Disclaimer: No infringement of copyright intended. All characters originatedwith CSI: NY.

Chapter 3

Boys in Blue

Sam leaped out of the car almost before Mac had turned off the ignition. He was impatient for the fun promised in the word 'picnic,' so he stood, fidgeting slightly, as Mac and Peyton grabbed the things they needed from the car, and took Peyton's hand when she offered it. It wasn't a long walk to the picnic, by some miracle of God Mac had been able to get a parking spot quite close.

Sam looked around with wide eyes at the hundreds of people milling around the Children's Glade in Central Park. The grand opening had been only a couple of weeks ago, but already the small clearing was full of people. It couldn't have come at a better time for the NYPD, who had actually rescheduled the whole event to scope out the new place.

"You ready, Sam?" Sam jumped a little, Mac had surprised him.

"Yes. I think so." Mac reached down to take Sam's small hand in his, and pointed to the mosquito-netted tent located a short walk away, luckily not through the masses of people swarming around the barbeques like gannets. "That's my team over there. Do you see them?"

Sam nodded, and tugged on Mac's hand. "Come on. I want to meet them again." During the case he'd had brief encounters with all the CSI, but he admitted to Mac that he didn't remember much about them. "Just that the lady with curly hair was nice, and pretty," he'd said, his small face screwed up in concentration.

Mac waited for Peyton to catch up with them, then led the way to the CSI tent. Sam skipped along beside him, drinking in the atmosphere. The best part about a get-together of police officers was that everyone there felt completely safe.

"Lindsay. Danny," Mac said, greeting them both with a nod of his head. "This is Sam."

Sam looked up at them both, trying to remember everything Mac had told him about these two. "Pleased to meet you," he said, taking his hand from Mac's and holding it out to them. Mac smiled, watching Lindsay's heart melt at the sight of the adorable kid.

"I'm very glad to meet you again, too, Sam. I didn't know you were coming." Lindsay said, reaching down to shake the little boy's hand. The grin he gave her was pure mischief.

"I made Mac promise to bring me," he said conspiratorially. "Lucky Peyton wanted to go too. Mac will do anything for her." He spoke in the completely unself-conscious way that all little boys do, embarrassing those around them without realizing it. Mac had a slight pink tinge to his cheeks when Lindsay glanced up at him, eyes dancing.

Lindsay laughed, kissing the little boy's cheek impulsively. "Definitely lucky."

"Hey Sam. You play ball?" Danny asked, noticing the squeaky-clean new glove.

Sam nodded. "Not very well. My dad doesn't play it, and I'm too small at school."

"Too small?" Danny smiled, "Boy, you'd be surprised what you can do when you're small. I was the best ball player in my school when I was only a little bigger than you are. You wanna play?"

Sam nodded again, his eyes lighting up. "Peyton said you were the best ball player in the world," Lindsay heard the boy say as Danny took his hand to lead him away.

"He is totally adorable," she said, turning to Mac. She smacked him lightly on the arm, "Why haven't you shared him with us yet?"

"I'm not sure," Mac said, smiling teasingly. "If I'd known I'd be the subject of police brutality, I'd have shared him sooner." He rubbed his arm theatrically.

"Sorry, sir," Lindsay apologized quickly, flushing even as a sneaky smile spread across her lips.

"I'm starving," Mac said suddenly. "Where's all this food supposed to be?"

Lindsay gestured into the tent. "We stole some about fifteen minutes before you showed up. There are a couple of burgers left, I think. Plus all the food that the team brought. I hope you like pizza."

"Who brings pizza to a barbeque?" Mac teased.

"Danny. Flack. Stella. Everyone who didn't have time to bring anything else. I brought some buffalo burgers and jerky. Oh, and Adam brought beer. I think he's going to share it, but I'm not sure."

"Buffalo?" Peyton asked.

"Buffalo has a third of the fat and less cholesterol than skinless chicken."

"Really."

"Yes, it tastes better than beef, too. Richer. It takes the flavouring much better."

"Huh," interjected Mac, "well, you learn something new everyday, don't you? No bugs, Lindsay?"

Lindsay flushed slowly, grimacing. Someday. Someday they'll all get over that. I might just die of shock.

"Lead on to the buffalo meat, Lindsay, I'd like to try some," Mac said. She smiled and gestured for him to follow her.

CSI: NY-CSI: NY-CSI: NY

Stella sat watching Danny play with Sam. For being the youngest of only two, he was very good with kids. He was patiently explaining to Sam how to hold the bat properly; apparently, Danny had brought his own in the hope that someone would play with him. Sam's small face was screwed up in concentration as he tried to make sense of how Danny was explaining it.

"Show me," he commanded finally, handing Danny the bat.

"See, you hafta ground yourself first, like you're makin' sure no one can push you over," Danny demonstrated, his feet shoulder width apart and his knees slightly bent. "Try to push me, Sam." Sam looked dubious, and then pushed his hands against Danny's stomach. "Harder, Sam, c'mon, really try to push me over."

Sam squared his shoulders and pushed, his feet scrambling on the ground as he tried with all his might. His cheeks started to go red as he heaved his small body against Danny's much larger one. Danny winked at Stella, and promptly fell over. Sam lost his balance, sprawling on top of the cocky CSI. Danny burst out laughing.

