Disclamer: I don't own CSI or it's characters. My stories are for entertainment only. No was made from this story.
I've Always Got Your Back By Roe Shu Rating: PG (one bad word)Pairing: None
Summary: Why is Grissom tired? Why is Catherine pissed? And justice all of the CSI's.
This story takes place a few months after the team is split up and Catherine gets her promotion.
It was 4:30 pm; Grissom and his team had just closed the messiest cases any of them had ever worked. It had been almost 24 hours since grissom had taken a break of gotten any sleep.
Grissom longed for sleep. Something he felt like he hadn't had a good nights worth in months. He stepped out of the shower, dried off and slipped under the covers, sighing as his head hit the pillow. A deep sleep overcame him quickly.
Catherine was not in a good mood. In the few months of her becoming a supervisor Grissom had shown up at her crime scenes on numerous occasions. The more she thought about it the madder she became. What did Grissom think he was doing showing up at her crime scenes all the time? Did he not think she could do the job? She was so mad she was almost in tears.
Grissom had been in a deep sleep for about 2 hours when consciousness threatened to enter his darkness. That sound, the one he'd grown to hate the last few months. He had let the call go to his voicemail, but someone was insistent on waking him and kept calling back. Giving up being able to ignore the intruding sound any longer he retrieved the message and returned the call.
"Gil!" Eckley said with a smile on his face. "Look, I know you've been pulling a lot of doubles and triples lately, but we have another high profile case and you're needed."
"I'm sure Catherine can handle it Conrad." Grissom had just about had enough of Eckley. "This isn't up for discussion Gil. I'll see you in 30 minutes." An evil laugh escaped Conrad Eckley as he hung up the phone.
The crime scene was somber and tense, but they collected their evidence and returned to the lab. An hour later Catherine was livid. Grissom! Where did you go? Not answering her just fueled the fire, but he was too tired to argue with her. "What the hell are you trying to do. I've seen more of you since I've been a supervisor than when I was on your team. Grissom glanced at his watch. He grabbed Catherine by the arm "Come with me." She pulled away staring at him. "What?"
"Catherine, do you trust me?" He said with pleading eyes. "Well…. Yes." She saw he was fighting to keep his eyes open. "When was the last time you had more than a couple hours sleep?" Her anger was giving in to concern. "I can't remember. Now please come with me." Leading her down the hall they stopped just outside of Eckleys office. "Stand right here." He asked her placing her next to the door, but at an angle where she could not be seen from inside the office.
Moments later the Sheriff walked up looking at Grissom. "Ok Gil, what is all of this about?" Handing him a receiver with two earplugs, "Listen" was all he said.
He stormed into Eckleys office. "OK Conrad, this has got to stop. You know perfectly well Catherine is capable of handling these cases, yet you insist on waking me up and dragging me down here." He walked back to the door and slammed it shut. "I want to know why you keep pulling my chain and I want to know now."
Eckley studied Grissom for a moment. He knew that if Grissom went to the Sheriff it would be his word against Eckley's. Glancing towards the door he tossed his pencil on the desk. "Have a seat Gil." "I'd rather stand." Gil said putting his hands on the desk and leaning forwards. "Listen, I'm just doing what's best for this department."
"Come clean Conrad." Grissom motioned with his hands towards the closed door. "Are you afraid someone might overhear the real reason for all the bullshit going on around here"?
Eckley looked over to the closed door. His eyes hardened and made their way to Grissom. "I'm just trying to get rid of the bad image your shift has given this department. Look at your team. You have Sidle who's a drunk. An, I don't know what freak in Sanders and a disappointment to me in Sophia. Everyone praises you for what you've done here. All I see is what kind of riffraff you're bringing into this department. That includes that stripper Willows and the gambler Brown. The only decent person you've hired in the last 5 years is Stokes."
Grissom lowered his head in disbelief. "No one's perfect Conrad, not even you. My former and present team are good people. They have their problems, but that doesn't interfere with their job. And you're the one who promoted Catherine to the supervisor position.
"Having a stripper as a supervisor is not my idea of a good image Gil. But I didn't have much of a choice. It was either Willows or that traitor Sophia. You know Gil you get too much credit around here. I'm going to put a stop to all of it one way or another."
"So you thought you'd clean house, hey Conrad." Grissom was fighting exhaustion at this point. "Sara has completed all of her counseling sessions, Warrick has overcome his gambling addiction and when has being different become a crime. You demoted Sophia because she did the right thing. You call me every time the public has the slightest interest in a victim. Hoping that I'll fall asleep on the job and my being on Catherine's case log doesn't look good on her record. Does that about sum it up Conrad?" Grissom was starting to get a migraine, but he needed to hang on just a little longer. "I've worked my ass off for this department and all you've done is kiss ass." With that said Grissom left the office.
Out in the hall a shocked Sheriff and Catherine stared with mouths open as Grissom exited Eckley's office, lifting his shirt he handed the wire to the Sheriff. Grissom looked at both of them. "I'm going home, to bed" and he walked away.
The Sheriff turned to Catherine. "I don't know what to say Catherine. I'm sorry for all that has happened. Grissom came to me this afternoon and said if I didn't listen to this he was quitting, if just to get some sleep." He took the mic from Catherine. "I knew Ecklie was stirring things up, I should have seen things were getting out of hand."
"You hired him Sheriff." Catherine said as she watched Grissom walk down the hall.
"Yes I did, but only because Gil turned me down." He paused and looked directly at Catherine. "He told me Ecklie was too political and he wasn't political enough. He suggested I hire you." Catherine's mouth dropped open. "But the promotion had to go to a supervisors. I'm sorry Catherine. I can guarantee things will change for the better around here." He softly patted Catherine on the shoulder and turned to Ecklies office. Opening the door he sternly ordered Ecklie to his office. Turning back to Catherine as she started to go after Grissom. "Catherine! Tell Gil to take the night off and get some sleep."
"You got it." Catherine smiled and went running down the hall to see if she could catch Grissom before he left. She ran outside just as he was opening the door to his SUV. She walked up to him and rubbed his arm. "I guess I owe you and apology."
"No you don't Cath, we were all used. None of us knew what was going on."
"But you figured it out. I just feel so bad. I've been so mean to you lately. And here you go and save my reputation and my job."
Grissom lifted Catherine's face with his hands and their eyes met. "I've always got your back. Don't you ever forget it."
She hugged him as a tear slid down her cheek. "Thank you. Oh, the Sheriff said you could have the night off, so go home and get some sleep." He climbed into his SUV. She stopped him, as he was about to shut the door. "What do you say to my coming over and cooking you breakfast in the morning, after I drop Lindsay off at school?"
"Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning." He waved as he pulled out of the parking lot. Looking forward to the looong night's sleep that awaited him.
The end