Last chapter, and it's a bit Sandlish.

"So what exactly will the physical aptitude test consist of?" I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms.

Grissom leaned forward, glasses perched on his nose, and read from the yellow for in front of him. "You will have to go up, then down three flights of stairs. You will have to run one-half mile. You will have to climb a ten-foot vertical ladder, both up and down. You will have to walk two miles across rough terrain carrying a fifty-pound backpack. You will have to swim three laps."

"Do I have to do all of this on the same day?"

He chuckled. "No, Greg, you'll do each section on a different day."

"Am I allowed a cane or a walking stick?"

"As needed. Doc Robbins made sure of that."

"Then I'm ready."

He frowned. "Are you sure? There's no rush."

"It's been six months, Grissom. I wouldn't call that being in a rush." I smiled. "I'm sure. I can do it."

"I'll talk to Ecklie, then, get you scheduled for next week. One test per day." He took off his glasses and slowly folded them. "Greg, there is one other thing."

I sighed. "What?"

"Ecklie. Ah, Ecklie wants you to start carrying a gun."

I shook my head. "No."

He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "Brass will show you how to use it. You'll go at your own pace, but you'll need to be certified within a year of returning to duty."

"I said no, Grissom. I hate guns. There are too many of them out there as it is, and I'm really not sure I could shoot someone."

"Greg, I wasn't asking. Since your, your incident, the department has ruled that all CSI's must be certified and carry firearms. You aren't the only one impacted by this. Sara isn't very happy about this either."

I sighed again. "Alright. I'll do it. I'llcarry a gun."

He smiled. "Very well, then. I will be looking forward to having you back in the field."

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"You can do it. You've done better than all these in PT, and you know it." Lamarr grinned over at me. "You almost got your life back, man. I'm proud of you."

"I still run like a newborn giraffe."

"You can run, and that's what counts. Don't sweat how you look doing it."

"Yeah, man. You've always danced like an idiot, but you never let THAT slow you down."

"Shut up, Nick."

"You've come a long way in six months." Lamarr patted my shoulder. "We'll work on your running, but right now remember just how far you've come. I remember your first day with the prosthetic you swore like a drunken sailor as you took, what, six steps between the bars. Now you run, you do stairs, and you can climb a ladder. We have a ways to go before you're where you want to be, but you've done the hard part. Now comes the payoff."

Brass and Ecklie met me at the courthouse for my first test. Nick had insisted on coming along for moral support, so the three of them walked me to one of the stairwells and watched me make my way slowly up and down. "Very good, Greg," said Grissom as I made my way down the last set of steps. "I think we can count this section as completed, don't you, Conrad?"

Ecklie smiled, the first sincere smile I'd ever seen cross his features. "I do. You're one step closer to the field, Sanders. Tomorrow you'll do the three-mile walk."

The three-mile walk went smoothly, as well as the half-mile run and the swimming test. The ladder test was what I'd been dreading, and on Friday morning I met Grissom and Ecklie in the department gym to face my personal dragon. "You're sure you can do this?" Grissom looked at me, then at the ladder, then back at me. His expression was doubtful.

"Yeah." I grabbed the sides of the ladder with my hands and placed my right foot on the botton rung. I'd been doing weights to build arm strength, and now I was going to be using it. It was slow, painful going, but when my foot hit the mat coming down I knew I had my job back. Nick's loud whoop let pretty much everyone in the vicinity know as well.

"Very good, Sanders. You're once again a CSI. Take your weekend off, then report for night shift at ten on Tuesday."

"Welcome back, Greg." Grissom's voice was warm.

"Thank you."

"I knew you could do it, man." Nick grinned at Grissom as he spoke. "Your days of goofing off in DNA are over, Greggo. You're back to being one of us."

Later, as I celebrated with the others at the diner, I felt as if I'd taken one very big step in the direction of normal. Sara sat next to me, Nick on the other side, Catherine and Warrick across from us. In the booth behind us sat Grissom, Dr. Robbins, Jim Brass, and Sophia. We ordered our usual greasy diner chow and ate it among much detailed discussion of ongoing cases. At the end of the meal the group slipped out one by one, eventually leaving just Sara and myself. "I'm looking forward to Tuesday," she said as she watched Nick start his truck. "It hasn't been the same without you."

"You've seen me every night in DNA."

"Not the same, and you know it."

"Yeah. It'll be good to be back in my place."

She smiled almost shyly and dropped her voice. "Look, um, I noticed you're off until Tuesday. I'm off tonight also, and I was wondering if you might like to go to dinner with me."

I grinned. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot."

Guess Doc Robbins had been right - less doors HAD closed than I'd originally thought. As I made my way home I decided that life might still be wonderful after all.

the end