Author's Note: Soooooo sorry about how long it's taken for me to update this! This school year has been crazier than I had anticipated so I made this chapter extra long for ya'll! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but stay with me 'cuz it is coming! I'd like to thank everyone who's reviewed so far! Ya'll rock! Well, hope you enjoy this chapter! I don't think it's one of my better ones, but...I'll let ya'll decide for yourselves! BTW: There are long flashbacks in this chapter so...yeah...:)

Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, own nothing...except Emily!

Sara stumbled into her apartment after shift emotionally and physically exhausted. All she wanted was a bubble bath and to fall into a dreamless sleep. Actually, what she really wanted was to spend time with Emily. The brunette felt a sickening pain in her gut as she thought about her daughter. She thought back to what had happened at the Lab earlier as she plopped down on the couch.

FLASHBACK

Sara held her daughter as if she were life itself. She didn't want to let go of Emily for fear she may never get to hold her again. The Social Worker let them have some time to themselves as she spoke to Grissom about the situation at hand.

Sara carried Emily to the break room down the hall. She continued to hold Emily even as she sat down on the couch. The little girl sat on Sara's lap and the pair just stared at each other, taking in every detail of the other's features. Emily's eyes came to rest on the necklace around Sara's neck. She reached out and fingered the butterfly charm.

A small smile tugged at the corners of Sara's mouth as she watched her daughter study the green and silver butterfly. The necklace had been given to Sara by her grandmother when she was around Emily's age and it was very special to her. It used to remind her during the bad times that there was still some good left in the world.

Without thinking, Sara reached behind her neck and undid the clasp. Carefully she put the chain around Emily's neck and fastened it. It was a little big on her, but the tiny brunette didn't seem to care. She picked the butterfly up and held it at eye-level, scrutinizing it very carefully. When she seemed satisfied with what she saw, Emily smiled and looked into Sara's eyes. Sara stared back into her daughter's big brown eyes and smiled in return. Emily looked away shyly and glanced around the break room.

The child's wandering eyes landed on the refrigerator and she gazed at it for a few seconds. She turned back to Sara and in her sweet little voice said, "Mommy, I'm thirsty." The word 'mommy' echoed through Sara's mind and heart and inside she felt happier than she ever felt in her entire life.

"Well let's see what's in the fridge, sweetie." With a dimple-revealing grin, Emily hopped off Sara's lap and waited for the CSI to stand up. The small child followed Sara to the mini-fridge. "Alright, what do you want?" Sara asked uncertainly. "Water, juice, soda, milk, tea?"

"I can have anything I want?" Emily asked wide-eyed.

Sara's heart shattered. "Of course." She replied softly.

Emily looked at her, as if to see if she was being tricked. After a moment she timidly asked, "Can I have some juice? Please?"

"Sure." Sara smiled at her and pulled the carton of orange juice out of the mini-fridge. Emily followed her over to the counter and stood on her tiptoes to peek over the top of the counter as she watched Sara pour the juice into a cup.

The CSI smiled down at the curly-haired little girl and said, "C'mere and drink your juice at the table. She walked over to the break room table and set the cup of orange juice down before helping Emily into one of the chairs. "Do you need a straw?" Emily nodded.

As Sara turned back to the counter Catherine and Warrick walked in. They stared at Emily who stared back fearfully. "Oh, hey guys." Sara greeted them as she turned around. "Here, sweetie." She said to Emily, dropping a straw into the cup of juice.

Emily glanced up and smiled slightly at Sara who smiled back, resting her hands on the back of Emily's chair. Sara noticed the look in her daughter's eyes when she looked at Catherine and Warrick. She used to look at adults with that same fear when she was a child.

"Emily." Sara's voice was confident and reassuring. "You don't have to be scared of them. They're my friends. They won't hurt you."

Uncertainly, Emily looked at Catherine and Warrick then glanced back up at Sara who ruffled her hair affectionately.

"Hi, Emily. I'm Catherine." Catherine smiled kindly at the little girl. "This is my friend Warrick." She added, motioning towards the tall CSI.

"Hey there, Emily." Warrick greeted with a big smile. Suddenly Emily giggled. Warrick gave Catherine a sideways glance and said, "What's so funny?" Emily glanced at Sara and then back at Warrick and giggled again. "What!" Warrick exclaimed good-naturedly. Emily stood up on the chair she was sitting in and motioned for Sara to lean down.

The small child whispered something in Sara's ear, which caused the young woman to grin. Sara straightened up and said, "Uh, Emily says she likes your hair, Warrick, 'cuz it looks like a-a chocolate puppy is sitting on your head."

Catherine couldn't contain her laughter. Warrick grinned at the little girl and replied, "I like your hair too, Emily. It looks just like your mom's."

Emily studied Sara for a moment then grinned proudly at her. Turning back to Warrick, she bestowed on him one of her irresistible dimpled grins. Sara's heart melted when she saw that smile.

Apparently so did Catherine's because she exclaimed, "Awww! Look at those dimples! They're just sooo precious!" Warrick's eyes took on a far-off look, as if he was trying to remember something, but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

At that moment Paige Miller, the Social Worker, came in, followed by Grissom, and said, "All right, Ms. Sidle. Mr. Grissom and I have talked everything through and we set up a meeting for tomorrow to discuss this further and decide which course of action to take. Like I told you earlier, I'll need to see those documents so don't forget to bring them with you to the meeting tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am." Sara replied happily.

"Alright, it's settled then. Now, I'm afraid it's time for us to leave." The Social Worker walked over to Emily, who was still standing on her chair. "Come along, Emily. Time to say good-bye."

