A/N: I know, I'm evil for waiting this long to update. My apologies. I've been wicked busy lately with school and such. Anyway, here's the next installment. As always, I only own Mia and Stewart. The rest belong to CSI and CBS. Enjoy, and please review.

Chapter 5: Save Me, Part 1

The team rushed into the scene, finding the paramedics working on Greg. "He's still alive," a uniform told them. They breathed a collective sigh as they watched the EMTs load Greg onto a stretcher, preparing him for transport to the hospital. The group looked at one another before turning to Vega, who was at the scene.

"Passerby called it in," he told them. "Saw him laying there, didn't think to check for a pulse." Mia put her head down, sighing. Grissom watched her out of the corner of his eye.

"Mia, Nick, you guys go to the hospital," Grissom said. "Keep us up to date on his condition, as well as process him. His kidnapper's still out there." The two of them nodded, jumping in an SUV and leaving. Grissom turned to Catherine and Warrick.

"I'll take perimeter," Warrick said quickly, walking away. Catherine and Grissom looked at one another, sighing before setting about their work.

Mia sighed, closing her eyes as she sat in the front seat next to Nick. "What're you thinkin' about?" he asked softly.

"God, I hope he's alive," she replied.

"Paramedics said he was." She looked at him sharply. "What? You don't trust paramedics?" She shook her head, chuckling.

"Not since the first one I dated." He arched his eyebrows, looking at her. "I just said way too much, didn't I?"

"Not really."

"It was college, I was stupid, can we change subjects?"

"I never said you had to continue." She nodded, sighing again.

"I just… want him to be okay."

"We all do, Mia." She looked over at him, seeing the serious look on his face as he kept driving.

"Yeah, I know. You're right. We're family." Nick looked at her, catching her eyes. "Family sticks together, loves one another… mostly." Nick chuckled.

"You make it tough." She looked out the window again.

"Sorry."

"Mia, you know you never need to apologize for being you. We're used to it by now."

"You guys still hate me."

"No one hates you. Will you quit it?"

"Sorry." They pulled into the parking lot of the hospital, and Mia jumped out before Nick had completely stopped the car. She ran inside, barreling through anyone in her way as she went to the information desk. "Hi," she told the woman at the desk. "My name is Mia Salvatori, I'm here for Greg Sanders."

"What's your relationship to him?" she replied, smiling politely.

"I'm his girlfriend." Nick walked up to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"More importantly, we're both from the Crime Lab," he said to the woman at the desk. "Nick Stokes." Mia glanced over at him, and he smiled. "We're here to process Greg when we get the chance."

"Crime Lab? As in, his place of employment?"

"Yes ma'am." She nodded, hitting a few keys on the computer.

"Mr. Sanders is upstairs resting right now, in room 536. Appears he was electrocuted, dehydrated, beaten, and burned. He'll be okay, has to stay overnight at least for observation."

"Okay, thank you." Nick and Mia left, walking upstairs. She sighed softly.

"Something about this doesn't feel right, Nick," she whispered.

"Never does when it's your friend that's the victim," he replied. He looked over at her, concerned. "You gonna be okay to do this?"

"Nick, if my father really did this…"

"Don't think about that right now." She sighed, looking over at him. "Don't focus on him. Focus on Greg. He's gonna need you more right now." She nodded. "You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." They walked into Greg's room, finding the lights off. Greg was asleep, his body stretched out under the thin blankets. An IV drained a bag steadily into his left wrist. Nick looked over at Mia, who was standing in place.

"He's alive, Mia," Nick whispered. She looked over at him before looking back at Greg.

"Alive physically, but God only knows what happened to him emotionally."

"He'll be fine." She shrugged.

"Time'll tell."

Processing done, Nick and Mia met up with the group at the lab. "How is he?" Catherine asked, concerned.

"He slept the entire time we were there," Nick told her.

"You didn't try to talk to him?"

"He needs the rest. He was beaten, dehydrated, burned-"

"And, if that wasn't enough, he was electrocuted too," Mia jumped in. Catherine and Warrick sighed as Grissom watched her closely.

"Docs say he'll be alright," Nick continued. "They're keeping him for now, but he should be fine."

