Lindsey pulled on Greg's hand eagerly as they approached the brightly coloured blooms in the florist's window. "Oh Greg, what about those one's?" Lindsey asked excitedly as she pointed out some deep purple carnations. "Aren't they pretty?"

"They are," he grinned, "but are you sure Sara wouldn't like something a little different?"

"Like what?"

"Well don't you girls like cute things like teddy bears and stuff like that?" Squeezing her hand gently in his, he pulled her over towards another shop window. "What about one of these?"

Lindsey eyes lit up when she saw all of the different kinds of teddy bears displayed in the shop window. "Greg," she squealed as she let go of his hand to press her face up against the window, her eyes glowing with excitement when she saw the perfect present. The white fluffy toy puppy sat proudly amongst all the other toys, its bright eyes sparkling in the window. Lindsey turned to look up at the man beside her, "Can we buy that for Sara?"

"Sure we can," he grinned, reaching down to clutch her hand again, " Maybe we can find a present for Nick too while we're in here."

Lindsey looked up at him adoringly, a huge grin gracing her lips, "Boys don't like teddy bears silly."

"Oh?" he grinned, "And how do you know that?"

"I just do," she smiled, pulling on his hand to lead him into the shop.

Brass looked up from his desk when he saw Catherine hurriedly coming into his office followed closely behind by Warrick.

"Jim," she gasped excitedly as she waved the brown folder in front of her, "We may have a lead."

"You do?" he asked with a frown as she placed the open folder onto his desk. Coming around to his side, she ran a finger down the contents until she came to the paragraph she was interested in.

"Richard James," she told him, " He was arrested back in 1999, but he killed himself on August 3rd of that same year."

Scanning the pages, Brass read with interest before lifting his eyes towards her again. "The dates coincide."

"Yeah and his kid was at the scene," Warrick told him, stepping closer into the room. "He could have a motive for revenge. After all, Catherine essentially found the evidence that incriminated his father."

"Yeah it's possible," Brass mused, reading further through the file. "He'd be about 16 now, right?"

"Yeah," Catherine nodded, "It's worth checking out even if it turns out to be wrong."

"I agree," he nodded " Okay, leave this with me and I'll see what I can find out."

"Thanks Jim," she smiled as she turned to head out of the room, "His brother was shot dead too, his murder is still unsolved. Maybe we should go over the evidence again," she suggested, giving Warrick an uncertain glance. "We might find something? It's worth a try."

"Yeah, sounds good. Okay. Page us when you have anything for us?" Warrick asked.

"Sure," Brass nodded, watching them as they retreated from the room.

Nick opened his eyes when he heard the slight movement inside his room. Trying to focus, he saw the blurred image of Greg advancing towards his bed. "Greggo," he smiled sleepily, "hey man. How's it going?"

"I should be asking you that question," Greg grinned. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," he mumbled, stifling a yawn. Nick offered him a small smile "Sorry."

"Hey it's cool, don't worry."

"Hi Nicky," a small voice sounded from the end of his bed. Lifting up slightly, Nick looked down to see Lindsey holding a huge dog in her arms.

"Hey sweetie," he smiled, "come here and let me look at you."

Stepping around the bed, Lindsey moved closer to him, offering him a small smile, "Do you like the present we brought for Sara?" she asked excitedly, "Do you think she'll like it?"

"Of course," he grinned, "I can guarantee she'll love it." Nick's eyes wandered over to Greg who smiled sheepishly as he looked down towards the little girl beside him.

"Lind's you wanna give Nick his present now?"

"Yep," she beamed, handing him the dog so she could delve into her jeans pocket. "Greg wanted to get you a teddy bear like Sara's, but I told him that boys don't like bears."

"Well you'd be right," he grinned, "I'm a bit too old for teddy bears."

"Yeah that's what I said too," she beamed, "so we brought you this instead." Taking the small key ring from her pocket, she lifted it up to his fingers, dangling the chain for him so he could look down for a better look. There was a brightly coloured stone inside the round plastic mould that had a message inscribed inside. "You have to read it," she beamed, "I picked this one."

"You did huh?" he smiled, "Well how about you read it to me then?"

"Okay," she grinned, lifting back her hand so she could read out the message to him. "It says 'Hug me, I'm a hero'."

"That's great sweetie," he beamed as he took the key ring from her offered hands. "As soon as I get out of here, I'll put it with my keys."

"We got you a card too," she smiled, looking back towards Greg and reaching out her hand for the small envelope he offered her. Taking it, she turned back to Nick and put it into his hands.

"Wow this is great," he smiled as he pulled open the envelope to reach the card inside. Taking it out he read quietly, taking a moment to read over the written words before turning to offer her a tearful smile. "I'm glad I'm alive too sweetie."

"We're gonna go and give Sara hers now, but we'll come back again in a minute," she smiled excitedly. Looking up at Greg, she pulled on his arm, "Can we go to see Sara now?"

