A/N: Well, it's not the most exciting chapter I've ever written, but I needed it to set up the next one. I hope you like it!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

I don't own CSI. The tiniest bit of inspiration comes from episode 601, "Bodies in Motion."

Reorganization

"So, are we cool?" Greg asked, looking at Sara apprehensively.

She nodded and gave him a smile. "Of course. I just want to know how it is that you always seem to know my secrets before everyone else."

Greg grinned. "Hey, what can I say? I have good connections, and I notice things."

Sara rolled her eyes. "Come on, Secret Agent Sanders. We need to get our assignments."

"Right," Greg agreed, following her out of the locker room.

They made their way into the break room, where Grissom and Sofia were waiting. They were talking; Sofia was laughing at something Grissom had said. Sara prepared herself to do battle with the usual pang of jealousy, but … it just wasn't there. She smiled at both Sofia and Grissom as she said hello.

"Hi," Sofia replied, smiling up at them.

"Hello," Grissom said, barely looking at Sara.

Sara sighed. She knew that she and Grissom had made the right decision, and that they needed to avoid all unnecessary contact at work. She just hadn't counted on how difficult it would be.

"Here's what we've got," Grissom said. "Sofia, you and Sara are headed out to look at a multi-vehicle collision on the highway."

"Sounds like fun," Sofia said, taking the assignment slip from him.

"Greg, you're coming with me," Grissom continued. "We have a floater in Lake Mead."

"Fantastic," Greg said sardonically. "I love a good decomp."

Sara giggled, and he flashed her a smile.

"Okay, everyone, let's get moving," Grissom said.

Sofia looked at Sara. "Do you want to drive?"

Sara shrugged. "You can if you'd like."

"That is so unfair!" Greg exclaimed. "You never let me drive!"

Sara grinned at him. "Maybe it's because I trust Sofia to get me to the scene safely."

"Ouch," Greg said. "Just … ouch."

"Hey, look, Greg, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Sofia teased. "Plenty of people are bad drivers."

"Your problems aren't our fault," Sara added.

"I hate you both," Greg said, rolling his eyes. "Griss, all I can say is, thanks for not making me go out with them tonight."

Grissom shook his head. "Okay, girls, leave Greg alone. Go to your crime scene."

"Yes, Dad," Sofia laughed. She looked at Sara. "Do you need to get your kit?"

"Yeah," Sara said. "Can I meet you at the car?"

"Definitely."

Sara made her way to the locker room alone; Greg and Grissom left in the opposite direction. She pulled her kit from her locker, then took out her field vest. She pulled it on, immediately noticing the paper sticking from the pocket. Frowning slightly, she pulled it out and unfolded it.

I'm sorry we can't work together tonight. Will you come over after shift?

- G

Sara's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't believe he had made such a gesture. She also couldn't believe how fortunate she was to have noticed the note before meeting up with Sofia.

She read it three times, her smile widening with each word. For the first time in a long time, she couldn't wait for her shift to end.

Considering the fact that they were investigating an accident involving six cars, Sara and Sofia moved through their case quite quickly. They had not wrapped it by the end of their shift, but agreed that they had made significant progress, and that they could go home on time.

Once she was safely in her car and out of the parking lot, Sara pulled her phone out of her purse. She pressed the voice dial button and waited for it to beep.

"Grissom," she said clearly.

A moment later, the phone was ringing in her ear. It only rang twice before he answered.

"Grissom."

"Hey," she said. "Can you talk?"

"What can I do for you?" he asked rather than answering her question.

"I just left the lab," she said. "I was just wondering when exactly you wanted me to get to your place."

"I'm at my crime scene now. I'm probably going to be here for another two hours," he said.

"Yeah, fine," she said. "I'll go home first and shower. Call me on your way home and I'll meet you there."

"Okay," he said. "I'll call you back on that."

Sara giggled. "Who can hear you? Greg or a uni?"

"Yes, that's right," he said.

She giggled again. "I can't wait to see you, Griss," she said in a seductive voice. "I've been thinking about you all night. I'm aching for your –"

"Yes, right, I'll call you when I'm back at the lab," he said, cutting her off.

Sara began to laugh outright. "You're the best, Griss. You know that, right?"

She could hear the smile in his voice as he responded, "Good bye."

"Bye," she laughed, flipping her phone shut.

She had never realized how much fun it could be to talk to him like that. She'd have to try it again. Particularly when he was at a crime scene … with others within earshot.

