A/N: This gem is all due to co-writer JellybeanChiChi, and another awesome job too. We both apologise for the delay. Again, this will be the only chapter - just for now- until the other chapters are ready. Thank you all for your continued support for this story, and of course, your patience.

CHAPTER 50

It was nearly 8:30 before Grissom packed up everything so Sara and Daniel could head home for the rehab. Sara had noticed that Grissom's enthusiasm had waned after Daniel tried to make his monumental - yet ill-designed - escape from his room.

She chalked his change in demeanor to physical and emotional fatigue. He clearly put in a lot of effort to get her surprises together and that coupled with seeing Daniel's first steps made Sara feel tired.

Tired in the best way positive, but still tired.

Knowing Sara had a bit more items then usual to get to the car, Grissom got an orderly he had befriended and asked about the possibility of using a cart to get the items to the car. Grissom said he could load up the cart, while Sara took herself and Daniel to move the car to the front of the entrance.

The orderly kindly offered the use of the cart and said, "If you trust me, I can move the car for you then help you guys load up."

With a words of thanks, Sara gave the orderly the keys and helped Grissom load up the cart. That allowed for her to push the cart to the front, while Grissom pushed Daniel in the stroller. The family fell into a comfortable silence as they made their way through the halls. Once they made it at the front, Sara noticed Daniel was nodding off. In contrast, Grissom looked as if he was concentrating on something important.

"Is something bothering you?" Sara asked him.

"I… uh…" Grissom stammered before taking a breath. "Sara, I should apologize for what I did earlier. I … I let things get out of hand. I'm sorry I was forcing myself on you… That was… uncalled for… and I'm sorry."

Sara gave him a skeptical look. "You didn't force yourself on me. I was the one who started it."

"But… I was … pushing you in the room… Forcing you…"

"Gil, stop for a second," Sara interrupted. "Look at me." She waited until he made eye contact. "You didn't force yourself on me. We were making out. And if it seemed like I wasn't into it, then I definitely need to reevaluate my kissing skills."

She smiled wide at her own comment, hoping Grissom would do the same. While he shrugged and shook his head as if to disagree, a small smile did crack. "You… you never had to reevalute that, Sara."

Sara place a hand on his arm and rubbed it up and down. "And you shouldn't think you ever force yourself on me. OK?"

"But I…"

"OK?"

Grissom stared at her, still unable to agree with her, but the conversation died as the orderly drove up just outside the automatic doors. As promised, he helped Sara load up the car while Grissom put Daniel in his carseat.

Sara tried to tip the orderly who smiled and said, "My pleasure. Just drive safe."

Standing by her driver's side door, Sara watched as Grissom continued to talk with Daniel and stroke his hair as the boy fought sleep. She loved watching how loving he was with the boy, a contrast of when he first arrived home from prison recovering from his kidnapping.

But there was still this awkwardness that he held with Sara. But she neither blamed him or pitied herself with negative thoughts that he didn't find her attractive or desirable. She knew his post-trauma wreaked havoc with his emotions and moods. Despite the amount of time that had passed since he accidentally struck her in his sleep, he still evaluated his every move and motive with her under the specter of whether he was abusing her.

Having understanding like that made Sara glad she sought out the advice of the counselor she found online. Despite being in Florida and being a nun, the sister knew what she was talking about and had not only let Sara bend her ear once or twice, but four times.

She also offered something else that Sara knew was time to pass along to her husband.

Grissom gave Daniel a final kiss before gently closing the door. He turned around and Sara was right there waiting. He put his hands in the pockets of his loose khaki shorts. "He's practically asleep."

"He's had a big day."

"You think he'll wake up when you get home? Will it be hard for you to get him to bed?"

"I doubt it. We'll be OK," Sara said with a smile. "Will you be OK?"

"Yeah."

"I had a good time today. The best day in a long time. Thank you for everything."

"I'm just glad you like it. You deserve so much more, Sara."

Sara put out her arms. "Come here." Grissom took his hands out of his pockets and embraced his wife. "I deserve you and you deserve me. OK?"

Grissom kissed her neck in response but then drew back, but Sara held him tighter. "What you did for me if just another reason why I love you so much." She gently pushed away from him and then kissed him firmly. She reached into his pocket and then withdrew her hand. "I'm going to try and make it tomorrow but I wanted to get some shopping done…"

"Whatever works best for you. I understand. Besides, I'll be home soon."

"Yeah, you will. But I'll still call you," she said, caressing her cheek before walking to her side of the car.

Grissom followed her and opened the car door for her. After another peck on the lips, Sara got into the car, put on her seatbelt and waved goodbye.

He watched as the car pulled away and put his hands into his pockets. In one of them he felt a small, stiff paper card.

He read the business card Sara placed in his pocket as he made his way back into the facility.

