A/N: As always many many thanks for the comments. A lot of support from Grissom ( and why not?) in the last chapter. Will things improve this chapter, or is the future going to remain bleak? Of course, this story wouldn't be what it is, without JellybeanChiChi's excellent job as beta.

CHAPTER 11

A half hour later, Brass led Sara to the holding cells. A few quiet words from Brass, and the three officers silently left.

Grissom was pacing the small confines of the holding cell, as they quietly approached his cell.

"Sara!" Grissom gasped with some surprise.

"I'm not supposed to do this," Brass said, as he unlocked the cell door. "But I'll give you ten minutes alone."

Sara stepped into the cell, placing the car seat containing Daniel on the floor by their feet.

Grissom stared at her for a full two seconds before embracing her and pulling her tightly against his body, burying his face in the space between her neck and shoulder. His eyes closed, as his arms tightened slightly as he took comfort from her.

"I couldn't leave without seeing you," Sara said her voice muffled as she drew him even closer to her, relishing the feeling of his broad form. Her fingers splayed across the back of his neck, before running through his close cropped curls.

"I know how it looks," Grissom said worriedly, pulling back only so he could see her face. "...but I didn't..."

"Shhh, it's okay," Sara softly reassured him, her hand moving down from his hair, to his rub his cheek. "I know you weren't responsible for this."

Relieve flooded Grissom, as he closed his eyes briefly as he leaned into her caress, allowing himself for the moment to forget. He inhaled slowly, allowing her reassurance to seep into his body.

When Grissom opened his eyes, his expression was both serious and hopeful.

"It's the weekend, so my hearing won't be until Monday. Despite the charge, I think they'll allow me to be released on my own recognizance. My record within law enforcement should speak for itself."

Sara hoped he would be correct. That they would release him for the weekend. But her gut told her the insanity of his arrest would just continue and he wouldn't be able to come home.

"I'll let your Mom know," Sara began, but Grissom shook his head.

"Honey, lets not worry her with this. At least not right now."

"Gil, she needs to know, you can't just let her find out on the evening news. And, even if there is a chance you will be released, then there's still the hearing on Monday. You really can't keep this from her."

Grissom bit on his bottom lip, nervously, and shook his head. He swallowed with difficulty, his eyes downcast.

He was frightened and so was Sara.

"We'll get through this," Sara embraced him again, pulling herself closer to his body. "Together, just like we always do. I love you, Gil. Remember that."

His arms gently tightened around her, not wanting to ever let her go. But a few minutes later, Grissom reluctantly released his wife, as Daniel grew restless in the car seat.

Grissom squatted down besides his son, a small smile on his face, as Daniel turned his brown-eyed gaze to his Daddy, and grinned delightedly, as his legs kicked wildly in excitement.

"Hey buddy," Grissom said quietly, with only the slightest hitch to his voice. Sara's hand was warm as she squeezed Grissom's shoulder before rubbing across his shoulders and back.

Daniel lifted his arms up, clearly wanting a cuddle from Grissom, and he quickly unfastened the baby from his car seat, and taking the boy in his arms, stood up, his knees popping as he did so.

Sara rubbed Grissom's arm, lightly as her other hand rubbed Daniel's back. It had been hours since they had all been together as a family, and for just a moment they could just be.

Brass walked in a few minutes later, his expression telling them that it wasn't good news.

"I'm really sorry to break up the family reunion, but you really should leave now, Sara."

"They won't release him until the hearing Monday," Sara stated matter-of-factly. Though she had been expecting it, a feeling of nausea swept over her all the same. "He's not a flight risk," she hissed, frustrated at the injustice of keeping an innocent man from his family.

"I'm sorry Gil," Brass said including Grissom in his glance. "I did everything I could on your behalf to swing this, but the D.A won't budge. I even pushed the fact you have an infant son, and he still wouldn't move."

"I'm sure you did your best, Jim," Grissom acknowledged as he straightened up from returning his son to the car seat.

"I think you should know, that I don't believe for one minute that you're guilty of this," Brass continued his voice dropping low, so only Grissom and Sara could hear him. "And neither do Catherine and the team. We'll get to the bottom of this Gil. You can count on it."

