Hey everyone. Thanks for the positive feedback. It always makes my day :-).I forgot to mention in the first summary that there's some naughty language in this story. But I suppose you must know that by now if you've gotten this far. Onward!
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Silence fell like a stone in the small room.
Sara stood poised and still, her chin tilted at a fierce angle. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, and her eyes were fixed unwavering on Ecklie.
Oh, Grissom thought, grimacing. Shit.
The patronizing smile faded slowly from Ecklie's face, to be replaced by something far more real, but also infinitely more dangerous. He leaned slowly, deliberately forward.
"What did you say, Sara?" Ecklie asked. His voice was a soft, treacherous warning. "Sara," Grissom heard himself say sharply. She didn't even spare him a glance.
"I said," she enunciated, every word ringing clear and true, "Go to hell. You smarmy. Son of a bitch."
The scientific, detached part of Grissom's brain noted that Ecklie was slowly turning a very interesting shade of pink. "Your attitude is way over the line, CSI Sidle," he growled. The pleasant pretense had evaporated entirely; they were looking at the true face of Conrad Ecklie.
"What's over the line," Sara shot back, "Is your cavalier attitude when it comes to the CSI staff. This is all one big game for you, isn't it? Moving people around like pieces on a chessboard." She scoffed. "You don't care about the effectiveness of the teams. You're transferring members of the night shift because of some petty personal vendetta of your own. How dare you make insinuations about our..." Sara flushed, paused, then rushed forward. "How dare you say that either of us would allow personal relationships to interfere with the integrity of our duties as CSIs? And where the hell do you get off making an executive decision about my career without even bothering to broach the subject with me first?"
She paused for breath; Ecklie rose quickly to his feet. "It's my decision to make, Miss Sidle," he spat. "Like it or not, I'm now the assistant director of this organization. And if you know what's good for you, you'll follow my next directions precisely. First you will apologize to me, right here and now, for your previous insulting comments. Then you will submit a written, formal letter, to be placed in your file, explaining to me why I should allow you to keep your job. Finally, you will start, as of this morning, your new position on day shift. No more questions asked. Is that understood, CSI Three Sidle?"
They glowered at each other across the desk; for an instant, Grissom actually feared that Sara might sock Ecklie right in the mouth. He stood, holding his hands up as though to instill calm. Neither of them paid any attention, and in reality, Grissom knew that the situation had long ago escalated far beyond his ability to rein it in.
"You've made yourself absolutely clear," Sara said in a voice that could have frozen water.
Then she turned on her heel and brushed past Grissom. He watched dumbstruck as she yanked open the door and walked out without another word. Ecklie turned slowly to face Grissom, prideful anger lingering on his now tomato-hued face. Grissom glared back. He found that he had absolutely nothing to say to this man.
Instead he headed for the door, as well. "Grissom," Ecklie said warningly from behind him. "Don't you walk out of here. We're not finished." Grissom turned only briefly. "Yes, Conrad," he said. "We are."
The only thing he could think to do was go after Sara.
He headed down the hall at a determined clip, glancing into rooms and down hallways for any sign of her. He was angry; hell, he'd been angry from the moment Ecklie had taken it upon himself to discuss Grissom's relationship with Sara. The man was all-around infuriating, and truthfully, Grissom thought that most of Sara's statements had been justified. He'd been sorely tempted to respond in a similar way. Only his newfound sense of wariness in Ecklie's presence had prevented him from losing his temper; he had known immediately that Sara wouldn't be able to hold onto hers. He just hadn't expected her to take it quite so far.
Grissom shoved his glasses back onto his nose, frustration building with every step. He was a meticulous man; he valued order and rationality, careful scientific analysis. This situation had developed with incredible speed. It was too unsettlingly precarious, too far out of his control. He had no idea how to resolve it in a positive way, especially since he wasn't even sure of how he fit into the equation anymore. Technically, the dispute was between Sara and Ecklie; as of a few minutes ago, he was no longer Sara's supervisor. But he knew he couldn't leave it alone, because after all, this involved Sara. Whether he liked to admit it or not, everything was different when it came to her.
He found her in his office, radiating restless fury as she paced back and forth. She looked up when he entered, arms crossed over her chest. Her stubborn, closed stance added fuel to his fire, building on Ecklie's accusation and Grissom's own sense of uncertain helplessness. It wasn't really Sara he was angry with, but she was the only one in range.
"What the hell was that?" he asked sharply, closing the door of his office with a little too much force. Sara looked taken aback. "I think the whole thing was pretty clear," she answered, defensive.
Something within him snapped. "What's not clear to me, Sara, is why you didn't exercise some discretion in there. Although it's very unfortunate, that man," Grissom stabbed a finger in the direction of Ecklie's office, "now controls everything that goes on in this lab. If you want to stay on at CSI, I think you'll have to do as he asks." Grissom's voice sounded much harsher than he'd expected. He grimaced, hating each word. "Otherwise, he'll try to have your badge for this."
Sara's entire demeanor shifted even as he watched. She seemed to shrink a bit; her eyebrows drew together, and for a long quiet moment she looked at him, disbelief and hurt betrayal clear on her face. Then she unclipped her badge and tossed it onto Grissom's desk. "Well," she said shortly. He could have sworn her lips trembled. "When he asks for it, why don't you give it to him?" He stared, not quite comprehending. "You're turning in your badge?" he asked, incredulity pushing aside all other emotion. "You can't be serious!" The moment he said it, Grissom knew it was very definitely the wrong response. Sara's jaw clenched; she favored him with the icy stare she had directed at Ecklie only minutes before.
"I'm done, Grissom," she said. "It's time I started making my own decisions again."
She didn't bother to close the door on her way out.