Title: Entreaty

By: Manigault

Thanks for reading this story! Thanks to those of you who have hit that button on the bottom of the page and replied. Much appreciated.

Again, thanks to Donna for beta reading this and for the wonderful suggestions! I took them all, of course. Thank you.

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Grissom walked quickly over to where Sara was standing and reached for the paper as she continued to speak. "It's a signed confession from Olivia."

The paper trembled in Grissom's hand and he turned incredulous eyes on her unsmiling face. "That can't be possible."

"That was my reaction, but this was faxed to me only seconds ago and I called the office to confim with the local police."

Grissom was still shaking his head as he read the statement aloud. "I, Olivia Martin confess to luring Mr. Giles out to a spot where Andy could shoot him and then leave his body. We left and Andy took off for New York City where he could lose himself in the crowds."

Grissom shook his head again. "This doesn't make sense. I want to talk to Olivia."

"I asked the local police to transport her to Vegas," Sara told them that she would arrive, along with her parents, in the next few hours.

Catherine watched them with compassion. They were exhausted. "Why don't both of you go home, take a shower, and grab a little sleep before the suspect arrives? I'll call you if anything new comes in."

Sara knew that Catherine did not intend for her suggestion to sound so suggestive but the thought of going home with Grissom and taking a shower was appealing to her frayed nerves. She then thought about Tom sitting alone in Grissom's office and inwardly sighed as she turned to Grissom.

"You should take Tom to your place and try to get him to rest for a little while. I can meet you back here in three hours?"

Grissom nodded. He did need to shower and rest for at least an hour, but the thought of Sara going to her home and not to his was some what agitating to him. He told her that he would walk out with her if she gave him time to find Tom.

"I'll be in the locker room," said Sara. She avoided Warrick and Catherine's eyes as she preceded him out of the room and they turned in opposite directions.

Grissom knocked softly on his office door before he pushed it open. Tom was still sitting in the same chair, but this time he held his cell phone against his ear and spoke gently to the person on the other end of the line.

"I'll call you as soon as I find out anyting else, Elaine, and I appreciate your being there. I knew she wouldn't take it very well." Tom clicked the off button and turned to look over his shoulder at Grissom. "They all know. I called Alex first and he is on his way here as we speak."

Grissom did not want to meet Alex. He could not imagine seeing Kyle's identical twin when he had been so heavily involved in finding the brother.

"I'm going home for a few hours to rest. Why don't you come with me?" Grissom waited for the other man to respond and found himself somewhat relieved with his reply.

"I'll stay here if that's okay with you Gil? Alex will be here soon and I don't want to leave..." He left the sentence unfinished but it was apparent that he did not want to leave Kyle.

"You can stay here, Tom, that's fine." Grissom felt uneasy about leaving him, but at the same time he wanted to escape this building. "Call me if you need anything?"

Tom thanked him and turned away.

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Sara was waiting for him when he entered the locker room. She was sitting on the bench, facing the lockers, her shoulders slumped. Grissom thought of all of the times he had wanted to slide onto the bench and take her hands in his own.

He stepped forward, deciding to take a chance that she would be open to him sitting on the bench and following his impulse to offer comfort, when she spoke. He had not even realized that she knew he was in the room.

"I was thinking about Mattie," Sara said without turning her head to look at him. "He had so much hope that we would be able to find his dad and brother and now he doesn't even have that."

Grissom didn't know what to say, so he said the only thing that popped into his head. "There is still a chance that we will find Andy."

"If we do find him? What then, Grissom? If Olivia is telling the truth then he is facing prison. Mattie then has to then face the fact that his dad is gone and his brother murdered him."

Grissom knew that Sara had developed a soft spot for the boy, but he did not know how strong that was until now. "I'll ask Tom if he knows how Mattie he doing when we get back."

"I was thinking that we could call him." Sara stood up from the bench and walked towards him with an expectant look. "I'm sure that he'd like to hear from you."

Grissom rubbed his beard in thought. "Okay, but not here. We'll go home, take a shower, sleep a couple of hours, and then call him. That sound okay to you?"

Sara stared at him with shock. "Home? Your home?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Grissom. A comprehension of what she was talking about hit him like an iron fist. "I meant my home. My townhome." He was flustered and her grin was not helping the situation.

"Relax, Griss. It sounds like a plan."

She held the door open for him as he followed her from the locker room.

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Sara tried to roll over and felt her body trapped by something. Her eyes flew open and reality swept back into her mind as quickly as the knowledge that it was Grissom's arm that was wrapped around her. Twisting around, she found that he was pressed up against her back, his eyes still closed.

"Grissom?" Sara whispered after she managed to twist her whole body around until she was facing him. "Gris? Your cell phone is ringing."

"I'm ignoring it," Grissom whispered back, never opening his eyes. "If it's important they'll leave a message."

Sara kissed his nose and reached over him for the phone on the night table. Grissom let out a groan as she crawled over his body, but he did not try to stop her. Once the phone was in her hands, she looked at the caller id and said softly. "It's important." she pressed the button and spoke into the mouthpiece. "Hello?" She had an idea that it was Mattie, but it could be Elaine or someone else using the Giles' phone.

A young boy's sobbing broke over the line and Sara felt her heart breaking. "Mattie? Is that you honey?"

