Title: Returning Home

Author: Elizabeth Kelly

Rating: PG-13 (T)

Disclaimer: CSI, its plot and characters, belong to CBS Worldwide Inc., and Alliance Atlantis Productions.

Summary: GSR - What if something you thought was lost forever, returned home?

Chapter Fourteen

"Good Morning America, I'm Carol Henway and making the news this morning, the jury at the trial of suspected child kidnapper Timothy Isaacs, is expected to hand down the verdict later today. Isaacs was arrested six months ago and charged with the kidnapping of then nine-year-old Emily Guthrie and six-year-old Madeleine Grissom. The two girls were held captive for nearly five years, before the eldest of the two managed to run away and alert police. If convicted, Mr Isaacs is facing life in prison with no chance of parole. In other news today…" the TV shut off.

"I just want this over with," Sara groaned from her position perched on the edge of the bed in her hotel room. Grissom finished buttoning up his shirt, and walked over to sit beside her, gently taking her hand.

"I know, honey, we all do." Sara fell sideways so that her head rested on Grissom's shoulder. He absent-mindedly stroked her hair, as he thought over the events of the last few months.

After a couple of weeks in Bakersfield, the doctors felt it was safe to transport Maddie to a private hospital in downtown Las Vegas so that she could be closer to her parents. Since arriving in Vegas, Maddie had been seeing a psychiatrist specialising in childhood trauma. Over the months they had made a significant amount of progress. The inevitable nightmares that had plagued her since she returned home had lessened in number, but not in intensity. Despite the progress, the trial seemed to have brought back a lot of memories, and as much as her parents tried to shield her from anything pertaining to the case she still had to testify, she still had to see his face.

Grissom returned to work, whilst Sara, much to everyone's surprise, took indefinite leave in order to spend her time as an at home mum. As much as Grissom wanted to be the one that stayed home, he knew that money-wise, his Supervisor's salary paid a lot more than Sara's lowly CSI3 salary did.

Once deemed safe by thedoctors, Madeleine returned to school, scared and unsure but, after a lot of work with the psychiatrist, determined to get over her fear. Since the first time they discussed Maddie returning to school, back when shehad first been found, Sara and Maddie had reversed their positions. Maddie wanted to go to help conquer her fear and move on with her life. Sara on the other hand, was petrified of something happening. She was only persuaded when Grissom bought Maddie a mobile phone and taught her how to send a text message if anything was wrong.

Slowly but surely, things were improving. Grissom and Sara had bought a house together in the outer suburbs of Las Vegas for a number of reasons. Firstly, both Sara and Maddie were reluctant to stay in Sara's apartment, knowing that Maddie had been held hostage in that very same building. Secondly, Grissom and Sara had wanted to provide a stable environment for their daughter to live in and they felt that making her travel between two apartments wasn't the life she needed. It also helped take Sara and Grissom to that next step. Slowly but surely they were rebuilding their relationship. They had passed friendship and had moved onto something slightly more intimate. Both were happy with their current situation as they felt they were building a much stronger foundation for their relationship to stand on. All together things had been looking up.

Whimpers, coming from behind the door on the other side of the room,drew Sara and Grissom's attention. They knew what those sounds meant and without hesitation both stood up and crossed the room. Grissom opened the door, and sure enough Maddie was tossing and turning in her bed.

"Maddie? Wake up, honey," Grissom said, more to himself than to Maddie. He knew she wouldn't be able to hear him. He gently shook her shoulder, trying to get her to stir. Sara rubbed her hand on Maddie's back, trying to gently bring her back to consciousness. Slowly Maddie awoke, sweat beaded on her forehead. She jumped when she realised that there were hands on her back and shoulder. Turning quickly, she met the eyes of her parents and she relaxed.

'It was just a bad dream,' Sara signed. Maddie shook her head.

"No it was real," she replied. "I was there, it happened." Sara pulled Maddie into a hug, rocking her gently back and forth.

