Okay, so this ended up pretty dialogue heavy. But it's good dialogue, especially if you hate Ecklie. Which I do. Really a lot. And from the feedback, other people do, too.

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Catherine poured herself a cup of tea as she considered the best way to approach Ecklie. Grissom was right; it wasn't really her place. But the situation needed damage control, and soon, before things got even more out of hand. Grissom certainly wasn't the person to do it; the enmity between he and Ecklie was too strong. Sara seemed (at least for the moment) to be out of the picture, which was probably a good thing. Telling Ecklie off wasn't the smartest move she could have made. It must have been satisfying, but dealing with Ecklie required a more sophisticated method. She was going to have to beat him at his own sneaky game. Catherine already had her leverage; she knew something that Grissom didn't.

For more than a year, right up until just before Ecklie's shift reshuffle, he and Sophia Curtis had been… intimate. She was certain that the two of them thought it was a secret, but the fact that they'd been sleeping together had quietly leaked out into the lab. Greg was always waggling his eyebrows and making suggestive double entendres when he talked about them. Hodges, who constantly (and creepily) seemed to have the latest word on everything, spoke in a frank, snarky way about how it disgusted him. Catherine herself had seen them standing close, heads together, Ecklie's hand (complete with wedding ring) on the small of Sophia's back. But Grissom, of course, wouldn't know any of this. He was always far too wrapped up in the science of work to pay any attention to gossip. And besides, even if he had known about Ecklie and Sophia, Catherine doubted he'd have realized that this knowledge could go to work for him. Grissom had never been the type to fully comprehend the powerful subtleties and undercurrents of office politics, much less use them as a means to an end. Catherine smiled with grim determination. She supposed, then, that it was only natural for the task to fall to her.

She sidled up to the open door of Ecklie's office and knocked casually on its frame. Ecklie glanced up from where he was furiously signing paperwork. "Catherine," he said, his voice clipped. "What can I do for you?" She cocked her head and put on her most winning, flirtatious smile. "Hello, Conrad," she said. "I was hoping we could have a talk, just the two of us." This time Ecklie's pen stilled; he looked up at her with more than a passing interest. "All right," he said. Come on in and have a seat." Catherine let the door slip shut and carefully crossed her legs as she sat down. "I heard something about what happened this afternoon with Gil and Sara," she began in a calm voice.

"Grissom already ran and told you, did he?" Ecklie gritted. "Oh, you know how it is," Catherine lied soothingly, shaking her head. "Word gets out in the lab, rumors start to fly… which is why I was hoping to hear from you exactly what went on. After all, you're the most reliable source of information I have." Ecklie looked pleased. Flattery will get you everywhere, Cath, she thought wryly. "Now Catherine," Ecklie said. "It's not my policy to discuss departmental matters with supervisors that aren't directly affected by them."

"I realize that," Catherine sighed. "But anything that affects any CSI staff member, no matter what shift, also affects the operation of the entire lab, wouldn't you agree? Word travels so fast around here, departments necessarily interact with each other. What causes problems for night shift can have a negative impact on my people, as well. I'm just looking out for my guys. You understand that, right?"

Ecklie laced his fingers together, considering her logic; Catherine kept the persuasive smile plastered on her face. "All right," he conceded finally. "It's pretty simple, really. I've decided to transfer Sidle to day shift. I called she and Grissom in this afternoon to inform them of the changes, and it resulted in a rather unpleasant confrontation between Miss Sidle and myself." Catherine raised her eyebrows. "Unpleasant?" She asked. "How so?"

"CSI Sidle took it upon herself to personally insult me," Ecklie said coolly. "To criticize my methods, and to question my motives as an assistant director." "Wow," Catherine said, trying to seem respectful and sympathetic. "It sounds like she was way out of line, Conrad." "Indeed she was," replied Ecklie, looking vindicated. Catherine leaned forward. "I've worked with Sara for years, and I like to think I know her pretty well. She loves this job. I can't understand why she would make such a scene." She stared Ecklie full in the face. "Do you have any idea what might have set her off?"

Ecklie's brow furrowed; he opened his mouth, then shut it again. "Well," he finally said. "She did seem upset by the reasoning behind her transfer. But I felt that it was only fair to explain it to her." "What was the reasoning?" Catherine pressed. "I've received comments from staff members about a personal relationship between Sara and Grissom," Ecklie replied. "I feel it's best that they not work together anymore." "Uh huh," Catherine said, leaning back in her chair. "So you believe that such relationships are unacceptable between co-workers in our lab."

Ecklie paused at that, looking at her carefully. "Where are you going with this, Catherine?" She shook her head, all innocence. "I'm just tying to understand exactly what your policy is, Conrad."

"Well, yes," he affirmed cautiously. "I believe that co-workers should refrain from having personal relationships. It could interfere with their abilities to do their jobs."

Catherine's eyes narrowed. Gotcha, you hypocrite, she thought.

"Conrad," she said firmly, "if personal relationships are important enough to transfer team members, then I think you should open a department-wide inquiry into the matter. It's only fair that we expect our CSIs to conduct themselves in a certain way. If somebody, anybody, has crossed a line, it should be brought to the director's attention, don't you think?" She stopped and waited for his response. Ecklie, she thought, looked a little red around the ears.

He cleared his throat. "I really don't think that's necessary, Catherine. I have the situation under control." Catherine sat forward. "With all due respect, Conrad, I think we should involve the director. I'll be happy to go to him myself, if you don't have time. In fact, I think I'll request that he let me head up the investigation. I'll really delve into things, find out if anyone's been doing anything inappropriate." Ecklie rubbed a hand over his forehead; she carefully noted the nervous, unconscious gesture. "You shouldn't be so concerned," he said. "It's not nearly as serious as you seem to think." Catherine looked puzzled. "I thought you said that people were worried about this." "Only a couple of concerned co-workers," Ecklie amended. She feigned confusion. "Did they file formal complaints? Written statements?" Ecklie was beginning to look suspicious. "No," he answered slowly. "Conrad," Catherine sighed. "Do you have any proof that a personal relationship is hindering anyone's ability to do their job?"

Ecklie didn't reply; he regarded her coldly, obviously trying to figure out how the situation had gone sour. "You know Conrad," Catherine said demurely, "it's not really my place to give you advice. But I was thinking; if you just reassured whoever was concerned, you could probably avoid this unpleasantness altogether." She gave a tiny shrug. "Of course, I'm only an impartial observer, but in my experience, sometimes if you give people room to breathe, everything works out just fine. Maybe if you reconsider, you'll find that you don't need to take this quite so far." Catherine paused, tilting her head respectfully. "You're the boss; you're allowed to change your mind. You could leave Sara where she is and continue to observe the situation. And if you notice something objectionable, I can always talk to the director about opening that department-wide inquiry." She paused, deliberating, then decided to push her luck. "Maybe I could even get a CSI from another shift to help out. Sophia Curtis, for example?"

She capped the speech with a meaningfully pointed, challenging stare; Ecklie looked back in tight-lipped frustration. They sat in a silent face-off, eyes locked solidly; Catherine listened to the tick of the wall clock, and counted at least twenty seconds. Finally Ecklie broke her gaze, took a deliberate breath. "I think I understand," he said through clenched teeth, his voice low and furiously strained. Catherine let her shoulders relax; she gave him a genuine, full-blown smile.

"Conrad," she said gratefully. "I'm so glad that you do."