Warrick stood guard at the apartment door and was able to cut off more reporters that made it to Grissom's apartment and directed them down to the function room for the "press conference". Just as Catherine predicted, the Mayor, Sheriff and Ecklie showed up about an hour later. "There is a roomful of reporters' downstairs, waiting in the function room for a statement." Taking the bait, all three left to speak to the press. Warrick was happy that at least he had managed to give Gil and Sara a little more time alone. However, his mind kept returning to the bet had Catherine offered him, that Grissom would not be returning to the lab or his job. It was just so hard to think he would never work with his friend and mentor again.

Unaware of all the schemes and activities by his friends to give them some privacy, Grissom and Sara relaxed in their whirlpool tub as they continued their private welcome home. Sara finished drying off and was putting on her robe. "How is you shoulder feeling?"

"It feels better now. Are you sure you are all right, Sara?"

"I'm OK. You didn't hurt me, Gil. I told you it would be fine. Actually, it was better than fine. It was great, fantastic......"

"Will you try to behave!" He was blushing deeply as she helped him get out of the tub and dry off.

"Sorry, it's the jumpsuit. Do you have any idea how adorable you looked in it? I love to see you in coveralls. I used to come by the garage at the lab just to look at you wearing them. If you'll remember the first time I really touched you, you had your coveralls on." At his look of confusion, Sara reached out to caress his cheek. "Chalk dust, remember?"

"Ah yes! Well, maybe I should keep that as a souvenir. I'll model it for you from time to time. Although, I've lost so much weight I'm not sure I'll have any clothes that fit me anymore." Sara tied the drawstring on the sweatpants for him. He looked at himself in the mirror, the sweats were very baggy.

"Not that I'm complaining, Gil but just where are all your other clothes?"

"Most of them are still in my suitcases in the cargo hold of the plane. Who knows, maybe if it hasn't sunk into the lake we landed on, I may eventually get them back. I had on that heavy grey suit you liked, a sweater and my favorite topcoat when I boarded the plane. I didn't know it then but I would wear those same clothes for over two weeks. As it got colder, I just added more layers. When I finally got to Galena, they peeled or cut away all the clothes from my body and probably burned them. After that, I spent most of my days in hospital scrubs or naked in a huge whirlpool bath. When I had to testify at the inquest, they would give me a jumpsuit."

"That's all you're going to tell me about this whole last month?"

"Sara, I've had to relive the crash and the aftermath everyday since I was found. Please honey, for right now I want to forget all about what happened and just be with you. Thoughts of being with you again were the only thing that kept me sane some days." He took a step towards her but a loud knock on the door interrupted whatever he was going to do or say next.

Warrick did not enter, he spoke through the closed door. "Hey sorry guys but you two better get decent quick. The Mayor, the Sheriff and Ecklie, will probably be back here any minute now." Grissom frowned at the intrusion and the mention of his least favorite people.

"Want me to shave you?" He sat on the bed and got a little upset after he unsuccessfully tried to put on his own socks. Sara helped him put back on a pair of the protective socks and gloves.

"Nah! Screw'em. They barge in here uninvited, then this is the me they are going to get."

Trying to lighten the mood, Sara changed back into her dress. "Hey, how about something to eat? You must be starving. When did you eat last?"

"No, I'm fine. There was food on the plane. Do you want me to make you something?"

"When your hands feel better. I'll just get some fruit and yogurt for now."

"I'll get it." As they left the bedroom, they found a weary Warrick half asleep on the couch.

"Warrick, will you go home, please? Tina probably can't remember what you look like."

"Man, try to help a friend and get nothing but abuse.......OK, OK, I'm leaving. Do you guys need anything before I go?"

"No, just thank you." Sara hugged him.

"You're welcome!" Grissom returned from the kitchen with Sara's fruit and yogurt. He also had a bottle of water for them both.

"Warrick, thank you again for all your help! I still owe you a brunch and a dinner."

"Don't think I won't collect." The doorbell rang as Warrick walked to answer. "Guess who?" He let in the Mayor, the Sheriff and Ecklie in as he left. "Call me if you need anything."

Grissom ignored the three men as he served Sara and helped her get settled comfortably on the couch.

All three men were stunned by the physical changes in Grissom. The mayor spoke first. "Gil, we stopped by to welcome you home. To make sure you're OK and thank you for your heroic efforts to save the other passengers under unimaginable conditions. I know you've only just arrived home but there are a number of reporters downstairs. We can go down there now, if you feel up to it and get all this press nonsense out of the way."

"I am sorry, gentlemen! I am not allowed to speak to the press. You came here for nothing."

The mayor stormed over to him. "And just who told you that?"

Grissom handed him several pieces of paper. "Those are subpoenas for testimony. Until all these court orders are completed, I can't speak to the press and will be at the beck and call of countless attorneys for at least the next few weeks or possibly months. I'd appreciate it if you could pass on that information to the press. Perhaps then they will all go away and leave us alone." His tone conveyed an unmistakable request for the three men to leave.