Emily looked back and forth between Sara and Mrs. Miller with a confused look.

"C'mon. You'll get to see Sara tomorrow."

Emily simply shook her head.

"Now, Emily, it's already past your bedtime and I'm sure Sara is sleepy too."

The little girl glanced at Sara and shook her head, a little more forcefully this time.

"Emily! What has gotten into you? It's time to go." Mrs. Miller exclaimed slightly annoyed.

Emily violently shook her head causing her curls to fly around her face as she clung to Sara. "I don't want to go." She said softly, but firmly.

The Social Worker opened her mouth to speak, but Sara beat her to it. "Uh, she can stay with me, I mean I'll take her – "

"I'm sorry Sara, but I simply can't allow that. You know if I could I would, but my hands are tied here! Now I need to take Emily back to the Home. We've all had a busy day and need to get some sleep." With that she grabbed Emily's arm and gently tugged on it, trying to get the little girl to let go of Sara.

"No!" Emily said, burying her face in Sara's neck.

"Emily." Mrs. Miller tried to persuade. "It's time to go to sleep now, time for us to leave."

"No!" Emily repeated as Sara felt a tear hit the side of her neck.

The Social Worker shot Sara a look that said 'a little help here, please?'

"Emily, sweetheart." Sara said gently. Emily looked up with teary eye. Sara could feel her heart breaking even as she spoke. "You need to go with Mrs. Miller and get some sleep so we can see each other tomorrow."

Emily stared at Sara with a betrayed look. "But I don't wanna go." She replied tearfully.

Sara brought Emily to her in a loving hug. "I know, honey, but you have to."

And that's all it took.

Emily started crying loudly and saying, "N-no! I d-don't wanna g-go! Please d-don't make me g-go! I'll be g-good! I p-promise! Please Mommy!"

Sara couldn't take it; she wasn't ready for this. She attempted to hand the hysterical child to the Social Worker, but Emily had her arms wrapped firmly around Sara's neck. With the Social Worker gently tugging on Emily's torso, Sara tried to pry the child's arms from around her neck. After a few seconds of struggling, Sara managed to break free of her daughter's arms, but the stubborn child grabbed her hand and held it in a death grip.

"Please, Mommy!" Emily sobbed. "Mommy, no! Please!"

Tears spilled from Sara's eyes as Emily's small finger's lost their grip on her hand and the Social Worker immediately hurried from the room with the wailing child.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! PLEASE!" Emily's screams echoed through the halls. "MOMMY! N-O-O-o-o-o!" Sara ran from the room crying, heading in the opposite direction that Emily and the Social Worker had gone.

END OF FLASHBACK

Shaking herself from her reverie, Sara pushed herself up off the couch with a tired sigh and headed towards her bathroom to take a hot shower. After undressing Sara stepped under the steaming spray. A shiver slipped up her spine as she felt her body relax. Her thoughts drifted to Nick for some reason and Sara found herself reliving another memory from earlier that night.

FLASHBACK

Running teary eyed down the hall Sara had no idea where she was going. She eventually found herself on the roof of the Crime Lab. Thinking she was alone, Sara dropped to her knees and broke down and started sobbing. She was so consumed by her thoughts that Sara didn't notice Nick until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

Sara jumped and looked up into Nick's big brown eyes. "Oh! …Nick!" she said, whipping at the tears on her face and looking away so he couldn't see the pain in her eyes.

"Sara….are you ok? What happened? Why are you crying?"

The concern in Nick's voice was too much for Sara to bear. She stood up without looking at him and walked over to the ledge. Sara crossed her arms over her chest and stared out at the night sky.

"Sara?"

Nothing,

"…….Sara?"

Still she said nothing.

"You know what? Fine! I don't even know why I bother! I'll go get Grissom for you all right? Will that make you happy!" Nick spat.

Choking out a sob, Sara turned to look at his retreating figure, confusion and guilt clouding her eyes.

"……Nick…..wait…"

Nick stopped but kept his back to her.

"Nick…….I-I'm sorry. Really."

Nick turned at her apology and looked into her eyes.

"It's just….everything's so….." The thought of the night's events brought tears to Sara's eyes once more. She turned away form Nick again not wanting him to see her cry. In two strides Nick was at her side.

"Sara, what's wrong, honey?"

Taking a deep breath, Sara started to explain. "Gris, caught a break in our case."

"Really?……Well that's good…." Nick said.

"Yeah. He-he found Emily's mother. Her biological mother." Tears began to fill Sara's eyes again.

"Whoa…..adopted? Never would've thought…who's….?"

"It's me." Sara whispered, turning away from Nick once more as tears slipped down her cheeks.

Nick stared, flabbergasted, at Sara's back for a few moments, letting her words sink in. Finally, without a word, he came up behind Sara and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against him and holding her close. He rested his head on top of her's as she turned her head into the crook of his neck. When Sara realized what was happening she pulled away form Nick…….

…..only to turn around in his arms and bury her face in his shoulder. Nick wrapped his strong arms around her once more and held her as close to him as he could. He placed a soft kiss on top of her head when the tears finally stopped and said, "C'mon. I'll take you home."

END OF FLASHBACK

Sara turned off the water in the shower, put her p.j.'s on and crawled into bed, thinking about the feeling of Nick's arms around her. It was something she decided that she definitely wanted to feel again. 'Wait! Do I like Nick?' she thought. "No. It can't be. He's my best friend." She thought aloud. An image of her and Nick on the rooftop of the Lab holding onto one another flashed before her eyes, followed by an image of Nick kissing her after a romantic date. "Oh my gosh……..I'm falling for Nick!"

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Spooky-Phoenix