"Thank God," Catherine said. Mia raised her eyebrows and dropped them quickly as she shrugged. Nick patted her shoulder gently, and she gave him a glare.

"Okay, so let's go with what we know," Grissom said.

"We know we need to find Stewart Jacobson," Mia said.

"Brass is working on it." Mia shook her head.

"Excuse me for a moment." She walked out of the layout room, storming into the locker room. The four remaining CSIs looked at one another.

"Should, uh, someone go follow her?" Catherine asked them.

"I volunteer Nick," Warrick said. Nick looked at him, confused. "You two have been tight for the past couple days."

"So?" Nick asked. "You think that's gonna last long?"

"Yeah."

"No. I think Grissom should go."

"Maybe we should send Wendy. They're friends."

"Maybe we shouldn't worry about her. She'll be fine." Warrick and Catherine exchanged glances. "Let's get back to the case."

"We know who did it," Catherine said. "It's just a matter of getting him in here and keeping her together."

"She's gonna be fine," Nick said. "Don't worry about her."

"Can't help it. Nick, think about it. Your girlfriend gets kidnapped and tortured, and your father did it. Would you be okay?"

"Eventually, yeah. But I'd also need my space." Grissom walked out of the room, heading to the locker room. He found Mia sitting on the bench with her head in her locker, and Wendy sitting beside her, rubbing her back softly. Wendy looked up and nodded at Grissom with a sad smile. Grissom gestured at Mia, and Wendy nodded again, turning to her.

"Hey, I gotta get back to the lab," she said softly. Mia nodded in response. "Hang in there." Mia nodded again, and Wendy patted her back before standing and walking away. Grissom walked over and sat in the spot vacated by Wendy.

"I haven't broken anything," Mia told him softly. He could hear the tears in her voice.

"I know," he replied gently.

"Why are you here?"

"Because you shouldn't be alone right now."

"I'm not going to kill myself in the lab. I'm not…" Her voice trailed off, causing her to sniffle sharply and shake her head. Grissom gently put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it slightly. "I should've taken myself off this case. I was so worried about finding him, though, that I couldn't help it. I had to do it. But, I wish I didn't know."

"You would've found out anyway."

"Not necessarily." She sniffled again, shaking her head. "Actually, you're right. I'm just not thinking right now."

"Understandable."

"How could he, Grissom?" She looked over at him, and he shrugged.

"I don't have an answer for you," he told her softly, his heart breaking at seeing her tears. She snorted, laughing slightly as she smiled.

"I honestly didn't expect you to." He nodded, and she turned back to the locker. "You know, growing up, I always wished I had a father." She looked back over at him. "Someone to make me their little girl, be protective, scare away the boys. I never had that, though. No matter where I was, no one ever cared about me, and what happened to me. Do you know what it's like, growing up with people who only want to keep you alive for financial reasons?" She sniffled, shaking her head before looking down at her lap. "It hurts. It hurts to know that you mean nothing to the people who you're supposed to look up to, ask for advice, love. I couldn't wait to get to college. And it was just as bad as being at home, and in high school." She wet her lips, sniffling and shaking her head.

"My relationship with Greg is the closest thing to true love that I've felt in my entire life," she whispered, continuing. "Even with Hodges, I didn't feel like this. He makes me so happy, and he just… knows me so well. I really love him with all of my heart. And even though we have him back, I feel like I've lost him."

"You haven't lost him," Grissom told her softly.

"I have if he knows my father kidnapped him. I'm enough of a head case, acid trip as it is. Add my father's torturing of him to the equation, and I don't think he's going to want to be with me."

"You don't know that." She shrugged.

"You're right, I don't. But I'm extremely pessimistic." Grissom chuckled softly.

"We're talking about Greg, Mia, and how he would react. Not how you would react." She sighed, nodding.

"You think I'm worrying too much about this?" He shrugged.

"'What private griefs they have, alas, I know not,'" he said simply, squeezing her shoulder again as he stood up. She shook her head.

"Julius Caesar?" she asked. He smiled.

"Yeah." He walked out of the room, and she inhaled deeply, clearing herself of her emotion before fixing her makeup and walking back into the layout room.

