Thanks to Aly and Bulletgirl1723 for reviewing! I'm glad you liked the last chapter!

Chapter Thirty Four: A Happy Ending

Chicago Public Library, Illinois

Vivian stared at the checkerboard in front of her. She had been playing chess with Martin for what seemed like ages now, and he was still deciding on where he should move his chess piece. She took her gaze off of the checkerboard and looked at Martin. "It's your turn," she announced.

"I know," Martin replied. "I'm still thinking."

"Well, hurry up," said Vivian. "You take too long to think."

Martin shot her an annoyed glance, but finally moved his chess piece. "There, you happy now?"

"Yes," said Vivian, "because now, I've won the game." She moved her chess piece on the checkerboard to show him her win. He looked at her in dismay, and then quickly shook his head. He got up from his chair and moved over to where Jack, Elena, and Samantha were. Vivian glanced at Danny, who had been observing the recent game. "Do you want to face me?"

Danny looked around, in hopes of another person to take his position, and then shrugged. "Ah, what the heck, why not?" he asked. He sat down where Martin had just been sitting and then they began the game.

A little farther away from them was Thirteen, still resting on the couch. Hawkes was near her, sitting on the floor and resting his head against the couch. She looked down at him. "You know, you didn't have to stay here. I'm fine by myself."

"I know," replied Hawkes. "I can do my part though."

"But you're the scientist," said Thirteen. "You should be over with your team, talking to them, not to me."

"I was once part of a surgical staff," said Hawkes. "And I used to work in the morgue, performing autopsies. So I do know enough in the medical field to be a doctor."

"Well, I thank you Dr. Hawkes, for taking care of me," said Thirteen.

"You're welcome," said Hawkes. "But Dr. Chase did help you too."

"I'll thank him later," replied Thirteen. "He, anyway, didn't seem to care. He loves Cameron too much to care for anyone else. And Cameron is too busy interpreting things to Cuddy to even think twice about me. We never really got along anyway. And Kutner, Taub, and Foreman could care less either." She hadn't mentioned Wilson, but she barely ever talked to him, so she didn't think he cared either.

"They care," Hawkes reassured her. "They may not seem like they care, but they do."

"Maybe," said Thirteen.

"So your name is "Thirteen"?" asked Hawkes.

"Not exactly," replied Thirteen. "It's just a nickname."

"So what's your real name?"

Thirteen smiled. "What's yours?"

"Sheldon Hawkes," he replied. "But I'm guessing you won't tell me yours."

Thirteen nodded. "You've got me all figured out."

In mention of their names, the six doctors stood by the window, conversing amongst themselves. Cuddy was farther away from the group, sitting on the ledge of a window and gazing out of it. Nothing but snow lay outside, and it almost covered the entire window. Clouds blocked the stunning blue sky, but she thought she could see sunlight start to shine through. The sight reminded her of House, and she longed to know where he had been throughout the time of the storm, what he had been doing to benefit the both of them.

She took her gaze away from the window and watched the others around her. No matter how hard she strained to hear them, she would never hear a sound. She could see them talk, but no voices came out of their mouth as they spoke. As the days had passed by, she had wondered what it was like to hear, the sound of the rushing flood waters that had claimed Chicago, the noise of the wind blowing against the windows, the sound of the fire crackling through the night, the worried voices of her friends. She hadn't cared for the storm that devastated all of them; she just wondered what it was like to hear. But she had come to the thought that she would never hear again or even come close to making it another week through the storm.

She looked towards the group of doctors. She jumped down from the ledge and walked over to join them. Cameron greeted her with a friendly smile; the others didn't seem to notice her appearance. But soon Foreman and Wilson nodded to her, while Kutner and Taub waved. Chase didn't try to make any impression, but she knew he wasn't glad that she was there. She just ignored him; she didn't care what he thought. She turned to Cameron and signed inquiringly, "Where do you think House is?"

Cameron translated for the group, yet she wasn't really interested in the rest of the team's answer. "Where do you think House is?"

Wilson shrugged. "He could be anywhere."

Kutner nodded.

"Where do you think he is?" Cameron signed back.

Cuddy shrugged. "Every time I would ask, he would tell me he was benefiting the both of us."

"Benefit?" she signed and asked at the same time.

"House is benefiting something?" questioned Foreman. "That's got to be a first."

"He could be benefiting himself," said Taub. "I don't see him helping anyone."

"House helps a lot of people," said Cameron. "Just think of all the patients' lives he has saved."

"He does that because it's his job," said Chase. "If we had more dead patients do you really think Cuddy would let him work at the hospital?"

"House doesn't even work at the same hospital as us anymore," Wilson pointed out.

"I was saying when he worked in New Jersey," replied Chase.

