Chapter 10

The end of the shift was coming up and it seemed that they were closer but there were some things that they were pending on. The vehicle that Archie got a license plate but they got that it was registered to an elderly lady who died and the car was never reregistered. So that was a pain on that end but Brass was still digging since the car was sold for cash by the lady's grandson.

The biggest discovery was from Greg revealing that there was a baby involved and it belonged to Robbie. He also ran the DNA collected from Rachel and the SAE kit that was collected. Familial match to Rachel with the baby, which meant that both Robbie and Rachel were the parents and it was enough to have Nick think that he had not seen it all.

Trace had come back with dirt consistent within the area of the house they found the girl and Sara was working on the prints she pulled from the necklace. Mandy was working prints for five other active cases and Sara said that she wasn't one to pass up a chance to get one up on Parker. Nick left her at it after thanking her for the help. As far as he knew she was still at it.

Warrick was with Robbie and trying to get more about the baby out of him and gave up when Robbie shut completely down after he told him they knew. He refused to talk unless it was to someone like CPS or Sage. He then said that Moses was a bastard and broke his word like Brian did. So they were stuck but it seemed to put pressure on.

Nick felt like they were now running on a clock since they had the guy who kidnapped them out there with a baby. How old, they didn't know but still nursing since Greg had managed to pick up traces of breast milk in the baby drool and hiccup. It made him pissed that there was a baby in the hands of a bastard that kidnapped a bunch of kids and beaten them and let one of them… He felt like making a fist with hands.

He was in that mood when he passed by the break room. The last thing he needed was coffee but he did have a couple of bottles of V8 in the fridge. As he walked in he could distinctly smell the scent of cleansers and none of the smells associated with Grissom's experiments. He frowned as he fetched the bottle of V8 he came for and even noted that the inside of the fridge was clean.

Turning he saw some sheets of paper on the table with writing on it. Out of idle curiosity Nick took a look and went through them. He recognized Sage's neat scrawl but it was a list of words… at least he was thinking it was a list of words. He peered to take a look at the words and see what it was since it looked repetitive in some places. He even tried saying the words and butchered them horribly even though they sounded familiar.

"I thought you said you could speak Spanish, Stokes."

Nick looked up to see Sage come in with a case file under her arm. She headed over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water that she had stashed there earlier. He watched her take a sip and replied, "It's rusty but this isn't Spanish."

"But you can read it."

"I can but…" Nick motioned towards the sheets.

Sage gave a slight smile and leaned over. She pulled the top towards her and then began to read what she had written. She then moved onto the next sheet. At the end she paused and looked at Nick with a slight smile.

"You were conjugating French verbs?" Nick raised his brow a little at that.

Sage sat down and leaned back in the seat next to Nick's seat. "Just something I do… when I'm angry."

"So you feel better?"

"Not really," Sage replied as she looked at her handwriting. She tapped her fingers on the table.

"I heard about Rachel. I'm sorry," Nick offered. He had heard about the girl She had woken up but then went unconscious and was now in a medically induced coma. Apparently the swelling had gotten to be severe. It had been missed initially but it was lucky that they caught it in time otherwise she would be dead.

"She woke up long enough to say something about the granary and the Skylar before lapsing into unconsciousness." Sage opened up her file folder to finish what she was doing before hanging it up for the day. "It was important to her."

Nick knew why. He wasn't sure if Sage knew about it. In fact he hadn't seen her all shift so he had no idea what she had been doing aside from her road trip with Lockwood and her video time with Archie. He just sat and watched her write her notes up for the report. She was bent over the paperwork and he could tell that she was running through it doggedly. Something was on her mind. Finally he asked, "You know why?"

"I read Greg's report and Warrick filled me in. Hence the conjugations," Sage replied with a calmness she didn't feel. What she really wanted to do was go home and have a session with the punching bag she kept in her garage. That or take a run around the block. Those usually worked.

Nick nodded at that. He held his bottle of V8 in his hand. "So you know about the baby."

"That there is one and I would like nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of this bastard." Sage gritted her teeth and put down her pen before she did anything rash with it. Putting her hands on the table she tapped her fingers and resisted the urge to make a fist.

"Well you me and Warrick are standing in line for that," Nick replied as he watched her tap her fingers. He could tell that she was pissed and trying really hard to keep it in check.

