Greg followed Catherine into the Crime Lab, even though they came in separate cars. He gave her hand a tight squeeze and wished her good luck on her shift that night before walking into the building a step behind her.

It felt weird being in there after being absent from the lab for over a month now. He still walked with the cane but was not as dependent on it as he had been before.

"Greg, welcome back," Judy, the receptionist greeted him with a big smile.

He smiled back at her. "Thanks, it's nice to be back." He went towards the break room where Sara saw him. She immediately got up and gave him a hug.

"Greg, so good to see you. How are you doing since I've seen you last? You look good!"

Greg beamed. "Thanks. I'm doing a lot better. The doctor gave me the okay to go back to work on light duty."

"Hey Greg," Nick came over from the other side and shook his hand. "So when you coming back?"

"I'm going to talk to Grissom about that tonight."

"Cool, well glad you are doing good, man. You had us all worried there for awhile."

"I know but I am good now, really." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Catherine walking by. She gave him a quick wink.

After catching up a few minutes with Nick and Sara, Greg walked down the hall towards Grissom's office.

"Well, well look what the cat dragged in," sneered Hodges, peeking out from his lab area.

The one person Greg did not miss he had to run into. Greg just glared at him, not wanting to deal with him.

Hodges frowned as Greg tried to ignore him. "So I hear you might be back in the lab for a little bit. Just remember it is Wendy's lab now."

Greg turned and faced Hodges. "While I am in it, it is my lab. Wendy knows she will have it back once she returns. Now do you have anything else to say to me?"

Hodges could tell Greg was not ready to take his teasing yet. "Well at least they are having someone who knows DNA fill in, I guess."

Greg let a small smirk form on his face. "Was that some attempt at a compliment, Hodges?"

Hodges walked away from him, laughing. "Please!" But Greg knew that it was Hodges weird way of giving one.

Greg walked up to Grissom's office, feeling nervous for some reason as he always did in his presence. His door was partially open. Greg knocked lightly on the door to announce his presence.

Grissom looked up from his paperwork. "Greg! I am surprised to see you here. Come in."

Greg smiled and came in and took a seat.

Grissom was pleased to see Greg looking well again, except for his use of the cane.

"I assume Catherine told you about the temporary DNA opening while Wendy goes on vacation."

Greg nodded his head. "Yes, she did and I figured I would come in person to accept it. I got the okay from my doctor to go back to work."

"You're missing the lab some, I gather then."

"Yeah I guess I am."

Grissom studied Greg for a moment. He noticed his youngest CSI did not seem so young anymore. He may have had his happy demeanor but he could tell what he had been through had taken some kind of toll on him. "Are you going to be okay getting around?"

Greg looked at his cane, knowing Grissom was referring to it. "Yes, I am fine. It's no big deal." He shrugged.

"How are you coping otherwise? Have you seen any counselors?"

Greg knew Grissom would ask that, even though he wished he would not. "I'm doing okay, Grissom, honestly. Catherine has helped me out a lot. We've talked a lot of things through."

Grissom nodded in approval. "I'm glad to hear that. I was not so sure your living with her was a good idea, but I am glad to hear it has gone well."

Greg could not help but think to himself, better than expected. A grin formed on his face. "She and her mom and Lindsay have been great to me. But I am going to move back to my place in the next few days."

"Well that is good to hear. Wendy goes on vacation on Monday, so you can start then. You don't need refresher or anything, do you?"

Greg smirked at the almost insult. "It's like riding a bike, you never forget."

Grissom smiled slightly. "I just needed to be sure."

After Greg left Grissom's office, he visited Wendy to see how she was and let her know he would fill in for her. She was glad it was him and not some temp DNA person from outside.

He visited with a few others before running into Catherine on his way out. She walked out with him to his car.

"So how did it go with Grissom?"

