Title: The Joke's On You
Author: Emeric Switch

Summery: Sara has become the butt of someone's jokes on April Fools Day. Who is behind everything? And why? GSR

Disclaimer: Property of CBS, Jerry Bruckheimer etc. Not mine, just playing in it.

Author's Note: Hope this is a decent attempt at a fic. All constructive criticism is welcome. Comments make my day. Enjoy!


We all knew it had been coming. The team wasn't going to be together forever, as much as we wanted it to be. With Ecklie dominating the lab and Grissom firmly in his destructive radar, there was going to be a major battle of the superiors. Unfortunately, Ecklie has much more power and is much more political than our supervisor so the odds were in the Lab Director's corner from the beginning.

Odds. I've been in Vegas too long.

So now we have two teams. Catherine has taken a well deserved leap up the ladder and become a Supervisor. The only two problems with that are that she now leads Swing Shift instead of her wanted Day position, and that she has taken Warrick and Nick with her. I know it's not her fault. Ecklie placed them under her command. But it just seems that with her creating the first fissure in the team, more were able to branch off. Grissom still leads the Graveyard crew, thank God, but it is obvious that he has gotten the worse deal from the split. Sofia Curtis has taken a demotion to work with us, Greg the rookie CSI is here and then there is me. The 'loose-cannon', so to speak.

The peace was never going to last.

Greg didn't seem to understand that we weren't going to like the change. He hadn't had a chance to work with the full team properly, only passing his final proficiency after the split. I am pleased for him, despite his buoyant attitude. Grissom assigned me as his mentor and he is flourishing, even if I do say so. It has been the one bright spot in a dismal year.

Although there is another thing going on that has me confused. I would like to think that it is good, but the journey so far has been painful and I am sorely tempted to get off as soon as I can. There is a huge problem with the latter part of my resolve. Grissom. He is the entire reason why, though I am tempted, I cannot make my feet walk away.

Grissom, who has been pulling and pushing me so much I do not know which direction I am facing any more.

Grissom, who disrespects me yet keeps me here with a lame attempt at an apology.

Grissom, who unlocks my mental vault and makes me relieve my most tender and private secrets.

I hadn't meant to tell him everything. Anything. In fact, I told him to leave it alone. But he was persistent. His natural curiosity and my yearning for companionship were my downfall.

However, that is another story for another time.

It was the first of April. Okay, the thirty first of March at the start of shift. Greg couldn't tell the difference. Or he didn't want to, at least. The festivities started early, inside the lab as well as out. April Fools Day is one of the holidays that is the most pointless, in my opinion. It ranks at the top of the list alongside Halloween. Both spark off random crime sprees, gags and jokes spiraling out of control, or an excuse for causing trouble.

Greg started the night off with a bang. Literally. He painted exploding paste under the coffee pot. Of course, I was the one who lifted the pot. In my dire need for a pick-me-up, I walked straight past the Cheshire Cat grin on my protégé's face in the Break Room. My observation skills were on a break. Thank God I've got good reflexes. There is always a bad point in working with scientists. We know lots of inventive ways to make puffs of smoke and random noises. The prankster loves it. Coffee deprived, over worked, in-a-bad-mood colleagues don't. It was only Grissom arriving with our assignments that saved Greg from becoming another one, in the form of a missing person.

Unfortunately, I was paired with Greg to investigate a DB at ULV. Testosterone-driven college jocks looking for fun. Thank God it wasn't Pledge week. I always dislike that time of year as well. But this was probably going to turn out to be a prank gone wrong. April Fools with too much dynamite.

That meant Grissom and Sofia were working together. I ignored the twinge of irrational jealousy that sprung up. It was becoming a normal occurrence to get that feeling when thinking of Sofia. Watching her flirt with Grissom like I once was able to, and have him respond to it, tears at my heart. I'm sure my imagination is playing tricks on me because I could have sworn Sofia sent an almost smug look in my direction. Either I'm delusional or she is a nasty piece of work. I know which one I'd prefer, but I doubt that is the correct assumption.

'Never assume' is the motto for a criminalist. It's a sensible rule; stick to it.

I grabbed the assignment slip and shot a tired smile at Greg. I might as well forgive him; it will make my night a lot easier if we are on friendly terms. Besides, he had already 'fooled' me so I wouldn't be on the receiving end of anything else.

Well, that was the theory.

Our probing of the university passed without much incident. I got the usual tough-guy attitude from the frat brothers and scathing remarks were directed both ways. But there were a lot of gatherable and probative fingerprints that we collected and trace evidence that would nail one of those boys to a possible murder. Hopefully it would be a cut-and-dried case and not an incredibly taxing one. I felt like I needed a break. Just this once; a nice, easy case.

Dispatching Greg off to the various stations to deposit our evidence, I left to see the body down in Doc Robbin's domain. Nodding politely to a passing Sofia, I pushed open the slightly ajar door to the stairwell and…

SPLASH!

A bucket of water emptied on my head.

It was going to be one of those days.