The Game
Hey there! I managed to complete a story at last. It's a real miracle! However, I have to admit that it isn't the best. Maybe it isn't even funny. Sorry. Just leave it if you don't like it!
Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but that's the way the cookie crumbles! (I found this expression in the dictionary. Does it really exist?)
It was an unusually quiet night in the Las Vegas Crime Lab. At least that was how it seemed for a by-stander. The corridors were empty except when somebody went from one lab to the other. But even those movements didn't stir up the peaceful atmosphere of the crime lab. (That's it if we can talk about the peaceful atmosphere of a place where various crimes are waiting to be solved.) There was complete silence. It was almost deafening if it wasn't for the occasional beeping of the machines.
Sara Sidle stepped into the crime lab with an evidence bag in her hand. She silently headed towards Wendy's lab grateful for the silence as she had spent the last couple of hours in a disco club where something, which cannot be called music, screamed from the loudspeakers. What's more, she didn't feel well all day and certainly the noise didn't help her, either. She smiled at Judy at the reception desk who smiled back at her, neither of them wanting to disturb the silence. But hardly did she pass by, she heard something. She couldn't take out what was it although it sounded rather loud in the silent corridor. She stopped and listened. The sound continued and she realized that it was coming from the break room. She smiled as she knew exactly what the source of that sound was. More precisely who was it.
She entered the break room and, as she had expected, she found the boys there. They were sitting around the table laughing so loud that it would have been difficult not to hear it even in a noisy lab. As she was standing by the door she had to smile at the scene she saw. The boys were so engrossed in their little argument that they didn't notice her. So she continued listening…
"No way, Bro!" Nick sounded rather skeptic about something.
"But you can believe it! I saw them! What's more, these things don't escape my attention!" Greg answered after Nick's exclamation but during the last sentence he looked directly at Warrick whose smile disappeared for a moment but he spoke up.
"Okay then. But I hope you aren't fooling around!" With that he gave Greg 5 dollars.
"Still, I can't believe it. Wendy and Hodges!" Nick frowned as he tried to imagine what Greg had just said. But finally he decided it was better not to.
"But it's really so." It was Sara who confirmed Greg's statement. However, she didn't know what he had said, it was sure that it was about Wendy and Hodges and probably a certain make-out session in the locker room. Apparently it was not only Sara who had decided to go in there in the wrong moment. "I saw it, too."
"Really?" Nick had really a hard time to imagine it.
"Hi, Sara!" Greg greeted her enthusiastically while Warrick smiled at her which she returned.
"Hi! Mmm… I don't want to pry here but what the hell are you doing?" She asked them gesturing towards the table where their money was scattered.
At this Warrick became rather embarrassed and began gathering the money in front of him but the other two seemed fairly eager to explain everything to her.
"Greg came up with a great idea while we were sitting here bored out of our minds." Nick began.
"Oh, good to know that while somebody is working their asses off, you are sitting here bored. How great that Greg found out something interesting!" She said pretending to be annoyed, to which she had every right as she had had a really hard night, but she couldn't help enjoying the excited look on the guys' faces. Although at that moment Warrick seemed more embarrassed than excited. Sara found it rather cute. She inwardly smiled at his awkwardness but she took pity on him.
"So, what are you doing?" The truth was that she was really curious.
"We are playing." Greg answered proudly with a wide grin on his face as this whole thing was his idea.
"Oh. I see." She could tell it. She was more interested in what they were playing but it seemed that Greg had no intention of continuing. He just sat there grinning like an idiot. "Care to elaborate?" She asked finally.
At that Greg began his monologue on the game. It turned out that the point of the game was to say something which completely shocked the others because they couldn't image it happening. And to make the game more interesting, the one who made a statement, also made a bet on that he could really shock the others.
"So… " Sara began after Greg managed to tell everything important. "You bet that they can shock the others with something which they haven't known yet and if you manage, you get the money from them but if they already knew it or it doesn't come as a shock to them, you give the money? But what's so interesting in it?" She thought that she must have been very tired because she couldn't quite see the point in it.
"Are you kidding!?" Greg burst out.
"It's the most interesting game I've ever played." Nick continued beginning a verbal contest with this between him and Greg. "Did you know that it wasn't only Catherine, who earned her living by stripping?"
"Yeah, our shy and modest David worked as a chip-and-dale boy during college."
"It must have been hell for him!"
"I bet it was, but imagine how Ecklie could have felt when he lost his victim who finally showed up on a bench in front of the building in a party hat. Not to mention that he was drunk."
"Please, tell me that it didn't shock anybody." Sara interrupted the boys. She couldn't imagine that the rumour that was circulating in the whole lab for weeks didn't reach everybody. But the silence, which suddenly settled over the room, told her everything. What's more from the grin on the faces of Greg and Warrick and from the unnaturally red face of Nick she could tell that it was Nick who had missed that piece of information.
"Oh boy!" It was the only thing she could tell while shaking her head at Nick's ignorance.
