(AN: Part 1 of 2. Takes place after season 5; episodes 24 and 25 "Grave Danger.")
For the past four weeks, Nick had been considering a life-changing decision. He was trying to decide if he was ready to be a father or not. Four weeks ago Emma Grace had become the legal guardian of Maggie Hope, Megan's daughter. Sadly, Megan had died during the birth. The only request Emma had of Nick was that they pause on dating, and Nick would think about the idea of being a father to Maggie Hope.
Four weeks later Nick had the same answer he had when he first laid eyes on Maggie Hope and saw Emma Grace hold the little girl. Yes, yes, he was ready to be a father, as long as it was Emma Grace by his side. He was just waiting for the right time to tell Emma Grace; he didn't want to overwhelm her. So, Nick was going about work as normal. Little did he know that everything was about to change for him and everyone he loved, again.
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Emma Grace's world crashed down around her. She was trying to listen and comprehend what Bill was telling the family. She was trying to make sense of all the people crying; she was trying to keep up with all the travel plans that were quickly being made. But the only thing Emma Grace could understand were the words that made her want to throw up Nick's in the hospital. He was buried alive. He's in bad shape.
Nothing had been the same in the Stokes household since Bill had answered the phone. Emma Grace felt like she was a robot just going through the motions. Emma packed a bag as fast as she could and helped the younger nieces and nephews pack their bags. She helped the adults get the horses and other animals up. She helped put children in the cars they needed to be in and then she climbed into the backseat between Maggie's car seat and Ashley. Emma Grace found herself holding the young woman while she cried over her Uncle Nick.
The plane ride was a blur, and before Emma Grace knew it, the family was walking into their hotel rooms that were five minutes away from the hospital. Emma Grace went with Bill, Jillian, and Chris to the hospital first. Nick's doctor sat all of them down and explained Nick's injuries in detail and what his recovery would look like.
Emma Grace vaguely remembered Gil Grissom coming to talk to them along with Cathrine Willows. Emma Grace felt like she could scream because all that she wanted was to see Nick! Finally, Emma Grace and the three Stokes that were with her walked into Nick's hospital room. When Emma Grace saw Nick, she couldn't help but start crying. Chris quickly wrapped his arms around her in a brotherly way, and Emma Grace cried into his chest.
Nick was asleep, but Bill and Jillian still went over and talked to him, with tears in their eyes. Emma Grace stayed back and let Chris go to his baby brother's side next; he had silent tears running down his face too.
"Oh, Nicky!" The sob escaped Emma Grace's throat while she walked over to Nick's bedside. She looked at his hand to make sure that it wouldn't hurt him, and then gently picked up Nick's hand and held it.
"Nicky, I'm sorry! I'm sorry for pushing you away! I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I'm sorry this happened to you, but I'm here, and I'm not going to leave you," Emma Grace whispered and then sat down in the chair beside Nick's bed. Emma Grace did not move from that seat even when all the other siblings took turns to see Nick.
Emma Grace heard Bill telling the nurses to leave her alone and let her stay by his son's side, but Emma didn't take her eyes off of Nick. Emma Grace would call and check on her four-week-old adopted daughter, but the report was always that she was fine.
Emma Grace wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she remembered laying her head down beside his hand. "Emma, sweetie, why don't you use this pillow." Emma half-awake looked up to see Jillian holding out a pillow. Emma took it with a smile and then laid her head back down on Nick's bed. Before she fell back asleep, she felt someone cover her up with a blanket, but she never let go of Nick's hand.
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"You look like you could use this." It was early morning, and Emma Grace had not left Nick's side. She looked up at the person offering her a cup of coffee and saw Gil Grissom.
"Thank you, Mr. Grissom." Emma Grace accepted the coffee and took a sip.
"How is he?" Grissom asked as he pulled the spare chair up beside Emma Grace's and sat down.
"He doesn't seem to be in any pain. The doctors are still keeping him heavily sedated." Emma Grace studied Nick's sleeping form before facing Grissom and asking the question she did and did not want to know the answer to at the same time; "Mr. Grissom, how did this happen?"
Grissom let out a defeated sigh. Then he began to speak. "Sara and I had just closed a case when Nick left the lab. Soon after that, Jim, Catherine, and I were the first at the scene. I found a styrofoam cup in an evidence bag with the wrong color of tape on it. It was a message."
"How did you figure out he was buried?" Emma Grace did want the whole story, but she wanted the important events first.
"Hodges, one of the lab techs, stopped a guy who brought a package to the lab. I opened the package in my office. It contained a cassette tape that had a song on it and a flash drive. The flash drive held the ransom demand, and the live link to the video of Nick buried."
"How did you get the money, Mr. Grissom?" The look on Emma Grace's face proved to Grissom that she would not stop asking questions until she got the whole story, no matter how painful it might be for her to hear.
"That's Catherine's story to tell. But I did make the drop."
"What happened?"
"Walter Gordon, the man responsible, asked me how seeing Nick like that made me feel." Grissom could not bring himself to say buried alive. "Then, he blew himself up. I felt hopeless because he didn't tell us where Nick was."
"What else happened?" Grissom couldn't help but think that Emma Grace would make a great investigator. She would not let up until she got all the answers she wanted.
"I watched Nick give up and accept that he was going to die." Emma Grace closed her eyes and let the tears fall at Grissom's honest response.
Grissom cleared his throat to mask the emotions he was feeling and continued talking. "I saw ants enter the box. I found out they were fire ants. The ants lead the team to where Nick could be buried. As we continued working, the team narrowed the options down to one spot."
