A/N: Thank you very, very much to everyone who said they'd keep reading, I really appreciate it. I had a burst of motivation after posting the first chapter, so I have more written than I expected (I'm two months away from graduation... who cares about homework? Right?). I hope you guys will get as excited about this story while reading it as I did while writing it.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think, if you'd like.

"Sara, thank God."

It was the phrase that greeted her as she walked, field kit in hand, towards the large house surrounded by police cars and taped off with yellow crime scene tape. She dipped below the tape to meet Catherine.

"Nice to see you, too."

Catherine paused amongst the madness of the crime scene to smile at her colleague.

"Sorry, Sara," she said. "Welcome back. How's the little guy?"

"No bigger than when you saw him three days ago," Sara teased. "Fill me in."

The two women began walking towards the house, where Brass was interviewing a guy who looked like a nervous wreck, wringing his hands around and around, his eyes never meeting Brass's.

"The husband," Catherine nodded to him. "He was on a business trip in Boston the whole week, came back home to find his wife like this."

Sara followed Catherine into the living room, where a pretty, 30-something brunette was lying stretched on the sofa. She had bruises covering most of her arms, ligature marks on around her neck and one heck of a black eye.

"I thought you said this was domestic abuse," Sara commented as her eyes swept over the scene.

"That was before we knew the husband's alibi," Catherine answered. "Brass checked with his connection at McCarran, and he was definitely on the flight this morning. No way he did this."

Sara set her kit down near the room's entryway, pulled gloves onto both her hands and knelt close to the victim. She cocked her head to the side and pushed a little of the curly brown hair away of the victim's face.

"Any chance some of these bruises are old?"

"You tell me," Catherine said. "I've been processing upstairs with Nick. Greg's been down here, but Brass pulled him away to help with the interviews. I'll get him for you."

"Thanks."

Catherine left Sara to her work, but without knowing what Greg had already processed, she could do nothing but observe. From what she could see, there was little trace on the body. She peered at the victim's fingernails and didn't see any kind of… anything… under there.

"She didn't fight."

The words came from behind her, as if someone was reading her mind. She turned to see Greg. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth when she grinned at him.

"How's my girl?"

"Glad to be back at work," she replied. "You might think I'm crazy, but I kinda miss this."

"Knowing you, I'm not surprised," Greg joked. "How's my boy?"

"Oh, he's fine. Missing his wife, I'm sure."

Greg glared at her.

"My other boy," he said. "The one who's my godson."

"Oh, that one," Sara teased, winking at him. "He's amazing. Sleeps through most of the night and couldn't be happier."

Greg pulled on a fresh pair of gloves and knelt beside her.

"Can I still come over tomorrow to see him?"

"Of course," she said, leaning over a little to nudge his shoulder. "Lord knows he loves you."

They smiled at each other fondly. Sara hadn't forgotten how Greg had been there for her throughout her pregnancy, never judging her for the decisions she made during it and helping her through it every step of the way. He came over at least three to four times a week to play with his godson, who positively adored him. Greg was the only one besides his parents that Aiden allowed to feed him a bottle. He had a good sense of character.

"Anyway," Sara said. "What do you have so far?"

"I collected a few white fibers from her clothing, but other than that, I've found no trace," Greg said, slipping into professional mode. "Dave put T.O.D. at around five hours ago, the husband called it in two hours ago."

"Cause of death?"

"Strangulation," Greg said, pointing to her neck. "Probably with some kind of rope or fabric. These bruises are fresh too, he beat her up pretty good before he killed her."

Sara leaned back from the couch a little to look around the room.

"Any sign of who could have done this? Footprints? Trace?"

"So far, notta," Greg said. "But I haven't processed much other than the couch. That's where you come in."

"Reporting for duty."

Sara got to work, scouring the living room, entryway and kitchen for any trace of an intruder. The door wasn't forced, no windows were broken, and from what Sara could tell, the perp had left nothing behind to easily identify himself. On her knees in the kitchen, Sara sighed. This shift was one that could easily turn into a double, but she was already missing Gil and Aiden. She felt her back pocket vibrate and she reached for it, opening it to find a text.

"We hope you're catching bad guys! Miss and love you. G&A."

Sara beamed at the words, flipping the phone shut and pressing it to her chest before pushing herself off the floor and making her way back to Greg in the living room.

"Anything?" she asked hopefully.

"Not a thing," Greg replied dejectedly. "This guy is either a professional or a ghost, I can't find a thing."

