Nerds Always Win

Greg was heading back to his lab when he heard a terrifying sound.

"Is that you, Sanders?"

Greg turned around and realized his fears were true. Standing behind him was his high school bully, Pete Collins.

"What are you doing here, Pete?" he asked coldly.

"Ah. So you remember me! Well, I was called in on some murder shit. Apparently, I'm a suspect. But what about you, Sanders? Are you still a science nerd? Still got your nose in a book? And I see you still wear the same freakish clothes. Nothing has changed has it? And you're probably still the guy who can't get the girl. I knew I'd always be better than you."

Greg was hurt. He thought that when he graduated high school he'd be rid of this creep and his friends. But Greg could see that Collins wasn't better off at all. He looked like he worked as a plumber or something. That nerd comment really sent him off the edge, though. He opened his mouth without really thinking about what would come out.

"Oh, so you're better off are you? I work at the number two crime lab in the country, I make a crap load of money, and, yeah, I'm still a science nerd and I still read, but I get paid to do it. And one more thing, my 'freakish' clothes apparently have a lot of charm because I have a gorgeous, brilliant girlfriend!" Greg spat in anger.

Pete laughed. "That's something I'd love to see: Sanders with a hot girl."

"I'll prove it to you." Greg shot back. "Meet me at Club Paradise at nine tonight. Me and my girlfriend have tonight off and I'll bring her."

Greg was breathing heavily after his rant and Pete smirked at it.

"Never could breathe right. No wonder you stuck to your chess club." Pete taunted. "And fine, I'll meet you at the damn club at nine. You better not chicken out. Oh, and Sanders? I'll know if you brought a hooker." With that, Collins sauntered out of the lab.

Greg was in a state of shock. He had just kinda sorta told off his life's torment and then he had gone and invited him to a club. How did he get himself into these situations? He was still pissed about the clothing remark when he went in search of Becka.

"My clothes aren't freakish, are they?" Greg asked as he stormed into the break room.

"Of course not! I think they're sexy!" Becka replied, walking around the table to be closer to her boyfriend.

"Really?" Greg smiled.

"Definitely. Why?"

Greg sat down on a chair with a sigh.

"I ran into Pete Collins just now. Do you remember…?"

"Yeah, I do." Becka sat on Greg's lap, he put arms around her waist, and she put her arms around his neck. "D'you wanna talk about it?"

He put his head back and took a deep breath before looking at her again.

"It was like high school all over again. He made fun of my clothes, asked me if I was still a nerd, reminded me that I didn't have a girlfriend almost all through school, and then told me that he's still better than I am."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a nerd. I was in high school. Heck, I still am," she said to comfort him.

"I highly doubt that," he said skeptically.

"Are you kidding me? Lord, I was such a freak. I mean, in elementary school I had two friends and my best friend in grade eight went around telling people to hate me. In high school, I was so shy it took me so long to make friends and I was never popular. And in response to the girlfriend thing, I didn't have my first boyfriend until grade eleven. So, if you're a nerd then I'll be a nerd with you."

Greg sat there in disbelief. This vision of beauty before him had been a nerd? It wasn't possible. They had never really talked about her past but he had always assumed that she was one of the popular girls, the one with all the friends and the boys lining up to go out with her.

Becka had noticed the look on his face and laughed when she next spoke.

"It's not that hard to imagine Greg! In tenth grade, I took grade eleven physics and math and got ninety-nine percent in that math class. And that was the year I started my whole punkish look because I didn't want to look like all the preppy whores at my school." Becka winked. "Shhh! Don't tell anyone I said that. But trust me he isn't better than you are. If he still has to be a jerk to you then he hasn't changed since high school. Besides, I think nerds are hot."

Becka lowered her head and kissed Greg softly. They were in an awkward position so she slid off his lap without breaking the kiss. When they were both standing, he ran his hands up her back until she jerked away.

"That tickled!" Becka laughed and swatted his arm. "Nice way to break the moment, silly."

She turned to go but he grabbed hold of her wrist and she turned back to face him.

"Wait, I have more to tell you."

This time they both sat on the table, knowing the others were out on their cases.

"Okay, shoot," Becka said.

"Well, instead of just hoping he would go away like I used to do, I actually challenged him. I told him about my amazing job and my nice pay check and my beautiful, smart girlfriend," he told her.

Becka snorted at the last remark. She still wasn't fully comfortable with her appearance even though she pretended she was. Greg chose to ignore the snort and continued his story.

"So anyways, he doubted your existence so I told him to meet us at Club Paradise tonight at nine."

"Oh, well, yeah, I could do that."

"Thanks. It's just that I was so tired of him pushing me around and treating me like scum and…" he muttered darkly until she put a finger to his lips to stop him.

"Shush. I know what you mean. He'll get his payback tonight I promise," she assured him.

That night, after a good day's sleep and a shower, Greg pulled into a parking space at Club Paradise. He sat in his parked car for a couple minutes to try to calm his nerves. He still couldn't believe what he had done. Greg finally managed to get out of his car and into the club. A loud voice calling him told him that Collins was already there.

"Hey, Sanders! I see you're alone. Where's your girlfriend? Huh? I knew you were lying," Pete cackled.

"Actually, she's gonna be a little late. She has to finish getting ready," Greg yelled over the music.

"Whatever. I'm only staying 'cause they have great beer."

