Gila National Forest

Silver City, New Mexico

7:05AM

"This view never gets old."

"Nope. Think it will after fifty years?"

Jack looked at his wife and smiled. "You think we'll stay here, raise our family, and be rangers that whole time?"

Calleigh shrugged, her eyes never leaving the stunning sunrise in front of her. "I don't know – I'd hate to leave this place. It's so peaceful here-"

An ear-piercing scream shattered the early morning stillness, and the rangers exchanged a look.

"You were saying?" Jack retorted as one of the early risers from the campsite two miles back rushed up the cliffside trail, pale and shaky.

"Jack! Calleigh! You've got to come quick – I found – oh, it's just awful!"

"Now, now, Ray, take a beat. Did you come across the remains of a cougar's breakfast or –"

"No! It's worse – so much worse! She's – oh God! It's – it's too awful – just come on!" The older man grabbed Calleigh's hand and pulled her down the trail leaving Jack with no choice but to follow along behind.

Ray was the resident worry wart and busy body of Gila National Camp – he was what the rest of the Rangers termed a 'lifer'. He had retired from the city living years ago and spent nine months of the year in the National Forest. It was only yesterday that he had returned to his rented cabin and Jack had assumed Ray would be too busy settling in to cause trouble.

But he had underestimated the man yet again.

Jack increased his step as Ray had already tugged Calleigh around the next bend in the trail and he shook his head at the older man's stamina. Ray might be pushing sixty-five but having worked outdoors all his life had kept him very physically fit, and he could keep up with all the young men in the Forestry Service.

"Jack! Come quick!"

His wife's shout jolted him into a run and as he rounded the corner, he saw them standing close to the edge, peering down the sheer side of the cliff.

"Calleigh! Step back – I don't want you to fall!"

She took a step back even as she waved her hand over the side. "Someone's down there."

He frowned as he came to her side and shaded his eyes, looking down the steep slope. "Alive?"

Calleigh shook her head. "I don't think so – she looks pretty beat up – and I don't believe she's wearing any clothes."

Jack lifted the binoculars that hung around his neck and focused them on the body, gulping as it came into focus.

"Calleigh, get to the radio in the truck and call headquarters. We need the state police out here right now – and take Ray with you."

"Jack," she whispered, placing a hand on his arm. "Isn't it possible a cougar or another wild animal did that?"

He shook his head, swallowing down the bile in his throat as he scanned the poor woman's body one more time through his binoculars. "No, the only animal capable of doing that was two-legged, honey, not four."

"Mommy."

Sara grunted and rolled over, trying to ignore the little hands shaking her shoulders and patting her face.

"Mommy!"

"Hmm, five more minutes, baby, please."

She hadn't been this tired since the trips were little, and she had walked the floor with them. Bowen had kept waking during the night, no doubt because he missed his mother and was in a strange place with strange people and was uncomfortable because of his mild case of frostbite. Sara had no idea what time he finally dropped off into a deep sleep – but she knew that she had followed soon after, her arms wrapped around him and Ethan on the bed.

"Mommy, Dragonfly is awake."

Her eyes flew open, and she met the deep blue ones of her son staring down into her face. She couldn't help it – he was too adorable. She gave him a butterfly kiss, brushing their noses together. "Good morning, Grasshopper. I'm sorry, who are you talking about? Who's awake?"

He turned and patted Bowen who was awake and kicking his feet on the bed next to them in his nest of pillows. "Dragonfly. I couldn't remember what you said his name was – so I gave him one. Is that, OK?"

Sara's eyes filled with tears. "Oh, E – you know we can't keep him, right? His mom is coming to get him soon. We're just watching him for a little while."

Ethan frowned. "But why did she leave him at the farm – alone and in the dark and cold? That wasn't a good choice, Mommy."

She wrapped her little boy up in her arms, holding him tight. "Because it was the only choice she could make at the time."

"That doesn't make any sense," Ethan squirmed in her hold, and she let go, watching him as he sat up and frowned.

"I know, baby. It's one of those things that you will understand when you're older."

They were interrupted by the arrival of Edie and Emma who flew into the room but stopped short as they saw the baby on the bed.

"He's still here!" Edie cried as she grabbed her sister's hand, and they leaped for the mattress.

