Thank you all for the great feedback. It really inspires me to keep working on the story. I promise that this will become GS. Just bear with me for awhile, 'k?

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Catherine walked through the crime lab in search of Greg Sanders. She'd received a page advising her to find him 'ASAP.' The page, unfortunately, had failed to mention where Greg actually was. Catherine checked the break and evidence rooms; no Greg. She was beginning to get a little irritated when she heard her name being called in a strained whisper.

"Catherine! Sssst! Cath!" Startled, she looked around, turned in a circle, and finally spotted Greg's head poking out the locker room door. "Greg?" she asked, confused. "What're you doing?" He motioned to her. "Just come in here." Catherine shrugged and joined him in the locker room. "I got your page." She eyed him quizzically. "Why are you so twitchy, Greg? What's up?"

"Something's going on, Catherine. The whole lab is talking about it. Something with Grissom, and Ecklie and Sara." Greg replied, looking tense. "Okaaay," Catherine drawled. "Why did you page me?"

"Well, you know," Greg said, fidgeting. "Because you're pretty much the only one who can handle Grissom."

"Just why exactly do I need to handle anyone?" Catherine asked, still thoroughly confused. Greg turned and pointed at the row of lockers along the wall to their left. One of them stood wide open, its contents gone. Catherine took a second look. "Is that Sara's locker?" she asked. "Yes, it is," Greg confirmed. "She cleaned it out and went blasting out of here about fifteen minutes ago. And that was about ten minutes after AD Ecklie paged both Sara and Grissom to his office."
"Greg, did you maybe think to ask her what was wrong?" Catherine questioned. Greg shot her a dubious look. "Are you kidding?" he squeaked. " I don't know about you, but I value my personal safety. I stayed the hell out of her way."

Catherine found Grissom sitting slumped in his office, staring quietly down at something in his lap. "Gil," she said. "What on earth just happened here?"

He didn't look up. Suddenly she thought he seemed deflated, tired.
"Sara quit," he replied flatly.
"What?" her voice rose. "You can't be serious!"
"That's exactly what I said to her," Grissom grimaced. "She didn't take it very well."

Puzzled, Catherine walked around the desk, trying to see what was so important that Grissom couldn't take his eyes from it. She rested a hand on the back of his chair and followed his gaze. Sara's face smiled up from her badge, cradled carefully in the palm of Grissom's hand. Catherine let out a breath. "Wow," she said, completely thrown. "What on earth brought this on?"
Grissom finally looked up at her. "Ecklie," he said.

Catherine shut the door and pulled up a seat. "Tell me," she said simply. Grissom gazed down at Sara's badge again, absently running his thumb over her photo. "Ecklie paged us both this afternoon. He claimed that some of the staff had complained about an… inappropriate relationship between Sara and I interfering with our work." He winced slightly as he spoke, and Catherine shook her head slowly. That bastard Ecklie. He had figured out that Sara was Grissom's Achilles Heel. He would have known that bringing up their relationship was the ultimate way to make Grissom squirm. She could only imagine how uncomfortable Ecklie's accusation must have been for them, painfully private as they both were.

Grissom continued. "Then he announced that he would be trading Sara to day shift." "Wait a minute," Catherine interrupted, bewildered. "Trade Sara? With whom?"
"Some day shift CSI, James something," Grissom said, waving a hand dismissively. He looked up and pursed his lips. "Sara told him to go to hell."

Catherine's eyes widened. "Sara… told Ecklie to go to hell."

"And she called him…" Grissom inclined his head matter-of-factly. "What was it? A 'smarmy son of a bitch'." Catherine gaped at him for a moment before finding her voice. "Well," she finally managed. "It is a fitting description."

Grissom let out a humorless chuckle. "So she just quit, right then and there," Catherine prompted. "No, actually," Grissom replied. "Ecklie was furious, of course. Sara walked out, and I followed her." he stopped, looking chagrined.

"Gil," Catherine peered at him suspiciously. "What did you say?" Grissom sighed and removed his glasses. "Honestly, I'm not sure." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I was frustrated, and I said something about having to follow Ecklie's instructions if she wanted to keep her job," Grissom gently placed Sara's badge on his desk. "And here we are," he finished with an air of hapless finality.

Catherine regarded Grissom for a long moment.

"Well," she finally said, her voice brusque. "What are you going to do?" He gave her a sharp look. "What do you mean?"
"You can't just leave it at that, can you?" Catherine replied. "As far as you know, Ecklie isn't aware that Sara quit, and you've got her badge. So go and get her back."Grissom shook his head. "It isn't that simple, Catherine. It's not my place. I'm not her supervisor anymore."

"Oh, come on, Gil," Catherine said. Typical Grissom; thoroughly clueless. She checked herself, trying to remain patient. "It most certainly is your place. She was probably looking to you for support, and instead you got pissed off and fed her some line about cooperating with Ecklie."

Grissom spread his hands wide in protest. "Hey, this isn't about what I said to Sara. Even if she hadn't thrown her badge at me, she would still have to contend with Ecklie." His tone was defensive, frustrated; Catherine could see that he probably did feel terrible about what he'd said to Sara. She decided to leave well enough alone for the moment, and nodded slowly; she understood his point. "Ecklie would still transfer Sara to days. That is, if he didn't fire her. And he'd definitely hold a grudge," she mused.

"That's the one thing he's good at," Grissom replied dryly, looking distracted. She watched as he picked Sara's badge up again, curling his fingers around the thin piece of plastic. He couldn't seem to keep his hands off of it.

Catherine took a breath. Enough was enough. "Okay," she said, slapping her hands on her knees as she stood up. "I think we've established that it's not a good idea for you to interact with Ecklie. Ever. So let me handle that end. Once I get things sorted out with him, you can speak to Sara."

Grissom sat up, looking alarmed. "Catherine, none of this involves you. I doubt if Ecklie will discuss it with you at all. Even if he would, what could you possibly say?"

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve," she replied. "You should know that by now, Gil. Don't worry. It'll work out." She headed purposefully for the door. "Catherine," Grissom called after her, somehow managing to sound both authoritative and nervous at the same time. "This isn't a good idea. I really don't want you to try it."

Catherine half-turned and tossed him her slyest Cheshire Cat grin. "Well, Gil," she said, "Then I guess it's a good thing that you're not my supervisor anymore, either."