PRESENT DAY

"Gil? The pizza is going to be here in fifteen minutes. Do you have everything set up? I just got a text from-"

Sara's voice died away as she came into the living room and saw Gil sitting at the empty card table, his shouldered slumped and his expression blank as he stared into space. She bit her lip to keep the frustration and fear from showing on her face as she crossed the room to stand in front of him, waiting for his gaze to refocus on her. She was becoming more and more concerned as the days went by – Ernie's death had been a month ago and the miniature killer case had been officially closed. And yet, Gil's insomnia and migraines had continued to the point where she would often find him just like this at home or at work, staring into nothing and brooding over the closed case.

"Gris-" she dropped a hand on his shoulder.

The sound of his last name as well as the physical touch brought him back to the present and his pupils contracted. "Sara?"

Her hand dropped and she stepped back a step. "The team is going to be here in a few minutes and you haven't set up-"

Gil jumped to his feet. "Oh – I was going to – I guess I got distracted-"

"Again." She bit the word off sharply.

He caught her hand as she brushed past him. "Wait. Are you OK?"

Sara barked a laugh. "That's supposed to be my line-"

"No, I mean are you sick – or – or late?"

She drew back in surprise. It was true that they had stopped using contraceptives and she had stopped taking the pill because both of them decided they wanted a family at some point. But the idea that he thought what was upsetting her was the possibility of pregnancy was laughable – and also sad.

"No," she whispered, cupping his cheeks, and moving into his arms. "I had my cycle a week ago."

"Oh." He frowned as he realized that he hadn't even noticed. "Then what is it? Something's bothering you-"

She squeezed his cheeks briefly before letting go but she didn't move from the circle of his arms. "You – I'm still worried about you. The nightmares and the migraines haven't stopped, Gil. You're – this miniature killer case – it's eating away at you."

"I know – Sara, I don't know what to do about it. I – I just feel like it's not finished."

She ran her hands up and down his upper arms. "Why don't you talk to the team about it tonight? Get their perspective?"

His right eyebrow quirked. "Kind of a serious topic for poker, don't you think?"

"Hey, we've talked about all kinds of crazy shit – remember, our relationship was ousted on game night."

He gave her a tight smile. "I do remember."

She leaned in and gave him a swift kiss. "And I know you're more comfortable talking about work than us with the team."

Last Year

Grissom's Townhouse

"I knew you were bluffing!" Greg crowed. "That's why I folded instead of raising-"

"Wait a minute, man!" Nick interrupted. "If you knew she was bluffing, that meant you had the better hand. You should have called her on it-"

"Damn it! She gets me every time! How come Grissom is the only one that can read her tells?" Greg whined, throwing down his hand in disgust.

Sara and Gil shared a look and smiles before he handed her the deck. "Your turn to deal, Sara."

"I need your cards, Greg."

"Fine, take 'em. I need another beer – you got more, Gris?"

"In the fridge - help yourself."

Greg got to his feet, waited until the floor stopped spinning and then slowly made his way to the kitchen.

Nick laughed at the younger man's lack of balance. "Should he really have another one?"

"It's lite beer, Nicky," Gris smiled. "Unless he started drinking before he came over, he'll be fine."

Sara giggled and began to deal, but then paused and called to the pair on the couch. "Catherine, Warrick, you two sitting this hand out?"

"Girl, you took all my chips three hands ago-"

"Yeah, I'm just going to keep him company," Catherine called back as she showed Warrick something on her phone and they laughed.

Nick leaned across the card table. "You think they're sleeping together?"

Gil choked on his sip of wine and Sara giggled again.

"That's none of our business," Sara sing songed.

"And it's against lab policy," Gil added.

"So what? There are ways around it," Nick argued.

"Hey Gris?" Greg called out as he re-entered the room. "Why is your fridge full of Sara's organic tofu and Greek yogurt?"

Sara's hands froze in mid-deal and her eyes darted to Gil, who paused in the act of setting his wine glass back on its coaster. The two of them locked gazes before Sara gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Well, Greg, that would be because Sara lives here too."

