A/N: I do not own CSI or any related characters, places, or things.
Grissom hadn't slept in days. This was unusual, even for him, but he couldn't help it. Sleep would never come to him. Every since Sara had left, he just couldn't face their empty bed. The memories it held were too much for him to face. Instead, he watched T.V., willing his body to sleep, but sleep never came. He knew it was affecting his work, but he didn't know what to do about it. He worked methodically from one day to the next, from one case to the next, hoping that the next night would bring the sleep and relief that he so desperately needed. It never did.
The shift started like all the others had in recent weeks. He handed out assignments in the break room, a triple homicide that required the entire team to work together, and then excused himself to his office. He rarely went out into the field anymore, something he knew had not gone unnoticed with his team, but they had not commented on it and he had not offered an explanation. He sat down at his desk and worked for a few hours on some paperwork that he had been neglecting. It was dull work that did not require his full attention, so he let his thoughts wander. It was nearly 3 AM when the sharp trill of his cell phone jolted him out of his torpor.
He picked the phone up off the desk and looked at the caller I.D. He frowned because he did not recognize the number, but flipped the phone open anyway.
"Grissom."
There was silence on the other end. Grissom frowned and looked at the phone, making sure he had a signal. The phone was showing full bars. He tried again.
"Hello?"
Again, silence. Grissom listened intently trying to pick up some kind of sound from the other end, but detected nothing. Frustrated he reach up his finger to push the end button, but paused when he finally heard someone speak.
"Hello, Mr. Grissom. It has been a very long time."
Grissom frowned. The voice was distinctly male, a deep baritone that resonated even over the cell connection. The voice was also vaguely familiar, but Grissom could not figure out where he had heard it before.
"Who is this?" he asked, still frowning.
The voice on the other end laughed. "Why, Gil. I'm surprised at you. I thought for sure you would recognize my voice, above all others."
Grissom's frown deepened as he racked his sleep deprived brain trying to figure out where he had heard the voice before.
"Come on, Gil. I know you can do it. Put that prodigious brain to work. Figure it out."
And suddenly it clicked.
"Joseph Reichman," Grissom spat angrily. There were very few people in the world who could invoke such rage in him, but Joseph Reichman was one of them. A CSI gone bad, Reichman had used his prodigious skills as a crime scene analyst and his intimate knowledge of forensics to, quite literally, get away with murder. At the time, Reichman was a level three CSI in Los Angeles, California along with Grissom and three others. Then one day, the three others had turned up murdered in the middle of the LA crime lab and, suddenly, Grissom's entire world had come crashing down around him. As the only member of the team who had not been in the lab that day (he had had the flu), Grissom was the only person who could be ruled out as a suspect. On his own and against the people he had worked with side by side for so many years, Grissom started his investigation. As the evidence mounted, it became clearer and clearer who was to blame for the murders: Joseph Reichman. But Grissom had come up against a brick wall. He could not place Reichman at the crime scene that day. No one could remember seeing him and he had left behind no DNA, no fingerprints…nothing. The case was dropped and the three murdered CSI's were not given justice. Grissom had eventually moved on past the shame he felt for allowing their killer to get away, but he never forgot what Reichman had done.
The voice laughed again bringing Grissom back to the present. "Very good, Gil. Very good."
Grissom seethed at the taunting. "What do you want, Joseph?"
"Oh, nothing," Reichman said flippantly. "Just thought I would check up on you, for old time's sake."
Grissom said nothing. He could feel rage coursing through him like hot iron in his blood. He reached up a finger to press the end button.
"I wouldn't hang up if I was you," said Reichman. "Your team would be very disappointed to hear that their supervisor was so cold and uncaring. Not good on morale, Gil."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Grissom asked through clenched teeth. "What does my team have to do with you?"
Grissom could hear Reichman laughing and then suddenly, he heard a very different voice over the phone.
"Gil? Gil, it's Catherine." His breath caught in his throat and his heart nearly stopped. She sounded terrified. He could hear the panic in her voice and that scared him more than anything. Catherine never panicked.
"Catherine? What the...what's going on? Where are you?"
"Gil, listen to me," she said hurriedly. "Reichman kidnapped us. The triple murder case was a set up. He used the murders to lure us away from the lab and then he kidnapped us."
