Disclaimer: All right everyone, sing along… "I don't own CSI, its characters, or anything associated with the show. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is the sole property of CBS and Alliance Atlantis." This document was written purely based on the fact that my muse will not stop nagging me. For the entertainment of you folks only.
Spoiler: Nesting Dolls – like, right after the final scene
A/N: It took me 3 chapters to write Grissom and Co. out of the gaping hole of uncertainty – more is coming if you would like. Please review and let me know if you'd like more past these 3. (This is Version 2 - I fixed the spacing issues to make this easier to read.)
Grissom walked back to his office, his mind still reeling from his conversation with Ecklie and Catherine. Ecklie's animosity towards him was a given, but it seemed as if Catherine was allying herself with him as well.
This would not bode well for his team. Well, his current team, and his old team. He still considered Warrick and Nick as his.
Grissom sighed as he sat down behind his desk, eyeing the piles of paperwork surrounding him. It had been a long day already, but his shift wasn't over for another 6 hours.
He was flying on an adrenaline high from the events of the whole day. He needed to focus. He had made a commitment to himself earlier in the shift to tackle these growing piles of meaningless bureaucracy, and realistically, tonight was a good night. Sophia was off examining evidence from a small-time robbery that happened last night, and Greg was helping her.
Sara had finished her case two nights ago, which was why he saw no harm in loaning her to Catherine last night.
Sara. No, he couldn't think about that just yet. Now wasn't the right time or place to think about any of that.
As he was about to begin sorting through the papers to determine what required his immediate attention, he heard the clop-clop of heels pounding the linoleum floor in a very determined manner.
Catherine was clearly fired up when she came storming into his office. He could sense her animosity the minute she walked through his doorway.
"What do you think you're playing at here, Grissom?" Catherine's voice was loud and shrill as she walked over to his desk.
Grissom knew this was a sign that he should handle this conversation carefully. Catherine knew a little too much about him and Sara Sidle, and Grissom didn't want anything she might shout in anger to become common knowledge in the lab.
"Please close the door, Catherine."
"Fine." She strode over and shut the door with enough force for it to make a whoosh noise and close with a moderate thud. She pulled out the office chair on the other side of the desk, rolling it to directly face him, and sat down.
"I don't understand what is going through that brain of yours. Sara was clearly out of line and deserved to be suspended. She's out of control, and it's blatantly obvious that she's lost the ability to do her job properly. I don't know why all of a sudden you think you have to protect her. Or are you just hiding your head in the sand, like always? Dr. Grissom, with his Ph.D. in Avoiding Difficult Situations."
Grissom winced inwardly but let Catherine continue. She needed to get this out of her system or else her anger towards him would increase, and make things uncomfortable for him and his staff.
Grissom's primary concern was to ensure that the work environment in the lab would remain as stable as possible. He didn't want this to turn into a division between his staff and hers.
He hoped she would continue with her ranting, and then calm herself down and then they could talk things through rationally. He had been down this road with Catherine before, and expected her to calm down once she was through.
"We all know she's got this thing for you Grissom. Jesus, it's clear to anyone that walks through the front door into this lab. For this reason alone, she should go. I even think she wants to go. Why are you insisting on keeping her around? And to risk your career? You really upset Ecklie, you know. Conrad and I were talking about it and…"
Grissom stiffened and raised his head to meet Catherine's eye. "I don't really care what Conrad Ecklie thinks. I am wondering why, all of a sudden, you do."
Catherine's mouth clicked shut as she met his gaze. Her eyes were cold and distant. This wasn't going the way he intended. But when she brought up Ecklie, and called him Conrad…
"What are you insinuating here, Grissom?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Grissom kept his voice level and calm. "But as your associate, and your friend, I am surprised that you would show such a lack of compassion with regards to Sara's sensitivities."
Catherine voice was clipped when she said "Showing compassion to Sara's 'sensitivities' is not a requirement to keep food on my table. Showing compassion is not a requirement for this job, either As a matter of fact, our job is to remain objective and un-biased. Or have you forgotten that?"