Grissom nodded appreciatively, for the moment unable to quite trust his voice. Sensing their time growing shorter, Grissom turned to his wife and embraced her one final time.

Fighting back tears, Sara hugged him tightly, hating this moment of enforced separation.

"I love you," Grissom whispered hoarsely, with a final squeeze. He unexpectedly kissed her, before he released her.

As Brass locked the cell door, and started to escort Sara back down the corridor, Sara glanced back over her shoulder for a last glimpse of Grissom. He was stood beside the door, watching her progress. She wasn't fooled by the neutral expression on his face.

It was going to be a long weekend.

"I'll check in on him over the weekend," Brass murmured, as they continued into PD. "And if there is anything I can do to help, I want you to call me. Got it?" he asked as he turned to face her, a fatherly look on his face.

Sara bit her lip and glanced one final time, towards holding. She faced Brass again, worrying her bottom lip.

"What do you think he's chances are, on Monday?"

Brass shook he's head sympathetically.

"Sweetheart, that's down to the judge," he said soothingly. "But given the years of service he's given to Clark County, a judge would have to be an idiot not to release him on his own recognizance. The D.A just got lucky this time. He'll be home with you and that handsome little fella before you know it."

As Sara left PD, Sara debated with herself on whether she should inform her mother-in-law of the day's events, despite Gil's protests.

Deciding, ultimately, that it would be better coming from her, rather than the news, Sara, swung the Prius towards Betty's house. She could also reassure the elderly woman she believed, without any doubt that Gil was innocent. Plus, there was a good chance he would be released following his hearing on Monday. Sara had no doubt that Betty would want to be there, to support her son, and Sara wasn't going to deny her that.

Besides, the added bonus of seeing her only grandson, might help soften the blow.

Arriving home just an hour before sunset, Sara sighed tiredly as she lifted a sleepy Daniel from the car seat and snagged his diaper bag, before heading into the house.

Almost immediately the oppressive silence pressed heavily down on her, with no Hank or Grissom there to greet her.

Sara felt tears prick her eyes as she dropped the diaper bag unceremoniously by the door, and headed into the kitchen. The morning preparations for the barbecue were still evident on the kitchen counters, and Sara's stomach turned sickeningly.

Sara sniffed in an effort to fight back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her, concentrating on attending to Daniel, before saving what preparations she could, while recycling others.

Just as she finished off, and was about to bathe Daniel and settle him down the night, the doorbell rang.

"Gil..." she called absently, before the jarring reality that he wasn't there, struck her full force.

Taking her son with her, Sara made her way cautiously to the front door and checked the spyhole before opening the door. On her doorstep stood her former team-mates.

"Hey, Girl, how ya holding up?" Warrick asked gently as he stepped inside, squeezing her shoulder in support. "We're really sorry about Griss. We'd have stopped by sooner, but..." Warrick shrugged as Catherine pushed her way in, managing to draw Sara and Daniel both, into a hug.

"I hope you didn't think we'd let you go through this alone?" She asked with a supportive smile. And Sara felt her hopes rise as each of her friends offered their support.

Only Nick held back, still unsure of how she'd feel about him being there, since he was part of the reason why Grissom was in custody.

Sara moved to his side and hugged him the best she could with a wriggling baby in her arms. "You're only doing your job, Nick," she assured him, quietly, so the others wouldn't hear. "Just like he'd expect you to. Just do one thing for me; look for innocence, rather than guilt."

Nick moved away slightly away from her, shaking his head. "Sara, I saw enough to know that Jake was a first-class jerk. But not for a second, do I think Griss did this, despite what the evidence says."

With that established, Catherine returned to Sara and Nick's side, and took Daniel from Sara's arms, snuggling the baby close.

"I swear he looks more like Grissom every day," she declared, as she give Sara a critical once over. "And you look like hell," she observed, with a grin.

Sara stared at her friends for a moment, before choosing to take the banter in the vein it was meant.

"Well, it's been a hellish kind of day," Sara returned.

Once Catherine and the guys left two hours later, Sara checked on Daniel before turning in for the night herself. Her friend's support had had the desired effect in bolstering her spirits, and while it hadn't been the evening originally planned, she was grateful they stopped by anyway.

