Boo! So, I ask for 10 reviews and I get 8, I beg again and I get seven! I has a MAJOR SAD!

Is it worth continuing this story? :-(

I hope this chapter will get me ten reviews pretty pretty pretty please with sugar and chocolate and ice cream and gumdrops on top?

Read. Enjoy. Review.

Chapter Twenty Seven # Her Last Sacrifice #

"The next time I have to talk to a parent waiting in a hospital I am not going to tell them that it'll be okay. I'll be honest and say 'this is the damn hardest thing you'll ever have to do in your life'." Nick huffed, pacing back and forth.

Everyone had been checked out at hospital because of the fire, but other than Greg and Morgan, no one was injured. They'd taken the children away to be checked over because of their ordeal; the doctors were with them now.

A nurse walked into the room. "Hello? Are you the family of the missing children?"

"They're not missing anymore." Sara said quickly, and Russell nodded.

"We are. Are they okay?"

Already aware that they'd all been cleared to be told what had happened, the nurse nodded. "Eli and Kristy will be fine. Kristy has a contusion on her head from where she was hit by someone, but there was no major damage done. They were both dehydrated and a little malnourished, but there was no permanent damage. Loeila... It looks like they may have...tortured her." She admitted, wincing as the CSIs and lab techs, who had raced to the hospital, all flinched. "She had several cuts on her arm and her cheek needed a few stitches, but she's the same as the others apart from that."

"So they're all okay?" Finn asked. "They all..."

"Yes. But for now we've placed them in the same private room. They all got a little hysterical at times but it was expected. You can see them now."

Instantly, over half the waiting room rose to its feet, and ran into the room the nurse pointed out.

"Daddy!" Kristy, who was nearest the door, cried out as she saw her dad walked through the door. "Daddy, dey were hobbible!"

"Who, sweetie, the bad men?" Nick asked, hugging her and then taking a seat by her bed, holding her hand.

"No, da nuses! Dey made me eat da sandich coz dey had ta do a test. And coz dey said I hadn' eaten and I was hungy…"

"So why what was the problem?" Nick frowned.

"Two words, Daddy. Peanut butter!" Kristy declared.

Nick laughed in relief. "Oh, Krissie..."

"Not funny, Daddy." She scowled, but quickly the scowl fell from her face and she reached to her dad with both hands. "Daddy!"

"I got you, baby, I'm here now!" Nick soothed as she launched into his arms out of the large bed she was drowning in.

"Daddy, I missed you!"

"I missed you too." Nick whispered into her hair. "So much..."

"Dey said you gabe up. Dey said dat you dopped lookin." Kristy sobbed quietly.

"God, no! I didn't, Kristy, never. Never. I would never stop looking, Kristina, okay? Never, I swear. I love you so, so much." Nick insisted, rocking from side to side.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time we go to da zoo to see da zebras, can we bing de overs too? Coz den da bad mans would stay away. And we could all go an' it would be good an' happy an' fun."

Nick laughed lightly in shock. "You wanna go to the zoo again?"

Kristy's hopeful face fell. "Not if you don' wan' to daddy, I wan' do what you wan' do!"

Nick smiled widely. "I would love to go back to the zoo with you. How about we all go to the zoo, for your birthday, yeah?"

In the craziness of the past few weeks, Kristy's birthday had been forgotten.

"Yay!" She squealed, hugging her dad tightly. "It fun! I love da zoo!"

Nick laughed as he hugged her back. Only this child could get kidnapped from the zoo and want to return.

At the next bed, Finn was talking to Loeila. "Is Aunie Mowgan otay? I got hew out safe?"

"Uh huh, you did good, sweetie, she's asleep, but she's gonna be fine." Finn soothed.

Loeila smiled. "An' my daddy?"

Finn shifted. "The doctors are working on him, but I think he'll be fine. He's just got a big splinter in his tummy."

"Oh..." Loeila frowned, before suddenly grabbing Finn's arm. "Weben! Whewes Weuben! Is he otay?"

"He's at the lab." Finn said.

"Can I see him? Peese? I wanna see Weuben. I miss him."

As if on cue, Hodges entered the room, holding hands with Reuben.

"Loeila!" He cried happily, running over and launching onto the bed, hugging his sister tightly.

Everyone turned and smiled as the twins hugged tightly, as if they'd never let go.

"I missed you!" they squeaked at the same time, to a chorus of 'awes'.

After letting go of his sister's arm, Reuben turned to Kristy and Eli.

"I'm really happy dat you too are otay too!" he insisted.

Eli smiled two beds across, leaning back against Sara contentedly.

The door flew open and Eli's eyes lit up. He leapt out of bed and raced to the door, leaping into Grissom's arms.

The tired, worried man hugged the boy back, surveying the room.

"I hate volcanoes." Was all he managed to say.

CSIVCSIVCSIV

Greg opened his eyes slowly. He was lying in a hospital bed, his stomach throbbing.

"Morgan?"

"Hey." She saluted from the next bed in a rough voice. "What happened to you?"

Greg blinked, trying to remember.

He raced around the attic, trying to find a way down.

Suddenly the ground beneath his feet fell and he screamed as he fell through the floor.

"I…I fell…"

He staggered to his feet, and started to stumble through the blazing house. The wood once again spilt and he fell through again, an extreme pain penetrating his skin.

"Twice…"

Flames flew higher and higher around Greg and one of Nick's dreadful country and western songs filled his head.

"I fell into a burning ring of fire

I went down, down, down,

And the flames went higher.

And it burned, burned, burned,

The ring of fire, the ring of fire."

He had to get out…

"I had to try and find another way out, but there was something in my stomach…I had to find another way out."

