Author's Note: I'd like to thank phnxgrl for her review. Nick is awesome. If CSI was real, he would make a great lab supervisor.

So it is official. Season 16 will not happen. Instead there will be a two hour "Season 16 movie" send-off that will bring Gill Grissom and Catherine Willows back. Not sure what capacity they will be returning under or if Captain Brass or Nick will be back (fingers crossed they will). After I've finished posting this "episode", I'm considering going on a hiatus until after that episode airs to see if I want to adapt it or not. I may just decide to go off on my own though. Anyway, this chapter is the start of the second half of the Season 15 finale. Enjoy!

Chapter 38

Nick walked into Russell's office. "Hey, D.B. I hear you…" Russell looked up and Nick stopped, "whoa. How long's it been? Like, a week?"

Russell was smiling, the lower half of his face covered in a thick, white beard. "Yeah. My wife's not too crazy about it. She'd like to see me all cleaned up like you."

Nick smiled. "Yeah, well, there's something to be said for a close shave, you know."

Nick sat down and Russell sighed. "I spoke with Ecklie. He and I both heard from the lab director down in San Diego."

"Well, I didn't know he was actually gonna call you guys."

"He did more than that. He put you on the top of the list of candidates to succeed him."

Nick shook his head. "No, he shouldn't done that."

"Why not? It sounds like a good opportunity."

"You trying to kick me out of here now?"

Russell shook his head. "Last thing I want is you leaving. But I would support you making the move."

Finn had been slowly creeping across the threshold. "Sorry to interrupt. I sent the samples over to Hodges, and I'm heading out."

"All right. See you later."

Finn nodded to Russell, glanced at Nick, and then left the office. She went home and decided to check her mail before heading up to her apartment. There was a large box in her mailbox from her mother. Finn rolled her eyes and tucked her mail under her arm to go upstairs. She unlocked her door and flipped on the lights, then headed to the kitchen island to open the package.

"Mom, what did you get me this time?"

She grabbed a pair of scissors and sliced the tape on the box open. Inside was a smaller box, nestled in straw, with a twine ribbon holding the smaller box together, just like a present. Finn took that present out of the shipping box and smiled at it. Her mother liked to get her stuff, usually not things she wanted or needed, but things that she thought were cute and her daughter might like. Finn set the box down and untied the ribbon so she could take off the lid. Whatever was inside was covered in tissue paper.

Finn removed the tissue paper cover and found a statue. "Castor and Pollux. The twins." She picked up the statue and set it down on the counter, then pulled out the second item that was hidden beneath the tissue paper under the statue. It was a jar with a finger inside. Finn gasped and then set it down as her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID. Unknown caller.

She hit accept and put the phone to her ear. "Did you get my present?" It was Winthrop.

Finn was pissed and scared, but she wasn't going to let him know that. "If you wanted my attention, you've got it."

"Oh, I want more than your attention. Because this is just the beginning. Or should I say… the beginning of the end."

Finn called Russell and the package with all its contents were brought to the lab. Ecklie met them in the layout room for an update on what had happened. They all gloved up and the items were set out on the table for all to see. Ecklie reached over and grabbed the jar with the finger inside to take a closer look. Russell examined the printed pictures of the scene and Finn wrapped up her story.

"That son of a bitch put my mother's name on the package, so I had to get the Philly cops to put protection on her house."

Russell set down the pictures and pulled the box the statue and finger had been in toward him. "Yeah, as soon as I got your call, I did the same with Maya and with Barbara." He picked up the box.

Ecklie set the jar down. "So what do you think it all means?"

Russell set the box down and leaned against the table. "Mythology says that when Castor was killed, Pollux went to Zeus and asked him to let him share his own immortality with his twin. To keep them together. Zeus agreed, and so they were cast into heaven. The constellation Gemini."

Finn was confused. "So cutting off his finger is part of the message that he and his brother are now one?"

"He's saying we may have taken his brother, but he's more powerful than ever."

Ecklie pulled off his gloves. "All very interesting, you guys, but here on planet Earth, I thought Winthrop had a partner while his brother was in custody. Didn't you hear another set of footsteps on the recording of Pamela Kramer's murder?"

Russell nodded. "We did."

"And you don't think it's Daniel Shaw? I mean, come on, this whole thing with the estranged daughter could still have been a setup."

Finn shook her head. "It was not a setup."

"You sure about that?"

"I am."

"Then why is Shaw's lawyer saying his client has information on Winthrop that he's willing to trade for a deal?"

