Chapter 9 – Flashback

CSI, Las Vegas

For the second time in this shift, Sara entered the CSI building, but now accompanied by Catherine. They had been silent all the way through Las Vegas, and Sara was grateful that Catherine hadn't tried to talk to her. She needed time to think about the situation. But all above she wanted to be with Nick. To snuggle against him and talk to him.

When they entered the lab, they soon found Grissom in his room with the others sitting around him. Sara immediately noticed that Nick was there, as well, just looking up at her with a warm smile.

She had to suppress the desire of hugging and kissing him. This would made the situation even more complicated. Sara was already totally confused and the last thing she needed was even more confusion...

Fortunately there was at least a chair free next to Nick, where Sara took place and greeted him quitely. Catherine sat down as well and Grissom began to talk.

"Sara, Catherine – I'm glad you joined us. As you see, Nick has come here, too, because I have great news for all of you." He made a significant pause. "Brass phoned me... They got an anonymous phone call last night with a clue, where the murderer of the Tribbiani-case can be found. As you all remember he did not only kill a young woman but also shot on Nick and injured him seriously. Now it seems that we've got him."

"That's indeed great news!", Warrick shouted, but Grissom showed him to hold in.

"Well, as I said, it seems that we've got him. But we need a witness to give evidence, otherwise we cannot keep him in remand..." He looked at Sara who felt uneasy, because she knew what was about to come when Grissom went on: "Sara, you have talked to the man and you're the only one who has had a look at his face. You might be able to give evidence and enable us to put him into jail until we have proved his guilt."

There was a silence in which Sara felt the looks of all others resting on her – it was a pressure, that was almost unbearable. She didn't want to do that, getting faced to that guy, being forced to look into his eyes again. But on the other hand... If she was the only one being able to identify him, it was her duty to do so. Besides, she wanted to see the man, who hurt Nick, in jail.

As if he had read her thoughts, Nick placed a hand on her back right in this moment and gently stroke her.

"You don't have to do this if you don't feel able to do it", he softly said and Sara knew he was honest. But the touch of his hand had a calming effect on her and she shook her head.

"No, I will do it", she said and sounded more convinced than she felt inside. But Nick gave her the power to hold her head up and do what had to be done.

"Well...", Grissom searched for the right words, "...time is short, his lawyer is trying everything to get him out of remand. I am sorry, because this comes all of a sudden, but..."

"...he's here.", a voice completed Grissom's sentence. The voice came from the doorway and made everyone in the room turn their heads. It was Brass, lifting a file. "Juanito Belverde, 33 years old. He has been the dead woman's boyfriend. Remember? Maria Convaelos, shot three weeks ago in Tribbiani's bar."

"Of course we remember!", Catherine cut him off. "We've been working on this case, remember?"

Brass prefered to pretend he didn't hear her. "We've got him, but if he's not being identified within..." He looked at his watch "...20 minutes, we'll have to let him go. It's as easy as that." He turned to Sara. "I'm sorry that you'll have to do this job. We did our best to find someone else. But there's only you..."

Sara swallowed and nodded. "Alright." Her voice sounded weak, but she clenched her teeth and lifted herself from the chair.

"Someone should go with you", Catherine proposed and looked around. Nick stood up immediately, taking measures to escort Sara.

"I don't think this is a good idea...", Grissom said but Nick shook his head.

"Don't you think that I can undertand best the way she'll feel?" he disagreed. "We've both suvived that night at Tribbiani's bar and now we'll stick this situation out together, too."

Nick's words took a load off Sara's mind. She had hoped he'd accompany her. Knowing he was with her would make it a little easier, that was sure.

The others were quiet and Grissom shrugged his shoulders. It was a weird situation. It reminded them of the day they had lost their young co-worker Holly Gribbs a few years ago. She had been alone at a crime scene and a man had shot her. Warrick still felt guilty, because he should have been with her that day, but he had left her alone to put his money on a sports game.