Sara held out her hand. "Careful! He's little, and tired, and not feeling very well-"

But the words died in her throat as she watched her girls coo and fawn over Bowen. The baby perked up immediately, coming to life under their attention and soon all three of her offspring were playing peekaboo with him and the next thing she knew, Bowen giggled, an actual baby belly giggle.

"What's his name?" Emma asked.

"Bowen-"

"Dragonfly."

"Ethan-"

"I like Dragonfly better than Bowen-"

"Edie, we can't give him a name-"

"Why not?"

Sara blew out her breath. "Because he isn't ours. We are just watching him until his mom comes back."

"What if she doesn't?" Emma inquired and the question took Sara's breath away.

"Yeah, if she doesn't, then can we keep him?" Edie demanded. "E needs a brother."

"Girls-"

"All right, that's enough," Gil spoke from the doorway and his family's eyes turned to meet his at the sound of his voice. "Family meeting, right now."

The minute Norah began to stir, Mary was bending over the crib, shushing her daughter, and soothing her back to sleep. Norah was instantly calm, sucking on a fist as Mary cuddled her close, bouncing slightly on her toes as she shuffled out to the kitchen to warm a bottle of formula. Jinx had tried to guilt trip her into breastfeeding since she was home anyway, but Mary had balked at the idea. She didn't want Norah to get used to only drinking her breastmilk and then having to wean her before she went back to work – and also, she had nightmares about her leaking breasts leaving stains on her clothes during meetings with witnesses. No, she had made the decision early on to dry up her milk and feed Norah strictly formula – and she was glad she had since everyone could help in the feedings.

Though she would admit to herself that she did enjoy feeding her daughter, holding her close, rocking her, watching her gulp down her milk – it reminded Mary a bit of Brandi – but her sister had never been this small – not that she could remember anyway. And even though she had basically raised Brandi, it was very different this time. Brandi was her sister – Norah was her daughter.

Her daughter.

She still couldn't believe most days that she had one – or that she had decided to keep her. In the end, it hadn't really been a conscious decision. She had put off making a final decision about adoptive parents, so that when she went into labor early, no decision had been made. When she was wheeled into the NICU and came face to face with her tiny baby and saw all those tubes and what a fighter her daughter was – she just knew.

No one else could raise her. She was Norah Shannon, Mary Shannon's daughter, for better or worse, come what may, and if someone was going to screw up her life it was going to be Mary, her own mother.

Mary chuckled dryly and stroked her daughter's cheek as Norah sucked greedily on her bottle. "What sappy thoughts I'm having this morning," she whispered.

"You're in a good mood this morning."

She jumped as Brandi came into the kitchen and pushed the power button for the coffee maker.

"Sorry, did Norah wake you?"

Brandi shook her head. "No, you must have picked her up before she started to fuss – what time did you get in last night? I didn't hear you come home."

Mary continued to stroke Norah's cheek. "It was late – or early." She shrugged as Norah finished her bottle and she lifted her to the shoulder and began to pat her back. "Everyone was asleep, including Bug."

"Bug?"

"Yeah, Bug." She turned so Brandi could see Norah's face and know she was referring to the baby.

"Interesting nickname – but hey, it's better than 'Squish'."

Mary grinned. "You were so squishy as a baby- and your food was squishy, and your diapers-"

"Ugh, stop! I get it, ok!" Brandi poured some coffee in a mug and took a long sip. "But why bug?"

Mary flushed. "Oh, I don't know. Marshall calls her lady or love bug – which is way too mushy for me, so I guess-"

Brandi gasped. "You just shorten it and call her 'Bug'. Mer, you are a softie after all!"

She grunted. "It's the hormones. But if you tell anyone, especially Marshall, I'll kill you."

Brandi raised her mug in a silent salute. "Your secret's safe with me, big sister."

The trips sat down in a row on the couch and Gil sat on the coffee table in front of them, his expression firm but otherwise unreadable. Sara had already fed Bowen a bottle and was now feeding him some applesauce, keeping an eye on her husband and waiting to see what he would say.

"You three know that Mommy and I love you very much-"

Three little heads nodded in unison.

"And nothing is more important to us than keeping you safe-"

"And Dragonfly?" Ethan piped up.

Gil frowned. "Dragonfly?"

