Disclaimer: I haven't done one of these in a while, so I'm going to cover all my bases here. I don't own AJ's, Crab Island, Harry T's, the Vera Cruz beach house (although I do rent it once a year…actually, no, I don't even do that—my dad does), Big Kahuna's, Destin Commons, the Silver Sands Outlet Center, the Gulf of Mexico, Choctawhatchee Bay, an airplane lavatory (nor am I a member of the mile-high club, sadly, although I intend to rectify that situation the next time Mark and I fly…), the Ft. Walton Beach airport (or any other airport, for that matter), Las Vegas, CSI, Dom Perignon, or UNLV. I do, however, own a huge pile of dirty laundry, a serious fetish for shoes, and a cat that is going to be dead in five seconds if he doesn't quit lying on my keyboard.
Dedication: Do I even have to say it? Shall I just go ahead and dedicate my entire life to ScullyasTrinity, just to save us all some time? Scully rocks my world, and is a damn fine conversationalist! She is also quite possibly the only person that has ever written something that has driven me to have sex with my husband. Writing doesn't typically do that to me, so I don't know what's up with that… Too much info? Sorry. But just in case you're wondering what on earth could do this to me…go to Stalemate in a Sandbox. NOW.
Sara stood there in shock for what seemed like an eternity, attempting to absorb Ecklie's words. When she finally wrapped her head around what he had said, her first reaction was not to the loss of her job, but to her imminent loss of the man she loved. 'I cost him the job. It's his whole life. He's going to leave me now.' She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would lose Grissom over this.
She was jerked back to reality by the sudden realization that Grissom was speaking to Ecklie. "We're fired, huh? Then I guess I won't need to worry about losing my job when I do this—" and with that, Grissom dropped the suitcase in his right hand, drew back his fist, and nailed Ecklie right in the mouth. Sara gasped in shock, her right hand flying to cover her open mouth. Grissom stood there shaking his hand and said, "Damn, that felt good."
Ecklie, for his part, had staggered backward from the blow, and was nursing his bloody mouth as he fixed Grissom with a look of pure hatred. He looked as though he wanted to fight back, but he was intelligent enough to realize that his scrawny form was no match for Grissom's stocky build. As the three stood there, staring each other down, Ecklie finally recovered enough to say, "You'll pay for that, Grissom."
Grissom laughed. "With what? My job? Try again, Ecklie."
"Well, for starters, I'll have you arrested for assault."
Grissom shrugged. "First offense, I'll get a fine, maybe community service. Big deal."
"I'll make sure you never work in this profession again."
"Who said I wanted to? Maybe I'll just retire. I could teach. I hear UNLV's always looking for good professors," Grissom taunted. "Top notch biology department," he said conversationally, as though he was talking to an old friend. "I bet they need a good entomologist."
Grissom's bluff paid off. Ecklie was clearly infuriated by Grissom's lack of reaction to the loss of his job. He tossed Grissom and Sara one more evil look, threw in a clichéd "This isn't over" through clenched teeth, and stumbled toward the parking lot.
Grissom turned to Sara just in time to see her lose it. Once Ecklie had walked away, she dropped the strong front and broke down. Grissom caught her as her knees buckled and pulled her close. "Shh…" he soothed. "It's going to be okay, Sar."
"No, it's not!" she wailed, as quietly as possible under the circumstances, as she realized they were still in the middle of the airport. She gasped for breath. "I lost my job and now I'm going to lose you…"
"What?" Grissom asked incredulously. "Why on earth would you lose me?"
"You just lost your job—the most important thing in your life—because of me. How could I not lose you when I just cost you the thing you hold most dear?" She was getting dangerously close to hyperventilating from her tears.
Choosing to address her hyperventilation first, Grissom quickly dug in Sara's carry-on bag and found a small plastic bag. Holding it to her face, he instructed, "Breathe."
After about thirty seconds, her breathing had calmed enough for him to answer her question. He gripped her chin in one strong hand and forced her to look him in the eyes. "Sara." It was a statement, not an address. "I know I have been a total jerk in the past, but have I done nothing in the past week to make you understand that the job is no longer the most important thing in my life? I thought I was making myself clear, but perhaps I need to be more direct."