"Yeah, of course we can," looking back over at his friend he grinned as he was lead to the door, "Do you want anything? Magazine's, books?"

"No thanks man, I'm good. See you in a few."

"Later," Greg nodded before he exited the room with the very excited 9 year old.

When they arrived at Sara's door, they found the room still bathed in dimmed light. Grissom was perched on the bed next to her pillows, which they had managed to push aside to make room for him. He had his legs stretched out along the side of her bed while his head leaned back against the wall, dozing. Sara had turned slightly in her sleep to lay her head in his lap, and had her hand rested on his thigh, holding her to him possessively. Reaching down to her hair, Grissom's fingers were combing through her silken strands, his gentle movements soothing both of them into a reassuring slumber. Greg almost gasped aloud when he saw the scene before him. They looked so peaceful and so perfect together that he was reluctant to break the spell that hung inside the room. For a moment he considered tiptoeing back outside the room, but he caught his arm on the door handle on the way out, causing the resting couple to stir.

Opening his eyes, Grissom looked up to see Greg and Lindsey hovering in the doorway. His slight movements roused Sara from her slumber, causing a contented sigh to escape her lips. Tightening her hold on him, she relaxed against his body, letting his gently stroked lull her back into sleep.

"Sara," he whispered softly, running his fingers through her hair as he coaxed her awake. "You have some visitors."

"Hmm?" she mumbled, slowly opening her eyes. Drawing her hand along his thigh, she lifted her head slightly to look up into his smiling face before turning to where his eyes were focused.

" Greg," she smiled sleepily, then a second later she spotted Lindsey by his side. Instantly awake, she pushed herself up a little more, allowing Grissom to climb off the bed and help her. "Lindsey?" she whispered softly, her eyes linked with the little girl whose emotions mirrored her own. Holding out a hand, she indicated for Lindsey to come closer to her. Her lower body was still protesting in pain, but she pushed it aside. "Honey please come and give me a hug?"

Without having to be told twice, Lindsey rushed forward. Grissom held her up to Sara's side so she could pull her into a tight embrace. The two lost themselves in heart wrenching sobs that shook their bodies in wave after wave of powerful relief. "It's so good to see you," Sara sobbed into her hair, only to pull her back so she could cradle her face in her hands. "Let me look at you," she sniffed, holding back the happy tears that engulfed her heart.

"They wouldn't let me stay with you," Lindsey whispered, her face awash with tears. "I tried to come back to you like we promised, but they wouldn't let me."

"Oh baby," Sara whispered brokenly as she pulled her back into her arms. "I couldn't let you stay with me. I didn't want your mom to lose you too."

"But what about you?" Lindsey whispered into her shoulder.

"I was only concerned about you," Sara told her through tears, "and now we're both here, alive and…" she started to chuckle softly as she pulled the little girl back so she could look at her again. "We're both clean!"

"No dirt," Lindsey beamed as she leaned forward into Sara's waiting arms.

"I bet your mom was so glad to see you," Sara whispered. "We both did good didn't we?"

"We did," Lindsey told her, pushing herself back so she could hold onto Sara's hands. "Does your leg still hurt?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "but with you here, it doesn't really hurt that much."

"We brought you a present," Lindsey told her as she reached out to take the toy dog from Greg's hands. "I picked it."

Sara's eyes filled with tears again when she took the fluffy dog from Lindsey's hands. "Oh honey he's adorable."

"Do you like it?" Lindsey asked with a smile as she leaned in closer to snuggle down next to Sara again. Wrapping her arms her back, Sara pulled Lindsey in closer and pressed a small kiss into her hair.

"I love him," she whispered, " he's the best present anyone has ever given me."

"Ever?" Lindsey asked, turning in her arms to look up at her.

 Sara smiled. "I don't get many presents, but out of the one's I've ever had, I'll always love this one. Thank you."

Grissom moved away from the two girls slightly, enough to give them a little space, but not enough to move away completely. Turning his eyes towards Greg, he noticed the emotion raging inside the younger man's eyes. "How about we go and visit with Nick for a while, Greg? I think these two girls will be talking for a while yet."

"Yeah, sounds good," Greg nodded. Then looking over towards Lindsey, he called out to her, "You stay here with Sara okay?"

"Okay," she smiled happily resting contentedly against Sara's chest.

Bending close to Sara's ear, Grissom whispered a soft word of goodbye, causing a deep red blush to creep up her cheeks. Holding out her hand, she caught his fingers with her own to stop his movements.

"Thank you," she whispered adoringly, her eyes communicating everything that words could not. Squeezing her hand, he offered her a blinding smile of his own, leaving her feeling more loved and protected than she had ever felt before in her life. Watching him leave, she closed her eyes against his loss, only to be pulled into another hug by the little girl who had become her savior.

TBC………