~*~*~*~
Part IV ~*~*~*~
Greg regarded Nick for a few moments. "What can you do?"
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, Stokes. What can you do? I'm not going to make another bet against Catherine if I'm not one hundred percent sure that I'm going to win. Pool?"
Nick shook his head. "Sara's a whiz at Pool."
"So am I."
"But I'm not, and I'm pretty sure that if it's a stick, Catherine knows her way around it."
"Fine. Hoops?"
Nick shook his head. "Catherine would never go for it."
"Trivial Pursuit?"
"Are you kidding? Sara? Trivial Pursuit? That's a game she and Grissom play when they want to relax. We'd be doomed."
Greg sighed. He was running out of competitive things he was good at. "Well, I was quite a Chess champion back in the day. Still play against Grissom sometimes."
"You ever win?"
"A few times. We've all beaten him a few times."
"I haven't."
Greg looked down. "Oh."
"Okay, Sanders. Answer me this: What are *you* good at?"
Greg shrugged. "I don't know. Everything I've mentioned so far. Scrabble is one of my favorites, but Catherine doesn't strike me as a Scrabble person. Clue would be good, if not cliché. There's only one other thing that I can think of."
"And what's that?"
~*~*~*~
"Name a singer who was gold in the '30's, '40's, '50's, 60's, '70's, '80's and '90's?"
Sara thought for a moment. "Hmm. . .I'd have to say Frank Sinatra."
Grissom set the card down. "Just put in your damn piece already."
Warrick laughed. "Are you two worried about Nick and Greg seeking revenge?"
Sara and Catherine exchanged a look. "We're kind of hoping for it," Catherine admitted. "We hate humiliating them any further, but they've both threatened to bring dates on Friday night, and it would be fun to get them again."
Grissom shook his head. "I can't let you guys force them into women's underwear again. It's all over the lab, and I'm really afraid it would affect their work performance. I'd hate to intervene, but at the same time, I'd have to."
"Don't worry," Sara told him. "We'd let them off the hook. It would just be. . .fun to get them again. Especially if they bring dates."
Warrick got a strange look on his face. "So, Nick and Greg are bringing dates, eh? What about you, Sara?
Are you going to bring Hank?" Warrick tried not to grin when Sara jerked her eyes in his direction and tried to kill him with her glare.
To her left, Catherine smirked at Warrick, blue eyes snapping with amusement, before she joined in, sotto voce, "Yeah, Sara – why don't you bring Hank? I've been dying to meet this mystery man."
Beside Warrick, Grissom kept his expression carefully neutral. Sara tilted her head to look at him, before she smiled slightly. "Nope. No Hank. Hank's got a date that night."
"Ree-aa-lly," Catherine drawled the word out, and winked at Warrick. They had both noticed the quick darting glance Grissom had shot at Sara at this announcement, "A date. Is this a date date, or just a friendly 'we just go to the movies' type thing?"
"I think it's a date date. But, you know – you could invite Mr. Building Inspector if you wanted too, Cath -" Sara smirked, "I've been dying to meet him."
Catherine's smile faltered only slightly when Warrick made a slight huffing sound in his throat. To Catherine's ears, it sounded suspiciously like, "Touche!"
~*~*~*~
Grissom stuck his head in the lab, smiling when he saw Nick and Greg chatting. Tucking the file he was carrying under his arm, he walked over to them, Warrick close on his heels. "So – Greg. It's nice to see you still breathing."
Greg grinned, "If Nick was going to kill anyone, he'd go for the people at the top of his list, wouldn't you Nick?"
Nick shrugged, "The list changes daily. Please don't tell me we've got a case. The word is out that the girls have me in a garter and stockings, and I don't think I could take the jokes."
Grissom half-grinned, "Don't worry, Nicky – I wouldn't do that to you. The boys in blue would have just too much fun with the boy in pink. I thought I would give you a friendly warning – the girls think you two are up to something, and they're prepared."
Greg blinked disingenuously at Grissom, "Who? Us?"
"Can it Greg," Grissom replied, "You think I was born yesterday?"
Greg grinned, "You don't really want me to answer that – do you?"
Nick watched the exchange with interest, "Since when do you tease Grissom, Greg?"
"Since he told me how to neutralize the burning, Nick."
The quick response made Nick laugh, "Don't say that too loudly anywhere else - I know what you mean, but you might give other people the wrong idea." Both Greg and Grissom turned to glare at Nick, but he just smiled his big shit-eating grin at them. Behind Grissom, Warrick smirked and rolled his eyes.
"We thought we would give you a heads up," Warrick inserted, " We want you to be prepared. And if you're looking for something to challenge them at, I would suggest Monopoly. Catherine sucks at Monopoly, and I doubt Sara's much better."
