Dislaimer: I don not own CSI, nor do I own the characters. I just did this b/c I was bored and was tired of seeing all the pro-G/S fics on here.

Summary: Nick is placed on paid leave for a few months to recover. A replacement is sent in, and causes all sorts of commotion. Not for G/S shipper's. Semi-song-fic in later chapters.

"I'm gonna miss ya Nicky." Warrick was helping Nick clean out his locker.

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss you guys too. But it's only for a month or so. And they said if I feel like coming back sooner, I could." Nick shoved a sweater in his bag.

"I know. But...We almost lost you back there..."

Nick stopped short and took in a deep breath. He exhaled loudly and said, "Don't remind me, huh?" He chuckled, trying to ease the tension. "You guys'll be fine. Besides, I heard they're sending in a replacement from New York to cover me."

"New York, huh?"

Nick nodded. "Yup."

"Why the hell would they send a New Yorker all the way out here?"

Nick shrugged and stuffed more odds and ends into his bag. "I dunno. But I heard she's good."

Warrick raised an eyebrow. "Well, try to enjoy your time off, buddy. Keep in touch, ok?"

"I will. See ya around."

Warrick Gave Nick a friendly pat on the back, and left him in the locker room.

On his way to the break room to get a drink, he was stopped by Grissom.

"Hey Rick, I'm gonna need you to clean out Nick's desk. We've got someone coming in tomorrow and I want it to be neat."

"Sure thing Gris." It pained him to clean out his friend's desk. But it was "Boss' orders". Actually, he wasn't really going to be cleaning it out, so much as he was going to be straightening up. It still sucked, though.

'It's only temporary', he reminded himself. 'In a month or so, Nicky'll be back, and the old team will be together again.'

Warrick decided to bypass the break room and head right to the task of cleaning out Nick's desk. He opened the door to the office and sighed. "It's only temporary..." he said out loud.

The next day, Grissom paged everyone and told them to meet in the conference room. The replacement had arrived.

Sitting in the back of the conference room was the temp. She had dark auburn hair, black framed glasses and bright blue eyes. She was pale and seemed very timid.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Carmen Malone. She's going to be covering while Nick is gone."

She raised her hand slightly in a half-hearted wave and said, "Hello everyone..."

"Carmen, I'd like you to meet Warrick, Sara, Catherine, and Greg." Each of them said their greeting quietly, gave a little wave. Grissom continued, "You're going to be working with these guys most often. Our Graveyard shift was recently pulled back together, so we mainly work together. I'll introduce you to the lab techs and Captain Brass later."

Carmen's mouth twitched slightly at the corners as if she were going to smile. This futile attempt was abandoned, and she instead looked up shyly from behind her glasses.

"Looks like she's gonna be loads of fun to work with..." Sara whispered.

Catherine snickered and replied, "Yeah. Looks like we got another Grissom on our hands!"

Sara stifled her laughter, and Grissom shot her a warning glance. She quickly quieted.

"Alright, you guys can get back to work. I just wanted to introduce you to Carmen, and let her know who she was going to work with."

"Ok," everyone said, almost in unison. As they began to file out, Greg hopped up to Sara. "What were you two laughing about in there?"

Sara laughed to herself and replied, "Oh, nothing. Cath just said it seems like we have another Grissom on our hands."

"Oh...I think she seems kinda sweet."

"Greg, you think any female with nice eyes and cute smile is 'kinda sweet'." Sara quipped.

"Not true. You don't have either of those, and I still think you're sweet.

"Ouch..."Warrick said. "I-I think I'm gonna go get some coffee. You comin' Cath?"

"Uh...yeah. That sounds like an idea. Let's go." Catherine and Warrick scurried off to the break room, leaving Sara and Greg alone.

"You know, Greg! You're such an ass!"

"What!"

Sara growled and continued on her way. Greg went and hid in the lab.

Back in the conference room, Grissom sat with Carmen, who was staring at the table.

"I don't think they like me very much, Mr. Grissom..." She fiddled with her peeling nail polish.

"No, no. I'm sure they do. They're just...Still shaken up from what happened." He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She looked up, her blue eyes shining from lack of sleep. "C'mon. I'll introduce you to the lab techs."