Sara was surprised to see anger simmering in her husband's eyes. She could see and feel the tension in his body. Sara watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It was kind of you to stop by. It saved me from making several calls which are a little difficult right now." He held up his hands in the protective gloves. "Conrad, I will let you know when I can come back to work. Now if you will excuse us, we are having dinner. Sara and I have been apart for a month and would appreciate some privacy."

The Mayor handed the Sheriff all the paperwork Grissom had given him and left abruptly. The Sheriff handed the papers to Ecklie, glared at him and quickly followed the Mayor out of the apartment. Conrad smiled and placed all the papers on a coffee table near the couch. "I'm glad you're OK, Gil! I can see things are finally back to normal. Grissom, Sara!" With a nod to both, he left.

Sara waited for the door to close behind Conrad and then turned to her husband. "Did I miss something? Why are you so angry with them? What aren't you telling me?"

"I am just tired of people using me and being a pawn that everyone has control over." Grissom sat down on the couch as if all his energy had just vanished.

"This whole mess with the media will all die down soon, Gil. Then we will move back to the townhouse and go back to our old quiet lives."

"Sara, I'm not sure that will ever happen. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure I want my old life back anymore. You were the only thing in that old life that made me happy."

"I wasn't the only thing but thank you. You know that you love to solve the puzzle and command your troops. If you want to make some changes....that's fine, Gil. It looks like you'll have plenty of time to think about things and decide what changes you want to make."

"I really don't think I'd miss the work......but I would miss the gang at the lab."

Sara was very surprised by his comments and grew more concerned. She had never seen her husband's moods and emotions so open and apparent before. He may have survived the crash but it was obvious to her that something else had happened to him. Maybe he'd just needed more than just time to recover and feel comfortable with himself and his old life again. Sara wanted him happy again. If his old life no longer made him happy, then she would adapt. Sara knew that her life was with him, whatever that life would be.

"Well, Dr. Grissom, I have no intention of sharing you just yet. I want you all to myself for a while longer. How about a breakfast for the gang on Sunday, better yet, a brunch? It will be a welcome home party for you, and a way for me to thank them. I really don't know how I would have gotten through this last month without all of them."

"I'd like that, Sara! Thank you."

"For now how about we cuddle up on the couch, watch a movie and make out."

"I'd like the sound of that plan a lot more if we skip the movie part."

"Deal!"

Warrick called to let Nick know that Grissom was safe with Sara in his apartment. Relieved, he dropped off the decoy limo and drove back to his place tired but happy. Nick was surprised to see Warrick waiting. "Hey Rick, what's up? Do you need me to do anything else?"

"No! Thanks for your help, man. Grissom and Sara are finally together at their place. Can I crash on your couch? Tina changed the locks. I found my stuff outside our place."

"Yeah, sure! Sorry about that. Would it do any good for me to talk to her?"

"I don't know. Right now I'm so tired, I don't care!" Warrick followed Nick into his place. "Damn, I forgot to let Mike and John know that everything is code four."

"Already done! Catherine called me and I spoke to them. They are probably already home. It has been one hell of a day, a hell of a week. Thank God tomorrow is Saturday. Maybe next week things will be back to normal......or at least closer to normal."

Warrick sat on the couch and laid his head back eyes closed. "Yeah, normal would be nice."

Opening the closet door, Nick took off his jacket. After he hung up it up, he grabbed a pillow and an extra blanket tossing them on the couch beside his friend. "You want a beer?"

"Oh, yeah!" Warrick followed Nick into the kitchen.

"Did you get something to eat?" Warrick shook his head. "No a problem, I have the pizza guy on speed dial, one large or two small?"

"A large is good. Thanks, Nick." Taking a beer, he walked back to the couch.

Nick settled beside Warrick and took a healthy drink. "So, how is he?"

"He looks tired and in pain. He didn't say anything about what happened up there. I want to warn you he's lost some weight and has a full beard and mustache again and it's mostly white. His hands and feet are all bandaged up from the frostbite but what you notice right off are his eyes, so angry.....you know a long time ago I used to think Griss had no emotions. He was always thinking, so calm, logical and rational but now......he's different."

"Angry! Yeah, I quess I would be too. I wonder what really happened to him up there? Didn't you ask?"

"Sure but all he said was that it was too long a story."

"Maybe he still in shock, he just needs some time........it can take a while to get your head screwed back on straight after something that bad, believe me I know."

"Oh, God! Sorry Nick, I forgot about what happened to you. I don't know, I just really thought that Griss would be happy to be home."

"And he isn't?"

"Doesn't act like it! It didn't help that Sara started in on him as soon as we got to their place. She was yelling and slapping him."

"Well she was scared and pretty mad. I'm sure she didn't stay mad for very long. She was so happy when they told her that he was OK and coming home. Sara loves him and he loves her."

"Yeah, I know. The first words out of his mouth were, "How is Sara?"

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation. "Hey, that was fast. Dinner is here!"

Warrick pulled a twenty-dollar bill from his pocket. "I got it."

Nick opened the box and started to eat. "After this, I'm going to bed. This has been the longest month of my life. If you get up before I do, anything in the fridge is fair game for breakfast."