It was over four hours later when Sara arrived at Grissom's house. She didn't even have time to ring the bell before he threw the door open.

"Well, hello," she grinned. "Happy to see me?"

"You have no idea," he moaned.

He grabbed her and pulled her into the townhouse, pushing the door closed as he pressed his lips against hers. Sara gasped slightly, but eagerly responded.

"What was that all about?" she asked when he finally broke the kiss.

"You are evil!" he exclaimed, smiling at her. "How can you say things like that to me?" He kissed her again. "While I'm at a crime scene?" Again his lips pressed against hers. "With Greg?" Another kiss.

Sara grinned and kissed his neck. "I wanted you to miss me," she said.

"I already did," he said, stepping forward with his arms still around her, directing her to the staircase.

"It's not as much fun when we don't work together," Sara said as they pulled apart to run up the stairs.

"No," he agreed, grabbing her again at the top of the stairs, kissing her as he pulled her down the hall. "But, we still get to do this."

Sara laughed as he led her through the bedroom door and to his bed. "This is so much better than working a case together."

"Feel better?" Sara asked, kissing Grissom's chest.

"Mm-hm," he murmured, hugging her close. "I did miss you tonight," he said. "I think we work well together. It's a shame to lose that."

"But, like you said, we need to create some distance," Sara said. "It won't be forever, right?"

"Who knows?"

"Well, I mean, once Catherine, Nick and Warrick are back, we'll be able to 'hide' easier. You know, more people, less chance of being noticed for any …" She trailed off, realizing that he wasn't looking at her anymore. In fact, he was looking determinedly away from her. "Gil?"

"Hm?" he hummed. He turned his head back in her direction, but still avoided eye contact.

"Gil, you have talked to Catherine, right?" she asked. "You did ask her about putting the team back together, right?"

"Not yet," he admitted rather reluctantly.

"Grissom!" she exclaimed. "You promised that you'd talk to her when we got back from Boston!"

"I know," he sighed. "I just …"

Sara shook her head. "Listen, King of Avoiding All Potentially Emotional and/or Awkward Conversations, Ecklie knows that you want the team back together. Ecklie is in charge of staff assignments. Ecklie could very easily call Catherine in tomorrow to discuss this. Do you really think she'd take it well coming from him?"

Grissom sighed. "If she hears it from him first, she'll probably never speak to me again." He smiled. "Well, by Catherine's standards, that's about two weeks. But, still …"

"Gil, please," Sara sighed. "Nick comes back to work in two weeks. Don't you think it would be better for him to come back to a reunited team? It's what I'd want, if I were him. He was abducted from a crime scene. Don't you realize how scared he must be to come back and go out to another crime scene? I think that having all his friends working with him will help him. Don't you?"

Grissom ran his hands over his face. "I know, Sara. Everything that you've said makes complete sense."

"So, you'll talk to Catherine, then?"

"Yes. I'll talk to Catherine."

"When?" she pressed.

"Next shift," he said. "I'll go in early."

"Do you promise?"

He smiled slightly. "Yes, Sara. I promise."

"Good," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

"Now," he said, rolling over so that he was lying on top of her, "if I'm going to leave early, we'd better make the most of the time we have."

Sara laughed as he kissed her again.

"Hi," Grissom said, knocking on Catherine's open office door.

"Hi," she smiled, waving him in. "I was planning to find you later. I didn't think you'd be here so early."

"I wanted to talk to you," he said, sitting down across from her.

"Is it about this?" Catherine asked, sliding a memo across to him.

Grissom took the sheet of paper and skimmed it. It was a memo from Ecklie, requesting a meeting with both of them.

"I think it might be," he said.

"Well, good. He doesn't say a thing about why he wants to meet with us; how I am supposed to be prepared?"

"Cath," Grissom said slowly, "do you like your job?"

Catherine looked at him in shock. "What?"

"I mean, I know you like being a CSI, but … do you like being a supervisor?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Is this going to be some weird, sharing session? Because, I'll be honest: coming from you, that would be really strange."

Grissom sighed. She wasn't making this easy on him. "Listen, Cath, there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay," she said cautiously. "I'm listening."

He licked his lips. "The night we found Nicky, you and Warrick jumped in the ambulance with him and rode to the hospital. Sara, Greg and I stayed behind with Brass and Ecklie."

"Right," Catherine said. "You met us at the hospital later."