"And you told me you were too small," he grinned down at the little boy, who looked unsure of whether to laugh or to cry. Carefully, Danny lifted the little boy onto his feet, and then stood himself, dusting the backside of his jeans. His laughter was infectious, and soon Sam was laughing just as hard.

"Who's Messer's new friend?" Flack asked, throwing himself down next to Stella and giving her a quick kiss.

"Sam Martinez. You remember the Astor case?"

"Yeah, the one with the bugs?"

She nodded. "Mac still checks up on the kid every couple of weeks. Not checks up, really. He hangs out with him. Takes him to movies and for lunch. He was named as Sam's godfather a couple of months ago."

"Cute kid," Don smiled, watching him.

"No arguments here," Stella agreed. She leaned in against him, breathing in his familiar scent, enjoying the sensation of being held.

"I hit it!" Sam yelled suddenly. The ball hadn't gone very far, and it would have been a foul, but Danny ran over and gave the small boy a high five before sweeping him up onto his shoulders. They ran the bases made up of Danny's sweater, Sam's spring jacket, a plastic placemat, and a paper plate with rocks on it, in a victory lap.

"You hungry, slugger?" Danny asked as they rolled onto the grass at home plate.

"Starved."

"Me too. You wanna go back to the tent and see what Mac and Peyton and Lindsay have cooked up for us?"

"Yeah, okay." Sam picked up his glove, ran to fetch the ball and bat, and joined Danny. Trying to hold everything in one hand so he could grab Danny's hand, he dropped everything. Danny smiled, picked up the bat and ball and held out his hand to the little boy.

"Whaddya say, Stell? You hungry, too?" Don asked her, rousing from his state of half-sleep in the sun.

"A little," she smiled. "I hope you're in the mood for pizza. I hear there's a lot over by our tent."

He shrugged. "You know me, easy as Sunday morning," he grinned, that grin which made her heart turn over.

"Let's go."

Sam was in high spirits as he walked, victorious, back to the tent. He regaled anyone who would listen with his successful hit, and followed Danny everywhere, his eyes alight and awestruck. Finally, Mac took his hand, leading him to the table groaning with food.

"What do you want to eat, Sam?"

"Everything!" Sam said, looking at the table.

"How about we start with a burger or a piece of pizza and work our way up from there?" Mac smiled. "Lindsay brought the burgers, they're really good. And there's about five different kinds of pizza, pepperoni is your favourite, isn't it? Stella, she's the one with curly hair, remember? She brought fruit salad with watermelon and pineapple and strawberries in it. And there's pasta salad and Caesar salad and one with seeds and raisins and carrots in it-"

Sam laughed delightedly, putting his hands over his ears. "Too many choices, Mac! And you're forgetting the most important thing."

"What's that?" Mac raised one eyebrow, looking seriously at the little boy.

"A plate." Danny, Lindsay, and Don, who were sitting nearby, all snickered into their meals.

"Well I think we need to start with cleaning those disgusting hands, Sam."

Sam brought his hands down from his ears, looking at them. "They're not that dirty, Mac. Besides, they'll just get dirty again."

Mac smiled. "Okay, just this once. Don't tell your mom." He grinned, grabbing a plate. "Now. What do you want to eat?"

Sam sat on the ground in the center of the circle of adults, eating everything in sight. He listened only half-attentively; whatever they were talking about, it wasn't him. He wasn't a picky eater, which was good; some of the food brought to this picnic was a little on the strange side. He could have sworn that someone had brought deep-fried spiders, although apparently that was a big joke on Lindsay. He smiled up at Mac, his face smeared with ketchup and mustard, his shirt stained with watermelon, strawberries and Orange Crush, grass stains on his jeans from playing ball with Danny: the epitome of a thrilled little boy.

"Aw man," Danny said, getting up and checking the cooler, "we're outta anything not diet."

"What would ya want, Danno?" Don asked from his lounge chair.

"I dunno. Pepsi, Coke, anything, really. Root beer, even."

"Hey Sam, you wanna come for a ride?" Sam looked at Mac for permission. Smiling, Mac nodded.

"Please!"

"Okay, but we'll hafta wash your face and hands first, I've got a squad car and it has to stay clean, okay?"

Sam nodded. "Where do I go?"

"I'll take you, Sam," Mac said. "I want to make sure we get you as clean as we can."

"Okay," Sam stood up, putting his sticky little hand into Mac's clean bigger one. They walked off in the general direction of the public washrooms.

"Well, that's something I never thought I'd see," Lindsay said, unwittingly restating what she'd said over a year ago.

"Tell me about it." Stella agreed.

"I like it," Peyton smiled. "He looks younger with Sam."

Stella and Lindsay nodded.

"Anything to add, boys?" Peyton teased Danny and Don.

"Cute kid," Don said, getting up and stretching. "You coming, too, Danny, or am I taking just Sam."

"Nah, I'll stay here, Flack, if it's all the same."

"Sure thing. Be back in a bit," he kissed Stella and followed Mac and Sam.

"Cute shorts," Lindsay observed to Stella.

"I thought so," Stella smiled, watching Don walk away.