Maggie practically ran out of the ladies' room with Catherine coming behind her (the younger woman lost her in the sea of people around the hallways), trying to find Ursula again, and found it difficult with the crowds. She forgot about that, as well, remembering how hard it was to navigate on most days. Dammit, why can't I navigate this easier? They always need bigger hallways and office space and –

"Hey, there, little guy, whose son are you?" As soon as Maggie saw Ursula and Michael down the hallways where the offices are – with Grissom next to them – a voice was heard in her ears, directed to her son. "It's obvious that this person isn't your Mommy. She's too pretty to be your Mommy."

Maggie pushed her way through lab rats, detectives and other random people in front of her to reach Grissom. He saw her, of course, and nodded, but she also saw Nick…Nick Stokes…there as well, kneeling in front of her son, talking to him like a normal child. Nick had gone down to Michael's height, to make him feel like an equal, and played with him (a quarter had mysterious popped out of the child's ear and handed to him, so that he could play) as Ursula looked on nervously, knowing who it was. Grissom, of course, had his eyes on Maggie and her journey from the crowded hallways to the outside doorway of his office.

"I think you have my child right there." These were the first words Maggie had said to Nick in three years, addressing him about Michael, who was laughing about the tickling waterfall of the quarter in his ears, instead of behaving himself…like Maggie should have expected, but didn't, seeing him as a child prone to playing all the time.

Because it's the way they are and I can't change it. I can't tell him otherwise. It's too cruel. He wasn't born when I was, so I have to be fair. My mother was old for a mother when I was born, oh, thirty-eight, I believe, and expected too much out of me, even when I was taken away from her. I shouldn't do the same. I shouldn't be so clingy and make him into a miniature adult at the same time. It's not fair. I have to Michael him be a child.

Nick looked up to her, his face impassive and stoic, fighting back emotion all the same. Maggie was trying to do the same, trying to keep an eye on her child (Michael continued to roll the quarters, except it was in his hands), but the pools in Nick's eyes attracted her once more. She couldn't help but be stuck in them again.

He stared back at her without saying a word, as if daring her to ask him something – a small flicker of anger that he showed in the past, and then sympathy for the present, in the pools – and smiled. And that smile was usually reserved for people Nick liked, Maggie knew, and when he smiled at her that way, she knew, somehow, that they should make up for everything. Nick looked like he wanted to, shocked as he was to see her again, after three years?

Or would we? I don't know anymore. The smile is nice. But damn…I was pretty nasty to him. He was pretty nasty to me. We were in a tight spot. He was working nights, I was working days, there was the baby, and money was tight all the time, especially when my pay was pretty low. The landlord wanted to kick him out because of everything, and he didn't want to go, but there's us. And…well, who is "us" now? Or, is there such thing anymore to him? Well, he's gotta be in a relationship or something. He doesn't need me. No, he doesn't. And I don't need him. I –

"Maggie, won't we talk in my office?" Grissom motioned to the next door, where they all could discuss the events in private, before she could talk to Nick about anything else other than playing with her child…or, why she was back in Las Vegas.

The younger C.S.I. sighed, her companions otherwise preoccupied (Michael with his quarter and Ursula with her wringing hands). "Sure, Grissom…" she answered, taking Michael's hand out, out of Nick's hands, and walking away. Ursula followed the threesome, closing the door behind her when Grissom motioned her to.

Grissom sat down at his desk, the other three doing the same in the chairs around the desk. Michael swung his legs impatiently as he sat down, though, still playing with the quarter that Nick had pulled out of his ear moments before, wondering why his mother was acting strangely with the nice man. He was very nice to me. Why was she being so weird?

"What do you need to talk to me about?" Maggie asked, getting down to business immediately. "Grissom, you called me about the funeral, which is fine. I would have flown out anyhow." She choked back a sob quickly, remembering the details and the memories. "Now, you've asked to talk to me. It sounds pretty permanently. What's up?"