Sitting in a waiting area, Wilbur Jacobsen tapped his toe on the linoleum floor before turning to the woman next to him and offering a small smile. The woman reciprocated the smile before reaching into her purse and taking out a tube of lipstick and a small mirror.

"I believe that's the fourth time you've applied lipstick since we left the office."

"I know, right?" said Dana Osorio, a petite, professional woman in her early 30s. "This was not a good purchase. I've had generic chap stick that stayed on longer than this stuff."

He watched as she looked skeptically at the mirror image of her lips. "So you should get rid of it."

"If I do, I might as well get the most out of what a paid for," she said dabbing her lips with the makeup stick a few more times. "Besides, I have to look my best since my client meeting is being chaperoned by a law partner."

Jacobsen snickered. "It's not because I discount your abilities."

"I'm sure you realize I am perfectly capable of conducting a client interview on my own," she countered.

"I do," Jacobsen said with professional sincerity. "As I said, it is to entrust in my own client that I have his best wishes in mind as I pass along this legal responsibility to another lawyer. The last time I did that, it was..."

"Not your fault," the young woman interrupted. "And from what you've told me about your client, I'm sure he would agree."

"Perhaps."

Dana Osorio cracked her neck from side to side and held her purse in her lap. "Well, if this is what gives you peace of mind, then I don't mind your presence, although remember I know my way around human resources and labor laws so be on your best behavior."

Jacobsen chuckled again. "You take all the fun out of the job."

She rolled her eyes at him but had no time for a retort as an orderly approached him. "Sorry for the wait. I can escort you two now to a room with some privacy."

The two lawyers stood up with Dana taking the lead, but before following behind the orderly, she took her tube of lipstick and tossed it in a trash can.

"You took my advice?" Jacobsen asked.

"What can I say? You were right, pops."

The orderly made small talk with the couple as he led them in the halls. "This is a family meeting room. It's small with a couple of love seats. I can go get him, but I'm gonna bet he's already there waiting for you."

Turning the corner and seeing the door open, the orderly peeked in and then gave a nod to the lawyers. He knocked on the door and stood by it. "Hey Grissom. Your company's here."

Grissom stood up while the lawyers entered. He looked nervous and cleared his throat before offering his hand to Jacobsen. "Wilbur. Good to see you."

"You too, Gil," Jacobsen answered as he shook Grissom's hand and placed his other hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're looking better."

Grissom shrugged and then turned to new person. "Hello. I'm Gil Grissom."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Dana Osorio. You can call me Dana, Mr. Grissom."

"Nice to meet you, and Gil is fine."

"Dana is one of our finest labor attorneys at the firm, Gil," Jacobsen said. "She was the first person I thought of when I heard about your predicament."

Grissom nodded his head in agreement, and while he seemed pleasant, he still looked somewhat nervous. It was a reaction not lost on Jacobsen or Dana, who decided to relieve some anxiety.

"And just to let you know, Gil, Mr. Jacobsen is not just the firm's partner. He is my father, and he's told me about what you went through. I know it's probably tough for you to trust another lawyer, but I hope you can trust in me the way you trust in my father."

"Is that OK with you, Gil?" Jacobsen asked.

Grissom looked at them both and let out a sigh. "Of course. I'm… This is quite a gesture. From both of you. Thank you."

"Don't give thanks till the job is done," Dana said with a smile.

Grissom smiled back. "Let's sit down." While Grissom sat alone on one love seat, father and daughter sat on the other one. "I remember you talking about your daughters, Wilbur."

"If there was complaints, it was about my sister Margo," Dana said with a deadpan face.

"He didn't complain. Bragged, really," Grissom said. "Although I remember he tells a story about when one of his daughters were little she constantly raided your mother's makeup."

"Definitely Margo."

"Are you sure?" Jacobsen said.

"No proof it wasn't," Dana added, before getting down to business. "So, Gil, let's try to get to the bottom of this. It's your pension that is in flux right now, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"The employer is directly under Clark County or is it defined as the Sheriff's Office or the crime lab?"

"The lab, which is under the discretion of the Clark County Sheriff's Office," Grissom said.

"OK. I just need to get specifics on classifications for HR and such. But I can do that. I have a some experience with the agencies with prior cases," Dana said as she took notes. "Now, how long have you been without a payment and when was it first blocked?"

"When I was denied bail, I guess that's been 10 weeks."

"That's quite a few payments. My father told me you were cleared of all charges, is that correct?"

"Yes."

"And when you retired, it was not under the specter of termination, is that correct?"

"I guess there was speculation because my relationship with my wife became known."

"OK, but no formalities were brought up, were they? I'm talking about a memo, a letter, and when I say that I mean one that particularly states termination. Not suspension. Not suspicion. The word termination."

"Well, no. I was never given a pink slip or anything of that nature."

"OK. Good."

