DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!
RATING: Teen
SPOILERS: Post Ep of S11XE11 – Man Up
PAIRINGS: Nick/Mandy (N&Ms)
SUMMARY: Nick isn't the only one who hates to lose a bet.
A/N: Sorry, I'm just not going to give up on this ship, and you can't make me. ;)
REVIEWS: Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.
"Where's my hundred bucks?" is the first thing Nick hears as he closes the door and flips the locks.
"Excuse me?" He can't help but let his amusement show on his face when he turns into the living room to find Mandy lounging on the couch.
"Well, we won the bet, right?" Mandy doesn't even bother looking up from the journal she's reading.
"What's this 'we' stuff, Kimosabe?" Nick's brow furrows with the question, even though he is thoroughly enjoying the conversation.
"Hey, I'm the one who said from the start, there was no way that chick was dead in that pic. She was flexing, and Greg was totally wrong about the tendon thing." Mandy turns the journal around to face Nick as she points at the article she's been reading. "Right here, that kind of flexion can only occur in living tissue. And besides, if there's one thing I do know about it's hands, and that woman's hand was not even close to dead. Not in that picture, anyway."
A small grin begins to form in the corners of Nick's mouth. "You seem pretty invested in that bet I had going. Lookin' up journal articles, studyin' pictures… Are you sure you didn't have some kind of side bet goin' on?"
"Don't be silly." She tosses the journal at him and drops her feet to the floor in a huff. "I just hate being wrong, and worse than that, I hate it when Greg gets it right."
He fumbles with the journal. "Yeah, there really is nothing worse than a sore winner, is there?"
Mandy rolls her eyes as Nick sits down beside her. "Especially Greg Sanders. Did you know he still emails Jacqui pictures of her in that stupid turban? And you wonder why I'm the only lab rat still here from when you started."
"Not all of them left because of Greg… Wendy left because of Hodges and Ecklie." Nick gives her a wink to try and produce a smile.
"Don't even get me started on those two, because if I don't get that new MXRF equipment and that blowhard gets another new Mass-Spec, I'm gonna… I'm gonna… Well, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but it won't be pretty." Mandy crosses her arms in front of her and begins to pout, which only makes Nick smile a little more.
"Yes, Ma'am. Of that I have no doubt." He leans back into the couch and invites her to do the same by caressing the small of her back, until she leans into him. "But as for the bet… I called it off."
She turns her head, looking him in the face when she asks, "Why would you do a thing like that?"
"Just didn't seem right, after everything." Her wrinkled brow tells him that she needs more explanation. Leaning his head back into the sofa, he says, "A girl died, and nobody seemed to care. Her boyfriend just took the cash and kept on gambling. A bunch of overgrown frat boys trying to scam one another treated her life like it meant nothing, just to one up each other." Nick looks back into Mandy's eyes. "Nobody won tonight."
Mandy smiles and nods her head before snuggling in under Nick's arm. It feels good to have her accept his explanation without any objections, but it also begins to make him wonder. "So, that's it? You got nothin' else to say?"
"Nope." She wriggles against him until her arms are wrapped around his middle, squeezing him a little tighter and drawing her feet up onto the couch.
"Wow… That's gotta be the easiest conversation we've had in a long while." He pulls his head back to try and get a look at her face. "What gives?"
She simply shrugs and lays her head on his chest. "I'm just happy that I managed to get one of the last caring and honorable guys left." He likes that answer and rests his chin on top of her head as he closes his arms around her, too. "And because I bet Henry a hundred bucks that you'd never hold Greg to that bet."