Greg looked at the two older men in shock, "Monopoly? How can any one suck at Monopoly?"
Warrick shrugged, "Well – you know Cath and how much she loves to shop – she just buys everything early on, overextends herself, and goes out of the game in a blazing flame of bankruptcy."
"And Sara's much too impatient to put any thought behind the game," Grissom added. "It's too long and monotonous for her."
"And you're telling us this, why?" Nick grinned.
"You guys have to regain dignity somehow! C'mon – three days in women's lingerie? You need to strike a blow for men everywhere!" Warrick stated, "Just don't tell the girls Griss and I are involved in this in any way. They'd kill us!"
Nick raised his eyebrow. "Oh? Wow, that's kind of you. Seriously, what's up your sleeve?"
"We're innocent, Nicky my boy," Grissom said, using his pet-name for Nick as a way to put the younger man off guard. It had been a few years since he looked at Nick as a Green Bean, but this was a situation that required finesse. "Don't you trust me?"
"Not when you make that face. That's the face you gave Catherine the day you wanted her to interview all those people after the guy died on the plane. It means you want us to do something that you don't want to do yourself. What is it?"
Grissom and Warrick exchanged a look.
"I knew it," Greg moaned. "They're up to something!"
"Whoa,
whoa there, Tiger," Warrick said, holding his hands in front of him to proclaim
innocence. "Look, Grissom and I. . ." he looked out the door to make sure no
one was around, then closed it, just to be sure. "The girls are off on a case,
but they have moles everywhere. Especially Archie." Warrick checked out the
window to the DNA lab one last time before continuing. "As I was saying,
Grissom and I thought up a win-win situation. You two can have your revenge,
and we'll get what we want."
Greg continued to look wary. "And what is that, exactly?"
~*~*~*~
Greg walked up to the doorway of his favorite sandwich shop. It was known to everyone as simply, "The Deli", though the name of the place was "The Deli Llama."
It was no secret that the girl who worked the night shift-a tall blonde girl named Heidi was Greg's favorite waitress anywhere, hands down. He developed a crush on her at day one, over two years ago, but had never had the courage to ask her out. Warrick commented once that he didn't know if it was her green eyes, her leather pants, or the way she flirted that was more attractive. Greg didn't care. He just knew that she was beautiful.
"Hi," he squeaked out.
"Hi, Greg," Heidi answered, a large smile covering her face. "It's been over a week since I've seen you. I was beginning to wonder if you were buying your sandwiches elsewhere."
Greg
swallowed hard. "No. . .No, you're the only girl I go to for sandwiches."
She
smiled brightly. "Good to hear. The usual, or can I finally talk you into
vegetarian cuisine?"
"The usual is fine."
"Your boss is sitting in the corner. Are you going to join him? If you want, you can go sit down, and I'll bring it to you."
Greg contemplated this, then made his way over to Grissom's table.
"What are you doing here?"
Grissom looked up. "Trying to get some work done without interruption."
"Oh."
"No-sit down, Greg. You don't bother me."
Greg sat uneasily on the chair, watching as Heidi made his sandwich.
"She's cute."
Greg looked up at Grissom. "Huh?"
"Heidi. She's cute."
"Yeah."
"You like her."
"Yeah."
"Are you going to ask her out?"
"Uh. . ."
"Greg, you like her. Ask her out." If he could just get Greg to ask a date to Catherine's party, his plan would be complete.
"Here's your roast beef on white with no lettuce, tomatoes, or anything even remotely resembling a vegetable," Heidi said cheerfully, setting Greg's plate in front of him. "I threw in a few french-fries to make myself feel better, and a pickle, thought I know you won't eat it. You should take lessons from your boss. The Prophet Sub every time."
"Lettuce, tomato, cheese, onion, peppers and a vinaigrette? I don't think so. I'll just take my meat sandwich, thank you. Did you put extra mayonnaise?"
"No. If you want to die of a heart attack before you're thirty, I'm not going to drive the nails into your coffin. You're too cute to go that young."
Greg smiled up at the green-eyed beauty and her sarcastic wit with a goofy grin on his face.
"No braids again, Heidi?" Grissom asked, trying to break up a bit of the sexual tension.
Heidi laughed. "The first time I met Gil, he looked at my nametag and said, 'Heidi? How can your name be Heidi if you don't have any braids?'"
"I just don't think you could be a true Heidi if you don't have braids."
She smiled and put her arm around his shoulder. "Well, I'll tell you what. I used to have braids when I was young. It's been about fifteen years, but I used to wear braids every day."
"That allays all my fears," Grissom said.
Greg had been fascinated by this entire conversation. His boss? Talking like he knows this girl? *His* girl? Heidi? He suddenly felt a swift kick on his ankle, and sat up to attention, his eyes questioning Grissom. Grissom just cocked his head at the girl and winked. Greg shook his head violently.