A sudden scuffling from outside drew their attention. They were just starting to make their way to the front door, Catherine and Nick coming down the stairs to join them, when Brass stepped through the doorway, looking grave.

"We now have a 418 on our hands," he said. "The victim's son. A fourteen-month-old little boy."

And at once, four pairs of eyes landed right on Sara.

"I'm a professional, Catherine, you said it yourself during the Gilbert Foundation case," Sara said. "I can handle this."

"This is… different, Sara," Catherine responded. "And I'm not saying you're not a professional, I'm just saying that if you can't handle this, I can pull you off-"

"Why can't I handle this?" Sara challenged. "Because I'm a mom now?"

"Look, Sara, I've been there," Catherine shot back. "I'm a mom too, I know how it is. Every missing or dead or injured kid… I saw Lindsey. Doesn't matter how impartial I tried to be, it just happened."

Sara took a long, slow breath.

"I appreciate your concern," she said. "I really do. But I can handle this. If it gets too much… I'll let you know."

Catherine looked at her skeptically.

"Seriously!" Sara exclaimed. "I'll be fine!"

"Okay, okay," Catherine relented. "I just don't want to suffer the wrath of your husband."

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him."

Catherine shot her another unconvinced look, but Brass stepped up and joined them, ending any further debate.

"Here's what we know," the detective began. "Husband's name is Joshua Castrova, his flight from Boston arrived at seven this morning, and he stopped at the grocery store on the corner to buy his wife flowers. Came in, found her, called it in."

"Any particular reason why he forgot to mention he had a son until now?" Catherine interjected.

Brass shrugged.

"Distress?" he answered. "He says he was so upset over seeing his wife, he completely forgot that his son should have been in the house too."

"Do you believe that?" Sara asked him honestly. Brass usually had a pretty good sense of judgment when it came to suspects.

"As of right now, yeah," he said. "But we can't rule anything out."

He turned to Catherine.

"You didn't find any trace of the kid around the house?"

Catherine shook her head, her blonde hair dancing around her shoulders.

"I didn't think so," he sighed. "We're putting out the Amber Alert now, but the husband has no idea where he might be."

"If he's in the hands of the same guy who did this to her," Catherine said, nodding towards the living room. "It doesn't look good. I'm going to keep processing the upstairs… we haven't finished yet, and I'm sure one of the rooms we haven't gotten to is a baby's room."

"Make it your priority," Brass called after her. She nodded in agreement.

The detective turned towards Sara as Catherine made her way back upstairs with Nick.

"You going to be working on this one, kiddo?" he asked.

Sara couldn't help but sigh a little. He knew he was only concerned, he always seemed to be when it came to her, but being a new mother didn't make her an incapable CSI.

"Nothing like a hot case on your first day back," she said, trying to sound light.

Brass gave her a small smile and an even smaller nod, and she took that as her cue to rejoin Greg.

"What do you think the chances are they'll find him?"

Sara shrugged, her eyes landing back on the young wife lying beaten and broken on the couch.

"Who knows," she sighed.

Sara pulled into the drive, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She had stayed at the lab much longer than she had intended. She and Greg pored over the pictures of the crime scene, still coming up with nothing. She found Nick in the break room, on his fifth cup of coffee as he tried to find something, anything, helpful from the upstairs nursery. Not a thing. And they still hadn't found the son.

Finally, Catherine had sent her home, telling her not to come in next shift unless the desperately needed her. She'd be an extra on this case, called in when things got hot, but for right now, things were exceedingly stale.

She stepped out of the car, grabbing the newspaper from the sidewalk and waving hello to their neighbor, who was taking out the trash.

"Hey, Vince," she called to the middle-aged man.

"Mrs. Grissom," he greeted her back, giving her a half-wave.

She opened the front door to the house, finding Aiden asleep on his back in the playpen and Grissom asleep on his back on the couch. Reruns of Sesame Street were flickering on the television behind him. She smiled down at her sleeping son, brushing aside the few wisps of hair he had before moving to her husband. She didn't want to wake him, but she so desperately wanted to feel his arms around her, she crawled on the couch and snuggled up to him as best she could.

"Hey," he murmured sleepily.

"Hey," she said back, her fingers clutching at his shirt. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to wake you."

"It's okay," he said, wriggling around so they were a little more comfortable. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "How was shift?"

"Rough," Sara replied. "Suspect left us nothing at the scene, the girl was beaten out of her mind and her one-year-old son is missing."

