was on a roll. "And because I'm a person I want to get my daughter back and I will use ever single ounce of power to do that. So, whether you like it or not, I'm on this case." Sara heard Catherine's voice crack and Sara knew she was on the verge of tears. If Grissom didn't let Catherine on this case, Sara knew a few heads would roll.

He just stared at Catherine.

Catherine made a smooth transition into the third stage; bargaining.

"Grissom…I need this. I need to find her. I need to. You can take me off any other case and put me on anything for the rest of my entire career…I need this case. I need to find her."

Grissom looked at his feet. "Ok," he said quietly. Catherine let out a breath and looked down too. She looked back up and walked over to Grissom. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thank you," she said quietly before turning around and leaving again. Sara just stood there, looking at Grissom. He was obviously.

SnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickersSnickers

About two hours later, the entire grave shift team, Brass, and a few of the dayshift team were sitting at a table in the layout room, going over everything they had…which wasn't much. Greg had taken Charlotte to his lab so she didn't have to sit in on the meeting and Sara didn't have to worry about her.

"I looked at the parking lot by the school," Warrick started. He had been the CSI to go to Lindsay's school. "There are some fresh tire tracks that look like they could be George's car. According to his rap sheet he drove a 2002 Chevy with blue paint. It wasn't recovered and we also found some paint chips matching the color on a post at the entrance to the parking lot. Looks like he was in a real hurry to get out of there and clipped the post."

"I already put an APB out on his car but it's too early for anyone to have found it," Brass chimed in.

"Have you checked that house where he…held me?" Nick asked timidly. This guy still freaked him out a bit.

"I have a few guys checking that out now. So far there is no-one there, but because of the location it's hard to keep a cop there unnoticed."

Grissom let out a huge sigh from across the table. "What about the letter." He had read it a little while ago.

"There was one print on it," Sara said. "I thought that was weird because there hadn't been any on the others. Just one thing…the print is too small to be an adult's. I'm thinking its Lindsay's but we have no reference and no way to prove it."

"That might be his way of proof of life," Grissom said.

"I could get a reference," Catherine said forcefully. She had been looking at her hands and hadn't said anything for a little while so everyone just looked at her. She looked up. "I could go home and get one of her prints. I'm not doing anything anyway." This seemed to annoy her. She wanted to help but didn't exactly know how.

Grissom nodded. "Sara, you go with her. We'll keep working here." Sara nodded and got up with Catherine.

Catherine went to the locker room and Sara went to the DNA lab. She poked her head in and saw Charlotte standing there with a rubber glove on her head and two other on her hands, and wearing safety goggles that were way too big for her. She was pouring a clear liquid into a white powder over the sink with Greg standing right behind her. This scared her a little bit.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What's in the beaker?" Sara asked before Charlotte could pour it in.

"It's magic!" Charlotte squealed.

"Its vinegar and baking soda," Greg answered.

"Oh," Sara said, relieved.

"What? Do you think I would have given her sodium and water? I'm not a total idiot."

Sara rolled her eyes.

"Mommy, I want to be a DMA nammalist when I grow up…just like Greg."

Sara smiled at that. "I have to go with Catherine to her house. I'll be back soon, ok…and Greg…"

"Yeah," his attention was back on the beaker.

"Don't blow up my daughter."

"I'll try."

Sara rolled her eyes again and left hearing Charlotte yell, "Bye, Mommy," as she left.

She met up with Catherine at the car and they drove the 15 minutes to her house. Catherine was very quiet in the car and Sara took a glance at her every minute or so. When they were almost there, Catherine spoke so suddenly she made Sara jump.

"You know what pisses me off the most?"

The fourth stage…depression.

"What?" Best to let her rant, Sara figured. Ranting could make her feel better.

"He scares me." Sara looked at her again.

"He is a pathetic excuse for a human being and the worst person to be intimidated at…and he scares me. He scares the crap out of me."

"Cath, you have a good reason to be scared of him…"

"But I'm not scared of anything…or anyone…and this guy…I can't get this guy out of my head. It terrifies me…what he…what he can do…" she was trailing off, lost in thought.

"Cath…" Sara didn't know what to say. She couldn't think of anything that would be helpful or comforting. Sara pulled up to her house and Catherine jumped out before she stopped.

"Gloves!" Sara shouted after her. Catherine turned around and pulled the trunk open, pulling out a pair of latex gloves and a few evidence bags. Sara was unbuckling her seatbelt and Catherine poked her head in.

"I'll be only a second…just stay here." Sara nodded. Catherine came out three minutes later with two evidence bags and a picture in her hand. She climbed into the front seat and buckled her seatbelt.

"What's in the other bag?" Sara asked after a second.

"Toothbrush. Just in case"

Sara nodded. She started the car and they drove back to the lab in silence.

Catherine dropped the toothbrush off with Greg and Sara ran the prints down to Jackie Franco, the paint tech. Catherine had printed Lindsay's doorknob and had lifted 5 clean prints. It took Jackie about five minutes to confirm that the print on the letter was Lindsay's thumb print.

Sara thanked Jackie and ran up to Grissom's office. He was sitting there, reading a file folder.

"Prints on the letter are Lindsay's."

Grissom looked up and took off his glasses, thinking. "I wonder what he's trying to say with that." He was off in his own little 'Grissom' world so Sara didn't answer him. Sara was just about to leave when Catherine walked up behind her.

"You find anything?" she asked.

"Yeah. They were her prints on the letter."

Catherine just nodded. She was silent a second then jumped when her cell phone chirped on her belt. She answered with a tired "hello," and both Grissom and Catherine watched as her mouth dropped and her eyes widened.

"Where are you?" She asked, tears coming into her eyes.

Sara couldn't hear what she was saying but could tell it was Lindsay on the other end. Grissom stood and walked around his desk quickly without taking his widened eyes off Catherine. Sara and Grissom listened to her half of the conversation, trying desperately to hear what Lindsay was saying too.

"What, Lindsay? I can't hear you sweetie…just settle down." She paused and they heard her crying into the phone. "You're outside? Outside where?" Another pause. "My work?" Catherine gasped and spun around taking off at a run. "I'm coming Lindsay, don't worry," she said. Sara and Grissom followed her down the hall. Grissom had his own cell phone out and was calling Brass.

Catherine was running hard then stopped suddenly, Sara almost running into her.

"Put her back on!" she yelled into the phone, more tears brimming in her eyes.

"You bastered!" she yelled, starting to run again, "Where is my daughter?" she shouted into the phone.

Sara followed Catherine to the front lobby then outside. Sara gasped when she saw Lindsay standing in the middle of the parking lot, crying and wearing a vest that had six red boxes attached to it; undoubtedly explosives.