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 9: The New Supervisor

Catherine finally got her wish and was moved to dayshift. That left one position open for the graveyard shift. The CSIs knew that their new boss was set to arrive soon and they sat waiting in the lounge.

"So, the new supervisor is supposed to be here today?" Greg asked.

"Yes," Warrick said.

"Which will officially mean that Grissom is gone," Sara sighed.

"I wonder who the new person is going to be," Nick wondered aloud, "hopefully someone we can get along with."

"I hope so too," Greg sat next to his fellow CSIs. He was now a CSI level one. Catherine had finally gotten around to giving him his first field test and he had passed with flying colors, as expected. Grissom had taught him well.

"I wish Ecklie had never gotten that promotion," Sara said, "because then we wouldn't be sitting here, waiting for someone from God-knows-where to show up."

"Just don't give the new supervisor a hard time," Warrick warned, "I know we are all missing Grissom, but it won't help if we are mean to the new person."

"Did Grissom ever tell you where he was going?" Nick asked Sara.

"No, come to think of it, he didn't say," Sara furrowed her brows, "I guess I'll have to find out the next time he calls me."

"Or you could find out right now," Grissom appeared in the doorway.

"Grissom!" Greg jumped up.

"What are you doing here?" Sara asked.

"This is my new job," Grissom smiled, "you never asked where I was going, so I thought I would let this be a surprise. I got a call the morning you called me, Sara, management told me all about Ecklie and asked if I was interested in my old position. Of course, I was thrilled and said yes right away."

"Let me be the first to say, welcome back to Vegas," Warrick smiled, "good to have you back."

"You lied to me on the phone," Sara accused, "you lead me to believe that you were gone for good!"

"Sorry," Grissom flashed her an apologetic smile, "but the important thing is I'm here now."

"Yes, that's the most important part, things around here can get back to as close to normal as possible. Of course Catherine will be gone, but we were expecting her to be promoted, right?" Nick said.

"True, this will be great, Catherine got her promotion and we got rid of Ecklie," Warrick laughed.

"So it's almost like this past month hasn't even happened," Grissom said.

"I'm glad you didn't take a job somewhere else," Sara said, "you belong with us."

"I do," Grissom agreed, "aside from my mother, you guys are the only family I have."

"Aw, are you trying to say you love us?" Nick teased.

"Actually, yes I was trying to say that," Grissom surprised them, "I know that in the past I have been a little distant emotionally and I'm going to try to change that. I'm not promising anything, but when I left here so suddenly, Sara's arrival reminded me that you guys were like my family. You should all know how much I appreciate you."

"Oh, guess who's a level one CSI now," Greg grinned.

"Congratulations," Grissom patted the youngest CSI on the back, "what else has been going on around here while I was away."

"Let's all grab a cup of coffee before shift starts," Warrick offered, "and catch up on what happened while you were gone."

"Good idea," Nick agreed.

"Wait, one more thing," Grissom left the room, leaving them all confused, "we should have Catherine in on our little party."

Grissom had spotted Catherine on her way out of the lab, and decided she was still part of their little family. She had found out earlier that Grissom was the 'new' supervisor that they were bringing in for nights. The old friends all grabbed cups of coffee and situated themselves comfortably so that they could talk.

"Looks like we all got our happy endings," Sara observed, "Catherine got the promotion she deserves, Ecklie is long gone, Greg is on his way to becoming a good CSI, and Grissom got to come back to the job he loves."

"And we all get to have our favorite boss back," Warrick added, "no offense Cath."

"None taken," Catherine said.

"The best part is still that Ecklie is gone. Maybe now things here can get back on track around here. Things had been getting pretty hectic," Nick said.

"That's because Conrad Ecklie was not very good at this job. He did okay as a CSI, but like I always said, he was never a science man. I am not at all surprised that he ended up screwing things up in an administrative position. Now maybe the lab will get on the right track," Grissom told them.

"Now you get to compete with me instead of Ecklie," Catherine teased.

"I'm not worried about you," Grissom smiled, "you do a great job and you know me better so we won't be butting heads like I did with Ecklie."

"You sure about that?" Catherine grinned.

Grissom laughed, "Yeah I'm sure."

"I hate to break this all up, but it's time for us to be starting our shift," Sara gestured to the clock, "you wouldn't want to be late on your first day, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't want to make a bad first impression with my new team," Grissom stood, "so I'll be right back with your assignments."

A/N: A happy ending for you. Some of you even seemed to read my mind! Thank you once again for all your great reviews, they really motivated me to finish writing this quickly. I was all excited for the new episode of CSI tomorrow (Dec. 9) and I found out I have a meeting that I HAVE to be at during CSI. L I called my mom and she's recording it for me, so I won't find out what happens until Friday night!