"Right," Grissom agreed. "It was during the intervening time …"

"Just spit it out, Gil."

"I asked Ecklie to put our team back together."

"What?" Catherine nearly whispered. She looked utterly shocked.

Grissom paused, choosing his words carefully. "Months ago, I told you that I regretted not fighting to keep the team together. Well, I've had enough. I know that we all work better together than we do apart. It doesn't make sense to have us split the way we are. And …"

"And?" Catherine prompted.

"As I watched that ambulance leave, all I could think was this is wrong. Nick and Sara, Nick and Greg, Nick and I … we've all been just as close as Nick and you or Nick and Warrick. Why was it right to pull us apart like that? We should have been together then. And, we should all be together when Nicky comes back to work."

Catherine sighed. "I have missed the team," she said. "And, I'm sure it would mean the world to Nick to come back to the whole team."

"So, you're for it?" Grissom asked tentatively.

She sighed again. "I guess," she said a bit helplessly, spreading her hands. "I can't fault your logic, or argue with anything you've said."

"The thing is, Cath …"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll have to give up my position, won't I?"

"I'm sure that's why Ecklie wants to talk to us."

She nodded again.

"What do you think, Catherine?"

She sighed. "What do I think?"

"Yeah. You've got to give me something."

"I think …" She paused and closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again. "I wanted to be a supervisor for years. Years, Gil. You know that."

He nodded sadly. "I've been recommending you for years."

"I always thought that it would be so easy," she mused. "Not that I thought you didn't work, but … I guess you made it look easy. You're good at what you do, Grissom."

He shook his head. "I'm not," he argued. "If I were good at this, my team would never have been split."

"You asked me what I think," Catherine said. "Do you want to know, or not?"

"Yes, I do want to know."

"I think that you're a better supervisor than I am."

Grissom stared at her in shock. He had certainly not expected to hear that.

"I don't mean in all things," she said quickly. "But … when Nick was taken, you were the rock for the team. You held everyone together, you provided strength and stability, you kept everyone going when all hope seemed to be lost. Gil … I couldn't do that. Even if you hadn't been there to do it, I just don't think that I could have held everyone together the way that you did."

"Cath …"

She shook her head to stop him. "I'm serious. For once in your life, let me pay you a compliment!"

Grissom smiled. "Well, thank you. You're being far too kind, though."

She gave him a half smile. "I just call them like I see them."

"So, you're okay with this?" Grissom asked. "Bringing the team back together? Going back to grave? Giving up …?"

"I think I saw more of Lindsey when I was on grave," Catherine said slowly. "So, for that reason alone, I'd go back."

"And, Nick and Warrick?"

She smiled somewhat sadly. "They miss the team."

"Yeah," Grissom said quietly. "So do Sara and Greg."

"And, Sofia?"

He shrugged. "She's been on grave with us for awhile now. I think she'll see the extra team members as more help."

"Okay," Catherine said. "Should we go see Ecklie?"

Grissom looked at her in surprise. "You want to go now?"

"Yes," she said firmly. "Let's do this before I change my mind."

"Cath, if you're not sure …"

She shook her head. "Let's do this," she said again.

Their meeting with Ecklie was very straight-forward. They explained that they had talked about merging their teams back together under Grissom's leadership, and had agreed that it was for the best of the lab and of all involved CSIs.

Ecklie, for his part, stated that Catherine, Warrick and Nick could rejoin Grissom, Sara, Greg and Sofia on graveyard. He also dictated that Catherine would retain her salary and her office, along with some of the powers of supervisor, although she would report to Grissom.

"Give me a week," he said as the meeting drew to a close. "I'll need to shift three more CSIs to swing."

"All right," Catherine agreed.

"I know that this is an odd request," Grissom said slowly, "but, could we have the move coincide with when Nick returns to work?"

Ecklie flipped through some papers, searching for Nick's return date. "Yes, that will be fine," he said. "That gives me a few more days. Perfect."

"Can we tell our guys?" Grissom asked.

Ecklie nodded. "Yes."

Grissom turned to Catherine. "Should we call a meeting when grave gets here?"

"All right," she said again.

"Thank you, Conrad," Grissom said, standing. "We really do appreciate this."

Ecklie smiled his cold smile. "Well, I do do what's best for the lab."

With that, Grissom and Catherine left their seats. Grissom held the door for Catherine, then closed it behind them.

"Should we meet in the break room in an hour?"

Catherine nodded. "I'll let Warrick know."