Grissom couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Wait…us? Who else is with you, Cath?"
"Greg and Nick and Warrick and…Sara."
Grissom's mouth dropped open. "Sara?"
"I don't know where he found her. He already had her when he kidnapped us. Listen, Gil. We're headed out of Vegas to the west and –"
Catherine's voice suddenly cut off. Grissom's heart jumped into his throat. "Catherine? Catherine! Catherine, what's going on?"
"I think that's enough talk for now."
It was Reichman again. Grissom felt rage well up in him.
"Damn you, Reichman!" Grissom yelled. "What the hell are you doing? Let my team go!"
"No, I don't think so, Gil." Reichman said in a bored voice. "Anyway, it's been nice chatting. I'm sure we'll be talking again soon. Maybe, if you're a good boy, I'll let you talk to another member of your team later. For now, all you need to know is that your team is alive and well, though I'm not sure how much longer that will last. You know better than anyone what a taste I have for the blood of CSI's." Reichman laughed again, making Grissom's blood run cold. "Anyway…ta-ta for now."
The line went dead. Grissom pounded his fist down on his desk in frustration and nearly threw the phone across the room. Rage was pounding in his ears as he bolted out of his chair and headed down the hall, dialing his cell as he went. On the third ring, Brass picked up.
"Hey, Gil."
"Jim. Listen, I just got a call from a man named Joseph Reichman. He…he's kidnapped my entire team. He's taking them somewhere west of –"
Brass cut him off. "Whoa, Gil, slow down. What are you talking about?"
"My team has been kidnapped, Jim!" Grissom yelled in frustration as he passed the trace lab. "That triple homicide in West Las Vegas was a set-up! He lured my team there and he took them. He's got them all, Jim. Catherine, Nick, Warrick, Greg, and…Sara." Grissom's voice broke slightly when he said her name.
There was a stunned silence on the other end. Grissom was nearly to his destination. He could almost read the sign on the office door.
"I can't explain everything right now, Jim," Grissom said. "But get over here as quick as you can. We need to get on this and quick."
"Ok, Gil. I'll be right there."
Grissom snapped the phone shut just as he reached the office. The light inside was on, which was unusual for its occupant, but Grissom had never been happier to see that light in all his career at the Vegas Crime Lab. He knocked on the door and burst inside without waiting for a reply.
Conrad Ecklie was sitting at his desk going over some papers. The assistant lab director was almost never in the lab this late, but Grissom was glad, perhaps for the first time in his life, to see Ecklie. Ecklie's face was surprised, but his voice was even as he greeted Grissom.
"Gil," he said pleasantly. "To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
Grissom glared at Ecklie. "Pleasure is not the word I would use, Conrad," he said in a clipped voice. "My team has been kidnapped."
Ecklie shook his head as if trying to clear it. "Come again?"
Why didn't anybody seem to understand what he was saying today? "My team has been kidnapped, Conrad," he said, his voice laced with frustration and fear. "By a man named Joseph Reichman. I worked with Reichman at the Los Angeles Crime Lab years and years ago. He murdered three other CSI's and got away with it. I was the one that investigated the matter, but I couldn't find any hard evidence that placed him at the scene, but even so, he was disgraced and had to leave the lab. I haven't seen or heard from him in all these years until today, about five minutes ago. He called me and he has my team. I talked to Catherine. She managed to tell me that they were headed to the west, but that's all I got from her. I called Brass on the way here and he's on his way over."
When Grissom finished speaking he looked at Ecklie. The assistant lab director's mouth was gaping open. For the first time in his life, it seemed that Conrad Ecklie was speechless. Grissom waited for a second and then gave up.
"Look, Conrad," he said. "You need to notify the sheriff. We need to get every available officer on this. I also need you to call in all the CSI's from days and swing to help me out here. Well? What are you waiting for? Get to it!"
Ecklie shook his head again and picked up the phone looking dazed. As he dialed he looked up at Grissom. "How could this have happened?" he asked his voice uncharacteristically soft.
Grissom was taken aback. "I don't know, Conrad," he admitted. "But I'm going to get to the bottom of it and I'm going to get my team back. Now, dial that phone."
TBC. Let me know what you think!