"It's gonna be okay, baby." And he turned to walk away. Keppler had already left him; they'd all left him. They'd all left her.

But he'd find someone. Child Services would take a hold of her in no time, and in the meantime, he'd find someone to take care of her. He thought of the receptionist first, and even sauntered on over there, only to turn around upon finding she was swamped. And then, he met Catherine and just a few steps behind Sara in the hallway—just his luck.

"Hey guys, turns out our vic' had a kid; babysitter just dropped her off. Sophia's callin' Child Services, but in the meantime..." His eyes met Catherine's, then broke away. He wasn't up to dealing with her on such a delicate level yet, and just couldn't feel right about handing that baby over, however ridiculous the notion. Besides, she seemed to hot on Keppler's trail again, anyway. Then, he looked to Sara.

"You did not just thinking of giving that baby to me because I'm a woman."

Nick's expression immediately molded into a regretful frown and he shook his head, 'innocently', and proceeded down the hall again. Well, there was always Warrick—he loved kids! He'd have a ball with her. But where the hell was Warrick, anyway? Damn, he was still out on a scene with Grissom. Nick hadn't seen Greg all day, and while Greg certainly wouldn't want to have a baby handed off to him all on his own, at least he could make it a little easier if they were together.

He held the little girl out again, trying to make eye contact with his words, "Looks like it's just you 'n' me for a while."

And then, she finally looked to him—all sweet and soft and vulnerable—and her face crumpled with the most precious of wails.

Nick's heart broke, and he wanted to protest at first, at least silently, with I'm not that bad. But maybe it wasn't really him she'd responded to. Maybe she was picking up the air of the circumstances, and the fact that she had nobody. Her mama was dead.

"Shh, it's okay," Nick said, holding her to his shoulder again, patting her back amidst bouncing her. He continued walking, wanting to find a quiet place to take, and to shush her. He needed someplace to sit, too, and didn't want to bother the people in the hall, nor embarrass himself with his possible ineptness in comforting her.

He found Grissom's office empty, as Grissom was out with Warrick. He'd only sit in one of the 'guest' chairs, as not to seem too imposing on Grissom's space.

She cried, still, and it didn't seem like a hunger cry, just a sad, lonesome one. He lifted her up again to sniff her butt—that's how you were supposed to check, right?—and didn't smell anything particularly 'special', and then settled her back down into his lap.

"Yeah? You miss your Mama? Now you're surrounded by strangers. It's gonna be strangers for a while, sweetheart. But I bet they'll find you a good home." Everyone wanted babies, and with how utterly adorable she was, Nick was sure she'd be snatched up in a snap. He stroked her hair as she blubbered, thoughtful and sympathetic.

Part of him even hoped she had no relatives to take her in, so she could make a fresh start with a new family, and be all the less likely to be forced into the lifestyle her mother—or even worse, her father—had. Just the same, he wanted her to know where she came from. He just wasn't so sure he wanted her to know that much.

"Hey, shhh," he went on. She sat in his lap, leaning against the curve of his bent and crossed leg. She looked around, too, uninterested in Nick, but seemingly desperate for anyone else. "Hey, hey." He thought of snapping his fingers for her attention, but didn't want to startle her. Then, he shifted himself, lifting his hips while careful of her, to fish his keys out of his pocket. The jingling caught her attention instantly, and she stared, stopped in mid-cry. And, upon the exhale of Nick's relieved breath, she reached for them. He jangled them a bit more, clearly satisfying her cautious curiosity, then let her take them and subsequently explore this 'toy' farther—with her mouth.

"Mmm, that's not very sanitary." But she could have them. Whatever made her happy. Or at least, whatever kept her from crying. He wondered why the babysitter hadn't brought any of her stuff along—surely she must have had some toys or a pacifier, or at least a bottle or diapers that her mother had left in a bag for her. But here she had nothing but the clothes on her back and a blanket.

He took the opportunity to study her now in this calmed state, watching her big round eyes absorbing everything. Her pudgy little hand shook the keys with a jerky intensity, only to lose her grip once the movement stopped, forcing Nick to strain his reach to grasp the keys from the floor, and then to hand them right back to her.

"You sure are a pretty girl."

"Ooo," she softly grunted, offering the keys up to Nick.

"Yeah? You want me to have 'em back?" He accepted her offer, and she made more of her cute little baby noises as she watched Nick's hand raise above her head. Both her hands reached in awe for it again, and he lifted those again-jangling keys just out of her reach, causing a bit of an excited grunt to arise from her. "Yeah. Can you get it? Can you get it?" he asked, playfully egging her on.

"Ooo-uu," she moaned, hinting a smile in her tear-glistening eyes.

"Oh! You got it! Yeah you did!" he exclaimed through a restrained shout, his fingers nudging her sides as she put the key ring back in her mouth. And there, both hands holding the keys in, she gave a sweet little grin, drool dribbling and all. Nick smiled, laughing himself, and tickled her again until finally he got a mischievous little coo.

His fingers made a move to inch up her sides again, but the vibration of his cell phone cut him off. "Stokes," he answered. "Yeah. I'll be right up." It was time for her to go.

He let her carry the keys on their trip to the front of the lab, slobbering on them amidst her back-to-vigilant staring.

The woman from Child Services swiftly approached him, and with a professional "I'll take her now," retrieved her from his hold.

She began to cry as soon as she left Nick's arms, wailing even more pitifully than she had when she found she was stuck with Nick. It was someone new again, right after she got comfortable; right after she felt safe again. It was going to be like that for a while now, and she didn't deserve it. She didn't deserve that fear, and that unknowing. She didn't deserve to lose her mom. Her mom didn't deserve to be lost.

When Nick took his keys back from her, the heavy tears began to fall. She looked for Nick, head turning to keep him in her gaze as the woman spun around to leave. He swore she reached out to him, or maybe she was just reaching for the keys back, but it broke his heart all the same.