Chapter Two
They stood staring at each other for moments on end, both terrified of the consequences of their actions.
Gil finally snapped out of his trance, realizing her shaken state. "Come here." He opened up his arms, enveloping her in a warm embrace that comforted both bodies for a whisper.
"Gil."
He sighed loudly, resting his head against the crook of her neck. "We'll be okay." He glanced up at her, ignoring the second time he was summoned.
"Gil Grissom!"
Gil cocked his head to the side, meeting the eyes of Assistant Director Robert Cavallo. "What?" He almost growled, slowly losing grasp of all control. He drew back suddenly, feeling Catherine give his hand a supportive squeeze. "Sir?"
"My office. Now."
Gil turned, glancing at Catherine, searching her eyes for a sign that everything was going to be alright.
"Gil...I mean now." Robert barked, already nearing his office.
Gil walked backwards, his blues still on hers until he could no longer make out the unshed tears that wet her eyes. He turned and walked in, the door slamming shut behind him courtesy of Conrad's foot.
Gil watched the Day Shift supervisor take a seat beside the Assistant Director. He narrowed his eyes at him, both supervisors silently duelling it out. "To what do I owe such a pleasant visit, Robert?" Gil asked, fury clouding his better judgement. "I mean, normally you send out your goons to escort one of us in here...is it safe to assume this is good news?" Gil sat down heavily in the chair, leaning back slightly.
"You know why you were summoned here, Gil." Robert kept his voice emotionless, mirroring his facial expression.
"Is there a ring of yours that I should kiss?" Sarcasm was running rampant, as the Graveyard Shift supervisor tried, and with much success, to egg on the Assistant Director.
"Gil, you're skating on thin ice here. You know that relationships between employees are generally frowned upon -"
"- but not illegal." Gil cut in, a certain smug air permeating around him. He sat back, folding his arms across his chest.
Robert glanced at Conrad, hearing a chuckle being emitted from his throat. He raised an eyebrow, looking at the Day Shift supervisor before speaking to Gil. "But relationships between supervisor and subordinate are."
The ire ping-ponged back and forth between the two men before Conrad cut in. "What Director Cavallo is trying to say is that your actions might cost us our integrity as number two crime lab in North America."
Gil's eyes slowly swept over to Conrad's form "And how do you think it got to where it's at now, Conrad?" He asked aggressively, hands clench and ready for combat.
"Oh, no need to thank me, Gil. Cavallo -has- put in some good work."
"Why is he here?"He looked around the office, muttering to himself. "I hear the police force is looking a few good sniffing dogs."
Robert leaned forward on his desk, arms folded in front of him. "CSI Ecklie was the one who reported the incident to me - granted we've been expecting something of this nature to occur since Catherine started working at the lab."
"We've been under investigation?" Gil leaned forward in his chair, appalled. He stood up abruptly, heading for the door. "We have stacks of unsolved cases, but you have been wasting your energy watching a soap opera unfold."
"Gil, we're not finished here." Robert's commanding tone stopped Gil in his tracks.
He paused at the door. "We are finished."
"What?"
"Consider this my official resignation from the supervisor position for the Graveyard Shift." His hand gripped the handle tightly, his mind not doubting for one second the words just uttered.
"Gil, you're making a big mistake -"
Gil turned around, finally facing the two men. "If all that's holding me back from having a relationship with Catherine is my supervisor position - this meaningless title...then I don't want it. Let me go back to being a CSI Level three."
"It's not meaningless and you know it, Gil." Robert stood up, walking over to him.
"Without Cath ... it is."
–TBC–