"You okay?" Warrick asked. She nodded, feigning a smile. Grissom's phone rang, causing everyone in the room to look at him.

"Grissom," he answered. "Hey, Brass." He paused for a moment. "Great." Another pause. "Yeah, I'll do that." Another pause. "Okay." He hung up, and turned to his team. "Stewart Jacobson is in custody."

"Thank God," Catherine said. "Let's go talk to him."

"He only wants to talk to Mia."

"What?" she asked. "Why me?"

"Because you're his daughter," Nick told her.

"I don't give a shit. I ain't doin' it."

"Look, you can do this."

"We don't need him to talk. We have enough evidence to prove he did it. And when Greg wakes up, we'll have even more. We don't need him."

"We need to know where he held Greg," Grissom said. Mia grumbled.

"Why do I have to talk to him, though?" she asked. "I'm more likely to kill him."

"I never said you were going to."

"Okay, so what's the plan?"

Mia walked into the interrogation room with Grissom beside her. Brass looked at the two of them, and Mia calmly sat down across from Stewart. "Alright, you got me," she told him. "What do you want?"

"Alone," Stewart said.

"You either do it this way, or not at all. We've got enough physical evidence to get a conviction as it is. We don't need anything from you."

"I did this for you." She looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

"What the fuck are you smoking?" Grissom moved to stand beside her and put his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently.

"He's not good enough for you."

"Says the guy who wasn't in my life for 27 years."

"Not by choice, Mia. Your mother wouldn't let me."

"Yeah, okay. I'll believe that." She rolled her eyes. "What kind of fool do you think I am?"

"I don't think you're a fool. Juliana thought I wasn't fit to raise her child."

"And you were okay with that, right?"

"No. I wanted to be a part of your life."

"You could've stepped forward when she died. You didn't. You left me to fend for myself in the system. So, forgive me if I don't believe you, okay?"

"I was married at that point, Mia. Married with twin daughters and two sons." She sighed harshly, shaking her head.

"You know what? I don't care. Tell us where you kept Greg."

"I have four other kids to think about."

"And I still don't care. Tell us where you kept Greg!"

"In a warehouse on Industrial. The one that used to belong to Jeremy Kiner."

"Thank you." She stood up, turning to leave the room.

"You really don't care why I kidnapped your boyfriend?" She stopped, turning around.

"Does that bother you?"

"No. In fact, it was exactly what I expected." She furrowed her brow, confused. "Someone who murders and manipulates like you do, it wouldn't surprise me to find out you don't care about the motives of people who hurt you." She stepped forward, leaning on the table to get in Stewart's face.

"You know something?" she asked, angrily. "I have never murdered anyone, and I'm not manipulative. I've been beaten and hurt so many times in my life, that I honestly don't care why people do things to hurt me. In fact, I try to be a bitch to give them a reason. But people who use my friends and family to hurt me, I have a real issue with that. Your motive doesn't matter to me, because your notes told us everything. And this conversation just solidified it. Rot in hell, bastard." She leaned back, turning to walk away.

"That's exactly what I expected you to say," he said. She stopped, and Grissom put his hand on her shoulder again. "Your life wasn't that bad. I know, I saw the whole thing."

"If you saw the whole thing, you wouldn't be saying anything."

"I saw the way you used those guys throughout your entire life. Your friends, your boyfriends, everyone." She clenched her jaw, grabbing Grissom's other hand in anger. "I couldn't let you do that to Greg. I'd rather he die than be used by you. He's been through enough in his life. He doesn't need to get fucked up by you." She squeezed Grissom's hand tighter, holding in her anger as best she could.

"If you knew anything about me," she began in a calm, even tone, "you wouldn't be worried about Greg."

"And I won't have to now." She shook her head, snorting angrily.

"Whatever you say. Greg and I are in love, and you can't change that." She walked out, bringing Grissom along with her. When they were in the hallway, he stopped her. "No, I'm not okay," she answered before he could even ask.

"Okay," he said. She sighed.

"Did I hurt your hand?" He shook his head. "Good. I didn't want to. It was either that, though, or punch him in the face."

"You did fine." She looked over at him.

"Glad you think so. Can we just finish this case?" He nodded, and the two of them walked away, leaving the station for the warehouse.