Sara found herself still going through the Penny Gardner conservatory when Grissom placed a hand on her back. She turned from where she was knelt down and smiled softly as she stood up. Noticing his gloves off and also the sky, a silent nod was all she gave knowing he was heading to have breakfast with Sofia and Greg. He wanted to speak to them about the inquest because it was the first Sofia or Greg had ever seen or participated in, either as the center of one or just testimony.
"Give him my best." She told him as she picked up her camera from the top of her kit.
"You're still planning to be there this afternoon during his testimony, correct?"
Nodding, she looked up from her camera. "Even if I have to arrange interviews and a dayshift CSI taking over my evidence review."
"I'll send Catherine over to help you."
"Okay." Sara smiled when he leaned in and kissed her cheek. The only one there at present was David arriving with the coroner assistant.
Grissom found Sofia and Greg at a small café around the corner from the courthouse. Sofia looked up when Grissom sat down at the table in a chair between the two. Greg's head was down as he stared at his coffee cup. He looked exhausted and only halfway put together but enough to be present in court. Sofia looked concerned and like she'd just as sleepless a night.
"Hey." Sofia spoke firmly.
"Have you eaten?" Grissom asked them.
She shook her head and pointed her gaze at Greg. "Neither of us are particularly hungry."
"Doesn't matter. You both need to eat. This will be a long day and the recess for lunch is only thirty minutes."
Sofia nodded and stood. "I'll get something for both of us." She knew Grissom wanted to talk to Greg alone for a few moments.
Greg looked up after a few minutes of Grissom watching him. "What can I expect?"
"Imagine court with no charges and questions from all sides. You need to understand that this could proceed to court if your actions are found to be criminal. The jury will present one of three options when the inquest is done: justifiable, criminal, or excusable. The jury is able to ask questions as the inquest is ongoing and Greg, they aren't weeded out like those during voir dire. They will have their views already in place. However, a good percent of the time these views will change as evidence is put forward. I've been to over a dozen inquests and when questioned later, only a small percent remain thinking how they were before the start of the inquest."
Greg nodded. "So I'm basically a sitting duck."
"Essentially."
"Great." He sat back in his seat.
"You need to stay away from Sofia at the courthouse until her testimony is given. All she's giving are facts but it's better that she isn't seen as being influenced by the defense."
The blonde CSI shook his head. "She's the first one up. Nichols got the lineup of testimonies and worked to make it so testimonies went in order of arrival on scene. Truth be told, I was surprised Sara wasn't on the list given she processed me at the hospital."
"Sara is well known by the ADAs as being a last resort testimony only. Usually only if she's a solo or the case requires both testimonies. I know Nichols spoke to her but when she blew up thinking the inquest being insult in the face of injury, she was nixed."
Greg nodded. "I heard about the Lester trial, apparently it was a three ring circus. They aired her family history that they had no business airing."
"The fact she didn't blow up in court is likely due to the therapy she's undergoing." Grissom looked up when a coffee cup was placed in front of him. Sofia sat down and put a scone in front of Greg. "Speaking of therapy. Have you spoken to your P.E.A.P. counselor yet?"
"Yeah, and can I just say, she's kind of nuts herself."
Sofia chuckled. "Westin or Franks?"
"Franks." Greg tore a piece off of the scone and slowly ate it.
"Yeah, she's a bag full of cats crazy but she's good. Give it a few tries." Sofia looked to Grissom and sighed. "How bad is this inquest? I've never been to one."
Greg spoke before Grissom could. "Three ring circus on steroids and I get to be a sitting duck."
"I'll tell you like I told him, stay away from each other at the courthouse till after your testimony. You're going to give facts and you're going to act like it's just a regular court case." Grissom pointed to Sofia. "No personal information. No feelings. Nothing. You two aren't dating, you understand? Nichols probably already knows but the court won't and you don't need to give it away. After your testimony is given, it's already on record and will be identical to the events that occurred so they can't say anything. No PDA from start to finish. There will be news crews there from the moment it begins. The last thing we need is a trigger-happy reporter making their opinion the opinion of the city."
Sofia nodded. "Got it."
Grissom looked to Greg. "Greg?"
"I got it."