For a full ten seconds, you could have heard a pin drop and then everyone was speaking at once, their words overlapping and voices getting louder as each member of the team struggled to be heard.

Greg: "Is Sara's apartment being fumigated or something?"

Catherine: "What the hell, Gil? Are the two of you sleeping together?"

Warrick: "Congrats, man! I always knew the two of you had feelings for each other-"

Nick: "Wait a minute – you and Sara? How long has this been going on? What did I miss?"

Catherine: "When Conrad hears about this, you're both going to lose your jobs!"

Greg: "Wait – you're saying that you and Sara are – oh man, I do not need those images in my head!"

Warrick: (laughing) "I told you years ago that Sara was off limits, Greg."

Nick: "No one thought to clue me in? Everyone else knew?"

Gil and Sara sat in the eye of the hurricane going on around them, smiles on each of their faces now that their secret was out in the open. Then Sara stood up and walked around the table to Gil's side and he pulled her into his lap as she wound her arms loosely around his neck. This action had the effect of cold water being dumped on the group and all chatter abruptly ceased as they stared at the couple who only had eyes for each other.

"I told you we'd have to come clean sooner or later-" Gil smiled at her.

Sara sighed. "I know – but it was really nice while it lasted."

Catherine cleared her throat and the couple turned to look at her. "Excuse me, but what exactly happens now – with the team, I mean?"

Sara dropped her arms but remained in Gil's lap as the man took on his supervisory tone.

"This wasn't how we intended for you all to find out – and yes, we were going to tell you. But we'd like to keep it from Conrad for a while longer. I hope that you will agree with us that Sara and I have remained professional at work even though off the clock we are in a personal relationship-"

"How long have you been together, Gil?"

Gil looked at Sara and nodded, giving her permission to share some of their personal story. "Catherine, you and Warrick know that we've always had feelings for each other, but it wasn't until Nicky's kidnapping that we became involved romantically."

Nick's mouth fell open. "You two have been dating for a year?"

Sara nodded. "And I moved in last month."

Greg moaned. "And here I thought you guys had just finally buried the hatchet – I didn't know you had –" he took a swig of beer and then looked at the label in suspicion. "Lite? I'm going to need something stronger than this!"

Warrick and Nick laughed. "We'll take you out to the bar after this to drown your sorrows, Greggo," Nick promised.

"Good, just lost my dream girl for good-" Greg muttered as he stumbled out to the living room and collapsed on the couch.

Gil frowned. "Look, I need to know that this isn't going to affect our team dynamic. I understand if you're hurt or mad that we kept this from you, but Sara and I are both very private people. We also didn't want to put you in an awkward position with the brass-"

Warrick glanced at Catherine and Nick before stepping forward. "It's all good, Gris. Both of you have been happier this past year than I've ever seen – and I want that for you guys. Far as I'm concerned, no one else needs to know."

"I second that," Nick lifted his bottle in a toast.

"Ditto," came Greg's echo from the couch.

"Catherine?" Gil asked the redhead when she remained silent.

"Gil – I won't pretend that I'm not hurt and angry that you didn't come to me at the beginning and let me know so I could help you cover your ass. I'm still worried that there will be fallout from this-"

"Are you still willing to help me? Will you take over Sara's evaluations?"

Catherine nodded. "It will look suspicious to Conrad if I'm only doing Sara's -"

Gil nodded. "Then let's split the team – you do Sara's and Greg's – I'll do Rick and Nick."

"And if Conrad asks why I'm helping you with team evaluations?"

Gil smiled. "Tell him the truth – that I'm lousy with getting them in on time so I suggested you help me out. That way everyone will get their COL raises in a timely fashion."

She shook her head. "You've really thought this through."

Gil shrugged. "I've had some time to think about it – does this sound like something you can do, Cath? Are you on board?"

"Helping you with evaluations? Yes. Keeping your relationship a secret?" Catherine shook her head. "It's not my secret to tell. I just hope you both know what you're doing."

"Catherine eventually came around to our side – I think she was pouting because she didn't figure it out on her own – the great CSI Catherine Willows missed a romantic relationship in the lab right under her very own nose."

