Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters nor do I profit when I make the characters, especially Nick and Sara, dance in my head.

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

It was a hot afternoon in Las Vegas, Nevada. You might think that employees working the night shift would be in their houses sleeping. But for Gil Grissom, there is no such thing as sleeping in the afternoon when there's tons of work to do. That is what Brass found out when he saw the graveyard shift supervisor in his office, working on the computer.

"Hey Gil." Brass greeted as he knocked at the door. Grissom looked up, motioned him to come in and sit down, and continued what he was doing. As soon as Brass sat down, he looked up again.

"Nick and Sara faxed me their report this morning." Brass said, giving Grissom a thick manila folder.

"It must be important if they send it to you this morning and this thick." Gil replied as he opened the file.

"Or just plain Sidle Routine." Brass replied as Grissom read the folder's contents.

After a few minutes, Grissom finally spoke. "I guess we have three more suspects"

~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you for coming Uncle Gil." Lindsey said as they went out of her classroom. "Did you like it?" she asked.

"Yes, I did." He nodded. "I particularly liked the scene where you defeated Captain Hook and his pirates." He replied. Catherine looked at Grissom and then to her daughter. She smiled at the fact that Grissom's having a hard time talking to Lindsey but Lindsey is talking to him like they were the best of friends, understanding each others flaws. And Lindsey knew that Grissom's flaw was talking to children.

"So, where do you want to eat?" Catherine asked her daughter.

"I don't know mommy." Lindsey said, squinting. 'This is,' thought Catherine, 'her way of showing that she's thinking on something.'

"What about Carl's Jr.?" Catherine asked. Lindsey nodded and gave a resounding yes as she took Grissom's hands and squeezed it like she always did with her dad when she's a happy. Grissom looked at Catherine, as if telling her to do something but Catherine just smiled and shook her head as if telling him to just go with it.

Grissom smiled at Lindsey and helped her to climb up of Catherine's SUV. He opened the door to the passenger seat in front and sat down.

A few minutes later, they arrived in Carl's Jr. "What do you want to eat?" Catherine asked her daughter.

"The usual. What do you want to eat Uncle Gil?" she asked Grissom.

"Whatever you're having" he replied, smiling. Still holding Grissom's hand, Lindsey led him to the table near the plastic slides.

"So, how's school?" Grissom asked when they were both sitting down.

"It's okay." She replied.

"Do you want to play?" he asked. He knew he was acting a bit aloof to Lindsey.

"No, not really. Why do you like bugs, Uncle Gil? She asked.

"Because…" that question took him by surprise. 'They're much better than people? He thought.

"…They're interesting." He finished.

"There's this boy in school and he also likes bugs. He has a roomful of them." Lindsey said to him. She looked around and saw her friend.

"Uncle Gil, can I go to my friend? Her name's Zoë and she's over there, and I promise to stay where you can see me." She asked Grissom.

Grissom creased his eyebrows, deliberating for a moment and finally gave in to Lindsey's persistence.

"OK. Just stay in a place where I can see you. K?" he said. With a smile, Lindsey went to her friend

A few minutes later, Catherine came back followed by an employee of the place. He was helping her carry the trays. "Hey, where's Lindsey" she asked as she sat down.

"With Zoë, her friend. She's over there." Grissom pointed to the corner.

Lindsey saw her mom sitting down and she took the hand of her friend and rushed towards them, asking "Mom, may I sleep over at Zoë's? There are no classes tomorrow and I promise I'll be a good girl so that I'll not irritate Zoë's mom. Please???"

Catherine looked at her daughter, then to Grissom and then to Zoë.

"Alright. But eat your dinner first"

"Okay." She replied and proceeded to eat fast.

"Please Lindsey, not that fast, you might choke." Catherine said as she and Grissom (who was secretly fascinated) watch Lindsey eat.

After a few seconds, Lindsey was all done and went with her friend, promising her mother that she'll stay put for thirty minutes. Catherine watched her daughter's retreating figure and shook her head.

"Kids, they grow up so fast." She said to Grissom.