She looked at him through tear-filled eyes as she struggled to comprehend his meaning.
"Sara," his voice softened. He caressed her face with his hands. "Sara, Sara, Sara," he breathed. "Baby…the job is worthless without you." He pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. He moved his lips to her hair, and he felt her smile. She really did love having the top of her head kissed. Stepping back, he looked at her. She had calmed down. "Come on, we'll figure this out later. For now, we need to get home. I want to tell the others before Ecklie does—if they don't know already."
"Gil…how did he know?"
"That's going to be my first question, Honey."
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Grissom and Sara took a cab back to his townhouse. They had decided that she would start staying there immediately, and they would move her stuff in little by little.
When they walked in the door, Sara was pleasantly surprised that it felt like home already. She gave Grissom a small smile as she moved into the living room and flopped down on the couch, both physically and emotionally exhausted. Grissom sat on the edge of the couch next to her and caressed her back as he dialed Catherine on the phone.
"Hey, Cath…Yeah, we're home. Listen, I'm sorry, I know it's only 3 o'clock, and everybody's probably still asleep, but I really need you to call Warrick, Nick, and Greg and get them all over here at my place ASAP…yeah, you too, Cath…I'd rather not get into over the phone…No, everything is not okay…okay, see you soon…bye."
Sara groaned into the couch cushions as he hung up with Catherine. "This SUCKS!" she cried.
"I know, Hon." His heart was breaking for her. He knew how important the job was to her.
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"Seriously, Grissom, what the hell?" Nick asked as he barged past Grissom. He was the last to arrive at the townhouse, and he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Sara's red, tear-stained face. Rushing forward, he gathered her into his arms. "Baby sister, what's going on?" he asked, his voice muffled by her hair.
Grissom stepped into the living room and sat next to Sara, pulling her slightly away from Nick, a gentle reminder that she was his to comfort now. Nick, taking the hint, pulled back from Sara with an apologetic look in Grissom's direction. Grissom pulled Sara close to him and whispered in her ear as he smoothed her hair, then kissed her temple, seemingly oblivious to the presence of the rest of the team. The rest of the team, for that matter, was sitting open-mouthed, visibly stunned at Grissom's gentle and unabashed display of affection for Sara.
When he had calmed Sara down a little, he turned toward Catherine, Warrick, Nick, and Greg and proceeded to break the news bluntly. "Ecklie met us at the airport. He fired us."
"What the fuck?" Nick cried, an uncharacteristic curse coming from his mouth in front of the ladies.
Catherine was steadier. "Gil, what happened?" she asked.
"I have no idea, Catherine. I assume you guys all kept your mouths shut?" he asked pointedly.
"Hell, yes, man," Warrick replied indignantly.
"I'm sorry, Warrick. I wasn't trying to accuse any of you of ratting us out, but I just don't understand how he could have found out."
"So what's going to happen now?" Catherine asked, changing the subject.
Grissom took a deep breath and blew it out. "Well, I can teach at UNLV or consult privately, or just retire." He patted Sara with the arm that was wrapped tightly around her, and said, "It's this one here I'm worried about." Sara looked up with deadened eyes, and said hollowly, "I can't really teach. I don't have a Ph.D. I might be able to snag a couple of intro level physics classes, but nothing better than that. Besides, that's not what I want to do," she said, fighting back the tears once again. The team was her family, but she didn't want to humiliate herself by crying in front of them.
Grissom was worried. She was taking this really badly. He needed to get the others out of there. He stood up. "Guys, I'm really sorry for dragging you out of bed over this, but I felt that you guys deserved to hear it from us, not that asshole Ecklie," he said through clenched teeth. He nodded his head down at Sara and raised his eyebrows at them, signaling that they should go before she got any more upset.
Catherine took the initiative and stood up first. The others quickly followed suit. They each bent down to hug Sara before shuffling to the front door. Nick lingered over Sara, kissing her forehead and giving Grissom a pointed look, which the latter read as "you sure as hell better take care of her." Grissom gave Nick a reassuring nod and shut the door behind his four friends.
Outside in the hall, Catherine set her jaw and ground out a terse, "Diner."
The four CSIs made their way wordlessly to their four separate vehicles and formed a convoy heading to the familiar diner they frequented.