"I get first dibs," Sage said softly until she looked down at her file folder. She had left it on the notes from Robbins' autopsy of Jordan. She ended up reading the definitive signs of molestation. She shut the folder since she knew that she wasn't going to concentrate on this right now. She glanced at Nick to see he was taking a sip of his V8 and it just popped out, "You hungry?"

Nick had to work not to choke on the sip of his juice. It came out more like his was clearing his throat. "What?"

"Hungry? Breakfast?" Sage pointed at the clock on the wall of the break room to indicate the time. They could clock out early since they came in early and they were in danger of getting the heat from Mobley. Besides she couldn't think about the case anymore.

"You're serious?" Nick had followed her finger and noted the time. Her request wasn't unreasonable and he was well aware that Mobley was cracking down on overtime. He was also aware that she was agitated and he could understand that.

Sage made a slight motion with her head and shoulders. "Why not? I buy this time. You can bring Warrick too." She added the last bit to make the conversation a little more lighthearted. Besides they were all on the case and they could all use the time to think or wind down.

Nick chuckled at the look on her face. "You're talking like I'm supposed to bring a puppy."

"Just offering," Sage replied. She picked up her papers and file folder. She couldn't do anymore right now. She sighed and pushed her glasses back up and headed for the door. "Catch ya later."

Nick stayed behind and finished his juice and threw the empty container away. Obeying the impulse that arose, he got up and followed her. She was just coming out of the locker room with her bag over her shoulder. "Diner in ten?"

Sage paused a moment as she removed her glasses and put them in their case. "Don't kill yourself getting there Stokes." She gave a slight smile.

It was roughly fifteen minutes later at a table near the window that they were eating. Sage had been picking at her oatmeal that she ordered with a side dish of mixed fruit. She did manage to eat some of it and make it look like she was devouring it. Her thoughts though kept wandering back to the fact that there was a baby out there and she had Robbie and Rachel. One was in a medically induced coma and the other was in lockup to cool down.

Lockwood told her before she left that when Warrick told him about Rachel, he got angry and wanted out. Warrick had managed to prevent the uniforms from hurting him. He was angry and she could understand that plus there was the fact that his child was missing.

"You intend to stare that into submission?"

Sage snapped out of her thoughts. "Sorry. I'm out to take a break and I still think about it." She looked at Nick apologetically. She then went to eating her oatmeal after adding a bit more milk.

Nick studied her and finally asked, "This isn't your first is it?"

"What makes you think that?" It was automatic for Sage to answer a question with a question. She did it mostly when she was trying to keep her defenses up when it hit things that were not up for discussion or she kept them buried as a motivation. It had escalated from her days in school when she had to defend herself since school was not always pleasant.

Nick was ready for the sparring session. He put his fork down and looked at her. "Just some observations."

"List them." Sage set down her spoon and took a sip of the hot tea that she had ordered. The lower caffeine content wouldn't prevent her from catching a few winks.

"The fact that you wanted to take out a glass of iced tea. You conjugate verbs. You tap your fingers on the table… Come on Parker. Most people who haven't seen a case like this before usually break down. You don't."

"Must be made of sterner stuff… or I'm just a freak," Sage offered as she took another bite of oatmeal.

Nick gave Sage a look. "Don't play coy Parker. It's not you."

"I used to be good at it," Sage admitted, "Or you're just a nosy CSI." She paused a moment to study Nick's expression. She always knew when to push and pull when it came to him. She folded her hands on the table and continued, "Okay. You're right. This is not my first case dealing with crimes against kids."

"You wanna talk about it? Cause frankly the rate you're going… it's like trying to go fifty miles on a congested highway or something like that." Nick had his hands on the table indicating that he was ready to listen and talk.

"I guess you figured that out from my comment about wallowing in peanut butter."

"Not my ideal choice for that kind of thing but yeah," Nick encouraged with a slight smile. He did find it strange that she resorted to peanut butter as comfort food but then again he could agree that it was better than junk food.

Sage hummed a bit. She then said, "Like I said this isn't my first. I know you've heard about my exploits in DC. Grapevine is like a weed here."

"Tell me about it," Nick agreed. He had heard the stories about her when she was barely two weeks into the job. The current stories were about her and Greg and one interesting one about her and Warrick. It made him wonder if she had been the one that started a few of those.

