AN: Thanks for the reviews, here is the next chapter.

Chapter 10: A New Friend

Eventually the little girl's mother was taken out of the apartment, and so was she, but since she wouldn't go without Sara, Catherine excused her from the case so she could go to the hospital with her. There weren't signs of her being hurt, but they wanted to make sure.

A part of Sara wanted to stay and work the case, but the other part of her, which was a stronger feeling that had surprised her, wanted to go with her to make sure with her own eyes that she was alright. Plus, with the way she was holding on to Sara's hand and giving her that scared look, Sara couldn't just let her go, so she took the out Catherine was giving her and left the scene.

Now they were at the hospital, and after she was checked out while waiting for the discharge papers, Sara was trying to figure out the little girl's name.

She had said a few names already, which the reception she had gotten was a small chuckle and a shake of a head, then Sara smiled and said. "Ok I got it, Amanda."

The little girl chuckled again. "Nope."

"Elizabeth?"

"Nope."

"Mmm, how about Jennifer?"

Another chuckle and shake of the head. "Try again."

Sara smiled and asked. "How about one more guess, then you tell me, ok? Or we'll be here all night." After the little girl nodded, Sara thought for a few minutes, then when brown eyes connected with brown eyes, she smiled again before giving her last answer. "Your name is Sage."

Her eyes get wide as she smiled in return. "How did you know?"

"Well, I saw a picture that you colored and you put your name on the bottom. It was a beautiful picture and you have a beautiful name, by the way."

Sage smiled shy as she looked down at her stuffed Dalmatian puppy. "Thank you." Sara nodded, then Sage looked at Sara again and continued. "So, you were keeping me distracted by guessing my name when you knew all along."

Sara's next thought was 'man she's good', then she sighed and said. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

The little girl nodded in return, and just as Sara was about to speak, Sage spoke again, this time with tears in her eyes. "Mommy's dead, isn't she? She's never coming back."

Sara started to have tears in her eyes too as she placed her hand on top of the little girl's arm. "I'm so sorry sweetie, I wish that wasn't the case, but you're right."

When Sage started to really cry, it was breaking Sara's heart, and feelings of wanting to comfort her kicked in, so without even thinking about it, she got up from the chair she had been sitting in and sat down on the hospital bed next to the little girl before wrapping her up in her arms, which Sage held on to Sara tightly, wanting to soak up all the comfort that was being offered.

After a few minutes, and while Sage was calming down, Sara cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears away as she asked softly. "I know this is hard, but can I ask you a few questions?"

Once all the tears were wiped away, Sage nodded. "Yeah, I'll try to help so you can get the bad man who done this to my mommy."

Before Sara could ask her questions though, they both hear another voice come into the room. "Mrs. Grissom?"

Sara immediately looked toward the door, and spoke while looking at the 5'5, short red-haired, hazel-eyed, medium build woman. "Yes, who's asking?"

She didn't have any scrubs or wearing a doctor's white coat, so she knew she couldn't have been a doctor or nurse.

The other woman smiled. "Gina Smith, I'm from Child Protective Services. My office was called, so I'm here to see what I can do for her."

Sara gets up from the bed but doesn't move away from it or Sage, like she was protecting her. "You mean take her away."

Sage gasped and took Sara's hand, indicating she didn't want to leave Sara's side, which Sara held on to her hand too as the other woman spoke, seeing the interaction between the two. "Well yes, until we can find other relatives for her that is. I'm sure you know how this works, Mrs. Grissom."

Sara nodded, trying to keep a shiver from going down her body. "Oh yeah, more than you know."

"Then you know the procedure."

Before Sara could speak, Sage squeezed Sara's hand and spoke with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to leave you."

Sara turned around so she could look into the sad brown eyes of the little girl, then spoke as she softly squeezed her hand. "And you won't, you aren't going anywhere without me, ok?"

Sage nods with a small smile as the Ms. Smith spoke from her spot. "Listen Mrs. Grissom..."

But Sara cuts her off as she looked at the woman again. "No, you listen Ms. Smith. Unless you want me tagging along wherever she goes, I suggest you figure out a different way of doing things. "

Right then Ms. Smith knew this was going to be a fight, which really she wasn't in the mood for one, and it was clear the little girl didn't want to leave Mrs. Grissom's side, and vise versa, so she sighed and shook her head. "This isn't procedure, but I'll call a judge and see if we can get papers stating you'll have temporary custody until other relatives are found, it might take hours to get that done, considering the time of night."