The two of them moved away from the door and over to the dance floor. Greg honestly had no idea why he was following Pete around. At that moment, the door opened and the pair turned to see who it was. A gorgeous girl with long black hair, sexily shadowed eyes, and a black shirt under a jean jacket, a short black skirt, and flat black sandals came in. When she came closer, they also noticed that she had a lip ring in.

"Hey, sexy!" she called towards them.

Pete's statement of "See? I always get the girl!" was cut short when the girl gave Greg a quick kiss on the mouth. Becka stood behind Greg and wrapped her arms around his waist while resting her chin on his shoulder.

"Pete, this is my girlfriend, Becka. Becka, this is Pete."

"Humph! And how much did you pay her?" he shot.

"Excuse me?" Becka cried incredulously.

"Well, you are a hooker, aren't you?" Pete returned.

"I am not a damn hooker and Greg did not pay me to be here!" Becka growled, now in front of Greg. "Now let's just have some fun."

She grabbed Greg's hand and pulled him into the center of the dance floor. Pete followed, still believing Becka to be a hooker and hoping to take her home at the end of the night.

The music pounded around them as the sea of people danced to its rhythm. Becka was enjoying herself. She had like dances as a teenager and she still did. She let the music take her and her body moved gracefully to each song. After about an hour of Pete dancing with random girls, they decided to take a break and get a drink. Once they settled, Greg leaned in to talk to Becka.

"I have to go to the bathroom, will you be all right with him?" he whispered into her ear.

"Yeah, I can handle him," she replied and Greg left.

"I've never kissed a girl with a lip ring before."

"What? Are you still on about that hooker thing? Give it a rest. I really am Greg's girlfriend," she said.

"Come on. I'll pay ya double what he's paying," he pleaded.

"Pete, I am not going to kiss you, I really like Greg. Now will you shut up?" Becka shot back.

Collins started giving Greg dirty looks when he returned shortly after.

"How come I haven't seen you in a skirt before?" Greg suddenly asked Becka. "I mean, working in Trace, it's not like you're moving around a lot.'

"Well I dunno what you mean by that trace shit but you haven't seen her in a skirt before because you've never seen her before tonight," Pete said pointedly.

Both Greg and Becka chose to ignore the comment.

"I'm not really a skirt person but I thought tonight called for one," Becka answered. "You know, I'm getting really hot. I'm gonna see if the bartender will hold my jacket for me. Be right back."

"You think you're so smart, getting that girl to lie for you but I know the real Greg Sanders." Pete hissed. "No girl that hot would give you a second glance if you weren't paying her. You're even more pathetic than you were in high school. What a loser."

Greg could feel his anger and embarrassment rising but when Becka returned to the table, all was forgotten. The black shirt that had been under her jacket turned out to be a tube top. A belly-baring tube top. Greg was speechless. He had never seen her look so amazing and sexy. Pete, however, wasn't speechless and he used his voice to let out a piercing wolf whistle.

"Let's go, I'm ready to dance!" Becka yelled.

She had overheard part of what Pete had said to Greg and she planned to make Pete jealous.

Becka never did any grinding in high school, partly because she rarely had anyone to do it with and partly because she was too shy. Tonight, however, she decided to grind for the first time. When she grabbed Greg and pulled him close to her, he was shocked, to sat the least. The Becka he knew could be hilarious, insane, and outgoing but for the most part, she was shy. He quickly forgot his shock, though, and let the rhythm of the music and her hips take over.

After a couple songs, Becka turned to Pete.

"Oh, Pete. You know the whole kissing thing? Do you still wanna know what it's like?" Becka teased.

"Definitely!" he exclaimed, leaning in.

"Then you'll have to ask Greg what it's like."

Becka brought her lips up to meet Greg's mouth. She playfully bit his bottom lip and tugged on it with her teeth. Her teasing drove him wild. He ran his tongue along her mouth and she opened it, allowing his tongue to enter. The kiss deepened and he was tempted to rub her back again but he stopped just in time. Instead, he pushed her tighter against him. They finally broke apart to see Pete absolutely seething. He looked about to hit Greg when Becka and Greg heard a familiar voice behind them.

"Hey, Becka, Greg! What's up guys?" Nick Stokes called.

"You know them?" Pete asked in surprise.

"Uh, yeah, I work with them," Nick answered. "Why?"

"You, you mean he, Sanders, is really going out with her?" Pete stuttered.

"Yeeeaaah," Nick said, stretching the word and frowning.

Pete didn't answer; he just growled and pushed his way through the crowd to the exit.

"What's his problem?" Nick wondered aloud.

Becka jumped in before Greg had a chance to reply.

"High school bully. He didn't think Greg was worthy of me." She grabbed Greg's hand and continued. "He assumed that I wouldn't go out with Greg unless he was paying me. Thought I was a hooker."

"But didn't you ask him out?" Nick asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, she did," Greg said, squeezing her hand. "Pretty ironic, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, but I gotta go. I'm meeting someone here. Have fun."

A slow song started after Nick left and the couple pressed against each other to dance.

"I've never really realized how amazing you are. I'm lucky to have you," Greg whispered to her.

"I'm lucky to have you too," Becka whispered back.

"I love you, babe."

"I love you too, lab rat."


A/N- This takes place before Hodges worked in Trace so I invented the character who had his place before. I swear I know what's going on. Lol.