DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: M - Mature (language, sexual situations, adult subject matter)
PAIRINGS: GSR & Yo!Bling pre-established in previous fics of this timeline.
SPOILERS: Sequel to "Displacement", "Transitions" and "Vicissitudes" - Number 5 in the Discovery Series
SUMMARY: Sometimes, the best way the deal with the changes all around you is to stop fighting and evolve in response to them. GSR/Yo!Bling/Nick-OC

A/N: Had a little writer's block, but I've finally busted through it. However, some of it came because my beta planted another rabid, demonic plot bunny in my head to bounce around and disrupt things. But if it works out, we may have a new tag over at Geek Fiction. And if it does work... You will all be able to blame mingsmommy for this one, because she started it. ;)

REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Chapter 38
19:00 – 2007.02.03
Grissom Home

The deep resonating sound of Doc Robbins raucous laughter permeated the dining room as everyone gathered around the table for dinner. "Wait… Let me see if I get this right… You? Gil Grissom? The man who dissected dead animals for an after-school activity, the one who worked in the coroner's office while attending high school, the one who stores expired blood products in his refrigerator, the one who actually made meat bullets to test a theory is squeamish about touching a pregnant woman's…his own niece, no less…a pregnant woman's belly?!"

Grissom lowered his head as the contagious laughter spread out around the room. It had been a conscious decision in his mind for many years that it was more than an invasion, but also an assault on any pregnant woman, the way people felt they had the immediate right to reach out and touch them, though it would never have been permissible at any other time. He always believed it to be the moral high ground that he, himself, would never do such a thing. But what he never considered was his own discomfort in the situation should he ever be given full permission for such intimate physical contact. In fact, it never came up, until that night. He had never known a pregnant woman close enough to him for them to place such trust in his hands.

Sara reached out for his hand under the table. The reassurance in the squeeze of her hand gave him the confidence to try to come up with an answer that would explain the situation. However, Stephanie was quick to defend him. "Don't give Uncle Gil so much grief, Al… Besides…" She sat in the seat to the other side of him and laid a caring hand on his shoulder when she winked at him and said, "I'm pretty sure the last time he even saw my belly was on a trip to Grandma Mary's when I was like eight." She then turned to her husband and said, "Which I think is also the last time I wore a bikini…much to the dismay of my husband."

Thomas shrugged and added, "Hey… Can't blame a guy for trying… I still think she could pull it off." The ladies around the table "aww'd" at the endearing remark as Stephanie leaned in to her husband, but the men all recognized it for what it was; a clever ploy to boost his wife's ego, and ingratiate himself.

Catherine leaned over to Warrick and said, "And it's those comments that always keep Thomas out of the doghouse."

"Nah… That's just his way of tryin' to make the rest of us look bad." Warrick was given a nice elbow to the ribs for his trouble.

As everyone finally settled in to eat, Gil looked around table from time to time. All around him were the people he cared about. This was his family, and it made him feel like the richest man in the world.

He was still lost in his thoughts when Doc Robbins broke through with his question. "Gil… Where's Jim tonight? The old dog didn't finally find a girl did he?"

Gil wiped at his mouth with his napkin and said, "No… He's in Los Angeles…visiting Ellie." The table became uncomfortably quiet at the mention of the man's troubled daughter.

"I talked to Jim this afternoon and he said that Ellie's doing really well since she got out of the treatment center." The room visibly relaxed at Sara's explanation and she once again squeezed Gil's hand under the table.

The call from Jim had been a welcome surprise, since they were both worried about what he would find when he flew out to visit his daughter. Jim Brass carried a great deal of guilt on his shoulders when it came to his daughter, so any progress he made in repairing that relationship was more precious than gold.

Stephanie, however, gave them a little more hope when she remarked, "Yeah, and I told Anne where he'd be staying, so they could hook up for dinner or something."

Most everyone gave her a series of strange looks, but Sara was the one to ask, "And she would be?"

She simply shrugged and answered, "Captain Anne Kramer? I ah, worked with her on a 'Women in Leadership' committee when I was in L.A., when she found out who my uncle was, she told me about her having worked with Brass in Jersey. I guess they were pretty good friends, or something."

"I think the 'or something' is probably right." Warrick chose that moment to chime in. When Catherine gave him a shocked look, he added, "Sorry, but I met the woman, and if there wasn't somethin' there…they both wanted there to be."

That little piece of information was tucked away into Gil's mind until he could bring it up later. His old friend had been on his own for a very long time, and if there was something he could do to help him find even a fraction of the happiness which now filled his life, it was his duty to facilitate it. Jim deserved to be happy, and Gil owed him for all he had done for him.

As would always happen, the conversation eventually turned to work. Gil decided it was time he revealed a little of what had transpired since his return from the Jeffersonian. "So, I had a meeting with McKeen on Tuesday…" His offhand comment brought a sudden silence to the table and he continued. "It would appear that our dear Catherine has been making quite a bit of headway with the flood of red tape at ID since her ascendance."

"McKeen said that?" Catherine was shocked to hear such praise, and wanted clarification.

Gil shrugged and passed the rolls to his niece. "Actually, his words were, 'I haven't had so little paperwork in my box for more than a year, and she's already cut the administrative expenditures by ten percent.' He seemed quite impressed with your level of efficiency in such a short period of time."

Warrick laid his arm across the back of Catherine's seat as she leaned back from the surprise. "And you thought nobody noticed."

