AN- Here's the next part. So you know, the main plot of this story is the team discovering GSR, none of the cases get solved. Several of you have asked about Sydle. That is all explained when Catherine finds out, but I'm not going to tell you when that is...


Nick and Sara walked into the Nevada Institute for the Hearing Impaired. As they walked across the courtyard, Nick Stokes explained why they were at the Institute.

"Our vic was learning sign language so that she could talk to her nephew. The last place anyone saw her alive was here at her eight P.M. class."

"Okay," Sara said. Nick turned a circle when they reached the center of the courtyard, but Sara just kept walking.

"Are you sure that's the right way?" he called after her.

"Yes," was the only answer she gave. Nick shrugged and followed her.

Suddenly a woman approached Sara and began signing rapidly to her. Nick looked to Sara, expecting her to be flustered, but was shocked when she simply began signing back. After a few minutes' conversation Sara began to look concerned.

"Nick, you go on ahead. I have a, uh, phone call to make." She turned around and started toward another door.

"Wait, Sara!" Nick called after her, jogging to catch up, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine. I just have a phone call to make, that's all." She grabbed the door handle and threw the door open. Nick followed her and was stunned to see a day care style facility. The kids looked up from their art projects. One little girl squealed with delight and prodded the boy next to her, breaking his intense concentration.

"Mommy!" the little girl called out, dropping her paintbrush and running for Sara's arms. The little boy stayed silent, but wasn't far behind her. Sara crouched down and gathered the kids into her arms.

"Hey, Bugs! How are you two doing?" she asked. She pulled back and signed the question to the little boy.

"We're still here past snack time," the girl observed, her hands flying almost faster than her mouth.

"I know that, Butterfly," Sara said. She then pulled the girl close and whispered something in her ear that Nick couldn't understand. The girl nodded solemnly at Sara. Sara ruffled the boy's hair, then lifted them up on her hip before pulling out her cell phone and placing a call.

"Good morning, sunshine," she said, "Did you fall asleep? I figured as much. Just come as soon as you can. You have the carseats and I'm here on a case. Ten minutes. Stop by and see me in Marina's office before you leave, I have a feeling that one or the other won't want to go back to class. They both seem clingy to me. Sydle wants to talk to you," Sara handed the phone down, "There you go, Butterfly."

"Hi, Daddy," the little girl began, and she chattered for a while, giving Sara and Nick a chance to talk.

"Nick, meet Sydle and Matthias. Sy, Mattie, your new Uncle Nick."

"Wow," Nick said, "This is a bit of a shock." Sydle handed the phone back up to Sara, who put it to her ear.

"Ten minutes? We'll see you then. I love you too." Sara turned back to Nick.

"We have a meeting to get to," she said, her tone one-hundred percent CSI. Nick just stuttered. Sara turned back to her kids and offered them the choice of staying or of going with her and sitting in the outside office. Sydle chose to finish her art project, but Matthias opted to stay with Sara.

Sara and Nick crossed the courtyard and entered the office. The receptionist greeted them with a wary eye until Sara explained that they were there on official business, at which point the receptionist, clearly a family friend, volunteered to watch little Mattie. Sara and Mattie agreed to the plan, so she set him on the edge of the desk. She led the way through an open door into another office, closing the door behind Nick.

"Good afternoon, Marina. This is my colleague, Nick Stokes. We had a few questions about Shasta Greene." Sara spoke and signed simultaneously. The director of the institute smiled warmly and motioned for them to take a seat.

"We were all devastated by her loss. She was a sweet girl. She'd even started helping us out on a part-time basis. Sara, does Sydle know about Shasta's death?"

"We haven't talked about it. Why do you ask?"

"Shasta had been working with Sydle and Matthias' daycare group. Since Sydle was the only child who could hear, she and Shasta were pretty close, from what her teachers say."

"Now that you mention it, she has been talking about Shasta a lot, but there's a girl her age in the program with the same name, we assumed that's who she was talking about. Wow."

Nick took over the conversation at this point.

"Ms. Ferras, was anyone upset with Shasta that you know of?"

"Not badly enough to hurt her. Some of the young men in our continuing education program might be frustrated because she turned them down for dinner, but no one truly angry."

The lights in the office flickered three times.

"Come on in," the director called. The door cracked opened and Gil Grissom peeked in. If Nick had been confused before, he was flat out flabbergasted by the sight before him. The CSI supervisor was dressed in a black t-shirt and blue jeans, and was carrying a young baby in an infant carrier strapped to his chest. Sara's son Mattie clung to his leg and her daughter was standing behind him.

"Glad to see you found us. I'll be working this case for a while, I'll try to be home for lunch. Come here, Bugs," she said, opening her arms. Sydle and Mattie came over. Sara took Sydle's face in her hands and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"Behave, Butterfly, and don't let Daddy forget your ballet class." Sara said goodbye to Matthias as well, calling him Dragonfly and reminding him to be good. Grissom led his children from the office. Sara had only one more comment before sliding back into CSI mode.

"Nicky, you can keep this secret, right?"


AN- Sydle is at daycare at the Institute so she learns sign language and because it's easier for all the Grissoms. Mattie suffers from the same genetic condition Grissom had, but a much more aggressive form.