But now, she was alone once more, and her thoughts returned to Grissom, and how he might be coping.

She missed him. Usually, when he was away teaching, they had the luxury of phone calls to stay connected. But this time, even that was impossible.

Aware that she slept less well without him next to her, she slipped the t-shirt he'd worn the night before over her head, and inhaled deeply, smelling strongly of him.

Overwhelmed by the events of the day, a combination of missing her husband and a tiredness that seemed to go bone deep, Sara burst into tears.

Eventually she fell into an exhausted sleep, her tears soaking into her husband's pillow.

Sara woke to the sounds of her son, softly cooing and babbling through the baby monitor the following morning. Normally, Grissom would turn it off, when he got up to attend to Daniel.

Sara laid there a moment longer, with a sense of exhaustion still pervading her body, with her eyes closed, as she listened to Daniel.

Anxiety was added to the mix as nausea gripped her stomach, forcing her to make a hasty dash to the bathroom.

Taking advantage of the early morning once breakfast was done, Sara headed outside into the rear garden with Daniel. Making sure he was adequately protected from the hot desert sun, she placed him in a walker, where she could watch him contentedly play as she worked around the rose bushes and other shrubs and vegetation that she'd encouraged to grow. The roses had been taken from cuttings, from a bouquet Grissom had sent her the previous year while he'd been a consult in L.A.

A smile played about her lips as she fondly recalled the team surprising her with prepaid flight tickets for a weekend there with him, when the consult had been extended. In turn, he'd surprised her on his early return, and then proposing to her in his office. They'd married that same day.

She was brought from her wandering thoughts by Daniel banging enthusiastically on the various toys and textures on the walker, and shouting exuberantly, and she couldn't help the smile of delight that lightened the worry from her. He was definitely a bonus to her marriage with Grissom.

After putting Daniel down for his afternoon nap, Sara's cell rang and she quickly fished it out of her jeans pocket before it could wake her son.

"Sidle," she answered softly as she left the door ajar, and made her way back downstairs.

"Sara, it's Jim. Gil's fine," he quickly assured her, hearing her alarmed intake of breath. "I just wanted to give you a heads up. Gil's hearing is tomorrow first thing, so he's asked me to swing by and pick up a suit for him. He said you'd know which one. He also said to pass on that he loves you, and he can't wait to back home with you tomorrow."

Sara smiled despite herself. "Sure I'll have the suit ready. Is he really okay, Jim?"

"As well as can be expected. He's scared, but he knows we're all behind him."

"Tell him I love him, too," Sara tried to sniff back the tears that were threatening once more, the anxiety settling in the centre of her abdomen.

"Sure, but I'll leave the kissing to you," Brass dead panned, trying to alleviate some of Sara's worry.

Sara ended the call with a smile on her face. But her cell buzzed almost immediately. She quickly answered and her face paled as she listened to the voice on the other end.

"But he's not even been tried yet!" Sara defended her husband, as the voice at the other end, delivered more bad news. "He's innocent until proven guilty and you're already hanging him out to dry! Yeah, well I'm sorry too!" Sara fumed before furiously hanging up.

Ten minutes later she was still angry at the injustice of it all, when Brass knocked on the door as promised.

He immediately asked what was wrong.

"The university have called, they got wind of Gil's arrest and have terminated his employment there. He's not even been to court yet!"

Brass bit his lip and picked up the TV remote. "There's more bad news," he said as he flicked on the TV.

"...Gil Grissom, former Supervisor of the Graveyard Shift of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, was arrested and charged with the murder of Jake Sullivan, 35, a visiting CSI from Seattle…."

Sara watched with dismay as Paula Francis continued with the details of the case, before Brass quietly flicked off the TV.

"Ecklie's looking into the source of the leak. He was hoping to keep this on the QT for as long as he could. Now he wants heads to roll on this. Now, it's going to be a media circus and make this ten times harder than it is."

Monday, found Sara sitting nervously in the court room, waiting for Gil to appear. Betty was sitting to her right, equally nervous as she silently took in her surroundings, and occasionally signing questions to Sara. Daniel's car seat was between their feet. Sara had deliberately dressed him in a Cub's outfit, simply because she knew Grissom would like it. Brass sat to her left, with the rest of the team taking up seating directly behind them.

