CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Triathlon
Chapter One- Bad News
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the CSI characters, locations etc.
Grissom chewed his lip as he sat behind his desk. What was he going to tell the team? Actually how would he tell the team? Surely they would want to murder him once he had gotten the words out of his mouth!
'Damn Ecklie!' he thought, 'That pompous windbag, this is his fault, not mine! In the name of Albert Einstein, help me.'
He gritted his teeth; this was how low he was getting. Gilbert Grissom knew he was getting nervous when he resulted to praying to the Science Genius instead of God. Sighing he gathered up his papers, clenching his jaw as he saw the very top one. Deciding it was just better that he get this over and done with, Grissom pushed away his chair and walked out of his office. Traveling down the hall, he entered the break room hesitantly.
"I told her to give it her all. So she just jumped up there and started performing" Catherine was telling Warrick as she sipped her coffee on the couch, "She was playing the Mother Mary figure, it was so cute!"
"I just can't imagine Lindsey playing God's mother" Warrick said squinting his eyes, "But she would play it well none the less."
"No Greg!" Nick exclaimed from the other side of the room in his chair at the glass table, "That game just blows! It has no turbo boosters at the checkpoint levels, and the ladies in Louisiana are fake as!"
Greg pouted, "They are not! They literally spell the word HOT, you should see them in real life though."
"Yeah that's all youcould do Greg!" Nick teased.
Grissom shook his head, small snippets of their conversation were sure to drive him near nuts soon. It was like he couldn't filter it out; they just talked and talked and talked about the most unimportant stuff. But for a person who loved bugs, he couldn't talk himself.
'Wait' he thought, 'Where's Sara?'
The room grew silent as he entered, the chatter dieing down. Grissom thought about Snape in the Harry Potter books. Did he really have that kind of effect on people as well?
"Hey Griss!" Catherine greeted politely.
"Yeah boss what-cha got for us today?" Greg asked, pouring coffee and hoisting himself onto the countertop.
"Where's Sara?"
"Sara's late" Nick sniggered, "For once in her life."
Grissom shrugged trying to show no concern, this was unusual for Sara. Normally she was never late, ever. But he knew she was fine, she had to be. Instead he turned to the team and prepared to tell them the news.
"Uh, before we get started, I have a bit-okay no, a lot of bad news."
Everybody's attention turned towards their leader sitting at the table, fiddling with his papers. Something Grissom never did. The room was silent, waiting for him to speak.
"And before I tell you all this, I'm just letting you know this was all Conrad's idea and fault. Not mine" Grissom made clear, "So don't complain about it to me."
"What is it Girss?" Catherine said, her curiosity hitting its high peak.
"Well earlier this morning I was approached by Ecklie and he told me about the yearly Triathlon, for all the labs that is, coming up in a couple of weeks" he started. As he said the word 'triathlon' almost everyone groaned.
"He doesn't want us to compete dose he!?" Warrick asked.
Grissom sighed, "Look I know how much you guys hate this sort of thing, but other Crime Labs all over the states, come to compete here in Vegas. You should have heard about it before."
"Yeah!" Nick said, "Some of the day shift went in it last year, and got flogged. Now, I remember that."
"Well, Ecklie wants the nightshift to compete this year and each of you has to run an event."
The team all groaned again, "Do we have to!"
"Yes Greg I'm afraid you must."
"Well what events are there?"
Grissom glanced down at the entry sheet, waiting to be filled out and returned to Ecklies office by the end of the shift. A list of 5 events lined the page, an empty slot for the competitors name right next to it, "Uh… first there's 'Rowing', then 'Cycling', 'Motorbike racing', 'Swimming' and then 'Running'.
Greg jumped from his seat nearly spilling his coffee, "I totally bags motorbike racing!" he exclaimed before Nick could even open his mouth.
"Damn it!"
"Alright Greg, you got the motorbike" Grissom jotted down 'Greg Sanders' in the 'MOTORBIKE RACING' slot, "Catherine what do you want?"
"Cycling" she said automatically, getting up from the couch to refill her coffee and sit back down on the couch. Greg who was sitting on the countertop, jokingly put his foot out and she smacked him a hard one to the head.
"OW!"
"Hey! Why does she get to choose first?" Warrick complained as the couch sank next to him. Catherine gave him an evil look.
"Because she's a lady" Grissom said curtly putting her name down, "Now Warrick what do you want? There's 'Rowing', 'Swimming' and 'Running' left, your pick."
Warrick titled his head as he considered, "How long are those courses?"
