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Post by cal54382 on Oct 23, 2014 3:16:42 GMT
"Just don't hurt him. Let me do that."
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Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2014 10:53:33 GMT
"If that's what you want. I'll try." He still liked the idea of beating the man to a bloody pulp.
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 23, 2014 21:33:57 GMT
"You can help me hide the evidence later," she grinned.
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Post by Admin on Oct 24, 2014 0:43:08 GMT
He did smile for her now.
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 25, 2014 2:51:44 GMT
(skip?)
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 26, 2014 1:01:41 GMT
Everyone had arrived by the time that Grissom appeared. Morgan excused herself to the kitchen, wanting to be nearby for moral support without intruding. Sara held back, feeling her anger and hurt come back at the sight of her ex-husband. Nick rose, welcoming him to the house, suppressing the urge to knock him on his ass. After saying hello to everyone, Grissom searched the room for Sara.
"Hello." Sara managed to say, her hand in Nick's, both for support and to keep him from doing something they might not regret.
"How are you?"
"I'm fine. I guess...I guess we need to talk." She wondered how they would do this with everyone sitting around, watching, although she was grateful for the support.
"Yeah."
Jim stood, looking at Greg and Ecklie. "Why don't we go help Morgan?" He looked at his ex-friend. "After Sara's through, I've got a few words I would like to say to you."
Grissom nodded his understanding, confused as to how Ecklie and Sara seemed to get along now.
Nick kissed Sara's hair. "You need me, you call me, okay?" He whispered, not wanting to make things worse for her. "I'm right in the other room."
Sara nodded, touching his hand gently, letting him go, knowing it was better to call him if she needed him than to have him go after Grissom now.
When everyone was gone, Grissom looked at Sara. "I'm sorry..."
"Yes, you are. I'll agree on that." She paused. "What part are you sorry for, Gil?"
"Hurting you, everything."
"I don't think I've ever heard you say you were sorry for anything in all the years I've known you."
"You helped me change Sara, even if it doesn't seem that way."
"You helped me change too, Gil. I don't live and die by someone else's opinion of me anymore. I know I have family that loves me. That cares for me."
"Good."
"If you hadn't left me, I wouldn't have them. I wouldn't have someone who loves me enough that he's willing to put his feelings about someone aside so that I can get some healing, some closure. Someone who thinks about me instead of just himself."
"Talking about Nick?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. I am. He and Greg were there for me, Gil. And I hope I've been there for them."
"Of course you have."
"Why? Why did you decide my opinion about our marriage didn't matter, my opinion on so many things didn't matter, and why did you decide to end it like you did?"
"We weren't working Sara, what did you want me to do?"
"Talk to me, Gil. Pretend someone other than yourself mattered. But you never did that. Not to me, not to the boys, not even to Catherine. Not really."
"I know, and I'm sorry."
"Maybe it doesn't matter anymore. Maybe all I needed was to hear myself say I'm okay. I would like...I would like for the boys to have closure. Not to hate you anymore. And maybe someday, you and I can be friends again, but it'll be...it'll be a long time ago. And that's the most we'll ever be. Because I don't love you. I don't really think I ever did. I loved the idea that someone wanted, needed, me. But I don't think love entered the picture, for either of us."
Grissom just nodded.
"Do you have something you want to say to me? Something you want to ask me?" She was surprised it would be this easy.
"No.."
"Fine. The boys want to talk to you, I know, and Jim. Do you have any preference?"
"Get Ecklie, I better get him over with."
"I'm not sure Ecklie has anything. I think he's here in case you didn't want to listen, or in case Greg and I needed to pull Nick off you. But I'll ask him."
Ecklie was out as soon as Sara came in.
She looked surprised at Morgan. "Issues," was all Morgan would say, handing Sara a drink.
"Can't say I blame the guy," said Greg.
"I know, babe. I know."
Nick moved a chair out for Sara next to him. "You okay?"
"Yeah, actually. I'm glad I did this."
"Good, peanut. I'm glad." He held her hand in his, squeezing lightly.
Sara rested against him, glad that he was there.
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Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2014 1:03:45 GMT
He hugged her, kissing her head, his arms around her. Morgan settled between Greg and Jim, half listening for any sounds of a fight, worried about her dad as much as she was the rest of her family.
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 26, 2014 22:13:48 GMT
It wasn't long before Ecklie was back, fuming but glad he had said what was bothering him.
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Post by Admin on Oct 26, 2014 22:26:06 GMT
Jim stood, almost shaking, but knowing he had to go in there. They had agreed that Nick and Greg would go last and there was no putting it off. Ecklie took his place on the other side of Morgan and Jim watched Morgan hold one of her dad's hands in her own.
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2014 2:03:06 GMT
Grissom tensed when Jim came in. "What's that for?" Brass asked, noticing his reaction.
"You're angry at me too."
"Gil, you've got a whole lot of people mad at you. Why do you think I am?"
