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: T – Teen (language and adult issues)
PAIRINGS: GSR & Yo!Bling pre-established in previous fics of this timeline.
SPOILERS: Sequel to "Displacement" and "Transitions"
SUMMARY: Everything is changing around Nick Stokes. Can he deal with it, and how it will affect him in the end?

A/N: I had a little trouble getting this one just right, so I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my trusty beta for making me sit down and flesh it out (plus she had some great ideas). Hopefully I won't have as much trouble with the last few chapters.

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 40
20:30 – 2006.12.22
CSI Lab: Layout Room

"AAAAAAARRRGGGHHHH!" Catherine's outburst broke through the monotony of their task.

"Well, that certainly was helpful." Grissom smirked with his gaze coming from over the top of his glasses.

"It wasn't meant to be helpful, Gil… And how the hell does this place keep running with all this mess?" Catherine held up two fistfuls of forms to demonstrate her frustration. "My God! We've probably killed a whole freaking forest with all this crap!"

Warrick chuckled at her display. "Well, then I guess you just found your first goal of office, huh?"

"What do you mean?" Catherine's face scrunched up with her question.

Grissom sat back in his seat and said, "I believe he's referring to the increased amount of paperwork since Ecklie stepped into the A.D. position. We also seem to have abandoned the digital transfer of reports, so that a person must go to the copy service and get a copy of the entire casefile, instead of being able to search it from the database and print off the single page you might need. In many ways, our jobs have become more difficult and painfully tedious, and there is a marked increase in the probability for human error with only marginally reduced expenses in some areas, while other areas have seen a dramatic rise in expenditures."

"What Grissom's sayin'…is Ecklie sucks." Warrick stopped his boss before he had gone any further into his analysis.

"Which scares the hell out of me, since he's being given more power." Catherine unceremoniously dropped the folders onto the table.

"Fortunately, there is only a rubber stamp power in that position. It's more of a political appointment, than a promotion, really. The actual work is done in this building, which is why McKeen was so adamant about getting the right person into the job. All indications show that McKeen will be our next sheriff, so he is only serving his own needs by having a quality staff beneath him, and not a slew of ill-equipped cronies." Grissom leaned forward again and grabbed the next folder in his stack as he finished his assessment of the situation.

Catherine and Warrick were both in a state of shock. They had a difficult time believing that Grissom had such an astounding wealth of information on the obviously political nature of the administration in the lab. "So, all this aloof, enigmatic, absent-minded scientist crap is just a smoke screen?" Catherine felt a need to call him on their discovery.

Grissom innocently looked up and said, "Hmmm?"

"Don't even try that with me, Gil." Catherine's steely glare only served to bring a smirk to Grissom's and Warrick's faces.

"I have always said that I won't play politics with science… I never claimed to be ignorant of the process." Grissom's comment was met with their groans, but soon they were back to sifting through the mounds of paperwork yet to be processed.

Before long, Warrick felt a need to get something off of his chest. "Hey, Gris… Did you know Nick was planning a trip to Texas?"

Grissom sat up and pulled off his glasses when he felt two pairs of eyes on him. "I knew that's where he was going."

"Yeah, but he didn't say a word to me about it until I saw it on the schedule. It's just not like him, ya know? And he's just been on edge so much lately, and that business with desert DB case, and then the promotions and stuff. I really think he's feelin' like he's outta the loop, or that he's missin' out on something." Warrick truly was concerned about his friend, and Grissom knew where that line of questioning was bound to lead. "And I gotta admit…I'm feelin' kinda guilty about it."

Catherine was instantly shocked at Warrick's admission. "Why in the world would you think that?"

Warrick shook his head and said, "Because I wasn't there for him. Haven't been for a while now. And if I'm having this problem now, what am I gonna do when I'm supervisor with all that other responsibility?"

Grissom leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingers together in that unmistakable gesture of contemplation for a moment before he answered. "I'm afraid that is one of the many downsides to being a shift supervisor." The sigh that escaped his body seemed to bear the weight of many regrets. "In many ways, you have to maintain a distance, in order to be able to look at these things objectively. Yet, you can't become too distanced, because it can leave your people without a connection to you and it will serve to create animosity."

Catherine listened intently as Grissom relayed his advice to Warrick, because she knew there was hard won wisdom in those words. "You have to walk that fine line between interest and investment to worry and over-protection. They have to know that you trust them, but they also have to earn your trust, and in order for that to happen, you've got to be open to them, from time to time. To check up on your people, but do so in a way that it doesn't appear you have lost faith in them," Grissom explained his position with as little detail as he could muster, but he knew Catherine would find the hidden meanings with little effort. "But I think the most important thing you can do is to give them your support under all circumstances. While mistakes need and should be addressed, they should always be handled by you, and not by anyone outside of your team. Stand up for your people, and take responsibility for their actions when you can, because ultimately it is your leadership which will determine their actions."

Warrick stiffened a little at Grissom's testimony of leadership, because he knew that no one on the team would be who they were as CSIs without all of those things he had explained. While each of them possessed talents of their own, not a one would have gotten where they were at that point without Grissom. It was the first moment Warrick truly appreciated how much he was going to miss the man when he left the lab.

Catherine decided that, while Grissom's words were well warranted, she needed to come to Warrick's aide, because she could see his tension build with the weight of her old friend's words. And, in typical fashion, her first instinct moved her to humor. "So, is it the holidays, the wedding, or the gray in your hair making you wax philosophic tonight?"

Grissom grinned, in that half smirk that endeared him to everyone and answered, "All of the above."

"Thanks, Gris. I guess I'm just gonna have to come up with some of this stuff on my own, but I hope you don't mind the occasional call for advice?" Warrick tried to bring closure to the discussion as well.

"Not at all." Grissom put his glasses back on and picked up another folder when he added, "And I wouldn't worry about Nick too much… He's doing the work, it's just that it wasn't anything he had planned on, and so it's taken a lot out of him. He's never been one for major changes, or disruptions to his plans, but I have faith in his ability to come out of this on top." Catherine and Warrick exchanged surprised glances at his insightful description of their friend's troubles, and then he hit them with, "And just as soon as he figures out which way is up, the only things you'll have left to worry about will be his barber and his somewhat questionable taste in women."