When Gil and Sara got back to the lab, Catherine met them in the hallway.

"Greg and Warrick are waiting for you in your office, Gil. Sara, I'd like a word, please."

Sara looked at Gil, sending him a silent communication asking for help. He shrugged his shoulders and continued down the hall.

"Coward," she called after him as Catherine dragged her in the direction of her office.

After pushing Sara inside, she shut and locked the door. "Ok now, spill. I want details. You and Grissom are planning to have a family?"

Sara plopped down in the chair. "Cath, I don't really think this is the best place to discuss my personal life-"

"Oh please! Conrad is so oblivious to the two of you that you could have sex in Gil's office in front of him, and he still wouldn't believe that you're in a relationship!"

Sara blushed.

"I knew it! You two have had sex in Gil's office!"

"Catherine! Please lower your voice before you get all of us in trouble," Sara pleaded, a grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. "And for the record, I plead the fifth."

"I'll bet you do," Catherine chuckled. "So – are you pregnant?"

Sara shook her head. "No, but a few months back I was late and that got us talking about starting a family-"

Six months ago

"Sara, have you seen my brown suit jacket? I need it for court this afternoon-" Gil's voice trailed off as Sara came out of the bathroom, her face pale, her hands clutching her birth control pills. "Sara, honey, what's wrong?"

"I'm late."

If she hadn't been holding the pills, Gil would have wondered what she was late for – but instead he swallowed and asked, "How late?"

"Five days."

He nodded thoughtfully. It wasn't too much – but Sara was pretty regular in her cycles. He was surprised that neither of them had noticed, but then again, this new miniature killer case had them all on edge and working overtime.

"Gil? Are you-"

He lifted his head to see that Sara was still frozen in the bathroom doorway, her expression fixed on him. He sighed and lifted his hand, inviting her to join him on the bed. She came to his side, and he pulled her down next to him, threading their fingers together. "Have you taken a test?"

She shook her head. "No, I just now realized I was late – I guess I could run out and get one. Then we'd know for sure."

She was gone before Gil could say anything more.

The test was negative and that evening her cycle started. The next morning after their shift was over and they lay cuddling in bed, Gil tried once again to give voice to his feelings.

"Sara?"

"Hmm?"

"Yesterday – when we thought you might be pregnant – I was-"

"Terrified?" Sara supplied, a wry grin on her face.

"Actually, no."

"Really?" she pulled back enough to study his face. "I was."

"You were?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we haven't talked much about children – and our lives aren't exactly set up for them-"

"Doesn't mean that we couldn't rearrange some things – set up our life for children."

Sara sat up and looked down at Gil. "You're serious? You want to have a baby – right now?"

He cleared his throat, one hand caressing her thigh. "Are you opposed to having a child with me, Sara Sidle?"

Her mouth opened and closed, once, twice, three times. This beautiful man had rendered her speechless! For years she had loved him in secret, never dreaming that they would ever be together like this, yet here they were. And now he was asking if she would consider having his baby. Another dream that she had never dared to consider might one day come true.

Sara leaned down, looping her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his. "Gilbert Grissom, I never thought I'd see the day when you'd wake up and see me as someone you could love." She dropped a kiss on his mouth. "And now you're asking me to have a child with you?"

He arched an eyebrow. "You don't think I'm too-"

She clapped a hand over his mouth. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. I think you and I will make wonderful parents one day-"

"So, that's a yes?"

She laughed and dropped her head back to his chest, over his heart. "Yes. Let's make a baby."

"You've been trying for six months and nothing's happened? Have you been to the doctor to see if you have-"

Sara held up her hands. "Whoa, Cath. It's only been six months and work has been really crazy with the miniature killer. The past two months Gil has been distracted-"

"Too distracted for sex? Sara, I see I have been neglecting you. I need to teach you some of the special arts of-"

"No, thank you. Gil and I are doing just fine on our own."

Catherine blew out a breath, then grinned. "I can't wait to see the look on Conrad's face when you turn up pregnant- with Gil's baby."