"I know what you think." Greg added and lent forward to pet Nick's shoulder with pity. "By the way, once Nick had to come to work in a thong because he had lost a bet with Bobby." At this Nick suddenly became even redder than before and he tried to become as invisible as possible.
"I forgot to say that this game can be rather embarrassing, too." He muttered under his breath.
At this point Sara was laughing so hard that she had to wipe away the tears from her face. However, disturbing images were floating in her head about Nick and a thong.
"As for the thong, did you know that Sophia is wearing a pink lace thong today?" Warrick asked who finally managed to forget about his embarrassment and began to enjoy sharing all the information they had heard. However, as he realized what he had just said, he quickly returned to his previous state.
"Now I hope it wasn't you who saw that!" Sara said still laughing and completely enjoying the babbling of the boys.
"No. It was me." Greg said as matter-of-factly.
"You? But how on Earth could you see that?" She asked. Although when she saw Greg opening his mouth to answer, she quickly added:
"Forget it! I don't want to know. Anyway, now I understand why Greg has the most money."
"Yeah. It seems that he has eyes and ears everywhere." Warrick said dramatically.
"You can't complain, either." Nick pointed out. He obviously was the one who occupied the last place in that game.
"Well, I know one or two things."
"Oh, you do, don't you?" Sara asked. "I bet I can shock you!" She challenged Warrick.
"You? Never!" He was quite confident about that.
"You wanna bet?" She asked with an evil smile then turned to the others signaling that she challenged them as well.
"Of course!" Greg answered enthusiastically.
"Good." She was sure about her victory. "So, just to make it clear. I bet on some money that I can shock you then I tell you something and then we'll see who wins. Is that all?" All of the guys nodded. "All right. I bet on all of the money that you have in your hands that I can shock you."
"You are on. Not if I had much to lose." Nick said preparing himself of losing all of his money.
"Now, you've made me curious." Greg couldn't wait what Sara wanted to tell.
Meanwhile Warrick just looked at her then stood up and went next to her.
"I don't know. Are you sure? You know there is really not so much that you can say to shock us. At least not me."
"You wanna bet?" She asked again looking challenging into his eyes. Warrick held her gaze for a while.
"All right. Go ahead! But I warned you!"
"Oh, have a little faith in me, honey!" She said then turned towards Nick. "Hey, Nicky! Did you know that Warrick and I have been dating for eight months?" At this Nick's jaw dropped which Sara watched with a satisfied grin on her face. "See? It wasn't that difficult." She looked back teasingly at Warrick then with a sudden movement grabbed the money out of Nick's hand.
"Hey, it isn't fair!" Greg complained seeing that Sara took Nick's money and fearing that she wanted to do the same with his. "I've already knew that!"
"Have you?" Warrick was surprised, although Sara didn't seem so.
"Relax, Greg! I haven't said that this statement was referring to you as well. I have something else for you." With that she stepped towards him. Greg began to fear and hold his money tighter. Something told him that Sara wasn't kidding.
"I know that you know about us dating…" She began leaning slowly towards Greg, who swallowed hard. "…but you don't know that…" She leant even closer. "…we got married three weeks ago." That was it. Greg just looked at her with his mouth agape not even noticing that his money disappeared from his grasp. Sara straightened and looked back at her husband.
"So, am I good or am I good?" She was clearly enjoying this. Warrick smiled at Sara's childish joy and decided to play along by insisting on her not being able to surprise him.
"No surprise there! But I'm still here."
"Oh, I have something for you, too. Don't worry!" She walked towards Warrick and stopped in front of him.
"Really?" He asked teasingly while he put his money into his breast pocket and sneaked his now empty hands around his wife's waist. Sara nodded playfully while she was playing with one of the buttons on his shirt. She looked up at him with a mischievous smile on her face and slowly leant forward to his ear. Once she reached close enough, she whispered something to him…
At that moment Warrick's feature froze and his smile slowly disappeared. He was shocked. Sara leant back, brought her hand to his pocket and took his money. She stepped out of Warrick's embrace and started dramatically counting her freshly acquired money in front of the others while throwing evil glances towards them.
"And now if you excuse me, as much as I enjoyed playing with you, guys, I have a case to solve." With that she put away the money, threw a smile towards Greg and Nick then grabbed the evidence bag from the table, where she had put it before joining the game, turned around and left the room. Although before leaving, she stepped up to the still frozen Warrick, kissed his cheek and said a 'See you later'.
After Sara had left, Nick and Greg stared at Warrick for a while waiting for him to say something. It did last for a while but finally Warrick seemed to manage to snap out of his thoughts. He looked at his friends and began to smile like an idiot. But he didn't say anything.
Finally Greg couldn't wait any longer for an explanation.
"What?"
Warrick's grin grew even wider then said:
"I'm one lucky man! I have a beautiful PREGNANT wife, and… and… Now I have to talk to her. Excuse me!" With that he ran after Sara.
THE END
So that was it. I'm glad you reached the end! Thanks for reading!
Oh and if there is somebody who are waiting for the next chapter of Changing Lives (Is there anybody there?), please, don't give up! If I find my inspiration, I'll continue it. I don't like leaving things unfinished.