"Good, eat." He pulled Greg's coffee from his reach and nodded to the scone.
"You know," Sofia looked to Grissom. "You and Sara are going to make great parents. I mean, I heard the stories and knew of some of what happened with Greg in the lab. He turned out pretty well."
"I'm sure you don't know the half of it. There were times I had to split my concentration between dealing with Greg's crazy stunts and Sara's temper on a suspect or family of the victim. Either way, the first few years were full of migraines." Grissom admitted. "Even worse when they did stupid stuff together."
Greg looked offended. "I'll have you know that Sara was usually covering for me."
"I'm aware. Who else tried to wear the evidence if he could get away with it?"
"You wore evidence?" Sofia asked.
"I was young and stupid."
The older CSI looked to the CSI-turned-cop. "You sure you want to be stuck with this?"
"As questionable as it is, without a doubt."
"Sara going to be attending any part of the inquest?" Greg asked and Grissom nodded.
"Your testimony this afternoon. Ecklie put down his foot so only one of the CSIs can be at the inquest at a time."
Sofia chuckled, "there'd be no Night Shift on duty if he hadn't."
"We're a family."
Nichols found Sofia standing across the hall from Greg, both trying not to look at each other but it was hard. He looked defeated, unsure of himself, and she knew he'd already been to the restroom once to empty his stomach. What little breakfast he'd eaten had done nothing to help. Grissom was standing with Greg, trying to engage him but it was impossible. Until they knew what the inquest was like, it was like imagining Greg was on trial for murder.
"Curtis, a word." Nichols walked past her and she turned to follow.
Once they were a few feet away, Sofia spoke before the ADA could. "Look, Grissom has already given the lectures from Point A to Point Z."
"Good, means I don't have to." Nichols looked the blonde straight in the eyes. "I want your attention on me during your testimony. I don't want accidental goo-goo eyes even if you're one of the most consummate police officers I know. When you're talking, your eyes are on me."
The blonde nodded. "I can do that."
"I also am removing you from the courtroom along with all of CSIs except those testifying. Grissom is probably the only one I can't get away with doing that to. Mostly because when I told Conrad Ecklie, he told me I was nuts to even try."
Sofia made a glance to the side that just confirmed the fact. "Same with Sara."
"Sara Sidle is a mess and a half on a good day. I wouldn't let her in that room to even save my career."
"Two things." Sofia told her, "first, she changed her name to Sidle-Grissom when she married Grissom. Second, do you know what they call her at the lab in regard to Greg?"
Nichols looked confused. "She and Grissom got married?"
"Been almost two months now."
"Well that's news to the courts." Nichols glanced her way. "What exactly are they calling her in regard to Sanders?"
"His mom." Sofia chuckled, "you want to have her beating down the door to the courtroom? Because she will if you don't let her in. You'll have more of a chance convicting all of the corrupt hotel owners on The Strip then keeping that woman away from her metaphorical son." Sofia shrugged, "you want to get mauled, be my guest." Sofia walked away to stand back where she was.
Grissom headed back to the lab after getting a message about the miniature scene. Sofia had continued to wait outside the court till the break for lunch. She counted a dozen or so things repetitively before standing to pace. Eventually the doors opened and she waited till she saw Greg head towards her. Instantly, she met him and put her hands on his forearms. The urge to hug him strong and she knew it was the same for him, but they'd both been given the lecture by Grissom.
"Hey. Nichols was right. This isn't a trial, it's a circus."
"Yeah, I heard. Starring the mother." Sofia looked over towards Demetrius James' mother and brother given testimonies to reporters.
Greg looked the same way before turning back to her. "I feel like I should say something."
"Like what?" Sofia became furious, even if the furiousness wasn't at her boyfriend but at the fact he felt like he had to apologize.
"I don't know."
"Sorry? You're going to apologize to the mother of the guy who beat one man to death and was trying to do the same to you? That's as good as saying you're guilty and setting yourself up for one hell of civil suit." She squeezed his arm. "You did nothing wrong."
He shook his head. "I just want to be able to sleep again."
