Disclaimer/Author's Note – See Chapter One.

Chapter Seven – Slings & Arrows

Sara figured she know knew a little of what the Christians must have felt in Ancient Rome when they were about to be fed to the lions.

Ecklie looked livid, complete with pulsating vein in his forehead and cheeks flushed scarlet. As she entered the office, she saw that he had a newspaper clutched in his hands.

'Shut the door, Sara.' She did so and walked towards the desk. 'Have a seat.'

Sara sat down carefully, trying to keep the puzzled look off her face. Had Ecklie heard about her behavior towards Mrs. Harper yesterday? Or was this about what happened in court?

Instead, he totally threw her for a loop. Sliding the newspaper across the desk at her, he searched her face for a reaction. 'Mind telling me what the hell this is?'

As Sara's eyes scanned the front page, she felt like she'd swallowed a gallon of freezing cold water. This couldn't be happening to her. Not now.

Tears of confusion, of anger and of shock swam in her eyes. Her entire life, spilled out in black and white for the whole world to see. Details she had hidden from the world for twenty years. Details she had only just been able to bring herself to telling Grissom…

Grissom… She looked at the date of the newspaper – it was that morning's edition. Had Grissom already read the article's contents before he came to see her this morning? Was that why he'd finally pushed her to telling him about her past? And if so, why hadn't he told her… prepared her for what the rest of the world now knew about her? No wonder Greg and Catherine and the others had been acting strangely when she arrived in the break room…

Sara suddenly realized that Ecklie was speaking to her.

'Sara!'

Shaking off her internalization, she looked up at the lab Director, trying to forge her facial expression into something fairly neutral. She knew she was failing miserably.

'How did the press get these details about your past? Details which, for some unknown reason, you neglected to include in your personnel files.'

'I have no idea how the press got any of this,' she replied, her voice cold and brittle. 'I've kept what happened in my childhood very private. And as for my personnel file, my childhood has no bearing on my ability to do the job, so it's none of yours or anyone else's business what happened to me twenty years ago.'

Ecklie's eyes narrowed. 'I beg to differ, Sara. It's very much my business when your past threatens to derail a murder conviction and drag down the reputation of this lab.'

Sara opened her mouth to respond, but Ecklie cut her off. 'I've have the District Attorney on the phone for more than an hour today. Needless to say, he's livid. Your involvement in this case has called all of our evidence into question. Your… unstable past, coupled with your involvement with the victim and the suspect is being exploited by the defense. Surely you figured that out yesterday while you were on the stand?'

Sara nodded, and looked away.

'And, if that wasn't bad enough, Grissom got torn to shreds while giving his testimony today.'

Sara's eyes snapped back to Ecklie. 'What!'

'Have you any idea how many times Grissom's professionalism or objectivity has been called into question on the stand during his long and illustrious career?' Ecklie asked her, not bothering to hide the distain in his voice. When Sara didn't answer, he went on. 'Never. Until today. Now, I know Gil and I don't always see eye to eye, but even I have to admit he's a hell of a CSI and his expertise in his field has been one of this labs greatest assets. And now…'

He left his statement hanging in the air.

It was a while before Sara found her voice again. 'What… what happens now.'

'I'm going to have to launch a full enquiry into the handling of this case, to ensure that the defense cannot claim that Grissom was influenced by his relationship with you during the investigation. This won't do his reputation any good, but provided he's cleared by the enquiry and no more accusations of impropriety arise, both he and the lab should be alright. But Sara, you need to take a good long look at your relationship and decide whether or not it's really worth it.'

Sara's eyes narrowed. 'Excuse me?'

'Men like Gil Grissom,' he went on; 'well… they are the job. He's what? Nearly fifty, never married. Single most of his life. Doesn't take a genius to work out what's really important to him.'

He paused for effect, letting his words sink in before he continued.

'Was it ever going to last, really? And is it worth destroying both your careers over? Grissom's spent the best part of 25 years building a reputation for himself in this field. Will he thank you if he loses all that because of you?'

Despite herself, Sara felt a single tear fall, siding down her cheek and she avoided Ecklie's penetrating gaze.

Whatever he was going to say next was interrupted by the door swinging open. Quickly wiping the tears from her face, Sara turned to see Grissom in the doorway, glaring at Ecklie.

'Sara, we've had a development in our kidnapping case,' he said without taking his eyes of his nemesis. 'Go grab your kit and wait by the car. I'll be just a minute.'

Silently nodding, Sara left the room.

'I don't want her working cases right now, Gil,' Ecklie told him. 'She's…'

'Sara hasn't done anything wrong, Conrad,' Grissom replied forcefully. 'Everything that's going on right now is being done to her. You have no grounds on which to stop her working. We have a missing child and another in intensive care, and Sara has built up a relationship with the mother so I need her on this case. Any other problems you have, call a meeting. I'm sure Catherine and I would be happy to attend.'

With that, Grissom turned on his heel and stormed back out of the office.

