Author's Note: Don't you just love cliffhangers? I sure do lol. Can you tell? Well this is almost through…just a little while longer. So read and enjoy! Tell me if you like it…tell me if you don't…and I should warn you that I have no idea how bombs work so I'm just making all this stuff up on the fly…So no getting mad at my technical junk…got it? Ok…onto the story!

Chapter 49 – To Explode, Or Not To Explode?

It was Sara's turn to stand there, dumbstruck.

"What did he say?" Grissom and Nick asked at the same time. Catherine was still preoccupied.

"Oh, shit," Sara said, just realizing how short half an hour really was. What could they possibly accomplish in just half an hour?

"We have half an hour to defuse that bomb!" Sara shouted. Catherine whipped her head around and stared at her with huge eyes. "Call bomb squad!" Sara shouted over her shoulder while she ran up to Lindsay.

Nick took out his phone and called dispatch, requesting bomb squad. Sara reached Lindsay and knelt down, careful not to touch her.

"Are you ok, Lindsay?" she asked, trying to keep the fear out of her voice.

Lindsay shook her head. "I'm scared," she sobbed.

"I know, honey, but I want you to do something for me. You have to stand very, very, very still for a little while ok?"

Lindsay nodded.

Catherine materialized beside Sara. "Don't touch her," Sara said, making sure the distraught woman didn't hug her daughter. She didn't know how this bomb worked and didn't want to take any chances. Sara stayed with the little girl for the two minutes it took for the bomb squad to come. There was huge bustle of activity as they got their protective gear on and were briefed on what had happened by Sara and Grissom. One man, Sara assumed he was the leader, had looked over Lindsay's vest. He had found a box in the back of the vest that he opened, finding the digital clock counting down from thirty minutes. It was now at 21.

Sara and Catherine were told to go wait by the lab. Sara went but Catherine refused to go. Sara tried to talk her out of staying but it was impossible. She was staying with her daughter.

Sara ran back to the lab and ran through the halls. She burst into the DNA lab where Greg and Charlotte were still working with vinegar and baking soda.

"Greg, can I talk to you real quick?" she asked, out of breath.

"Look, I didn't blow her up," Greg said proudly. Sara kept her face serious. She wasn't willing to make jokes right now. Greg saw that and brought Charlotte to sit on a chair then went into the hall to talk to her.

"Did you find Lindsay?" he asked when they were alone.

"She's outside with a bomb strapped to her chest," Sara said quickly.

Greg looked like she had poured a bucket of ice water on his face. "Is…is she ok?" he asked after a few moments of gawking.

"No, she's not ok!" Sara snapped.

Greg ignored the snappy comment. "Is…is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"Not really. Just wanted you to keep Charlotte in here. I don't want her anywhere near the front and don't tell her what's going on. I don't want her scared."

"You got it. Tell me what happens ok?"

Sara nodded, looking inside the lab at her daughter. She walked around Greg, into the glass doors. She knelt down to her daughter and put her hands on Charlotte's knees.

"I want you to stay with Greg, ok?" her eyes were getting teary again but she wanted to get this out.

"Mommy, are you ok?" she asked sounding worried.

"Promise me you will stay here and do whatever Greg tells you to?"

Charlotte nodded. "I promise."

"Good." Sara kissed Charlotte on the forehead. "I have to go now. I love you, ok?"

"I know, Mommy. I love you too."

Sara smiled and kissed her again, standing up to leave. She smiled and waved to the little girl and walked out. She didn't know why, but she had to do that. She didn't know why, but she felt she had to tell Charlotte that she loved her. She paused on her way back outside to wipe her tears away. She took a deep breath and joined the bustle of activity outside. There were about ten bomb squad guys plus Nick and Grissom.

"Where are we?" Sara asked when she joined them by the wall of the building.

"Grader doesn't know how to defuse it yet," Nick answered.

"He doesn't?"

"Nope."

Sara let out a frustrated sigh. She turned to go over to Catherine who was still with Lindsay.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked, panicking a little, taking a step forward.

"I want to know what's going on." She turned to leave again.

"I don't think so." Nick grabbed her arm and spun her around. "There is no way I'm going to let you put yourself in harms way."

Despite the situation, Sara smiled. "Nick, I'm going to be fine. I need to be doing something. I need to help."

