A/N: Our apologies once again for the delay between chapters. Another awesome chapter from Jellybean. She has really knocked this one out of the ball park. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 70

Grissom was at a loss for words as he sank into the cushions, but the women on either side of him were not.

"That was absolute bullshit," Sara spoke up. "How can he get away with that?"

Watching the words come out of her daughter-in-law's mouth, Betty nodded and quickly signed something directly to Dana. She slightly cupped her hands in front of her chest and flicked the forefinger and middle finger back and forth on each hand three times.

Dana took a glance at Grissom, and then Sara, who has seen her mother-in-law use that sign several times in jest with Daniel. But she was absolutely serious this time. "She is asking what are you going to do?"

"What can she do?" Grissom answered, both in speech and sign, each reflecting a sadness. "He's probably already bought the ad time. It's not like you can convince television stations to not take his money?"

"Now, hold on Gil," Dana said, employing the sign she had just learned for "whoa." "That commercial is not going to see the light of day."

"Why is he even using Gil's face?" Sara asked. "He's put away enough criminals. Why didn't he use Dunbar's face? He was the real criminal?"

"That's the big question, isn't it? And I'm going to find out," Dana said.

"Haven't you said you can't get Sayers to answer any of your phone calls and emails?" Grissom said sadly as he put a tired hand across his face after signing the words for his mother.

Because she could easily identify her client's frustration, Dana didn't take that comment as a jab against her abilities. Instead she answered the rhetorical question in a calm and empathetic manner.

"Listen, I don't like bullies. They really piss me off. They always have," Dana said, watching Grissom translate. "What's the sign for piss off?"

Grissom touched his middle finger to his nose, and then swept it off to press his second finger and thumb together as his other three digits were straight up.

"I'm remembering that one," Dana said. 'But in all seriousness, I plan to go way beyond phone calls and emails with Mr. Sayers. As long as I'm representing Gil, that commercial will be nothing but a waste of money that will never be seen on television. Can you trust me on that?"

Grissom took a deep breath. "Do I have a choice?"

Dana offered a tight smile, and was going to say that of course he had a choice, but Grissom's mother read her son's lips and said the word "no" out loud before furiously signing to her son.

Dana exchanged a look with Sara, who had a look of confusion and curiosity. She tapped her husband on the arm, and finishing up their conversation, both he and his mother looked at Sara.

"What?" Grissom asked.

"You mind letting Dana and me know what's going on here?"

Sara had signed her statement as best as possible, and in response Betty Grissom signed. "Go on. Tell them."

Letting out a sigh that morphed into a small smile, Grissom said in a low voice. "My mother was yelling at me."

"About?"

Grissom didn't answer right away, which earned him a swat on the forearm from his mother. Again, she made the sign for "tell them."

"I should be thankful for your support, Dana, which I am. While my mother thinks I am being difficult, I tried to tell her that I'm trying to be realistic because I know it's not going to be that easy to get Sayers to back down, no matter what you might have up your sleeve."

This time Dana's smile was small, yet genuine. "Can you teach me the sign for thank you?"

"Like this," Sara said, putting her hand with its fingers flushed against each other to her mouth and then extending it forward.

Dana mimicked the sign, gaining a smile nod from Mrs. Grissom. "Gil, you're not being difficult. Please make sure your mother knows that." She paused and then continued. "I know exactly what you are feeling, and you have valid reasons to feel that way. But I need you to know that I'm not going to let this go. And quite frankly, I want to take this a lot further than what we first talked about when you were in rehab."

Grissom finished signing and then sat pursing his lips. "You… you want to know about whether I've changed my mind about a lawsuit?"

Dana nodded her head and then turned to Sara. "Gil wanted to avoid having a lawsuit drawn up because he didn't want to put any undue stress upon you, Sara. Especially considering where you work. Again, I understand that, but the office keeps crossing more and more lines to do damage to Gil."

"I totally agree with you," Sara said, turning towards Grissom. "Hon, we've talked about this already. I don't have to stay at the lab."

"But Sara, my reputation is … pretty much ruined. You shouldn't have to face that possibility. If he goes after me, who's to say he won't go after you? Who'll help you?"