She couldn't stand to listen, more like lip read, their conversation. House did help his patients, he did help people. He had helped her, and the rest of the team hadn't even taken a chance to notice it. "Hello?" Cuddy signed. "He loves me. And I love him. He's helping me."

Again, Cameron translated. "You don't understand. House loves Cuddy and she loves him. Wherever House is, he's benefiting both himself and Cuddy."

"He's still benefiting himself," said Foreman.

Cuddy shrugged; tired of even trying to show the others that House was a caring person. He just didn't like to admit it, only showed it in his job. But it had been so long since she had seen him; he could have changed; no, he had changed. He wasn't miserable anymore, and he didn't seem to have a bad attitude towards others, at least, that was how she saw him. She pretended to pay attention to the other doctors' conversation. Just wait, she thought. House will come and save us all.

Stella shivered as she stood by the fire. She had Mac's coat around her, and for some reason she couldn't stop trembling. She looked around, wondering how the others could have survived the freezing weather. She had been standing by the fireplace for an hour now, and she was still cold. But she knew the fire wasn't enough to keep her warm. She wrapped Mac's coat around her even tighter.

Mac walked up to her, seeing her shiver from the cold. "Are you sure you're feeling all right, Stel?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm just cold, that's all. But, you know, everyone except me seems to be dealing with this cold weather fine."

"It is chilly in here," said Mac, "even with the fire burning in the fireplace. If you look around, you can see that you're not the only one who's cold."

As Stella looked around, she could tell that the others in the room were slightly trembling from the cold. She wondered how much longer they would have to deal with the storm, having no electricity, and having no decent food to eat. As she considered the thought, Detectives Lilly Rush and Scotty Valens hurried over to join them.

"Is there something important you have to tell us?" asked Mac, also noticing their rushed arrival.

"No," Scotty answered. "We were just getting tired of sitting around reading books, watching the fire in the fireplace, stuff like that."

"Haven't we all gotten tired of that?" Stella said in agreement.

Lilly laughed, and Scotty nodded. As Stella saw how the two of them got along so well, she was reminded of her and Mac. It had taken a long time for them to get together and then get married, but they had always had a connection. She could tell that Lilly and Scotty were the same way. "So," she began. "You two are dating now since the last time I spoke to you?"

Scotty smiled uncomfortable, and Lilly slightly blushed. "Yes," she said. "Scotty and I are dating."

"Let me guess," said Scotty. "You two are still dating as well."

Mac and Stella looked at each other and laughed. "We're actually married," said Stella.

"Oh," Scotty said. "I was close enough…"

"Who's dating who?" a voice asked.

Stella turned to see both Jack and Samantha walking over to him. "Lilly and Scotty are dating," she explained.

"Hey, didn't we already tell you that?" Scotty questioned.

"Yeah," said Samantha. "I just thought I'd eavesdrop."

Scotty shook his head.

Stella noticed that Samantha was also shivering. "You're cold too?"

Samantha nodded. "We all are."

Suddenly, the opening of the door sounded in the room. They turned to look who appeared from it, seeing that it was Flack. Stella shook her head. "He's probably here to bring more bad news," she whispered to Mac. She walked past him, heading over to the door. "Being the barer of bad news again?"

"No," said Flack. "Now, I've brought good news."

Stella stared at him in surprise. "Well, what's the news?"

Flack nodded towards the door. "Go outside and take a look for yourself. I'll get the others."

Stella did as he said, and she walked through the hallway that had led to the room where they had sheltered. As she walked away from the room, the temperature seemed to warm up a little, which didn't make sense, but she was glad for the warmth. She came to the lobby of the library, where many of the sheltering people were still at and soon stood by the door she had been by when she was waiting for Mac to return from getting supplies, only weeks ago. She was suddenly reminded of Lindsay, since she had talked to her on the phone that same day, and wondered how she was doing in Montana. She put her hand on the door handle, not looking through the glass window, and opened the door. She was expecting to see nothing but snow stretched out across the city for miles and miles, but instead she saw the city in clear view.

There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but she could see the stairs leading to the sidewalk below her. Buildings that had been frozen by ice or completely covered with snow were now visible and sparkling in the sunlight. And as she looked to the sky above her, she could see numerous helicopters flying around, about to make their landing on the snowy ground. There were also many other people gathering outside, from other buildings in Chicago. They had been saved. They had made it through the storm.

She shivered, though the wind barely made her cold. She was overjoyed to see her beloved home again and wondered if the floods that had claimed New York would too disappear, and they would be able to return to their first home.

She heard the door behind her open, to reveal more people. When she saw Mac, she ran over to him and hugged him. "We're saved!" she exclaimed, with tears falling down her face. "We made it!" She saw of glimpse of Mac's face and he too, was crying. But their tears weren't of sadness, but of joy.