"Yeah, one day, you're helping them tie their shoelaces, the next thing you know, you're crying at her wedding." Grissom replied.

"That's quite perceptive of you" Catherine said as she took a bite of the hamburger.

Grissom shrugged and started eating the French fries. He liked Catherine but… there's something holding him back.

Catherine noticed the look on Grissom's face. "Want to share what you're thinking?" she asked.

"Uh… It's nothing; I just thought that Lindsey is a very beautiful child, inside and outside." He replied.

"Of course, she has a beautiful mother." Catherine said, jokingly. She sipped the cola and asked Grissom if he ever considered marrying. 'What a joke. You just can't think of something philosophical' she said to herself.

"Uhmmm… I did. Once actually. But she was in love with somebody else, a friend of mine. We had mutual friends but she… loved him so much… she married him" he replied.

"Ooh. Did she know?" Catherine asked. The setting that they had is actually funny. Here they are, talking about love and marriage inside a fast food restaurant full of kids.

Grissom smiled and replied, "I think she just thought of me as a friend. Just like Sara believes that Nick thinks of her as a friend."

Catherine's eyes widened. "You know?" she asked as she took a mouthful of her hamburger again.

"Yes. Of course. I can't be a CSI if I don't know how to observe." Gil replied as he took a bite of his cheeseburger.

"That's why you sent them together in Boston?" Catherine asked, talking with her mouth still full. (A/N- yes, I know, very unlike Catherine)

"No. I let fate decide for me." He answered.

"Huh? I thought you didn't believe in fate." She asked

"Well, I sometimes do believe in it. It's not really a logical thing to say but, sometimes, you can't really help it." He responded.

Catherine nodded her head and they proceeded eating in silence (even if the atmosphere of the place isn't really quiet). She was comfortable with Grissom even if there is no conversation at hand. It was actually relaxing.

The dinner finished with Grissom helping Catherine with Lindsey's things. But the shift has just started and they went back to the case that may or may not get swift justice.

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A WEEK LATER

"Good day to you all. I had missed you in Boston." Nick said to Warrick, Catherine, Greg and Grissom as he and Sara entered the break room.

"Hello Nick. What do you have there?" Greg asked, seeing Nick holding a big pink paper bag.

"A little something I bought from Boston." He replied as he went towards Catherine's direction. "This is for Lindsey." He told Catherine as he gave her the paper bag. Warrick looked at Catherine and mouthed I-told-you-so to her.

"So Nick, aside from shopping for teddy bears in Boston, do you have any interesting leads for us?" Grissom asked as Nick and Sara sat down.

"We do have an interesting lead. You see, Jeremy Ericsson and Elliot Mc Mann, both worked for BLS Company. Their manager told us that on the week of the robbery here, they were at the factory, working 16 hours a day. We checked their log in- log out cards (A/N- I don't what those clock slips are called) and confirmed that what the manager told us was true, but…" Nick stopped and Sara continued the 'tale'

"But when we asked the other employees, they told us that their boss, Jason Thorne who is also the president of the company, asked Ericsson and Mc Mann to do a little private work for him. They bragged about it to a lot of people. They said that they were paid a big sum of money for that little job." Sara said. "Guess where that little 'private job' was held?" she asked

"Here in Sin City." Nick answered.

"So where is Mr. Thorne right now?" Grissom asked. This was a new lead to strengthen the case.

"Here in Vegas. Having a business meeting" Nick replied. He was eyeing Sara, who was listening to Grissom. There was something that happened in Boston that made him see a bit of her University life. Sara glanced up to him and smiled. Grissom was already finishing the tasks for the shift.

"Okay, Nick, take Greg with you and go with Brass. Call me if anything turns up. Warrick, check again the tapes and diskettes that the Chris Johanson gave us, Catherine, Sara, there are a lot of things that were sent here by the Boston PD, can you please take a look at it. If anybody needs me, I'll be at my office, doing paperwork." Gil said as he gave them a resigned smile. He stood up and left the room.

A/N- that's all for now… I don't really know what to do for the next chapter. Thanks for reading, review please J .