Old friends, Bitter Enemies
"Yeah?" Sara's voice sounded so tinny on the speaker the receptionist was talking into, but an edge of aggravation was evident.
"Somebody's here for a consultation."
Sara's sigh was audible. "Can you have someone escort them up? I'll fill out the paperwork to get them badges later."
They heard Sara's voice before they saw her. "Does Oakland even do their own instigations anymore?" she asked, to a round a laughter. As they peered in the door to what looked like a break room, Sara's back was to them, but two young CSIs were facing the door, and one said, "Looks like Oakland's got some new people."
Sara turned toward the door, her dark hair flipping around, but the smile on her face disappearing the moment she registered the guests standing at the door. Emotions flickered in her eyes, surprise, anger, and confusion, but happiness too, and Catherine read the situation clearly and glared up at Gil. He hadn't called Sara and told her we were coming, she realized, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Sara had the same glare leveled at Grissom. Sara recovered quickly, though, and hopped up from her chair, embracing the shorter woman in a tight hug. "Catherine." She turned to Grissom and extended her hand, "Gil. Good to see you both. What brings you, so unexpectedly," the last word said with her eyes fixed on Gil, "to my city?"
"A case," he replied simply, tapping a file folder in his hands. It took him a moment to register the changes, but they were apparent. The dark circles and worry lines were gone, and she had put on weight. She looked happy, he thought, feeling the pain in his heart to know that she was happier and better without him. "We need your help. Our monthly cold case review came up with a hit on a recent homicide you caught."
"You could have just faxed me the files," she said, taking the folder from Grissom's hand and skimming through the contents. "The Mira case?" she said, talking mostly to herself.
He blushed, knowing his next request went beyond professional courtesy. "Actually I was hoping to see the scene and go over the evidence myself." When she looked up at him with narrowed eyes, he explained quickly. "It's an 8-year old case and all I have are the files. I thought it would help if I saw the scene, it might help bring back more."
"So Sid, are you going to introduce us?" asked the blond CSI sitting in the break room, interrupting them. A young brunette sitting beside him gave him a look of disgust. "Jeremy, if you paid any attention at all, you wouldn't need introductions." She stepped up to Catherine and shook her hand. "Dr. Willows, I enjoyed your presentation at the Science and the Law conference last year. It's a pleasure to meet you." Catherine's mouth quirked into a smile at the young, earnest CSI in front of her, and she didn't have the heart to correct her on the title. "Thank you. And you are?"
"Annemarie Jennings." The brunette turned to Gil. "And Dr. Grissom. It's an honor." He shook her hand. "Thank you, Ms. Jennings. It's nice to meet you."
Sara's wide grin was amused and proud. "Um, Annemarie, could you go get the assignments off my board?" As Annemarie left, Sara introduced the rest of her team. "Jeremy, Jerome, and Kesha."
"Let me get them going and then we'll discuss your case, ok?" She turned back to her team without waiting for a reply, taking the slips from Annemarie, just as a loud voice interrupted her.
"Sidle. You bitch. What did you tell her?" Gil and Catherine looked at the tall man in alarm, but Sara reached him and caught his forearm. "This is not the place to have this discussion," she told him, tersely. "Why don't we do this in my office."
He ripped his arm out of her grasp, and that's when Catherine noticed the badge clipped to his belt. "I spoke with the captain. I've been busted back to patrol supervisor." He took a step closer and poked a finger at Sara violently. "Because of you."
"You want to do this here, Phillips?" Her voice was angry but controlled. "You got it. First, it's a lateral move, not a demotion. And you caused it, not me."
"I saw all that paperwork you gave the captain. What, were you collecting that on me the whole time?" He was still towering over her, a hard feat to accomplish, and Catherine felt Grissom tense as if to move. She caught his wrist and squeezed, shooting him a look that tried to convey how unprofessional it would be for him to step in. For once, he understood without a word, and stood watching, his arm shaking in her grasp.
"Yes," was Sara's cool reply, but her voice grew more angry as she continued. "You know why I was brought in, and you know I had the captain's approval for all the changes I made. I kept you informed and gave you EVERY opportunity to work with me, not against me. And I sat in my office after every shift and documented every time you pulled my CSIs from a scene before they were done and every other attempt you made to undermine me. Because when an incident like last week happened, I knew Captain Harris would come to me for an explanation. And I was not going to hide the fact that you were the problem. Not when it showed poorly on the professionalism of myself and my CSIs. You have no one to blame by yourself," she finished coldly.
He punched the wall beside her head and tried to trap her against the wall with his body, and both Catherine and Grissom started forward. Sara's voice stopped them. "Walk away, Phillips. Going back to patrol will be the least of your problems if you are arrested for assault." Her reasonable tone seemed to break through his anger a little. "If you leave now, then we'll forget this ever happened. If not, then building security will remove you and it will go on the incident blotter."
