Chapter Twelve

Grissom was getting tired of Brass and Ecklie ragging on Sara and how much time he spent with her. It was stupid and unethical, and not helping his head in any way shape or form. He expected it from Conrad, but coming from Jim, it was surprising.

"She's in here all the time."

"… only completes half of her work…"

"Only does a half-assed job…"

"Enough!" shouted Grissom, startling both of his coworkers into silence. "Sara is on my nightshift, therefore she is my responsibility. But if you have a problem with her, don't come whining to me. Go talk to her yourself. She's a big girl, and I'm sure she can stomach whatever it is you have to say. Now leave. I have work to do."

"But Gil -" Brass started.

"No, Jim. I don't want to hear it," Grissom said slowly.

Ecklie turned to Brass as they stood up to leave. "The only reason he doesn't want to hear what we have to say about Sara is because they're sleeping together! I know, right? And he thinks she's just this perfect angel, who can do no wrong. And when people point out her bad qualities – which are all of her qualities – he just blocks them out. Because she's his precious Sara, his beloved Sara… the only other living thing he could love besides bugs. She hasn't seen what other guys are out there… he just sucked her in…"

"You know what she is?" he asked, turning around to face Grissom. "She's a loose cannon with a gun. And she's all yours."

Grissom stood up so fast that he almost knocked over his desk. He grabbed Ecklie and pulled him inches from his face. "Don't you ever speak of Sara like that again. Do you understand?" he shouted. He dropped Ecklie and turned to Brass. "Get him out of here. I don't want to see him in this lab for another two weeks. Send him home and then come back. We need to talk."

Ecklie was at least smart enough to not fight Grissom. Getting up slowly, he walked out the door. Getting kicked out by his sworn nemisis of the lab was not something he wanted to repeat.

Grissom waited for Ecklie to leave before turning his attention back to Brass. He pointed to a chair opposite his desk. "Sit down."

Brass did as he was told, and sat down. "What is going on?"

"You want to know why I spend so much time with Sara?"

Brass nodded, afraid to speak again.

"Then I'll tell you. I spend a lot of time with Sara because I care about her. A lot. We've been friends for a very long time, and we are closer than most coworkers because of that friendship. She has no family out here, nor do I. We both are originally from San Francisco, and only have each other to remind ourselves of home. Because we are close does not mean we are dating, or sleeping together."

"We go out for coffee once in a while when we're not working, which isn't very often. Sara is a bit self-destructive when things go wrong. We keep each other grounded, and that's as far as it goes. Got it?" Again, Brass nodded. "Good. One more thing. I think you should take some time off as well. I'm giving you two weeks, paid leave. I don't want to see you back in this lab."

"But you don't have the power…" Brass started to say.

"I'll talk to your supervisor. I'm sure he'll agree. Have a holiday, Jim. Ever since the… accident, you've been a bit on… edge. Go home. Relax. I'll see you in two weeks."

Brass sighed and left the office.

A/N 4: I know Griss isn't the kind of guy who would just spaz and loose it like that, but I felt the need to write Grissom defending his Sara, just because he loves her SO much! ;-) I know it's out of character, but, just deal with it for me, 'kay? Awesome.