A/N: Thanks to all who are reading! And a special thank you to those who take time to comment! More to come!

And-just in case you don't know, the date for the new CSI:Vegas is October 6, 21 years after the first episode of CSI aired!

A Return to Vegas

Chapter 3

"Here we are—again." Sara smiled as she stopped for a moment in front of the contemporary building housing the Las Vegas Crime Lab. It had been in use for less than three years and still retained a freshness of new construction.

"It's all new and—and different," said Grissom.

Sara reached for his hand, laughing as she said, "We thought we'd gone to the moon and back when we got a parking garage."

Grissom agreed. "You think the kids will be all right?"

Again, Sara laughed. "They didn't even look up when we left!"

Their children were at Catherine's house, a familiar place from previous visits to Vegas that included a well-equipped play area and a pool; Sara was never sure if Catherine had filled a room with toys for the Grissom kids or if Catherine was planning for grandchildren.

Grissom nudged Sara forward, saying, "We need to go in—they are waiting."

Even as expected visitors, it took several minutes for them to be checked through security. Neither saw anyone they recognized as a young woman guided them to a large conference room—a dedicated place, not a multi-purpose room. White boards and a large flat screen hung on three walls. Tall windows overlooked the plaza between another new government building.

Around an oval table, two men and one woman were talking while opening up laptops. As soon as Sara and Grissom entered, they stopped chatting, looking up at the couple.

Sara drew a sharp breathe, realizing she was old enough to be a parent to these young people.

One of the men stood and said, "Sara and Gil Grissom—welcome back!" He introduced the young woman, Allie, and the other man as Chris before introducing himself.

"Our boss is on her way," Josh said. His mouth twitched in a grin. "She told us to be on time."

"And I'm here—hello, Sara and Gil! Thank you for coming—thank you for agreeing to jump on this horse one more time."

The door seemed to close behind Maxine Roby as if she had given some secret command.

Maxine had made a name in forensic genetics, rising up ranks until she came to Las Vegas as the lab director. She was known to put herself on the roster for difficult cases—and, according to rumor—she'd crawled into a dumpster when younger investigators had hesitated.

After placing a stack of files on the table, Maxine sat down and passed two ID badges to Sara and Grissom. "I've put brief bios in your folders—not that it's needed because we all know Dr. Gil Grissom made this lab one of the top criminal investigative labs in the country.

"Sara came to the lab 20—21 years ago and in the time she was here, her investigations closed nearly two hundred cases. She was also a victim of what has become known as the miniature killer case. She was there when the suicide bomber was arrested in '15. And now, they are back—we need their experience on this gun crisis."

Maxine pointed to the folders in front of everyone, saying, "Okay…" Flipping open the one in front of her, she continued, "You weren't here last week but you didn't miss anything. We've got zip—nothing. And we are desperate to keep this in house before ATF hears about it and takes over."

The next thirty minutes were spent going over what everyone knew. Ballistic records had been cleanly wiped away, replaced by records for eighteen guns all carried by former law enforcement officers in Clark County in over one hundred cases, many were closed and people were serving prison sentences.

An on-going search by the three investigators had not been able to determine how ballistic records had been compromised in what appeared to be a continuing malicious hack. Insisting the system was well guarded became a falsehood when another gun related case popped up with an officer-surrendered weapon.

Sara asked few questions, well aware of how lacking in computer skills she was. She realized the search had been entirely data driven as she thumbed through page after page and did not find one interview with anyone.

Grissom asked a dozen questions including requesting a list of everyone who had been in charge of collecting and destroying weapons for the previous twenty years and the names of officers who had come up as having the guns matched in the records.

Allie, a forensic archeologist, asked, "Why are these names important? We know this was done by a hacker—someone accessed the records and wiped them out then inserted records from officers guns."

Quietly, Grissom said, "Policy is that all department guns are destroyed—that's policy. Over the years, we know that is not always what happened—I know of at least two occasions where a retired officer was given his weapon as a retirement gift. And—yes, someone did get into digital records—someone smart enough to replace ballistic records with those of police officers. That's what we think—but it may be all records were destroyed and replaced, renamed with new records."

A few seconds passed before Chris said, "I get it—we can't know the ballistics are the originals. But if someone kept their weapon…"

"Or kept a bullet as—as a sentimental trophy," Grissom said.

Sara noticed the eyes of the three young investigators widen. Maxine dropped her head as a smile curled her lips. The bug man might be out of forensics but forensics would always be part of him, she thought.

Another thirty minutes passed as the group talked about possibilities. The printer in the room hummed and produced several printed pages. Maxine got the sheets of paper and passed them out.

She said, "Josh and Allie, work on this list for employees responsible for handling weapons disposable. Chris, you work with the Grissoms."

A grin broke across the young man's face.

Maxine's pen pointed at him as she said, "You are their driver—anywhere they want to go."

"I want to talk with as many of these eighteen guys as we can find," Grissom said.

Scanning the printout, Sara said, "Fourteen are alive—and, surprising, all have addresses in the area."

"Let's go see Jim—we know where we can find him," said Grissom.

The meeting broke up with Josh and Allie remaining at the table, eyes glued to their laptops.

Maxine asked if Sara and Grissom needed anything as she walked with them to the small lobby. When they responded with "no", she said, "Things have changed so much in a short time. These youngsters use a computer for everything—and most of the time, they can. But we need some face-to-face—someone out there knows something."

Sara smiled. "We'll find something—my assistant here can find a poacher in the vast Pacific, he can break this case in a week."

Maxine barked a laugh. "I'm holding my breath."

Chris went ahead to drive the department vehicle to the front door leaving the three others to small talk for a few minutes.

A pause in conversation and Maxine asked, "There is one thing I'd like to know about you, Dr. Grissom."

"Gil—call me Gil."

Maxine laughed again, asking, "Gil—did you really draw blood from new employees?"

Sara laughed.

Grissom grimaced and said, "Is that what I'm remembered for?"

At that moment, Chris arrived and Grissom pointed to the vehicle, saying, "We'll be in touch—soon!" And held the door for Sara to exit.

Laughing, Maxine headed to her office knowing she had already succeeded on some level by getting these two back to Vegas.

A/N: Gil and Sara Grissom are on the case! And of course, they are going to see Jim Brass!

Thank you for your encouragement! Photos from filming CSI: Vegas appear to show GSR is alive and well! The countdown begins for October 6!