Sara sighed and nodded to Brass who turned around and walked out of the room. Nick and Sara followed him quietly. As they walked through the long corridor, Nick put an arm around Sara's shoulder and squeezed her softly.

"We'll make this. And afterwards we'll go home. Grissom won't force you to stay here and besides...", he looked at his watch, "...it's alsmost 9 am, so your shift is over. I can get you something for breakfast – whatever you like."

He had spoken with a low voice and Brass, who was walking a few feet in front of them, didn't seem to have listened. Sara smiled. Why had it taken her so long to realize how wonderful Nick was? She didn't understand. He was provident and simply lovely.

"Sounds good", she replied heartily and felt a lot easier. She was still afraid of the confrontation, but the feeling that her heart would break into pieces was gone.

It didn't take long until they reached the room where the lineup should take place. Brass talked to some policemen and advised them to arrange everything. Then he turned to Sara, whose heart was in her boots.

"Well, you do not need to be afraid. He will be behind mirrored-glass and unable to see you. He will be standing in a line with 9 other guys. Take a close look at all of them and tell us, who's been the one you talked to that night at Tribbiani's bar."

Sara had heard his words – those words she had told victims of different crimes so many times before. And now she was the one to hear them. It was so weird... All she managed to do was to nod and follow Brass into the room.

It was dark inside, a small neon glow lamp was fixed in the back right hand corner, but it's light was pale and weak. There was no furniture – no table, no chairs, no cupboards – nothing. Subsconsciously, Sara took Nick's hand.

Brass went to the pane of glass which looked like a normal wall right now. But when he knocked against it, the light on the other side of the pane was switched on and showed a room that was tiled white, at least as paltry as the one they were in. Sara had seen it so many times before, but not with the eyes of a witness. Everything seemed more intense, more fierce and clear cut.

Her pulse fastened and she licked her dry lips as a door in the other room opened and policemen led men in. So this was the moment of truth, she thought anxiously and waited for the men to line up. Each one of them got a number to hold up in front of himself.

Sara turned her face to Nick – he was smiling to encourage her, but his eyes mirrored her own feelings of anxiety. How hard did it have to be for him if it was even a gauntlet for her, Sara asked herself and adored him for his strength. After everything he had been through, he accompanied her because he knew she needed him.

Brass cleared his throat and said: "Well, Sara – everyone's in posititon."

Sara noticed she was still looking at Nick and forced herself to turn her head back to the pane. Brass had been right – the men were standing one beside another in an exact line, holding up their numbers from one to ten. Sara closed her eyes for a short moment to gather herself, then forced herself to concentrate on the first man.

He had brown hair, that was right, but a look in his eyes made Sara shake her head and she went on to number two. No, he wasn't it... number three? No, never.

The fourth and fifth man were both too old and fat, she realized that on first sight, and a closer look at ther faces proved her assumption true.

Man number six was too small and number seven had a hooked nose that wasn't in line with Sara's memory.

Then she turned to the eigth man. His head was shaved and he had a beard, but one look in his eyes made her freeze. Hearing nothing but her heartbeat she realized that in fact it was not his eyes but the expression she read in them. She knew he couldn't see her, but he seemed to do so and it was as cruel a look he shot at her as she had ever seen.

The world around her faded – Nick, Brass, the room – everything disappeared in darkness. There was just the guy and her. Sara's breathing grew shallow as she was overcome with panic. She heard sounds and voices growing louder and died away again. Moving pictures occurred in front of her eyes and it took a while until it became clear to her that it were scenes from that disastrous night at Tribbiani's café.

The visions came faster and with more intensity, and all Sara could manage to say was the word "eight". Then, with a blink of an eye, she was back...

She quickly stood up and made her way to the entrance, leaving Nick kneeling on the floor, watching her walk away.
Soon she stepped through the door and walked directly towards the suspect in the crowd. Attack was the best form of defence...

She approached and grabbed his attention. "Hey", she shouted and nodded at him. The guy returned her look and Sara noticed his ice-cold eyes when he said:

"What?"

