A/N: Still only own Mia and the doc. Everyone else belongs to CSI and CBS. Many thanks to KylieDaRock, my faithful reviewer on this story. :) It's much appreciated. This chapter puts us over halfway through the story, so I hope you enjoy, and please review. :)

Chapter 4: Friendly Chats, and Helping Out

"Morning," she said, smiling. He smiled back.

"Morning," he replied.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Pretty good, actually."

"That's good to hear. You made it through yesterday okay, I see."

"Yeah, I did." She smiled.

"That's great, Greg. I do have some news for you, though." He straightened up.

"Okay."

"She called this morning, about ten minutes ago, requesting to come by and see you. Said she read the card you gave her and that she wanted to come by. Are you feeling up to that?" He looked down, thinking.

"Yeah, I think I'd like that," he told her honestly. She smiled.

"Okay then," she said. "We'll give her a call back, set up an appointment." He smiled.

"Great."

"It's good to see you smile, Greg."

"Yeah. It's great to be happy like this. I feel like my life's kinda getting back on track, you know?" She nodded.

"You're doing a lot better than when you came in here."

"Yeah, I feel it. I think I'm almost ready to leave, you know?" She nodded again. "I mean, I wanna see my friends first, you know, kinda feel things out, but I think that I'm almost ready to get out of here and get back to life."

"Understandable. You came in here on your own accord, so you're able to leave on your own accord at any time. You know that." He nodded.

"Yeah, but I don't want to go before I'm ready. I'm not quite there yet." She nodded.

"Take your time. See how things go with Mia and decide after." He nodded.

"That's my plan."

"I'll check in with you later, Greg. Have a good day."

"You too."

"So, you never did tell me what the letter said," Wendy said, looking at Mia over the bench. Mia chuckled.

"You don't let things go easily, do you?" she replied.

"Well, I learn from the best. So spill."

"It basically was him apologizing for everything that he had done, explaining some things, you know."

"And…"

"And what?"

"Do you believe him?" Mia shrugged.

"I don't know. I think I would if I heard him say it in person, but from a letter, it's hard to tell."

"So go visit him."

"Already made an appointment. I'm heading there in a few days."

"That's great." Wendy smiled, and Mia sighed.

"Yeah."

"It isn't?"

"I don't know, Wendy. It is because I get to see him and I get Nick off my case about seeing him but… he said he still loves me."

"Why is this a problem? You still love him too."

"Yeah, I know, but I don't know if I can just run right back to him, you know? He did hurt me, broke my trust…"

"Sweetie, he was brainwashed."

"How do I know that he's not going to do it again?"

"Because I think the entire lab would kill him if he did." Mia chuckled. "Come on, even Warrick likes you now."

"He doesn't like me. He just gets along with me." Wendy chuckled.

"Bullshit, girl. He likes you."

"He might just like me because Cath likes me." She chuckled again.

"Who'd have thought that would happen, huh?" Mia laughed.

"Yeah, I know." Wendy watched her friend lean back slightly and close her eyes.

"Last night too much for you, old lady?" Mia laughed.

"Please. You're older than me." Wendy chuckled.

"True, true." Mia sighed.

"Long night, long day, you know. I still love him, Wendy."

"I know you do."

"I'm actually going to go see him, in a few days. I don't know. I'm nervous about that."

"Why?"

"Because, I haven't seen him since the day he told me that I should just go kill myself and get it over with." Wendy shrugged.

"He never truly believed that."

"You don't know that for sure."

"Yes, I do. Do you know how many times that boy was in here, upset? He never meant most of the things he said to hurt you. He just said them." Mia shook her head.

"I don't know what to believe anymore, Wendy. I guess I just need to wait and hear him out."

"Sadly enough, that's not something you would've said two years ago."

"Yeah, I know. I've changed."

"Greg had that effect on you." Mia shrugged.

"Him and the rest of the team," she said. Wendy smiled.

"So, we did make things better, huh?" she asked. Mia rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, kid."

"Whatever." Grissom walked in, smiling politely at the two of them.

"Mia, you, me, and Warrick have a case," he said. "Kidnap victim, female."

"Okay," she replied, getting up. Ryan walked into the lab.

"Mia," he said. She looked at him.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to help." She closed her eyes, sighing.

"Janelle's the victim."

"You know her?" Grissom asked.

"Yeah," Mia replied. "She's my foster sister." Grissom watched her.

"I have to…"

"Grissom, please. I haven't had contact with her for years. It's been weird. I mean, I knew she was in Miami, but that was it. I had her number and address, but we didn't talk. Wendy got her to come out here to the party last night. I didn't see her, though."