The CSI team, consisting of Flack, Hawkes, Mac, and Stella, gathered around to watch the landing helicopters. The FBI agents--Danny, Elena, Martin, Jack, and Samantha--joined the CSI investigators. The doctors were the last out of the building--Cameron, Chase, Cuddy, Foreman, Kutner, Taub, and Wilson. They all stood there, watching the sight of the helicopters, all relieved to know that they had made it through the storm that had devastated them for such a long time. As more people came out of the building to admire the sight, the teams began to separate to talk in little groups. Stella wandered off from the investigators and found Dr. Lisa Cuddy sitting quietly alone on the stairs of the public library. She sat down next to her.

"You know about her," said Stella, "about Paige Hobson."

The doctor looked at her inquiringly. She nodded to her.

"You know that she's also Lindsay Monroe, right?"

Again, the doctor nodded. Stella was surprised at how much of her speech she understood without being able to hear. She asked, "Who is she really?"

Cuddy shrugged.

"Can you maybe somehow tell me about her story?"

This time Cuddy took out her cell phone and turned it on. She handed the phone to Stella once she was finished with a message.

It'll be 2 hard 2 tell u. I'm deaf and u don't know sign.

Stella quickly answered back and then handed the phone back to Cuddy.

U can tell me her true identity.

U don't understand. I don't know her true identity. She's Lindsay Monroe/Paige Hobson. If u want 2 know more, u should ask those FBI agents, or Samantha Spade at least.

Stella nodded. She had already known of the FBI agent Samantha Spade, but after all the previous arguments they had had back in the airport a year ago, she didn't think she would tell her anything about Lindsay's double identity. But she still had one question.

Lindsay does have 2 identities?

When Cuddy saw the message, she nodded. She took the phone from Stella and typed a new message.

She told me in the airport, about a year ago, during the evacuation of New Jersey. U were there that day at the airport 2, to evacuate from New York.

Stella nodded. She again took the phone and asked:

How do u sign "Thank you?"

Cuddy smiled. She quickly signed, "Thank you," and then repeated herself again so Stella could see how she was signing. Stella laughed at herself, seeing that it was one of the simplest things to sign. "Thank you," she said and signed at the same time. "Dr. Lisa Cuddy."

"You're welcome," signed Cuddy.

Stella nodded. When she turned to look at the city, she saw Cameron walking towards them. She began to sign to Cuddy, but also talked so that Stella could understand what she was saying. "Hey you two, have you thought about getting on to one of the helicopters? Or would you like to stay here and freeze from the cold?"

Cuddy and Stella looked at each other, with smiles on their faces. "We're just going to sit out here in the cold," Cuddy signed. Stella hadn't known what she had just signed, but it must have been a joke, because Cameron laughed. She shrugged and followed them towards one of the helicopters to board it. She sat down next to Mac and looked around.

Cameron and Cuddy had accompanied her on to the helicopter, along with Lilly and Scotty. As the helicopter took flight, she wondered if she would see the city again without snow. Then again, it was November, so there would still be plenty of snow to come. But that snow wouldn't be as bad as it had been during the storm. It would be a peaceful winter, the best winter the world had ever seen.

Las Vegas Crime Lab, Nevada

"It's over!" exclaimed Sara, running over to hug Grissom. "The storm's over!"

Grissom looked at her in disbelief. "Really?"

Sara nodded. "Come on," she said, motioning towards the door. "If you want to see that the storm has cleared, you're going to want to take a look outside."

Grissom got up from his chair and followed Sara outside. The other CSI investigators were waiting for them by the door, and when Sara opened the door, he gasped. The snows that had claimed the Vegas strip were now almost gone, and he could see the roads, rescue crews, news reporters, and people gathering outside. The storm was over, and they had made it through worst of it.

Catherine turned to look at him. "Looks like we're back to solving cases again, huh?"

Grissom nodded, to astound to say anything. He remembered the phone call that had been from Calleigh, who had called to make sure that everything was all right. Lindsay Monroe had explained more of the weather, of how it had taken its toll. That had been two weeks ago.

"Anyone up to getting something to eat?" asked Greg Sanders.

"That would be a good idea," agreed Nick Stokes.

Sara turned to Grissom, who was still shocked. "What do you think, Grissom?"

"Yeah," said Grissom. "We should get something to eat."

Grissom took Sara's hand, and together, the CSI investigators walked away from the crime lab, into the streets of Las Vegas. The storm had done its damage, and now they could live their lives again.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It was a happy chapter, perfect for Christmas! The next chapter will be about House. I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a very happy holidays! :D