Sara spoke from the kitchen. "E gave Bowen a nickname-"

A pained look crossed his face. "I see. Ethan, we can't give Bowen a name – he's not ours to keep. He has a family – a mommy who loves him very much and is coming back to get him as soon as she can-"

Ethan's lower lip began to tremble. "But we need to keep him safe. You said 'scorpion' – that means caution."

"Grasshopper is right, Daddy. We have to protect Bowen-" Emma defended her brother.

Gil held up his hands and waited for his children to stop talking. "I want you all to listen to me very carefully. Bowen's mommy is in danger – that's why I said our code word – because I want you all to be on the look out for strangers the next few days. Someone may come and try to take Bowen-"

"You won't let that happen, Daddy," Edie said proudly. "You and Mommy will protect him."

"Yeah, just like you protect us," Emma finished her sister's sentence.

Gil smiled. "Uncle Mars and I talked for a long-time last night, and we came up with a plan." He saw Sara come into the room and stand behind him. He knew that this was news to her. She had gone to bed while he stayed up and made these plans and he hadn't had a chance to discuss them with her yet. "You and your mommy, and Bowen, are going to go to our townhouse on campus for a few days-" he broke off as the trips cheered with excitement.

"Gil," Sara interrupted, and he turned towards her. "What about the Stevens?"

The Grissoms shared the faculty townhouse with a professor and his family who were there during the school year and then traveled in the summer, allowing the Grissoms to spend the summer 'in town'. But it was the dead of winter, and the Stevens family should still be at home.

"It's fine, Sara. I talked to Paulie first thing this morning and he said that Stevens took his family to Hawaii for two weeks – the house is empty if we need it."

"I don't want to leave you here alone-"

He stood and placed his hands on her arms. "And I don't want you and the children here if and when Bowen's father comes looking for him. I need to protect my family- and right now, yes, that includes this baby as well."

The triple terrors hugged his legs and Gil told them to go pack a few of their favorite toys and they ran down the hall, whooping and hollering.

"You're upset with me."

"No, Sara, I'm not."

She set Bowen in the playpen that Gil had unearthed from the garage and turned back to wrap her arms around his neck. "After all these years, I think I know when-"

"I'm worried."

"Ah."

"Sara, we've worked so hard to leave our old life behind – the demons, the ghosts, the bad memories – and build something wonderful here with our family – and in one night, everything we've worked for collapsed like a house of cards."

She pressed her lips to his and for just a moment, he let himself be lost in her touch, her caress. All too soon, she pulled back and cupped his cheek. "No, it didn't, Gil. Our children are still safe and we're here, together. I know I said last night that I wanted to keep Bowen with us but-" she bit her lip before saying the words. "I can feel the concern radiating off you in waves – and I know you only have our best interests at heart, and I feel like I'm being selfish in caring for another woman's child when I should be looking after my own right now – especially Ethan. So, if you still think we should give Bowen to Mary and Marshall-"

"Darlin'," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and drew her in close. "You are the best mother I have ever known. You have more than enough love for our children and Bowen – not to mention the attention span! I'm more concerned about me – it's all I can do most days to keep up with three children- I can't imagine adding a fourth!"

She giggled. "Gil, listen to us. We're talking as if adding Bowen to our family was a foregone conclusion. Grace could still be coming back for her son –"

"I think we both know that the likelihood of that happening is slim to none. But I do need you to guard your heart. We can't keep him – not long term. The dangers to our own children – it's too great. This isn't like finding a lost puppy and adopting him. This is a baby with very dangerous ties to the Chinese mafia-"

"Mafia-" she repeated the word hoarsely. "You really think – wait, did Marshall actually tell you something after I went to bed last night?"

He shook his head. "No, the man's a closed book, and I honestly don't want to know – because the more we know-"

"The more danger we're in," Sara finished his sentence, nodding her head, trembling a bit in his arms. "But Gil, he is just a baby-"

He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I know, sweetheart. And we will protect him the best we can – but I won't risk you or the trips' lives for his – don't ask me to."

"I won't." She shivered and laid her head over his heart. "I can't imagine getting to the place where I would have to leave my child out in the desert and walk away in order to save his life – knowing I might never see him again. My heart breaks for her."

He ran a hand through her soft hair. "See? The best mother I know."

Sunshine Building

US Marshals Office

10:30AM

"So, people, what do we know?" Stan threw the question out and looked at his team around the table, waiting for an answer.

"Not a whole hell of a lot."

"Not helpful, Mer."

"It's the truth."