"She was there," Ryan said. "Her and I left around 1:30, 2 o'clock. Then we went back to the hotel, slept. When I woke up, she had left a note, saying she'd be back around 7. She never showed up, but I got a text message saying they have her, they're going to kill her if I don't pay them."

"What do they want?" Mia asked.

"75,000 dollars."

"Damn."

"I came over here for help." They nodded, and Mia put her hand on his shoulder.

"We'll get her back, Ryan. It'll be okay." He nodded. Mia smiled softly, trying to instill hope in him.

"Where do we begin?"

"Ryan, I understand your desire, but this is a sensitive investigation. One misstep and we could lose everything. We can't afford to not be objective, okay?" Ryan nodded his understanding. "Now, when is the drop-off and where?"

"They didn't say. They said they'd contact me again later. They have my number as it is." Mia nodded, rubbing his shoulders.

"We'll find her, Ry. Everything's gonna be alright. Have you talked to H or Delko or anyone?" He shook his head. "Why don't you call them? Let them know what's going on. Give you someone to talk to that you trust, yeah?" He shrugged. "Couldn't hurt, having a friend to talk to."

"Yeah, you're right." Ryan sighed, and Grissom looked at Mia. She nodded, and he walked out, heading toward the layout room. Ryan excused himself, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Wendy looked at Mia, who shrugged.

"I always find trouble, huh?" Mia joked, shaking her head. "I'll catch ya later, Wendy."

"Later, hon," Wendy replied as she walked out.

"So, what exactly do we have for this case?" Warrick asked.

"A freaked out CSI and a text message," Mia said.

"Not much to go on."

"Yeah, no shit."

"Look, we're working with very little here. You mind not being a bitch?"

"You mind not wasting our time with statements of the obvious?"

"You two mind not fighting?" Grissom threw in. Both of them stopped and looked at him.

"Sorry," she said.

"Yeah, sorry," Warrick said.

"Now, we have a missing woman, age 24," Grissom said.

"She's a nurse," Mia said. "Last I checked, she was 5'6", 195 pounds, olive skin, black/brown hair, hazel eyes."

"You know her?" Warrick asked.

"Foster sibling."

"And you're still working this case because…?"

"We haven't talked in years. It doesn't matter." Warrick put his hand on her shoulder.

"If you need anything…"

"Rick, I appreciate it, but I'm fine." He nodded, and she gave him a small smile. "Now, she's pretty smart. And they need to keep her alive if they're ever going to get a ransom."

"Yeah. But how does knowing she's alive help us find her?"

"We need Ryan's cell phone," Grissom said.

"If we get the number, we can track them," Warrick said.

"I'm on it," Mia said, walking out of the room. Ryan caught her in the hallway.

"Hey," he said.

"Ry, we need your cell phone."

"Okay." He handed it to her, and she arched her eyebrows.

"You're not shocked by this?"

"You're tracking the number. I didn't think about it at first, but it makes sense now." She nodded, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Hang in there, kiddo." He nodded, and she walked away, walking into A/V. "Hey, Archie," she said.

"Hey," he said. "I didn't really see you last night, so happy birthday." She smiled.

"Thanks. Can you do me a favor? Try and track down this cell phone please?"

"Sure thing."

"You're awesome." She winked, and he typed in the number into the system.

"Okay, your number's not on right now, but we can turn it on remotely."

"Let's do that." Warrick and Grissom walked in as Archie typed in a few things in the computer. He hit a few more buttons, then looked up.

"Okay. We're on." After hitting a few more keys, he sighed. "Looks like we're in a building on Fremont Street. I'll get you a specific address."

"Awesome. You're amazing, Arch." Archie smiled as he hit a few more keys.

"Anyone else think this was way too easy?" Warrick asked.

"Hey, I'll take easy when I can get it," Mia said, shaking her head. "Besides, smart criminals would never kidnap a CSI's girlfriend." Warrick chuckled.

"Yeah, that's true." Archie handed them the address, and they left.

"LVPD!" Samuels called. "Open up!" They broke down the door, scouring the area. The suspect ran, leaving Janelle alone in the middle. Warrick, Mia, and Grissom trickled in as they grabbed the man trying to run. Mia walked up to him while Grissom headed over to Janelle and Warrick walked behind her.

"Tell me something," she said to the cuffed man.

"What's that?" he replied.

"Why?"

"Because of fucking Wolfe, man. Bastard arrested my brother. Had to fuckin' get him back." She shook her head.

"You're a sick fuck." She walked away, and Warrick put his hand on her shoulder.

"You did good," he said. She shrugged.

"Well, I wasn't about to kill him," she replied.

"Well, that's good." She looked over at him as he smiled.

"Yeah, yeah. I've changed. Have a good chuckle about that and move on."

"You know, sometimes I think you have, and others I see you haven't." She smiled.

"People never completely change, Warrick. They just simply shift."