~A/N~ Sorry for the delay in updating. I know it's a short chapter, but my muse has been stubborn lately.....Enjoy....

Catherine was sitting in the lab waiting to hear from Grissom about the whereabouts of Nick. She was so sure that they would find all the answers that they needed from the man that kidnapped Nick

Her cell phone rang and she whispered, "Please tell me that you found him Gil?"

She heard and sigh and then the worst words ever, " He blew himself up Catherine."

"Who did?"

"The man that kidnapped Nick. He didn't tell me where Nick was and he simply blew himself to pieces."

Catherine's heart stopped. It was about ten seconds before she dared speak. Even then, it was muffled, "What?"

"He blew himself up Catherine. I have no idea where Nick is. We need to entire team here. Maybe we can get a clue where he is."

Catherine disconnected the call and stared at the wall. It took a few seconds before she realized that she needed to get moving. She looked at Greg and Sara and said, "We need to get over to that location."

Greg looked at her and asked, "What's up?"

"Nick's kidnapper just blew himself up. We need to get over there and see if we can get any kind of clue as to where he hid Nick."

Sara looked at Catherine and asked, "How are we going to do that?"

"I have no idea Sara. No idea at all."

They passed Warrick in the hallway and Catherine said, "Come on Warrick. We need to get to Grissom's location."

"What happened?"

"I'll fill you in on the way."

The drive seemed to take forever. They finally arrived at the crime scene. Catherine had been on hundreds of crime scenes before. None of them had ever affected her the emotionally before. She sat in the SUV for longer than necessary. Finally, she swallowed and opned the door.

She had no idea how she was going to keep her emotions in check while she worked the scene. She knew that she needed to. She needed to bring Nick home. Lindsay and their new baby needed their daddy. She only hoped that they'd have him back soon.

She was checking out the inside of the vehicle that the suspect had used. She was struck by how clean it was inside. There were no fingerprints. The registration was even missing. She sighed and leaned her head back on the headrest. She'd never felt more defeated in her life. She knew the chances of them bringing Nick back alive was dwindling with every tick of the clock. She let a tear slide down her cheek. She wiped the tear away and resumed checking out the vehicle.

She heard something crashing and looked to see Warrick and Greg arguing. She looked at Greg and said, "I'll talk to him Greg."

She walked over to where Warrick now stood. He had tears in his eyes and whispered, "I'm so sorry Cath. It should be me in that coffin. We flipped a coin for it. He has everything to live for. You. Lindsay. I..."

"Stop Warrick. You and I both know you have just as much to live for. Nick wouldn't want you thinking like this.."

"I don't know if I could've survived this long, I....

"I know you and your strong Nick's strong. We'll bring him home Warrick."

"How can you not hate me Cath? If it wasn't for me Nick wouldn't be in there."

"This wasn't anyone's fault. It was the madman that took him. If anything, it's my fault. I was the one that took the call and gave it to you."

Before Warrick could say anything else, Greg called and said, "I found something!"

Warrick and Catherine ran over to where Greg was standing. He poured oil on the ground and said, "Could it be?"

Catherine dropped to her knees and started brushing away the dirt. Could they have found him? Could it have been this simple? She looked at Warrick and Greg. She looked at Greg and said, "Get the crowbar!"

They lifted the piece of wood and grabbed a shovel and started digging. They were calling out his name and finally, they saw the plexiglass and Catherine's heart sank. She whispered, "It's a dog. It's a damn dog."

It was then that Catherine lost all hope of ever finding him alive. Then she heard Sara call out, "I found a thumb!"

Catherine was tired of getting her hopes up. She was utterly defeated. Sara looked at her and said, "We'll find him Catherine."

"You can't know that Sara. What if we don't find them? What if..."

"Stop talking like that. We'll find him."

"How Sara? He could be anywhere. We have nothing. We..."

Sara whispered, "We have to try. He'd do it for us. Don't give up on him Catherine."

She nodded and said, "I just want him back. I want to hold him again. I...."

"We'll bring him back."

"I hope your right Sara. I so hope your right."

We headed back to the lab. Thoughts of despair filled my mind. How was I going to tell Lindsay that we had no clue where her father was? I'd failed her and our unborn child. I looked out into the darkness and let the tears fall.....