He pulled back, still glaring at her. "This isn't over, Sidle."
"Actually, I think it is," was her quiet rejoinder. Her eyes followed him as he disappeared around a corner before letting out a long breath, and turning to see everyone staring at her.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Jerome announced loudly, only to be smacked by Annemarie. "Not funny." His voice was serious as he replied, "It wasn't meant to be." The young CSIs were shuffling back into the break room. "He's the kind of guy to go postal." "Yeah, good riddance." "Who wants to bet the second shift detectives buy Sid a bouquet by the end of shift?" "Naw, it'll take them until the start of next shift at the earliest."
Sara smirked at the shocked and worried looks Catherine and Gil shot her as she came up beside them. "Office politics," she quipped, but her eyes looked concerned.
"And here I thought Ecklie was bad," Catherine snorted.
Sara laughed. "Let me get these guys going and then we'll go over to the scene you want to check out, ok?"
Catherine watched with interest as Sara put her team to work. Sara's people skills had always been one of her weaknesses, or so everyone assumed, but Sara was much more at ease with 'her' CSIs than Catherine had ever seen before. She divvied up the assignments, before turning to the very young- looking blonde sitting at her side. "Jeremy, you are doing a training lead on this one. Annemarie will be your backup. Call the shots, but listen to her if she makes any corrections. We'll have a performance review at the end of shift, ok?" They both nodded seriously, before she addressed the whole team. "I'll be visiting a crime scene first, and then I'll be roaming, so expect to see me looking over your shoulders at any time." A round of grins and nervous chuckles rounded the table. "We've had six tight shifts. Get through tonight and you know the deal. Clear?"
Kesha piped up. "What are we up to now?"
Jerome grinned across the table at her. "Dinner out. And I think it should be a fancy restaurant. Am I right?" There was a general consensus of agreement around the table as he winked at Sara, who Catherine could see had a teasing look on her face. "What, there's something fancier than Subway?" She asked in a mock-innocent voice, and then chuckled as the four CSIs engaged in some good-natured grumbling. She swatted at Jeremy, who leaned just out of her reach. "Those crime scenes won't process themselves. Get out of here, you bums."
"Yeah?" Sara's voice sounded so tinny on the speaker the receptionist was talking into, but an edge of aggravation was evident.
"Somebody's here for a consultation."
Sara's sigh was audible. "Can you have someone escort them up? I'll fill out the paperwork to get them badges later."
They heard Sara's voice before they saw her. "Does Oakland even do their own instigations anymore?" she asked, to a round a laughter. As they peered in the door to what looked like a break room, Sara's back was to them, but two young CSIs were facing the door, and one said, "Looks like Oakland's got some new people."
Sara turned toward the door, her dark hair flipping around, but the smile on her face disappearing the moment she registered the guests standing at the door. Emotions flickered in her eyes, surprise, anger, and confusion, but happiness too, and Catherine read the situation clearly and glared up at Gil. He hadn't called Sara and told her we were coming, she realized, and saw out of the corner of her eye that Sara had the same glare leveled at Grissom. Sara recovered quickly, though, and hopped up from her chair, embracing the shorter woman in a tight hug. "Catherine." She turned to Grissom and extended her hand, "Gil. Good to see you both. What brings you, so unexpectedly," the last word said with her eyes fixed on Gil, "to my city?"
"A case," he replied simply, tapping a file folder in his hands. It took him a moment to register the changes, but they were apparent. The dark circles and worry lines were gone, and she had put on weight. She looked happy, he thought, feeling the pain in his heart to know that she was happier and better without him. "We need your help. Our monthly cold case review came up with a hit on a recent homicide you caught."
"You could have just faxed me the files," she said, taking the folder from Grissom's hand and skimming through the contents. "The Mira case?" she said, talking mostly to herself.
He blushed, knowing his next request went beyond professional courtesy. "Actually I was hoping to see the scene and go over the evidence myself." When she looked up at him with narrowed eyes, he explained quickly. "It's an 8-year old case and all I have are the files. I thought it would help if I saw the scene, it might help bring back more."
"So Sid, are you going to introduce us?" asked the blond CSI sitting in the break room, interrupting them. A young brunette sitting beside him gave him a look of disgust. "Jeremy, if you paid any attention at all, you wouldn't need introductions." She stepped up to Catherine and shook her hand. "Dr. Willows, I enjoyed your presentation at the Science and the Law conference last year. It's a pleasure to meet you." Catherine's mouth quirked into a smile at the young, earnest CSI in front of her, and she didn't have the heart to correct her on the title. "Thank you. And you are?"
