A/N: Another amazing chapter from Jellybean. Another easy favourite of mine. Kudos to Jelly as usual - she is really knocking this story out of the ball park. Still a few more chapters to come, just not sure of when. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 69

Before exiting her car to knock on the door of the Grissom household, Dana Osorio did her normal routine of checking her lipstick in the vanity mirror.

Applying a final bit of lipstick, the 30-something lawyer smacked her lips and gave a critical look at her reflection. "I am just not sure about this shade," she said to herself outloud as she went to search for another lipstick in her purse.

She huffed a bit as she was unable to find what she was looking for. "I swear this is the freakin' black hole of purses," she said, again, to herself, outloud. "Why do I keep this thing?"

Looking at the clock, she noticed she could either be on time, or she could dump out of her purse on the car seat, and would, in no doubt, be wasting time in search of something that was truly unnecessary. Her lipstick wasn't that bad, right?

She looked again at her reflection, and still wasn't 100 percent pleased. "This shade makes me look like I have bloody lips." She used a tissue she found in the center console. "There," she said. "At least now it's not quite that bad."

Opening the car door, she let out a breath. Along with her "black hole" purse, she grabbed her laptop case and attaché. She felt confident about what she could offer during the meeting. And now, her lipstick, at the very least, didn't look like I'm covering up a bar fight, or something.

The last thought made her chuckle as she rang the doorbell. She offered a sincere smile the as door was opened.

"You must be Dana," Sara said. "It's nice to meet you in person."

"Sara. It's good to put a face to a name."

"Come on in," Sara said, opening the door wider. Dana immediately noticed an elderly woman holding the hand of a squirming toddler as they stood behind Sara. "This is my mother-in-law, Betty, and my son, Daniel," Sara introduced as she picked up the boy. "I hope you don't mind Betty being here. I meant to call you about that, but it's been…"

"No worries at all," Dana said. "Hello, Mrs. Grissom."

Betty Grissom said "hello" outloud, but also signed her greeting. Dana didn't miss a beat, and looked Betty in the eyes as she said, "Good to meet you."

The smile and head shake let Dana know that Betty could lip read. "I'm sorry, I don't know sign language, but I'm sure someone could translate while we talk."

Again, Betty offered a smile and said, "Yes. Thank you."

"So," Dana said in a jovial tone, "where is the man of the hour?"

"He was changing after lunch, something more presentable," Sara said, before yelling, "GIL!"

"On my way," a voice called from upstairs.

"You interested in some coffee?" Sara asked Dana.

"Sure, that would be great."

Sara put Daniel down and began to speak and offer a few signs. "Come on, let's sit in the living room and I'll get the coffee."

Dana got situated in a chair opposite of Betty. As she heard Grissom step down the stairs, she took out a file folder, a pen and a couple of notepads. She didn't know if a recorder was necessary, but before she went to stand and greet her client, she took the recorder out of her attaché.

But before she could get up, she stopped as she caught sight of Grissom standing across from her. All the sudden her own worry about lipstick making her look like she was in a bar fight seemed all too ridiculous.

"Sorry about my appearance," Grissom said, as he shyly sat next to his mother. "I had tried to shave and I didn't do a great job."

"You think that's what I'm noticing?" Dana said, as she mentally chronicled the blackened eye, the heavy bruising along his jawline and fattened lip. "Mr. Grissom? What happened?"

While Grissom paused as he tried to vocalize the previous day, his mother took no time. She put both of her arms out in front of her, and with her fingers spread, forced them in a downward motion. As she signed, she also tried to voice the word.

Dana followed the movements, and critically asked. "I don't understand sign language, but did she say attacked?"

Betty nodded her head and Grissom signed something to her, leading her to sign back. At that moment, Sara came with a tray of mugs, sugar, cream and stirrers.

"Yes, I went to the park yesterday with Daniel and Hank, our dog, when it happened," he said.

Dana reached for the coffee, while Sara doctored a mug of tea her Betty and passed it to her. "Gil," Sara started, who, unlike Dana, recognized what Betty had just signed in response to her son. "Like your mother said. Tell the whole story."