Sara giggled. "I guess then we really will have to go public – baby bumps are impossible to hide!"

The team scoured the photos with the first names of the fosters and attempted to locate them in a current database. Greg took the name Lionel Dell and finally found a birth certificate for the son of Ernie and Belle. Digging deeper, Greg found a court record changing Lionel Dell's name to Mitch Peters.

"The kid took his mother's maiden name after he turned eighteen," Greg announced as he flew back into the lounge where everyone else had gathered.

"Great work," Grissom said. "Do we know where he is?"

Greg shook his head. "He's not in Nevada – I searched and there is multiple Mitch Peters listed in Arizona and California. I didn't know if I should extend my search or not-"

Sara sighed. "Alina knows where he is – if I could just convince her to give me his phone number. It's a long shot, but he might remember one of these kids enjoying building models with Ernie."

"Why is she so protective of this kid?" Nick asked.

"She more or less adopted him after his stint in juvie – she had no children of her own and I think Lionel became the child she never had," Grissom explained, sharing a look with Sara, who nodded in agreement.

"She's a mama bear protecting her cub – I don't think she wants the police finding out that Ernie Dell, the miniature killer, has a biological child. She's shielding him from the press," Sara added.

"Makes sense," Catherine nodded. "My own father was bad enough – but having the world believe your father was a serial killer – I'd want to hide myself and be anonymous too."

"Except we don't believe Ernie was the mastermind," Greg argued. "Or even that he killed anyone. Sooner or later the miniature killer is going to strike again."

The team looked at each other after Greg's statement, their expressions grim. Everyone hoped that the lab tech turned agent was wrong, but they were afraid he was right.

Only time would tell.

A MONTH LATER

"Good morning, Natalie. You're here awfully early."

"I have a new job after this – I needed to get an early start today."

"Oh, well, I won't keep you then."

Natalie nodded at Judy and rolled her cart on down the hallway, doing her best to make it seem like it weighed the same as usual – that there was nothing on it that shouldn't be there. She made quick work of cleaning Willows' office but instead of moving to Grissom's when she was finished, she cleaned all the other areas first, including the hallway, mopping the floor, and dusting the plaques and pictures on the wall.

When she eventually reached the big glass office, she rolled her heavier than usual cart inside and closed the door. She needed to be extra careful if she was going to pull this off. Her hands had already started to shake, so she took a moment to breathe in and out, calming her nerves. No one must suspect that it was she who was leaving this package – it must just magically appear and when questioned, Judy would have no answer to give about who had left it.

Natalie left the office twenty minutes later, her cart lighter, and her hands steady.

"Bye, Judy."

The mousy woman looked up from her desk and smiled. "Bye, Natalie. Good luck at your new job."

"Thanks. See you tomorrow."

Natalie waited until Judy's gaze fell back to her desk before she pushed her cart towards the front doors of the lab. She held her breath, waiting for a voice to stop her, to ask her about the package on Grissom's desk, but it never came.

Natalie pushed her cart out into the warm, bright Las Vegas sunlight and smiled. She hoped that she had taken care of things in time. Through her job at the lab, she had learned that Aunt Alina had talked, but not enough to jeopardize her identity – at least not yet. But Natalie couldn't take the chance that the CSI's would leave the woman alone. They would keep pumping her for information – and who knew what she might remember?

So, Natalie had no choice but to take care of the threat. Alina wouldn't do anymore talking – to anyone.

"Good evening, Dr. Grissom."

"Hello, Judy."

"There's a big package for you on your desk."

Gil looked up from the stack of messages he was perusing, and Sara also paused by his side in the act of shrugging off her coat.

"Did you sign for it?"

Judy frowned. "No, I – I just noticed it sitting there when I came on shift."

Sara and Gil traded looks, but Sara shrugged and headed for his office.

"Thanks, Judy," Gil threw the words over his shoulder as he raced after Sara.

She was staring down at the box when he entered and stood behind her.

"No return address – do you think we dare open it, or should I call the bomb squad?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Dear, I'm sure it's fine." He picked up a letter opener and handed it to her. "Do the honors?"