"Anyway the rep that me and my partner then was that homicide was our game. The Baltimore cop and the Southern belle. Highest case closure for homicide and we did have other crimes under our belt."

"Guess that's made you two popular with the FBI," Nick countered. He took a bite of his breakfast. At least he knew where her dislike of the feds came from.

Sage chuckled at that as she picked up a piece of fruit with her fingers and popped it into her mouth. "Yeah well that's what we got." She sobered a bit as she wiped her fingertips. "It was a good cover for the other cases."

"Cases involving kids? CPS?"

"That among other things," Sage admitted. She took a breath that almost sounded like a sigh. "I occasionally was asked for my services as a trauma counselor while collecting evidence. My first case was a sexual assault on a minor. Victim was only nine. Since then CPS called me in on those. Sort of became more of an exclusive thing with me. My partner was the tagalong cop for the more intense situations.

"You know Stokes we see the things people do to each other and the results of that every time we're called out. It doesn't matter what age they are… that kind of thing is just wrong." Sage finished and took a sip of her tea. "I know I was called a one person lab but there was a reason for that."

"But why do it by yourself? I mean you had a team at your disposal." Nick was curious about that.

"In actual truth, the techs processed trace and biological, etc. My CSIs had no part in the ones CPS specifically directed me. Anything that came in, dispersal as usual. Still that kind of thing never leaves you. I've seen adult victims and children and they all have the same face."

Nick thought about it some. He could understand to a degree why she acted the way she did on this case. He felt the same way when it came to crimes against kids. He could remember those two boys killed and he certainly took it out on the door. He did have to ask, "Have you ever been to a scene where…?"

Sage got what he was asking about. "Yeah. Sometimes it ends up being a 419. If you're wondering, I didn't want to see Jordan Callen's body because I just didn't want to. I already saw him at the scene so…" She gave another shrug of her shoulders and picked at her fruit dish some more.

It was understandable and Nick could go with that. He thought initially that she had never done a case before that involved molestation and abuse of a minor. Then the more he watched her reaction, he changed his mind and grew curious about it. He definitely knew that she was calmer about certain things or she tried to. "At least you're better at keeping it together than me. I ended up punching a door in," he admitted figuring that since she gave a little, he could give a little and they were partners after all.

Sage had taken another cup of tea and was sipping it when Nick said that. She raised her brow and replied, "You?"

"Yeah."

"I admit that I have a temper myself but you? Never thought the Texan stigma would carry over. You're not trigger happy are ya?" She gave a slight smile to indicate that she was teasing and she wasn't trying to be mean with it.

Nick raised his brow, "You have a temper? Most of the time when someone pisses you off you give the icy glare and no I'm not trigger happy."

"Good so that's one thing less I have to worry about when we catch up with this guy," Sage replied with a slight smile. "And I do have a temper. Greg can vouch for that," she added with a straight face.

Nick couldn't help but laugh a little since that seemed utterly ridiculous. He had observed them together and they were as thick as thieves even when they were working in the lab. He wasn't even sure if she knew about his hidden porn collection or any of the other weird things he kept there aside from the music. "You lose your temper with Greg? You two are as thick as thieves."

"I never said I lost it with him now did I?" Sage corrected. "You maybe. Him no."

"And what did I do now?"

"Just being you," Sage replied unable to hide the smile and the chuckle that escaped. She was still smiling when she added, "And I just can't stand you."

Nick was chuckling too. "Me neither."

"Can't stand me or yourself?"

"Now damn it do you have to go all psychobabble on me?" Nick gave a mock pout.

"Just arguing semantics. You just provide the material," Sage answered with that teasing grin she gave when she really wanted to go the extra mile on the banter.

"So I'm comedic relief then."

"No… but you're an okay partner."

"So I'm okay now?"

"Girl can change her mind now can she?" She emphasized her drawl a little bit and pulled the Southern charm look that was effective in somehow getting Mobley off their backs for a time regarding overtime. Of course it was just her pointing out good logic and pointing out how beneficial it made him look.

Nick shook his head slightly as he took another bite of breakfast. That was the fun thing about Sage when they bantered back and forth. It gave the illusion that they were bickering like kids but they were joking. It was a comfortable feeling but Nick had also seen how biting her tones could be and the joke was over. Most of the time she seemed peppy and energetic; like Warrick said, she seemed to fly and it went into overdrive when she was on a case.

