Disclaimer: I still don't own CSI and I am beginning to think I never will.

Caution: Contains spoilers for Mea Culpa if you haven't seen it and don't want it ruined, don't read this. This takes place directly after Mea Culpa.

Breaking Grissom

Chapter 7: Life Without Vegas

Grissom was able to successfully spend about an hour not thinking of how things were going in Las Vegas. He really did want to just enjoy his time off, but he was quickly finding that his life was empty without his work. Of course he was enjoying time with his mother, he loved the woman dearly, but outside her, he didn't have much of a life. He hated to admit it, but he hadn't quite realized before now just how much time he spent at his job.

He managed to spend about week with his mother before he had to call and find out what was going on at the lab. He knew that they were in capable hands with Catherine in charge, but he still had to know how they were doing. He decided Sara was the best one to call as she had been the last one he'd spoken with. He dialed her cell phone and she picked up on the second ring.

"Sidle here," she answered.

"Hey Sara," Grissom greeted.

"Gris! How are you?" Sara inquired, "is everything going all right?"

"Everything is fine. As a matter of face, I was just calling to ask you the very same question," Grissom said.

"Are you missing us Gris?" Sara teased.

"You might say that," Grissom smiled, "how are things?"

"Not too bad. Catherine's been a little stressed out. I think given enough time she'll do just fine as supervisor," Sara said.

"I have faith in her," Grissom put in.

"Honestly, we've all been stressed out because there were just so many rapid changes around here. Ecklie just reduced the amount of overtime we're allowed to have. Another CSI left from dayshift. We're so short staffed around here. They're desperate to bring in someone from outside to help for a while," Sara explained, hoping that Grissom was getting her not so subtle message.

Grissom sighed, "Sara, we already had this discussion, can we just drop it? I'm not coming back to work under Conrad Ecklie."

"I know," Sara sighed too, "you can't say I didn't try. We really are short though."

"And if truth be told, I do miss the job. But I stand by my statement about Ecklie. How is Greg doing? Isn't it about time for his first field proficiency test?" Grissom asked wanting to change the subject.

"It is about time, but we don't have the time for it right now. As soon as things get more settled down around here, I'm sure Catherine will test him," Sara said, "in the meantime, he's learning a lot. I've been working with him. He says I'm the best one to learn from because I learned most of what I know from you."

"Tell him I'm sorry for leaving him in the middle of his training, I never even thought of that. But he's right, you're one of the best to learn from, you're very bright Sara," Grissom complimented.

Sara blushed, glad Grissom couldn't see her, "I learned from the best."

Grissom smiled, "How are you doing?"

"Oh I'm doing just fine," Sara assured him.

"Good to hear," Grissom said.

"So what do you do to pass the time?" Sara inquired.

"I've been spending time with my mom. And reading a lot of my old books," Grissom said, "nothing terribly interesting."

Sara laughed, "You should take your own advice that you once gave me. Find a hobby, and I mean beside your bug collecting."

"That's actually some pretty good advice," Grissom agreed, "I should look into finding something else to do."

"If nothing else, try and see if you can work at a crime lab there," Sara said, "even though that would mean that there is much less of a chance that you'll return to Vegas. I'd rather see you happy in California than suffering in Vegas."

"I thought about looking for a job too, but I figured I'd at least have a few weeks off, get good and rested. So I'm fresh for a new job should I decided to get one," Grissom explained.

"That's a good idea, you wouldn't want to start a new job and burn out right away," Sara said.

"That was exactly my reasoning," Grissom told her.

"I hate to break our call off, but I'm back at the lab and I have some evidence to log, and I need to meet Nicky," Sara hesitantly told him.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have interrupted you at work," Grissom apologized.

"No, it's okay, I was glad to hear from you. Don't be afraid to call me again, if you just want to talk," Sara offered.

"I'll keep that in mind," Grissom thanked her, "goodbye."

"Bye Gris," Sara hung up.

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After three weeks off, Grissom had seriously reconsidered his original stipulation. In the end though, Conrad Ecklie was enough to keep him in California. He just couldn't watch the lab go down in flames under Ecklie. Grissom could only hope that higher management would realize that was just what Ecklie was doing before it was too late. He had put a lot of work into the lab in his years there and it did seem such a waste to watch Ecklie destroy it.

Mrs. Grissom could tell her son was getting restless.

"You should go back," she told him one afternoon.

"No, I told you I can't," Grissom shook his head.

"Son, I can tell you are suffering," she signed, "I know my own son and you are not happy here."

"I am happy, I'm spending time with my mom," Grissom told her, "I won't go back there."

"Have it your way," she shook her head, "I know you're unhappy, but I'll let it go for now."

"How can you still read me so well?" Grissom asked.

"It's a mother's intuition," she beamed at her son, "you can always sense your child's feelings."

Grissom smiled, she had been right on. He was unhappy in California, but at this point he wasn't sure what else to do. He decided maybe it was time to start looking into crime labs locally to see if they needed some short term help. Then he could search across the country, find a lab that needed some help and go to them. It was beginning to seem like the best plan.

A/N: Another chapter for you. I hope you enjoyed it.