Gil smiled and pressed a kiss to Sara's forehead. "I love you."

Sara's breath released in a sharp exhale and her eyes widened.

"I know I don't say it often – but I hope you know that I do."

She pressed her lips to his, happy to feel his arms come around her back, lifting her slightly off the ground. Pulling her mouth away, she rubbed her nose against his. "We can't get carried away – it's almost game time, remember?"

He groaned and dropped his face to her neck, kissing along her exposed collarbone. She pushed him away even as the fire inside her demanded more of his touch.

"To be continued," she promised as the doorbell rang.

"Count on it," he mouthed the words and winked as he turned to finally set up the table.

"Whoa, two hands in a row I beat Gris! What's the matter, boss? You seem a little off today?"

Gil shrugged. "Everyone can have an off day in poker, Greg."

Nick snickered. "Enjoy his distraction while you can. No one can beat the boss man when he's focused."

"I'm focused," Gil frowned.

"Not on the game," Warrick commented. "Come on, talk to us. You've been off for days now – what's up?"

Gil's eyes darted to Sara, and she nodded. This was the perfect opening, and she crossed her fingers under the table, hoping that he wouldn't let it pass him by. Ever since they had started dating, he had been more open his communication and she knew it was because of her coaching and nagging – telling him that he needed to talk to people about what was going on inside his head.

Gil threw his hand on the table and Sara picked it up, adding it to the deck in her hands. She began to shuffle slowly, giving him extra time.

"I don't think Ernie Dell was the miniature killer."

Sara's eyes fluttered shut in frustration. Then again, she still had to teach him the art of subtlety. He tended to just blurt things out, letting his words land like bombs in the middle of the room and then you needed to stand back and wait for the explosion. Fortunately, this bomb wasn't as explosive as the revelation of their relationship but still their team talked over each other for a bit until Gil waved his hands and explained his reasoning, much as he had done with her a couple of weeks ago. When he had finished with his theory, silence descended upon the group until Catherine broke it.

"So, you're saying you believe Ernie was the accomplice rather than the killer."

"I believe so, yes."

"Based on-"

"My years of profiling serials and Ernie's video confession-"

"Forgive me, but the fact that he didn't brag about his kills is a pretty weak argument, Gil-"

Greg leaned over the table. "No, I think he might be onto something there. I've loved true crime ever since I was a kid and I've studied all the great serials – read books, watched documentaries and prison tapes, anything I could get my hands on-"

"That's kinda sick, man," Warrick interjected, his lip curling.

"Hey, do I make fun of your hobbies? Anyway, Gris is right about the bragging. These killers – they love to go into explicit detail about their victims – how they stalked them for weeks – and then caught them and terrorized them before killing them-"

"The miniature killings weren't like that, Greg," Nick argued. "Ernie built scale models of the victim's homes – which became crime scenes-"

"And didn't talk about any of that – not in interrogation or in his final video? No man, something's off. He's not the mastermind."

"All right, just for the sake of argument," Catherine put in. "Let's say Ernie had an accomplice – or he wasn't the mastermind. Who is? And how would we even go about looking for such a person?"

Sara leaned forward, dropping the deck of cards on the table. "Who would you kill yourself for, Catherine? If it was them or you – for whom would you say: 'kill me instead'? I bet that list is pretty short."

"Lindsey."

Gil nodded. "Your daughter."

"Did Ernie have any kids?" Warrick asked.

"I looked into his family background," Greg piped up. "He was a widower; his wife's name was Anabelle. She died about fifteen years ago, breast cancer. I didn't find a birth certificate for any children, but I didn't take the time to do a deep dive before Ernie killed himself and the case was closed."

Gil frowned. "Do Ernie or Anabelle have any living relatives – someone we could ask about children they might have had?"

Greg snapped his fingers. "Ernie was an only child, but I do remember seeing that Anabelle's next of kin was a sister named Alina – I think I remember she lived out in Boulder City."

Gil looked at Sara and she nodded in encouragement at him. This was something worth pursuing and she would go with him.