Grissom sighed and relayed the story from the day before. If he missed a part, Sara filled it in. Dana took copious notes. The concern on her face was obvious.

"Are sure you're OK? It kind of seems like you're being cavalier about the whole situation."

"It's not that," Grissom said. "It's just been… one thing after the other."

That made Dana both sympathetic and angry. Not at her client but the circumstances he and his family continually faced. "You know, I can understand that. But you shouldn't be facing this. We're not going to let this go unanswered." She looked at him and he caught her eye. While he nodded somewhat, she felt like this needed to be a team approach. "Are you going to translate what I said to your mother? It's important we're all on the same page. I can repeat what I said…"

"No. That's alright," Grissom said as he began to sign for his mother..

"Dana, I agree with you that what happened to Gil shouldn't be swept under the rug like a consequence no one cares about," Sara said. "But how can we make sure this doesn't go unanswered?"

"Great question, and I'm glad you agreed with me. Your husband is very concerned about how any actions we do on his part would affect you negatively at work," Dana said. "I know you said avoid a court case at all costs, but things keep escalating. I do have a more detailed plan of action I want to go through with you all, but, Sara, if you ever feel uncomfortable about a proposal, I need to know, and Mr. Grissom does, too."

Dana saw that Grissom was signing fast. "I'm not speaking too fast, am I Mr. Grissom?"

"Not at all. And Gil is fine."

Dana smiled, the looked straight at Betty. "Any questions, Mrs. Grissom?"

"Not yet."

"OK, when you do, don't hesitate." Garnering a nod, Dana got into the matter at hand. "Let's talk about the pension first. I'm not going to lie, I've been hitting a fair share of brick walls and red tape, but I don't want that to be completely discouraging to you."

"I'm not sure that's possible," Grissom said with his frustration showing. "This is frustrating as hell and if you aren't able to get anywhere…"

Dana put her hand up. "Whoa there, partner." She stopped and watched him translate. "You know, a part of me was really hoping the sign for partner was something western themed, like you know a lasso."

"No. That's a sign for a lasso," Grissom said in a deadpan voice. "You were saying?"

"Right, sorry. I've had too much caffeine and sugar," she said as she took a long swig of coffee. "But, you're right, Gil, this is enormously frustrating for you and your family because this is your lifeline, and, like we've discussed before, I think that Ladd Sayers has had a hand in this."

"Do you still think that?" Sara asked.

"Yes, I do. And I think I got the confirmation we need for that." Dana took out her laptop and accessed a file while she spoke to them. "Now, I have tried, in vain, to get Mr. Sayers to talk with me. Phone calls. Memos. Visits to the office. But to no avail." She finished finding what she needed and placed the laptop in front of the trio. "Gil, do you remember Nicole Palmieri?"

The name silenced Grissom's hands as he answered out loud. "Nicole? I haven't spoken to her in a couple of years. Is she involved? … She can't be involved in this." Before Dana could speak some more, Grissom began to speak and sign. "I first met Nicole about eight or nine years ago. Her daughter, Kara, had an interest in forensics. She had some …. developmental issues… special needs..."

Dana took his pause as an avenue to explain Nicole's role. She smiled as she spoke, especially since Grissom remembered the young girl's name. It let her know that all the accolades Nicole offered about her client were completely true. "Nicole works for the DA's office in secretarial administration. She met me at a coffee shop, and had nothing but good things to say to you. You were caring and genuine towards her daughter. You used to mentor her daughter and let her visit the lab."

"Yes," Grissom said softly. "Kara was a good kid."

The lawyer looked straight at Grissom's mother. "He's being humble. Ms. Palmieri met me voluntarily, surprised me really, just because she believed Gil is innocent. I'm sure you're proud of your son and this is another reason why."

The look on Betty Grissom's face was one of proud strength. She grabbed her son's hand and offered a kiss upon it. It caused Gil to become red in the face, but it caused Sara to wipe a tear from her eye.

There was a beat of silence, and after taking a deep breath, it was Sara who asked, "What did Ms. Palmieri offer? And do you think her job is in jeopardy?"

"First thing I asked her was about her job being in danger, Sara," Dana said, "And her reply was, 'I'm a big girl.' And don't worry, as a labor attorney, I won't allow her job to be in jeopardy."