She also knew when to back down too or rather slow down. Granted some of her methods were a little unconventional like the peanut butter thing but it was whatever worked. He liked vegging out watching the sports channel.

"Don't tell me you're giving up. It's too soon for that Stokes."

Nick looked up as he finished his plate. "Oh it's always on Parker. I just bide my time."

"Element of surprise? Haven't gotten me on that one yet." Sage finished her fruit and pushed the bowl away. She was content with drinking her tea now.

"Really? You wanna to up the stakes that we have?"

Sage raised her brow at that. She knew he was referring to the challenge that she gave before they got this involved with the case. She agreed to tell the story about the priest with the chemistry degree and participate in something that was photo worthy if he had his ducks lined in a row. If he didn't then he had to go to an event of her choosing. "I think it that has to be amended somewhat. Don't you agree?"

Nick had to admit that she had him on that one but he wasn't going to allow her the satisfaction of knowing that she was right. "That's why I brought it up."

"It can hardly be a race now."

"Well I'm thinking that maybe me and Warrick can find a location before you can." It was probably not the best idea in the world but sometimes their heckling ended up pushing each other to finish the case. More often it was when there were dead ends. He knew that Sage and Sara always poked into each other's cases and that was something he steered clear of unless it was necessary. "Same set of rewards."

Sage thought about it. The sticking point was finding the baby and this guy Old Moses. There were three CSIs working the case and they were at a standstill. They all wanted to find the kid and get the bastard behind bars. It did sound morbid on her end a bit and she voiced it, "Sounds a bit morbid since we all want the same thing."

"Just a thought," Nick offered. "There's always the next case."

That was true since crime didn't know time schedules and the like. Sage learned that the first time she started working as a CSI. She had been a green rookie then and those were interesting times. They would probably be good fodder and stories around the breakfast at the diner chats. Looking at Nick after thinking for a moment she said, "If you and Warrick can find a way to locate this guy and catch him then I'll do something photo worthy and tell that story. I'll work on Robbie some more to help."

Nick saw that she was not going for a competition but straight out payment for goods and services. It was also her way of acknowledging that he and Warrick were the leads on this one. "You know it's teamwork."

"I'm just along for the ride Stokes." Sage smiled gently to acknowledge that she was standing firm on this offer. He could take it or leave it.

"Playing the probie card when you and I both know that you disregard it anyway?" Nick wasn't trying to be the interrogator on this. He was simply pointing out that even though her status was probationary hire for a year she acted like she had been there for years.

"Just trying to keep my head. We've got a line you know," Sage replied, reminding him that they all wanted a piece of this guy. While they probably wouldn't be able to get him on murder or anything like that, there was kidnapping, assault and assault with a deadly weapon. There was also the child endangerment that might be a stretch. The molestation thing was Bob and he got what he deserved but that was a whole thing with Robbie and whether or not the DA will press charges for assault with mitigating circumstances or what have you.

"I know but…"

"I'm not trying a Robert Frost. I'm just sitting back but still there giving a hand. I'm not out completely," Sage reassured the CSI.

"You sure about that?"

"Stokes, the day that I'm completely out is the day that I quit and I don't see that for a very long time barring anything serious that happens on the job." Sage paused a bit and tapped the table with her fingers. "I'm still on the case but I need to back away a little. I need my space."

It sounded funny when she said that she needed her space but Nick got the picture. He raised his brow to silently ask if she was sure about that. He got her response in the same fashion and said, "Okay but you still have to do the dirty work."

"Oh I know it," she replied as she took another sip. "I'll work my end and you two do yours." She paused a bit and then asked, "Did you add Warrick because you're admitting that you needed help?"

"Don't even go there sister."

"Knew it. Well two against one is better anyway," Sage teased.

Nick grinned at that. The rest of the conversation was simple chatter as they finished breakfast. It did a lot of good as they separated to catch up on needed rest and recharge for another round in finding a missing kid and it seemed that they weren't alone with Lockwood and Brass on the case.

A/N: Another day done and Nick and Sage have a conversation and Nick learns more about her drive when it comes to children, plus a bit of friendly banter. Stay tuned for more Desert Secrets...