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you-"

"Nick, I'm going over there."

"No, Sara." Nick looked genuinely afraid. "You can't go over there. I can't let you."

Sara sighed and looked down. Nick was still holding onto her arm. "Nick, Catherine is my friend…Lindsay is my kid's friend. Catherine needs support and I want to know what I can do. I'm going to go over there so I can help my friend."

Nick just looked at her.

"Nick, I'll come back…I'm going to be just fine." She looked at him right in the eyes, trying to persuade him to let her go. "This will bring me back." She held up her hand to show nick her ring.

He let go of her arm. "Ok," he whispered. She smiled a little. She looked at him another second then stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She pulled back a little.

"I'm coming back," she whispered. She gave him one more kiss then turned around, walking quickly over to Catherine.

Catherine still wasn't allowed to touch Lindsay so she was kneeling a few feet away from her, trying to talk to her to keep her calm. Sara walked up behind them and knelt down with Catherine.

"How are you doing Lindsay?" she asked as pleasantly as she could manage.

"G-good," she stuttered. Sara wasn't sure if she really knew what was going on but could tell she was very scared.

Grader, the bomb squad leader, jogged over to them with another man dressed all in black protective gear. Sara watched them come over and got up when he beckoned for her and Catherine to come over.

"We've got it."

"You know how to defuse it?" Sara asked hopefully.

"Yes. But there's a little problem."

"There are lots of little problems," Catherine said testily.

"Well this is a bigger little problem."

Sara sighed. "What is it?"

"That vest has enough explosives to blow up all up and it's wired so we can't take it off to defuse it. We need to defuse it on her.

"So what's the problem? I thought you knew how to defuse it?" Sara was confused.

"We do. But to do that we have to cut the wire that connects the detonation receiver to the explosives so it won't blow up. But to do that we have to take the vest off. Its underneath the vest."

Now they got it. "How are you supposed to get it off her…without taking it off her?" Catherine asked timidly.

"We need to cut it off her without cutting through any of the wires inside or outside the vest which means she needs to stay extremely still. It shouldn't be too hard because the vest is very loose on her and the material isn't very strong. We need you two to keep her super still while we cut it off…got it?"

"Got it," Sara and Catherine said in unison. Catherine turned and jogged over to Lindsay. Sara followed closely, catching a glimpse of the time code on Lindsay's back as she passed. 9:18. "Let's hope it takes less then ten minutes to get the vest off her," Sara thought.

She knelt down in front of Lindsay like she had before and listened to Catherine explain to her that she needed to stay very still. The bomb squad guys put protective vests on all of them and then got to work on cutting through the vest. Grader cut slowly and steadily while Catherine coaxed Lindsay into staying still. He was almost through when the man behind him told him the time.

"Two minutes."

"I'm almost done. Get the basket ready!" Three other men, dressed identically in black protective gear, came up with a big black metal box with a net in it.

"It's almost off, Lindsay. We're so close. You're doing so well," Catherine coaxed through her tears. She couldn't help crying and Lindsay's tears had started up again too.

Sara watched as Grader snipped the last part of the material and started lifting the entire thing off of the tiny girl's shoulders.

"Ok, Lindsay, I want you to lift your arms like a bird, very, very slowly." Lindsay started to raise her arms and Sara's breath caught in her throat. She hoped this worked.

"You're doing so well, sweetie. Just keep going slowly," Catherine coaxed.

"Just a little more," Grader whispered. He pulled the vest over Lindsay's head. "Don't move," he said as it was right above her. Lindsay stood there very still with her arms in the air, crying softly. Grader turned around and slowly lowered the entire thing into the bomb basket.

Catherine, Lindsay, and Sara stayed as still as statues. Catherine and Sara saw the men pick the basket up off the pavement and start walking away from them.

"Great job Lindsay. You're finished," Grader said. Before the sentence was done Lindsay had leapt into Catherine's arms. Lindsay cried into her shoulder, Catherine whispering, "I love you," into hers.

Sara smiled, tears forming in her own eyes. She let out a breath and looked at the men carrying the basket. They were near the far edge of the parking lot and were just setting the basket down.

As soon as it hit the pavement a defining blast rang in Sara's ears, blowing her backwards.

Author's Note: Ahhh Explosions.