"Okay, Greg tonight when you have a few minutes, track down Alina's last name and address. Sara and I will follow up on that lead in the next day or two."

"What about the rest of us? We want to help, Gris," Nick added.

"This will have to be done off hours – without the brass knowing since the case is officially closed. Are you sure you want to go down this rabbit hole with me?"

Catherine smiled. "It sounds like fun."

"All right then, the rest of you get Ernie's things from the evidence lock-up and look over everything with a fine-tooth comb. We started to process the evidence and then we were ordered to drop it because the undersheriff was convinced, we had caught the miniature killer. Well, I want the evidence to tell us that. We're CSI's – so let's make sure we finish the job this time."

BOULDER CITY, NV

TWO DAYS LATER

"They can't all be Dell's biological children. We would have found the birth certificates by now."

The most interesting thing the team had found among Ernie's possessions was a collection of old VHS tapes. On them were home videos of Ernie and his wife with several children ranging in ages from approximately five to fifteen. One tape had been of a birthday party at a zoo, the children all riding a train and laughing, happy as could be until the birthday boy knocked his cake off the table and onto the ground. Ernie had tried to console the boy, but he was having none of it as the video went to static. It was possible for a woman to have thirteen children – but we had found no birth certificates on file with the state, which led us to only one logical conclusion.

Foster children.

Gil glanced at Sara as he parked the Denali across the street from a small yellow ranch style house. "This is it: 3848 Cactus Spine Road."

Sara got out and waited for Gil to come around and join her. "Nice place, well-maintained lawn and garden. I don't see evidence of young children-"

"Well, if Alina is of similar age Ernie, she would be a grandmother by now, if she was married-"

Gil's voice trailed away as the front door opened and a slim woman with graying blonde hair stepped out onto the step. He placed his hand in the small of Sara's back and together they crossed the street and went up the sidewalk.

"Alina Peters?"

The woman nodded. "Are you the one who called me from the crime lab?"

Gil nodded. "Yes, ma'am. I'm Gil Grissom and this is my colleague Sara Sidle. We'd like to ask you a few questions about your sister Anabelle and her husband Ernie, if that's all right."

Alina's eyes narrowed. "They're both dead, you know. My sister's been gone over a decade now – breast cancer."

"I know – we're very sorry for your loss," Sara spoke up.

"And Ernie – well, it's been all over the news – those awful murders – and then he took the coward's way out and shot himself," Alina huffed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know what I can tell you-"

"We were hoping – that is- did your sister have any children?"

Alina took a step back towards the house. "You're here about Lionel? Why? What's he done? He's a good boy! I know that he had some trouble when he was young – but he cleaned up his act thanks to me! He hasn't been in any trouble since; I'll swear to it in a court of law."

"Lionel?" Gil repeated the name.

Alina shrugged a shoulder. "If you knew Ernie at all, you'd know that the man was crazy about trains – so Alina named the boy Lionel after 'em, you know? He hated that name, couldn't wait to change it when he turned eighteen."

"What's his name now?" Sara asked.

"Lionel has nothing to do with this murder business – he's a good boy, I tell you."

Gil and Sara exchanged a silent look, knowing that having the name Lionel Dell was enough to track the young man down. They didn't need to know what his name was now – the courts would be able to provide it.

Sara cleared her throat and changed the subject. "Alina, we found some home movies at your brother-in-law's house. They were of Ernie, Anabelle, their son, and a bunch of other children. Do you know who they were?"

"Sure – those were their fosters, the chosen ones."

Gil's eyebrows rose in surprise at the term. "The chosen ones?"

"That was Lionel's name for them – they were his parent's chosen children, the special ones. Lionel was – not."

"But he was their biological child-"

"And his father spent every day telling those children how precious they were so they wouldn't feel any different from Lionel – so they wouldn't feel slighted in any way. How do you think that made my nephew feel?"

"Do you remember any of these children – did you ever meet any of them?"

Alina relaxed her defensive posture as understanding dawned. "This is about them? My sister's foster children?"

Gil nodded and Alina sighed.

"You'd better come inside. I'll tell you everything I know about the chosen ones."