"Yes, yes…" Grissom waved a hand at the cheering crowd that had gathered outside of the Monaco where he was investigating the latest Giga Millions curse victim. "Norman pushed." Click. "Norman jumped." Click. "Norman fell." Click.
"Wouldn't you, if you were Mrs. Roper?" a low, husky and very familiar voice had Grissom pausing in the middle of his observation photographs, a broad smile curving his mouth.
"I don't even have to turn around to know that voice. Sara Sidle."
"That's me," Sara acknowledged with a familiar grin, "still tossing simulation dummies, there are other ways to tell, you know."
"How? Computer simulation? No, thank you. I'm a scientist, I like to see it." Grissom held up the caution tape with his hand, allowing Sara to slip through the barricade, turning to address the patrol officer that started to approach the pair. "It's alright, Sam, she's with me." Are you? His fingers quickly signed, hand held low against his thigh, out of sight of his fellow officers. A slight nod of Sara's head had his smile broadening further as he beckoned her closer to the fallen dummies.
"Sara Sidle," Grissom murmured softly again, reaching out to brush a finger across the back of Sara's hand where it was holding a small travel holdall.
"Gilbert Grissom," Sara replied, the gap between her two front teeth flashing in a matching grin. Her hand released its grip on her holdall just slightly, as she returned Grissom's brief caress with one of her own. "How're you doing, Gilbert?"
"I'm doing okay…better than Holly is, that's for sure," Grissom lifted the edge of the caution tape high enough for Sara to duck under, waving away the security guard that had stepped forward. "God, Sara, I have so many unanswered whys."
"There's only one why that matters now," Sara replied, "why did Catherine Willows leave that scene?" They shared a sombre nod before turning to face the three prone dummies scattered across the sidewalk.
"Jumped, pushed, fell?" She pointed to each dummy in turn, matching Grissom's own thoughts and gave a small fist pump at his brilliant smile. "So, what's next?"
"Next, we get you settled in," at my place, he discretely signed, aware that Nick was probably already heading down to meet him now that the dummies had reached the ground, "and then it's over to the lab to meet Jim Brass." Sara quirked an eyebrow at the mention of Jim's name, and Grissom continued. "He doesn't start with Homicide until Catherine's investigation has finished; I take over once that's done."
"Hey, Griss are we done here or what?" both Sara and Grissom turned at the drawl coming from the lean man sauntering over from the lobby, Sara grinning slightly at the black jeans paired with slightly heeled boots.
"Yeah, he's from Texas…" Grissom said, sliding his notebook into his pocket and turning away from the fallen dummies.
"And proud of it!" confirmed the new arrival, already holding out his hand in welcome. "Hi, Nick Stokes, nice to meet ya."
"Hi Nick," Sara returned Nick's handshake adding a smile, "Sara Sidle, nice firm grip you've got there, cowboy."
"Right back at you, ma'am." Nick grinned widely, already liking the smiling brunette standing close to his new supervisor's side, especially when she was able to bring a similar smile to Grissom's normally stoic expression.
"I'm going to get Sara settled in, then we're heading over to the lab to meet with Brass," Grissom said, casually hooking a finger around the handle of Sara's bag as he slipped it from her shoulder over to his, "grab the dummies, would you, Nicky, thanks." Without waiting for Nick to respond, Grissom gently placed his free hand on the small of Sara's back as he steered her in the direction of his SUV. Nick stood with his hands on his hips for a second, before spinning around on his heels as he realised that he'd just been abandoned at the crime scene.
"Hey, Warrick…mind giving me a lift back to the lab? Yeah, Grissom's just took off with the CSI out of San Francisco and I've been left with the clear up…yeah, again. Thank buddy, see you soon."
"So, CSI Willows admitted that she took an unauthorised break to visit her daughter?" Sara glanced through the paperwork Jim Brass and Grissom had already compiled, along with a signed statement signed by CSI Willows and gave a sigh. "You don't need me to tell you that's a straight up policy violation, plus with her history of extended absences and lax time keeping…that's grounds for dismissal, Supervisor Brass."