"What's going on?"
"I, uh. . ." Greg didn't know how to do this. Many men had asked Heidi out. Almost all of them had failed. "This Saturday?"
"Yes?"
Greg felt another kick at his ankle. *Ow!* "Uh, do you want to come to a party?"
"Sure. What time?"
Greg couldn't believe she had said yes. "Uh. . .about seven? In the evening?"
"Okay. Let me get you my number, hold on." Heidi disappeared behind the counter, giving Grissom enough time to raise his eyebrows at the younger man without being obvious. Greg just grinned in response. "Here's my cell number, and that's my address. Almost across the street."
~*~*~*~
"One down, one to go," Grissom remarked drolly when Warrick walked into his office. The younger CSI grinned at him.
"Which one?"
"Greg. He's bringing Heidi to Catherine's party."
"Heidi?" Warrick whistled, "You mean the Valkyrie from the Deli?"
Grissom half smiled, "The one and only. You think Nick will bring Michelle?"
"Only if we promise him there is no way in hell she'll ever find out about the women's underwear. Seems he bought some Desenex from her this morning, and told her it was for the neighbor's kid."
Grissom raised an eyebrow, a slightly confused look on his face, "Desenex?"
Warrick smirked. "Desenex. Diaper rash cream. Apparently, it works well."
The two men chuckled softly, before Grissom sighed, "Poor Nick. He is always getting himself into these things. So – we'll tell him we'll make sure it doesn't come up?"
Warrick nodded, "And then we'll make sure that Sara slips up. Get Nick going so that the 'challenge' becomes personal. Of course, we'll have to play partners – you can go with Sara – me with Cath -"
"And we can make sure they lose." Grissom's eyes glinted, and Warrick grinned at him.
"You are having way too much fun, Griss. I didn't know you could be so devious."
"I want to see Sara in that Halloween get up with the lace-up leather vest again," Grissom replied, "and this is the best way to make sure that happens. Besides which, Sara is always telling me I need to loosen up."
Warrick shook his head, "I think Sara's created a monster."
~*~*~*~
"You swear that she'll never find out about the garters? Or the Desenex? You promise me, right Warrick?"
"I swear it, Nick. No one will say anything to her – I've already spoken to Cath and Sara, and you know Griss – he never talks to anyone."
Nick still looked concerned, "Sara – though…you know what she's like. She'll spill – she likes to gloat."
Warrick sighed, *C'mon Rick, make this convincing – toss out the bait*, "She wouldn't humiliate you like that in front of someone you're trying to impress, Nick. Besides which, you can always blackmail her."
"Blackmail? How?" Nick still looked dubious, but Warrick could see he was intrigued. Slowly but surely, he was reeling Nick in. He grinned.
"You can bring up the fact that she's seeing her boss."
Nick looked blankly at Warrick, before his jaw dropped, "Huh? Sara and Grissom? You mean they've actually moved past this whole 'geek-flirt' thing they have going on to an actual relationship? Outside the office?"
Warrick nodded, *No, but after you blurt out she's in love with Grissom, they will* "Yeah. But it's really hush-hush right now – no one is supposed to know. I only found out by accident – so if she says anything to you about the lingerie, you can out her."
Nick grinned. "Blackmail. I kinda like it."
*Hook, line and sinker.* "So, you gonna ask Michelle to come to Cath's party? Greg is bringing Heidi."
"You there with anyone?"
"Nope. No one I'm interested in right now," Warrick replied.
*Liar!* "What about Cath?"
"I don't think she's bringing anyone either."
Nick laughed, "Yeah, right, Rico Suave. So – you're telling me if I don't bring a date I'll be the odd man out?"
Warrick simply shrugged and smiled, "Think what you want, dude. Just bring a date."
TBC
___________________________________________
AN, Zheidi: Mich and I decided that we're not even going to pretend like Greg and Nick's dates are original characters. I mean, we all know what O/C means when we start reading a fanfic, right? I even looked it up on the ff dictionary. It said: O/C-see Mary Sue. So, I looked up Mary Sue. It said: Mary Sue-a term in fanfiction meaning to insert yourself as an original character.
Well, needless to say, it made us laugh. We figured, everyone out there knows that Mich is in love with Nicky, and if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm in love with Greg. Why pretend? Why make up a name and change the eye color when you know it's going to be you? So-in short-I give you our original characters. Michelle and Heidi. Which is actually kind of strange, since my middle name is Michelle.
Mich: I'd like to say my middle name is Heidi, and really freak everyone out, but that would be lying. So I won't. In case you haven't gathered, Heidi and I are setting you all up for a sequel.