Privacy by SLynn
Disclaimer: It's all mine, because yeah, this is what I'd do with my free time if I actually owned these characters.
Notes: Another hard chapter to write, but not nearly as bad as the last. I haven't had the time and space I'm use to when writing these, so its been kind of crazy lately. But – great news. We move into our house on Monday and our high-speed internet gets hooked up on Tuesday! I'm so excited. :) I'm working off of dial up right now for the first time in years and it sucks. Once more the story is starting to wind down, slowly but surely. Any guesses on how it ends?
Chapter 26: Coffee and Theories
Greg had left the room almost immediately after his outburst not waiting for any type of response. Now, sitting in the locker room, staring straight ahead is where Sara found him. He'd heard the door open behind him but Greg didn't stir. He was in a mild shock. It just registered that Sara was now sitting beside him, holding his hand.
"I just quit," he said turning to her, almost asking if it was true.
She nodded slowly.
"Grissom asked me to leave before I could too."
Greg continued to look at her like he was lost.
"He and Ecklie are talking about it right now."
Somehow he doubted that was true, at least the talking part.
"What am I going to do?" he asked as it was really setting in, "Sara, I just quit my job."
"It's going to be alright," she assured.
As she said it the doors were thrown open and Warrick and Nick came inside.
"Tell me this isn't true," Nick said as he walked over. "Did Ecklie fire you?"
"Who said that?" Sara asked Nick, but Greg was suddenly back on his feet and in motion again.
Hearing that had reminded him just how angry he'd been and still was. He opened his locker and started to go through his things, ready to take it all and just leave. Sara observed the change uneasily and she wasn't the only one. Greg was not alright.
"I wasn't fired, I quit," he said, talking really almost to his locker.
"What happened?" Warrick asked.
"Are you two off yet?" Sara asked instead of answered and upon their nodding continued, "Good. We'll talk at breakfast."
"I'll ask Amy to join us," Nick said quickly opening his own locker and retrieving his things before heading out.
Warrick began to do the same and Greg just sat back down again. The panic was coming and going in waves. Sometimes he felt alright, vindicated in his actions and others it was sheer terror. What was he going to do?
Knowing they probably needed a few moments to themselves, Warrick decided to wait outside.
"Are you okay?" Sara asked now.
Greg shook his head with an odd smile coming to his face.
"Come on," she gently urged, "We can get your things later. Let's just get out of here right now."
Greg shut his locker and followed her out. They met with everyone in the break room and decided where to go relatively quickly. They were out the door and in the diner in less than fifteen minutes.
"Cath is meeting us," Warrick said to no one's surprise.
They silently agreed to just wait for her so that they didn't have to be continuously repeating what was distressing and it didn't take long. She arrived just after they did, full of questions and already upset on Greg's behalf.
Sara started by relating the contents of the latest Anderson article. No one else had had the chance or opportunity to read it for themselves. She didn't know if she should continue on or let Greg tell his own story. After a pause and the waitress took their orders he picked up where Sara left off.
"So, Griss calls us in this morning and Ecklie is waiting in his office for us. He thinks everything is true and wanted me to redo all my proficiencies."
There was a general outburst at this but it quickly died down.
"I said I wouldn't and he told me I could just go back to my old job and then I quit."
No one had anything to say to that. The feeling was fairly mutual. Given the choice and the circumstances they'd all of pretty much have done the same.
"Any luck on the audio tapes?" Catherine asked Warrick, turning the conversation but not really.
They had to get something on this guy. Had too.
"No," Warrick said, "He's got a lawyer from the Sun now and isn't talking. Unless we can prove he made the tapes we can't charge him. He says he got them from a source. We've still got the tapes but there's so many of them. It's taking forever to process."
He didn't have to add that reviewing them wasn't much fun. Most of the conversations were intended to be private and all of them revolved around Greg in one way or another. Warrick had been disturbed to find his own voice on several of them.
"What is on those tapes?" Greg asked, curious now.
That was the question both he and Catherine had been dreading but what everyone wanted to know.
"It's not important…" Catherine hadn't even got to finish it before Greg was shaking his head.
"Please, I have the right to know."
She sighed and shook her head.
"Most of them sound like they were recorded in the lab or at least nearby. They're almost entirely work related."
"Almost?" Greg asked.
Catherine nodded sadly at him. He had a feeling what the ones that weren't work related were about.
"They aren't phone taps. Any time it does sound like you might be on the phone it's all one sided." Warrick said, trying to press on and avoid some unpleasantness if possible.
"So someone bugged the lab?" Sara asked, not buying it.
"There's no way," Nick commented, "Unless someone was wearing a wire, but still…"
"No," Catherine cut in, "some of those conversations, I don't see them taking place with anyone else around."
"And there's another problem," Warrick continued, "When we were trying to pin the tapes to Anderson directly, we found out he's only lived here for eight months. Moved from Los Angeles to take the job with the Sun. A lot of those tapes are older then that, date back past the Fenton case. He wasn't lying about that, he didn't make them, someone on the inside had to of."
