Chapter 16

Lindsey left the CSIs alone after a few rounds of Bullshit so that she could go to her room and actually get some studying done. Greg and Sara played some other card games until they got bored and settled into the couch for some good old fashioned channel surfing.

"Do you realize how little quality programming there is?" Greg asked after a while.

"Yes, that's why I don't watch much television," Sara yawned.

"Are you tired?" Greg asked.

"No I just yawn for fun," Sara said.

"I just wondered if I was keeping you awake. We do have to sleep at some point tonight," Greg set the remote down, settling for some documentary on Discovery channel.

"I'm a big girl, I can go to bed when I'm tired," Sara smiled, "but thank you for your concern."

"You do have a head injury," Greg reminded her, "so your judgment is not to be fully trusted right now."

"Whether I got my head whacked or not, I still know when I'm tired," Sara smacked him.

"Okay, I know when to back off," Greg shrugged as they settled in to watch the show.

Not twenty minutes later, Sara had nodded off, but Greg was still wide awake. He turned the TV off and pushed her gently over on the couch to a more comfortable position. He knew he would not be able to sleep until after he took his pain medications anyway. He still felt a dull ache in his side from the evening's earlier idiotic entrance. He slipped into Catherine's kitchen and made himself a little snack to eat with his medicine and then opted to wake Sara up and let her move to the bedroom.

"Hey Sara," he gently shook her, "wake up."

"Now there's an unpleasant sight to wake up to," she teased.

"Gee, I guess I should have left you asleep on the couch and took the bed for myself," Greg sighed.

"Thanks for waking me up," she slowly sat up and made her way to the bedroom, "see you in the morning."

"See ya," he waved and turned the TV back on as he lay on the couch.

---

After their double shift was over, Grissom, Catherine, Nick and Warrick stopped off at the diner to pick up everyone's favorite foods. Then they followed Catherine to her home to surprise their two friends with the good news. As they entered her house, they were greeted with a cry of "Bullshit!"

"What the?" Grissom furrowed his brow.

Catherine groaned, "Lindsey must have taught them to play Bullshit."

"What's Bullshit?" Nick asked.

"Card game," Warrick explained, "you try to bluff your opponents and when they think you're full of it, they call Bullshit."

"Children I'm home and I brought friends," Catherine announced teasingly.

Greg turned around, "Wow, everybody is here."

"Hi guys," Sara smiled at the sight of all her friends.

"We brought food," Grissom waved the carryout containers he held.

"Sweet, I'm starving," Greg announced.

"Oh sure, bail out on me when I just caught you in a big lie," Sara shook her head.

"It has nothing to do with that, I'm genuinely hungry," Greg laughed, "besides maybe later we can teach all these guys to play and we can smoke them since we've had more practice."

"I've got you beat, I've been playing for weeks," Catherine put in, "Lindsey learned that game at school and she brought some friends over and taught me to play."

"Greg is not that good at it," Lindsey told her mother, "he just likes to think he is."

"Thanks, just the boost my self esteem needed," Greg chuckled, "seriously people, let's get to the food."

Everyone moved to Catherine's kitchen where they dished up their meals and then moved to her backyard where she had a picnic table. Not everyone fit, so they pulled a couple of extra chairs to the ends of the table. Lindsey took her food inside as she had to be to school soon.

"Before everyone digs in, I have an announcement to make," Grissom got their attention.

Warrick, Nick and Catherine exchanged knowing looks but kept quiet. Greg and Sara exchanged their own look which said, "Told you they were up to something." Grissom ignored them all and continued.

"I managed to convince Conrad that the lab would be better off if our graveyard shift was reunited," Grissom smiled, "starting next shift, we're all back together. Catherine and I will act as co-supervisors and when you two get healthy we'll be a real team again."

"You're kidding," Sara said.

"Nope," Grissom assured her, "Ecklie doesn't like it, but I do hold some power over him. I basically told him that he would screw up the lab if he didn't do what I was asking and as soon as he started to mess it up, I would leave. Like it or not, I think he knows he could still lose his new position if he messes things up too badly. My punishment for poor supervising is that Catherine will take half the duties and I do get a pay cut, but I don't really mind. As long as all of us get to work together as one because we do work best that way."

"I couldn't agree more," Greg lifted his glass in a toast.

The CSIs raised their glasses and clinked them together. They joked with one another as they ate their meal.

"I don't think I'll be able to stay away from the lab for too much longer," Sara announced.

"Oh?" Grissom raised an eyebrow, "because I distinctly recall you being told to take it easy for a few weeks."

"No offense to Catherine, who has been very kind to let me stay with her, but I cannot keep doing this," Sara said, "I understand that you don't want me in the field until my head injury is better, but I can at least come to the lab and do some work. I am not one of those people who can sit around at home and watch TV all day."

"I'm with her," Greg agreed, "I don't want to spend too much more time away from work. It's boring."

"Well, I'll see what I can do, but you're not coming back at least until next week," Grissom said, "you two were in a car accident and you will never heal if you push yourselves too hard."

"Yes father," Greg rolled his eyes.

Sara smiled, "No Grissom's right this time, Greg. Both of us should take it easy for a couple more days."

"As much as we miss the two of you, we'll survive for a couple more days without you," Nick said.

"Yeah," Warrick agreed, "it sure helps that Ecklie let us all back onto graveyard. We were basically working that shift anyway with all the doubles we had to pull."

"Speaking of, I'm pretty tired," Catherine leaned back in her chair.

"It's probably about time for us to be heading home anyway," Nick said.

"I just want to go take a shower and go to bed," Grissom yawned.

"Thanks for having us over to your home, Cath," Warrick rose off the bench.

Everyone thanked their gracious host and Sara decided that it was high time she returned to her own apartment. She was feeling much better and being in her own home would certainly help the healing process. Nick decided to give both the injured CSIs a ride home. He dropped Sara off first, and Greg helped her carry her belongings inside while Nick waited for him to return.

"Hey Sara," Greg said, setting her bag down.

"Yeah?" she turned to face him.

"I just wanted to say thanks," he blushed, "for everything. You have been an amazing friend to me lately and I really appreciate it."

Sara smiled, "You're welcome."

Greg hugged her, "If it wasn't for you, I would probably be looking for a job right now. Instead our team is about to be reunited and hopefully I'll be able to keep learning how to be a good CSI."

"You will," Sara told him, "I'll make sure of it."

---

A/N: Hopefully this ending is not a disappointment to you. I really had a hard time trying to figure out how to end this story, but I knew it had to be done. It was left hanging for far too long and I know that's not fair to those of you who were reading it. I guess sometimes life gets in the way and sometimes stories get posted too soon (before you really know where it's going to go). I learned from this story to be a bit more careful and to have stories laid out before I post them. I hope you all enjoyed the read.