Writing on a Blank Slate
Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.
Rating: M – some sexual content in later chapters.
Author's note: This is the long prequel to a shorter fic, Familiar Strangers.
Chapter Three: "Is this a joke?"
"Sara not in tonight?" Warrick asked, looking around the table.
Catherine was there, reading a glossy magazine and sipping a cup of coffee, not a hair out of place this early in her shift. Greg was there too, reading the funnies from a paper someone from day-shift had left lying around. Nick wasn't there, but he had the night off, and Warrick had passed Grissom on his way in. But of Sara there was no sign.
Catherine shrugged at his question, somehow managing to indicate with that simple gesture that Sara's whereabouts was supremely unimportant to her. Greg, however, looked up with a puzzled frown.
"Maybe she came in early and forgot shift was about to start?" he suggested.
At that moment, Grissom stuck his head round the door.
"Catherine, can I see you in my office please?" he asked without preamble.
Catherine shrugged, rose, and followed him. He didn't say a word, just led the way to his office and indicated that she should have a seat.
"What's this about, Gil?" she asked, puzzled. He didn't reply, just slid two sheets of paper across the desk towards her. "What are these?"
"Resignations." He spoke at last. "Nick and Sara have both resigned, effective immediately."
His voice betrayed no emotion, and Catherine drew both letters towards her, frowning now in disbelief. They were both brief, typed and to the point. They were also identical, and completely impersonal. 'Due to emotional and psychological stress I hereby resign, effective immediately. Please withhold my holiday pay in lieu of notice.' One was signed 'Nicholas Stokes', the other 'Sara Sidle'.
"Is this a joke?" Catherine asked.
"I already tried calling them," Grissom replied. "There was no answer at Nick's place. Sara's phone has been cut off."
"Did you try their cell-phones?"
"Not yet. How are we going to handle this?"
She thought for a moment.
"If this was an investigation, what conclusions would we be drawing, based on the evidenceto hand?" she asked, then answered her own question. "If Sara's had her phone cut off, it's a safe bet she's left Las Vegas and doesn't intend to return. She isn't the sort of person who would let her phone get cut off by accident.
"Given that they've both resigned on the same day, and Nick doesn't appear to be home either, it's possible that they've left together." She thought about this for a moment. "Although, Nick could just be giving her a lift somewhere before going his own way."
"Sara wouldn't just quit out of the blue. She'd think about it first." Grissom sounded confused, and hurt. "Why wouldn't she say anything to me, Cath?"
Catherine had her own theory about that, but now wasn't the time to air it.
"Sara's a planner," she agreed. "But she's also a loner. For her and Nick to plan this together would be out of character for her."
"Nick and Sara worked together last night," he observed. "I gave them the assignment sheet myself."
"What was the case?" Catherine asked, unable to recall.
"Pretty standard. Male DB, gunshot wounds, suspicious circs."
"Not a rape or a battered wife?" She was surprised.
"Not one of Sara's usual flashpoints, no. And Nick?"
"Nick's the sort of person who could do something like this on the spur of the moment, especially lately."
They were both silent for a moment, thinking of his recent abduction. The normally cheerful and confident CSI hadn't really been the same since.
"He might up and leave without warning," she decided, "but Sara wouldn't."
"Making her the instigator." This,he thought, was the hardest thing to accept, that Sara could deliberately plan to leave without warning, and that she would share her plans with Nick, but not him.
"Not that that makes a difference," Catherine observed, anger beginning to replace her shock. "Unless she abducted him at gunpoint, which is highly unlikely, he still left of his own free will, making him equally culpable." She groaned. "Ecklie's gonna have a field day with this."
"Tell me about it," Grissom agreed with a sigh. "What are we going to do?"
She shrugged. "There's not much we can do. We need to get in contact with them as soon as possible, and make a note of the calls and what's said. Otherwise we just give Ecklie more ammunition. And we need to get the rest of the shift underway, or he'll kick up a fuss about that, too."
She saw the look on her colleague's face.
"Do you want me to call them?" she asked in a kinder voice.
"Thanks," he gave her a sad smile. "I'd appreciate it if you'd be the one to call Nick, but I think I should be the one to talk to Sara."
"Now?" she asked, and he sighed.
"No time like the present."