"I will," Dana said. "I'm totally prepared to stand up for Sara, if necessary. And they would be complete fools to do that." She turned to Sara. "But I would need you to document anything that occurs. Anything at all. I know that my father mentioned you were suspended after Gil was jailed?"

"Yes, but it was with pay," Sara said. "Actually, my supervisor and the sheriff had my back."

"But the same can't be said for all her co-workers," Grissom added. "And when the higher ups put more pressure on Ecklie and your supervisor…"

"Then Sara will let me know, and we will act accordingly. And make no mistake, this is something to be on the offensive about from the get-go to avoid any bad acts," Dana explained. "That is, if you agree it is a route I can take — that we should all take together."

Grissom looked at Sara. Despite not saying a word, she knew exactly the thoughts brewing in his head. "When you were missing, I felt I alone believed the truth. The one time I felt stronger was when I said to Wilbur you did not commit murder or break out of prison and Wilbur said 'I believe that, too.'" Sara paused and looked at the laptop screen. She shook her head before speaking. "That video. That awful commercial. Sayers wants you to lie down and take more abuse. I can't let you explain that away. I can't let them get away with that, not when we are fortunate enough to have someone in our corner."

The words floated in the air. Grissom couldn't argue with Sara's logic; despite going through hell, Grissom was very fortunate. Not every person who is innocent and thrown in jail gets out, much less has the opportunity to gain compensation for the hellish experiences. He put his hand on Sara's knee and gently squeezed it before turning to the young lawyer.

"OK. I trust you Dana. You do what you feel is just."

Dana smiled. "I will. Thank you." She put the laptop away in her case and took a few other things out. "My father has already shared with me the documentation from when you were in jail and when you were hospitalized. I got a statement from you now, but I still need the police report for the incident yesterday."

"If there even is one," Grissom said tersely, his mind recalling the cop who accused him as deserving a beating.

"Whatever is there, will bolster your case. Even if it is scant, it's just another display of malice and prejudice against you stemming from the prosecutor jailing you," Dana said. "I also wanted to know if there is a doctor's report from the hospital after this last attack."

"He didn't go to the hospital," Sara said, her voice tinged with annoyance.

"What? Why not? There could be internal damage."

"Exactly," Sara agreed.

"There isn't," Grissom countered. "And I did see a doctor. Al Robbins. He is the medical examiner."

"A doctor of dead people," Dana interrupted. "So what did he say? That you're not dead?"

"Al's a good doctor, and yes, I'm not dead," Grissom said, dramatically signing that last phrase. "He said I have a hard head, bruising around my torso and back and face, but there didn't seem to be any breaks. I take that as a good thing."

Dana looked at the other two women who almost simultaneously rolled their eyes at Grissom's stubborn nature. "What is the possibility of you getting checked out so we could have a report on file?"

Grissom shook his head. "I can ask Al to draw something up. We don't need another hospital or doctor bill."

"OK, tell you what. I'll call Dr. Robbins and ask for something detailed and hope he has the time," Dana said.

"He's a good man. A friend," Sara said. "He'll make the time."

Dana nodded and stood up. "Then the only other thing I'll need to do is take photos of your face, back and torso."

Seeing the camera in Dana's hand, Grissom got a little nervous. "Is that really necessary?"

"I need all the ammunition I can get," Dana said. "And an honest appraisal of what happened yesterday includes photos of the damage from the attack."

"Come on, Gil," Sara said sympathetically. "Don't act like you don't understand processing."

"Well, then why doesn't Sara take photos later and we'll get them to you."

"Why? I'm here. You're here. Take your shirt off and let's get this show on the road."

"My shirt?"

"Yes. Didn't you just say there was bruising on your back and torso." Dana stopped and got a grin on her face. "Oh… is someone shy?"

That immediately made Grissom blush. So much so that his mother noticed. She patted Grissom on the arm and signed something that made Grissom shake his head and let out another sigh. Then she gestured for Daniel to take her hand and the two walked to the kitchen. But she stopped in front of Dana and made the sign for thank you before lovingly squeezing her arm.

"She thought I would be less embarrassed to take off my shirt if I left the room."

"She's a sweetie," Dana said honestly. "So…"

Red crept up his neck again.