"Just call me, Jim, CSI Sidle, I won't be supervisor much longer anyway," Brass rubbed a hand over his face and gave a heartfelt sigh. "Yeah, Cath's a bit on the shaky side for time keeping but she's good at her job and ever since she's been gunning for that supervisory slot, she's been a hard ass for policy, dismissal for a first offence?"
"How many times has she expected one of the guys to cover the holiday slots, or begged off taking the last-minute calls, Jim?" Grissom sighed heavily, knowing full well that he and the rest of the team had catered for the 'but who else is going to take care of my daughter?' pleas from their lone single parent colleague. "We've given her everything she's ever asked for, and more, and it's finally come to bite us all on the ass…"
"She's expecting you to roll over for her? What, brush it all aside like it meant nothing?" Sara was now growing increasingly angry on Holly's behalf, "Holly Grissom is dead because Catherine Willows selfishly left a rookie CSI on her own, wilfully ignoring nationwide law enforcement policy to do so."
"Yeah…" Brass confirmed with a sad nod, the trio having received word just minutes before Grissom and Sara arrived that Holly had died on the operating table. "Isn't there anything we can do for Cath? I'd hate to see all that talent wasted though."
"Deny her supervisory roles, bust her back down to level II and switch her out for the day shift," Sara swiftly suggested, ignoring Grissom's twitching fingers. "Yeah, I know it's a pay cut but day shift only lasts a bit longer than the average school day, she won't have to pay extra childcare fees and she'll be able to be with the kid during the night."
"Better than being shafted completely, I guess," Jim morosely agreed, glancing over at Grissom's stoic expression, "what's your view, Grissom?"
"I agree that we shouldn't waste talent, and God knows Catherine's got that in spades…Perhaps the switch to days might help get her head back in the job," Grissom rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, and sighed heavily, "with Sara here for a while, I won't be hurting for bodies…if you'll pardon the pun, so yes, I'll agree to switching Catherine over to days and demotion."
"Great, I'll get the paperwork sorted out and sent over to you both for signing off," Jim made a notation in his notebook and then flipped it close. "Don't forget to keep a copy of your hotel receipts for reimbursement, Sara, the number of times I had to chase Grissom here for his West Coast receipts during his lecture tours only to be told they'd been accidentally shredded…"
"Uh-huh," Sara gave a strangulated agreement as she bent her head over her notebook, hoping that her hair would disguise the sudden rush of colour to her cheeks as Gil started whistling as he found a sudden need to look at the books on the shelf behind him. Jim chuckled loudly as he threw his hands in the air.
"Oh, give it up already! You think I don't know that Gil never once checked into a hotel in all the times he spent away…Hey, I wasn't made Grave Yard Supervisor just for my looks, ya know?" Jim was nearly bent over double with the force of his laughter at the look of outright surprise on Grissom's face. "No hotel or dry cleaning receipts, and a couple of times I'm pretty sure I heard you in the background when I called you with updates, Gil."
"Jim…" Grissom's fingers twisted around each other as a moment of anxiety struck him, but Jim just gave a smile and a word of advice.
"No direct supervision, and have one of the guys sign off on her reports, she's got what…5 to go until she makes next level?" Jim turned to Sara and nodded at her confirmation, "I'll talk to Deeds, he still owes me from that Mandalay slip up, he'll deal with any of the paperwork that needs doing."
"What about the fraternization clause?" Sara asked, her fingers tapping a nervous rhythm onto the corner of Grissom's desk. Grissom gently laid his broad hand over the top of hers to still the motion as Brass threw a cheeky grin over his shoulder as he headed towards the door.
"July, 1997 wasn't it? That backdates the clause by about 6 months by my reckoning...if I'm wrong, well, ain't my circus, ain't my monkeys anymore." Raising his fingers in a casual salute, Jim whistled lightly under his breath as he walked down the corridor, exiting the crime lab for the last time as shift supervisor.
"July 1997?" Sara puzzled, "Gil, the evidence timeline lecture was Spring of '98 wasn't it?"
"No dear, it was definitely 1997," Grissom confirmed with a sly wink, and Sara's puzzled expression smoothed out into a matching grin, as she finally understood Jim's cryptic remarks as he left the room.