Grissom sighed and looked down at the sheet, "The rowing is down this small river to Vegas's west, it's around 4 mile. The swimming is in a nearby lake not to far from that, it has its own lap course there. And the running is into the most famous part of Vegas. The Desert and it's around a 10 mile run."
Everybody gasped, Nick snorted out coffee through his nose and had to turn away quickly to stop the stream of liquid pouring through his left nostril.
"10 miles!?" Catherine exclaimed, "I can't even run 1!"
Grissom shrugged, "At least I won't be running it. Alright, Warrick what do you want?"
"I'll do the Rowing" he said distractedly.
"Alright. Nick?"
"There's no way I'm running that far!" the most athletic man in the room shook his head, eyes puffy; "I'll take the swimming."
Grissom filled out the sheet, glancing at the only space left, "And that leaves Sara with the 10 mile run through the desert. Good lord."
Greg snorted, "Good luck explaining that one to her Grissom. You're gonna have no head by the end of shift. I certainly had my system cleaned out very well, a couple of days ago thanks to Sara."
'As if I need reminding' Grissom thought glumly. He was fully aware of the wraith which was Sara Sidle. It was only a few days ago when Greg had disabled the hot water in the lab while Sara was taking a wash after a messy shift, swearing that he didn't know she was in there when she had angrily confronted him. Later on however she had sought out revenge and snuck Wasabi into his burger and liquid laxative into his coke. And the poor toilets were shut down for the remainder of the shift, thanks to one man and his very messed up digestive system. Never again would Greg get on the wrong side of Sara Sidle. Well…sort of.
"Yeah Greg!" Nick laughed, remembering how badly the lab had stunk, "How much of that burger did you eat before you realized Wasabi was in there?"
"I was really hungry so I scoffed it all down!" he defended, "Besides I like a little spice in my food, but my god I don't like it that spicy!"
"Well, if you ask me I felt sorry for the toilets" Catherine sniggered. Everybody began laughing loudly.
"Sorry I'm late" Sara greeted striding into the room, "What's so funny?"
Nick sniggered, "The shit you do to Greg!" Everybody laughed harder.
Sara smiled, "Hey! He deserved it, every time!"
"I did not!" Greg complained, "What about that time I had just got that cute girl from the lab to agree to go out with me, and you walked up to her and told her I was gay. I mean she left the lab because of that!"
The others (besides stoic Grissom of course) gasped, "You did?" Nick exclaimed, "That's why she left?!"
"It's not like I forced her to move" Sara objected, "And besides I only did that because you made me run in the relay a few years ago."
The room suddenly grew silent, everyone suddenly interested in the floor or ceiling. Sara eyed their expressions wearily, "Why do I get the feeling running has something to do with why you all went quiet?"
Grissom cleared his throat bravely, "Because you have to run 10 miles in the desert for a triathlon we are all competing in."
"Well, talk about blunt" Catherine mumbled, turning her face into her coffee cup.
The others winced, waiting for Sara's outburst, "What?" she said blankly.
"Ecklie is making us enter a triathlon for all the crime labs in the state" Nick explained carefully, "Warrick is rowing up a river, Catherine is cycling, Greg is racing one unlucky motorbike, I am swimming around a lake, and since you were late today you get to run in the Vegas desert."
Sara stood there, "No, no, no! I can't run!" she snapped, "I've never been a good runner!"
"Well the competition isn't until another month, so you have plenty of time to practice" suggested Grissom.
Warrick sniggered and Sara shot him a dirty look. She stood there speechless, horror started to catch up with her mind. Why should she? Wait, it was Grissom who had gotten her into this, what was he doing? "Grissom" she voiced out loud, "And what are you doing?"
He sighed as Sara glared at him coldly, "I will be supervising you all. Following you all as you go along and encouraging you on as a real boss should."
"What, so you're going to swim next to me and be my personal cheerleading squad?!'" Nick said sounding worried.
"Don't be silly!" Grissom sniggered, "I said I'll be there watching one way or another, following your progress."
Catherine's mouth dropped from her cup, she shared a glance with Warrick, "So you don't have to compete!"
"Nope" Grissom said triumphantly, "Only you guys, since I am supervisor. And besides I have lots of work to do while you all get training."
TBC
A/N: This was a completely random thought and my first fanfic. But this actually happened to me at school once; I had the running part which wasn't that great. But for this story I exasperated it a little. Well, review and tell me what you think. The next chapter will be up soon!
Sar'z