"Mr. Grissom," Dana said seriously. "Your wife is just lovely, but when is the next time a good looking woman in her early 30s — that would be me, by the way — will barge into your house and demand you to take off your shirt and show the goods?"

That caused Sara to snort, but she put her hand lovingly on his nape and stroked the curls there. "Come on babe. Nothing to be ashamed of. The photos are important. It's going to help."

Grissom acquiesced with a nod and stood up. Dana was going to shoot a friendly "woo hoo" for the mini strip tease, but didn't when she saw black and blue bruising meet angry, reddened scars from an older attack. Now it was her turn to feel the creep of red upon her cheeks, not from embarrassment, but from anger. She didn't know the Grissoms for that long, but she knew, without a doubt, this man and his family didn't deserve any of this pain.

"I'll be quick, Gil," Dana said as she snapped photo after photo in the silence of the room. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."

After Dana left and Sara took her mother-in-law home, the rest of the day and evening was quiet in the Grissom household. The silence wasn't tense, but there was an air of uncertainty.

Grissom was already in bed sitting up against propped pillows when Sara emerged from the bathroom in a nightshirt and shorts. She sat on the bed and applied some cocoa butter cream on her belly before getting under the covers. She turned to her husband who was shirtless. "Are you too hot?"

"No," Grissom said as she slipped into a supine position. "I guess I was too lazy to find a shirt. Did you want me to put one on…"

"Don't be silly," Sara said as she cuddled against him.

He moved so his arm could drape around her body. "Don't be so sure. I'm pretty sure this body turned off Dana from asking old men to remove their shirts."

"There is so much wrong with that comment, I'm not even going to acknowledge it," Sara said as she laid a kiss on his chest. They shared a quiet moment for a few minutes until Sara spoke. "Your mom…" Sara paused and chucked. "She was something else today."

"Yes she was," Grissom said as he drew lazy circles on her arm.

"Has she always 'yelled' at you like that?"

"Ever since I could remember."

"You were blushing about it," Sara said, raising herself up. "Even at 52 she can still push your buttons."

"I suppose so," Grissom said. "I'm sure you'll do the same with Daniel and the little one."

"I hope they love me as much as you love your mom."

Grissom sat up. "Of course they will. You're a great mother."

Sara shrugged. "You know I was thinking about your mom and what might happen if we move."

"Oh," Grissom said. "I… I suppose I hadn't thought of that yet."

"Well, I was thinking … maybe… if you think she would want to… maybe she could live with us. I mean, do you think she'd want to? Would you want her to?"

"Sara… you're saying you would open our house to my mother?"

"I know she likes her privacy, but we can make her comfortable and this way she could spend more time with the kids," Sara said, looking a little unsure. "I mean. Only if she would want to. If she wouldn't want to move in with us, I understand…"

"So, you would be OK with my mother living with us?" Grissom asked incredulously.

The tone surprised Sara. "Be OK? Yeah. I think it would be really great. She's such an important, loving person. If I can be half the mother she is to you, heck half the person she is, I'll be happy."

Grissom lovingly pounced upon Sara, his movement so quick it caught her off guard. Before she could say another word, he kissed her with so much passion and love, it took Sara's breath away.

Finally, when he broke away, he put his weight on his forearms and left almost no space between their foreheads as he looked down into her eyes. "You are the most … amazing person… Amazing to me… to our child… to our baby to be… to my mother… I … I don't even have enough words to say how fortunate I am to be with you."

Stray, yet happy, tears streamed down Sara's cheeks. "I'm pretty lucky to be with you." The intensity of his stare made her heart flutter. She could hear her own heart beating fast. "I love you, Gil."

This time a tear escaped Grissom's eye. "I wish I had the words to tell you how much I love and cherish you."

"You just did," Sara said softly.

"Not enough."

"Then show me."

With the ease of two well-acquainted lovers, Sara and Grissom moved to remove any garments hindering the joining of their bodies. In no time, Grissom became fully sheathed inside Sara. While familiar in experience, the feeling of him moving inside her, and her walls enveloping him felt as beautiful and exquisite as the first time.

Love was ever-present. In their eyes as they kept their gazes locked, in the pads of their fingertips as they explored one another's bodies, and in the sounds of passion that broke the silence of the evening.