Grissom's eyes immediately clouded with concern and she cut him off before he could murmur a word.

"Don't say a thing," she said. "I can handle it."

He gave her a little smile.

"I know you can," he said. "I was just going to say how tough a case that sounds. Any leads on the little boy?"

"Not so far," she replied, checking her phone for texts. "Greg said he'd let me know if they hear anything."

"Catherine sent you home early?"

Sara nodded.

"God bless her."

They both laughed and leaned in to kiss. A soft gurgle came from the crib.

"Well, hi," Sara said, walking to the pen.

Aiden's arms reached up at the sight of her, his hands opening and closing, and she bent down to pick him up, pressing him against her chest.

"Oh, I missed you, baby," she said, kissing his forehead. "Did you miss me? Were you a good boy for Daddy?"

"Yes and yes," Grissom beamed at her. "What do you say to breakfast for dinner?"

"I say that sounds amazing."

"Good."

Grissom rose from the couch and gave both Sara and Aiden a kiss before he made his way to the kitchen. Over his shoulder, he heard Sara talking softly to Aiden, laying him down on his play mat, where blinking, musical toys dangled from above. He heard giggles coming from both his wife and his child and felt a warming in his chest. He flipped the omelets over as Sara walked in with Aiden in her arms.

"You look tired, honey," he said as she sat at the table.

"I'm fine," she said, her eyes fixed on Aiden.

He placed a large vegetarian omelet in front of her and stretched his arms out for the baby. She kissed him and handed him over before digging in.

"Someone's hungry too," Grissom said with raised eyebrows, taking the seat next to her.

"You get pampered after three months of maternity leave," she said through a mouthful of food.

Hank rounded the corner and padded up to Sara, eager to join the family time. Sara gave him a good scratch behind the ears as she continued to eat.

"Hey buddy," she said as his tail wagged furiously. "No omelet for you."

Hank's ears drooped a little, but he bounded towards the front door and gave an eager bark. Sara glanced at Grissom.

"Someone needs a walk," she said, scooping the last few bites into her mouth. "I'll take him."

"Oh, no you won't," Grissom said, grabbing her plate with his free hand. "You're going to bed."

"Gil-"

"At least for an hour or two," he pressed. "I'll take Hank."

"But Aiden-"

"He'll come with me," Grissom interrupted. "We've been lazing around all day, all three of us could use the fresh air."

Sara narrowed her eyes, reluctant. But with a full stomach, her exhaustion set in and she couldn't help but admit that bed sounded pretty good.

"Okay," she relented. "But no more than an hour or two. Promise?"

"Promise."

Grissom started bundling Aiden in his jacket as Hank continued his anxious dance by the door.

"Thanks, honey," she said, giving him a quick kiss.

"Any time."

She smiled at him and headed for the bedroom.

"Hey, Sara?" he called after her.

"Yeah?"

"You're really okay with this case?"

She wanted to glare at him, but his genuine look of love and concern changed her mind.

"I'm okay," she reassured. "I promised Catherine I'd pull out of it if it gets too much, and I'll promise the same thing to you."

"Okay," Grissom agreed. "I love you. Get some sleep."

"Love you!"

Sara pulled on her pajamas and nearly dove into bed, the fluffy pillows feeling like heaven around her tired body. The familiar scent of detergent greeted her as she buried her face in the pillows. He'd done laundry too. She remembered that it was also Wednesday, the afternoon of his online class. What couldn't her husband do?

Her eyelids fluttered closed, and sleep was about to overcome her when her phone rudely interrupted her rest. She groaned, keeping her eyes closed as she fumbled for the phone, pressing it semi-close to her ear.

"Sidle."

"It's me," came Greg's voice.

Sara's heart dropped. She knew Greg would know better than to call her right after a shift unless it was important. Sure enough, his next words confirmed her fear.

"They found him," Greg said. "The baby. It's not… it's not good."

Sara sat up, her fingers kneading her forehead.

"Do you need me?"

"Not now," Greg said. "Catherine and I have the scene. Just… spend some time at home, okay?"

"Okay," Sara sighed. "Thanks, Greg."

She snapped the phone shut and, as if in slow motion, set it back down on the bedside table and sank back into the pillows. She wanted to burst out the front door and chase down Grissom, get her son back into her arms so she knew he was okay.

She knew he was okay. He was out with Gil, on a walk safe and sound.

But she knew that the thought wouldn't help her sleep.

There was no way she could sleep.

TBC!