Say Hello to the Past (CSI fanfiction)

Thanksgiving 2004

AN: takes place after season 5; episode 9 "Mea Culpa."

"So this Ecklie person split the team up because Grissom reopened a case and found the person who actually committed the crime instead of letting an innocent man die?" Emma Grace had a look on her face that communicated that she thought this was a stupid decision on Ecklie's part.

Nick and his friend Warrick Brown were sitting in the living room of Nick's childhood home in Texas. The Stokes family was celebrating Thanksgiving a week after Thanksgiving had already occurred; Nick and Warrick had to work on Thanksgiving day. Nick had invited Warrick, and Warrick had gladly accepted after everything that had happened with Ecklie and the team back home.

"Pretty much. Sara and Greg are still with Grissom on Grave Shift though," Warrick Brown explained in his calm voice as if this information was daily news.

"What is the name of that new lady that's on Grave Shift now?" Emma Grace did sound interested in this piece of information.

"Her name's Sofia Curtis. She used to be the day shift supervisor at the lab." Nick explained to Emma Grace.

"Why did Ecklie demote her again?"

"Sofia had to review Grissom's actions for reopening the case. She also had to oversee the reinvestigation and decide if Grissom handled anything wrong. Sofia told Ecklie that Grissom handled everything correctly. This made Ecklie mad, so he acted like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum and demoted Sofia." Nick's tone of voice made it clear that he was still disgusted with the whole situation at work.

"Why does Ecklie hate Grissom so much?" Emma Grace could not understand how one man could hate the other for doing his job when they were supposed to be on the same team.

" Ecklie's jealous of Grissom. Grissom is a real scientist, and everyone at the lab knows this. Ecklie doesn't know the first thing about science and is just concerned about making the lab look good, even if that means innocent people pay the price," Warrick explained.

"All I know is that I hope I never meet this man!" Emma Grace put her hands on the table and pushed her chair back with more force than necessary. She wanted to get in the kitchen and start making her famous chili.

"You going to cook for a while?" Nick asked as he got up from the table.

"Yep, I need time to regain my emotions," was the only explanation Emma Grace gave as she disappeared into the Stokes family kitchen.

"How is cooking going to help her with her emotions?" Warrick was confused by the exchange between Emma Grace and Nick

"Cooking or baking has always calmed Emma Grace. The week before a test the house would be filled with at least four or five desserts when we were in high school," Nick explained.

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"Ms. Emma, what are we making?" Six-year-old Marie asked while watching Emma Grace fill the counter space with all the utensils they would need.

Emma Grace smiled at Marie. She had a soft spot for this little girl. Emma Grace had met Marie and her best friend Katlin earlier that year when she visited Vegas for the first time. Both girls lived in the group home that Emma Grace helped open. And, both of the girls were a huge part of Emma Grace still trying to decide if she was moving to Las Vegas or not. Marie had been the first girl to greet her while holding the hand of another girl. Marie and Kaitlin were cousins and had been left at the home a week apart. Marie's mother had willingly given her up when Marie was just three-years-old. Kaitlin had been forcibly taken from her parents because they had been abusing her; Kaitlin had only been two at the time. The girls' had an aunt named Stacey who lived in Colorado. Stacey went back and forth from wanting the girls to live with her one minute, and not wanting anything to do with them the next. Stacey was a big reason why the girls had not been adopted yet.