Catherine leaned back in the chair, emanating a sense of pride and self-confidence.
"I haven't. I like being a supervisor and I like the swing shift. I have time to spend with Lindsey now. I am not about to risk losing that."
"I'm not saying that you should, Cath." Grissom was trying to keep his voice stable, but he knew there was an undercurrent of hostility and disgust creeping in.
Her feelings towards Sara were clear, and it bothered him. He had assumed Sara and Catherine were on more sociable terms. It seemed that Sara was more alone here at work than he realized.
He sighed purposefully, looked Catherine straight in the eye and said, "I had just assumed that you, of all people, would be respectful of the fact that we are all human, and we all have our weaknesses."
Catherine's demeanor changed instantly, and in not a good way. Oops. Perhaps he should have worded that differently.
"Don't you pull that crap with me, Gil. I am not about to sit here and listen to you play this 'pot calling the kettle black' thing because I can assure you, that is not the case."
Catherine rose from her chair with a start, pushing it back to roll to the middle of the floor. Her hostility was palpable.
Grissom cringed. This was not what he had planned, but he was not going to back out now. He made a commitment to himself and to Sara earlier today.
Catherine placed both her hands on Grissom's desk with enough force to shift some of the files in the process. She was eye to eye and within inches of his face when she spoke to him, her voice low and filled with a venom he hadn't heard from her in a long time.
"If you want to risk your career over a piece of ass then by all means do so. But don't expect me to come picking up the pieces this time, buddy, because I have better things to do with my life now."
Grissom met her gaze and narrowed his eyes at her. He was not about to dignify that comment with a response.
The tension between them was thick. Catherine finally broke their staring contest, scattering more papers in the process, and walked herself to his door. She turned and gave him a look that was half-anger, half-disgust and said, "You're own your own with this one. Have fun."
Out of some respect for office decency and perhaps some new-found maturity, Catherine closed the door calmly and walked away as if nothing had happened.
Grissom noted this and his temper began to cool a little as he watched his old friend walk down the corridor. He put his head between his hands and groaned.
What was happening? Why was Sara's behavior really such a big deal?
From what he'd heard, Sara had been disrespectful to a suspect, but at times, so had they all. Sara and Catherine had exchanged words, but again, this had happened before. Both he and Catherine had also been suspended before. Again, this was nothing new and things had continued on as normal afterwards. Why should it be any different this time?
Ecklie, he thought.
Ecklie saw Sara and Catherine, and saw it as an opportunity to strike at Sara when she was vulnerable. Ecklie knew, as well as anyone in the lab, that Sara was not one to hold back, especially when she had a full head of steam going already. He used her and manipulated her into suspending herself.
Although Grissom knew that Sara's conduct with Catherine and the suspect was wrong. She did deserve to be reprimanded for it. But Ecklie took it over the top.
Grissom knew Ecklie didn't do this out of any hatred towards Sara personally, but as a way to get at him through his staff. Ecklie was the reason this has blown out of control.
Grissom's blood pounded with the frustration and bitterness that Ecklie brought out in him. He pictured Ecklie's smirking grin during their whole conversation. "I've been there… It doesn't work."
And his condescending tone with, "I'm sure you do."
Since when had Conrad become an expert on the human psyche? "She's a loose cannon with a gun. And she's all yours."
No. His confidence in himself and his decision returned. She is not a loose cannon. She is my responsibility and I'm going to make sure that she's only given cases she can handle for the next few weeks. I am going to help her. I'll make sure she goes into counseling, real counseling, so she can work on this more on her own. I am going to take care of her.
A small voice in the back of Grissom's head echoed, "Oh yeah, pal? How?"
Grissom looked up from his desk and the urge to get away was overwhelming.
He studied the paperwork and figured it wouldn't hurt for it to sit for another few hours. He stood up, walked over and pushed the office chair Catherine had recently vacated back into its original spot, and went to check on Sophia and Greg.