"Good," Grissom said. "Thank you."

Dana nodded. "The way Ms. Palmieri put it, the situation from the bill for the ankle bracelet to the freeze of the pension benefits most likely is Sayers' doing. And she speculated it wasn't for revenge, but for vanity. Now, that caught my interest, and I'm sure yours, too. Word was Sayers was running for DA, but there is a special election that is being held in September for an open seat for House of Representatives."

"Is that the seat that became open this spring when the representative was arrested on fraud charges?"

"Exactly," Dana said. "Sources are telling me Mr. Sayers is taking advantage of some loopholes so he can be on the ballot for the special election, but if that doesn't go his way, he is going to have enough time to get his name on the ballot for November's general election for district attorney."

But what about the primary?" Grissom asked.

"The district attorney race had no partisan contests, so it wasn't on the primary ballot," Dana explained.

"So, Sayers can try for something bigger and better than DA, and has DA as a backup plan," Sara said. "Talk about a loophole."

"Yes, and in both races his big push to get votes is a no-nonsense law and order campaign."

"Whose law and order?" Sara said.

"Exactly. I love that," Dana said. "He is definitely a 'history is written by the winners' kind of guy. And as soon as the position for the rep became open, he employed a high-end advertising firm to run his campaigns. Soon … like this week, he is going to be running commercials. And Ms. Palmieri gave me advice on how to find those commercials before they hit stations."

"The firm just gave you the commercials?" Grissom asked.

"No," Dana said. "But, thanks to my pops, I learned that along with his wife, Mr. Sayers had a girlfriend, who happened to work for the marketing firm."

"I can't believe she would let you see the commercial," Sara said.

"Well, after I told her that our firm's investigator found out Mr. Sayers was also engaging with another woman in the marketing firm, she was happy to," Dana said.

Betty signed something in response to that comment, which Grissom did not translate, but Sara knew what her mother-in-law said. "Betty's got a point. Where did he find the time?"

Dana laughed and pointed at Betty "I like this woman."

"We all do," Sara said with a smile. "So I'm guessing the woman scorned gave you the commercial?"

"She did," Dana said, her tone and face turning serious. "And I do have it here for review, but I'm going to be honest. It's not fun to watch. It uses Gil's likeness in a horrible way. It angered me. But I wanted to share it to demonstrate my point about the situation escalating."

All three looked at one another with no words, they came to an agreement to watch it.

"Go ahead and push the play button," Dana said.

The ubiquitous imagery of Vegas filled the screen, quickly followed by a male's voiceover. "Las Vegas has its bright lights and dark side. Fortunately, the city has a champion for justice on their side, someone who is always ready to shed a light on justice. Ladd Sayers."

With that the screen fades out to a video of Ladd Sayers in a courtroom looking into the camera. "Ivy League educated, but Vegas born and raised, as an assistant district attorney, he put dangerous individuals behind bars for years." That rhetoric was upon a backdrop of a judge's gavel, followed by a shadowy figure put behind bars.

"But along with putting away those who don't respect the law, Ladd Sayers hasn't been afraid to seek justice from those who are entrusted with the law, and break it in deceitful ways."

And there it was. Front and center. The mug shot of Gil Grissom. Unlike the shadowy "bad guys," Grissom's image and likeness were sharp and crisp. And it stayed on the screen as Sayers' voice was heard. "Lawbreakers come in all forms and walks of life. Whether a drug dealer or a former investigator, they all have one thing in common. Break the law in my district and I'll make sure you do time."

The conclusion of the commercial cut away to a shot of Washington, D.C., and the cliched promises to clean up correction and fight for the little guy in the nation's capitol. Then the commercial ended with Sayers and his wife giving a thumbs up with the words, Ladd Sayers for U.S. House of Representatives and the date of the election. Then came a screen that read "alternate," followed by the exact same footage of the couple but with the words, "Ladd Sayers for District Attorney" followed by the November general election date.

The video stopped and Grissom leaned back with a solemn look on his face. He understood what that alternate ending meant. No matter what race Sayers would run, Grissom would end up the loser.