Epilogue – Brass Moves...
Disclaimer – Is this really necessary? It is? Oh well. Me no own CSI. Happy?
Notes – This may or may not be the final chapter. Spoilers from no episode for once.
Ecklie stared at the file in front of him, and recognised defeat when he saw it. I'm finished, he thought numbly. It's all over, the boy's ruined me, it's over...
But something wild and desperate woke up in Conrad Ecklie and told him that it wasn't over, that at least he could cut the insolent little bastard's throat, spill his guts onto the floor, turn his face inside out...
The eternal cunning that lived in Ecklie turned into something animal and fundamentally ugly. The little shit would be more useful as a hostage, at least until they got to Ecklie's SUV...
It was at this point that Greg's smile faltered, as he realised what Ecklie meant to do...
Naturally, Conrad had no intention of letting Sanders live. He would get to the car, drive out to the desert, and Greg would die screaming and alone. Simple.
Had Ecklie been watching this scenario from outside, he might have said 'Simple but stupid!' But then, desperate men rarely think such matters through...
And besides, he could clean up behind himself. Leave no trace of forensic evidence to indicate where he had gone, or even that he had killed this little shit-stain. After all, had he not, alongside Grissom, learned from the once-legendary Philip Gerard?
His hand shot out for the seven-inch stainless steel letter-opener next to his 'In' pile...
It never got there. Long after it was all over, Greg's poor tired brain was still trying to calculate, or at least comprehend, the impossible speed at which Brass's gun had cleared it's holster. The speed of the bullet leaving the barrel seemed almost slow by comparison.
I'm dead, oh shit, I'm dead, he's killed me, Greg thought wildly upon hearing the deafening crash of the pistol. But there were few left alive in the world who could shoot like James Richard Brass, fatherless son of a cruel old lady who had raised him with an iron fist.
The bullet impacted the stainless-steel blade and sent it spinning towards the back wall. Ecklie howled like a wounded jackal and drew his hand back. Then, not fully comprehending what he was doing, he turned to grab it off the floor.
"That wasn't an accident, Ecklie. The next one goes in your head."
Ecklie, looking now into Brass's face, saw nothing but a mask carved from ice, and heard no mercy in that voice. He knew Brass meant it. Half scowling, half whimpering, Conrad Ecklie surrendered.
As two uniforms came in to put the cuffs on Ecklie, Brass entered the office fully. "You okay, kid?"
"Yeah..." Greg was trembling with reaction, and certainly didn't look okay. But then, who would? "Whe..where did you come from?"
"The hallway. I was watching you and listening in on the wire. Hey, listen, the sheriff's here. He wants to say thank you."
"The...the sheriff. Right."
Brass looked at Greg with concern. "I can take a message if you..."
"I'm fine! I'm fine! I'm just...kinda shaken...I'll talk to the sheriff. Where is he?"
"AV lab. The cops who took the photos and the judges who signed your warrants for Ecklie's phone and laptop are with him."
Greg's expression cleared slightly. "Great. I'd better get over there. What are you gonna do with, er..." he motioned back at Ecklie, who was now close to tears.
Brass' face lit up in an evil smile "Oh gee, y'know what? I left the squad car right out front, so I guess I'll have to take him through the main building in front of everybody!" Brass raised his voice during the last third of this sentence and turned to Ecklie so that he could hear clearly. That did it. Ecklie burst into wracking, self-pitying sobs.
"Very cruel and very cool." Greg said appreciatively. He turned to leave, but then lingered a moment. "Brass...thank you. I owe you my life."
Brass suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Hey, come on Sanders. It's not like you to be this serious."
Greg's face spilt into a demented grin that told Brass the old Greg Sanders was fine and dandy, or would be. "Enjoy it while you can. Tonight, I'm gonna celebrate big time, and everyone's invited! Except you Ecklie."
With that, he was gone.
Brass turned his attention back to the now-handcuffed Ecklie. "I have been waiting a long time for this...Conrad Ecklie, you are under arrest for Bribery and Corruption, Tampering with State's evidence on six counts, obstruction of justice, ten counts, attempted assault with a deadly weapon, one count, violating more articles of scumbag than I can even begin to count, and being the biggest asshole in Nevada. You have the right to remain silent (and I strongly suggest you do so). Anything you say or don't say may be used as evidence in a court of law against you. You have the right to an attorney. If you don't have one, the state will provide a public defender for your case. Do you require any form of aid. No? Good. Let's go."
Brass (eventually) managed to march Ecklie out of his office, and down the corridor.
The crime lab would remember that day for long days afterwards. Conrad Ecklie, in handcuffs, being frog-marched down the corridor by Captain Brass. Everyone in the main building was running around like escaped mental patients, trying to work out where that gunshot had come from (the one Brass had fired in Ecklie's office, and the same one that Warrick had heard on his way to the evidence vault), so there was no shortage of spectators for the big event.
Warrick and Archie from AV were the first to see it. "Brass! Where the hell did that shot come from?"