Sara's nervousness grew as the court rose with the appearance of Judge Lyndon Carrigan. In the past Sara had known him to be fair but firm in his rulings. She felt some of her unease lessen knowing that he would be presiding over the case.

Shortly after the judge's arrival, Grissom was led out, with Hobson Nash at his side. Grissom instinctively glanced over in Sara's direction, and although he didn't acknowledge her in anyway, she knew that he had seen her.

Though he seemed pale, and understandably tense, Sara thought he looked as handsome as ever in his suit. Although she'd not been able to speak to her husband directly, she had been able to speak to Nash. He was hopeful that things would go well.

Grissom stood as the charges were read out to the court.

Judge Carrigan glanced over his half-moon glasses that were perched on the end of his nose, at Grissom.

"How do you plead Mr. Grissom?"

"Not guilty, your honor," Grissom responded, as he worried the wedding band around his finger.

Judge Carrigan then turned his gaze to the prosecuting D.A. Ladd Sayers. "Bail considerations, Mr. Sayers?"

"We are requested that bail be remanded, your honor."

Sara and the team gasped in shock, as Sara threw a disbelieving look Brass' way.

Grissom's face paled further, and he struggled to swallow.

"I request that my client be released on his own recognizance, your honor," Hobson motioned. "My client's long-standing and impeccable career in law enforcement should be allowed to speak for itself. He's not considered a flight risk. He's a family man, with an infant son..."

"The fact that he's ex-law enforcement, shouldn't automatically grant him a free ride," the D.A. said. "We're talking first degree murder."

"Your honor, the evidence against my client, is circumstantial at best. The last thing I'm asking for is 'a free ride,' but his work with the crime lab, is well documented. He's done a lot for Clark County and worked many high and low profile cases."

Sayers shook his head his dismissively, as he glanced at Grissom, with a contemptuous look.

"Your honor, just before he was arrested Mr. Grissom quipped with the detectives who questioned him that he should be able to hide evidence of his crimes. That in and of itself should be enough for remand," Sayers said. "Our office has had experience with former law enforcement and were accused on leniency when Rory Dunbar was arrested and stood trial last year. The citizens of Las Vegas deserve the security in knowing that my office will prosecute to the best of its ability someone who breaks the law and is a potential danger and flight risk, regardless of their standing in the community."

The nausea that Sara had been feeling since waking up that morning increased as she listened to the prosecutor state his case. And Sara understood that things might not be as plain sailing as Hobson expected them to be.

Sara turned to Brass with alarm.

"What's the deal with the D.A?" she whispered. "He's determined to hang Gil out to dry."

Brass let out a quite groan. "Ladd Sayers is going places and he wants people to remember that. He's running for re-election so he's politically motivated. He's stance is being tough on law and order, and particularly those that are seen as abusing their power."

Sara groaned and rolled her eyes, the queasiness returning.

"And that's going to be very bad news for Gil," Sara whispered. "While he makes his career on making an example of my husband."

"We ask for remand because the crime was violent and cold-blooded. Mr. Grissom showed no remorse for his victim and tried to cover his crimes," Sayers made his closing statement.

"The court should know that Mr. Grissom has not been prosecuted for any crime, your honor," Hobson responded. "If you send my client to jail then he will be put at risk if prisoners realize he worked in law enforcement. Please, your honor, consider recognizance. For his safety and for his infant son."

"He should have considered his safety and his young son, before committing murder. He is not above the law."

"Gentlemen, I have heard enough," Judge Carrigan said sternly, and the two warring lawyer's grew quiet. He paused for only a moment or two before bidding Grissom to rise.

"After listening to both arguments, I'm compelled to acknowledge the prosectuor's request for remand. Mr. Grissom, you will be ordered to stay in jail until the time of the trial."

Grissom's ghostly pale face registered the shock felt by all those present to support him. His frightened eyes sought out Sara, whose face was equally

stunned. Stunned disbelief was the predominant emotion Grissom held as he was led away to jail.