His eyes fell on a trapdoor, and in desperation he yanked it open with both hands. He lowered himself down the stairs but slipped and fell down, his head, beating against the steps.

"Oh, god!" he moaned, before staring at the shaking closet. He stared down at his stomach.

"There was wood in my stomach, god, it killed… I thought I was going to bleed out, but I was sure there was something in the closet…"

He pulled open the closet and Kristy screamed in terror. His eyes widened and he let her out, removing the duct tape.

"Uncle Greg, you bleeding!" Kristy cried.

"Yeah!" He took a deep breath, falling against the floor.

"Uncle Greg, I help!"

"Take this, the cloth…" He passed it to her with shaking hands. "Put it on the blood, lean in, hold it there…"

"I let Kristy out… She helped the bleeding…then Nick found us…" Greg finished. "I think I passed out in the ambulance…"

"Do you feel okay?" Morgan whispered, massaging her throat.

"Kind of. Achy…but I'll be okay. What about you?"

"I inhaled too much smoke. I had asthma as a kid, my lungs got aggravated. I almost collapsed." Morgan remembered.

Greg frowned. "What happened?"

Morgan smiled at Greg, the first sunny smile he'd seen in days. "Your three year old daughter led me out of a burning building."

Greg grinned widely. "Really?"

"Uh huh." Morgan nodded with a smile.

"When can we see them?" Greg asked. "Loeila, Reubs, the others…"

"Now if you like." A nurse sang as she walked into the room. "I'm sorry, but I could help overhearing."

"I can see them now?" Greg's face lit up.

"Everything is in order, so I should think so. Because of the angle of your wound, you won't be able to sit in a wheelchair without furthering you injury. But, there is another bed in the room that the children are in, if you would like to stay there instead."

"Yes please!" Greg said quickly, before frowning. "Can Morgan come?"

"Of course. Ms Brody, you can officially be discharged now if you wish."

"Thanks." Morgan beamed.

"Mr Sanders, with your permission the doctors and I will lift you onto a gurney so you can be wheeled up to the room?"

"Sure." Greg nodded.

Five minutes later he entered the room feet first. "It's all right everyone, your favourite person in the world has returned!"

Everyone cheered as Greg was moved over onto the bed between his daughter's and Eli's beds.

Instantly both of his children leapt off of the bed and onto his.

He kissed them both and settled with them under his arms.

"You otay, Daddy?" Lola asked sweetly.

"Better now I've seen you guys." Greg replied, before smiling. "Hey Griss!"

"Hello Greg. Are you feeling okay?" Grissom smiled, sitting in a chair with Eli in his lap.

"Yep. I'm not too bad at all." Greg replied sunnily, before looking around. "Wow, it feels like the whole labs here."

"Where's Auntie Catherine?" Eli frowned suddenly.

Brass frowned deeply. "I don't remember them being at the crime scene, Catherine would have run in… Alyssa too, probably."

"They were right behind us when we left the lab." Finn remarked. "So where are they?"

CSIVCSIVCSIV

"Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking."

"About what, Greg?"

Greg sighed. "I'm thinking that I want to let Alyssa into their lives. I want her to be able to come to their birthday parties, join us at Christmas."

Catherine smiled. "That's great, Greg. I don't think she's ever been part of anything remotely like a family, this will be good for her."

Greg smiled and nodded.

Suddenly something smashed into the back of her head.

Catherine moaned, opening her eyes. Daydreaming about a memory only worked when you weren't being punched in the face.

She was tied to a chair in a large empty room, facing two thugs. Alyssa was next to her, in another chair though Alyssa was blindfolded.

Her head was still reeling from the last blow.

"Tell me now! Where are the children? We. Want. Our. Money!" the man yelled.

"Andre, it's been hours. Hours. They ain't saying nothing."

"Fine, Jay, fine." Andre snapped, drawing out a knife. He sawed through the ropes of both chairs.

"Get up." Jay snapped. "Stand against the wall."

They obeyed silently.

"Oh, fuck it, I only got one bullet."

"Think about it, we only have to kill that one chick." Jay motioned towards Catherine, talking lower than they thought the women could hear. "She's the only one to see us. That other one, dose her up with some of that shit your brother gave you, she won't remember a thing."

Alyssa froze as she listened to them speaking. She could hear exactly what she was saying. She knew that Catherine couldn't.

She couldn't let her only friend, the only person who tried to look out for her, get shot. She listened carefully. The only person who let her into a family, a true family. Catherine was her child's godmother, for Christ's sake!

"Don't shoot, please!" Catherine said almost calmly.

It had to be done. Catherine was her only true friend.

As the bangs crashed away, Alyssa leapt to the side.

Catherine screamed as the body of her friend fell to the floor. "NO!"

The men froze. Catherine launched at them in a blind frenzy, wrestling the gun out of the man's hand and shooting both of the men quickly and efficiently as the FBI had taught her, running back to Alyssa and feeling desperately for a pulse.

"No, no, no, no!" she sobbed as she took her phone off of the man's desk and dialled 911. "Oh god, no, not now."

CSIVCSIVCSIV

"Catherine, I'm so sorry." Greg murmured as Catherine stood standing at Alyssa's grave.

Catherine just nodded. "Me too."

The CSI's slowly started to leave Catherine for a moment in private. Andre Casper and Jay Jones were goons hired by the Martinez brothers, who hadn't been paid.

Alyssa had paid the price.

Wordlessly Loeila walked up to Catherine in her little black dress and leaned on her legs, hugging them.

Catherine stroked Loeila's hair softly, brushing the tears off her face and picking up the little girl.

"She's not gonna come back, is she?" Loeila asked quietly.

Catherine shook her head and slowly they walked away into the future.

The End.

JOKING!

I will be back, as long as I get reviews. What do you think about this twist?