Grissom looked at her closely. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

She nodded. "I've missed working with the whole team, too, Grissom."

He smiled slightly. "I'll see you in an hour, then."

She nodded again, and they parted ways, each bound for his or her own office.

Catherine walked into her office and closed the door behind her. She moved to her chair and sat down a little shakily. She stared straight ahead for a moment, then dropped her head into her hands, exhaling slowly, trying to hold back the tears.

She meant what she had said to Grissom. Grave had been better for her in terms of seeing her daughter. She missed the team. They did work better together. And, Grissom was a better supervisor than she was.

She just hated the thought that she had failed.

An hour later, both teams were gathered in the break room. Grissom walked in to find Warrick chatting with Greg about videogames, while Sara and Sofia were discussing the necklace Sara was wearing. He smiled slightly, pleased that Sara and Sofia had finally reached the point of being genuinely kind to one another, rather than the forced, polite civility they had shared for so long.

Catherine was already in the room, too, leaning against the table. Grissom joined her.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded. "You tell them."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded again. "I'll get their attention, if you'd like."

Grissom smiled. "Go for it."

"Okay, everyone," she said, raising her voice to be heard over the others. "We need to talk to you for a minute."

"What's this all about, Cath?" Warrick asked good-naturedly. "You called me in from the field for a meeting? That's just so … Grissom of you."

Grissom smiled slightly. "Well, it's sort of my fault that you're here."

Sara looked up at him, her eyes shining. From the moment she had received word of the meeting, she had thought that it would be about their team. With Grissom's words, her suspicions were confirmed. He gave her a slight smile, then turned to look at everyone.

"As you know, several months ago, Ecklie decided that we would work better as two teams on two different shifts. At the time, we all disagreed with this decision, but we made the best of it. Catherine and I have been so proud of you and the work you've done under difficult circumstances."

Greg and Warrick frowned at each other. Sara avoided making eye contact with anyone, fearing that she'd somehow let slip that she knew what was to come. Sofia, too, appeared to be determinedly avoiding looking at her coworkers.

"Catherine and I have just had a meeting with Ecklie," Grissom continued. "During that meeting, he realigned our teams yet again."

A tension so thick it could be felt as it descended over the room. Warrick broke the edgy silence.

"What is his new plan, Griss?"

Grissom smiled. "You, Catherine and Nick will rejoin Greg, Sofia, Sara and me on grave," he said.

Warrick's, Sara's and Greg's faces lit up. Almost as one, they jumped out of their chairs, preparing to celebrate.

"When?" Greg asked with a beaming smile.

"In a little under two weeks," Catherine said, finally finding her voice again. "When Nicky comes back to work."

Warrick and Greg both cheered, high fiving each other. Warrick turned to Sara and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I've missed you, girl," he said.

"I've missed you, too," she replied, hugging him back just as tightly.

Only one member of the team seemed to be less than enthusiastic about their news. Sofia remained in her seat, smiling rather sadly.

"Sofia?" Grissom asked. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I guess, it's just …"

"Just what?" Catherine asked, looking at her closely.

"Just that I won't be here with you," she said. "I've accepted a position with the police force in Boulder City."

"Colorado?" Greg asked.

"Yes."

"You're leaving?" He looked incredibly disappointed.

She smiled. "I was a police officer long before I was a CSI," she said. "I've really enjoyed working with all of you, but, my heart was never in it. And, sometimes … you just have to follow your heart."

Almost involuntarily, Grissom and Sara looked at each other. They both smiled softly.

Sofia was right. Following your heart could lead to the most wonderful of places.

Not shockingly, the end of shift found Grissom at Sara's apartment, tangled up with her in her sheets. The days that followed began to take on a familiar pattern. Once they had left the lab, they would drive separately to either Grissom's or Sara's house and spend the time until their next shift together. It wasn't always about sex, but it was always about being together. Sara loved every minute of it, and found herself falling deeper in love with Grissom.

Mary was right. She needed to tell him how she felt. She just didn't know how to do it.

And, even if she could have figured out what to say, she knew that she didn't have the courage to speak the words. What if he didn't return her feelings? What if she spoke too soon, and ruined what they had?

But, every time a thought like that would cross her mind, Grissom would put his hand on her leg as they sat on the couch, or roll over in bed to pull her into his arms, or smile at her in the lab. She knew that he cared about her as much as she cared about him.

She would tell him. She'd find a way.

Soon.