"I do too but this isn't your fault. If anything it's hers for being blind to what her son did and then playing the victim card. You're the victim, Greg. You are, and you know Grissom and Sara would say the same." Reaching up, Sofia adjusted his tie. "We put ourselves in harm's way every single day and sometimes, we pay one hell of a price for surviving it. Other people will never understand that."
Greg looked back towards the family before turning around towards her again. "Your investigation last year. You're thinking about it being the same."
"Yes, and unlike here, you couldn't give testimony to mine. Sara ran me out of the damn lab when I tried speaking to Grissom about my thought process. Granted, I look back now and see she was right."
"I hope Sara gets here soon. I need some of her highly optimistic wisdom." Greg told Sofia as she dropped her hands from his tie.
Sofia sighed. "I don't know if Nichols will let her inside. I told her if she didn't, she'd get mauled and that was me being polite."
"Yeah, Nichols has really no idea how dangerous that is."
As if she heard her name, Sara came around the corner and called their names. "Greg, Sofia." She moved over and pulled Greg into a hug before pulling back. "Hey, how's things going? Gil said it was becoming a circus with the mother yelling in court."
"He missed the climax by the judge letting them speak on Demetrius James' behalf." Sofia told her.
"What?" Sara asked before turning towards where the family was still speaking with reporters. She turned back around and put up a finger. "Give me a few minutes because that woman has no idea who she's dealing with."
As if both thinking the same thing, Greg and Sofia each grabbed one of Sara's arms. "That's not going to help anyone." Sofia told her.
"The only victims here are Greg and Stanley Tanner."
Sofia nodded. "I know that, you know that, but taking on the mother of a so-called victim will do no one any good."
"What about this mother?" Sara stated while pointing to herself, not realizing Nichols was behind her. "If she wants to play the 'you injured my child' card, oh trust me, she won't like it coming from me."
Greg grinned "Do you realize what you just said?"
"Quiet." She pointed at him and he put up his hands in surrender.
Nichols walked around them and took up the fourth space between Sofia and Greg. "Miss Sidle, a pleasure as always."
"Sidle-Grissom or Mrs. Grissom is fine, choice is yours." Sara snapped at the woman. "What is this I'm hearing about I'm not being allowed in court?"
"I think the last five minutes have spoken for themselves. Just five seconds ago you were going to go take on Marla James."
Sara nodded. "Damn straight. She says Greg killed her child and I know it's accident. Greg doesn't have a mean bone in his body. What about what her son did in regards to the two previous victims? Would have done to him?"
"I'm not contesting that." Nichols told her. "I've read and seen the evidence. Stokes and Brown are out there working on something at the moment." She put up a finger at Sara. "I'm willing to let you in that courtroom if you can keep your mouth shut. If you can't, don't bother stepping through the doors."
"Let Sofia." Sara told her. "Let Sofia inside and I walk away without incident. She's got more of a level head on her shoulders and isn't influenced by her emotions like I am."
Nichols sighed, "fine."
Another quarter hour of speaking was met by the return to the courtroom. Sara hugged Greg and Sofia both before they left for inside. Before she let them, she gripped Greg's hands in her own. "Just think, you have to have less nerves doing this than your final proficiency."
"Yeah, by a whole mile."
"Then don't doubt yourself." She hugged him again, "you know who you are, Greg Sanders. Don't let them make you doubt yourself."
Greg chuckled. "I knew you'd know what I needed to hear. Sofie is brutal but she doesn't hit the nail on the head like you."
"Practice." She nodded to Nichols and glanced over at Marla James as the woman watched them. Her nose flared and as anger rose, she turned and left down the hall.
The UNLV Track area was full of the team working on training for the upcoming Desert Relay on a crisp Sunday morning. The campus always let them train for the relays, never shied away when they made the request every year. Wendy had joined the CSIs since she ran in high school and college for a bit. Somehow Casey found herself training with Night Shift instead of Swing because she could be with Sara and Wendy, enjoying each other like girlfriends could. Sofia was leaning against the wall of the bleachers beside Grissom and Catherine, both going over times after they'd all trained and ran after three hours.
"Okay, looks good." Catherine stated and waved her arm in a silent motion to come in towards her, Grissom, and Sofia.
Casey threw her arm around Sara's neck, "what are we doing now?"