Russell turned to Finn. "It's the first I'm hearing this."

Finn straightened up. "Yeah, me, too. Guess I need to go talk to Shaw."

Sara rolled down the short ramp into the garage with an open folder on her lap. "I checked with World-Send. The tracking number and the bar code were bogus. I'm guessing that Winthrop faked them." She stopped at the table, put the folder in it, and "stood up" to better see what Nick was working on. "You got something?"

"Yeah, we've seen this before." He gestured to the screen. "The strings are made of human tissue. Take a look there."

Sara turned to look at the screen. "Yeah, thinner gauge than the trajectory strings, but same idea."

"We'll have Henry confirm, see if DNA can tell us who it is."

Sara nodded. "Sounds good." She rotated the handles on her chair backward to sit again.

"Hey, let me ask you something." He set the clipboard he'd been working on down.

Sara looked up at Nick, a smirk on her face. "Is this about San Diego? Because Finn mentioned something. I…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, Nolan is stepping down as the lab director there. And, um, he seems to think I'll make a good replacement."

"Wow. You would."

"Yeah."

Sara was happy for her friend, but she could sense that he was reluctant about the whole thing for some reason. "So what's the problem?"

Nick chuckled. "It's just like I said, I have a lot of friends here, and… it's a big responsibility."

"Yeah, but there's a beach. And it's a four-and-a-half-hour drive. You'd be able to come see me all the time."

"You know, Sara, after all these years, I realize what's important to me. And it's not a promotion."

Sara nodded. "Well… you know what Grissom would say." Nick smiled and looked away. "You got to go where you can do the most good."

Nick nodded and looked back at Sara. He knew that she was right. Sure he could do a lot of good here in Vegas, but as a lab director, he could do more good in San Diego. But his friends, and in many ways family, was here in this crime lab. He had a lot to think about before he could make his decision.

Finn asked for Daniel Shaw to be brought to PD so she could talk to him. Unsurprisingly considering the deal he was asking for, his lawyer had come as well. What was surprising was the sound of unhappy voices coming from the interrogation room. Finn turned the corner and it became easier to hear what was being said.

Shaw was pacing around the table, anger at his lawyer clear on his face. "This is what you got, huh?" He threw the papers in his hand toward his lawyer. "How many times I got to tell you I am not doing this? I'm not playing the game. I don't want a deal. I want to cooperate. If you can't get that through your thick head, there's the door."

Shaw's lawyer stood. "Fine." He dropped the papers into his briefcase and closed the lid as Finn reached the doorway. Without another word, he walked out.

Finn walked in. "Need a new lawyer?"

"Yeah. Looks like I'll be representing myself from here on in."

Finn crossed her arms. "Yeah, I don't think that's the best plan."

"Why break a losing streak?"

Finn paused, slightly confused. From the conversation she'd heard earlier, it sounded like Shaw wanted to be helpful, but Ecklie was sure he was angling for a deal. "So I've heard that you have information that you'd like to trade for a deal."

"Yeah, that wasn't my idea. That was my lawyer's." Shaw took a seat and Finn felt a lot more comfortable knowing that Ecklie's information had been slightly wrong. "Besides, I'd rather talk to you."

"I'm listening."

"Look, I know your boss, the sheriff, he thinks that I'm Winthrop's partner. That's just not true."

"I know that. But given everything that happened, it's pretty hard to make that case." Finn took a seat.

"Not if you and I can find the real co-conspirator." Shaw leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "Before Winthrop… abducted my daughter, I was working on a lead. I figured his- his partner was helping him get the girls, the victims."

Finn nodded. "Through the escort service." They already suspected this.

"Exactly."

"I thought Rebecca Lowell ran Lady Aquarius."

"She did. But she had a connection here in Las Vegas. The important thing is… this same guy was getting a lot of money from Winthrop's company." Shaw was looking Finn in the eyes, almost pleading for her to believe him.

"Who is it?"

Shaw shook his head. "He's not gonna talk to you. But he will speak to me."

"Are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"

"You get me a forty-eight hour pass, you and I can nail this guy."

Finn wanted to, but wasn't so sure Ecklie would agree to it. "Sheriff already doesn't trust you."

"You do. Just a little bit."

"I'm gonna need a name." A name would go a long way to convincing the higher ups to approve that pass.

"Well, it's someone you've had a run-in with before. A certain preacher-pimp. Goes by the name of Brother Larson."

A/N: I know it's been a few months since this episode aired, but I hope you guys still like it. Stay tuned!