Disclaimer: If I owned CSI, do you think I would be writing this? Nope.

Little Things

Greg walked back into the crime lab a completely different person. He now had the biggest secret he'd ever possessed. And how the hell was he supposed to tell anyone?

His feet echoed on the linoleum floor as he walked slowly down the hallway. He found himself looking at every face he passed, wondering if they noticed a change. Hodges gave him a confused look, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

And at the end of the hallway he saw Catherine talking to Nick. Shit, before he could turn away, his supervisors waved him over. Crap.

Regretfully, he walked towards them and tried to form a coherent sentence in his mind. He tried to find the right words to say... but still nothing.

How could he tell them what he'd just done? How many rules had he just broken? How many people had he now affected? What could he say?

"Hey Greg, we went over the evidence and we sound a strange trace on that jewellery case." Catherine told him, and he wondered how long it would be before she found out.

"Oh... any idea what it is?" Greg asked, careful not to seem anxious or worried. It was tough.

"Nothing yet- Hodges is working on it." Nick said, nodding towards the lab tech's station. Hodges had his head down working on samples, but felt their stare and snapped his head up.

"So what did you need to talk to Nathan about?" Catherine asked, and Greg felt his stomach freeze over. Shit, shit shit. SHIT.

How could he say it? Could he say it at all? Now he understood what Brass had said earlier. 'Catherine tends to take after Grissom on cases like this.' Now Greg understood- Grissom didn't want anyone to get too involved in cases. No personal attachment or feelings. Greg Sanders had just gone way beyond personal attachment.

Would she be disappointed in him? He could get fired. He would probably piss off the entire team.

Before he could say anything, Nick's phone buzzed, and the three leant in to read a text from Sara. Nick pulled it out of their view, smirking.

"Like a bunch of kids." He muttered playfully, smiling at them. "Sara and Ray have some new information in the layout room."

With that, the three CSIs walked briskly down the hallway, like they did every day. But it hit Greg that maybe this was his last time doing so. He sighed sadly.

What had he done? How did he do that? What had possessed him to make such a choice? But... he didn't regret it. Not in the slightest.

They got to the layout room and spotted Sara and Ray looking at a few photos, the lit table shining through.

"Hey, so we found out some news." Ray said slowly, sliding one particular photo forwards.

"Yeah, we have an alleged sighting of our suspect in Henderson." Sara said, and Greg looked at the picture on the table. It was a blurry cell shot of a man walking on a residential sidewalk, but he looked almost exactly like Dayle Boyar.

"Looks legit." Catherine said, eyeing the snapshot. "Talk to the witness yet?"

"Yep, said she saw him out her window talking some other guy, recognised him from the ads and immediately called it in after taking the picture." Sara explained, moving her hands as she talked.

"Any description on the second man?" Nick asked, glancing at Greg as de did so. They were probably all wondering why he hadn't spoke yet; it was very unlike him. Truth was, he was afraid to slip up and have his secret come out in the wrong way.

"No, her eyes were on Dayle and Dayle only." Ray said and pressed his lips into a firm line.

"Wouldn't we all do the same? He's accused of murdering three people." Sara said in a very 'case and point' way.

"True enough." Nick said and Greg had to resist agreeing with him.

"Any other news?" Greg asked, risking it. But he didn't screw anything up and was proud of it.

"Actually, Brass said there was an update on Nathan's caregivers." Sara said and Greg felt his heart rate increase instantly. His stomach was getting colder and colder.

"Oh," Nick said, breaking the small silence. "Someone he knows is going to adopt him?"

"Brass said Greg had more information." Sara said, moving her eyes to lock on him. His mind began to race.

What was he supposed to say? All eyes were on him and he was just standing there. So he took a deep breath and went for it.

"Guys, I did something that could get me fired. That probably will get me fired." He said shakily and saw everyone narrow their eyes in concern.

"I couldn't help it... Nathan didn't want to go into foster care... he was crying... and then I was crying... I... well..." He just couldn't get the words out.

"You adopted him, didn't you?" Catherine asked sceptically, seeming extremely annoyed.

"I'm fostering him." All he could do was watch their reactions.

Nick seemed proud, like Greg had lived up to an expectation. Ray seemed surprised, but it was hard to tell with him. Sara smiled, as if she had known ahead of time. But Catherine? She looked pissed. Really pissed.

"Honestly Greg? How could you do that? You know you can't get involved with your cases! That's against policy! All the policies we have! I should fire you." Catherine ranted, annoyed and angry.

"You're not firing him Cath." Nick said, and Greg silently thanked him. He couldn't lose his job for this.

"He didn't do anything wrong." Sara said, stepping up against the other woman like she had so many times before. "And you're one to talk Catherine."

The supervisor recoiled slightly, but then gained more ground. "I may have gotten involved in cases a very long time ago. But I never adopted a kid!" She said loudly. "I'm disappointed in you."

Catherine then turned on her heels and walked out of the room after glaring at Greg. The guilt consumed him, knowing that he had let the team down. He let his family down.

"I'm sorry guys...I..." Greg stuttered, making eye contact with the others. They looked at him sadly.

"Don't apologize Greg. You may have broken the rules, but you followed your heart." Ray said, patted him on the back and left the room quietly.

"Yeah man. You did what you did. Ignore Catherine; she'll come around. At least you had the guts to tell her." Nick told him with a smirk.

"Thanks Nick." Greg said softly, looking at the ground.

"No problem man." The Texan said and he too left the room.

When it was only him and Sara, Greg looked back up, looking into his best friend's eyes. She looked at him sadly.

"You okay?" Sara asked him, putting her hand on his arm. He just looked at her for a minute before speaking.

"I think so." She smiled at his response.

"Did it make you happy, Greg?" She asked and he gave her a confused look. She seemed to sense that he didn't understand, and rephrased. "Did you feel happy when you signed the papers?"

Greg thought about that for a moment. He had been nervous out of his mind, but really, he as proud. Proud that he had the guts, proud that he followed his heart, and proud to have Nathan living with him. Sure it had been an impulse action, but he didn't regret it.

"Yeah. Happiest I've been in a long time." He answered and she hugged him tightly. Greg pulled her closer, happy for the comfort.

"Then you know it was the right decision." Sara told him as she pulled back. "It'll work out."

"Thank you, Sar. That means a lot." He said meaningfully.

She smiled and squeezed his shoulder. "You'll be a good foster dad."

"I hope so." I really do.

So? I know I usually write it so it takes place in 2 scenes but this felt more appropriate here Review!