Chapter 5 – Desperate Measures...

Disclaimer – If Monkey sees nothing, and Monkey does nothing, how much of CSI does Monkey (a.k.a. me) own? It's not a trick question.

Notes – Okay, if the last chapter was kinda confusing this one will be downright baffling! Set at the end of Nesting Dolls, it contains spoilers and dialogue from that episode. And, yes, I know Greg is not a computer genius and these are not normal LVPD procedures, but for this chapter to work, I had to take liberties. Forgive me?

Greg looked at the footage with a grimace, his young mind moving at light-speed. It all made sense now. Why Ecklie was going after Sara, why Sara blew up at Ecklie, why Archie liked Iron Maiden so much...

Dismissing that last item as unimportant, Greg focused on Ecklie, who had almost certainly seen what Greg was now looking at. Sara, on a camera that very few of the crime lab staff knew existed, entering the records department, and looking at one of the files of the lab personnel.

Greg was positive that the name on the file read 'Sidle', not 'Ecklie'. However, given the tormented expression upon Sara's face when she looked up, it was easy to see how someone who didn't know about her past could think otherwise. Especially if that 'someone' knew what was in Ecklie's file...

As for Greg, he knew everything. Having seen Sara crying over an old case 'The People vs. Laura Sidle-1982', it was an easy matter to discover why. Greg laughed in the face of government security codes, and tweaked the nose of federal computer protection devices. It took him less than half an hour to find out the full details of the court proceedings against Sara's mother, charges, defence arguments, etc.

When he had finished, he had been heartbroken. Now he ached with sympathy for Sara. And guilt. It was his fault. The whole mess that Sara was now in was his damn fault...

If Ecklie thought that Sara was sneaking a peek at his confidential files, then Sara could forget about suspension, and look for a new job! Ecklie would go after her with all guns blazing, and that was just what he was doing now! Not directly, for that would expose Ecklie's records to public scrutiny, and if that happened...No, he'd just been waiting for an excuse to pounce on her and fire her ass!

Greg left the AV lab and headed for the break room, passing a glassy-eyed Archie on the way, Iron Maiden tickets clutched tightly in his caffeine-imbued hand. He reached the sofa and put his fist to his head. Furiously, he tried to think of what Ecklie would do next. How he would ensure Sara's dismissal.

It was obvious that asking Grissom to fire Sara had simply been a formality to buy time. No way would one ever fire the other, not if the President, the Pope and half a dozen royal families commanded it. Ecklie knew this, so why...?

With a flash of insight, Greg realised what Ecklie was trying to buy time for. Firstly, to make it look like he was calling the sheriff to ask for his take on the situation (Yeah, right!). Secondly, to remove himself a step further from this whole messy scenario, and appear to all watching that he was the good guy just trying to do what was best for the lab. Thirdly, and most importantly, to give himself a little breathing space before he went after his next target...

Catherine. He would go to the focus of Sara's frustrations and ask for her support. Another formality, as Catherine's opinion meant as much to Ecklie as the stock exchange meant to a snail's ass.

However, if she said she didn't want Sara punished further, then Ecklie could fire her anyway! He would claim personal insubordination, threatening behaviour or whatever he wanted to the sheriff, who was at a conference in Utah. This was precisely what Ecklie wanted to happen. A quick, clean dismissal, with the backing of old Rory Atwater.

However, if Catherine said yes...

A desperate plan formed in Greg's mind. This was followed by a quick check on his laptop of where Ecklie would be now, and how soon he would act. He examined Ecklie's schedule, having hacked into his computer within seconds. There it was, on his diary!

"Get Willows 'opinion' regarding Sidle matter10.00pm"

Greg knew Ecklie was so anal his ass had it's own waste disposal timetable, so if Ecklie said 10.00pm, he meant on the dot. Greg checked his watch. Shit, that was five minutes away!

Just then, Catherine arrived. Greg whispered a brief "Thank you" to God, and told Catherine what he knew she had to do. After she'd left, Greg leaned back in the chair and thought his plan through.

If Catherine asked for further action against Sara, then Ecklie would have no choice but to inform Atwater. If he didn't Catherine would, he knew that much. The old sheriff would sooner give his position to a crack junkie than dismiss one of his finest CSI's over something as trivial as insubordination. The demand for such heavy handed action against Sara would give him cause to question some of Ecklie's other decisions and the motives behind them...

Unless Ecklie wanted this to happen (and he did NOT!), he would have to drop all charges against Sara and not pursue any further disciplinary action. Therefore, Greg's entire plan hinged upon making sure that Catherine would get to speak to the sheriff as well and tell him the truth!

Otherwise the sheriff's sole correspondent in the matter would be Ecklie, with his own untrue version of the events. Greg hoped with all his heart that she didn't answer no.

If she did, Sara was doomed. Ecklie would consult the sheriff without Catherine, twisting the facts, exaggerating Sara's behaviour, even lying through his back teeth to get Atwater's approval, and then he would fire her.

Greg had no idea how long this train of thought continued, but it must have been awhile, because the next time he looked towards the door Gil Grissom was standing there, wearing an expression that could best be described as 'non-existent'. So, nothing new there.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Wake? This was news to Greg. Had he fallen asleep?

"Have you seen Ecklie anywhere? He wanted to talk to me about Sara."

"Yeah, I think he's in Cath's office."

Now Gil's face had an expression on it, and not a pleasant one; "Cath's office?"

Greg felt like kicking himself. Hard. "Yeah."

Gil turned to leave, that hard expression still present and correct.

"Gil, listen" Greg stammered, "Whatever she says in there, just remember, she's on our side, and on Sara's. Remember that."

Gil's only reply was a brief "Sure." And then he was gone.

Author's Note: Okay. So ends the most complicated chapter of the tale. If anyone found this too confusing then tell me, and I will try to clarify it in the next chapter (or maybe I'll just change this one). I cannot go a step further without reviews! I need to be told what I'm doing wrong (or right).

PS: wdbydoglvr - I hope this chapter answers your questions about Sara. If not, tell me what to do, and I'll try to do it!