"Have you narrowed down a time frame?" Nick asked, leaning forward.
"Yeah," Catherine answered, "just by the content and the cases discussed, it looks like they start about the same time Greg's cancer was first diagnosed."
"Why then?" Amy asked, "Everything he's written, none of it implies Greg can't do the job physically. That just doesn't make sense. "
"No, it doesn't."
They all looked up at the new voice. Grissom had joined them, having been tipped off about their off site via a text message from Catherine. He had only now gotten away from Ecklie.
"Can you think of anything else that happened around that time?" he asked Greg, pulling up a chair to join them.
"Well, that was about the time I was really getting going in the field. Amy had completely taken over in the lab by then and I'd officially gotten the job."
"So, we know that since the tapes don't just center on the Fenton case, they weren't made for that reason."
"And it's not like they could have known Greg was going to have a relapse," Nick started, catching Grissom's train of thought. "So, someone was making those tapes because of the promotion?"
"Jealousy?" Warrick asked without asking, "Maybe waiting to catch you screwing up on tape."
"That shouldn't have been hard to do," Greg said, laughing a little for the first time all day, "I screwed up plenty when I started."
"You didn't do so badly," Grissom said with a smile. He'd always thought Greg had been his own worst critic. "I've seen people with more experience do much worse. You made a few but you're detailed, you've always done very detailed work."
Greg looked down, to his side, anywhere he could but up at everyone who was now watching him blush. Grissom wasn't big on praise and Greg had always had a harder time excepting it then the rest.
"So," Sara said trying to get back to it and divert the attention away from Greg, "Anderson is a dead end, we need to look for what, someone disgruntled? Someone who may have wanted the job for themselves?"
Grissom nodded.
"Who applied?" Nick asked.
Grissom smiled now and Catherine let out a sigh.
"We had over a hundred applicants," she said.
"Locally?" Nick asked surprised.
"Not entirely," Grissom answered, "probably half were from out of state."
"So those are out," Sara concluded. "How many from inside the crime lab?"
"Three. Greg, obviously," Grissom continued, "Archie and Hodges."
"Well," Warrick said, "even if Archie could have rigged something like this, I don't see him doing it. Hodges, I don't know."
"I don't think that David Hodges is responsible for this," Grissom put in effectively eliminating him as a suspect.
"So who else is there?" Nick asked.
"That's what we need to find out," Grissom answered.
Catherine and Warrick knew they'd be taking this one.
"One other thing," Grissom said, "Jacqui got a match on the prints from the ceiling."
"You don't look happy," Catherine observed.
"I'm not. They were Greg's."
"I didn't put that camera there" Greg blurted out, just as shocked as everyone else. "I'm weird but even I'm not that kinky."
"I don't think you did," Grissom said, forcing down a smile. "Whoever did it had access to your fingerprints, probably from our files or the personnel database. It was a perfect set, the entire left hand. They probably used some type of transparency to put them up, clear but visible if dusted. But they messed up. The thumb print was partially on and off of the vent. If Greg had touched it, the only visible part should have been on the vent. Nick should have only recovered a partial, but the whole thing was there only showing a slight disruption, a single line."
"So they were planted," Catherine said.
"Poorly" Grissom continued. "They were also flat, as if someone had pressed a hand directly to the ceiling. But, given the job, it should have just been enough to use the tips of the fingers, also yielding partial prints. We're dealing with someone who has a good base in forensics, but nothing more."
Catherine and Warrick had both left after their meals were finished. Grissom hung out long enough to ensure Greg that all was not lost. Despite having just quit, he planned on getting him back to work as soon as possible. Greg had smiled but said nothing. It was reassuring but he still felt sick about it.
Now it was down to just them four, Nick, Amy, Sara and Greg. They finished the last of their coffees and talked comfortably for another half hour. No one had to ask because it seemed obvious. Nick and Amy must have worked it out given the way they were acting. They were sitting by each other again, smiling mostly, but saying no more about it. The biggest evidence of a reconciliation came when Greg asked Amy if she still needed help moving.
"Sara said you were moving today," Greg began, "and since I've suddenly got a lot more time on my hands, I'm offering myself up as free labor for moving boxes."
"No, that's alright," Amy said looking from him to Nick, "I've got it taken care of."
"Really?" Greg asked with a wicked smile, drawing out the word.
Amy blushed and even Nick looked a bit embarrassed, a true feat.
"That's great," Greg said seriously, "I'm glad something's going right today."
"So what are you going to do?" Nick asked him now.
"I don't know," Greg admitted, "I guess my only options are to beg for my job back or work on my resume."
"I think that UMC is looking for a blood works specialist," Amy offered.
"I'll look into it. I was going to check out UNLV. I did some research for them on the side the first two years I was here for some extra money, they wanted to hire me then, they may still want me now."
"There's no hurry," Sara said, not wanting him to completely give up on going back to the crime lab so quickly.