The night supervisor only folded his hands, smiling. "One of our C.S.I.'s here has quit her job, because of the job demands, and a veteran of the day shift has retired to Ecklie's demands. Not to mention, Warrick has passed on, with great regret." Grissom tried to keep a straight face, but Maggie saw the quick glance of regret before he continued. "I figured, with the record of your boyfriend there, you would have come back. And since we now have two experienced C.S.I.'s before me, I was going to ask you to come back and work on my team again."

Maggie's mouth dropped with surprise. Ursula did the same.

Grissom ignored their shocked reactions. "Mobley has been long gone, Maggie. And Ecklie has been waiting for someone to fill in for a while, as his shift is working now extra and 'unnecessary' hours. Since you don't get along with him, I suggested that you come back to my team and Ursula go to Ecklie's, since she has the better record and would help us when we need a bridge from one shift to the next."

"Won't he object?" Ursula found her voice, remembering Maggie's stories of old. "Wouldn't Conrad Ecklie object whole-heartedly about a former worker, with a 'bad' record, coming back to the Force?"

"It seems politically correct to say that Conrad Ecklie put the blame on the previous comments on Margaret O'Keefe on the former sheriff and is now scot-free of any scandal." Grissom smiled, his grey beard going up with the grin.

"I'm in then," Ursula replied instantly, smiling too and then nudging Maggie in the shoulder. "What about you? What do you think?"

"Huh?" Maggie was still shocked, the words f the two barely registering in her mind. "Oh, yeah, sure, I'm in, too." Then, Maggie almost smacked her forehead, forgetting about Nick, but stopped herself before her hand left her lap, something she knew that Grissom noticed (and, it being Grissom, Maggie figured he knew what it was for). "I'll take the night shift and Ursula will take the day. It's perfect, Grissom, thanks. But…why now?"

"Why not now?" Grissom got up. "'Now' is usually a good time to work out things. Ecklie has kindly mended your records and everything is settled for the time being. We were just waiting upon your words. Ursula, you'll start your shift tomorrow. Maggie, you start tonight. You know the drill, nothing much has changed except for the people from three years ago. Your office will be shared with Ursula, if you don't mind."

The two women exchanged smiled, Michael looking up at them and wondering.

Maggie kissed her son in the head. "I'll explain everything in the car, Sweets," she said, saying a nickname he hated dearly and has expressed his distaste about.

Michael shook his dark head instead of his usual complaining, hair about like his mother's, and then randomly pointed at the numerous cages in the office. "What are those?"

The three adults smiled, Maggie and Ursula almost laughing. "Well, if you ask Grissom nicely, maybe he can show you around the office," Maggie replied, almost laughing again and remembering what a disorganized mess Grissom's office had been when she was there…and how he loved insects.

Grissom held out his hand for the child as he walked around the desk. Michael got up and nervously took it, laughing nervously as the night supervisor, nervous as well, guided the child to a corner of his personal work space, pointing out the animal – the insects, Maggie saw – and named each one, according to their species, class, etc.

Ursula smiled again. "I'll watch out for him, Maggie," she promised, a hand on her heart, as if it was a serious oath. "Scout's honor. I'll be sure to keep a schedule going, just like you normally do with him."

"Thanks, Ursula." Maggie was silent, thinking about Nick. We're working together again, which is another once-in-a-lifetime chance in hell. And I'm taking it. Why? Well, money is nice. Keeping my child out of danger is nice. Keeping Karen Napolitano out of my life is another. Well, she can help me with meeting Michael's half-siblings, but that's about it. Nothing more, nothing less out of that woman. I hated her then and I hate her now.

As if Grissom read her mind, he said, as he was showing Michael another corner of his office, "Maggie, Nick is outside of the office. Make sure to straighten things out with him first, before giving me a permanent answer. You might regret it later, so find a private spot and come back to me when you're finished."

The two women almost laughed. "Sure, Grissom…" Maggie answered quietly, getting up. "Sure, I probably should have done so before. Where are my manners these days?"

"In the gutter," Ursula added in a whisper, giggling.

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