"Why have they stopped the payments?" Grissom asked. "I don't understand how they can do that. I was cleared, but someone is holding this up."

"Were you told that by HR?"

"No they haven't answered my phone calls. It was just…"

Dana put up her hands. "That's OK. I don't need to know too many details. Let's just say it was speculation."

Grissom understood her reaction. If she wouldn't be able to question the person about the theory that someone was holding up, she wouldn't want that information around. Could come back and bite Ecklie in the ass, and Grissom needed him in his corner. "Yes. Speculation."

"Any speculation on the person causing this?"

"If I had to guess, it's Ladd Sayers," Jacobsen said. "What do you think, Gil?"

"He certainly is my worst critic."

Dana continued to write notes. "My father has enlightened me about Mr. Sayers and how tenacious he was. Do you think he pressured members of law enforcement to move in the direction of your guilt?"

Grissom sighed. "I… I honestly don't know."

"That's something I can investigate," Dana said. "Gil, while I haven't been through an exhaustive amount of protocols with this particular case, my experience with law enforcement has been that a blocking of pay, benefits, pension, etc., many times is chalked up to a 'bad behavior' clause, for lack of a better term. As if your arrest hurt the image of law enforcement and, as such, they withhold the pension. But, when you are falsely accused with murder, the bad behavior clause kind of goes out the window."

"One would think."

"One would know," Dand clarified. "Now, again, I need to investigate protocols, but that was just an educated, yet speculative, answer to your question. Our starting point, if you will. Now, whe look up information, will I find any commendations in your file?"

"Well, actually…" Grissom paused and reached to the side of the love seat to get a leather satchel. "My mother lives in my old condo, where I still store all my work files. She came for a visit this morning, so I asked her to bring a few files. She brought over more than I expected I haven't searched through everything to see if they can help, but…"

Dana put on a wide smile as she reached for the mass of paperwork in neat file folders. "Are you kidding? I love 'too much.'" She quickly perused different folders. "Is this your original HR manual when you first hired?"

Grissom leaned over. "Yes. How could you tell?"

"The stock photos on the front cover have the worst late 80s early 90s hairstyles. And those pants, ugh," Dana said. "This is a treasure trove. May I take it?"

"Of course."

"Awesome," she said, still looking through information. "And, to answer my question about commendations, I've already found several."

"There might be 'recommendations' as well," Grissom said as he mused about the times he might have pissed off certain higher ups.

"Perfection is not a requirement to get your pension, Gil," Dana said. "I think you have a solid complaint. And I get into the nitty gritty and talk to you again, I wouldn't be surprised if a lawsuit against the person behind the blocking of this person is quite pursuable."

At that comment, Grissom immediately blanched. "A lawsuit? I… why would it come to that?"

"Well, Gil, from what you are saying, clearly there is something going on that is against legal protocols and no one and no organization should get away with that. As my client, you getting appropriate compensation is paramount."

Grissom swallowed a lump in his throat. "I appreciate that… but … I'm not looking for anything but my pension. I just want my pension reinstated."

Dana looked at him critically as Grissom's gaze turned away from the two people in front of him. Dana spied a look at her father, who wordlessly asked her if he could interject a comment. She nodded yes.

"Gil," Jacobsen started, "do you need anything?"

"No," Grissom said wringing his hands. "It's just… I have to think about Sara. Any type of lawsuit is going look bad upon her. She already has a lot of issues where people treat her as a pariah as it is."

"And a lawsuit won't help the situation," Dana continued. "I understand that. I do."

"It might not help me either," Grissom added. "My reputation… it's a mess. And … how is another employer going to take that I sued my former employer?"

"That doesn't have to be public knowledge," Dana said.

"If Ladd Sayers is behind the blocking of my pension, you really think he wouldn't make a lawsuit against his office public knowledge?" Grissom said with both frustration and resignation in his voice. "He'd leak that to the press in a heartbeat. What good would it do?"

Dana took in all Grissom said. She could tell by his speech and posture that there was little chance to persuade him of the possibility of a lawsuit. She might revisit it later but for now, the man in front of her needed reassurance that the essential nature of her job was to restore what is rightfully his.

"Gil, even though I mentioned a lawsuit that does not in any way, shape or form be the only course of action," Dana reassured. "I promise not to do anything you are uncomfortable with. Like you said, what would be the point of that? As such, my course of action thus far will be to discover why specifically the pension was blocked, examine the legalities behind it and restore them ASAP as discreetly as possible. Does that sound good to you?"

Grissom chuffed. "You make it sound so easy."

"Not easy. Succinct," she corrected with a smile. "So, you want to sign some paper so we make this partnership official?"

"No lawsuit?"

"I will avoid that like the plague."

Grissom nodded his head. "OK. I trust you."

Dana smiled, then elbowed her father gently. "You heard the man. Give him a pen, Wilbur!"