Boom glanced nervously at the Commander. He knew not to bug him at this particular moment, not after the way he had yelled at Kat. Yup, Cruger was on edge, and the whole academy new it. Boom was just surprised that the Commander hadn't taken his anger out o him. After all, It was he who accidently messed up. Poor Kat was just unfortunate to walk in after the explosion. Boom had watched speechless as the Commander laid into her, dressing her down for not being at her post. The only indication of Kat's uneasiness was that her ears had flattened. She didn't even look his way, she just stood there and took the blame for him.
Shaking his head he set back to work re-calibrating the combined DNA indexing system. He still couldn't believe that he had caused this mess. There was still no telling what the fried CODIS had done to the other systems. He just knew that as of now they were all off line. Even the door to the entrance was stuck open.
Leaning back, he took another scan. Pleased with what he saw there, he flipped the on switch and the power turned on and the doors to the command center shut. It didn't stay shut for long as Kat had strode in followed by a middle aged man that he had never seen before. The Commander sniffed the air and growled. Apparently he hadn't forgiven Kat just yet. Boom watched in silence behind the CODIS unit. He was hoping that Cruger wouldn't lay into her again.
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Commander Cruger sat in his chair with R.I.C. at his feet and waited for Boom to get the command center functioning again. He was still in disbelief at how incompetent two of his best people had behaved earlier that morning. He was livid with both of them, however he had made the decision to punish only Kat. He had dismissed her for three days while Boom watched in the background. Cruger knew that Boom thought very highly of Kat and he also knew that Kat's punishment would singlehandedly be enough of a torture for the young gadget tester. He didn't need to punish him for that reason alone.
Cruger blinked as the power suddenly came alive with a swish of the doors as they closed. He was about to comment to Boom that he had done a good job, when the door opened again. Sniffing the air, Cruger growled. "I thought I told you not to come back for three days." He bit out.
"I'm not here to work, Doggie." She said with a hint of irritation in her voice. "There is someone here to see you. I ran into him and though I'd show him the way."
"She's not kidding either." another voice spoke up.
Cruger turned to see who the newcomer was. A tall human stood there. He was lean with brown spiky hair that had hints of grey around his temporal region. He was dressed in a dark grey suit that seemed to cast a no nonsense air about him, but what stood out most was his eyes. Cruger had seen the likes of them before. He had sized up many people in his lifetime, and the man in front of him was no exception, but his eyes were different. They set him apart. The man standing before him had seen horrific things and suffered great loss. His eyes were haunted. Cruger cocked his head to the side. "You must be Professor Sanders."
"Yes, sir. I am." The man replied.
"I'm sorry I wasn't prepared for your arrival due to some mishaps," Cruger said and inwardly chuckled at Kat as her ears once again dropped back as she glared at him. "But, I am glad that you could make it. I had a chance to go through the portfolio you sent. It's very impressive, I have no doubt that you would be a great asset to our cadets. Your knowledge in the CSI field is extensive."
The man nodded. "I have had the fortune of working with the finest. Everything that I know I learned from them."
Commander Cruger brought up a file on his computer. "It says here that you first worked under Gil Grissom."
"He helped me get into the field."
"Gruesome Grissom." Cruger said with a laugh. "I had a chance of working with him when I first took command here. Dr. Manx had commissioned him to help design the labs."
Professor Sanders glanced back at Kat. "You?"
Kat nodded. "That's right."
"But you look like you're twenty five." He said in disbelief.
"Looks can be deceiving." Kat said with a smirk.
Cruger stepped forward. "It says here that you also worked under Sara Sidle and then switched to work under Nick Stokes. Can I ask why?"
Professor Sanders eyes seemed to shadow. "I asked Sara to marry me."
"You married your supervisor?" Kat asked.
"Excuse me." Cruger said to the professor. "Kat, why don't you take Boom and go to lunch."
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Clearly irritated, Kat let out a yowl towards the corner of the room. Professor Sanders was surprised to see a head pop up from behind a consol. He had thought that there was only three people in the room. He was also startled as the R.I.C. let out a bark as Kat headed toward the door.
"Why don't you take RIC with you." Cruger added. RIC growled happily and bounded out after Kat and Boom.
Greg raised an eyebrow. "Wow, he's more canine than any R.I.C. I've ever seen."
Commander Cruger went back to his seat. "Yes, he is." He said with a nod. "Now, what is it that you were saying about CSI Sidle."
Greg groaned. He had known that this was going to come up, but he had hoped that the subject would have been held off a little longer. However, he was glad that he didn't have the audience that he did before Kat took Boom and left the Command Center. He liked Kat, but he didn't want her to be listening in on his personal issues. "I don't know where to begin." He said with a sigh.
"Why don't you start at the Beginning." Cruger suggested.
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