I'll be doing R2R next chapter, but once agian, a quick thanks to all my readers, you guys are what make the chapters come out.


Chapter Ten: Truth and Lies

Both Greg and Sara had called in sick the next day. It wasn't surprising; everyone knew that it would be a few days before the two of them got back on their feet. The atmosphere in the lab the following day was much lighter than it had been.

They came in the following day, only minutes apart though they had driven in separately. Sara ran into Greg when he was in the locker room, giving him a small, sympathetic smile, seeing that he was still moving slow, obviously still sore from everything. She had never had bruised ribs before, but had heard that they were quite painful.

"You should be home," she told him, sitting down on the bench. She didn't have to see him to know that he was rolling his eyes.

"Look who's talking," Greg muttered, his tone, however, was light.

She laughed, turning back to him, "You need the rest more than I do. You can barely move."

"I'll get the hang of it," Greg prompted, resting his chin on top of his folded hands.

She nodded, her gaze becoming serious now. "I never really thanked you, for what you did," she told him quietly.

Greg glanced at her, "I didn't do anything," he answered, meeting her gaze.

Sara shook her head, swinging one leg over so that she was now straddling the bench. "You did a lot, and I was wrong. I'm just glad you don't hate me for it."

Greg laughed softly, earning a surprised glance from her.

"You think this is funny?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Greg grinned, his lips pressed together as he nodded. "Yes actually," he laughed a little more.

"Okay, what about this is so amusing?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"The only reason we got into that mess was because I didn't listen to you. If I had, we would have been in and out, back at the lab before anyone missed us. Then I was afraid you'd never talk to me again…" he trailed off, clamping his mouth shut, already feeling as though he had said too much.

Sara let out a sigh, shaking her head. "I can't believe you're still blaming yourself for this. Catherine gave us an order, I ignored it. I could have killed us Greg. You know how that makes me feel?"

Greg glanced up at her, about to say something, but came to a stop as Ecklie walked past the open door, doubling back when he saw the pair. Leaning in just far enough to be considered inside the room, Ecklie nodded to the both of them. "Sanders, Sidle, my office, now," and with that, he was gone once again.

Greg shrugged a little, wincing as he did so. He had to remember that shrugging wasn't exactly the best of ideas right now. "How come there's never a 'hi' from him? Never a 'how are you doing, glad to see that you're not dead, would you like a pay raise'? It's always the 'my office, now' command. It's like he's on an autopilot.

Sara would have laughed if it wasn't for the knot in her stomach. She had been in Ecklie's office before, and it wasn't the best place to be. She preferred Grissom's office over his, and Grissom had dead things hanging in there. "Let's not keep him waiting," she told Greg, standing.


They were surprised to see Catherine and Grissom already in there, and Sara felt the knot in her stomach tighten as Greg shut the door behind them .Ecklie nodded to the two seats in between the others, before starting, his hands folded as he leaned back in his chair.

"I am very curious to know how this all happened," Ecklie asked, turning to them.

Sara glanced down at the floor as she sat, trying to figure out a way to explain things, but before she could start, Greg spoke up next to her.

"It's my fault sir," Greg stated easily. Sara glanced at him uneasily, a bit baffled and confused. But he didn't seem to notice as he continued, "Catherine gave us an order to leave when the heavy rains started. While we were packing up, I figured we may as well collect what evidence we could from the car, since we would more in likely lose the vehicle in the storm. I ignored both my supervisor's orders, and in doing so I put both of us at a great risk."

Ecklie nodded slowly as Greg ignored the confused look from Sara, and the surprised look from Grissom. "You must understand Sanders, that this lab works at as a team, and a team needs order. We can't have order when someone refuses to fall into their place."

Greg nodded, leaning forward, his head still raised. "Yes sir," he said quietly.

Ecklie nodded as well, glad to have heard an acknowledgement from the younger man. "You will receive a week's suspension, unpaid leave, for each ignored order from both your supervisors, and another week for your poor choice. I do not want to see you in this lab during that time, and if something like this happens again in the future, you will be looking for a new job. Do I make myself clear?"

Greg nodded, swallowing as he took the news in. Next to him, Grissom spoke up. "21 days? Isn't that a little harsh Ecklie?"

"Not if we don't want something like this to happen again," Ecklie meet his gaze firmly. "Sanders is well aware of the rules, this is nothing new to him."

"I am responsible for this as well," Catherine said, sitting up. "I shouldn't have left them behind. We should have gone together, especially concerning the weather."

Ecklie shook his head, "You gave an order, and it was refused. None of that is your fault."

"It would have been if they had died," Catherine pointed out, to which Ecklie nodded.

"Yes, but they didn't, did they? You may go now."

It was clear that there would be no further argument as Greg left the room first. Grissom followed, wanting to give the CSI an encouraging word, but unable to say anything. Even if he had thought of something, Greg was already down the hall, turning back into the locker room. Grissom stood there for a moment, wondering whether or not he should follow him, before turning away, heading to his own office.

TBC