"I know."
"Give me a reason. I want to see if you have any clue what's been going on."
"I haven't been here. I know you guys are protecting Sara. Thank you for that."
"You're damned right you haven't been here. You checked out the same time Warrick did. You weren't there for Catherine, you broke Sara's heart, you destroyed any illusions either of those boys might have ever had about you being a good person, a friend, us being a family. And you weren't here for me. Which part do you want to start at?"
"You. What happened?"
"Ellie hates me so much that she killed her mother. Damn near killed Ecklie's daughter, Greg's girlfriend. And I have to live with what she did. But I could have used you here, Gil. For the funeral. For the trial. For...for after the trial."
Grissom was lost for words. "I'm sorry."
"That's why Ecklie is here. That's why he's close to Sara. Because of a girl that you'll never meet, a girl that made Greg actually grow up."
"Wow."
"He could have used you here for that. Nick's gone through hell and back, dealing with Warrick's death, Catherine's departure, and the fact that anyone, especially you, hurt Sara like you did kills him."
Grissom hung his head.
He tried to tell him some of what Catherine had been through, the struggles she'd had moving on without Warrick, then without him, then her demotion, then her moving on. "You're supposed to be our best friend, Grissom. You should have known she was hurting."
"I should have been here full stop."
"You're almost sixty years old. What happens when your mom dies, Gil? What happens when you have no one?"
He shook his head. "Sorry."
Jim paused. "I know that the others will probably kill me for saying this, but if you're ever ready to move on past sorry, if you're ever ready to try to fix this, and it won't be easy by any means, but if you're ready to try, then I'm here. Regardless. Not because of anything between us but because I know what it feels like. Because I would be going crazy if I didn't have my people in my corner."
"Thank you."
"Two conditions. If you do fix this, you don't ever hurt them like this again, ever. And you leave Sara and Nick alone. She's happy now. She's got a good life. And Nick adores her. He always did. You just saw what you wanted."
"I know."
"Just let me know. And you might want to find a hiding place, because the boys are the last ones." He gave a friendly warning before disappearing into the kitchen.
Grissom knew this last conversation was going to be hell.
"Please behave," Morgan whispered, hugging Greg, who nodded. "You're supposed to be helping Nick stay out of trouble. Not encouraging it."
"Can't help it."
"I know." She knew how he felt about Sara and Nick; she felt the same way.
Nick kissed Sara's head. "Any last words of advice for me?" He teased.
"Be good. I get to kill him, remember?"
"You ask the impossible." He gave her a scaled down version of a Texas smile before going in with Greg.
Just seeing Grissom made him want to kill the man. Greg looked at Grissom angrily. "I suppose I should thank you. If you hadn't divorced her, I wouldn't have my Sara. I think that's the only reason why you're not dead right now, Grissom. Because the rest of what you did was unforgivable. She trusted you. We all trusted you. And I think that if you had sat and thought for years, you couldn't have found a way to hurt each of us worse."
"Sorry."
"That's all you have to say?"
"Nothing else will be enough."
"She's beautiful, funny, crazy smart, but she thought she had something wrong with her. She thought she was broken. Because of you. You're damned right. Nothing else will be enough." He paused. "I love her. And Morgan's like my baby sister. And I, we, promised both girls we would be good. That's the only reason why I'm not using every ounce of information at my disposal to kill you and remove every trace of you from the earth."
"I screwed up. I know that."
"Damn right. I hate you right now. You destroyed all the hope Sara had, made her doubt herself to the point where she couldn't trust herself anymore. She thought we wouldn't back her when she told us that you had asked her for a divorce. After everything she did for you, after all the heartache because of you, you don't deserve friends."
"she's the only person who could get me to be in the same house with you, much less the same room. She needs closure. I don't know if she's gotten it or not, but I do now that I have. At some time in the past, we both worshipped you. Your approval is all that either of us wanted. I look back on that and think I had to have been insane."
"You weren't insane."
"Then you've changed. You're not Grissom anymore. Not the Grissom who was our leader, our mentor, our friend, our Vegas family. I don't know who this Grissom is."
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 27, 2014 6:45:22 GMT
"I know who he is Nicky. He's the man that broke our best friend's heart."
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Post by Admin on Oct 27, 2014 17:06:39 GMT
"Destroyed our family. So what the hell are we still doing here?" Nick got up and walked towards the kitchen. "As far as I'm concerned, Grissom, you can disappear again. We don't need you. Russell, Brass, Ecklie, they've got us and Greg and I've got Sara."
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 27, 2014 22:03:17 GMT
"You should be ashamed of yourself Grissom."
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Post by Admin on Oct 28, 2014 1:07:13 GMT
"C'mon, Greg. We've got better things to do." Nick walked back to the kitchen, getting as close to Sara, holding her, as he could.
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Post by cal54382 on Oct 28, 2014 22:20:52 GMT
"How did it go?" asked Morgan.
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