This is set back during the time Ecklie had split the team and Catherine was Swing Supervisor and Sophia and Sara were GraveShift.
What can I say, it's Wednesday and I'm in a Brass mood, lol. If you're looking for something heavy, this isn't it:-)
Catherine Willows flopped into one of the chairs at the table in the break room, too tired to move further. It had been a grueling shift with more cases than she had people for. Consequently, Sara had come in early for her shift and picked up the last of the cases that came into Swing.
She watched as Gil Grissom, Grave Shift Supervisor and her friend of many years, shuffled down the hall in that odd gait that was totally his and his alone. Grinning at his apparent obliviousness to everything around him, he had his head in a file, obviously focused only on what it contained.
"Hey," said Sofia Curtis from the doorway.
Catherine turned her attention to the CSI, newly demoted from Day Shift. "Hey Sofia. You adjusting to the new hours?" Catherine asked. "Making the switch can be a real bitch…"
Sofia slid into a chair across from Catherine. "Yeah, it is…in more ways than one. But at least I'm getting to work with good people."
"How are things between you and Sara? I thought I felt some tension there the other night."
"Tense," Sofia agreed. "But getting better."
Just then, Nick Stokes ambled up the hall, talking with Archie, the tech. Both sets of feminine eyes followed them. "Nicky looks like he's hurting," Sofia remarked.
"Yeah, he fell into a cactus at a scene Thought we'd never get all the barbs out of him. David had to help him; he didn't want me playing in his underwear," chuckled Catherine.
Sofia smirked. "Boxer-briefs, right?"
Catherine shot a surprised look at the other woman. "Yeah? How'd you guess…and why?"
Sofia chuckled. "It's a game we used to play when I was in college. "Who's wearing what. Then we'd spend the next few days trying to find out if we were right. I've gotten pretty good at guessing."
Laughing, Catherine gave her comrade an appraising look. "Really?"
"Yeah," Sofia said, her eyes twinkling.
"So…Warrick?" asked Catherine.
"Easy…boxers," answered Sofia.
Frowning, Catherine wondered how the other woman had gained that knowledge. "Okay then…Greg?"
"Oh come on, Catherine…give somebody who's a real challenge," Sofia chided.
Taking a deep breath, Catherine thought for a moment. "Ecklie?"
Sofia snickered. "Boxers, although I wouldn't put tightie whities past him." Then looking at the red-head thoughtfully, Sofia challenged. "You try one…Grissom?"
"Easy, nothing," winked Catherine. "How about Hodges?" she asked.
"Oh…that's easy; tightie whities." Both women laughed.
"What's the joke?" the gravely voice of Jim Brass asked from the doorway.
Looking in his direction, both women tried to hide their guilty expressions. "Um…joke?" Catherine asked.
"Oh come on, Catherine…you two are laughing over something," he smirked.
"Girl stuff," Sofia hurriedly interjected.
Shrugging, the detective ducked back into the hall, headed toward Grissom's office. The two women looked at each other, both questioning. Finally Catherine spoke. "How about a wager?"
"Terms?" Sofia replied.
"Um…I don't know. How about…twenty bucks."
Sofia made a sour face. "How do we get proof?"
"Hmm…true." Catherine mused. "What could the evidence be?"
"A pair of whatever he's wearing," giggled Sofia.
"You're on," laughed Catherine. "But we might have to have DNA run on the sample to confirm."
A few minutes later, Catherine was in the hallway waiting on the detective. Sofia had gone into Grissom's office with the excuse of asking him about a case they had worked the night before. Catherine heard Sofia speak to Jim and invite him for coffee later.
Out in the hall, Catherine smirked as Jim reluctantly accepted. She'd known the detective long enough to know when he was hedging. He wasn't enthusiastic about a coffee date with the other female CSI.
Finally he ambled out of Grissom's office, leaving the two CSIs discussing the case. Catherine met him with a smile and began to walk with him. "Hey, I'm just getting off; you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I've been working days this week but I wanted to hand some files over to Grissom before I left," Brass replied.
"So, how about a drink? Lindsey's at a friends and won't get home 'til later and I'm not looking forward to going home to an empty house."
Jim glanced at her, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "Okay, what's up?"
"What?" Catherine tried to look innocent but Jim knew better.
"First Sofia and now you…something's up."
Catherine smiled. "That obvious, huh?" Jim merely winked and waited for an answer.
"Okay, tell you what, let's go for that drink and I'll explain," she finally offered.
Sighing, Jim nodded." Okay. I'll meet you in about twenty minutes."
Once Jim met Catherine at her office, they headed for a small bar off the strip that off duty law enforcement tended to frequent. They chose a table towards the back and once the drinks were ordered, he looked at Catherine, his eyes questioning. "Okay, why am I here?"
Jim squirmed in his seat and his eyes grew larger, his eyebrows lifting as Catherine explained. "Sofia and I have a bet about who is wearing what…you know, boxers or briefs. So instead of playing some stupid game to collect the evidence I thought I'd just ask…for the evidence," she said as her voice trailed away.
The waiter chose that moment to bring their drinks, so Jim held his response until they were alone again. "So, you want my dirty underwear?" he questioned.
"Well, I wasn't thinking of it quite like that," Catherine grinned, "but yeah, I do."
"To show Sofia?" He asked behind twinkling eyes.
Shrugging, Catherine replied. "Well…yeah."
"How's she going to know you didn't just take them off some perp or a homeless guy?" Jim wanted to know.
Catherine's face colored a bit as she contemplated her answer. "Um…a DNA comparison…"
Jim almost choked on the sip of Scotch he had taken. "You were going to have a DNA test run….on my BVDs?"
Catherine nodded sheepishly.
"How much?"
"What?"
Jim's brow furrowed. "How much is the bet?"
"Twenty," Catherine whispered.
Reaching in his pocket, Jim pulled out his money clip. Yanking a twenty dollar bill out of it, he set in on the table in front of Catherine.
"What's that for?" she asked.
"You're going to loose the bet," he winked.
"What? Why? You're not even going to tell me?"
Smiling, Jim nodded in agreement. "Nope, I'm not. And if you tell Sofia that I know about the bet or that I paid for your loss, then I want my money back."
"Wait…you're giving me the twenty to pay off Sofia. But she doesn't have the answer either. Why are you…Oh…you're going to tell her."
"She asked me to coffee later. And not only am I going to tell her, but I'm going to show her," Jim said before knocking back the last of his drink. "Remember, not a word…" he said as he got up to leave.
The next evening, as the shifts were changing, Sofia walked into Catherine's office holding a brown bag.
Catherine looked up from her desk and smirked. "Whacha got?"
"Evidence," Sofia grinned.
"Oh really. And how did you collect the evidence," Catherine wanted to know.
Well….Jim and I went to this little coffee house that I like. And I started fishing for an answer. He got the wrong idea and was all over me before I realized what had happened. So I shoved him back and he stumbled into the table and got coffee and food all over himself. Consequently, I'm taking care of his laundry for him….and I have the evidence.'
Curious and somewhat amused by Jim's antics, Catherine asked what he was wearing.
"See for yourself," Sofia said as she opened the bag.
Catherine reached in and gingerly pulled out a silk red thong. On the fabric triangle was embroidered the face of a devil and under the "chin" the words 'I'm hot'. Sofia couldn't contain her laughter as Catherine fell back into her chair, giggling.