"I, um, I understand there were explosives on the bottom of the- the box." The words were difficult for Emma Grace to speak.
"Catherine warned us."
"How did you know what to do to get him out, Mr. Grissom?"
"I used science. Nicky did the most work by forcing himself to stay still until we could pull him out." Grissom was proud of Nick, and his voice communicated that.
"What's next?" Emma Grace gave Grissom a look, and he knew she wasn't asking for his medical opinion of Nick's condition.
"I told Ecklie I want the team back together."
"Good." Emma Grace had a satisfied smile on her face.
The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching Nick sleep. Grissom stood up and started exiting the room. He made it to the door before Emma Grace spoke again.
"And, Mr. Grissom, thank you." Grissom gave the young woman a soft smile as he exited the hospital room, leaving the young couple alone.
Emma Grace had left Nick's room, at the persuading of her older nieces and nephews, to eat dinner in the family waiting area of the hospital with the rest of the Stokes family. The sixteen-year-old twins, Emily and Joshua, were keeping watch over Nick while the family ate.
"Guys." The family looked toward the door to see Emily standing there with three men. "These gentlemen work with Uncle Nicky. They came to check on him, and I thought Y'all might want to talk to them."
Emma Grace was the first one up. She smiled at the men. "Hello, I'm Emma Grace." As she shook hands with each man, they introduced themselves as David Hodges, Henry Andrews, and Archie Johnson. All three of the men were lab technicians who worked with Nick on a regular basis.
"Each of you played a part in saving my son's life. Thank you." As Bill Stokes spoke, he shook hands with each of the younger men. The rest of the Stokes family followed suit in thanking the men for helping Nick.
Jillian Stokes convinced the men to join the family for dinner, and when everyone was seated Emma Grace asked the questions she had been wanting to ask. "Which one of you made sure the package with proof that Nick was alive was delivered to Mr. Grissom?"
"Um, I did." Hodges was not acting like his usual arrogant self, but that was because the situation did not call for him to be arrogant, it called for him to be a caring person.
"Thank you." Emma Grace had unshed tears in her eyes as she made eye contact with Hodges to thank him.
"You're, hrm, you're welcome." Hodges had to clear his throat before he finished talking because he felt tears choking him up.
"Which of you had to watch the video?"
"I did. Audiovisual is my specialty." Archie did not sound proud. He was just stating facts.
"I'm sorry you had to witness Nick struggle like that, Archie. But, thank you for keeping an eye on Nick." Again, Emma Grace made sure to make and keep eye contact with Archie.
"I didn't do much, but you're welcome." Archie had to break eye contact with Emma Grace because of how helpless he remembered feeling when Nick had been panicking in that box.
"Hodges, how did you figure out there were bombs underneath Nick?" Emma Grace remembered Mr. Grissom telling her that Hodges had been the one to call Catherine.
Hodges was surprised by this question at first. He debated with himself if he should even answer it. After all, this family had been through a lot already, and knowing that the man who tortured Nick meticulously planned everything didn't seem like the best thing to tell them. He looked at Henry for help.
"The team found another, um, box that had held a dog. Hodges was wondering what some wires were that was loose on the box. Some studying revealed that it had been connected to a bomb. Hodges called Catherine as soon as he learned that information." Henry had explained the events for Hodges because he could tell that Hodges was having difficulty deciding how to explain the situation to the Stokes family.
Emma Grace hugged Hodges. Then she hugged Henry, followed by Archie. All three men knew that she was thanking them.
The Stokes family spent two hours talking to and getting to know Hodges, Archie, and Henry. Everyone got along wonderfully, and Emma Grace couldn't help but be thankful that Nick had these wonderful people, plus the team, watching his back at all times.
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It was a little after midnight when Sara made her way into Nick's hospital room. She had wanted to visit Nick since Grissom had gotten him free from the box. However, she knew Nick's family would be at the hospital, and she didn't want to disturb them. Plus, hospitals still made her uneasy.
Sara had gone back to the lab and worked on the report for this case that concerned Nick. She had finished up and decided to visit Nick during her break. Sara was surprised to find a woman about her age asleep in a chair beside Nick's hospital bed.
Sara recognized the woman from the pictures that hung in Nick's locker at work. It was Emma Grace. Sara knew that Emma couldn't be comfortable, so she went to the nurses' station and asked for a pillow and blanket.
"Emma. Emma." Sara gently shook Emma Grace's shoulder as she called her name.
"What?" Emma Grace asked as she woke up an rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She looked up into the eyes of Sara Sidle.
"Sara? What time is it?"
"It's a little past midnight. I didn't want to wake you, but you looked uncomfortable." Sara handed Emma Grace the pillow and blanket one of the nurses had given her.
"Thank you." Emma Grace smiled at Sara as she took the items Sara handed to her.
"How has he been doing?" Sara asked looking over at the still sleeping Nick.
"He's been sleeping pretty much all day because of the medicins they have him on. He seems to be doing okay." Emma Grace smiled as she ran her hands through Nick's hair.
Sara took the other chair beside Nick's bedside. Finally, the two women started talking. They talked about what happened to Nick and about other events that had happened in their lives. Everyone on the team, including Nick, would agree that it was a talk that was long overdue considering Sara and Emma Grace had not met each other yet.
By the time Sara left Nick's hospital room, Emma Grace was asleep with her head resting on Nick's hospital bed while she held his hand. Sara covered Emma Grace up with the blanket and exited the room; leaving the couple to get some much-needed sleep.