Grissom forced himself to appear calm, but Maddie's inner turmoil was breaking his heart.

'Would you like something special for breakfast?' Grissom signed and spoke to Maddie, as she watched him over Sara's shoulder.

"Pancakes, please," she replied. Grissom smiled softly at her.

"Sara?" he questioned.

"Just some fruit, I don't think I can eat very much."

"You need to eat something substantial, I will order you some toast as well," he said in a tone that meant he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Pulling up outside the courthouse, Sara and Grissom eyed the crowd warily. After paying the driver, they exited the cab. The throng of reporters had turned towards the car as it pulled up and when the family exited, they mobbed the car. Instinctively, they each took one of Maddie's hands and kept her between them as they were escorted through the press by court house security.

They were led into a small room near the court room that had been provided for them as a place to escape the press. Inside Emily and her parents were already seated, anxiously waiting for the verdict to commence. Immediately, Emily and Maddie were at each others sides. When they were in the same room it was very hard to separate them. The psychiatrist had explained that it was to be expected that they would be close.

"They both survived a traumatic experience together, it is only natural that they would form a bond that no one else would be able to understand," She had said.

To accommodate, Grissom and Sara had done everything they could to keep the girls in contact, bar moving to San Francisco. The girls wrote letters and emails, and ever since Sara had shown Maddie how to use instant messaging, they had constantly been online chatting. The constant clicking of the keyboard keys was slowly driving Sara crazy, but she kept quiet because she knew that Maddie needed to talk to someone, even if it couldn't be her.

"James, Adrianna, how are you this morning?" Grissom asked, shaking Emily's parent's hands.

"We've been better," James replied, offering a weak smile. "Personally, I just want this to be over."

"Me too," echoed Sara, Adrianna and Grissom, as they watched the two girls conversing fluidly in sign language quite unlike the sign language that Grissom and Sara knew.

Sara watched, Grissom, James and Adrianna deep in conversation about something or other and the two girls in a world of their own, as she tried to keep the bile from rising up her throat. It had been a long and emotional trip to San Francisco for everyone, but Sara had found the trial particularly difficult. She had been in plenty of court rooms before, understandably with her job, but this particular court room had significant meaning to Sara. This was only her second trial held in this particular courtroom, but she had every detail etched into her memory, from the sound echoing off the walls, to the details on the chairs, to the smell of the room and the stain on the carpet of the second row on the right-hand side. The last time she was in this room, her life had been turned upside down.

"Sara? Sara?" Sara jumped as a hand tapped on her shoulder. Turning around quickly to scold the person who interrupted her thinking, she came face to face with her foster mother, immediately her anger dissipated. "It's time, Sara," she said kindly, gently guiding Sara to the door that led to the courtroom.

Walking down the aisle, Sara felt the many eyes on her. She wished she didn't have to be here. She wished that she was anywhere but in that courtroom. Slowly, she sat down onto the hard wooden bench, trying to avoid the gaze of the woman not ten feet away, who was trying to get her attention.

"All rise!" the Bailiff called and everyone stood as Judge Waterston entered the court room. Sara tuned out most of the legal mumbo jumbo that followed, she knew the line that would matter the most, the line that would affect her entire life.

"How do you find the defendant?"

"In the crime of murder in the second degree, we the jury find the defendant, Laura Sidle, guilty." The rest of the juror's words were drowned out by the murmuring of the crowd.

Sara sat numbly in her seat. Guilty, her mother was guilty of killing her father. In that moment she honestly couldn't have told you if she was happy or upset with the decision. On one hand, it meant the beatings, the alcohol and the fighting all stopped. On the other hand it also meant she had no one, no family and no friends.

"Sara, sweetheart, I did this for us. I love you, remember that," Laura Sidle yelled across the courtroom, as Sara wiped a stray tear that had escaped her eye. She turned to her foster mother.

"I want to go now, please," she said standing up and exiting the room, never acknowledging her mothers cries.

