Well, we've reached the end :) I hope you've enjoyed it; thank you to everyone who read and reviewed :)

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She was beginning to consider leaving the front door unlocked. She had this thought again when a shot of pain ran down her leg as she clicked her way across the room to answer the incessant knocking.

Her ribs ached, her stomach cramped, she had blisters on both hands despite the heavy bandaging, and once she sat down it took an extraordinarily long time to stand up again; but she was actually starting to get used to using crutches.

And after her initial bemusement at coming home and finding her apartment had changed, she had discovered that Greg's new layout was much easier to navigate. She was even considering leaving it like that once she'd healed – although she hadn't told him that. No need to stroke his ego unnecessarily.

Speaking of, the young man's goofy grin was the first thing she saw when she opened the door, followed by the rest of the team lurking behind him in the shadowy hall.

"We brought doughnuts!" He beamed, slinking past her as she leant heavily against the door.

The end-of-shift routine had changed somewhat – at least one morning a week they would stop by to check on her, under the guise of a team breakfast.

"Hey Sugar." Nick greeted, placing a kiss on her cheek and helping guide her back to the couch.

"Hey Snickers!" Greg grinned as the kitten materialised from nowhere and began trailing around his legs.

"She's missed you." Sara commented, dropping back onto the sofa.

"Aw, I've missed her too!" He scooped the little cat up and placed her on the counter top, instinctively heading for her food and bowl.

"He's gone soft." Warrick scoffed, helping himself to a pastry and dropping onto the couch beside Sara. "You broke him." He mumbled around a mouthful of his breakfast, patting her leg softly.

"Leave him alone, he's getting in touch with his sensitive side." Catherine joked, grinning playfully at the young man, who glowered back in response.

"There's nothing wrong with being an animal person." Greg insisted, settling on the arm of Grissom's chair with Snicker's on his lap.

Grissom turned absently, finding himself nose-to-nose with the feline. He recoiled, scrunching his nose up when Snickers instigated an unwanted Eskimo kiss; eliciting joyous laughter from the rest of the group.

"Aw, I think she likes you." Sara teased.

"She's got a wet nose." Grissom huffed, leaning as far away as possible from the mischievous little kitten who was lifting a paw playfully towards his face.

Once the giggling died down and the team had settled themselves around the apartment with their breakfast, Nicky was the first to break the comfortable silence. He looked up, scanning the room.

"Hey guys," he called, a puzzled frown marring his features. "Did anyone tell Hodges where we were meeting?"

~ Fin ~