"Annemarie Jennings." The brunette turned to Gil. "And Dr. Grissom. It's an honor." He shook her hand. "Thank you, Ms. Jennings. It's nice to meet you."
Sara's wide grin was amused and proud. "Um, Annemarie, could you go get the assignments off my board?" As Annemarie left, Sara introduced the rest of her team. "Jeremy, Jerome, and Kesha."
"Let me get them going and then we'll discuss your case, ok?" She turned back to her team without waiting for a reply, taking the slips from Annemarie, just as a loud voice interrupted her.
"Sidle. You bitch. What did you tell her?" Gil and Catherine looked at the tall man in alarm, but Sara reached him and caught his forearm. "This is not the place to have this discussion," she told him, tersely. "Why don't we do this in my office."
He ripped his arm out of her grasp, and that's when Catherine noticed the badge clipped to his belt. "I spoke with the captain. I've been busted back to patrol supervisor." He took a step closer and poked a finger at Sara violently. "Because of you."
"You want to do this here, Phillips?" Her voice was angry but controlled. "You got it. First, it's a lateral move, not a demotion. And you caused it, not me."
"I saw all that paperwork you gave the captain. What, were you collecting that on me the whole time?" He was still towering over her, a hard feat to accomplish, and Catherine felt Grissom tense as if to move. She caught his wrist and squeezed, shooting him a look that tried to convey how unprofessional it would be for him to step in. For once, he understood without a word, and stood watching, his arm shaking in her grasp.
"Yes," was Sara's cool reply, but her voice grew more angry as she continued. "You know why I was brought in, and you know I had the captain's approval for all the changes I made. I kept you informed and gave you EVERY opportunity to work with me, not against me. And I sat in my office after every shift and documented every time you pulled my CSIs from a scene before they were done and every other attempt you made to undermine me. Because when an incident like last week happened, I knew Captain Harris would come to me for an explanation. And I was not going to hide the fact that you were the problem. Not when it showed poorly on the professionalism of myself and my CSIs. You have no one to blame by yourself," she finished coldly.
He punched the wall beside her head and tried to trap her against the wall with his body, and both Catherine and Grissom started forward. Sara's voice stopped them. "Walk away, Phillips. Going back to patrol will be the least of your problems if you are arrested for assault." Her reasonable tone seemed to break through his anger a little. "If you leave now, then we'll forget this ever happened. If not, then building security will remove you and it will go on the incident blotter."
He pulled back, still glaring at her. "This isn't over, Sidle."
"Actually, I think it is," was her quiet rejoinder. Her eyes followed him as he disappeared around a corner before letting out a long breath, and turning to see everyone staring at her.
"Well, that went better than I expected," Jerome announced loudly, only to be smacked by Annemarie. "Not funny." His voice was serious as he replied, "It wasn't meant to be." The young CSIs were shuffling back into the break room. "He's the kind of guy to go postal." "Yeah, good riddance." "Who wants to bet the second shift detectives buy Sid a bouquet by the end of shift?" "Naw, it'll take them until the start of next shift at the earliest."
Sara smirked at the shocked and worried looks Catherine and Gil shot her as she came up beside them. "Office politics," she quipped, but her eyes looked concerned.
"And here I thought Ecklie was bad," Catherine snorted.
Sara laughed. "Let me get these guys going and then we'll go over to the scene you want to check out, ok?"
Catherine watched with interest as Sara put her team to work. Sara's people skills had always been one of her weaknesses, or so everyone assumed, but Sara was much more at ease with 'her' CSIs than Catherine had ever seen before. She divvied up the assignments, before turning to the very young- looking blonde sitting at her side. "Jeremy, you are doing a training lead on this one. Annemarie will be your backup. Call the shots, but listen to her if she makes any corrections. We'll have a performance review at the end of shift, ok?" They both nodded seriously, before she addressed the whole team. "I'll be visiting a crime scene first, and then I'll be roaming, so expect to see me looking over your shoulders at any time." A round of grins and nervous chuckles rounded the table. "We've had six tight shifts. Get through tonight and you know the deal. Clear?"
Kesha piped up. "What are we up to now?"
Jerome grinned across the table at her. "Dinner out. And I think it should be a fancy restaurant. Am I right?" There was a general consensus of agreement around the table as he winked at Sara, who Catherine could see had a teasing look on her face. "What, there's something fancier than Subway?" She asked in a mock-innocent voice, and then chuckled as the four CSIs engaged in some good-natured grumbling. She swatted at Jeremy, who leaned just out of her reach. "Those crime scenes won't process themselves. Get out of here, you bums."