Sara slid the opener through the tape and opened the top of the box, her hands freezing as she saw the contents. "Gil-" her voice broke on his name. "It's another miniature."

He dropped the message slips on his desk and leaned over her shoulder. "Wait until I get gloves-"

"It's Alina's living room-"

"What!" he shouted as he handed her a pair. "Are you sure?"

She slid her hands inside the latex and then slipped them inside the box, lifting out the miniature. "Follow me," she ordered as she left his office, heading for the layout room.

"Catherine!" Gil called. "Nick, Warrick!"

Sara saw Greg's head pop out of the lab, followed by everyone else. "You too, Greg. Layout, now!"

They followed in Gil's wake and watched as Sara gently set the miniature on the table.

"Damn it, not another one!" Nick moaned.

"It was delivered here?" Catherine asked.

Gil nodded. "Addressed to me, left on my desk."

"But, why?" Greg shook his head.

"It's personal now."

"You really think so, Gris?" Warrick was surprised. "Why would the miniature killer target you?"

"Because they blame me for Ernie's death-"

"I think that's a stretch, Gil-" Catherine argued.

Sara slapped the table with an open palm. "Can we debate that later? Guys, this is Alina's house – Ernie's sister-in-law."

Silence fell over the group at Sara's announcement.

Nick pointed a finger at the little doll figure face down by the coffee table. "Is that Alina?"

"I don't know who else it could be – she lives alone. I'm going to see if I can get her on the phone-"

"Sara-" Gil interrupted.

"If I can't, I'll call Brass – see if he can call Boulder City PD and have them do a wellness check-"

"Sara!"

"What?"

"Look at the newspaper on the table – it has yesterday's date."

"Yeah, and the headline: 'Miniature killer claims another victim'. We're too late," Greg groaned.

Sara shook her head. "I won't accept that – not yet." She ripped off her gloves and stormed out, phone in hand.

Gil frowned but stayed in the room, knowing that he needed to give her space to work things out. "OK, until we know for sure we have another victim, we need to analyze this miniature-"

Nick and Warrick raised their hands, volunteering for the job.

Gil nodded. "Greg, I want you to see if you can figure out how this box made it into my office-"

Greg gave a salute. "On it, boss."

Catherine spoke up as Greg left the room. "What should I do, Gil?"

He sighed. "I need to you to take charge for a while. Technically we don't even have a case yet, just another miniature. I need you to hold down the fort and hand out assignments as they come in. I'm going to head back to Boulder City and check on Alina-"

"You better take Sara with you. She'll be useless to me if you leave her behind."

I nodded and went out to the hall where I found Sara on the phone, pacing back and forth. She held up a finger and I waited until she thanked Jim and hung up.

"I couldn't get an answer at Alina's, so I called Jim. He's going to call BCPD and get an officer to do a wellness check. So, I guess now we wait."

I shook my head as I grabbed her elbow and steered her down the hall. "Catherine can handle things here – let's go check on Alina ourselves, hmm?"

She stopped and stared at me. "You think she's dead, don't you?"

"I'm not letting myself think anything until we get there and see for ourselves, all right?"

Sara swallowed hard and began walking towards the exit. She didn't notice Ecklie as she passed him on the way out even though he called her name twice.

"Sorry, Conrad, we're in a bit of a hurry," I explained as I came up to him by the doors.

"Really? Where's the fire, Gil?"

"I've received another miniature-"

"Seriously? I thought that case was closed."

"Me too," I lied. "But Sara and I are going to check it out – we recognize the location. Catherine is in charge until I get back."

"Gil," Conrad grabbed my arm. "Is there something I need to know?"

"About what?"

"Do we have a victim? Has there been a 419 called in to go with the miniature?"

"Not yet – but Sara and I have a lead that we're following and will call with more information from the road as soon as we have it. I need to go, Conrad. Time is of the essence here."

Conrad released my arm. "Keep me posted."

I nodded once. "Of course."

You'll know what you need to know when you need to know it, I vowed silently as I raced to Denali that Sara already had running and ready to roll.