Sara was silent as they drove to the hospital. When Grissom had filled her in on what had happened in the case, she had merely nodded sadly. Every few moments, he glanced across to the passenger seat worriedly, while she simply stared out the window. Finally, he summoned the courage to speak.

'Sara? What did Ecklie say to you?'

'I don't want to talk about it right now,' she replied softly, still not looking at him.

'Sara…'

'Please, Grissom. Later.'

They finished the journey in heavy silence.

Catherine was on her way out to a scene of her own when Ecklie found her.

'Conrad,' she greeted him.

'Catherine. Got a minute?'

'Not really.'

'Well, it won't take long. We need to talk about Sara.'

'Fine, just let me know what time and Grissom and I will be there.'

Ecklie shook his head. 'You're Sara's supervisor now. Grissom doesn't need to be there. And I also have another subject I need to discuss with you.' He glanced at his watch. 'I have a meeting with the Sheriff now. Come by my office in around 4 hours.'

Catherine raised an eyebrow in surprise. It wasn't like the day-loving Ecklie to be at the lab all night. 'You'll still be here?'

'The lab has a big problem right now, Catherine. I'll be here until steps have been taken to rectify it.'

When they arrived at the hospital, Sara immediately went to comfort the distraught mother, while Grissom made a beeline for Brass.

'What do we have so far?'

Out of habit, Brass took out his leather-bound notepad and flipped it open, not even glancing at it as he filled the CSI in.

'Little Mikey Harper, aged 7. Patrol found him by the side of the road a little over an hour ago – out towards Lake Mead. He's been badly beaten, unconscious. Doctors are trying to establish if he's in a coma or not right now…'

Grissom didn't respond, his face merely tightening at the thought of the brutal attack on a seven-year-old that had led them here.

'Sara found a book of matches at the house – from that dive, The Cue Ball. I checked it out. Waitress reckoned our suspect was staying at the motel across the street. Turns out, he was. Checked in about a week ago, same night he beat his wife and ran off. Night of the kidnappings, he pulls up, runs into his room. Less than two minutes later he's back out with his bag and no one has seen him there since.'

'Did anyone see the kids?' Grissom asked.

'The attendant on the desk that night thinks she saw someone in the car with him. But it was dark, she couldn't be sure. I'm having the phone records for the room pulled, maybe track down who he was in touch with, figure out where he's going.'

'Let's hope we do, before the little girl ends up the same way as her brother,' Grissom replied grimly, leaving Brass and moving towards the little boy's room.

Sara stood just inside the door, with Mikey's mother clinging to her hand in desperation.

'How could he do it, Sara?' she was sobbing. 'How could he do that to my baby?'

'I don't know, Carol,' Sara replied gently. 'But I swear we'll get him for this. You have my word on that.'

Grissom cleared his throat softly and both women looked up, only now aware that someone else was in the room with them.

'Mrs. Harper, we need to take a look at your son, his clothes, to see if there's any evidence there. It might help us to find out where your husband took him.'

She nodded and lowered her head again, fresh tears rolling down her face.

'Carol?' Sara's voice was full of sympathy for the woman. 'We'd like you to go outside and sit with Captain Brass for a few minutes, okay? He'll get you a cup of coffee while you wait. We won't keep you from Mikey for too long, I promise.'

She nodded again and let go of Sara's hand, walking through the doorway and into Brass's capable care.

Sara shut the door behind her and turned to look at the unmoving little boy in the bed. A deep sigh escaped her lips.

'You okay?' Grissom asked softly, his worried gaze taking in her every movement.

'Honestly?' she asked sadly, finally giving him her eyes. 'I have no idea.'

Grissom and Sara had just arrived back at the lab with their evidence when Catherine caught up with them.

'Hey Sara. How are you doing?'

'Fine,' she replied absently, before gesturing towards the evidence bags she carried. 'I'll go log this.'

'Okay,' Grissom replied watching her leave without another word.

'Gil, we need to talk,' the deadly serious tone of Catherine's voice grabbing his attention.

He tore his eyes away from the now empty corridor and nodded. 'Let's go to my office.'

When Catherine entered Ecklie's office at the appointed time, she found he was not alone. A tall blonde was sitting opposite him – a tall blonde she recognized.

'Sorry. Am I too early?' Catherine asked, looking CSI Sofia Curtis up and down.

'No, you're right on time Catherine. Come in,' he replied. 'You know Sofia, of course?'

Catherine nodded and took her seat.

'As you know, Catherine, the Pettigrew murder case isn't going well for us. The ethics of this lab are being called into question. I've spoken to the DA, the Sheriff and the Mayor on this, and we're all in agreement. For the good of the lab, we need to carry out a full enquiry.'

'A full enquiry? Into what?'

Ecklie looked at her as if it should be obvious. 'Into the lab's handling of the evidence in the case.'

His meaning was perfectly clear and Catherine's eyes narrowed defensively. 'You mean Grissom's handling of the evidence.'

'Specifically, yes.'

She stood up, furious. 'You're not using me in some sort of witch-hunt against Grissom.'