Andrew slowed as he entered the courthouse, breathing heavily from his dash from his car, through the press and into the building. He had been stuck in the office and had only just got away. The court should be going into to session soon, and he had feared that he wouldn't make it. Apart from needing to be there in an official capacity as lead FBI investigator, Andrew had wanted to sit beside his sister, niece and brother-in-law, he knew that Sara would need the comfort.

Sara had never talked about her mother's trial. Whenever he would ask, she would say that it was all in the past and he shouldn't worry about it. He had seen Sara's reaction when she was told what courtroom the trial was going to be in, and he wasn't an FBI investigator for nothing. Nodding to the courthouse security as he passed, he smiled as he recognised three of the four heads in front of him.

"Mum, Dad!" he called out, chasing after them.

"Andy," his mother said stepping forward to give her son a hug. He pulled back and shook his father's hand.

"Dad."

"It's good to see you, son," Thomas replied.

"Mrs Grissom, it's good to see you again," Andrew said slowly and carefully, making sure she could read his lips before stepping forward to kiss Grissom's mother on the cheek.

"Oh, Andrew, it has been too long I'm afraid," she said patting him lightly on the cheek. Andrew smiled at her and turned to face the last of the quartet.

"Hi, I'm Andrew, Sara's brother," he introduced himself, extending his hand out in greeting.

"I'm Rosa, Mrs Grissom's nurse. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances," she smiled, shaking his hand.

"Me too," he replied. "It's good of you all to come today. I know Gil, Sara and Maddie would appreciate your support," he said gesturing for them to follow him as he led them to the room where everyone was waiting.

"We wanted to be here for them, but we just couldn't sit through the trial, it's too depressing," his mother explained.

"Quite understandable," Andrew replied. "I've never really liked trials myself."

"I would have tried to come sooner but Rosa refused to drive me up here, but I am glad I could be here today," Mrs Grissom said, having been keeping up with the conversation through Rosa's signing.

"Well, you came, that's all that matters," Andrew said opening to door to the waiting room.

"Mum! Dad!" Sara said jumped up to greet her foster parents, giving each of them a hug and kiss on the cheek. Grissom, meanwhile, was conversing rapidly with his mother in sign language, before giving her a hug.

An abrupt knock on the door, brought an end to their greetings. The room fell silent as Andrew, who was closest to the door, opened it to find a court attendant standing there.

"They're ready for you now," he announced to the two families, and proceeded to lead them to the courtroom.

They paused outside the doors and Sara stopped to take a deep breath. Grissom sensing her discomfort, grabbed her hand in his and held it tightly intertwining their fingers. The doors opened and their large party entered the court room. Sara felt the familiar sense of déjà vu strike her as she walked down that aisle. The court spectators were watched the group as they walked down the aisle. They made their way to the front row and sat. Sara held Grissom's hand in her left hand and Maddie's in her right. The seconds seemed to tick by slowly, and Sara's heart was racing, the anxiety reaching an all time high. Grissom noticed her uneasiness and squeezed her hand again and immediately she felt a little calmer, at least she no longer felt like throwing up.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the bailiff asked to court to stand and Sara's heart jumped into her mouth. Grissom let go of Sara's hand so that he could translate what was being said for Maddie. Once again Sara tuned out all of the legal talk and concentrated on listening for those important few words.

"Jury? How do you find the defendant?"

"On the charge of two counts of kidnapping, we find the defendant, Timothy Isaacs, not guilty by reason of mental defect."

A/N: Ok, please don't hate me! I know it's been a long time, approx. six months I think, but I had the worst case of writer's block and I ran out of enthusiasm for the story, which is never a good thing. Anyway, as much as I would love to say my muse is cooperating with me at the moment it isn't, plus I have a Med School Admissions test coming up soonwhich I will be studying for, so I'm not going to give you a time frame for when the next chapter will be out, though I do promise that I will NOT abandon this story and I will get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thank you for all your kind reviews and sticking with this story. - Liz