"Candor isn't always the best policy-"

"I thought you liked my wit-"

"Not always-"

"Mary, Marshall. This is getting us nowhere," Stan interrupted. "Dee, do you have anything to report?"

"I'm still waiting for APD's lab to get back to me on that cigarette butt I found outside Grace's apartment building."

Mary snorted. "Talk about your long shots! That butt could have been there for days – and could belong to anyone-"

"There's an outside chance it could belong to Weng," Delia argued. "I talked to a couple people in the building who said they noticed a Chinese guy in a parked car outside on the street for a couple of days, but they just thought it was someone's new boyfriend."

Mary groaned. "No one thought it strange that he never left the car?"

"He must have left the car once in a while to avoid suspicion if anyone happened to see him," Delia reasoned out loud and Marshall nodded thoughtfully.

"That's all we've got?" Mary was incredulous. "A cigarette butt and a vague report of 'some Chinese guy' in a parked car and at the body farm?"

"I admit it's not much-" Stan began to say but Mary interrupted.

"It's nothing! Don't you see that Grace is running out of time? She's counting on us to find her before that sadistic SOB kills her and leaves her baby boy without his mother!"

Mary stormed out of the conference room and marched across the floor, flinging open the patio doors that led to the small balcony.

"Maybe someone should go talk to her?" Delia suggested timidly.

Stan sighed. "I'll go."

Marshall's hand pressed his boss' shoulder as he headed for the door. "No, I'll go."

"Mary-"

"Don't, okay? I'm not in the mood to hear a lecture on how I came back to work too soon and that I should still be at home, taking care of my baby, because due to my emotional outburst in there I am obviously way too hormonal to be back in the office even though being at home surrounded by my loving family was causing me to suffocate-"

"Mary." He came alongside her to the wall overlooking downtown, placing his palms on the cool bricks. "Is everything okay with you?"

She swiped at her cheeks, wiping at the moisture, hoping that he hadn't noticed but it was too late and before she could process what was happening, he was pulling her roughly into the front of his long wool coat.

"Tears, sunshine?"

She clutched his sleeve for a moment, enjoying the warmth since she had forgotten her own coat in her hasty flight from the office. "Yeah, just one of the many joys of motherhood hormones: I can cry at the drop of a hat – and fall asleep anywhere too."

He chuckled as she pulled back, rubbing her arms up and down trying to keep warm. He shrugged off his scarf, and placed it around her neck, looping the long green material over her shoulders, replacing her hands on her arms with his.

"Better?" he asked, rubbing her arms vigorously.

"Ow, yes, stop, before you give me a friction burn, Doofus!" she snapped, but her smile was back, and he grinned in return as he dropped his hands.

"We should go back inside-"

She shook her head. "Not yet."

He nodded in understanding. "Tell me what you need."

"I just – I know you're right – that Stan's right. I wasn't ready to come back to work – but I don't know that I ever would have been, not without a push. But I had to get out of that house, or I would lose my mind. If it had just been me and Norah, just the two of us, I could have stayed home with her for a year – God, that sounds crazy, doesn't it?"

"Not at all."

"But my family – Jinx, Brandi, even Peter – they're smothering me – I feel like I'm drowning."

"They're just trying to help you, Mer."

"I know – but their help – I don't want it – I don't need it."

"Don't you? I mean, who's going to watch Norah while you're at work? Or when we have to do a witness transport? You're going to need them then-"

"Okay, but not when I'm home – when I'm there, I want them out! I want space – I want it to be just me and Norah-"

"So tell them that."

"I – I-" her mouth fell open. "Damn it! Why didn't I think of that?"

"My guess? Your lack of sleep. Use that direct speech you're so fond of using – only a few less expletives, please. You have a baby now."

"God, Marshall. She's not even talking yet."

"No, but she's listening."

The patio doors opened, and Stan stuck his head outside. "Sorry to interrupt, Inspectors, but there's been a development."

"Finally!" Mary took a step towards Stan, but stopped as she took in his serious demeanor. "What is it? Is it-"

Stan nodded. "They found Grace. She's dead."

A/N: Poor Grace. Our Marshals failed to protect her - can they do a better job with Bowen? And the Grissom family? Stay tuned. FYI: Doofus and Sunshine are actual affectionate terms of endearment that Mary and Marshall call each other on 'In Plain Sight'.

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