Sara nodded with a smile. "No problem, and thank you."

Ms. Smith just nodded and walked out of the room, pulling her phone out of her pocket in the process.

While the door was shutting, Sage smiled as she asked. "So, I get to stay with you?"

Sara looked down at the little girl and smiled. "Yes you will."

After Sage tugged on Sara's arm, which Sara got the hint and bent down so they could hug.

While in the hug though, Sara couldn't help but think 'what did I get herself in to', before another thought popped into her head, 'What am I going to tell my husband?'

Hours later

Once everything checked out ok with Sage, she was free to go, so Sara took her to the lab before they both settled in her office. Then after awhile the little girl had fallen asleep on the couch while Sara was doing some paperwork, which she was interrupted in the middle of by a text from Catherine telling her that their case was just a random breaking and entering, where the mother fought like hell to make sure her little girl would be safe.

It was a sad ending for sure, especially when it was just a random act of violence, but they were thankful that nothing else bad happened to Sage.

Sara had also gotten a phone call from Ms. Smith telling her that her request for temporary guardianship was granted and all they needed were a couple of signatures.

Now Sara knew there wasn't much she could do without involving Grissom, so she called to tell him to come to the lab right after getting off the phone with Ms. Smith.

No more than 15 minutes went by after they had gotten off the phone when there was a soft knock on the door, so she gets up from the office chair at her desk, checked on Sage while moving the blanket up a little so she was more covered before walking to the door, then after a slight hesitation, she opened it and became face to face with her husband, who had a worried look on his face, but before she could speak, he had cupped her and asked. "What's wrong, did something happen?"

Sara took a breath before replying. "Can we talk out in the hall?" She didn't want to wake Sage, knowing the little girl needed her rest. Plus, it would be best for her to tell him what was going on before he saw her.

He was confused on why she would want to talk out in the hall but nodded as he stepped back so she could walk out of her office, and after she closed the door behind her, she looked at her husband again, who still had a concerned look on his face, possibly even a little deeper than the last few seconds.

It was a few seconds of silence before Sara spoke again. "Before I tell you what's going on, I have to explain something to you."

He gave her a smile and took her hand. "You can tell me anything, you know that."

With the comforting touch and the look of love and compassion in his eyes, Sara told him what had happened, then when she was done, she finished with tears in her eyes. "I don't know what came over me, I just felt like I needed to protect her, and I would have done anything to do that."

Grissom gave her a smile as he replied softly. "Like how a mother feels about their child."

Sara nodded before continuing. "A feeling I never thought I would get."

Being around kids before made her feel uncomfortable, but that feeling changed tonight, more than she ever thought could happen.

He cupped her cheek again as he asked. "And now that you've felt it?"

A few tears started to go down her cheek as she replied softly, not even thinking about it. "I want to be a mom, Griss. Not just talking about or thinking it, it's something I truly want."

Yes she has been on board with the adoption from the start and she has been disappointed that they haven't been picked as parents yet, but up until being with Sage in the hospital, she had to admit she had doubts about becoming a mother, which she still had a few, but her new strong feelings of being one overrode those doubts.

He gave her another smile as he swiped his thumb over her cheek to wipe her tears away before replying softly. "And like I said earlier, it will happen." Sara just nodded before wrapping her arms around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist.

After a few moments in each other's arms, he spoke as he ran a hand up and down her back. "We better go sign those papers."

She nodded, then as they were pulling back from one another, she spoke again. "I'm sorry I didn't include you from the beginning, things just happened a little fast."

Grissom nodded with an understanding smile. "I get it, it's ok."

She gave him a smile and squeezed his hand before turning her attention toward the door so they could walk into her office, which use to be his years ago. Then once they were in, he stayed by the door while she walked to the couch before softly speaking while lightly shaking Sage's shoulders.

When Sage finally woke up, Sara smiled at the little girl as she kneeled down. "We have to leave sweetie, but first I would like you to meet somebody, ok?"

Sage nodded as she sat up on the couch, then right as Sara sat beside her, Sage moved a little closer to her after seeing that somebody else was in the room; somebody she didn't know.

Sara smiled as she placed her arm around her shoulders. "It's ok, that's Gilbert Grissom, he's my husband."