Grissom was wide awake with those words. He stared up at Sara's face and listened to her side of the conversation. "Mattie? I'm going to give the phone to your Uncle Gil, okay? Honey, I want you to call me too if you ever need to talk." She listened as the sobs continued, but she heard a whispered thanks from Mattie. Scooting off Grissom, she handed the phone to him, before heading to the bathroom to give him some privacy. She felt her own tears welling up and decided the move would benefit them both.

Grissom gripped the phone and sat up slowly. He was clueless about what to say to comfort the child. "Mattie? Do you feel like talking to me? Is anybody with you?"

The sobs were slowing and turning into hiccups as Mattie tried to gain control of his emotions. Giving him time, Grissom sat with the phone pressed against his ear and waited for the boy to reply. Grissom heard the water running in the shower and knew that Sara was taking her second shower in the last few hours. He glanced over at the alarm clock and calculated that they had only slept for two hours.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Gil, I shou...shouldn't have..have called you." Mattie's stuttered speech tore at Grissom's own emotions. He wished the boy were in front of him so that he could wrap his arms around him and hold him close. And then was amazed by his own paternal instincts.

"Mattie, I'm glad that you called me. I planned on calling you soon anyway to see how you are doing."

"You did?" asked Mattie.

Grissom could hear the relief in the childs voice. "Sara and I both wanted to talk to you. We're worried about you, Mattie."

"I'm okay. I talked to Uncle Tom and he told me that you found my dad." Mattie was able to formulate his words without breaking down. "I told him that I wanted to see him, but he said that wasn't a good idea yet. He said maybe later."

Grissom knew that Tom was trying to protect the child. "What else did he tell you Mattie?"

"That someone shot him and that he didn't feel any pain." Mattie's voice broke into a sob again.

Grissom waited patiently for the child to become calm before he asked one of the questions he had already asked him. "Is anyone with you, Mattie?"

"My mom is taking care of my grandmom. She isn't doing so well." Mattie told him with another short sob. "My sister is with my aunt at her house."

"You're at your grandmom's house, Mattie?" Grissom stressed. He knew that they could not have left him alone. The silence was bothersome to him. "Mattie?"

"I was supposed to go with my aunt, but I told her that my mom was letting me stay with the neighbor. Everyone is so upset that it was easy."

Releasing a heavy sigh, Grissom had to ask. "Why do that, Mattie? You don't want to cause your mom more worry do you?"

This resulted in another round of sobs and Grissom felt like shit. "I'm sorry, Mattie. Listen, okay? Let me call someone to come stay with you until your mom can pick you up or someone can take you to your grandmoms. Mattie?"

"I want to see you and Sara."

Grissom did not know how much more of this emotional rollercoaster he could endure. Scribbling a note on a pad next to his bed, he took the piece of paper over to the bathroom and opened the door.

"We'd like to see you, Mattie, but right now you need to be with an adult. Okay?"

Sara looked up from where she was toweling her legs off and stood abruptly when she saw the paper that Grissom was holding out for her to read. With a quick nod, Sara left the bathroom to find her own cell phone, and grabbed a t-shirt in the process.

"How are you doing, Mattie?" Grissom returned to the bedroom and looked around for his jogging pants. With one hand he pulled them on while listening to Mattie as he began to cry once again.

"I'm scared, Uncle Gil." Mattie managed to say as Grissom left the bedroom to go in search of Sara. He found her on the patio talking to someone on her own phone. She waved him away as she talked, not wanting Mattie to overhear the conversation. Grissom backed up and walked to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee as he tried to soothe the little boy.

"I know that you're scared, Mattie, that's why someone needs to be with you."

"I'm not scared of being alone, Uncle Gil, I'm scared of never seeing my dad again, or Andy."

What could he say to that sentiment? He had no idea. Sara walked back into the room and scribbled something on a piece of paper. He read it and nodded.

"Mattie? Sara called your mom and let her know that you're okay." He waited for a response, but there was silence. "She also called Eric from the local police department. Your mom said that you know him? Eric is going to come over to your house to pick you up, okay?"

Sara held out her hand for the phone and Grissom turned it over to her.

"Mattie, your mom said that you could come stay with your Uncle Gil for a few days if you want. You do? Okay, so Eric told me that he could drive you up here to see us and to see your Uncle Tom."

Grissom shook his head vigorously. It was not that he did not want to see Mattie, but now was not the right time. Sara touched his lips with her fingers as she listened to Mattie's excited response.

"Okay. So, Eric is there already? Wow, he is fast. Okay, can I speak with him?" Sara spoke to the police officer that Elaine had said she trusted implicitly and gave him directions to the lab.

Once off the phone, she turned to Grissom with an apologetic smile. "Elaine is in no condition to take care of Mattie right now, Gris. Neither is Nan. I don't know what else to do except let him come see you."

Expecting an angry response from Grissom, she was not prepared for him to wrap his arms around her and squeeze her as he kissed her forehead. "Thank you for caring so much, Sara. Thank you for taking all of my problems and making them your own."

Hugging him back, Sara protested lightly. "Mattie is no problem and I'm the one that should be thanking you for involving me in your life."

Grissom's lips met hers in a tender kiss. "I'm going to call the lab and see if there is any news. After that we should eat something and then head back there to check on Tom."

Sara agreed and they moved about getting ready as if they had been doing it for years.

TBC