"He was fine, asked me how I was coping and all. I said you helped a lot, which is true." He stopped a moment and looked at her face shadowed in the dimly lit parking garage. "I'm not sure I would be ready to go back to work now if you had not taken such good care of me. I really want to thank you, Catherine. You and your family."

Catherine placed a hand upon his cheek. "You know I love your company and I am so glad I have been able to help you."

Greg took a quick look around to make sure no one was there to see them, and then he snuck a quick kiss on her lips. He then grinned at her.

"Smooth," she commented before letting him go. She watched him drive away, and then she proceeded to go back to work.

---------------------

Greg felt weird being back in his place after over a month of not living there. It was lonely not having anyone around to just talk to in person when he wanted to. It had been two days that he was on his own. He was going back to work that day. He actually had some nerves about doing so and he was not sure why.

Catherine had stopped by his place earlier for a quick visit, making sure he was doing okay on his own. She told him how Lindsay already missed him being around, but he knew she missed him too.

He stood in front of his bathroom mirror, straightening out his shirt collar. He noticed how he had actually gained some weight from being fed so well while he was at Catherine's place. He was going to miss that too. He would be going back to his lackadaisical cooking. He wished it was easier for them to stay living together, but he knew people would wonder why he was still living with her if he was able to work again. They would just have to keep it this way for now.

When he arrived at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, he noticed it seemed unusually quiet. He went to the locker room and put his jacket in his locker. Sara came walking in a few seconds later.

"Hey, first day back, huh? Are you ready for the craziness again?"
He smiled at her. "Yeah I guess so. It will be weird being back in the lab, though. It's been like 3 years since I did the DNA stuff."

"Yeah, it has been awhile. You probably should grab some coffee to get you going."

"That's for sure!" Greg walked with Sara to the break room where suddenly everyone yelled, "Welcome back!" The whole gang was in the break room. He felt his face redden at the warm welcome back. Everyone was smiling at him, even Hodges who was there with Archie and the other lab rats.

"Thanks everyone." Sara gave him a hug. "We've missed your smiling face around here," she said to him.

Greg was still blushing. "I missed all of you, too." His eyes scanned everyone until they fell onto Catherine. She winked at him.

"Welcome back, Greg." He turned around to see Ecklie standing behind him.

"Thanks," Greg said, hating the way Ecklie was looking at him.

"You look well. So you are ready to work in the lab for awhile, right?" Ecklie stared at Greg.

"Yes, I am ready and willing to go," Greg said confidently to him.

"Good to know! So why don't we all get to work then," he said towards the others.

They all rolled their eyes as they started to clear out of the break room. Grissom walked with Greg to the DNA lab.

"Wendy cleared up all her work before she left, so there is nothing leftover, except maybe dayshift overflow."

Greg nodded. "Okay, that's fine. I'm ready." He felt like he had to keep saying that to convince everyone he was fine.

He was glad when Grissom finally left him alone. He noticed some things placed in different areas than the last time he had been in there, but overall he adjusted to it well.

It was not until closer to the end of his shift that Catherine came into the lab to drop off some DNA evidence.

"Wow, feels like old times dropping off DNA evidence to you in here. How's it been going?"

"It's been fine. Not too much stuff to process so far. What do you have?"

She smiled at him. "Some hairs from a B&E, nothing to exciting."

He shrugged. "Well it is better than nothing." He picked up the evidence bag and set it aside for a moment. "So do you have any plans after work today," he asked with a mischievous grin.

"Well, there is this man in my life that I've been meaning to stop by his place and try out his bed." She returned with her own sly grin.

"That's one hell of a lucky man. I bet he will be waiting for you to arrive."

"He better be," she smirked at him. "Anyways, no rush on the hairs. Shift's almost over."

Nick walked in the DNA lab. "Hey Cath! G, how's the first day back been?"

"It's been great. Nice to be busy doing something again besides watch TV and playing video games all day."

Nick grinned. "That does not sound that bad, but I know what you mean."

They talked some more about their cases before departing to finish up for their shift.