"Well, I don't want to eat through my entire savings."
"Somehow I doubt you will," Sara said with a laugh.
Greg was surprisingly thrifty and had saved a lot since leaving college. He'd made good money at the lab and having gotten almost a full ride to Berkley, didn't have much in the way of student loans to repay. Even then his parents paid for more then half. His car wasn't much but it was paid for and his only real splurges were his coffee and his video games. Greg was the one who had come up with the entire ten percent down on their home. Sara had wanted to put in more herself but her own savings weren't equal to his. Greg didn't seem to care; he'd never even mentioned it. Occasionally it bothered her but not right now.
"Give Grissom a few days," Nick suggested, "He'll work something out."
Greg, not regretting quitting as he did, really didn't want to leave his job. He'd been working there with the same people now for close to seven years. These people were his family in Vegas and he didn't want to think what working somewhere else would be like. But he had quit and he couldn't just take that back. More importantly, he did feel he was right. Ecklie had never once stood up for him and it was discouraging. Even though Grissom was his direct supervisor, the man he respected and looked to for all things concerning his job, ultimately Ecklie was the boss. Greg wasn't sure he wanted to work for a man like that anymore.
I moved the thanks to the end this time round because it was HUGE. I have a lot to say and plenty of people to thank so here goes:
white rose01 – I'm glad people not only like my original characters but hate them too. I don't even like Ortega and I made her up. That's just sad. (ch 24) I could just so easily see Betty doing that too, but she really isn't a bad person. Not really. (ch 25) Hooray, I got it right and still managed to surprise people – this is getting harder and harder to do.
Miss-Andromache – I liked Greg giving Nick advice too. This was originally going to be a bit more like a fight but I ended up changing it. (ch 25) Your like the Nick expert IMHO, so if you think its okay, I feel easier about this chapter!
BeyondMyStar – I love that story by Wintertime. Actually, I love all of Wintertime's stories. I've kept Brass kind of out of this one but it's been by accident. He'll be back soon because yes, Ortega does need a talking too. this is more like the reaction I was expecting (ch 24) to this news. I like Greg (obviously or I wouldn't be writing all of this) but everyone makes mistakes. His was a bit bigger and maybe in this one, possibly the next (wow, did I just commit myself to another?) I'll explain as to why he might make a mistake like that. (ch 25) I am evil! Okay, I don't try to be but it just happens. As far as Ecklie's concerned, I do see his point (I should, I wrote it) but he's not after what's in Greg's best interest, just his own. And yeah, I felt it was time for Greg to really stick up for himself. But I really didn't mean for Nick to be so mean and I'm sorry it came off that way to you.
GottaGetGreg – Again, one of my favorite scenes too (ch 23).
ThreeDollarBill – cool idea, hee hee, was that a pun:) And I got the camera idea basically as I crossed the country and stayed in a bunch of hotels. The vents are always right over the bed and it kind of gave me the creeps, I'll admit, I checked a few.
Jewelbaby – thanks for the review, I'm writing as quick as I can. It's probably another 33-35 chapter piece in total.
Duckie – you know, I expected a lot more outpouring from this chapter (24) then I got. I thought the ending might be too cheesy but in the end I thought it worked and glad everyone else did too. I really wanted to get across that Greg is starting to be more open with Sara and she's responding more to the fact that he trusts her completely now even when he knows she won't always like what she hears (sorry for the ramble). I'm thinking in my next story, this trust is going to have to learn to go both ways. Sara really hasn't opened up very much to Greg in my stories and it's mainly because I'm waiting to see what's going on in the current season with her. I may just grow impatient and draw my own conclusions. (ch 25) I think you like Greg as much as I do:) My original draft had Greg expressing almost word-for-word your sentiments, but I toned it down because I thought, mad or not, Greg probably wouldn't curse in front of Grissom or Ecklie.
Grrlnorth – Yeah, I've found a lot more Greg/Nick stories then I have Greg/Sara stories. Of course, I never meant to write a Greg/Sara story myself, it just kind of happened and now it is what it is. That was exactly the response I was hoping for (ch 25) re: Nick. And yes Greg, way to much drama to not quit. A person can only take so much. Thanks for understanding about the delay, I think I was more frustrated with myself because I had to write and re-write the first half so many times I thought I'd never get it down.
Fwe - Do you still think Ortega planted the camera:) (ch 25) Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be killing off Anderson – sorry. Of course, I've been known to change my mind.
carolann – You know it happened at my high school too? But I guess it's unfortunately common nowadays. (ch 25) nice that most people are alright with my representation of Nick and shocked that Greg would quit!
Tripp3235 – Yeah, I'm a sucker for a positive review! No one likes Ortega, I can't imagine why not? (sarcasm anyone?) Nice to have another Greg/Sara fan!
Jen – I'm glad I've hooked another one! I really worry about disappointing people with the endings, but I hope it will come out alright. (ch 25) I can make Greg and murderer and adulterer in the same story, I just can't! Maybe the next one (joke!)