"It's okay. False alarm. Just me, making an arrest."
"An arre..." Two pairs of eyes flicked to Ecklie, then back to Brass. "No. No way. You're kidding me." Warrick's expression was that of a man who didn't quite believe something, but so desperately wanted to.
"Don't believe me, ask the sheriff. He's in AV." With that, a grinning Brass and a scowling Ecklie made their collective way down the corridor.
For a few moments, there was silence. Then Archie's shocked expression turned into a jubilant smile. "YEESSSSS!" Archie roared in joy and punched the air with both fists. Warrick collapsed against a doorframe, laughing in delirious relief.
Next on the scene were Nick and Sara, wondering what the hell was going on, as they had just heard a gunshot come from the main offices, then arrived to find Archie literally jumping for joy, and Warrick laughing his ass off. Warrick brought himself under control long enough to fill them in. "Ecklie's just been arrested! Brass just marched him down the hall in cuffs!"
Sara and Nick were stunned into silence for a moment. Then Sara, wearing the most hopeful expression Warrick had ever seen asked if it was really true. Archie confirmed it was, still jumping like a kangaroo on a trampoline. Nick then threw his head back and let out a deafening "YEEEHAAAA!" He scooped Sara into his arms and swung her around as she laughed for joy.
The others were filled in one by one as a hyperactive Archie raced through the crime lab at damn near the speed of light. First Jaqui Franco, then Catherine, then O'Riley, then Sam Vega, then Doc Robbins, who banged his cane on the floor and cheered, cracking open a bottle of bubbly. David was next, who didn't know much about Ecklie, but smiled politely anyway, as it seemed to be something that overjoyed Archie and the others. After him came Ronnie from Questionable Documents, then Hodges, who looked thunderstruck at the news, and then Sophia Curtis, whose only response was a surprisingly vicious "Yes! What goes around comes around, Ecklie!"
Last of all was Gil Grissom. Upon hearing the news, he didn't cheer or jump for joy. Instead he sat at his desk wearing a small, sad smile, and wondered how someone he had used to call colleague and partner could have fallen so low...
Greg, meanwhile, was being congratulated by Sheriff Atwater, hi-fiveing the surveillance cops, and shaking hands with Judge Dudley Anderson (once described by Sara Sidle as "not the sharpest tool in the shed". She couldn't have been more wrong.)
Greg handed the wire and tape to the sheriff. "Okay, there's Ecklie on tape, plenty of stuff there. Add that to the photos, the phone transcripts and the case evidence, and it's enough for a lotmore than twelve years...if he doesn't start talking soon."
"Yes, we still need to find out the identity of this mysterious old guy who Ecklie's been taking orders from. He's talked to him on the phone several times, but the voice is too heavily distorted to get a positive ID. I hope you can get him to talk..."
The smile that lit up Greg's face would have made a rabid wolf freeze in its tracks. "Oh, trust me. Ecklie will deal. With all this evidence and only him to take the fall, he'll deal."
The sheriff sighed "So, Sanders, with Ecklie gone, we'll need a new assistant director. Any thoughts?"
"I think Dr.Grissom would be ideal for the post. Temporarily, at least."
Atwater smiled. He'd seen that coming a mile off. "We'll see about that. But I guess your work with Ecklie isn't quite done yet."
Greg Sanders' smile faded slightly. No, he wasn't finished with Conrad Ecklie.
Not by a long shot.
The celebrations lasted well into the night, and into the next morning. The CSI's, the lab techs, the detectives, even the coronor staff were united in celebration at the end of Conrad Ecklie's reign of anal retentiveness.
Catherine, more than a little drunk, anddelerious at the prospect of finally getting her much deserved Day Shift supervisory position, had begun a conga line that so far included Jaqui Franco, Brass, Warrick, and O'Riley.
Greg was wasting no time and sparing no details as he told everyone about the arrest and how it had gone down, laying particular emphasis on the speed and otherworldy accuracy of Brass' shot.
"It was unbelievable! He was just so...fast...I mean, before I knew what was happening it was over..."
But for Archie, the highlight of the evening came when Sara approached him with a warm smile on her face, speaking to him quietly.
"Greg told me about what you did with the video. How you helped him stop Ecklie from firing me."
Archie was stunned, and for a moment couldn't find his voice. When he did, he looked at his feet, embarrassed. "Well...I, I didn't do that much..."
Sara leaned down and planted a brief but heartfelt kiss on his lips. "Thank you."
She turned around and left Archie with a glowing face, and a much-inflated ego.
Finally, Grissom called a toast. "To the end of a tyrant's reign."
And a thunderous roar followed: "NO MORE ECKLIE!"
And as all the revellers raised their glasses and drained them, they looked forward to a new beginning...
Author's Note: That, ladies and gents, is the end of this story, but not the whole tale. Coming soon; the sequel: The Mysterious Dude Defence. I hope you enjoyed this fic. Feedback, positive or negative, will be much appreciated. Bye!