Catherine was still sitting there with her mouth gaping when she said, "I just hadn't heard anything at all, so I had no idea what to think."

Doc Robbins laughed and told her, "That's when you know you're doing it right…when you never hear from them. It's when you've screwed up that they never shut up."

She finally chuckled and said, "I'll have to remember that one." Catherine turned her gaze back to Gil and asked, "So, was that all you two talked about?"

He bowed his head for a moment and then continued, "As a matter of fact…no. We also talked about how impressed everyone has been with Warrick's supervision on the graveyard shift." Grissom turned to face Warrick and said, "Burdick was quite pleased with the way the country club explosion case was handled. There was a great deal of pressure surrounding that one, and the fact that you and the team had it put to bed in less than forty-eight hours, with little to no friction at the lab between shifts, and with full cooperation from PD… There should be a great many positive results to come from your handling of that case."

Warrick nodded his head rhythmically and said, "It wasn't just me… Sara and Andrew had their guys chasin' down leads and getting us access to the files. Steph and David pulled some serious hours gettin' those bodies processed. And PD was runnin' down suspects when they popped up. So, really everybody pitched in on that one."

Doc Robbins decided to take that response. "Which yet again proves the point…you are most definitely the right man for the job, Warrick."

"Thanks, Doc… It means a lot." Warrick tried to shy away from the attention. Catherine leaned in to lend him her comfort.

In order to turn the focus away from Warrick, Catherine asked, "So, Gil… When are you going to tell us all about the new job; the trip to D.C.; what's going on?"

Sara got up from the table when she noticed that Thomas had emptied another bottle of wine, gestured for Grissom and Thomas to keep their seats, and then offered her analysis before walking into the kitchen. "I can tell you one thing he's decided about this new job…" Everyone's attention hung on the rest of her remark until she reappeared from behind the cabinet. "He'll be getting a room somewhere for all future visits. He hasn't stopped complaining about his back since he got here."

Stephanie nearly choked on her food at the comment. With Thomas checking to make sure she was okay, she was finally able to say, "Oh man… There are so many comments I could make about that one, I don't even know where to start!"

Grissom gave her a disapproving glare and said, "Hush you. I think you've already caused enough trouble tonight."

Thomas had a good laugh about that one and added, "Yeah right… She's just getting warmed up, Uncle Gil." The whole table enjoyed a round of laughter at the joke.

"To answer the original question…" Grissom worked to turn the conversation back around to a more comfortable topic. "It was a very successful trip to D.C., and it taught me several things about this new position. As my dear bride stated, I will be availing myself of one of the suites afforded to visiting experts to the Medico-Legal Lab. It is an imposition on my colleague, and I found that I need the time alone to collect my thoughts after all of the meetings and such that will be going on whenever I'll be in town."

"That and I think Dr. Brennan is the only other person you know with more energy than me, right?" Stephanie added her two cents' worth.

He nodded in agreement and then said, "It appears to be my particular curse…being surrounded by extremely intelligent, strong willed, frenetic and ambitious women who never seem to sleep." Grissom gave Sara's hand a squeeze as she finally sat back down beside him. The gesture and his words were rewarded with a tender smile. "As for the rest… It was a good chance for me to get to know my counterpart at the Jeffersonian. Quite an enterprising young man, and he's taken a unique course of study to make himself even more valuable as a forensic scientist."

Warrick was intrigued by Grissom's comment. "How's that?" He had not often heard his own mentor praise someone else in such a manner, and he wanted to know what set this man apart from the pack.

"Well, he has studied not only entomology, but also mineralogy, geology and botany. However, he does appear to have some issues with governmental authority which I find a bit troubling." Grissom shrugged at that notion, as though he was still processing the information.

"You must be talking about Jack." Sara chuckled at his description of the young scientist with a penchant for conspiracy theories.

"How would you know that?"

Sara's shoulders shrugged at the thought as she passed the rolls back to Stephanie again. "Easy… Only Angela would fall for the weirdest guy in a room full of social misfits. You should have seen the parade of misfits she brought through our apartment in San Francisco."

Grissom nodded his head and added, "Yes… Temperance gave me a terribly convoluted story about Angela's rather eclectic dating preferences. Which reminds me…" Grissom turned to Warrick and asked, "McKeen also mentioned a few things about Nick and his heroin ring case."

That connection made everyone do a double take as they tried to keep up with his train of thought. Sara was the first to voice her confusion. "How does talking about Angela's weird taste in men remind you of Ni-…" The connection was finally made in her head and she blushed. "Oh."

Through the carefully controlled laughter that slowly spread out over the room, Grissom continued, "Anyway… McKeen told me that Nick's handling of the heroin case in the courtroom was top notch. His conversations with the D.A. led him to believe that without Nick's involvement, they might not have gotten the conviction."

Warrick nodded and said, "Yeah… He put a lot of time in on that case."

"Well, it appears to have worked. McKeen made certain to mention his involvement with that conviction several times over the course of our conversation. Even went so far as to suspect that Nick was responsible for securing the expert witness in the case on his own time. Is that so?" Grissom was infinitely curious about how much things appeared to have changed between Nick and Dr. Desmaiseaux in order to precipitate such a turn of events

"Yeah… He took a night off to get the good doctor calmed down after a run-in with Sinclair. I guess it worked…" Warrick leaned in to whisper to Sara, "In more ways than one." They both chuckled at his comment as Grissom raised an eyebrow in curiosity.