Ecklie held his hands up, trying to pacify her. 'Hey, no one here wants Grissom to go down for this. Apart from anything else, if he goes down, the lab goes down. But we need to clear this up and make sure the defense can't say the evidence was rigged in any way.'

Calming down slightly, she then looked at Sofia. 'So what's she doing here?'

'Sofia will work with you on this.'

'No way.'

'This is non-negotiable, Catherine. You need to work with someone impartial on this, so your findings stand up in court.'

Catherine snorted. 'Impartial? Give me a break. Everyone knows she's your right hand around here…'

At this, Sofia finally decided to break her silence. 'If I might say something?' She waited for Catherine to sit back, hands up, giving the new Day Shift supervisor the floor. 'I'm here to review the evidence with you, Catherine. Not to destroy anyone's career. And for what it's worth, I respect both Grissom and Sidle.' She looked to Ecklie. 'If you don't mind, I need to get going now.'

'Sure. Thanks Sofia.'

Sofia gave him a polite smile as she rose from her chair, before turning to Catherine. 'So, we'll talk?'

Catherine paused and glared at Ecklie, before reluctantly nodding.

Sofia smiled at her. 'I'll be in touch.'

Ecklie waited until she left the room before he spoke again. 'Now… with regards to Sara…' he began, halting as the door swung open once more.

'Sorry, I'm not late, am I?' Grissom asked as he shut the door behind him and moved to stand beside Catherine.

'I wasn't aware that I'd invited you to this meeting, Gil.'

'Well, Conrad, last time I checked I was still the Supervisor of Graveyard. And while Catherine is now Sara's direct supervisor, any discussions about her career still affects my team.'

'Fine,' Ecklie snapped back. 'I want her placed on administrative leave.'

Catherine sensed Grissom was ready to snap, so she got in their first. 'Oh what grounds?'

'She withheld background information from us. Her involvement in a homicide case has called evidence into question to the detriment of the lab. Do I really need to go on?'

Placing a firm hand on Grissom's arm to hold him back, Catherine once again replied first. 'And none of that was Sara's fault. She's under personal attack from the Defense on this one. They're making false claims and dredging up the past in a desperate attempt to get a guilty client off a murder charge. We should be rallying to Sara's defense, not cutting her loose.'

'And what happened to Sara as a child is none of your goddamned business, Ecklie,' Grissom spat. 'She has no criminal record and was never accused of any crime, so she didn't need to disclose anything about her past to you or to anyone.'

Ecklie rolled his eyes. 'I'm well aware of how little you understand the politics of situations like this, Gil. But I thought you were a little more savvy, Catherine.'

Catherine smiled dangerously. 'Oh, I am, Conrad. Enough to know that if you try to force Sara out of this lab, put her on some sort of bogus admin leave or try to fire her - I'll ensure that she informs every TV network and newspaper in this city of her unfair dismissal, and that she sues your ass. And how will the lab look then?'

As Sara locked her car and made her way to the steps leading to her apartment, she heard another car pull up behind her. She sighed and shook her head when she saw who it was.

'I missed you at the lab,' Grissom told her as he got out of the vehicle. 'You don't normally leave so quickly in the morning.'

'I wanted to get home,' she replied.

'Sara, about what happened with Ecklie. I'm sorry…'

'Don't Grissom. How is any of this your fault?'

'It isn't your fault either.'

'It's sweet of you to say that, but it doesn't make it true,' she told him sadly. 'If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been torn to shreds on the witness stand yesterday. And you wouldn't be under investigation now.'

His brows knit in surprise. 'You heard about that?'

'Word travels fast around the lab. You know that,' she said. 'I'm so sorry from bringing this all on you. I'd understand if you were angry with me…'

Grissom closed the gap between them and gently placed a hand beneath her chin to raise her eyes to meet his. 'You're not the one I'm angry with. This isn't your fault.'

He leaned down to kiss her, but Sara turned her head away. Grissom looked at her, both surprised and hurt. 'Sara…?' He sighed. 'Come on. Let's go inside and…'

She shook her head. 'Do you mind if I just… I mean,' she paused and glanced at him briefly before looking away. 'I think I'd rather be alone tonight.'

'Oh… Okay,' his voice belied his words – things were very far from being okay. 'If that's what you want?'

'It is,' she replied, meeting his eyes again. The pain and sorrow he saw in them hurt him more than her sending him away.

'Okay,' he whispered, bending down to kiss her on the cheek. 'Call me if you need me.'

She nodded and made her way up the steps. And as he watched her disappear into her apartment, Grissom wondered how it had all started to go so wrong…

The phone began ringing as Sara locked her door. Letting the answer machine get it, she went to the fridge to grab a bottle of water. She was just raising it to her lips when the caller's voice got her attention.

'Sara? Look… I know you don't want to talk to me, but I wish you'd called me back before now. I didn't want to tell you this on an answer machine, but a reporter tried to interview me a couple of times last week… it sounded like they were doing an article about you… '

Sara rushed to the phone and picked it up. 'Mom.'

TBC.