Sara called everyone on Saturday to arrange the Sunday Brunch for around noon. As they waited for their guests to arrive, she talked her husband into letting her shave him. Grissom looked and felt much better without the nearly white bushy beard. Sara agreeded it was a lot more fun to kiss him with a fur face.

Warrick and Nick were the first to arrive with pastries. Nick hugged Grissom gently, aware of his sore ribs and shoulder. Catherine came next with waffles. Grissom quickly pulled her aside. He wanted to apologize because he forgot to ask her about Lindsey the previous day. Catherine waved away his apology and let him know that her daughter was doing much better but was starting to get very house happy. The trio of Greg, Mike and John came next bearing coffee, the expensive Hawaiian blend that Grissom loved. Helping the host, Greg made the coffee but Grissom left all the food on the kitchen table so that everyone could take what they wanted. John tried several times to apologize for crashing the van but Grissom was more concerned with how he was feeling. John was stunned when Grissom offered to sell him the Denali on the condition that he would deal with all the insurance companies. He accepted the offer gratefully. Grissom was about to sit when the doorbell rang again.

"Hey Jim, you are late! Get in here."

"I.....well." Brass did not enter or say that he was not invited. He looked very nervous as Sara walked over. "Am I forgiven?"

"Jim, I'm sorry I forgot to call you. You know you are always welcome here, come in."

He hugged her and handed Sara a box of her favorite herbal tea, the only kind she was allowed to drink.

"I'll make some for you, sweetheart. Go sit down." Returning a few minutes later with John's help, he had used the full tea service from his mother's house. Sara poured a cup for him and herself. "Anyone else?" Grissom sat beside Sara and looked at the faces of those all around him.

"I want to thank you guys for your help. Not only for your efforts to help find me but for being here and helping Sara while I was gone. I know that I would not be home right now without all of you. I also know you want me to tell you everything that happened up there but I can't." He pointed to all the paperwork still sitting on the coffee table. "At least, not right now! I am under a gag order and several subpoenas. I will probably be spending the next few weeks at the courthouse or lawyers offices. I am sorry! I know this whole mess has screwed up your personal lives." He looked directly at Warrick. "I hope it will all be over very soon. So both Sara and I want to thank you very much for your help."

Jim launched himself from his chair. "Good! Now that the speeches are over, let's eat!"

Smiling, Grissom stretched out on the couch with Sara in his arms. "So fill me in. What's been happening here, while I froze my ass off?"

Practically bursting with the news, Greg spoke first. "We found an ID for mummy man! He was Gus Donovan, a leg breaker for Tony C back in the day. Very old Vegas and I mean that in more ways than one. Doc figured he's been sitting out in the dessert for at least 25 years. During the autopsy he found a small skull plate and a few real teeth. I tracked down some old medical records and put two and two together."

"Great work, Greg!"

"Please don't encourage him! He has been insufferable for the last 10 days." Warrick returned from the kitchen with another plate of food.

"Sorry Rick, you will have to put up with him, until I'm released from further testimony."

"Unless Ecklie gets his way and makes the changes he wants."

"Why? What is he bitching about now?"

"Me mostly.......too much OT! Now that Cath is back, he wants Nick in charge of nights. Sheriff told him to leave things as they are, until you come back. He was not happy."

"Idiot! You know this whole damn mess never would have happened if he hadn't stuck his nose in. I got plans approved and funding to have a video conference center set up in the AV lab. I gave the old Sheriff a full workup on all the time and money it would save. At the time, Ecklie was still the lab administrator. He put all the plans on hold, so he could go to a conference in Hawaii. Then later I found out he used part of the funds to redo his office when he got promoted. So the whole project was put on the back burner. If that conference center had been set up, I never would have had to go to Canada. Thanks a lot Ecklie, where ever you are." Grissom raised his cup in a mock toast. "Asshole! The other joined in the toast and raised their cups. "I'm just sorry you guys have to put up with him."

Mike got up to get more coffee and food. "You know he's already told every one at the lab that you'll be back on Monday night."

"Anyone with half a brain doesn't listen to anything he says." As the others filled him in on the open cases and recent events, Grissom started to yawn. Catherine could see that Sara was falling asleep in Grissom's arms and knew that he was not feeling anywhere close to OK. She quickly got up and gathered some leftovers for Lindsey.

"Come on you guys, some of us have to work tomorrow. And you, try to rest and enjoy this time away from the lab and Ecklie." Catherine leaned over to kiss Grissom's cheek.

"Yes, Mam. Guys please take some of the leftovers. Thanks again and remember, stop by to see us anytime."

The room was soon empty again. "Hey sleeping beauty, everyone is gone."

Sara just snuggled closer. "I thought they would never leave."

"You just don't like sharing me with anyone, Sara."

"I'm sick of sharing you. You were gone a whole month. I missed you so much! Please, hold me." Against her will a few tears spilled from Sara's eyes onto his shirt.

"Hey, hey! No tears now. Everything is OK with you and Andrew and I'm home in one piece......more or less. We made it, Sara. The bad moon has come and gone. Everything will be good from now on."