His voice was even as cold as the expression in his eyes, and a shiver ran down Sara's spine. This man was surrounded by an aura of violence.

Somehow she managed to keep her voice firm and cool. "I guess you're here 'cause you got to know someone's been killed right in there", she said. As he didn't show any reaction she went on: "Or maybe you have known before?"

She watched his facial features tighten and continued. "Maybe because you've been at the scene?"

She gestured at the scratches on his face. "I guess it hurt when she did this to you. Was that the reason? Grieved ego?"

From one second to another, the man seemed to lose control, he grimaced and yelled at her: "You bloody bitch, who do you think you are? D'you guess I let you talk to me like that?"

Sara didn't answer, but asked: "Was it a satisfaction to kill her?"

She had her eyes fixed on his and time stood still for a short moment, then things happened quickly. The man rose his right hand in which he was now holding a gun he had pulled out of his trousers. Sara froze at the devilish smirk on his face as he rose the gun. She was unable to move or do just anything.

Then, suddenly, she felt someone grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Unhinged she fought to keep her balance and won that fight. She heard people around her screem with fear when the person, which had pulled her away, turned around.

Sara frowned as she found out that it was nobody but Nick.

"Sara, are you all right?", he asked, putting his hands on her shivering shoulders.

She nodded and this small movement was almost more than she could bear. For a moment, she felt empty and unable to feel anything as a result of the shock. But then her heard stood still – Nick's shirt was more and more getting coloured red with his own blood. Sara met his eyes - he looked unbelievingly.

Then he broke down and Sara knelt beneath him, her heart beating so fast that it seemed to burst in her chest.

"Nick!", she screamed panic-stricken, but he didn't react.

Policemen ran to them, she heard them phone the ambulance.

Through a veil of tears she saw Nick, lying on the floor and two officers right next to him, checking his pulse and caring for him...

She wasn't able to move until she heard the ambulance approach.

Nick was put on a stretcher and carried into the ambulance, but Sara kept staring at the place, where he had been. A bloody spot had remained on the stony floor.
Then a policeman guided her into the ambulance, but she didn't really notice it.

There was one picture stuck in her mind - Nick, wounded, helpless, scaring.

When she regaines consciousness she opened her eyes and lookes puzzled directly into Nick's face. She didn't know where she was in the first moment, but she felt she lay on the floor. She frowned and wanted to lift herself, but Nick shook his head and held her back with light pressure.

"Don't do so", he advised her calmly, "better wait a moment."

Sara turned her head and got a glimpse of Brass' feet and legs, he was standing somewhere left of her, talking to a policeman in a low voice so she couldn't understand a word. She felt sick and tired.

"What happened?" There was something like a black hole in her head that seemed to have absorbed her memory of the last minutes.

"You... were looking at the men", Nick started with a worried expression in his eyes. "Then your face got pale, you shivered. We talked to you, but you didn't react and finally you said 'eight' and broke down with a cry. Thank God, Brass caught you. You lost consciousness and acting from necessity, we laid you onto the floor."

Slowly but surely Sara's memory came back. The lineup, guy, the flashback. She sighed and started to talk.

"I... I have been back to the night at Tribbiani's. It was so realistic and so horrible. You were there, too, wounded and lying on the ground. I had hoped so much I'd never again been forced to go through that, and now..." She hold in and bite her lips.

Nick gently stroke her face. "Oh my God, I'm so glad you're back again..."

He bent down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead which made Sara smile lightly. She didn't care if Brass saw them – it was irrelevant. Sooner or later he'd know it anyway. Just lying there and watching Nick's face calmed her and no matter what had just happened, she felt a light stream of happiness spread in her chest. She took Nick's hand and kissed it.

"Thank you for being there for me...", she whispered and Nick was all smiles.

"I'll always be there for you, Sara. Always.", he replied seriously.

to be continued... soon! -

Thank you all very much for reviewing! CSIfreak92: Well, I actually never said they were having sex. g That's what you read... ;-)