"Stats." Sara told her. "Reviewing how we've been doing the past three weekends. Trust me, it's fun."
Hearing her friend being sarcastic, Casey chuckled. "Are they brutal?"
"Sort of."
"Okay, shall we go alphabetically or just worst to best?" Catherine looked at everyone present.
"Catherine, you are the worst." Warrick told her. "Every year, you come in last when it comes to run times. Whether the first training session or the last."
Catherine nodded. "Okay, alphabetically then."
Nick laughed and hit Warrick's arm as the man dropped his head. "You asked for it."
"Warrick, you're running a ten minute mile. We need you at your speed for last relay, nine-thirty. Shave off that half a minute."
Grissom looked up at Sofia. "Sofia, you're at an eight and a half minute mile. Just stay steady."
"We might have found our lead runner." Nick clapped her on the back. "Sara, you got competition." Sara stuck her tongue out at him.
"Casey, you're at nine and half." Catherine told her. "Stay steady as well. Onto our baby boy," her attention went straight to Greg. "I don't even have to tell you because it's bad."
Sara and Sofia spoke at once. "I got him." They looked at each other for a second before nodding.
"Damn, mom and the girlfriend." Warrick patted Greg's back gently. "Good luck there."
"Thanks, I'm gonna need it." Greg nodded to him.
Grissom looked at Wendy, "Wendy, you're at nine so stay steady."
"You got it Boss Man."
"Sara, Sara, Sara." Catherine looked at the brunette as she shook her head before chuckling. "Eight and a quarter, still our lead and final stage runner."
Sara shrugged, "maybe I'll slow down a bit and let Sofia take lead and final stage."
"It's all yours." Sofia told her. "I've seen how brutal the lead and final is."
Nick squeezed Sara's shoulder. "No one knows how to elbow their way through the front and end like you."
"Nicky." Grissom pointed at him, "bring the time up, you're still three minutes behind last year's relay."
Catherine nodded. "And we're done."
"Not until we know your time." Warrick told her. "Grissom give us Catherine's time, she's not escaping this without us knowing."
"Fourteen and a half."
"Oh!" Greg put his hand to his mouth as everyone looked at the woman in shock.
"Fourteen?" Sara asked with concern. "Catherine, you were seventeen last year. How did you increase by three minutes?"
Catherine pointed at her. "Chasing my teenager when she won't give me the phone. Trust me, between Greg and whatever kid you and Grissom have, you'll know all about that one day. You should see my phone bill when she gets on a texting kick on Saturday nights."
"You're still the slowest." Warrick told her. "You pass by Greg and then I will be impressed."
"She won't." Sara and Sofia said together by accident once again. The brunette and blonde pointed to each other before giving each other a thumbs up.
Warrick shook his head. "Greg, I feel for you man."
"I don't think you possibly can. Come winter, I maybe one of the dead bodies you guys pick up."
"Alright, so whose up for some breakfast?" Wendy inquired. "Because I could eat."
Casey looked at Sara. "How are you our lead runner?"
"Yeah?" Nick looked at her. "Every year we ask and every year you don't tell us how you got such a good run time."
Sara nodded, "because if any of you knew besides Gil, I'd have to kill you."
"Grissom?" Nick asked him.
He put up his hands. "Did you forget who I'm married to?"
"Dammit." Nick stated and Warrick patted his friend's back.
"You're never finding out Nick. You ask every year and she says the same thing every year."
Casey prompted Sara again, "why do you?" Sara leaned in and covered her mouth as she whispered in Casey's ear. The blonde's mouth dropped before pulling away. "Really?"
"More or less." Sara shrugged.
"Oh come on, that's not fair." Nick stated.
"Even now?" Casey inquired.
Sara shook her head. "I just run with Hank so my times stay the same since I always run."
Nick motioned between them. "Sara, we're family."
"So? Casey is my best friend."
Catherine folded up the sheet she had in hand. "Who wants food?"
"Oh I think all of us." Nick told her. "Frank's?"
"I'll call and have Judy hold the back two booths." Warrick told them as he picked up his phone from the nearby bench.
Okay, so the next chapter something happens only women will understand. I did research so I knew if it could happen and it can. In the end, it's Sara's doctor's fault.