Grissom smiled, but stayed where he was so he wouldn't frighten her, then spoke. "Hi Sage. Sara has told me a few things about you. She says you like to read and color." Sage hesitated for a second before nodding with a small smile, then Grissom asked. "What else do you like to do?"

Sage cleared her throat before finally talking to him, but she was looking down at her stuffed puppy. "Putting puzzles together."

The couple smiled at one another even though the little girl wasn't paying attention to that as Sara spoke softly. "Then you just might be Grissom's new best friend, he loves putting puzzles together."

Of course she loved it too, but she wanted to talk up Grissom a little more since it was obvious she was a little shy towards him, which seemed to work a little because Sage had lifted up her head and looked at Grissom with a small smile. "Really?"

Grissom nodded with a smile, then before he could talk, Sara spoke again. "Oh yeah, and if you want to learn about any bug in the world, he can tell you just like that."

As she snapped her fingers, Sage scrunched up her face a little, making them chuckle a little, then she asked with a little bit of excitement in her voice. "What about butterflies? I love them."

Grissom nodded with a bright smile. "I'll tell you a little secret, butterflies are my specialty."

After Sage said cool, they get up from the couch, then after Sara closed her files on her desk, turned out the lamp that was sitting on her desk, she grabbed her jacket and shoulder bag and turned out the over head light while the three of them walked out of the office.

Once the papers were signed they headed for the Grissom home, then after they made it inside, they showed her around the house before Sage and Sara cuddled in the master bed and fell asleep, exhausted from the night, which Grissom couldn't help but watch them for a bit before heading into the living room.

A couple of hours later, Grissom was interrupted from working on his daily crossword puzzle when he heard a small voice. "Hi."

He looked up from his crossword and smiled at the little girl. "Hi Sage. Did you sleep well?"

The little girl shrugged her shoulders while replying softly. "I guess."

Grissom nodded in understanding, then he cleared his throat while he placed his crossword puzzle, pen and glasses on the coffee table before speaking. "You know I've been waiting for you to wake up because I want show you something."

She now had a curious look in her eyes when she asked. "What is it?"

He stood up from couch and spoke. "Well, come follow me and you'll see."

She then followed him to the garage, and when she got there, she saw what he wanted to show her, which were his butterfly casings that he's had for years, although his collection had gotten a little bigger through the years.

Her eyes got wide as she replied. "Wow, I like these."

Grissom smiled and looked down at the little girl. "I thought you might when you said you liked butterflies."

When she got to see the last of them while Grissom had been telling her a few facts on the ones she had asked about, she looked up at him and asked. "What's going to happen to me now?"

Grissom took breath and kneeled down before speaking while looking into her brown eyes. "Well, you're going to hang out here for a bit until Sara finds any of your relatives. In fact, are you close to any?"

Sage shook her head with a sad look. "No, for awhile it use to be mommy, me, and my grandma, but she died sometime last year." Seeing the pain in her eyes filled his heart with pain, knowing exactly how she felt, then she asked. "Then what will happen?"

Grissom cleared his throat to get whatever emotion was going to come out before speaking in a comforting tone. "I know wherever you'll go next won't be perfect because it won't be with your mom, but I promise that we'll do everything we can to make sure that you are in the best place possible, ok?"

Seeing the truth in his eyes, she nodded with tears in hers, then held up her pinky as she asked. "Pinky Promise."

Confused, Grissom raised an eyebrow as he questioned. "Pinky Promise?"

Sage giggled a little as she reached for his left hand before she hooked her pinky with his and said. "This is a pinky promise."

Grissom chuckled with nod as he replied. "I see, and yes it's a pinky promise." Sage smiled, then while they were releasing pinky's, Grissom heard her stomach growling, so he continued. "And it sounds like somebody is hungry, what would you like?"

Not even hesitating, she asked. "Pancakes and eggs?"

Grissom smiled while standing back up. "You got it, let's head toward the kitchen."

After she nodded with a smile, the two of them headed back inside so Grissom could start cooking.

When Sara had woken up a little later she realized she was in bed alone, so after getting out of bed and grabbing her robe, she headed for the closed bedroom door and opened it, but before she took a step into the living room, the sight before her and the feeling of her heart melting stopped her dead in her tracks; It was Grissom and Sage sitting on the couch, laughing and smiling while working on a puzzle, he had just bought a few days ago. It was a sight she could imagine seeing in the future.

AN: Find out what happens next. Please review